A year before I met my husband, I sat down and wrote a list of all the things I wanted in a spouse. I had a series of relationships prior, including a crushing, failed marriage, that really forced me to take stock in what I wanted my future to look like. I wanted my next serious relationship to last, but I wasn’t going to settle for someone who didn’t fully meet everything I wanted in a husband. I was done settling and ready to find that person who I knew…absolutely knew… fully and easily fit into the space I had in my heart for someone.

A few weeks ago I was doing some cleaning and decluttering and in the back of my jewelry drawer, I found some folded up pieces of notebook paper. When I pulled the paper out, I realized it was my “list” I had created 17+ years ago, outlining the 40 things I wanted in a husband. The funny thing is, I’ve never once shared this list with my husband, even though up until the day we got married, I had a mental checklist going on in my head, always amazed at how well he stood up to it.

So, as part of the Hallmark “Put Your Heart to Paper” initiative, I’ve decided to share some of the things I love about Nick. These things just so happen to correspond with “the list”…and still stand true, a thousand times over. What words would you use if you couldn’t use “I Love You”? Think beyond those three little words, and express your love by putting your heart to paper. For some ideas, read what the writers over at Hallmark would say. But for now… to my husband…and my list of 36 things (combined some of them) I wanted in a husband:…

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Did I ever tell you about the time ten years ago when my husband and I were invited to be on The Dr. Phil Show? I don’t think I have…

Let me give you some back story first. When I was in high school, on Valentine’s Day every year, our school office would be overloaded with flowers, balloons, candy, stuffed animals, etc. The bigger, the better. The school office was long and in the main area of the building. Lined with windows, you could easily walk by and see every inch of the office. Teen girls would walk by the windows, sneak a glance, envious of the other girls picking up their armfuls of Valentine’s. We’d wait anxiously, all day, for our name to be called over the loud speaker to come pick up “something in the office.” For me, it happened once and it was from an admirer whom I didn’t appreciate like I should (sorry, Doug Hammer).

I had boyfriends in high school and I had plenty of love from my family. They just didn’t shower me with flowers and candy and balloons on Valentine’s day. They always gave me something, but it was never through a public display at school. I knew I was loved, but always felt slighted because of the lack of goodies waiting in the school office for me. I had high expectations and they weren’t being met….

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It seems kind of wrong to be posting about happiness today. The tragedy and devastation going on in Japan is so sad. I’ve found it hard to tear myself away from the news and worrying about those people still searching for their loved ones. I can’t even fathom what they are going through, and I find myself glued to the news updates, hoping for some glimpse of a happy ending for at least some of the people over in Japan.

With that being said, if you are anything like me and get pulled into news stories so deeply that it effects your overall being, then maybe a little reminder of happiness is in order. What do you think?

To start off my Happiness Report, I have to say as much as I love soup, I am more than happy to see salad weather finally approaching us! Sun, longer days, fresh fruits and veggies are just around the corner and I can’t wait!

Another thing that made me smile in a big way happened this week. I have been blogging for close to 4 1/2 years and for the first time in Dine & Dish history, my husband made a comment on my blog! Something about the Being Irish post and sharing his Grasshopper cocktail recipe made him feel compelled to come out of the woodwork and make an appearance.

I bought these cute pink polka dot straws and some other products from an Etsy store called Hey YoYo. All of the products they have at Hey YoYo are smile inducing. From colorful polka dot straws to fun cupcake liners… even her business cards bring a smile to my face! If you love fun and whimsy, you’ll have to check out the Hey YoYo Etsy store.

Photo courtesy of Beth from the blog OMG! Yummy

Earlier this week on Twitter and Facebook, I asked some of you to share your favorite posts you wrote or pictures you took in the month of February. In return, I received links from many of you that really made me smile. One such post that stood out to me was a post by Beth from the blog OMG! Yummy. Beth’s post starts out with this picture of her Grandma and then goes on to talk about her Grandma’s Bubula recipe. It makes me happy to read about how food can evoke such strong memories in people. Beth went on to tell me that her sweet Grandma lived to be 100, and if this picture weren’t cropped you would see her holding her great-granddaughter, causing her to smile that precious smile.  I told Beth that I think I’m going to print out this picture of her Grandma and hang it up where I can see it everyday. How can you be grumpy when you see a sweet smile like that each day?

Reading your favorite posts from last month made me happy to. If you didn’t get the chance to share your favorite blog post or photograph from February, please share the link in the comments below. I’ll make sure to head over to take a look and comment.

Here’s to a happy week for all! Best wishes.

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My husband

Am I the only one who thinks that this kind of hand me down is a bit icky? Help me see the light or give me a good argument to go back and set my husband straight. And for those of you thinking, “Geez, don’t they have better things to argue about than this?”, we do.  Like which direction our trash can should face, or how far up in the garage I should pull the van in and my favorite… why do I get a Netflix subscription and then let the movie sit on our TV for 2 months. Lots of important arguing going on in the Doyle household, but this issue has been gnawing at me for some time now, so I just need to bring some closure to it 😉

I do believe that hand me downs are great, but not of the undie variety. Some of the best recipes in our repertoire are hand me downs from others. One of my favorite wedding shower themes is where people share their family recipes with the bride. What a great way to start off your marriage, with a collection of favorite recipes from those you love.

My mother-in-law recently passed on the recipe for her fruit turnovers. She makes these often for breakfast when we are home (didn’t I marry into a great family? Pie as a breakfast food… genius!). What I love best about hand me down recipes is the verbage in the recipe. I’m going to share this recipe with you, exactly how she gave it to me. If you decided to make these and need some clarification, feel free to contact me and I’ll pass on to you my interpretation.

