Honeymoon food porn

Because who doesn't love a little Monday morning food porn? I had such an amazing weekend, I thought I should spread the smiles by reminiscing about our fare on the honeymoon in January. If there's one good thing about cruising, it's the endless amounts of amazing food at your fingertips 24 hours a day. You don't eat when you're hungry,  you eat when you're not full anymore from your last meal. There were 21 restaurants on the ship we were on, the Norwegian Epic. We didn't get to try them all but we sure did give it a good old college try!

 

I do have to share a little disappointing news with you. It's not like I didn't know this already but it sort of hit home that my 20's are gone-dy last week when I got a text from Main Man saying: "You're no longer a 20 something food blogger. Did you forget that you're 30?"  Jeeeeeeeeesh! So I suppose I have to change my banner/title, but am thinking I will give myself this week to enjoy it for a bit longer. Don't judge :)

 

I have a new blog I would like to share with you, it's not food related, but you can bet it's on my regular reading list. My good friend Leslie has started a new blog regarding her workout regimen, her struggles with it, and a new challenge she is undertaking for herself to hit her fitness goals. Main Man and I actually joined her at hot yoga this weekend (he was surprised at how hard it actually is, and promised to go back with me) so it's fun to read about her progress, and her outlook on life. She's a very talented writer and she is just as insightful in real life as she is in her writing, so you see why I love to hang out with her! If you would like to join me in following her, check her blog out HERE!!

 

Every morning we hit the breakfast buffet and they had an omelet station where someone would make your eggs however you desire them. I had an egg white omelet with everything in it each morning...some toast, turkey bacon, and a roasted tomato and I was good to go for the day!

The first place we docked the ship after 2 days at sea was St. Maarten. We had arranged to do an America's Cup regatta boat race, so we headed straight for that in the morning after getting off the ship. We were put to work on the Stars and Stripes, the actual boat that won the 1986 America's Cup race, and we raced a Canadian sailboat....and ended up winning! 'Merica!!

We worked up quite an appetite spinning the gears on the sailboat, so we went in search of the authentic Caribbean food. This was a jerk spiced conch dish that we got at an open air restaurant right on the beach in St Maarten. This is tied for my favorite meal of the entire trip (I didn't get a picture of the competitor, the salmon oscar I had the first night on the boat), I can't even explain the flavors in the spice profile...a tiny hint of sweetness followed by the heat...amazing! And so cool to gaze at the blue water and white sand beaches while nibbling on lunch and sipping on a beer...this meal was the epitome of vacation.

Main Man had a grilled fish sandwich that day on the beach, and it was just as amazing as my meal. The fish was so fresh and flaky with such a great seasoning on it. Mmmmmm, I need to live somewhere that's not landlocked at some point in my life...

This was at Taste, one of the free restaurants on the ship. We were super impressed with the free choices on board, as well as the specialty restaurants. You have to pay a small fee at the specialty places, and can order anything you want on the menu, two meals each if you have the room in your tummy. We got appetizers, salads, and were never hungry by time we got our meals at dinner each night...the food was better than I remember on past cruises. I had a black mussels and seafood pasta...

 

And Main Man was pumped to enjoy prime rib and a baked potato...he was impressed that the meat tasted as good as it does at home. If an Iowan says your prime is good, you know you're doing something right!

 

In St Thomas, we chose a ziplining excursion since neither of us had ever done it before. Main Man has an aversion to heights so I'm not sure how he did so much better than me at this, but we both really enjoyed it. There were 6 ziplines, each getting steadily longer and higher up as we went. The last one was so tall, that if there had been any other way down, I would've taken it. But I had to just shut my eyes and go.....wheeeeeeeee!

 

The view above is of the famous Megan's beach overlooking the area where all the celebrities homes are on the island...

 

 

We had lunch at a little place in the shopping district of St Thomas after we finished our ziplining tour...I was a little obsessed with the conch so I got it every place it was offered, although I never did get the conch salad I was looking for. This was conch and onion in a garlic sauce with macaroni and cheese and sweet potato mash with a salad. This was amazing as well but came in second in my conch meals for the trip...

 

 

Main Man had the jerk chicken with the same sides as my meal. He liked it so much he has requested it at home, so you will be seeing a jerk chicken recipe sometime soon on the blog.

 

The Norwegian Epic is the only ship that has a Cirque du Soleil show at sea...amazing doesn't even begin to describe the talent these people were showing with balance, strength, and poise (in the tiniest space, mind you) while the ship rocked from the waves so much that I walked myself into a wall on the way to the bathroom after only one glass of wine. I don't know how it's humanly possible to do what these people do...the show included dinner, and it was fabulous but we were not allowed to take photos once the show started so as not to disturb the performers. This was an unbelievable experience that we will never forget...

