My family has been a little crazy over the past two weeks celebrating birthdays and keeping up with our busy schedules.  So glad this weekend was fun and relaxing because we are gearing up for three weeks of craziness. 

This week we celebrated, but also prayed for several friends as they endured medical issues.  Thank goodness by the end of the week our friends all had good news to share.  Prayer is very powerful. 

My family and friends have helped my hubby and I celebrate our recent birthdays with lots of laughs.  I started my weekend at my neighbor's house as she presented me this:


Not long after I left my friend's house I ventured to my in-laws for hor d'oeuvres.  What a fun time we had talking about the news of the day- buzz about a new business (something to do on Saturday night) and the other happenings in our small community.  After this fun celebration we headed home for one of my favorite meals, BBQ from a local restaurant.  The evening was topped off watching a movie with my son-sorry to say I fell asleep- must be getting old or something!

On Saturday, I was the first one up as always so I waited for the hubby and kiddos to start the day.  As friends commented on Facebook about the awesome forecast, I admitted it was all because I requested it.  Gorgeous weekend!  My hubby, the gourmet cook (ha! ha!) prepared my birthday breakfast (Hotcakes from McDonalds).  My sweet princess presented me with an array of art projects/gifts created on the backside of worksheets from school- absolute treasures!  Hubby listened all week as I hinted about the cute jewelry at a local gift shop- guess what I he listened!  We were planning to visit a friend in the hospital, but did not on the advice of his wife.  Instead, we decided to make a run to the city to buy a few gifts for upcoming birthdays and run a few errands.  My daughter got into the make-up before we left home and adorned her eyelids with dark green eyeshadow.  At least the make-up matched her preppy pink and green outfit, but I was afraid someone would mistake us for gypsies (you must live where we do to understand).  While shopping we encountered a family in matching warm-up suits- a must have for our family of four (JK!).  Don't you love people watching?  Late in the afternoon we hurried back home to dine with friends and family at a restaurant on the river.  We don't live on the coast, but I must say some of our local restaurants have much better seafood than I have ever eaten while visiting the coast. Time to take advantage of this gorgeous weather and walk off the last two weeks of celebrations.

***Warning- We took a few pictures, but cellphones just don't provide the quality of a digital camera.  

Where did the week go- board meetings, dance, play practice and now basketball?  I'm not sure we have been at home together once this week. On Wednesday I almost had a total meltdown about laundry.  How does a house get to be such a mess if we are never home?  My hubby's birthday is today and he had the great idea to invite friends over after the basketball game tonight.  If it wasn't his birthday I might have gone nuts because our house was a disaster.  During the cold weather I let our daughter turn our living room into a playroom.  It looks as if a Barbie dream house exploded in the living room.  The dining room aka the sewing room is littered with thread and scraps of fabric.  Hubby suggested we just close the doors and not worry about it.  He knows me better than to even consider doing such.  I couldn't believe he would make such a request, but I sent he and the children off to play practice last night and started to clean.  The bathrooms, hard floors and anything nobody else will clean are my chores.  Hubby said he would do some straightening  (he means vacuuming) since comes home earlier than me on Friday.  He also blew the leaves and pinestraw in the drive way.  My neighbors can vouch for me when I say we have the cleanest driveway in the neighborhood. 

He is a great hubby- my friends want to rent him out for the day due to his inability sit still, but instead do chores around the house.  Over the last 14 years I have given in to having every television in the house on ESPN.  I know more sports facts than most women ever care to learn.  My household is already prepping for football season in August.  My hubby lives to get the schedule for the local high school team as well as his favorite college teams.  He gets as excited about new sports uniforms as I do about the red carpet for the awards season.  There is never a dull moment at our house as we are always up to some kind of mischief or picking on each other.  We have a great time and compliment each other in many ways.  God knew what he was doing when he sent this one my way.

