Adventures by Amanda

I got it!!

2012-01-19T13:38:00.000-05:00

I got my new cook book from Amazon today!! I received Baking with Julia and the first recipe I will jump into is on pages 81-82, White loaves. I love the smell of fresh baked bread and it's even better when I make it!!

I will be baking it within the next week, but it won't be on my blog until Februrary 7th. You can bake along with us too. First, you must get the book!!

Baking with Julia: Savor the Joys of Baking with America's Best Bakers

Baking With Julia

2012-01-13T08:59:00.000-05:00

I was once a member of the Tuesday's with Dorie blogging group and I've joined again . The group will begin baking the recipes the recipes from Baking with Julia in February and I can't wait. My book is on the way. If you want to join, start by getting the book.

Then go and join the free group ,http://tuesdayswithdorie.wordpress.com/. Happy Baking!!

Thank you!!

2012-01-12T10:03:00.000-05:00

There aren't enough words in the English language for me to express my gratitude to my brother Steve. For those of you who don't know him or what he has done for our family, I will tell the story the best way I can, from my point of view.

Several months after the death of my mother (Sally Tucker) in 2008, my father (George James Tucker Sr.) went to live with Steve. When dad first moved in with Steve, dad was very mobile and still led an active life. I guess if you consider hanging out at Hardees with the other old men active, then, yes, he was active. Steve was working at Triton Boats in Ashland City, TN and had been with them since 1999. Steve has always been a hard worker and is a veteran of the US Army.

While Dad was living with Steve, his health began to decline. Of course I knew Dad wasn't getting younger, but I guess I still had the mental image of a strong, tall Yellow Freight truck driver that I called "Daddy".

During the decline of Dads health, Steve's employer, Triton Boats, announced that they would be closing down. This is devastating news for all the people of my home town and my brother who would be losing jobs in this economic decline. My brother lost his income and insurance, but gave my father a full time care giver. My Dad needed someone to cook for him, bring him his medicine at the appropriate times (a lot for a decade long emphysema patient with diabetes), take him to medical appointments, do his laundry, move him from his bed to his chair and get him to the bathroom. This is only a short list, but that made my unemployed brother a chef, nurse, doctor, taxi driver, maid and home health aide.

My brother stayed home and took care of my Dad while looking for another job. I'm sure that he overlooked jobs that he would have been qualified for because he was busy being a care taker. He may have missed a lot of opportunity for a great new job because he was being a great care taker to our father. I know he got frustrated and didn't receive all the help or gratitude he needed or deserves from the family. I also know that Dad never had a bad thing to say about my brother. Steve would tell me that Dad never knew what he wanted to eat or would complain about how the food was too hard to chew or cooked wrong, but Dad never told me these things. Dad always complimented Steve's food. It was like Dad was giving me tips. I guess Dad preferred Steve's cooking skills. Steve did everything he needed to do for my Dad!

Dad died in June of 2011. Steve is the executor of Dads estate, but that is another "care giver" job that doesn't have an income. He has been looking and applying for jobs near and far. He has family looking and applying or him also. This is a man who took care of his Dad instead of sending him to a "home" and may have missed several job opportunities and is now still out of work.

In order to help him out now in the best way I can, I have signed him up as an Amazon Associate. What this basically means is that if anyone clicks through his links to Amazon, he will receive credit and will help him financially. This will not add to the costs of the items you purchase, but will help me say "Thank You" to Steve.

Please bookmark this post so that you can access Amazon through Steve's affiliate link and let him know that I care! There will be Amazon links on this blog and I will also posts those links on my Facebook page and his Facebook page as soon as I figure out how to do it.

Thank you so much for helping out a great care giver, my brother, Steve.

Wordless Wednesday

2012-01-11T18:27:00.000-05:00

New Things to Come

2012-01-11T16:03:00.000-05:00

I'm working on some new and excited new ventures for this coming year (more details to come). I'm excited to enrich my life and the life of my family (near and far). Stay tuned for much more from me!!

I'm back!!

2012-01-10T23:04:00.002-05:00

I'm back and ready to pick up this blog again and run with it. I will make no guarantees about how often I will post, but I will certainly try to post more than once per year. :)

Wordless Wednesday

2011-01-19T18:24:00.000-05:00

The house to myself....ahhhh what a feeling....

