Alli Talley

November 26, 2020

Food, Foodies

Bobby's First Time Baking an Apple Pie (And Using a Food Processor)

Alli Talley

November 26, 2020

Food, Foodies

The holidays are upon us! Being 2020, we figured that we’d need an extra helping of pie this year, so I (Bobby) decided to give baking an apple pie a go!

I thought starting at 7 PM (when we put Jude down), would be a great idea. Turns out making a pie takes MUCH longer than I realized. It was super fun though, and it definitely gives me a new appreciation for pie!

Simplifying the lengthy process was our new Vitamix Food Processor Attachment. Ironically, this was my first time using a food processor too… ha! Vitamix’s version is on brand with the rest of their products - designed perfectly and incredibly easy to use. It made the pie crust prep simple and quick, making time for the rest of the journey.

We used two recipes to put this beauty together, one for the crust and the other for the filling. Here are the links to the recipes:

Food Processor Pie Crust

Homemade Apple Pie

The following is our journey in photos! Thank you to our Vitamix for the easiest part of the process :) Happy Thanksgiving all!

Prepping our ingredients and Food Processor.

“Mise en place” if we’ve ever seen it. — *“Mise en place”* if we’ve ever seen it.

Adding a layer of butter to the pie crust mixture.

If only a photo could convey the smell or flavor!

If it tastes as good as it looks we’re in good shape.

And proud to be done… hehe. Happy Thanksgiving!

Alli Talley

July 1, 2018

Marriage

The Couch That Dreams Are Made Of

Alli Talley

July 1, 2018

Marriage

We've been wanting a new couch for what feels like forever. When we got married we invested in a cheap white Ikea couch because a) we didn't have a lot of money, and b) white goes with everything, right? Well folks, if we have one word of advice for engaged and newly married couples, it's this:

"DON'T BUY A WHITE COUCH."

Trust us. Don't do it. They're so pretty and chic and fresh but a few years (even a few months!) in, and you WILL regret it. You'll have friends over and they'll spill wine, you'll buy a puppy and when you're not looking she'll track mud across the cushions, you'll be eating a popsicle and it will drip... You get the picture.

So, back to our story. We started the long and treterous couch hunt and we quickly realized we were in way over our heads. Good couches are so expensive, and it seemed like all of the cheaper options weren't very stylish, and more or less just looked cheap. It felt foolish to spend our life savings on a sectional, but we didn't want to buy another Ikea couch. (No offense, Ikea!) We felt trapped.

Until we heard about Burrow.

Not only is the style of couch exactly what we were looking for, it was affordable, the online process was a breeze, and their customer service was oh-so-friendly. Oh, and get this. Every couch comes with a plug-in station so you can charge your phone while you watch your favorite TV show (The Office, always). Did Burrow just invent the PERFECT COUCH?! We think so.

We opted on the Chaise King Sofa in Beige, and in just a matter of weeks, it was delivered to our door! (That's right - your couch comes delivered to you!) Now, we have to admit that the thought of assembling a couch seemed daunting (Ikea flashbacks) but we really cannot stress how EASY the building process was. Our entire sectional was put together in under 30 minutes... Mostly by Bobby by himself!! (I had the task of documenting the process - see said images below)

Now we've our Burrow for a little over a month, we can confidently say that we LOVE IT. Like, it's kind of embarrassing how obsessed with our couch we are. We've been invited to friends houses multiple times and we've declined, simply because we'd rather hang on our couch! (Sorry friends that are reading this, we'll come over soon we promise!)

Here's what we love about it so far:

+ It's spacious. Bobby can fully lay down across the couch and I can fully lay on the chaise - and we don't even come close to touching. That's huge.

+ It's the perfect amount of soft/firm. We like a couch that has structure, but we also want something that's cozy and soft. The Burrow team really nailed this.

+ It's easy to clean. While we're still having flashbacks about our white couch, this one is a night and day difference. The fabric is stain-resistant making it incredibly easy to manage... Praise be!!