Sometimes I fuss when he works late or has one too many meetings at night, but he makes up for it by being a great Daddy for our two kiddos.  Several weeks ago he played football all day with our son and a friend.  Hubby couldn't walk the next day, but he made some great memories.  Our son is learning to be a great father from a great man.   Our daughter lives for bedtime stories with her Daddy.  I feel for the guy that wants to date or marry her because her Daddy has set high standards for his girl. He has spoiled her rotten.

It is the weekend and we have him all to ourselves for a few days.  I'm cooking chicken chili and cornbread again at his request.  Tomorrow we will check out our cute little downtown and have dinner as a family to continue his celebration.  On Sunday will relax and attend church only to get ready for another week of craziness at our house.  The meetings and practices never end.  Before we know it we will be celebrating again.

Costumes, costumes, costumes!  I've got dresses and knickers on the brain.  The kiddos are in an upcoming community playhouse production and I'm researching 1920s fashions for children.  Unfortunately, during my History of Fashion course in college I was assigned women's fashions of the 1880s-1890s.  This project does me little good today, but another reason to study.  Any advice on 1920s fashions for six year old girls and eleven year old boys would be accepted with a spirit of gratititude.

Since I'm blogging about clothing I might as well give my two cents worth about the fashions at the Golden Globes.  Who am I to be giving advice as I sit at my computer wearing my "knock around the house" clothes littered with thread from the morning's sewing projects?  It has become very discouraging to listen as the so-called fashion experts proclaim the best and worst dressed.  Apparently, they have some allegience to these celebrities and fashion designers, but I don't.  I've decided I probably have as much right as the rest of the so-called experts.----------By the way- thanks to my Twitter friends for the virtual critique last night- loads of fun and can't wait for the next award show.

Here are my best and worst with a few extra comments:
Worst Dressed:

• Helen Boham Carter- even my six year old said "She looks hiddeous"
• Natalie Portman- design was appropriate- maybe in a different color, but she looked like a Valentine decoration
• Angelina Jolie, Jane Fonda, Leighton Meester, and Anne Hathaway- looked as if they had all shopped the Dynasty wardrobe (one expert I heard from this morning liked Anne and hated Angelina- not much difference to me)
• JLo- as my friend Bevy said "she is wearing the angel costume from my church's Christmas production
• Christina Aguilera- she looked like she wore a costume from her movie- Burlesque
• January Jones-  All I can say is thank goodness for spray on adhesive
• Tilda Swinton- my gosh-my daughter comment "she is scary"- I'm volunteering to dress her for the next show if she would just call
• Nicole Kidman- the earrings as well as the adornment on the shoulder did not go w/the bow at the waist
• Christian Bale- heard him say on an interview that he has been unemployed since The Fighter- he said it, I didn't and he looked like he wasn't looking for work anytime soon
• Julianne Moore- the sleeve???
• Annette Benning- bad hair and please wear contacts
• Michelle Williams- Doris Day
• Scarlett Johansson- hair and dress- not so good
• Sandra Bullock- bangs too long and pale color- needs dark color
• Matt Damon- five o'clock shadow
• All the men wearing hats and black shirt and black tie- yuck!

Best Dressed

• Eva Longoria- she might be going thru a divorce, but she looked dynamite
• Piper Perabo- classic and gorgeous
• Claire Danes and Emma Stone- both looked awesome wearing Calvin Klein (who knew Calvin did anything except black)
• Megan Fox- lovely in a very modern looking lavender dress
• Glee- the entire cast should get a standing ovation- they looked like they were there to win awards- Jane Lynch's dress would have looked dynamite on Nicole Kidman.
• Sophia Vegara- covered herself and still looked very vuluptuous- she claimed that dress was comfortable, but I don't believe it.
• All of the young men (teens and early 20s)- my daughter even said Justin Bieber got a haircut- they were groomed for the awards.   Can't say as much for the 30-45 year olds.
• Alec Baldwin, Michael Douglas, Jake Gyllenhal- classic and groomed

A few more comments- just because:

