Brrrrrr and My First Bake Sale!

This is going to be a short post because it's cold in here! I don't want to be sitting still for any length of time. I want to keep moving! Our furnace went out yesterday sometime and we need a new blower and the furnace man can't replace it until tomorrow. BRRRR!!!! He did leave us a space heater to help us out until he can fix it. It makes me nervous so we will not be running it tonight while we sleep. I guess the three of us will be sleeping together again tonight! There's nothing like some good old fashioned cuddling to keep you warm but I don't get much sleep that way. Curtis and Allison are both BED HOGS!!!!! As far as Allison, Curtis took her over to his parents for a while. She didn't want to go. She wanted to stay home with Momma and cuddle but her fingers were so COLD! Poor baby!

Allison's school was having a "Soup, Pie & More" sale after church today. If you signed up at the beginning of the year for this committee, you were to put together ingredients for the soups. I am not sure how exactly that goes since I didn't order any of the soups. It's not that I didn't want any of the soups, it's just that the pick-up time conflicted with our church this morning. I just couldn't be in two places at once. This may sound confusing for some so let me explain. Allison goes to a Lutheran school that is about 20 minutes from where we live and the soup pick-up was at the Lutheran church that is part of the school. This is not our church. We are Roman Catholic and our church is just up the road from where we live. So when I said the soup pick-up conflicted with our church, I meant that I couldn't get there from our church to that church in time for pick-up. Make sense? Still with me? I know, sometimes I confuse myself too!

Anyway, if you weren't on the soup making committee, you were asked to help with the "Pie & More" part of the sale or if you didn't want to do that, a donation is always appreciated to help with the soup ingredients. I decided to do the "More" part and made some items for the sale. I guess I never really thought about it much but I love to cook, bake and be creative in the kitchen. I didn't make anything fancy by any means but this was my first bake sale as a Mom and I wanted my items to be fun and festive. Of course, I had to take pics. What would a blog entry be without pics? As always, click on the pictures for a closer look.

The final products:

These are 8" x 5" spice cakes with cinnamon cream cheese frosting. I got these pans with lids at a dollar store by where I work. I liked the size because it's perfect for a couple who don't want a whole cake laying around.

These are Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies. I have a recipe for these cookies that is labor intensive but I didn't use it. Instead I used a recipe that I got off of Heather D. White's blog. I've mentioned her before. She has such great recipes! I had total confidence in trying this recipe for the bake sale without testing it beforehand. Here is the recipe straight from Heather's blog. I should also add that I copied how she packaged them too. I hope she doesn't mind...after all, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, right?

HEATHER'S MOM'S SUPER FLUFFY AND ABSOLUTELY DELISH & SIMPLE PUMPKIN CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES

1 Spice Cake Mix
1 Can (regular size) Pumpkin
1 Cup TOTAL of mix-ins (either 1 C. Chocolate Chips OR 1 C. raisins OR 1/2 C. Chocolate Chips & 1/2 C. raisins. - Whatever you add, add 1 Cup TOTAL)

Mix together. Spoon onto cookie sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes. VOILA!!! (Remember...it's just the mix...don't add ANYTHING to the mix but the pumpkin...no eggs, no oil, nothing!) (P.S. I prefer to use Milk Chocolate Chips instead of Semisweet. Mmmm...delish!)

I wanted to make something fun for the kids and all kids (young and old) enjoy cupcakes! I used Wilton's Dazzling Dots baking cups. I iced them all with white icing using a Wilton star decorating tip (I think it was #20) and sprinkled Wilton's Spring Confetti Sprinkles on top. I put them in a bed of lime green & yellow shredded paper Easter grass from Wal-Mart to keep them steady in the take out containers I got from work. I wrapped them with ribbon that I had in my stash, added a tag and they were ready to go!

A closer look:

The last items I made were Chocolate Covered Oreos with white chocolate streaks on top of them. YUMMY and SO easy! I put each oreo in a Wilton Easter baking cup, dropped two of them into a cellophane bag and tied the top off with a ribbon from my stash. SUPER cute and a GREAT Easter basket idea!

Have Fun!

“When you look at a cupcake, you've got to smile.”

~Anne Byrn

Pin It

Dr. Seuss & A Taste of Hawaii!