+ The charger station. It's a game-changer... or should we say, game-charger?! ;) Since we work from home a lot, and we're constantly on our phones, it really is a huge help for our business. (And for stalking Bachelorette contestants on Monday nights. Duh.)

In short, we love our Burrow. We think you would too. So much so, that we dedicated a whole blog to it!! If and when you're on the market for a new couch, we highly recommend Burrow - and make sure you tag us in your pics! We'd love to see how you style yours!

(And don't worry, as we continue to "upgrade" our living room, we'll be sure to post pics and updates along the way. And you know that we'll be posting those from our Burrow couch. While charging our phone. And drinking wine. Because we can. #nomorewhitecouch)

Alli Talley

September 17, 2017

Travel Essentials

Saying YES to Hello Fresh!

Alli Talley

September 17, 2017

Travel Essentials

One thing we love about exploring the world is experiencing amazing cuisine. Having a tasty meal and a good glass of wine with the one you love, maybe with a great view in front of you, is pretty incomparable in our books!

But talk about a reality check when we get home!! One of our biggest struggles is finding our rhythm in the kitchen. We don’t really feel like cooking, few meals compare to the recent feasts we replay in our heads, and dishes are the BANE of our existence. Maybe a little too dramatic, but guys, the struggle is SO real. All that to say, when we recently came across Hello Fresh, we figured why not?! Worth a try. And we've been hooked ever since! While we still aren’t huge fans of washing dishes, we wanted to share a few reasons why Hello Fresh has been the perfect fit for our lifestyle and our bellies.

Hello Fresh helps us return to the rhythm of being home

As we said above, extravagant meals away from home spoil us and make us lazy. Before Hello Fresh, we'd have great intentions for cooking dinner at home on a weeknight... but when it got time to cook, we'd find a way to negotiate ordering take out instead. We'd end up spending more money than we wanted to on unhealthy food, and we'd usually eat in a rush. Contrast that with Hello Fresh deliveries, the meals are HEALTHY, delicious, easy to make, and surprisingly fun to do together! While our plan is only 3 meals a week, that gets us used to being in the kitchen, and we often cook at least 2 more nights on our own! Some of our favorite "date nights" recently have consisted of cooking a Hello Fresh together and drinking our favorite bottle of vino!

Hello Fresh Makes Us Feel Like You’re Getting Better in the Kitchen (and we probably are!)

This leads us to one of our favorite things about Hello Fresh. It forces us to cook! The recipes are extremely easy to follow and require minimal culinary skill, but all the chopping and mincing and stirring has definitely improved our skills in the kitchen. You get to use ingredients you maybe didn’t know about, and you start to understand things that go together that you wouldn’t have thought of before (Kiwi in salsa? Cranberry mayo on a turkey burger?)! We find ourselves exploring ingredients on our own when we aren’t eating Hello Fresh meals. While we aren’t quite on their level at culinary pairings, we’re making progress.

Hello Fresh is weeknight menu GOALS

We’re hoping that one day we can be as creative as the chefs at Hello Fresh. One of the best parts of getting the boxes is opening it up and seeing what they’ve thought of for the week (you can look in advance if you can’t handle the suspense). Bobby hates admitting it, but you really can’t go wrong with the traditional OR the vegetarian menu! The recipes have so much variety and flavor, and consistently satisfy our taste buds. We're serious when we say that we've genuinely LOVED all of our Hello Fresh meals thus far. Can all of our weeknights taste like this?

Hello Fresh is reliable and FRESH

This is pretty straight forward, but it’s also really important. The Hello Fresh boxes have arrived on time every week, and we’re big fans of that. Also, the produce and other ingredients have consistently been extremely fresh - and most of the time organic! Initially we questioned how good the quality could be when the food is mailed to you in a box. But friends, it’s fantastic. The boxes have re-useable ice packs (we love this) that keep all your goodies cool, safe, and fresh. When you’re ready to give Hello Fresh a try, your food will be on time and delicious!

So what are you waiting for?! Give it a try! Use the code TRAVELINGNEWLYWEDS and get a discount on your next box. And send us a message or an email to tell us about your experience! Or... simply invite us over for dinner. ;)