Only $5, Y'all ...

Yep. I'm shameless. Olivia's softball team is hosting a PANCAKE BREAKFAST on Saturday, April 28 at 7 a.m. (yawn!) at the Alcoa Highway Applebee's. Tickets are a suggested $5 donation which gets ya all the pancakes, sausage, syrup, butter and stuff you care to eat.

Want to help but would rather sleep? Totally fine. You can 'virtually attend' by doing a donation only.

Live out of town but wish you could be there? No problem. Same option for you.

All in on the pancakes and want to buy a ticket in advance? Gotcha covered! Buy your ticket online! How, you ask?

PAYPAL!!!

I love technology. Click the button below, and you'll be taken to a secure site to handle all the details. If you want to actually come to the breakfast, leave a note on how I can get your tickets to you - mail, at the breakfast, when we see each other, whatever.

Thanks so much - our #44 thanks you, too! Make sure she waits on your table.

Cream Cheese Pound Cake

This is a Southern Living recipe my friend - and then, neighbor - Melanie and I discovered when our oldests were babies. We both had the grocery list etched internally and could whip it up pretty much without cracking the book. Until now. My eyesight is hit or miss these days, and I interpreted the measurement on the butter as 1 1/2 POUNDS ... so I put in 6 sticks instead of 3. Coronary on a plate! Guess what, though? It's delicious. And it ought to be!

Oh, the pic was taken with my phone which doesn't have a flash ... the dark exterior of the cake is a shadow. Live and in person, it's a buttery, golden color all over.

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups butter, softened (that's 3 sticks ... or you can double it like I did!)
1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened
3 cups sugar
6 large eggs (best at room temp)
3 cups all-purpose flour
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Note: I find it helpful to unwrap the butter and cream cheese and place in the mixer bowl several hours before planning to mix; just throw a dish towel over the top to keep it safe.

Beat butter and cream cheese with an electric mixer until creamy. Add sugar, one cup at a time, mixing between each addition. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until combined.

Place flour and salt in a bowl; stir lightly to incorporate. Gradually add flour mixture to butter mixture while mixing at low speed. Don't over-mix. Stir in the vanilla by hand using a large spatula or wooden spoon. Batter will have lots of volume.

Spoon batter into a well-greased and floured 10-inch Bundt pan (the P'Chef Stoneware Fluted Pan works GREAT). Bake at 300F for 1 hour and 40 minutes or until a wooden toothpick comes out clean. Personally, I'm okay with it still be a bit moist inside; gives it character. I take it out at the time limit no matter what. Let it cool in the pan for 15 minutes -- this gives you time to pick at all the flaky layers calling your name from what will eventually be the bottom of the cake. Go ahead. No one will see. :)

Flip it over onto a wire rack to cool completely. Stores at room temperature. Doesn't need icing, but add whatever you like. Warning: fresh berries and cream will make this cake twice as dangerous!

Valentines Pancakes

Well, my plan for me and O to make chocolate whoopie pies for our Valentine's dinner dessert was foiled ... sweetly, though, by our two guys providing "a big cookie" to cap off the night. Knowing this ahead of time, I made something else kind of fun for "Valentine's Eve" on Sunday. We had breakfast for dinner which always requires pancakes ...

Toothless

Hudson has lost four teeth. Three of these are MIA. One was swallowed; another was knocked out on a ride at Dollywood and either lost then or in the trauma that followed in the bathroom; and a third was discovered missing while eating pancakes at Nana's -- not sure if it came out in his sleep or what. Poor Tooth Fairy! Her castle will never get built at this rate.

Below is the Dollywood dental disaster. Notice the front tooth on the right; barely hanging on. This tooth ended up centering itself in the front and hanging on by a thread for about 6 weeks!



This is the current state of things.



Makes me a little sad ... something about those tiny teeth makes me still think of him as my baby. His look is about to change. Again. And it won't be the last time either ...

Blogging or Baking?

