Nelle's Baked Brie & Pesto Pasta

We got together at Danielle & Jake's new home in Kent this past week for a super yummy homemade dinner and talked weddings, weddings, weddings among a few other things. We have 3 weddings going to happen between this Sept & next June so there is tons of planning to be done. Tiff's is a destination wedding in Cabo. Cassie, who is a more frequent visitor to our Thursdays, is on a time crunch (Sept) but seems to be managing well. Jessica, who has also been joining more recently, has some time (June 2012) but seems to want to get everything done ASAP so not to have to worry about it later. As many of us know, time between starting to plan and the BIG day does approach rather fast, and WE ARE the group of girls you want to ask and help you with that special day. We have compiled a group of the best photographers, DJ's, cake makers/bakeries & flower arrangers in the area. Not only are they AMAZING but pretty inexpensive for the quality and product you end up purchasing. So.....if you have any questions, ask away...

Does anyone have a picky kid? Mine would eat anything until he hit about 16 months, after that, breakfast, lunch & dinner became one of my worst nightmares. Luckily it didn't take long for me to figure out a solution. Lauren let me borrow Deceptively Delicious, a cookbook by Jessica Seinfeld (yes, Jerry's wife). It's amazing and best of all knowing that hiding healthy fruits & veggies in a dish is delicious! How can you go wrong? Hell, even my husband ate all the leftovers of the Mac'nCheese which had pureed cauliflower AND sweet potatoes in it. You can buy it on Amazon.com for only $7.90 here: http://www.amazon.com/deceptively-delicious/dp/006176793X?tag=book0b48-20 I find the more mothers I talk to about this, the more have been using it for years and love it as well.

Here are last weeks recipes:

Homemade Pesto Sauce
1/4 cup olive oil
1 Tbsp water
2 cups fresh basil leaves
1 clove garlic (chopped)
1/4 cup pine nuts
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese (grated) veggies you like. We had sun-dried tomatoes and mushrooms.
Top with more fresh Parmesan and enjoy!

Baked Brie
1/4 cup chopped pecans
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 Tbsp brandy
Combine all ingredients and refrigerate for at least 24 hours.
Spread mix on top of a round of brie
Bake at 500 for 5-10 minutes, or until the top is bubbly and the cheese inside is gooey. Serve with crackers and fruit. (grapes & apricots go great)

Thanks you Nelle for having us all over & Megs, we look forward to seeing you this week :)

Amanda