The Culinary Artist Mom

Please welcome my first guest blogger, my good friend Jessica from 'Finding Joy In The Journey'. She is a Mom to three adorable boys who keep her busy on her toes but somehow finds the time to create beautiful works of art straight from her kitchen. I've asked her to share some thoughts about how she got started in all things culinary.

Not only did she learn some skills from her Mama, she's also passing down and sharing the love of making and baking with her boys who are often seen on her blog mixing, decorating and tasting their creations. I hope you'll give her a warm welcome and leave her some nice comments. You'll find her post below. Thanks Jessica!

Hey Good Lookin'....Whatcha Got Cookin?

   HEY  GOOD LOOKIN', WHATCHA GOT COOKIN'
   HOW'S ABOUT COOKIN' SOMETHING UP WITH ME
   HEY, SWEET BABY, DON'T YOU THINK MAYBE
   WE COULD FIND OURSELVES A BRAND NEW RECIPE

When Lexi asked me to be a guest blogger, I was honored, nervous (y'all know what a fantastic writer she is! My post is going to look so mediocre in comparison), and excited. I've never been a guest blogger, so I guess Lexi is really lazy lately thought it would be fun for us both. She asked me to share about cooking in the kitchen with my mom, Linda McClure, who is a cake decorator (think Ace of Cakes, but without the crazy road trips). All I could think about was the old Hank Williams song that I posted above...I guess because my mom is such a hottie! A few phone calls to my mom to stir up old memories and I am ready. I hope Lexi's lovely followers are not disappointed.

My mother ("Mama" to me) has so many talents I wonder how she has time to sleep. She can sew, play numerous musical instruments, design, build and decorate her house(which she and my daddy have built from the ground up with their own two hands), create wedding cakes and much loved quilts for her grandkids all while holding down callings for the church and supporting my father as the bishop of their ward.

Some of her skills have been passed on to me, through teaching and observation. I can sew (if I have to), I like to LISTEN to musical instruments being played (I took creative writing instead of band. I wonder if I am a disappointment since all three of my siblings play musical instruments?), and I am learning to decorate cakes by observing her and making lots of phone calls once I try my hand at a new skill.

When I was 12, my mother was extremely sick with the flu. It was Thanksgiving time and I, being the oldest of four children, did not want for our family to miss Thanksgiving dinner (I guess my dad could have done it, but I wanted to). I planned a menu, went shopping, and prepared an entire Thanksgiving dinner, from turkey to potatoes to homemade pie. (I bet I did NOT make gravy though. To this day I cannot make gravy.) I was able to do all of this because my parents taught me basic skills, such as measuring, following a recipe, and knowing when to ask for help.

Although I don't remember the dinner, my parents claim it was a success, and since I've been allowed to cook holiday meals unassisted since then, I will believe them. (Though questioning looks were sent my way the year the turkey was VERY dry. Turns out Bart turned the temp. up b/c he thought my mom miscalculated the cooking time of Tom Turkey in the Ronco Cooker)

I don't remember lots of time spent in the kitchen with my mother as a child (boy, did that change once my mom's cake business took off!), but I do remember being allowed to cook and create from a young age. It was my parents trust in me that has allowed me to have confidence both in the kitchen and in life and this is one thing I am (hopefully) passing on to my children.

One of my favorite things to do with my children is cook. They love to help measure ingredients, smelling and tasting everything as we go along. I know I am instilling in them a skill that is necessary for survival and memories that will fade away will last a lifetime and be passed on to their children.

One favorite recipe (one I've had since I was in high school and still bake quite often) of mine is Oatmeal Cookies. The recipe is so simple, and I almost always have all the ingredients on hand. It is really fool proof and very easy for my boys to help create. (I would share with you my mom's top secret cake recipes and fondant recipes, but then she would disown me and we don't want that, now do we?)

What you need:

2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg (though I leave this out. I am not a fan)
2 cups oatmeal
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1 cup shortening (Yep)
2 eggs
1/3 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla.You combine all ingredients in one bowl at one time. Seriously. No creaming of sugars and fats first, no sifting flour. None of that time consuming stuff. Throw it all in a bowl and stir...either with a wooden spoon (because I ♥ wooden spoons) or your fancy pants Kitchen Aide mixer...your choice. (I ♥ my KA.) Then, if you have managed to save any from the snack monster desire, add raisins, chocolate chips, nuts, whatever. If you do add raisins, put them (about one cup) in a bowl with about 1 1/2 cups of water, put it in the microwave, and cook for about one minute. Take them out, drain them, and let them cool (Do this before you start mixing so it's ready when you are and if you added chocolate chips, too, they won't melt) It will make the raisins very plump and keep them moist as long as the cookies are hanging around your house.

