Congrats Doctor!

We have had a LOT to celebrate over the past week!

Birthdays, Mother's Day and most importantly Ryan's Graduation from Dental School!  We have realized how lucky we are over the past 6 years and how many people we have supporting us throughout this long journey. We started the celebrations with Ryan's birthday.  Our good friends, The Lees, came into town and we went to The Wells Fargo golf tournament at Quail Hollow and then to dinner with friends and family.  We went to his favorite Mexican Restaurant.

And finally on Sunday the long awaited Graduation!  I was the absolute proudest wife in the world last Sunday.  I have seen Ryan work so hard over the past 4 years.  Most people say "Time flys", but I feel like we have waited FOREVER for him to finish school.  Not only did he make it through 4 years of Dental School he found out when he arrived at the ceremony that he made the Dean's List once again and he graduated from school with Honors.  Ryan NEVER made below a B in all 4 years of Dental School!  Well all of his hard work paid off and we got to celebrate it with family and friends all weekend!
Here is the family waiting for the ceremony to start.

Here is Ryan right before he walked across the stage...

And officially a Doctor:)

I was so excited....and nervous that I couldn't take good pictures or videos because my hands were a little shaky and I was trying really hard not to cry.  I definetly teared up after they called his name and he turned and winked at me:)  I will never forget that moment.
This picture sums up how we felt that this day had finally arrived!!!

We took advantage of the moment and took lots of pictures with all the family and friends there supporting Ryan!

 Ryan's proud parents!!

Proud grandparents!!!

Ryan with his dad and Aunt who drove all the way from Georgia!  Ryan is the first Doctor in his family and they wanted to be there in person to support him!

And of course me the proudest of all with the doctor!

After a lot of pictures we went to Aungus Barn for dinner.  Ryans grandfather and dad surprised us with a private tour of the wine cellar.

 My dad is a big wine lover....he really enjoyed this part of the night!

 

Above is my dad and bonus mom who wouldn't miss this night for anything!  So sweet of her to leave all her children with a sitter on Mother's Day to come celebrate all Ryan's hard work.  We had so much fun at dinner that we looked around at the end of the night and we were the last ones in the restaurant!  Now that is a sign of a great night!!!!
Here we are with our new title...Dr. and Mrs:)

 

To see someone you love work so hard and something and finally achieve it is a precious gift and we really tried to enjoy every moment of the day!  Congrats Ryan!!!!  Don't worry the celebrations aren't over...I'll be back soon with details of the party.....oh yes there was a party for sure!

New Cooking Shows

I am a HUGE fan of cooking shows.  I actually taught myself how to cook when we first got married by watching the Food Network.  My favorites are Giada De Laurentiis and Barefoot Contessa, but lately I have been wanting new recipes and have started DVRing a few new cooking shows.  The first is 5 Ingredient Fix on Food Network.  It is a great show for working women who need no fuss meals after a long day at work.  We have made several things from her show from snacks and drinks to actual dinners.
The other show I am in love with is Kitchen Boss on TLC.  I love Cake Boss and Buddy is just as charming on his kitchen show.  Although his meals are not bikini body friendly...they are yummy!  Recently we made his Mozzarella and Sausage Stuffed Chicken.  Find the recipe here. This was actually the meal I made Ryan the night he officially moved to Charlotte for good!  Now that is a reason for celebrating!
*This recipe calls for Bread Crumbs.  My favorite G-Free Bread Crumbs are these:

We first made the sausage and mozzerella filling.

Now prep and stuff the chicken...

While your chicken is cooking make the Tomato Topping...found here.  This is a very easy process if you follow simple instructions on how to peel the tomato.

Gather the rest of the Vinaigrette and toss to combine.

Then top your stuffed chicken with this fresh tomato topping....and magic happens!

Hope you love these cooking shows and recipes as much as we have!

Craft Night

Women will use ANY excuse to get together, have a glass of wine and gossip!  Well our newest excuse...Craft Night.  We tried to make a cake stand and used this platter tutorial as our inspiration.  The cake stand is made of a pizza pan and a candle stick found at the Dollar Store!  For a good craft night try the craft the night before to allow for fewer mistakes...

 make sure all your guest have their own supplies....

...and supply lots of wine and snacks!

 I only took a few pictures because I ended up with a lot of spray paint and glue on my hands...plus we were just having too much fun! 

Here is the finished product!

Ashley's turned out great...she measured and took her time unlike the rest of us!

I think they turned out pretty good!  Some definetely better than others:)  Can't wait for the next Craft Night...or any other excuse to get together with the girls!

