To say I am enjoying married life is probably an understatement.

I love not having to say goodbye all the time.

I love not being on the road all the time between our two homes.

I love that I have not eaten a single meal in my car since I have gotten married.

I love that I only cook in one kitchen.

I love that I have a dishwasher now.

Actually the dishwasher might be my favorite part.

Just kidding.

Sort of.

But anyway I been cooking a good bit.

Here is what I have been making.

I made cookies to take to our post-wedding present opening get together with my family.

I used my new silicon baking sheets when I baked them.

Love them! The cookies browned very nicely but did not turn hard.

Worth the money if you bake a lot.

Silicon Baking Sheets, Williams-Sonoma

Then we spent a mostly quiet weekend at home before we had to return to work on Tuesday.

I whipped up a big batch of this stew and stuck half of it in the freezer.

I will admit that the main reason I wanted to make beef stew was because I wanted to use my new Le Creuset Dutch oven that my Grandma Deuink had given me as a wedding present.

I was just amazed how evenly it heated up. No hot spots on the bottom.

I can tell I will be using this gift often!

Because I try not to eat a lot of red meat, I cut the amount of beef the recipe called for by half, but I bulked it up with mushrooms.

I received this olive oil as a house-warming gift from my sister. It is just lovely. I used it in the stew.

Then on Monday night I whipped up a loaf of banana bread to take to work as a peace-offering since several people had to cover for me for two whole weeks while I was out.

I just used my trusty banana bread recipe with the additional ingredients of chopped almonds(1/2 cup), almond flavoring(1/2 tsp) and chocolate chips(3/4 cup).

PS. Almond flavoring is one of my most favorite things.

Sometimes I just sniff the bottle cuz I feel like it.

I am a freak show.

I increased the baking time by a couple of minutes and it worked perfectly.

The banana bread received rave reviews.

Try this next time you make some banana bread. I liked it so much better than adding walnuts.

But then again I am not a walnut person anyway.

So I guess that makes sense as to why I liked it better.

Moving on.

As we were on our way home from our honeymoon, I clipped a few branches from the woods to use in an arrangement.

Every time I walk by the arrangement on the dinning room table I smile.

It’s a nice reminder.

Common sense note: The lemons did not come from the mountains of NC. Just thought you should know that. (insert sarcastic tone)