Life On The Go With NOLA Girl!

Cherry Pistachio Browned - Butter Cookies

noreply@blogger.com (Renee) — Sat, 11 Aug 2018 18:46:00 -0600

This summer while we were in New Orleans we tried a great place called Bakery Bar. They sell a very traditional New Orleans cake called a doberge cake. Their cakes come from a baker called Debbie Does Doberge. While we were picking up a cake (half lemon and half chocolate - yummy) Hubby noticed they also had Cherry Pistachio cookies.

He told me that his grandmother used to make them and that they were one of his favorite cookies. Now, I've known this man over 25 years and that was the first time I'd ever heard of this cookie! Of course I had to try to make some for him, since they are his favorite. Unfortunately, his grandmother is no longer with us so I had to find a recipe on my own.

There weren't tons of recipes online that looked like the kind his grandmother made. Most of the recipes I found online were a weird green color that did not look very appealing. I ran across a great recipe on
Local Haven that looked like a cookie I would eat.

These cookies were absolutely delicious. He said they were a little different from the ones his grandmother made but they were definitely a hit. I'm sure the key to this cookie was the browned butter. I'd never made a cookie with browned butter but I will incorporate it whenever I can.

You can get the recipe at Local Haven.

Renee

Gamer Party

noreply@blogger.com (Renee) — Tue, 17 Jul 2018 19:27:00 -0600

Wow, time is really flying by, RJ just turned 10!! For such a big birthday we decided to have a Game Truck party and invite 20 of his closest buds. As I was agreeing to do this party I wondered if I should have my head examined. Twenty 10 year olds running around my house! Hubby convinced me that it would be ok (that I would be ok) and that the boys would spend most of the time on the truck.

After carefully thinking it over, I agreed and we had the truck for 2 hours and left 30 minutes extra for pizza and cake. I could definitely do 2 & 1/2 hours.

I enlisted the help of MJ to make these game controllers. I think they look pretty awesome and he was proud of his work.

Each boy was given a VIP badge with their name on it to wear during the party. I ordered the badges, the gamer Ryan sign, and a few other things from an Easy shop called lulucole.

I had to come up with snacks and treats to go with the gamer theme. RJ wanted to have all the games he likes represented. Personally, my favorite were the cheese ninjas. They looked like real ninjas and were the easiest snack to make. I pulled the cheese apart and used an edible marker to make the eyes.

The boys loved the chocolate Mario mustaches. The biggest mistake I made was not making more of them. I was afraid a fight was going to break out when the last one was taken.

I also made royal iced game controller cookies, Minecraft rice Krispy dirt blocks and piranha fruit made from strawberries and grapes.

The Nintendo Switch cake was the most challenging thing I made. This was my first time ever using fondant and I was very nervous. Thanks to a lot of advice from my friend, Erica, and tons of online videos, I was able to get the cake done.

I was very pleased with the way the cake turned out. It looked good and tasted even better!

I gave each boy a test tube filled with bubble gum for their take home party favor.

I ordered the test tubes from Amazon and the labels came from lulucole.

After all was said and done, the party was a huge success. RJ and his friends had a wonderful time and I survived :-).

Renee

Distilled & Aged to Perfection - Bourbon Themed Birthday Party

noreply@blogger.com (Renee) — Mon, 30 May 2016 13:35:00 -0600

This year for hubby's birthday I threw him a bourbon tasting party. He has always been a bourbon fan so I knew this party would be right up his alley. I think he had just as much fun researching, buying and sampling all the bourbons as he did at the party. He even made a new friend at the local liquor store.

The dining room was set up for the actual bourbon tasting. We had 10 different bourbons for the tasting, each with it's own set of tasting notes. We chose a few small batch bourbons, single barrel bourbons and craft bourbons each with different flavor palates.

I purchased tulip shaped tasting glasses from World Market. The tulip shape of the glass helps to showcase the bourbon's flavor. I also put out slices of fruit and different chocolates to help bring out the different bourbon notes.

We played a game called How Refined is your Palate? Four different bourbons were put into plastic cups with lids. I had tasting notes for each bourbon (along with a few hints about each) and a list of 6 bourbons for the guests to choose from. Looking back I should have only listed the 4 bourbons for the guests to choose from, 6 was too many. The person who got the most correct won a prize.

The best part of the party was the food. Almost everything on the menu had bourbon added to the recipe. Unfortunately, I only got a picture of the ribs when they were on the grill. In addition to ribs I made honey bourbon wings, Jack Daniel's bacon mac and cheese, green beans, baked beans and a green salad.

I also made lots of desserts, including Hubby's Chantilly birthday cake and lemon meringue cheesecake bites. I've recently started making mini cheesecakes and I'm in love with them.

I also made chocolate bourbon cupcakes and Kentucky bourbon balls. The bourbon balls were delicious and had quite a kick!

In addition to all the bourbon, we served spiked Arnold Palmer's in mason jars and wine.

The party was a huge success. After playing the game, tasting the bourbons, eating dinner and dessert we sat on the deck and smoked cigars. Everyone had a great time, especially hubby. All of our friends brought him bourbon so we ended up with almost 20 bottles!!! I guess we'll be having another bourbon party soon :-).