2011-01-18T08:51:00.000-05:00

For the first time in over a week, the kids are all back to school. Last week with our snow and ice, the girls were out of school for the full week and even the college closed up until Thursday for Tyler. With yesterday being a holiday, they were all home again. I love my children dearly and love to spend time with them. There comes a time, however, when I need my space. I now have a moment to think about all the things that I need to get done, but now want to only sit and enjoy the empty house. I guess I can allow myself the time to enjoy the moment before proceeding to accomplish some much needed tasks.

One the agenda for the week is to begin planning for our August Disney Vacation. This is something that I enjoy and can't wait to have everything all planned. I can make our dining reservations on February 15th. I hope that the park hours for August are online soon so that I can properly plan!! A month or so prior to our trip, I will purchase the Ride-Max software again (ridemax.com). This is the most awesome planning tool and is well worth the money. I recommend it to anyone headed to Disney that doesn't want to spend the majority of their day standing in lines.

Smiles and fun is what it is all about, not the lines. I can't wait to spend a week at Disney with my family this summer!!

E-Readers

2011-01-13T13:08:00.000-05:00

I'm looking into an E-reader again, but I've come into the same problem as before....choices! Now some may think that having a selection to choose from is a good thing, for me, it seems to make my mind spin. I've got too many different directions to go in and I'm not sure which direction is right for me. The Kindle is a popular choice, but seems to have drawbacks. A popular format (EPUB-?) is not supported on the Kindle. The Nook-color sounds fabulous, but wouldn't be so good in the sun. How often will I need to use it in the sun? Both allows you to share books, but only once. Who would I share with? Hubby has an off brand E-reader, Astak or something and he seems to be happy with it. He reads those nerdy publications and the older out of copyright books that I'd NOT be interested in. I'm glad it works for him, but I'd rather stay in the mainstream market. You see my dilemma? This is just the tip of the iceberg of questions and concerns I have about e-readers. All the bells and whistles they have added entice me, but will I use them. The Nook can be used as an MP3 player and seems like a good thing. Will I use it?

So friends, I guess I need to further research and ask those of you who have e-readers to help. What do you have? Do you love it? What are the pros and cons of the model you have? Give me the good, bad and ugly!

Wordless Wednesday - Oh how they grow!!

2011-01-12T09:16:00.000-05:00

So funny!! I love to watch this over and over!

2011-01-06T08:34:00.000-05:00

This is Sarah at the Great Wolf Lodge, spring 2010.

Back on the bandwagon....

2011-01-06T07:05:00.000-05:00

I know I've been out of the blogging loop for quite some time now. I'm going to give it my best shot to get it going again and keep it interesting. I've joined another cooking group which will help me to blog at least once per week, but I hope to have more than that one post per week. As my life goes, I'm very busy. In saying, I must end this post to go straighten the hair of my 12 year old daughter. :)

Wordless Wednesday

2011-01-05T07:34:00.003-05:00

Wedding Planning Blues on a Rainy Day!

2009-03-26T14:01:00.003-04:00

Perhaps part of my mood is due to the rainy, dreary weather that we've had for several days. I think it's more to the fact that a girl (of any age) shouldn't have to plan her wedding without her mother.

I went to David's Bridal a few months ago and bought my dress. I went alone. If my mother couldn't be with me, I didn't want anyone with me. Today, the girls and I went back to David's for our dress fittings. I would have gone alone today also, but it would save me trip to have the girls get fitted on the same day. It may have helped me to have my girls with me. I think they kept me busy enough not to have a complete meltdown. I'm home now and all I want to do is crawl in bed and cry.

I'm not sure if I'll be able to handle the actual wedding day without my Mother. I am barely coping now. There are so many times that I want to pick up the phone and call her only to realize that I can't. I do still have her cell phone number in my phone. I've thought of dialing it many times, but I don't know what my reaction would be if the number was now answered by someone else.

Mom, I really miss you.

Avon

2009-03-17T09:56:00.002-04:00

In all the hustle and bustle of wedding planning, dance competitions, SAT preps, Inline Hockey signups and everyday life I am now finding the time to post a short little blog.

