Happy July 4th & Memories

I hope everyone has a safe and fun holiday today.

The is the first holiday without The Husband. 

I will be spending the afternoon with good friends, 

which is what we have done for the past couple of years.

Here is a picture of The Husband with a small cannon I gave him when we lived in Houston.  

The Husband brought the cannon out for New Year's Eve, July 4th, 

to randomly declare cocktail hour and when ever else he thought it was appropriate.  

I passed stewardship of the cannon to our nephew in Oklahoma City, 

as he and The Husband had a ridiculous July 4th with it a few years ago.

The cannon will be shot off multiple times today 

in remembrance of him and celebration of the holiday.

The start of cocktail hour in the mountains:

The Husband and his brother on July 4th a few years ago:

Doesn't everyone have a cannon?

Christmas Eve Dinner & Christmas Morning Breakfast

We spent the night at The Sister's house on Christmas Eve, as is our long standing tradition.

The Sister, as always, had set a pretty dinner table for us.

The Brother-in-Law fixed us pretty Blue Christmas Martinis.

The Sister and The Brother-in-Law fixed a fabulous meal.

Pernil (Puerto Rican Roast Pork)

Arroz con Gandules (Rice and Pigeon Peas)

Steamed Broccoli (cheese optional)

I made Holiday Salad, which is a favorite of ours.

We all confessed it's a favorite in large part because 

of the prosciutto goat cheese packets on top!

Dessert was mini brownie bundt cakes.

Christmas morning started later than in years past. 

The girls slept until after 8:00am.  What?

Fun was had by all opening the gifts. 

There was the traditional "bow on the head" moment.

The Husband has been "under the weather" recently, but was feeling good this morning.

 

To quote the nieces, "This is the best Christmas ever!"

For breakfast we had a "new to us" casserole.

Crescent Rolls

Breakfast Sausage

Cream Cheese

Grated Colby Jack Cheese 

Cover the bottom of a 13 x 9 pan with a layer of Crescent Rolls 

Brown sausage; remove from hot skillet 

Place cream cheese in hot skillet to soften 

When the cream cheese is soft, stir in the sausage and mix well 

Pour mixture in the casserole pan 

Sprinkle grated cheese over the mixture 

Top with a layer of Crescent Rolls 

Bake according to Crescent Roll directions 

Thanks to my sister-in-law's sister, Margaret for the above recipe.

It was a BIG hit!

I'll end this post with my new favorite picture of myself with the older niece.

I hope your holidays were merry & bright!

Thanksgiving Recap - 2014

We spent the day with The Sister and her family.

A lovely time was had by all.

The Sister with the beautiful table she put together for us. 

Another view of the table. 

The food was delicious and plentiful.

We started with my deviled eggs and 

a fruit and cheese selection prepared by our own Sweet Baby L.

We then progressed to the the standard Thanksgiving fare.

Turkey

(I don't know why I don't have a picture of the bird before carving?)

Tasty side dishes.

So many tasty side dishes, they all didn't fit on the small table.

During dinner we discussed what we were each thankful for this year.  

All the adults mentioned good healthcare. 

We are all fortunate to have it and have had to use it this year.

The kids were thankful for family and friends and food

I love The Sister, The Brother-in-Law and Niece 1 and Niece 2!

 And I love The Husband.

What were you thankful for yesterday?

What are you thankful for today and in the future?

This Week I'm Thankful for Paid Time Off (PTO) and Paid Holidays (among many other things)

I'm on PTO Monday-Wednesday this week.  Thursday and Friday are paid holidays.

{Happy dance!}

A trip to the grocery store is on the agenda today.

Laundry is on the agenda.

Cleaning out 2 dresser drawers is on the agenda also.

What's on your agenda for today?

Just In Time Turkeys

I wasn't planning to decorate for Thanksgiving.  

Why, you ask?

We are not hosting this year. 

I'm working again.

Taking care of my Mom consumes a lot of time.

However, the closer to Thanksgiving week it got, the more I started to twitch. 

The twitch went into high gear when The Husband said, 

"But, we've got some really nice Thanksgiving pieces."

I didn't pull out everything, but we do have a couple of turkeys to look at now.

Plus, a Pilgrim and an Indian!

How about you? 

Do you decorate for Thanksgiving? 

Or, are you one of "those people" who decorate for Christmas before Turkey day?

Labor Day and Gooey Butter Cake

Hi. How was your holiday weekend? Ours was great. We were invited to cook outs on both Sunday and Monday. My contribution on both days was Mom's Macaroni Salad.

A few years ago, my sister-in-law started making Paula Deen's Gooey Butter Cake. My niece had a piece at a family function and the rest is history. I believe the quote from the niece was, "I want to marry this cake, I love it so much!"

The cake was made today:

A happy niece!

