Chocolate Castles as wel

Coming home from Phoenix Tuesday night, we were tired and ready to be home. The plane was late and I couldn’t wait to take off and read a new book I had downloaded. We had had such a great time with our kids but…..we were exhausted and ready to go home to our own bed! As soon as Randy and I had settled into our seats, we smiled thinking that maybe just maybe , we would not have anyone come and ask, “is that seat taken!” So here we are up 36,000 feet in the air when the lady sitting next to me begins to share her visit to her 80 year old mom in CA and all the festivities that they had planned to celebrate her birthday! We then began to talk about food (is this a surprise to anyone that I would talk about food?)

She shared a recipe with me that she said sounded weird but promised me that it was the best spaghetti sauce and her mom had been making it for years. When I ask her if she would please share it with me, she gladly did! Well, last night I got some grape jelly and made it. It was indeed very very good and was so glad I had not stuck my nose in a book and ignore this sweet lady! Thank you Sabrina for sharing your treasured old recipe with me! It is delicious and is now a very sweet memory of our plane trip home! I’m posting the picture she sent to me that shows it was written on an old piece of paper! Those recipes seem to always be the good ones!!!

While in Corpus for a few days last week, we indulged in our favorite TexMex restaurant 3 out of 4 days. In the last morning before heading out, we decided to stop one more time at Kikos for breakfast. The Owner Grace Barrera (actually their son Marcus bought it from them but you still see Grace and Kiko there going in and out of the kitchen. When Grace walked by she remembered me as our boys hung out together many years ago. As we began to visit she ask if I minded if she sat down and had breakfast with us! What a delightful breakfast as we talked about our kids and of course Mexican food! I ask her about the mushrooms they serve with chile con queso and she told me the story! They got the recipe from a restaurant in San Antonio and knew that they had to start serving them at Kikos. I was so pleasantly surprised when Grace told me how they make them! Well, I just made them and ate 8 of them. They are so delicious and so easy. The batter stays on them and are crunchy and just wish I had some of her queso to dip them in! But for tonight. They were scarfed down all by themselves with sea salt sprinkled over them. You will be amazing at the ease and flavor!

1 package of white button mushrooms, wiped clean and dry

1 package of Any brand of white gravy mix. (I prefer Pioneer peppered gravy but only had this one tonight)

Oil for deep frying

Salt, Pepper and Garlic powder to taste

1/4 cup self rising flour

Mix the white gravy mix with about 3/4 cup water (her recipe called for beer but didn’t have any)

Mix in the self rising flour and spices! Whisk until smooth. Dip mushrooms in batter and drop in the hot oil. Fry until both sides are golden brown. Drain on paper towel.

Isn’t it amazing how our thoughts and motives change as the years go by? When Randy and I married almost 27 years ago, we committed our home (so many years, so many homes, 12 to be exact) to the Lord for Him to use! At the time I felt that for it to be used, meant having church events or ladies events, lunches, dinners and allowing church leaders to use our home for any event they needed. And the memories we have from thinking back over the years bring such joy to our hearts praying that the Lord was glorified and honored each time. As time goes on (sounds like a soap opera title) we have noticed that the way the Lord uses our home looks a little different now! We don’t have the large houses that we once did. I don’t have the energy to cook for 30 people or make 100 casseroles to sell at Mistletoe Market! But the Lord doesnt need square footage, or the stamina of a 45 year old! He just needs a heart that wants to serve. We still committed our 1700 sq foot home when we moved in two years ago and have been so blessed to have get togethers, with old and new friends! Bible studies, Ladies Teas and of course family dinners! But last evening we did something that got us out of our comfort zone. We carved a pumpkin with a precious little girl that needed some smiles! As in Life, some plans just do not turn out as expected. For this sweet young lady we have grown to love, she was expecting someone she cares deeply for, to come carve her pumpkin with her! But when that didn’t happen, my sweet husband told them to grab the pumpkin and come on over! As i watched randys hand hold the knife (even with Parkinson’s he did a great job) and try to cut on the lines Sloane had drawn, it made me realize that God was using, once again our home for something that may seem small, but to this young girl, it was certainly an important night to her. Her laughter and smiles were such a blessing to us. We pray that it honored the Lord. All this to say, never cheat yourself out of a blessing by sharing your home with others! It might not be a dinner or party for 30 but the joy that you give from opening up your home even for 1 or 2 is priceless! And may God continue to use our home for His glory!

If you have ever watched an episode of Duck Dynasty, you have probably heard Willy (holding his jar of iced tea) repeat one of his favorite lines “happy happy happy”.