Renee

Do You Know What it Means to Miss New Orleans??

noreply@blogger.com (Renee) — Mon, 31 Aug 2015 19:43:00 -0600

This past week was full of emotion for New Orleanians. Saturday August 29 was the 10th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina.

Just like every other family in New Orleans and the Gulf Coast, my family lost everything.

They were fortunate enough to be able to get out of the city before Katrina made landfall.

My father, who was a homicide detective in New Orleans at the time, had to stay.

My mother, brother, aunt, uncle and 3 cousins all came to Tennessee where I was living at the time.

They were all able to return to New Orleans about 3 months later to begin rebuilding their lives.

Over these past 10 years, my entire family was able to return home and rebuild.

Many of their homes are nicer now than they were before Katrina.

I wish we could say the same about many parts of New Orleans.

Most of my family lives in the Gentilly area and they are still in need of basic necessities found in most neighborhoods in this country.

It is disheartening that most people have to drive at least 15 minutes to get to a decent grocery store or to a restaurant.

Don't even think about any quality shopping, unless you are looking for a Dollar store!

Even though New Orleans still has a way to go, it has improved tremendously since Katrina.

It is plain to see that the folks running the city want it to look entirely different than it did pre-Katrina and for the most part that is a good thing.

What isn't a good thing is how slow the progress has been and how only certain areas of the city are being revitalized.

New Orleans is my home and if one day the stars all lined up correctly I would love more than anything to move my family back, but that is not something I can see happening in the near future.

I will continue to pray for my city to get back to the wonderful place we all know, love

AND MISS!!

Florida Fun!!

noreply@blogger.com (Renee) — Mon, 29 Jun 2015 20:33:00 -0600

As soon as school let out for the summer we hit the road. This was my first time leaving Denver since we moved here last summer. We flew to NOLA on a Friday night and Saturday morning my family of 4, my parents and my brother made the 4 hour drive to Destin, Florida.

We rented a beautiful house in Miriamar Beach, right off of Scenic Highway 98. The house was in a great location. We were in walking distance to the beach, a short drive to restaurants and close lots of activities and shopping.

In addition to enjoying lots of rest and relaxation, we ate A LOT!! Living land locked in Colorado all I wanted was seafood so I definitely wanted to steam crabs. They were delicious. I also ate seafood at every restaurant we went to.

One of the best restaurants we ate at was called the Surf Hut. Not only was the food delicious, the service was awesome and the drinks were amazing. The restaurant was right on the beach so while you wait for a table you can spend time in the back playing corn hole, enjoying the view or having a drink.

Beach Bucket Margarita :-)

The view from the Surf Hut restaurant

This was the first time the 7 of us took a vacation together and we had WONDERFUL time. Everyone hated to see our week to come to an end.

You can see from these pictures why Destin is part of the Emerald Coast. The water is so clear and the beaches are sandy white.

I've already started looking at the calendar to schedule our return visit next year :-).

Where have you been????

noreply@blogger.com (Renee) — Thu, 25 Jun 2015 08:18:00 -0600

It has been a while since I've written but these last 16 months have been a whirlwind for my family. At the beginning of 2014, Hubby was offered a wonderful position in Denver. Even though Denver was not on our list of places to settle down, he could not pass up such a great offer. So, very reluctantly, we put our Texas home on the market and began the process of moving. By the beginning of the summer we'd sold our home and were headed to Denver.

And the journey begins...

The view from my window as we drove from Texas to Colorado

When we first arrived we were leasing a home until we got the lay of the land. When our lease was about up we bought a new home which we all LOVE! July will be a full year for us in Denver and I must admit it was the best move for our family. We have made so many new friends, our kids love their schools (and so do we) and you couldn't ask for better weather. Even though I was not happy about moving, I am so grateful we did. I pray our family will live here for many years to come.

Now that we are all settled in and my life has returned to normal I will be able to share all of our fun adventures once again.

Renee

My Favorite Books of 2013

noreply@blogger.com (Renee) — Fri, 24 Jan 2014 07:36:00 -0700

I love reading. When I get wrapped up in a good book I become a bad mother and wife. My mom has even told me that I am not allowed to read when we visit each other because I ignore her. In 2013 my goal was to read 100 books, unfortunately, I was only able to read 91. I want to share with you a few of my favorites from last year (in no particular order).

Roam series by Kimbery Stedronsky

I am a fan of paranormal fiction and the Roam series was wonderful for me. It is a very interesting and imaginative series, different from most paranormal books I've read. West and Roam have seven lifetimes to protect her from evil and save the world. West fails six times and the series picks up with them finding each other in the seventh. This series is unique and I fell in love with it immediately. I believe I read the entire series in a week.

Inferno by Dan Brown

I love Dan Brown and have read all of his previous Robert Langdon books. This book did not disappoint. I have always been fascinated with Dante's Inferno so when I found out that the plot of Brown's next book was based on Dante's Inferno, I couldn't wait to read it. Just like previous books in this series, Robert Langdon is on one huge mysterious adventure where he needs to decide who to trust before the world is forever damaged.

