Dinner School Drop Out

     Lately, I've been getting my daughter in the kitchen with me so that she can learn to cook.  Tonight I was lucky enough to get both daughter and husband in on the action.  Unfortunately, while the husband was asking for assistance with the chicken at the sink, unbeknownst to me the daughter was working on Jasmin rice.  Surprise! 
     Daughter mentioned that the rice "didn't look right" which quickly got my eyes back on her and what did I see?  My lovely doll holding an empty 2 lb. rice bag the contents of which she'd dumped into 2 cups of water.  Swell.  Mind you, this was an unopened bag.

salvaged rice

embarrassed to face the camera so that mom can post this pic to her "stupid" blog

                     

Wipe Out (and a Squash Casserole)

Today has been rough, not particularly tough but, I think the heat and the new "schedule" revolving my classes has got me beat.  You could say, "somebody's got a case of the Mondays".  Ha!  I sat in my car for 15+ minutes trying to leave campus and I could feel my energy seeping from my pores, blending into the seat that I'd melted into.  I've got blisters from the cutesy sandals that I wore, and I think I got caught on the red light cam 'cause the yellow turned to red as I went thru the intersection after I finally got the heck out of Dodge, um, I mean campus.  There's a reason you don't see too many gals in their thirties floatin' the halls of a college campus, I just have to say ,and the ones that you do see are a tough breed so give 'em a pat on the back next time you pass them.  After I picked up the girls from school, I got after it in the kitchen.  Tonight, we had a pork tenderloin, homemade mashed potatoes, and a squash casserole.  As a side note, I asked my daughter what veggies she had today.  After a lingering thought she replied, " a tomato slice".  Great. 

Here's Paula Deen's recipe for the squash; I love it.  Mashed taters and this casserole are some of my favorite comfort foods and comfort food is what this lady's needed.  All is quiet, right now, as my family is busily stuffing their faces.  I love this moment and I'll tell you a secret, sometimes getting them quiet by food is my only incentive in cooking it.  Shh, don't tell.

Anyway, I love Paula Deen.  It's one of my life goals to meet this awesome lady.  She reminds me of my grandma and she was the BEST lady I've ever known (you will hear me talk about my grandma a lot on this here blog since I have many of her recipes).  Oh, and...

Here's Paula

Ingredients:


6 cups large diced yellow squash and zucchini ( I use about 5-6 yellow squash)
Vegetable oil
1 large onion, chopped (TX sweet onions are the best)
4 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon House seasoning (this is, essentially, salt, black pepper, and garlic powder to taste)
1 cup grated cheddar cheese (if I'm out of real cheese, I cheat and use velveta.  I also like to add 1/2 a cup of grated parm either with or without the "real" cheese)
1 cup crushed butter crackers, recommended: Ritz (I use one sleeve of crackers, crushed and if I'm frustrated like I was today, I really get after this part with a meat mallet)

Directions:
     Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
     Saute the squash in a little vegetable oil over medium-low heat until it has completely broken down, about 15 to 20 minutes. Line a colander with a clean tea towel. Place the cooked squash in the lined colander. Squeeze excess moisture from the squash. Set aside.  (I've always skipped this step...just sayin')

     In a medium size skillet, saute the onion in butter for 5 minutes. Remove from pan and mix all ingredients together except cracker crumbs. Pour mixture into a buttered casserole dish and top with cracker crumbs.  Bake for 25 to 30 minutes.

score!

Tomorrow I'll upload pics of my junking finds this past Saturday.  Nothing major, but some cute stuff.  ~ 'til we meet again

Coca Cola Cake

When it's hotter than hot in the southern most south, what sounds better than an ice-cold coke?  Well, a southern to the core cola cake to go along with that beverage, of course!  This here is a recipe we (my daughter and I) tried from my Southern Living best kept Secrets of the South's Best Cooks cookbook.  This cake is Satan in a Sunday hat.

1 cup Coca Cola
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 cup butter or margarine, softened
1-3/4 cups sugar
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
2 tsp. vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup cocoa
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking soda
1-1/2 cups miniature marshmallows
Coca-Cola Frosting
Garnish: 3/4 chopped pecans, toasted

• Combine Coca-Cola and butter milk; set aside.

