Today, many around the Blogosphere are writing Birthday posts to honor her and to show love and support for Heather and Mike.

Maddie was a little girl with sparkling eyes, dancing curls and an infectious laugh.  She charmed and enchanted everyone who met her, and thousands who only met her through her Mom’s blog.  Thousands fell in love with her through Heather’s words, stories, pictures and videos and hundreds of thousands mourned her loss.

Today, is her birthday.

Honor the tiny girl with the huge legacy by donating today, her birthday, to the foundation started by her parents, Friends of Maddie.

To read more posts written in honor of Maddie’s birthday, go to Meghan’s Blog

To learn more about and donate to Friends of Maddie, go here

and please join in the #Maddie hashtag twittering between 4 and 5 PM Pacific Time ( 7 – 8 CST or 8 -9 Eastern)

Heather, Mike and Binky.. All my love and prayers.

©2009 A Southern Fairytale. 2007 - 2008 A Southern Fairytale All Rights Reserved.

I love Thanksgiving Dinner.  The Turkey (there’s NEVER enough leftovers) my Aunt Cyndie’s super delicious marshmallow topped sweet potatoes, the creamy, subtly spicy, savory, rich, deliciously amazing jalapeno corn pudding and the sour cream apple pie.

I am not traditionally a fan of apple pies, the cloying gooey sweetness of the filling and the traditionally dry, crispy, flaky crust.. nah… I’d rather save those calories for a glass of wine or a handful of Dove Dark Chocolate squares.

However, this… this recipe will knock your socks off.  It is crispy, crunchy, savory, with just the right amount of sweet and a bit of savory from the sour cream filling and the granny smith apples… try it.  It’s simple, delicious and I promise that you’ll never look at apple pie the same way again.

Sour Cream Apple Pie

Crust

• 1 Pillsbury refrigerated pie crust (from the 15 oz box) soften as directed on box

Filling

• 1  1/4 C Sour Cream
• 3/4 C granulated sugar
• 1/4 C all purpose flour
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 1/2 tsp Madagascar Bourbon Vanilla Extract ( or 2 tsp regular vanilla extract.. DO NOT use imitation)
• 1 egg
• 6 C Granny Smith Apples,peeled, cored and sliced 1/4″ thick. ( I used 6 medium Granny Smith Apples or 12 small)

Topping

• 1/2 C all purpose flour
• 1 C chopped walnuts
• 1/4 C granulated sugar
• 1/4 C packed brown sugar
• 3/4 tsp ground cinnamon
• dash salt
• 3 Tbsp cold butter

How To

1. Heat oven to 400 F.
2. Place pie crust in a 9″ glass pie plate as directed on the box.
3. In a large bowl, beat all filling ingredients (except apples) together with a wire whisk until well blended.
4. Fold in apples and mix until well coated
5. Pour into the crust lined pie plate
6. Cover the edges of the pie crust with strips of foil to prevent burning
7. Bake 15 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 350 F and bake 30 more minutes.

8. While the pie is baking, mix all topping ingredients (except butter).

Cut in butter, using a Pastry blender, or if like me you don’t have one.. use a fork, you want the mixture to resemble coarse crumbs; refrigerate until ready to use.

9. Sprinkle the topping over pie; bake 20 to 25 minutes, or until the topping is golden brown.   During the last 5 minutes remove the foil strips to get the crust edges golden brown

If you have a broiler or a broil setting on your oven, set it to Lo and broil for a few minutes to add a nice caramelization to the topping.

This pie is almost better the next day, sliced and heated in the microwave.  That gives the topping the chance to get all ooey gooey and crispy and the filling to blend that much better.  Top with Blue Bell Homemade Vanilla and it is the perfect Thanksgiving Dessert Recipe.

In honor of Thanksgiving, giving, sharing blessings and Turkey… I’ve been offered a few $15 Butterball Turkey Checks to give to a few readers. (why yes, I am getting one too… thankyouverymuch)

In order to be entered to win one, just share your favorite Thanksgiving recipe or memory here and I’ll use random.org to choose the winners.  Due to time constraints.. this contest runs from NOW until 11:59 PM CST November 10, 2009.  The winner will have 24 hours to get back to me or someone else will be chosen.

If you’re linking up. THANK YOU!  Sign MckLinky with your recipe URL, leave a comment, visit others and make sure that you link back here in your post so that others can share in the fun!

