Good Monday morning!!:) How are yall?  Weekend is never long enough is it?  I’m sitting here having my coffee watching the news and contemplating my day.  Momma will be here in less than 2 weeks, I’m super excited:)  She’ll be here for 8 days. She usually comes for a week or so around her birthday. It’s not to hot and not to cold this time of year.  Although, saying that, she freezes in anything under 80 degrees!  Jamie takes after her.  He freeeeezes while MyMatthew is sitting there in t-shirt and shorts sweating:)

So, the brownies… Paul got me Trisha Yearwood’s  ”Georgia Cooking in an Oklahoma Kitchen” a few weeks ago and I love it. The recipe made 12 individual brownies – I used a new pan that my friend Monica gave me. It’s really cool. There is one brownie left but that’s because Sarah has laid claim to it for lunch today:) It’s hot dog day and so I will be taking something for lunch up to her. She says that hot dogs give her a headache.  Bless her heart, when she gets a headache, they are really bad (Jamie is the same way).  I’m not sure what I’m taking up there, but the brownie will be included!:)  There are so many great recipes in this book but I have laughed because several of her things are things I already make the same  way;) That’s pretty cool:)  Give these brownies a try, I can guarantee that they won’t be around long:) Enjoy!!

OK, HERE’S What You Need:

2 oz unsweet baking chocolate

1/3 C. shortening (like solid Crisco)

2 large eggs

1 C. sugar

2/3 C. all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 C. chopped pecans (I omitted these since the kids don’t like them)

1 Tsp vanilla extract

HERE’S What You Do:

***Preheat the oven to 350 F

Chop up your chocolate and in a microwavable bowl, melt your chocolate and your shortening

Microwave til smooth - You can also do this on the stove top but this was much faster.

While your chocolate cools down a bit, in a separate bowl, beat your 2 eggs really well

Add your sugar and mix well.

Stream your chocolate into the sugar/egg mix while beating at the same time. Lookin' pretty darn good huh?:)

Sift your flour,baking powder and salt into a bowl together.

Blend in your flour mixture.

Prepare your pan:) This is the one my friend Monica gave me:)

Spread evenly. These actually turned out a bit to thin, so I'll only make half of them next time in this pan. Bake 20 - 30 minutes (depending on your pan). Done when you insert a knife and it comes out clean:)

Brownies and a big old glass of cold milk! Mmm Mmm MM!!!

How is everyone this fine Saturday evening?  Paul and I are sitting here watching LSU vs West Virginia.  It’s a great game, but I’m so scared that LSU is going to give it up this 2nd half!

Paul and I went to the movies yesterday afternoon. Wall Street came out and Paul has been waiting on it. I think we were both disappointed.  I mean there was a fun surprise in it, Bud Fox. The movie had so much potential but it just never delivered. Another movie we wanted to go see is “Still Waiting on Superman”.  However,  it isn’t showing around here anywhere.  Tomorrow, we hope to take the kids to see the “The Legends of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga’Hoole”.  Matthew and Jamie have been so looking forward to seeing it.  We’ll just have to see what tomorrow brings.

It got really chilly here today. I don’t think it even made it up to 60 degree. Probably hung in there at 58.  We went up to a craft fair and I wore a sweatshirt but I wore capri pants and flip flops. I froze. Yeah just can’t quite let go of summer yet. I am a total flip-flops girl.  When we got home, I went and put on my flannel jammies and started my gumbo:)  Perfect day for it;) I also baked some brownies (I’ll share those with you later on). They turned out really good too:)  I have to admit, I made Paul … or WAS making Paul potato soup because he’s not a gumbo person.  I didn’t have button mushrooms on hand so I used the cremini ones I had. *sighs* I don’t know. They didn’t smell bad in the package but when I started cooking them down in butter, it had a weird, almost fishy(??) smell.  I haven’t used cremini before so we weren’t sure if that was just the way they smelled.  I got it all put together and the soup color was kinda grey. Paul took a taste and … yeah.. well… he ate gumbo tonight:)  I don’t know what happened. Maybe it was the mushrooms because I’ve made potato soup a gazillion times before and that’s the only thing I did differently this time.  I’m waiting for it to cool so I can throw it out.  Anyway, yall have a great weekend. Hope you get a chance to try this gumbo:) Enjoy!!

GEAUX TIGERS!!

OK, HERE’S What You Need:

1 whole cut up chicken

1 pound of good smoked sausage – I use smoke polish sausage because I can’t get andouille up here

1 pkg frozen onions or 1 pkg frozen season blend (the one with like onions, bellpepper etc)

big stock pot

parsley (flat leaf)

1 bunch green onions

roux (1/2 cup flour and 1/2 cup oil)

cooked white rice

HERE’S What You Do:

First, you make a roux:) 1/2 cup oil and 1/2 cup flour in an iron skillet. You really don't have to have an iron skillet I guess, but I've never made it in anything else;)

Blend together on medium heat. Stir often.

