Monday, November 30, 2009

Thanksgiving

We had a great Thanksgiving and I hope you all did too!  Now because I was in Arkansas so much during October we decided to spending Thanksgiving at home and Christmas in Arkansas. Our Thanksgiving meal was YUMMY! 

The Menu

  • Cajun Turkey Breast (The turkey is always Cory's only job and he did an EXCELLENT job!)
  • Mammaw's Chicken n Dressing
  • Greenbean Casserole
  • Mashed Taters
  • Turkey Gravy
  • Rolls
  • Pumpkin Cheesecake
  • Pecan Pie




While everything cooked we watched the parade and the big girls made place mats (Bee was sleeping).  I used a cereal box and traced their hands to make turkeys.  Who hasn't made the infamous hand turkey??









Yes, Kaydence is usually half naked!  She lives freely!

As we ate we asked the girls what they were thankful for.  We got some cute answers but the best was Kaydence who said (with no prompting, I swear!) she was thankful for Jesus!  Too sweet!! LOVE HER!!


After we ate I made them put on the dresses I made for them!  And it lasted just long enough for me to snap a few pics before they were tearing them off and running upstairs to play.




















HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!

Monday, November 23, 2009

Melanie's Cookin

Y'all, I love me some Paula Deen!  She cooks like I do (lots of butter and not always good for ya stuff) and talks like I do.  Well, ok, if we're being honest she has more of a Southern Belle accent and I have a Southern Redneck accent but only true southerners can tell the difference!  I DVR all of her Food Network shows Paula's Home Cooking (which I believe should be spelled Cookin' cause you know how we Southerners leave the G off the ends of words). 

A week or so ago she made a Pumpkin Cheesecake that I KNEW Cory would LOVE! So, I decided to make one for Thanksgiving instead of the standard pumpkin pie.  I'm actually making it, along with some cookies, for Katherine's "feast" at preschool on Tuesday.  I figured whatever is left Cory can have on Thursday since I'm also making my personal fave, pecan pie.

Now, just so everyone knows, I've never made a cheesecake before so this is a new adventure for me and I thought I'd share the experience through pictures. 


Ingredients


Crust:

  • 1 3/4 cups graham cracker crumbs

  • 3 tablespoons light brown sugar

  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

  • 1 stick melted salted butter



Filling:

  • 3 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese, at room temperature

  • 1 (15-ounce) can pureed pumpkin

  • 3 eggs plus 1 egg yolk

  • 1/4 cup sour cream

  • 1 1/2 cups sugar

  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

  • 1/8 teaspoon fresh ground nutmeg

  • 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves

  • 2 tablespoon all-purpose flour

  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract



Directions

  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.



For crust:

  • In medium bowl, combine crumbs, sugar and cinnamon. Add melted butter. Press down flat into a 9-inch springform pan. Set aside.





For filling:

  • Beat cream cheese until smooth. Add pumpkin puree, eggs, egg yolk, sour cream, sugar and the spices. Add flour and vanilla. Beat together until well combined.



  • Pour into crust. Spread out evenly and place oven for 1 hour. Remove from the oven and let sit for 15 minutes. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 4 hours.






Just a note, 1 hour is NOT enough.  90 minutes will do the trick.  And apparently you need a warm water bath when using a springform pan and baking a cheesecake to avoid cracks.  Who knew??

I just put it in the fridge, I think I may have to let the husband have a little taste tonight to see if it's edible! It's definitely not as pretty has Paula's but I hope it tastes as good!

I'll be putting Whipped Cream on top before I drop it off @ Katherine's school tomorrow so that will cover all the imperfections so I'm not really too concerned with the cracks!


I'll let ya know how it turns out!
LOVES!!

Friday, November 20, 2009

A Homemade Christmas

A Homemade Christmas at SimplyVintagegirl.com



I found this awesome blog as I was googling today. I had decided a week or so ago that instead of spending lots of money on toys and nonsense the girls do NOT need that we were going to get them handmade special gifts.  I ordered them each a doll from my friend Melissa over at  Puddin Pop Designs but I'm having trouble coming up with other things to do for them.  I really want the true meaning of the season to be at the forefront of the holidays and not how many gifts they receive.  If you have any ideas for gifts let me know!

LOVES!

Thursday, November 19, 2009

I'm Sorry, So Sorry!

So my "blog a day" plan didn't work. Now you all know I'm perfectly imperfect. ;)  I'm apologizing now for my lack of ambition and because of that I've decided that if I just manage to blog once a week then I'm doing fabulously wonderful!

So what's been going on for the last oh, two months? 

In September I met my Mom, Seester, and my 3 sisters-in-law (J, D & B)in Memphis,Tn/Tunica, Ms for my Seester's 21st Birthday!  We called it Brittney's Boozin' Birthday (if her name had started with some other letter it wouldn't have been as great!).  There was not tons of boozin but it was her 21st so there was some drinking and tons of F.U.N. 

October nothing fabulous or wonderful happened.  My Pappaw went to be with Jesus on the 6th so the girls and I spent most of the month in Arkansas which was great.  I really miss my family but I HEART Tennessee and don't really want to leave.  For the one week we were in Tn between trips to AR I managed to be sick with strep, an ear infection and laryngitis.  Yay, ME!

In more recent news, I made a cleaning schedule and I'm sticking to it! My laundry has been getting washed and put away immediately and I start the dishwasher when I go to bed and put them away in the morning while the girls eat breakfast.  I dusted for I believe the first time since we moved into our house (March 09) too!  It has actually been a nice change and my weekends are so much better because we don't spend them putting away piles of laundry and cleaning what didn't get done during the week.  And it has actually been liberating for me.  Before, I spent most days feeling overwhelmed because I knew there was stuff that needed to be done but I just did not know where to start.  And for those you don't know, when I get in that situation I completely shut down and its difficult for me to function.  So this is quite the change and I can honestly say I enjoy cleaning now!

I started sewing last weekend.  Before Saturday I had never sewn anything but a few crooked pillows and by the end of the weekend I had made 4 pillowcase dresses!  I made a Thanksgiving dress for each of my girls and since i was having so much fun and had extra fabric I made one for my 'so-cute-you-want-to-eat her-face neice Victoria! 

We will be spending Thanksgiving in Tennessee since I spent so much of October in Arkansas so I'll be adding Thanksgiving dinner to my list of chores for next week.  I love this time of year and I have a lot to be thankful for this year. 

Until next time, LOVES!



Brittney's Boozin' Birthday!-Hard Rock Cafe Memphis



Thanksgiving 2008--Our last Thanksgiving with Pappaw



KK & Kat playing in the leaves



Bee up close



KK's dress Mommy made! It IS sideways so either tilt your head or flip your computer ;)
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