Valentine's Day - Part II

I am most impressed to show you Abigail's valentines. It is not my design, as I found these in a magazine, but I love them! They are perfect for Abigail since she is constantly bopping around with her iPod.



It's a box of candy hearts disguised as an iPod, or an iLove. Ha! The earbuds are Rolos covered in foil and attached with white string. I even laminated the "screen" and "click wheel" to make it more realistic. Too cute!



I bagged them up and added a bag topper that says "Dude, You Rock!" These have to be some of the cutest valentines I've ever seen. I wish I could take credit for the creativity.

Valentine's Part I

I started working on the kids' Valentines about three weeks ago. There is just too much going on when Valentine's actually arrives, and I recall begina  frazzled mess last year. I wanted to avoid a frazzled mess repeat. Also, I don't like to busy with crafts and such when Daniel is actually home for a weekend. I'm anticipating him being home the weekend before Valentine's Day. It will be the first weekend we've had him home (other than two weekends when we had company visiting from out of town) since October. So, you can understand why I'd rather be myself than Martha Stewart.

In actuality, I was so glad I started on these in January, because it took me much longer to finish them than I anticipated. Today, I'll share Cooper's valentines.


This croc was a pain to make! I had no idea it was going to be so time consuming. But, I must say that they turned out pretty cute! I found the template online and printed it onto green cardstock. The pain was cutting out all the pieces and assembling it. The body of the croc is a pillowbox to hold candy, so glueing that together was not a quick job.



I bagged them up added a bag topper that says, "This Croc Thinks You Rock". Cooper loved them.


Now, I just have to convince him that he has to give them all away...

Tuesday Treats - Holiday Desserts

If I am going to share the lovely pictures of the scrumptious holiday desserts, I should also share the recipes. What was I thinking?! Of course, you'll have to wait until December to justify making these. Hopefully you won't forget about them.

Cranberry & White Chocolate Mousse Cake 
Ingredients
1 package (12 ounces) white chocolate morsels (about 1 1/2 cups/375 mL)
1/2 cup (125 mL) milk
1 cup (250 mL) sour cream
1 container (8 oz) frozen whipped topping, thawed (3 cups/750 mL)
frozen pound cake or 1 1/2 (304-g) frozen pound cakes, thawed
2/3 cup (150 mL) thawed frozen cranberry juice concentrate
1/4 cup (50 mL) lemon juice
3 oz (90 g) vanilla-flavored almond bark
powdered sugar (optional)

Directions
1. For mousse, place white chocolate morsels and milk in Classic Batter Bowl. Microwave on HIGH 1-2 minutes or until melted and smooth, stirring every 30 seconds with Mix ‘N Scraper®. Cool slightly, 1-2 minutes. Whisk in sour cream with Stainless Whisk. Fold in whipped topping.
2. Trim crusts off cake to make an 81/2 x 3 x 11/2 in. (22 cm x 7.5 cm x 4 cm) cake. Place trimmings into Rotary Grater and grate evenly over bottom of Springform Pan. Press crumbs using flat side of Measure-All® Cup to form crust. Slice remaining cake into 1/8-in. (4-mm) slices (about 60 slices).
3. Combine juice concentrate and lemon juice in Easy Read Measuring Cup. Layer crust with one-fourth of the mousse. Spread evenly with Small Spreader. Arrange about 20 slices of cake over mousse, overlapping as needed to form an even layer. Brush cake with one-third of the cranberry mixture using Chef's Silicone Basting Brush. Repeat layers two times, ending with cranberry mixture. Top cranberry mixture with remaining mousse. Cover and refrigerate at least 1 hour.
4. Place almond bark on microwave-safe plate. Microwave on HIGH 20 seconds, turning over after 10 seconds (do not melt). Hold almond bark with clean Kitchen Towel and create small curls using Serrated Peeler. Garnish cake with curls and sprinkle with powdered sugar, if desired. Run releasing tool around sides of cake before removing collar.