The Story of Beautiful Girl by Rachel Simon

The story takes place in 1968 and tells the story of a young white woman and an African American man who have been placed in the School for the Incurable and Feeble-Minded. The story spans a 40-year time frame and tells of the seemingly unsurmountable obstacles these two go through for their extraordinary love. Be prepared to shed some tears if you read this amazing book.

The Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon

Once I start reading and liking a book in a series, I must read them all in succession. A friend of mine recommended the Outlander series to me and it has become one of my favorites of all time. This series is a beautifully written, historical fiction work detailing an epic love story. The time travel satisfies my love of fantasy and the love between Claire and Jamie is great for my need for romance. The only downfall I have with this series is that the novels are LONG and at times Gabaldon's attention for detail can get a little boring. I am excited about the fact that the Starz network is creating a series based on the novels. I can't wait to see how the tv show compares to the books. I highly recommend this series to any fan of historical fiction and romance.

Crossfire series by Sylvia Day

For any of you who are fans of the Fifty Shades of Grey, the Crossfire series will be perfect for you. I'm kind of ashamed to admit it, but I am a sucker for smutty books and this one fits into that category. The love story between the two main characters, Eva & Gideon, who are both flawed and damaged, is very hot and steamy. Day also tells about both of their pasts which come back to haunt them as they move forward to their future. If you are a fan of the hot and steamy with a decent story line, this series is for you.

The Blackdagger Brotherhood series by J.R. Ward

I am also a huge fan of vampires which is why the Blackdagger Brotherhood series is probably one of my favorite series ever. It is about a brotherhood of vampires who work together to protect the world from their enemies in the Lessing society. Each book is about a different sexy vampire brother, the woman he loves and the brotherhood's fight with the lessing society. These books are perfect for the vampire and paranormal romance lover, like me.

If you take my recommendations and read any of these books I'd love to hear what you think about them.

Renee

Brown Sugar Glazed Pork Roast

noreply@blogger.com (Renee) — Thu, 23 Jan 2014 10:19:00 -0700

Last weekend when I gave my guys the options for the weekly dinner menu they all voted for the pork roast to be their first meal of the week. I must admit I'm not a huge pork lover, unless it is bacon or ham, so I wasn't as excited about this meal as the guys were.

One thing that did get me excited about this meal was that it is a crockpot meal which meant less work for Mommy. I don't have many crockpot recipes, but when I find one that is good I cook it as often as possible.

Even though I'm not a huge pork lover, this one makes the cut for me because it is really good. The caramelized outer layer is delicious. I love the flavor from the glaze. It isn't too sweet, just enough. RJ really liked it, he kept asking for more of the bbq ribs??

One change I made from the recipe I found on Laura's Sweet Spot was that I cooked the roast in chicken stock instead of water. Emeril always says water has no flavor so I figured I should cook the roast in something that will add to the flavor.

If you decide to make this, I hope you enjoy it as much as my guys did.

Ingredients:

2 pounds pork tenderloin

1 teaspoon ground sage

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1 clove garlic, crushed

1/2 cup chicken stock

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 tablespoon cornstarch

1/4 cup balsamic vinegar

1/2 cup water

2 tablespoons soy sauce

Instructions:

Mix together the seasonings: sage, salt, pepper and garlic. Rub over tenderloin. Place chicken stock in crock pot. Place tenderloin in crock pot. Cook on low for 6-8 hours. About an hour before roast is done mix ingredients for glaze in a small sauce pan: brown sugar, cornstarch, balsamic vinegar, water and soy sauce. Heat over medium and stir until thickens, about 4 minutes. When roast is finished cooking, remove from crock pot and place on aluminum lined baking sheet. Brush roast with glaze and put under broiler for a few minutes until caramelized glaze is achieved. Brush roast 2-3 times while under broiler. Serve with glaze on the side.

Renee

Honey Cornbread Muffins

noreply@blogger.com (Renee) — Sun, 19 Jan 2014 07:55:00 -0700

My family loves cornbread and I make it for them quite often. I just pull out my box of Jiffy and tada, cornbread!!

One day I was surfing Pinterest and I ran across this great looking recipe for honey cornbread muffins on Relativetaste. I know so many people who make their cornbread from scratch so I figured I give it a try.

I was pleasantly surprised, not only were they easy to make, but they tasted great also. The recipe called for paper liners, but I didn't use liners. I just sprayed my muffin tin with Baker's Joy and that worked out fine.

I told Hubby that this recipe was good enough for me to stop using my Jiffy and he said "I hope so". So I guess he liked them too. :-)

Ingredients:

1 cup yellow cornmeal
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk
2 large eggs
1/2 stick butter, melted
1/4 cup honey

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. In a large bowl, mix the cornmeal, flour, baking powder, sugar and salt. In another bowl, whisk together the milk, eggs, butter and honey. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ones and stir until just mixed. Place muffin paper liners in a 12-cup muffin tin. Evenly divide the cornbread mixture into the papers. Bake for 15 minutes, until golden.

Renee

Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

noreply@blogger.com (Renee) — Mon, 13 Jan 2014 05:44:00 -0700

My parents spent Christmas with us again this year so I had to make one of my dad's favorite cookies, oatmeal raisin.

