20 years

This man has loved me unconditionally for 20+ years.  I am so grateful for his love and for his literal, full presence throughout all the years of raising two wonderful boys; illness, trials, joys, tribulation.  He has shown his steadfastness and his loyalty and his unconditional love.  Amazing.  Breathtaking.  A miracle.  A blessing.  I truly love this man.  Now and forever.  Those vows from 20 years ago still resonate in my heart.  I cannot help but look forward to the next 20 with him.  God has truly blessed me.  I am forever thankful.

I have always loved the photos Craig took of our wedding.  This one still hangs in our bedroom.  :)

Julie, Sandra and Candace - 'ruby, sapphire, and emerald'

Julie, Mama, Laura, Daddy, Kerry

Julie, Candace, Sandra, Laura, Marvin, Bob, Kerry, Mark

Mark, Anna, Julie, Daddy, Mama, Laura, Marvin, Candace, Kerry with James, Hannah and Rachel in front.

The snow started falling during our wedding so we ran out to take a quick photo before the reception - this has always been one of my favorites.   :)

Back story on the '53 Chevy Bel Air…   My Mama and Daddy left their wedding in my grandparents (new) 1953 Chevy Bel Air.  Just before my own wedding my parents bought a fully restored 1953 Chevy Bel Air that looked just like the original, so it was only fitting that we leave our wedding in it, chauffeured by my parents.  Great memory.     :)

Another note about that beautiful snow… although it was truly lovely and made for a wonderful photo op, the sad side story was that Marvin's entire family got snow-bound en route to the wedding.  They spent that weekend in a hotel in Paducah, KY, fully snowed in.  We honestly didn't know if our maid of honor and best man, both from Nashville, TN, would be able to get through to the wedding.  They both arrived, amazingly, in time for the rehearsal Friday evening.  I think they were literally the last two vehicles to make it through on the ice and snow covered roadways!    :)

So much has happened in the last 20 years - sometimes it is hard to imagine.  But, I am thankful that it has all happened standing side by side.  Here's to looking forward…

Ravioli Bake

This is a simple recipe that you can whip up in no time.  It is NOT that good for a calorie counter, however; so keep that in mind.

The basic foundation of the recipe is as follows...
1 bag of frozen ravioli of your choice (about 24 oz.)
1 jar of spaghetti sauce of your choice
1 can of diced tomatoes of your choice
2 cups shredded cheese of your choice
1 pound meat of your choice
1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese (optional)

Now, here is what I made this evening.

Baked Cheese Ravioli
1 bag of frozen mini cheese ravioli
1 jar of Prego Creamy Vodka spaghetti sauce
1 can of diced tomatoes, Italian style
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
1 pound ground beef

Brown a pound of ground beef, drain and crumble.  Add a jar of spaghetti sauce and a can of diced tomatoes to the beef; stir.  Pour 1/3 of the meat/sauce mixture into bottom of a 9x13 baking pan.  Lay half of the ravioli over the top of the sauce.  Sprinkle 1 cup of shredded cheese over ravioli.  Repeat the layers; sauce, ravioli, cheese... ending with the last 1/3 of the sauce.  If desired, top with about 1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese.

Bake at 375, uncovered, for about 30 minutes or until bubbly and hot throughout.  Kids love this!!  I like that you can mix it up with the different types of ravioli, sauce, tomatoes and even meat that you use.  Very versatile.

Possible future combinations that I plan to try include...
Portobello Mushroom ravioli
Alfredo sauce
chicken
choice of cheese and tomatoes

Beef ravioli
pepperoni slices
choice of sauce, cheese and tomatoes

Cheese ravioli
Italian sausage
choice of sauce, cheese and tomatoes


Update!
This evening I made this dish again, but used a different combination of ingredients.  I liked it a lot!

This one has Portobello Mushroom ravioli, Knorr alfredo sauce (used 2 packets, prepared), chicken (shredded a Rotisserie chicken), diced tomatoes with olive oil and garlic, shredded parmesan cheese & Pizza blend shredded cheese.

Pampered Chef show

I hosted a Pampered Chef show at the beginning of November.  I hadn't done that in years and it turned out to be SO much fun!  I had a nice gathering of dear ladies and we spent the afternoon visiting, laughing, learning about new kitchen products and sampling all kinds of goodies.  What could be more fun?

I am going to use this post to record several recipes from the show.  They will have their own label/link on the Recipes Page, but will all be found together here, on this one post, since they are all PC recipes.  

Thanks so much to my consultant, Melissa, for the wonderful show!

Some of the yummy concoctions from the party!

