This is the day which the Lord hath made...

we will rejoice and be glad in it.  Psalm 118:24

I have had the simplest and most wonderful of mornings.  With 3 kids, two of whom are older (meaning, not babies or toddlers), life is so busy.  School, sports, carpool, commutes, activities....  It's go, go, go all the time.  Working part time in addition to that makes things that much busier, but this morning, I had a morning that reminded me of when Matthew and Champ were little - it was just a simple, lovely morning.  And while years ago I probably would have considered it a pretty average day, today, it was super special to me - because these simple mornings are so few and far between. 

First, I got up at 5:15 and met Debbie for a run which felt great.  I came home, got lunches made, breakfast cooked, and waved goodbye to my boys at 7:10.  The second they stepped out of the door, I locked it, turned off the light and headed upstairs to my bed.  I jumped right back into bed for 45 minutes of blissful sleep, until I heard Brooke starting to stir.  So, I hopped up, showered and went into her room.  Picking her up out of her crib is just awesome.  She's warm and snugly and so sweet - I never tire of doing this.  We enjoyed oatmeal and blueberries together.  Then we played for a few minutes and went to Publix. 

She delighted in holding her purple Publix balloon all the way through the store.  Even something as silly and normal as this - a child with a balloon - brought me IMMENSE joy as we made our way through the store.  She was so happy to have her balloon.  On the way home from Publix, we stopped at the Park and played for 45 minutes.  I have taken her to the park twice, I think.  It was a daily excursion for the boys when they were little, but Brooke's "park" time now has three letters in front of it - N, Y, and O.  Today we went to the kids' park and she had a ball!  She climbed up stairs and went down slides - she loved the swing - she ran around as happy as a lark.  It was wonderful!!!  Then we came home, had lunch and this is what she's doing now.

To relax and enjoy life with no cell phone, computer, newspaper - was therapeutic for me this morning!  So, if you have older kids and you're looking for this kind of peace, go on and make another baby!  Ha - only joking.  I do hope that you can find moments to sit back, relax and just enjoy beauty and life for the purity of it.
Speaking of beauty, I wanted to share a couple of my favorite things.  First, is this tinted moisturizer made by Aveeno.  I started using this last Summer mostly for the SPF.  I think I bought it without realizing that it was even tinted.  This stuff is GREAT!  I don't wear foundation or pressed powder or anything - I just mix a squirt of this with my regular moisturizer and smear it onto my face - it makes my skin look smooth and even. I highly recommend it!




My next favorite thing is Rao's sauce.  I picked this off the shelf from Publix a while back because I loved how few ingredients it had.  I warmed it up and was so excited by the taste.  Oh my goodness, is this stuff good!  It tastes like my Italian great grandmother made it (though I don't have an Italian great grandmother - but if I did, this would remind me of her cooking).  It's better than my homemade marinara, that's for sure.  So, when I want a meat sauce, I season and cook the beef and then let it simmer with the sauce for a couple of hours - spoon over pasta or a spaghetti squash - delicious!  I bought a jar this morning for $8.69 from Publix.  Below is what the jar looks like (I copied this picture from the website - you can order in bulk straight from Rao's - which I may do, after we move and I have more space).  Rao's makes a bunch of other sauces and dressings - the only other one that I have tried, in addition to this marinara sauce, is Rao's Balsamic Vinaigrette - which is phenomenal.  My friend, Irmela, taught me how to make my own Balsamic Vinaigrette, and this tastes just like it - it's delicious. 





And lastly, while I'm on the subject of enjoyment for the sake of enjoyment, might I suggest that you start watching Parenthood, if you don't already?  This comes on at 10:00 on Tuesday nights, I believe - on NBC.  I'm usually asleep by 10:00 so I DVR it and watch it as I have time.  It's a great show - really for everyone, but I, as a parent, can really relate to some of the characters and happenings on the show.  It has something for everyone - it's got a very REAL quality about it - so check it out if you haven't already!

Happy New Year! Olive fan?

Happy New Year!  I have been MIA lately - busy with the holidays, busy with Champ starting a new school (tomorrow!), busy with all sorts of things that I'm excited to share with you! 

My theme-less blog continues.... though it seems the majority of what I post is food related - this is ironic because since living with my in-laws, this is the least amount I've ever cooked.  That said, when I AM in the kitchen, I do love it - especially because I have Mimi's help with watching over you know who....

