Favorite Holiday Recipes & Catch Up

I have sooo much blogging to catch up on and the truth is....that will probably never happen. But I do not want to quit blogging completely so I'll give you guys (my 4-5 readers, hee hee!) a quick update.

I blogged not too long ago about the hubby quitting his job so that he could concentrate on school his last two semesters. Well....that didn't exactly happen. He was about 3 days out from his last day of work when he was offered a promotion. He decided to take the promotion, so he is now Detective-Sergeant Phillips! His hours have changed to a modified day-shift so he is able to work, leave for school, then come back and finish his workday. It has been SO NICE having him home every night. And he has been so much happier now that he gets a full night of sleep. The only bad thing is that he actually has less time for school work now because his workload has increased dramatically. But....as usual, he has been able to get it all done and has been making good grades. That man never ceases to amaze me! I could not be more proud of him for stepping up to this challenge!

We had a great Thanksgiving followed by an even greater win against OSU!! And the SOONERS are going to play in the Big XII championship this weekend! My parents, sister, brother-in-law and a couple of friends are all going down to Dallas for the game. Hubby has a 15 page paper due Tuesday so we decided to stay home and watch the game. Aren't I the sweetest wife to give up watching the game live in the new Dallas Cowboys stadium??

Well that's all I have time for today, but I do want to leave you with a couple of my favorite Holiday recipes! Not only are they delicious but they happen to be very easy!

Cranberry Salad

What You'll Need

1 small can crushed pineapple
1 small box black cherry jell-o
1 orange
1 apple
1 cup sugar
1 bag chopped pecans
1 bag cranberries

What You'll Do

Chop apples, orange and cranberries very finely. Add pineapple with juice. Pour sugar over fruit and let sit for 1 hour. Strain juice, reserving 1 cup. Boil 1 cup of water with 1 cup of strained juice. Add jell-o and stir until dissolved. Pour over fruit and stir in pecans. Refrigerate over night.

Caramel Pie

What You'll Need

2 cans sweetened condensed milk
1 graham cracker crust
1 tub of cool whip, thawed

What You'll Do

Remove labels from cans of sweetened condensed milk and place cans in stock pot. Cover with water and bring to a boil. Boil cans for 4 hrs, adding water periodically to make sure cans are covered. Carefully open cans and pour into graham cracker crust. Refrigerate over night. Top with cool whip before serving.

Jean's Beans

I am eating left over soup for lunch today. It is a new recipe I tried this week called Jean's Beans. I got the recipe from my friend Amy and it is so good I just have to share! This is a hearty soup that is perfect for the cool weather ahead, so make it up and share with the ones you love!

Jean's Beans

What You'll Need
2 cans pork and beans
1 can pinto beans
1 can kidney beans
1 can butter beans or great northern white beans
1 lb ground beef, cooked
1 lb bacon, cooked
2 onions, chopped (I just used one large onion)
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 cup ketchup
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 T Worcestershire sauce
1/2 tsp garlic salt


What You'll Do

Mix everything together and either 1.) cook in crock pot on low 6-8 hours or 2.) simmer on the stove top for about 30 minutes.

1 Month Update, Setting Some Goals

Alright peeps, it's been one month since I decided to get real with myself and get in better shape. I started out doing the 30 Day Shred after work. There are three levels to the workout, I started on level one. After a few weeks of that, I added in a short run in the mornings before work. That is when I really started feeling different. I started to have more energy and my Shred workout started to become easier. I am still running in the mornings and am trying to add a little distance to my run each day. And, I have moved to level two on the Shred. I've only done the level two workout 3 times so far and it is THE HARDEST WORKOUT I have EVER done!!! I really think I might die!

So...one month later and I know the big question is - have I seen any results?? Well, I've only lost 3 pounds but I feel more toned and my energy level is way up. I had Josh take some pictures of me one month ago and we just did another set of pictures this morning so I could compare. I can definitely see some improvements, especially in my back. After seeing a picture of my back one month ago, I just about puked! Haha, I really had NO IDEA I had so much back fat! I am SO HAPPY that is starting to go away! I thought about posting my pictures as I progress on here but my hubby said that is a little too personal. Plus, I don't know if I'm ready for the world to see my back fat. Ha ha!

