Tuesday, December 30, 2008

SeaWorld

Dh took dd to SeaWorld on Monday. They had a good time.

P1030127

P1030211

P1030346

Thursday, December 25, 2008

Our Christmas

We had a very nice, albeit tiring, Christmas day. We awoke and had coffee and cinnamon rolls this morning. Then it was time to open our gifts to one another. We were all very pleased with our presents.

Then it was time to get off our bums and get our Christmas dinner ready. It took me FOREVER to get this party started! I waited until today to wash the china, crystal and silverware. I put out pretty gold chargers and the table really looked festive. Robert took a picture after it was all set. I will get him to post the photo. He was giving the carpet a quick vacuum and helping Robyn to wash her hair when his mom and great uncle arrived. Oops, we weren't ready yet. The ham was cooking in the nesco roaster on the deck and the pumpkin pie was in the oven. The broccoli salad was made last night. So all I had left to do was cook the green beans and potatoes, throw the Stouffer's macaroni and cheese in the oven and warm the Sister Schubert rolls. My mom-in-law brought her delicious deviled eggs. Oh, and dd and I already had the cupcakes made too. Why this took forever I will never know. But it just did.

Finally, everything came together, and I was able to hop in the shower and get dressed and enjoy the meal. And it was yummy! Later we exchanged gifts with Robert's mom, great aunt and great uncle. Robyn was a very happy girl. She received a lot of gifts that were on her wish list.

This evening was spent loading and running the dishwasher, hand washing a lot of dishes, putting away food, etc. I also have done a couple loads of laundry. Who does laundry on Christmas day??? We are leaving for a trip to Orlando and I have to wash clothes before I can pack our suitcases. Look for pictures of our trip soon.

Enjoy your holiday.

Pam

Wednesday, December 24, 2008

Happy Christmas Eve!

My parents just left after spending the afternoon with us. We gave them our Christmas gifts and ate appetizers and cookies and enjoyed an afternoon visit together. Dd and dh had to show my Dad the Mario Kart Wii game. We built a fire, even though it is very warm here today. It was raining though. But better than cold weather.

Dd and I just finished frosting our red velvet cupcakes and we are about to start rolling out the sugar cookie dough and cutting out Christmas shapes and baking them. She wants us all to play a game of Scrabble after while too. It is so much fun having a 9 year old who wants to play games. I hope the day never comes when she doesn't.

Dh has run out to Books A Million to get her the black panther Webkinz before they close for the night. Dd has about 95 Webkinz! It's ridiculous! She names them all and can tell you each and every name. She's a fanatic! Really.

I will probably post about our Christmas tomorrow and then I will be on a blogging break for about a week or so. I will be back next year.

So, to you and yours, I wish you a very merry Christmas Eve and don't forget to leave out cookies and milk for Santa!

Pam

Monday, December 15, 2008

Another week...gone

We had a nice Christmasy week. Dd loves to look at Christmas lights decorating the homes. There is one home in particular that is near us that has a light show. All you do is tune your radio to their station and park your car and enjoy. I think she saw that one three times this week. Last night we went to that show and drove down the interstate to one we saw on television. This one was a national award winning light show that you drive through. They play about 5 songs and you pay to enter. The money goes to a food bank. It was awesome!

Friday, I held a tea in my home for the ladies in my small group Bible study. We had chicken salad sandwiches, sausage balls, black grapes, cookies and miniature cupcakes. We had an assortment of teas to choose from. I didn't do anything fancy. I didn't have time, or take the time, to froo-froo it up. Next time, I want to bring out the china and require all the women to wear big ole fancy hats! Sounds like fun to me.

I made a big ole pot of Chicken and Dumplings for a friend of mine this week, who just returned home from knee replacement surgery. She has really been stuggling with this. I this pot of love helped a little.

I have a few things on my agenda this week. My dad is having some tests done at a hospital here this week and dd and I are going to go and be with my mom at their house. She has mobility problems due to neuropathy in her feet and shouldn't be left alone for long. That's one less thing for dad to worry about.

Dd's school is having their classroom Christmas party on Thursday. They are going to be making gingerbread houses. Instead of buying gifts for one another this year the class donated new shoes and socks to poor Appalachian children.

Dd has Upwards basketball practice again this week. She is the next to tallest girl on her team. Her games don't begin until January.

On the homefront, my home is shaping up. The main floor got a good going over to be ready for my tea on Friday. Upstairs and the basement are still off limits to guests. Will I ever get rid of all this stuff? Tell me there is light at the end of the tunnel. I still have some things I want dh to help me hang in the dining room and the study. He's very good at that. :-)

Today, I need to do some grocery shopping. I tend to like Mondays for this so I get there before all the specials are gone. But, oh, I don't really feel much like it. I think I'll pour myself another cup of coffee and go take some vitamins and see how I feel later. Ta ta.

Pam

Tuesday, December 9, 2008

Two new recipes. They're keepers!

SPAGHETTI BREAD – makes a 1 ½ pound loaf

1 pkg. Yeast
3 c. Bread flour
1 tbsp. Sugar
1 tsp. Garlic salt
1/3 c. Grated parmesan cheese
1 tsp. Dried Italian seasoning
1 tbsp. Olive oil
1 1/2 c. Warm water

Add all ingredients in order suggested by manufacturer, select white bread and push start.
From “Loafing It” by DAK (NOTE: DAK suggest placement of ingredients backwards to most machines)

Now, I just used my bread machine on the dough cycle. Then I dumped it into a greased bread pan and baked it in my oven at 350 degrees until done. It was sooooo good.

