Ordinary Life

Logan's Twelfth Birthday Cake After watching Wreck It Ralph, Lo asked for a candy covered cake A Candy Cart ~MAKE A WISH~ ~BIRTHDAY LUNCH ~ ~ Enjoying The Restaurant Birthday Song ~

I prayed:  "Dear God, if you could allow me a daughter..." And He did .  A quite marvelous model too...  We love our Logan so. Happy 12th Birthday, LoLeece.  We Love You.  So Much.  ~*~  Logan Aleece Brewer~Day 1

We tried   THIS recipe from Serious Eats:    8 ounces extra sharp cheddar cheese (or a mix of cheddar and pepper Jack—see note), grated on large holes of a box grater 1 tablespoon corn starch 1 (12-ounce) can evaporated milk 2 teaspoons Franks Red Hot or other hot sauce (The Brew Crew used Sriacha)   Add cheese and cornstarch to large bowl. Toss to combine. Transfer to medium saucepan. Add 1 cup evaporated milk and hot sauce. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly with whisk until melted, bubbly, and thickened (about 5 minutes). Mixture will look thin and grainy at first but will thicken and come together after heating. Thin to desired consistency with additional evaporated milk. Serve immediately with fries, tortilla chips, burgers, or hot dogs.

Schlotzsky CopyCat Bread It seems that we often end up eating out at sandwich shops. Most of what we order could be done at home, which got me to thinking about why we still go out for sandwiches. I concluded it's probably largely about good bread and decided to try and break through the store bought rut. Decided to start with a "Schlotzsky Copy-Cat" with fairly edible results. Here are the instructions from this recipe  and some photos of the two seperate times we have made it so far: Ingredients 1/2 cup lukewarm water 1 tablespoon sugar 1 (1/4 ounce) package yeast 3/4 cup lukewarm milk 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/4 teaspoon baking soda 2 1/2 cups bread flour ( all-purpose will work) cornmeal Directions Stir water, sugar and yeast together and set aside. Dissolve baking soda in 1/2 tablespoon warm water in medium bowl. Add warm milk, salt and 1 cup flour; beat till smooth. Beat in yeast mixture and remaining flour (batter will be thick and sticky, but not as thick as normal brea...

Riley can reach the make-up drawer now... and she has paid close enough attention to get the general idea.  When all was said and done, I lifted her to the mirror and said "Aren't you pretty?"  She said "I'm a mess!"  Oh, yes.  She is. 

She said "I NEED A PARTY HAT!"  We sometimes call our anniversary a "Family Birthday". Especially during seasons where sitters are scarce and we will be celebrating with the entire family. This was one of those celebrations. We have been very busy with baseball & the business and our family's 'birthday' fell during a particularly Extra Busy Weekend. On Wednesday night, as everyone was busy with Duck Dynasty (I tuned in from my dish washing station in the kitchen) I secretly concocted one of Clay's preferred treats: Jello Cake. (He's forever in the debt of his mother in law for the passing down of this recipe :)  One thing about Jell-O cake is that it calls for Whipped topping- an element that always makes for a decorating challenge... a blank, white, slippery canvas to be improved upon.  I began to rifle through Riley's small plastic toys for something quirky when I came to these two finger puppets. I was quickly inspired to dress them up...