Christmas here we come!

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. As you can tell we had food aplenty. I took this pic before we all sat down and devoured it all. We were very blessed with great company and since my daughter is getting married next May we have new family. We went to visit with them after the meal and had a wonderful time. I am very anxious to start my Christmas baking and sharing it will you all! Love to everyone!

Happy Thanksgiving my dear friends!

I probably wont be posting this week due to the preparations for Thanksgiving at my house, but I wanted to take a minute to wish you all a wonderful, fun filled, blessed Thanksgiving. My wish for you all is to be surrounded by the love of family and friends and of course, great food. I have my menu planned out and have been soaking up all the wonderful Thanksgiving posts of my blog friends. When I am using your recipes this week I will be saying a little prayer for each of you, that you all are having a beautiful day filled with what we are thankful for all year long!
Happy Thanksgiving!

Just a few things....

Hope everyone has had a great start to their week. Not a whole lot of cooking going on around here but I have been working in my back yard. Keep in mind, I am in Texas and this is not very encouraging. We have had NO rain! My husband and I went to a plant nursery in San Antonio not too long ago called The Rose Emporium. There is also one in Brenham, Texas but I have to say, I like the one in San Antonio better. They had a cute little potting bench that I thought would come in handy when I am starting seedlings or just repotting a plant. My husband took a picture of it and he actually made this for me. It looks EXACTLY like the one we saw that was $100. He made it for about $18. I am so pleased with how it turned out. He did such an awesome job!

I wanted to show you all this beautiful potato vine that I have in my backyard. My mother brought me the "potatos" to start a vine a couple of years ago and it was fun to watch it grow. It grows really fast! And it is just so beautiful and lush green (when just about everything else isnt). This fall it will start to put on little brown potatoes and when the first cold front comes in I just picked the potatoes and kept them until this spring until I planted them and watched this grow. Does anyone know anything else about his plant and maybe if they ever bloom?

I also found this at the grocery store yesterday. My picture is not too good but it is sweet and salty, glazed and roasted pecan pieces. They are old fashioned ice cream topping. It is made by B. Lloyds but Paula Deen is on the front. Usually if she has anything to do with it, it is going to be good! I cant wait to try these, I thought they may be good on a salad too!

Happy Easter Wishes To All!

I hope everyone has a wonderful day!

My New Apron

One of the great many finds I came across in Canton was this beautiful apron. It was made by Apronality. It is so pretty and has the cutest ruffles on the bottom. It even has a cell phone pocket on the top! It also reminded me of this.....

The History of APRONS:

I don't think today's kids know what an apron is. The principal use of Grandma's apron was to protect the dress underneath, because she only had a few, it was easier to wash aprons than dresses and they used less material, but along with that, it served as a potholder for removing hot pans from the oven.It was wonderful for drying children's tears, and on occasion was even used for cleaning out dirty ears.From the chicken coop, the apron was used for carrying eggs, fussy chicks, and sometimes half-hatched eggs to be finished in the warming oven.When company came, those aprons were ideal hiding places for shy kids.And when the weather was cold, grandma wrapped it around her arms.Those big old aprons wiped many a perspiring brow, bent over the hot wood stove.Chips and kindling wood were brought into the kitchen in that apron.From the garden, it carried all sorts of vegetables. After the peas had been shelled, it carried out the hulls.In the flll, the apron was used to bring in apples that had fallen from the trees.When unexpected company drove up the road, it was surprising how much furniture that old apron could dust in a matter of seconds.When dinner was ready, Grandma walked out onto the porch, waved her apron, and the men knew it was time to come in from the fields to dinner.It will be a long time before someone invents something that will replace that 'old-time apron' that served so many purposes.

True Love Waits!!

My youngest daughter Jena, who is 16 years old has been participating in some classes at our church. The program is called "True Love Waits". She has made the commitment in front of her parents and the church of "saving" herself until marriage. My husband and I feel so blessed to have her as our daughter. Sometimes when we are talking about this particular commitment she has made we really just dont have any words to say how lucky we feel.

This is part of her group after the service on Sunday. Keep in mind this is only PART of the group and we were at 2nd service. There was another big group of kids at the early service.Showing off their "True Love Waits" rings.

This is Jena and her two besties. They have been friends from when they were tiny girls. Jena is on the far left. Emily is in the middle. Emily and Jena had went to the same caregiver when they were 2! They have been great friends ever since. Astrud is on the right. Jena and Astrud met each other the first day of 1st grade. They were like magnets to one another. They became friends that day, and have been ever since. I am so proud of these beautiful girls.

