Yummy Pumpkin Muffins

Hope everyone is having a great week! I wanted to share a recipe I made last night. This is a light pumpkin muffin that you could make into a cupcake by adding your favorite cream cheese frosting. Let me know what you think!

1½ cups of self rising flour
1 tsp. cinnamon
½ tsp. ginger
½ tsp. nutmeg
½ tsp. allspice
1½ cups of sugar
3/4 cup pumpkin (I use Libby's solid pumpkin in a can)
2 eggs
½ cup of oil
¼ cup of dark rum or egg nog (I didn't have either of these so I used buttermilk)
¼ cup of maple syrup

Preheat oven to 350 and line your muffin tin. Mix dry ingredients together except for sugar. In a separate bowl mix sugar, pumpkin, and eggs until smooth. Don't skip this step and just dump everything in and mix or you will have a lumpy mess. Mix in oil, rum (eggnog or buttermilk) and maple syrup. Slowly add the dry flour mixture. Don't overmix!! Spoon into your muffin cups and bake for about 20 minutes.  I made 24 mini muffins and 12 regular size muffins out of this recipe.

Gma ate 4 regular size this morning!!

Catching Up!

Hello! I hope everyone is doing well! Baby Chef and a few others have been fussing at me for my blog hiatus. So I'll catch you up on my life since the end of June. I've painted my living room - not once but twice because I didn't like the color. I also painted the hall, kitchen/dining room. I've made 20 dozen cupcakes and 9 cakes for various birthdays. Gma has been in the hospital twice. Gma also competed in what I call the "Old Lady Beauty Pageant." She won queen for the skilled care facililty where she is and she also won best smile and she celebrated her 83rd birthday on October 9th.

Gma's funnies-I came in to visit Gma one afternoon and she was in a panic. I've lost my panties!! I asked did she have any panties on right now. She pulls the waist band out on her pants, looks down, and says Yep! I have some on. I think to myself...this is a good thing! I asked her where she was when she took them off. Gma looks around and said well, I think I was here in the room (Thank goodness!!). I begin to look around the room for the missing panties. Finally, after several minutes of looking, Gma stands up and I see them! She had been sitting on them the entire time!

That's all for now....hope everyone has a great week!

"The Queen"





Happy 1 Year Anniversary to Baby Chef and Mr. Army Man!

Today is a special day. It is my daughter and son-in-law's one year anniversary. Unfortunately, since Mr. Army Man is deployed, they won't celebrate until he is back in the U.S. sometime later this year. It seems impossible that a year has gone by already! It feels like it was yesterday when we were getting everything ready for the big day. First, it literally was a bizillion degrees outside! Baby Chef chose to get married outside in the south in June. Thankfully, the ceremony only took about 10 minutes, then we were back inside in the air. Baby Chef was absolutely beautiful. I suppose I'm a little partial since she's my daughter. Mr. Army Man didn't look too bad either.


It was a day filled with family, friends, and memories. Happy Anniversary Baby Chef and Mr. Army Man! I hope you love each other as much in 50 years as you do today.

Work - Never a Dull Moment!

Hey ya'll! It's been a busy couple of months! April was filled with EG's Daddy's birthday, my cousin's wedding, and Gma had a mini stroke, but is doing fine. May has been filled with preparing for our local high school's annual athletic banquet for 125 people, baking not 1 but 2 graduation cakes, another wedding, and just regular every day stuff. Oh...and 8:30 to 5 work which leads me to write this post.

I'm a paralegal and I've worked at the same firm for almost 14 years. In my office, there are 2 attorneys, another legal secretary (Cake Lady), and me. I really love my job for all its demands, frustrations, and rewards (yes, there are rewards for working in a law office). As with any other job, some days are better than others. When you work in a law office, you hear all kinds of stories. One of the craziest stories I was told was when I first started working there, and a man wanted to sue his employer for making him work outside because he was allergic to bees...the man worked on a farm. Another funny story was when a man called and wanted to sue a beer company because he threw up from drinking beer. I couldn't help myself and asked how much beer he drank. When he said 16, I nearly fell out of my chair I was laughing so hard.

Today Cake Lady and I both had the privilege/misfortune of talking to a lady that was determined she should be eligible for Social Security disability benefits. When asked why she felt she was disabled she originally told me - because them voices in my head be tellin me to do stuff. After my 2 minute conversation with her, my patience was shot so Cake Lady gets on the phone and asks her the same standard questions. Her response to Cake Lady why she needed to be on disability was because she has hallucinations. Nex question - Do you have a medical diagnosis? No. Why do you have hallucinations? From smoking weed. After that response, the boyfriend in the background yells  don't be tellin them how crazy you is! At this point Cake Lady is having a hard time remaining professional and thankfully the conversation ended.

