Its Been A Long Time

I can't believe I haven't written anything in almost a month! I guess its because we're at a place where we have things under control. I finally signed a contract with a caterer and am super excited about the menu. I found out that Central Market will do a three layer cake with filling and buttercream design for about $120. What a deal! I don't really plan on eating more than the "exchanged bite" at the ceremony anyway. I'm not much of a cake fan. However, Clay's groom's "cake" is going to be our challenge. I really wanted him to see that I've made a point to have something catered to him. So, we are doing a golf table (he would play everday if he could) for him. My mom and I are going to make cake balls (if you haven't seen them, they are the rage in Austin right now) that look like golf balls and then decorate the table in a golf theme. I wasn't going to show him my sketch of the table, but I wanted him to see it. He LOVED it! I just hope it works out. However, Clay is not a cake fan either, but his favorite dessert is blackberry cobbler. So, we are trying to figure out a way to make cobbler in a cake ball style. I got my Grandma Heckmann's cobbler recipe from my mom and put it in a smaller dish to bake so I would have more of cakey part than fruit. Then, I cooled the cobbler for about two hours, formed it into balls, and froze them for about four more hours. Then, I dipped them in almond bark and they are now cooling in the fridge in the garage. They aren't perfectly round, but that is going to be a challenge with cobbler since the cakey part gets crusty around the edges. Taste test will be tomorrow once they are good and set. So, here is what they look like in the fridge:

And yes, you are seeing that right. I put them in a jar of mixed nuts to set. I needed something for them to settle in so they didn't touch and that's all I could come up with. So, if this works, it will be great. Otherwise, I have much more trial and error ahead of me.

The months keep flying by. We are almost at the five month mark already. We start premarital counseling with the pastor next month and will see him once a month thereafter until the wedding. We have our "engagement" session with the photographer coming up. I hope we can find someone to come with us so we can have a couple of pictures with our little peanuts (aka Ruby and Bruiser). Speaking of them, they were right next to me in the kitchen during the cake ball trials (and followed me to the garage) just waiting for me to drop one:

Other than that, we are set for now. Clay will be traveling a lot from now until the wedding which will give me lots of time to knock out my DIY projects. Before I know it, Christmas/New Years will have come and gone and the big day will be right around the corner!