Pioneer Woman’s Recipe Index

Hey gang - I thought I would share this jackpot of online recipes done in a step by step way - her food and photography are delicious!  Check it out:

http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/category/all-pw-recipes/

Christmas album

I’m still learning all the capabilities of these programs.. bear with me as I figure them all out! I haven’t deleted the look alike duplicates.. oops!  in the meantime, enjoy our Christmas memories… we had a ball!

Mostly Will

I’ve been playing with my new camera and editing in Picasa… having lots of fun! enjoy the pics..

^blowing this up big!^
   
some of my fav’s
    my dad and my will

I edited a pimple right off of my face.. ha ha ha


My (not so little) brother…

Will’s Well Visit

Height: 30” (90-95%)

Weight: 21.5 lbs (50-75%)

Head: 18” (50-75%)

Will is an extremely active little boy.  He is pulling up on everything (including the toilets – yuck!) and beginning to “cruise” (walking along furniture while he is holding on).   He loves to smile, loves his big sister and loves his bed.  He sleeps from about 6:30 p.m.- 7:00 a.m. each day and he’s currently working on getting his 4th tooth.  He can drive me crazy by constantly wanting to be heard… whining and fussing if no one is in his face..{sheesh}! He loves goldfish and cherrios and especially loves Mum Mums.  He eats mostly table food now and can play independently for a long time in the play room.  Will has started to wave “bye bye” and is also babbling “ba ba ba ba” while putting his hand to his mouth when he wants a bottle or food.  We adore him and look forward to celebrating his very first Christmas this year!

Picture with Santa

Hilarious. I actually laughed out loud when I saw it.  With those legs and that attitude on her face, I swear she was 3 going on 13.  It is funny it came across like that in the photo, she was actually cooperating very well and was a bit “star struck” when she saw Santa.  This is actually her being shy.  As for Mr. Will. I don’t think he can fit any more hair on his head. What am I gonna do with him?  It looks like a wig… and to think I waited an hour for this.. I’ll appreciate it in about 15 years. ha! Merry Christmas…!

Santa’s Letter

See below to read Audrey’s letter from Santa!

Santa's Letter

blog makeover

Want to know more about this mega-blog makeover.. (click here) and (here) much more has changed than even meets the eye.  I have switched to Windows Live Writer & Picasa…wow I had no idea the difference it would make..

I followed the tutorials they provided.. amazing!  cleaner, simpler, more organized just in time for the new year!

Princess Christmas Play

They allowed each girl to come up on stage before the show to do a curtsey and get a princess sticker :)

 

We weren’t allowed to take pictures during the show – but if I could’ve I would’ve… It was precious and Audrey was just awe-struck by the princesses.  I obviously didn’t get the memo about them being able to wear a princess costume, and I felt terrible!  She asked me if we could go home about 10 minutes into the show so she could get a costume on.. sweet girl!

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas from our family to yours!

Wise Men, Absent!

Did you know - The wise men weren't actually present the night of Jesus' birth... it was most likely 2 years later.  I feel like I just found out there is no tooth fairy or something...  seriously, look it up.

Mom's Christmas Cookies

This is my mom's Christmas Cookie Recipe!

Christmas  wouldn't be the same without it... really - making it brings me right back to childhood... nothing is better.  It will remain a tradition in our family forever.... We made these every year for Santa and he must have liked them since he was so generous with the gifts!

2 sticks (1 cup) softened

1 cup sugar
1 egg
---
3 1/2 cups flour
1 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2  teaspoon nutmeg
1/2  teaspoon cinnamon

Preheat oven 350
Beat butter and sugar together about 2 minutes, add egg, blend into butter/sugar mixture.
In separate bowl, mix together all dry ingredients.
gradually add dry ingredients to the wet ingredients one cup at a time..add a cup, blend. add a cup, blend..etc. 
I know my paper recipe says to chill dough - unecessary - just roll it out. use some cute cookie cutters and use the below icing recipe for hard shiny icing

icing recipe:
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Sugar-Cookie-Icing/Detail.aspx
The cookies pictured below aren't exactly Christmas cookies - but I thought you might like to see them! Geaux Saints!

charles snapped this one of me decorating - i'm grateful it is out of focus.. it was EARLY in the morning..

Office Complete

We have not been 100% sure on what to put on the extremely large wall in our office.. until now..I saw this canvas in an ad for Ikea and went within the hour.  It's perfectly humongous as the wall required... Now Charles' office is all dutied up and handome just like him!

