not Julia Child. . .not Rachel Ray. . .but. . .

Lemon Basil Chicken

Pioneer Woman!!!!!

Have you heard of Pioneer Woman? I came across her blog from another crafty blog whose author had just visited "The Lodge" for vacation. I was intrigued by her description of their vacation so checked out "The Lodge" for myself and was instantly a Pioneer Woman fan! First I was captured by the posts describing Pioneer Woman's romance and wooing by the Marlboro Man. Then I became a faithful follower of all her blog postings: cooking, photography, homeschooling, and home & garden.

The Pioneer Woman is really Ree Drummond and she is feisty, fun, and so talented. Even my husband has come to love her blog and enjoys finding recipes for me to try. Any time he hears that we are having a Pioneer Woman recipe for dinner he comes home drooling!

Oh. . .almost forgot why I'm writing this post! I just got a copy of Pioneer Woman Cooks from the library!!!!!!! I didn't even realize our library had a copy until one day I was picking up our books on hold and saw that my sister-in-law had a copy of the book sitting there waiting for her. I came home and immediately put in my reservation. When I picked up my copy the next week, I saw my sister-in-law's book still sitting there on the shelf--What?!?!?!?!?

Anyway, the book is sitting here beside me on the piano and is an absolute feast for the eyes! The pictures are beautiful! With the pictures she has little tidbits and stories of her family and ranch. The are also recipes in the book--imagine that! The recipes have little stories that go with them and step-by-step instructions. I can't wait to pick out recipes, make a shopping list, and get cooking!

What are you waiting for? Check out The Pioneer Woman!!!!!!!

-t-i-r-e-d-

oh so tired. . .

BUT instead of snuggling with precious baby girl and taking a nap too!!!!! I made a pot of tea

in this very special Mary Engelbreit teapot-cup combo. My Grandma passed away the day before last Thanksgiving. My mom had already bought her Christmas present--the teapot--and asked if I would like it. So I made tea and thought of Grammer. . .and cleaned like Grammer would! She was an immaculate housekeeper. . . so here I sit in a nice clean house with cookies cooling in the kitchen--yea!!!!!!! my little helper is most excited about that part of cleaning;-)

Notice the crockpot next to the teapot. . .dinner is on the way--"easy roast beef", but I used a rump roast--eh, it's almost the same thing, right? You pour bbque sauce in the bottom of the crockpot, put in the roast, then cover with the remaining sauce--Fix-It-And-Forget-It!

this week I was . . .

BOLD

My hair was driving me crazy so. . .I walked into the beauty shop--Lollipop--and asked them to cut my hair. . .here's the front view. . .


and the back. . .

It's not exactly what I wanted but it's new and different--yea!!!!!

a Seamstress

hemmed a skirt for my daughter, sewed another skirt, and pre-washed material for another skirt. It was wonderful to be at the sewing machine again!!!!!

Julia Child

Potato Cheese Soup was on the menu. Fix-It and Forget-It is one of my favorite crockpot recipe books for ideas but I usually end up changing the recipe a little. My husband rolls his eyes and can't believe I won't follow a recipe--this is one of the reasons he doubts my ability as a cook--that and the fact that I don't stay in the kitchen and pay absolute attention to the dinner whick is cooking on the stove--but, I ask you, what mom does? So in his eyes I will never be a gourmet--which is fine by me--I'm more of a meat and potatoes girl anyway. So maybe I'm not a Julia Child--maybe more like Rachel Ray? I do love Julia Child's attitude toward cooking anyway--if the butter burns, heat more; if the chicken goes flying, laugh and clean it off; but whatever you are doing in the kitchen, be bold and enjoy it!

While I was peeling and chopping, our baby girl was in her swing to take a nap.

Oh yes, sound asleep! and here's the finished soup. . .