It's getting there. This is kinda the roux's "ugly stage". Don't walk away at this point. Stir almost constantly from here.

Almost there, keep stirring.

Done! Kind of looks like melted chocolate doesn't it?:)

You could actually start this part while you're making your roux. Fill your stock pot about half full of water. Bring to a boil.

Once your roux is done and your water comes to a boil, CAREFULLY put your roux into your water. PLEASE be careful here because it will flash boil on you and burn the heck out of you (you know hot oil into water and all!) Once you get your roux stirred in, put your pkg of frozen onions or seasoning blend in at this point. Let it simmer for about 30 minutes.

While you're waiting, wash your chicken parts. I really only use the legs, thighs and breasts. Season them well. Salt, pepper, garlic powder... Tony's is good too. Drop the pieces into your pot and let cook for about 15 minutes.

Sanitize!! Don't want none of that Salmonella thankyouverymuch!!

Once you have your area cleaned, slice up your sausage and drop into your pot. Continue cooking for at least an hour. Yeah, not a quick dish really but so worth the wait:)

***I debone my chicken right before the next step. You don’t have too, but to me,  it makes it so much easier to eat:)

About 15 - 20 minutes before you plan on serving, cut up your parsley and green onions and throw on over into the pot. Make sure you've got your rice cooker on because you are almost done:)

Give it another good stir and you're ready to eat:) Put you some rice in a bowl and ladle over with plenty of broth and lots of good chicken and sausage:) Ca C'est Bon!:)

***Remember too, when you go to refrigerate your leftovers, do NOT put your rice into your gumbo. Store it separately. I put mine into a big old ziploc and microwave it that way the next day. Even better the next day!

Good morning! It’s the first OFFICIAL day of Autumn (my favorite season!!).  Did anyone see the Super Harvest Moon last night? I didn’t, I missed it. Pretty bummed about that because now I have to wait 20 years to see it again.  Anyway, I hope everyone else got a chance though.   When it was supposed to be optimal viewing (around 6:20 cst), I was baking banana bread and talking to my neighbor through my kitchen window;)  I was making bread and frying minute steaks (Chicken Fried Steak).  My kids go CRAZY when I make banana bread.  They wipe it out in no time at all, so I made 2 batches last night.  The muffins and part of one loaf are already gone.  I found this EASY PEASY recipe on Mommy’s Kitchen. This is the second time I’ve made it. As I said, I ended up doubling the recipe. I came out with 2 regular loaves (no nuts), one smallish loaf (with walnuts) 6 muffins with walnuts and 6 muffins without.  While I was making them yesterday, they could hardly wait til they were cooled enough to eat:) That’s the kind of recipe I like!  Yall give it a try:) ENJOY!!

OK, HERE’S What You Need:

(this recipe is not the doubled)

1 box yellow cake mix

1/3 cup Crisco Oil

1/2 cup milk

2 eggs

3 really ripe bananas

walnuts or pecans (optional)

HERE’S What You Do:

Preheat the oven to 350 F.

In a bowl, mix up your cake mix, eggs, oil and milk. The batter will be thicker than normal batter.

Break up/Smoosh up Add your bananas

My naners weren't getting really mooshed so I had to kinda guide them with my rubber scraper into the beater. Now, here is where you want to sample a bit.. I like to think of it as "quality assurance":)

Pour into your prepared (Pam'd) tins and cups. I sprinkled walnuts on the tops of the nutty ones so I'd remember. Give the kids the beater(s) and the bowl (Or keep them for yourself! I won't tell:)

Bake the loaves for about 35 ish minutes. The muffins not so long. I am really terrible about timing my baking. Does this make me irresponsible? (Don't answer that) Anyway, insert a knife and when it's clean, YER DONE!! Let them cool while you make a pot of coffee and enjoy!!

I hope everyone has had an enjoyable weekend.  It’s been very cool here. We did a little fall/winter clothes shopping yesterday with the kids.  Justice had a pretty good little sale on and Matthew managed to get some nice shirts on sale at Abercrombie.  Jamie doesn’t like clothes so he could care less if he has anything to wear or not.  We also picked up a meat grinder attachment for my Kitchenaid:) My friend Amanda said she has one and she’s never bought ground beef from the store since. So that’s what Paul and I did this afternoon:) I don’t think it was cheaper but we know exactly what is going into it and it really came out nice. I’m making meatloaf with it right now.  I’m really hoping for a great result:)

Have any of you ever watched the new “Cooking Channel”?  I have found a new series I really enjoy called French Cooking at Home.  A while back they aired an episode (and then again yesterday) where she made these beautiful little cookie/cakes called Powder Puffs. This afternoon, I made them:) Oh I am so glad I did! Can I tell you?!?  Paul and I agreed that they reminded us so much of the cream scones we used to get when we lived in Abbey Wood (SE London). There was this bakery across the road from our flat and you had to get there super early to get them.  They were so so worth it though.  These are in no way a scone — they are more like round lady fingers with the fresh whipped cream and raspberry jam…. I’m going to dream about these tonight;) I hope yall give them a try. ENJOY!