The thing to remember, in any job, is to laugh. Believe it or not someone out there IS worse off than you! I hope everyone has a great week!

Something New-Fill in the Blank Friday

Baby Chef often posts a "fill in the blank" for her Friday post. Thought I would give it a try since I haven't blogged in a while. I hope everyone has a great weekend!

1.  Something that is very near and dear to my heart is (are) my children. They are the most important thing EVER!

2.      Birthdays   are a good cause to celebrate .

3.  The most fun I ever had was    going to NYC with Baby Chef! Can't wait to go back!

4.  True friends are   the ones you can go without talking to because of schedules or whatever, and when you finally do get time with them, it's as if you were never apart.

5. Something that makes me terribly happy is     having all my children in one place at the same time.

6. A good way to spend a sunny day is     sitting on the patio reading a good book  .

7.  My favorite celebratory food is   cake.

EG's Daddy's Birthday Story

For those of you who haven't followed my blog or have forgotten, since my children were big enough to understand, every year on their birthday I tell them their "birthday story," the story about the day they were born. Today is EG's Daddy's 24th birthday and his story goes something like this:

On Tuesday, April 19, 1988 at 2:53 p.m. I was blessed with my oldest son, EG's Daddy. As with any woman's first pregnancy, I didn't know what to expect, I had preeclampsia, which was a pain in the rear, because I was on complete bed rest. I went to the doctor on the 18th and had an ultrasound (EG's Daddy was due on May 9th). The technician nearly fell out of her chair telling me that EG's Daddy was a big baby and that she would be surprised if I made it until the due date. Of course, that's exactly what my doctor said and he scheduled me to be induced the next morning.

I went home so excited that I was finally going to meet this precious child. I had no idea if the baby was a boy or girl but we prepared the nursery for a boy, didn't have any girl clothes or even a girl's name picked out. I would have been in big trouble if things had went the other way HeHe!

We arrived at the hospital the next morning at 6, got my epidural, and started the waiting game. I'm pretty sure that was the longest day of my life. As far as labor, I never felt a contraction, so that was awesome, and at 2:53 p.m., I finally met my 10 pound son. Yes, 4'10" me had a 10 pound baby! It was love at first sight! I couldn't wait to get my hands on him, and I nearly had a fit when they took him to the nursery. It was 9 p.m. before I was able to hold him, and when the nurse brought him in, she handed him to my brother-in-law, Uncle D (she thought he was daddy). To this day, he still brags that he was the first one to hold EG's Daddy.

EG's Daddy was a wonderful baby. He started sleeping through the night at 4 weeks and hardly ever cried...probably because I never put him down. At 24, he still makes me smile every day because that's how he is. We tease him and say he'll never die of a stroke or heart attack because he "goes with the flow." He's the most laid back of all my children and he's grown up to be an amazing dad to sweet EG.

Fifty Shades

Sorry it's been such a long time since my last post! Between work, helphing with my cousin's wedding, Baby Chef coming home for a brief visit, and the usual happenings of every day life, unfortunately blogging had been put on the back burner.

Jax from http://www.raviolisandwaterworks.com/ introduced me to Fifty Shades of Grey by E.L. James in one of her posts about a book club. I did a little research and decided I'd take the plunge and see what this book was all about. Boy, was I shocked! Besides being one steamy book, it has a great story. In fact, it was so interesting, I ended up reading all three books in 5 days! I won't give away the story line but I do recommend this trilogy, even though I wanted to put it down at times because it was just a little too graphic for me.

This is what Amazon has to say:

When literature student Anastasia Steele goes to interview young entrepreneur Christian Grey, she encounters a man who is beautiful, brilliant, and intimidating. The unworldly, innocent Ana is startled to realize she wants this man and, despite his enigmatic reserve, finds she is desperate to get close to him. Unable to resist Ana’s quiet beauty, wit, and independent spirit, Grey admits he wants her, too—but on his own terms.

Shocked yet thrilled by Grey’s singular erotic tastes, Ana hesitates. For all the trappings of success—his multinational businesses, his vast wealth, his loving family—Grey is a man tormented by demons and consumed by the need to control. When the couple embarks on a daring, passionately physical affair, Ana discovers Christian Grey’s secrets and explores her own dark desires.

Erotic, amusing, and deeply moving, the Fifty Shades Trilogy is a tale that will obsess you, possess you, and stay with you forever.

If you are brave enough to take this on, let me have your thoughts.

True Colors Blog Swap

I participated in a blog swap that Baby Chef coordinated on her blog Stars, Stripes, and a Military Life .

