in case you missed the story so far.. check out my last post about friday + saturday.
now it’s time to talk about sunday + monday!
but first.. a little shameless self promotion. i mentioned that the votes for mine & marshall’s photo were reset with the new month, so i am trying to log more votes. please vote again so your vote counts for july! if you can please take a minute.. vote for my photo by clicking here! that would make my day.
sunday.
i had to sit here for a few minutes trying to remember what i did on sunday! then it came to me. marshall rolled out of bed after i blogged and we went to get coffee. iced for me, hot for him. i don’t know how he drinks hot coffee in this hot weather!
we went to my mom’s house where i baked up a storm! i was in charge of bringing dessert to the 4th of july BBQ later that day. i noticed on a lot of the blogs i read, you guys call BBQs “cookouts”! i wish i called them that. i love that term. ha.
on the recipe agenda?
- the best chocolate chip cookies ever
- mama pea’s vegan chocolate chip cookies
- patriotic fruit pizza
- vegan patriotic fruit pizza using mama pea’s sugar cookie recipe
i made a vegan version of each dessert because we have a lot of vegan friends.
i am pretty speedy. i mixed and baked 5 sheets of cookies and two fruit pizza crusts all in a little under two hours!
the final products:
cookies~
these vegan cookies were the best vegan chocolate chip cookies i’ve made/tasted yet! very chewy and moist. (i hate the word moist) thanks for the recipe, mama pea!
i make my chocolate chip cookies for any social event. they are always a hit! the recipe makes about 48 cookies (depending on how much dough you eat while making them) and they were all gone or taken home by people by the end of the night!
this vegan gives the fruit pizza 2 thumbs up! 
vegan on top, regular below. 
the BBQ was a blast. there was so much good food! behold:
nick’s first batch of homemade hummus! sun dried tomato garlic: 
chips & queso: 
grapes! 
potato wedges: 
burgers & dogs: 
vegan chick’n patties & seitan skewers:
apricot glazed apple tart:
(american as) apple pie: 
there was more.. but i think that is enough for now.
fun with friends!!
anakin is the cutest little guy around :)
my plate:
i also had a few bites and nibbles of the chips & dip, the fruit pizza and that awesome apricot glazed apple tart.
tried this brew:
super delicious!
i also ate my weight in melon.. because that is what i do. marshall picked up a new-to-us melon, the santa claus melon! i just love the name. 
this stuff literally melted in your mouth!
after our food digested a bit, we headed to the park to play with volleyballs, soccer balls and frisbees. i am not so athletically inclined, so i mainly watched.. but it was nice to enjoy the summer night.
then it was back to steph & alex’s for fireworks!
no fourth of july is complete with a little pyrotechnics ;)
monday.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, RANDY DOG!
before any birthday festivities occurred, marshall and i ran errands.
among those errands?
we bought a kitchen table :)
we also bought three bar stools to match, but i can’t find the photo of those online.
we also bought bedding!
matching pillows:
cute, no?
and the last errand was greek food!
oh greek. you know the way to my heart. three of my fave carbs on one plate? potatoes, rice, pita bread. at least it was semi-healthy with salad, albeit drenched in fattening dressing ;) and the chicken souvlaki was amazing. i finished about half of each of the starches/pita and all of the chicken & salad.
THEN it was off to memory grove for randy’s birthday fun!
kristen, rory & harley joined marshall, penny, randy & me.
SHAKE SHAKE SHAKE.
not a cloud in the sky! 
momma & the birthday boy. he’s 5! 
when we came home i baked randy a peanut butter birthday cake!
- 1 cup flour
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1 egg
- 1/4 cup peanut butter
- 1/2 cup canola oil
- 1/2 cup water
bake at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes, slice in half, frost with peanut butter and stack!
at the last minute, marshall put an “R” made out of bread on top! because randy’s favorite food is bread. he takes after his mom ;)
we sang happy birthday to the birthday boy!
and then they feasted on the cake!
happy birthday, randy dog.
DANG. what a long post. what a long weekend. what a wonderful life :)
back to the grind in the morning!
Qs~
1. best thing you ate over the holiday weekend? pita pit grilled chicken pita saturday night. YUM.
2. do you use the term “cookout”? i have never heard anyone say that! but i read it on about 4,532 blogs this weekend.
xo. janetha b.
Next Comments →
you are adorable! this post was so fun!! puppies, amazing food, and friends. I LOVE.
I’m from Kentucky and we say cookout. :)
never heard of ‘cookout’! haha, pretty awesome! Anakin is the CUTEST baby i have ever seen! Happy bday randy :) so cute you made him a cake!
Thanks again and so much for another fun, gorgeous post! Muah!
I love Marshall’s purple t, with the poodle on it, I’d get that for my bf in an instant if I saw it over here.