• Where were the diamonds?
• Long sleeves- snatch the sleeve off Angelina's dress and put it on Nicole Kidmand with her gorgeous strawberry color hair
• The Glee cast haven't gotten too famous- they are still respectful of the dress code for award shows 
• Just because the shoes cost $1700 doesn't mean they go with anything-  Olivia Wilde
• Couture gowns should not have zippers down the back, but instead hidden on the side
• Back to the 1980s- Dynasty and Dallas looks on several as well as the emerald green color
• The French twist is back
• Cover the tattoos  (some might not agree, but this is my two cents worth)
• Guiliana Rancic is too thin- like her a lot, but she needs to put on a few pounds

I must say I don't usually get too excited about who wins the actual awards since I rarely see any of the movies.  Don't get all bent out of shape, but we don't have a theater within 200 miles where you can watch most of these artsy films.  The red carpet is really the only reason I watch.

Sad to say we have lots of ice, but not one bit of snow where I live.  We had no cable this morning and I thought I might commit a crime if locked in the house all day with my hubby with no cable.  He is a sports NUT.  Thank goodness it came back on about fifteen minutes ago.  As long as the power stays on we are in business.  I'm saying a special prayer of thanksgiving for our utility workers today.  We sometimes forget how much we rely on them.  If the power stays on we are set to have leftovers of White Chicken Chili.  I'm not looking forward to telling my crew there is no leftover cornbread.

Recently, a friend called to ask how to make MOIST cornbread.  Like many people, she uses a basic cornbread mix from a box.  I must say I do the same, but add some ingredients to make it moist.  I thought I'd share the cornbread recipe I used last night with the White Chicken Chili.  I added a few jalapenos (jar in the pickle section), but this was not hot.

Jalapeno Cheese Cornbread

2 boxes Martha White Cornbread mix
1 cup sour cream
1/4 cup mayo
1/4 cup grated cheddar cheese
1 cup of milk
a few tablespoons of chopped jalapenos from a jar (these are sold on the same aisle as pickles)

Mix and pour mixture into a greased 9 x 9 pan.  Bake for about 40 minutes or until done in a 375 degree oven.

Now that the holidays are over, I'm back to work and back to blogging about once or twice per week.  I enjoyed blogging more often during the holidays, but let's be realistic it is tough to write a weekly blog once reality strikes.  This week has been hectic as hubby and I each had several meetings at night.  My little priss started dance classes again and we went to a basketball game on Friday evening.  Saturday we drove to a neighboring town twice so our little priss could take part in a lock-in at her dance instructor's other studio.  Miss Priss has decided she wants to perform a solo in the coming months.  This will require a few more practices per month.  Last year my son was cast in a production at our local community playhouse and this year both kiddos have been cast in the spring production.  We will be extremely busy carting them to practices for the next few months.  I'm trying to think of recipes I can make in large quantity to freeze or make leftovers.  Our recent cold weather calls for something warm and comforting.

If you haven't heard the deep south is preparing for the winter storm of the century.  This will be the third time we have seen snow in less than one year.  We usually see snow once every three or four years.  When I say "see" snow I mean "see".  Rarely does the snow we have stick.  Facebook friends have reported no milk or bread on the shelves at the grocery stores.   I cannot understand why people buy milk (which must be kept cold) when we could have electrical outages.  I'm thinking if anything we need bottled water, canned meat (aka vienna sausages), crackers, bread, batteries, etc.  My friend Rob even suggest toilet paper.  We are not accustomed to this type of weather so who knows what we might need. 

2 packages McCormick White Chicken Chili Seasoning Pack
2 tbsp. oil
3 boneless skinless chicken breast- cooked and shreaded
2 cans cream of chicken soup
2 cans water
2 cans navy beans, undrained
Combine in Crockpot and cook on high several hours before serving.  Top with green onion, cheddar cheese, sour cream, jalapenos, etc.  We like to eat our chili w/cornbread.

