Helpers!!!

This is my littler helper Julia. Today she came to visit gramma for a few hours while mommy and daddy took her brother to lunch with Santa. Julia is not a big fan of Santa yet. Once she realizes that he is capable of bestowing wonderful presents and goodies upon her I'm sure she'll change her mind but for now she's just a fan of gramma!!! Quite frankly I love this and will continue to whisper in her ear "Santa is a bad man! Santa is a bad man!"

So gramma thought it would be a good idea to clean out the fridge today - haven't done it in a while and it seriously needed to be done. So off to the kitchen I go with my littlest assistant. She knows that if she follows me there will probably be some sort of deliciousness in her future!! As soon as I opened the fridge door her eyes exploded with glee. She started pointing to all kinds of things and begging me to hand them to her. I stuck with the items in plastic containers. First on her list - the chocolate fudge for ice cream. Those who know Julia will find this of no surprise!! She loves ice cream and she loves chocolate - she is definitely all girl. Next on her list was the mayo. She played with that for bit but wasn't really that interested in the jar of mayo. Then she reached for the "Can't Believe It's Not Butter" container. I figured sure, why not!

Needless to say she got it open. She looked at me and said "watz that?" So gramma said "go ahead". I tried giving her a spoon to play in it but she wanted to use her fingers! Of course - it feels so much better. Now just so you all know, I didn't let her cover herself in it nor did I let her eat handfuls of it. I quickly diverted her attention by bribing her with Starbucks Mocha Ice Cream (her favorite).

It may have taken me a little bit longer to get the fridge and the freezer cleaned but I enjoyed every last minute of it. God is so gracious and so kind to bless me wonderful grandchildren - Julia is just one of five wonderful blessings!!!

Breakfast for Dinner?

So I've long been a fan of breakfast - to be honest I LOVE BREAKFAST!! One problem I don't like mornings. Breakfast for me usually doesn't start until around 10 am (by this time I've had 2 cups of java and a shower - starting to feel alive). But then I remembered! My mom would make breakfast for dinner when we were kids - it was fabulous! This is like the most exhilarating idea for those of us sleepy heads that just can't seem to get our act together to eat breakfast at breakfast time.

Now that I've reasoned the idea of having breakfast for dinner the problem is that the hubby doesn't like breakfast for dinner. He thinks breakfast is just for breakfast. I'm not sure that I will be able to convince him that breakfast is versatile and can be eaten anytime of the day. For goodness sake the diners serve breakfast ALL DAY. They obviously are onboard with this idea. So tonight it's breakfast for dinner - homefries, fried egg and yes corned beef (leftover from Sunday) and I went all the way and even had orange juice to drink!!! It was delicious! So when the hubby says what's for dinner - BREAKFAST and it's great!!

Do you like breakfast for dinner? Let me know.

Apple Cake

Ok so as you know I check out many blogs during the day and one of my favorites is www.thepioneerwoman.com. She has great stories, recipes, ideas and just an all around nice person to read. So the other day I was searching for some apple pie recipes cuz I have a whole bushel that is going to rot if I don't get my butt in gear and do something with them. Anyway I digress. So The Pioneer Woman had a recipe for Apple Cake (check out her blog for the recipe). I know, I know I was supposed to be looking for apple pie recipes but I'm easily distracted. Back to the Apple Cake - one thing you should know about this woman she is NOT afraid of butter! She loves it. The recipe sounded easy enough and I could cook it in my cast iron pan - no greasing and flouring the cake pans, no frosting, this is a recipe for me.

When I took this baby out of the oven she was bubbling and oozing. And when I say oozing it was all over my oven bottom. So after I opened all the windows, turned on the fans and shut off the smoke the detectors I took this pic of it. By the time I got back to the cake it wasn't bubbling anymore but you can trust me - it was wonderful to see all that butter and sugar mixing and bubbling to make a wonderful caramel all around the outside of the cake.

Next you have to flip the cake! Haha. It wasn't as difficult as I thought. I did manage to get the whole thing on the plate without slippage.

Now for the taste. I sliced the baby while it was still warm and put a scope of Starbucks Vanilla Ice Cream on the side. The taste was wonderful! So check out The Pioneer Woman and find this recipe - you must try it.