It's not like I didn't have any free time in January ... sickness, snow, cozy nights at home. All of those elements made for a perfect time to catch up on my lack of committment to my blog. I would really love to be a professional blogger ... or a baker ... or a tour guide of Italy's best restaurants ... or the director of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. But, I'm not. Although, I'm working on the 'baker' part. Here are a few things I tackled over the hibernation season:

Eggnog Cupcakes with Peppermint Crunch Icing
This challenge was sent to me by my SIL Stephanie; she found the recipe on a blog of one of her friends. I needed something to take to the annual Williams Christmas Eve Feast, and they were GREAT! Only problem ... too pretty to eat. Hate it when that happens! Here's the proof:



Quiller Quiche
I made that up. I don't have a recipe for this one; might be why it's so good! Honestly, the best quiche I've made. Ever. Pillsbury crust filled with spinach, onion, sausage, cream, eggs, mozzarella and parm. Salt, pepper and nutmeg round out the simple spices. I've made this a couple of times since the first go 'round. Mmmmmm:



Buttermilk Cheddar Biscuits
Oh, Ina. Ina, Ina, Ina. She's probably one of my favorite F'Network peeps. Her motto: buy half, and make half so you can enjoy the party. Well, even if the party is just dinner, go buy a rotisserie chicken and a bag 'o salad and spend a few minutes making these gems. My first run was incredible -- flaky, buttery layers that melted as soon as your breath met the bread. My baker MIL even wanted the recipe and to come watch me the next time I made them. Flattered! I did make a second run -- delicious, but not as light and flaky. I increased the recipe to make more, but not a true 'double'. Me? Not a math genius. Might have gotten something lost in translation, BUT not a crumb was left!



My other new favorite thing to bake? Granola! Yep. It all started with a pumpkin spice granola found on the Annie's Eats blog. I was hooked. The kids liked it; MIL liked it; my aunt liked it; and I hoarded it as long as I could. Then I made a double batch. So good with yogurt or even dry with chocolate chips as a snack. I expanded my flavor chioces to a honey cinnamon version. Equally good with yogurt for breakfast. Equally good turned into trail mix. Took the trail mix on a road trip with some friends in January. Some addictions were started. I don't have a pic of the granola results ... never really had a chance to!

My next baking experiment? Whoppie Pies for Valentine's Day. Will have to report back on those!

Christmas Morning 2010!

* new pajamas * blessings beneath the tree * reading from Luke * snow falling * Nana slept over * big breakfast * finishing the Advent book * sang Happy Birthday to Jesus * phone calls to family far away * memories made

Merry Christmas from Hudson

Red Velvet Cake Trifle

I would post a picture of my most recent run of this, but there's none left! Will add one to this post next time. This is such a pretty recipe, especially at Christmas (or if you're a Georgia fan!).

Red Velvet Cake Trifle

1 red velvet cake mix (and ingredients as called for on the box)
1 cup chocolate chips
2 packages cheesecake flavored instant pudding/pie filling
3 cups milk
1 block cream cheese, very soft
12 - 16 oz. whipped cream
chocolate syrup

Line a jelly-roll pan or cookie sheet with parchment paper; mix cake according to package directions; fold in the chocolate chips; pour into the pan and bake until set (about 18 minutes). Cool on a wire rack.

Whisk the pudding mixes and the milk until it begins to thicken. Add the cream cheese to this mixture; stir or whisk until smooth. Set aside.

Once the cake is cool, section it into two halves. One half will be used for this recipe, and the other one can be wrapped in the parchment and plastic wrap for use another time. It can be frozen for several weeks. Cut the half that's being used now into bite-size cubes.

Layer as follows in a large glass bowl, punch bowl or trifle bowl:
- 1/3 of the cake cubes
- 1/3 of the cheesecake mixture
- a good drizzle of the chocolate sauce
- about a cup of whipped cream

Repeat two more times; can garnish with white chocolate curls, red sugar sprinkles, more syrup, cake crumbs, just whatever. Chill until ready to serve; best made the day before.

Here are some other things I've discovered in making this recipe:

- The original called for chopped up Hershey's Treasures chocolates; I found this to be expensive, messy, and difficult to eat because the pieces hardened in the refrigerator. I switched to the syrup and never looked back.
- In a pinch, any complimentary pudding flavor/s could be used (white chocolate, vanilla, even regular chocolate).
- I recently made the following substitution due to lack of the complete ingredient list. It still turned out very yummy! The cream cheese "goo" layer consisted of: 1/2 tub cream cheese icing, 1/2 container spreadable cream cheese, 1 package cheesecake flavored pudding/pie filling, and a little less milk.

Sweetest Thing ...

