My Favorite Thing RIGHT THIS VERY MINUTE, Hillbilly Baked Beans AND 7th Annual Lake Trip

Good Wednesday morning!

Just wanted y'all to know...

We went on our Annual Lake Trip this past week/weekend, so there are many pictures below.

For a Southern Gal who has admittedly only tolerated SUMMER for the past 58 years (and that is just because FALL is right around the longest corner in the history of the world), I have a lot of BIG stuff happening right in the middle of the MOST OPPRESSIVE HUMIDITY SPOT ON THE PLANET...

Also known as Central Alabama.

And that is just a big ol' sentence which means I host our family's 4th of July, AND we go to the lake a week or so after.

AND THAT MEANS...

I haven't had a good hair day since May 8...

And I probably won't have a good hair day until closer to Halloween.

Heavy, heavy sigh.

Lucky for you, I do have a new Favorite Thing, so we're going to stop whining and just keep moving forward!

My Favorite Thing RIGHT THIS VERY MINUTE

I love Instagram, and one of my favorite accounts I follow is called "cat_in_france."

Traveling abroad has never been a "thing" for me. I want to see anything and everything in the USA, Canada and Nova Scotia, but if you had asked me a year or so ago about going to Europe, I would have said, "No, thank you. I am just fine."

But then I started following cat_in_france, and my attitude has changed a bit.

This woman lives in a lovely part of France on a farm. She has the most beautiful kitchen, and she cooks fresh vegetables and duck and lamb and other French things ALL the time.

She has a Family Pizza Night every Friday night, but we're not talking Little Caesars or Domino's. Nope. She makes homemade pizza pies for her family and posts pictures of them sitting on her wooden countertop...

Sometimes with the window open.

She and her family collect old copper pots and pans, and then...

Get this.

They restore them to their original beauty and sell them on her on-line store.

Oh...

And did I mention right now they are harvesting lavender that grows on their property?

Yeah.

Harvesting lavender.

So, I guess things haven't changed that much. I still just "want to see anything and everything in the USA, Canada and Nova Scotia," but I think I will need to add one little place to the list.

I want to visit HER farm located in Normandy (the French countryside part) and go to farmer's market every morning and feed her (really pretty) farm animals...

And harvest lavender.

Yes.

Most definitely...

Harvest lavender.

Hillbilly Baked Beans

You will need the following:

1/2 pound ground chuck, browned and drained
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 1/2 cups barbecue sauce
1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup water
1 (15-ounce) can kidney beans, drained
1 (15 1/2-ounce) can butter beans, drained
1 (16-ounce) can pork and beans, not drained
1/2 cup crumbled cooked bacon

1. In a 5-quart slow cooker, combine meat, onion, barbecue sauce, brown sugar and water; mix well. Stir in remaining ingredients and cover.

Cook on HIGH 4 hours or on LOW 6 hours. Serve immediately.

NOTE FROM ENCHANTING BELINDA - Because of some family food preferences, I did not use kidney beans OR butter beans. I used three cans of pork and beans (16-ounce, not drained).

Also, the next time I make this recipe, I am going to use 1/4 pound ground chuck and 1/4 pound mild sausage.

Very good beans!

RANDOMNESS - 7th Annual Lake Trip - Yep. Seven years of "laking it." We started out with The Faulkner Five and Melia, and now we have officially added MELIA, Courtney, Judith, RT and Eden.

We've had friends stay over the past few years, too, so with Hunter and Alex, we were 12 strong for part of the trip this year.

Our lake activities were pretty simple...

Fishing
Tubing
Boat Riding/Driving
Baby Pool Area (Three pools, no waiting!)
Firefly Catching
Kite Flying
Movie Watching
Billiards
Killer Uno (I LOVED this game.)
Grilling
Ice Cream Making
Hammocking
Popsicle Showers (The best place to actually eat a popsicle!)
Date Night for the Marrieds
Making S'mores (Judith and I made them inside this year because of the heat index, BUT we're planning on using the firepit next year!)


Courtney and Roxie.

Roxie and her friend, Alex, drove six hours Friday afternoon (arrived at around 7:30 p.m.) and stayed until 5:00 p.m. Saturday afternoon. It was less than a 24-hour visit, but we certainly did enjoy having everyone together.


Three months old on her first Lake Trip.

I think she had a good time.


We stayed in a VRBO house in Guntersville.

Seven years ago, our very first trip was in Guntersville.

The next year we stayed in a house on Lake Logan Martin.

The next two years we stayed at a different house on Lake Logan Martin.

And the last two years we have stayed in a home on Lake Martin.

This year's house was our favorite, and hopefully, we'll be able to stay there again next year!






Three month olds don't seem to mind oppressive humidity, do they?

