*Mothers Day 2010*

Mothers Day was so special for me this year! My little brother was here from Oregon and i was able to have brunch with some of our closest friends out here, as well. Here's the day in pictures!
Kell and lil Muffin


Lil Muffin LOVES southern food, and some day will kill me for taking this picture!
Notice the tervais tumbler sitting next to her at the table- that was one of her gifts to me that she insisted on using @ brunch-

Aw... my mini me- i'm pretty sure we paid over 25 dollars for her to eat biscuits and a pound of butter!

For all of you that have seen family pictures of us growing up, you would know that my brother ALWAYS wrecked the pictures doing stupid things.. some things NEVER change! ps- since when did mini me start posing it up so hard?! LOL-

This picture is so my brother- if you've seen any of Jim Carr**s movies, you've

basically met my brother. SAME sense of humor!

This ugly blue thing is the best invention.. EVER! and one of my gifts- its one of those HUGE beach towels that

drapes over the lounge chair and has pockets to put all of your stuff in.. then rolls up into

a bag when you're done. GENIUS! BB& B has them.. watch for coupons to get them 20% off!

You all know how i LOVE to cook!!!! I saw this cookbook in a magazine a few months back and KNEW i had to have it! ... GOT IT ;) Many neighbors, teachers and bus drivers have ALREADY reaped the benefits of this cookbook - i made them a fun candy that tastes like toffee, but is made with butter, brown sugar , chocolate chips and saltine crackers. Its crack!

Kelly gave me this cookbook- another fave- they are made by the Junior league and have GREAT southern recipes in them.. See, my nieghbors are SMART! they know if they buy me cook books, they get fed ;)

Yet, ANOTHER one ;) - Stacey gave this one to me.. just found a chicken appetizer that i have bought ingredients for. Baking is so soothing for me.. i love to have a ton of desserts made and then give it all away. Its the best feeling ever!

THIS plate below has to be my FAVE gift this year! We have some very special neighbors that the girls just adore! They garden with them, go swimming, he takes mini me around to find turkey tracks, explains science things to her, they do all the outdoorsy stuff. They took her to their church one night for "Dinner" and she made this special plate - one of those i'll have for years to come and i am obsessed with the green she used in it! She knows her mama well!

We finished the day off with pool time- i love that lil muffin is more independant. ! our pool has a kiddie section, she she just plays in there, and i dont have to get wet, its great! Add the cell phone with some tunes and you have a lil retreat ;)

Grits.. its whats for dinner ;)

One of my best friends bought me the Everyday Food magazine by Martha stewart- its little and comes once a month. This months by far is my fave! i searched high and low for the stinking recipe to give her credit and to no avail. The one i foudn that was the closest was from Southern living. This was SO flavorful! The family loved it! I loved that you poured the sauce over the grits. I like my grits creamy- dry is just.. GROSS!
Ingredients
1 1/2 pounds unpeeled, medium-size raw shrimp
1 tablespoon butter
1/2 pound andouille sausage, diced
3/4 cup whipping cream
1/3 cup chicken broth
1/3 cup dry white wine
1/2 cup freshly grated Asiago or Parmesan cheese
1/4 teaspoon ground white pepper
Asiago Grits
Garnish: chopped fresh chives
Preparation
Peel shrimp; devein, if desired.

Melt butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat; add sausage, and cook, stirring constantly, 5 minutes or until lightly browned. Add shrimp, and cook, stirring constantly, 3 to 5 minutes or just until shrimp turn pink. Remove shrimp and sausage mixture from skillet.

Add cream, broth, and wine to skillet; cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, 5 minutes or until slightly thickened. Stir in cheese and pepper; cook, stirring constantly, 6 to 8 minutes or until cheese is melted. Stir in shrimp and sausage mixture. Serve over Asiago Grits. Garnish, if desired.


From Southern living, october 2007

..
Also from the Everyday food magazine, there is a recipe for Raspberry- Lemon Whoopie pies- i also searched for this recipe and found this posted by a Chelsea on Wegottaeat.com. She said its from the Everyday living magazine, so you're in luck ;)

These are SUPER EASY to make, yummy and perfect for Spring for a shower, party, or just for fun.

RASPBERRY-LEMON WHOOPIE PIES

from Everyday Food Magazine Add Ingredient Add Divider Ingredients
1 stick Butter (room temperature)
1 Cup Brown Sugar
3 tbsp Brown Sugar
1 tbsp Grated Lemon Zest
1 tsp Pure Vanilla Extract
1 Egg
2 1/4 Cups All-Purpose Flour
3/4 tsp Baking Powder
1/4 tsp Baking Soda
1/2 tsp Coarse Salt
1 Cup Whole Milk
3/4 Cup Heavy Cream
1 Cup Fresh Raspberries Add Cooking Step Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350. In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat butter, 1 cup brown sugar, and lemon zest until light and creamy. Add vanilla and egg and beat to combine, scraping down bowl as needed. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. With mixer on low, beat in flour mixture in 3 additions, alternating with milk and ending with flour mixture (Scrape bowl as needed). Beat well to combine.
2. Drop batter in 2-tbsp mounds about 2 inches apart, onto two parchment-lined baking sheets. Bake until puffed and pale golden around edges, 17 to 19 minutes, rotating sheets halfway through. Let cakes cool completely on sheets on wire racks.
3. In a large bowl, whip cream and 3-tbsp brown sugar to soft peaks. In a small bowl, mash raspberries with a fork, then fold into whipped cream. Divide raspberry cream evenly among bottoms of half the cakes, then sandwich with remaining cakes.

