Non-Adventure # 25 March in Louisville!

So I figure that before I publish photos from my California trip that I should post the ones from my trip in March to Louisville first. Originally my mom was going to fly and visit my sister Melissa, but the airfare was far from what could be considered a normal price. SO since I had a bonus week of vacation that expired at the end of March and she didn't want to drive alone, Sookie and I hi-jacked her trip and went along. We loaded up and left early Saturday morning and drove to Jackson (in between Memphis and Nashville). Here we are leaving Arkansas and heading into Tennessee!

We stopped to stay at this wonderful new hotel called the Courtyard by Marriott. They not only gave us a great deal on the room for the night but they were dog friendly and didn't care that I had Sookie (meaning they didn't charge us a pet fee). And for those of you who read this and know how clumsy I am I only had one minor trip on the curb that only spilled a small amount of Sookie's dog food on the sidewalk. Here is what our awesome room looked like.



We got up and drove to my sister's house the next day. The next week involved a lot of home improvement, trips to Lowe's, and trips to Home Depot And of course lunch at Toast on Market!

Sometimes I went along and sometimes I hung at the house with Sookie to let them chill and talk together without me. Sookie loved hanging out on their deck when it was nice and warm, as you can see.



I also made a diaper cake for a friend of my sister's while I was there but since she hasn't given it to the person yet I will post it later after she has the shower. Our last night there we went to this restaurant near their house called Aspen Creek. It was pretty darn good! They had a nice variety of choices and the food was really yummy! I also wanted to get a picture of Melissa and Michal because I always seem to have pics of Melissa but none of him or them together. The first picture Melissa didn't like because Michal was only half smiling.
So we retook it. This was much better.
Then when we got home my mom wanted a picture with them in their backyard. Again with first picture we had a slight issue ( just at the right moment Sookie jumped on Melissa's foot and I snapped just as she was yelping out in pain! It was pretty funny but I didn't think she would like if I posted it so I left it out.
The next day (Friday) we got up early and drove straight home all the way through because I had somewhere I had to be bright and early in the morning! I had the spring trend show at Nordstroms! I will post that as soon as I can, but definitely before my Cali trip!

Don't forget to check out the While You Were Sleeping post and take your best guess at the answers. I currently have only one gal entered it looks like she will be getting the special prize if no one else makes a guess!

Non-Adventure # 24 While You Were Sleeping!

First off I have been a really BAD blogger. I have several posts coming, but I apologize to the few who read this blog in not posting lately. So I am starting with our monthly Chick Flicks get together.

February's movie was:

While You Were Sleeping

So everyone came over (minus two girls who while en route had a minor emergency and had to skip out), and we started dinner. Seeing as how the movie takes place at Christmas time the menu planned was a Christmasy-type meal. It included:
Pot Roast with carrots (I used the Pioneer Woman's recipe)
Creamy Mashed Potatoes
Green Bean Casserole
Rolls
and for dessert:
Ice Cream Kitties
We all got started making certain parts of our meal. Here are Rose and Adorah peeling and cubing the potatoes for our creamy mashed potatoes.

While they were doing the potatoes, I dealt with the pot roast, and my friend Robin made our easy green bean casserole.
Here is our Christmas feast complete with some Christmasy decorations. I even pulled out the cards from this past Christmas.
Everything was soooooo yummy! Especially that yummy fall apart pot roast. We couldn't eat too much though we still had to make our dessert!
We couldn't resist stopping to take a picture (in between the dinner and dessert course)! Now it was time for dessert. In the movie there are several references to cats. So for dessert we made our own cats. With the help of cookies, candy, chocolate topping, whipped cream, and ice cream we created our own cats.
Some kind of look like mice but we did our best!! And most importantly we had a great time making them and an even better time eating them! We had fun watching the movie, even with an unnamed person asking us which one is Bill Pullman? throughout the first 20 minutes of the movie. It was also quite entertaining to watch a movie with no cell phones!
I know I am sooo bad for taking forever to post this and though no one even tried to answer the quiz last time, I am just going to assume you just didn't know the answers to it. I am going to post a new quiz, I will give out a little gift to the one who guesses the most right, even if it is just one person. So here it goes:

