Granny's Birthday Roses

Lake day from 2008

These shots are about 6 or so months old now, but what the heck, I'll post 'em anyway. Classic Tiffiany Pose :)

Ah, the wonderful Crawfish Bucket in the background. Time for another one!

Matt Karote' chopping in the air above Darrell. Yes, he really did it above Darrell.

Knoxy Man & Daddy

Knoxy Man & Pregg0-Mommy

Darrell & Preggo-Nicole

Mac 'n Cheese: Version I

I thought I'd do a little reporting on one of my all time favorites: Macaroni & Cheese. Now, up until a few years ago, that (exclusively) meant out of a blue box. My Mom tried and tried over the years to get me to eat real macaroni and cheese, but I wouldn't do it. Weird, I know. That is, until I ventured into what would become my Mother-in-law's kitchen and ate her macaroni and cheese. And I will not go back. So, though this is not her traditional version of macaroni and cheese, it is a version that she cooked the other night, and I thought it was very yummy, so here it is for your consumption. (I made two slightly-more-than-individual sized portions, but you could easily double the recipe for more people.)

Cook elbow noodles until very al dente, not too mushy b/c you'll be baking this.
In a bowl, combine about a half cup ricotta cheese, about 3/4 cup cottage cheese, about 3/4 cup grated jack cheese, a pat of butter, 1 egg, and a splash of milk. Once noodles are cooked, drain and add to cheese mixture. Pour into dish. Take 1 slice of bread and pulse in the food processor. Add to 1 Tablespoon of melted butter and spoon onto macaroni. Bake on 375 until hot and bubbly, or about 20-ish minutes. YUM!!! Did you notice I couldn't wait to eat it? Its just too good.

By the way, I used skim milk, low fat ricotta, and fat free cottage cheese. Oh, and Smart Balance Light for the butter and wheat bread for the bread crumbs. You could easily use a handful of ready-made bread crumbs, crunched up crackers, or omit it...but who am I kidding? The crunchy topping is the best part.

Hello world.

I have made Amish friendship bread today that my mother-in-law gave me. It was YUMMY.

We still have a bit left. It is cinnamonny goodness in a loaf. Yum. Also, a perk of the bread is that the starter is alive...yes, alive...and it more than quadrouples (sp??) each week.
This is AFTER I took my portion out to bake it! So, this week I am giving 1 bag to my mother-in-law (because she gave me her kit after Wesley threw mine out. Tell you about that in a bit.), 1 bag to Merisha, and 1 bag to Robin, as promised. However, if YOU would like a bag next week, just holla, b/c there's always plenty! Its super easy, too. The starter comes in a ziplock bag with the date on it (the date that the cycle starts over) and directions.
Wesley got the boys a new video the otherday, so we are watching it around the clock. Well, around the clock when Knox is up. Soccer Bob. In one of the clips, he has a cold. Knox is pretty concerned for Bob whenever this scene comes up. We have to tell him that he's ok each time. He doesn't cry or anything, but he notices and says that Bob's sick over and over. And says that Bob's cold. He doesn't quite understand that Bob HAS a cold, and isn't cold, but I stopped myself from trying to explain that one.
A new small group is starting for young married couples on Sunday nights if anyone married or close to marrying wants to come. We are meeting at Mr. Dennis & Mrs. Mary's house at 6-ish. We are going to go through Love & Respect by Dr. Emmerson Eggriches. Wesley and I did a bit of a study on it a few years ago in pre-marital counceling. I look forward to going through it. It is always one of those subjects that never gets impractical.

Oh, Wesley threw out my starter of the friendship bread because he saw the date was old and it had been on the counter for days and thought the bag of mush used to be icing or something, so he pitched it. Sad. Thankfully Mrs. Karen came to the rescue and gave me hers that she had been keeping up. Wesley now knows what it is and not to touch it.