Meet Marley

Puppy-sitting this cutie. She is one quirky dog. But she is so good and such a love.

Her name is Marley.

xo Belle

Rehearsal at Pasta Beach

I know I've been talking about my sister's wedding a bunch, but hey, that's what's been going on recently! So to continue with this pattern, I thought I'd give a glimpse into the rehearsal dinner.

Held at Boston's Pasta Beach restaurant, close to the water and just a walk away from the Intercontinental Hotel (where we were staying for the weekend), the restaurant is the sister to the original Pasta Beach in Newport, RI.

It's delicious and simple Italian food with a flare.

Being that we were quite a large party - about 35 people - we had private seating outdoors on the patio. It was a gorgeous summer night, made even better with a cold glass of Pinot Grigio upon arrival.

The menu for the private party was pre fixe menu, served family style.  I sadly did not take any pictures of the meal -- although I guess you can thank me for saving you from having drool on your keyboard. Everything was phenomenal. From the bread, to the salads, to the pizza, pasta, meat, and veggies; each bite was better than the next.

The service was great too, which always makes for a fully satisfying experience.

If you're in the Boston (or Newport!) area, I strongly urge you to go. And go hungry! There's plenty you'll want to order. Check out the menu(s) here: http://www.pastabeachrestaurants.com/

I wasn't able to snap too many pictures that night, and those that I did were on my phone (poor quality) but here are a few:

Mom, Chris, Cait, Grant, and me

The Bride-to-Be and her maids: me, Cait, Samantha, Julianne, Taylor, Chelsea

The Groom-to-Be and his groomsmen: Ari, Chris, Adam, Grant, Craig, David

Chris, Cait, Dad, and me

 The three of us "kids" with Mom

After dinner, we all took a walk around Boston Harbor and enjoyed the warm night. Once back at the hotel, we hung around the bar until it was time to get our beauty sleep for the Big Day!

xo Belle

My Oh My, Strawberry Rhubarb Pie

Wow wow wow, what an amazing July 4th weekend. And a crazy busy one too.
It was, after all, Cait & Grant's wedding day weekend. And not a moment was to be left "un-busy."

It started with the rehearsal dinner on the 3rd; the wedding on Thursday, the 4th; brunch the following morning and a barn party and barbeque later that Friday night. By Saturday, we were pooped.
And today, we still all find ourselves recovering. I guess you know that's when you had a good time, right?

In the spirit of summer and it being July 4th weekend, and also because it was just a lazy Sunday at home, I decided to make pie. Strawberry rhubarb pie to be exact.

A recipe that I hardly ever share, I've decided to bite the bullet and allow for others to make and taste the yumminess of this recipe I've safe-guarded for so long. Although it's a bit of a process, it's well worth it in the end. All will undoubtedly be licking their plates clean. Promise.

What you'll need to make a 9" pie:

Crust
1/3 c. cold water
1 t. sugar
1/2 t. salt
2/3 c. shortening - I use Crisco. Although I actually dislike the idea of it, it does make for some good crust
2 c. flour

Filling
3 c. strawberries, washed and halved
2 c. fresh red rhubarb, washed and chopped
3/4 c. sugar
1/3 c. corn starch

Misc.
1 large and 1 small mixing bowl
9" pie dish
pastry brush
measuring cups
1 egg
1/2 T. sugar

Now first things first, you need to make the crust as it has to sit in the fridge for a few hours.

To make the crust—

1. Combine water, sugar and salt in bowl. 

2. In a separate, larger bowl, cut the shortening into the flour using your fingertips to pinch the flour and shortening together and mixing until it gets crumbly looking--almost like small pebbles.

3. Add the water mixture slowly while tossing the flour mixture. Mix till dough comes together. 

4. Divide dough in half and form into 2 flattened disks. 

5.  Wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for several hours (or overnight).

After "patiently" waiting for a few hours for the dough, you'll then want to start on the filling.

I usually will take the dough out before starting on the filling as its good for it to warm up a bit before having to roll out.

Now, for the filling...

You'll want to combine the berries, rhubarb, cornstarch and sugar all in a bowl. 

The moisture from the strawberries and rhubarb should allow for the mixture to have a paste-like coating on the fruit. Now, let the filling sit for a couple while you work on rollin' out the dough.

On a floured surface or on wax paper, roll out ONE disk to the size of a 12" circle (or you know, a shape that is not so circular...)

Fit this into your 9" pie dish as the "bottom crust." Your dough should be wide enough to fit the bottom and sides and still have some hanging outside the dish (or at least close to the edge).