Southern Favorites

I've been on a movie kick lately and have the easy ONE CLICK on an account.. one of those MAJOR websites.. was looking for another one of my FAVE southern movies, Driving Miss Daisy and found it for 7 bucks. REALLY?! Who could pass up THAT deal? And so, like a kid on Christmas, i've checked my mailbox EVERY day for it and it FINALLY came today- guess whats on for background noise while i did math and now blogging? Yup- the girls are watching it ;) Cutest movie ever- and i believe its filmed in Georgia!
About a year ago, my sister in law made me a tomato pie- out of the blue yesterday i remembered it, and i'm a food addict. Once i start thinking about something, i HAVE to get it! I went to the grocery store and bought some fresh tomatoes and made myself one.. dont tell anyone, but i ate HALF of the pie! this pic is taken from the web, but i really wish my picture turned out, because mine looked TEN times better! I used FRESH basil ( about 9 plus leaves) and tore them up and i think it gave it a real kick!

Tomato Pie

*Pie Crust
*Sharp cheddar cheese
*Basil
*3-4 large tomatoes
*salt & pepper to flavor

I thinly sliced my tomatoes, and literally layered them like lasagne in the pie pan. I'd sprinkle salt, pepper, freshly grated cheese and basil on EACH layer. i did NOT use another pie crust, but just added alot of cheese on top-

Put in the oven @ 400 for about 35-40 minutes. I made the mistake of NOT cooking the pie crust before hand and it was Mooshy.. so make sure you cook it first. Seriously.. this is THE BEST ever.. and with all the fresh tomatoes coming up, oh.my.word.. my mouth is salivating just thinking of it!

GO GET YOURSELF SOME INGREDIENTS AND GET COOKING~!

HE IS RISEN!!!

....Happy Easter, Everyone!! We spent it with our cousins and family and had a blast! My sister in law and i stayed up until 1 am to fill ( no lie) about 200 eggs!! She hides them IN her house all over and then did another one for the OTHER cousins that came over this afternoon, but that one was outside. All the kids had to stay upstairs until everyone was up and ready to egg hunt

oh, lil muffin.. how your hair is so.. so.... CRAZY!

Waiting for church to start- lil muffin wanted to be with the BIG girls-

Uncle and his nephew

AS lil muffin would say : "i Wub him"

"mom, she's getting heavy, HURRY UP!"

Family pic.. even lil cocoa has her easter dress on, you cant see it, but its white and pink, a handme down from little Jewel ( bless her heart!)

Now.. as many of you know, she HATES wearing clothes- its either a costume, or a princess dress, but most often in her skivvies.. and that's how she ate. No lie..

My sister and law and i- she's the BEST mom ever! all American mom- best cook EVER, i take tips from her!

Outdoor egg hunt and like i said... Skivvies was the outfit of the afternoon!

Uh... TWINS!!!

She made out like a bandit on BOTH egg hunts today and if you know us, you'll know that the picture is ironic and funny!

Cousins and oldest cousins bff

uhm... no that's not a bee sting, she didnt get hurt, the chick got into her cousins LIPSTICK stash and wiped it on her eyes like eye shadow, bahahah

No matter where you celebrated, we hope that ya'll had a great time and took time to think about what Easter is REALLY about-

Driving in town the other day, i saw a billboard of a picture of Jesus hanging on the cross and underneath said :" THIS IS LOVE" . Wow.. i got so choked up. It is. Because of HIM loving us so much, he died on the cross for all of our sins. THATS a Fathers love!!

Cousin Came for a visit from Minne!

Our cousin came for a visit and we had a blast! pretty sure we constantly ate ( which is normal for our family, the foodies), went to the circus and she got a tour of the town and of course the gypsie houses- meet new friends and have a great time which consisted of teaching my kids bad habits ( paybacks will be great!!) Circus pre-show.. wanna guess what she's laughing at? the Elephants huge butt!

Asking questions about the elephant-
Cousins- seriously first time EVER i've been darker than her! she's usually the golden goddess at summertime from being out at the lake all the time

Mini me's signature pose!

Lil Muffin was throwing a fit that night- lack of a nap

Think its funny my cousin took a picture of a sign i bought and hung in my house. i've wanted this sign for a year and finally broke down and bought it. i LOVE this sign!

Shopping for a southern hat for a bridal shower i went to ( dont worry, pictures will be posted of that as well!)

Look who likes to hide in the clothes!!! haha

Rare mom and kid shot.. i'm usually taking the pictures-

Cousins again!

We had the BEST time.. it was her first time coming out to visit and hopefully not the last because the girls, my friends and i had too much fun!

( and i am proud to say she loved southern food and cleaned her plate up with no problem!!)

More Precious Grandpa Moments-

As promised, more shots of Grandpa with the girls! ;) This was on a walk we went on- there was a hewi ( spelling). Dad is intrigued with any facts, movies, etc of war so this was a big thing for him. Inside shot of the helicopter-
Grandpa picking out flowers for our Urns out front and mini me helping him EVERY step of the way



One of my favorites!!!

Uhm, yes.. she pulled this

Time for Grandpa to come back!!! Lil Muffin asks about him EVERY day if he's coming to dinner with us, or if he'll be at our house and asks when Grandpa and Grandma are coming-

Thanks for the memories, Grandpa!!! XO