Sandra Bullock Trivia Quiz
1. For whom was the role of Lucy in While You Were Sleeping originally written?
a. Demi Moore
b. Meg Ryan
c. Julia Roberts

2. In what action movie did Bullock make her on-screen debut?
a. Speed
b. Hangmen
c. Demolition Man

3. What writer is one of Sandra Bullock’s favorites?
a. Ernest Hemingway
b. Tom Clancy
c. Dr. Seuss

4. Sandra and her father work together on a passion of Sandra’s. What is it?
a. Real Estate
b. Deep-sea fishing
c. Jujitsu

5. What is the most outrageous thing Bullock has done for a role to date?
a. Bungee jumped
b. Duct-taped her breasts
c. Shaved her head

So take your best guesses and leave a comment, and remember if you keep it anonymous and win I won't be able to give you your prize! Here are the recipes we used for the night, minus the pot roast one because I linked you to the Pioneer Woman's earlier. We are taking a pause for the month of March with Spring Break's and some other things it was a crazy busy month. I will resume again in April and the movie is...............................

Mary’s Creamy Mashed Potatoes
6 medium all-purpose potatoes
1/2 to 3/4 cup hot milk
1/2 stick butter or margarine
salt

Peel potatoes and dice into 1-inch cubes. Place the diced potatoes in a large saucepan, and cover with cold water. Bring to a boil, and boil gently for about 20 minutes or until you can mash a cube easily with a fork. Drain well. Add hot milk and butter, and mash with a potato masher or a fork until lumps are smoothed out. Transfer to a hot serving bowl, add salt to taste, and whip with a fork until fluffy. Add additional hot milk if necessary. (For a change of pace and a richer flavor you can substitute 6-8 ounces of cream cheese in place of butter. Cut up the softened cream cheese before adding it to the potatoes. Makes approximately 6 servings.)

Green Bean Casserole
1 can cream of mushroom soup
3 14-oz. cans cooked green beans, drained
1/2 cup milk
pepper
1 1/3 cups French fried onions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees, mix the soup, milk, and pepper to taste in a 1 1./2 quart baking or casserole dish. Add the green beans and 2/3 cup of the fried onions, and stir until just coated. Bake for 25 minutes. Top with remaining 2/3 cup fried onions, and bake for an additional 5 minutes or until onions are lightly browned. Makes approximately 6 servings.

Ice Cream Kitties
2 or 3 half gallon containers of ice cream in a variety of flavors
1 package chocolate sandwich cookies
one 8-ounce package m&m’s
1 container spray or whipped topping or whipped cream
1 package black licorice laces cut in 4-or 5- inch strips

To create your cat, place a baseball sized scoop of ice cream in a bowl (let ice cream sit our a bit to soften; then use an extra-large ice cream scoop). Take 2 cookies and push them halfway into the ice cream ball. These are the cat’s ears. Place two dollops of whipped cream halfway down “the face”, these will be the cheeks. Take two m&m’s for the eyes and 1 for the nose and place them accordingly. Take 2-3 licorice strips per side for cat’s whiskers and poke them into whipped cream cheeks, all the way to the ice cream so they will stand out.
Feel free to get creative. You can add stripes with chocolate sauce or “fur” with different colored sprinkles, but most of all have fun! Serves approximately 8 depending on how much ice cream you eat!

