DINING ROOM

 For those of you who remember I started redoing my dining room in August and tore down the wallpaper and painted the walls. Well today the furniture arrived and I just love it.  It looks like a completely different room. Now I just need to have a dinner party!

CHRISTMAS IN NOVEMBER

We decided to break down and buy a new television today.  Our children thought our old TV was from the dark ages!! ( it was only about 12 years old ) We got such a good deal on our TV we decided to buy a Wii too!!  Mark set it all up and we played a few games of bowling and then Jed and Ashlee came and Jed got the high of 238 so I guess that is the score to beat. 

THE SQUIRRELS WERE AT IT AGAIN!!!!

I know this is going to be hard to believe but some of the same squirrels that were eating my mother's birdseed decided they needed to have a storage for winter so they stored them in her air filter in her car.  Yes-in her car.  When she got her oil changed a week ago the mechanic picked this bag of seeds out of her air filter. I think if  I was one of them I would be hiding from my mother!! (See post below)

RECIPE OF THE WEEK

This is one of my favorite soups at the Olive Garden and a friend of my gave me this recipe  and it tastes just like the Olive Gardens. I do use half and half though instead of heavy cream. 

ZUPPA TOSCANA SOUP

INGREDIENTS

• 1 lb ground Italian sausage
• 1½ tsp crushed red peppers
• 1 large diced white onion
• 4 Tbsp bacon pieces
• 2 tsp garlic puree
• 10 cups water
• 5 cubes of chicken bouillon
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1 lb sliced Russet potatoes, or about 3 large potatoes
• ¼ of a bunch of kale

1. Sautee Italian sausage and crushed red pepper in pot. Drain excess fat, refrigerate while you prepare other ingredients.In the same pan, sautee bacon, onions and garlic for approxiamtly 15 mins. or until the onions are soft. Mix together the chicken bouillon and water, then add it to the onions, bacon and garlic. Cook until boiling. Add potatoes and cook until soft, about half an hour. Add heavy cream and cook until thoughouly heated. Stir in the sausage. Add kale just before serving. Delicious!

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

I decided after just going to my nephew's wedding this was an appropriate quote for this week

ANN LANDERS

If you have love in your life it can make up for a great many things you lack. If you don't have it, no matter what else there is, it's not enough.

SHARP SHOOTING GRANDMA

I don't think Sarah Palin has anything up on my mother when it comes to her shooting skills.  My 85 year old mother loves to feed the birds and watch them from her picture window but the squirrels would keep eating the bird seed so she decided to take some action.  She got a BB gun and after a little practicing she perfected her shot and 12 squirrels over the course of the summer  met their demise. They now see her coming and they hightail it.  You go girl!!!

KYLE & ASHLEY'S WEDDING

My nephew,Kyle, got married this weekend in Minnesota so Mark and I flew out on Wednesday and stayed at my mom's in Hoffman. Sarah and Kurtis drove up from Omaha and also stayed at mom's so we had a wonderful time. It is always great to see everyone!!

WHAT I DON'T MISS ABOUT MINNESOTA!!!

We left mom's Sunday morning to drive back to Fargo to catch our flight back to SLC and here are a few pictures of the driving conditions. I wanted to stop and ask the police officer if he was driving too fast for conditions!! We were driving a small rental care with not the best tires and it was very windy on top of everything so it wasn't much fun except for the picture taking!!

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

For all of you who really know me you know this is the perfect quote for me!!!

A cup of coffee shared with a friend is happiness tasted and time well spent.

RECIPE OF THE WEEK

 

There are certain recipes you make at certain times of the year and this is one of those you make in the fall. There is nothing better than the smell of pumpkin and cinnamon as you walk in the house. Make a batch and share them with your neighbors.  They will love you for it!!

Pumpkin and Cream Cheese Muffins

   8 ounce(s) cream cheese
   3 eggs
   2 1/2 cup(s) sugar
   2 1/2 cup(s) flour
   1/4 cup(s) pecans, roughly chopped
   3 tablespoon(s) butter, melted
   2 1/2 teaspoon(s) cinnamon
   1 tsp nutmeg
   1/2 teaspoon(s) salt
   2 teaspoon(s) baking powder
   1/4 teaspoon(s) baking soda
   1 1/4 cup(s) solid-packed pumpkin
   1/3 cup(s) vegetable oil
   1/2 teaspoon(s) vanilla extract

________________________________

 Directions
  1. Heat oven to 375 degrees F. Lightly coat two 12-cup standard muffin tins with oil and set aside.
   2. Mix the cream cheese, 1 egg, and 3 tablespoons sugar in a small bowl and set aside. Toss 5 tablespoons sugar, 1/2 cup flour, pecans, butter, and 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon together in a medium bowl and set aside. Combine the remaining sugar, flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and remaining cinnamon in a large bowl. Lightly beat the remaining eggs, pumpkin, oil, and vanilla together in a medium bowl. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture, pour the pumpkin mixture into the well, and mix with a fork just until moistened. Evenly divide half of the batter among the muffin cups. Place two teaspoonfuls of cream cheese filling in the center of each cup and fill with the remaining batter. Sprinkle some of the pecan mixture over the top of each muffin and bake until golden and a tester, inserted into the muffin center, comes out clean -- 20 to 25 minutes. Cool on wire racks.

