Friday Things
1. Since we chatted last Friday, something very important and very exciting happened… I got engaged (with that gorgeous Pittsburgh skyline as the backdrop)!! Needless to say, I could not be any happier and have been floating on cloud nine :)
2. I had dinner for the first time at Hyde Park last weekend, and it was an incredible meal. I know they have restaurants in a number of cities, so if you ever have the opportunity to eat there, I highly recommend it! I had the French onion soup, the “Hines Ward” (filet mignon coated in garlic and cracked black pepper with roasted shallot Cabernet butter) and roasted garlic whipped potatoes. I got the colossal carrot cake to take home for dessert, and two of us ended up eating it every night for FOUR nights. They’re not joking when they say “colossal”… that thing is enormous! But oh so, so delicious.
3. You may remember me mentioning that my Chief Culinary Consultant and I were looking for a new TV show to watch together. We finally settled on… old episodes of American Chopper. I only started watching it in the last few years, so we’ve gone back to the very beginning so I can catch up on everything I missed. I never thought I’d like a show about building motorcycles, but I’m totally addicted to it!
4. When you find picture-perfect avocados, you make guacamole.
You eat a lot of it, and you have zero regrets.
5. For those of you that are bloggers and/or do a lot of photography, how do you utilize Flickr? Do you use it to host photos, showcase photos… do you use it at all?
6. Have you heard of PrintablePaper.net? It’s a website with over 1,000 different paper templates that you can download for free. It has everything from regular lined paper to financial sheets, music, game scorecards and everything in between. I’m about to print out some 500 and Dominoes score sheets!
7. The combination of these two photos sums up Einstein pretty much perfectly:
8. Have you heard about the service that will take a hand-written recipe and wood-burn it onto a wooden cutting board? I love this! What a fantastic way to showcase a treasured family recipe in your kitchen. I am definitely going to look into doing this with one of my grandma’s recipes.
9. I am dying to get my hands on one of those Kate Spade “Eat Cake for Breakfast” t-shirts, but everywhere I look they’re sold out. I’m admittedly not very “hip” to the fashion world, so if there are any little-known sites where I might be able to find one, I’d love to know!
10. TGIF! This guy has the right idea!
Congratulations on this new chapter of your lives…wishing you a lifetime of happiness!
My wife and I are avid readers of your blog, love love love your updates! And we love Einstein, reminds us so much of our Golden, Chloe!
Regarding ‘American Chopper’ A.K.A. Orange County Choppers, if you’re ever in upstate New York, you must check out their gift store/showroom/factory just outside Newburgh, NY (on route 17K between I-84 and I-87). It’s pretty amazing to catch all the action from their special viewing area looking into their shop!
Congrats on getting engaged. I came upon your site one day when I was looking for new ideas for oreos and Cream cheese. You had a spectacular recipe ofr Cookies. And I Made them and everyone loved em.
I have added them to my cookie stash recipes. Thanks
Congrats on getting engaged! That’s so exciting!
Congratulations on your engagement! What a special and exciting time for you!
I’ve been following your blog for a good few years now, it’s been wonderful watching it develop and I always look forward to reading your next posts. Thank you for all the work you do!
Zoe x
Conrgratulations on your engagement!
Congratulations! What great news!
Congrats on the engagement!!!
Oh my goodness … CONGRATULATIONS!!! I hope to hear all the details soon. I’m so excited for you!
Thanks Emily! :)
Congratulations!! That’s so exciting! I can’t wait for you to share some wedding plans as they unfold.
Also, I love the wood burned recipe. I saw that on the Today Show once and loved it!
Congrats on getting engaged!
Congratulations!!! I’m sure your wedding will have the best cake ever!
This is so great, congratulations on your engagement!!! I wonder how Einstein feels about having to share his mom! ;]
Wonderful News! Congratulations & Best wishes for a lifetime of love & happiness
Wonderful News! Congratulations! Much love and happiness always.
Congratulations on your engagement! I wish you the best and hope you will have a wonderful life together!
Congrats Michelle. many happy years and dinners together.
I am just now getting to emails..pretty good for me that I am only a few days behind :) …CONGRATS ON GETTING ENGAGED!! Very exciting time!! Don’t get bogged down on all the details so that you enjoy the experince!
What exciting news! Best wishes on your engagement and a lifetime of happiness!!
Congrats on your engagement… have fun planning :)
Congratulations, Michelle!