A month or so ago, Randy and I was listening to a service from our church and in so doing, found out that a certain man from our church was a Duck Dynasty fan. When the program was over, Randy said “we should look and see if we could order him a Willy mug and give it to him since he likes them so much”. So that’s exactly what we did. As soon as it arrived, I packed it in a sack and carried it to church with a note telling him how much we had enjoyed hearing him speak. Three or four weeks passed and each Sunday I took it with us knowing that sooner or later we would see him! But God…..one Wednesday while meeting a dear friend of mine for lunch I walked into the restaurant to wait for her and walking in the door right behind me was the man and his sweet wife! I introduced myself and told him I had something in the car for him. (Yes I had been leaving it in the car so I would remember to take it with us on Sundays until we were able to give it to him! He probably thought “on my goodness a crazy lady is stalking us!”I had never met he or his wife and here I am telling him I have a present in the car for him. So I went and got it and handed it to him. Then I went about ordering my cholesterol loaded pizza and went to visit with my friend. That was a couple of weeks ago. Today as Randy and I entered the sanctuary, there standing by a lady (who she and I always talk baking ) was our new Willy tea jar friend. I introduced him to Randy! What is amazing is this ! He stood there and told us that the day I ran into him at lunch had been a really hard day and the gift of that glass just made his day. He couldn’t believe that someone had gone out of their way to do that and he was so grateful for the act of kindness. As we walked away to go sit down, it just made me realize that God knows our days and our hearts and when we need some encouragement! That gift wasn’t needed the 2-3 weeks I carried it to church. It was needed that certain Wednesday at lunch when God put us at the same place at the same time! Only God could orchestrate the timing and the meeting. That I had left it in the car all that time is unusual for me to do. But it blessed our hearts that something so small could have such a sweet impact and gave him encouragement in a week that had been tough. Never dismiss those little “ thoughts” that come to us to do something for someone. We never know what it may mean to them. And the blessing we get from being used….nothing quite like it! To God be the glory

Two days ago our grandson Sevy texted me a recipe he had found for sugar cookies. It was suppose to be a link to a copycat recipe for Crumble Cookies sugar cookie. I have no idea what Crumble Cookies taste like as I have never had one but these cookies are SO good. Very soft and with the almond flavor, they are such a great cookie. The first batch was so good, gave them away so have already made a second batch. Video of making them is in YouTube Sassy Southern!

Cookie

Stir 3 cups flour, 2 teaspoons baking powder and 1/2 teas salt together, set aside. *if using salted butter omit salt

Beat 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter (at room temperature) 1 cup sugar until light and fluffy. Add 2 room temperature large eggs, 1 teas vanilla, 1 1/2 teas almond extract and beat well. Add flour mixture. Mix until well combined.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Using 1/4 cup (I used an ice cream scoop which holds 1/2 cup so filled it 1/2 full) of batter. Roll into a ball and place on parchment paper lined cookie sheet. Flatten with bottom of glass and place in oven. Bake for about 9-10 min. (Depends on your oven). I baked mine 9 min. Cool and frost.

Frosting:

3 cups powdered sugar

1 stick unsalted room temperature butter

1 1/2 teas almond extraction

Milk or Half & Half to get to spreading consistency

Color with gel coloring of your choice

Beat all ingredients until well blended and no lumps remain.

This is a favorite of mine as well as several friends who have tasted it! It is the perfect time of the year to make it and certainly the perfext time of year to eat it! Grab a pumpkins spice latte and a piece of this amazing flavorful biscotti

Taken from Tis So Sweet Cookbook

Found this on FB and made it for a breakfast yesterday to take to church. It was delicious!

CAKE BATTER:
• 1 box Betty Crocker Spice Cake Mix
3 large eggs
1 cup pumpkin puree (canned)
¾ cup water
• ½ cup vegetable oil
1/3 cup granulated sugar
• 2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
CREAM CHEESE FILLING:
8 ounces cream cheese (room temperature)
1/2 cup unsalted butter (melted)
3 cups powdered sugar
• 1/2 cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9×13
baking pan with non-stick spray.

2. In a large bowl, mix together the cake mix,
   pumpkin, eggs, water, oil, sugar and pumpkin
   pie spice. Pour batter into the prepared pan.
3. In another bowl, melt the butter and mix
   together with the room temperature cream
   cheese. Stir in the powdered sugar and mix
   until well combined.
4. Place spoonfuls of the cream cheese mixture
   all over the top of the cake mixture. Using a
   knife, gently swirl through the cream cheese.
   Sprinkle chocolate chips on top and bake for
   40-50 minutes or until center is set.
5. Allow the cake to almost completely cool
   before cutting. If you cut before it cools, the
   cake will be very soft and won’t cut cleanly.
   26
6. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

Yesterday I had signed up to take a dessert to our ladies Bible Study/Dinner. Because the temps were under 90 and I had 1 box of Betty Crocker spice cake mix and numerous boxes of Duncan Hines Spice Cake Mixes (their new colors and designs are very eye catching, well done #Duncanhines), I decided to experiment a little. I’m sorry I didn’t think to take a picture of the finished product because truth be told I got caught up looking at all the great food the ladies brought trying to decide what to eat! BUT. The cake was a hit. I didn’t bring any home. It is so easy and you will not be disappointed! If you love apples, It will be a dish that will grace your table throughout the Fall!

