Oktoberfest Quiche

I am not normally one to go off-book when it comes to recipes. I love following directions. I love rules. I am not a confident cook. However, I had this idea to make an Oktoberfest or German themed quiche to bring to a Fest potluck with the other residents in our apartment building. I searched Pinterest and did not come up with anything exactly like what I had in mind, so I combined ideas from a couple different recipes and came up with my own Oktoberfest Quiche. It is a little risky serving something you have never made or tried before, but it turned out pretty tasty! 

This was my first time wearing my brand new dirndl! I am in love with it and so glad I found it in the sale section. Not only did I save a bunch compared to buying a current season style, but I had my eye on this exact one from my online browsing. Finding it in my size at 50% off made my day! And of course Suzie was a big hit in her "dirndl". 

In addition to my Oktoberfest Quiche, I brought my German Apple Cake. This is one of my favorite things in life and this time I made a salted caramel frosting instead of the typical vanilla buttercream. Yummy! It's not authentically German AT ALL! Germans would never make something that sweet, but it was made with apples we picked in Germany, so that makes it more legitimate to me. 

Apple Cider Rum Punch

During the fall there is nothing more refreshing and delicious than a glass of apple cider. I'll take it in just about any form--cold, hot, slushy... I was attending a social function and wanted to bring a fall beverage for everyone to enjoy and ran across a recipe for apple cider rum punch. I had to settle for grocery store apple cider, but I bet this would be even better with some freshly pressed cider. 

Brie stuffed garlic bread

Potlucks always push me to try new recipes! I love to search Pinterest for new ideas and often come across some real winners. I hosted an event at my house and wanted to make something with brie cheese, but did not want the standard baked brie with crackers. I came across a recipe for brie stuffed garlic bread and it was perfect! So cheesy, gooey and delicious!

Lemon Cream Cheese Cake

One of the neighbors on my street planned a potluck for everyone and I used it as a chance to try out a new recipe. Originally I planned to try a recipe for lemon poppy seed bars, but the grocery store on base was out of poppy seeds so I decided to try for something else instead of stressing out trying to find them at another store. I ended up grabbing some cream cheese while at the store...just in case. When I returned home and searched Pinterest for recipes for lemon desserts, I found this one for lemon cream cheese cake and thought it sounded good for a summer evening get-together. 

It is always a risk trying a new recipe for an event. I worry a bit about if it does not taste good. That was especially on my mind for this occasion because we are new to the street and I had never shared baked goods with my neighbors, so they would have no idea that I am generally a good baker. Luckily they told me the cake was really delicious and I confirmed when I tasted it! It did not have as big of a lemon punch that I thought, but that may be because instead of lemon zest I used a couple drops of lemon essential oil. I also had to bake it quite a bit longer than the recipe stated, but I am not sure if that is an issue with the recipe or with my oven. If you try this one out, just keep an eye on it and take it out when it is no longer very jiggly in the middle. 

Beer (or hard cider) cheese

The very first time I made this recipe was for an Oktoberfest party we hosted. I made it again last year for a St. Patrick's Day themed bunco game night. My friend Alysha liked it so much that she has requested it several other times since then. It's so easy to put together and tastes amazing! You can serve it in a fondue pot or right from a stove top sauce pan.

It tastes delicious served with pretzels, bread of any kind, broccoli and green apple slices. Really you could dip old tennis shoes in this and it would taste amazing!

Design: Garden Party

Our spouses' club has finished out our social year. Our last social was a lovely Garden Party. The original plan was to enjoy dinner outdoors and finish off with s'mores at the fire pit. The weather had other ideas and we were moved indoors. Our social chair managed to still prepare s'mores for us, so we didn't miss out on any deliciousness.

Design: Tacos & Trivia

For this month's spouses' club social we are doing a Trivia Night. And what could go better with trivia than tacos? Is it weird that I'm almost most looking forward to the cheesecakes we're having for dessert? They aren't mentioned on the flier, but since I have the inside scoop with the socials planner I got advanced notice.