The last day of the trip, we docked in Nassau, Bahamas for the day. We embarked on an underwater submarine type trip that took up most of the day, so we didn't have much time for looking around. This was probably one of the neatest experiences of my life...it's so unnatural to feel like you're breathing underwater. I would recommend this to anyone who visits the Bahamas! We went to Atlantis the last time we were there, and spent the whole day racing each other up the steps to the slides having a blast like 10 year old kids, but we wanted to try something different this time. We've decided that we love Nassau so much, we want to take a trip just there sometime....

We stopped at a place called Sharkey's right on the beach as we were heading back to the boat, so we could grab some conch fritters to fill our craving...yummo! There's our honeymoon in a nutshell...I wish I would've made this post sooner, I am now longing for white sand beaches and piles of extravagant food at my beck and call. I hope you all enjoyed your Monday escape to the Caribbean...now get back to work!!

 

Spicy sesame noodles with chicken

My wedding was planned around little memories and sentimentalities, that most people in attendance wouldn't even have noticed. The yellow roses in my bouquet? Those were a memorial to my Grandma Kratoska, who just adored yellow roses. The handkerchief I had wrapped around my bouquet? That was given to me by Justin's Aunt Cheryl and was owned by his Grandma Jamison, who has passed. The wedding box at the alter where we locked letters to each other and a bottle of wine to share on our anniversary? My father made it for us by hand. The beginning of my wedding speech? Honored and congratulated my parents on 31 years of marriage and my Grandma and Grandpa Bingaman on 57 years of marriage. I had planned on cutting a heart out of one of my Grandpa Kratoska's blazers to sew into my wedding dress and using one of my Great Grandma Bing's broaches for my necklace, but neither of those ideas ever ended up working out.

 

Remember when I told you about my wedding shower thrown by my lovely cousin Betsy for the Kratoska side? I received so many sentimental gifts that day, I get a tear in my eye just thinking about it. Just one tear though, don't go making fun of my emotional status today! The teacup that is pictured in that post was given to me by Betsy, and was originally our Great Grandma Maude's (my Grandpa Kratoska's mother) which she received as a wedding gift. The bowl that is pictured was given to my mother in a set when her and my father were married. These pieces of china made me. My Great Grandmother sipped from that cup before my Grandfather was a twinkle in her eye. And now it's mine. I get to sit and imagine her life then and her excitement about getting married and starting a family, except I know the future that she didn't have a glimpse of yet. I know she ends up having a boy named Jim, who has twins with his wife Mary. One of those twins is my father Dan, who married Shari and had their first child, a daughter named Abby (dat's me!). He gave his daughter away to be married to her husband, Main Man, this past October. It's mind-blowing when you think about the generations behind each of us. The twists in fate that put us right where we're supposed to be in order for life to continue how it should. And I sit with the hope that someday after I'm long gone, my great grand-daughter will be sitting in awe of the china teacup that I've passed down to her from my great grandmother. Oh, how neat would it be to see that moment!?

 

The other irreplaceable gift I received at that shower was the cookbook full of Kratoska favorites, in everyone's own handwriting. To be able to open that up and get the warm fuzzy I do when I decide to make a family recipe (like the tomato basil soup from my Aunt Kris) is indescribable. It's almost as if it brings me closer to my roots just by reading the words written by my loved ones. These cookbooks will be my favorite hand-me-down to my children someday...you know, when I get good enough that I don't need recipes to cook anymore, and can just throw things together like my Grandma Theda can. Nothin' beats Grandma food, I don't care who you are. It's the ultimate comfort cooking.

 

This recipe was my cousin Emma's contribution to that book. Emma is the one that made our save the dates and our programs for the big day, and she recently got engaged herself!! Another Kratoska wedding in the works, yippeeeee!! Emma also knows her cousin very well, and included a pasta recipe with some kick in the pants for me to try after leaving the Kratoska name behind...so I did. And I loved it! Very simple, very slurpworthy, and very taste-tacular! I'm a little upset that I waited so long to make this...

 

8 oz dry wheat spaghetti

1 garlic clove (I used 4...shoot me!)