Greek Chicken and Artichoke Flatbread

 Greek Chicken and Artichoke Flatbread
1 pkg. (11 oz.) refrigerated thin crust pizza crust
1 1/2 cups fresh parsley leaves, divided
2 garlic cloves, pressed
1 lemon
1 jar (12 oz.) marinated artichoke hearts
1 Tbsp. olive oil
1/4 tsp each of salt and black pepper
4 oz. feta cheese, divided
8 oz. mozzarella cheese
2 cups diced, cooked chicken breast

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Unroll pizza crust onto Large Bar Pan and bake on lowest rack of oven for 17-20 minutes or until top is golden brown.

Coarsely process 1/2 cup parsley in Manual Food Processor; remove and set aside for garnish.  Add remaining parsley and garlic to process and process until finely chopped.

Zest lemon to measure 1 tsp. then add zest, artichokes, olive oil, salt, pepper and half of the feta to the processor.  Process until coarsely chopped.

Grate mozzarella then combine half of it with the artichoke mixture and chicken in bowl.  Mix well.  Microwave, uncovered, on High 1-2 minutes or until hot, stirring once.

Remove pan from oven and sprinkle crust with the remaining mozzarella.  Then top with the chicken mixture; spread to the edges of crust.

Cut flatbread into 16 squares then crumble remaining feta over top and garnish with reserved parsley.

S'more Cake

S'more Cake
3 Hershey bars (1.55 oz. each)
1 small pkg. (9 oz.) devil's food cake mix (or 1 2/3 cups from a regular size pkg.)
1 egg
1 container (8 oz.) sour cream
1 bag (10 oz.) regular size marshmallows OR 4 cups mini marshmallows (we used mini)
3 whole graham crackers, coarsely crushed

Place oven rack in middle of oven; preheat broiler.
Microwave chocolate on High 30-60 seconds or until mostly melted.  Stir until smooth; set aside.
Combine cake mix, egg, and sour cream in bowl; mix until blended.  Pour batter into Rockcrock Everyday Pan or Rockcrok Dutch Oven.
Microwave, covered, on High 4-5 minutes or until center of cake is firm and springs back when pressed.
Remove pan from microwave; arrange marshmallows in an even layer over cake.  Broil 30-60 seconds or until marshmallows are golden brown.
Remove from broiler; sprinkle with crackers and drizzle with chocolate.

Three Onion Rub Dip

Love these 3 minute dip recipes from Pampered Chef using their Rubs and seasoning blends.  The basic recipe is as follows...
1-2 Tbsp. Rub plus Topper (see suggested combinations below)
4 oz. mozzarella cheese, shredded
1 pkg. cream cheese, softened
2 Tbsp. milk  (I probably doubled this... use your own judgement)

Rubs/Toppers
*Three Onion Rub / 3 slices cooked bacon, crumbled  (We did this one and it was terrific!!)
Bell Pepper Herb Rub / half a red bell pepper, diced
Buffalo Rub / 1 stalk celery, chopped
Greek Rub / a quarter of a cucumber, chopped
Tex-Mex Rub / a plum tomato, seeded and diced

We served this with Pampered Chef Beer Bread (Yummy!)

Apple Berry Salsa (may not look too good in this photo, but trust me, this is amazing!!!)

Apple Berry Salsa
2 medium Granny Smith apples
1 pint strawberries, diced
2 kiwi, peeled and diced
1 small orange
2 Tbsp. packed brown sugar
2 Tbsp. apricot jam
Baked Cinnamon Chips (which Melissa made using flour tortillas cut into wedges and then baked in the microwave using her PC microwave chip maker.  She then seasoned them with PC Cinnamon and sugar.)

Peel, core and slice apples; then coarsely chop apple slices and put in a bowl.  Dice strawberries and kiwi and add to bowl.  Zest orange to measure 1 tsp. zest.  Juice orange to measure 2 Tbsp. juice.  Add orange zest, juice, brown sugar, and Jelly to fruit mixture.  Mix gently then refrigerate until ready to serve.

I don't have a picture, but Melissa also made Easy Sangrias.  Here is that recipe.

1 bottle red wine

2 cups lemon lime soda

1/4 cup sugar

1 orange, juiced

1 lemon, juiced

1 lime, juiced

Mix all ingredients together in a quick-stir pitcher and serve.  You may slice up additional fruit and serve in the pitcher if you like.  You can mix all but the soda and chill, then add soda right before serving.


