“So what’s been cooking?” you might ask.
Well, for starters, I got married!
On June 22, 2013, Caitlin and I got married before our friends and family at the American Visionary Art Museum in downtown Baltimore. The ceremony took place in the wildflower garden outside of the Museum, and was officiated by the Judge for whom I clerked, and in whose chambers Caitlin and I met some five years ago.
The beauty of the ceremony was matched only by the radiance of my bride, and it was Caitlin’s months of efforts and DIY projects that made the day so touching and meaningful. Caitlin painstakingly designed (and sometimes redesigned) our Save-the-Dates, our invitations, our programs (which were then folded into fans and adorned with ribbon), and our menus. She also printed and hand-cut signage around the reception, as well as the individual place-cards for each of our guests. The corkboard that displayed the place-cards: Caitlin made that as well. Ditto for the ring pillow.
Beyond that, she designed our wedding guestbook, piecing together photos from our moments together, as well as recipes and photos from this blog, to create a veritable timeline of our lives together, as told through the recipes that we shared with one another. Caitlin also wrote the content that accompanied the photos. She wrote a moving script, complete with excerpts from the Goodridge opinion and the Little Prince (a nod to one of my favorite books), which expressed with eloquence and elegance our thoughts on the meaning of love, marriage, and companionship.
Caitlin also hand-sewed the garland for our chairs, made a table-runner, painted two canvas-size pieces to accompany the corkboard, and created over twenty-five welcome bags, each adorned with a hand-painted welcome tag, and each boasting a sixteen-page booklet of our favorite recipes, and complete with individually wrapped sea-salt caramels, Utz potato chips (a tribute to Maryland), cobalt-blue bottles of sparking water (to match our color scheme), spiced almonds packaged and sealed with blue and white polka-dot Japanese washi tape, loose peppermint tea (the bags for which Caitlin swapped the plain white drawstrings for her carefully selected brown and white bakers’ twine), and finally, this homemade rosemary pepita granola.
All of which is to say that we (and by “we,” I obviously mean primarily Caitlin) were busy ensuring that our wedding was as touching and meaningful as we could have ever hoped.
Our wedding behind us, and married life now before us, I hope to restart my blogging, with my new wife (but same faithful companion) at my side, always ready to offer her thoughts and tastes. To restart the blogging, I thought I would begin with this homemade granola, which was just one of the items that welcomed our guests to our wedding. As for those coral-colored printed descriptions – I’ll give you one guess!
*All of the above photos were taken by our amazing photographer, Kathy Blanchard.
ROSEMARY PEPITA GRANOLA
PREP TIME: 20 minutes
COOK TIME: 15 minutes
YIELD: 3 to 4 cups of granola
WHAT TO GRAB:
3 cups old-fashioned rolled oats 1 1/2 cups pepitas (or chopped almonds or pistachios) 1/2 cup currants 1/3 cup honey 3 tablespoons butter 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh rosemary leaves 1 tablespoon red pepper flakes
1. Heat the oven to 325 degrees. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside. In a large bowl, combine the oats, pumpkin seeds, and currants.
2. In a small saucepan, combine honey, butter, rosemary, and red pepper flakes. Stir over medium heat just until butter is melted. Do not overcook the butter! Pour over the oats, nuts, and currants, and stir until well combined.
3. Spread the mixture evenly across a baking sheet. Bake, stirring halfway through, until fragrant and toasted, 15 minutes. After 15 minutes, remove from the oven and allow to cool completely. Store in an airtight container for up to 1 week.
Caitlin
I remember reading this blog, almost five years ago, intrigued by the law clerk I had recently met. Since those early days, you have filled my life with laughter and sweetness (not just of the culinary variety), and have created for us a memory book of the seminal and ordinary moments of our lives (now life) together. It’s priceless, and I’m forever grateful.
All my love,
C
Charles
Your message brought tears to my eyes. I feel so lucky that you walked into chambers five years ago, and I’ve loved sharing our moments together on this blog. I’m equally grateful to have such a dedicated partner with whom I can share our lives’ moments.