I received a short letter from my SIL, Sandi yesterday. It's always nice to hear from family and to see how they are doing and what they are up to. Sandi is now selling Avon online and sent me a few business cards. In addition to handing the cards out to a few people, I thought I would advertise for her on my blog. In today's economy, everyone needs a little extra help. If you are an Avon shopper or if you are new to Avon and want to look at the products, take a look at Sandi's site. I just placed an order and got free shipping!!

Happy Saint Patty's Day everyone!!

What's for dinner??

2009-02-19T08:18:00.002-05:00

I have found that I like to try new recipes. I run into problems when we find recipes that the kids really like (tough problem - huh?) and they want that recipe over and over. How am I supposed to continue to try new recipes if the kids only want the items they are familiar with and KNOW that they will like?

Here is a recipe that I found back in the early fall and have made it several times. Sarah especially loves this. It's really easy to put together on a busy night and tastes great too.

Baked Ravioli

1 lb ground beef OR ground turkey OR Italian sausage
1 bag frozen cheese ravioli
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
28 oz jar spaghetti sauce

-Pre-heat oven to 350
-In a skillet over medium-high heat, brown ground meat, breaking up as it cooks: drain: stir spaghetti sauce into meat.
-Spread a small amount of meat mixture in the bottom of a greased 9x13 baking pan.
-Layer 1/2 of the raviolis evenly in the bottom of the pan; sprinkle 1/2 of the remaining sauce over the raviolis; sprinkle 1/2 of the cheese over the sauce.
-Repeat layering once with remaining ingredients.
-Bake for 30 minutes.

This recipe is very easy to add veggies to if you would like. I always double the recipe and I often make to versions. I make a regular pan for the kids and then for the second pan I add red pepper flakes to my sauce to spice it up a bit and add some veggies as well. I usually just look into the fridge and add what ever I might have in the veggie drawer. I have added mushrooms, broccoli, squash, zucchini, onion, carrots, etc. It's really up to your tastes and imagination.

Wordless Wednesday

2009-02-18T07:47:00.005-05:00

I know..these are words, but I feel the need to explain. I've seen other blogs where they do a wordless Wednesday blog weekly and I felt compelled to do the same. I will attempt to post a picture every week and do my best not to write too much about it.

October 31, 2004 - NC Zoo

TWD - Devil's Food White Out Cake

2009-02-17T06:50:00.002-05:00

Thank you Stephanie of Confessions of a City Eater for choosing Devils Food White Out Cake on page 247-249.

I had read that others had problems getting their cake to rise, but I didn't find that to be a problem for me. Mine rose and the top cracked. I wish I had taken a picture of the mess of me trying to cut the cake in half. I had crumbs all over trying to cut both of the rounds in half and trying to cut off the rounded mounds.
The frosting proved to be a little difficult for me. The temperature when cooking it just wasn't getting hot enough, then all of the sudden it was too hot. I guess it turned out okay, because the kids have NOT complained.
I put the cake in the fridge after I was done. It does give the cake more of a brownie texture when eaten, and I love brownies!

My Dancing Girls!!

2009-02-16T12:55:00.006-05:00

This weekend my girls had their first competition of the year. They did really well, I'm very proud of them.
In the above picture is Raeyven, Sarah and Mackenzie. They are in their Jazz costume about ready to go on stage. This costume is wonderful and is one of my favorites, but my camera didn't like it. It had a hard time trying to find something to focus on.
In this picture is Kacie, Meghan and Ella are decked out in their Hip Hop costume. This dance is lots of fun to watch.

As with every dance competition my day starts early. Sarah had to be at the theater dressed and ready by 7am. This means I had to be up at 4:45 to get myself ready and then get Sarah up around 5:30 and start on her hair and makeup. Then get Ella up and get her makeup started before we leave for the competition.

The 3rd dance of the competition was Sarah's solo. This year she dances to a song called Legs by Art of Noise. This is an Acro dance, but she is entered into the Character category since she is dressed like a spider. I wish I had a picture of her in this costume, but I didn't take one yesterday. I'm sure what you are picturing in your mind is NOT what she looked like!