Place cookies on your cookie sheet (I use a cookie scoop, it makes for very uniform cookies that have a nice shape) and bake at 375 degrees for 10-12 minutes, until golden brown. I've always found the phrase "golden brown" kind of funny in baking. I mean, isn't it brown to start out with? Cool cookies on wire rack and store in air tight container. I use a pie plate that was my great grandmothers. The lid is cracked and superglued together, and it keeps the cookies very soft for about four days, if they last that long.Be sure to enjoy one or two while the chocolate chips are still warm and gooey. I think tasting the cookies is Jack's favorite part, and let me tell you, he is a great taste tester.

If it weren't for skills shared by my mother, I don't think I would have the gumption to bake with my boys. To be honest, it is often messy, frustrating, and did I mention messy? to have them in the kitchen as I mix and bake. However, I am hoping the long term rewards will benefit and override the messes and spills.

I mean, who's going to make ME a Thanksgiving dinner?

I've been Challenged!

Here are the rules:

1. Go to the photo folder on your computer
2. Go to the 6th folder of photos.
3. Go to the sixth picture.
4. Put the picture on your blog and a description of it.
5. Invite six friends to join the challenge.


Peyton plays with danger by crossing a black cat!

This was Peyton's first official Halloween. My best friend Jeni had dressed Calyn up as a kitty cat and Peyton was dressed as the great pumpkin. We took them to the park that morning in their costumes while Jeni and I did our morning run around La Franiere lake.

I love pictures of the 'best baby friends'. So cute!

I now tag:

1. Jeni
2. Courtney
3. Amy
4. Aimee
5. Aidan
6. Elizabeth

Have fun!

1 2 3 4, Tell Me That You Love Me More

I was tagged by my friend, Jenn!
Here is a list of 5's about me:

5 things I was doing 5 years ago:
1. Working as a nanny and loving the kids I cared for
2. Living in Married Student Housing on LSU Campus while Troy finished Law School {we loved the holes in the bricks that let the sunshine in, and oh yes... the roaches!}
3. Sharing one car with Troy!
4. Attempting a container garden on our balcony with fresh herbs, a tomato plant and an jalapeno plant {the bugs got them}. Jeni's plants across the courtyard were being terrorized by the squirrels.
5. Going grocery shopping, to Barnes and Noble, the library, basically anywhere without a crying, screaming toddler. Good times. :-)

5 things I'll do tonight:
1. Make dinner: Brown Sugar/Dijon Mustard Glazed Pork Chops, Mashed Potatoes, Roasted Asparagus
2. Get my dirty boy in the tub for a bath!
3. Settle Peyton in bed with his 'bink-itt' and 'wah-er'
4. Have Family Home Evening with Troy
5. Finish off the evening with warm brownies and vanilla ice cream!

5 things I would do with a million dollars:
1. Pay off all debts
2. Take a vacation to Europe with Troy
3. Have an interior designer decorate my house
4. Install a greenhouse in the back yard with lots of delightful edible things/buy a year's supply of food for storage
5. Set aside money for college and invest the rest

5 places I have lived:
1. Elizabeth City, North Carolina
2. Anchorage, Alaska
3. Palmer, Alaska
4. Baton Rouge, Louisiana
5. New Orleans, Louisiana

5 jobs I have had:
1. Ice Cream Scooper/Cashier for Yogi Dogs in Palmer, Alaska
2. Child Care Provider at Alaska Woman's Resource Center {Drug and Alcohol Rehabilitation Center} in Anchorage, Alaska.
3. Assistant Montessori Preschool Teacher at Puffin Heights Montessori School in Anchorage, Alaska.
4. Assistant Montessori Preschool Teacher at ACS Montessori School in Prairieville, Louisiana.
5. Nanny to three of the best children ever in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

5 things I want to be doing in 5 years:
1. Going to college
2. Writing a book {and publishing it!}
3. Sending both of my children to Elementary School
4. Creating a nest egg for retirement
5. Enjoying family vacations to the fullest without having to plan for a pack n' play, diapers and wipes, extra baby clothes, bottles, etc. etc. etc. :-)

5 people I tag:
1. Stacy
2. Jessica
3. Becky
4. Cathi
5. Bruce

What are your 5's?

