Craziest Winter

Having been born and raised in Virginia I am no stranger to it's irregular weather. We've had 50 degree highs in July and 75 degree highs in January. You know, occasional, out of the ordinary days like that.

However, this winter has been very usual. Numerous warm days (65+) have occurred to the point that I feel like we haven't really had winter yet at all.

Ok, ok, we did have one snow and got several inches. But it was so warm afterwards that it was all gone in a matter of days.

Here is evidence to that which I speak. My daffodils are blooming and it's only February!!

Go Sit in the Corner

The other day I made another deviation from Ree.  This time out of Julia Child's "Mastering the Art of French Cooking".  The only reason I tried it is because Katie and I saw this recipe being made on a cooking show and it looked simple and delicious!  The one out of Julia's cookbook is called Carbonnades a la Flamande or Beef with Beer.  I saw this recipe as a way to finally use up some of the beer left over from Tara's engagement party from a year and a half ago!!

This recipe needs to be started well in advance of dinner but comes together easily.  The meat was so tender by the time it was done.  I thought it rather interesting how each person chose to load up their plate with all the pieces of the meal.

This is Chris's plate.  Doesn't it look beautiful and yummy, all at the same time??!

Katie's plate - it's missing the green stuff.

Here is Cody's.  Lots of noodles and he took at least a few pieces of broccoli.

Dylan's plate - No veggies, just like Katie.  He still believes he'll throw up if he eats some. 

My plate, or bowl.  Yes, this is not Beef with Beer.  I had run out points (Weight Watcher's points) for the day and had to eat a salad.  (sad face)  I did take a bite off of Chris's plate and Wow! this is yummy!

 Enoch did something that Cody felt he needed to be disciplined for, so he put him in the corner.

The poor dog would look in the corner, then look at Cody.  Cody would put his face back in the corner over and over again. It was pretty funny.

After a few minutes Enoch was resigned to keeping his face in the corner - even after Cody had walked away, laughing.  Funny stuff.

Hiking with Honey

The weather has certainly been bizarre this winter.  I'm trying to enjoy the warm weather and be thankful for the sunshine and warmer temperatures.

Chris wanted to go hike his favorite trail, White Oak Canyon.  So, we did.

We didn't make it all the way to the lower falls this time.  We were a little short on time. 

We decided to stop and just sit.  Chris chose this out cropping of big rocks in the middle of the water. It was fun to climb out on the rocks.  It felt kinda like that show Man, Woman, Wild.  ha ha ha ha

The sunshine felt so wonderful.

Even though it's been rather warm this winter, I've been making lots of soup.  Several different kinds actually.  This is Ree's Broccoli Cheese Soup.  Look at all that yummy cheese.  3 cups of it.  This is a mixture of swiss and cheddar.

I added chopped ham to it and wished that I hadn't.  It was tasty but would have been better without the ham.  I will definitely make this again!

Art & Love

I love art projects.  My kids love me so they tolerate them.  Some tolerate them more than others.  Today we did a stained glass window project based on the art of Frank Lloyd Wright.  I am absolutely in love with all the colored tissue paper. 

The kids started out by cutting various shapes out of the colored tissue paper.

Have I mentioned I love the colors?  Well, I love the colors. 

After cutting out all the shapes, you arrange them as you want onto the contact paper (before peeling off the backing).  Dylan just dumped his willy-nilly on the paper and then tried to read my reaction. 

Katie was much quicker than the boys but not with less thought - maybe just more skill??

Enoch helped out by holding down the fold-out foam chair so it couldn't get away.

Cody was still cutting, cutting, cutting, tracing and cutting.

When I told Katie she had to take her shapes off the backing so we could pull it off she was perplexed.  "Well, how will I remember where to put everything?!"  iPhone to the rescue.  A picture was taken then used as a reference.

Cody was the only one who chose to outline his shapes with a black sharpie to give them more definition.  Then another piece of contact paper over top and viola!  You're done.

Katie's finished product.

Dylan's.

Cody's.  They turned out pretty good, even though the contact paper was pretty unruly.

And since it's Valentine's Day I made my family something I knew they'd all enjoy - Ree's Flat Apple Pie. 

Oh, I can't wait for dessert!!

Not Too Pretty

I'm sad to report that this morning I had my first "Ree Failure". 

Everyone here at our house but the husband loves biscuits and sausage gravy.  I've tried to make the biscuit's from scratch several times with nothing close to success.  I've managed to make the gravy ok.  I just can't seem to really thicken it, but I'm soldiering on.

Anyway, Ree has a recipe for biscuits that sounded pretty easy.  Since all the other recipes have gone so famously I thought I'd try it. 

This group looks pretty pathetic.  They didn't rise at all and were crumbly. 