Yesterday Allison's Kindergarten class celebrated Dr. Seuss's birthday. They were encouraged to wear red, white and black. I had the black pants but we don't have much red in her closet. Luckily we found the PERFECT red and white striped shirt that looks like The Cat in the Hat's hat! She was so excited and it was only $7.00 which made Mommy excited! Gotta love a bargain! The first picture is with her favorite book and then her favorite Dr. Seuss friend. Typical Allison. Don't you think? Doesn't she look all grown up with her legs crossed in the second picture?
They had lots of fun in her class. They all got Dr. Seuss tattoos, had tons of books read to them and had GREEN EGGS & HAM for snack! She wants me to make them. YUK! If you go to the "Suessville" website and send the Cat in the Hat a birthday card for his 50th birthday, Random House will send a book to First Book. It's a great cause. They give children from low-income families the opportunity to read and own their first new books. I encourage you to go and send a card.
This week's cake for my church's Fish Fry is a little taste of Hawaii! Again I wish I could cut it open to show you what it looks like inside. You'll just have to use your imagination! This is a great Summertime recipe. Enjoy!

HAWAIIAN TROPIC CAKE

Ingredients:

1 box of yellow cake mix

1 8oz. package of cream cheese

1 small box of instant vanilla pudding

1 cup of milk

1 20oz. can of crushed pineapple in it's own juice, drained

1 8oz. cool whip

1 cup of coconut, toasted

Directions:

~Bake cake according to box in a 9 x 13 cake pan.

~While the cake is cooling, whip the cream cheese, then add the box of instant vanilla pudding and 1 cup of milk.

~Fold the drained crushed pineapple into the cream cheese and pudding mixture and spread over cooled cake.

~Spread the cool whip evenly on top.

~Sprinkle with toasted coconut.

~Refrigerate.

Have Fun!

“The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you'll go.” ~ Dr. Seuss

Pin It

Disney on Ice, A Friend and A President!

Last Saturday we took our annual trip to see Disney on Ice. We have been taking Allison since she was 9 months old. She loves it and we love our little family tradition. However, this year we decided that she could bring a friend. I personally was a little torn at first with this decision. It is such a great family day and I wasn't sure that I was ready to share that with anyone else. She invited Anna from her Kindergarten class. Anna is such a lovely young lady and at the end of the day, Curtis and I agreed the day was huge success! This year it was Monsters, Inc. and it was awesome! Our seats were 1st row rink side seating and just perfect. They were dead center and we saw everything perfectly. We even got a popcorn shower when one of the monsters jumped off the ice towards us and hit a guy carrying a big bag of popcorn. It was hilarious! We were still picking popcorn out of our hair after the show! Here a few pictures of the show:

Allison & Anna at the beginning of the show with cotton candy. They couldn't wait to dig into that! Allison doesn't get it too often and I could tell by Anna's excitement, she didn't either.

This is of the two of them before the show started. This was the view of the ice from our seats.
This is Mike and this picture was taken from my seat with no zoom lens!
Sulley and Mike. Isn't Sulley cute?
This was part of the finale. I had the girls stand in front so they could get their picture taken with Roz but Allison turned her head just as I pressed the button.
More of the finale.
Another one of the finale. You can see all of the tissue confetti that was sprayed into the air. It was every wear and I think we brought some home with us in the hoods of our coats!
After the show, we always go over to Station Square and grab some lunch at Houlihan's, walk around the shops and ride the Monongahela Incline. This next picture of the girls are as we were going up the mountain in the incline to Mt. Washington.

The girls on one of the look-out points on Mt. Washington. I LOVE this shot! You can see Pittsburgh's skyline across the Monongahela River, Heinz Field to the left in the picture and the PPG Place building to the right.
This picture of us was taken by Allison. She posed us and everything! It think it came out great! I love the blue of the sky behind us!

Okay, so I've written about Disney on Ice and a Friend but I bet you are wondering what I meant when I put "A President" in my title. Yes, we were wondering too! After picking Anna up at her house and on our way to Pittsburgh, Anna said something about "meeting the President." We told her we weren't meeting the President but she kept on saying it. After we rode The Incline, she said it again. I asked her where she got the idea the she was going to meet the President? She said Allison told her. Well immediately Allison said "NO, I didn't!" Curtis and I just looked at each other still puzzled. It wasn't until we were riding The Incline back down that Curtis said "WASHINGTON, Mt. WASHINGTON!" LOL! Too Funny! Allison did tell her that we would be going to Mt. Washington and Anna interpreted it to President! Don't you just love the way kids think? I certainly do!

Have Fun!

"Friends are kisses blown to us by angels."

~Author Unknown

Pin It

A Birthday, 4 Things & This Week's Cake Recipe!