• Beat butter at low speed with an electric mixer until creamy.  Gradually add sugar; beat until blended.  Add eggs and vanilla; beat at low speed until blended.

• Combine flour, cocoa, and soda.  Add to butter mixture alternately with cola mixture, beginning and ending with flour mixture.  Beat at low speed just until blended.
• Stir in marshmallows.  Pour batter into prepared pan.

• Bake for 35+ minutes.  Remove from oven; cool for 10 minutes.  Pour Coca-Cola frosting over warm cake.

Coca Cola Frosting:
1/2 cup butter or margarine
1/3 cup Coca Cola
3 tbsp. cocoa powder
1 (16 oz.) pkg. powdered sugar
1 tbsp. vanilla extract

• Cook first three ingredients in a sauce pan over medium heat, stirring constantly, just until butter melts.  Remove from heat; whisk in sugar and vanilla.

I didn't use pecans to garnish in my preparation.  Also, I was out of buttermilk so I substituted by adding 1/2 tbsp. of lemon juice to a 1/2 cup of milk (let this curdle for 5 minutes or so before adding your cola to the sour milk).

playing superman with daddy while he waits for cake!

Who's old?

I'm old.  At least, that is how I feel.  I heard "Vogue" playing in the Dr.'s office today and I said, "oooh, Madonna!"  Upon which my daughter promptly replied, "I don't know any of her songs".  This is not news to me.  When she was seven (or so) my mom bought her one of the children's books written by Madonna and when I ooohhhed over that book she asked, "Who's Madonna?"  The next song to play after "Vogue" was Lady Gaga's "Alejandro" which I stated sounded like an Ace of Base rip off  to which me sweet 11 yr. old asked, "Who's Ace of Base?"  The lab tech and I had a good chuckle and I promised to "educate" my child on the "oldies" music of our youth.  This day proved to be a real test of faith since I knew these labs were checking for cancer.  Thank the good Lord, I got the "all clear" phone call this afternoon.  I'd forgotten all about showing my age and musical taste earlier in the day, what with all the stress but, apparently it was not lost on my lil' darlin' since the worry of test findings was between the doctor and I only (we didn't share with her what we were looking for to spare her).  She reminded me at nine p.m. to show her a youtube video of Ace of Base and we compared notes on Gaga's song and the AoB song.  She thinks GaGa is weird (and I agree) and then she asked to see some Madonna videos.  Wow, was she shocked.  And here she thought Lady Gaga was odd.  Now, after watching Madonna she realizes Gaga isn't as innovative as she'd thought.  Looks like Gaga has pulled some inspiration, too, by watching a few Madonna videos in her day. 

Well, I think it's neat to introduce my daughter to a little bit of musical history.  I kind of got joy from the whole ordeal, feeling old or not.  And since she's on the mend, I've promised her a coca cola cake so be on the look out for pics and recipe this weekend!  Hope you have a good one. So long, toots!  : )

Popeye Beware of Barnacle Bill

WE'VE BEEN LISTENING TO A LOT OF LOUIS JORDAN LATELY AND LOVE THE SONG "BARNACLE BILL THE SAILOR". HERE'S A POP EYE ODE TO THE SONG. ENJOY!

School daze

Today marked my first day back to school.  I think I'm going to enjoy the classes that I'm enrolled in so that's the silver lining to this week.  If you're in the mood to read my vent then, proceed.  If not in the mood to witness a rant, stop reading. 

     I'll begin with Monday.  My oldest came off the school bus complaining of a headache and stomach ache (actually a scar ache since she has loads of scar tissue from her baby surgeries).  She was running a low temp but seemed to be really feeling crummy so I called the next morning to schedule an appt. That was set for 9 a.m. so we were on our way.  At 7pm, a CT scan, sono, UA, and a few blood draws later we finally came home.  Yes, 9-7...not your typical banker's hours but, if you've ever had any medical anything you know this is actually, probably, record timing.  Today she met with a Hematologist (I'll call this one Dr. #4) at 9:30 a.m.  Actually, since it was 1st day of my classes, I had my ex pick her up this morning to take her and I met up w/them as soon as I got out of class.  He brought his fiance with him And even though I'm remarried and have since had a baby, it was awkward.  I'm thinking it's mostly because none of us ever talk to ea. other seeing how he sees our daughter hardly ever.  The silence was almost funny.  Almost.  All awkwardness aside, I stayed for as long as I could and left for afternoon classes.  He just brought her back home and after having heard from the Dr. in between, I'm still no clearer on what's wrong with her (large spleen, low white cells, blood in urine, dilated duct).  It's all foreign to me.  I hate mystery illnesses.  We follow up come Friday.  This week has been a peach for each but, I'll be glad to see it end so that we can enjoy a nice weekend.  Still confused how 5-6 Dr.'s can't come up with any answers.  Does no answer = no bill?  Hmmm.  I'm betting not.

