Chicken and Olive Tamale Pie

I almost took a picture of it 

before

I put it in the oven.

Instead I took one after it

came out.

 Nuff said.

French Bread,

Presidents Day

and 

Ava.

You have to keep on your toes to keep this one 

busy, otherwise you get this;

We made necklaces, 

bracelets,

gave the dogs baths,

played Monopoly,

went to the movies,

and,

apparently, 

made necklaces for the dogs.

It was going downhill fast.

Cook!

Bake!

Make the kid kneed bread!

Yes!

That kept her busy for like, 

5 minutes!

Chocolate Bundt Cake

For the past few years I have been in

purge mode.

Getting rid of all that extra *stuff*

that just clutters your house and your mind.

Well, maybe not my mind so much.

But house stuff for sure.

I have a system by which I put clothes

in a box in the basement.

If I don't open that box for two years

it goes to Goodwill.

No ifs, ands, or buts.

I should do that with kitchen 

accoutrements as well.

(man, had to Google that one!)

I decided to make this cake.

Thing is, this cake requires a very specific

piece of equipment. 

Namely, its namesake.

A 

Bundt pan.

I had one. 

Once upon a time.

Facebook to the rescue and

Amy loaned me hers.

On to the cake.

It had every reason to succeed:

four eggs, 

pudding mix,

sour cream,

vegetable oil.

Oh, and chocolate.

It did not disappoint.

The original recipe just called 

for a dusting of powdered sugar

on top. 

I poured 

ganache over it before the sugar.

Why wouldn't you?

Oh, and I put a hit of rum

in the ganache.

Again, 

why wouldn't you?

http://savoringtimeinthekitchen.blogspot.com/2013/02/easy-chocolatey-bundt-cake.html
Heads up if you choose to make this cake,
note the cake mix package size,
all boxed cakes are not created equal.

Some Combinations Work Better Than Others

Like this;

is way better than this;

But you don't know until you try.

Just consider this a public service announcement. 

You are welcome.

Some Pictures for Mom and Big

 I think she's saying, "What you talkin' 'bout?"

 This is the smile she gave her Papa when he came home for lunch.

 First time in our highchair.

 Story time with Gaye

 The jeans from the rummage sale.

 With her best friend Eliana

 Her Papa loves her.

 Happy baby

I love you, 

Great Grandma and Meme

There's A Progression To These Things

I *think* it's done.

Sales Meeting?

 It was time to plan the annual sales meeting

for my husband's company.

Honey suggested Florida was nice this time of year.

Having just gotten back from a business trip

to Orlando, he should know.

The powers that be took him up on the suggestion.

He sent me this picture the first day.

It's the view from his lunch table.

This one came today followed by this:

They caught the fish and then took them here

to be cooked up for their dinner.

I can't wait to see what he sends tomorrow.

I don't know about the other guys but my husband

is one of the hardest working men you will find.

I'm thrilled he is

warm, 

relaxed,

having some fun,

team building

and 

being shown some appreciation for his hard work.

Keep the good times rolling Honey, 

you deserve it!

You CAN Teach An Old Dog New Tricks!

Dirk has come a long way.

Many years ago he thought picking

Shanna up by her neck was a good idea.

She was about 3 or 4.

It was not a good idea.

This story has lived on in 

infamy.

So as you can imagine Dirk is a little

skittish around babies.

 Somebody sneaked up on Dirk and 

plopped Conner in his lap.

 Dirk was not taken by surprise on this one but, 

boys were *placed* on his lap.

This visit we let Dirk take things in his own stride.

He kept getting a little closer.

He even started *holding* them of his own volition.

He even got one on his lap himself.

 And then one day THIS happened!

 There is hope for him yet!

Can You Bake That In a Jar?

Why yes, you can.

Cheryl, Carol and Val

were coming for lunch.

We decided that we really want to be deliberate

in getting together more often.

Usually we like to craft together but our schedules

are just so nuts right now that if

we can find a day with just an hour that we are all

available, we had better take it.

Today we had one and a half hours!

YeeHaa!

We decided to meet here and each 

of us bring our own lunch.

But I just had to make something.

These three are too much fun to experiment on.

So, to Pinterest I went and found 

this idea:

It's just a 4 ounce Ball jar

that I lined with refrigerator pie crust, 

filled with canned pie filling

and topped with more pie crust that

I cut into strips, wove and cut

into rounds.

The post I found these on just said to

bake as you would any pie.

Right.

I GTS and decided to go

400 degrees

for 40 minutes.

Nice thing about the clear glass

was that I could tell when all the crust

was good and golden. 

So, can you bake that in a jar?

Yes.

Next, 

chicken pot pie?

Twinmageddon

The Northern Tour

as I like to call it. 

But perhaps, 

The Midwest Tour

would be more accurate. 

They came,

 They saw,

they kicked butt,

and took names.

And we wouldn't have had it any other way. 

The Year Of Big

It all started here:

It was March of last year and 

Kristi, Val and I 

were on a walk during a 

girl's weekend.

I was telling them how

excited Big was about turning

90 in TWO years.

That's a long time to wait for a big event.

Kristi pointed out that when

Big turned 89 she would actually be 

*in* her 90th year.

The seed of an idea sprouted 

and culminated in this:

We had a huge 89th bash for Big 

and all year long we will be celebrating her.

Each month has been to assigned to 

family members.

They are responsible for some

acknowledgment of the year-long celebration

that is 

Big.

Maggie's up first.

Too bad her month wasn't January because 

I think this:

would have had her set for the month!

But that's another post.