There are only good things to come from here on out, so I will definitely be sticking with it. But, I think it is important to set goals for yourself. So, I have set a few goals in this getting back in shape challenge to myself. I thought long and hard about it because I really didn't want to be unrealistic. I think if your initial goal is too far out of reach then you become disappointed when you don't make it and give up all together. If you set a smaller, more attainable goal, then when you reach it you should feel like you accomplished something and that will add more fuel to your fire! This has worked in the past when mine and Josh's goal was to get out of debt. Instead of selecting the credit card with the largest balance to concentrate on, we chose the one with the smaller balance even though the larger balance had a higher interest rate. That may seem backwards but by choosing the smaller balance first, we had an attainable goal and it really felt good when we got it paid off. So good, that it inspired us even more to pay the 2nd card off. Now here we are a few years later living debt free (except house and 1 car)! It still feels SO GOOD to know that we stuck with it and achieved our long term goal but I don't think we would have done it so easily if we hadn't started small. I got a little side-tracked there, but I think you get the point! Ha! So....my first goal is to lose 5 lbs by the first OU football game. This has given me 5 weeks to lose 5 pounds, which is completely realistic. We are one week from kickoff and I have 2 more lbs to go! I think I might make it, but I will have to be a little tougher on myself this week.

My second goal is to lose 5 more lbs throughout football season. I DO NOT want to feel like I am on a diet. I HATE the word diet. I DO NOT want to cut any foods out. Since I've started this challenge, I have had a brownie (or two), ice cream and cake. BUT, I have made a vow to myself that if I allow myself to eat something that I know is not good for me, I HAVE to workout extra hard that day. So far, it has worked. I have held myself accountable for everything I have put in my mouth and I haven't felt restricted on what I can and can't eat.

My third goal is to maintain my weight (which will hopefully be 10lbs lighter) throughout the holidays. Let's get real folks....there is NO WAY to lose weight during the holidays! Am I right?! So, to tell myself to lose weight during that time would be an unattainable goal. But I think if I come out in January without gaining any, I will be doing good!

And that's as far as I've gotten. I will re-access the way I feel and look at that point and decide if I need to make more goals or change the way I'm doing things at that point. What are some of your tricks to achieving your goals?

Back In Time

This weekend was one of the best we've had in a long time. It was relaxing but not boring....just the right amount of things to do. We started the weekend a little early and went out with a couple of friends Thursday night. We met one of Josh's co-workers, Justin and his fiance Shalon for a night out. This was the first time for us to hang out with the two of them, and I have to say.....I see a long friendship ahead! We were having so much fun that we didn't get home until early Friday morning! Ha ha....haven't done that in FOREVER! I was a trooper though - I made it to work the next day!

We spent Friday night at home with take-out Chinese and a movie - Dear John. I had already seen it in the theater but Josh hadn't seen it yet and it was definitely worth watching again! I am in love with Channing Tatum!! His character, John, reminds me soooo much of my Josh!



Josh went and worked a few hours at the Winter Creek Golf & Country Club Saturday morning and I went on a jog. After I got through running, I walked down to the Farmers Market to look around. They had lots of good looking veggies....I'll have to remember to bring my wallet next time! When Josh got home from the golf course, he made us some PB & J's for lunch and we headed to Norman to get groceries....at least that was the plan! We ended up getting side tracked at Mathis Brothers Furniture and went home with a new coffee table, end table and sofa table! They are just beautiful - I'll have to post some pics soon. After leaving the furniture store, we decided to stop by Cheddars for some appetizers and adult beverages! By the time we got done there, we decided to skip the grocery shopping completely, which was the only thing we had actually planned on doing that day. Ha ha, I love random days like that though!

We had planned on going to a new church for a second visit this morning but we ended up getting a slow start. We promised ourselves that we will be going back next weekend though. I think we may have finally found our church home but it will take a few more visits to be sure. Josh ended up playing golf this afternoon and I met my mom, dad, Me-Me, Grandma and Cathy (also ended up running into Jennifer & Patrick) in Chickasha to see the Chickasha Community Theater's production of Once Upon A Mattress. It was really neat because this was the first time for the community theater to perform in the old Washita Theater since they refurbished it! I have so many memories of going to see movies in this theater when I was in Jr. High. Lots of my girlfriends had their first dates and maybe even first kisses in this theater (I was a late bloomer and way too shy for boys! hee hee!). The play was really good and the theater looked awesome!