My dream baby

Alas, the moment I've been dreading in recent weeks has come.  It was little bit's first day at the baby nursery.  She did not cry as I'd expected in light of the episode last Saturday.  She was sleeping, sweetly, in the baby swing and continued to sleep the whole way home.  I placed her in the swing here at the house and she's been snoozing steadily.  Maybe when she wakes up at home she will think it was all just a dream.

Fail

Tonight marked a very momentous night in my husband and I's life; we went out on a date.  I even bought a pretty white dress to wear and had a sitter lined up four weeks in advance.  This was to be the first night out since our youngest was born almost four months ago.  Little did I know she had a few plans of her own.  I arrived at my friend's (who was the designated sitter) house at 6:45 so that we could make it to the surprise party by 7 upon which our sweet lil babe proceeded to really give her lungs a run for their money.  Said friend shooed us out the door assuring me that my little angel would stop crying as soon as we left.  At 9 we got the call that she indeed had not stopped crying since 6:45.  She's persistent, I'll give her that.  I've been having anxiety all week because I go back to school come Wednesday.  I've been so caught up in my own emotions about leaving her that it's never occurred to me that she might have her own separation anxiety issues.  She's usually the most happy go lucky gal and I just assumed that would carry over into our day care routine.  Wow.  I'm thinking I was slightly off base and, now, my anxiety has been totally surmounted by a full blown panic.  WTH am I to do?!?

Notes on Red Velvet

First of all, get a load of these cupcakes on their merry little way to my oven.  No other cupcake batter is as awesome as these red colored little ditties

Secondly, no one should be alone in life, not even a little cupcake so I made a mate for my little sweetie.  See.

Now, that's love.

The red velvet recipe yielded 36 cupcakes when measured out with an icecream scoop.  Also, I added more confectioner's sugar to the icing than what was called for since I wanted the icing to have a fluffier consistency but, just eyeball it and do whatever blows your hair back.  I hope you have a nice weekend.  I'll leave you with a pic of the other sweeties in my life.

Blue Days & Red Velvet

Red Velvet Cake 
Icing recipe courtesy of Mary Beth Riley. Red Velvet Cake recipe by Chef David Guas

Icing:
1 cup powdered sugar
8 Tbsp. Crisco or margarine, softened
½ cup whole milk
4 Tbsp. all purpose flour
1 tsp. vanilla
pinch of salt


Cake:
2 sticks plus 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
3 cups plus 1⁄4 cup all-purpose flour
1⁄2 cup Dutch-process cocoa
1 1⁄2 tsp. baking powder
1 1⁄2 tsp. baking soda
1⁄2 tsp. salt
1 pound box light brown sugar
3 Tbsp. red food coloring
2 tsp. vanilla extract
3 large eggs
1 3⁄4 cups buttermilk


Icing:
Cream all ingredients in a large size mixing bowl until desired consistency.

Cake:
     Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease two 9-inch cake pans with 1 tablespoon butter each. Add 2 tablespoons flour to each and shake pans to coat bottom and sides. Tap out excess flour.
     Sift remaining 3 cups flour with cocoa, baking power, baking soda and salt.
     With an electric mixer, beat 2 sticks butter with the brown sugar, food coloring, and vanilla on low to combine. Increase speed to medium and beat until aerated and pale, about 2 minutes. Reduce speed and add eggs, one at a time, beating thoroughly between additions. Use a rubber spatula to scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl as necessary.
     Add 1⁄3 of the dry ingredients, then half the buttermilk. Repeat, finishing with the final third of the dry mix. Scrape down bottom and sides of the bowl and divide the mixture between the two prepared pans. Spread as evenly as possible.
     Bake until a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean and the center resists slight pressure, about 40 minutes. Cool on a wire rack 15 minutes, then run a paring knife around edges to release the cake from the sides. Invert cakes onto the cooling rack. Cool 1 hour, then wrap each in plastic wrap for at least a few hours.  Ice when cooled.