Doesn't the cookie dough look yummy!!

Hubby also loves oatmeal raisin cookies and it was very comical watching their playful quarrels about who I actually made the cookies for.

One thing I started doing after I made this batch of cookies was using parchment paper. This was my first time using it and I promise I will never make cookies without parchment paper ever again.

The cookies just slid off the baking sheet.

In addition to the oatmeal raisin cookies, I made 4 other types of cookies for my daddy, the cookie monster! I will share those recipes with you later.

We were hoping we would get a little snow Christmas day like we did last year. Unfortunately, it was just really cold so we enjoyed our cookies in front of the fire.

I have accumulated quite the collection of Christmas tins. They really came in handy this year with five different types of cookies to store away.

I hope if you enjoy oatmeal raisin cookies, that you will make these cookies for yourself and your family.

Oatmeal Raisin Cookie Recipe

Renee

Saints vs. Seahawks - Who Dat Baby!!

noreply@blogger.com (Renee) — Sat, 11 Jan 2014 07:00:00 -0700

I am going to have butterflies in my stomach all day as I await the Saints vs. Seahawks playoff game at 3:35 CST. My Saints have made it to a second round playoff game and the entire Who Dat Nation will be anxiously watching this event.

In addition to a win, I am looking forward to seeing my favorite player, Jimmy Graham, make some big plays.

Whatever happens, I love my Saints and they have given us another great season of football. We really don't want it to end yet so we are lighting our candles, saying our prayers and making our gris gris in order for us to beat the Seahawks today!!

Our boys are the underdogs in this game, but win or loose our fans will be behind them 100%!!!!

Renee

Proud Member of the Who Dat Nation!

Beef Tenderloin Bruschetta

noreply@blogger.com (Renee) — Fri, 10 Jan 2014 07:20:00 -0700

On the rare occasion that Hubby and I get to go out we enjoy going to Winewood Grill here in Texas. The atmosphere, food and service are all wonderful. One of our favorite menu items is their beef tenderloin bruschetta.

It is on the appetizer menu at Winewood, but it is so good I think it would be great as a main course.

You can't imagine how excited I wast to find the recipe in a local magazine. I couldn't wait to give it a try.

I decided to make them for lunch the Saturday before Christmas and everyone really enjoyed them.

The meat is so tender and when all the different flavors come together it is like a party in your mouth! The only variation to the original recipe was that I used my own homemade french bread instead of a store bought baguette.

If you are ever in the Dallas area, I highly recommend trying Winewood. If a trip to the Big D is not in your near future then you should definitely give this recipe a try instead. It is a real winner.

Renee

Recipe
1 small baguette, cut into slices
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 lb. beef tenderloin, sliced thin
1 teaspoonful salt
1/2 teaspoonful pepper
1 cup arugula
basil pesto
tomato jam*

Tomato Jam*
3 large tomatoes, seeded and cubed
1 tablespoon chopped red onion
1/4 cup balsalmic vinegar
1/2 cup red wine vinegar
2 tablespoon mixed herbs, chopped
1/3 cup sugar
1 teaspoonful salt
1 teaspoonful pepper

Place all ingredients into saucepan, slowly simmer for 30 minutes or until thick. Cool and stir in refridgerator until needed.

Balsalmic Syrup**
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 cup balsalmic vinegar

Place all ingredients in small saucepan, simmer over low heat. Reduce until thick. Cool and store in refridgeratior until needed.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Arrange baguette slices on baking sheet and drizzle lightly with 1 tablespoonful of olive oil. Toast in oven for 3-4 minutes.
Season tenderloin slices with salt and pepper and sauté in pan over high heat. Sauté until just cooked through and set aside.
In another pan heat remaining olive oil over medium heat and sauté arugula until just wilted.
Top each baguette with 1 teaspoonful of basil pesto, 1 teaspoonful tomato jam and 1/2 teaspoonful wilted arugula. Then drizzle lightly with balsamic syrup**.

Renee

Welcome 2014!

noreply@blogger.com (Renee) — Wed, 8 Jan 2014 08:10:00 -0700

Happy New Year to everyone!! At the end of 2013 I turned the big '40' and I've decided to make some positive changes in my life. One of those changes will be to put forth more effort on my blog. I really do enjoy writing new posts so I promised myself that I will blog on a regular basis.

My last post was from April 2013 and a lot has happened since then. One of the best was a summer trip to my hometown, New Orleans. The boys and I had a wonderful time and RJ celebrated his 5th birthday there with all of his cousins. It took him FOREVER to decide on a theme, but he finally settled on Curious George.

I must admit I had a lot of fun creating the decorations for this party. It took a lot of time, but I think for a DIY party everything looked great. The Curious George balloon wall was a big hit. RJ didn't want to give up his George stuffed animal until the last minute. I'm not sure what he thought I was going to do with it, but as you can see he finally gave it up.

I loved the kite strings with all the baby pictures of RJ. I really wanted lots of pictures of him from birth to 5 years and this worked out well. I was able to incorporate his pictures into the design and it looked more put together than a wall of pictures.