1 Box of Spice Cake Mix

1 1/2 sticks cold butter

2 cans apple pie filling

2 teas pumpkin pie filling

1/2 cup light brown sugars

1 cup chopped pecans (I used the pralined pecans because I had them and LOVE them)

Preheat oven to 350 and Spray a 9×13 baking dish with Pam

Empty both cans of apple pie filling into baking dish. Sprinkle the pumpkin pie seasoning over the apple filling and then sprinkle the brown sugar over the apples

Evenly pour the dry spice cake mix over the apple mixture. Using a spoon or your hand, be sure cake mix is evenly distributed!

Slice the cold butter into about 18-20 slices. Lay them out individually over the dry cake mix being sure they are well spaced! You will see in picture below what it should look like! Place in preheated oven and bake for about 40-45 min depending on your oven! Serve warm or room temperature!

It had been a busy and rough two weeks! Emotionally and physically! Two of our friends had passed away and there had not been enough Advil in TX to relieve me of pain from my leg! Who knew that there is a cyst called Bakers Cyst that appears behind your knee cap and wouldn’t you know that apparently it is named after a person not from people who stand up baking for Hours a day! But apparently that is what has caused the pain that has caused me to sit for long periods of time on frozen bags of peas and corn! Truly I have been so blessed with good health and Have not been used to having physical pain other than tired feet from shopping or trying to diet to get baby fat (which at 72 I’m still trying) off of me! But this last month had me down emotionally and physically! After two funerals of these precious friends in less than a week apart, I was spent! On Saturday Randy and I had to get out to run errands (why do they call it run when no one actually runs to do them). We “car” errands! But on the way to order randy new computer glasses, I told him that I wanted a key lime pie like the one I had bought for a friend this week! That pie had been on my mind all week! I had gone to Costco to pick up some food for the family that had lost a very much loved member and when I had seen the pie in the bakery section of Costco, I picked one up to take to them! It looked delicious! So this past Saturday we headed to Costco to see if they had any key lime pies left! Costco was crazy. So many people there you had to wait at end of aisle sometimes just to go down it! As RAndy and I pushed our cart back towards the bakery dept, I told him “oh I hope they still have some of the pies! But with this many people here I bet they are all gone! Especially after being here since last Saturday when I first saw them!” So as fast as my little chubby legs would take me (and walking like I was 100 years old because of my knee) I spotted the cold case that holds the pies! Lo and behold, looking down into the cold chest holding lemon cupcakes with cream cheese frosting was ONE key lime pie. Sitting all by itself beside all the cupcakes! I grabbed it and held in for dear life! You would have thought I was at KMart grabbing the last item on their blue light specials! (If you are younger than 60 you probably have no idea what a blue light special is!)

As we got to the car, I realized that this is one of those little blessings that God in His goodness gives to us! Is it just a key lime pie, of course it is, but to me it was one of the times that He shows us personally how much He loves and cares for us! He knew the hurt of the last two weeks! He hears our hearts when we are needing a sense of His presence and He loves to show us that no matter what , He is always there. When days are hard and life throws us unexpected trials that cause us pain, God can show up even in a refrigerated case with a key lime pie! It was one of the times when I walked away thinking “He saved it just for me”. Thank you Lord for the Sonshine you bless our lives with when we are down and discouraged! To God Be The Glory!

Psalm 81:16 “but I would feed you with the best of foods. I will satisfy you with wild honey from the rock” ……

And sometimes a key lime pie!

It has been fun trying different combinations of veggies for Meatless Mondays. Tonight was a combined pan of blackeye peas with green beans, corn on the cob (as per Randys request), cooked green cabbage with onions and carrots! But the winner of new dishes was a recipe I saw last week on FB. It was cornbread made with onions and called Upside Down Cornbread and folks, it is a winner!!! we love Jiffy Cornbread (please don’t send me hate mail) , I know real southerners love the homemade cornbread but we do love Jiffy and it makes a perfect size for us for 2-3 meals. The recipe said to slice onions and bake them in butter for about 10-12 minutes in a baking dish. Remove from oven and pour whatever cornbread you want to have over the onions and bake as directed by your recipe. The extra butter and onions give it such a wonderful flavor. We topped ours off with the blackeyed pea/green bean mixture! So now we don’t have to feel guilty about the key lime pie we will have for dessert come 8:00