 I was paired with Anna from The Days When I'm Not a Nurse.

 I received the most awesome gifts! Anna could not have done better if she had known me forever. She wrapped everything individually in red tissue paper and every item had a handwritten note on it. I must admit I felt bad because I didn't do this for Anna and hopefully she's not disappointed! My favorite gift was the handwritten recipes. I absolutely LOVE getting new recipes! Thank you so much Anna!!

Here are a few pictures of what sweet Anna sent:

1. The box as I opened it.

2. Cute lobster dish towel.

3. Sealing wax

I loved every bit of putting Anna's package together and especially recieving her amazing gift! Can't wait to sign up for another! Hop on over to her blog and check out what I got her, she truly is a dear! Hope everyone has a terrific Tuesday!

Happy Birthday to Meggie Lou and Me!!

Today is my birthday. I LOVE birthdays...everyone's but mine. I'm thankful to have another one, but I'm pretty low key about it. I don't care about birthday cake or presents unless it's for someone else.

Three years ago I celebrated my 40th birthday. It wasn't a spectacular day. Actually, it wasn't a good day at all until I got a call from a dear friend asking me to pick up her son because she had a doctor's appointment. She was due to have her daughter in a few weeks. I picked up AVman from school, we played outside, ate spiderman cupcakes, and were trying to wind down when, I got a call from Coach's Wife that the doctor sent her to the hospital. At this point, we didn't know if she was gonna have the baby that day or if they would send her home.

We waited for what seemed like forever, even though it was only an hour or two. Then, we got a call from
Coach who told us the doc was going to do a c-section soon. Baby Chef, AV man, and I got ready and drove to the hospital. We got there just in time for Meggie Lou! I have to admit, I'm a little prejudice but she was about the sweetest thing I'd ever seen! I couldn't wait to get my hands on what was the BEST BIRTHDAY PRESENT I had ever gotten!!

I'm so blessed that Coach's Wife has never minded sharing her children with me, especially my Birthday Girl!

Meggie Lou and Me on our birthday last year

True Colors Blog Swap

My daughter, Baby Chef, is hosting a blog swap. For those of you who are not familar with the blogger world, a blog swap is when you are paired up with another blogger and you exchange something. It's really a lot of fun. I participated in a swap a month or so ago and received a beautiful necklace and pair of earrings from a girl in Georgia. It's also a great way to meet new people. For more info, check out Baby Chef's blog here.

How Do You Like My Balls??

Good morning! Once again it has been a while since I blogged. I really need to find out why time has to go so quickly and put a stop to it!

Over the past few weeks I've been crafting-ALOT, trying out new recipes-ALOT, and working.

I've tried a few more recipes from Pinterest. One is for red velvet cake truffles and the other is peanut butter truffles. They're really balls, but truffles sounds so much better...especially when you ask someone if they like them. Asking someone if they like your truffles sounds so much nicer than asking someone if they like your balls! Hehe! Made you laugh didn't I??

Red Velvet Cake Truffles
1 red velvet cake-prepared to package directions, let cool completely, and crumble
1-16 oz. container of whipped cream cheese frosting
Reserve about 1/2 cup of crumbled cake for garnishment.
Mix together (it's easier to use your hands-but VERY messy)
Put mixture in freezer for about an hour then shape into balls, place on waxed paper, and return to to freezer for about 30 minutes.
Melt 1 package of white almond bark chocolate over low heat. Then dip your balls and let stand on wax paper until chocolate hardens.
YUMMY!!!







Peanut Butter Truffles

1 pkg. (8 oz.) PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese, softened

Package NUTTER BUTTER Cookies, finely crushed (about 3 cups)

2 pkg. (6 squares each) BAKER'S White Chocolate, melted

1/2cup PLANTERS Creamy Peanut Butter
24  Mini NUTTER BUTTER Peanut Butter Sandwich Cookies, cut crosswise in half

Mix cookies and cream cheese until well blended.

Shape into 48 (1-inch) balls; place in single layer in shallow pan. Freeze 10 min. Mix chocolate and peanut butter until well blended. Dip balls in chocolate mixture; place in single layer in shallow waxed paper-lined pan. Top each ball with 1 mini cookie half.

Refrigerate 1 hour or until firm. Keep refrigerated.

Where Did You Go-Weekend??

Happy Monday! I hope everyone had a great weekend! Mine went much too fast! I spent some time with EG's Daddy, Mommy, and of course, EG. EG will be 2 in March and it seems like every time I see her she talks more and more. As of Saturday, she has stopped calling me "GA" her version of my grandma name which is Grana. I discovered this while we were in Hobby Lobby. She was a few aisles over with her mother and I could hear her calling me Grana! Needless to say, I made a mad dash to get to her. She also amazed me when I got her out of the bath and she picked her dirty clothes up, and put them in the hamper without being told. EG's Daddy and Mommy are doing a great job with her.