Parcheesy Spaghetti Pie

½ pound spaghetti, broken in half
2 eggs
½ c. grated Parmesan or Romano cheese
1 ½ pound ground beef or turkey
½ c. chopped onion
salt and pepper to taste
chopped or powdered garlic to taste
8 oz. tomato sauce
1 T butter
8 oz. sour cream
8 oz. sliced mozzarella cheese

Cook spaghetti; drain. In separate bowl, mix eggs with grated cheese. Add cooked spaghetti to mixture. Brown meat; drain fat. Season with chopped onion, salt, pepper and garlic powder. Keep stirring until meat is well browned; add tomato sauce and let simmer 10-15 minutes.

Generously spread butter on circular baking dish. Add spagheti mixture, pressing it down and making an indention in the center. Try not to let the spaghetti hang over the sides of the dish. Let this cool for at least 5 minutes then line the middle of the mixture with a thin coating of sour cream. Add meat to the center and spread it around the spaghetti. Add thin slices of mozzarella cheese on top. Bake 350 degrees 25-30 minutes.

Changes I made: I used ground organic chicken in place of beef and used a pasta sauce in place of the tomato sauce. Didn't have sour cream, didn't miss it. Loved by the whole family!

We had tossed green salad with carrots and celery added for crunch. It was a yummy meal.

Pam

Monday, December 8, 2008

Ah nuts!

Here's a new recipe I made this week. I tweaked it by changing the seasoning to Butt Rub Barbecue seasoning. Yum-o!

Pizza Nuts

4 t. vegetable oil
1 T pizza seasoning (or chili powder)
1/2 t. ground red pepper (cayenne)
4 c. lightly salted dry-roasted peanuts

In a 12 inch skillet, heat oil over medium heat. Stir in pizza seasoning and red pepper. Stir in peanuts. Cook about 2 minutes, stirring constantly, until peanuts are evenly coated and hot. Cool slightly about 10 minutes. Serve warm or cool. Store in airtight container up to 3 weeks. Makes 16 (1/4 cup) servings

I've never bought pizza seasoning but I think the chili powder would be good too. But so far, the Butt Rub seasoning is a keeper. I think this would make nice Christmas gifts too.

Pam

Menu for Week of December 8th

I'm doing a better job of sticking to my planned meals. It makes shopping easier and meal preparation too. Here is my plan this week:

Today: Mom's Chops, Green Beans with sauteed onions and bacon, steamed potatoes (dh really enjoyed this meal-it's a keeper!)

Rest of the week:

Parcheesy Spaghetti Pie, Salad and Spaghetti Bread - (Hey, maybe we should play a game or two of Parcheesi with dd too!)

Chicken Strips, Oven Fries and Cantaloupe (A darling daughter request)

Smoked Sausage with Rice Saute

Pintos, Fried Cabbage and Cornbread (A southern girl's specialty)

Crock Pot Chicken with Black Beans and Cream Cheese, Salad, Tex-Mex Biscuits

Dutch Meatloaf, Corn on the Cob, Slaw

Monday, December 1, 2008

Plans gone awry

Why, why, why? Dh came home from work and got his sander and step ladder and set about to sand the ceiling in our den. We had a leak this summer and had someone replace the drywall. This guy didn't do a real good job of sanding out the patch and it had to be sanded more before painting. Well, since we like to wait until the last minute to do anything, here it is December lst, time for Christmas decorating, and we decide to finally do something about this. Guess what? Yes, the sander worked. A little too much. As soon as dh started sanding he was down to the paper tape holding in the patch. What??? So we have scratched that chore and are leaving it to a professional to correctly repair AFTER the holidays. Hmmmm...just don't look up when visiting our den.

We are still doing a thorough dusting and vacuuming of this room and steam/shampooing the carpet tonight. At least it will be clean!

Menu week of December 1st

Today-leftover crock pot roast from yesterday, stuffing and a green vegetable (we ate all the roasted asparagus yesterday-yum-o!)

Tuesday-a Robyn favorite, Down Home Chicken and Noodles, Tossed Salad

Wednesday-Crock Pot Taco Soup (MIL loves this too!), Tex Mex Biscuits

Thursday-Macaroni and Cheese Cassrole with Spam (Yuck-I know, dh bought a turkey spam some time ago. I'm finally getting around to using it in something we will eat), and a tossed salad, fruit

Friday-Turkey Burgers, homemade hamburger buns, carrots and ranch dip, fruit and yogurt parfaits

Saturday-Mom's Chops, Green Beans, Mashed Potatoes, Rolls

Sunday-Colleen's Sausage Casserole, Southern Fried Apples, Broccoli Salad, Rolls

Happy eating!

Pam

We're back!!!

We are back from a week in Surfside Beach, SC. We had beautiful weather the entire week except on the ride back. It rained the whole way! But we got home safely and didn't witness any accidents. God was watching out for us.

Robyn had a good time at the resort. She made a new friend named Ayanna. I hope I have that right. She is from Columbia, SC and was only 1 year older than Robyn. They enjoyed the activity center. They played ping pong, pool ball, bingo, Wii games, and Robyn did crafts several days. She made a lovely turkey from a huge pine cone. Her and Ayanna went swimming several nights in the indoor pool and one night in the outdoor pool. It was heated. Imagine, swimming outdoors in November!

Robert and I had a relaxing time together. We finally got around to watching our new Indiana Jones movie. Robyn wanted nothing to do with that. Too scary! I managed to get in a few days of walking and we went to a couple of malls and bookstores as well.

We had our Thanksgiving dinner at Cracker Barrel. It's amazing how busy that place was. More and more people are opting to eat out that day. I was astonished. It is one of my favorite meals of the day, but with just the 3 of us, it makes sense to eat out when we are out of town.

I'll get hubby to post a few pictures here later of our trip. He posted some on his blog of our trip down.

Happy first day of December!

Pam