As a Pittsburgher born and bred I think that it is a beautiful place and cannot think of a better proposal backdrop than the skyline! :) Incidentally, did you see that Pitt. was recently listed as the 10th most romantic city?! http://www.shelf-awareness.com/issue.html?issue=1923#m18885
p.s. I made your recipe for Italian bread this week and received several compliments! Thanks for a great recipe!
I did see that over the weekend! Love Pittsburgh! So glad you enjoyed the Italian bread!
Congratulations on your engagement!!!
Congratulations!
Congratulations and best wishes!
I wish you and your chief culinary consultant much happiness as you take this next big, joyous step in your lives!
Congratulations on the engagement. I actually got engaged at the point in Pittsburgh. Right dab in the middle of the outline of the fort. Every year, my husband and I visit the park and that spot. We live in a small town in Ohio right outside of Pittsburgh. I have been following your blog for only a few weeks. I love all the recipes and that you are a penguins fan.
Congratulations on the engagement, Michelle!
Congrats! May your memories begin. That is awesome news to share with us. Tell him we think he is a very lucky person!
Congratulations!! Wishing you a wonderful life together.
Congrats on your engagement!!!! I have been reading your blog for the last couple of years, and even though I have never met you I feel like I know you and I am just so excited for you both!!!
Congratulations on your engagement! This calls for more guacamole!
Congrats on the engagement!
I use flickr to host all of the photos on my blog, and I’ve done that for at least 5+ years… I have something like 50K photos on there! I put ALL my photos there, and it’s one of my backups (along with an external hard drive) because it stores the high resolution version. I’ve found it very easy to use flickr for my blog, as they give you the html code to embed the images in your post.
Congratulations on your engagement!
Congratulations! How exciting and romantic. Enjoy your life together.
CoNgRaTuLaTiOnS!!!!!! So happy you got engaged! The news made me excited! I’ve been hoping this for you guys as I’ve been following the blog for a long time :) Please share details with all your fans!!! Wedding date?! Pictures of you guys?! Ring?!!
Congratulations on your engagement, Michelle! That is wonderful news :) My parents tried the Hyde Park here and were not impressed at all. I have often found that different locations of restaurants have different levels of quality. I do not use flikr. I don’t think I have another single moment in the day to do more work on the blog.
Sincere congratulations. Now comes the fun part, planning the next phase. Or you could do as my husband and I did, find a JP and tie the knot. We are into year 37. All the best.
Congrats!! So happy for you!
Congratulations! More info, more photos, more updates, please. :)
Congratulations on your engagement!! WOW, that is a stunning backdrop! I stumbled upon your blog late last year and have enjoyed all of your recipes and stories. I look forward to hearing about all of your wedding planning.
I’m so happy for you! I wish you the warmest of congratulations :)
Many, many congratulations, best wishes, wonderful well-wishes and blessings for this exciting and loving moment in your life! I am SO HAPPY for you!
Ciao,
Roz
Congratulations on your engagement!! :-)
congrats on your engagement!!
You are getting married. I am so pleased. I wondered if you had a significant other. I just started following your site and I didn’t see a husband and it made me worry that you were alone. Someone as beautiful and talented as you should have a man to put out the garbage, make sure you are not scared in the dark and take care of your car. There are some things us girls just don’t need to do. Is this your first time? I have been married twice and I hope for at least 3 more husbands. It’s just so much fun. Not as much as cooking and photography but very close.
Congratulations! That is so great!!!
Congratulations to both of you and best wishes, always! That cutting board idea is awesome!
Congratulations on your engagement, how exciting!
Congratulations! Being married is the best!!!
And I love your blog! All the best bakers I meet know of your blog! Haha. Take that as a compliment!
Congrat’s on your engagement!
Congrats on your engagement!
woooooooo!!!! congrats :D
Congrats! I thought you & CCC were already hitched. Now we all can plan your wedding reception!
Congratulations!!! So excited for you!
Congratulations! So happy for you!
Congratulations! Have a great weekend.
Congratulations on your engagement!!
CONGRATULATIONS MICHELLE! I am so happy for you! I thought something was up when a few people were saying congratulations on twitter the other day!
And too bad you don’t live near me because the Kate Spade outlet up here had a bunch of those t-shirts when I went a few weeks ago! Or maybe we could arrange a shopping date! There is also a Le Crueset outlet! Haha! Again congratulations, can’t to see the ring!
Congratulations on your engagement!!
Congrats to you and your CCC, Michell’s! So exciting!
Congrats on your engagement!! He is one lucky guy :)
I saw that iphone chat record on pinterest a few days ago and laughed out loud while I rode the train to work :) Love it. And, I don’t use Flickr, I’m out of the loop.
