At least it all worked out...

So I got The Pioneer Woman's cookbook over the Christmas holidays and decided to have a dinner party.

I invited a bunch of girls from church and flipped through the book deciding on the menu. Though everything in the book looked amazing, I decided on Beef Tenderloin and Roasted Potatoes.


The Sunday before my Tuesday dinner, I head to the store with two friends to pick up the ingredients. I didn't make a list beforehand, so I looked up the recipes as quick as I could on my iphone. I made my quickie list and then we headed in to get the food.

We stroll through the store picking up a few things here and there and then I head to the meats. I'm checking out the meat and having a hard time finding the tenderloin. Finally, I spot it...and then I spot the price. I'm fairly new to the cooking scene, so I had no idea that beef tenderloin was about $15/lb!!! And the recipe called for 3-5 lbs! I love my friends, but not enough to go broke! So I spot another meat, it looks similar, the name has "tender" in it...it's red...it's in the beef section...surely it will work, right? Wrong.

I picked up chuck roast. You cannot cook chuck roast like you cook beef tenderloin. (I came to this conclusion after much Google research) So menu changed to pot roast, still in PW's cookbook.

Once I got home and realized I had to change the menu, I took a look at the potato recipe. Yep. Definitely was looking at the wrong recipe and got red potatoes instead of gold or russett. Awesome. This is going so well.

I decide to switch to the mashed potato recipe (disregarding the fact that it, too, calls for gold or russett potatoes).

So all in all, I had a complete change of menu, a few other things weren't working perfectly as well (needed dutch oven and had to use crock pot, had outbreak of allergies and had to take NyQuil before the party--you can imagine how lively I was), but overall I would say the result was fabulous! My girls came over and we had a great dinner! I absolutely love having people over and playing hostess...and I got to wear my new apron! Yay!

Below you can see my finished pot roast...it was quite tasty, if I do say so myself!

Top '9 of '09

I love me a good countdown list, so here's my top 9 of 2009...

9. I bit the bullet and purchased not one, but TWO pairs of skinny jeans. I now consider myself a convert as I find they are my most comfortable and most favorite pairs of jeans to wear with flats.

8. I have discovered that I have an unhealthy obsession/addiction to scarves. I currently own approximately 12 different scarves and wear them often.

7. I tried...and liked (!) sushi for the first time this year. I started off with a simple California roll and have stayed in the safe range, but I'm enjoying it more and more.

6. I ventured west of Colorado for the first time with a visit to San Diego this summer with my good friend Audrey. I found that I actually enjoyed CA more than I thought I would...and the weather is indeed very nice. Also, the In-N-Out Burger was totally worth it! Also, I'm not sure that flying stand-by in the midst of summer is totally worth it, but still grateful for the opportunity to do so!

5. I struggled many times this year as far as being single and being 26. On my little timeline I would have had career, marriage, and a kid by now. One out of three ain't bad? Right?!? Right?!? But seriously, though I've cried many a tear over this, God has me in a great place right now, so luckily the sadness has died down a bit. Good thing too, I was running out of tissues and eye cream to get rid of the puffiness...just kidding! :)

4. Our school went to the playoffs...again! And lost the round before the state championship...again! And lost to Longview...again!! Maybe we'll make it all the way in '10...keep getting stopped short!

3. I purchased a laptop computer so that I could continue posting on this here blog, as well as enjoy the other constant amenities that the world wide of web has to offer.

2. I FINALLY convinced Rachel to NOT take our drill team somewhere over spring break so that WE could go somewhere! We traveled to London and then to Paris over spring break this year. London is always a favorite of mine and I think that I enjoyed Paris a lot more than I thought I would. AND, we didn't really even argue practically the whole trip! I think that's quite an accomplishment in and of itself since sometimes we can get at each other like sisters...cause we are like sisters. Love ya' Rach! ;)

1. The Lord has grown me so much this year and I'm glad that starting a new year doesn't mean starting back where I was. I joined my church this year, joined a ministry this year, and joined a home group. I look so forward to growing into the woman he wants me to be, whatever that might look like! I am grateful for the friendships that I have and excited about the new ones that I have gained.

Overall, I'd say 2009 was pretty good to me. I hope that 2010 will be even better!