Shower Food (Petite Fors)

We had a great time at the shower last night. The food turned out really good and I wasn't stressed out about getting everything done. I started cooking early in the week because I didn't want to have to do everything the day of the party. My petite fours were a huge success! (See recipe below.) I will definitely make them again. It wasn't hard, it was just time consuming.

The Menu:

Jello Slush Punch / Coffee / Tea / Water / Soft Drinks

Cheese Straws

Toasted Pecans

Spinach / Strawberry Salad

Croissants

Hot Chicken Salad

Mixed Fruit (Thanks to Missy)

Chocolate Covered Strawberries

Petite Fors

I found Pink Hershey Kisses at Walmart that said, "It's A Girl." I got a good deal on white roses from Sams. I put pink balloons everywhere, even on the mailbox. I got my plates and napkins from platesandnapkins.com (thanks Jackie). They were pink and brown and they were perfect. We did play one shower game where everyone had to guess the flavors of baby food just by looking. It was fun and a good way to let Sophie be involved in the shower.

Speaking of Sophie, she lost another tooth yesterday. She looks so cute!

I'm heading into the kitchen now to clean up my mess. It's not too big of a mess thanks to my friends who helped with clean up last night. I've also got to get to work on laundry because we have another weekend full of baseball. Hopefully we won't get rained out, but it's not looking good. Have a great weekend everyone!

Jodi's Petite Fors

Pound Cake

(I used my mom's "Five Flavor Pound Cake" recipe and baked it in an oversized cake pan.)

1 cup butter or margarine

1/2 cup vegetable shortening

3 cups sugar

5 eggs

3 cups all purpose flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 cup milk

1 tsp each: coconut flavoring, rum flavoring , almond flavoring , lemon flavoring, vanilla flavoring

Cream together margarine, shortening and sugar. Add eggs and beat thoroughly. Sift flour and baking powder. Add milk and flour to butter mixture and mix well. Add flavorings and mix well. Bake in a greased and floured over sized rectangular cake pan. (I also lined my pan with aluminum foil and greased and floured it again because I wanted to make sure it didn't stick.) Bake at 350 for about 1 hour. Let cake cool in pan for 20 minutes. Grabbing the aluminum foil, pull the cake out of the pan and place on wire rack to cool completely. Wrap cake entirely with foil and place in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours.

Teacake Icing:

(I used My Grandmother's "Teacake" Icing for this. I just made it a little thicker than I normally do.)

2 lb Confectioners Sugar

6 Tbs. melted Butter

2/3 cup whole milk (heated for about 30 sec in microwave)

2 tsp. vanilla

Few drops of Food Coloring

Mix everything together and stir until smooth. Don't add all the milk at first. You will need to add it gradually until you get the consistency you are looking for.

Icing the Petite Fors:

This is the time consuming part. First, I trimmed off the edges of the cake. The scraps are a good treat for the cook:) Then I cut the cake into squares, as consistently sized as possible. ( I used the bottom of the cake as the top of my petite fors, does that make sense?) I then spaced three cake squares out on top of one of my wire racks. I placed a large bowl underneath them. Then I poured the icing over the cakes one at a time. I made sure to put the icing on top pretty heavy and it dripped down the sides. The leftover icing went into the bowl and the rest stuck to the cakes. I did need to use the back side of a spoon to make sure the icing was covering the sides of the cakes evenly. This took a while and I had to stop several times to empty the icing from the bowl underneath my wire rack. I also had to make sure there were no cake crumbs in the icing, because that's just not pretty. Finally, for decoration, I made another batch of icing and colored it brown with cocoa. I put about a cup full into a plastic baggie and poked a whole in the bottom. Then I made stripes on the tops of the Petite Fors. (I tried to make polka dots but I couldn't make them not look like yummy, pink and brown dice.)

Good Times with the Family!

I have a very busy week this week, so I am just going to post a few pictures to let everyone know what we have been up to.

On Friday afternoon, Tiffany, the kids and I went with Meme to our favorite restaurant, Steak and Shake.