1 cup fresh snow peas (I used spinach instead, no snow peas on hand)

1 T grated fresh ginger

3 T rice wine vinegar

3 T soy sauce (I used low sodium)

1 T canola oil (I used olive oil)

1 T water

1 T sesame oil

3 t Sriracha (I used 3 times that amount, I like me some heat)

2 t honey

1 cup chopped, cooked chicken breast (I just cooked and seasoned 2 breasts and diced them up)

1/2 cup chopped cilantro

 

Boil salted water in a large pot and cook the spaghetti al dente according to package directions. When the spaghetti goes in, mist a skillet with cooking spray and add the garlic and snow peas (or spinach). Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally until garlic is fragrant. Combine the vinegar, soy sauce, oils, water, sriracha, and honey in a small bowl and stir to combine. When the spaghetti is cooked, transfer to a colander to drain and pour the spaghetti back into the pot. Add the chopped chicken and snow peas/garlic mixture. Pour the prepared sauce over the mixture and stir until coated. Top with cilantro. I added sesame seeds on top for good measure.

 

Yields: 6 one cup servings

 

 

Deviled egg dip

In case any of you were interested, I was featured on Simply Bridal's website a couple of months ago since I won a free wedding dress from them last year. I entered a Facebook contest based on votes from friends and won 3rd place, which qualified me to choose a dress from their website. I still feel bad about my constant posting begging all my friends to vote for me, but only a little bad when I think about how excited I was to find out that I won on Christmas morning. Seriously...best Christmas ever. Anyway, check out my interview with them and if you are in the market for a wedding dress anytime soon, I would recommend them hands down! I would not, however, recommend eating this dip. This is a post wedding dress diet dip, mind you. You may even want to stop reading now, because the calories could be airborne. Not sure, just playing it safe...I'm here for you.

 

You know how I feel about deviled eggs, right? Well, at least how I feel about my Aunt Vicki's deviled eggs...

 

They are strictly holiday food. No cheating. There's no reason in this world that I should eat 12 deviled eggs, and that's exactly what I would do if I was only sharing with Main Man. The only reason we stop eating them at holidays is when they're gone. There's literally never one deviled egg leftover from the double to quadrupled batch at my family gatherings. But they're kinda a pain to make, ya know? It's a process. With a result like Aunt Vicki's deviled eggs, it's worth it. But I was sort of thinking life could be a little easier...kinda like when I discovered that I could cook sweet corn in the microwave. Lifechanging. So I figured this was worth a shot. I saw a couple recipes for it on Pinterest, but decided to use Aunt Vicki's recipe to make this a dip. I just diced up the egg whites and added them to the filling, rather than filling them with the yolk mixture. Check the link above for the ingredients and instructions, and throw this stuff together for your Superbowl party...you won't be disappointed! I used Triscuits for dipping but you could use Wheat Thins, or even Club crackers. Waaaaaay easier, and my deviled egg lovin' Main Man was impressed as well. Win, win!

 

 

Wedding recommendations

I'm baaaa-aaaaack! That was said in my most scary haunted house-ish voice, just so you know. Happy Halloween week, all! Oh, and happy new last name week to me...we just got the marriage license in the mail so I am headed to get de-Kratoska'd at the DOT today. Going to be strange to change things up after almost 30 years (especially since Kratoska was not an easy one to learn), but I'm pretty pumped to have become a Stensland! Just in case you're wondering...it doesn't feel any different to be married. I still make dinner every night, and Main Man still takes out the trash. I catch glances of my updated ring with the wedding band on it once in a while, and that's about the extent of the change so far. I'll keep you posted on any new developments in that department though...

 

This post was meant to be all about the jewelry...I had it all set up with the best pics of my jewelry and the bridesmaids jewelry, so you could see the details of it and love it like I do. But then I couldn't choose my favorite photos, so I thought I would showcase the photographer here too...and then I saw one photo that perfectly showed the flowers and the jewelry together, and thought I should add the flower lady in here too. So this just turned into an "if you're getting married in Iowa, use these vendors because they rock my face off" post. So here we go :)

 

My mom's long time friend, Laura Comito, handmade all the fabulous jewelry for me and the wedding party. I've known Laura since I can remember, and I used to babysit her kids when I was a teenager, so when I thought about jewelry, I knew I had to talk to her and get some one-of-a-kind stuff that was not off the shelf like everyone else's stuff. I couldn't be happier with the results! She owns Artworks Studio (click on the link to hit her facebook page) in Carroll and she put together the most stunning jewelry I could've dreamed of for my big day! See my antique broach with dual pearl strands??  See the the yellow, grey, and silver beading for my bridesmaids? See it?? *Sigh* I hope I have another fancy occasion to wear this piece again, and also hope for a daughter to pass it down to someday.