OK, HERE’S What You Need:

1/2 cup flour

1/2 cup corn starch

3/4 teaspoon cream of tartar

1/2 tsp baking soda

3 eggs

3/4 cup caster sugar (I just used regular granulated)

1/2 cup raspberry jam

whipping cream for the filling –

**** 2 cups whipping cream

2/3 cup sugar

1/2 T. vanilla

HERE’S What You Do:

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Sift together the flour, cornstarch, cream of tartar, and baking soda into a bowl. Separate the eggs into two bowls. Beat the whites to soft peaks. Add the sugar to the egg whites in 3 stages, beating after each addition to make a stiff, glossy meringue. Whisk in the egg yolks, 1 at a time. Sift the dry ingredients together, then sift them over the egg mixture, and fold them in with the whisk, without beating or you’ll lose volume.

Pipe or drop by tablespoonfuls onto the baking sheets, leaving room between them so they can spread. Bake until lightly golden, about 5 to 7 minutes. Remove the cakes to a rack to cool. They will harden slightly as they cool.

Sandwich the rounds together with raspberry jam and sweetened and vanilla-flavored whipped cream. Let the sweets sit an hour or so to soften before serving.

The cookies/cakes come out light as air. I put my raspberry jam into a bowl and stirred it up real good so it wouldn’t lump and be smooth enough to just spread on.  The show didn’t say how to do the whipped cream so I just threw it together and man it’s good:) Whisk your whipping cream, sugar and vanilla together til it’s good and fluffy:) Be liberal with your spreading it on. Top it off with another cookie and moosh it just a bit:) YUM!!

Welcome to Wednesday! Middle of the week.  How is everyone’s week going?  The kids got mid-term grades on Monday and I am pleased with my babies:) I just hope they keep it up.  Sarah started dance on Monday again. We pulled her out this past year due to a crazy amount of homework (6-8 pages a night… and this was 2nd grade!) Anyway, so I wanted to make sure all was well on the 3rd grade home front before we put her back in. Glad to report, this feels like it’s going to be a great year:) Busy, but great. Along with dance on Monday’s,  Jamie also has golf on Mondays. Matthew begins swimming again starting next Monday.  This season he will be swimming 5 days a week with extra swim practice on Wednesdays.  So, it’s nice to have Paul at home to help out with the running around. He uses his time to catch up on his reading.   I know I’m very lucky to have the luxury of his help.  I can’t imagine doing it all without him.

This morning, I was really busy.  I had tons of homework (still not finished). I knew I wouldn’t want  take out so I pulled out a package of really thin (1/8 inch) Sirloin Steaks and marinated them for lunch.  Lunch time came and I put this together in about 15 minutes. Delicious:)  The times before that I’ve made this, I used frozen onions, simply because I had them on hand. Today though, I sliced an onion up. You can do it either way, but I do think I prefer the big slices of onions to the diced up frozen ones for the sandwich. My friend, Lillie’, turned me on to them. Those and then the mixed frozen onions and peppers–pretty cool little short cuts, I have to say!  Anyway, if you are short on time and want a good meal, give this one a try:) Enjoy!!

OK, HERE’S What You Need:

Sirloin Steak (1/8 inch thick)

Lawry’s Steak and Chop Marinade

Yellow onion (cut thin rings)

Button Mushrooms (cleaned and sliced)

a bit of oil or pat of butter

Italian bread rolls – We love Nickels

HERE’S What You Do:

Start with Sirloin Tip Steaks (1/8 inch thick). You can either cut them up into strips or leave it whole.

Pick your marinade. We like this. The Asian one is good too.

In a Ziploc bag, in goes your steak and about a 1/4 - 1/3 of the bottle of marinade. Squoosh it around and place in the refrigerator for at least a couple of hours.

In the few minutes before you want to start your steaks, take them out of the fridge and put them on the counter. Wash/clean/slice your onions (I used about 1/4 of a large yellow onion) and mushrooms.

Fry your steaks in a little bit of oil or small amount of butter. It does not take long at all to cook these. I'm talking like 3 - 4 minutes TOPS for the whole steak.

Once your steaks are done (I did two), slide your mushrooms and onions into the skillet. Cook them down. Way down:)

Meanwhile, get your rolls ready to go under the broiler.

Once your bread is ready and the onions and mushrooms are cooked down. Way down.....

Put it all together with a little mayonnaise on the buns. Little side salad - Can't beat that!:)