On Friday night, Michael and I went on a date to Fogo de Chao. I can't even explain how good this was. It's a Brazilian steak house where they bring the meat around to your table on skewers and carve it right on to your plate. We went with David and Missy and it was a delightful night. I wish I would have taken a picture, but I didn't.

Saturday morning, Lee came over for his birthday breakfast. I made him and omelet with all the fixins'. (One day, I will write down my omelet recipe and include pictures. This is one of my classics.) It was a fun time with Lee.

We spent the rest of our weekend at a baseball tournament for Bo's team. Bo's good buddy Will rode with us. I just think they are "Hot Stuff!" We came in second place in the tournament and it was absolutely freezing during the playoff game. For the final inning, Sophie, Reed and I sat in the car with the heat on. All the players were wrapped up in blankets when they were in the dugout. It was fun though. One of the highlights was when the game was tied, we were the home team, we had the bases loaded, it was the last inning of the game and Bo was up to bat with 1 out. Strangely enough, I wasn't nervous at all. I knew he would pull through for his team and he did! With a full count, he got the game winning hit which advanced us to the playoffs. Whoohoo! That was so exciting!

I'm hosting a baby shower on Thursday, so you won't hear from me again until Friday. I will definitely take pictures. I'm making petite fours for the first time ever. I'll let you know how it goes!

Have a great week!

Winter Break Update (Peanut Butter Poundcake)

We are in the middle of winter break right now and I love it! We stayed around the house yesterday. I got caught up on the laundry and the kids worked downstairs cleaning up the playroom. Now, we can enjoy the rest of our week together. We will probably go see a movie tomorrow and maybe we will visit the park later in the week.

Friday night Bo and Russ spent the night with Lee and Cheyenne (Sophie's BFF) spent the night with us. Sophie and Cheyenne have been best friends since they were 2 1/2 years old when their brothers were on the same baseball team. I remember they used to play in the dirt together. Then they went to preschool together and were in the same class for 2 years in a row. Now they are in kindergarten at the same school, but not the same class. We also live in the same neighborhood which makes playing together very convenient. On Thursday afternoon, Sophie walked down to Cheyenne's house to deliver her early Valentine gift to Cheyenne. It was a best friends shirt and they both wore them to school on Friday. Here's the picture, precious:

We also enjoyed putting a 1000 piece puzzle together this weekend. This is something that everyone in our family loves to do, especially Bo. He is so unbelievably patient for an 8 year old. Sophie likes to take a piece out of the part of the puzzle that is already completed and put it back in the same spot. Reed will sit at the table with us and just ask if he can help. We usually just say no and he understands. He will be able to join us one day. For now, I'm just thankful he doesn't try to destroy the puzzle.

My favorite thing about this weekend was our tennis match. It was a beautiful day and the kids got to play outside all day long. Michael and I finally got to play together and I really enjoyed it. Sometimes people say it's hard to play with their spouse, but not me. I loved it! We ended up playing 3 sets and finally won the match in a tiebreaker!

It was a home match and I was in charge of bringing a dessert. I woke up early Sunday morning with baking on my mind. I finally decided on a Peanut Butter Poundcake, from Johnnie Gabriel's cookbook, and it was delicious. Here's a picture of the leftovers and the recipe:

Peanut Butter Poundcake

1 cup butter

1 cup crunchy peanut butter

2 cups granulated sugar

1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar

1/2 cup sour cream

5 large eggs

3 1/2 cups sifted all purpose flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp baking soda

1 cup milk

1 tsp vanilla

1 cup mini chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and lour a 15-cup tube pan. In a large mixing bowl, beat the butter, peanut butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Add the sour cream and the eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition. Scrape down sides and bottom of the bowl. In a large bowl sift together the flour, baking powder, salt and baking soda. Put the milk in a small bowl and add the vanilla. Alternately add the flour mixture and the milk to the creamed mixture, beginning and ending with flour. Scrape down the sides and the bottoms of the bowl. Fold in the mini chocolate chips . Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Bake for 60 to 75 minutes, or until a tester inserted into the center comes out clean. Remove from the oven and cool on wire rack for 10 - 15 minutes. Invert onto a wire rack and invert again onto a serving plate.