Design: Pizza, Pajamas and Wine

The base spouses' club has a wine and gourmet group that meets monthly. Each month they focus on a different theme. This month's theme was pizza, pajamas and wine! I was so bummed that I couldn't make it because it sounded amazing.

Design: Masquerade Bingo

Our spouses' club has an annual Bingo social which is for members only. This year, to mix it up a bit, we are doing a masquerade theme. It falls near St. Patrick's Day, so I think the default theme is usually that. I am always happy to try out themes that aren't overly used. I have never been to a masquerade party so I had to find a mask. Luckily Amazon had a plethora to choose from.

Design: Spring Bazaar

The base spouses' club has a fun event coming up in the beginning of March--a Spring Bazaar! It was so much fun making this flier because I love spring! I found a fun example during a Google images search and recreated it with my own little touches.

We're gradually adding more and more vendors, but it should be a nice assortment of businesses! We had a vendor event in the fall and it was so great to see the home-based and locally-owned businesses that came out to support us. It was hard not to buy something from everyone!

Design: Yoga class

I'm still alive! I have been filling my time lately with yoga classes, puzzles and considering some new opportunities to add into my routine. I might sound busier than I actually am.

Since I mentioned yoga I will tell you a little more about that. I have always been a firm believer in NOT paying to work out. Having base access means I can work out pretty much anytime for free. And with YouTube videos, why would anyone need to pay to work out??? Well, I realized that maybe I needed to pay for it so that I would actually do it. It's easy to be "too busy" to work out. There is a yoga studio in town that offers a variety of yoga classes. Charles encouraged me to buy a class pass and then we could try some yoga classes together. I figured I'd give it a shot. It has been about a month of regular yoga (at least once or twice a week) and I'm really glad I invested in myself.

Last night we were doing a Beginner Unity Flow class and, as I held crow pose for longer than I have been able to in the previous weeks, I started to get a little emotional...happy emotional! It is fun to see some results in such a short period of time.

My favorite yoga has definitely been yin yoga. It's so chill and no sweating involved. If you've never tried it, look it up on YouTube and try one for free. Yoga with Kassandra offers some good classes.

Anyway, the spouses' club is having a yoga social this month. We had one last year and it is where I was introduced to the local yoga studio and some yin yoga. I am so excited to do yoga with the ladies again!

Design: Bowling

Happy 2018! Last year went by so quickly and so far 2018 is following the same trend. The spouses' club here is still rockin' and rollin'. This month we will be going bowling for our monthly social. I enjoy bowling because, especially around other ladies, I tend to do pretty well. But it's fun regardless of how well I bowl.

I am having some difficulty with finding graphics that I like enough to use. I started off using Shutterstock and found a TON of great images. But then I had an issue with their website and renewing my account. Then I tried another stock images site and I did not like it as much. I did find the below image, but it was more of a struggle to find something I liked there. Right now I do not subscribe to any other stock photo sites. I will try my luck finding free images through Google for a while until I can't stand it anymore. 

Soft Gingerbread Cookies (Vegan-style)

I love reading, but mainly Kindle books which makes me unusual among other readers (at least the impression I get from my book club is that they prefer real books). For this past month's book, we read Washington's Spies. I thought it sounded interesting since I enjoy history, but for some reason this book fell flat with me. But, as usual, I gave it a try and finished it in time for our book club meeting.

This month I hosted book club at my house. When I host, I like to cook and bake. It's just part of hosting, in my opinion. One of our regulars follows a vegan diet which proves to be slightly challenging when I menu plan. But luckily I was able to come up with a couple options that were pretty tasty.

For a sweet treat, I baked soft gingerbread cookies. I have made them before, but not a vegan version, so I was a little nervous about how they would turn out. They came out great! Maybe a little too good because I can't stop eating them!