I had an ancient recipe for Red Velvet cake in my grandma's recipe box and I tried the recipe at least four times before giving up on it and marking it with a big, fat, X.  The cake turned out to be dense and dry, and I was disappointed each time I baked it because I held out hope that magic would occur and the cake would be divine.  Well, folks, this recipe did not let me down.  Now, I'm off to a good nights sleep so that I may get crackin' in the kitchen early tomorrow!  Pics to follow soon; toodaloo!

I remember the Summer of Like. It was hot. And gross

When I heard Miller beer's radio ad for the "The summer of like", I laughed out loud.  If you've heard it before, maybe you recall its line.  Well, today was hot.  And gross.  And it's kinda put me in a funk so I'm thinking happy thoughts before I put myself to bed...listening to happy songs...reading happy blogs and remembering pretty images that I have floating around in my head.  Here are a few happy images from my local scene.  I hope you can enjoy them if you've been put in a funky mood, too. 

I snapped these on a walk right outside my front door.  Pretty lucky to have had the view.  It was love but, I had to move, you know. I'm only a few minutes away, now, so maybe I can load up Georgie and the baby and go for a morning stroll tomorrow. Lord knows I need a recharge.  I'll post more pics if so AND I promise to add some recipes this week because I'm hosting bunco this Friday and I've got cupcakes to make, among other things,  for my two besties who celebrated birthdays this week so I'll definitely have more to post.  Ta ta

There's a tear in my beer

With a heat index of 115 degrees my poor plants are just barely hanging on.  I'm sad to say that my lavender plant is fried : ( 

so I think I'll go over to my sweet neighbor's garden and dig up that "pesky" rosemary that's come up where she least expected (or wanted) and see how it fairs being transplanted into one of my pots.  I love gardening but, I have to admit that I wasn't blessed with a green thumb.  With so many factors (grasshoppers, heat, rain or lack there of) that are out of our control, I wonder how people who depend solely on farming survive.  It's a tough life, I guess, and I respect those who put forth the effort so cheers to farmers.  May their crops be blessed!

sweet little toad that crossed my path this morning

My friend has created a darling book

"Lets take a walk and play.


Wonder what we can wonder about along the way..."

I just have to share the news.  My friend and author of Wonder, Erica Duff, says, "This book was inspired by a dream I had and was written for my children. I wrote, illustrated, and handmade it. 'Wonder' is a great bedtime story about a child taking a walk and wondering about nature along the way."  The book is made scrap book style and is very sturdy & durable because of the board used for each page.  Erica's illustrations are beautiful and I'm proud that she has finally put something together to share  You can order a copy of her book on her etsy page.


Hope you're having a "wonderful" day!  Toodaloo

Happy Finds!

Happy Monday, all...so thrilled about yesterday's finds at the flea market, I just have to share!  By all means, I'm no expert when it comes to junking but, I've been studying up on certain items and get positively giddy when I come across something that I know is great deal!  During this last year of being pregnant, I searched extensively for the perfect vintage finds for my baby's room.  I wanted "vintage circus".  See, I had Little Golden book circus images in my mind.  Come to find out, what I was looking for was very hard to find.  However, in the process of combing through countless pages, I stumbled upon things that I wasn't looking for but, loved none the less.  Irmi lamps made a debut on The Baby Gardner's blog and it was love at first sight but,  I couldn't afford the ones I'd seen online.  Lo and behold, I found my first Irmi "Wee Willie Winkie" lamp around my mom's neck of the woods and it was a steal at $12!  Yesterday, I found another!  This is "Humpty Dumpty and all the King's men"  and I got it for $8!  It's amazing!  There was a cute picture I found for $4 and a flour canister for $5, too.  IT  was a GOOD day!  See pics of my loot : )

