nupitals

[chas]

Well done, and many congratulations!

[Doug_Tipple]

Congratulations on the engagement! After the sensual luxury bath in the essence of black currant vanilla and the pleasure garden body massage formulated especially for seductive intimacy, how could she say no?

[cowtime]

Congratulations! How could she have possibly said no to a man who cooks?

My niece is getting married this year too. I've been working for over a month on a quilt for her that incorporates old quilt squares pieced by my grandmother(her great-grandmother) and new squares by myself. I've just now quit working on it for a while.

[anniemcu]

Congratulations!!

[Coffee]

Combolations!

How's Dallas by the way? My hometown doncha' know.

[Wanderer]

Sorry for the thread necromancy..I have updated news.

So, we decided on a date. Then we changed the date. But now, I think we've got the plan down firm.

We were originally going with the whole "great big wedding" thing, but we have some special challenges. I live in Dallas (which is awesome, btw), but I haven't lived here very long. Almost all of our friends and family live in Houston and the surrounding towns. So, our first challenge was "where to have the wedding."

So, here, Houston, or somewhere else? I originally was thinking that perhaps having a wedding at Falkenstein Castle would be nice. It's an actual castle near Austin, built from sketches and designs from the original Falkenstein Castle that King Ludwig II of Bavaria had commissioned to be built.

The more we thought about it, the more challenges (and thus expenses) came up, no matter where we chose. But through it all, I've been pretty set in my desire to have a 'dream wedding'. She and I are both older, and more financially sound than when we were young, and I see no reason why we should have to settle. That said, I'm not made of money, so in kicking around the various ideas, I had a flash of inspiration.

We're going to do a very small park or backyard wedding for close friends and family in Houston, and then we're going to run off to Ireland for a week, where we're going to do the 'dream wedding', saying our vows again on the Cliffs of Moher--at least that's the plan. I have a travel agent lined up, and hopefully I'll be able to rent the cottage I want near Doolin, and we have a wedding planner who says that they've arranged a similar wedding/blessing on the Cliffs.

The small wedding in Houston has a few practical sides: Friends and family will be able to be part of it, even though it's going to be on a much smaller scale. Plus, Ireland has some pretty strict laws about where and how you can get married, along with some pretty steep residency requirements, which make it difficult to elope and do the 'legal' part there.

We're aiming for mid-June, 2010, which I hope gives us enough time to get all of the ducks in a row. Right now, I'm still waiting to hear back from the travel agency on the cottage's availability.

As for where we're registered..nowhere yet. I don't expect to get a lot of wedding gifts...we've both been married before, and nearing our 40's, so I don't really expect that we're going to be showered with wedding stuff. I always felt like wedding presents were to help a new couple get their household started, since you're young and presumably don't have much in the way of household goods. At my age, we pretty much have a household full of stuff already.

Though if I had to dream, I'd say that I really would love to get a Bosch Compact Mixer. I don't need all of the attachments and add-ons, but man, I would kill for a mixing machine with a dough hook.

[Wanderer]

So, here's an update on the surprise engagement I planned on springing on my girlfriend tonight.

started with flowers


A fancy dinner


An aromatherapy bath


A little massage


Profit!


the ring looks a lot bigger on her finger than it does on mine

The dinner looked a lot more romantic without a camera flash brightening things up.
As mentioned, the dinner was salmon mousse stuffed portobello mushrooms with beurre blanc.

Beurre blanc is a kind of sauce made by taking shallots and white wine, and reducing it down to practically nothing, and then adding butter back until you have a rich, creamy sauce. A little goes a long way! It goes perfectly with fish, and the salmon mousse is a good pairing. Baked until springy,the mousse has a rich texture, and soaks up the sauce nicely. All on top of a huge portobello mushroom cap, to provide a solid texture and flavor to compliment and gound the meal.

I made my beurre blanc with zinfandel, because I wanted a slight pink texture to the sauce to help keep in the Valentine's Day theme. You can't see it as much in the picture, but the sauce was slightly pink and the shallots took on an awesome reddish-pink color.

Served on the side is a cauliflower champ, similar to an Irish champ, but with cauliflower used in place of potatoes. A blend of white cheeses helps bring the texture together and provides a rich addition to the dish.

The salad is a mix of spring greens, with bites of fruit and vegetables. Small bits of dehydrated (but not dried!) apples, currants, and mangoes contrast nicely with the homemade red cider vinaigrette.

The wine is the same zinfandel that I used for the beurre blanc, so it paired perfectly with the meal.

Played her Come Away With Me, by Norah Jones...perfect mood setter
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aBKcKQHZXks

[tin-titan]

Wanderer, Super dooper congrats to you both! Your activities last night made lil ol me blush!

[Wanderer]

Wanderer, Super dooper congrats to you both! Your activities last night made lil ol me blush!

Sorry if I trod on delicate sensibilities..I tried to keep most of the evening to the imagination The original post was a couple of months ago, though..i just brought it back to life to answer some of the questions that had been asked that i didn't have answers for back then (and yes, maybe to brag a little )

[djm]

Right, so all the Chiffers are going to meet you on the Cliffs of Moher, and then what?

djm

[emmline]

Right, so all the Chiffers are going to meet you on the Cliffs of Moher, and then what?

djm

He's going to cook for us. Isn't that obvious?

[Denny]

emm, ya gonna negotiate group rates for us?

[izzarina]

YAY!!!! We're going to the Cliffs of Moher!!! And I've never had beurre blanc....super yummo!

Seriously, Wanderer, that is absolutely fantastic! I'm very, very happy for both of you!

[mutepointe]

Only if he doesn't describe the food. Things only stay warm for so long ya know.

[Coffee]

Houston eh? Stay off I10 if ya can help it...