Updated Recipes

There've been a few additions... check 'em out!
Trying to get ALL my recipes on here. Workin' on it. Then I'll add all the absolute best evers to Dinner On a Dime.

Bernhardt Turkey Bowl

Bowen is the star of the team...

Bryson fumbles the ball...

Thanksgiving in Savannah

Yes, we went to Savannah, Georgia for Thanksgiving this year. It was fantastic. Since Marmi and Pappa ('Little Women' lingo) are 2,600 miles away we had Thanksgiving with our Florida family... Regi, Dylan, Reese, Keri, Shawn & Savannah.

In this picture we are at none other than Paula Dean's famous "Lady & Sons" restaraunt. If you're at all into cooking you know who this is...

She's as Southern as they come and so is her cooking. Every item on our Thanksgiving plate had a stick of butter in it. It was awsome. She was actually there at the store IN PERSON! I figure I'm pretty cool because as I was peeping through the window of her store to gawk she waved at me.

Here's Regi and Keri doing their own peeping trying to get a wave of their own. ( :

You might think that would be the extent of our 'paparazzi' personality but Keri had a stalker side of her I never knew about... Dying to get a picture with Paula Dean to put in her cookbook (who wouldn't?), here's Keri wedging her way through the crowd to be next to Paula (who didn't quite acknowledge). The reason why I am laughing out loud at this very moment is thinking about how Keri is smiling and posing for the camera as if Paula Dean had her arm around her doing the same. It's really crackin' me up.

We stayed in the fantastic Hilton Garden Inn that was blocks away from the Riverwalk. Savannah, GA is timeless... authentic... freakin' awsome. Old buildings (very old), haunted taverns, mammoth oak trees. The place is so old I could practically see horse and carriages clopping around on the cobblestone streets. From a secret history buff's point of view... this place was 'to die for'.

Of course, not to be enjoyed to it's full extent with an almost 3 year old and an almost one year old. Why do I always forget that adult vacations with little tiny children are an incongruency? A big one. Extremely delicious and expensive food and nap time do not mix. Nice, fancy hotel rooms and up all night as well as 6:30am do not mix. Bedtime at 7pm and going out to dinner do not mix. Stopping to stare at old buildings and two year olds do not mix. One of the best vacations I've had is when Bryan and I took the boys to Orlando, stayed in the Radisson... nap, eat, swim. Happy kids = happy mommy = happy daddy.

I love my friends. I'm so glad we took this adventure. It will never be forgotten and I have pictures to prove it. Such a fun Thanksgiving. I'm going to put Keri's stalker picture in my cookbook so I can laugh everytime I open it.

Sneaky Sadie

I received a package in the mail today from none other than sneaky Sadie. It was full of surprise and adulation. How is it that she remembered that I have this quirky little fixation with miniature things? What a dubious little notetaker. For my birthday she sent me the miniature keychains for the games Scrabble, Clue, Yhatzee, and the little fisherprice toy called the corn popper. I LOVE THEM! Not sure what I'll do with them except buy a miniature armour to put them in for display. They're just so dang cute.

Good Morning Baltimore!

My fabulous friends (who are absolutely fabulous) got me this fantastic present for my birthday!

What do we do all day...

Watch TV... in style, of course!

Play dress up...

Wrestle...

Read books with friends (with no clothes on apparently)...

Put no makeup on, let roots grow out 2 inches, always wear flip flops whether it's sweatshirt weather or not, and constantly be working on some crafty homemade cookbook, scrapbook, or other...

And lastly, play bumper cars for FHE. We probably did this for a good half hour...

You've been elfed!

Regi, Keri, & I!
Us!
Mom, Dad, & Joe!

Bo sings Twinkle Twinkle

PYZAM

I love Pyzam. They have fantastic blogger backgrounds. Since my recipe blog and wishlist blog don't have very many widgets on them, I use them to experiment with Pyzam backgrounds. Has anyone figured out yet how to put a Pyzam background on without losing all your widgets? I'm sure I could figure it out if I was 'html' fluent.

As you can see my new background is the extremely new and fantastic (sarcasm) minima dark. My attempts to create a fabulous, uniquely me background always spiral into an embarassing spectacle of unmatching colors, uneven patterns, and hours of wasted time. (sigh)

Family Portrait

Getting a family portrait at a 'professional studio is always a nightmare for us... yet always seems to be worth it.