We Promise It’s Not Elsie’s Eggnog*
6 beaten egg yolks
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup sugar
3 cups milk
1 1/2 tsp rum extract
1 tbsp vanilla
2 cups heavy whipping cream
nutmeg

In a large, heavy saucepan, mix egg yolks, salt, milk, and 5 tablespoons of sugar. Cook and stir continuously over medium heat until mixture just coats a metal spoon with a thin whitish or beige film. Do not boil. Remove from the heat. Place the pan in a bowl of ice water, and stir for 2 or 3 minutes to cool. Stir in rum extract, vanilla, and 3 tablespoons sugar until sugar is completely dissolved and incorporated. Cover and chill for 4-24 hours.
Just before guests arrive, beat the whipping cream and remaining 1/2 cup sugar in a mixing bowl until soft peaks form. Transfer the chilled egg mixture into a serving or punch bowl. Fold in the whipped cream. Cover and chill. Stir lightly before serving. Sprinkle each serving with nutmeg. Makes about ten 4-ounce servings.

*We didn't actually make this because some of the girls that come to Chick Flicks are pregnant and the raw eggs in this are no bueno for them! And we were way past them serving eggnog in the store.

Rambling # 20 An Upside-Down Delicious Pineappley Treat!

Have you ever seen a recipe in a book or a magazine and it made your mouth water and you began to crave it so bad you knew it wouldn't be long before you made it? Well that was me this week. I am not usually a HUGE fan of cakes but there are some I just absolutely love (like Chris's Chocolate Cake and this one!). I was flipping through this month's Family Circle (well technically I think it is March's)
and I came across a Pineapple Upside-Down Cake recipe that set my mouth to watering! The other night I gave in to my craving and made this really simple but super delicious recipe for Pineapple Upside-Down Cake!

Ladies and Gents your ingredients for:

Pineapple Upside-Down Cake

Baking powder, milk, eggs, butter, flour, vanilla, pineapple slices, maraschino cherries, DARK brown sugar, nutmeg, salt, and sugar.

I started by cracking open the pineapple slices and draining the juice into a bowl, you will need this later. So for now, just set it to the side. Preheat the oven to 350. Now it is time to build up the yummy top part of the Pineapple Upside-Down Cake! The best part if you ask me.
I started with a 13 x 9 pan and melted half a stick of unsalted butter in it. I set the pan on the stove and turned a burner on low. When it was all melted I made sure the bottom of the pan was completely covered.
Then I added a 1/2 cup DARK brown sugar Mix it with a fork until it is all combined and completely coats the bottom of the pan, like so
Next layer the pineapple slices on the brown sugar so that you make a good layer. It will take at least 10 but could use 12 slices to make a complete layer.
Rather than open another can for 2 more pineapple slices I just spaced them better so that they make a good layer.
Put a cherry into the middle of each pineapple slice.
Umm it looks yummy already!
Now for the Cake part! First measure out your dry ingredients. In a bowl measure out 2 cups of flour,
2 teaspoons baking powder,
1/2 teaspoon salt,
and 1/8 teaspoon of nutmeg. Most people I know (including me) don't have a 1/8 tsp measure so I just did about half of the 1/4 tsp.
Give those a good stir with whisk or a fork to mix well, and set aside. In a mixing bowl add a cup of sugar
add a stick of softened, unsalted butter now beat together for 2 minutes. When your two minutes are up add two eggs. Beat until well blended.
After your eggs are good and blended add HALF the flour mixture on a low speed.
Keep the mixer going while adding 1/2 cup of the pineapple juice (the stuff you drained from the slices earlier and set aside)
1/2 cup milk and beat until blended.
Beat in the rest of the flour mixture,

and then add a teaspoon of vanilla.
When all is mixed, blended, and combined pour the batter over the topping into the 13 x 9 pan.
Smooth it out and make sure everything is covered, no cherries peeking out.
Now bake in the oven for 40 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack for a full 10 minutes. If you rush to pop out the cake too soon the pineapples and cherries may stick to the pan.
Ding! Ten minutes are up! Take a baking sheet and place it on the cake (and ignore the camera cord! I had to plug in my camera to even be able to turn the camera on.)
flip
and Voila! It looks so yummy and golden! Be aware it will be hard to wait those full ten minutes so make sure you set a timer or leave the room so it will look just like this!
Now cut yourself a slice and enjoy!
Look at the carmelized brown sugar, the soft sugary sweet pineapple, and a cherry to top it off! Perfection!
Here is what the page looks like in the magazine! Delicious!
Don't forget to read the post below and make your best guesses in the trivia questions! I got a great surprise for the winner!

