A dinner date?

I got a text from Duffy that said...LaPaz? Um...YES! =) If you remember, it's one of our favorite places but not one we visit often enough. So, needless to say I didn't have to think about it for long. What a great idea and a SURPRISE! =) Thanks Duffy!

What's for dinner?

I spent a little time today blog hopping and stopped by Kelly's Recipe Blog. I found two great ideas. So, tonight we had roasted brussel sprouts and Paula Dean's wild rice and shrimp casserole. YUMMY!

If you're thinking you don't like burssel sprouts, well neither did I...but these...well,

There's something about the crisp outside when they're done roasting combined with the salt! You gotta try 'em.

And the wild rice and shrimp casserole was just as good!

Quick and easy to make! It's on the list of ones we'll try again and again and well you get the point.

Be sure to click on Kelly's link above to get the recipes!

Do-nuts!

I know in my last post I said that we were all settled in for the night, but Jake hinted that we should head out to Krumpe's! Are you wondering what that is? It's a local shop that offers freshly made do-nuts! They open at 7 each evening and remain open 'til 2 am. They make the do-nuts right there and when you order they literally come right off the racks that just left the oven....can you say YUM!?

We all agreed that was a great idea! So, thanks to our chauffeur

We were on our way at

When we got there we were excited to see

and even more excited when we got inside!

As soon as we were back in the car the kids were in the box! Like they'd never seen food before Ha!

Please take note of the box...where'd they all go?!

I didn't think it was nice to take a picture of Julie shoveling her prized treat in her face :)

So, if you're ever in the area, stop by

for...

You'll be hooked too!

Super Yummy!

We've devoured this many times compliments of Mom, but I'd never made it on my own...until now! It's soooo good! I hope you enjoy it as much as we do.

Start with crushing 2 cups of pretzels
Mix those with 1/2 cup of sugar and 3/4 cup of melted butter (or margarine)

Press that in a pan and bake at 350 for 8 minutes. Let it cool....

Then, mix 8 oz cream cheese, 16 oz of cool whip and 1 cup of sugar. Place that on top of the pretzel mixture.

Next, you'll need 6 ozs of strawberry Jello, 1 1/2 cups of boiling water and a 10 oz package of frozen strawberries. Mix the jello and water, then add strawberries. Pour this on top and refrigerate until gelled!

It's VERY easy to make! The hardest part is waiting for it to get done! Ha!

Go to dinner recipe

I've only made this a couple of times but it's easy and uses ingredients that we usually have already. Hope you enjoy it too!

1 can cream of mushroom soup (I substitute for cream of celery...not into mushrooms too much)

1 pound of hamburger

2 cups of hash browns (I use Potatoes O'brein and they work great)

1/2 onion chopped

1 cup of cheddar cheese (that's what the recipe says but we love cheese...let's just say we use more!)

Spray a baking dish with non-stick cooking spray. Brown hamburger and onion together, drain. Pour the hash browns into baking dish and then the meet and onion mixture on top, pour the soup over that and then top with cheese. Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes

Quick and easy to make...it's great with some ketchup too!

Funny, I don't think I know the name of this dish...any suggestions?

Touchdown Taco Dip

In honor of the kickoff (ha!) of football season, we're celebrating with a DipTacular!

I'm a pretty big fan of Mexican food and an even bigger fan of easy recipes (cooking is not my favorite thing to do!).

So, compliments of The Pampered Chef, I'm sharing the how-to's of Touchdown Taco Dip (appropriate, don't you think!?).

1 can of refried beans (16 oz)

8 oz cream cheese (softened)

1 cup of sour cream

2 tbsp taco seasoning mix

2 garlic cloves, pressed

1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese

1 medium tomato

3 green onions with tops

1/2 cup sliced pitted ripe olives

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spread beans over bottom of baking dish. Combine cream cheese, sour cream, taco seasoning and pressed garlic in a bowl. Mix well. Spread cream cheese mixture over beans. Bake 15-18 minutes or until hot. Remove from oven and top with shredded cheese. Return to oven and bake another 2-3 minutes until the cheese is melted.

Meanwhile, dice tomatoes and thinly slice onions. Sprinkle tomatoes and onions over dip. Serve with tortilla chips. YUM!

Home Sweet Home

I have to admit that since moving to Hagerstown, I haven't spent a lot of time in Frederick (except for work!). But every time I'm downtown I remember how much I love it! We enjoyed a delicious dinner with Daddy tonight at LaPaz.


It was a great evening to sit on the patio and enjoy good company and food! But my favorite is the view looking down Carroll Creek.

There's so much to see - lots of details and plenty of people watching too.

Friendship Bread Adventure

So, a week ago Friday, Julieanne brought home a bag of mix with daily instructions that would eventually become friendship bread. Considering that she's barely home and leaving for a cruise, it became my little project. Here's what it looked like when we started.

For the first four days, you just squeeze the mixture in the bag (mash the bag). Along with NO refrigeration and letting air out of the bag as it builds up. On the 5th day, I added a cup of flour, a cup of sugar and a cup of milk...mixing together by squeezing while still in the bag. That's when it really started to rise.

Three more days of squeezing and letting air out brings us to today. The 10th day - adding another 1 1/2 cups of sugar, flour and milk. Stir it all together and measure four 1 cup portions - this goes in separate bags to be shared.

With the remaining mixture, I added eggs, oil, vanilla extract, cinnamon, baking powder, salt, baking soda, instant pudding, more milk, sugar and flour. Drizzle the bottom of two baking dishes with sugar and cinnamon and divide the batter between the two. Top off with sugar and cinnamon and bake for an hour.

Once done baking, cool completely, slice and enjoy! Wow, this is good stuff! So good, I don't know if I want to share! Ha!

For those of you who know me well, YES, I did it - hard to believe, huh?!


Has anyone else made this before?

SWEET Tea!

My most favorite thing to drink is sweet tea! Seems like there's always some brewin' in the kitchen. I'm not alone, I think everyone here likes it, just not as much as me. We've perfected the recipe and it's the best. Now remember, I said SWEET tea....we use 6 regular decaf tea bags (I'm hyper enough on my own without the extra caffeine). Add approx. 1 1/2 cups of sugar to the water before brewing (I know, I know...that's a lot of sugar). Stir it all up and YUM! It's even better with a smidgen of sweet tea vodka...now that's good stuff. ;)