Year Four in Review

What a year it has been!  Since my Year Three in Review post I got engaged and married, gained a cute new roommate, and pretty much had the most incredible year ever.  Admittedly, Perfecting the Pairing took a backseat to wedding planning and my husband, and the number of posts went way down.  I still love this little blog and love getting new recipes posted.  I am cooking all the time, now I just need to do the rest of it!

Thank you thank you thank you to all my readers and for all of the positive feedback, encouragement, and sweet comments.  I said it last year, and I will say it again, I truly appreciate every single view this site gets. 

Without further ado…

Top ten most viewed posts from year four

MY Perfect Pairing – There is no recipe here, but there is a really sweet story about my now husband surprising me with the most amazing proposal.  Ahh!  I love that man and I loved that proposal! 

Impossibly Light Pineapple Whip – There are only three ingredients in this crazy delicious, healthy dessert.  It was the perfect sweet treat during my pre-wedding diet!  It is a dead ringer for the Dole Pineapple Whip from Disney World.

Spaghetti Squash Pizza Casserole – All the flavor of pizza, none of the guilt.  This freezes well and is great to have on hand for a quick dinner. 

#LamsInLove – Part 2 – Pretty much a recap of our wedding.  Again, no recipe…. Man, I was slacking!

Sloppy Joe Dip – Not very pretty, but so so tasty.  I find that men tend to love this one.  Actually, everyone loves it.

Menu Post #1, Huli Huli Chicken – Remember last year when I said my goal was to have a new section all about menus?  That was a cute idea.  I did it twice.  Ok, goal for year 5!  This menu was repeated again multiple times this summer.  It is a crowd pleaser every time!

Wheat Berry Chicken Salad – If you have not tried Wheat Berries, you are missing out! 

#LamsInLove – The Wedding Favor/Escort Card at our wedding was handmade Sriracha Salt and Citrus Pepper.  This post provides some recipes and tips on how to use it.  I think the Sriracha Salt was everyone’s favorite! 

Apple Cider Sangria – This will be happening again in a couple months.  Perfect for autumn!

Cheeseburger Soup – Comfort food to the max! 

I can hardly believe I am kicking off year five!  #PairingForLife.  xoxo

Year three in review

Year two in review

Year one in review

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#LamsInLove

Today is the day!  Today is the day I marry the man of my dreams.  I have said this before, but if 10 years ago when I moved to Chicago someone told me I would get married but it would not be for a decade.... well I would not have been thrilled.  Turns out God had incredible plans for me.  Better than I could have ever, ever imagined in a million years.  I’ll save the rest of the sappy stuff for our husband and wife speech!

From the start of wedding planning it was important to us that our wedding reflect our style, lives, etc.  We tried to leave our mark wherever possible.  Since I write a cooking blog I wanted to do something cooking related, but I was definitely not cooking dinner for ALL of our family and friends.  My sister-in-law came up with the idea of salt and pepper as a favor.  Done!  No ordinary salt and pepper will do.  

Tonight when our guests arrive at the reception they will pick up their escort card which doubles as their favor.  

Inside are jars of Sriracha Salt and Citrus Pepper that were made with love.

Made with love, and lots of sheet pans and parchment paper.  It was quite the process.

Kosher salt was mixed with lots of sriracha and then dried.

The citrus pepper was made with 28 pounds of citrus fruit that we zested, and zested, and zested.  I was so thankful to have help!

In case you were curious, 28 pounds of citrus equals about 3 cups of dried zest.

We got everyone involved at Easter!

It was important to me to give some ideas to our guests on how to use the Sriracha Salt and Citrus Pepper.  I have been using the Sriracha Salt almost anytime I would season with kosher salt.  There is a bit of a kick, but it is not super spicy.  I really like it on scrambled eggs or on hard boiled eggs at breakfast.  Both are great on popcorn, steamed or roasted vegetables, grilled fish, and anything with avocado.

I love Pioneer Woman’s rosemary rolls and the last time I made them, I swapped out the regular kosher salt for the Sriracha Salt.  Divine!

