cold brew joe.

i love it. you love it. we all love it. if you don't like it, well we need to have a talk & i will change your mind.

i was a barista for about 3 years of my life & i really & truly miss it. i miss leaving the coffee house & smelling like espresso, i miss the people you meet & how you remember the regulars drinks just by the sound of their voice or their familiar face. the atmosphere in a coffee shop is a little addicting to say the least. i met one of my best friends working in a coffee shop & to this day we have regular dates at some of my favorite coffee shops.

octane & dancing goats would have to be my favorite. if you are ever in atlanta GIVE THEM A TRY.

now onto the good stuff: this might come as a big shocker to you but YOU can make your OWN cold brew right from the comfort of your home & its EASY!

what will you need:

coffee
coffee bag-  i got mine from amazon here
container - depending on how much you want to make
water- free from the sink

now step 1: if you get pre ground coffee you can use a 1 pound bag which is about 5 1/2 cups

i grind my own & this time i used this coffee below

i used 8 cups of coffee & like i said i grind my own

now pour use coffee into the bag

mine has a draw string like most of them do- so just pull it tightly & drop the bag in the container you are using. 

now fill your container up with water.

for 8 cups of coffee i used 16 quarts of water

now the boring part: waiting.

i let mine sit for about 30 hours. best thing to do is make it in the afternoon when you get home from work & then when you get back the next day it is DONE. 

best way to drink this is anytime of the day any place. 

enjoy!

--E

PASTA!

who doesn't love pasta. i don't eat it a lot bc if i did i would be the size of my house, but every once & while i do & when i do it is a very, very good thing. today we talk about this dish. a lemony-garlic- white wine infused with spices pasta dish.

i love cooking with my husband. i am usually obsessing about he acts like we have a gas stove, shoving the pans around & why in the world is sauce everywhere, or i am like, i just cleaned the kitchen. for those of you who know cory, you know he is an amazing cook & when I'm obsessing he's like.. tough. you will be fine. get over it. our words to each other in the kitchen make the memories hilarious & i wouldn't trade a thing. i giggle when i think of him in his apron.

i have had these spinach egg noodles sitting around for a little bit & wanted to make something with them. something lite & not too heavy. i left cory with the task of figuring that one out & he killed it. this pasta was just the right amount of spice, the flavor was incredible & we will def. be making this again & again.... in moderation of course.

he found this recipe & as you can tell by our photos ours looks a lot different & i am sure it tasted better, bc  my sweet man can cook y'all.

so here we go. on a photo journey into the pasta world (most photos were taken by our friend dockery)

this is the spinach egg noodles i had (they are AMAZING)

make sure when you are boiling your pasta you salt the water. i am sure you guys know that but just in case. 

so first things first. 

 we rinsed off the shrimp & set them in a little ice bath

while we waited for them we started prepping. 

parsley- chop it up, you need 1/2 cup

we used yellow tail white wine- you need 1/3 cup--- or more... lol

i juiced the lemons & you need about 1/4 cup- i put the extra in a container for lemon water through the week. 

*  start boiling those noodles in the salted water

now for the good stuff.

put your garlic- 3 TB minced in a pan on medium heat

add your unsalted butter 1/4 cup

add your olive oil  1/4 cup

let all that mix together & then add shrimp- we used 2 lbs

add your white wine 1/3 cup

add your lemon juice 1/4 cup

add red pepper flakes 1/2 tsp

this is where we added things that are not on the recipe

we added 1/4 tsp saffron

1/4 tsp of paprika

doesn't this look delish??

this should all cook until the shrimp is no longer translucent so about 5 minutes- just watch it.

now add black pepper 1tsp

your parsley  1/2 cup

add lemon zest 1TB - i just eyed it. we love lemon

*your noodles should be done by now- so we put ours in a strainer in the sink

let them sit for a minute

we tossed them with some olive oil bc these noodles are a little different to work with. 

now add your noodles to the pan

yum. 

i did a side of bread. i cut it and broiled it until lightly brown

when its done i brushed each piece with olive oil & sprinkled with sea salt. 

now we are set. set to feed our faces with this. it was soooooo good. 

i even brought out cory's grandmas plates. 

this recipe was easy. we all ate until we were full & we had leftovers. 

i love spending time with people over a good meal. 

take a day & break bread with someone.

-- E

being present.

what am i listening to? - Ben Rector on Spotify- I am literally just shuffling all of his amazing music.

anyways back to the post. do you ever just sit and think about your life, how it is, or how you want it to be? well i do. i do it all the time & i am sure i have written about this before. my man is always telling me to be more like a sniper rifle instead of a shotgun. what can i say? i like to do a lot of things all at once.

i think about where i would really like to live. i think about things i would like to have or buy. i think about vacations. i think about cars. i think to myself, man if i had the money i would do this or that. i would go here or there. i have been feeling really convicted of this lately. the lord is constantly having to remind me to be present. to be thankful for the here & now. i can spend so much time thinking of what i wish to be that i forget where i am & what i have now. i am so blessed. i have every single thing i need right at this moment & it is so important for me to acknowledge that. we all need to be reminded to be thankful for every single moment & know that the lord takes care of us each & every day. everything we need for every day we live is provided & that alone is an amazing thing. lets all challenge each other to be present. lets encourage each other to take everyday on a day to day basis. lets be there for each other in the times when we don't have lot & in times when we have so much. lets pray for each other & stand beside each other as christians should be doing. most importantly lets take time each & everyday with the lord to show him how much we care about him even in the times when we don't have what we think is enough. lets spend time with him when we have more than enough. lets put just as much energy in our time with the lord as we do with our new fitness schedule, or with our newest hobby, as we do with our friends, or even with this blog.

lets be present.