I cut out a large R and 5 out of an old cardboard box that I receive my wine of the month in. With 2 young boys, you must have your "Mommy Juice" on a regular :-) I cut out tons of red, yellow and blue crepe paper and glued them to the cardboard.

I set up a table for the gift bags and a Curious George book for our guests to sign and leave notes for RJ.

We had chocolate covered bananas, cupcakes and chocolate covered marshmallows for all of our little monkey friends.

The majority of our party took place outside. My mother went dumpster diving and found several crates that we used to make a table and chairs for the kiddos to color their Curious George pictures on.

We also had a large sheet of paper for the kids to do finger painting on. My dad wasn't too thrilled about this because he had a lot of paint to clean off his house the next day. Sorry Daddy :-) In addition we had a pool in the backyard that kept the kids and adults quite busy.

Attached to the house I had my favorite decoration, a balloon banner. It took me two days to blow up all those balloons, but it was by far my favorite.

At the end of the party we had a Curious George piñata filled with candy and toys. The kids all had a blast taking turns hitting poor George.

RJ had a great time, he asks me on a regular basis what we are doing for his 6th birthday party!! Hope you enjoy the pictures as much as we enjoyed the party.

Renee

Basil-Orange Lemonade

noreply@blogger.com (Renee) — Thu, 25 Apr 2013 11:10:00 -0600

We have all been enjoying the beautiful springtime weather here in Texas. Especially since soon we won't be able to go outside without fear of melting from the heat.
Spending time outside preparing the yard for spring and watching the plants begin to flower has been a real pleasure.

One major plus of spring is the reappearance of fruit on the grocery shelves. Even though winter is one of my favorite seasons, I miss being able to enjoy all the wonderful fruit spring and summer offer us.

Since my guys are all in love with lemons I decided to make them lemonade with a twist.
As usual RJ was all too happy to help. He was great with the electric juicer, that will be his job from now on.

I absolutely love basil and am currently growing large leaf and purple basil in my garden.
I decided to add a few leaves to the lemonade to give a little added flavor.
I also bought a large box of naval oranges from Costco (I LOVE COSTCO) so I thought I would juice an orange and add it to the lemonade also.

Once the lemonade chilled for a while, Hubby and I went outside to enjoy a glass and to watch the boys play on the trampoline.
The lemonade was a big hit with my guys. I am sure I will be making lots this summer.

Recipe

1 cup sugar
6 cups water
16 oz fresh squeezed lemon juice
4 oz fresh squeezed orange juice
5-6 basil leaves

In a small saucepan dissolve 1 cup of sugar in 1 cup of water and bring to a boil. Set aside until the syrup is completely cooled.

Meanwhile juice approximately 6-7 lemons to obtain 16 oz of fresh squeezed lemon juice. Also, juice 1-2 oranges to obtain 4 oz of fresh orange juice.

Pour lemon juice, orange juice, syrup, remaining 5 cups of water and basil leaves into a pitcher and refrigerate until ready to enjoy.

Renee

Video Game Birthday Party

noreply@blogger.com (Renee) — Mon, 4 Feb 2013 09:39:00 -0700

This year for MJ's 11th birthday we had a video game themed party. We considered having a game truck since we had one a few years ago but the price of the game truck has gone up considerably since then. My boys have a Wii, an X-Box 360 and a regular X-Box, so we decided to have a video game party at our house.

When the boys arrived they each received an All Access pass to wear during the party.

I tried to put as many video game characters as possible into the decorations. I wanted the boys to feel like they were inside a video game arcade.

I was really happy when all the boys stopped at the Pac Man wall and said how "cool' it was.

MJ made these cute Pac Man ghosts out of legos. He was very proud to show them off to all his friends.

I also made some Boo ghosts and hung them from the ceiling. They were a big hit, especially with RJ. He had a blast shooting at them with his Nerf gun :-).

We also pulled out the Nintendo 64 to add the old school video game theme. Too bad we didn't have our Atari or Intelevision from when we were kids, the boys probably wouldn't have known what they were, LOL!

The boys also got a kick out of the Mario mustaches, the 7- "Up" cake and all the different labels on the Gatorade and water bottles.

I had a great time getting the dessert counter ready.

The streamers on the back wall really added a great touch.

These chocolate covered marshmallows were a huge hit. All the boys loved them, and I must admit, I loved them too. This was my first time making them, but I promised MJ and RJ that I will make them more often.

The cupcakes were delicious too. I just made a yellow box cake with a delicious butter cream frosting. I stuck with the primary party colors, red, blue, yellow and green for the frosting colors.

When the boys left they each received a goodie bag filled with stickers, pencils, erasers, a cup, tattoos, and a pencil sharpener.

MJ had a great party. He was so excited all day. I was a little concerned since we were partying on a budget, bit it worked out great.

Renee

Chocolate Chip Cookies

noreply@blogger.com (Renee) — Thu, 20 Dec 2012 21:35:00 -0700

My parents spent Christmas with us again this year and we had SO much fun. My daddy loves cookies and I love to make lots of them for him when he visits but I may have gone a little overboard this year. I made 5 different types of cookies. At least two dozen of each so we had over 120 cookies!!