The rest of the evening was spent finishing up laundry and cooking a HUGE supper. We had chicken fried steak, mashed potatoes, gravy, corn on the cob, rolls and iced sweet tea! What better way to end the weekend?! Too bad Josh has to start his work week tonight...the weekends are just never long enough, right?

Muffin Melts

Here's another awesomely tasty recipe from The Pioneer Woman! It's an egg salad-type spread that you heat up on a English muffin. It's great for those of us who are too busy to have a real breakfast every morning. I made this Sunday morning and I've been eating on it all week. Just keep the spread in the fridge and spoon it out as you go!

What You'll Need:

12 whole hard boiled eggs, peeled and chopped
2 cups grated cheddar cheese
1 cup mayo
12 slices bacon, fried and crumbled
1 Tbsp Dijon mustard
1/2 tsp garlic powder
3 dashes of Worcestershire sauce
6 whole English muffins, split

What You'll Do:

Combine eggs with all other ingredients. Fold together gently. Cover and store in the fridge.

When you get ready to eat, spread on English muffin halves and broil 3-5 minutes.

For a quick work-friendly version - toast the English muffin half in toaster before spreading on egg mixture. Then heat in microwave about 45 seconds.

Also, for a low-fat version - cut out the yolk from the eggs, use whole wheat muffins, reduced fat cheese, light mayo and turkey bacon! I cut out the egg yolks, used whole wheat muffins and reduced fat cheese and they were delish! I think the Worcestershire is what really makes it!

Mmmm Mmmmm Good

I made pork loin for the first time the other night. I don't know why, but I was so nervous about it. We don't eat a lot of pork at our house, so I guess I'm just not familiar enough with it. Anyways, it turned out really great! I paired it with a Panzanella Salad and steamed corn on the cob and Tres Leches cake for desert. I think this is a perfect summer-time meal! Please enjoy, I know I did!

Herb Crusted Pork Tenderloin

Panzanella

Tres Leches Cake

Panzanella (bread salad)

I'm not much of a vegetable eater during the winter months. But, when summer comes around, I can't wait to get my hands on some fresh veggies! I like it when food is pretty, and there is nothing prettier than the vibrant colors of summer vegetables!

What You'll Need

3 cups cubed bread (I used sourdough)
2 large ripe tomatoes, cut into chunks
1/2 medium red onion, thinly sliced
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 1/2 Tbsp red wine vinegar
1 tsp minced garlic
salt
fresh ground black pepper
1 medium yellow pepper, cubed
1 large cucumber, cubed
chopped parsley

What You'll Do

Heat oven to 400 degrees. Line baking sheet with foil. Arrange bread cubes in a single layer and bake 10-12 minutes. Meanwhile, put tomatoes, onion, oil, vinegar, garlic, salt and pepper in a large bowl. Let stand at room temperature at least 30 minutes, tossing occasionally. Add peppers, cucumbers and parsley to tomatoes. Let stand at least 15 minutes for flavors to blend. Just before serving, add bread cubes and toss thoroughly.

Herb Crusted Pork Tenderloin

What You'll Need

1 - 4 lb pork tenderloin (I used 2, 1.5 lb tenderloins)
1 Tbsp salt
2 Tbsp olive oil
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp dried basil
1 tsp dried rosemary

What You'll Do

Preheat oven to 475 degrees. Place pork loin on a rack in a roasting pan. Combine the remaining ingredients in a small bowl. With your fingers, massage the mixture onto the pork loin, covering all of the meat and fat. Roast for 30 minutes, then reduce heat to 425 degrees and roast for an additional hour. Allow to sit for about 20 minutes before carving. (if you use two 1.5 tenderloins like I did....cut cooking time down to an hour total).

All of the herbs and garlic turn into this nice flavorful crust.
Looks so good you could eat it.....wait, I did!
haha, I know I'm so funny!


I like to serve this with fresh, sweet corn on the cob!

Tres Leches Cake

What You'll Need

1 cup flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
5 whole eggs
1 cup sugar, divided
1 tsp vanilla
1/3 cup milk
1 can evaporated milk
1 can sweetened, condensed milk
1/4 cup heavy cream
1 tub cool whip

What You'll Do

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9x13 pan liberally.

Combine flour, baking powder and salt in a large bowl.

Beat egg yolks with 3/4 cup sugar on high speed until yolks are pale yellow. Stir in milk and vanilla. Pour egg yolk mixture over the flour mixture and stir very gently until combined.

