Say good-bye to 80 degree weather, Baby! It's going to be 60 tomorrow, and I'm more than a little excited about the cooler temps.
RANDOMNESS #1 - Mike returned home from Denver, Colorado Wednesday evening around 9:33 p.m. And I was thrilled to see him. Things aren't the same when he isn't home.
From all of his wanderings around Denver, he took three pictures.
The first picture was from a restaurant called Sam's #3. It was a photo of a half eaten breakfast burrito.
The second picture was a bright blue cup of water with the words "Sam's #3" emblazoned upon it.
And the third and final picture...
Well, it's clearly a picture of a three- or four-story sized bear looking in a window of the Convention Center.
Cool, but just a little unnerving, too.
RANDOMNESS #2 - Roxie had some work done at the dentist yesterday.
As you can see, Post-Dental Procedure is not the best look for Roxie.
She said she's not going to the dentist ever again. Heavy, heavy sigh.
I don't know about you, but I'm SO looking forward to six months from yesterday when she actually does go to the dentist again.
Good times. Good times.
RANDOMNESS #3 - The Gardendale Civic Center was the place to be yesterday. The Merry Marketplace (which benefits Just Keep Smiling) was a great place to visit, shop for Christmas gifts, eat dinner AND help a worthy cause.
I cannot show you everything I purchased (because some people will see their Christmas gifts), but here are a couple of things I picked up.
This is a picture frame I bought for my niece, Katie. I'm going to use one of her Senior pictures and give it to her for her birthday in January. (Shhh. She doesn't read the blog, but it is still a secret.)
I bought this scarf for my Mom, and I'll give it to her in the next few days. My Mom is all about "light-weight."
And even though the cross looks pretty "substantial," it is as light as a feather. It's pretty, isn't it?
If you didn't get to go this year, I highly recommend you make the trip next year. (I'll remind you when the time gets a little closer!)
If I Could Turn Back Time - This one is on my mind quite often... Especially when I see a baby or toddler. While I FULLY believe in God's perfect timing, I'm such a control freak I would have tried so hard to make this one happen if I could go back in time. (I'm not proud of that, by the way.)
If I could turn back time, I would insist Mike Faulkner start dating me when we were 23... marry me when I was 24... and we would have had our first baby at 26.
Instead, because of his desire to date anyone and everyone in a skirt at Shades Mountain Baptist before settling down, we started dating at 25 (at my suggestion) and married at 26 (at his suggestion).
That put us a full three years behind the "Four Babies by 35 Plan" I had meticulously written out (and framed) 15 years earlier.
That's right. If I could turn back time, I would now be living the life of a 51 year-old mother with two 20-somethings and TWO teenagers.
Come to think about it, Mike Faulkner is brilliant. Brilliant, I tell you.
(And in this specific scenario, it is a good thing I cannot turn back time!)
Quotable Quotes - Ah. A Swedish proverb to start our weekend...
"Worry gives small things a big shadow."
True, true, true!
Blog Linkage - Okay, Girls. Get busy and blog hop a little this morning.
1. Go to Confessions of a Pioneer Woman under My Blog List and click on Photography at the top of her page. Read the October 24 post entitled "Take a Picture With Your Honey," and then do it!
The more you take, the better.
2. If you're planning a Halloween party in the next few days, go to Six Sisters' Stuff under My Blog List and read today's post entitled "31 Halloween Party Ideas." You might find something new to add to your party plans.
Ham Quiche (AGAIN)
I posted this recipe MANY, MANY moons ago, but I made it last night and I remembered how easy, simple and delicious the dish was... and I thought I would post it one more time.
You will need the following:
2 deep dish pie shells
2 cups shredded cheese
2 cups half and half
1 tablespoon chives
2 teaspoons onion salt
1/2 teaspoon curry
1/4 teaspoon salt
4 eggs, slightly beaten
1/2 to 1 cup ham (I use thin sliced sandwich ham.)
1. Preheat over to 375 degrees.
2. Poke holes into the bottom of the pie crust.
3. Add 1 cup of shredded cheese to the bottom of each pie crust.
4. Microwave half and half, chives, onion salt, curry and salt for 2 minutes.
5. Add eggs and ham. Mix.
6. Pour into pie shells.
7. Bake 30 minutes. Put a sheet of aluminium foil on top of the quiche. Bake 10 to 12 minutes more. (A knife will come out of the center of the quiche clean when it is done.)
So good. Serve with a salad or fruit... or both.
Peach Blueberry Upside-Down Cake
I found this recipe in a Southern Living Magazine and tried it last night.
You will need the following:
Cake:
2 (7 ounce) packages Martha White Blueberry Cheesecake Muffin Mix
3/4 cup milk
1/4 cup butter, melted
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
Topping:
1/4 cup butter
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
2 cups peeled, sliced peaches (fresh or frozen without sugar), thawed
1. Heat oven to 325 degrees. Melt butter in a 10" cast iron skillet.
2. Remove from heat. Stir in brown sugar and spread evenly.
3. Arrange peaches, overlapping in one layer.
In hindsight, I should have overlapped more!
4. Combine muffin mix, milk, butter and almond extract in medium bowl. Stir until blended. Pour batter over peaches in skillet.
5. Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until golden brown.
6. Remove from oven. Loosen edges of cake. Place serving plate on top of skillet. CAREFULLY invert cake onto plate. Serve warm.
If this was a gymnastics event, the announcer would say, "She didn't stick her dismount!"
Since this is a cooking event, I will simply say, "I didn't stick my dismount... and my peaches kind of slid off the cake."
Oh, well. If at first you don't succeed, bake, bake again!
It tasted really good, by the way.
Weekend Happenings
It's going to be a fun, fun FALL weekend around here... but we're all going to be having fun in different places, I'm afraid.
Friday - Roxie is having a buddy over to spend the night. She'll be happy. The rest of us are "hangin' around." Well, except for Austin. He will be at JSU getting ready for his internship duties tomorrow.
Saturday - Melia and family are tailgating at Jacksonville and spending time with The Boy. I'm taking some Senior pictures of my niece, Katie, at the Botanical Gardens. (This is one of four locations we'll be taking pictures over the next few weeks!)
I'm no expert, but I think Katie's beautiful enough to overcome my less-than-professional photography skills.
Mikie and Josh are doing the football watchin' thing Saturday. They will be happy.
Sunday - Everyone is going to church... except me and The Chick. Roxie and I are going to meet Monica and Amy for a quick day-trip to Atlanta to spend the day at Six Flags with the girls for their 16th birthdays. (They were born just a few days apart, and we always try to do something special to celebrate their big day.)
The older they get and the busier they get, the harder it is to find a "day" to celebrate... But Amy and I are determined (and so are the girls)!
Have a cool, breezy weekend. I'll be back Monday with "Katie" pics, Six Flags pics, a Seasonal Tradition from Billy Graham's daughter and everything in between.
Take care, and I'll talk to you next week.
Sincerely,
The Enchanting Belinda
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