Relaxing Saturday

Today when I suggested going to the CV craft fair, I was given a less than enthusiastic response from both John and Audrey. So I decided it was a Sam's-day-out and went by myself. I had a fun time at the craft fair, met up with Amy & Angela to see their booth, bought a few things and then left for more me-time. I stopped at a couple stores to browse and then headed to Hallett's for my all-time favorite sandwich: a Reuben. Seemed fitting since St. Patty's Day is just around the corner. Had a great time just going where I wanted to at the pace I wanted - as a mom, that usually does not happen!! And then I headed home for a movie marathon with the family. We sat down to watch "Australia". Good flick! Long. Epic. But very good.

Nice!

I got these flowers today from one of my store managers. No reason. Wasn't that nice?

Hard Rock Cafe Baked Potato Soup

Tried a new recipe today. Very tasty! Audrey thought I put a little too much of the secret ingredient in - it does have a kick!!

BAKED POTATO SOUP
8 slices bacon, fried and chopped with drippings reserved
1 cup yellow onion, diced
2/3 cup flour
6 cups chicken stock, hot
4 cups potatoes, baked, peeled (optional) and diced
2 cups heavy cream
1/4 cup parsley, chopped
1 & 1/2 teaspoons garlic powder
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 & 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 & 1/2 teaspoons Red Pepper Sauce *Secret ingredient*
(I used the kind you buy in the Chinese cooking section)
1 & 1/2 teaspoons coarse black pepper
1 cup cheddar cheese, grated
1/4 cup green onion, diced

Saute' the onions in the reserved bacon drippings over medium high heat until transparent, about 3 minutes. Add flour, stirring to prevent lumps; cook for 3-5 minutes, until mixture just begins to turn golden. Add chicken stock gradually, whisking to prevent lumps until liquid thickens.

Reduce heat to simmer and add potatoes, cream, bacon, parsley, garlic, basil, salt, red pepper sauce and black pepper. Simmer for 10 minutes; do not allow to boil.

Add grated cheese and green onions, heat until cheese melts smoothly. Garnish each serving as desired with chopped bacon, grated cheese and chopped parsley.

All-Bran Muffins

This is my all-time favorite muffin recipe. Seems so healthy, but not really with the sugar and oil. I've tried the less sugar and applesauce-instead-of-oil recipe, but it is just not the same). So I will stay in my little world of thinking I'm eating healthy : )

ALL-BRAN MUFFINS
1 1/4 cups flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 cups Kellogg's All-Bran cereal
1 & 1/4 cup milk
1 egg
1/4 cup vegetable oil

Stir together flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Set aside.

In another bowl, combine All-Bran cereal and milk. Let stand about 2 minutes or until cereal softens. Add egg and oil. Beat well. Add flour mixture, stirring only until combined. Portion evenly into a 12 muffin pan or a 6 large muffin pan (my fav!) coated with cooking spray.

Bake at 400 degrees about 20 minutes or until golden brown. Serve warm.

Ouch...

Spring was pretending to show up for the last couple weeks. It was "sweater" weather and the snow was melting and the sun was shining. In our area with the crazy winters, steep hills and curvy, shaded roadways, many people choose to have studded snow tires. They are legal until April 1st in our state. But there are those who think they should not be allowed. (Might work if we did not get 24" of snow in 24 hours and the entire road budget was blown in December, but I digress). Because of this "nay-to-studded-tire" sentiment, I was feeling a little guilty as I was clicking along a couple weeks ago on dry pavement. Being the optimistic person I am, I figured Spring was HERE and so I had John and Audrey put my regular tires on about 5 days ago.

Well... we had a fast, furious & wet snowstorm today. They CLOSED the 3 roads on my route home (plus many more) and there were 145 reported accidents by 4pm that day. I was coming down a hill and attempted to stop (at least 5 car lengths before) but just kept sliding.

I would have been able to stop if I had the studs on. I could feel the difference in my traction and control today compared to the rest of the winter. So for my family's safety and my personal budget (2 new headlights!), I will leave my studded snow tires on up to 11:59 on April 1st next year. And not feel guilty.

Scrapping Day

Today was another productive scrapping event with my sister, Kathy, and her friends. It was held at the church this time and was just a 1-day event (9am-9pm). I brought what I thought was enough things to do, but alas, ran out of stuff around 5pm. I did have a great time and got #25 pages done! I headed to Kathy's in the morning and we did a little swapping of craft supplies. That was fun! And then we headed to the church. We scrapped for awhile and then they fed us pizza & salad for lunch. We scrapped awhile longer and then we had a break and did a card making class. We made 3 very cute cards. Then we got back to scrapping until I ran out of things to finish. I stayed for dinner (broccoli & cheese soup, salad, rolls and brownie sundaes) and then headed home. We had been holed up in the window-less room and did not realize that a snow storm had come in until one of our afternoon breaks, so the ride home was a little slower going. Thanks Kathy for inviting me to play with your friends!!

16th Birthday Party

The party started out with appetizers and dinner, then present opening, then the Pinata, then some cake & ice cream and finally they adjourned to the family room to watch "Ratatouille" (all 5 of them squished on the same couch, their choice!). Every time I checked in on the girls, they were either giggling, laughing or being silly. I think the party was a huge success!!