I wish I was three months old.


















One of the highlights of the lake trip for Mikie is teaching the grandkids how to drive the boat.

Shortage of confidence is not a problem RT has ever encountered.


Grill Master.


Melia brought a kite, and because of the large back yard, she and the kids actually had it flying five to six feet a couple of times.






We all loved Alex. It was our first time to meet her, but she fit in right away.




And Hunter came to see Roxie...

And spend time with me and the rest of the family...

But mostly just to see Roxie, I think.








I had never thought about teaching the kids how to shuffle a deck before, but obviously Hunter knew something I didn't. Judith was mesmerized.






When Judith was two, Mike gave her a Frozen fishing pole to bring with her to the lake.

A few days before this trip, Mike gave Rhett a Spiderman fishing pole.

He had been practicing casting down the basement steps, so he was really good with that part.




Actually catching the fish will come a little later.




A hammock is just the best thing ever, isn't it?


Yes.

Yes, it is.


This isn't a pic of Judith with one eye "accidentally" closed.

Nope.

This girl has been successfully winking since she was almost two...

And this Nana thinks it is super cute!


Proud Daddy moment. Little Chick is NOT afraid of night crawlers.

In fact, she might like them a little too much.




"Go to the lake," they said.

"You'll have a great time," they said.

No one bothered to mention the from-the-nose-down life jacket required for little guys like me.


Ahhh. Here I am!

That's it for today. I hope you and yours have a great week. I've been hearing on the news the next two days are going to be LOW HUMIDITY.

So low it will ALMOST appear to be pleasant outside.

I'll have to see it to believe it!

Take care, and I'll talk to you soon.

Sincerely,

The Enchanting Belinda

Easy Ultra Creamy Mac and Cheese, Roxie and the Waterfall, Cullman Wellness & Aquatic Center with RT and Parental Units, Conquering the Circle of Water AND 4th of July Festivities

Good Wednesday afternoon!

I am going to quickly post pics from the last days of June and the beginning days of July...

Plus, a new-to-me recipe and maybe a little more.

Let's get started!

Easy Ultra Creamy Mac and Cheese

You will need the following:

1 pound dried pasta like elbow, shells or penne
5 tablespoons unsalted butter
5 tablespoons all-purpose flour
5 cups milk, warmed, whole or 2% reduced fat preferred
1 pound white cheddar cheese, shredded
4 ounces cream cheese, optional
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt, plus more to taste
1/2 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to boil, add the pasta following package directions, but cook 1 minute less than the package calls for. Drain.

2. Meanwhile, make the creamy cheese sauce. Melt the butter in a large high-sided pot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Sprinkle the flour over the melted butter and whisk the butter and flour together and around the pan until they smell toasted and look light brown; 2 to 3 minutes.

3. While whisking, pour in the warm milk. Continue to cook, constantly whisking until the sauce begins to simmer and thickens.

4. Turn the heat to low, then stir in the cheddar and cream cheeses, salt and black pepper. When the sauce is smooth and velvety, stir in the cooked pasta. If the sauce looks wet/thin, don’t worry. The pasta absorbs some the extra moisture as it cools. Turn the heat off, and then cover with a lid. Leave for 3 to 5 minutes, stir once more, and then serve.

NOTE FROM ENCHANTING BELINDA - This is the recipe I used when making the Mac and Cheese Bar for the 4th. See below!

RANDOMNESS #1 - Roxie and the Waterfall - I think I've shown a lot of restraint this Summer by not whining each and every time I have gotten on the computer concerning the whereabouts of The Chick. She is working at a Christian camp in North Carolina for ten weeks.

Ten weeks is a long time, BUT she feels she is where God wants her to be during the LAST FREE SUMMER FOR THE REST OF HER LIFE...

And unlike the Enchanting Belinda of Old, I am prayerfully supporting her decision.

It is a day-by-day process, and some days are better than others, but I think I have improved over the past few years.

One of the things helping me over this last three-week hump is the fact she called us on a Monday to see if Mike and I would be able to come up for her off day (Sunday) five weeks into camp.

"Well, let me check my calendar," I said ever so calmly...

But do not be deceived.

I was going.

Oh, Baby, was I going!

And the following pics are of our time together, and a few things Mike and I did on the way home the following Monday. Nothing spectacular, but lovely, just the same.






This is Looking Glass Falls in Brevard, North Carolina. I think this may be the same waterfall my Dad, Mom, sister and I visited 45 years or so ago.

I cannot be sure, of course, but it was a fun place to wade and cool off.


Do you love this inviting picture of CLEAR weeds in front of the fuzzy waterfall?

Yeah.

Me, too.


Or the pic of the CLEAR log in front of the fuzzy waterfall and fuzzy people?

Are you sensing a pattern?