Creamy Eggnog Parfait
Ingredients
2 cups cold milk
1 1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/3 cup Sugar
2 1/2 Tb cornstarch
1/8 tsp salt
6 egg yolks
2 cups Cool Whip, thawed
1/4 tsp rum extract
24 gingersnap cookies


Directions
1) Microwave milk on HIGH 3 minutes
2) Combine nutmeg, sugar, cornstarch and salt in 1.5qt saucepan, whisk in egg yolks until smooth. Whisk milk into egg yolk mixture, cook over med heat 3-5 minutes until boils. Remove from heat. Transfer to mixing bowl; place a piece of plastic wrap onto surface. Refrigerate 4 hours until chilled. Fold in 1 cup of coolwhip and rum.
3) coarsely chop 16 cookies. spoon 1/4cup of custard into Martini Glass, sprinkle with chopped cookies. Top with remaining custard.
4) Garnish with remaining cool whip and sprinkle with nutmeg and 1 whole cookie.

Christmas Dinner

Yes, you read that title correctly. I am so far behind on sharing things that I even have Christmas and Thanksgiving pics still to share. After such a sad and heavy few days, I thought we all could use a break to look at something pretty. And, the table I decorated for a ladies' Christmas dinner was pretty. So, here you go!

I was determined to do something different because, well, I just like being different. The peacock feathers seemed like the perfect theme, until I started shopping for materials. Peacock feathers were no where to be found! Aack! I almost had to change my theme when at the last minute I pieced together a few items at Michael's. Whew! Crisis averted. I can't imagine how embarassing it would have been to decorate a Christmas table with red and green items. I know, it seems odd, but I would have been embarassed. I expect different from myself, and I think everyone else expects different from me as well.




I even got a bit crafty with my decorations. I saved toilet paper rolls for months to be able to construct my own napkin rings. Ha! I'm not cheap, just crafty. Well, okay, I'm a bit cheap. Let me explain... The event was a Friday night dinner and Saturday morning brunch. There were so many people to attend, that 35 tables for dinner was not enough room to get everyone in, so they added a breakfast also. That meant, I had to have two sets of china, flatware, linens, glassware, desserts, etc. The dinner ran so late on Friday night that there was no time to wash and re-use items. I had to clear off the dinner remnants and set everything back up again in 30 minutes so that it was ready when we arrived for breakfast the next morning. I found the awesome brown tablecloths and napkins at a steal of a price. I already had enough china, glassware and chargers. But, napkin rings?! Are you kidding me? Those things must be made of gold because there were no coupons in sight that made them affordable to me. So, I had to come up with an inexpensive way to have 16 napkin rings. Obviously, toilet paper rolls spray painted with metallic gold paint and dressed up with some beads were the perfect choice.


My only issue with the event was the centerpiece rule. It could not be more than 12" tall. What?! It was darn near impossible to work within these restrictions, so please keep that in mind when judging my work.


And, I was more than annoyed when I looked around the room and saw how many women had not worked within the rule limits. I'll show them! Next year I won't follow the rule either! Except, I know I will. I can't stand to not follow rules. I just like to make a show of being rebellious. But, one of the coordinators overheard me remarking on the height of many other centerpieces. She let me know that those women had "been talked to" and would not be bringing such centerpieces again next year. Sure...

No matter what you think of my decorating skills, my baking skills were an absolute hit. A hit, I tell you! I made two desserts for both events so that they ladies could have a choice. And, every single guest both chose wisely when it came time to serve desserts. They chose both! My kind of eaters!


The eggnog parfait was so yummy, but the raspberry white chocolate mousse cake was unbelievable. (Do you see those store bought cookies in the side of the pic?! I couldn't believe ladies were serving their guests store bought desserts. Uh-uh, not my guests! I was Paula Deen and Emeril Lagasse and Rachael Ray all in one that weekend. Ha!

I know you want another look at that because I do to.


Aahhh.... The holidays are so great for guilt-free eating. Alas, it's February now and I'm lusting after just one Girl Scout cookie that can not be had. Oh, well. I can wait until December when my mad baking skills will once again be all the rage at the ladies Christmas dinner.

As my guests rolled themselves out the door after being stuffed with dinner (or brunch) from La Madelleine and sweets from me, there was still one more treat. My guests were given a loaf of cranberry orange bread that was, of course, super yummy. Ah.... my mouth is watering at the memory of all those goodies. Yum!