Tomorrow its back to making pies and freezing them for the winter. Half a bushel down - half to go!!!

It's a new day!

The beauty of the sunrise!!!

I took this picture about 3 years ago at Sagamore Beach. Living near the water does have its advantages. There is nothing more beautiful that watching the sun come up and starting a new day. Yesterday is over and today is new. Get out there and make it a good one!!!

Compassion

I was reading one of my favorite blogs today - www.thecoupongoddess.blogspot.com and came across this story. If you're in the area on October 17 or 24 stop by Shaw's and pick up a baked good to help out this family. Greatly appreciated!!

Wednesday, September 22, 2010

No Ordinary Bake Sale

Meet my friend Sarah. Isn't she beautiful? Sarah is a bubbly, precocious, super intelligent kid with a total crack up sense of humor. She's one of those kids that are wayyyyyy beyond their years in maturity which is a very good thing because my little buddy has a very rare form of cancer.

As you know, cancer is a scary horrible disease that none of us ever wants to deal with let alone with our own children. I myself have been insulated in my life from knowing anyone who has suffered with cancer until now. Now I have a front row seat to one of the worst horror shows you can imagine.

I've known Sarah's mom Cindy for a long time. We've attended the same church for over ten years and our daughters play together. When I heard Sarah's diagnosis I was stunned. I mean, here is this healthy, vibrant kid and then BOOM, she's attacked by a vicious cancer that any adult would have an impossible time coming to grips with, but she is a BABY for heaven's sake. Why her? Why this precious, sweet girl who is everything love and joy? Unfortunately, life is what it is, so Sarah and her family walked down the thorny path that they were required to travel. Here is Sarah's story told by her mom Cindy.....

Last January, the 28th to be exact, Sarah was complaining of an earache and had started to cry. I took her temp and it was 101. Now First of all, I'm not one of those mom's that flip over a fever, in fact I'm totally old school...sweat it out, no meds. For some strange reason I was set on getting her to the doctor. It was a Thursday and they happened to have evening appointments. After a long time of looking at her mouth again and again the doctor called me over to look in Sarah's mouth. I was shocked to see the large mass at the back of her tongue. He asked if I had seen it before and I replied, "No, have you?' He quickly replied, "No"! He immediately called children's hospital.

A week went by. Sarah had many more doctors appointments and tests and of course a biopsy. On Feb 8th, three days after her 5th birthday, we got the news no parent ever wants to hear. Sarah had cancer! A very rare and aggressive cancer called alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma and her chances of survival were 50/50 at best.

Well, long story short, since that time Sarah has been amazingly resilient. She has had four more operations. Her major surgery consisted of the removal of the mass on her tongue, a tracheotomy that had to be placed so she could now breathe and hopefully talk, the insertion of a G-tube so she could eat and a lymphectomy of some of her lymph nodes in her neck.

She has chemo therapy every week, every third being hospitalized because three drugs ( VAC) would be administered as opposed to only the vincristine the other two weeks. Each three week round requires 2 weeks of shots daily to build up her white blood cell count and she has also had 5 weeks of radiation every day. Her chemo ends the last week of December, at which time she will be tested gain to see if there is any cancer remaining.

I have met and watched so many other children and their families fight this battle. The kids are SO amazing. Sarah has been sooo amazing and she has such a sweet spirit as do so many of the children. Kids seem to bounce back because of their youth, yet the other side of the coin is that because their little bodies are having poison injected to kill the cancer as they are growing they often have side effects later on. One of which is secondary cancers. I was surprised to find out that childhood cancer is more aggressive than adult cancer by it's very nature.

Statistically Sarah will not be in full remission for five years due to the aggressiveness of the cancer. We are believing she will be cancer free at the end of December and will remain that way. Sarah will need to be tested every two months for a year and then they will space the tests out longer as she remains cancer free.

Here is Sarah today with my girls. Look at her smile. Can you believe that she still shines light and joy? She spent the day at the pool with my girls just doing what kids like to do..... play and laugh. It was a beautiful day.