Ella then had her three group dances yesterday morning. Her first of the day was Ease On Down. This is an Acro dance which is also entered into the Character division. They are all dressed like Dorothy. Her second was Here We Come which is Hip Hop. A picture of this costume is above. Her final dance was Material Girls for jazz. This is beautiful costume. I was just so rushed yesterday, that I missed out on taking photos. I'll try to get more pictures at the next competition.

Sarah had her group dances in the afternoon. Sarah has 5 group dances which made me even busier than I had been in the morning. The first was Practical Magic. This is an Acro dance in the Character division, they are witches. The second is Krazy Klownz and is another Acro dance. Third is Get Loose which is Hip Hop. I love this dance and the girls did an excellent job!! The forth dance was Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy for tap and the fifth and final dance was We're Strange for jazz.

Below is how the judges rated them. Of course I think they should have been ranked higher, but what mother wouldn't think their child did awesome!!

Sarah's Solo received a Gold and she came in 4th place in all the 9-11 year old solos.

All of Ella's groups received Gold. Her groups are in the 8 and under age category (average age of the groups). Here We Come (Hip Hop) came in 7th. Material Girls (Jazz) came in 6th and Ease on Down (Acro) took 3rd place out of all the 8 and under small groups.

Sarah's groups are in the 9-11 year old division and 4 of them received Gold and her Acro Group - Krazy Klownz got a Platinum!! Get Loose (Hip Hop) came in 10th, Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy (Tap) was 8th, Practical Magic (Acro) was 7th and Krazy Klownz (Acro) came in 5th out of all the 9-11 groups.

With them doing so well at the first competition of the year, I can't wait to see how they do at all the rest of the competitions!! Wish them luck!!

Time for a new post....

2009-02-06T14:07:00.002-05:00

I guess since it has been a month, I'm overdue for a new blog post. I have been steadily working on wedding plans in addition to trying to keep up with daily life. I have also recently signed up for Facebook at the request of one of my friends. It is really time consuming (aka - addictive). It's been nice to be able to reconnect (online anyway) with many friends I hadn't heard from in many years. It can also be rather annoying to have some of these people "request" to be your friend. I wasn't friends with them in high school. I may have never even liked them....I don't know. I'm not sure of the proper etiquette on these online sites, but I am ignoring some of these requests. I guess since they made that an option, I'm going to use it!!!

I will posting another blog entry soon. I have recipes that I need to blog as well as wedding plans to post about. I PROMISE to do better about my blog updates (I hope).

TWD has been interupted due to the following announcement........

2009-01-06T10:19:00.008-05:00

I'm Engaged!!!

This picture was actually taken prior to Josh proposing, but it's the best pic I have of us. I'm sooo excited, I can't even begin to tell you how happy I am.

Those of you who know me, know what I've been through these past 2 1/2 + years and I thank you for your thoughts, prayers, emails, calls and support more than you will ever know. I plan to have a wonderful future and NO funerals for many many years. I've been to enough in my lifetime, I need a break from them for about a decade or so.

Now...I can't wait to see how fast word travels!! We have announced the engagement to our families and local friends. I want to see who is the first to call me from out of state!! You have to call, email or IM me to find out the date of the wedding. Yes, I have the date already!!

TWD - I really did intend to make the French Pear Tart!! I certainly wanted to make the recipe that Dorie herself picked for this week. We went out of town this past weekend and announced our engagement to Josh's family, so I just didn't find the time. I have all the ingredients and hope to make the recipe this week sometime. Please come back and check out my blog later this week for my "late" TWD French Pear Tart post.

TWD - Tall and Creamy Cheesecake

2008-12-30T09:41:00.006-05:00

Oh, how I love cheesecake!! A big thank you to Anne Strawberry for this weeks selection of Tall and Creamy Cheesecake. Be sure and check out her blog!

This recipe was really wonderful. I like a good cheesecake and usually don't add any extra ingredients to my cakes. This week I decided to step out of my cheesecake box and add some Reese's Peanut Butter cups. These are the mini cups and I quarted them. I folded them into the batter just before pouring into the springform pan.
Now of course I said I don't usually add any extras into my cheesecake batter. I failed to mention that I don't use graham crackers for my crust. I have found that I like to use a box of the 100 Calorie pack of Oreos. It does take the who box crushed up, but it is really good. In the past, I have also used regular Oreos as the crust!! Wow is it good!
This is a recipe I will use again. It was really light and had a wonderful texture.

