Little Big Town - Bring It On Home

The first time I heard this band I knew I had to have their CD. John got it for me a few weeks later as a love gift. I think I have listened to it a hundred times since. Beautiful harmonies, and oh yeah, for those of you who know me...I know, I know, the blonde chicks hair, very familiar, lol.

Things that make me happy #4

Cola Gummies

I was never a big fan of gummies. For at least the first 30 years of my life I had never even eaten one. They always looked to gooey and jell-0-ish to me. About 10 years ago my friends Bernd and Kirsten came from Germany for a visit to the states. Along with all the chocolate delights that they brought was Cola gummies. They had a tub of them that they bought at a warehouse club. A tub. A giant tub of cola gummies. Tati was ecstatic. They were a favorite treat of hers when she lived in Germany. They urged me to try one. I was reluctant, but I finally gave in. Oh my. It only took one little gummie.

I love Cola Gummies. It was that instant. We finished the tub of them before the week was over and then they were gone. *sniff*. We occasionally got some more of them when Tati's mom would bring them, but never the TUB that Bernd & Kirsten brought. About a year ago I stumbled upon this great site for nuts, dried fruits, etc. called Nuts Online and guess what they had??? Yes, the cola gummies!! Bless you Nuts Online people! I ordered 3 bags. 2 for me, 1 for Tati. Could they be the same gummies that we had from Germany? TROLLI. Yeeessss! My quest for the cola gummies ended and I'm not ashamed to say that Nuts Online guys and I know each other pretty well.

Bacony Goodness

HOLIDAY BACON APPETIZERS.

Granted this is a recipe we are not going to make very often. Since it's New Year's Day and school and work vacation is almost over I thought I'd give the men a little treat. I'm glad there was no nutritional information that went along with this recipe. I can only imagine! When I saw these on Pioneer Woman Cooks I knew that I had to make it for the bacon fiends that I live with. Club Crackers, cheese and bacon. That's the ingredients list folks. It doesn't get much simpler than this.


Lay your crackers out on a pan. Sprinkle with 1 teaspoon of Parmesan cheese. Cut a pound of bacon in half. Wrap each cracker in one slice of the bacon, making sure you cover the cracker up as much as you possibly can. Lay them on a baking rack. Place the rack on a pan (I covered mine with tin foil so I wouldn't have to clean up a greasy mess). Pop them into the oven at 250 for 2 hours. I was surprised at the small amount of grease that came out as they cooked. I guess the crackers soaked it all up....yum.


When my kids saw these come out of the oven they both immediately turned into Homer Simpson like creatures, drooling "BACON GOOD!".

2007

Ok a look back at 2007. For the most part, it was very good. The year started off well, we got some projects in the house done from my never ending list, we had lots of good times with friends, and shared many, many meals with people we love. Spring time rolled around and we started working on the garden. We were up to 9 Earthboxes this year. We had a bountiful harvest and ate lots and lots of fresh herbs and veggies.

In May our close friend Mitchell moved to Missouri. I was heartbroken. I was losing my buddy. The night he left the house for the last time was horrible. Oh my God the tears. I think we all cried for hours. It was hard, but we knew it was something he had to do, still we were sad.

We had a big 4th of July celebration and John got to try out his new smoker that he got for his birthday. We have had many delicious meals come outta that big ole bullet.

At the end of July we were off to Hershey Park. My in-laws and I secretly schemed together and made plans to have them surprise John when we got to Pennsylvania. It was hot in Hershey, really hot, with the exception of my Mom, who doesn't do so well in the heat, we had a wonderful time. John's Uncle Mark, Aunt Becky & cousin Vanessa came along too. We didn't get to spend as much time with them as we would have liked to, but it was a fun vacation. I liked Amish country best of all. The kids loved all the rides and the water park. Jesse & Evan even went on a little tour.

When we got back from vacation everything changed. We found out Mitchell had been in a very serious accident. I can't even begin to describe the torment that followed over that next month. We had absolutely no contact with him for almost a month. We were upset and very frustrated. He was hundreds of miles away from us and accurate information was hard to come by. I needed some way to communicate with him, so I wrote, and I wrote and I wrote. Almost every day I wrote him a letter. Just so he knew what was happening "while he was sleeping". At the end of August he awoke from his drug induced coma and called. I can't say that I have ever been as happy to hear someones voice on the phone then I was that night. He was back. Everyday he got better and stronger. Hell today, he's almost damn near perfect again. In '08 he will be moving back home, where he belongs and I am very thankful for that.

In October my in-laws came to stay for a week. We had beautiful Fall weather while they were here. They got to carve pumpkins with the boys, enjoy Evan's birthday party, and just hang with us, which was very nice indeed.

Christmas 2007 was relatively stress free. I had decided that I was wasn't going to make myself crazy and try to do "everything" this year. For the last 3 years I had literally made myself sick and didn't even get to enjoy the holidays. This year was different. I was healthy and productive and never even had a sniffle. So there.

I think we got the biggest tree ever this year. It was over 10 feet tall!! We had the whole family over for Christmas Eve, and as usual there was way too much food. Jesse got his iPod Nano and Guitar Hero that he wanted and Evan got a bunch of new games for the Wii and a cool flying dragonfly. There were loads of other presents which even lead Jesse to say "I got way too much this year". Wow! Nana came over Christmas Day. Physically she is well, but it's so hard to see her slip farther and farther into Alzheimer's. I'm thankful that she is still here and a part of our lives.

So I bid you adieu 2007. Here's to many much more good food, friends and family in 2008.