Congratulations to the Butterball Turkey Check Winners (and thanks to Butterball for giving me these checks to make other’s Thanksgivings a little brighter and tastier)

The Winners:

#2> Liz from Hoosier Homemade

#19> Melissa Donahue

#13> Malia from Live Laugh Love

#20 Stephanie

©2009 A Southern Fairytale. 2007 - 2008 A Southern Fairytale All Rights Reserved.

The Day that My Mom was born.

Last year I found all these pictures, scanned them and wrote this post.  I can’t top it.. so, Happy Birthday Rebecca Jane.. here’s to the second time around… (you know, like how you turned 29 four, five, twice)

Happy Birthday Mama:  The woman who gave me life and nearly drop kicked her doctor during my delivery because he was an ass who rotated me without warning, or an epidural.

If you’re a mom, you totally flinched, clenched and said a**hole

My mom is an amazing woman. She is strong, beautiful, funny, passionate, loving, smart and the original Southern Belle.

Happy Birthday Momma.

My mom making it to her first birthday was a miracle. This picture, is a miracle.
My mom was born in mumblefiftymumblesomethingmumble. She was born with brain tumors. She survived the surgery. She survived terrible asthma and lived to thrive and take that picture. That picture up there. A powerful tribute and precious memento, a tribute to her strength and a precious memento for her mother, my Granny.

This picture is adorable to me because it reminds me not only of Princess learning to navigate stairs at your house, but because it represents to me the many obstacles you have overcome in your life with a sweet smile, grace and a sense of humor.
I don’t need to list them here.
You are powerful and strong beyond your own understanding.
I am proud of you.

Thank you for helping me to learn how to overcome my own obstacles with grace, strength and compassion. Thank you for dorm rooms, first apartments, margaritas, being there for my ADPi initiation, thank you for late night cries, for caring enough to interrogate Nathan to make sure he was good enough for your little girl. Thank you for the bachelorette party, the orgasm talks, the shopping trips but most of all, thank you for believing in me.

Mom, you are a beautiful, strong, loving, passionate, graceful, funny, smart, loving and wonderful woman.
You have taught me much in life and I am blessed by you.
I wish we could be there with you today but I know that Dad will make this day wonderful for you.

You are Princess’ favorite person and playmate.
You are my first and most special best friend and playmate.
You are more than I have words to describe.

Thank you for helping me to learn Grace, Humility, Love, Compassion, Strength, Independence, Grammar, Power, Respect and so much more.

You are my mother and my friend and I love you beyond measure.

Happy Birthday Wishes and Big Kisses,
from your little girl

Happy Birthday Momma.

All our love.

Rachel, Nathan, Princess and Monkey

©2009 A Southern Fairytale. 2007 - 2008 A Southern Fairytale All Rights Reserved.

2009

and a bonus (Thanks for finding this, Dad)

28(ish) years ago

More Wordless Wednesdays can be found here

©2009 A Southern Fairytale. 2007 - 2008 A Southern Fairytale All Rights Reserved.

This recipe is my first entry into the 2K10 Tastemaker Challenge.  Myself and 8 other amazingly talented and fun bloggers have been chosen to compete in a unique and fun recipe, cook-off challenge.  For the months of Oct, Nov. and Dec we will receive a secret ingredient (this month was seafood) or theme and we’ll have to create an original fun potato recipe with that theme or ingredient, videotape it, produce it and upload it to YouTube and y’all vote on it!!!  (HINT HINT)  At the end of it all… they’re sending ALL NINE of us to the BlissDom Conference in Nashville in February and we’ll have a live cook-off there and a cocktail party afterwards where the winner will be announced!!!

My creation for this month had me a little worried because I wasn’t sure how the flavors and textures would work together but it was a truly Tonguegasmic success.  Nathan gave it TWO thumbs up and asked that I make them again.. SOON!

These fun appetizers are EASY EASY EASY and the blending of flavors, salty, savory, creamy and textures, crispy, crunchy, creamy and cool.. I cannot say enough about them!

You can watch the recipe in action at my fun, music filled video (psssssssttt.. the stars below are for ranking/voting.. if you would be so kind)  It’s only about 2 1/2 minutes long and it shows step by step how to make these.

Watch the recipe live here

1. Wash the potatoes and then rub them with a mixture of kosher/sea salt and olive oil.  Bake them for about 1 hour at 400 F or until they give a little when squeezed
2. While the potatoes are cooking; mix the sour cream, dill and lemon together well. Put in the refrigerator to chill.
3. Cook your salmon.
4. When the potatoes have cooled enough to touch, cut them in half and scoop out most of the insides (save these.) Cut in half again to make wedges, brush the skin with olive oil and cook for another 10 to 12 minutes or until they’re nice and crispy.
5. Slather a bit of your dill sauce on the inside of the wedge, top with salmon, sprinkle with a bit more dill and serve.  These are CRAZY yummy!!!!

