She Said YES to the Dress!

Last summer Precious Daughter and her Handsome Beau became engaged.  

Since then, lots of plans have been made including the wedding and reception venues, photographers, flowers and decorations, food and cake, etc., etc.,

Precious Daughter has been looking at wedding dresses but wasn't ready to commit to one until she felt she had seen them all!

Handsome Beau's mother is from the Memphis area and told her of a wedding store in Brinkley, Arkansas named Low's.  We made plans to visit this past weekend.

Precious Daughter's mother-in-law to-be, welcomed us to her lovely home Friday afternoon then showed us around town.  We went to several fun shops and boutiques and had a delicious dinner at an Italian restaurant.  We were treated quite royally!

Early the next morning, we headed to Low's.  Brinkley, AR, is a small town but this store was huge and had tons of bridal dresses!

PD set about finding gowns to try on.

Low's was having a sale that weekend so there were lots of young ladies trying on dresses too!

PD had narrowed down the styles she was looking for so here are a few gowns 

that met her expectations.

Isn't she gorgeous?!!

I can't show the dress she chose but the good news is she DID say 

YES to one dress and it's on order!  

We had such a good time together watching her try all of these beautiful gowns on!  

I'm so glad Precious Daughter's mother-in-law to-be suggested this store.  

She also told us something that really touched my heart.  She said when her boys were babies and crying at night, she would just rock them and pray that their future wives' parents were rocking and loving on them, too.  What a beautiful prayer!!  

I think Precious Daughter is a lucky young lady to have a new 

mother-in-LOVE!!

 

The excitement continues to mount but at least she can check 

another (REALLY BIG) item off of her list!

Thanks for stopping by!

Zenda

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Simple Breakfast Setting

This morning I'm sharing a simple breakfast setting using some chargers I found on vacation.  We headed to Gulf Shores a couple of weeks ago for some golf and beach time.  I fit in a little visit to Hobby Lobby, too! 

These chargers reminded me a little of the beach and I was glad I bought them.  We drove through snow on our way back from the shore!  

I paired them with dishes I had.  

The white plates were a GW find, the salad plates are Mikasa (San Marco) and the bowls are from William Sonoma.  The glasses are from Dollar Tree. 

Here you can see our 'golden oak' cabinets.  I'm ready for a new brighter color!

  A simple centerpiece for an easy breakfast.

Hope you're enjoying these last days of February.  

We're hoping March will bring good weather so construction can begin on our new house.  Our foundation guy said he would be ready to begin the first of the month!!  We'll see if Mother Nature cooperates!

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Shrimp Bisque for a Special Valentine's Day Dinner

We'll be on a little get away this Valentine's Day but I wanted to share a delicious recipe that would be perfect for a special dinner with your honey.  I made this for New Year's Eve and Wonderful Hubby enjoyed it so much he made me promise I'd make it again.

I found the recipe, Shrimp Bisque with Sherry, at MoreThanGourmet.com and it is so rich and luxurious!

I made the bisque base the day before and chilled it until I was ready to finish it up the next day but you could make it all on the same day.  It has several steps but nothing is difficult or complicated and is SO worth the effort!  It's quite rich, so if you're serving it as a first course, plan a lighter entrée.

Ingredients

Serves  6-8

• 1 pound uncooked medium to large shrimp (31-40 count), peeled, shells reserved
• 5 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 6 tablespoons vegetable oil, divided
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 cup diced celery
• 1/2 cup diced peeled carrots
• 1 cup diced onions
• 1 1/2 cups canned Roma tomatoes
• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper, or to taste
• 1 cup dry white wine
• 3 ounces Glace de Fruits de Mer Gold® dissolved in 8 cups hot water                           

                (I just used 8 cups of fish stock)

• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1/2 cup dry sherry
• Salt to taste

Directions

1. Make the bisque base: Add the butter and 5 tablespoons of the vegetable oil to a stockpot over medium-high heat. When the butter has melted and the oil/butter mixture is hot, add the shells from shrimp and the celery, carrots, and onion.  Cook, stirring, about 3-4 minutes, until the vegetables are soft and slightly browned. Add the garlic and cook a minute more.
2. Stir in the tomatoes and cook, stirring, for 3-4 minutes. Add the flour and cayenne and cook, stirring occasionally, 4-6 minutes. Pour in the wine, stirring to loosen browned bits on bottom of stockpot. Reduce the heat to medium, add the diluted Glace de Fruits de Mer Gold® and bring the base to a simmer. Continue simmering, stirring occasionally, about 30 minutes.
3. Remove the base from the heat. Purée it with a hand-held blender (or in batches in a countertop blender) until smooth. Set the bisque base aside.
4. Warm the remaining tablespoon of vegetable oil in second stockpot over medium-high heat. Add the shrimp and cook, stirring, about 3 minutes, until they change color and curl slightly. Reserve 6-8 shrimp to use as a garnish.
5. Strain the bisque base into the second stockpot, using an extra-fine mesh strainer to remove all solids, including shell remnants. Discard the solids and keep the first stockpot to use in step 6. Stir to combine the shrimp and the bisque base and set the mixture aside.
6. Mix the heavy cream and sherry in the first stockpot. Add shrimp/bisque base mixture and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, 2-3 minutes, until heated through. Season to taste with salt.
7. Serve the bisque in warmed bowls, garnished with a whole shrimp and a sprinkling of parsley. 

HOUSE UPDATE -
 We have been very busy the last several weeks visiting with different contractors and looking at flooring, cabinets and brick.  Our foundation man says he'll be ready to start in about three weeks, depending on the weather!!  Since WH wants to be around throughout the building process, we've decided to head south for several days now and try to relax a bit. 

I hope you and your sweetie have a delightful Valentine's Day! 

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