Christmas Eve - TWD, update #1

2008-12-24T14:24:00.003-05:00

Okay folks....I've got my cheesecake in the oven. This is a TWD recipe, so I won't post any pics or go into details just yet. I'll wait until next Tuesday and actually be on the regular TWD schedule for once this month.

The cheesecake will have my ovens undivided attention for the next 2 1/2 hours, so I think I'll go and throw together either my breakfast casserole or the sausage balls.

Christmas Eve - TWD

2008-12-24T11:19:00.007-05:00

Today, Christmas Eve, will be a busy day for me in the kitchen. I have a long to-do list and hope that all of it will be done before I go to bed tonight. I've already crossed one item off the list. My Tuesday with Dorie recipe, Real Butterscotch pudding. This recipe was chosen by Donna and can be found on page 386 in Baking From My Home To Yours by Dorie Greenspan. I whipped it up fairly easy this morning, but didn't exactly follow the directions. After reading lots of comments about small food processors making a mess of this recipe, I opted to leave it out. Instead, I whipped everything by hand until the very end. At the point of adding the butter, vanilla and scotch, I poured it all into my blender and used it to smooth out the consistency. I have to say that the smell of the pudding was wonderful and very hard to resist as I was pouring it into my individual bowls. The pudding is now resting in the fridge until later tonight when I will dig in.

I hope to be back later today with updates on how my baking and cooking is going. I plan to make a cheese cake (another TWD recipe), Cookies, Sausage balls or Sausage Pinwheels (or perhaps both) a Turkey if the crazy thing will ever thaw, a breakfast casserole for tomorrow morning and of course dinner for tonight!! I hope that's all, but I'm thinking I've forgotten something along the way. hmmmm......

TWD - Grandmas All Occasion Sugar Cookies

2008-12-10T09:35:00.004-05:00

A big thank you to Küchenlatein for this weeks selection. This is a great recipe for December. I realize it's now Wednesday, but....here is my Tuesday with Dorie blog anyway...

I usually shy away from sugar cookies because rolling and cutting just isn't my thing. I'm not good at it and it frustrates me (perhaps I just need more practice). Anyway, I opted for the slice and bake method. I made the dough several days ago and placed it in the freezer. One suggestion on keeping the dough in a nice round log, is to save a paper towel roll and cut it open and put in inside. This way, you don't end up with a flat side. Once I was done with my dough and had 2 nice cookie logs, I realized I had NO empty paper towel rolls. It was time to improvise...lol. I had plenty of paper towels, so I used a full roll. It was kind of funny to watch me trying to stuff the dough into the full paper towel roll. Luckily I had the logs skinny enough to just fit. My dough stayed nice and round in the freezer and my paper towels are no worse off for being frozen.
Yesterday, I pulled out my logs and decided I would do the first half with colored sugar. I rolled the log in green sugar, sliced the cookies and then sprinked red sugar on top and baked. These turned out really well. I liked them so much that I almost did the same with the second batch. However, I resisted the urge to use the same route and opted for colored icing on the next batch. I sliced the cookies again and baked them plain. Once they had cooled, I made green Sugar Cookie Icing and spooned it onto the cookies. I then added colored sugar or bits of candy canes to some of the cookies and left others with only the frosting. I think they turned out great. I'm going to be making more of these this holiday season.

TWD - Linzer Sables

2008-12-07T12:51:00.005-05:00

This weeks recipe can be found on page 134 or visit Dennis at his blog to view the recipe. I know it's not Tuesday, but I'm adding my December TWD baking blogs as I have time this month. It is a rather busy month you know.

The recipe was easy to put together and the end result was good. I did decrease the amount of cinnamon and ground cloves that the recipe calls for. Dorie said she liked hers spicy, but I don't like when cookies have too strong of those spices. I played safe and opted for less. The recipe calls for either Almonds, Walnuts or Hazelnuts (finely ground). I opted for Almonds and ground them up in my food processor. After adding all the ingredients in my mixer, the dough was rather dry, but I resisted the urge to add some additional liquid. Instead, I kept on with the recipe and rolled out the dough. After reading lots of comments on TWD about many bakers not being able to get enough cookies with the dough being 1/4 of an inch thick, I rolled mine out a little more.
Of course, some are thicker than others. I'm not good at rolling out the dough evenly yet. The edges are always a lot thinner.In the end, I was able to get 23 sandwich cookies. This is only 2 fewer than Dorie said she had. So, I think I did pretty well. I put raspberry jam in my cookies and the girls and I had lots of fun adding the powdered sugar to the cookies.
I think my cookies look very similar to Dorie's. What do you think??