Prior to the show I made some super simple cookies using the Pampered Chef cookie press and the Pampered Chef mini muffin pan.  All I did was use store bought peanut butter cookie dough, added a 1/4 cup flour to keep it from sticking, then put it in the cookie press.  After baking the cookies I quickly pressed hershey's kisses into the center of each one.  For the thumbprint cookies I used store bought sugar cookie dough and scooped it into the mini muffin pan, then pressed a thumbprint into the top of each one.  I filled half of the cookies with Lemon Curd and the other half with Apricot Jam.  Although they were quite tasty, I made one huge mistake.  I forgot how much dough those little mini muffin pans will hold.  I put too much in each opening and they blew up all over the oven.   :D  Soooo... be sure to use the SMALL Pampered Chef scoop instead of the Medium one!   :)  Or, just roll them into small balls and place in the muffin tin.  That is what I did with the remaining peanut butter dough and I got them the correct size.  :)  ha!

Peanut Butter Blossoms from the cookie press

Thumbprint Cookies with Lemon Curd... gone all wrong!!   :)

Thumbprint Cookies with Apricot Jam... exploded!  (but still tasty, actually)  

Used the rest of the peanut butter blossom dough to create the little tarts in the center.
What the thumbprint cookies were supposed to look like!!  :)

Daddy's Spoonful of Sugar

You know the song from Mary Poppins that goes, "Just a spoonful of sugar makes the medicine go down..."?   Well, Daddy got his spoonful of sugar the day before his hip replacement surgery by detouring to a car dealership and picking up a new car!  It sure is beautiful!  The next day he drove himself to the hospital in style.  :)  He already has marked on his calendar the day that he is released to drive again and is counting down the days.  In the meantime we are all in agreement that it will take some time to read through the manual and learn all the bells and whistles!!  :)  I had the honor of driving him home from the hospital in that shiny, new car and it is a dream!

Mama checking out the car at the dealership when they picked it up day before the surgery.

at the hotel prior to surgery

got her home...

the boys checking out the features, including the huge sunroof...

They approve!   :D

Daddy's Surgery

Daddy had hip replacement surgery on Thursday.  He had been in pain for a very long time, but wasn't really ready to have surgery.  Finally, last summer the doctor told him that he really must have it done; that based on scans he couldn't imagine how Daddy was even walking!  At that point Daddy finally agreed to surgery, although he said he couldn't fit it into his schedule until November.  Funny thing is, that was totally accurate!  :)

November finally rolled around and Daddy was still unsure about the surgery, in spite of his discomfort.  He was heard to say, more than once, that he had "moments without pain" so wasn't sure if he really needed the surgery.  His loving family assured him that 'whole moments without pain' probably weren't enough to cancel the surgery.  I mean, whole moments!!   :)   (Did I mention my Daddy is one tough fella?)

His surgery was scheduled for later in the day, which left a lot of time for nervousness.  However, we were so thrilled when little things started happening that truly gave us a sense of peace.  In pre-op, every time a medical person would come in to check on him, Daddy would tell them that lots of folks were praying for them and for Daddy.  When the surgeon came in, of course, Daddy told him the same thing.  The surgeon spent a great deal of time carefully examining the chart information (which we greatly appreciated and were impressed by) then stood up, removed his surgical cap and said, "Would you like to pray together right now?"  What a beautiful surprise!  We all held hands while the surgeon prayed the most comforting prayer over Daddy.  It brought tears to my eyes and we all had a complete sense of peace.  What a wonderful moment.  

After the surgery, the surgeon came to Mama & me with a look of surprise saying, "His hip was in terrible shape!  The ball was as slick as a marble!  There was not a speck of cartilage anywhere!  He must have been in a lot of pain!"  I told the surgeon my Daddy is a pretty tough fellow and he heartily agreed.  

We also were tickled when, throughout his entire hospital stay, he kept encountering Truman/NMSU graduates.  From his anesthesiologist, to nurses in the operating room, to physical therapy techs, to the case manager for the floor.  The latter caused me to laugh out loud, literally, when he knocked on the door of Daddy's hospital room and introduced himself as the case manager, then proceeded to come in and say, "And I just wanted to shake your hand.  I graduated from NMSU when you were VP and remember you so fondly!"   :)  Even in the midst of a tough day physically, suffering from extreme nausea due to pain medications, these encounters brought a smile to Daddy's face every single time.  

