Easter

After spending so much time preparing for the Easter Cantata, we decided to take Easter Sunday a little slower and just enjoy a small meal at home after church. We made Ham Buns, Ambrosia Salad, Deviled Eggs and Texas Roadhouse Green Beans. Since we have not been to a Texas Roadhouse, cannot tell you if these beans taste like theirs, but they were mighty tasty:


TEXAS ROADHOUSE-STYLE GREEN BEANS
2 (16 ounce) cans of green beans, drained
2 cups water
1 TBSP sugar
1/2 tsp pepper
5-6 strips bacon
Onion, diced

Directions:
Place uncooked bacon into a skillet on the stove and cook on medium heat. Once bacon is cooked, add the onions and cook until tender. Add the drained beans, water, sugar and pepper to the pan. Bring mixture to a boil and then return the heat to simmer. Simmer until ready to serve.

Easter Cantata 4/22-4/23

For the last 4 months I have been attending practices for the Easter Cantata as I was asked to play the synthesizer. Since I had never played one before and I did not own one, it was a little out of my comfort zone! The choir practiced every Sunday for about 2 hours and the pianist, director and I got together a couple times for 3 & 1/2 hour practices too. Jackie Halversen did a wonderful job of directing the choir, writing the script, preparing the pictures for the slide show that played during the performance and arranging some of the numbers. There were a number of others that made the event go off so well, included my daughter. She was my official page turner and synthesizer-programmer. Some numbers had "voice" changes 3 or 4 times. Sometimes the synthesizer was a Guitar sound or Violin or Chapel Organ. Many of the times the "voice" changes happened when I was busy playing a measure of song. So Audrey had to follow where we were in the music and be ready for all these changes. She was also very helpful in the technical department. Not only setting up my equipment and speakers, but helping to figure out some issues we were having at dress rehearsal. It was an honor to be part of this wonderful program!!

The songs were: Let There Be Songs of Great Gladness; Jesus Once of Humble Birth; Behold Thy Handmaiden; Baby, What You Goin' to Be; Can This Be God's Son?; Jesus Was No Ordinary Man; Let the Children Come; A Child's Prayer / I Feel My Savior's Love; The Light of Christ; Take Your Rest, Dear Jesus; He is Not Here; He Lives!; and Jesus Paid it All.

Cupcakes from Ann

Aren't these the cutest you have ever seen? My friend Ann and her kids made them using marshmallow fondant. They were almost too cute to eat...almost!

Sour Cream Noodle Casserole

SOUR CREAM NOODLE CASSEROLE
(from Pioneer Woman)
1 lb ground beef
15 oz can tomato sauce
1/2 tsp. salt
Ground black pepper
8 oz wide egg noodles
1/2 cup sour cream
1 & 1/4 cups small curd cottage cheese
1/2 c. chopped green onions
1 c. sharp cheddar cheese, shredded

Preheat oven to 350. Brown beef in a large skillet & drain. Then add tomato sauce, salt, black pepper and stir. Simmer. Cook egg noodles, drain and set aside. In a medium bowl, combine sour cream, cottage cheese, black pepper and green onions. Add noodles and stir.

To assemble: add half of the noodles to a 9x13 baking dish. Top with half of the meat mixture. Sprinkle with half the sharp cheddar. Repeat with noodles, meat, and a final layer of cheese. Bake for 20 minutes, or until cheese is melted.

Easter at Mom's

We always choose a different day to celebrate Easter with Grandma Gramlow. This year we met at her house for ham, cheese potatoes, green beans, rolls and frog eye salad. After dinner the kids got their Easter treats from Grandma and we visited for awhile before heading home. It was a nice time to get together with family.

Wisdom Teeth Removed

Audrey had her Wisdom Teeth removed this morning. Poor kid - all 4 at once. We scheduled it for Spring Break so she wouldn't miss school. Here she is on our way home, stopping to pick up her prescriptions. She was still a little "out of it" as she kept asking me the same question over and over again.

Rango & Lunch

We decided to see Rango today, especially looking forward to it since Audrey is such a Johnny Depp fan. Well. It started good. And then I personally think it just got weird. Afterwards we wanted to try a lunch spot we had heard was really good, but when we got there it just seemed crowded and confusing (where to order) so we went across the street to another restaurant. They were cooking ribs, so the place smelled great, but they were not for sale (some catering job). Nothing else looked good on the menu except a chocolate flour less dessert. We had that and it was tasty, but obviously not "lunch". When we paid we noticed we were overcharged. When I brought it to the attention of the staff thinking they'd just adjust the price, instead they gave it to me for free. I thought that was nice and not something I expected. So, now we had our dessert fix but no meal. We headed over to Bajio Mexican Grill, a place I had tried at lunch and enjoyed. I think it was safe to say it is now one of our favorites. Yummy!