Family.....

2008-11-28T20:40:00.004-05:00

You can't choose your family!! I have to say that I love my family, but that doesn't mean that I have to like all of them, and I don't! I just can't stand some of them right now, but I'll leave it at that.

TWD - Thanksgiving Twofer Pie

2008-11-25T13:30:00.004-05:00

Last week, I skipped out on TWD. I don't like rice pudding, so I opted to not make it.

This weeks selection was Thanksgiving Twofer Pie. It was really easy to make and mine turned out pretty well. However, I do wish that the recipe would have warned me that this pie will fill every bit of my pie shell. It did overflow in the oven, but luckily I followed directions and put my pie plate on a cookie sheet.

This is my VERY full pie before going in to the oven.

This is my pie fresh from the oven and on the cooling rack. It came out of the oven after my girls had gone to bed. They were very disappointed and wanted to have a piece before bed, but it was too late for them to wait.

Guess what I let the girls have as part of their breakfast. Yep - since they didn't get to try it the night I made it, they got it before school yesterday! Sarah liked it, but Ella didn't enjoy it as much. I certainly didn't want her piece to be wasted, so I ate it!! Yum Yum

Kugelhopf

2008-11-11T09:37:00.005-05:00

This weeks TWD reicpe was Kugelhopf. The first web site listed on a google search for this cake gave me this website which gives Dories recipe.
This cake has to rise several different times and takes practically all day to make. Luckily, it was a warm day here in NC and I had no problems during the rising process. You can see in the pan above all the butter I coated the pan with (yummy). I used a pastry brush to be sure and get into all of those groves.

Above is the cake just out of the oven and it has been coated with butter and a layer of suger sprinkled on top.

Just before serving a light dusting of powdered sugar was added. It kind of soaked into all that butter that I put on the top.

I think this cake turned out like it should. It was a very light and fluffy cake, similar to a croissant texture. I used dried cherries instead of raisins, but the quantity didn't seem to be enough. There are several pieces of the cake that were left without any cherries. I had a piece of this cake while it was still a little warm and it was good, however I found it much better the next day with butter (yes MORE butter) and some raspberry jam on top. I put the slice in the microwave to warm it a bit and I really liked it.

I don't think that this is a recipe I will try again. It just took too long and I prefer much, much sweeter cakes. I did enjoy the experience and can say that I've successfully made Kugelhopf.

Stamp Something Challenge

2008-11-10T16:47:00.006-05:00

I somehow stumbled upon the Stamp Something blog and began to watch their weekly challenges. I have lots of stamps, but don't use them as often as I should (or would like). I have decided to have their challenges help me get back into the swing of stamping.

This weeks challenge is to simply create a card with only 1 layer of cardstock. This was the perfect week for me to start back into stamping. I didn't have to worry with layering and "over-doing" the card. It also helped that my daughters are going to a b-day party tonight and can use these!!

Rugelach

2008-11-08T14:24:00.007-05:00

I've signed up to join the Tuesday's with Dorie baking group. I haven't been officially added yet, but I baked last weeks item (Rugelach) anyway. I should have blogged about this recipe on Tuesday, but due to computer issues I have delayed until today. I guess since I haven't been officially added to the group it doesn't matter when I post..lol.

I have never been much of a baker (or cook either), but recently I've begun to enjoy baking. For me, I found this recipe a lot of work for just a few cookies. They were quite good and even my 16 year old son enjoyed them. I used raisins instead of currents in the recipe and I don't have any white decorating sugar. I do have plenty of red and green decorating sugar and decided to use up some of it. My Rugelach looked really funny, but they tasted great.
My son wanted to eat it before it was even cut up, rolled and baked.

Ready to go into the oven.The final product.