Supper Club with a Peanut Butter Torte

I went to my first Supper Club this week.  I wanted to make something yummy so I would get invited back so I went with a Peanut Butter Chocolate Torte.  These girls are so sweet and creative.
This month we grilled out with Turkey Burgers...yummy!  What a great way to get girls together and swap recipes! 

Great girls, great conversation, great wine and of course GREAT food! My Peanut Butter Torte was inspired from this recipe at One Perfect Bite.
***I used gluten free oreos, not chocolate wafers.  I also used 8 oz of cream cheese, not 12.

I used a potato masher to crush the cookies, added melted butter and molded it into a spring foam pan.

Make sure you follow the 10 min instructions or your crust will not turn out right.
While your waiting for your perfect oreo crust, make the fluffy peanut butter insides!

Combine the crust and insides and let refrigerate for at least 4 hours....overnight is better!
Make the chocolate topping...

Put the peanuts on top and let it refrigerate for another 30 min-1hour.  Serve chilled.

I will say it is hard to transport this beauty....I put it in a cake stand...in a basket and it still slid around.

Yes this cake is impressive looking and if you are a peanut butter lover like we are here at the Londry House, then you will Love this creation!  Thanks Traci for introducing me to so many wonderful new friends! Your the best!!
We also recently helped Ashley celebrate her birthday with a Mexican Fiesta party.  I am a sucker for themed parties and Ashley's husband Hunter did a great job incorporating all aspects of the party into the Fiesta theme.  They even had a donkey pinata.

 Here is me with Emily and the Birthday girl!

Happy Birthday to my newest follower:)

Schools out....FOR EVER!!!!!!!

You know that song Schools out for summer?  I think its by Alice Cooper.  Well here in the Londry house Schools out FOR EVER!!!!! Today is officially Ryans LAST DAY OF SCHOOL.....FOREVER!!!! 
I can not believe that it is finally almost over.  All the studying, all the stress, the Board tests, the seminars, all the hard work.....all over.  No we are not sad at all...we are so excited for the next chapter (the one that we have been working towards for 6 years).
Ryan-I am so in awe of all your hard work and commitment.  Your motivation and humble attitude is truly inspiring.  Enjoy this month off while you wait for graduation and your liscence because after that you have to join the real world with the rest of us:)  For our memory here are some pictures from the school:

Here is his locker which if you look closely is full of teeth molds:)

Here is the "patient" they worked on first year before they were allowed to work on actualy patients. 

Here is Ryan and I at the White Coat Ceremony.  Can't wait to see him in his Cap and Gown soon!

Congratulations on your last day!  Let the celebrations begin!

Carmel Desserts and other happenings!

We spent several days in Columbia last week.  While the guys were at the Masters, us girls enjoyed shopping, cooking and catching up.  I also got to spend lots of time with little Ryan!  Rachel and I went to have lunch with Stefanie and Katie at school and had fun on the trampoline when they got home!

Rachel and Rebecca saw the Asian night blog post I did back in October and have been wanting me to show them how to make Spring Rolls.  They were a success and we also made Asian Wings and Chicken Fried Rice.  Although this is not your everyday meal, it was a crowd pleaser...and we had a picky crowd!  The best part was the three of us in the kitchen cooking together:)

The next day we did some shopping and met my brother Matthew at Lillian's store for lunch.  She has by far the BEST chicken salad EVER!

She also makes an amazing Carmel Cake that you can see on the counter in the picture above with me and Rachel.  I watched it disappear one slice at a time while we were there and could not resist getting the recipe and recreating the cake to be gluten free when we got home!  I have to say it was a HUGE success!  I used this recipe for the cake.

For the Carmel Frosting I used a recipe frosting from Mrs. Paula Dean, but used just a little over half a box of Powdered Sugar.

Thanks for the inspiration Lillian.  Although it is sometimes frustrating when I really want to eat something and can't cause of my allergy....it is great inspiration for me to play around with the recipes to make it safe for me to eat!  If you are not GF like me use your favorite pound cake recipe and make this Carmel Icing....I'm telling you it will not dissapoint.
I also recently made a gluten free version of this recipe for Carmel Toffee!  The Girl Who Ate Everything is one of my favorite food blogs and I saw this on her website and had to make it!
I used these crackers in place of the saltines.

You line them on a cookie sheet...

Make the "carmel" part...

Pour over crackers and bake...

and finally the chocolate topping!  Let it cool completely and then break into bite size pieces.  The combination of the salty and sweet and chocolate is perfect!

Besides doing a lot of baking...I have had the best time meeting new people and speding more time with old friends here in Charlotte.  I love this city and look forward to getting settled and spreading our roots!