Perfect Summer Weekend

This weekend we crossed off more items on the bucket list!! The weather was perfect and I was able to spend time with my friends, family and Joe!

Thomas loved Joe!

We started off by making Strawberry Cake Cookies for a cookout at our friend's house. Britney and James' had a few friends over for burgers and Cards Against Humanity. James was deployed today and won't be return until October. It was a great way to see him off.

Boardwalk Art Show 2014

Saturday we hopped on our bikes and went to the Boardwalk Art Show! I've been dying to go over the last few years. While we didn't buy anything, we saw a ton of great pieces to put on our wish list.

Fried food anyone??

I wish I had taken more pictures!!

We picked up Hilltop sandwiches from Taste and went back to the farm to wash the boat in preparation for the summer. We finished off the evening with a dip in the pool and homemade grilled pizzas. Similar to our homemade pizzas last summer, but we put these on Naan and grilled them for about 10 minutes. Delish!!

Father's day was spent on the boat fishing for who knows what with my parents. My sister and her man came later and we indulged in potato salad, burgers, grilled squash and homemade Italian cake made my sister, the baker.

Happy Father's Day!

Strawberry Cake Cookies

My amazing, fabulous coworker made these cookies for us at work one day and she forwarded me her altered recipe. They are so soft and moist, and were literally gone in an instant. To me, strawberries scream summer time, so I used this flavor for the cookout.

You will need:

2 boxes of cake mix, any flavor

3 eggs

1/2 cup of vegetable oil

1 tbsp of extract (we used vanilla)

sugar

Preheat oven to 375. Combine first 4 ingredients in a large bowl. Roll into small balls and dip the tops into the sugar. Place on a greased and floured baking sheet. Bake for 10 minutes. Centers will be soft and may fall a bit. 

HOW EASY IS THAT?

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Clipper Chocolate Chip Cookies

These cookies have always been my all time favorite. My  mom used to make them every summer when we would go to Cedar Island.  The name "Clipper" comes from a cruise line, which would serve these cookies, warm out of the oven, every day at tea time. Pretty cute.

2 sticks of butter, room temperature

3/4 cup of sugar

3/4 cup of  packed light brown sugar

1 tbsp. vanilla extract

1 tbsp. Kahlua

1 tbsp. Frangelico

2 eggs

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

2 1/2 cups of all purpose flour

24 oz. of semi sweet chocolate chips

1 cup of walnut halves, chopped

1/2 cup of pecan halves, chopped

Preheat oven to 325. Combine all ingredients and stir until consistent. Place on an ungreased cookie sheet in 1/4 cup scoops. Bake for 16 minutes.  This recipe made me about 50 cookies.

**I used Bourbon Vanilla Extract in this batch

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