 

Laura packed the necklaces in a gift box for the bridesmaids and I made these thick holders for the earrings to gift them to the bridal party. I was given the .pdf from a friend who saw that I had pinned something like this on Pinterest...she had just made something similar for her sister's wedding and sent me the file so I could make my own. How awesome did they turn out!? I'm not sure how to include a .pdf in a blog post (mama needs to practice blogging more now that wedding planning is over) so if you would like this file, you can email me at abbykratoska@yahoo.com and I will send it to you.

 

These were the photos I thought showcased the jewelry the best, but these are also some of my favorite photos from the photographer. The veil effect turned out beautiful...

 

 

For those of you that didn't see my blog post with the engagement photos, you haven't heard me singing Paul's praises from the rooftops yet. I've been in a lot of weddings, folks...and I mean a lot. Paul is by far the best photographer I've ever seen in action, between getting guys to do Pinterest poses they really don't want to do, to working the flower girls and ring bearer into smiling when we needed them to, to getting Main Man and I to look so natural in some extremely awkward poses that feel anything but normal....Paul is the man. If you are in need of a photographer for family photos, senior pics, newborn sittings, or especially for weddings...tell Paul I sent you to www.paultaylorphoto.com and get ready to see yourself turn into a real life model before his camera lens. I'm telling you guys...I do not look this good in real life!

 

 

 

The next person I need to let you know about (and believe me, you want to know about her) is Naomi at Iced by Naomi (which is a subset of Cache Bake Shop in Clive, IA). We had three different flavors of cakeballs, and I literally saw people stuffing them in their pockets as they walked by the cake table. This is not an exaggeration. I told them they can have as many as they want, and they continued to stuff them in their pockets like little kids. These things were to. die. for. No joke. And this is coming from a chick who didn't care if they had cake at the wedding at all...we weren't even going to do a cake cutting ceremony at all. Main Man and I have always been the type to have another plate of food rather than hit the dessert table. You guys, we ate that cake down to the box...we licked the frosting off that sucker. It was a little embarrassing. I just want you all to know how serious I am here...we shall never order cake from anyone else again. Ever.

 

Besides, Naomi came and set the whole table up, leaving us no work to be done involving the dessert table. Awesomesauce. If you want to contact Naomi, you can email her at icedbynaomi@hotmail.com and tell her I sent you!

 

Now for the flower...ohhhhhh, the flowers!! For those of you that don't know, my mom went to horticulture college and used to own her own flower shop. She was a bit nervous letting me hire someone to do the flowers for the big day, but I didn't want her worrying about a job that large the day of the wedding...and I had the perfect person in mind. Jessica did the wedding flowers for a good friend of mine who got married last Fall and I was in love with them. They were gorgeous shades of purple I hadn't ever seen before, put together so perfectly that I kept trying to snap pictures at all angles to get the best angle to capture their beauty...but to no avail. Absolutely breathtaking.

 

So naturally, I got Jessica's contact info from my friend, and met with her to see what she thought about my colors. I showed her some Pinterest photos, talked to her a few times, and she delivered the flowers without me even seeing her the day of the wedding. Totally hands off, totally beautiful, totally what I wanted, and totally reasonable pricing. She was the easiest vendor possible, and I couldn't have asked for a better result. If you need flowers for any occasion, Jessica works at the Botanical Center in Des Moines, so she's very knowledgeable if you have questions. You can contact her by email at jessica@theknotdesigns.com.

 

 

As you know if you saw the post about our save the dates, my cousin Emma is an extremely talented graphic designer and just opened  her own business called Doodle Poodle Designs. She designed and assembled all our programs for the day of the wedding, from a couple ideas I sent her. I don't even have words to describe how great she is at what she does, her meticulous eye is evident when you see the finished product. I have some very talented family members, I'm telling you!

 

 

OK, I can't stop, here are a few more of my favorite photos of Main Man and I on the big day...I could look through these all day. Each of these photos gives me the lovely feeling of being there in the moment all over again, and allows me to continue to enjoy all the wonderful details that went into planning for it all.

 

He's perdy handsome, huh!?



Just announced...Mr. and Mrs. Main Man

The picture above and the picture below both show the gorgeous venue we were so lucky to find when searching for the place to hold our big day. Prairie Moon winery in Ames was one of the first places we visited, and we both fell in love with it immediately. There's such a laid back but classic ambiance there...and I can't think of a better place to have gotten married, than in a vinyard. The owners are fantastic people, and were more than helpful with planning questions, suggestions, and vendor ideas since they do have weddings there most every weekend...they've had some practice at this stuff! If you have any need for an event venue, even business meetings, be sure to keep them in mind....Janet saved my life a few times with her planning help, you can contact her at janet@prairiemoonwinery.com so she can save yours too!