Why am I sharing this very sad story with you? Well to be honest, I've been a bystander in this tragedy. I've felt like there is very little I could do to help this wonderful family because what the heck can you do in a situation like this? But here's the deal....... this disease has taken a severe financial toll on this family. The drives back and forth to Boston, the thousands of incidental expenses associated with treating this precious child, and supporting the other three sweet kids in her family (not to mention her husband) is wrecking havoc on their bank account.

All that said, I'm going to try to help by baking. I'm hosting a bake sale that will run two consecutive weekends and will be held at the Shaws Pilgrim Hill Road Plymouth MA store on October 17th and 24th from 9am til 2pm. I will be baking like a crazy woman and selling the baked goods to raise money for little Sarah that will hopefully offset some of the expenses they are drowning in. There are a few ways you can help......

If you could spread the word I'd be entirely thankful. Repost this to your own blog, tweet about it, Facebook it, fly a plane with a banner, I don't care. Just spread the word if you are able.

Mark the dates on your calendar if you are local. Come visit and buy a baked good. I'm a pretty good baker, odds are good that you'll find something that your belly will tell you to buy and I'd love to meet you.

If you know of a commercial baker who would like to contribute product for the bake sale, pass my email address along.... thecoupongoddessblog@yahoo.com.


If you would like to donate to the bake sale but do not live locally you can send a check made payable to The Sarah Hayes Fund and mailed to:

Sovereign Bank

attn:Katie

21 Commerce Way

Plymouth MA 02360

Lastly, please keep Sarah and her family in your thoughts and prayers. My prayer is that this family will get to enjoy Sarah for many years to come and that she will beat this disease and grow up to be the fine lady that I see in her.


Thanks in advance for your support. I believe that together we can make a difference for this sweet little girl.

Apple Picking & Grandchildren

So today was a great day. We took the kids and grandkids apple picking. The idea was to bring Auntie Brenda along (who is loved by all the kids) and have her take some wonderful pics. We started out in the MacIntosh trees and then headed to the Cortlands. I must say the kids were very cooperative. Emily and Molly climbed under trees to get their apples. John enjoyed sitting on Andrew's shoulders to get the highest apples. Julia was content to sit in her stroller and watch everyone and I think Myah didn't really care what was going on. All in all I seriously enjoyed the day. There is nothing like having these wonderful children around and thanking God that they are going home with their parents!! Haha. Brenda took all the pics and I know they will be wonderful. My intent was to take a few pics myself and post them here but with the picking and with the head counting and the positioning of the children and saying "look here" and "smile" I never took a single pic at the farm. However I was able to get one pic and here it is.

Now please know that this child (John) does not sit still for anything. He enjoys learning and listening and being with gramma and grampa cycle (that's his nickname for us). I believe this one and only pic that I was able to get pretty much sums up the day for all of us!!!

Target Trip

Today I made a trip to Target for some deals I found online. Here's what I got!!

Here's the breakdown. I got 5 box of Fiber One cereal, 5 boxes of Fiber One bars, 1 bottle of Scrubbing Bubbles Power Spray, 1 bottle of Scrubbing Bubbles Refill and 2 bottles (1 shampoo and 1 conditioner) of John Frieda. I paid $24.60 and Target gave me 2 gift cards for $5 each. All in all a good shopping day. How do you save??

Memorial Day

Tomorrow is Memorial Day a time to for us to remember and give thanks to those for have served and are serving our country and protecting our freedom. We have made it a tradition in our family to always telephone or visit those we know to personally say thanks for their sacrifice. Be sure to call or visit someone you know to say thank you for their service. Above is a picture of my dad's grave. I went to visit it yesterday and put the flags there for him. My dad served in the Air Force. Thank you daddy.

If you live near a National Cemetery go and take a drive through it. They have it decorated with all sorts of flags - very beautiful site. One last thing - thank you to all the men and women who have served and our serving this country.