Kids Crazy Christmas Show

http://www.christmasatsecond.org/kids.htm

Audrey & I went to see this show today at our old church! It was a blast.. she really enjoyed it - so did I!
The singing and dancing was precious as well as all the puppets..Too cute!

Paula Deen's Old Fashioned Fudge Pie

This is the simplest pie and in my opinion & Charles': one of the BEST in the whole wide world.  I'm keeping the pie crust on hand in the freezer since I usually already have all the other ingredients here..  I thought I would share it with you.  If I had to describe it.. less dense than real fudge, much more dense than pudding, tastes similar to brownie batter and Oh My Goodness Good.   Don't be fooled with my wordy directions, this pie is super simple and FAST to make.  I explain things in great (too much) detail just so my fellow mama cooks can get it right the first time... Enjoy!

Ingredients

2 squares (2-ounces) semisweet chocolate

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter

1 cup sugar

2 eggs, beaten (in medium sized mixing bowl)

1 (9-inch) unbaked pie crust found in freezer section- (not deep dish)

Directions - with my added tips for not screwing it up. No offense, Paula, but yours were pretty vague..left lots of room for error..  I still love you!

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

(Take your hand mixer out and plug it in.)

Melt the chocolate and butter together in a heavy saucepan over low heat.

 Remove the pan from the heat and add the sugar, (mix well & let it cool for a bit - 2 or 3 minutes while you beat the eggs in a larger than necessary bowl so that you have room to add chocolate/butter/sugar mixture in a minute)

 Then add a little (two to three tablespoons) of this chocolate/butter sugar mixture to the eggs to "temper" the eggs.. fancy term for raise the temperature of the eggs so when you add all of the hot chocolate mixture to the eggs you don't get chocolate scrambled eggs!)

Then add the remainder of the chocolate mixture to the eggs;
Beat well with hand mixer for about 2 minutes.

Pour the filling into the pie crust and bake for 25 minutes or until just set. (When you take a look at it it puffs up pretty high, but it will deflate as it cools.. no worries about it being really tall.)  Serve warm or cold, with ice cream or whipped cream.  

Wake Chaws

That's how Audrey says it "Wake Chaws" actually translates into Lake Charles... if you were wondering. :)
I had the luxury of taking the entire day to shop for Christmas gifts and exchange the ones I changed my mind on.. {imagine that}.  I also got to have lotsss of friend time getting to visit with my Adrienne - funny story how we squeezed that visit in - I sat with her while she took the gestational diabetes test where you sit for an hour after drinking that yucky stuff.  Got lots of great visiting time with her since no kids were around it was probably equivalent to 3 hours if they were there.. :) It was also her 30th Birthday so it was even more special! 

That night (monday) I also had lots of fun hanging out with my mom, dad, two of my aunts and a couple of my cousins - we ordered Papa Murphy's and really enjoyed each others company... On Tuesday I popped in on Adrienne and her two kids for a quick visit before getting to meet up with my buddy Michael Thibodeaux, his wife and new baby girl.  Michael actually set Charles and I up on the blind date almost 7 years ago. woah!  I loved getting to see him and his sweet little family!  Afterwards the kids and I stopped into ThreadWorks *my mom's store in LC and ran into even more familiar faces.

 I brought the kiddos home for naps and when they woke up I took them to Trinity Center to play on the indoor playground.. lots of fun and Angela came to meet up with us - she was a huge help since Audrey was the ONLY kid there she needed someone to climb up to the top and slide with her :). 
We finished off our visit with a nice quiet dinner with mom and dad and left first thing this morning.  When we were approaching Sugar Land I decided to pop in our church playground since some of our friends were having a play date there.  Audrey had a ball.  Needless to say it has been fun!
here are some pictures my Aunt Clare took with her fancy camera..

DE-LISH-US & Easy

I discovered this fish at WalMart for $5.00!!!  SO CHEAP! If you can't read the package, it says Parmesan Encrusted Tilapia (Simply Bake).  The package has 1 lb. of fish that is DE-LISH-US.  You can find it in the small seafood freezer section near the produce.  Truly just put it in the baking dish for whatever time it says and yummmm.

I add some  Pasta Roni or rice - no I'm not too proud to make this stuff.. we love it!

And one of these:

The EASIEST dinner that is so good!

Another night we put our cookie cutters to good use on something other than cookie dough

CORN TORTILLAS!!

we made some CHRISTMAS CHIPS

Topped off her homemade tostada with a Christmas Tree.