The lamp works and the real treat was finding out that "all the king's men" on that little round disc wind up to play a sweet little music box melody.  I about died!  I will have items listed for sale on Etsy after Labor Day weekend, hopefully.  I will keep you guys posted.  Later, Toots

Shrimp Creole Saturdee

Happy Sunday, y'all; I'm so happy!  My computer's back up and our new floors are complete.  This was a busy weekend and I'm sure my husband will be refusing any house reno ideas I have for a while to come.  While he was laying floor, my friend and I gathered the clutter that became very apparent to me since the hubs had it all piled in the middle of the dining room floor and decided to put together a yard sale.  I started poking my nose through all the nooks and crannies of the house and ended up profiting $88 for myself off the massive pile that I'd accumulated.  My friend made $47 for her stuff and our girls profited $6 for their lemonade/water sales.  Not bad for an impromptu sale, huh?
     To celebrate I made shrimp creole (inspired by my friend over at Cajun Delights blog) and cuddled up on the couch with my better half to watch The Ghost Writer...not our favorite movie but, not horrible.  After combing through adds for estate sales or auctions this morning, I've realized there's not a lot going on so I'm about to step out to the flea market to see if there are any good finds.  Last time I went there I found two  solid wood high back bar stools ($70 bucks for the pair). 

Here are pics of the dinner from start to finish.  As a side note, I'd like to add that I believe it's imperative to add the flour and oil, in equal amounts (here 1/4 cup ea. bacon drippings & flour), at the same time so that the flour and fat have equal cooking time.  I also believe that all roux should be made in a cast iron skillet.  See...

The Creole trifecta: bell pepper, onion, and celery.bubble, bubble, simmer, splatterThe finished product.

oooo weeeeeee!

pretty as a picture

Here's hoping you have a good weekend

with sunny skiesand pretty things

and when it's done, I hope you will drop back by  again.  Until then-

I grew a garden for a gnome

Let me begin by telling you that I've been planning a garden, in my mind, for some years now.  With ideas of grandeur sprouting about in my head, I thought I'd be the queen of canning this year because my bounty was going to be that BA!  Through years of living as a single mom in an apartment in the city I had plenty of time to plot and scheme.  Finally, I decided, this was the year!  I was really excited to begin planting in the back yard of my new home, with my new husband, and the shiny new gardening tools blah , blah, blah.  Needless to say, somebody forgot to mention to me that the plants I was buying were meant for wee people.  You know, garden fairies and gnomes and the like.  I know this because nothing produced has been larger than a walnut.  Seriously; a walnut!  I was quite proud of the figs (as small as they were) that grew, as you can tell from one of my previous posts.  That is, until my eighty year old neighbor dropped by to see how our new floors were coming along.  I held out the two tiny fruit in the palm of my hand for her to see and she said, "Oooh, so tiny!"  and continued on about how angry she was that the birds had been eating up her fist sized figs.  Fist sized.  Yes.  She said, "fist sized!"  What the crap?  Now my tomato plants (of which only produced 3 walnut sized tomatoes all season) are about petered out and my dill looks like it's going to pot.  The above picture is of the bell pepper that my daughter plucked yesterday afternoon.  That, my friends, is the straw that broke this camel's back.  Maybe Dr. Evil aimed a shrink ray gun to my plants.  Um, yeah.

Momo's Pound Cake, as Promised

This is a really old recipe and a wonder it was even written down at all.  As I understand, she didn't write down a majority of her recipes so unfortunately a lot of her cooking has passed with her.  I knew it was old as the first ingredient is "oleo".  I bet I'd be hard pressed to find a kid, today, who knew what oleo was.  Here goes:

2 sticks oleo

2 cups sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

1 tsp. butter flavor

1/2 tsp. yellow food color

2 cups sifted flour

6 eggs

The instructions make me giggle.  They are:  Cream good.  Add 6 eggs, one at a time, beating after each.  Fold in flour til wet.  Beat well.  Bake 275 degrees or 300 degrees til done.  About 1 1/2 hours.

She was not one for many words, I guess : )

Great Gee-hossefat!

