four years!

dear ryan,

today is our four year wedding anniversary!  it's hard to believe that we have been married for four years (and that we have been together for ten years now)!

i am incredibly blessed to have such a wonderful husband.  i couldn't ask for a better partner in life.  i thank my lucky stars each day that i get to spend my life with you.  every year with you keeps getting better and better!

happy anniversary to us!

love, laurie

lucky

while we were picking raspberries on saturday morning, ryan looked down and found a four-leaf clover!  he seems to have a knack for finding them.  must be "lucky" i guess!

love, laurie

a walk around lake scranton

after work on friday, we took a walk around lake scranton.  it's been 2 years since the last time we were at the lake, so it was nice to get a chance to go back.

there is a 3.5 mile trail that goes around the lake.  it is so pretty and peaceful there.  the weather was beautiful and it was such a nice evening for a walk.

i'm so glad that we have so many great walking/hiking/biking trails nearby for us to enjoy the outdoors!

^there were a lot of geese.  it was funny to see them blocking the path 

as runners were trying to get past.  they caused a bit of a road block.^

^found this little message written in chalk on the path^

^intently watching a groundhog in the woods^

^perfectly still water^

^we couldn't believe how close this deer was . . . he was pretty friendly^

^the brightest orange fungi i have ever seen^

. . .

love, laurie

raspberry oat pancakes with toasted hazelnuts

we have a ton of beautiful fresh red raspberries in our refrigerator from when we went raspberry picking on saturday.  we put some of our raspberries to good use in pancakes this weekend.

this recipe is absolutely delicious.  there are ground up oats in the pancakes along with whole raspberries.  then, the pancakes are topped off with additional raspberries and toasted hazelnuts!

talk about an impressive recipe.  these pancakes would make such a great impression on guests if you had people over for breakfast or brunch, yet they are so incredibly easy to make.  just a few simple ingredients, and they come together in no time.

these pancakes have such a great texture.  they have crisp outsides with fluffy insides.  pancake perfection.

they are also so delicious.  the ground up oats give a great depth of flavor that works so well with the toasted hazelnuts.  of course, you just can't beat fresh raspberries too.  what an incredible combination of flavors.  it's so decadent!

we poured warm maple syrup over our pancakes, but they would be wonderful with honey as well.  if you wanted to get really crazy, i bet a few chocolate chips would be amazing too.

raspberry oat pancakes with toasted hazelnuts
prep time: 10 minutes
cooking time: 5-6 minutes
yields: 2 servings
adapted from healthy delicious

ingredients:
1/4 cup hazelnuts
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup old-fashioned oats
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 cup buttermilk
1 large egg
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 tablespoon salted butter, melted
1 cup fresh raspberries

directions:
in a large frying pan over medium heat, toast the hazelnuts.  stir frequently, until lightly golden and fragrant.  remove from the heat and chop.  set aside.  in a food processor, combine the flour, oats, sugar, and baking powder.  pulse several times, until the oats are ground.  in a large bowl, combine the dry ingredients with the buttermilk, egg, and vanilla.  whisk until just combined.  stir in the melted butter.  whisk until no lumps remain.  heat a lightly buttered griddle or frying pan on medium heat.  pour 3 tablespoons of batter onto the griddle for medium pancakes.  drop a few raspberries in each pancake.  cook for 3 minutes, until small bubbles begin to form.  flip the pancakes when they start to bubble, then cook for 2-3 minutes, until they are golden brown and cooked throughout.  once cooked, transfer the pancakes to a baking sheet and place in a preheated 200 degree F oven to keep warm while you cook the remaining pancake batter. before serving, top with additional raspberries and chopped toasted hazelnuts.  serve warm with warm maple syrup.

enjoy!

love, laurie

raspberry picking

we really love going berry picking in the summer.  it has somewhat become a little tradition of ours over the last few years.  nothing beats picking your own fresh berries.  in june, we picked strawberries at a local farm, and ever since we have been looking forward to picking other berries this summer too.

early on saturday morning, we took at trip out to noxen, pa to pick red raspberries.  it was a bit far, but it was a nice day for a drive, and it's hard to find farms in our area that offer pick-your-own raspberries.  the last time we picked raspberries was two years ago, so we were excited to go again.

the weather was a bit overcast and dreary, but luckily the rain held out for us while we picked raspberries.  there was hardly anyone else there and we felt like we had the farm to ourselves.  it was so peaceful and quiet out there in the middle of nowhere.  we walked through the rows and rows of raspberry bushes picking (and tasting) the different varieties of raspberries.  it was a lot of fun.  we picked a bunch of raspberries and can't wait to eat them this week!

love, laurie

impromptu thursday night date . . .

last night after work, we headed home to eat dinner and then took our tandem bike out for a ride on a local bike trail.  the weather was so nice, it was the perfect temperature for an evening bike ride.

when we were done biking, ryan mentioned that there was an open mic night at a local restaurant/bar near our house.  we dropped our bike off at home and walked down the street to the open mic night.  (can i just say how much i love living in walking distance to restaurants!)  we sat in the back and listened to local artists sing and play their guitars.  it was really entertaining.  boneless buffalo wings were the special for the night, so we split an order of wings and shared an order of french fries which were covered in cheddar cheese, crispy bacon, fresh tomatoes, and fresh jalapenos.  needless to say, it wasn't very diet friendly or vegetarian, but it was a nice treat.  (we'll just consider that our cheat night for the week.)

we had a lot of fun listening to the music and sitting there talking.  it was a fun little impromptu thursday night date.

have a great weekend!

love, laurie

peach cornmeal pancakes

our local farmers' market opened on friday!  hooray for fresh fruits and veggies at great prices!

we stopped by the farmers' market on opening day, and we bought 5 huge zucchini, a bunch of green beans, and several peaches.

fresh summer peaches . . . need i say more?

there are so many recipes that we can make with these peaches, but we put them to good use on saturday morning in pancakes!

we peeled and diced the peaches and put them inside of cornmeal pancakes.  (remember when we made cornmeal waffles a few months ago?)

the fresh peaches got warm on the griddle, and they were absolutely delicious combined with the cornmeal.  we poured warm maple syrup over the top of the pancakes and they were so good!

peach cornmeal pancakes
prep time: 5 minutes
cooking time: 5 minutes
yields: 3 servings
adapted from myrecipes.com

ingredients:
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup cornmeal
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/4 cups buttermilk
2 large eggs
1 tablespoon salted butter, melted
2 medium fresh peaches, peeled and diced

directions:
combine the flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, and baking soda in a large bowl.  add in the milk and eggs and whisk until just combined.  stir in the melted butter.  heat a lightly buttered griddle or frying pan on medium heat.  pour 3 tablespoons of batter onto the griddle for medium pancakes.  drop a few diced pieces of peaches in each pancakes.  cook for 3 minutes, until small bubbles begin to form.  flip the pancakes when they start to bubble, then cook for 2-3 minutes, until they are golden brown and cooked throughout.  once cooked, transfer the pancakes to a baking sheet and place in a preheated 200 degree F oven to keep warm while you cook the remaining pancake batter.  serve warm with warm maple syrup.

enjoy!

love, laurie

snapshots of life lately, according to my iphone pictures

. . . and ryan's iphone too.

{some iphone pictures via the instagram app}