If you want to see how my work stacked up to the other ladies or you are just really bored and looking for something to distract you from reality, check out this link where I have pics of the other tables at the event.

Too Young For This

I have a terrible excuse for not blogging. Life. Life gets in the way. Why is that terrible?! Because this blog is supposed to document our lives. I'm not a scrapbooker and I don't journal. I want my kiddos to have this blog to laugh and cry and see memories of their childhood. What do they have now?! For all they'll know, we skipped months and months of 2010 and even January of 2011. They won't know the craziness of our lives. So, I find myself in the midst of too much life now, and I have to blog. There are lives being lived, and I want to get this down on "paper" so Abigail and Cooper can hear my thoughts and memories when I can't remember them. Not that I can remember much of them, now, but give me a few or 10 or 20 years, and I'm certain I won't remember them.

This weekend, life hit our home and not in a good way.  I should rephrase that. Death hit our home. But it's real life and not the part of life that I can shelter my babies from. So we're living it out. We're painfully living it out.

The principal of the kids' school passed away unexpectedly yesterday morning. As soon as we were notified, Daniel shared the news with Abigail and Cooper. It was so shocking, that Abigail did not believe him. She thought he was kidding. Cooper did not comprehend the news. Still in shock ourselves, we didn't know what to expect from the kids. First, there was no reaction. We gave them a chance to ask questions and talk, but nothing came. They went about playing and enjoying their Saturday. Until dinner. It hit Abigail and she just burst into tears. So many thoughts were coming to her. She was heartbroken for Mrs. Owen's family. Mr. Owen maintains the facilities at school so the kids have been with him every day as well. Abigail was especially heartbroken for him. She cried for him. She cried for Mrs. Owens' mother who cooks lunch every day for the kids at school. She couldn't imagine what it feels like to have your daughter die before you. I was amazed that everything Abigail was crying for was not selfish. She never once mentioned missing Mrs. Owen. She was just heartbroken for the people who she knew were already heartbroken. And this momma was heartbroken for her baby girl. I couldn't stand to see her cry and truly ache in a way that I could not fix. Oh, sweet Abigail. Of course there were lots of hugs and we both agreed that Mrs. Owen was happy to be at the feet of Jesus. We wondered... Is Mrs. Owen singing praise songs or starting a pre-K Bible study? Knowing Susan, she already has lessons planned, Bible classes organized, and has hugged more kids in heaven than I've ever hugged on Earth.

Today, getting out of the car at church, a wave of emotion overcame Abigail and she realized that Mrs. Owen wouldn't be at church today. You see, Susan was not just our principal but she and Mr. Owen were Abigail's Sunday School teachers. I think they've missed one Sunday since class started in August. Abigail just knew that Mr. Owen would be there for her. I assured her that he would be home with his family and not in class today. Oh.... the tears flowed again. She's not going to be here, momma. No, baby, she's not going to be here. Yeah, I just shouldn't have worn make-up to church. I know I didn't make it through the early service with any left on my face. Abigail cried through most of the service. My child who sings embarrassingly loud and waves her hands as she praises every Sunday morning did not hardly mutter a sound this morning. She held onto me and Daniel. She cried. She laid on me. She didn't sing. She whispered to me that she was sad. I know, baby. I'm sad, too.

After the service, I took her to Sunday School class. Our children's minister and his wife were there to greet us. Abigail was glad to be in the classroom and almost seemed more at ease than she had been all morning. I knew she was in good hands and was also at ease leaving her there. She later told us that they had prayer time for Mrs. Owen's family and talked about death. Oh, my. I love being honest with my children, but this was almost too much honesty for me. We have faced death in the past year. Daniel's uncle passed away in April. But, that was cancer. We had time to prepare for that. It made sense, well, as much sense as cancer makes. This just doesn't make sense. A classroom of six-year-olds spent the morning talking about their thoughts on death. Instead of being hugged by the woman who hugs her six days a week, Abigail learned to grieve.

The rest of today brought tears and sadness. It was a lovely day of warmth with no sign of the frozen wind and snow and ice of the rest of the week. We played and rode bikes. And, we cried. These are some questions I was given today... Is Mrs. Owen going to be okay in heaven? Do you think Jesus can take care of someone who is that nice and sweet? Where is her body? When will I get to see if they are taking care of her? Will school be there tomorrow?

