Savory Beignets

I've been making a lot of new recipes lately thanks to Pinterest.  One of our favorites is this recipe for easy, tasty Cheddar and Chive Beignets.  They were a great Father's Day evening treat and tasted like a fried cheese doughnut.  Yum yum!  I even got to use chives from our garden!

Another new favorite is Gooey S'mores Cookies.  I finally found a use for these freeze-dried marshmallows that I bought for use in hot cocoa...that we never actually put in hot cocoa.  I will say this: the cookies are yummy but not really "gooey" because the marshmallows aren't your typical fluffy, melty morsels of goo. 

As usual, Jefferson found a comfy place in front of the tv while I baked.  This time he even had an old pillow for his old head.   You'd think that dog was addicted to "watching" Rachel Maddow on the dvr... He really needs to get out more.



Kitten Update

To say we are smitten by these kittens is an understatement.  They are amazingly cute and lovable.  They love the kids, they love the grownups, they love each other, and they even sort of like the dogs.  They scavenge around the kitchen floor and mooch any morsel of people food they can get. 

As previously posted, we found out that the black kitten is actually a boy, and the little mister and his sister are fitting in just fine.  They still have to wear their neck cones until their declawing injuries heal, but gosh they make for cute little cone heads.

Father's Day 2012

A warm and windy Father's Day was enjoyed by all this year.  Colby got to pick which delicious buffet we would eat this year (he chose Beacon Hills, a place we had never eaten before).  He spent the afternoon playing Frisbee golf with another dad/friend.  He got some great gifts from his loving offspring (pistachios and a Barnes & Noble gift card - he's easy to please).

Happy Father's Day to the best baby-daddy a girl could ever hope to have!

And just for good measure, here's another cute-as-hell kitten photo...

Happy 80th Birthday, Grandma!

Here's me with the birthday girl at her party. Eighty years and still going strong! My aunt who lives on a lake near Papillion hosted a shindig at her house. It was an awesome day to get everyone out on the water and to see cousins I haven't seen in ages.

The girls went straight to the lake despite the fact that I thought the water was freezing!

I managed to get only one photo of either of the boys.  They were quickly off playing with the other kids their ages.  Most of the kids are boys, thus leaving my girls to hang out with my teenaged sisters.  The boys, however, managed to spend the entire day fighting, dunking each other, and having all sorts of boy fun.  Here's a shot of Dade and my brother (they are the same age):





I remembered to take a few shots of myself with some of my favorite people in the world...

A year ago at this time I was dipping my feet in the ocean and feeling the beach sand between my toes.  This year I had to settle for dipping my feet in a man-made lake, but I wore the same beach dress just to make it feel a little more oceany.  Next year, Sassafras Mama, we are coming back!!

A Few Surprises

Thursdays can be pretty boring, you know. They aren't as depressing as Mondays or as exciting as Fridays. This Thursday has been a little bit different. First of all, I took the kittens to the vet this morning to get shots, declawed, and spayed. It just so happens that Miss Dinah is actually a mister! I was suspicious last week when I caught a glimpse of "her" on "her" back, so I asked my brother in law to take a look. He assured me, and I quote, "That's a vagina." It most assuredly was NOT. So, Dinah is now Sheldon. Surprise number two for the day is yoga related. Today was the second Thursday I have attended hot yoga sculpt. It's a challenging yoga class that uses weights and resistance bands. This class also adds heat - no air conditioning, no fans, no windows or doors open. The 90+ degree day made for an extra hot class. It's just you and your sweaty ass crack against the world. I am notoriously against any activity involving copious amounts of sweat, so I am pleasantly surprised to find out that I LOVE hot yoga. I feel so good afterwards! Despite all previous reservations about attending hot yoga, I'm telling you know to give it a try!

About Time for a Rant

Will the Republicans tank the US economy just to make Barack Obama look bad? The truth is, what's good for the country is good for Obama. It seems to me that Republicans are so obsessed with making Obama look bad that they won't pass legislation that benefits the nation. So, not only are Republicans all over the country rolling back reproductive rights and civil rights, they are also railing against any and all government spending - including spending on infrastructure and public employees (fire fighters, teachers, cops). Republicans yell out, "Obama is anti business, anti free enterprise!" Although that isn't the truth, do you blame anyone in this country who IS wary of private industry?? The only people getting raises in this economy are CEOs. Not teachers. Not cops. Not librarians. Corporate tax rates are ridiculously low. The heads of corporations are not applying for food stamps and Medicaid - but their employees might be. As much as I enjoy a little Republican bashing, I can't omit the shortcomings of our President. Come on, man. Trying to co promise with the Republican party of today is like having an argument with a three year old - you absolutely cannot and will not win because your opponent isn't reasonable. Eventually, the 99% is going to end up with nothing, and we will start asking for the heads of the 1%. Pitchforks in hand and guillotines waiting, we will get to the point where we have nothing left to lose and will start to fight back. I surely hope that we will start to fight back sooner.

It's Me!