I have some great new pieces of jewelry that I'll blog about soon - cute, affordable pieces that make great gifts for yourself or for friends!  Perhaps you can go ahead and start your Christmas shopping early!  I actually did that one year - maybe not in January, but in June, I made my list and started buying a few presents a month so that as Christmas neared, I only had the kids to buy for.  It was fantastic!  And then there was the year when I ventured out at 7:00 AM the day after Christmas (7:00 AM years ago was really early in retail land but not today....) to load up on fun Christmas "stuff" for the following year.  These efforts do pay off, literally - less hectic shopping before Christmas and less money spent before Christmas.  Anyway, I did none of that this go around - I don't know if it's the third child or my age or the fact that I work... but honestly, I was just too tired!  So.... that said, I am going to make my list and start buying as I go through the year.  Perhaps I will inspire you to do the same! 

Anyway, I wanted to share with you a recipe that I received from our VP of Total Rewards at Children's.  I told her that I needed a knockout appetizer to take to a party  - pressure was on to take something good, and she sent me two recipes - one for mini crab cakes with an aioli sauce (which I have not yet made but when I do, I'll let you know!) and the other for Olive Cheese Puffs.  She told me that they were always a hit when she made them.  I took a peek at the recipe and imagined what they might taste like, and honestly, I wasn't all that excited about making them (but she's the kind of person who, when she gives you a recipe or a recommendation, you know it's got to be great).  I really wanted to make the crab cakes but they are more labor intensive and time was of the essence.  Turns out I didn't go to the party (due to a cold), but I made the olives on New Year's Eve.  Let me tell you that these are EXCELLENT!  Oh... the way the cheddary dough bakes to a nice crisp tender consistency and the little splash of salty green olive inside - mmm mmmm - they are the perfect marriage of tastes.  It took me hardly any time to make these AND you can make them ahead!  How great is that!?!  I would make these as an appetizer before having people over for dinner - I would take them to the nicest of parties.  Easy, elegant and down right TASTY!

First, you make the dough out of freshly shredded sharp cheddar cheese, flour, butter, salt and paprika.

Combine everything and knead it into dough.  Then you take a teaspoon (I probably used 2 tsp per every olive) of dough and wrap it around your olive. 

Place the wrapped olives on wax paper on a cookie sheet and freeze until you are ready to bake them. 

How easy is that?

I baked them and they looked like this...



My mouth is watering just looking at these!  The recipe says to wrap 1 tsp of dough around each olive, but I probably wrapped twice that amount.  We all agreed that we'd do them the same again.  I don't have a pretty picture of these on a platter with a sprig of greenery because they never made it to the serving dish.  We gobbled them up straight from the cookie sheet.  They were magnificent!

Olive Cheese Puffs

2 cups finely grated sharp cheddar cheese
1 cup flour
1/2 cup soft butter
1/2 tsp salt (I used less)
1 tsp Paprika

50 small/medium olives, drained

Combine everything except olives and form into dough.  Wrap 1 tsp around each olive and place on a piece of wax paper.  Freeze until ready to bake. 

Spray cookie sheet with Pam and bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes.  Let cool for 2-3 minutes before serving.

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We woke up New Year's Day and decided to pack up and head to the farm for the day and night.  The boys shot their guns with Matt - they rode their 4 wheelers everywhere, and Brooke took a million steps.  It was nice to enjoy the day before the cold front came in! 

Here she is standing with Sandy and Sandy's "mini me" - Sandy is a lab and "Mini me" is a chihuahua - the running joke is that Sandy had a one night stand and then came "Mini me."  :)

Ring in the New Year with Pork...

Hope your holidays are going well and that you're enjoying each and every day! 

I savored every moment of my annual Christmas lunch with my dad and three sisters.  We had several glasses of wine, a great meal and wonderful conversation for more than THREE hours!  It's such a lovely time for us to enjoy being together with our dad - to catch up on the year's events - to be dressed up and in such a beautiful and festive atmosphere.  Here are a few pictures:

This last picture is Chocolate Bread Pudding with vanilla sauce, my most favorite dessert.  Mmmm mmmm!

We woke up on Christmas Eve to find that Lewis, our beloved elf, covered Mimi's car with peppermints.  They were all over the windshield, the hood, and the windows.  Lewis was in a booster seat in the front seat with his seat belt on.  It was a delightfully funny sight.  Wouldn't you know that we didn't clean off the car for days and I didn't snap ONE picture!?!! 

We had a lovely Christmas Eve celebration - 5:00 church service which finished with a candlelight Silent Night hymn (always brings me to tears - tears of joy - but tears, nonetheless).  Then we headed back to Mimi and Papa's for a fun evening full of delicious food, music, and lottery tickets.  Mimi and I enjoyed decorating the dining room table this year.  We did a sparkly red and silver theme.  Champ and I collected pine cones at the farm and spray painted them silver (I bought a can of silver metallic spray paint at Ace Hardware).  We then combined them in a crystal bowl with some red sparkly ornaments.  We had the table lined with a mirrored table runner, and on top we scattered votives, pine cones and sprigs of fresh greenery.  It was beautiful!