Thanks Mom

Take a look at the picture above. This family is tied together by one very important woman, the beautiful woman in the red sweater with the curly hair, Ellie. She is a woman who exemplifies Proverbs 31. In all my years as a young girl, a rebellious teenager and then as a grown woman I have never met anyone quite like Ellie. Those of us who are close to her know how tough and yet how gentle she is. We know how she has the ability to command a room without saying a word. We know how she has been an example of loving and supportive wife, a nurturing mother and a wonderful daughter. If you have the pleasure of meeting Ellie you will know what I mean within 2 minutes of talking to her. Mom, you are blessing to me and I thank God for allowing me to have such a wonderful mother. Happy Mother's Day.

Leftovers!!

One of the great things about growing up in the McDermott house is that you could watch Ellie create a terrific meal out of whatever was leftover in the fridge. Remember the garbage soup!!!! Anyway I had some leftover marinated mozzarella from the Swap Party and wondered what am I going to do with this. Now mind you I have been nibbling on them at night - but to eat all of it by myself. That's just too much. So when you think mozzarella you think italian - pasta. So I started there. I cooked up some whole wheat pasta and smothered it with leftover sauce. Then I added the leftover mozzarella, some white wine and parmasen cheese. Mix the whole thing together put it in a baking dish and topped it with more cheese. The more cheese the better it tastes.

I gotta say it tasted pretty good. So thanks Mom for showing us what to do with all the leftovers in the fridge.

Pics from Swap Party

Here are a few of the few of the pics from the party. There are more pics on facebook - check it out and become a fan!!! What did you all do with your stuff? Thanks Brenda!! We had a great time and look forward to the next one. Any ideas of what you girls what for a theme - let me know. And let me know what you did with your stuff.

Can you guess who brought the label maker!! I think she ended up taking it home too - no one is as organized that my wonderful sister Brenda!!!

Swap Party Results

So the swap party was a lot of fun. We all brought a few things to swap with others-except Brenda - how many things did she bring?

So we started out by eating - of course. The biggest hits of the night were the stuffed mushrooms, the stuffed cherry tomatoes and the marinated mozzarella! The skewers were okay (we have beef, chicken, pork and shrimp) but I don't care how long you soak bamboo skewers in water they still catch on fire on the grill!! Once we sampled everything we started the swap - Sharon was first, then me, then Danielle, then Brenda and last was Colleen!! And Brenda was so happy about the things she got that she left her camera at my place! Score for me - thanks for the great swap Brenda!! Lol - I'm returning it to her!

Keep watching for the next party and date!!!

In the meantime here are the recipes for the favorites! Brenda and I are having a bit of trouble with the pics but will straighten it out soon and I'll post some pics for you all to see - hopefully by tomorrow!

Italian Marinated Mozzarella
(this is from thatsmyhome.com)
1 c. olive oil
1 glove garlic, thinly sliced
12 black peppercorns
3 large sprigs of fresh rosemary
1/4 tsp. salt
Pinch of red pepper flakes
12 oz. fresh mozzarella, cut in 1-inch cubes.

Warm olive oil in medium skillet over medium heat. Add garlic, peppercorns, rosemary, salt and red pepper flakes. Remove from the heat and let cool to room temperature. Remove the rosemary sprigs. Pour the oil over mozzarella.

Let stand at room temperature for several hours or cover and refrigerate for up to 4 days. If refrigerated, bring to room temperature before serving.

Serves 6 to 8 as an appetizer.

Bacon Stuffed Cherry Tomatoes
(from busycooks.about.com)

2 pints cherry tomatoes
3/4 c. mayonnaise
1/2 c. freshly grated Parmesan cheese (not packaged)
1/8 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 tsp. dried basil leaves
16 oz. pkg. bacon, crisply cooked, drained and crumbled

Cut the top off each cherry tomato, and using a melon baller or a sharp knife, carefully scoop out the seeds and pulps. Place each tomato upside down on paper towels to drain.

Combine the rest of the ingredients in a small bowl. Stuff each cherry tomato with the bacon mixture. Chill in fridge for at least 2 hours to blend flavors. To serve, I like to line the serving tray with parsley to keep the little tomatoes from rolling around. It's very pretty too. You need to use curly parsley to keep them upright - lettuce won't do the trick.