-- E

hot tea & a little about me.

i have been drinking hot tea more on the regular now & i love it with some local honey. the hot tea has put me in the mood to write. today i decided i was going to blog more about me. i feel like when you are first starting out blogging everything is just surface level. blogging is this huge world of people you don't know, some people  that you do know, but they might not know you on a deep level, & then there are those friends that really know you. so this blog is really more for me to let down some of the walls if blogging is something that i really want to step deeper into. i feel like we all have a voice, we all have something to share & we never really know who is reading, or who we could reach. just to warn you i am a rambler- i am not one of these organized in my thoughts sort of people.

so i hope you enjoy getting to know a little more about me, & i hope you will tell me more about you.

my grandfather used to take me & my siblings to get donuts every morning when we were in town. he was the best grandfather, he always smelled a certain way & i still remember his smell. my grandfather was like my father & when we had nothing he made sure we had plenty. he was a cartoonists & a really good one. art runs deep in my family in many different ways. my dad is a musician & so is the rest of his side of the family. so we have music & artists that run pretty far on both sides. i would like to attribute this to my daydreaming ways & always feeling like i can do anything i set my mind too. want to build a dresser evanda?, sure thing, let me just watch a youtube video & we are set.

my nanny grew up on the lost mountain property on dallas highway. i remember going to the lost mountain store & my great uncle newt giving me a peppermint candy. my mom learned how to make her famous chocolate pie from my great grandmother on that property.  when we would spend the night at my nanny's house i would wake up to the smell of fresh coffee & my pop would gather us kids up & take us for a donut. this is def. where my sweet tooth came from. when i was about 7 my nanny & i were digging in the backyard for worms to go fishing with & we hit a bees nest. not a good thing. i remember they came flying out of the ground & i ran towards the house screaming. i got stung a lot. like 8 times. it was crazy but such a good memory. the funny thing is that we would go to all the trouble of digging up these worms & i never let them keep a fish. i would cry & cry & give all the fish names until they put them back in the water #winning

i started drinking coffee when i was about 5. my dad would make biscuits some mornings & i would sit at my little fisher price table with my little yellow chair & have a biscuit &  little cup of coffee. this is when my coffee addiction started.

my nanny ( which i am sure i have written about a few times) was my favorite person. i wish so badly that cory could have met her. she would have loved him. i think the reason why i love canning, baking, coconut pie/cake, simple living, lipstick, old quilts, crossword puzzles, goodwill, flowers, & gardening is all because of her. i feel in doing all of these things it keeps her with me all the time.

my 30th birthday is rounding the corner & for some reason has me thinking of everything. being a mother, being a better wife, letting go of things that are not really important, make my own family traditions, living a simple life, pulling closer to the lord, letting go of people in my life that don't have my best interest at heart.

The only time you really live fully is from thirty to sixty. The young are slaves to dreams; the old servants of regrets. Only the middle-aged have all their five senses in the keeping of their wits. -Hervey Allen
 

 i have a few real friends in my life. for me it is so hard to find good girl friends. i don't like drama, i want real friends that are not afraid to be honest & open. us women have to stick together & encourage each other. we need to build each other up in our faith, as mothers, as wives, as people. i feel like within this little community i live in i see so much hurt, so much insecurity, so many that don't see who they truly are, that don't see what their worth, or where their worth comes from. i am included in all of these btw. i struggle too with so many things. gossip is a killer you guys. i am trying to be better at this & i feel like the times i do gossip its because there is literally nothing else to talk about. that looks horrible in writing but i am being honest. its like you don't want to talk about deeper things so you  just switch it over & you say hmmm. did you see what so & so was wearing the other night.

Proverbs 26:20-22 For lack of wood the fire goes out, and where there is no whisperer, quarreling ceases.  As charcoal to hot embers and wood to fire, so is a quarrelsome man for kindling strife. The words of a whisperer are like delicious morsels; they go down into the inner parts of the body.


lord help me to re direct my thoughts in times like these. help me to be an encourager not just to peoples faces but behind their backs as well. help me to speak sweetly, help me to build people up & not tear them down. help me to be slow to speak, slow to anger. help me to love people well. help me to be an example & be led my other peoples example. forgive me for falling into this habit too many times.

Psalms 141:3

Set a guard, O LORD, over my mouth; Keep watch over the door of my lips.

Ephesians 4:29

Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment, so that it will give grace to those who hear.

if we want things to change the change has to start within ourselves. we need to examine our own hearts & the dark spots need to be saturated with the lord & his word.

