Last Night

Well, this is it. My last day at work, and my last day at Austin. But I'll save all of the sentimental stuff for a later post. As in, later today, I promise. I've already got it all typed up and everything. I have quite a lot to share with you guys, so let's get started, shall we?

Breakfast

I told you breakfast would be a little bit different this morning! I mean, it's not completely new, but it is a change from my usual egg whites and spinach breakfast. As I mentioned yesterday, I finished off both my egg whites and my spinach yesterday, so I decided to treat myself to a little JuiceLand smoothie on my way to work this morning. I ordered online so as to prevent any waiting that would make me late for work, and I ordered the Peachy Green (spinach, kale, apple, and peach), and added in some celery for an extra dollar.

I didn't drink it right away, rather I put it in the refrigerator until I felt like drinking it. It was absolutely delicious, and no matter how many times I try to recreate these smoothies, mine never taste quite as good as they do when someone else makes it for me. But I guess I'll just have to keep trying!

As I mentioned in yesterday's post, I started moving right when I got off work at 2pm. I still had a little bit left to pack, and I had quite a bit of baking and cooking to do. I headed straight home to thaw out some ground chicken (why can't I ever remember to do that earlier?), and get to work on some baked goods. I told all of my co-workers at SRD that I would bake for my last day, and I also wanted to bake a few things for Dylan's house to thank them for putting up with me always being over there.

Baking Extravaganza

I'll start this out with a little confession: I got a little cocky with my slutty brownies. I thought I could make these in my sleep, but yesterday I learned an important lesson - don't use fudgy brownie mix to make these. I was left with a fudgy blob of chocolate after cutting into them.

But let me start over. For those of you haven't been introduced to the beauty of the slutty brownie, or are just intrigued by the name, it's a cookie, brownie, and Oreo all in one delectable treat. To spice things up a bit, I even added in some Reese's Peanut Butter Cups.

I thought they were going to come out perfectly, but I guess I should have left them in the oven for a few minutes more. Oops! I managed to salvage a few, but I had to throw far too many of them away. But it only went up from there.

Next up on the list was a new-to-me treat: Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Cheesecake Bars from Taste and Tell Blog. These treats are perfect for a hot summer day in Texas because there is no oven required. I typically shy away from no-bake treats because I find them harder than treats that are supposed to go in the oven, but these weren't too difficult.

The only change I made was to the crushed chocolate wafer cookies. Try as I did, I just couldn't find exactly what was used in this recipe. Instead, I purchased a package of Mother's Double Fudge Cookies. I used only the cookie part, and crushed them according to the recipe.

These really are an easy treat, and I have no doubt that they will be a hit. I personally don't care for cheesecake, but apparently lots of other people do!

And lastly, I made some Strawberry Chocolate Chip Cookies. These were a breeze to make because I made them out of a Duncan Hines Strawberry Cake Mix. I've been all about the box mix recipes lately I guess!

Anyway, I just recently made some normal chocolate chip cookies, so I decided to add a little color to my cookie repertoire. Again, these were super easy to make, and they would be perfect for some sort of breast cancer awareness event.

Mt. Bonnell Picnic

So, I think it's been mentioned that last night was my last night in Austin. Dylan and I were of course going to do something, and I told him last week to not make any plans on Wednesday around sunset time, but that's all I told him. He always tries to guess where we're going or what the present is that I got him. And as many times as he asked me where we were going, I kept my lips sealed. I was, for once in our relationship, going to surprise him. The only thing I told him was that I would come get him just before 7:30pm, and to just wear casual clothes because "it's not a fancy place, but it's one of my favorites."

Prior to picking him up, and after finishing up my baking, I set to work on some homemade P.F. Changs Chicken Lettuce Wraps. These chicken lettuce wraps are one of our favorite menu items at both P.F. Changs and Pei Wei, so I was pretty confident that he would like them. He's the better cook, and I'm the better baker, but I feel like I did a pretty good job with these. They were all gone by the end of our picnic, so I'll let that speak for itself. And I apologize for my lack of pictures. Continue reading to understand why.

They were a bit more involved than I originally anticipated (they'll only take 20 minutes, yeah right), because mincing garlic and grating ginger is a little bit harder than I thought. As is opening a can sans a can opener, but with a little bit of help from a roommate, I made it work. But if you choose to make this recipe, and we both gave it an A++ so you absolutely should, just be sure to give yourself more than 20 minutes. So, I was in too much of a hurry to snap any pictures, and we were both starving by the time we sat down to eat. Thus, no pictures. Next time! And also for next time, I will be sure to add in some thinly sliced carrots and celery, just to spice things up a little bit!

(Source)

Anyway, I tried to keep where we were going a surprise for as long as possible, but I knew once I started driving, he would know exactly where we were going. But at least I managed to keep it to myself for as long as I did! Once we got to the top, we found a spot with a great view and not a lot of people, and spread out the blanket before setting everything up. At this point, he still didn't know what we were having for dinner, so that was a plus! And because I know y'all are just dying to know, I'll share what was in our picnic basket (or our reusable bag, because this is Austin).

• Homemade P.F Changs Lettuce Wraps
• Fredericksburg Peaches
• Mandola's Pignoli Cookies (I was going to make these from scratch, but why mess up something that is already so good?)

• Taza Cinnamon Chocolate
• Maine Root Blueberry Soda
• Water

And a bottle of champagne that didn't make it up the mountain, but that we enjoyed upon returning to my house once the sun went down on the mountain.

A sweet last night in Austin. In more ways than one. And I'm not planning to leave Austin until after an early dinner tonight, so I'll be sure to have at least one more meal here!

And check back in a couple of hours for what will probably be the sappiest post ever seen on this blog. It's sure to make you smile, laugh, and cry (okay, maybe that's just me, but I promise it's a good one, and that it's well worth a read).