We celebrated Christmas with my hubby's family the Saturday before Christmas.  A few days after our celebration my mother-in-law told me she found a present for me and the other daughter-in-laws she had forgotten.  When she came for dinner on Christmas Eve she gave me two cookbooks. The cookbooks were reprints of a cookbook from her hometown.  The recipes were from her mother's (my hubby's grandmother's) generation.  I loved reading this cookbook- many of the recipes contained not cooking temperature or complete measuring instructions.  One recipe called for a "large tablespoon" of  sugar.  What is a "large tablespoon".  In one of the books I found a caramel icing recipe from my hubby's grandmother.  This afternoon I got this crazy idea to try it.  I'm going back to work tomorrow and I needed to have a little fun in the kitchen.  My friend Amber said "you're crazy" and I agree, but I love it anyway.

I tried found a basic white cake recipe in the other cookbook she brought me and went to work.  The caramel icing was a bit difficult, but I'm still working on it.  The first batch was the perfect color, but the second batch could brown a bit more.  Timing is important with this recipe as it turns to candy and starts to harden if you don't time it just right.  Please feel free to comment if you have good suggestions on the icing recipe.  I have emailed my friend Rebecca Lang and asked for suggestions on timing.  She has written a cookbook with many of her grandmother's recipes- including a caramel icing.  I just love Rebecca's book Southern Entertaining for a New Generation.

Basic White Cake

1 cup butter
2 cups sugar
4 eggs, separated
1/2 teaspoons soda, dissolved in 1 Tablespoon water
1 cup sweet milk (no cow in my yard so I used good ole whole milk)
3 cups cake flour
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Cream butter and sugar.  Add two of the egg yolks, one at a time, beating well after each addition.  You can trash the other two yolks. 

Add milk and flour, alternately; then vanilla and sodawater.  fold in well beaten egg whites (4) and bake in 3-8 inch greased and floured cake pans at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

Caramel Icing

2 cups granulated sugar
2 Tablespoons butter
1/2 cup milk
Pinch of salt
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 Tablespoons sugar

Place sugar, butter, salt, milk in boiler and let boil until it forms soft ball when dropped in water.  Place 2 TBSP of sugar in small frying pan and brown to a dark color (stir constantly).  Put a couple TBSP. of boiling mixture into the frying pan and stir with browned sugar and then pour this into a boiler with other mixture- add vanilla- then beat mixture until a consistency for spreading.  Make three recipes of this if you would like to completely ice a three layer cake.  I made two (1st for between the layers) and had to let the second recipe drip from the top to the sides.

I hope most of you are well rested and still laughing and smiling from all of the fun you had at your New Year's Eve soiree.  We stayed at home and invited friends over for a kid friendly event.  I pondered my menu for a week or two before the big day.  I decided on pork tenderloin with an apricot mustard sauce and rolls, Savory Artichoke and Greens Dip, Cheese Straws, Shrimp and Southern Caviar.  Thanks to some wonderful friends from New York City we had an assortment of cheesecake from Juniors.  Our guest brought grilled chicken and sausage balls to share. 
As a Southern girl I am well aware of the tradition of eating black eyed peas, greens, cornbread and pork on New Year's Day.  Even though I consider myself a true southerner, I've never enjoyed eating any type of cooked greens.  I've avoided them for many years.  The only dishes I've ever been able to stomach with cooked greens are spinach quiche and spinach dip.  Quiche was out of the question for the evening, but a dip was definitely possible.  I decided to make a hot dip with artichokes and put turnips in the dip.  Hope you enjoye the recipe.  I've also included the recipe for the Southern Caviar.

Savory Artichoke and Greens Dip

1 small bag of frozen turnips (cook according to instruction and drain)
1 small jar marinated artichoke hearts ( drained)
1 (8oz) cream cheese
1 cup sour cream
1 clove garlic, minced
 
Mix all ingredients until combined.  Place in a small oven proof dish and bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes. Serve with corn chips.

Southern Caviar -- I've tried several recipes, but this one is easy and most guest enjoy it.

1 can whole kernal corn
1 can black eyed peas
1 can rotel tomatoes
1 cup zesty italian dressing

Drain liquid from corn and black eyed peas.  Combine all ingredients and chill overnight.  Serve with Tostitos.

**Having trouble loading pictures, but I must say I have some awesome photos of the kids and adults playing my daughter's new Wii Dance for Kids.  Happy New Year!