The Ransom Center seeks to raise $30,000 to restore and preserve five original costumes from Gone With The Wind (1939). Donations to restore the costumes can be made online

The Ransom Center holds the film collection of David O. Selznick, a well-known and admired producer of Hollywood’s “Golden Age” of the 1930s and 1940s. Selznick’s production of Gone With The Wind is considered one of the quintessential films of the period, receiving 10 Academy Awards.

Among the more than 5,000 boxes of materials in the Selznick collection are five original costumes from Gone With The Wind: character Scarlett O’Hara’s Green Curtain Dress, Green Velvet Dressing Gown, Burgundy Ball Gown, Blue Velvet Peignoir and Wedding Dress. Most of the costumes, all worn by actress Vivien Leigh, are in too fragile condition to be exhibited.

“An historical garment in a museum collection is often most compelling when it is displayed on a mannequin, and yet each time a fragile costume is removed from storage, handled and placed on a dress form, that garment is at risk,” said Jill Morena, Collection Assistant for Costumes and Personal Effects at the Ransom Center. “Conservation work and custom supports for storage and display are essential components in ensuring that the Gone With The Wind costumes can be enjoyed for years to come.”
Donations made to the Ransom Center will allow for the restoration of the original dresses and the purchase of protective housing and custom-fitted mannequins to allow for proper exhibition. The Center hopes to display the costumes in 2014 as part of an exhibition celebrating the 75th anniversary of Gone With The Wind and to be able to loan the dresses to museums internationally.
“Nothing evokes the human element in film quite like the costume,” said Steve Wilson, Curator of Film at the Ransom Center. “A character’s social and economic class, for example, can be represented through the style and quality of her clothes, shoes, and jewelry, and whether those clothes are clean and fresh or tattered and soiled. And not only must the costume support and enhance the actor and director’s interpretation of the character, but it must also allow for the actor’s movement and withstand the rigors of shooting. The appreciation of costume design can deepen our understanding of film as an art form and reflection of our culture.”
Concerning the creation of costumes for Gone With The Wind, costume designer Walter Plunkett had remarked, “I don’t think it was my best work or even the biggest thing I did… But that picture, of course, will go on forever, and that green dress, because it makes a story point, is probably the most famous costume in the history of motion pictures.”

FIGS!

Figs from the backyard; what a treat!

School project

Helped daughter  #1 with a school math project that involved fractions in recipes.  Our choice was ultimate choc. cupcakes which are shown in the pic.  Funny little thing happened...somehow in the process of flicking icing off my mini spatula a blob spring-boarded off the spatula and landed in my eye (see above pic).  Anyone that would have been spying on me would have thought I'd lost it because I was laughing all by myself for so long!

Aghhhh (sighs), Whiteflies!

We've recently completed our entryway courtyard.  I've laid down all sorts of shade-loving plants in the courtyard and a host of flowering ones along the front of the house.  Unfortunately, not but just a few weeks after the plants moved in did these damned little whiteflies rear their ugly little wings.  My Hibiscus looks terrible; though, the asian jasmine and esperanzas seem to be fairing better.  I'm beginning to notice them in the back yard, too, around my tomato plants!  Why me?!  I've sprayed the plants with SaferSoap and followed up with seven dust but, these seem to be pesky little critters so I think I need to pull out the big guns so to speak.  Any suggestions? My favorite local plant store is closed today so I'm having to wait 'til tomorrow to see what they suggest.

Bunco time

It's that time of year, again! I love to host a party and I'm already planning on what to serve. I've been knee deep in recipes since I've been putting together this recipe book so I've got a little bit of idea overload when it comes to putting together a menu. I've got two of my closest friends whose birthday's happen to fall on the same day to celebrate that night, too, so I'm thinking two different flavors of cupcakes to honor the ladies. One is definitely getting red velvet; it's a tradition. The other, well, I'm thinking chocolate on chocolate and I've had this idea to use chocolated flavored milk in a recipe for a while now so I'll let you know how that turns out. In the mean time, if anybody out there has some ideas on what I should serve let me know.

songs I'm buying for Lilli

It seems that, like her sister, Lilli, is a fan of music. It doesn't seem to matter the sort playing; maybe that's a baby thing. I love to find old songs for her and I've been downloading some on itunes lately. Here are a few that I've found that I enjoy singing along with to her: "Roly Poly" by Gentleman Jim Reeves, "Blue Skie"s by Willie, "Barnacle Bill the Sailor" (not kid appropriate but, I love Louis Jordan's Olive Oylish voice on it), "All the Pretty Little Horses" sung by Caroline Herring, and "Didn't Leave nobody but the Baby" sung by Allison Crause and Emmy Lou Harris.