This is my husband and myself putting Jenas ring on her finger during the ceremony. Sorry for the "chest" shot. Please remember, pics do not capture the true image sometimes!!!!

Jena! Emily! Astrud! We are so proud of you and love you very much!

My Creative Daughter

I went shopping Sat. morning and I found the perfect little cutting board thingy that fits just perfect in the middle of the kitchen island.



I left for a couple of hours and my daughter made a cake. Cool, eh?

Sweetest Boy!

Yesterday my cousin visited with her new baby boy. His name is Scotty and I am completely in love. I could not put this beautiful baby down. I now have pictures of every angle of this child. I know I usually try to stick with all things kitchen on my blog but I really could not resist sharing this with you all.

Sleeping. But we bugged him until he woke up.



He never even fussed one bit.

This can make my heart swell so big it almost hurts.

I couldnt leave his feet alone, they were so sweet!

Who wants to play???

My friend Jennifer over at www.3sonsandadaughter.blogspot.com (yes, very similiar to mine, we have been friends for many years and recently discovered we had similiar named blogs!), is playing a game and I'm going to play. Here are the rules:It's open to everyone, in the United States, who reads my blog.The first FIVE people to respond to this post will get something bought or made by me! My choice. For you. This offer does have some restrictions and limitations:
1- I make no guarantees that you will like what I buy or make!

2- What I choose will be just for you.

3- It will be done this calendar year. (that's right, before December 31, 2009!)

4- You have no clue what it's going to be. A total surprise.

5- I reserve the right to do something extremely strange. But I would never send something that I didn't like myself!

The catch? Oh, the catch is that you must re-post this on your blog and make the same offer to the first 5 people who respond on your blog entry, thereby continuing the fun! The first 5 people to do so, and leave a comment telling me they did, will win a FAB-U-LOUS gift from me! Oh, and be sure to post a picture of what you win when you get it! Sounds like fun, right? So, let's play!

Okay, I know the game says "this calender year" but its only March. I am going to end this on Friday night and I will let you know who should be watching their mailbox and I will get my little "surprises" out by the end of March.

Remember! You gotta post on your blog to be eligible! Lets play!

GIVE AWAYS AT SOUTHERN PLATE! HEAR YE HEAR YE!

Get over to Southern Plate! Shes giving away some super nice things...Easy to enter just blog about it and leave comments. You wont regret it!! Plus, shes got some great recipes. You cant go wrong with a Southern Plate recipe!

The Nick of Time......

It was time. Holidays are over. Everyone needed to go back to school/work/college. There was a very good chance one of us wasnt going to make it out of here intact. Whew!

Merry Christmas To All!!

I wanted to take a minute this morning before the Christmas festivities begin and pass on some Christmas Cheer! I hope everyone has blessed holidays and get to enjoy the beauty of this season. I like to think of the new year as a great time to clean the slate and start off just the way you want to and to make this next year exactly the way you intended, however that may be. I hope everyone has a Very Merry Christmas and a Happy and Safe New Year!!
Love,
Joan

My girls christmas pictures!

L to R: Lauren, Jena and Sara

L to R: Lauren, Jena and Sara

Odds~N~Ends!

Hello everyone, I hope that everyone had a very nice holiday! Our Thanksgiving was great. We celebrated with family and friends and had some great food. I am an only child and my mother and father come to my house to have our meal. I made turkey, dressing, broccoli rice casserole, green bean casserole, mashed potatoes and my buttery butterhorns. My mom made, squash, and fruit salad. Oh, and we also had the obligatory cranberry sauce. Now for dessert we just go a little nuts. My daughter made a cream cheese pound cake that was just wonderful! I made pumpkin delight (a casserole type that I have been making for about 10 years). And I made a chocolate pie my husband requested. I am sad to say that is the only recipe I can blog about today. The last few days have been a blur. With all the cooking and preparation I just didn't think. I would love to share all these recipes but I had so many things going at once I just didn't get a chance to grab my camera! We also have a tradition of waking up early and going shopping with our best friends Priscilla and Ron. Yesterday we had alot of fun and just went all day!! We make it fun with a long lunch and a stop at Starbucks for one of their seasonal drinks. Any of you who know me know that I have a love affair with Starbucks. I could sit in there all day and just smell! We had alot of fun. We already look forward to next year. This year we ended the day with a movie. I finally saw Twilight. I have read all the books and the movie was very good. We also found time (before Thanksgiving) to put up our Christmas tree which is my favorite thing to do of all time. It is just magical and we love talking about each ornament and the story behind it. I am going to post a few pictures and then I will show you the best chocolate pie in the world!