I also tried 3 recipes I found on Pinterest. They both turned out great!

Pecan Pie Muffins

• 1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
• 1 cup chopped pecans
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup butter, melted
• 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• Vegetable cooking spray
• 1/2 cup finely chopped pecans

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 425°. Combine first 5 ingredients in a large bowl; make a well in center of mixture. Stir together butter and next 2 ingredients; add to brown sugar mixture, and stir just until moistened. Coat 2 (12-cup) miniature muffin pans well with cooking spray. Place 1 tsp. finely chopped pecans in each muffin cup; spoon batter over pecans, filling almost to top. Place muffin pans on an aluminum foil-lined jelly-roll pan.
2. Bake at 425° for 10 to 12 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack 2 minutes. Run a knife around edge of each cup to loosen muffins, and remove from pans. Makes 2 dozen.

Chocolate Chip Dip

1 8-ounce package cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup butter, softened

1 cup powdered sugar

2 tablespoons brown sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

1 cup chocolate chips

Mix ingredients together and serve with graham cracker sticks.

Chicken Roll Ups

• 1 pkg cream cheese (8oz)
• 1 pkg crescent rolls (6 ct)
• 2 shredded cooked chicken breasts
• 1.5 C grated chedder cheese
• 1 C grated Monterey Jack
• 1/4 t salt
• 1/4 t pepper
• Italian bread crumbs
• 1/4 stick melted butter

Combine chicken, cheeses, salt and pepper. Spoon onto crescents. Roll them up making sure they are sealed around the chicken mixture. Brush tops with butter and sprinkle with bread crumbs. Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes. To reheat, just place in a 325 degree oven for 15 minutes. YUMMY!!

Gma Got In Trouble!

Happy Monday! I hope everyone had a great weekend! Mine was busy which is nothing unusual. I've been working on making one of my bedrooms into an office/craft room and I am almost finished AND I've been dealing with Gma issues.

Saturday I got up and ran errands, picked out paint, and headed home to start on the office. I was pretty impressed with myself considering it only took 4 hours from start to finish to do the trim and paint. I walk around checking out my work when I get a call from the nursing home that I need to come down and help with "an issue." Thankfully, I only live around the corner!

I arrive at the nursing home thinking the worst and I'm greeted by Cristy one of the sweetest nurses. Cristy is smiling from ear to ear and informs me that Gma and her roommate have been "going at it" again. She really didn't have to tell me because when I walked in I could hear them screaming and cussing. There are no words to describe how embarrassed I was to hear such obscentity coming from Gma's mouth! All I can do is shake my head at Cristy as I walk down to Gma's room. As soon as I walk in the door, Gma and Ms. B get quiet. I act like I don't know what's going on and ask the questions I do everyday when I visit...how was your day, are you feeling good, how was the food, and finally you both sure look pretty today blah, blah, blah, when Ms. B informs me that Gma told her that her great grandson is not allowed to come back. Oh no...here we go again. Gma screams at Ms. B that she is a bald, hairy faced liar (I still don't understand that...how can you be bald and hairy faced at the same time?!?!) Ms. B yells back something I can't repeat since this is a G-rated blog. I'm thinking at this point I need to intervene but I'm kinda scared. I finally  tell them that they need to be nice and I'd see them tomorrow. Lame, I know, but I was at a loss for what else to do. 

I say my goodbyes and go down to the nurses station to talk to Cristy. Cristy and I have a little laugh about how old people fuss and that they would probably be ok and then we hear them again!! Cristy gives them a few minutes and they keep getting louder and louder. Some of the other residents peek out their doors trying to find out what's going on. Cristy excuses herself and goes down to talk to them. Cristy stays gone for several minutes and I'm getting worried because I don't hear anything, and I'm wondering what they've done to her. Thankfully, Cristy comes out of the room unharmed and tells me that she told them to go to be quiet and go to bed that they could settle their differences in the morning. I guess it worked...no more screaming!

Sunday morning I get to the nursing home bright and early with Gma's Sunday morning treat (McDonald's iced hazelnut coffee). The first thing she said was "we got in trouble last night, do you think they'll kick me out?" It was all I could do not to laugh while I asked her what happened. She tells me the entire story about her and Ms. B fussing because she told her that her great grandson didn't need to come back unless he could behave because, this wasn't a place for a small child to run around and scream, and go through "people's stuff." I agreed. She then told me that she and Ms. B were scared they were gonna get kicked out for cussing, and that they weren't mad at each other any longer. I assured her that everything was going to be fine and for her not to worry. Gma then tells me she's not but if she cusses me again I'm gonna beat her a**!