This second batch is the "left overs" after I had cut the first batch and then squished back together with my hands.  They at least look a little better and rose some.  Not a lot, but some.  This has happened to me before.  I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong but I'm willing to continue eating the frozen ones you pop into the oven. 

Pick

A friend recently turned me on to the game of Pick.  It is a variation on the traditional game of Scrabble. 

In this variation, however, you don't play off your opponents tiles.  Game play is confined to each player.  For example, each player draws 7 tiles and makes a crossword with their own tiles.

Once you have used all your tiles in your crossword, you say "pick" and everyone picks another tile that then must be used in their own crossword.

One of the neatest things about this variation is the you can move any and all of your tiles around at any time.  Once you make a certain word in your crossword you are not pigeon holed into keeping it there.  How cool is that?!  Katie is always telling me, "You move your tiles around too much!"  Impossible!  It's what makes the game so much fun.

Players continue to draw tiles when someone says "pick" until all tiles are drawn and subsequently used.  Love, love, love this game!  It's so addicting.  Once you start playing, you'll be saying "Just one more game."  Give it a try. 

Still Tired

Feeling a little more human today after a very eventful weekend.  We celebrated my husband's birthday on Saturday with family and then invited our church's youth group over for the Super Bowl.  Whew!  I'm getting tired again just thinking about it.

A fair amount of folks came.  Katie and I counted up about 36 people, not including us.  Wow!  Enoch kept a close eye on the kids for us.  I appreciate his sacrifice.

Norma was so funny.  She made this random comment like "How tall is she anyway?!  I feel so short!"  Then the instigator in me came out and I told her to go stand next to her.  

Jessica was a good sport about it and we all wound up being in the picture, talking about who was taller than who.  Deep stuff at our church gatherings.

Trying to blind Tyler with my flash.  I wonder if it worked??

Cherri is lots of fun to have at a party, I can see why Jason was drawn to her.  She wound up with Logan's wig on her head and actually walked around with it on for a while.  Gettin' her groove on.....

During half time we all crowded into the living room and Jason played his specially prepared message interspersed with some awesome music videos.  I didn't miss Madonna one bit.

A room can cram more people into it than you think it can.

I wish I had gotten better photos of the kids, but my camera wasn't cooperating.  We sure did enjoy having all these guys over.  I'd definitely do it again, even though I didn't actually "watch" much of the game.  

Back in the Kitchen

It felt satisfying to be back in my own kitchen last night.  The Pioneer Woman's chicken pot pie was on the menu.

This is about half the amount of vegetables called for in the recipe.  I didn't want to totally scare my family away from this pot pie by having too many vegetables in it.  I figure I can increase the amount each time I make it if I want to.










They smelled wonderful sauteing in a whole stick of butter!

My pretty deep dish pie plate, ready to receive the ingredients.

Note to self: this recipe won't fit in my pie plate.  Ugh!




It was right after I put the pie crust on top (store bought, not Ree's recipe) and put it in the oven that I remembered that I'd forgotten to put the seasonings in!!  On no!!

Beautiful!  Sure am glad I put that cookie sheet underneath it in case it spilled over.  Whew!

The moment of true.  Will it be bland without the seasonings in it??  Nope, it was fine.  I'm sure the seasonings will make it taste better but everyone thought it was just fine.  Yea!






Thanks go out to my assistant photographer, Katie.

Golf Cart Kingdom

While in Florida visiting my mom in The Villages I was continually amused by all the golf carts.  They are absolutely everywhere!

 So, here we are with your average golf cart.  Your dog is more than welcome to ride along, seat belts are recommended.  This was my modus operandi while staying at The Villages. 

 

Ha!  I know this probably caught you off guard and yes, it has nothing to do with golf carts, but it's pretty and I wanted to share it. 

This is a street near one of the "squares" (aka a gathering spot for a good time).  There are several squares throughout The Villages.  Would you look at ALL those golf carts??!!

A square at night time.  Yes, they drive them at night, they have head lights.  But, as my mom would say, "You gotta watch out for the old people, Cindy.  They may not have a valid drivers license but they can drive a golf cart."  Wow.....

Some folks fork out the big bucks and get novelty carts.  In addition to this mustang style cart I saw 1950s style, 18 wheeler style and model T style.   I saw this one in the Walmart golf cart parking lot (yes, they have their own designated parking area) after driving "off road" to get there.  Are you cracking up yet??

And yes, here we are in the Taco Bell drive thru in our golf cart.  I asked my mom to do this for me because a) I was hungry and b) I thought it was funny.

Anyway, the golf carts are everywhere and while they totally crack me up they are a pretty efficient means of transportation.  Most of them are electric so just plug it in at the end of the day and you're ready to go come sun up averaging about 50 miles per charge.

 My dog.  He missed me.  He'd probably ride in the golf cart with me.  Up on the seat, head out the side, tongue hanging out, ears flapping in the wind.  Seat belt on, of course.