As a side note I've been thinking of food related songs. My favs are: "Beans & Cornbread"-Louis Jordan, "Hey, Good Lookin'" & "Jambalaya"- Hank Williams, "Bread & Butter"-The Newbeats, and "Mambo Italiano" & "Come On a my house" by Rosemary Clooney. They're delish ; 0

IM FROM CORPUS

The city is already hot and now it's bothered by these Bluff rats...every body knows if you're white don't talk hype.

IM FROM CORPUS

Can't believe these guys got the mayor on this. This is Corpus Christi's response to music2murder2's video, "I'm from Corpus Christi". Funny and yet, I'm steppin' scerd..ya heard

Beans and Cornbread

Speaking of Momo

The thought occurs to me that most of us probably have strange names for those kooky people we claim family. I, myself, have, as previously mentioned, a Momo. I also have a Mimi. Now, my mom is being called Memaw and she, herself, had a Gawgaw. Which might be why I named my great aunt Betty, BawBaw. To add to the craziness that is my family. I had a Papaw and an Intsy. There was some of the usual names, of course, too. I do have the aptly named Grandma and Grandpa but, for my maternal grandmother, her luck ran out. She still tries to sneak in calling herself "grandma" but, it's not gonna happen. Let's face it, when the great grand kids have a name like Grandma Butch in their repertoire, it's not likely that they're going to let that one go. Poor Grandma Butch. See, she divorced my crazy Granddaddy and remarried before I was even born. She's married to Butch to this day and since I had three grandfathers. I titled the step version as Grandpa Butch and well, Grandma Butch just followed suit. I've gotten the questioning eye from anyone within ear shot when they've heard me say "Grandma Butch" and I know she blushes from embarrassment when she's called that in public but, what are you gonna do? And "butch", she's anything but. She's always been the frailest, tiniest, thing with the palest blue eyes and platinum page boy for as long as I can remember. With a Virginia slim in hand and a stack of Hershey's mini wrappers next to her Coke, she's been a good sport about her name, mostly, and I love her dearly. My daughter's other grandma is named Bebe, which are actually her initials (B.B.) since she couldn't stand the thought of being a grandma. I'm sure there are other kooky names extending from the way back but, I'm at a loss for now. If you have any funny names for your loved ones, please share. And, let's not bring "pet names" into the mix for now. I'll just think about that tomorrow!

alrighty then.

Well, for some ungodly reason I've taken to this blogging idea and so have been inclined to share the day to day with you. Today, my dears, I am in the mood to bake. Again. And I'm not just in the mood to bake any old cake. I'm looking deep down for a southern to the core type of a recipe. Maybe it's because I've been pouring over old family recipes for the cookbook I'm putting together lately. Maybe it's because it's near the end of summer and I'm bored out of my gourd. Either way, I've looked through several tried and true southern favorites like Mississippi Mud, Coca Cola, and Turtle cakes and I'm quickly realizing that my pantry is not up to snuff so I think I'm going to try my hand at Momo's Pound cake. What's it gonna hurt. I did an hour's worth of Gilad's "Bodies in Motion" routines today. Let's face it. I'm on a roll. Pictures to follow. Have yourself a sweet one -Hugs, y'all!

Chegg Champions - Brand Ambassador Jobs - Brand Ambassador Program - Brand Ambassador Resume

Chegg Champions - Brand Ambassador Jobs - Brand Ambassador Program - Brand Ambassador Resume

I've rented books from Chegg for school and it's saved me a lot of money. Plus, I like the environmental aspects of renting vs. buying books. If you're a student, check out book rental. It's worth it.

New! Vintage Baby Gift Registry at The Baby Gardner

New! Vintage Baby Gift Registry at The Baby Gardner

One of my favorite baby sites. Cool stuff at her store, too!