My First Award

2008-10-29T06:43:00.004-04:00

Thank you Michelle of Flour Child for this (my first) award. You have to check out her site for some wonderful baking blogs!! I love her pictures of mouth watering baked goods and I even pick up some great recipes from the blog. I also love keeping up with what is going on with her family through her blog. My favorite blog on her site is dated August 10, 2008. You must go read about how her wonderful hubby is the discus champ!!

I will be passing this award on to some other well deserving blogs later today. For now....I must get some children ready for school.

Here is a video of my daughter

2008-10-27T12:49:00.003-04:00

This video is from my oldest daughters competition acro dance 2 years ago. I just loved it and thought I would share. Mulan Princesses

Maybe I can figure out how to post videos that I have on DVD from last years competitions....hmmmm.

Pumpkin Bread

2008-10-26T12:12:00.005-04:00

My friend posted a pumpkin bread recipe on her blog (http://homebakedsweetness.blogspot.com/) and I gave it a try. I had never made pumpkin bread before. I've never really been much of a baker. I'd only baked cakes from box mixes a few pies for holidays, etc. This year, I've really started to try other things and I find that I enjoy it. My girls even loves to help me and make their own pies.

Here is the pumpkin bread from yesterday. I think I'll go eat another piece now!

Here is a picture of my ugly cake!! It is the first cake I did from scratch(back in the spring). It is certainly ugly, but it tasted sooooo good.
I made the same recipe for my mom in May. She was on her way to Charleston SC with my dad and came for a few nights. She was at my house for her birthday and I am honored to have been able to make her a homemade cake for her last birthday. She loved it.

In a sweets kind of mood!

2008-10-25T16:34:00.003-04:00

In the past week, I've made 2 batches of homemade peanut butter candy. I was really missing my mom earlier in the week and that made me think of her peanut butter candy recipe. I had never made it before. I remember asking her for the recipe years ago but never made it. My mom didn't really ever measure and part of her directions was "cook it til it's done". When I asked "when is it done?", her reply was "you'll know when it's done, it will spin a thread". Of course I had NO idea what that meant, so I never used the recipe. Fast forward to this week, and I sat at my computer to google "spin a thread". I think it is the same as "soft ball stage". It turned out great. My kids love it and it reminds me of my mom. Perhaps my kids will think of me someday when they make this candy in their own homes.

Peanut Butter Candy (aka Peanut Butter Fudge)

2 cups of sugar
1/3 cups light corn syrup
1/3 cup milk
1/4 stick butter
2/3 cup peanut butter

Cook the sugar, corn syrup and milk until it "spins a thread", stirring constantly.

Remove from heat and add butter and peanut butter and stir quickly until butter is melted and peanut butter is blended into the mixture.

Pour onto a buttered platter to cool.

I, of course, have to eat some while it is warm!!

Hodge-Podge

2008-10-20T20:53:00.004-04:00

hodge·podge (hjpj)

A mixture of dissimilar ingredients; a jumble.

I think that I should have named my blog "Hodge-Podge". It is certainly a mixture of dissimilar items (just like my life). Today will be no different. LOL

I received an email yesterday titled The Most Dangerous Cake Recipe in the World. I usually quickly read over this type of email and then hit delete. I'm not sure why I kept this one, but I'm sure glad I did. The email contained the following recipe:

Ingredients

4 tbsp self rising flour
4 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp cocoa powder
1 egg
3 tbsp milk
3 tbsp oil
3 tbsp chocolate chips (optional)
a small splash of vanilla extract

Directions

1 - In a large coffee mug, add dry ingredients and mix well
2 - Add the egg and mix thoroughly. Add the milk and oil and mix well
3 - Add the chocolate chips (if desired) and vanilla extract and mix again
4 - Put your mug in the microwave and cook for 3 minutes at 1000 watts.
(The cake will rise over the top of the mug, but don't be alarmed!)
5 - Allow to cool a little. Tip the cake out onto a plate if desired
6 - EAT!! (This can serve two if you want to feel slightly more virtuous

And...why is this the most dangerous cake recipe in the world? Because now we are all only 5 minutes away from chocolate cake at any time of the day or night!!

