Shabby Apple Giveaway

GIVEAWAY CLOSED!

Ok, this post doesn't have anything to do with food. It has to do with clothes shopping - my second favorite thing to do after cook! Plus you have to look good when you serve all the delicious food you just cooked!

There is this cute online shop called Shabby Apple. They have adorable dresses, skirts, accessories and even bridesmaids dresses that I am totally in love with! Their designs are classic yet modern and they offer something for every body type. These dresses so ultra-feminine which I totally love. They even have some cute kids clothes and aprons too. There is a wide array of colors in their clothes so if you're looking for specific colors, browse around and I'm sure you'll find what you're looking for (so many cute white dresses!). A lot of the dresses are vintage-inspired which is so chic right now!

You can learn more by visiting their Facebook page by clicking here. Be sure to "Like" the page page to get special announcements and coupons.

Now for the good news! Shabby Apple would like to give one of my readers their Ahoy! dress. This is it:

All you have to do to enter to win is go to Shabby Apple, come back here and leave a comment about the website or tell me which item is your favorite. Make sure you leave your email address with your comment so I can contact the winner.

This giveaway is opened to U.S. residents only. The giveaway will end on Tuesday July 5 at 12:01 am and at that time I will randomly pick a winner. Good luck!

But if you don't win this dress and/or want to purchase something else, you can use this discount code to get 10% off. The code is hopeinthekitchen10off and will expire in one month.

Happy Monday!

Cupcakes from Fancy Cake Shop

For all of you cupcake lovers out there, there is a wonderful cake shop in Carlisle, PA called Fancy Cake Shop. I have been lucky to have their cupcakes on 3 different occasions this summer. Their lovely creations are very creative and always tasty. If you're ever in Carlisle, if you live there or if you're just looking for a special treat, you must check them out. They even make gorgeous wedding cakes.

First I had the lemon cupcakes and the raspberry cupcakes (yes, I ate one of each!) at Katie's Bridal Shower. They will even coordinate the cupcake frosting color to your party color scheme!

Then I had pink champagne cream filled cupcakes at my bridal shower! So delectable!

And just last weekend I had the cheesecake filled cupcakes at Bec's Fiesta. I even had one the next morning for breakfast because I'm pretty sure I dreamt about them!

I cannot wait until another special occasion arises so I can get more of these wonderful cupcakes!

**And these are my own opinions of Fancy Cake Shop. They have no idea who I am. But I sure do know who they are! Yum!

l

Shrimp and Avocado Salad

Continuing on with the fiesta on Saturday, here is a recipe for a delicious summer salad. I got the recipe from a blog that Bec showed and I'm loving it: Gina's Skinny Recipes. There are so many great recipes on this site! I have made many things from her.

1 lb shrimp, cooked, deveined, peeled and chopped

1 tomato, seeded and diced

1 avocado, diced

1/2 jalapeno pepper, finely diced

Juice of 2 limes

1 teaspoon olive oil

1 tablespoon fresh cilantro, chopped

salt

pepper

In a small bowl, combine lime juice, oil, pinch of salt and pepper. Set aside.

In a large bowl combine the shrimp, tomato, avocado and jalapeno. Pour dressing over top and add cilantro. Toss gently. Add more salt and pepper if necessary.

**You can also add some finely diced red onion in the dressing but we did not because we're not big onion lovers**

Tex Mex Burgers

On Saturday we had a fiesta for this young girl's birthday. I originally wanted the party to be Mediterranean themed, then Spanish themed but it ended up being a fiesta theme. So we had a nice mix of it all. Bec throws fiestas for her students all the time so I thought she needed one thrown for her.

Throughout the next few posts, I will write about what we ate, starting with the Tex Mex Burger. I got this recipe from a blog called Mennonite Girls Can Cook.

For the burgers (makes 4):

1 pound ground beef

1 egg

1/4 cup fine bread crumbs

1 tablespoon milk

1/4 cup grated onion

1 1/2 tablespoon dry taco seasoning

Mexican cheese blend, shredded

Mix all ingredients EXCEPT cheese with your hands. Form into 4 patties. Place on a hot grill and cook to your liking. Once nearly done, top with shredded cheese and heat until cheese melts.

For Pico de Gallo topping:

3 Roma tomatoes, diced

3/4 cup yellow & red bell pepper combined, diced

1/2 cup red onion, diced (I didn't use)

1/2 small jalapeno, seeded and diced

1/4 cup fresh cilantro, finely chopped

1 teaspoon sugar

juice of 1 lime

salt

pepper

Mix all ingredients together in a non metallic bowl. Cover and refrigerate for up to one day in advance.

For Spicy Mayo and all other ingredients:

1/2 cup mayo

hot sauce

Mix mayo with hot sauce to your taste.

1 avacado, sliced

4 Kaiser rolls

Place burger on roll, top with pico de gallo, slather spicy mayo on top part of bun and add sliced avacado.

Eventhough it was Bec's bday, she still took food pix for me! Thank you!

o

Salt and Vinegar Grilled Potato Slices

Love these because they remind me of salt and vinegar chips! From Martha!

1 lb potatoes cut into 1/4 inch slices

2 cups white vinegar

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 1/2 teaspoons salt, plus more for sprinkling

1/4 teaspoon ground pepper

Bring potatoes and vinegar to a boil in a medium saucepan (vinegar should cover potatoes or you can add some water if you don't have enough vinegar). Reduce heat to medium-low until just fork tender, about 5 minutes. Let potatoes cool in vinegar for 30 minutes (this was too long to wait so I skipped this step). Drain well and gently toss with oil, salt and pepper.

Preheat grill to medium- high heat. Grill potatoes in a single layer until evenly browned and cooked through - a grill pan is nice for this or else it is very easy to lose the potatoes in the grill slats. Sprinkle with salt before serving.

A Beautiful Afternoon

Saturday was my bridal shower. It was completely beyond lovely! My bridesmaids, mom and mother in law did a fantastic job of planning a terrific afternoon and I love every minute of it!

An afternoon tea party. Here is a silver tea set that I bought at an auction years ago and my mom put lots of time into polishing it!

The shower was at the Orris House Inn in Mechanicburg, PA. Each table was set with teacups and in each cup was a bundle of homemade sugar cube - some colored and in various heart and flower shapes. There was also a "hope" sign with questions Bec asked to both Adam and I - we were asked the same question and our answers were displayed for everyone to enjoy (What was your first date like? What was it like meeting Adam/Hope's family? What are your favorite qualities of Hope/Adam?).

We had a delicious lunch by C&J Catering. Sandwiches, salad and chilled strawberry soup.

And because I love cupcakes so much, we had pink champagne cupcakes. Notice the cute Alice In Wonderland theme?!..

Bec took the time to glue little hearts on to the tea bags!

We played a few games...

Kristin and Arielle collected kitchen tools that my mom sewed on an apron. Everyone then played a memory game to see if they could remember everything on my apron as I ran through the crowd. There were some tough ones - a jalapeno pepper corer and a banana slicer!

Finally, I received some great gifts including a cookbook called Hope in the Kitchen The Wedding Edition - a compilation of recipes from the ladies at the shower. I love it!

Thank you to everyone for making my day special! And thank you to Bec for these photos!