As we were setting the table, I hid a lottery ticket underneath everyone's plate, so while none of us were winners, we sure enjoyed the anticipation while we each scratched away on our tickets!

It was a wonderful night with family.  Of course, Matt and I were up until about 1:00 AM that night, and the boys were in our room at 6:45 Christmas morning.  What a great day it was....

I made a pancetta wrapped pork tenderloin the other night that I've been really excited to share - especially because it would be an awesome dish to serve on New Year's Day! 

First I sprayed a Pyrex with Pam and I seasoned two pork tenderloins with salt and pepper.  Then I chopped garlic and rosemary (about 3 teaspoons garlic and 3 sprigs of rosemary). 

I rubbed this mixture all over both tenderloins and then added three thin pieces of pancetta to each side of the pork.  You could tie the pancetta to the pork with kitchen twine but I didn't do that and it turned out just fine.

I set that to the side for a few minutes and began preparing my potatoes.  I washed a potato and thinly sliced two potatoes, crosswise - but not all the way through.  I wanted the potatoes to stay intact so I sliced them almost but not quite all the way through.  I then melted a couple of TBS of butter and mixed that with some garlic and parsley and poured over the potatoes.  As you can see below in the second picture, they start to open as they cook and they are just gorgeous when they're finished!

I poured some chicken stock and white wine over the tenderloin and baked it for about half an hour.  Look at how gorgeous it is when cooked!  (I must have already taken one out to serve because it's missing in this picture).

Even though we just ate this a few days ago, I plan on serving it again on New Year's Day alongside turnip greens, black eyed peas and pickled okra succotash.  YUM!

So, click here for the recipe.  Thank you, Giada!  As you can tell from above, I made a few modifications. 

I wish you a safe and happy New Year's Celebration!  We'll be doing our annual fondue dinner.  We buy Filet Mignon and cook it in peanut oil - I make about 4-5 dipping sauces, a big Caesar salad, crusty french bread and something rich and chocolaty for dessert.  This has been our tradition for years! 





My Inner Ballerina

My boys left today to enjoy skeet shooting at a nearby plantation for the night with some other dads and their kids.  I have been looking forward to this trip -not only for them, but let's be honest...for me, too!  I've been excited about 24 hours of no brotherly fighting, no need to cook any meals, one on one time with Brooke....  And while I sort of think I need to feel bad for feeling this way, I really feel just fine for appreciating the break!  And thus, my day has been filled with dancing and leftovers and hopefully a movie will cap it all off!

I have to share my joy in seeing The Nutcracker today.  I enjoyed it with my sister-in-law and nieces and loved every second!  Every time I visit a performance at the Fox, it brings me right back to seeing it for the first time as a young child - it felt so fancy to me and so very "special occasion."  Today, I felt those same feelings.  We entered the theater and went way down to our FABULOUS seats (thanks to the Family to Family discount, our tickets were $45.00 instead of $90.00). 

We left the warm rainy day for what felt like true Christmastime inside with the way the stage was set.  Magical!

I snapped this with my iPhone before the lights dimmed...

And then a second after I snapped the above photo, I took a picture of my gorgeous nieces...

Do you see the lady in the white shirt behind them?  She was on her way to tell me to put away my flash camera :).  Oops!  I was so excited to be there and wanted to document it with pictures!  (didn't think that would be a problem before the show but apparently, it was). 

The production started and it was just breathtaking - everything from the gorgeous music to the backdrops to the beautiful dancers' bodies...like candy to the mouth of a child, this was like candy to my eyes and ears.  I soaked up and truly enjoyed every single second. 

I think back to growing up in our house and I used to find it so odd that my dad would tear up about things when he did - a great Budweiser beer commercial could bring out a tear or two - a good political speech... All my life I've known him to be a very passionate and emotional man.  And folks, let me say that the apple hasn't fallen too far from that tree.  I was so overwhelmed by the beauty of today, that I couldn't help but let out a tear or two of just utter joy - I was a bit embarrassed about the tears and tried my best to conceal the fact that they were streaming out. 

During the Sugar Plum Fairy scene, the chorus of girls started singing, "Ahhhh ahhhh ahhhhh ahhh ahhhh...." and the girls were right in front of us - it was breathtakingly beautiful - their voices coupled with the music and dancing - it overwhelmed me!  And then, as it snowed on stage, all of a sudden, it started snowing in the audience!  Snowflakes fell all over us (it wasn't really snow - more like soap suds), but it was so beautiful!  To hear the children get so excited was just awesome.  Oh, I loved it!!!