This actually turned out very well!!! It was quick and easy. I wish that the chocolate chips would have been all throughout the cake, but they settled to the bottom of my coffee mug. Then when I tipped it out onto my plate, it acted kind of like a chocolate chip frosting (which is okay too!!). This is quite a lot for one person, so you can share. I was sharing with my youngest and she liked it soooo much that she acted as if she was going to stab me with her fork if I took too many bites!

Books I like to read

2008-10-12T16:15:00.003-04:00

I finished my most recent book about a week ago and haven't started up another yet. The book I finished is a 1980 book by Dean Koontz called Whispers. I have enjoyed Dean Koontz books for a long time and am now trying to go back and read many that I have missed over the years. Thanks to the Dean Koontz collection of a friend and thanks to the many books at Value Village, I can find many books that are no longer in print. I hope to start my next book soon. I believe my next Dean Koontz selection will be Strangers, which was released in 1986. I'll keep you informed of what I think of it.

I'm still here...!!!...

2008-10-08T10:09:00.003-04:00

With 3 kids I have a hard time finding the time to blog (or time to do much of anything). I'm still here and wanted to put a quick post on my blog.

With Halloween coming up, I went through some of my older Halloween pics and found one from 2004 that I like. Aren't they sooooo cute???

Garage sale over...but I still have lots of junk.

2008-09-14T19:26:00.006-04:00

The garage sale was yesterday. I only had about 25% of my normal turn out. I'm not sure if I just picked a bad weekend or if the ad in the paper just didn't grab much attention. Well, at least I've got everything boxed up and ready to go to either Goodwill or to keep for the neighborhood garage sale planned for next month. I don't know if I want to have another sale so soon or not..but at least it's all ready.

My brother, his wife and son (Andrew - aka Matthew) came for the weekend too. My brother, Kyle, put some shingles back on the roof for me. Some had blown off in some high winds and he took care of that for me. It was good to visit with them again. They only live about 2 1/2 hours from here, but it's hard to find time to visit in this day and time.

Now...here are the pictures of the progress of my first embroidery project.

The stitching isn't evenly spaced, but...hey....it is my first attempt. I'm sure it'll get better with time.

I sure do have a lot of junk!!

2008-09-11T11:20:00.002-04:00

I have been working in the garage all week going through boxes, sorting and tossing and making a big mess. I've come to the conclusion that I have entirely too much stuff. No one family should have this much stuff. While trying to prepare for my garage sale on Saturday, I've only focused on the garage. I have plenty that I need to go through in the house, but I haven't made it that far yet. If I don't get to all the things in the house, I guess I can have another garage sale in October which is when the neighborhood sale is.

I have priced lots of items, tossed lots and am just downright unsure what to do with a lot of stuff. I'm sure the girls would want to keep it all. They are bigger packrats than I am. I had several boxes already in the garage full of items that I had planned to get rid of. While going through those boxes, I pulled out a few items that I now want to keep. These are items that my mother had given to me. I had placed these items in the garage in the spring, but since her death in June, I guess I just can't part with things as easily.

I have also started on my new found hobby of embroidery. I haven't done much since I've been working in the garage, but I have traced the pattern onto a pillowcase and started a few stiches. I'll have to take a picture and upload it later. It's time for me to head back into the dusty, dirty garage.

My First Post

2008-09-07T17:23:00.005-04:00

This being my first post, is a good weekend to do so. Yesterday, I went to lunch with 3 friends I had met in Idaho. It's been a long time since all 4 of us have been in the same room. I met up with Tona (flew in from Colorado), Stephanie (moved to the area in June) and Erica (moved here a few years ago). What are the chances that 3 of us who met in Idaho would now live close to each other in NC??

Today, Erica and Tona came over for lunch before Tona met up with her family in Hickory. We had pulled Pork, green beans, Broccoli Cheese casserole, home made rolls and Chocolate Pie. How is that for a Sunday lunch?? Tonight, we have leftovers.

For those who know me, you know I like to craft (Scrapbook, Stamp, Crochet, etc.). Now, I've decided to try yet another craft. I bought a book on embroidery yesterday and today I bought supplies to embroider some designs on pillow cases for Ella and Sarah. I hope to get started today...but I really need to go through things in my garage and house. I'm planning a garage sale on Saturday, but I have nothing ready. I'll keep you posted on how things are going.