Picnic Ideas

Cookies, brownies, lemon bars, pound cake, chocolate cake with cherry pie filling..None of these melt. Ice cold water melon, or fruit bowl, angel food cake with fruit topping like strawberries. OK that's all I can think of -- Carolyn Bailey

Brownies are always a fave w/a southern picnic...do 3 diff kinds: plain, pecan, caramel, peanut butter, white choc, turtle, sprinkles. Brownies are good when they are warm/hot, they don't melt like choc chip cookies, and they don't go stale in the heat! Simple, cheap, and EVERYONE loves brownies!(except tanner, choco ones anyway) Key Lime Bars? (instead of lemon) Is key lime southern? Pecan tarts...like bite size pecan pies but w/o the sugary gelatenous middle! -- Joanelle Norris

Healthy Corn Dogs?

Perhaps it is the balmy summer weather we've been having lately that has induced this rare craving to eat corn dogs. Perhaps I'm missing a nutrient. Perhaps I need to drink more water. Perhaps. Whatever it is, I desire corn dogs. I dream of corn dogs. But I just can't bring myself to buy a corn dog. Every time I go to the grocery store I walk down the frozen food aisle and stop at the case filled with corn dogs. I stare. I lick my lips. I think of deep fat frying and cholesterol. Then I continue to walk down the aisle and on to the vegetable stand.

Then last night, I was surfing through hulu.com. Rachel Ray advertised "good for you" corn dogs! Of course, I had to watch it, and this morning I tried to make them. It's a pretty basic recipe of corn bread mix, milk, butter and eggs. Dip the hot dog of your choice into the batter. Place on cookie sheet and bake. Yes, bake. Well, I think my batter was just too thin because it all seeped down the side and puffed up around the dog rather than on top of it. But it still tasted really good. I ate two. Kate said, "Mommy, you make the bestest corn dogs in the whole world." Lunch was eaten without a hitch. I call it a success.

Interractive blog today

So, our church is having a down home, southern picnic in a couple of weeks, and I'm on the list to bring dessert. Here is where the interactive part comes into play. What dessert should I bring? Please keep in mind that it COULD be hot. Very hot. Like 107F hot. Which rules out things like jello, pudding, icing on cake, etc...

I know I've got a family of cooking geniuses out there, so fire away! I'll post your suggestions and attached recipes, and let Kate and Reagan vote on them.

Oh, and Mom or Joanelle, do you guys sitll have the recipe for pistachio cream pie? You know the one we use to make for Dad all the time. Jonathan has requested that for his birthday, but I don't know how to make it.

Kate and paint by numbers

Today, I wanted the girls to be quiet. I wanted them to be entertained. I didn't want them to watch T.V., so I gave Kate a paint by number kit and Reagan paper and watercolors. Six hours later, I had to pry them off of their "projects" and force feed them dinner. Then they went right back at it, and two hours later I put them to bed.

I've got mixed feelings about it, but perhaps I have a budding artist on my hands. Perhaps not. But it kept them quiet.

Georgianna believes that she is talking. She looks as me, does all the correct facial expressions, and blabbers. Then I get up, get her a snack. She gives me a satisfied nod, sits down and eats. She's convinced that the sliding vowel sounds are all that are necessary for coherent speech. One day she'll learn that they are the sounds that only a mother can interpret.

On the potty training front, Reagan has elected to confide her potty needs to Kate. Early this morning Kate came running to me and said, "Mom, I think Reagan needs to go potty." When I asked her why she responded, "Well, she's doing this (at which point she squatted), and then she said that she wanted her potty chair." All of you can imagine that I went zero to sixty in 2 seconds flat. A quick dip and scoop and I had Reagan in my arms. I rounded the corner, slid into the bathroom, pulled down her panties...only to have her pee on my arms.

When Johnny Comes Marching Home Again!

Well, Jonathan made his first solo foray into the heart of Texas. He decided to drive to Dallas/Ft.Worth early Thursday morning to meet up with an old friend. I'm not too sure what they did, but apparently they had a nice time. He had to work the next night, so he headed back home for the 5 hour trip in the early afternoon. He wanted to have plenty of time to get ready for work. Unfortunately, almost two hours into the drive he discovered that he was headed for Louisianna, not Houston.

Tanner and I know that route intimately. When we first visited Texas it was to attend a friends wedding in Mt. Pleasant (a small town that Jonathan passed through). Mt. Pleasant is about 50 miles from Louisianna, and about 2 hours from Dallas. We drove to Mt. Pleasant. Then we drove to Dallas. Then we drove to Mt. Pleasant. Then we drove to Connor. Then we drove to Mt. Pleasant. Then we drove to Dallas. Yes, we know Mt. Pleasant very well. It is not my favorite stretch of road though you do pass quite a number of reasonably priced suburban housing tracts. You can purchase a 3/2 house on a 1/4 acre for about 60k.

Well, Jonny made it home with about 5 minutes to spare. It was good for him, and he handled the stress of the situation very well. Much better than I would have done.

This is the end of a long work week for Tanner, and we're looking forward to a lighter week coming up. He's going to try to finish up the shed next week, and I hope repair the last hole in our wall. School is fast approaching, so it's imperative that we spend as much time as possible working on the house and getting it up to snuff. I spent the afternoon taping and mudding a wall while the girls took their naps. I have to go over it one more time before we can sand, texture and paint. It's nice to see the house slowly coming together.

First Friday

We discovered, earlier this week, that Bryan has concerts every first Friday of the month. So, tonight we parked in Old Town and took an evening walk. It was a perfect evening. The day cooled down quickly, so that we were strolling in 89 degree weather, and the girls had enough energy to run and climb and generally have a good time.






They were brought up short by a series of life like stone statues. Reagan looked up at me and very seriously said, "I think we need to find Aslan, Mommy." It didn't help that at the end of the walk there was a very Narnian lamppost. I didn't point out that we weren't exactly experiencing a 100 year winter.




Georgie exhausted her self. She walked and tumbled and ran almost the entire way to the concert park. She attracted quite a number of admirers with her little legs churning and her bright smile. She looked impossibly tiny as she totters around on her two chubby legs. People stopped me and asked me how old she was, and most were flabbergasted to learn that she's only 10 months.




We stopped and listened to the music for a while, and then discovered the fountain.... Those picture will arrive separately, okay?