I frosted mine with a chocolate buttercream frosting and sprinkled with mini chocolate chips. Next time I will try the cooked fudge frosting.

Valentine's Day Fun! (Chocolate Covered Strawberries and Rice Krispie Treat Kisses)

I had such a fun day with Sophie's class! I had an hour an a half to do Valentine's Day centers with the kids. I've been planning this for a while and 3 other moms came in to help. I started off by reading the kids Froggy's First Kiss. Then we started the centers. Valentine's Bingo was at one station. We made Frog Bean Bags at another station and then at my table, we made Rice Krispie treat kisses. I brought my wok into the classroom so we could melt the butter and marshmallows. The kids helped me read the recipe and after we mixed everything together, I crammed a serving of the rice krispie treat mixture into a well-greased funnel and placed it on the table. After letting it cool, the kids lift the funnel and . . . the Rice Krispie treats are in the shape of a (Heshey's) Kiss. To finish them off, we wrapped them in aluminum foil. They were so cute and the kids had fun making them with me. Mostly, I just let them measure the cereal and pour it into the marshmallow and butter mixture.

For the last several years, I have made chocolate covered strawberries as teacher gifts for Valentine's Day and this year was no different. Tiffany always gets me to make them for her kid's teachers too. Bo especially loves chocolate covered strawberries and me too. During the week of Valentine's, I start looking for some really good, big strawberries with the long stems if possible. This year I found some really nice ones at Walmart, believe it or not. Walmart also had the best prices on the Bakers Chocolate Dipping tubs. I think I ended up buying 8 pounds of strawberries and 9 tubs of the dipping chocolate. I made 11 teacher gifts.

Michael and I probably won't do anything special for Valentine's Day. We have a birthday party, 2 basketball games and a very long baseball practice tomorrow. Although it will be a busy day, it will be a great day being together with my family.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Kids In the Kitchen (Semi-Homemade Pizza)

The weather has been so gorgeous around here lately! We have been taking every opportunity we can to get outside. I know it won't last, because it is just mid-February, but I have my fingers crossed!

Last night, Bo had a 5:30 baseball practice and we were going to have to leave at 4:30, so we had an early dinner and I let the kids help. I totally recommend trying the Chef Boyardee Pizza Kits. I buy the Cheese Pizza kit that makes 2 large pizzas. I will also buy some ground beef, sausage, or pepperoni to go on top. I usually make the dough and brown the meat and then I let them add all the toppings. Next time I'm going to try one with all the veggies I like. The kids love helping me in the kitchen and I love to have their help.

We've had a great week so far! This is Sophie on Monday night getting ready for picture day at school the following day. She picked out this outfit and I went with it!

I just couldn't resist getting a close up because she thought I was going to let her wear make-up to school. I hope you can see the baby blue eyeshadow, frosted pink lips and the all over glitter.

Bo and Reed are buddies! Bo is so patient with Reed and helps fix him drinks and snacks for me. The other day they jumped on the trampoline together for at least an hour. At dinner time last night, Bo went to get a drink and Reed followed him and said, "I want a cup just like Bo." I bet this is just the beginning of the "just like Bo" stage of Reed's life. Here they are sitting together watching TV. I think they were watching SpongeBob or something.

Baby it's cold outside! (Sausage & Rice Stew)

We've been freezing here! I can't believe how cold it's been. If it's going to be this cold, we should at least get some snow. I made Sausage & Rice Stew on Wednesday and it was yummy, perfect for a cold night! Here's the recipe:

Sausage & Rice Stew
1 pkg (16 oz) smoked turkey kielbasa, halved lengthwise and sliced
1 lg sweet onion chopped
3 lg garlic cloves minced
1 Tb canola oil
2 cups water
1 can (14 1/2 oz) reduced sodium chicken broth
2 cans white kidney beans or cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
1 cup uncooked long grain rice
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp dried thyme
1/2 tsp pepper
2 cups fresh baby spinach

In a dutch oven, saute the kielbasa, onion, and garlic in oil until onion is tender. Add the water, broth beans, rice and seasonings. Bring to a boil.

Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 15 - 20 minutes or until rice is tender. Stir in spinach *. Cook 5 minutes longer or until spinach is wilted.

(*I'll admit that I didn't add the spinach for the whole family. I only added about a handful of the spinach to my bowl. I knew the kids and Michael wouldn't go for it.)

We have yet another busy sports weekend coming up. Bo played basketball last night, Sophie will play tonight. They both have basketball games tomorrow. Bo also has baseball practice tomorrow and I get to go to a baby shower for my girlfriend Janell. I decided I would sit out a week of tennis so I could go to Bo's first scrimmage game on Sunday. I think Bo's team is really good so I can't wait to see how they stack up against the other teams he will be playing.

Tag, your it! (Brown Sugar Bars)

I've been tagged twice by Tiffany and Angie! I'm always up for a good game of tag!

So, here's what you do:

1. Go to your 4th folder where you store your photos.

2. Select the 4th photo (no exceptions).

3. Post the picture with an explanation.

4. Tag 4 people to do the same.

5. I tagged Allison, Flo, Jill and Julie

The 4th photo in my 4th folder was this picture of Sophie in Oct 2005, asleep in the car. She sleeps just like I do, with her mouth wide open:)

Speaking of Sophie, my poor baby is sick again today. She has strep throat AGAIN! I can't remember how many times this is, but it's a lot! We are going to visit the ENT soon, I hope she doesn't have to have her tonsils removed, but if it will help we are definitely going to do it. Anyone have any recommendations for a good ENT?

Also, speaking of tonsils, did you know your tonsils can grow back? I had strep throat around Christmas and I went to a "minute clinic" type place to get a prescription and the Dr said I may have to have my tonsils removed again. Yesterday, at Sophie's dr appt, I asked if tonsils can grow back and the answer was yes. Very interesting...

So here's Sophie, at home with me today. She is full of energy and bouncing off the walls! I couldn't send her back to school today because she is still contagious. . .Although, she was probably just as contagious yesterday when she called me from the school complaining of a sore throat. Poor baby, I didn't go get her because I didn't really think she was that sick. I thought she was just wanting to come home:( She called me on Monday, from the nurse's office because she bumped her head on the table at school. Then on Friday of last week, she called me from my Mom's office (Mom is the book-keeper at my kids' school! Awesome for me!) saying she had a tummy ache. So, when she called me yesterday, I just put my foot down and said, "Just try to stay at school and if you aren't feeling better after lunch, you can call me." I decided to go ahead and make a dr appt for her after school because Cooper, my nephew, had strep throat and Sophie was around him all day on Sunday. Sure as the world, she had it and I am holding the title, "Worse Mom in the World!"

I did hyave some fun in the kitchen some this weekend! We had a home tennis match and I made some Ham/Cheddar wraps. These are perfect for tennis, because they are easy to transport and easy to eat. They were really good too. You just lay out a flour tortilla, spread a small amount of mayonnaise on it, layer it with good deli ham, lettuce shreds, and some shredded cheddar. There are tons of other stuff you can add to it also, but for a crowd, I try to keep it simple. Then you just roll it up. Depending on the size of the tortillas, you can cut them in half or leave them whole. Then I wrap each one in plastic wrap so they stay fresh. I also bought some Hebrew National "pigs in a blanket" from the freezer section at Publix. They were delicious and very low maintenance.

For the Super Bowl party, I made Brown Sugar Bars. I wanted something pretty simple to make and something I could make on Saturday, because Sunday's schedule was going to be tight. Here's that recipe:

Brown Sugar Bars

I wish I had taken a picture because they are really fancy looking with the almonds on top.

1 cup butter, softened

1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar

1 large egg

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 (12 oz) pkg semisweet chocolate chips

1 1/2 cups sliced almonds, roasted

Beat butter and brown sugar at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy. Add egg and vanilla, beating until blended.

Combine flour, baking powder, and salt; gradually add to butter mixture beating until blended.