Serves 8

Triple Cheese Stuffed Mushrooms
(from Paula Deen)

48 med. white mushrooms (2 lbs.)
1 pkg. (10 oz.) frozen chopped spinach, thawed
4 oz. feta cheese, crumbled
2 oz. cream cheese, softened
1/2 c. finely chopped green onions
salt
1/2 c. freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Using damp paper towels, wipe mushroom caps clean; remove and discard stems, or save for another use. In colander, squeeze liquid out of spinach until dry.

In large bowl, mix spinach, feta, cream cheese, green onions and 1/2 tsp. salt until well combined. Fill each mushroom with heaping teaspoon spinach mixture; top with Parmesan.

Transfer to 15 1/2" to 10 1/2" jelly-roll pan; bake 20 minutes or until mushrooms are tender and filling is golden brown.

You should try making these wonderful little treats yourself. Have a great cooking day!

Today's the Day!!

So today's the swap party. Hope you have your items all ready to swap and your 3x5 cards filled out. Here's a pic of the ingredients I'll be using today to give you an idea of what you'll be eating tonight. As always, these are recipes that I have never made before and some are just some random thoughts of things to try on my own. Can't wait to see all of you. Have to go now - gotta get things marinading!!!

What's for Dinner?

So tonight I tried a new recipe (which I often do to my family) - Cajun Chicken Pasta. I got the recipe from a blog I read regularly - The Pioneer Woman - you should check it out sometime. Anyway back to my favorite subject - FOOD and COOKING!! Let's start from the beginning!

Cut up the chicken into cubes. Easy enough!!

Cut up the Roma tomatoes! Again still pretty simple.

Cut up the peppers and onions! And the garlic - think I have enough on the top!!!

I wish you could smell this!!! The Cajun spices are roaring on this chicken!

Once I put the veggies in the pan and that garlic started cooking - oooo mama!!

Now for the sauce - deglaze the pan and add cream!! Does it get much better than this - Oh yea it does - now the pasta!!!

Oh la la!!! As for me and hubby - we'd like more spice - a lot more spice but the overall flavor was delicious.

On a side note, this recipe is not for the faint of heart - as with most recipes from The Pioneer Woman - she uses butter and cream (yes even heavy cream). But if you feel like treating yourself to something a little decadent then you should definitely try this. What did you have for dinner? Drop me a comment and let me know.

What's Mine is Yours and What's Yours is Mine!!

It's time for a new party girls and since its spring cleaning time I though I would encourage you to do so!! Clean out your closets and your drawers. Let's do some swapping!! Here's the deal - you bring things to the party that you don't want anymore but just can't throw away. Then you exchange your stuff for someone else's stuff! If you bring 1 item you go home with 1 item; if you bring 10 items you go home with 10 items or at least no more than 10 items (you can go home with less if you want). We'll put a limit on the items - no more than 10 please and no moving trucks in my driveway!!!! You can bring anything you want from candles, jewelry, pots and pans to small pieces of furniture - just make sure its something you can part with and nothing that I gave you for Christmas last year!! We'll stay away from clothing since we certainly have a wide range of sizes!! LOL - I will never fit into Brenda's stuff - love ya, honey!

You must also write (on a 3x5 card) a brief description of your item. Be creative - make it appealing - after all you are trying to get rid of it!

We'll meet at my place on Saturday, April 24 at 7:00 p.m. I will, of course, provide some new and interesting snacks for us to try. I'll have water to drink but if you prefer something else - bring that with you. Can't wait guinea piggers! So start cleaning out! Let me know if you can be here - post a comment or send me an email.

Who's Who?

So I added a pic for you all to see. This is our original group and this was taken at our Chocolate Party!! Remember that girls? So let me introduce the girls (clockwise) - Louise, Colleen, the next girl I don't remember her name - she came with Danielle one time and haven't seen her since, me, Brenda, Mom (Ellie) Danielle and Sharon. This is my family. They are willing to put with me, come to my parties and try different types of food. Gotta love guinea pigs!! Anyway just wanted you to meet all us. Leave me a comment and let me know what you think.