Bonus:  use your leftover potato insides, mix with some of your leftover dill sauce and about 3/4 to 1 C of warm milk for AMAZINGLY delicious mashed potatoes

You can watch all the Tastemaker Videos Here on the Potato Goodness’ YouTube Channel (under Favorites)

Playing along with Mouthwatering Monday? Here’s the dish: Sign the MckLinky with your recipe URL and your name. Leave a comment saying Hi, what you think of this recipe… anything. Make sure you visit the other linked up participants and sharing in the food love and make sure you link back to this post in your post so that others can find us and share in the love, too!

YES, I received a gift card to pay for my recipe ingredients and they sent me a nifty little video camera to tape my recipe with. As always… like saran wrap baby… transparent as saran wrap

©2009 A Southern Fairytale. 2007 - 2008 A Southern Fairytale All Rights Reserved.

I could understand this.  My mom had to have surgery to have the bad, raisiny cells removed, and chemo to make sure they were really gone.  Sure, easy.

It wasn’t easy.  I had to go with her to lots of doctors appointments, sit in waiting rooms that all had the same boring toys and no snacks except gross things in vending machines, talk to nurses who clearly didn’t understand how grown up I was.  Her new breast looked wrong, unbalanced, unnatural.  She got sick and couldn’t play the way she had before.  She lost all of her pretty light-brown hair and didn’t like wearing wigs, so she’d wear home-knit wool caps that I thought looked embarrassingly ridiculous.  But slowly, she got better.

Until, suddenly, it seemed, she was worse.  The doctors found more bad cancer cells, this time not just in her breast.  They hadn’t gotten all of them out, and the cancer cells had moved into her bones, into her brain, into her lungs.  It didn’t seem possible — she needed her bones and brain and lungs, the doctors couldn’t just cut them out the way they had cut out her breast.  She had to have more chemo — so much that sometimes she had to stay in hospitals overnight, sometimes for more than one night.  She recorded a cassette tape of the lullabies she sang to me so that she could always sing to me at bedtime.  I brought pictures I had drawn in school when we visited her.  I missed her.

But I missed her more when she came home.

She forgot things, like how to unlock the front door from the inside when the deadbolt was too heavy for me to throw with my latchkey.  Like how to cook and bake — she had to throw away food that she burned, and I had to make my own breakfasts (cold cereal instead of oatmeal or cheese tortilla rollups) and lunches (sandwiches instead of her cold, creamy cucumber soup).  Grandma Gloria, my father’s mother, came to stay with us to help watch me while my father worked long hours in the hotel restaurant he managed.  Grandma Lou and Papa John came to visit, and Aunt Sandy and Aunt Cathy brought their families, my uncles and little cousins. Once, when one of them hugged my mom goodnight too tightly, she screamed and then they both cried.

The last time that Mom came home from the hospital, they sent a hospital bed with her so that she could be more comfortable.  Grandma Gloria insisted that we put it in the living room, where it was bright with sunlight and motion.  I wasn’t sure how much of it she appreciated — she slept most of the time, and didn’t seem very aware even when she was awake.  I was happy that she was home, though — they always sent her home when she was doing better, so she must’ve been getting better.

She died on the night that I was sleeping over at my friend Anna’s house.  Anna’s mother, Didi, came home from a date with her boyfriend and woke us up to give me the news.  I cried, and Anna’s mother held me, and handed me tissues, and took her daughter and me downstairs for bowls of ice cream.  She let us have chocolate syrup and whipped cream and sprinkles.  When Dad picked me up the next morning, he told me he wished Didi hadn’t given me the news, that he’d wanted to tell me himself.  He asked me if I wanted to go home and I started crying again, thinking of the hospital bed in our living room, of all the other things that had happened there: Mom sketching me while I read an issue of Highlights on the couch; hanging Christmas ornaments on our little tree, a fire and a Nat King Cole record each warming the room; posing for pictures before she took me trick-or-treating, me in the big, fake-fur Dalmatian costume she’d sewn and her in the little rubber monkey nose she’d bought at my insistence that she dress up too.

I stayed with one of her friends for a week, and Dad brought me everything I needed from our house so I wouldn’t have to go back there to find her absent.