You see, Mrs. Owen is the founder of the school. She is the school. She has been the school for 26 years. As an adult, I know Mrs. Owen is the school. So of course the kids also know that Mrs. Owen is the school. Abigail's mind immediately processed that the school would not be there if Mrs. Owen wouldn't be there. I assured her that the school would be Mrs. Owen's legacy. The school will not go anywhere. At bedtime tonight, I don't think Abigail was completely assured of that. She asked me to walk her to class tomorrow and stay with her. Of course, I will walk her to class and stay and hold her as long as she wants me to. She hasn't wanted anyone to walk her to class since the first day of kindergarten. That says something. Her world has been rocked.

When her world is rocked, my world is rocked. Yes, I will miss this sweet woman who created this wonderful school that I've entrusted with the hearts and minds of my children. I grieve for her husband as I imagine being alone and not even knowing what to do with myself. I grieve for her family - a Godly son who is married to a sweet woman whom we've entrusted with Cooper at school. I grieve for her young grandchildren as I know the loss of a grandparent at such a young age it leaves you with no memories.

Selfishly, I grieve for my baby girl who has lost her happiness and innocence. She is aching from the sting of death at just six years old. I am grieving the loss of explaining why boys pull her hair as I instead explain that even grown-ups don't understand why God takes people we love when we aren't ready. My sweet, sweet girl. When you read this in 20 years, know that I am so sorry you are learning this now. I know it's impossible, but I wish you never had to learn this lesson. My entire being wants to take away the hurt you had as you cried yourself to sleep tonight. I dread tomorrow even more than you do, as I know it will bring more sadness that I can't protect you from. But, also know that I am so proud to see you living out everything that your father and I have been trying to teach you. We want you to love, and I see so much love coming from you as you ache for Mr. Owen and want to hug him and love on him. We want you to know God, and I see that as you tell your brother that Mrs. Owen won't be at school tomorrow because she loves God and has to be with Him in heaven. We want you to be compassionate, and I have seen so much compassion come from you this weekend that you almost don't know what to do with all the compassionate feelings you have for each one of Mrs. Owen's family members. Oh, you are so much more than I could ever have dreamed of. Sweet Abigail, I love you.

Black Thursday & Friday

Our alternative Thanksgiving schedule was a great advantage for my Black Friday shopping. In the past, I'm already tired from being on my feet in the kitchen all day, but I still had fun on the all-night shopping outings. This year was different thanks to my well-planned strategy.

I started Wednesday night by renting a few movies and staying awake until 3 a.m. Thursday. To ensure I would be adequately tired for a long afternoon nap, I slept only until 7:30 Thursday morning. I spent the day watching the Macy's parade, pouring over the advertising inserts in the paper, online reviews of products, and a massive spreadsheet of all available deals. After hours and hours of planning and research, I had readied my list of stores, list of deals, coupons and insert copies. What I thought would be a marvelous nap, though, was not to be. What the heck?! I was home alone. I enjoyed a glass of white wine. I snuggled up on the couch in comfy jammies to watch a boring movie. How could it have gone wrong?! I have no idea, but it did. I think I was just too anxious and excited to sleep, so I decided to just start my shopping early.

It was 10:15 when I left the house last night, and I've now returned home more than 19 hours later. I would love to show you pictures of me loading down my car or freezing as I stood in the sleeting rain outside JC Penney's or slowly snaking through the line at Bath & Body Works. But, that would give you the WRONG impressing. Black Friday was a blast! I amassed excellent deals from the outlet mall to department stores to boutiques.

My online shopping was done by my husband as he sat at work and also by myself as I stood in line. Of the three major online deals I wanted, I only managed to secure one . Boooo..... I may never let myself get excited about BF online deals again. It was just a big letdown. But, the in-store shopping was certainly not a letdown.

If you don't already do it, grab your mom and/or aunts, cousins and great aunts and begin planning your 2011 BF shopping spree. In the meantime, I am just going to take a little nap...