One of my favorite cookies is the traditional chocolate chip cookie with pecans. RJ and MJ also love them so I definitely had to make them for Christmas.

Hubby and my dad aren't huge fans of the chocolate chip cookie so I made oatmeal raisin cookies for them. I'll share that recipe later.

One thing that I did not do for these cookies was use parchment paper on the cookie sheet. I never used parchment paper before but I gave it a try on a different batch of cookies. Let me say that I will never make cookies again without using parchment paper. The cookies just slid off the paper, it was great.

I bought one of these cute holiday tins from Target to put the cookies in. All of the cookies didn't fit in the tin, so I was able to hide some away from the boys :-0

This is one of the best cookie recipes that I have found. The boys and I really enjoyed them. Fortunately, we didn't have to share these with Santa since he is a big oatmeal raisin cookie guy.

Ingredients

1 cup butter, softened

1 cup white sugar

1 cup packed brown sugar

2 eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

2 teaspoons hot water

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

1 cup chopped pecans

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
Cream together the butter, white sugar, and brown sugar until smooth. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in the vanilla. Dissolve baking soda in hot water. Add to batter along with salt. Stir in flour, chocolate chips, and nuts. Drop by large spoonfuls onto ungreased pans.
Bake for about 10 minutes in the preheated oven, or until edges are nicely browned.

Renee

Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe

Ya Ka Mein

noreply@blogger.com (Renee) — Mon, 29 Oct 2012 06:50:00 -0600

Yakamein, (pronounced Yakameat by local New Orleanians) is a delicious meal made with beef, spaghetti, green onions and eggs. Many locals also call the dish Old Sober because of it's reputation as a hangover cure.

No one knows the true origin of the dish. Some say it originated from Chinese immigrants who were brought to New Orleans to help build railroads between New Orleans and Houston. Others say it is a version of Korean noodle soup dishes brought back to New Orleans from African American troops who fought in the Korean war. Whichever is true, I am sure glad someone thought of it.

Since we got a taste of cold weather this weekend in Texas, MJ begged me to make ya ka mein for him. RJ is not a huge fan, but he does love the noodles, what 4 year old wouldn't??

Not only will this dish help you recover from your hangover, it will also be a treat for your tastebuds and warm your insides on a cold night.

For all yall who want to make this great cold-weather meal, here is the recipe:

3-4 pounds beef stew meat
4-5 quarts of water

2 tablespoons of beef bouillon base

1 teaspoon of Lawry's seasoned salt

2 teaspoons of Slap Ya Mama (Cajun seasoning)

1 teaspoon of onion powder

4 tablespoons vegetable oil

salt and pepper, to taste

1 pound of spaghetti noodles

one half hard boiled egg per bowl of soup

1 green onion, sliced

Soy sauce, hot sauce, to taste

Renee

Superhero Bookmarks

noreply@blogger.com (Renee) — Fri, 26 Oct 2012 05:57:00 -0600

At one time MJ loved reading. Unfortunately, his love of reading has

been replaced by a love of video games.

In one of my pinning adventures I ran across a great idea on the Crafts by Amanda blog that may help to ignite his reading again.

I know that MJ and his friends are into the Avengers, so I thought if he had Avenger bookmarks he would be excited to use them in his books.

Both of the boys really like the bookmarks. RJ uses them as toys with his action figures. He insisted that I take pictures of the bookmarks with the "real" Spider Man and Wolverine.

When MJ brought them to school, he began coming home almost daily asking for certain characters for friends. After a week of constantly making bookmarks, Hubby started joking that I had a bookmark assembly line going in our kitchen.

Unfortunately, the bookmarks have not brought back MJ's love of reading, but they have inspired him to pull out his books again. Fortunately, we make him read daily so he does use the bookmarks and reads whether he wants to or not :-).

Check out the Crafts by Amanda tutorial if you'd like to make your own. I followed her tutorial for all but Wolverine and Hawkeye. I made my own versions using the Marvel book in the photos.

Renee

Hubby Does Halloween

noreply@blogger.com (Renee) — Mon, 22 Oct 2012 07:09:00 -0600

I am usually the one who gets excited about decorating the house for the holidays, but this year Hubby wanted to get in on the act and decorate pumpkins.

We took RJ to the pumpkin patch one afternoon and we bought two large pumpkins.

The final result was really cute.

Here is a picture we took at night with a candle inside.

We bought one pumpkin that Hubby thought would look great as a ghost. RJ was very happy to help with the painting.

I think the ghost pumpkin came out great!!!

Hubby did a great job with his pumpkins.

I hope he helps out with Christmas decorating also :-)

Renee

Halloween fun

noreply@blogger.com (Renee) — Thu, 18 Oct 2012 17:19:00 -0600

RJ turned 4 this summer and he is really becoming a big boy. So while I can still classify him as my baby I made some cute Halloween crafts using his hands and feet. I found a great Halloween craft idea on Southern Fried Gal blog and I knew it would be a perfect afternoon project for RJ and I.

RJ had so much fun painting each canvas.

He especially enjoyed when I painted his hands and foot.

He said it tickled and he laughed the entire time.