I’m 27 years old now, just 10 years younger than my mother was when she was diagnosed with breast cancer, and my gynecologist has recommended that I start having MRI breast screenings.  She’s also helping me look into having the genetic screening for BRCA; these days, as she explained hilariously and terrifyingly bluntly during my last pap smear appointment, we have choices and things can be done.  I look at the life I have built for myself, the people who love me and all of the things I still haven’t done yet, and I am determined to do whatever is best, whatever is necessary to preserve it.  My mother taught me how to love, and I love too much to go quietly.

Lauren, thank you so much for sharing your story with us.

Lauren can be found at Grammar Monkey

©2009 A Southern Fairytale. 2007 - 2008 A Southern Fairytale All Rights Reserved.

Years later, her daughter was diagnosed with breast cancer. Fortunately, my aunt’s cancer was caught early and she was treated successfully. But we now believe that my Grandmother’s cancer likely started in her breasts.

It’s strange how some people can go through treatment successfully and end up cancer-free, but others can’t. I am sure there are reasons for that, but I don’t know what they are. You would think that age would have something to do with it, but that’s not always the case. My aunt was in her sixties when she was diagnosed & successfully treated. However, a friend of mine that I’ve known since Kindergarten was not so fortunate. She was only in her mid-thirties when her breast cancer was found. She began treatment and fought for nineteen months. When I reconnected with her on Facebook and learned of her cancer, she was very upbeat about her treatments being successful. On her profile, it said “I can’t wait to say that I’m cancer free. My family deserves that!” She was married with three young children. But her wish did not come true; she lost that nineteen month battle just last month.

I want to live in a world where this doesn’t happen. Where cancer doesn’t steal Mommies from babies. Daughters from mothers. Wives, sisters, aunts, friends…and fathers and sons. Let’s not forget that men can also get breast cancer, as my friend LouCeeL reminded me. He also lost a friend – a male friend – to breast cancer. To quote him: “A friend of mine died of Breast Cancer. A man. Most people lose sight of the fact that men get breast cancer, too. And when we do, it’s more often fatal because we find it later than women usually do. Please. Man or woman. Do self exams. If you’re a man, ask your wife, girlfriend, mother or doctor how to do them and do them properly. But DO THEM.”

We need to find a cure. But until we do, take care of yourself and do your self exams. Early detection is so important. Give yourself a chance to fight.

YOUR family deserves that.

Thank You For Sharing This, Cyndy.

You Can find Cyndy blogging at Putting The Fun in DysFUNctional

©2009 A Southern Fairytale. 2007 - 2008 A Southern Fairytale All Rights Reserved.

Mediterranean Salmon

(Lotus Says: “I found this recipe in a mag years ago and tweaked it”)

Super healthy foods: olive oil, olives, salmon, tomatoes (cancer fighting lycopene!)

• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• 6 cloves pressed garlic (adjust if you don’t like garlic as much – I love it!)
• 1/2 tbsp oregano
• 1/2 tbsp thyme
• 1/2 tbsp parsley
• salt & pepper to taste
• 1 cup cherry/grape tomatoes, cut in half
• 1 shallot bulb peeled & diced
• 1/2 cup pitted, halved kalamata olives
• 2 salmon fillets

1. Preheat oven to 425
2. Combine olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, organo, thyme, parsley, salt, and pepper in a small bowl, mixing well. Make sure to really blend it all together.
3. Add cherry tomatoes, shallots, and kalamata olives and mix well.
4. Place salmon fillets into a baking dish. Spread the mixture onto the fillets, coating salmon completely.
5. Bake for 20 minutes or until fish flakes easily with a fork.

Serve with the mixture still on top of the fillets. So good!

*******

Pumpkin Tomato Chili

(Lotus Says: “this one I pulled straight out of oxygen mag years ago. super yummy cool weather food!”)

Kidney beans: phytochemicals

Tomatoes: lycopene

Pumpkin: carotenoids

All are cancer butt-kickers!

• 1 tsp olive oil
• 2 lb extra-lean, ground turkey breast
• 1 lg onion, diced
• 1 red pepper, diced
• 2 cans dark red kidney beans, rinsed and drained
• 5 1/2 cups no-sodium tomato juice
• 2  (14  1/2 oz) cans no-salt, peeled and diced tomatoes, with juice
• 1 1/4 cup canned pumpkin puree
• 2 tbsp sugar-free maple syrup
• 1 1/2 tbsp pumpkin pie spice
• 1 tbsp chili powder
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg

1. Add olive oil to a large pot and cook the ground turkey breast on high heat until brown. Stir meat to cook evenly, then separate.
2. Stir in onion and red pepper and cook for about 5 minutes. Stir in beans, tomato juice, diced tomatoes, pumpkin puree and maple syrup.
3. Season with pumpkin pie spice, chili powder, and nutmeg.
4. Simmer for 1 hour and serve.

