Roasted Mustard Rabbit

We'd been wanting to cook rabbit at home ever since we attended the last Iron Chef class at Kitchen Conservatory. That night pitted chefs Josh Galliano of Monarch & Kevin Nashan of Sidney Street Cafe against food blogger Bill Burge and chef Chuck Friedhoff of Persimmon Woods Golf Course.

The secret ingredient, which neither team knew of ahead of time, was rabbit. I'd never eaten rabbit before and was surprised by how much I liked it. Our only hesitation in cooking it at home was finding the rabbit to cook.  Luckily, we bribed our friend Justin (who operates Yellow Tree Farm) with a free oven. In return, he gave us one of his rabbits.

Our Porkapalooza Wedding Reception

Whew! The wedding is over, and the reception was a huge hit. Our plan was to have a backyard pig roast at Jerad's parents' house the day before Easter. We set up a big tent on Friday, but the weather wasn't looking good for our party.  It rained the day before and was very windy the morning of the reception, but it all turned out in the end.  The clouds cleared and the wind finally died down.  We ended up with a beautifully sunny day that helped to make the party just what I'd dreamed about.

You see, I had actually dreamed about our wedding reception a few years ago...before we dated even. Jerad and I were just friends at the time; in fact, I was married to someone else.  But, we worked together every weekend, so we spend a lot of time together. One night, I dreamed that we got married and had a reception under a white tent in his parents' backyard. The decorations were green & yellow.

I had forgotten about that dream until after we'd planned our pig roast.  Jerad then reminded me of the dream, which I told him about right after I'd had it. I'm sure he thought I was crazy at the time. Nevertheless, I find it a bit strange that I ended up planning that very reception. It must be fate. 

Thinking about Marriage, Babies, & Mac-n-Cheese

I'm getting married in 6 days.  Someone asked me recently if I thought I've rushed into it, having only been engaged for 4 months.  The answer is NO. Jerad and I talked about waiting until summer to get married but then decided there was no reason to wait, especially since Vegas would be pretty darn hot in June, and his cousin is already planning a wedding in the fall. There is really no point in waiting until next spring.

We've been living together for a few years now.  We never really "officially" started living together; he basically just started squatting at my house, staying more and more nights in a row until eventually he was there all the time.  In fact, just this week he finally changed his address. So, we figured that nothing is really going to change after we're married...except now he'll have health insurance and we can start thinking about a family. That right, folks, hell might just freeze over yet...we're talkin' babies! Not soon, but someday. I used to swear that I didn't want any kids, but I think I just hadn't yet found the right person to have them with. I do want to have babies with Jerad; he makes me feel capable and confident. Plus, I know he'll be a great pregnancy coach, father, & parenting partner.

Wedding Reception Menu

I'm getting married in 25 days.  25 days!  I'm a little nervous about getting married again but excited to start a new phase of my life.

We decided to get married in Las Vegas to avoid the hassles of having a wedding at home.  I'm not religious, so I don't want to be married in a church.  Besides just going to the courthouse for a civil ceremony, there aren't many options for a small wedding.  We looked into a few places, but they were simply too expensive for the short ceremony we wanted.  So, Vegas it is! This way, we can have our wedding and honeymoon all in one.  And, it looks like about 17 people will be joining us at the top of the Stratosphere for the ceremony!

When we get home, we're having a backyard pig roast at Jerad's parents' house with 70 of our family and friends.  Kirk Warner of Kirk's Traveling Kitchen is catering the reception. Once the idea of a pig roast came up, I knew right away that Kirk was the person for the job. He teaches classes at Kitchen Conservatory, especially many of our BBQ and whole hog classes, and he's a staff favorite.

Cheesecake Bars

People have been asking me how the wedding plans are coming.  For the most part, the plans are done.  All it took was a couple emails, really.

We are getting married at the top of the Stratosphere in Las Vegas at the end of March.  Then, we are having  a pig roast “reception” a few days after we get home (more on that later).

I bought a wedding dress off the rack at David’s Bridal.  It’s a knee-length, strapless, ivory dress (Jerad hasn’t seen the dress, yet, so I don’t want to describe it too much right now).  It fits perfectly and needs no alterations.  I’m wearing a little blusher veil and green heels with it.  I also ordered a custom pair of green Chuck Taylor sneakers to wear with my dress at the pig roast.