Fun & Games (and food)

We are celebrated New Year's with a few close friends. On the menu was:

Snail Salad, Filet Mignon (thanks Ken & Eva), Pesto Pasta Seafood, 2 loaves of my Honey Whole Wheat Bread, Mixed Green Salad, and my Stuffed Baked Potatoes. Dessert was the Scandinavian Cake and a Coconut Raspberry cake Eva brought.

As with many of my recipes, I don't use specific measurements, I just kind of toss stuff in until I think it looks and smells good. For these recipe I just eyed everything. The ingredients can vary depending on what I have in the fridge at the time. Here's what went in this time (all ingredients are approximate).

Stuffed Baked Potatoes

4 large baking potatoes
3 shallots sauteed until tender.
3 cloves of garlic - thrown into the pan when the shallots were almost done.
1/4 - 1/2 cup warm half & half
1/2 - 3/4 cup cup sour
3/4 cup shredded mozzarella
1/2 cup cheddar
salt & pepper


Bake the potatoes in a 350 degree oven until they are fork tender. I let them rest for about 15 minutes, cut them in half and then scooped out all the insides. I then return the skins to a baking sheet and put them into a 350 oven for about 10 minutes, just until they are a little crispy. I think this step is crucial. You don't have a soggy potato bottom. Mash the potatoes with the half & half. Stir in the sour cream, cheeses, salt & pepper. Add the shallots and garlic. Let the skins cool for a few minutes then stuff them with the mixture.

Since I prepped these a day ahead of time, I stored them in an airtight container in the fridge. To re-heat, let them sit at room temp for at least an hour then put them into a 500 degree oven, yes you read that right, 500 degrees, trust me, it works. Bake for 10-15 minutes or until the tops are nicely browned.


Pasta Pesto Seafood

1 pound medium shells (or any other pasta with a little nook or cranny for the sauce to cling to)
1 pound bay scallops
1 pound medium cooked shrimp
1 pound imitation crab (yes, imitation. I've tried to use real crab and the kids and hubby would rather have the imitation, which is usually Alaskan Pollock and not crab at all, but they like it).
1/2 pound clams
6 - 8 tablespoons olive oil
6 tablespoons butter
2 - 3 cloves garlic
4 tablespoons Pesto
Fresh parsley
Pecorino Romano cheese


Boil your pasta and have it ready for all the seafood to go into. In a large skillet heat the olive oil and butter. Add the garlic and heat about 3 minutes. At this point when the oil is good and hot I throw in the scallops and crab and heat them through, another 3 -4 minutes, then in go the clams and shrimp, heat those for another 3 -4 minutes. Now add the pesto to the hot pasta. You don't want the pesto to overpower the dish, just put enough in to give it little more flavor. Grab a handful of fresh chopped parsley and another good handful of cheese...into the bowl of pasta it goes. Now transfer everything into a BIG pasta bowl or pan. You need room to stir so don't use a dainty little bowl for this. Top with more cheese and serve immediately.

Needless to say we were all stuffed and everyone sang my praises about the meal! We set the kids up in the living room, closed the door and told them we would see them at midnight. Someone went and got Taboo, a game we have played many times over the years. When we first began playing a long, long time ago, Tati was excluded because her knowledge of the English language was so poor that she only knew the word on the card about once every 25 cards. Really, I'm not kidding, she would pick up a card, look at the word and say "I do not know this". Well since she has mastered the language (for the most part, see cot comment coming up), she can now participate which is much more fun for all of us.

We split the teams into guys and girls. Now take into consideration that the girls were not drinking. Tati had 2 shots of Jagermeister early in the night, and the guys....well they were drinking. By 11:45 the Jagermeister bottle was empty and Ken and John P were the only ones drinking that. My John's choice of beverage was tequila. Ugh! Anyway.......I cannot begin to tell you how hysterical a night we had. I laughed so hard, so many times my stomach muscles ached this morning.

Here is just a few seconds of the game. Notice Tati's unique description of Lady Liberty. This video my not be safe for work cause Ken was way drunk and fondling himself.

A human like building?? At the very beginning of the video you can hear Ken say "COT". Earlier Tati picked a card that said COT and she had no idea what it was. Her husband insisted she knew, she insisted she didn't, after a 5 minute argument we let her pass on the cot card, but someone brought it up like, oh every 2 minutes in the game. We had a lot of fun. A very happy New Years indeed.

Mitch we all missed you.

P.S. - Yes the timestamp thingy on this is makes it look like I posted this before New Years cause I had typed out the recipes earlier in the day and I'm too lazy to cut and paste everything into a new post....so too bad.

Scandinavian Almond Cake.

I got this recipe from Eva's mother-in-law, Mrs. Bird. I haven't made it in a long time. It's rich, buttery and has a deep almond flavor. I do use a special ridged German made pan to make it. The original recipe called for margarine. I hate margarine....I use butter and it comes out delicious. Mine cracked a wee little bit when I turned it over on to the platter (I didn't wait long enough for it to cool!) Oh well, that's what confectioner's sugar is for.

Scandinavian Almond Cake

1 1/4 cups sugar

1 egg

1 1/2 teaspoons pure almond extract

2/3 cup milk

1 1/4 cups flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1 stick melted butter

Pre-heat the oven to 350. Spray pan with vegetable oil. With a wire whisk mix the sugar, egg, almond extract and milk until smooth. Add in the flour and baking powder. Pour the melted butter in and mix well. Just before you pour the batter into the pan you can sprinkle it with sliced almonds. Bake for 40-50 minutes or until golden brown. Cool completely in pan or cake will break.

I'm hiding this cake until tomorrow nights party. If Evan finds out where it is, half of it will be gone. He loves this cake.

Yeah I'm still braggin'