Press dough into an ungreased 15x10 in jelly roll pan with lightly floured fingertips.

Bake at 350 for 12 - 15 minutes or until golden. Place pan on a wire rack. Sprinkle chocolate chips evenly over warm cookie. Let stand 5 minutes; spread chocolate chips evenly over top. Sprinkle evenly with almonds. Cool completely in pan on wire rack. Cut into bars. Make about 3 dozen.

Vacations Revisited

I am a single mom until Wednesday. Michael is flying out today to go to Washington DC to meet with a different branch of his company. He told me what the meeting was about, but it just went in one ear and out the other. I will miss him when he is gone. He is such a help with the kids and around the house. I am pretty lucky because he's the neat one. He always puts his clothes away, he cleans the kitchen after I cook (sometimes) and he always gets up with Reed during the night. Reed usually sleeps through the night 80% of the time, but that other 20% really gets to me. Michael is a good dad and husband.


Last year at this time we were on our way to Lake Tahoe with David and Missy. I love to take vacations with Michael. We usually take 1 vacation a year without the kids. I don't think that's going to happen this year. So, I will just reflect on our previous vacations and dream.
Here we are at the top of the slopes in Lake Tahoe (2008). I love this place! Michael and Missy loved to ski the "moguls," so one day, I went to the spa, David went to the casinos and Michael and Missy stayed on the slopes. I don't know the last time I have been that relaxed. One of my favorite things was to ski all day then come back to the hotel and sit in the hot tub out in the middle of the snow. One of my all time favorite restaurants is in Lake Tahoe, Fire and Ice (http://www.fire-ice.com/). We never had to take a car anywhere we went. We walked everywhere. We also went Ice Skating, that was my favorite too.


This is a picture of us in Cabo San Lucas (2007). I really hate this picture because it was before we lost alot of weight, but it was such a beautiful place. My favorite memories of this place are the guacamole, the infinity pool and the fresh pastries and coffee that were delivered to our room every morning. We also saw whales playing out in the sea every day. In 2006, we went on a cruise to St Martin, St Bart and St Thomas. It was LOVELY. I loved every bit of it. One day Michael and I rented a car and navigated the very tiny, very skinny streets of St Bart. We had lunch in a small cafe and went to a secluded beach by ourselves. Another day was spent with friends on a charter boat "island hopping." This is a picture of us at the Soggy Dollar. It's called the Soggy Dollar because there is no dock, you have to swim to shore. What you can't see from this picture is that we are out in the middle of nowhere. We are standing on a beach with a restaurant behind us. I was about 6 months pregnant on this trip and everyone treated me like a queen!
In 2005, we vacationed at the Ritz Carlton in San Juan, Puerto Rico. This was probably my favorite place to stay EVER! This was also where Michael lost his wedding ring playing football on the beach. My best memory of this trip is when we went to a near by hotel, The El San Juan, to wait on some friends. Michael left me sitting in the lobby to go to the bathroom and one of the locals approached me and asked me for my autograph. He said I was very beautiful and asked me if I was famous. Hee Hee. Michael said he was just hitting on me, but I don't care. I was flattered! Another night, we rode by taxi to a local restaurant where we had the best lobster I have ever had! I cracked up in the taxi listening to Michael try to speak Spanish to the driver. We would never make it on Amazing Race.

In 2004, we went to St Kitts in the Caribbean. This was our first trip with Michael's company so we didn't know many people yet. Michael won an award for being the "Rookie of the Year!" I loved sitting out by the beach everyday and reading. We had some great volleyball matches, our branch won! I can't remember much more about this trip other than we were in shock at how extravagant everything was.

Before we started going on trips with Opteum, Michael and I liked to go to Brasstown Valley Resort (http://www.brasstownvalley.com/). It is just a few hours drive away in North GA. It has the best Breakfast buffet I have ever had with an awesome omelet bar. They have a beautiful lobby with a huge fireplace and a breathtaking view of the mountains. I'm hoping to go back one day soon.

Hope I didn't bore you with my "trip" down memory lane. It's good to remember all these fun times that Michael and I have experienced. We Love to vacation together!