I have a great story to tell
That will end with sweet wedding bells
But that’s the last part
Let’s start at the start
With Allisha, whom we know so well

Allisha was gorgeous and tall
At her feet men would fall
But she wasn’t impressed
She wanted the best
So she quickly said no to them all

‘Niah was much taller than she!
His talents and skills plain to see
But juggling aside
Despite how she tried
Allisha was smitten by he!

It took not a moment of work
Her response was nearly knee-jerk
He hoped for a yes
And he got no less
When popping the question to Sperr…k

And here we are a single month out
From the best wedding ever, no doubt
The bells they will ring
The people will sing
Hallelujah, the end… brussel sprout!

- Marilyn Steckiel

Allisha killed me with some new recipes of my favorites types of food ("killed" - as in, spoiled me).

Baked Parmesan Tomatoes

[yields four servings]

• 4 tomatoes, halved horizontally
• 1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 teaspoon chopped fresh oregano
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• Freshly ground pepper, to taste
• 4 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 450° F.
2. Place tomatoes cut-side up on a baking sheet.
3. Top with Parmesan, oregano, salt, pepper and drizzle with olive oil.
4. Bake until the tomatoes are tender (about 15 minutes).

Baked Asparagus

• Extra-Virgin Olive Oil
• Salt
• Pepper
• Parmesan Cheese
• Oregano

DIRECTIONS:

Season with olive oil, salt, pepper, and parmesan cheese; bake at 350 degrees for 10-15 minutes.

Guacamole grilled cheese sandwiches! A delicious explosion of flavor for the mouth!

Guacamole Grilled Cheese

[yields 2 sandwiches]

Directions:

To make the guacamole-cut avocados in half. Remove seed. Scoop out avacado from the peel, put in a large bowl. Using a fork, mash the avocado. Add the onion, garlic, red pepper flakes, chives, lime/lemon juice, salt and pepper. Stir until well combined. Add the chopped tomato and stir.

Heat a pan or griddle to medium-high heat. Spread desired amount of guacamole on both slices of bread then top with cheese. Butter outer slices of bread and grill on one side for about 2 minutes or until golden and crispy. Flip the sandwich and grill until golden brown. Make the other sandwich the same way and serve warm.

A surreal moment. Marriage license application — check!

The Stegall family hosted a beautiful and tasty wedding shower for us at their home. Mrs. Stegall used the script from Taming of the Shrew (which Allisha and I had the opportunity to be a part of this summer) to make these artsy paper feathers. Always inspired by the Stegalls’ creativity!

Jeff Stegall invited us to be a part of this year’s Summer Shakespeare production of  Taming of the Shrew. We had a blast performing together! Here are some snapshots for you to take a look!