Pineapple Upside-Down Cake

topping:

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter

1/2 cup packed DARK brown sugar

1 can (20 ounces) pineapple rings in juice

10-12 maraschino cherries

cake batter:

2 cups flour

2 tsps. baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/8 tsp ground nutmeg

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup pineapple juice from pineapple rings

1 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 350.

Topping:

Melt butter in a 13 x 9 metal baking pan on stovetop over low heat. Remove from heat and stir in brown sugar. Drain pineapple rings, and reserve 1/2 cup of the pineapple juice. Fit the rings in the pan, it should take about 10-12 rings. Take a maraschino cherry and tuck it into each hole in the pineapple rings.

Cake:

In a bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, and nutmeg. In a mixing bowl mix softened butter and sugar together for 2 minutes. Add eggs, and beat until blended. On a low speed, beat in half the flour mix, pineapple juice, and milk. When all that is blended add remaining flour mixture, then vanilla. Spread the batter into the pan over the topping. Bake at 350 for 40 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.

Cool cake on a wire rack for 10 minutes. If you pop too soon the pineapple rings and cherries might stick to the pan. After the FULL 10 minutes use a baking sheet on top to flip the cake over. If some do stick just put them back on the cake. Eat warm and enjoy!

Non-Adventure #22 Something Fun! Plus a Surprise Giveaway!

I am starting a new monthly project and I am calling it Chick Flicks! I saw something in Mardels last November that caught my eye. It was a book called Chick Flicks.
Like it says on the corner it provides Dinner and a Movie. So I emailed some friends to see who was interested and everyone said they were couldn't wait and would love to do something like this at least once a month.

The Plan:

Your friends come over and together you make a pre-planned meal that goes with the movie theme. Everyone sits down, eats together, and chats. There are meal time talk starters and trivia questions too. As a group we clean-up, sit down, and watch the movie. After the movie (if everything hasn't run too long) there are discussion questions that help with the overall themes in the movie and provide some Bible scriptures to help re-inforce the themes in the movie. The book has twelve movies, so we will finish the book in one year. By the way there are other versions of this book one for guys that has action movies, one for families with movies like Finding Nemo and others.

January was the official kick off month! I invited everyone over (and despite some cancellations) we had a good showing. I promise next month I will take pictures, I was so busy trying to figure out how I wanted to do everything I forgot to get my camera out. So our first movie was:

Fried Green Tomatoes

Everyone came over and we started cooking. I set up stations with everything the girls would need so that I could just kind of float between helping where I needed to. Now somethings have to be made ahead of time so that everything can be eaten all together and so you can eat before the movie not after.

The Menu:

"The Secrets in the Sauce" Sandwiches (made ahead of time)

Deviled Eggs (made ahead of time)

Potato Salad

Fried Pickles (Supposed to be Fried Green Tomatoes, but couldn't find and green tomatoes so I had to make a substitution)

Whistle Stop Old Fashioned Peach Cobbler and ice cream

(I'll include the recipes we used at the end of this post. The potato salad was store bought and I used my mom's deviled egg recipe instead of the book one.)

As people finished with their food prep I had a quiz for everyone to answer. After all the food was hot and ready for eating we sat down. We prayed and started chowing down. I asked the girls some of the meal time talk starters. Here are what some of those were:

• The south loves its fried foods. What is the strangest thing you have ever eaten fried?
• As women, we truly relish attention lavished on us by the one we love the most. What is the most outrageous thing you've ever done to attract the attention of the opposite sex?
• Why do you think so many women struggle with issues of self-esteem?
• How important or unimportant is it for us to conform to the lifestyle society expects of us?