And congrats on your recent engagement!
Congrats!
Big Congrats going out to you and your man! You are adorable and very talented~
Just brought your Loaded Baked Potato Dip to a Super Bowl party last Sunday and the guests RAVED! : ) Been a fan of your blog for a few years, fyi.
ConGRATS!!! That’s wonderful news and I couldn’t be happier to hear how excited you are!
PS – LOVE, LOVE ‘Texts from Dog’!
Congratulations! Something tells me that your reception will have the best food ever…
Congratulations on the engagement!! How exciting!
That avocado IS perfect! Also very exciting, ha.
Congratulations. Can’t wait to hear about the planning fun you will have.
Congratulations, best wishes!
Congratulations! May you have a life together filled with good times and great food!
Congrats on your engagement!!
Congratulations to all of you, Einstein included. Hope your special day is even better than the beautiful site of the engagement. Look forward to hearing more.
Congratulations! Another ‘recipe to life’ to add to your growing collection.
Major congratulations to you and your fiance! What an exciting time. Best wishes for a lifetime of happiness together.
How awesome! Congrats on your engagement! I highly recommend just enjoying being engaged for a month or two before planning… I am in the middle of planning right now…. and based on the contents of my wedding pinterest board it looks like I may have 7 different personalities! So many styles and ideas… how do you decide?!?
Congratulations!
Wonderfully exciting news! Congratulations. Enjoy every moment of the planning and being the center of attention.
Congratulations on getting engaged!! Wishing you all the happiness in the world!
Congratulations on your engagement! May the 2 of you have an eternity of happiness together!
(And um I think that text might describe Golden’s in general, because our Scruffy is the SAME way! LOL)
Congratuations! How exciting!!
Congrats on your engagement!!!!!!! I can only imagine how delicious your cookie tables are going to be given the recipes you’ve shared on BEB! :-)
Congratulations on your engagement!! I was wondering when we’d all finally hear about you and the CCC gettin’ hitched. Is that all the engagement detail we’re going to get??? How did he ask? What does the ring look like?
Congratulations!!! I am soo excited for yall!!!!!
Aww wow, congratulations on getting engaged! :)
Congratulations! I wish you both happiness and joy! Now you need to start doing reseach on wedding cakes!
Congrats! Hoping to make the big leap this week myself!
Congrats! Such happy news!
Congrats on your engagement! :D
Congratulations!!
Congratulations and best wishes! Wonderful news :)
Check out Longfellowdesigns on Etsy — she’ll turn your family recipe into a chalkboard look — very cool.
Congrats!! That looks like the view from mt washington. A beautiful place! Best wishes to you.
CONGRATS!!!! I am so happy for you!!!
Congratualations!!! I am happy for you!! This is a website that has eat cake shirts by Donna Perkins that you might like. Cant hurt checking it out. http://www.zazzle.com/eat_cake_for_breakfast_t_shirt-235681468221118892 Have a great day.
Congratulations!!! Let us in on the plans!
C O N G R AT U L A T I O N S !!!
Congratulations and wishing you a lifetime of happiness!! Regarding the tee–I couldn’t find any even on eBay, so I made my own on http://www.spreadshirt.com. NOT exactly the same, of course, but it’s pretty close, and it only cost $25. Just a thought in case you can’t find the “real thing!”
Congratulations!
Congratulations!! So exciting!
Congratulations, Michelle!! What wonderful Friday news! Can’t wait to hear details about planning!
Congratulations!
Congrats on your engagement!!
Congratulations!!!! You will have so much fun planning the wedding!!
Congrats and all the best for a bright and happy future! :)
Congratulations on your engagement! That’s awesome :-)
Congrats on your engagement!!!! Time for you to plan a wedding ;)
Congratulations!!!!! I am so happy for you!
Congratulations! What a wonderful meal at Hyde Park. It appears to be an east coast restaurant…I will have to wait until I am in PA visiting relatives…what an amazing meal!
Congratulations! How very exciting!
Congratulations! Check amazon for your tshirt, when I checked they had them in stock, but were $35 plus shipping. Don’t know how badly you want one :) http://www.amazon.com/Breakfast-Organic-Womens-T-Shirt-CafePress/dp/B00AMJSB1E/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1360337110&sr=8-1&keywords=eat+cake+for+breakfast+tshirt
oops, guess it’s not kate spade?
Congratulations on your engagement!