Pour the filling on in there...

And now roll out your other dough disk the same as you did with the first. Once rolled out, top off your pie with the "top crust." Trim away the excess. And then "thumb" the sides to seal the two dough layers together and to make for a pretty crust.

If you have some left over dough (which you will), you may like to make a design with it. 

You'll then want to lightly brush the top with a beaten egg and pop the pie in the fridge for 30 minutes.

In the interim, pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees F.

After 30 minutes, take your pie out and brush once more with the egg wash, dust the top with some sugar and cut some air slices into the top - I always try to make it part of my design.

Then, into the oven it goes for 1 hour & 15 minutes.

Your place will smell like heaven as it bakes, and once finished, you'll have something that looks like this:

Only for it to look like this, moments later...

You can pretty much make this pie with any filling you so desire. Whether it be triple berry, cherry, apple, etc., you won't be disappointed.

Hope you enjoy!

xo Belle

Cookie's Fortune

Here's to hoping this fortune comes true!

I guess only time will tell.

xo Belle

Snacky Dinner

"Snacky Dinner" is what I call this dish. It's one of my favorite meals.
Just cut up some veggies; slice some cheese, dried sausage and fruit; plop down some hummus and chutney; and get some delicious crusty baguette.
Perfect for when you just don't feel like cooking, don't want anything too heavy, or a famished and just need to whip something up quickly!

xo Belle

Bachelorette Weekend, Part 3

It was Saturday night, the official "bachelorette night out" of the weekend. After a busy yet blissful day in our bikinis, we went back to the hotel to "rehydrate" and get ready for the night.


After primping, the Bachelorette Queen and us subjects were good to go.

It was off to the Buddha Sky Bar & Lounge on Atlantic Ave, kicking off the night with some drinks and sushi. I had heard rave reviews of this restaurant from many different people and thought it'd be a perfect start to our evening.

We were NOT disappointed. Their cocktails were phenomenal - can you say strawberry cupcake champagne, anyone? Their appetizers, so so tasty (I recommend the rock shrimp!), and the sushi - some of the best I've ever eaten. I think we may have sampled just about every roll on the menu.
My favorite... the El Guapo: spicy tuna, avocado, blue crab, parmesan cheese baked on top. Muy muy guapo!

We ended the night there with a congratulatory mochi ice cream dessert - complete with fireworks.

Tummies filled, we decided to walk some of it off by strolling Atlantic Ave. and popping into the bars that caught our eyes along the way.

Tequilaaaaa.

We then danced the night away at one of the clubs on Atlantic, in celebration of Cait's last "horrah!"

Oh, and we made friends with security.

The night turned into morning and we made our way back home to bed.
An amazing night, with amazing friends. Definitely one to remember.

Sunday morning... not so wonderful.

Sorry ladies - these were just to gorgeous to not post ;)

After a headaching lazy Sunday brunch, it was back to the airport and homeward bound.

Congrats again Cait!

xo Belle

Bachelorette Weekend, Part 2

Okay, okay, so our "early" Saturday morning may have turned into a not so early one. But hey, who is ever opposed to a little extra sleep and brunch? Especially if it's a French bakery's brunch?

In need of some coffee and sustenance to recover from our night of margs and bubbly, we made our way over to The Bakery of France. A cute little sit-down bakery with a full menu of authentic French food and desserts, they offer both indoor and outdoor seating. Us New Englanders, wanting to catch as many rays as possible in the Florida sun, chose the large table outside on the terrace.

We were seated and given menus to drool look over. Within seconds, we all agreed that first things first - the Nutella coffee was a must.

Iced or hot, this drink was coffee decandence.

Crepes, waffles, omelettes, eclairs, and macaroons - it seemed like we ordered the entire place. Each bite equally delicious and naughty.

Having had our fill, we made our way to the hotel to get ready to hit the beach.
We were staying at the Seagate Hotel & Spa in Delray. A beautiful hotel, right on Atlantic Avenue, and just a short walk from the hotel's private beach.

Unfortunately these are the only pictures I have of our rooms, but they were pretty spacious and both rooms had nice size balconies with a great view of downtown.

All the sugar from brunch was getting to us...

A great feature about the hotel is that not only do they have a private pool and beach area, but they also have a cute little trolley to take you there (and anywhere else you might want to go in town for that matter). 

"To the beach!"

We lounged, we swam, we tanned, we had a Greek god guy bringing us drinks left and right. We were in paradise.

Part 3 to follow soon!

xo Belle