1. Best thing I ate this weekend – vanilla ice cream sundae with Katie’s chocolate butter as a topping.
2. I have never really heard the term “cookout”. I use BBQ (like you).
Love all the Randy and Penny photos. Love that you baked him a cake for his birthday! :)
What a fab weekend! I ate a fab ice cream pistachio an mint choc chip it was huge it was good!
Never heard that term before so never use it x x
What a great 4th of July!! Looks like you had lots of fun and lots of good food – I am drooling over Randy’s peanut butter birthday cake! Speaking of which, Happy Birthday Randy!! :)
LOOOVE your new kitchen table and bedding!!
Hello! Your fourth looks awesome. Great job on all of the desserts- love that you thought of all guests dietary needs. There is nothing worse than going to a party and not being able to eat anything. That last picture of anakin is out of this world cute. Happy birthday RANDYYYYYYYYY! I love that ya’ll make special treats for your dogs on their birthdays too. Best thing I ate this weekend- too much fruit salad. It was awesome. And I do call them cookouts sometimes. BBQs, grilling, cookouts….kind of depends what we’re making
love the pics as always! mama peas recipes ROCK! i must try thsoe cookies! she just made a vegan cookie bar that looks SO SO SO good!! i love your dress, it is super cute and so summery! I want one :)
I dont really call bbq’s cookouts, I think I call them bbq’s!! but yeah,lots of people do call them cookouts…its kinda like “soda” or “pop” hehe (I call it SODA!)
anyways, happy birthday to randy, love that you baked the puppers a cake!! so cute :)
LOVE THE BEDDING
xoxoxox
Hahah we DO use the word cookout. :) I wonder where it’s from?
What a killer weekend!!! Oh wow, all those desserts!!! So incredible!! :) You would have been so proud of me girl, I actually whipped out a vegan baked good this weekend. Vegan Coconut Bars and they were definitely the best thing I ate all weekend. Totally unplanned and completely unexpected (since I stink at baking) but they were awesome!
I love Santa Clause melon. I tried one for the first time last summer and I fell in love. It’s so much fun to try all different kinds of new melons out now.
I usually say BBQ just because it’s easier to write/say than cookout. I dunno, I guess I do say cookout sometimes too. However you say it, they are always such a blast! :)
Glad you had a wonderful 4th of July love!
Dang, I want some of Randys cake. He’s one lucky dog! We use the term BBQ in Texas well because…..texas wouldn’t be Texas without the BBQ and grub.
Cute table and bed spread. 2 thumbs up!
Oh my goodness…I absolutely love all these pics. It looks like you lived summer to the fullest (cookouts, volleyball, walks with the pups, birthday celebrations…love it!) :D
The expression on the baby’s face in the last picture is killer! So adorable!
HA, i’ve never said “cookout” in my life…BBQ is west coast style perhaps?? Sounds like SUCH a fun weekend…and NOT gonna lie- Randy’s cake sounds pretty good to me ;D Love the new furniture and bedding, i love houseware shopping!!
Cookout where I’m from.
The vegan chik’n patties look good. Do you know what brand they were?
Mmm, delicious food! That fruit pizza looks amazing.
I love the house stuff- it will look great!
I use the word cookout, but not as much as the word “barbecue”.
And spinach burger from the greek place Nick loves. Hands down. SO good.
xo
Kris
Happy Birthday Randy!
I never used the word cookout or had even heard of it before I moved to NC. I was definitely educated quickly on the difference between BBQ and a cookout. BBQ is a noun, a type of food (i.e. pulled pork). A cookout is what you do…you cook…outside…burgers, chicken, hot dogs on a grill, etc. Whatever. These Southerners are wack. ;)
And dude, volleyball is like the scariest sport EVER. I would sit it out for sure.
Yup I use the word cookout!! Ha
Love love love the patriotic desserts! And, your peanut butter cake looked awesome, too!
I was laughing that you don’t like the word “moist” because I don’t either…bleh!
Have a great week!:)
Janetha, I don’t think I can read your blog anymore if you keep posting photos of that adorable BABYYYYY, delicious cookies, and Penn-ables.
I hardly ever use the word cookout….always barbecue.
That’s funny. Everybody back at home (Indiana) calls it a cookout. All my friends here refer to it as BBQ. Maybe it’s sort of like soda and pop.
Happy B-day Randy!
Nope. We definitely say BBQ.
I love love love your patriotic fruit pizzas…you must be famous for those pizzas in Utah :)
Whoever’s baby that is is one lucky mama – what a cutie! Looks like you had tons of fun. Yay.
Best thing I ate? Mmm probably the german potato salad I had with my burger and bratwurst. It had bacon fat in it. Oy.
voted! You are winning by a landslide!
Yes, I call them cookouts too! I mean, bbq’s work just fine as well but I use the two interchangeably!
and best thing I ate this weekend–some black bean and tomato quinoa!
oh you are a dang good photographer. Love the randy pic where he’s shaking!
our dog Joe and cat stoner would love to eat that cake… Mmm I’d probably take a bite too! Glad you had a fun weekend girlie!