BMW-BULL MARKET WOMAN

Quite a few years ago a bunch of my friends decided to start an investment group when it was  the thing to be doing.  We decided to call ourselves BMW hoping that it was going to bring us good karma but needless to say it hasn't always been a bull market.  Even though we have not made tons of money we have had a lot of fun.  Every year in September we have out meeting at Lori's  house and members bring their children and ride horses.  Lori and Rick are such good sports about it.  Thanks guys!!!  In October we have our meeting at the Mandarin which we all look  forward to all year and then we take off November and December.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

The difference between ordinary and extraordinary is that little extra.  ~Jimmy Johnson

WINTER WONDERLAND IN OCTOBER!!!

We had our first snowstorm last night and woke up to everything covered in snow.  It was beautiful but please........it's only October.  All of my flowers are looking a little frost bitten.  I'm afraid they won't survive but I am ready to pull up the ones in the flower beds and empty the flower pots anyway.

RECIPE OF THE WEEK

Now that we had our first snowstorm I am in the mood for those winter dishes.  This one is so easy and I really like it.

Chicken Stove-Top Casserole

8 skinned and boned chicken breasts

1 package stove top stuffing (chicken flavor)

8 slices swiss cheese

1 can cream of chicken soup

1/4 cup margarine or butter

Put chicken in greased 9x13 inch baking pan. Place a cheese slice on top of each baking pan. Spoon soup over top. Spread bread cubes form stuffing mix over top. dot with chunks of butter. Sprinkle stuffing seasonings over top.  Sprinkle with 1 cup of water to prevent dryness.  Cover with foil and bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes.  Enjoy!!

FISHING SEASON COMES TO AN END

This was Marks last weekend fishing at the Gorge for the summer.  They did catch a few big ones so the season ended on a good note.  

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves.

Abraham Lincoln 

SERVICE PROJECT

For the past few years the newborn team has had an annual all day workshop where we do some team building activities(such as a rope course) and then have a few lectures but this year we decided in the morning we wanted to do a service project to help out some group less fortunate than us. I researched several organizations in the Salt Lake area and decided the YWCA was in need of volunteers all the time. For those of you who are not familiar with the YWCA, it is a nonprofit organization that helps out battered women. The one in SLC has 250 women housed on any given night. Many have children. Most nights there is a waiting list. So today our group worked outdoors and weeded, trim bushes , raked leaves and cleaned up the grounds. It is amazing what you can get done with a group doing it. The YWCA was SO appreciative and the grounds looked so much better. I want to encourage ALL of you to go to your boss or manager and see if you can arrange something like this in your workplace. It is wonderful for team morale. You would get more out of something like this than any group meeting  at work.

PASS IT ON

You can only type ONE Word! Not as easy as you might think. Now change the answers to suit you and pass it on. It's really hard to only use one word answers.

1. Where is your cell phone? Counter
2. Where is your significant other? Fishing
3. Your hair? Dirty
4. Your mother? Amazing 
5. Your father? Serious 
6. Your favorite thing? Family
7. Your dream last night? Confusing 
8. Your dream/goal? Retirement 
9. The room you're in? Family 
10. Your hobby? Crosswords 
11. Your fear? Loneliness 
12. Where do you want to be in 6 years? Vacationing 
13. Where were you last night? Computering
14. What you're not? Shy 
15. Middle name? Jean 
16. One of your wish list items? Grandchildren
17. Where you grew up? Minnesota 
18. The last thing you did? Eat 
19. What are you wearing? Pajamas 
20. Your TV? Ancient
21. Your pet? None 
22. Your computer? Lifesaver 
23. What do you think of emails like this? Interesting
24. Your mood? Sedate 
25. Missing someone? Yes 
26. Where would you rather be? Vacationing
27. Something you're not wearing? Socks 
28. Favorite store? Bookstore
29. Your summer? Quick 
30. Love someone? Many
31. Your favorite color? Black 
32. When is the last time you laughed? Today
33. Who will re-post this?  ?

So, rather than emailing it out to everyone, I am tagging anyone that reads this to do the same thing. Enjoy!