We had actually used our DJ before the wedding, so he wasn't hard to find! Ty-Tunes is owned by a young dude from Main Man's hometown who started his own business at a young age, and really gets a person excited to do something with themselves when hearing his story. He's been working as a DJ since he was in high school, giving up his weekends to work parties and now weddings, and just has the entrepreneurial spirit that I love to see in a young guy! We had Main Man's 30th birthday party a couple years ago in our shop, and Tyler was there with all his sound and light equipment to make sure the party went off without a hitch...and it did! We will continue to use him and recommend him to friends for any DJ needs, if you would like to get ahold of Tyler you can email him at tylerm@huxcomm.net to see if he is available for your needs. Tyler even set up the music outdoors for our ceremony, and then moved his equipment inside for the reception so we could use him for the whole event. Everything was perfect, and he kept the night moving at the right pace too...we will be calling your for our next big shindig, Tyler!

Pinterest shot :)

 

Seeing each other for the first time before the ceremony

Three generations of ladies...Bingaman, Kratoska, and now Stensland

The dress I won in a Facebook contest from Simply Bridal

 

Yes, I had a bridesman. My oldest friend Chris stood up on my side for the wedding.

 

 

Since this is a food blog, I should definitely mention how wonderful our caterer was (which you already know if you're from the Carroll area). We used Lidderdale Country Store for our meal the night of the wedding, and although I don't have photos of any of the food yet, you betta baleev they're coming! I've grown up going to weddings using Lidderdale so it was a given to use them for our celebration, knowing they would be completely hands-off for me, and the food would be phenomenal per usual. We served poppyseed chicken, pork loin in au jus, and lasagna (Main Man's choice) for our mains as well as baby red pototoes in butter and garlic, corn, 7 salads (including their famous caesar and my favorite taco) and not one person left hungry, I would put money on that! They are extremely reasonably priced too, which sweetens the pot even more.

 

Anyway, I'm sure all of you are excited to hear that we will be back to our regularly scheduled programming tomorrow...and I will actually give you recipes the rest of the week! It's been a nice little hiatus but I have some yummy things to share with you so stay patient, and we will be back in full force tomorrow!

 

Sianara,

Mrs. S :)

 

Bridesmaids wedding shower and bachelorette party

Here it is. My last post with the Kratoska name. I'm taking wedding week off from all unnecessary responsibilities to focus on not pulling out my hair or grinding my teeth in my sleep. No time for cooking...actually, that's a blatant lie. I cook when I stress. I made two different homemade soups to freeze and homemade spagetti sauce to can this weekend. Yeah, when I get overwhelmed, I add more things to my to-do list...go ahead and try to tell me how counterproductive that is...I won't listen. So I do have some things to share with you, just no time to write about them. Such is life. I'll be back next week with all sorts of fun things to talk about, and a brand shiny new last time to boot!

 

Today, I shall share with you in photos, the final shower and my bachelorette party that were both thrown by "the girls". The girls are my people. They're the ones that have been around, some since high school (I don't care to mention how long that's been) and some the last few years, through the great times, the crap times, the times when I need to spill and vent, the times when I need wine and girl talk, the times when I cry happy tears, the times when I have sad tears. We've been through four weddings together, 3 babies, as well as 2 pregnancies with babies on the way right now, some multiple states apart, some 10 minutes away...all of these girls are irreplaceable in my life. They sure know how to make a girl feel special, and I hope they understand how deep an appreciation I have for everything they did to make that weekend unforgettable. Thanks, ladies...I couldn't be as happy as I am in life if it weren't for your support, advice, and love throughout the years.  Here's a toast on the last Monday of my single life, to you!

 

The Girls :)

 

They snuck my Aunt Lisa in from Chicago to surprise me :)

Cheesecake bar....stop it!

Mini lasagnas

Caprese skewers, fruit and dip, and buffalo chicken dip

 

Manda and I getting the bachlorette party kicked off!

 

Bride!!

 

 

Mama K and her sissies

The girls and I at the winery for our tasting

Mama K, the aunts and I :)

Bet you didn't have a prego pole dance at your bachelorette party!

What a perfect night!

Aunt Vicki and I

My moms :)

Cousin Michelle and I!

So there you have it. All the festivities leading up to the festivity of my life...I will be sure to share with you some wedding photos after the big day is behind us. Until then, so long blogosphere...I will be a Stensland when I return! :)