Bert and Ernie

Can you tell me how to get to Sesame Street?

Just kidding.

But we do have two dwarf Chinese hamsters that go by those names.  I don't think we named them very well based on their personalities, but Brianne is totally stuck to those names.  Which I don't mind, since I picked them out. :)

For the last year and a half, we had a white Russian hamster named Sleep.  She got her name because every time Brianne wanted to see her, we had to say "No, she's sleeping".  So, naturally, Brianne associated "sleep" with the hamster and the name stuck.  She was such a good, sweet little thing.  When I first saw her, she literally rolled over on her back so I could pet her underside.  Brianne absolutely loved her!  She didn't want to let Sleep crawl on her, but she loved to pet her while she crawled on one of us.  Wish I could find a picture of the little thing - she was so cute!

Christmas 2010

I have to admit, part of the reason I've delayed posting is I hate the new format for Blogger.  Makes things way more complicated than it needs to be, but you know the saying - if it ain't broken, fix it.  Or that's what they think it says....

Christmas this year was an adventure as always.  Brianne loved the Christmas tree and constantly asked for us to turn on the "sparkles" at night.  She didn't do too badly with the decorations this year, so at least we had that blessing - no broken ornaments!  We continued our tradition of going to Hallmark and picking out a family Christmas ornament, which was a major adventure.  Rambunctious two-year old + Hallmark displays = lots of new gray hairs on mommy's head.  I was never so glad to get out of that store in my life!  But we love the ornaments we picked out and will have the story behind them of trying to corral Brianne.

Santa had to drop off Brianne's present early this year because it was just too big to haul around all night.  Luckily, it fit perfectly where we wanted to put it and Joe was able to get it put together without trouble.  I had to stall Brianne with a bath while he was finishing it off, so by the time she was turned loose, she was a little upset.  So much, in fact, she was fixated on where I was and didn't see it at all!  But that was quickly corrected and she's been in heaven ever since.  Bev and Amy had given her a tea set and some accessories to go with the big Santa present, so she had plenty to play with right off the bat.

The rest of Christmas came after church the next day and while she may not have had a zillion things to open, she loved everything she got.  Especially getting to tear all the paper away!

Three Cheese Baked Mac

Our family is a sucker for a good macaroni and cheese.  Well, I am.  Joe and Brianne aren't so picky.  Probably in part because they smother it with ketchup....

I found this recipe in the Family Circle magazine for this month and had to try it out.  I made one small, but important, modification - I added chopped up ham.  It's a good way to use up Christmas ham leftovers and adds a little something something that makes it a more substantial meal.  At least, I think it does.

When I opened the oven to pull it out, my mouth started to water.  Just the smell alone was enough to tell me that this was going to taste gouda (pun intended - you'll understand when you see the ingredients).  And it didn't disappoint.  Brianne is having an "I'm not hungry" night and handed me the bowl back with a "Here you go, mom. Thank you."  Joe hasn't gotten home from work yet, but I will be completely shocked if he doesn't enjoy it.

Pumpkin patch

We made our last trip to Hubers for the year to pick out pumpkins.  I haven't been to a pumpkin patch that I can remember, so it was a really fun experience.  Of course, we had the hayride out to the field, which is Brianne's favorite part, and the pumpkins were right there waiting for us.  Brianne didn't know which one to pick, but she settled on this one pretty quickly.  Much more quickly than her mommy could pick one out, surprise surprise.

Grown Up Mac and Cheese

I was looking for a different macaroni and cheese to make that would use up some of our stored macaroni and found this recipe on the Food Network.  This one used a couple different cheeses I don't usually cook with plus it used up some of the aged cheddar that I have on hand for Brianne due to her lactose intolerance.

All in all, it was a pretty good dish.  The blend of cheeses was interesting and had a different taste to it.  We also used ham instead of bacon, but that's my preference.  The recipe says it makes two servings, but I'd say it's more along the lines of four servings, unless you're only eating the mac and cheese for dinner and one of those people loves pasta.

Halloween 2011

So, Thanksgiving has come and gone and that can only mean one thing - time to post Halloween pictures!

Brianne had two costumes this year.  One was a present from Grandma Brindle - a pretty pretty pink princess gown.  My little girl is not only totally obsessed with the Disney Princesses, but much to my chagrin she LOVES the color pink.  Since we had a couple different Halloween things going on this year, Brianne wore her princess dress to the local library's toddler reading group party.  When she got to the library, the staff apparently took one look at her and said "huh?" because she acts nothing like a princess when she's there.  Not that she's bad, but from what Bev says she's just as ornery as all get out.

Chicken Salad

I'm a sucker for most things that have the word "salad" in it.  Egg salad, Caesar salad, fruit salad, O'Charley California Chicken Salad.  Yum.  A friend of mine found this website the other day and as I was taking a look, I stumbled on another of my favorites - chicken salad.  I've never made it before and the only place I've bought it from that I actually liked the end result was the deli counter at Whole Foods.  But this recipe...I may never buy chicken salad again!

• 4 C cubed cooked chicken
• 1 1/2 C seedless green grapes halved
• 1 Cup chopped celery
• 3/4 C sliced green onions
• 3 hard-cooked eggs, chopped
• 1/2 C mayo (may need more)
• 1/4 C sour cream
• 1 tbs prepared mustard
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• 1/4 tsp onion powder
• 1/4 tsp celery salt
• 1/8 tsp dry mustard
• 1/8 tsp paprika
• 1/2 C slivered toasted almonds, added just before serving (I left this out)

Recipe courtesy of "This Week for Dinner".

Harvest Moon

My mom shared this with me via Facebook and one of my friends decided that this was a real "harvest moon", so the name has stuck! :)

Crock Pot Chicken and Dumplings

I decided that my grandmother moved on to haunt another one of her many grandchildren because I've just not been in the cooking mood for a couple months now.  That may have something to do with the amount of time I've been in the kitchen preparing and canning food...but I think the first explanation is more fun. :)

After not having anything fun from the kitchen to put up here in awhile, I have found new inspiration.  I stumbled across a Facebook group called "Crock Pot Girls", which as you may have guessed is a group dedicated to meals prepared in a slow cooker.  I love my slow cookers, but for certain things.  Crock pots have a tendency, in my opinion, to make your food look less appealing that what it tastes like so I reserve them for things like stews, roasts, soups, sauces and dips.  This recipe sounded really good though and since I was going to be spending quality time in the kitchen today canning pumpkin, I figured it wouldn't hurt to give it a shot.

The verdict - yum!  Joe's not a huge chicken and dumplings fan because the dumplings are usually slimy.  So, instead of letting the raw dough cook in the crock pot, I threw together some Jiffy mix biscuits and baked them in the oven before cutting them up and adding it to the pot.  Joe like that much  more.  Which is good...because we've got plenty of leftovers!  Brianne ate about half of hers, which I take as a victory in the battle of nourishing a two year old.

I bet this would freeze well...link to the recipe is embedded in the title!

Another sister-in-law

Yep - Richard finally proposed. :)

This is the only picture I could find of Richard and Amanda, his fiancee.  I pilfered it from his Facebook page and think it was taken Memorial Day weekend at the Indy 500 race.  I've only met Amanda once, but she seems sweet.  And from what I'm told, she and Richard complement each other's personalities well.  Not to mention she can get him to do things that my parents never could - like eat vegetables. :)  Congrats you two!