A Blanket for Baby {Winner!}

Good Morning!

I hope you're having a lovely weekend so far with friends and loved ones.

Let's get right to our winner so that everyone can get back to relaxation and fun!

I've randomly drawn a winner for the Miracle Blanket...

and


the


lucky


person


is:


Number 9,

Suzanne!

Congratulations Suzanne! Please email me at lexi.majoue@gmail.com with your mailing address so I can send along your prize.

Thank you to everyone who participated- it was a lot of fun.

Come back and visit again soon!

The Magical Shoes

Have you seen these before? These shoes have handcrafted wooden soles that have elastic loops on the side which you can thread different ribbons through; thereby creating a virtually new shoe any day of the week you'd like!

Want something fancy schmancy? Try these flower adorned ribbons woven through:

Perhaps you want to keep it sleek and pretty with a simple yet elegant ribbon:

Or maybe you want a pair more like this...because casual is always good too!

These shoes do cost a pretty penny though, running between $120-$150 dollars {and that's without the ribbon!} but you are getting a shoe that's made by hand {not factory produced} and because your options for creating multiple shoes are available, the shoes pay for themselves after a while.

Still, I don't think I'll be spending that kind of money any time soon- I'm saving my pennies for that lovely house across the lake to pretty up!

If you want to check these out for yourself, visit the Mohop Shoes website. It's fun to see all of the different variations they've come up with even if you aren't going to buy any. Consider it like window shopping! ;-)

True Bliss is a Confident Heart

"...having written so much on one side of the question, I shall now turn around & entreat you not to commit yourself farther, & not to think of accepting him unless you really do like him. Anything is to be preferred or endured rather than marrying without Affection".

So wrote Jane Austen in a letter to her niece Fanny who had written and requested advice about a serious relationship she was in.

Jane would never marry; instead, she wrote about the social standards of the day and how women were expected to follow proper etiquette and make a 'good match', thereby securing their family comfort and resources in their old age.

Jane had once met and flirted with a young Irish gentlemen named Tom Lefroy who was a nephew of her nearby neighbors. She later wrote to her sister Elizabeth Cassandra, '..."I am almost afraid to tell you how my Irish friend and I behaved. Imagine to yourself everything most profligate and shocking in the way of dancing and sitting down together."'

Though there may have been sparks, it was not to be; for both parties lacked good connections and money. He was dependent on a great-uncle in Ireland for finances to fund his education and couldn't risk losing that funding by carrying on with Jane. His family later intervened by sending him away and when he did later come to visit family, he was kept away from the Austen's.

After that brief flirtation, Jane had only one proposal of marriage in her lifetime. She and her sister Elizabeth Cassandra were visiting old friends, Alethea and Catherine Bigg. Their younger brother, Harris Bigg-Wither had just completed his schooling at Oxford and had returned home. Harris reportedly was not attractive and there were descriptions of him as being: 'a large, plain-looking man who spoke little, stuttered when he did speak, was aggressive in conversation, and almost completely tactless.'

He soon proposed and Jane accepted. The match was a good one as Harris was financially secure, could guarantee her family a life of comfort and stability and they had know each other as children. However, by the following morning, she had mulled it over in her mind and broke off the engagement because she couldn't sacrifice her heart for the greater good of all.

It is amazing to me that all of her novels dealt with the aspect of marriage and the social norms of the day and for the most part generally ended well for the heroine who either married well and/or married happily.

Though she herself never married, she stuck to her guns when it came down to love. Because she never met someone who had both good connections and who could spark love in her heart, she never committed to anyone. I often wonder if it was a lonely life for her, but by all accounts, she was surrounded by family and friends and never seemed to regret having never married.

If you read the backgrounds of a lot of classic authors, you'll find that many have interesting true life stories themselves. Take Beatrix Potter {The Tale of Peter Rabbit}, J.M. Barrie {Peter Pan} and the sad life history of Sylvia Plath {The Bell Jar}.

Something causes a writer to begin writing- and in most instances, it's the little tidbits of a person's life all wrapped up in enigmatic characters and full bodied plots that make for one fascinating story.

Going back to Jane, I consider myself fortunate that todays' society doesn't force woman into loveless marriages by detailing what a woman should and shouldn't do socially anymore. We are free to love whomever we choose and to marry{as Jane Austen may once have dreamed of} someone whom we will love and cherish instead of tolerate and abhor for the rest of our lives {and even into the eternities}.