I have a strange feeling Gma's going to be in trouble AGAIN!

Cooking...it's just what southern women do!

Gma has told me my entire life that deaths come in 3's and so far she has been right. Not a great topic to blog about but it is life. This week I had a friend lose her dad, another friend lost a stepmother, and a family that I've known for years lost their mother. Needless to say, I've been "cookin up a storm" all week. I don't know if that's just what southern women do when someone is sick, gives birth, or when someone dies, but where I come from we cook...and cook...and cook! This week I've made two enormous pans of chicken spaghetti, brownies, bread pudding, peanut butter brownies, and a heath bar cake. I haven't cooked this much since Christmas!


I'm so happy this week is coming to an end and hopefully there will be no more sad news for a while!

I Got Tagged....

My precious daughter, Baby Chef, from Stars, Stripes, and a Military Life, tagged me in a blog game, which I believe was her way of getting me to take time to blog. I'm supposed to tag 12 people (don't think I know 12 that blog) and here are the rules:

Rules:

1. You must post the rules.
2.  Post 11 fun facts about yourself on the blog post.
3.  Answer the questions the tagger set for you in their post, and then create 11 new questions for the people you tagged.
4.  Tag 12 people and link them to your post.
5.  Let them know you've tagged them!

Facts about me:

1.   I LOVE to read!
2.   I hate when things aren't organized.
3.   I love getting involved with projects. The more detailed the better I like it!
4.   I'm a VERY picky eater.
5.   I'm obsessed with pinterest.
6.   I love painting walls! It relaxes me.
7.   I very seldom watch tv.
8.   I'm 4'10" tall!
9.   I love rearranging my furniture.
10. If I ever won the lottery and didn't have to work, I'd volunteer at a nursing home or hospital.
11. I'm a morning person by 8 p.m. my brain is in shut down mode and it's best not to ask my opinion on anything past that time.

Questions from Morgan:

1. Where should I go for my birthday vacation? Charleston, Myrtle Beach, or Savannah? And do any of y'all wanna come with?

Ummm.....I thought WE had plans to go to Charleston : )

2. What's your favorite picture of yourself. Post it.

3. What's your favorite holiday?

Thanksgiving

4. What's in your fridge right now?

It's almost empty besides milk. I haven't been to the store since Christmas UGH!

5. Favorite candle scent?

Swan Creek - Vanilla Pound Cake

6. How many key chains are on your set of keys?

1

7. Favorite hobby?

Reading

8. I know most of you are young, when do you feel like the best time to start a family is?

Done that already!

9. A dream come true..?

Seeing all my children happy and successful.
10. Advice to a younger girl?

 If your stomach hurts and you haven’t got a virus, you’re in a bad situation.
Before you know what it is, your stomach always does. Give yourself some time to ponder what it might be that’s making your stomach hurt. Chances are you already do know, you just don’t want to believe it, for some reason. You can ignore advice from your friends, even your own brain, but you can’t ignore your stomach, because the stomach never lies. Oh, and by the way—drowning your stomach in alcohol won’t make it stop telling you the truth, either.

11. What would you like to see on my blog in the future?

More recipes and pics of the updates on your new house

Tags:
Jillian @ Teenage Bride
Dana @ VanDoss
Stacey @ Stacey Turner's Experiences
Johnna @ Southern Jolt

Sorry I don't have 12!!

Questions for the taggees:

1. What is your favorite thing to cook? (Please include recipe, if it's not too much trouble)
2. What is your favorite movie?
3. What is your favorite restaurant?
4. What is your favorite vacation spot?
5. What is the most sensible thing you have ever heard someone say?
6. What life lesson did you learn the hard way?
7. What is your happiest childhood memory?
8. What makes you smile?
9. Who is your favorite cartoon character?
10. What is the funniest movie you've ever seen?
11. Name one household chore that you never want to do again.

Have fun!

Yep...I'm old!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas! As usual, I'm behind in blogging (Baby Chef reminds me often). My Christmas was exceptionally wonderful because for the first time since Baby Chef's wedding in June, I had all of my children in one place at one time. It was extremely crowded but definitely worth it.

I'm feeling extremely old today.  I got a new computer at work late yesterday afternoon and didn't get to "mess" with it until this morning. OH MY!!! What a shocker! Nothing is where it was before. I've been saying bad words in my head and I've decided that whoever at Microsoft that thinks change is good is an idiot! Yep...I'm old!