Tuesday Treats - Thanksgiving Meal

This is the third year in a row that Daniel has been in the midst of a night shift at work through Thanksgiving. In the past, we have worked around it and still managed to celebrate on the actual holiday. As you can imagine, it's not ideal. This year, we changed things up, and it resulted in a wonderful holiday weekend.

We were joined for the weekend by my parents as well as my sister and her husband. Saturday morning was spent poolside in Georgetown to watch Abigail compete in a short meet. Then, four of our group headed into Austin to see the Longhorns win a football game. Sunday was all about Thanksgiving. It was such a great day to relax and enjoy the celebration with no regard to work schedules or exhausted people.

Since everyone out there in blogland is just now preparing their own Thanksgiving feasts, I wanted to share my favorite recipes that we enjoy for our meal.

Daniel takes care of the turkey and dressing. We're all about a cajun fried turkey and cornbread dressing. There are no recipes for these, and I'm not involved with them. I just know they are mighty tasty! (He also makes the mashed potatoes and deviled eggs.)


Sweet Potato Casserole (Fabulous recipe courtesy of Ted Moore in Summerville, SC)

2 cans of large sweet potatoes
2 cups sugar
12 tbsp of soft butter
2 tsp vanilla
4 eggs

Mix all of that together and then top with:
2 cups pecans
1 1/2 sticks of butter
1 cup brown sugar

Bake at 350 for 45 minutes.


Green Bean Casserole (Can't have a southern meal without it.)
2 cans cut green beans
1 can french style green beans
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Mix soup and cheese in 9x13 baking pan. Add beans. Bake at 350 for 25 minutes. Top with can of french fried onions and return to oven for 5 minutes.


Corn Pudding (This stuff is the yummiest goodness!)
1 can cream corn
2 cans corn
1 box Jiffy cornbread mix
8 oz. sour cream
2 eggs
2 T butter

Combine ingredients in 9x13 baking dish and bake for 35-45 minutes.

Cranberry Sauce (The great Paula Deen is responsible for this deliciousness)
1 cup sugar
1 cup water
1 (16-ounce) bag fresh cranberries
1 cup chopped apple
1 cup chopped walnuts
1/2 cup raisins
1/4 cup Grand Marnier (we didn't have this, but susbstituted Moscato)
1/2 orange, juiced
1/2 lemon, juiced
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon nutmeg, freshly grated

Combine the sugar and water in a large saucepan and bring to a boil. Add the cranberries and return to a boil, then lower the heat so that the liquid simmers. Add the apples, walnuts, raisins, Grand Marnier, orange and lemon juices, cinnamon, and nutmeg, and cook for 10 to 15 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and let the sauce cool.


Ham
I've found the best ham is the Sam's Choice double glazed ham. It's a bit pricey, but extremely tasty.


Although Daniel and I share the main meal cooking duties, the baking is all me. I LOVE to bake. This year I didn't make as many as I have in the past, but there were still plenty of pie to go around.

Pumpkin Cheesecake (Recipe courtesy of my mother's friend Sandy. This is always a crowd pleaser!)
The first thing you need to do is prep your spring form pan. Wrap the bottom ~ and up the sides with heavy duty tin foil ... press it good so it's tight. Next place a roasting pan in the oven and fill it about 1/3 to 1/2 full with water. When you actually are baking the cheesecake you will have the spring form pan sitting in the water in the roasting pan.

Crust
1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
1/4 cup sugar
1 stick butter ~ melted
dash of cinnamon
Combine the crust ingredients and press them into the bottom of the spring form pan

Filling
3 (8 oz.) packages of Cream Cheese ~ softened at room temperature
1 (14 oz) can of sweetened condensed milk
3 Eggs
2 Teaspoons vanilla extract (real vanilla is preferred to the imitation vanilla)
In a large mixer bowl beat cream cheese until it is fluffy. Gradually beat in milk until smooth. Add eggs and vanilla and mix well. Take out 1 cup of the filling and reserve. Set rest of filling aside

Pumpkin Filling:
1 cup canned pumpkin
1/4 cup sugar
3/4 Teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 Teaspoon ground nutmeg

Mix all ingredients. Add pumpkin mix to main filling mix (not the 1 cup reserve). Mix well. Layer half of pumpkin mix and then half of your reserved filling mix over crust. Repeat layers. Cut through batter with knife several times to create the 'swirl effect'. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour.