The most difficult part of this project was getting him to keep still while I pressed his hands and foot onto the canvas. Despite working with a wiggly 4 year old, I think they came out great.

I will always have these Halloween art prints to remind me of my little RJ.

Renee

Chalkboard containers

noreply@blogger.com (Renee) — Sun, 30 Sep 2012 08:12:00 -0600

I always feel like I need to organize. Not only does organization help my house stay clutter free, but also my mind.

One cute idea I had was to do the chalkboard labels on my containers. I've seen so many containers in the store with the chalkboard label on them, but most have been glass. Since my guys will be using these containers also, I wanted to get plastic to help avoid them breaking.

I purchased these containers from Garden Ridge. They were large enough for the huge amounts of sugar and flour I keep in stock.

I also purchased chalkboard paint from Hobby Lobby.

I used painters tape to measure out the area I wanted the label to be.

Then I painted on two coats of paint on each container.

After a 24 hour drying time the labels were ready to use.

Not sure if they really help Hubby and the boys, but they do make my pantry look nicer :-)

My next project is to completely organize my pantry. I am very fortunate to have a huge pantry, but it surely needs better organization.

I'll keep you posted.

Renee

Peach Cobbler

noreply@blogger.com (Renee) — Tue, 11 Sep 2012 12:29:00 -0600

Hubby is not a huge fan of sweets, but he does like things made with real fruit. I found a delicious recipe for peach cobbler on Allrecipes.com and I decided to give it a try.

I went to Costco and bought a large container of fresh peaches. Unfortunately, they weren't the sweetest peaches I'd ever had, but they were juicy.

I also made homemade vanilla ice cream to go with the cobbler.

Once the cobbler was done I had to taste it as soon as I took it out of the oven. It was perfect!!

Even though the peaches I used weren't the sweetest, the cobbler was exceptional. It had just the right amount of sweetness and the crust was terrific.

The ice cream was the perfect touch. This will be my go-to recipe for peach cobbler from now on.

Renee

Ingredients

8 fresh peaches - peeled, pitted and sliced into thin wedges
1/4 cup white sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
2 teaspoons cornstarch
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup white sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, chilled and cut into small pieces
1/4 cup boiling water
MIX TOGETHER:
3 tablespoons white sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Directions

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C).
In a large bowl, combine peaches, 1/4 cup white sugar, 1/4 cup brown sugar, 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon, nutmeg, lemon juice, and cornstarch. Toss to coat evenly, and pour into a 2 quart baking dish. Bake in preheated oven for 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, in a large bowl, combine flour, 1/4 cup white sugar, 1/4 cup brown sugar, baking powder, and salt. Blend in butter with your fingertips, or a pastry blender, until mixture resembles coarse meal. Stir in water until just combined.
Remove peaches from oven, and drop spoonfuls of topping over them. Sprinkle entire cobbler with the sugar and cinnamon mixture. Bake until topping is golden, about 30 minutes.

Nutritional Information

Amount Per Serving Calories: 562 | Total Fat: 17.6g | Cholesterol: 46mg

Saints vs. Redskins: A House Divided

noreply@blogger.com (Renee) — Mon, 10 Sep 2012 11:06:00 -0600

This weekend was the official start of football season for my family. I am a lover of all things New Orleans and that includes my undying love for the Saints. My hubby, being from D.C., is a die hard Redskins fan so we had to recognize yesterday's game between the two teams.

Even though we are both extremely loyal to our home teams, since we are family, we do support both teams (especially when they don't play each other). The boys were split on which team they should support. MJ wore a Redskins jersey, but said he wanted the Saints to win and RJ wore a Saints shirt, and said he wanted both teams to win.

I had a great time decorating the house and trying to share the love between both teams. It wasn't too hard considering we both have lots of items for each team. The one thing I was very surprised to find here in Texas was Redskins duct tape. It caught my eye at Hobby Lobby the other day and I had to buy it. Being in Cowboy country I couldn't believe they had anything that said Redskins on it. I was equally as surprised that they didn't have any Saints duct tape. I will have to get some of my NOLA folks to send me some for next time.

Even my Buddah had to get in on this action....he was pulling for the Saints!!

I made good use of all the glass jars I save by putting the utensils in them. Hubby was worried that he would be the only person eating out of the Redskins stuff. Fortunately one of our friends is from the D.C. area and she and her family came over so he wasn't alone with his burgundy and yellow.

I also made Hurricane drinks for the adults. They were just what we needed during that stressful game.

I cooked traditional New Orleans food for the game. Hubby wanted to steam crabs and drink Rolling Rock beer, but considering I didn't remember the game was yesterday until last Tuesday that didn't leave me a lot of time to prepare for that. Sorry Babe :(

I made a HUGE pot of red beans and rice. That was 5 pounds of beans!!! I've never made more than 2 pounds at a time so this was a challenge for me. I soaked the beans over night and when I woke up the beans had absorbed most of the water and expanded so much I had to put them in a larger pot!!! When I called my mom to tell her she said, 'Oh, I forgot to tell you they might do that.'

Gee thanks mom... ;-)

I also made my home made french bread. It was a hit with everyone. There is nothing like red beans, rice and french bread. Yummy.