CONGRATS ON THE ENGAGEMENT!! Best wishes to you and your chief culinary consultant! :)
Congratulations, Michelle!!
Congratulations!
Now, about the Kate Spade shirt – have you tried here:
http://favstyle.com/Kate-Spade/eat-Cake-For-Breakfast-Tee#.URUWiB19J7s
So very happy for you!!! Off to check out that paper site too. So cool!
Congratulations!! Getting married is so fun! Enjoy each moment and on your wedding day…. Don’t worry about a thing!!
Congratulations! Have fun planning your wedding, as well as your marriage! <3
Congratulations!!!
Michelle, I was wondering when your CCC was going to pop the question. Congrats and best wishes to the happy couple.
Congratualtions!!!!! What a lucky lucky guy :)
Congratulations on your engagement! Let’s see the ring!! :)
Congratulations!!! What a beautiful skyline photo. Definitely going to check out a couple links – thanks for sharing :)
Congrats on the engagement! I just got engaged in November and it’s been the most amazing three months of my life! Enjoy it!!
Congratulations and prayers for years of happiness and blessings!
Congratulations!!
Congratulations and all the best to you!
Yay!!! Enjoy every single second of your engagement!!!
Kate Spade shirts….try calling one of the outlets. I found one there (at the Cypress, TX) location and I heard from someone on Instagram that they ship!
Congratulations!!!! So exciting and such a gorgeous backdrop to get engaged with :)
Congrats – I’m so happy for you!
Congrats on the engagement!!
Congratulations!!!!!!!!
Congratulations and best wishes!
Wish I could offer up a source for the T but I only know of places offering the tote or the print.
I am so happy for you! Congrats on your engagement, that is the best news I have heard all week!! The dog text messages and picture cracked me up! TGIF, have a great weekend!
Congratulatons to you and the Chief Cuilinary Consultant – many many happy years to you both! … and Einstein too :)
Congratulations! :D
Congrats! Have been following your blog for years and must admit I thought you were already married! Awesome news, can’t wait to hear about all the wedding planning details!
Congratulations! So happy for you!!
Yay congrats!!! I am actually venturing up to PA this weekend to visit the boyfriend.
SO SO SO happy for you!
Congratulations! So happy for you. Hope this doesn’t sound too weird, but my sisters and I have decided you are our “missing 4th sister!” We are Western PA transplants, huge Steelers fans, 500 players, and lovers of dips and sweets!
Congrats on the engagement, that’s so exciting!
Congratulations, Michelle!!!
Best Wishes on your engagement!!!
Congratulations, Michelle!!! :) That is such wonderful news. Wishing you, your CCC and Einstein a lifetime of happiness! Speaking of happiness, let’s talk about that Kate Spade shirt. I’ve been looking for it as a gift for a friend and have had no luck. But, in case you’re interested in other items with that slogan, there is a small clutch and a large tote. I have the clutch (which, technically was listed as a cosmetic bag, but whatevs) and constantly receive compliments on it, even from dudes! I’ve found both on ebay.. just beware of fakes :)
Can life get any better? Congratulations! I am very happy for the 3 of you (I’m including Einstein :-D )
CoNgRaTuLaTiOnS!!! How very exciting! I look forward to your updates as you prepare for your BIG day! Best Wishes to you Both!
Congrats on your engagement. As I scrolled drown from your first picture, I expected a picture of your ring finger but got Einstein instead! I wish you and your CCC all the best.
Congrats to you……I think ebay has your t-shirt :)
Congrats on your engagement! I got engaged in New York (because I was living there at the time) but got married in Pittsburgh. It’s a great city for romance!
Wonderful news, plus “my husband” is so many less letters to type when commenting about him. :)
Sent your Cajun shrimp mac & cheese on to two of my favorite people to try and they both agree, they MUST sign on your blog to get these fantastic recipes themselves.
Have a wonderfully happy weekend!
Wow! Congratulations on your big news! Wishing you and your Chief Culinary Consultant a lifetime of happiness!
Congratulations to you and your CCC on your engagement. May you have many years of happiness together.
The cutting board idea is great – thanks for sharing.
Ooh forgot to ask did you start planning for the cookie table?? In Western PA that is as important as the wedding gown!!
Congratulations! Thanks for sharing your news and your incredible blog with us.
Congratulations Michelle!!! Wishing you two much happiness in the years to come!
My husband would definitely approve of your choice of a show to watch together.