Happy Birthday to my Mom! "Ba Ba" as Allison calls her celebrates her 72nd birthday today!

I was clearing out some old emails and found this one that my friend, Nancy sent to me a while ago. I saved it with the intentions of responding but never did. So here's my 4 Things now.

Four Things about me you may not have known.....

Four jobs I have had in my life:
1. Restaurant Accountant
2. Restaurant Manager
3. Bank Teller
4. Waitress

Four movies I would watch over and over:
1. Gone with the Wind
2. Steel Magnolias
3. Pretty Woman
4. The Mirror has Two Faces

Four places that I've lived:
1. Butler, Pennsylvania
2. Boardman, Ohio
3. Ohioville, Pennsylvania
4. McLean, Virginia

Four TV shows I love to watch:
1. Grey's Anatomy
2. Desperate Housewives
3. Law and Order: SVU
4. Ugly Betty

Four places you have been on vacation:
1. San Francisco, California
2. Orlando, Florida
3. Ocean City, Maryland
4. New Smyrna Beach, Florida

Four of your favorite foods:
1. Halupki (Stuffed Cabbage Rolls)
2. Steak Salads (Pittsburgh style)
3. Potatoes
4. Tiramisu

Four places I would rather be right now:
1. In bed sleeping-I am sick
2. South Carolina with my friend, Sandy whose going through a tough time right now
3. On a beach somewhere with my family
4. In a mountain cabin in front of a roaring fire with my family

This week for our church's Fish Fry, I made Pistachio Pudding Cake. I wish I could cut it open to show you what it looks like inside. It is a bright pistachio green. Curtis's Mom and brother, Bill love this cake. It is the cake that I take to Curtis' parents's house every Easter. It has become an Easter tradition. I hope you enjoy it as much as we do.

Pistachio Pudding Cake

Ingredients:

1 package yellow cake mix

1 package Jello pistachio pudding

1 1/4 cup water

1 teaspoon almond flavoring

4 eggs

1/4 cup vegetable oil

7 drops of green food color

Directions:

~Grease and flour bundt pan. I use Pam for Baking spray.

~Mix ingredients in order listed.

~Pour into bundt pan.

~Bake for 50-55 minutes in 350 degree oven.

~Drizzle with confectioner's sugar glaze (powdered sugar & a little milk)

~Decorate. I sprinkled green sugar crystals on this one but an Easter sprinkle mix or Spring sprinkle mix would be great too.

Have Fun!

"The secret to staying young is to live honestly, eat slowly, and lie about your age."

~Lucille Ball

Pin It

Eeeeeewwwww & Grooooooossss!!!!!

I'm back to share with you what Allison said when she saw my last post. After I publish my posts I always go back and read them in their true form to make sure it reads okay. Well, Allison saw it and immediately said "Eeeeeewwwwwww & grooooossss" when she saw the turkey. He he! I clicked on the picture and enlarged it and she put her hand up to block the screen (similiar to what I do to the television if they are showing something I can't stomach) and repeated those words. She is SO my daughter!

Have Fun! Pin It

A Turkey and a Fortune!

I'm stopping by to post a little something this morning while I wait to wake Allison up for school. I might be back tonight with another post. I'm not sure. We'll see.

My first thought that I wanted to share is turkey. Since my sister was here over the weekend, I decided to make a traditional turkey dinner. Truth be told is that it was taking up too much room in my freezer and I wanted the space. I also wanted to "suck & seal" (click on the link to see what I'm talking about) the turkey in portions and freeze it for turkey soup and turkey pot pie. So this was the perfect time to cook my 19 pound bird. I had so much turkey that I sent a big pan of it with her to my parent's house (she was going there next.) Anyway, I had been doing a lot of reading on how if you cook the turkey upside or breast down in the roaster that the white meat will be juicier. Of course, I would have to test that theory. So, here is the before picture of my upside down turkey. Sorry, I forgot to take a picture of it when it was done. I guess I was just too excited to see if the method worked. I would have say that I agree that it is moister. In fact, if I do say so myself, the turkey was delish! YUM! However, there is a couple of things that I want to caution you about if you try this method. First, that little pop-up thing they put in the bird that is supposed to pop up when it is done will be upside down so you can't rely on it. Once I took the turkey out from the roaster, I found that mine didn't even pop up. I found this turkey cooking calculator online from Butterball. It will calculate how long you should cook your turkey. Second, be sure you cook your turkey to at least an internal temperature of 180 degrees. I suggest using a food thermometer. They are inexpensive and you can pick them up at any kitchen or restaurant supply store. You will want to test the turkey in the thickest part of the breast and the innermost part of the thigh and wing.

