One year ago from this past Sunday (August 2), my husband Red and I tied the knot with a very small 25 people lake-front ceremony and reception at the Mission Point Resort on the gorgeous Mackinac Island, Michigan.

It was a perfect compromise between what we wanted. I wanted to elope to an exotic location
(Bali, Indonesia) just the two of us and a handful of friends, while Red wanted a church wedding and a hall reception. I wanted a sunset wedding on the beach, barefooted, with tons of white orchids and long gorgeous white dress… he, well, wanted the traditional wedding–whatever that means.

I didn’t quite get to be on the beach barefooted, but we were married by the gorgeous Lake Superior, on my flip-flop, with tons of candles and pink roses, wearing an elaborate wedding dress and cathedral veil surrounded by our parents and closest friends.

The pictures were courtesy of Island Photo, Jeff Dupre did an amazing, I mean amazing jobs capturing every detail of our special moment, in the shortest period possible.

Friendly reminder: you do not have a right to copy, distribute, or use any of the pictures on this website.

For our anniversary, we decided to cook something special at home, and decided on baby lamb chops on the grills with asparagus and homemade banana ice cream (recipes will be posted later).  I decided not to make a cake since I have signed up for Wilton cake decorating class, so I knew that we’d be eating a lot of cakes in the next four weeks.  Everything turned out delicious!

We did not use regular lamb chops, but used baby chops instead–and it was excellent. The meat was tender, and the seasoning was just enough, and not overpowering.  A perfect summer celebration dinner!

Grilled Lamb Chops with Garlic, Fresh Thyme and Grilled Lemons.

Adapted from Bobby Flay’s Boy Gets Grill

Ingredients

1/2 cup extra virgin olive-oil, plus extra for brushing
6 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
8 sprigs of fresh thyme
8 (4-6 ounces) lamb rib chops
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 lemons, cut crosswise in half

Directions

Combine the oil, garlic, and thyme in a shallow large dish or a thick, sealable plastic bag. Add the chops and turn to coat. Cover and refrigerate for about 1 hour. Remove the chops from the refrigerator 20 mins before grilling. Heat your grill to high. Season the chops on both sides with salt and pepper. Grill the chops until lightly charred and crusty, 4-5 minutes. Turn the chops over, cooked through, about 3-4 minutes more. Brush the cut sides of the lemons with oil and grill cut side down until lightly charred, 3-5 minutes. Serve immediately, placing 2 chops and 2 lemon halves on each plates.

Serves 4, can be doubled for 6-8 (no need to double the marinade).