Yep. We “cookout” down in the south. BBQ is we call food like pulled pork, ribs, brisket, etc. Anything smoky or with BBQ sauce. I love both.
Your bedding is really pretty! I love it.
I love that you bake your dogs birthday cakes. I also love that you admit to not being athletically inclined – makes me feel better. :)
Looks like a great weekend – can you believe that I didn’t set off any fireworks or go see a fireworks show? :(
Oh wow, your 4th of July looks like it was so much fun. How cool that there were vegan options–that’s my kind of BBQ, even though I’m not 100% vegan. :) I didn’t know you could make a vegan fruit pizza! I’m definitely gonna look at that.
Both your table and bedding look awesome. Happy Birthday to Randy! I bet he loved that cake. :)
Such a fun post! I love that you made so many vegan goodies too, it all looks wonderful. Your puppies are adorable!
i’m soooo behind! i’m so sorry about your “peanut”. it is SO neat that you guys did the whole hike/balloons thing…
happy birthday, pup! :) cute cake, btw. is your dog obsessed with pb too? i know tina always writes about murphy loving pb.
the fireworks pic is epic! i love the action shot with the sparks in the air!
glad you had an amazing weekend! happy belated 4th of july!
xo.
AWWWWWW! I love that you made Randy a cake. You’re such a sweet fur Momma!!
The best thing I ate over this weekend was wild caught CA halibut with mango peach salsa which’ll be posting this Saturday ;)
We call them BBQ’s also… I haven’t acutally heard/ read anyone call it a cookout, but I really like that term!! So cute.
Your cookies look YUUUUUUUUUUUUUMMY!!
1. A pecan pie blizzard, holy god!
2. I say both bbq and cookout, my mom’s from Ohio so perhaps I got it from her.
All the vegan desserts look so delicious! And Randy’s birthday cake looks quite good too :) I switch between saying BBQ and cookout. If someone looks super cute at one, I love saying “look out cookout!”
You are such a good mama to those pups! I’m pretty sure the doggy bday cake is going to be nicer than the cake I’m going to make Pea Daddy tomorrow ;)
I wish I’d have known you were going to make vegan choc. chip cookies…I’ve tweaked the recipe and it is now perfect (and bound for the book)!
Cookout? No no no. It’s Barbecue all the way.
such amazing food! i love that you made vegan versions for your friends — so sweet. btw, that tribute for the peanut was beautiful; you really have an awesome family!
Yum, so much great foooooooooood in this post!! And Randy looks so happy!! What a good mama you are!! :)
Best thing I ate last weekend was spagetti and meatballs at Maggiano’s! Yum!! And yes, we use the word cookout here in these parts! ;)
OoOOOOoo love the bedding!
all that food looks so delicious. i’m thinking about trying the vegan chocolate chip cookies, for kicks.
and holy hannah, you are a fast baker. all that in 2 hours?!
i could never do it.
BBQ is the only thing that will fly on the prairies. although, we did have an argument over what we were going to call a big redneck-themed barn party, it was between hoedown and hootinanny. we decided on hoedown.
OMG I love all of it. Especially the organic beer but I now want some hummus and I just downed some cucumbers with hummus.
Happy birthday Randy!! I love the R Bread :)
We always say “BBQ” in Australia – It is a freezing cold winter here at the moment so my BBQ (or “grill” as some call it) is full of dust and cobwebs because it’s too cold to be in the backyard! Such gorgeous puppy pics….they are so adorable! Happy Bday Randy! Your cookies look great and that apple tart is making me salivate!
Love the dogs eating the cake. Too cute.
Oh man… there were way too many good things eaten over the weekend. I have used the word cookout before but I don’t think I use it very often because I almost always say barbeque.
I voted for you. ;)
Your life is always full of such great eats & epic times.
I’ve never used the word cookout but I’m Aussie so I guess we say bbq.
Aah! Your furniture/bedding pics are making me anxious to go shopping for my new apartment:)
Best thing I ate this past weekend? BBQ tofu.
i want that fruit pie! goodness that looks delish!
i also adore your bedding. might be in love in fact.
AH YOU GET MARRIED SO SOON!!! :)
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO RANDY!
<3
xoxoxoxo
I just had to tell you. I was walking my dog and i saw a basset hound and immediately thought: “it’s a randydog!” haha. It surprised me.
wow everything is so beautiful! happy (belated) 4th!
your dining room table and chairs is a SPITTING IMAGE of mine! I got mine from West Elm and love it. Wise choice my friend!
Love all these goodies, the flag cake, the PB Cake…wow, you are amazing given youre geting married in like 2 weeks! :)
ohh all those baked goods.. beautiful yumminess! And I call them BBQ’s too, whether there’s actually BBQing going on or not ;p
i re-read this post just to get my fill of randy pics! love that dog! And penny too!!!
Also really love Marshall’s purple shirt. pretty sweeeeet.
t.e.n.d.a.y.s.!. (Also my bday count down!)
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