Witty and funny, talented and articulate, Jane was ahead of her time in affairs of the heart. She herself who didn't have many suitors flawlessly wrote wonderful romantic characters like Fitzwilliam Darcy and Edmund Bertram. Though romance today isn't always as plotted out as you might find in her books, her stories are a good escape from the toil and humdrumness of our everyday life; which is what Jane herself probably needed from time to time in her own life. On my bedside table rests 'Emma', waiting to be cracked open and read, and I too will relish the escape into a world not quite my own.

So the next time you read a book that touches you to the quick, take a moment to look up a little about the author and see if you can discover what may have motivated them to write the story that they did. You just might find a story infinitely more interesting than the one you just set down.

Happy reading.

A Lovely Spring Morning At The Majoue House

On a fair and sunny Saturday morning, we traveled across the choppy lake and past fields budding in bloom and trees robed in green splendor to see our work in progress.

The kitchen was swimming in light, dust motes lazily falling and details slowly coming into focus.

The tiles in the bathroom have been laid with care, and even though they lack some of the golden tones we were looking for, they still reflect the feeling of sunshine and warmth.

It may not be much, but we are excited for our first little bit of land. It will be perfect for a rough and tumble little boy to explore the 'great outdoors'. I am already dreaming of growing fresh edible delights right outside my backdoor.

And speaking of little boys, here's mine looking longingly in at the front door with insistent shouts of, "Out! O-U-T! OwwwwwWWWWwwwT!" It's hard to sit still when you're legs want to be constantly moving!

P.S. We're still looking for scenarios to perform! We only have one so far {thanks Jessica} so put on your thinking caps and get creative.

P.S.S. Don't forget to enter the 'Blanket for Baby' giveaway! I'll be choosing a winner on Saturday.

A Blanket for Baby {Giveaway!}

Do you remember me telling you how excited I was to try this new Miracle Blanket? I got mine in the mail a while back and it looks like the real deal- a nice swaddling blanket that will keep baby cozy and contained and help them to control their spontaneous movements so that they can stay asleep for longer.

Interested in one for your little one? Have a friend who is having a baby soon? Well, I have just the thing for you! I have already purchased two miracle blankets for my little Chloe and...
I have one extra blanket to giveaway!

The only catch is that it is pink- actually it's more of a peachy pink color but the label says 'pink'.

To enter this giveaway, please leave {ONE} comment telling me what your favorite thing about motherhood is or what your mother heart loves about little ones.

I'll randomly draw a winner this Saturday. Good luck!

P.S. You still have until this weekend to tell Troy and I your scenarios for us to act out. We can't wait to see what you come up with!

Wanna Play?

I love to blog hop. Especially when it seems slow in the blogging world as far as my friends' lives go {I mean, they DO have lives too!}. That's when I like to venture out and see what else and who else is out there. This has led me to discover some of my very favorite blogs: NieNie Dialouges, C Jane Enjoy It and The Jolly Porter. Guess what else? They are all related. Seriously. That is one talented family. They take fabulous pictures, write beautiful poetic posts, and they can even make you crack a smile and laugh out loud when no one else is around.

Topher {short for Christopher} is the funny one. He doesn't blog often, but when he does... it's usually funny. He directs plays {and is apparently really good at what he does!} and is also an acting coach so he definitely has a flair for being funny and expressive. You should see the pretend interviews he does on his blog every Halloween with a traditional Halloween character {like the Mummy, Dracula and a Witch} it is classic stuff.

This weekend I noticed that he had posted and as usual, I wasn't disappointed. I guess in the past, he has played this game on his blog called 'In Character' where he asks his readers to come up with fictional scenarios that he can act out in one picture. Troy and I were laughing so hard that we had tears in our eyes- they were THAT funny. By the end, I was telling Troy, "We HAVE to do this- it would be so fun!" Of course, it's been years since Troy or I have acted out anything but this seems like a good time- like Charades but without the endless guessing.

So here's a sample of how it works {if you want to see the rest of the entries, go to Topher's blog at 'The Jolly Porter' link above and you'll see the 'In Character' post}:

Kacy says: You are a teenage boy who is generally embarrassed of his mother and you have just been asked to pin your Eagle scout award onto her ample bosom.


Jen says: You are a newly sustained Bishop, sitting on the stand next to an Area Authority when the speaker from your congregation details how the Lord just visited him and told him that he needed to begin collecting as many weapons as he can, because the last days are starting next year.


