My apologies for the lack of posts this past week, but I have good reason -- I swear! I spent the last ten days in North Carolina soaking up some quality vacation time with my love, the A-man. We went sky-diving, mountain biking, hiking, kayaking, played some tennis.... oh yeah, and WE GOT ENGAGED! I don't like to brag, but his proposal was pretty darn amazing. He organized a "surprise" sky-diving trip (he jumped solo, I jumped tandem) and right before he exited the plane he yelled "Lizzie!", peeled off some tape he had on his helmet to reveal the words "Will you marry me?" and jumped 5,500 feet (which is really low and an entirely different story) to the ground. I was in total shock, so I didn't answer right away, but once we both landed he got on one knee, presented a gorgeous ring and asked me again. I managed to mutter a yes and gave him a really long, teary-eyed hug. All of this was apparently caught on camera; I can't wait to see it.
The hat I'm wearing in the photo above actually says "bride" on it in sparkly, gold lettering and was given to me by my sister (as a joke) when she found it in the dollar bin in target. Showing off the ring isn't really my style, but it really is quite gorgeous. Since we have never discussed rings before, I have no idea how the A-man chose the perfect ring for me (actually, I think my sister helped quite a bit) but I know he put a lot of research and effort into it, so in addition to me wearing it the rest of my life, I thought it deserves a feature photo (with some gluten-free, dairy-free double chocolate cookies) in my blog.
What's really cool about the ring is that it's a conflict-free diamond from Canada and it's in an "active" setting, which means I won't clumsily snag it on things. So, the past week or so has been amazing and life-changing. It's a pretty wonderful thing to talk about the future with the man you love for a week straight and bask in the afterglow of being asked for your hand in marriage. The real frosting on the gluten-free cake? Knowing this is only the beginning.
Oh, and a recipe! My family is so extremely supportive of our relationship, they love him just as much as I do, so in order to celebrate when I got home, my parents, sister, brother-in-law and niece picked me up at the airport with flowers and gifts and had a wonderful gluten-free, dairy-free dinner that ended with what will now be called "Double Chocolate Engagement Cookies" created by my sister. It's pretty difficult to describe how good these cookies are, so I'll use the Boston phrase for awesome: they're wicked pissah.
Double Chocolate Cookies (aka Engagement Cookies) gluten-free, dairy-free*adapted from Annalise Roberts chocolate chip cookie recipe
1 cup vegetable shortening
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla extract (make sure it's gluten-free)
1 1/2 cup, plus two tablespoons of gluten free flour mix (she uses a superfine brown rice flour, tapioca starch, potato starch mix)
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon xantham gum
1/2 teaspoon salt
14 ozs. vegan, gluten-free good quality chocolate, chopped
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Beat shortening and sugars at medium speed in a large bowl. Add eggs and vanilla and beat until fluffy. Add flour, baking soda, xantham gum and salt and mix at medium until well blended. Mix in chocolate chunks by hand.
Drop heaping teaspoons of the dough onto a greased cookie sheet 2 inches apart. Bake in the center of the oven 8-10 minutes.
15 comments:
Lizzie,
HUGE congratulations to both of you! That is one of the most romantic proposals I have ever heard (and I am SO impressed that you sky-dove!!). Sounds like you are both perfectly suited to each other! Your ring is gorgeous. . . how very exciting to be planning your wedding! So glad you shared this news. I'm so happy for you both.
Big hugs and a pat for Henry--
Ricki :) :)
CONGRATULATIONS TO YOU!! How exciting!! Wow!! What a cool week you had with everything!! Again, CONGRATULATIONS!!
Ricki!! Thank you so much :) It was funny, I didn't get as much as a rush as the first time I sky dived because I was a bit preoccupied from the question. I'm a pretty lucky gal :)
Maude -- thank you so much! It's nice to hear from my fellow bloggers. It was quite the week; one I'll never forget :)
Congratulations! that is so exciting! yeah! (glad you had a nice vacation too)
Congratulations!! How lovely. Gorgeous diamond, too---and good job on a conflict-free one (that's what I got, too)!
I really didn't help that much -- I just encouraged him on the path he was already on.
One tiny change to the recipe: the 2 extra T of flour was of the brown rice flour mix, not the cocoa. Also, if anyone cares about brands, I used Ghirardelli cocoa (though I usually have Rapunzel on hand and prefer it) and a mix of Ghirardelli and Scharffenberger dark chocolate bars that I chopped fine.
Ahhhh! I am so excited for you! That is the best ever :) Congratulations...marraige is the BEST! What a great story...and the cookies look awesome as well!
Congratulations - it sounds like an amazing engagement!!
The cookies also look amazing, and light on the sugar too! I'm definitley going to have to try them!!
Amber :)
Congratulations! Maybe one day I'll be able to "officially" make these for my own celebration.
I usually just read you, but had to say 'congrats' today.
THe cookies sound really good -- looking forward to making them soon.
As we used to say in Maine (when I still lived there), they look 'wicked good.' Here in England, we'd say, 'Brilliant!'
Gluten Free Sox -- Thanks so much! It was such a gorgeous place; we were in the Asheville area of North Carolina. I'm jealous of your Southerners!
Thank you Sally! I was so impressed he got a conflict-free diamond because I really couldn't wear any other type without having some serious guilt. Also, thanks for your Asheville tips. We loved it there!
Kate, my dear sister. Your cookies ROCK. Seriously. I had to put them in the freezer so I would stop eating them, but they're even delicious frozen, damnit! I'll change the recipe in the post. Thanks for the note!
Tiffany! Thanks so much and it's nice to hear that marriage is the BEST after hearing about current divorce rates -- ugh. I'm really excited to be marrying the A-man. He is just simply wonderful.
Thanks Amber! I like that they're not too heavy in the sugar department too and they are soooo chocolately. Yum.
Vittoria! Thanks! Please do; they're a wonderful way to celebrate any sort of exciting news.
What's next -- thank you so much for commenting :) The A-man is from Maine, and I absolutely love it up there. I hope to hear more from you and I just checked out your gluten-free blog; I can't wait to make some of the recipes! :)
Wow, so exciting! Congratulations!
I'm so happy for you both! Congratulations on your engagement. I wish you guys all the best in your future life together.
Natalie @ Gluten a Go Go
Congrats! I wish I had an active setting! I actually don't wear my engagement ring a lot anymore, because it snags on things all the time...also, I took a chunk of skin out of my husband's finger a few weeks back when our hand accidentally crashed into eachother when we were kissing goodbye one day. I just wear my $49.95 wedding ring from Overstock.com...lol. My husband was aghast when I bought it, but it was perfect: only 2mm thick...
Love your engagement story and I am excited for your embarking on this new part of the adventure: I honestly have to say that my relationship with my husband changed the most when we got engaged...marriage just seemed like a culmination, but the engagement really said: okay, we are truly on the same path together now.
I can't believe I didn't comment and say congratulations!!!! CONGRATULATIONS!!!! I'm about a week behind you, see my blog for details. I think I made my fiance a little nervous when I read your post out loud to him and said OH MY GOD HOW AWESOME IS THAT PROPOSAL before he'd proposd to me. congrats!!!!!!!
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