Arizona Vacation

Well as many of y0u know, I've been in Arizona for the past week for vaca. I love this state. The weather, of course, is the same - SUNSHINE! Not wanting to make anyone in the east coast jealous!!! Chelsea, gramma and I spent a day in Tombstone and Sierra Vista. We saw the location of the famous gunfight and shopped in the old town shops. In Sierra Vista we visited the Kartchner Caverns. What a beautiful sight hidden underneath the mountains of Arizona. Today is Sunday - went to church this morning and now spending the day with family. I can't believe how gracious God has been (and continues to be) to me. I have been so blessed by a wonderful family. Can't thank Russ and Jackie for their wonderful generosity and letting us come out and stay - they have always been willing to open their home to all of us. Thanks!

My brother lost a dear friend this past week in a horrible motorcycle crash. Steve was a kind and gentle giant who I had the pleasure of meeting a year ago when my husband and I were here for bike week. He was kind enough to drive my daughter, Chelsea, around on the back of his bike and tell her some wonderful stories about his life. He made quite an impact on Chelsea and Bryan and I. We will miss Steve as I'm sure many of those who knew him will as well.

So some for today - just love someone a little longer and give them an extra kiss. Sometimes we only have one opportunity to make an impact on people.

Sunshine!!

Is everyone as excited about the sun as me? It just makes you feel all warm and fuzzy - don't it? I planted my pickling cucumbers and my cherry tomatoes seeds about a week or two ago and they are coming up nicely. Plan on making lots of pickles this summer for family and friends gift baskets - be prepared everyone!!! The cherry tomatoes are for Chelsea! Even though she's not here - I planted them for her. She used to love to go into the garden and just pick them off the vine and eat them like candy. Anyway, everyone get up and get outside - enjoy the day!!

Happy Birthday to Me!

So yup today's the date - 50!!!! Oh my gosh. It's so hard to believe because I truly don't feel 50! Thank the Lord for good health. I also thank Him for the many blessing in my life - too many to mention all. The biggest blessing I would have to say is my wonderful husband. Bryan is the foundation and stability in my life. He's my best friend and all that comes with that. Thank you sweetheart. I also have an incredible family from my children, grandchildren, sisters, brothers, their spouses and kids, in-laws and of course, my mother. Who wouldn't want to be me!!! As I celebrate another year I can only rejoice and be happy because I am surrounded by so much that I don't need another thing. Now off to the backyard to pick money off the money tree!!!!

All About Family.

Right now I'm in the kitchen baking more cookies for Valentine's Day but upstairs my baby (20 yrs old) is sleeping. Chelsea has arrived home from Arizona safe and sound. There is nothing like having the family around. My Uncle George used to say "After everything else all you have is your family." I always loved that guy!! This is so true and I hope that on this Valentine's Day you are not only thankful for your lover but for all of those you love. So give them an extra squeeze tomorrow. And by the way come by tomorrow and give my baby an extra squeeze. We'll have snackies and goodies. What you are doing on this Valentine's Day?

This is my baby this past November! Thanks for the great pic Auntie Brenda!!

Coffee & Chocolate!!

So yesterday there was supposed to be a huge a storm here but true to form with living in New England it just didn't happened as they said it would! What a surprise. Anyway because of the "storm" I left work early and came home to finish some of my Valentine's Day cookies. So I found this recipe on one of the blogs I read regularly, www.thecoupongoddess.blogspot.com (check her out she has great ideas on saving money). Anyway it is basically a sugar cookie but made with ground coffee and they you cover it with chocolate. I don't know what's better than coffee and chocolate. So I made a batch the other night and as they are cooking it smells like coffee!!! It was wonderful. So during the "storm" I came home and covered them with chocolate!!! Take a look!

I haven't tried one yet - trying to save them for Valentine's Day!!! Anyone who's here on Valentine's Day might get one if I don't eat them all myself!!! Have a great day everyone!!! Leave me a comment and let me know what things you're doing for Valentine's Day!!

Preparation!

So once again in true New England style I'm cooking out on the grill. The only difference this time is that its 8:00 AM! Yes you read that right 8:00 AM. And oh yes - it was 21 degrees!!!!! My neighbors I'm sure think I'm the crazy lady that lives on the block. But since our schedules are so messed up and I never know how early or late the hubby will be home I thought I should plan ahead. This way he won't have to cereal for dinner at 8:00 PM.