Funny thing, when I googled "gooey butter cake" to find the recipe I found a Wikipedia page about the history of the cake. Very interesting!

The Sister also wanted to make Mom's Banana Pudding. She tricked Mom into standing and stirring it for her. (That's the B-i-L in the background.)

Finished product. The individual servings of pudding without the bananas or the wafers are for me and the little niece. We are picky.

This is a long standing family favorite.

Mom's Banana Pudding

1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup flour
dash salt
3 eggs
2 cups cold milk
1/2 tsp vanilla
Nilla Wafers
4 or 5 bananas sliced

Mix sugar, flour and salt in a cast iron skillet. Blend in 3 eggs and milk. Cook, uncovered, 10 to 12 minutes or until thickened, stirring constantly. Remove from heat; stir in vanilla.

Layer custard, bananas, Nilla wafers on the bottom of a 1 1/2 quart dish. Repeat layers twice.

Cool completely. Refrigerate until ready to serve. Top with Nilla Wafers just before serving.

Happy 4th of July!

I hope everyone has a great day today, whatever your plans may be.

I whipped up this appetizer to share with friends poolside this afternoon. It's not red, white and blue, but it sure is pretty!

Crescent rolls, cooked flat
Covered in cream cheese
Finely diced peppers (red, yellow, orange) sprinkled on cream cheese
Finely diced cucumber sprinkled on cream cheese
Finely shredded colby/jack cheese sprinkled on top
Cut in bite size pieces

Yum yum!

2013 New Year's Resolution

I don't do New Year's resolutions.

2013, however, is different.

I've returned to the dreaded Corporate World.

Did I not tell you?

Bad blogger!

I resumed work on October 30, 2012.

Three+ years after I retired.

My primary 2013 New Year's Resolution is to go to work every day,

with a smile on my face and a positive attitude.

I took an unexplained sabbatical from my blog beginning October 25, 2012.

Wait a minute, perhaps it was that pesky new job 

that interrupted my blogging mojo?

My secondary 2013 New Year's Resolution is to blog again.

I plan to once again post stories about the random bits and pieces of our life.

Draft posts documenting the final stops of our
2012 Western Road Trip are waiting to be finalized. 

I will complete those posts as I have time, energy and motivation.

Finishing them will satisfy my Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder.

(You have OCD, like me, don't you?)

Do you have a 2013 resolution?

Christmas Eve Dinner

Princess Leia offering to help carve.

Boneless leg of lamb.

Potatoes roasted in lamb drippings.

Brown gravy made with a wee bit of red wine.

Peas and mushrooms sauted in butter and garlic.

Picture a ceaser salad to start and a chocolate cake to finish.

Princess Leia, Trixie, Chelsea and the elves were

banished to the stairwell during dinner.

The Sister, the B-i-L and my babies!

(Okay, they are her babies.)

The Husband, me and the nieces!

Christmas Eve with family, priceless.

I hope yours was merry and bright!

Scenes From A Family 4th of July

We spent the day with our large, extended family in Oklahoma City.

Neighborhood decorations.

Inventive use of pool noodles and other floaties.

Everyone wanted to wear "the hat."

Pool games.

Little Lucye Jane in a red, white & blue tutu.

A cannon. Yes, I said a cannon. Look near his feet.

And, of course, a flag.

How was your holiday?

New Year's Eve

What are you planning to do on New Year's Eve?

The Husband and I always stay at home.

We make a very nice meal, with a good bottle of wine.

We watch the NYC New Year's Eve Celebration on TV, as long as we can stay awake.

When we go to bed, we pretend it is midnight.

I hope you have a safe and Happy New Year's Eve!

Christmas Report # 4 - Christmas Eve Dinner Menu

Let's start with an appetizer of deviled eggs, shall we?

Sorry I don't have a picture of them, I totally forgot! 

Deviled eggs are a staple at our family holiday dinners.

I mix the yolks with a bit of mayo, Dijon mustard, 

garlic salt and pepper to taste.

Once the yolks are spooned into the whites, I then sprinkle with paprika. 

Our next dish is one we have made several times for Christmas Eve

and it is always fantastic.

Christmas Crabmeat and Shrimp Cocktail with Red Bell Pepper Aioli

Our salad is an old favorite also.

Anything topped with seared goat cheese wrapped in prosciutto 

has to be good, doesn't it?

Holiday Salad

The main course needs little introduction.

Lobster Stuffed Beef Tenderloin with Bearnaise Sauce

and steamed asparagus.

Here are a few 'behind the scenes' shots of the cooking process.

The Husband also prepared horseradish from the root for Horseradish Sauce.

The Sister and I are thankful every day that both our husbands 

enjoy cooking, both simple and elaborate meals.

We happily stay out of the kitchen most of the time!