Lisa says: You're an aspiring model on America's Next Top Model. You want to win super bad. Tyra has just made a really stupid joke. Remember, you really want to win.


Leisha says: You are a man on a first date with the woman of his dreams. You just picked her up in your tiny car. The woman eeks out a "silent but deadly" stinkeroo. The smell is overpowering, but you are trying to carry on as if you don't notice.

Alright, do you want to play? I'll give you to this weekend to post your scenarios for Troy and I to act out {make sure they are clean please!} and we'll take pictures of our favorite ones and post them for you on Monday. Ok, let the play acting begin! :-)

I'll Probably Never Be Vegetarian...

This is for my Uncle Bruce who gave me a hard time the other day for 'eating' this:

But here's some proof that we aren't always blood craving, meat eating carnivores:

Feast your eyes on that 'rise-and-shine-breakfast' Bruce! :-)

This smoothie recipe was passed on to me by my friend Kristel one morning at her place before we headed to the park with her darling girls to watch the birds and turtles swim about their private sanctuary. I was a bit skeptical at first {spinach?!} but I drank it {and thankfully survived... just kidding Kristel!} and Troy and I have enjoyed it many mornings since.

We've gradually tweaked it over the months and made it our own, but it's still as delicious as ever. I start out with a whole banana, a cup of orange juice, an individual container of yogurt, two heaping handfuls of baby spinach {Kristel uses kale too, but we've only ever used spinach}, 2 tablespoons of ground flax seed meal and one heaping cup of frozen berries {we like to use half a cup of mixed berries like raspberries,blueberries and blackberries then another half cup with mango, pineapple and strawberries}. If you like it extra cold and frothy, you could add a handful of ice too.

Blend it up and pour it into a glass then drink up! Easy, quick, great for you and no baby animals are harmed during the making of it! :-)

We do occasionally make meat-free meals here to take a break and let our systems rest but I don't think I could ever go cold turkey {ha, ha!} and cut out meat altogether. I just enjoy it too much.

Plus, I grew up in a house where my Dad went hunting in the Alaskan wilderness and we would sometimes eat meat {like reindeer, caribou and moose} that he brought home {when it didn't taste too gamey- a common concern of my Mom}. So I've basically been programmed to eat meat since I was old enough to ingest it!

But never fear Bruce- if you come to visit, we won't serve you dead animals since I make plenty of tasty dishes that don't include meat.

But I do make some mean Southern Pulled Pork sandwiches. I mean, I'm just sayin'... in case you ever want to come back over to the dark side ;-)

P.S.

I passed the 1 hour glucose test but in evaluating my blood for it they found that I'm anemic and need to take an iron supplement. Not really a surprise to me since it seems that ANY time I get my blood taken, they tell me I'm anemic. So I'll be picking up some iron {so I can chew metal like Troy says!} when I go to the grocery store today.

There's No Place Like Home

When we first went over the available options on the house, we were told that the wrought iron railing {which they were throwing in as an incentive} was only covered up to the landing. Anything beyond that was extra {and would be coming out of our pockets}. So we chose to go with a half wall instead of continuing the railing since we wanted to put our money towards other things.

Well, when we snuck went in the house the weekend before, they had completed the sheet rock and had primed the walls for paint but hadn't put in the half wall upstairs. Pretty perplexing to us, but we thought that maybe they had to do some other things first before they installed it.

Imagine our surprise last weekend when we saw that they had not only put in our railing {and were in the process of staining the banister which is why it's all bubble wrapped} but they had continued the railing on the second floor where they were supposed to have put in a half wall!

Troy thinks that either they coded it in wrong and told him the price for the full railing and he thought he was only paying for the upgraded wrought iron package {bonus points either way since he got the full deal for what he thought was only the difference in price} or that they had ordered extra and just decided to finish off the work.

Whatever happened, we now have scroll work all the way up the stairs and it is glorious! It lets in more natural light on the stairway which is wonderful.

We also saw that they had begun tiling the floor {no wood planks put in yet, but Troy thinks that carpet and wood will be one of the last few things they install} and staining the cabinets as well.

We had a better shot of the cabinets, but it came out blurry. You can see a little of what it's going to look like here in this picture though. Troy and I aren't crazy about the oak style cabinets, so we did our best to get a darker stain so that all of the little whirls in the wood wouldn't be quite so obnoxious. The maple cabinets they had available were $2000 to install! These cabinets were included in the house so we went with them {knowing that putting in maple would have looked cool but would have been something you wouldn't recoup the value of during resale}.