–I saw a golden retriever puppy in Panera yesterday (he was in training to become a companion dog). My heart just melted. He was soooo cute, and of course his tongue was glued to the floor the whole time he was in Panera:) —
Just adding my congrats – being engaged is such an exciting time, enjoy every minute of it!!!
Michelle
Congrats on the engagement! Wishing both of you years of health, happiness and love. Did Einstein stamp a paw of approval as well? LOL
Suz
Thank you, Suz! And yes, Einstein stamped a paw of approval :)
CONGRATULATIONS! Welcome to the world of wedding planning. It’s a whirlwind. :) I’m on blogger but I’ve used Flickr to create buttons and some other things.
CONGRATS! What a lucky guy! Love the picture of Einstein !
Congrats Michelle! Enjoy this special time together!!
Congratulations Michelle on your engagement, What a beautiful place to be proposed to, thanks for all your wonderful recipes, your the only blog I visit on a daily basis.
Congratulations on getting engaged! Hyde Park sounds awesome! And so does you avocado. You’ve had quite a banner week!
Congratulations! Love the Pittsburgh pic
Congratulations! so Happy for you and Einstein. Best Wishes!
I don’t think she got engaged to Einstein…
;-)
Congrats on your engagement! How exciting for you. Wishing you much happiness!
Happiest happy happy news!!!! Congrats!!!! That is great! I don’t use Flickr, but I have the same questions! I’ll be checking back here for answers. The cutting board service/project sounds awesome! And the t-shirt. Waaaaaaant. Have a super weekend!!!
Awwww, congrats on your engagement!!!! How exciting!!
Congrats, how exciting!!
Wish you very happy!
With our dog, when pillows self-destructed in his presence, he’d just look at us like ‘what?’ I had nothing to do with it. Someone else came in while no one was looking and tore it to shreds.’ No regrets. No guilt. No acknowledgement of any involvement. And we were always too upset to take a picture because it was ALWAYS the brand new pillows that bit the dust.
Congratulations on your engagement!
Yay Michelle!!!!! Congratulations :) Such wonderful news to hear !!!!!!!! <3
cOnGraTuLaTiOnS!!!! Michelle…what exciting news. Let the planning begin!
The Kate Spade tee is going to be hard to find…I would do a advanced search on e-Bay though and when one is listed they will send you an e-mail to let you know…I have the bag and it is really cute, more summery though…there are many listed on e-Bay right now…
Congratulations on the engagement. Wish you a long and happy marriage.
Congratulations! That’s wonderful news!
Congratulations on your engagement! Wishing you peace, joy and happiness as you plan the wedding :). Thank you for sharing all your wonderful recipes.
Congratulations on your engagement! How exciting.
My hubby proposed on Mt. Washington, too. We will be celebrating our 18th anniversary in July.
Congratulations on your engagement!
I enjoy watching American Choppers but I don’t know how much delayed we are over here. I’d love to know what’s happened to Cody and Rick…
congratulations on your engagement!
Congratulations on your engagement! Pittsburgh at night is so romantic!
Congratulations!!!
Congratulations!
Mazel Tov!!! Many Happy Blessings:-)
Congratulations!
That is wonderful news! Congratulations to you both!
Congratulations!!!
Congratulations on your engagement. And, beautiful shot of downtown Pittsburgh; what a romantic spot to propose.
Congratulations! I really couldn’t be happier !! (unless of course it was ME and my sig.other but that’s another email) :) Wishing you all the joy and happiness that comes with being chosen by your guy and electing to choose him. I couldn’t start my days without your emails, Thank you for being part of my inbox and sharing your world with me.
CONGRATULATIONS!! So exciting…i wish much much happiness!
Congratulations on your engagement – methinks CCC is a very lucky guy. Love your blog – so entertaining and informative. Your recipes are super – only one disappointment in all those that I have made (probably my fault!)
How wonderful!! Congratulations and Best Wishes to you and your CCC. XO
PS LOVE the snippet re:Einstein. Our 3 kitties seem to have that same outlook!
Congratulations!
Wow, congratulations!! :)
Such a neat, exciting time for you now :)
I’ve been following your blog since finding a recipe of yours on pinterest a year ago! Congratulations on the engagement :)
Congratulations, Michelle! So, so happy for you!
Sorry, meant a lifetime of happiness!
Congratulations!!! How exciting! And what a beautiful place for a beautiful memory!!!
Congratulations! Wishing y out lifetime of happiness!
Awesome links …
Congrats on getting engaged! I have been following your site for the last three years and all of your recipes always turn out perfectly! Thank you for all the great memories your treats have allowed me to have!