Another Pioneer Woman recipe that I absolutely love are her Crash Hot Potatoes. 

These are such a delicious and easy side dish.  I just swapped out the kosher salt for Sriracha Salt and the pepper for Citrus Pepper.  

My favorite dish was a roasted chicken. 

 

The chicken is cut down the back and rubbed with olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, and Sriracha Salt and Citrus Pepper.  

The full recipe is below.  It was so easy.  Make sure you serve it with the juices on the pan!

I truly hope our guests enjoy their favors.  Please share how you used them!

Chris and I really do go together like salt and pepper.  I can’t wait to share more wedding details on Perfecting the Pairing!

Mrs. Lam, signing off!

One year ago on Perfecting the Pairing:  Grilled Chili Lime Sweet Potatoes - Perfect with Citrus Pepper

Two years ago on Perfecting the Pairing:  Spiced Up Edamame - These would be great with Sriracha Salt and/or Citrus Pepper

Three years ago on Perfecting the Pairing: Simple Lemon Green Beans - Also would be perfect with both Sriracha Salt and Citrus Pepper

Sriracha Salt and Citrus Pepper Roasted Chicken

Lindsay at Perfecting the Pairing

Printable Recipe

Ingredients:

• 1, 4-5 lb roaster chicken
• 2 Tb olive oil
• 3 Tb lemon juice
• 5 or 6 garlic cloves, chopped
• 1 tsp Sriracha Salt
• 1 tsp Citrus Pepper

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.  Prepare the chicken by removing the innards, rinse, and pat dry with paper towels.  Cut the chicken down the back with kitchen shears  or a sharp knife.  Open the chicken and place cut side down on a rimmed baking sheet.  Rub the olive oil, lemon juice, and chopped garlic all over the chicken.  Sprinkle the Sriracha Salt and Citrus Pepper all over the bird.  Roast in the oven for 45-60 minutes, until the interior temperature reaches 165 degrees F.

All the chicken to rest for about 10 minutes before cutting into it.  Serve with the juice that collected in the pan.

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Prosciutto Wrapped Asparagus

Perfect Pairing:  Easter dinner

37 days!!  37 days until I am a married woman.  I can hardly believe the wedding is so close.  I apologize to everyone in my life who encounters me, because I seem to have forgotten how to discuss anything but the wedding.  Blogging and choreographing new Zumba routines have also moved to low priority.  Stick with me!  I will be back.  There are actually be a few food related wedding items in the works, and I plan on writing about them here.  So many fun things.

Speaking of fun things…. My bachelorette party.  Holy smokes, was that a great weekend!  I was overwhelmed when 23 beautiful ladies joined me to celebrate finding the most amazing man. 

The weekend included a fun game night (wedding themed Cards Against Humanity) with my out of town besties.

A private Zumba class with all of my favorite routines and ladies.  Before and After.

Nails!

Then an incredible cocktail party, lingerie shower, dinner, and night on the town.

Of course we had amazing food!

My incredible Maid of Honor!

This about sums it up.  My feet still hurt.

This is a cooking blog, right?  Right!  Prosciutto wrapped asparagus!!  I made these bundles for the man alongside some killer meatloaf and they were amazing. 

Asparagus is quickly blanched in boiling water and then plunged into an ice bath, then wrapped in salty prosciutto (that gets crispy in the oven) and topped with freshly grated parmesan and salt and pepper.  Yum.

These adorable bundles would be great at your Easter meal.  You can do all of the prep ahead of time and then throw them in the oven 15 minutes before the meal.

They are surprisingly good leftover.  Just put them under a low broiler until warmed and re-crisped. 

One year ago on Perfecting the Pairing:  Sweet and Tangy Bean Dip

Two years ago on Perfecting the Pairing: Trail Mix Wheat Berry Salad with Chicken, Goat Cheese, and Orange Vinaigrette 

Three years ago on Perfecting the Pairing: Deviled Eggs with Goat Cheese and Herbs

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MY Perfect Pairing!

I’M ENGAGED!

Where do I even begin?