Our Christmas Tree. I wish I could show you all the ornaments. It turned out beautiful!

My beautiful daughters, Lauren (in back), Sara, and Jena up front.

My kitchen tree! I am showing you unlit because with the lights on you cant see the "kitcheney" ornaments!

Now.....on to the cooking. Here is the best Chocolate pie ever!

Joans Chocolatey Pie

3 squares unsweetened chocolate
3 cups milk

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 tsp. butter

1 cup sugar

3 tbsp. flour

3 tbsp. cornstarch

3 egg yolks

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

Deep dish pie shell, baked

Heat 2 cups of milk and chocolate on medium heat until it boils. Mix all dry ingredients in a bowl. Add egg yolks, vanilla and 1 cup of milk. Once milk-chocolate mixture boils, add other ingredients. Return to a boil and boil 1 minute. Pour into baked pie shell. Cool completely and top with Cool Whip and chocolate chips.

This is the ingredients you will need.

This is your milk and chocolate squares, just bring it on to a boil

Add the rest of the ingredients and cook til thickened.

Pour your filling into an unbaked pie shell.

TaDaaa! All you gotta do now is put your Cool Whip and choc chips or choc shavings and its done!

It is so good!

THIS JUST IN---Giveaway at Priscillas Baking Adventures!!!!

Please click on over the Priscillas Baking Adventures. She had the most awesome giveaway and I have to say I sure hope I win something!!! Its as simple as leaving a comment for her! Go, Go, Go......

Biltmore Estate

Give Away!!

Go see Dana at oldredbarnco.blogspot.com. She is giving away quilts. Yea! I love quilts. They are the perfect thing to drape over your legs while eating some of the great comfort food that I post about. Go take a look at her pretty blog.

We are back and we had fun!!

I am so glad to be back and I am ready to cook! I am in the process of putting a slide show together with my pictures of the Biltmore Estate. When I say this place is stunning that doesn't even begin to cover it. It is huge with some unbelievable pantrys and kitchens (my favorites), bedrooms and it had 63 christmas trees in it! It was just gorgeous. I couldnt take any pics inside per their rules but I did take some of the outside. This is my daughter and I resting in the grass on the front lawn. We were tired after walking all day. I cant wait to share these pics with you.

Biltmore!! Yea!!

Hi everyone! I just wanted to let you all know that I am going to be away for a couple of days. My husband is taking me and my middle daughter Sara to Asheville, North Carolina tomorrow afternoon. We are going to tour the Biltmore Mansion. We have a tour reservation for friday evening. It is a all lit by candles, firelight and christmas lights. There will be ballerinas, nutcrackers and carolers. This place is supposed to be beautiful as well as the grounds. I have read there is a rose garden and a winery, and the stables have been turned into a restaurant. Our tour friday night is by headset but saturday we get to explore on our own. There is actually 4 restaurants and you can also eat inside the house in their dining room. (That one is supposed to be fancy). We have always thought of Sara as a little victorian girl all her life. I'm not sure why, she just has that aura about her. I will be sure and post pictures when I get back. I also have a couple of posts I havent put together yet but you can look forward to a pot roast, potatoes and carrots when I get back!!
Everyone have a great weekend!

Is there life in your baking powder??

Every time I bake something that calls for baking powder I always cross my fingers and think I sure hope this is still good. Here is an easy way to test baking powder to see if it is still active. Dont take a chance on ruining a holiday baking project!! All you do is add 1 teaspoon of baking powder to 1 cup of warm water. If it starts to bubble away, then the powder is still active and can be used. If not, you should toss it.
STORAGE: Once you've opened the container, be sure to put the lid on securely after each use to help the powder stay active. It will stay usable for about 6 months or so if store in a cool, dry place.
SUBSTITUTION: In a pinch, for most recipes you can substitute 1/4 teaspoon baking soda and 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar for each tablespoon of baking powder. Only make as much as you will need for that particular recipe because this doesnt store well.

I keep mine in a small tupperware with a tight fitting lid and it seems to work great.

Happy Halloween everyone!!!