Friday, August 29, 2008

OMG! I'm in love!

Holy Moses...I'm addicted. I went to the store to buy eggs (cuz I'm ALWAYS out) and look what I found! You guys have got to try these...PS-this has inspired me to come up with a new filling...S'Mores obviously. I'm thinking chocolate bavarian cream with tiny marshmallows (like in cocoa OR maybe a layer or swirl of marshmallow fluff?) and graham cracker pieces? We'll have to see how the grahams hold up in the bav. cream though....I'll let you know how it goes!

As an afterthought...what if I broke up the grahams, covered them in melted chocolate then tossed in with marshmallow fluff? that would fix the soggy cracker problem...I've got work to do! Catch ya later!

Tuesday, August 26, 2008

"Born In" Series

I LOVE NORA ROBERTS. I just finished the Born In Series, where three Irish sisters, Brianah, Shannon, and Margaret Mary Concannon, share their stories with us. Set in the peaceful countryside of West County Ireland, you can't help but see the green pastures and hear the characters awesome Irish lilt (and crave a nice tall Guiness!) Yes, these are love stories, which I usually don't care much for, but these are really good books and two of the sisters have serious attitudes which I DO care for! :)

8/23/08

Ok, so this week...a birthday cake for a 40 year old...guess what his wife bought him??? Yep, a banjo. :)
Another birthday cake....I've forgotten what school this mascot was for...Michigan State maybe???
A birthday for a little guy... Happy Birthday Owen. His theme was planes, trains, and automobiles. Remember that movie?
Three tier, buttercream iced cake in black and white at the Arrowhead Yacht Club in Lake Winnebago. The florist wasn't there yet but the cake was topped with fresh red roses and calla lillies.
This four tier, buttercream iced cake was combed and then had silk orchids placed. This reception was at the Deer Creek Golf Club in Overland Park, KS.

White Oleander

I found this book at a garage sale for $.25 so of course I bought it. (I'm such a sucker for books!) This books tells about a young girl whose mother goes to prison, how she is put through the foster care system and all of her trouble in between including being shot by one foster mother, molested by a mothers boyfriend, used as a built-in babysitter, starved, and beaten. This book reminds us how lucky we had it as children, having a permanent home, food on the table, and loving parents.

Tuesday, August 12, 2008

Our American King by David Lozell Martin

I am a bookworm...plain and simple. I will read anything I can get my hands on....I've even read a biography on pigeons once. When I go to the library, I just pick up a stack of books that spark my interest and come home to plow through them. Last trip to the library, I picked up "Our American King."

This book is VERY interesting. Of course, it is fiction but it reminds us of what we as Americans take for granted. My husband has been saying that our government is really screwing up and is going to make us into a 3rd-world country (depressing news, I know) so reading this book after hearing him say things like that is especially creepy. Anyways, in the book, the government fails, the rich and higher-ups hoard all of the necessary resources and leave the rest of the country to starve. It's like the common people have been sent back a few hundred years and have to live like their ancestors with no running water, electricity, grocery stores, etc. Give it a read, it will make you glad for the conveniences that we have!

Monday, August 11, 2008

Deanna Rose Children's Farmstead

Yesterday, we had planned on going to the water park for the day but since it was so cool, we opted for Deanna Rose instead. If you have kids, and haven't been there, go. It's fun AND free.

So, when I went to wake up the kids, Luke had decided to use the cat as a sleep mask...:)

This is Molly Lou telling the black goat to get off of the brown one...not nice!!!
Luke's whopper...catch of the day, eh? You can pay $3 and get a little tin bucket of worms and the kids can fish with cane poles in the little lake.
Molly and Meme gave it a whirl too (but Meme didn't even put a worm on her hook)
They have these tiny little goats that you can pay $1 for a bottle and feed. They liked to eat my clothes and hair instead.
Dorian got them to work on his bottle but it was like fighting off a mob really.
Molly Lou sitting at a desk in the one-room schoolhouse...she drew a very nice Plankton for the teacher on her chalkboard.
If you know my mom, you won't be surprised that she sat on the ORANGE bench in the butterfly garden....she has O.C.D. I think...anything yellow or orange is automatically her favorite. (P.S.-we didn't see any butterflies in the butterfly garden but as soon as we walked out....guess what we saw? A butterfly bush....and guess what was on the butterfly bush? I wonder why they didn't plant that inside the butterfly garden???)

Three flowers, three kids...it's a given that I would want my kids in them right? As you can see, the older they get (and the more manly) the less excited they are to be posing as poseys.


Then at bedtime, Molly and I had a little fun with our ponytails. If one pony is good, why not add a few more?


And more.....
And more...until it finally falls over! :)
Thanks for peeping our Fun Day...see ya soon!


Chicken Enchiladas

This is my version of healthy enchiladas. As I said about the lasagna, I just took a regular recipe and changed some of the ingredients to make it better for us...can't really tell you how many calories or grams of fat it has but I can tell you that it's less than the original! :)
8 Lo-Carb tortillas
3 lg chicken breasts
mushrooms
green pepper
onion
cilantro
shredded cheddar
green chile enchilada sauce

Saute chicken with a bit of water instead of any type of fat. Remove from pan and chop. Saute veggies with a bit of water then return chicken to pan. Add about 3/4 c. enchilada sauce and spoon into warm tortillas. Top with about 1 t. of cheddar (I know, it's not much but we're trying to be good here, right?) Roll up and place in sprayed (Pam) 9x13 pan. Top with green sauce and bake until heated through! Yumm-O!

Sunday, August 10, 2008

8/9/08

Ok, so I combined this weekend with last because I only had one wedding last week. This is 4 tier square with buttercream and coarse sugar crystals, satin ribbon, and fresh floral.
Obviously, a luau themed wedding...four tiers iced in buttercream with satin ribbon
This is the wedding from last week, 5 tiers iced in buttercream and then sprayed with pink pearl then wrapped in satin ribbon. The giant mirror made for a pretty cool pic I think. Mom asked if I could actually make a cake that was inverted like that....ummmm, don't think I'll try, I will leave that type of work up to people like Duff! :)
Hey, did you know that the super-duper Solars had their baby? I made this cake for Lia's welcome home party....you know their kids are gonna have like the BEST baby albums of any kid on the planet!


Made this grooms cake to look like the General Lee. The bride asked if I could make it going up a hill or something since the real General Lee was always jumping something
Hannah Montana guitar and cupcakes iced in buttercream with fondant stars
Love this! My friend Kim actually made this cake with my help. She was so excited at the party, telling everyone "I made the cake!" and no one believed her! :(