Four Year Anniversary

On February 13, we celebrated our four year wedding anniversary by touring the Biltmore Estate in Asheville, North Carolina. We had a blast!

The whole thing was a surprise for Ashlynn. She never knew where we were going until we were on our way that morning.



It was an amazing day that we'll never forget. Cameras weren't allowed inside, but it was unbelievable! The home was built in 1890 (I think) by the Vanderbilts as a small get-away home in the Carolina Mountains. Needless to say, this small retreat turned into the biggest home they had at the time.



This is an exterior view of the grand staircase. No one was allowed to go up or down the staircase unless they were in formal attire.



This was a side patio facing the courtyard, with the gardens on the left, and the mountains on your right.



Here's a view of the patio from the garden below.



We're planning on going back in the Spring to get a full view of the gardens, and walkways. One of the most interesting things about the house was the modern day furnishings. Electricity, automatic lights, and a heated indoor swimming pool!

Garlic Pull-Apart Bread

You may remember my first post here on Dudes Cook Too. It involved Cinnamon, and Sugar... none other than Cinnamon Sugar Pull-Apart Bread. This recipe resembles that delicious bread on the exterior, but this is a completely new recipe. One that involves yeast, and not just self-rising flour and butter.

This bread is amazing. Repeat after me: Life is too short to not eat good bread. There's nothing better on a cold night than a warm, buttered slice of this bread, preferably by a fire, with a cup of soup as well.



This recipe starts out like another other recipe. Yeast. Sugar. Flour. BUTTER. ...and Garlic Powder. I used my kitchen aid hook attachment, but this can be done by hand as well. Don't let my True Blue mixer fool you. You can totally handle this... with a little elbow grease of course.



We knead, we roll, we cut, we stack, and we place in a bread pan, and let rise. This bread is a little time consuming, but the finished product makes every second worth it. Trust me.



Whatever you do, don't forget the butter on top. I hope you like it!

Garlic Pull-Apart Bread
inspired from Joy the Baker

*makes one loaf
time: 2.5 hours

3-4 cups flour
1 tablespoon, plus one teaspoon garlic powder
2 tablespoons sugar
1 package of yeast
1 stick butter
1/4 cup milk
3/4-1 cup water

In a small bowl combine 1/4 cup water with yeast, and stir. Let sit for 5 minutes until yeast is bubbly. If it doesn't bubble, start over. This means the yeast isn't active.

In a small sauce pan, combine remaining water, milk and 1/2 stick of butter over low heat, and allow to melt and incorporate.

Combine 3 cups flour, sugar, 1 tablespoon garlic powder, liquid mixture, and yeast mixture into the bowl of a stand mixer with a hook attachment, and blend on low until all the ingredients are incorporated. At this point, you will need to test the dough. You may have to add more flour or water accordingly. The dough should be smooth, and clean the sides of the bowl. Allow dough to knead for 5 minutes in stand mixer. (If you don't have a stand mixer, simply combine ingredients in a bowl, and knead on a floured surface for 7 minutes).

Form dough into a smooth ball, and place in a greased bowl to rise for one hour.

After dough has doubled in size, roll out onto a floured surface, and knead for 2 minutes by hand. Then roll dough out into a rectangle until dough is about 1/4 inch thick. It usually rolls out into 20 x 8 inches. If you can't get it to roll out this far, don't worry. Just roll it out as far as you can.

In a small sauce pan over low heat, melt the other 1/2 stick of butter and teaspoon of garlic powder. Stir, and spread across dough.

Next, cut dough equally horizontally into four strips. Stack, and then cut into four vertical strips. You should have 4 squares stacked on top of one another. Fold each stack in half, and place in a greased bread pan, with the tips of the stacks facing upwards. Cover, and let rise for an additional hour. Bake at 400 degrees for 30-35 minutes.

Let's Be Real.

I know... I know...

It's been since October 26, 2012 since we've had even a remotely "real" post. You're right.

Please note: We are sorry. Very. Extremely. Over-apologetic. Whew... now that we've got that off our chests, let's move on.

I wish I could give you every detail about the past four months right now. I won't do that. Trust me. It's not that interesting, and way too long to discuss. It did snow last weekend though... on the way to our class... on Saturday. Something just seemed wrong about that, but nonetheless, it turned out to be a great day, and the snow had melted by noon in time for lunch.

Here's the deal... We live in one city. We attend graduate school in another city three hours away. And... we have family in another state eight hours away. So, just picture us going back and forth between these three places continuously for the past four months. There ya go. That's what happened.

Today's itinerary involves an amazing brunch at a local restaurant, a meeting, and a three hour drive back home. Our lives are probably the most chaotic they've ever been, but honestly... I love it. I think it's really important to enjoy the phase of life you're in, instead of wishing it away for the next.

As we sit here in our hotel room, we have big plans for the blog. A kitchen table re-do, Garlic Pull-Apart Bread... just to name a couple.

Please forgive us for lack of posts. Life is simply chaotic, and because of this, the blog has suffered a little. But do know, we love the blog, and we love the opportunity to share our lives with you.