Sweet and Salty

I made these last Sunday and they turned out pretty tasty! I got the recipe from the Sugar Cooking Blog, which I found via Pinterest. Dan loves pretzels and I love anything sweet so I knew they would be perfect!

Pretzel Cookies with Chocolate and Peanut Butter Chips

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups of all purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp. of salt
• 1/4 tsp. of baking soda
• 1/2 cup of butter at room temperature
• 1/2 cup of tightly packed light brown sugar
• 1/3 cup of granulated sugar
• 1 egg (beaten)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 cup milk chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup peanut butter chips
• 1/2 cup broken up pretzel pieces
• Preztel Salt or Sea Salt

Directions:

1. In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
2. In a larger bowl, beat the butter and sugars together on medium speed until light and fluffy (about 2-3 minutes). On low speed, slowly add the beaten egg and vanilla extract. Beat to combine, scrape down the sides of the bowl.
3. Add the flour mixture and beat just until there are no more streaks of flour. Stir in the chocolate chips, peanut butter chips, and preztels. Cover and refrigerate for an hour.
4. Preheat the oven to 350F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper. Scoop out well rounded tablespoonfuls of the dough and sprinkle with pretzel salt. Leave about 2 inches between each ball. Bake for 10 minutes. If you prefer crispier cookies increase the baking time by 1-2 minutes. Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet for a few minutes before removing.

Fall Favorites

Check out my favorite fall items some direct from my closet, some I'd like to own for the season! Love the corduroy, suede and denim for the fall!

Fall Favorites by ashearin featuring corduroy skinny jeans

H M flared dress
£15 - hm.com

Old Navy canvas vest
$25 - oldnavy.gap.com

J Brand corduroy skinny jeans
£200 - net-a-porter.com

J crew
$98 - jcrew.com

J Crew corduroy shorts
$98 - jcrew.com

Dorothy Perkins flat heels
£30 - dorothyperkins.com

Steve Madden metallic flat
$90 - nordstrom.com

Old Navy suede lace up boots
$37 - oldnavy.gap.com

ASOS cross body bag
$27 - asos.com

H m jewelry
£6.99 - hm.com

H M jewel necklace
£6.99 - hm.com

Red Knit Dress

As simple as this dress looks it was actually a couple of "firsts" for me and I was a little hesitant. It was my first time working with knit fabric and first time sewing sleeves. As simple as it looks... it was!! I didn't have any problem sewing the knit fabric and the sleeves were a breeze!


I love this dress because it's so versatile for the fall and winter. It's easy to belt it, layer it, pair it with tights and boots or dress it up with heels. I like it so much I plan to make it again in black with full length sleeves as well.

Grilled Mahi Mahi with Red Pepper Sauce

I got this recipe out of the book Cook This Not That. The "not that" is On the Border (restaurant) Grilled Mahi Mahi which has 970 calories.
This recipe is amazing! The recipe makes enough sauce to use for leftovers in another dish.

Grilled Mahi Mahi with Red Pepper Sauce

Ingredients
1 jar of (12oz) roasted red peppers, drained
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1 clove of garlic
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp red wine vinegar
1/2 tsp ground cumin
Salt and Pepper to taste
Fresh or Frozen Mahi Mahi.

Directions:
Combine red peppers, cayenne, garlic, olive oil, vinegar and cumin in a blender or food processor until smooth. Season with salt and pepper.

Lightly brush olive oil on both sides of fish. Season with salt and pepper. Grill for 4-5 minutes on each side.

Serve fish topped with sauce.

Trip to Target: Missoni Mission

So I've been hearing all about the Missoni line at Target and thought I would go check it out today. I was under the impression it was only clothing since I originally saw it on a fashion blog. But it's actually everything, and I mean EVERYthing! (Kids clothes, lingerie, blankets, cosmetic bags, furniture, dishes, etc)

UPDATE: I just saw the Missoni for Target commercial (9:30pm). Realized I'm an idiot for not knowing how awesome the entire line is... wish I would have known to look for other items today while in the store.

Let me first state (to my husband) that I did NOT buy a single item. In case you are wondering, I'm on a strict "no spend" grounding(by myself) due to an over the top bar bill this past weekend in Broad Ripple (oopsie!)

Needless to say, I did have to run to Target for necessary items and YOU know how hard it is to get out of Target sticking just to your list!!!

Here's a few of the items I thought were cute and I might have considered buying if I were not grounded.

  Silk Scarf 

Silk camisole and panties

 

Makeup Bag

Dishes

Overall you can see the line is brightly colored and kind of tribal. I like the black and white zig zags! 

**FYI- The Target website crashed today due to the amount of traffic. Maybe it's just me, but I didn't think it was all that special. Although I did go to see it.  I just don't think it's really my style. 

While perusing Target I came across a few other items that I looonged to purchase but didn't (yay me!!). 

Aren't these cuffs adorable!!! I love them in EVERY color! 

New fall Essie line. I ALSO love these in EVERY color! 

Believe it or not, I did stick to my list. Actually, I didn't purchase the lipstick as it is not a necessity! :) 

Black Bottom Brownie Cupcakes

These are actually not cupcakes per se, since they aren't cake and really just brownie. But they are made in a cupcake pan so that's what I'm gonna call em!

I'm not gonna lie I was really proud of these this weekend! I took a few recipes and came up with this one and fortunately they turned out fabulous!!

Black Bottom Brownie Cupcakes

Ingredients:

Boxed Brownie Mix (usually asks for egg, oil and water)

8 oz cream cheese at room temperature (can be low fat, no fat whatever)

1/3 cup of sugar

1 egg

1/2 bag of mini chocolate chips

Directions:

Prepare brownies as directed on the box. Spoon into cupcake pan about half full. 

Beat cream cheese, sugar, and egg until mixed thoroughly, add chocolate chips. Plop about a spoonful into the center of your brownie cupcakes. 

Bake on 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until inserted toothpick comes out clean. 

Enjoy! 

Ribbon Wands

I saw this idea online somewhere a few months before our wedding and thought it looked like a fun DIY project. I originally wanted to just use bells in lieu of rice or bubbles. The bells are cheap and this was one area I wasn't really concerned about. Once I showed Dan though he decided he liked this idea much better than anything else.

It's a pretty simple project. Pick up some dow rods ($0.99 for pack of 20) at a crafts store and spools of ribbon in your wedding colors. Since we were making 200+ wands I decided to only use ribbon strands of 12" (2 per wand). If I had a smaller wedding I definitely would have gone with a longer ribbon.

My mom spray painted the wands white and we used a hot glue gun to attach the ribbon. See, Easy!!

Fruit Salsa and Chips

I made this recipe a few years ago and decided to make it yesterday for a labor day weekend get together. I made a few changes to the original recipe and am pretty happy with it!

Fruit Salsa and Chips

Ingredients
2 kiwis
2 apples
1 pound of strawberries
1 Tbsp Sugar
1 Tbsp Brown Sugar
2 Tbsp jelly or preserves
1 package of flour tortillas (taco size)
Cinnamon Sugar
Spray butter

Directions:
Dice fruit and mix together with sugars and fruit preserves. You can use any flavor. Chill in fridge.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place tortillas on cookie sheets. Spray one side with spray butter. I used a pastry brush to coat. Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar. Use pizza cutter to cut into wedges. Bake 12-15 minutes. You really have to watch because it took awhile to get the chips crispy.

Serve chips with fruit mixture. Enjoy!