I was so impressed with the dancing - with the strength and athleticism of these dancers. It's just amazing, really.  So, at the end of the program, all the dancers came out and we clapped and clapped.  "Bravo! Bravo!"  And then one of the dancers got down on one knee and proposed to his girlfriend.  Well.... that was it for me.  The floodgates opened and I boo-hooed with the best of em' - the tears a combination of the special moment and love in their lives and the utter joy I was experiencing just being there.  It was just so sweet and amazing!!! 

When I got home, in typical Christa fashion, I danced and twirled around the kitchen sporting what to me on the inside felt like graceful, beautiful ballerina moves, but on the outside resembled that of someone who.... can't dance.  Here is Brooke watching me. 

Hmm... if I were a betting woman, I'd bet that she wasn't really digging the ballet show.  So, then I googled "Beginner Adult Ballet Classes" and made a list of the places that teach ballet.  I'm ready to channel my inner ballerina!!

It has been a terrific day.  I'm sipping my glass of wine listening to Brooke on the monitor playing in her crib - Charlie Brown Christmas is on TV and Sandy, our lab, is ready for me to join her bed.  

Tomorrow I look forward to what I always call my favorite day of the whole year.  I am meeting my dad and three sisters for our marathon lunch at Cherokee.  We meet at 11:30 and enjoy a cocktail... then we go into the big room and enjoy laughing and catching up while we eat a feast and enjoy many more glasses of wine.  My dad has been treating us to this special lunch for years and years and we love it so much.  Each year, the time becomes more and more valuable and meaningful. 

Oh - and our elf, Lewis, did the most fun thing last night!  We found him in Mimi's robe and fuzzy socks sitting in Mimi's reading spot in the living room.  He had on a small pair of glasses and was reading the book, "Jesus Calling for Kids."  What fun!!

I've got some fun new jewelry to show you in January. Oh - and I made an enchilada recipe yesterday that was pretty darn good - VERY labor intensive, though - so I'll give you the recipe and then give you my shortened version :).  If I'm not back before Christmas, MERRY Christmas!!!  

Kids are home from school... now what?

I found an easy recipe for homemade clay-style ornaments.  We tried it this weekend and they turned out great!  It was a great activity for the kids in that they could do it 100% by themselves, and it allowed them to be as creative as they wanted to be.

First, combine flour, salt and water.  Knead the mixture for 15-20 minutes.  Matthew had a friend over, so they divided the mixture in half and they each kneaded their portion for 15 minutes.  We then rolled it out and used cookie cutters to cut out shapes.  Then the boys used a wooden skewer to make their designs...

I took a couple and made imprints of Sandy's paw and Brooke's "paw."  We baked them on wax paper in the oven for 25 minutes.

After they cooled completely, the kids painted them with acrylic paint.

After they dried, we sprayed varnish on them to give them a glossy look.

The last step is to string a piece of yarn through the top and hang them on the tree!  Even for my sporty, outdoorsy boys, this was a fun activity that they enjoyed.

I suggest cutting the recipe in half because we ended up throwing out quite a bit.  I bought the acrylic paints at Target in the craft section, and I bought the spray varnish at Ace Hardware.

Here's the recipe:

4 cups flour
1 cup salt
1 1/2 cups water

Combine above ingredients and knead 15-20 minutes.  Roll out about 1/4-1/2 inches thick and cut into desired shapes.  Design - don't forget to make a hole at the top for hanging!  Bake at 300 degrees for 25-30 minutes.

I have to admit that as I'm writing this, I feel a bit sick to my stomach because I've eaten no less than 6 today of what I'm about to tell you about.  I made chocolate covered peanut butter Ritz cracker sandwiches.  These are my favorite.  My friend, Chelsea, makes them each year and I appreciate every bite.  They are delicious!  But, they are a labor of love - it takes a while to coat each sandwich in chocolate.  Fortunately, Matthew helped me... that is - until he got bored with it. 

First, assemble your sandwiches.

Then, melt your chocolate in a simmering double broiler.

Then, dip each sandwich into the chocolate and coat on all sides.  Place each chocolate covered sandwich on wax paper.

When they are all assembled and dipped, place them in the fridge to harden.  I love the salty sweetness of these treats!

I wrapped them in three's in wax paper, tied them up with a green bow and attached a holiday lottery ticket to it - a great gift for friends! 

I've also enjoyed mixing greenery, adding some red berries and a bow for a beautiful holiday arrangement! 

 
Busy week ahead - packing, holiday lunches and dinners, decorating the dining room table for our Christmas Eve feast....Nutcracker with my sister-in-law and nieces.... what a fun week - my most favorite week of the year!  So, here's to keeping the kids busy and out of trouble! 

Tonight, my father-in-law made me a Bloody Mary...doesn't this look like such a treat?

So, cheers to you and this week - cheers to your traditions and to your joy...