Cherry Cream Pie (This is my family's favorite, and the absolute easiest pie to bake.)
8 oz. cream cheese
1 can Eagle Brand milk
1/3 cup lemon juice
Graham cracker pie crust (see cheesecake recipe)

Combine all ingredients and fill pie crust. Refrigerate until set. Top with can of cherry pie filling. Refrigerate until set.


Caramel Pecan Pie (Rich but super yummy!)

1 (9 inch) unbaked pie crust

36 individually wrapped caramels, unwrapped

1/4 cup butter

1/4 cup milk

3/4 cup white sugar

3 eggs

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup pecan halves

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C.) In a saucepan over low heat, combine caramels, butter and milk. Cook, stirring frequently, until smooth. Remove from heat and set aside. In a large bowl, combine sugar, eggs, vanilla and salt. Gradually mix in the melted caramel mixture. Stir in pecans. Pour filling into unbaked pie crust. Bake in the preheated oven for 45 to 50 minutes, or until pastry is golden brown. Allow to cool until filling is firm.

Pumpkin Crunch (Another piece of greatness from Paula Deen)
1 (15 oz.) can fresh pumpkin
1 (12 oz.) can evaporated milk
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 c. sugar
3 eggs, beaten
1 box yellow cake mix
1 cup chopped pecans
2 sticks butter, cut into pieces

FROSTING:
1 (8 oz.) pkg. softened cream cheese
1 cup Heavy Whipping Cream
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together pumpkin, evaporated milk, cinnamon and sugar until well combined. Add eggs and mix well. Pour mixture into a 9X13 baking dish prepared with a non stick spray. Sprinkle cake mix evenly over entire top. Sprinkle nuts evenly over cake mix and top with butter pieces. Bake at 350º F for 50-60 minutes. Set aside to cool. Prepare frosting while cake is cooling. In a large mixing bowl using a hand mixer, whip cream cheese until light. Add in whipping cream and continue to whip until fully combined and thickening. Add powdered sugar and cinnamon and whip until smooth. To Serve: Scoop out a slice of the pumpkin crunch and top with a dollop of the cream cheese frosting, or frost the entire pumpkin crunch with the frosting.

Creamy Lemon Supreme (This is my prettiest and tastiest pie, courtesy of Pampered Chef)
Crust:
12 lemon creme-filled sandwich cookies, finely chopped (1½ cups)
3 tablespoons butter or margarine, melted
1 lemon

Filling:
2 lemons
1 package (2.9 ounces) lemon cook and serve pudding and pie filling (not instant)
½ cup sugar
2 cups water, divided
2 egg yolks
1 tablespoon butter or margarine
2 packages (8 ounces each) cream cheese, softened
½ cup powdered sugar
1 container (8 ounces) frozen whipped topping, thawed, divided

1. Lightly spray springform pan with nonstick cooking spray. For crust, finely chop cookies. Combine cookie crumbs and melted butter in small bowl. Press crumb mixture into bottom of pan. Cut 6 thin slices from lemon; cut each slice in half. Place lemon halves against inside collar of pan with cut side touching crust. Refrigerate while preparing filling.

2. For filling, zest lemons to measure 1½ teaspoons zest. Juice lemons to measure ¼ cup juice. Combine pudding mix, sugar, ¼ cup of the water and egg yolks in small saucepan; stir until blended. Stir in remaining 1¾ cups water. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until mixture comes to a full boil; remove from heat. Set aside ½ cup of the pudding; cool slightly. Whisk butter and lemon juice into remaining pudding in saucepan; cool 15 minutes, stirring twice.

3. In large bowl, combine cream cheese and powdered sugar; mix well. Whisk in reserved ½ cup lemon pudding and 1 teaspoon lemon zest. Fold in 2 cups whipped topping, spread over crust.

4. Stir remaining lemon pudding mixture and spoon evenly over cream cheese filling, spreading gently. Refrigerate at least 6 hours.

5. Garnish with remaining whipped topping and lemon zest. Cut into wedges.