We cannot overstate the quality of the care he received from the very first moment upon entering Boone Hospital.  Every single person we encountered was professional, friendly, competent, and helpful.  Daddy was assigned two nurses during his stay, Katie and Marieme, and they were both phenomenal.  Daddy had a special bond with Katie, his first nurse, from the very beginning.  She is a powerhouse of a person at 4 feet 9 inches and she told Daddy her husband is 6 feet 5 inches!  Daddy told her all about he and Mama and told her to walk up to Mama and say, "Wow, you are really tall!"   :D  Even coming out of recovery, Daddy loves to joke around.  :)  

Another 'almost story' was that the surgeon had been interviewed by a student from MU and had asked if there was a patient he could also interview.  The surgeon asked Daddy if he would be willing and of course, Daddy said yes.  However, when the poor student showed up at the hospital at the appointed time, the nurses turned him away due to hospital policy about 'no interviews'.  It probably worked out for the best, because honestly, Daddy didn't need to do an interview that day!!  But, it sure made us laugh because it seems that media requests follow Daddy absolutely everywhere!!   :)

Because he was so sick on Friday, he had to do a double dose of therapy on Saturday in order to be released from the hospital.  It will come as no surprise to you to find out that he walked twice the distance that was required to be released.  :)  As they noted, he was determined and ready to get home!   :)

Daddy is now home and is doing extremely well.  He has several weeks of rest and recuperation ahead of him, but he is already experiencing less pain in the actual hip than before the surgery.  We are so very, very grateful for all the prayers, emails, cards and comforting words expressed to Daddy during this time.  Truly, your reaching out to him made all the difference in the world.  On his worst day, it was joy-filled to read your emails and cards to him.  Each one brought a smile to his face.  Thank you!

Flowers and plants sent by friends - sunset out Daddy's window.

When we arrived home, Julie had made home-made chicken soup with veggies along with baked apples.  She cooked it all at Mama and Daddy's house so their house had that comforting smell of home-cooking when they walked in.  I know that just being at home, with his family, with home-cooked food, is the best medicine from here on out.  :)

HOME!  And enjoying good, home-cooked food!

Legacy

I bought this picture for my Daddy for Father's Day many years ago.  At the time of purchase, this looked so much (to me) like Daddy with Anna, one of his granddaughters.  Of course, their story is but one in the long legacy of loving relationships he has established and nurtured over time.  We have all been truly blessed.

Chicken Cordon Bleu Casserole

This was really tasty!  Approved by all!  :)  And uses ingredients that we often have on hand as leftovers, so that is definitely a Win-Win.

Chicken Cordon Bleu Casserole
2 cups uncooked elbow macaroni
2 cans condensed cream of chicken soup, undiluted
3/4 cup milk
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese  (didn't have so left out)
1 tsp. prepared mustard
1 tsp. paprika
1/2 tsp dried rosemary, crushed
1/4 tsp. garlic powder
*Note - I used 1 tsp. Pampered Chef Rosemary Herb seasoning blend IN PLACE OF the above 2 ingredients (rosemary and garlic)
1/8 tsp. sage
2 cups cooked, diced chicken (or turkey)
2 cups cubed fully cooked ham  (I used leftover deli ham, shredded)
2 cups (8 oz.) shredded mozzarella cheese (I used shredded Italian Blend cheese)
1/4 cup crushed butter-flavor crackers (I used Toasted Onion crackers)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Cook macaroni according to package directions.  In a bowl, whisk soup, milk, Parmesan cheese, mustard and seasonings.  Stir in chicken, ham and mozzarella cheese.

Drain macaroni; add to soup mixture and toss to combine.  Add to a greased 13x9 inch baking dish.  Top with the crushed crackers.  Bake, uncovered, 25 - 30 minutes or until bubbly and hot throughout.

Can be frozen ahead of time...
to use, partially thaw in refrigerator overnight.  Remove from refrigerator 30 minutes before baking.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees and bake as directed, increasing time as necessary to heat through and for a thermometer inserted in the center to read 165 degrees.

Halloween

Our local high school football team got into the playoffs which meant they played a special game Halloween night.  Since it was a home game, that meant the band had to quickly prepare a halftime show.  They decided, since the festivities were on Halloween, that the band would dress up in costume to perform.  They also played new songs, including the song Brianna directed, Michael Jackson's Thriller.

Jackson and Brianna happily took the costume challenge by storm.  My mudroom looked like it had been taken over...  :)  But they were both quite pleased with the results.   :)

It was a fun evening, although a very cold one.  The football team won the game and now advance to the next level of tournament play!

What happened in my mud room??

Why is a zombie at my dinner table??

Who is this amazingly happy zombie?

Oh my...

Even a zombie sometimes needs a little help from his Grandma...

Grandma Sue, Jackson and Alyssa

Cody

Shonda putting on a good face with a zombie sitting next to her!

Cody and Jackson - two peas in a pod!

Who knew that Dorothy encountered a zombie along the yellow brick road??

Adrian dressed up like a member of the marching band!   ;)  

Aaron as Dr. Who

Shannon as Dorothy

Brianna as a zombie

playoff game

Alex and Alaina

Brianna directing the band in Michael Jackson's 'Thriller'

2 zombies at home...  :)

Here is a video with snippets from the halftime performance, including 'Thriller'.  :)