So, today is our anniversary. We celebrated Friday night with a fun date night -- dinner at a new restaurant, shopping on Market Square, treats from Starbucks on the way home. Tonight, we had Living Christmas Tree practice, so there wasn't much hoopla. I stopped on the way home from school and got Randy a card; he brought me flowers. The kids were watching us exchange these things along with sweet words for each other, and Hudson gets an idea. As we're getting ready to leave for church, he comes to me with a red piece of construction paper. It's folded horizontally like the start of a paper airplane.


The side I see first says: frum Hudson and olivia
There's a heart drawn beneath the words.
I turn it over.
This side says: hape anavasre dad and mom
The d's in dad are in the shape of hearts


Hudson twiddles my hair as I study his effort. So sweet. It was all I could do to keep from crying. I show it to Randy. We thank him for this gift, and I say ...


Me: Hudson do you know what 'anniversary' means?
H: (silence)
H: Ummm, yes! Yes, I do. (with unconvincing giggling afterwards which means he really doesn't know what it means!)
Me: Well, what does it mean?
H: Ummmm ... is it ... (thinking) ... (adding his finger beside his mouth to help with the thinking) ... is it the day you got married?


We all cracked up. He guessed it! And here is his card ...

Tradition

Even before we had kids, Randy and I have taken a Sunday afternoon in late October or early November to go to the mountains. We go other times of the year, too, but those are random and don't count as "the trip". For this excursion, everything is kept simple and the same from year to year. We cookout -- nothing fancy; just some burgers on charcoal. We take pictures -- the obligatory poses beside the creek. And, we marvel at the fall colors -- whether good or not so much.

This year's trip was this past Sunday, and it was perfect! Yummy burgers? Check. Kids in the creek? Check. Fall color? Check. The leaves were so bright they almost hurt my eyes!

Stealing Home

I love to watch O steal home ... she's gotten so much better at it than her first attempt 18 months ago. That time? Head first. But safe! These pics were take at our last tournament of the year this past weekend in Crossville. The pitcher threw a high one, and the catcher missed it; O set out to steal home, and was successful. Our team took 2nd place; so proud of those girls! Randy figured out that we played more than 90 games with the Astros this season. Wow! Can't wait until spring practice begins ...

Got an Author on our Hands

Eager to see how this one will end ...

My Bible

About this time last year, we experienced "Flood #2 of 2009". This one, as some of you may remember, was outdoors (#1 was in our house). On a camping trip. Our van was totaled. Many of the items in our van were a complete loss, and one of my prized possessions was in the passenger's seat: my Bible.

Just a word about this particular Bible. I bought it for myself with graduation money upon completing high school in 1987. It's a "kids Bible" -- Precious Moments to boot. These little children with the big heads and big eyes were quite the thing back then, and I loved the pictures and extra devotionals scattered throughout. I documented special verses and sermon notes in the margins and extra pages; in the "record keeping section", one finds my salvation timeline, family births, dedications, baptisms, marriages, etc. It's history. It's the book that stuck with me through college. It's the book that sat on my bedside table in our little apartment when first married. It's the book that bore my grief and fed my faith as we dealt with infertility. It's the book that has shared my joy and struggles as our family finally grew. It's a part of me.

Gingerly, I rescued it from the water-soaked van when at the impound lot. I laid it in the sun to dry ... for weeks. Once all was said and done, my Bible lost its spine, the adhesive had dissolved, many pages were stuck together, and evidence of water damage and mold were evident in the seams. The pages make a unique noise when turned now, and every one of them are crinkled, bumpy and rough.

But ... all of my writing, note-taking and underlining is fine. Perfect actually. All of my keepsake notes, bookmarks, and hand-made treasures tucked in the pages -- fine. A flower Hudson had picked special for me -- still in its place. And most of all, the printed pages were all in tact; readable; Jesus' words still a gleaming red; God's Word -- unharmed.

Not long after the flood, I replaced this Bible with one that had been given to me a couple of years ago (still unused). My old one is just too damaged to carry to church or to even use at home on a daily basis. I bought it a new cover and plan to keep it under my side of the bed. Not too far away. For now, though, I'm going through it -- page by page -- transferring every underline, note, reference, and thought to my new Bible. Which, by the way, does not have any pictures of cute big-headed, big-eyed kids in it.

I've completed the Old Testament, and today I finished Luke. Should have the rest of the New Testament done before long. While working on this today, a verse in Matthew came to mind prompting this post.

"Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away." Matt. 24:35.

The flood may have done a lot of damage to things I held as important -- our van, favorite beach towels, my crock pot (!). But it didn't take God's word from me. It's in my heart, and it's still in my favorite Bible from 23 years ago.

Here are some pics of the damage. Notice the water marks and mold spots on the picture page, then note the unharmed handwriting on pages of Scripture. My camera didn't focus very wide, so some of it looks a little blurry, but it's clear as can be in real life:

It's Fall Ball Time in Tennessee

Had to sell our UT season tickets this year, but for a good cause ... fall softball and soccer! Olivia is playing for CAK and for the Astros; Hudson is doing One Goal Soccer through our church, and he loves it!

Images of Me

Olivia decided to dig in my 'vintage' box in the bonus room this summer. The orange flapper dress was part of a costume I had to wear in the Junior Miss pageant in 1986. Yes, please pick yourselves up off the floor from laughing at the mere thought of me being in a pageant. Ok. All better now?

Moving along ... the long dress is one of my most favorite childhood memories. I was the junior bridesmaid in my cousin Melissa's wedding -- fall of 1980, my 5th grade year. Other than the length (I must have been a little taller at that age), it fits her pretty well! Love & hugs to Melissa and Marty ... special place in my heart for y'all always.

Back to School!

REALLY? No posts from me since May 13? I need to make up for lost time, but not tonight. Here are our annual Back-to-School poses. It's always steamy in the mornings when I try to take pics outside, so I did a couple inside as well.

The Peanuts Gang

Olivia did this in art class the other day. Wish I could brag and say she did it free-hand, but I have to let you know that she traced it. Pretty good tracing, though! I think she has us pegged rather accurately ... Hudson is Linus - quoting my favorite line from the Peanuts Christmas special; O is the ball-playin' Peppermint Patty; Randy is the ever-lovable Snoopy; and I'm ... hey, wait a minute ... Lucy? Really? Ha!!!!

Mary Poppins!!

A Christmas gift to see Mary Poppins at the Fox Theatre in Atlanta was just the ticket for our crew this week. We made a whirlwind trip - yep, down and back - Tuesday night to enjoy this fabulous show.

It was 'practically perfect in every way'!

Hudson was amazed at the men's lounge that lead to the restroom! No, I didn't go in ... just a view of him looking in from the loge lobby. If you have a chance to see this show -- GO!! Although, be warned - you may not have as cool of a 'facility' as Hudson enjoyed!

Runner Girl

Olivia ran the 400m in the Knox County track meet today ... she took second in her heat and 3rd in the finals! So proud of her.

Her friend Julianna placed first in the finals. Sweet girls!

Life Lessons from Legos

Don't know why I'm blogging so much lately. Just in a mood I guess. This, too, shall pass!

Hudson always travels with something ... a toy, a book, pen/paper, part of a costume, all of a costume. Doesn't matter where we're going or how long the trip. Lately, he's been toting a small, plastic box of Legos with us in the van. My first thought was What if they spill?, followed by What can he possibly do with those in the car? I've since grown used to them. They havent' spilled - yet - and he seems very content.

I've always been fascinated by boys and their affection for Legos. Me? Not a huge fan. I don't like building something only to have it fall apart in my hands. Maybe I don't snap them tight enough. I like building something I can EAT! My brothers LOVED Legos. Probably still do at ages 35. Randy still loves Legos and so does my dad. We'll leave those ages alone.

So, is it the creativeness of them? The endless possibilities? The fact that maybe you've put them together in some combination that no one has ever done before? Nope. That's not what I think draws them to those little bricks. I think it's the thrill of the hunt! After all, men are 'hunter gatherers'! All week, I've listened to little hands dig through the box of squares, rectangles, wheels, rods, people, and shapes not often seen in nature. Digging, digging, searching for the perfect shape, size and color; maybe even searching for the inspiration of what comes next. The sound of all those pieces bumping into each other was a bit unnerving at first, but then I realized he's learning to go out of the cave, kill something and bring it home! Maybe searching for that 6-peg-perfect-shade-of-blue-rectangle-brick-with-the-squiggles-on-the-front will help him later in life. Being patient and selective to find just the right Lego could be a building block for things to come. Hmmmmm. Patience. Maybe I SHOULD take up Legos as a hobby ...