I write a lot about how much my body has changed over the last few years. Having a healthy body has been a goal of mine for a very long time, and it has taken me quite awhile to get here. However, I am beginning to find a drawback to the new me, namely that people don't recognize me. Between losing weight and growing out my hair, I admit I have changed quite a bit. Example: at my brother's graduation ceremony last month two of my aunts and an uncle walked right by me like I was a stranger. Seriously, I was waving and saying hello, and they kept right on walking until my step mom (who was right beside me) flagged them. Example #2: Today I attended a class at a yoga studio where I have never been. (side note: they don't use the air conditioning, and all the windows and door were closed. I didn't think it was possible for a human to sweat so much...) So, I walk into the room and there stands a woman I went to college with. Granted, I haven't seen her in ten years, but I recognized her right away (despite the fact that she's put on lots of weight). As soon as I heard someone say her name, I knew for sure it was who I thought. So, I said, "Hey, you were a poli sci major at Wayne State, right?" (side note: world's worst pick up line). I had about 20 classes with this girl, I bet, and she had no clue who I was. She said, "I remember Nichole, but YOU'RE her?" Yep, it's me. So, if you see a stranger walking down the street waving and saying hi to you it might be me. There's just less of me.

Our Latest Batch of Cats

I know, it sounds harsh, "Our Latest Batch of Cats." The truth is, our last two cats didn't fare too well here. Annie had severe digestive abnormalities, and Tiger had to be put to sleep. Well, that's in the past, and now we have two new kittens. Allow me to introduce Dinah and Penny:

When our good friends told us their farm cat was knocked up, I was pretty excited.  When the kittens were born (on my step-mom's birthday, no less), I knew two of them would be coming home with me.  Although we wanted male kittens, the entire litter of six were all girls.  So, we got two girls.

So far the kittens are behaving very well.  Despite having never used a litter box before coming to our house on Memorial Day, both girls took right to pooping in a box.  Yay!!  They aren't so sure about the dogs yet, but luckily our dogs could care less about having two new cats in the house. 

Wish us (and the kittens) luck with our new family members!  We hope to have them around a lot longer than our last two cats.  

Making Dog Biscuits

This year marks the 100th anniversary of Girl Scouts.  In celebration, Girl Scouts of America is having a community service drive.  The girls in my troop got to pick out a community service project and give it a name.  There were lots of good ideas, but the girls decided that they wanted to make dog biscuits and donate them to the Human Society here in town.  They called their project Troop Treats for Pound Puppies.

I found a dog treat recipe pretty much easy enough for a little girl to make herself. First, you mix flour, oats, peanut butter, and hot water.

Then you knead the dough and roll it into a big circle:

Next, use cookie cutters to cut the dough into shapes:

Put them on a cookie sheet and bake them up:

Of course, you have to give a sample to your own dogs before donating them to the shelter...

Good news...the dogs liked the homemade treats!  We hope the pound puppies do, too!

Shower, Shower, Gender Blender

How many wedding showers could we fit into one weekend?  Well, we squeezed in two, plus a bachelor/bachelorette party.  Then, we added in a puking kid, and a midnight trip home from Norfolk.  Wowza.
My sister-in-law ties the knot on June 30th, and I am the Matron of Honor.  The first of the two showers was a "family shower" traditionally planned and put on by all the aunts.  I had one of these showers about 14 years ago.  Here's a photo from my "family" shower of Colby's mom, me, my mom, and my step mom:

I must say, I look way better now than I did 14 years ago.  Seriously.  I'm a hottie now. 

 

Here's a shot of me and Evelyn, two of the cutest girls ever:

And here's me with the bride, Colby's "little" sister, Carrie:

The second of the two showers was a "friends" shower thrown by me and the other bridesmaids.  We played some fun games, drank mimosas, and ate yummy snacks.  Here's a snapshot of me and Carrie.  I hope she liked the crown, sash, and pink veil.  What's a bridal shower without a little swag for the bride?

The theme for the friends shower was lingerie, and the bride sure got a lot of sexy little items: nighties, bras, and "underwear" made up of a little triangle of fabric and some string.  I'm pretty sure some of those undies would get lost and never found in my ass crack.  I know her groom will be excited for his fashion show!

We finished up the night throwing a combined bachelor/bachelorette party, aka  gender blender. There was food, booze, and yard games.  Here we are, cute as can be:  

Colby and I put our kids to bed in the house while all the "youngsters" headed out on the party bus to bar hop.  I'm way too old for that nonsense, but I'm glad the group had fun!

Around 11pm, Evelyn puked up about five gallons of soda and cake balls and baked beans.  Awesome.  So, we quickly loaded the van, left Grandma to clean up the vomit, and headed back to Lincoln.  I'm sure there was lots more vomiting being done in that house later in the night (many of the gender blender attendees crashed at my in-law's house), but Evelyn only barfed one more time in the van.  Thank heavens. 

All the pre-wedding stuff is done, and we'll head back to Norfolk later in the month for the wedding!  Who's ready to get fancied up and dance the night away??!