It’s great with cornbread or crusty bread. Tasty and a fun change from traditional chilis

Lotus writes the brilliant, funny, photo filled gorgeous wonderful blog Sarcastic Mom and I am so blessed to count her as a friend.  Lotus, thank you so much for sharing these wonderful recipes with us!

©2009 A Southern Fairytale. 2007 - 2008 A Southern Fairytale All Rights Reserved.

The breast cancer diagnosis, that is.   She was in her late 40s, taking a shower and found a lump in her breast.   This was a time when breast cancer survival was far lower than it is today.   A mastectomy was a radical procedure, but her doctor’s convinced her it was her only option.

My sweet Grammy, husband-less at the time, was willing if it meant she would have more time in this world.   And more time is exactly what she has had.   Today she is 97, going on 98.  The breast cancer took her breast, but not her life, not her spirit.

She has always been a very private person – so we don’t often talk about that time in her life.  But I know she was scared.   I know she was embarrassed.  I also know she triumphed.  This barely 5 foot, peanut of a woman kicked cancer in the rear and has lived cancer-free for close to fifty years.  She has watched her only son become a dad and then a grandfather.

She has lived through World Wars, the invention of the car, the television and the Internet.  She has lived to be a Great-Grandmother.

Strong.  Remarkable.  Proud.  Inspiring.   All words I can use to describe the woman who makes the best Rice Crispy treats in the universe.

But probably her best title: Survivor.   Last year, I was thrilled to contribute to The Little Pink Prayer Book, Coping Healing, Surviving, Thriving in her honor.

Danielle blogs at Extraordinary Mommy

Please Donate to The Susan G Komen Foundation in Celebration of Danielle’s Grammy and others like her

©2009 A Southern Fairytale. 2007 - 2008 A Southern Fairytale All Rights Reserved.

When Rachel said that she was dedicating the month of October to raising awareness for Breast Cancer on her blog, I knew without a doubt I wanted to be involved. Breast cancer touches all of us in some way.

I know a woman who has been in remission for over five years.

I knew a woman who lost her fight with breast cancer last year.

The most profound loss I’ve felt, was the loss of a woman I never even met.  My college roommate M lost her mother to breast cancer shortly before we met.  I don’t think there was a time M can remember when her mother wasn’t fighting breast cancer. She fought it for many years but in the end the cancer took over.

When M and I became roommates (through other friends) we didn’t know each other. We would stay up late into the night talking about life and death.  She had recently lost her mother and I had recently lost my beloved grandmother.  We bonded over our grief and tears.  She had lived with the looming chance that her mother wouldn’t stay in remission and that possibly she would lose her.  I was blindsided by the suddenness of my loss.  She gave me a different perspective on living and coping and carrying on.  I would often wonder what I would do if I couldn’t call my mom and cry or ask for advice.

M was living what I couldn’t fathom.

As we talked, I learned who her mother was and how she raised her children.  I learned what was important to her, what she valued and what go her through some of her darkest and most difficult days.  I learned of her love for fruit trees.  Even though we had never met, in many ways I feel I have come to know M’s mother.

Watching her mother struggle and fight cancer has effected M in more profound ways than I can ever imagine.  She admitted she was afraid to have kids.  She feared something would happen to her and she would leave them motherless, as she had been left.  She said it was an inexplicable pain she wouldn’t wish on anyone.

Many years have passed since we were college roommates but M is still one of my closest friends.  She is now mom to two adorable children.  We recently talked about honoring, remembering and teaching our kids about the loved ones we’ve lost. She said sometimes it was too much and too hard to talk about her mom.  She wants her kids to know who their grandmother was, why she’s missed and how important she is.   M perseveres and I know her children will come to know the woman who has touched all of our lives.

written by Jill R

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

No mother, no woman will ever be forgotten.

No daughter, should lose a mother to this insidious disease.

No woman should lose a friend.

No mother should lose her daughter.

No one should die from this disease.

Please help us to find the cure.  Donate today.

©2009 A Southern Fairytale. 2007 - 2008 A Southern Fairytale All Rights Reserved.