We only had Sunday (7:30 a.m. until 9:30 p.m.) with Roxie, and while we ate at a couple of cool places and did some other North Carolina stuff, Roxie needed to squeeze in a manicure and super-short shopping trip to get a couple of items for an upcoming wedding the next weekend...

And we tagged along for that, too.

Basically, it wasn't so much a sight-seeing day as a being-with-Roxie day.

Pretty much the very BEST kind of day.


On Monday morning, Mike and I ate brunch at a groovy little place called Sunny Point Café (great breakfast), and rode around doing one of my favorite things in an artsy city like Asheville...

We looked for murals.

These are just a few of my favorites.








After a successful "mural hunt," we rode the backroads through Nantahala, North Carolina and watched kayakers and rafters as they went down the rapids.






All in all, a pretty nice weekend.

RANDOMNESS #2 - Cullman Wellness & Aquatic Center with RT and Parental Units - I feel like I am the only human in Gardendale who has not been to this facility, but just in case...

Melia invited me and Mike to meet them around 5:30 on a Thursday evening to swim, eat pizza and swim some more.

This place was great. It was very big. It wasn't crowded at all. And it had everything.












I'm talking Splash Pad, Lazy River, Kid Zone, BIG Water Slides, Big Pool, Diving Boards...

AND MORE!

Their Monday and Thursday Twilight Hours are from 6:00 p.m. until 9:00 p.m.

Admission is only $7 for non-members, and kids two and under get in FREE.

It was a fun way to spend a Thursday evening.

RANDOMNESS #3 - Conquering the Circle of Water - RT is basically fearless, but he has been a little hesitant to go through the Circle of Water at the Gardendale Splash Pad solo in the past.


And then one day, his cousin Judith walked with him...





And he survived.




And from that day on, he bravely walked through the Circle of Water...

Alone.


The End!

RANDOMNESS #4 - 4th of July Festivities - I did a few things differently this 4th of July.

Because I knew it was going be very humid and muggy, I totally ditched the notion of eating outside on the deck under the fans. I wanted air vents to stand over if and when I became overcome with heat...

And I wanted that for the rest of my family, too.

I also tweaked the menu just a little. I had Mike smoke pork tenderloins and grill a few hotdogs. I made Hillbilly Baked Beans and had a Macaroni and Cheese Bar.

I love the food bars you see at wedding receptions and other get togethers.

Grits Bar...

Ice Cream Bar...

Waffle Bar...

Bagel Bar...

Nacho Bar...

Baked Potato Bar.

I think you get the idea.

However, as much as I like the idea of food bars, making all of the tiny bowls of fixins' to go with the main food item makes me think it would take a lot more time than I actually have when getting ready to entertain.

So, I just switched things around and had some of the female family members attending that day bring Macaroni and Cheese Bar toppings.

Fresh cut scallions...

Crushed cheese crackers...

Chopped bacon...

Ham bits.

I provided the "easy" toppings (Parmesan cheese, Italian bread crumbs, shredded cheddar) AND a big ol' recipe of ULTRA CREAMY Macaroni and Cheese. (I usually bake my Mac and Cheese, and although tasty, it can be a little dry.)

It was popular, but I've already tweaked it again, and two of the toppings are no longer on the list. (I'll let you guess which two.)

Also, along with the usual baby pools, bubble machine and riding toys on a giant tarp in the driveway, I called and rented an inflatable water slide.

That's right.

An inflatable water slide...

With little dolphins at the top.

It was the Little Kahuna, and it was age appropriate for kids six and under.

Can I just say, this was SO MUCH fun and all of the kids really loved it. They all cried when we told them it was time to go home...

Which is always the sign of a good party! Am I right?

I gave it a big ol' thumbs up, and I'm planning on renting it again next year AND the next. By that time, I think the kids might want a bigger inflatable, and now that I know how much fun it is, I'm okay with that, too.




Eden's very first 4th of July.

She picked out the perfect little outfit.






RT got some air!


I wonder if our forefathers could have imagined us celebrating the country's birthday with red, white and blue bathing suits and a Little Kahuna Water Slide?


Maybe not...

But that's what happened.


Eden started out happy AND patriotic, but then she heard she wasn't big enough to play.


I think Sawyer let it slip.


Carly Beth was good to go in the baby pool part of the slide.


















I think this is where the term "wet and wild" comes from.






My sister and her entire family.

I hope you have a wonderful rest-of-the-week. I'll be back soon with some more July pics, a new recipe, a new-to-me Quotable Quote and hopefully much, much more.

Sincerely,

The Enchanting Belinda

"If your Mom doesn't have an old gift bag filled with other old gift bags, is she even a Mom?"

"I've got 99 problems and laundry is 97 of them."