My second thought is that my 5 1/2 daughter, Allison is amazing. I know, I know, we all think our child is amazing and we all are right. Last night Curtis, Allison and I went out for Chinese food and at the end of our meal, we always do the fortune cookies. We usually make up fortunes but we found that we really can't do that anymore. I said mine said that "Allison is Mommy's little girl" since Curtis and I always battle on whose little girl she is. Allison immediately said "No, it doesn't! Let me see it! My name isn't anywhere on there!" LOL! Too funny! She then opened hers and tried to sound out the words. They are just learning to read but she is so good at sounding out everything...from the cans in the pantry to the street signs she sees while we are driving. She will even debate on how a word is pronounced if it doesn't follow what she has learned in school. They say that English is the hardest language to learn because there are so many exceptions to the rules. I am seeing this through Allison. Anyway, here is her fortune and she was able to sound out all the words except "wealth" and "are." I was amazed that she got the word "friends" but she blended it beautifully. That's my girl! The sad thing is that Curtis and I will not be able to spell things to each other for much longer. She is just too good and so eager to learn everything new. By the way, how about her fortune? I love it! It is what I believe and my friends are so important to me! Hey, maybe I see a blog entry of "my friends" in the future. I'll have to give that some thought!

Gotta go wake the amazing one!

Have Fun!

“The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you'll go.”
~Dr. Seuss

Pin It

An Afternoon at the Ballet!

My sister, Alesia, treated Allison and I to an afternoon at the Benedum Center for the Performing Arts to see the ballet, Peter Pan. It was AWESOME! Allison sat in her seat the whole time and loved every minute of it. I was a little worried that there was no speaking but I don't even think she noticed. Her favorite part was the crocodile. He was adorable! He did a little dance and then at the end, him and Captain Hook danced together. Allison giggled and giggled. It was definitely a good day. One thing did surprise me today though. While it was the first Act, Allison jumped up on her knees in the seat and spun around and said something to the people behind us. I immediately asked her what she said and she said "Those people behind me were kicking my seat and I told them not to." Oh my, such boldness and independence! I had to laugh a little to myself. I always correct her when we are out in a restaurant or wherever and she starts kicking her feet. I tell her it's bad manners and it's inconsiderate of the others around her. I guess that must of sunk in to her little brain and decided to share a lesson with those patrons behind us. LOL!

Here are a few more pictures. One of Allison and Alesia outside the Benedum. The next one is of Allison in from of this really cool balloon sculpture of Captain Hook (her favorite). They had all the characters. It was really quite cool.

After the ballet, we went over to Station Square and had dinner at Houlihan's. I LOVE that place! I always get the same thing but it is so scrumptious that I am afraid to get anything else. It's the Mandarin Grilled Chicken Salad. The description taken from their website is: Our classic grilled chicken salad with snow peas, red onions, red bell peppers, wonton strips, oven toasted white and black sesame seeds, peanuts, mandarin oranges in a tangy-sweet peanut dressing. It is YUMMY and I highly recommend it if you ever go there. I also got a bowl of their baked potato soup but in all honesty I wasn't as good as it used to be. It seems as if they have changed the recipe. I guess I can cross that off my list of "must haves" when I go there.

One more picture before I leave. This is of Allison on the train at Station Square. Isn't she adorable. I stood there watching her and thinking back to the first time she rode the train at our mall. The man had to stop it after one time around because she started to cry. She has gotten so big and not afraid of anything. Have Fun!

“So come with me, where dreams are born, and time is never planned. Just think of happy things, and your heart will fly on wings, forever, in Never Never Land!” ~Peter Pan

Pin It

Not a Snow Day but a Sick Day!

My baby woke up this morning with the cough she's been fighting all week. Except today it sounded worse so I thought I would make an appointment. Usually I take her in and it's just a cold and her lungs are clear but not today. She has a bacterial infection. Her lungs are clear but she has a lot of drainage in her throat. She has a cold and she has fluid in her left ear although you wouldn't know it. Her spirits are good. Our pediatrician was surprised she wasn't complaining about her ear. He said there was a lot of puss in there. He prescribed amoxicillin for 10 days and she is not too happy about it. She says it tastes yucky and is not taking it. Ya, right! She's not used to taking medicines. She isn't sick all that often. Even our pediatrician commented that it's been a long time since he has prescribed medicine for her. Actually the last time was when she was under a year old so it's been over 4 1/2 years. We have been VERY lucky and VERY blessed to have a healthy child.