Eclypse Movie Trailer

TAGGED!

Amanda, in a desperate attempt to get my head out of Twilight, tagged me. So I'm supposed to list of few things that are... 'Interesting or Not'. I find that a VERY broad subject and quite open to interpretation. Hm, this WILL be interesting... OR NOT!!!

I battle with things like... watching 'The Office'. Sometimes I think it's absolutely hilarious but when it's over I feel like I'm dumber than when it started. I can't decide if the trade-off is worth it.

I lose my personality after 9:30pm. My girlfriends are well aware of this from our many (and continued) attempts at late night girl parties. I'm always really excited about it until it's too late and then I lose all my facial expressions. They go into hibernation as does my enthusiasm. My sudden party pooperness has become expected and continually denied (by myself) and ignored (by my friends). It's just an accepted part of our friendship.

I'm secretly 14 yrs old. I always say 17 to my friends and pretend like it's the honest truth. The Evidence? The fact that I love High School Musical. I get chills listening to "Status Quo". I've finally come to a point in my life where I'm not afraid to admit it.

I LOVE LOVE LOVE to cook. With some stipulations, of course. It has to meet one of three criteria:

1. A recipe I've never tried before.
2. A claimed 'Best Ever' recipe by myself or someone else
3. A quick, easy, satisfyingly delicious meal that makes me feel like I'm doing a fantastic job as mother and wife (a least culinarily). This usually interprets to a crockpot meal that smells up the house.

The funny thing is... I don't even want to eat it. I want to taste it and then give it away. And I'm not a fan of leftovers no matter good it was in the first place. My friends and neighbors think it's a fabulous 'problem' that I have since I often end up trying out a new recipe that serves 8 and inviting them over for dinner.

Which leads me to my kitchen gadget infatuation. I know I've mentioned this before but I'm utterly hopeless. I want a Bosch AND a Kitchen Aid Mixer. I want a pantry big enough so that half of it can be used to store platters and dishes, pans and appliances, silicone baking mats and beautiful (as well as matching) paper plates and napkins. And I don't want just practical, I want beautiful. My new meat tenderizer is not only efficient, but a work of art.

I'm obsessed with Washington D.C. I'm a patriot (by my own definition). I suppress tears almost every time I hear the National Anthem. I'm proud of my country and in awe of those serving it. Eddie is my virtual hero by fact of his red baray (sp?) or whatever color it is. He stands for freedom. And I feel confident he would protect me from the Tutsi (see 'Hotel Rwanda').

ENOUGH! I've heard enough 'interesting... OR NOT' for one day. I'm tagging... Mark (who never seems to answer tags), Amy (who doesn't seem to be bloggin lately), Mom (who's also been a non-blogger), and Keri (to get her out of Twilight -- HAHA!)

Other people I want to tag but I don't know if I'm allowed that many... Jackie (get a blog FCOL), Riki (whose constant fear of snow tells me we're going to be great friends), and Colin (who I doubt reads this but we'll see). ( :

Twilight Party

Shaun (Keri's husband) thought we were having a seance (sp?). I said, "Do you think we could summon Edward?" I don't think seances work for fantasy worlds, though.


Attendees (L-R): Amber Westfall (reading the latest from Stephenie Meyers fansite), Regi Daniels, Meredith Rodgers, Keri Willis, Beth, and Jerami Pack. Catherine Castillo was also there but she is in the next picture.

I didn't think our party would be complete without Edward and Bella and all the other characters so here they are on our magnet board. Edward is being played by Henri Caville (at least that's in my version).

We covered all important items of business first...

• What was your favorite part of the book... please tell us again... and again... and again!
• Edward VS Jacob debate. Debate? There's no debate!
• Who's coming with us on our trip to Forks, WA?
• Who in real life do you suspect is a civilized vampire?
• How obsessed are you really? I mean, really? No seriously, really, how obsessed?
• And last but not least... Will we ever be the same again?

What a fantastic party. Everyone went home with their own copy 'Twilight Playlist favs' CD, vampire fangs, Dentyne Ice gum, Dentyne Fire gum, a tea light, and dove dark chocolate. The only thing we were missing was Stephenie Meyer herself and our own personal copies of her un-edited manuscripts of 'Forever Dawn', 'Breaking Dawn', and most of all 'Midnight Sun' (sigh).