Of course it wouldn't be New Orleans without a bread pudding for dessert. I made the best bourbon sauce to go with the bread pudding. It was delicious if I must say so myself. I also put together a batch of lemon crinkle cookies. One of my NOLA girlfriends who came over brought us a batch of her red velvet cake balls, they were a huge hit. I will have to get the recipe from her because MJ was in love, he even took some for lunch today.

My story ends on a sad note for me because my Saints lost :-(
but I am happy for Hubby and his Redskins.

Oh well, I still love my Saints, Who Dat Forever!!
We always have next week so watch out Panthers!!

Homemade French Bread

noreply@blogger.com (Renee) — Fri, 7 Sep 2012 11:37:00 -0600

I have to start out by showing off the newest addition to the family, my Kitchen Aid mixer. It was a gift from my wonderful Mom!!!

Hubby was surprised that I didn't pick an orange one, since I love orange. I didn't think orange would work well with my kitchen so I went with my other favorite color, grey.

I love this mixer. Honestly, I use it almost every day. One of my favorite things to use it for is to make bread. Being from New Orleans, I love french bread, and I have a really good and easy recipe that I make quite often.

I start off by dissolving the yeast in warm water. Make sure the water is not too hot or you will kill the yeast. Add the sugar and stir to dissolve. Once the yeast has all dissolved and looks frothy like it is starting to look in the above picture (see the sides of the bowl) add the salt, and the flour. I use the bread hook on the mixer and mix until the dough comes away from the sides of the bowl.

(Sorry I didn't get a chance to take a picture)

After about 3-4 minutes the dough has pulled away from the sides and is ready to go into the greased bowl to rise (I spray the bowl with Pam). If you were to knead the dough by hand, the kneading process would take about 8-10 minutes so the shorter knead time is a great reason to use a stand mixer.

Next cover the bowl with a cloth or plastic wrap and let rise. I put the dough in my oven with only the light on to help it rise, this takes about 1-2 hours depending on where you let it rise.

Once the dough has doubled in size, punch it down, divide it in half, roll it out on a floured surface and form into rectangles. Recover the dough and let rise to the size you like.

After the final rise, place dough in the oven and let bake at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes or until golden brown.

Here is the bread right out of the oven. My house smells so good when I bake bread, we all love it.

After taking the bread out of the oven, I rub the butter on top to give it a little buttery flavor. I've also eaten it without the butter, either way this is a wonderful french bread recipe.

I've been trying to get my mom to bake bread, but she insists that it is much easier for her to drive to Gendusa's bakery and pick up a couple of fresh loaves. Well, if I still lived in New Orleans maybe I would too, but since I don't I will have to make my own and I will say this recipe is pretty darn good.

Renee

French Bread

Makes 2 loaves

Ingredients:

2 & 1⁄2 cups of warm water

1 tbsp. of rapid rising dry yeast

1⁄2 cup of sugar

2 tsp. of salt

About 6 cups of all purpose flour

Directions:

Mix the warm water, yeast, and sugar together in a large mixing bowl, until dissolved

Mix in the salt and then 5 of the 6 cups of flour

If the dough is still sticky, add the remaining cup of flour. If it is still too sticky, add another 1⁄2 cup of

flour.

Mix until it forms a ball, and then cover with a cloth or plastic wrap

Let the dough ball rise in the bowl until it doubles in size (1-2 hours)

Divide the dough in half

Roll out each ball into a large rectangle (the length of your baking sheet)

Starting at a long edge, roll each rectangle, until your dough is shaped like a jelly roll

Place both loaves on the baking sheet, with spacing on each side

Cover and let rise until the loaves become as large as you prefer

Bake at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes, until it just starts to turn golden brown

Immediately rub the top of the bread with butter, to give it a shine

Summer square foot garden update

noreply@blogger.com (Renee) — Thu, 6 Sep 2012 06:56:00 -0600

Today's post is an update on my square foot garden. I enjoyed working in the garden most of the summer, but this Texas heat kept me indoors a lot. Fortunately we have a sprinkler system which kept the garden watered and growing throughout the summer.

I learned a lot about gardening this summer. First thing is that I should have listened to Mel Bartholomew, the Square Foot Garden guru, when he stated that you need to use more than one type of compost in your garden. I took the cheap route and used only one type of compost which resulted in smaller veggies.

Even though the tomatoes were not as large as I hoped they would be, they were sweet and we enjoyed eating them.

I also had lots green peppers. They had the same growth problem as the tomatoes, but quite a few of them grew also.

One thing that did grow large was the mint. We had so much mint I gave some away.
Second lesson: NEVER put mint in the garden again. It took over the entire garden, the roots were growing everywhere. I will definitely grow mint in pots next time.

We have recently had some aerial spraying for the West Nile virus so I decided to clean out the garden in order to prevent the pesticide from getting on the veggies and to prepare it for fall planting.
I dug up all the mint and kept some and put it into a pot. Currently, all that remains are 2 tomato and 1 bell pepper plant.

For my first attempt at gardening I think I did pretty good. I am going to purchase 3 different types of compost to amend the soil with before I put in the seeds for the fall. Wish me luck, I will keep you posted.

Renee