To make them vegan, I substitute coconut oil for the butter and a flax seed mixture for the egg. Easy as pie...well, cookies. Here's the original recipe if you want it: One Little Project.

Design: Christmas Party

We have now been at this base for a whole year. Man, has it gone by fast! I got plugged in with the Spouses' Club right away by attending the Christmas party. It was so much fun and I'm looking forward to this year's event.

Design: Cookie Drive

Do you remember last year when I shared about an event called Cookie Crunch? Well, it's that time of year again! Our current base calls it "Shower (Base) with Cookies!" We are in the process of gathering volunteers to help with the loading, unloading and packaging of the thousands of cookies that the town collects. It's such a fun cause! Last year we had just arrived when they were doing this event so I did not volunteer, but I am hoping to help out this year.

Design: Pumpkin Spice Bunco

I will be hosting Bunco again this month. I immediately thought of Pumpkin Spice as a theme. If you happen to be a fan of Brant Hansen, you may agree that pumpkin spice is all hype and that no one actually likes it--Contrived scarcity and fear of missing out. I will admit that it's not something that I would want to consume all year round, but a little bit around this time of year is enough for me. I've enjoyed a few pumpkin spice lattes and such.

Hosting will also give me a reason to make Upside Down Pumpkin Cake! I was introduced to this dish back when we lived in Ohio. I attended a work party and my boss' boss brought it. It is incredibility delicious and moist. Plus it's super easy to make. If does use a boxed cake mix. If you've been following me so a while you'll know I'm not a huge fan of boxed cake mixes. The last couple of times I've made this dish I was able to find mixes that don't have a lot of junk in them. Hopefully I'll have that same luck again.

 

Design: Oktoberfest Bunco extras

Oktoberfest Bunco was a big hit! We enjoyed our German dishes of potato salad, schnitzel, apple strudel and more. Beer flights were consumed. Photos taken and, of course, Bunco played. Sadly I did not walk away with any of the amazing prizes, but it was fun nonetheless.

Because I love when pieces from an event match, I offered to create score cards and such to have that night. I wanted to share them with you!

Score cards. We played two games, but this could be expanded for more game play.

These are the rules we followed. I've seen different variations from club to club.

We could have just used note pads, but I thought this would be a nice added touch.

I cannot take credit for this design. The social chair found one similar and asked if I could recreate it. I changed it up just slightly so there would be a little contrast with fonts. The original had all the wording in the Oktoberfest-style font.

Design: Oktoberfest Bunco

If you've never played Bunco, you should! It's a really easy dice game and gives you a chance to move around and meet new people. For our base spouses' club, we will be having a Bunco social this month. A lot of Bunco groups will choose a different theme each month and dress up or decorate according to that theme. I was spitballing ideas with our social chair and mentioned Oktoberfest as a fun idea (even though technically Oktoberfest usually happens at the end of September). She loved the idea and decided to go with it! I was really excited because I knew the flier would be fun to make.

Fonts used:
Old English Text
Bookman Old Style

Design: Scholarship Auction

Our spouses' club on base has a scholarship program for military spouses and dependents seeking higher education. Last year we awarded $7,500 across seven individuals. This year our goal is to raise $10,000! One way we raise money is through our annual Scholarship Auction. The auction chairs are hard at work planning an awesome event and so far they are doing an amazing job! They picked the theme "Winter Wonderland," so we should have a beautiful and classy event.

For the Save the Date and flier, they shared with me an example of one they found which had a lot of snowflakes on a dark blue background. To recreate their look, I individually sized and placed snowflakes. That was a little tedious, but I am really happy with the way it turned out.

Fonts used:
Edwardian Script IT
Bell MT

Design: Book Club

One of the special activity groups for our base spouses' club is Book Club. Since I am already a part of a book club, I am not taking part in this one. It can be hard juggling two books with deadlines each month. But it was fun picking out the graphics for this one. There were a lot to choose from on Shutterstock.

Fonts used:
Little Days
Franklin Gothic Book