From what we could tell in the kitchen {since most of it was covered up with paper and tape to protect it from the staining} the tile is looking really nice. We went with a different and subtler tile for the fireplace and we think it looks pretty good. This picture doesn't do the paint color on the walls justice since it is a warm golden color that makes the house feel really inviting.

Of course, not everything can be peachy all of the time- the tile we chose for the master bath and for the kids bathroom upstairs has some MAJOR discrepancies in color. It was supposed to be a golden yellow color but when we saw it the other day, it had tones of gray, dark yellow and light brown on different tiles making it look like a checkerboard pattern. Not pretty. So we are going in for an 'official' tour this weekend so we can pretend to see it for the first time and voice our concern so that hopefully they can fix it before our move in date.

I'll be interested to see what they've done this week!

St. Patty's Day Fun

A few pictures from our festivities last night...

No pinches for us! We were both wearing green yesterday, and just to be safe, we donned green clover stickers to protect us from the leprechauns! :-)

Our Irish feast... the soda bread was like a giant biscuit! Everything came out delicious.

Peyton dug in and ate his whole bowl of stew! He also enjoyed the soda bread immensely.

Here, Troy's enjoying a bowl of Irish Bananas after our own wee leprechaun went to bed. After dessert, we snuggled up and watched an Irish movie then we went to bed full, happy and content!

Mailbox Surprise

Monday evening, I went out to check the mail which is a short walk from our front door over a path which meanders through the grass on slate rock walking stones. I pushed my key in when I got to the mail center and fought with the cylinder a bit before the key finally revolved and yielded up its prize.

There were the usual bills, reminders of this or that, typical junk mail and the like, but my eyes were diverted from all of these instantly when I saw a large mailing envelope that felt like something cloth-like and luxurious was waiting inside.

I flipped the package over and scanned the return address and the smile in my eyes met the one on my lips when I read it was from our family friends, the Zugners. My fingers flew to the envelope flap and fluttered inside to reach for the unknown contents. Out spilled a {hand made!} card which I opened and read and which gave many warm welcomes for the upcoming arrival of our little Chloe, as well as a warm welcome to the state of Texas {where the Zugners reside as well- but unfortunately not close to us!}.

The first gift my fingers pried out was this adorable ribbon holder {again, lovingly made} which sparkles with bright rhinestones on the wings. I love the colors as I have a weakness for shades of red- and what goes better with red than black and white polks dots? It is precious. Once I got home, I couldn't resist the urge to load up Chloe's bows to see how it would look- pretty adorable, don't you think?

There was also an ultra soft blanket inside that was edged with love and care and will be perfect to wrap little Chloe in. I'm not sure what happened with the light on this picture, but the blanket is really sweet and fun with butterflies and flowers. And when I say it is soft, it is absolutely velvety on the backing!

Amy, Erik and Jordyn didn't forget about big brother, Peyton either. They sent him a fun tee shirt to wear so that he'll remember how fun and cool it is to be the big brother!

Thanks for the wonderful surprise in my mailbox you three! It was totally unexpected and a joy to receive. I know we will use all of these treasures with delight especially knowing how much love went into making them. Once we become used to being a family of 4, we'll have to come up and visit or meet halfway somewhere. We'd love to see you guys again soon!

Erin Go Bragh!

Thanks for the good laugh this morning Uncle Bruce!

Pour yer'self a bowl of Lucky Charms this mornin' 'cause it's a Happy Saint Patrick's Day!

I hope you remembered to wear green today so ye don't get pinched by the leprechauns!

We are all set at our house to have a big Irish feast this evening. We'll all be wearing green {of course!} and will start out our dinner right with a big bowl of hearty Irish Lamb Stew accompanied by homemade Irish Soda Bread fresh out of the oven.

No beer for us tonight, but you can find us drinking cold sarsaparilla in green bottles as we wash down the dregs of our stew. We'll finish out the evening with Irish Bananas {which is like Bananas Foster except instead of using rum to make the sauce, you use Bailey's Irish Cream- and the alcohol cooks off, so no worries for little Chloe!} and all the while we'll be listening to Irish tunes from The Chieftans.

What's in the works for you and yours?

♣ Now go and play patty fingers with the one that you love best; bonus points if they happen to be Irish! :-) ♣