Beat egg whites on high speed until soft peaks form. With the mixer on, pour in remaining 1/4 cup sugar and beat until egg whites are stiff but not dry.

Fold egg white mixture into the batter very gently until just combined. Pour into prepared pan and spread to even out the surface.

Bake for 35 to 45 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Turn cake out onto a rimmed platter and allow to cool.

Combine condensed milk, evaporated milk, and heavy cream in a small pitcher. When cake is cool, pierce the surface with a fork several times. Slowly drizzle the milk mixture over top of cake—try to get as much around the edges of the cake as you can.

Allow the cake to absorb the milk mixture for 30 minutes. Spread cool whip over the surface of the cake.

I think this cake is even better the 2nd day. I would suggest making it a day ahead and keep it chilled in the fridge (we say "fridge" in these parts) over night. It is great for these hot days! This cake is very light and spongy, then it becomes completely absorbed with the sweet milky goodness. The sweet, ice cold milk just pours out of the cake when you eat it! Perfect summer treat!

Broccoli Salad

I can't believe how long it's been since I've blogged! I have been so busy I can't even think straight. Josh and I took a trip to Vegas, I went on a girl's weekend trip to Ft. Worth for my sister's bachelorette party, been working in the yard some (although we have yet to plant any flowers!) and so many other things.....

I have a Vegas post coming soon and some other fun pics to share, but in the meantime....here's a yummy broccoli salad recipe!


What You'll Need
1 head broccoli
8 slices bacon, cooked & crumbled
1/2 cup chopped red onion
1/2 cup raisins
8 oz shredded sharp cheddar cheese
1 cup mayo (the real stuff....not that miracle whip junk!)
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup sugar
salt & fresh ground pepper


What You'll Do
Trim leaves from broccoli stems. Remove tough stalk and wash broccoli thoroughly. Cut broccoli into bite sized pieces. Add crumbled bacon, onion, raisins, and cheese. In a small bowl, combine the remaining ingredients. Add to broccoli mixture and toss gently.

BBQ Meatballs

What You'll Need:

(for meatballs)
1 1/2 lbs ground beef
3/4 cups oats
1 cup milk
3 T finely minced onion
1 1/2 tsp salt
ground black pepper

(for cooking meatballs)
1 cup flour
canola oil

(for sauce)
1 cup ketchup
2 T sugar
3 T vinegar
2 T worcestershire
4 T finely minced onion
1 dash tabasaco

What You'll Do:

Preheat oven to 350. Combine all meatball ingredients. Roll into medium size balls and place on cookie sheet. Place sheet in freezer for 5 minutes. Remove meatballs from freezer and immediately dredge in unseasoned flour. Brown meatballs in canola oil until just brown. Place in baking dish. Combine all sauce ingredients. Pour over meatballs and bake @ 350 for 45 minutes.

Green Bean Bundles

What You'll Need:

2-3 cans whole green beans
1 lb bacon
1 stick butter
1 cup brown sugar
1 tsp garlic salt

What You'll Do:

Cut bacon in half. Wrap bacon around a bundle of green beans and secure with a toothpick. Place green bean bundles in oven proof dish. Melt butter over stove top. Add brown sugar and garlic salt. Pour glaze over beans. Bake @ 375 for 45 minutes.

Triple Layer Mud Pie

What You'll Need:

3 squares of Bakers semi-sweet baking chocolate, melted
1/4 cup canned sweetened condensed milk
1 oreo pie crust
1/2 cup chopped pecans
2 cups cold milk
2 pkg (4 serving size) chocolate instant pudding
1 tub cool whip

What You'll Do:

Mix chocolate and condensed milk until blended. Pour into pie crust and sprinkle with pecans. Pour milk into large mixing bowl, add pudding mixes and beat with wire whisk for 2 minutes or until well blended (will be thick). Spoon 1 1/2 cups of pudding into pie crust. Add 1/2 of cool whip to remaining pudding, stir with whisk until blended. Spoon over pudding layer. Top with remaining cool whip. Refrigerate 3 hrs.

It's beginning to TASTE a lot like Christmas!

One of my favorite Christmas traditions is getting together with family & friends to cook Christmas candy! It just wouldn't be Christmas without lots of "stuff dipped in chocolate"! This year we had some new faces and lots of new candy recipes. Everything turned out great and we had a blast making it all!

Me-Me made peanut butter cups.