First of all, I am completely head over heels in love with my man, Chris.  I have known he was “the one” all along.  He is the most wonderful, kind, loving, tender, happy,  handsome/gorgeous, smart, faithful, funny, perfect man.  I am so incredibly blessed.  God is SO good.  I have been praying for someone half this wonderful for so many years.  Even as I am writing this he is watching football but leaned over and covered my toes with the blanket.  That is just the kind of guy he is.

He planned one heck of an engagement surprise!  For weeks we had last weekend reserved to go to the lake (my favorite place on earth) for a fall weekend.  Chris was going to do some farming with my dad and I was going to give him a tour of my hometown.  I was so excited for a relaxing weekend with Chris and my parents.  Chris ran the Chicago Marathon the previous weekend, and started a new job, so I knew he was in need of some downtime!  I was excited because I thought this might be the weekend he would ask my dad for my hand.  I had NO idea that I would be getting engaged!

Saturday morning we headed to my hometown, Geneseo, IL.   I gave Chris the $2 tour and then dropped him off to harvest corn with my dad.  As I drove away I was giddy thinking about the conversation that might happen that day.  My mom and I spent the day cooking and getting ready for a wienie roast with our neighbors.  Little did I know I was actually cooking for my surprise engagement party!  **I apologize for the many, many, many exclamation points in this post.

Earlier in the week my mom told me she wanted to get pictures for our family Christmas card, so I should bring a cute outfit and we would take the pictures outside on Saturday afternoon.  When Chris and I were both ready we headed outside.  I thought my parents were right behind us.

We chatted all the way down to the dock.  I know now that my man’s heart was going crazy and it was anything but “small talk” for him! 

Once we were on the dock he hugged me to keep me warm and asked, Do you remember what we were doing nine months ago today?  I told him of course, we were going on our very first date!  He asked if I was nervous that night and I said, definitely, but I had a pretty good feeling about you.  You see we met on eHarmony and had been emailing for a few weeks before our first date.

He said, well I was nervous that night.... I am actually a little nervous right now and then he asked if I was nervous.  I said, should I be?  THEN, my friends, he pulled out his phone and turned on Mean to Me by Brett Eldredge (which has all sorts of meaning to us and is now officially, OUR song) and got on one knee.

I think it is safe to say this was the moment I realized what was going on!

Chris said some amazingly sweet things (I wish I had a transcript because it is all a blur) while I dissolved into joyous tears.  Then he pulled out the ring and asked those words I have been waiting my entire life to hear, “Lindsay Wentworth Rodgers, will you marry me?”

How amazing is this picture?  It is so perfect. Of course I was a puddle of joy and happiness.  We both were. 

Then he told me that there were people hiding in the trees taking pictures of us.

It turns out my parents’ neighbors, Mark and Denise, were wearing camouflage and truly were hiding in the trees!!

It is because of them I have these priceless photos and videos. I will be forever grateful to them and to Chris and my mom for arranging this amazing surprise.  Then my parents came down to celebrate with us.  Of course I couldn’t WAIT to show my mom my new ring!

THEN I hear yelling and see my aunt, uncle, cousin and her husband running towards us!

We had a celebration on the dock with lots of tears and laughing and joy.

Once we were back inside we had lots of good food, champagne toasts and blessings.

My mom even had an incredible engagement gift for us.  It was filled with bridal magazines, photo frames, a bedazzled Feyoncé workout shirt, journal,and books.  Now remember, she pretty much had one full day to pull that off.  She is amazing!

Now, the ring.  THE RING!  It is so stunning and perfect.  It is so gorgeous. I find myself staring at it constantly.  My two favorite things to stare at are officially Chris and the ring.

The days since our engagement have been full of so many good wishes, calls, texts, Facebook messages, etc.  Thank you, thank you, thank you to everyone!  

We were able to FaceTime with Chris’ family the next day and even had a precious personalized song written for us by his niece.  One of my favorite moments was when Chris’ niece asked if she could call me Aunt Lindsay.  Melt my heart!  I am so excited to be joining that incredible family.

Chris and I had the most amazing examples of loving marriages and I can’t wait to marry that man.  Let the wedding planning begin!!

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