LOL!! She just came over to me while I was typing this and said that she got a paper cut on her foot from her magazine that she left on the floor. She put her foot up on me and I said "Oh my" and she looked down, saw the blood and then looked up at my face and said "I can't bare to look!" LOL! A little dramatic, don't you think? Too funny!

Well, she's all fixed up and resting on the couch so I better go throw a load of laundry in and cut my coupons from this past Sunday that I haven't cut yet. There's never enough time to do all the things that I want. After this week, I am ready to go back to work. Allison and I are just too much alike and get on each other's nerves after being together all week. However, in all honesty I wouldn't leave her to go to work while she needed me. There isn't any other place that I would want to be...even if she drives me crazy at times and knows how to push my buttons.

Have Fun!

"There is possibly no guilt in this world to compare with leaving a sick child with a babysitter. The sitter could be Mother Theresa and you would still feel rotten. There is something about having your child throw up without you that is difficult to live with."

Erma Bombeck

Pin It

A School Closing, A Recipe & A WOW!

Allison's school had a 2 hour delay on Thursday. Since the school was closed the previous 2 days, I felt more comfortable in taking her than sending her on a bus with no seat belts. The roads were not all that great so I am glad that I did. Well when we walked into the classroom, her teacher, Mrs. Robinson, informed us that school had been cancelled...sort of. See we live in the Butler School District but since Allison's school is in the South Butler School District, we follow the closing or delays for that school district since they run our busses. At the time that I left our home, both schools had a 2 hour delay. Well, after South Butler took the high school students, they decided that the roads were too dangerous to bus the elementary...so they closed the elementary....at 10:08! Who would have thought to check the television or radio at that time. I was outside cleaning my car off so we could leave at 10:20. Nice! Huh? Mrs. Robinson said that the teachers were staying and the school was open but with less than half the class there, all they would do is play. I had planned on coming back and picking Allison up after school so Allison and I decided to leave and surprise Daddy by taking him out to lunch. I do have to admit, that I stood in the classroom and for a split second thought about leaving her there to play and have some much needed Mommy time but I just couldn't do it. We ended up having a good day together and so I am glad my gut instict kicked in and I took her with me.

Our church has a fish fry every Friday during Lent. It actually starts this Friday and ends the Friday before Good Friday. I have signed up to bake a cake every week for the seven weeks of the Fish Fry. I thought I would share them here every week and post the recipe. This week's is Blueberry Squares. This one will probably be a repeat since you can use any kind of fruit in it and it's easy to make. The original recipe is from my Aunt Carole and is for cherry but I had blueberry on hand so that is what I made.

"Blueberry Squares"

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 cup butter or margarine

4 eggs

2 cups flour

1 tablespoon vanilla

1 can of blueberry pie filling (or any kind)

~Cream sugar and butter until light and fluffy.

~Add eggs, one at a time.

~Add flour and vanilla and beat well.

~Pour batter in a well greased 9 x 13 pan.

~Mark 20 squares.

~Pour on tablespoon of pie filling in each square.

~Bake at 350 degrees for 35 to 40 minutes.

~Dust with powdered sugar. (Cinnamon & Sugar on Apple.)

And now for the WOW! Grey's Anatomy! WOW! All I can say is that I can't wait for next Thursday night! WOW!

Have Fun!

Pin It

Valentine's Day continuted...

I'm back! As promised, here is the basket of treats we made for Allison's class.

They are pink heart shaped Rice Krispie treats. It was so easy and a fun activity for us to do together. I saw it in my Family Fun magazine and here is a link of it on their website. They have such cute ideas in their magazine and website, you should really check them out if you have kids. You can go to Magazines.com and pick it up for $9.95 a year and if you are a member of Upromise you will get $5.00 off and 25% of the $4.95 will go into your Upromise account. However, to get this discount and rebate, you have to link Magazines.com through the Upromise site and the discount code is UPMAG07. I don't know if it would work without linking through Upromise but you could try it. I find myself always tearing something out of the magazine or printing something from their website and putting it in my Holiday Binder.

In other news from yesterday, we had to dig our cars out because the plow truck plowed us in. Here is a picture of Allison and our neighbor and babysitter, Audrey, getting ready for the challenge. I am so glad it stopped snowing because there is no place left to put the snow!

Have Fun!

"Let every man shovel out his own snow and the whole city will be passable."
Ralph Waldo Emerson

Pin It