James 1:26 

If anyone thinks himself to be religious, and yet does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this man's religion is worthless.

this is guytho. my little brother- keep him in your prayers- he lost his father & laid him to rest yesterday. 

mwen renmen ou anpil guytho.

-- E

my family.

just a little introduction to some of my family that you guys will be seeing more of- btw don't forget to follow me over on bloglovin here-- seriously, just click the button & follow. it would make me really happy.

anyways, we will start with my mom. she is the definition of amazing which means this-


         1. To affect with great wonder; astonish. See Synonyms at surprise.

2. Obsolete To bewilder; perplex.

a little back story- when i was 14 on the day of my 8th grade graduation i heard my parents fighting. my sister & i used to sit on the stairs (they had green carpet) in this victorian house my parents rented, & listen to them argue. on this day my dad left. on this day my life as i knew it changed. i think i was sheltered a little to how dysfunctional my family was & still is. thank the lord for his love & grace. he is always constant. i remember putting my dads bags of clothes that were in black trash bags on the front porch for him to pick up. it was really hard, for all of us. 

fast forward 3 years- first conversation with my dad. it was hard. i was angry. so many emotions, i had developed a strong dislike for the male specimen. i was closed off emotionally & didn't know what to do with all of these feelings. i felt like my chest would burst any second from sadness, from anger, from bitterness, & mostly from unforgiveness. thank god i was in a church that taught me to face those feeling head on. to break the ceiling that was holding me back. to let go & truly forgive. 

i could talk about this for a long time, but i will save that for another post. today my dad & i have a good relationship. i have forgiven him & moved on. he is married to the sweetest lady (cheri) who is absolutely amazing. we talk on the phone & if he didn't live so far away i know we would see each other more often. 

i love you dad & i am so thankful the lord has brought us to where we are today.

this is my mother. my strong tower, my constant, my best friend. she was always there when i needed her. we have butt heads so many times, but at the end of the day, i am my mother's daughter.

                                  

what would i have done without her, who knows. i do know that i wouldn't be who i am today without her. without her love. she was a stay at home mom & was always making sure we were provided for. i remember i would color until i couldn't color anymore, until all my crayons were in pieces, what did she do? she melted  them into little molds so i could use them all over again. we always had homemade easter baskets. the best birthday parties, all of our food from tortilla shells to lasagna were homemade. those memories have shown me what kind of mother i want to be. i am so thankful for her & so thankful for all she has taught me. 

she is married now to phil & he is pretty awesome. he makes the best wings/steaks on the grill. he plays bass. he is an expert at fishing & my husband could not be more happier for that. i am so thankful she is happy & moving forward into new directions with her life. 

all of us celebrating a holiday.

also, my mom is kick a#@ at decorating a home. i mean look above me? that is a tree trunk she has turned into a coffee table on wheels people. genius. she makes the best cheesecake. you would seriously hurt someone over the last bite.she makes all sorts of things out of paper mache. she is so talented & i am ready to see her pursue her time to make money from those talents. cheers to you mom for your new endeavors, know that i will be cheering you on and helping in anyway that i can. 

next there is my sister. shenea. she is an artist and has grown into her own person, which i love seeing evolve. i always loved having a baby sister even though we fought all the time. she is in school for cosmetology/makeup & i cannot wait to see where this takes her.

isn't' she beautiful. she has a country boyfriend (taylor) & they live in the cutest little cube loft i have ever seen with their dog buddy & cat julianne. 

this is her latest art project & she does sale stuff if you are interested.

so good right? i love bragging on her. 

here are some of us as kids.

these make me laugh. so good to have memories to hold onto. when i have more wall space i will be hanging these up.

saving the best for last. my husband. i refer to him as the mr. on this blog most of the time. his name is cory. he is a mans man. he cooks way better than i do. he is an amazing musician. he has a heart of gold, will do really small things for me that matter so much. i don't think i tell him enough how much i love & care for him. he is into fishing recently which my step-dad loves. he loves his cat, "dexter" he loves a good beer. sometimes i will come home and he will have gotten me the cutest little flowers, or like the other day i had to take marta he bought me a green umbrella because he knows that green is my favorite color. this past may we celebrated 3 years of marriage. full of ups & downs. sometimes we want to just go crazy because we aggravate each other so much, but i wouldn't trade him for anything. you will be seeing a lot of him over on my little space, but you will grow to love him, i swear.

our first trip to haiti.

our trip to haiti in may.

we have so much fun together & he makes me laugh all the time. we have our favorite shows that we watch together, "the following" & "house of cards". we eat dinner at the tv watching these shows. i loved watching him with all the kids in haiti. so happy we both have a passion for their country & those people.

this of course is not all my family, but it part of them. i love them so very much & i am so thankful i get the opportunity to make memories i can look back on with this blog.

hope you all enjoy learning & growing with me.

p.s. if you would like to look at my sisters art you can find more here on her facebook.

if you would ever like to order some goodies from my mother just let me know. she does all types of events & i am looking forward to doing an interview with her soon for the blog. more to come on her! yay

cheers,

mrs. estes