By then everyone had answered their quizzes, so I gave out the answers. All of the quizzes are themed to either a big theme in the movie, the movie, or an actress in the movie. This quiz was the Comfort Food Trivia Quiz. I am going to post the questions here online. If you leave a comment with your guesses on the answers, I will send a special gift to the person with the most right answers. If we have a tie I will do a drawing. I will post the answers with the winners name. The deadline to make your guesses will be next the next Chick Flicks get together (I am thinking it will be Feb. 20th). So here's your quiz:

Comfort Food Trivia Quiz

1. How many pigs does a typical American eat in a lifetime?

a. 8 b. 28 c. 48

2. What fine, Southern lady brought us the first ready-mix food to ever be sold commercially?

3. What is the most popular meal ordered in sit-down restaurants in the United States?

4. What woods should you never use to barbecue as they can add harmful tar and resins to food?

5. What are grits?

6. What popular packaged treat was invented in 1931 as a way to use thousands of shortcake pans that sat empty all year except for strawberry season?

7. Why is pound cake called pound cake?

After our yummy meal it was time for dessert: peach cobbler and ice cream. Then we sat down and watched the movie. It has been a long time since I last watched that movie. I had forgotten just how much I loved it. It was funny to see some of the fashions! It was kind of a long movie so after it finished everyone headed on home! So thanks for coming girls! I had a great time and I hope you all did too.

Good luck on the quiz ladies! And tune in next month when our movie will be........

Oh and here are the promised recipes:

“Secrets in the Sauce” Sandwiches

3- to 4- pound boneless pork shoulder roast
2 medium onions, sliced
1 1/2 to 2 cups bottled barbecue sauce
1/2 tsp hot pepper sauce
2 tbsp orange marmalade (or 1 tbsp brown sugar)
1 tbsp cornstarch
1 tbsp cold water
8 to 10 sandwich buns

Cut roast into large cubes, 2-3 inch squares. Place in slow cooker with onions. In a bowl, mix barbecue sauce, marmalade, and hot pepper sauce. Pour over meat and onions. Cover and cook on low for 8-10 hours or until meat is cooked through and tender. Remove pork and onions from the slow cooker with a slotted spoon, and place on tray or plate. Shred the pork with a fork and set aside. Combine cornstarch and cold water until completely blended. Turn slow cooker on high, and add cornstarch mixture to juices in slow cooker. Blend well. Cook and cover on high for 1 minutes. Return pork and onions to slow cooker, stir to coat well and then cook on high for 10 minutes. Add more barbecue sauce if desired. (if it will be a while before you eat, return the slow cooker to low to keep warm and tilt the lid to vent the steam.) To serve, spoon a generous amount of pork and onions onto sandwich buns. With extra barbecue sauce and horseradish sauce, if desired.

Fried pickles

Vegetable oil, for frying
1 cup all-purpose four
salt and fresh ground black pepper
4 large eggs, beaten
1 cup cornmeal (or breadcrumbs)
1 (16 oz) jar of dill pickles

In a heavy bottomed pot, heat 2-inches of oil to 350 degrees.

Put the flour and a dash of salt and pepper in a small bowl, the beaten eggs in another bowl, and the cornmeal (or breadcrumbs) with a dash of salt and pepper in a third bowl. Dredge the pickles in the flour, then the egg, and then the cornmeal. In bathes, carefully lower the pickles into the oil and fry for 3 minutes. Using a slotted spoon remove from the oil to paper towels to drain. Transfer to a serving platter and enjoy with your favorite dipping sauce.

Whistle Stop Old Fashioned Peach Cobbler

2 15- ounce cans of sliced peaches, drained well
1/2 tsp cinnamon
6 tbsp butter
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 cup flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup milk

Preheat the oven to 350. Drain the peaches and sprinkle them with cinnamon. Stir until the peaches are coated, then set aside. In a 2 quart baking dish, melt butter. In a separate bowl, combine sugar, brown sugar, flour, baking powder, and salt. Add milk and stir until mixed. Pour batter over butter in baking dish. DO NOT STIR. Spoon the peaches evenly over the batter. Again, DO NOT STIR. Bake for one hour. Let cool for 10-15 minutes before serving. Serve with a little fresh whipped cream or ice cream.