tuesday. the kitchen engine.

awww ... date night!
having never taken a cooking class, last night's Gnocchi from Scratch class at, The Kitchen Engine, was a whole new experience ... and SO. MUCH. FUN! (it's at the flour mill downtown!)

not only do you get to learn a ton of new tips and tricks to make life easier in the kitchen ... it's like watching the food network for an hour and a half, and then getting to eat the food! they have a pretty sweet set-up where they walk you through making everything (the lady wasn't standing there the whole time ... just every time i tried to take a picture! then again, when you're the manager, you can do whatever you want!):


and on the other side of the store is an actual kitchen appliance store with all kinds of fun stuff to look through—complete with 20-ish different kinds of salt you can purchase ... who knew there were that many kinds to begin with?!

the husband and i learned how to make a bunch of new stuff ... AND got to hang out together! what could be better?!

here's what we made:
• bruschetta
• gnocchi ... bathed in butter and garlic
• pesto alfredo sauce (from scratch!) of which we topped the gnocchi with, then added tomatoes, basalmic reduction, and pancetta!

and the visual ...
something new and fun to try ... and they have TONS of class options every week. i will most definitely be returning!

monday. summer has arrived.

some of my favorites from the beginnings of summer.

... summer mornings before we head outside.

... my budding little hoopstar.
... crazy dancer.
... daddy and the kiddos.

... apple-mania!

... pumpkins!

... more zucchini than i'll even know what to do with. really, it's like land of the giants out there!
... back porch dinners.


... cold (but fun!) 4th of july.

... not too sure about that whole "fireworks" thing.

... not too sure about that whole "face" thing.

... little better.

... awww, marissa. you should know better than to hide from my camera by now.

... whoa, fireworks!

monday. balance.

stress, emotional roller coasters, on top of the every day, doesn't make for a balanced jen. and an unbalanced jen isn't good for anyone ... might make for a clean house, but that's about it.

body and brain sometimes get a little off-track. but i think the two have finally met somewhere in the middle. here's to day one of getting it back together.