Jennifer made chocolate truffles.


Nancy made fudge and kissey cookies.


I made buckeyes (peanut butter balls).


Lesha made a new recipe this year called Pretzel-Peanut Bark. It's a Paula Deen recipe so that speaks for itself!


Mom made pecan bark.


Erica made oreo truffles.


We also made our usuals: chocolate covered peanuts, chocolate covered cashews and my favorite...haystacks!


Oreo truffles......sneaky little hand, caught in action!


Pretzel-Peanut Bark!


Peanut butter cups!


Kissey cookies!


Peanut butter balls.

Another new one this year. Pretzels with hershey kisses and M&M's.


Fudge!


Another favorite of mine...pecan bark!



Can't wait to do it again next year! Thank you ladies for an awesome night full of sweets!

Bedlam

We had quite the party at my parents house for the Bedlam game this year. I'll let the pictures do the talking......

Of course, tons of food....

Some fruit & chocolate chip muffins!

Garlic cheesy biscuits!

Bacon wrapped jalapenos!

And remember the Buffalo Chicken Dip I told you about???

But the grand finale was the Low Country Boil!!

Let the men handle the cooking for once!

Man was it good!



We had such a great time watching the game! Okay, well maybe those of us wearing crimson had a little bit more fun than those in orange. : )



Poor Brinkley doesn't know which team to support.


Not my dog...he knows who the winners are! Just kidding.....he really likes this sweater for the comfort, he could care less that it is crimson & cream.


Whew! It was a long day, that's for sure!

Buffalo Chicken Dip

We got together at my parents house last weekend for the OU/OSU Bedlam Game! If you watched the game....you'll know that it had a happy ending! : ) We had a ton of fun and a ton of food.....and as usual, I took a ton of pictures! I'll post all the pics later, but for now I want to share a new recipe that I tried at the Bedlam Get-Together.


What You'll Need:

1 1/2 lbs or 20 oz chicken breasts, cooked & shredded
1/2 (6 oz) bottle hot sauce (I use Frank's)
2 - 8 oz packages cream cheese, softened
1 - 16 oz bottle bleu cheese salad dressing (I use ranch, or you can use half ranch/half blue cheese)
2/3 cups chopped celery
3 cups shredded monterey jack cheese

What You'll Do:

Preheat oven to 350. In large bowl, mix shredded chicken, celery and cheese. In a saucepan over med-low heat, combine cream cheese and salad dressing & stir until smooth. Stir in 1/2 bottle of hot sauce (you can use more or less). Pour heated mixture into bowl with chicken mixture. Stir to mix well. Pour into a 13x9 baking pan. Bake uncovered for 40 minutes or until bubbly. Let stand for 10 minutes.

You can make this a day ahead of time, then cook in slow cooker until hot and bubbly. We served with crackers, but I think next time I'll use nacho cheese Doritos.

**UPDATE** We had some left over that I heated up and wrapped in a corn tortilla. It was delish!

Pecan Bark

This a super simple recipe that is great for the Holidays!

What You'll Need:

1 box Graham Crackers
1 cup chopped pecans
1 cup unsalted butter
1 cup brown sugar

What You'll Do:

Line baking sheet with foil and spray with Pam. Lay graham crackers on baking sheet in single layer (one box of graham crackers is enough to double the recipe). Sprinkle pecans over graham crackers. Melt butter on stove top. When melted, add brown sugar and stir constantly until boiling. Boil 1 minute while stirring. Pour butter mixture over graham crackers. Bake @ 350 for 10 minutes. Immediately remove and put in freezer for 1 hour. Break into pieces and enjoy!

Red Velvet Cookies

Josh's favorite cake is red velvet, so when I saw this recipe I knew I had to try them! I actually ended up liking these cookies better than red velvet cake (I've always thought red velvet cake was kind of bland). They are quick, easy and delicious....right up my alley!! They are also very pretty, I love the red color!!

**Red Velvet Cookies**

What You'll Need:

1 package red velvet cake mix
2 large eggs
1/2 cup butter, melted
1/4 cup brown sugar (can also use white)
1 tsp vanilla extract

Icing: I just used pre-made cream cheese icing, but if you're feeling adventurous you can make your own with the following ingredients. (Just mix them together until well blended)
1 stick butter
1 8 oz package cream cheese
1 box confectioners sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract

What You'll Do:

Preheat oven to 350. Mix cake mix, eggs, butter, sugar and vanilla in a large bowl until thoroughly blended. Roll into balls or drop by the spoonful. Try to make each cookie roughly the same size. Place them on a greased baking sheet and bake for 12 minutes. After cookies have cooled, spread a spoonful of icing onto the bottom of a cookie and place another on top.

