Wednesday, March 31, 2010

When a 5-year old shoots the camera

Our five-year old really likes to play photographer. Here are a few samples of her recent work:

Sister being silly . . .
A close-up of sister . . .And lastly, me with the trash!


I grabbed the trash and began to walk from the kitchen towards the front door to throw it away when I heard, "Smile Mom!" So I did. Is it sad to say that my pose with the garbage is one of my favorite photos of me this year?

Monday, March 15, 2010

Gourmet Cooking

On Saturday, Mac and I were inspired by all the yummy new recipes I collected, and we decided to try three new recipes. I'd like to share them with you here and let you know how they went over. For the most part, they turned out pretty good, although there are a couple of changes I would make for the next time we make these recipes.



The main dish was decadent and indulgent, like nothing we ever make! It's called Creamy Lemon Wine Chicken with Roasted Tomatoes from the Hungry Housewife blog. The flavors were like fireworks in your mouth! I loved it, but Mac thought it was a little overwhelming. The lemon in the recipe was a little too powerful. I used the juice from two small lemons. Next time, I think I'll only use one lemon. We served it over bow tie pasta.



I also made these scrumptious Buttermilke Refrigerator Rolls. They were light and fluffy and delicious. The nice thing is, the dough makes a lot, so I have at least two more batches in my fridge that I can use this week.



For dessert, I tried this Dr. Pepper Chocolate Cake recipe from The Pioneer Woman. The end result actually reminded me a lot of Texas Sheetcake. I would change a couple things about this recipe. First, I had to bake it longer than the recipe said, and I think I could have baked it even longer, although I did wait just until a toothpick inserted in the center came out clean. It's a very moist cake, so when you add the frosting to it, it became too moist, even mushy, because the frosting soaks into the cake. I would cut the frosting recipe in half, because it made way too much, and maybe then the cake wouldn't get too mushy.



Mac and I love trying new recipes, and this week we're planning on trying a few more. I'll pass on the successes to you so you can try them too, if you want.

Sunday, March 14, 2010

Slumber Party


Sometimes when Mac is traveling for work and is gone for several days at a time, the girls and I like to live it up and have a slumber party. We've done this a couple of times, and the girls absolutely love it. We pull out the couch bed, eat popcorn and some other treat, like cookies or fruit snacks, and watch a movie. Then we fall asleep together, all except Lilly, who gets to sleep in her own bed. I usually wake up in the night and move to my own bed for the night too. It's not a lot of work for me to put on this slumber party, but the kids think it's something great.