These turnovers are great for breakfast, dessert, or as a hand held picnic treat, which is why I am including them in the Waiter There’s Something In My Picnic Basket event over at The Passionate Cook.

Fruit Turnovers

2 cups flour
3/4 cup butter
Pinch of salt
10 tbs ice water (might need more)
Canned Pie Filling

Use pastry blender to blend flour with 1/4 cup butter (get crumbly) in a stainless steel bowl.
Add 10 tbs of ice water to make a plyable dough, use fork to keep mixing in until a dough ball forms.Add more water, a bit at a time if the dough ball doesn’t form right away.
Cover with damp, clean dish cloth. Chill about 15 minutes.
Remaining 1/2 cup of butter leave out until plyable and easy to work with.

Roll out the dough on lightly floured surface and then place the butter over the top of the dough – spread butter around surface of dough until thick
Pull up one corner of the dough and bring it over so corners meet (so butter to butter). Keep folding until butter starts to seem through. Keep doing this (roll, fold, fold, fold, roll, fold, fold, fold) until the butter is well incorporated into the dough. (Essentially, this is the way you knead the dough). It will be slimey.
Chill overnight in covered bowl (Kristen here – I’m an instant gratification girl and skipped this step with great results)

Roll out on flowered board, cut it into squares. Place fruit in center, fold over and seal your edges. Canned pie filling works best because it is soft and won’t bust through the dough. For apple, use one apple per turnover and a little bit of the gel. For other fruits, one small tablespoon of filling/fruit works well. Jam – use one heaping teaspoon full.
Bake at 425 for 20-25 minutes. Once cool, feel free to use a powdered sugar, butter, vanilla, milk drizzle or glaze.

A Little Bit of Housekeeping

• If you haven’t already, make sure to sign up for the Dine & Dish Adopt-A-Blogger #2 event! Space is limited, so sign up today!
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• And finally, my favorite bit of news… my 75 year old mom has started a blog! I’m so excited for her to be capturing her memories from growing up and her perspective on life in the world today. Hope you will head over and visit her at On the Inside Looking Back.

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I was thinking tonight how much my husband and I view time differently. He, like many men, is one of those people who can sit down and watch the same movie… over and over and over again. I, on the other hand, rarely will watch the same movie twice. I think that there are so many movies out there I haven’t seen, why would I spend time watching the same movie again and again? Of course, I have those few favorites that I will watch more than once, but seriously… my husband can get just as glued to the TV the first time he watches something as he does the hundredth. You can ask him a question while he is watching Star Wars Episode I for the twentieth time and he seriously has to pull his eyes away to answer the question…like he has no idea what is going to happen next. Oh and another thing… you know that television sports channel that shows old college football games? He can watch those football games over and over as well and still get excited about them! Here I am with a mile long list of never seen television shows on TiVo and he is watching a football game from 1980 again.

My husband, unlike myself, is one of those people who knows how to maximize the time he has as well. He can get more done in an hour than I can get just sitting down and thinking about what I need to get done in an hour. He has some kind of overactive efficiency gene or something. He amazes me that way!

An example of his overactive efficiency gene in action could be the dinner we made together today. We had a whole chicken in the fridge and since I am a whole chicken weenie (meaning the thought of putting my hands under the skin of a chicken or inside the cavity completely grosses me out), he got pulled in to help. The recipe we used is very straightforward… nothing fancy or difficult. However, by the time I even had the first couple of steps done, he had done everything else, including cleaning the prep dishes. He probably updated our will and designed our next house in that time as well… I probably was too busy pokeying along with my part to take notice.

Anyway, this is not a recipe that requires a whole lot of efficiency and unless you are a “whole chicken weenie” like me, really doesn’t involve pulling someone else in to help out. It takes a couple of hours to cook, so if you want, prep the chicken, pop it in the oven and then sit down and watch Harry Potter, again. Either way, when it is done, you will feel very efficient having a delicious, moist and flavorful dinner ready for all to enjoy.

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The other day I was browsing the Smitten Kitchen blog and was oooohhhing and ahhhhhing during the tour of her kitchen. When I saw the way her spices were organized, I knew that’s what I wanted for Christmas! If you’ll notice, she has them arranged in a very OCD type manner in little tins with easy to read labels on the outside. The way they are organized seems to me that they would be easily accessible, easy to organize, and a cinch to dip in and get the measurement you need.

So, I tell my hubby “I know what I want for Christmas!”. I show him the picture of the spices all neatly arranged in their little tins. I also show him the comment that would lead him directly to the website where he can purchase said tins. His response? “Those look great. Why don’t you go ahead and buy them for yourself as your Christmas present from me.” Whaaaat??

I decided to compromise. I decided that I would by the containers myself, but he has to provide the spices. I do want something to open on Christmas morning and he shouldn’t be able to get off that easy now, should he?

I do know my husband well though, and know that without things written down exactly like you want them, he’ll feel lost and confused when shopping for presents. What I’m asking from you all is a list of your all time favorite spices. I have the essentials and quite a few non-essentials. What I’m looking for are the herbs and spices that you use in your meals that might not be so common. What might I be missing?

Now, I beg of you, please don’t leave me hanging. I’m opening myself up here, asking for your help in making sure that I have something under the tree on Christmas morning

I’d love your feedback and comments. I hope I can send my dearest love off to the spice store armed with a great list of herbs and spices that will help me to get more spicy in the kitchen.

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