A Proverbs 31 Kind of Day

We hosted a dinner for lots of friends this past weekend. I had planned an easy dinner and had pre-made the desserts. All I would have to do is take the cakes from the freezer and thaw. That's it! But!  When I opened one of my cakes, it didn't look pretty. Oopsie! What to do!?!?! 25 people for dinner in just a few hours and there's no time to make a brand new dessert! Trifle! I'll make a trifle! I have never made a trifle before! I didn't really know what cream stuff to put in with it, but I'd figure that out as I went along, right? My cake was a coconut pecan cake. Yummy! I found an easy Martha Steward recipe for a coconut cream filling. I adapted it only slightly and the result was fantastic! This is one of those recipes that you'll want to keep around because it's so versatile and easily adaptable to your recipe and only your imagination is the limit to what can be done with it! I made the cream and cooled it.  Th...

With the holidays in full swing, sometimes you need a fast, throw-together-appetizer for your guests . . . or dinner for your family! Sometimes, during the holiday, that's what my family gets to eat for dinner! Some quick appetizer! Hey!  Don't knock it!  At least they're getting food! You may even want to make it for your "family movie night!" It's that easy! Warm Jalapeno Popper Dip 1 package cream cheese, softened 1/2 cup mayonnaise 4-6 ounces shredded cheddar cheese 3-5 jalapenos, seeded and finely chopped (depends on your jalapeno flavor "want!") 1/2 cup crushed ritz crackers or panko crumbs 2 TBSP melted butter Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a bowl, mix the cream cheese and mayonnaise together.  Stir in the cheddar cheese and jalapenos.  If you are wanting a bit of heat, leave some of the seeds in your cheese mixture. In a small bowl, mix the cracker crumbs and butter together.  Place the cream cheese mixtur...

Seriously, my kids are getting tired of sweet potatoes! We are having them at least once a week! First, it's the season for this great vegetable. Second, they're $0.25 a pound! That's practically free! Yesterday, I was trying to think of a vegetable to put with our lunch and I had one lonely sweet potato left. One! What a lonely number! What can one potato do for a family of 4? It can make us happy! I washed it, cubed it, tossed it with olive oil, roasted it, and then crowned it! We all devoured this delicious new side dish! Roasted Sweet Potatoes w/ Brown Sugar Glaze (Slightly Adapted from Pillsbury) 1-3 sweet potatoes, (depending on the number of people you are serving & the size of the potato)** olive oil 1/4 cup butter                         1/4 cup packed brown sugar     ...

Image from Pinterest . . . we finished our dip before I could snap a picture! Many years ago, I worked with some ladies from the church we attended. We started an event called "Seasonal Sensations." It was a little Winter get together -- just a time to have fun and raise money for mission work. Here was the hair-brain idea: invite some ladies in the church to cook and serve samples of one of their favorite holiday dish. Something easy -- something that's a family favorite! The event was promoted and tickets were sold -- more than 300 ladies attended that first event! That was nearly 15 years ago and they're still doing that event. It looks a little different now, but they're still raising money for missions! That first Seasonal Sensations, I made a pumpkin pie dip. I found the recipe the other day after telling my mother-in-law about it. It had been years since I had made it! Matter of fact, my cherubs don't even remember the la...

About a week ago, the Mr. and I headed to the Texas Hill Country for a little get away. It was a perfect weekend! We went with some friend; we shopped, we ate, we laughed, and we listened to great music each night! One of the places that we ate, served cranberry salsa and chips. It was phenomenal! I knew I wanted to make it for the holiday season . . . . and with 8 bags of cranberries in my freezer, I knew I had enough ingredients! The minute I see cranberries in the store, I start buying! There are several great recipes that I like to make during this time of year, and this is one to add to the list! The Mr. had the recipe on his phone, but when I started to make the salsa, I didn't have the recipe. But I remember reading it -- so I just started making it! I mean, how hard can it possibly be? While I didn't make it exactly like the recipe, it was pretty close, and we all devoured it! Here's the real recipe!  What I love about this ...

Today, we cleaned out the freezer. The big freezer. The one in the garage. It needed to be defrosted, which took a good amount of time since it is in the 30's today! Ice doesn't melt too fast when it's cold enough to freeze! Along with the defrosting came the Mr. being all productive! Like making me create a list of all the things in the freezer. So, I willingly agreed! As a result, we're having for dinner tonight something from . . . the freezer! I surely wasn't planning on having brisket tonight . . . or tomorrow night, or the night after that! I just went to the grocery store yesterday and I clearly didn't buy anything that would be a great side to brisket! However, I remember Auntie Ronda making a BBQ green bean bundle. But we're just eating -- not being fancy tonight, so I took a spin off of her idea and put these ingredients together for our side to go along with our brisket! BBQ Green Beans 2 cans green beans, ...

Saturday mornings used to be sorta lazy. Meaning, there was time to get up, have some coffee, and the Mr. would make a "traditional" breakfast, as the cherubs like to tease him about. But now, we have baseball and ballet and other what-nots that start earlier than I'd prefer and our lazy Saturday breakfasts have sorta gotten . . . lazy. But this morning, I decided to make pancakes before everybody scurried off to their activities. Since both of my cherubs like pumpkin, I decided to do a quick pumpkin pancake. I've posted before a quick pumpkin waffle and a pancake, but this is even easier! That's great for a Saturday breakfast! Pumpkin Soda Pancakes 2 cups buttermilk pancake mix 1 bottle pumpkin pie soda Heat a pan or griddle with a bit of oil or Pam. In a bowl, stir together the pancake mix and enough soda to make the batter the consistency it should be.  I used nearly the entire bottle . . .there may have been 2 or 3 drinks left in th...