These cookies are very rich and fluffy. Almost like eating a mini version of a cup cake!

Apple Dumplings

Are you ready for this?? Are you ready for a dessert that will knock your socks off?! A dessert reminiscent of apple pie and apple cobbler?! A dessert that is so easy that there is no way it should taste as good as it does?!

**Apple Dumplings**

What You'll Need:

2 Granny Smith apples
2 cans crescent rolls
2 sticks of butter
1 1/2 cups of sugar
1 tsp vanilla
cinnamon
1/2 can Mt. Dew

What You'll Do:

Core and peel apples. Cut each apple into 8 slices. Roll each apple in a crescent roll. Place apples in a 9X13 buttered/sprayed pan. Melt butter. Add sugar and barely stir. Add vanilla, stir and pour over apples. Pour Mountain Dew around the edge of the pan. Sprinkle with cinnamon. Bake @ 350 for 40 minutes. Serve with ice cream and spoon sauce over the top!

Oh my goodness....just look at that!

Oh my! I'm getting so hungry just looking at it!
My mother-in-law is coming to visit tomorrow...I will be making these again & I simply CAN NOT WAIT!

Now for the brisket and baked bean recipes that I promised to post. These are both equally as good, but I just had to start with dessert first! Dessert first??....why not...it's Thursday, which is almost Friday, which is almost the weekend! Sorry, no pictures of these. It just wouldn't be fair to post so many delicious pictures in one post. It would just be cruel!

**Brisket**

What You'll Need:

2 cans beef broth
1/2 cup lemon juice
1 1/2 cups soy sauce
5 cloves chopped garlic
2 Tb liquid smoke
1 10-lb beef brisket

What You'll Do:

Combine first 5 ingredients in large roasting pan. Place brisket in the marinade, fat side up. Cover with foil. Marinate in refrigerator for 24-48 hours. Place foil covered pan in 300 degree oven. Cook approximately 40 minutes per pound. When fork tender, remove from oven. Cut fat layer off. Slice against the grain.

There will be so much flavor in this meat, barbecue sauce is not needed. But, you can certainly serve with your favorite barbecue sauce or you can serve with the meat juice spooned over top of the meat!

**Baked Beans**

What You'll Need:

8 slices of bacon, halved
1 medium onion, diced
1/2 medium green pepper, diced
3 large cans pork & beans (28 oz)
3/4 cup barbecue sauce
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup cider vinegar
2 Tb dijon mustard

What You'll Do:

Fry bacon in saute pan until partially cooked. Remove bacon and drain on paper towels. Add onion and peppers to pan drippings and saute until tender. Add beans and remaining ingredients, bring to a simmer. Pour beans into greased 13x9 baking dish. Top with bacon. Bake @ 325 degrees for about 2 hours. Sauce should be consistency of syrup. Let stand to thicken slightly, and serve!

This is a recipe by Pam Anderson, and has been coined by PW as "The Best Baked Beans Ever". I have to agree! Best baked beans I've ever had!!

1st Family Dinner @ My House!

It is so hard for our family to get together and it was looking like October was going to be a busy month, so we celebrated the October birthdays a little early. Everyone got together at our house to celebrate Lesha (sister), Aunt Nancy, and Me-Me's birthdays! This was a day of firsts for me....first family gathering at our house, first time to cook a brisket & first time to feed so many people. We ended up having 13 family members there!! The brisket turned out great....thank goodness, and the other new recipes I tried were great too!

On the menu for the night: brisket (recipe from PW), baked beans (another PW recipe), hash brown caserole (my mom made), cole slaw (mom also made this), apple dumplings (PW again) and ice cream! Everything turned out so yummy!! I will post all the recipes soon!

Allen, Ellis, Dad, & Ethan

Mom, Billy, Lesha & Me-Me

Pa Pa & Glenda

Look close....he's licking his lips...



Boys being boys....arm wrestling?


Birthday Girl: Lesha!

Birthday Girl: Nancy!


Birthday Girl: Me-Me!
Now this woman can cook! Don't even get me started on the meals I've devoured at her house!