So last night I marinade some chicken breasts in a tomato basil dressing. And this morning I lit the grill and slowly grilled them. They look great and tonight I may cook up some pasta and alfredo sauce and toss in the chicken or I could make a large salad and throw some cut up chicken in it. Or I could even just cook up some potato and veggies and heat up the chicken. The possibilities are endless! Any way just thought I'd share what the crazy lady in Plymouth is doing this morning. Have a great day!

Any way just thought I'd share what the crazy lady in Plymouth is doing this morning. Have a great day!

COOKIES!!!

So I tried my hand for the first time at decorating cookies. The baking part is definitely easier! First the royal icing. Easy enough to make but when you don't have the right equipment - tough to work with. First you are supposed to start by outlining the cookie!!!

So far so good!! Next you need to thin the icing - just a few tablespoons of water to thin it!! Then you just need to file it in. Just like coloring in the lines!!! Only thing is either I didn't thin the icing enough or I didn't make enough icing. Oh well - live and learn.

Next comes the decorating part. Oh my! I think I need to take a class on this. My piping kept coming to a point on the end and when I got to the part of adding the dots!! Oh wait till you see.

Last I decided to add color to these beauties. So a little red seemed appropriate. But the red dots came out as small red chip like treats. I did at least have decorating tips for my zip lock bags but really think I need to try taking a class to learn fully how to do this. Have to check out when Michaels is having another class!!

So that is my day of baking. I wouldn't call it a complete success but the only way to have success is to attempt it in the first place. Next on the menu is Coffee Sugar Cookies decorated with chocolate!!! I think this will be easier!!!

Vicissitudes of Life!

Funny how when you set out to accomplish something in a day the little vicissitudes of life come along and take you in another direction. Today the deal was to try to get the kitchen back together and put the other rooms back the way they were before the remodel of kitchen. Well we almost made it. We (the hubby and I) had the opportunity to watch two of the grandchildren today for an hour or two. Of course we were thrilled!!

So Sweet Julia was here!!!




And John James!

We had so much fun and eventually their parents arrived back and our fun was over. So back to that list of accomplishments for the day!!! Ugh. Well I so wanted to get my Valentine's Day cookies made - if nothing else I wanted to get that done. Since it was a snowy blistery day anyway what better thing to do than bake!! So low and behold - tah dah!

A baker's dozen was accomplished!! Check back for the icing part! Should be interesting.

By this time hubby is wondering "What's for dinner?" Yea right!! But I had that planned too. I had marinade a wonderful london broil earlier in the day - Mesquite!!! So in true New England spirit I went outside (I think it was 25 or 30 - and with the wind chill - burrrr) and lit the grill. I cooked the steak outside on the deck with the wind and the snow blowing around! But for me there's nothing like a steak cooked on the grill!!!

See - medium rare! Yum!

All in all it was a great day. Hope you all enjoyed your day too - snow or no snow!

History!

I can't believe we've been doing these parties for sooo long! This pic was taken back in February 2006!!! This was our chocolate party - do you remember this one girls? This is the original Guinea Pig Clan. We have added some since then and we've lost a couple (Mom and Chelsea moved to AZ). We had some form of chocolate with each course! White chocolate salad dressing, steak with chocolate merlot sauce and ooooooh the dessert!

Hello & Welcome!

So this is my first blog of what I hope will be many. A little bit about this blog - created to share with you some of the fun things we (guinea piggers) do! We try and sample new dishes and try out different recipes to see just how easy they are to create for a family!!! Some are wonderful - others go right in the trash. But through it all we laugh and have tons of fun! As we go along I'll post pics and I'm sure you'll be laughing too.

Usually each get together is done with a theme in mind. We've done an Amazing Race (I had the girls running all over Plymouth searching for clues)! We've done appetizer parties, chocolate themed dinner parties (steak with chocolate merlot sauce - yummm). And we even did an Iron Chef Party! I am now planning for our next party - looks like fun.

Hope you enjoy the blog and maybe we'll have some useful or helpful tips for you.