Test kitchen officially open

Tis the season!  Nothing can kick off the holiday like a new cookbook.   I went to Costco to get cranberries and walked through the book section and saw the new Ina cookbook, in the cart it went.  While sitting on the couch I happened to show Stacy the photo for Easy Cranberry & Apple Cake.  "Yep, sounds good!" Not looks good or when are you going to make that.  Like I was showing him a menu and he picked out desert. Oh he makes me laugh.  So off to the store I went I needed to get an orange for the recipe then into the kitchen.  It was a quick prep and into the oven.  60 minutes later we have cake, let him eat cake fresh hot cake.  Mr. Hygiene said I could make the cake again.  His stamp of approval. Yum!

Hooch!

Not so Scary Halloween

I received a lovely package from my friend Sheri Seibold last week.  She sent me some Halloween fabric that she designed and I have started putting it to good use.  I have been cutting, sewing, turning right side in, and sewing some more and this is what I came up with.  I have wanted to make a Halloween bunting for awhile  with her whimsical fabric and I was so excited to get some from her collection from last year as well as her new fabric from this years collection.  I know some college kids that need some decorations for the season.

Here is my helper for the day Crusty.  She is protecting the fabric from the squirrels outside by giving them the stink eye.  Oh and I better not forget she is adding some of her fur to the project.  I will post a photo of the finished banner as soon as I get them sent off to the girls.

Squirrel hunting begins

These little guys started to build a nest in our car so it is time for them to go.  Our neighbor has been hunting squirrels for the pas few weeks and cough over 34 of them in his yard alone.  He put a traps in his neighbors yard and caught 7.  Today I put one of his traps in our yard and started the squirrel removal process myself.  It was full before 9 this morning and the little critter was relocated by 10.  The trap is reset and ready to go.  You can hear the varmint chatter in the video, wish it was not such a pest I think they are so cute but they have to go. ( you can push pause on the music bar to the left so you can hear the noise coming form the cage.)

This was caught while I was recording it.  I got lucky.  This was less than two hours after I caught the first one this morning.  I hope it enjoyed the organic peanut butter and Mountain Medially before it's long trip...

To tired to play

These are Pearls favorites today.  Her nylabone, monkey and her tennis bone and she wants to nap with all of them at once.

So glad she is home!

I love having Paige home. The kitchen has gotten a small workout from it's vacation while Paige was at FSU. (Not fun cooking for two) Last night Paige and I had a "while you are cooking snack" and it is great to have a fellow food lover back in the house.


I made her favorite Pasta with carrots and peas, I know I have blogged about it many times before but it is so simple and she just loves it. We went to our favorite Cheese store in Winter Park to get fresh Parmesan. Bought some fresh bread and some delicious spicy olives as well. Yum. Glad your home Paige.

Cat Nap

Caught Crusty waking up from her catnap today.  Sleeping on top of the Dryer in her basket.  A few weeks back Stacy saw her in the basket and said you should make that crusty's basket and leave it there for her all the time.  It has been her basket for months now, glad he finally noticed.

This year Paige turned 18.  How did that happen?  We had a small birthday party with a few of her close friends.  I usually do not do themes but this year it was Raspberry Lemonade.  The cake started it all so we will blame the cake.

Pink and yellow are fun to put together,  I tried to get her favorite candy for decoration so she could take it back with her to college after the weekend was over.

Nothing high end here for the party just a few hand made flowers and a string of garland worked just fine.  I made these while we sat on the beach earlier in the day before the party.  Fold, fold, fold, tie, cut, fluff shake out sand and repeat.

It was so nice having Paige home for her birthday and to have her friends around as well.  I can not believe how time flies, how fast they grow and how much we enjoy Paige.  She is such a wonderful person with such a big heart.  We are proud to call her our daughter.  Happy birthday Miss Paige we love you very much!

All tied up.

This seems to be the craft of the month.

This post brought to you by the letter "P"

While Paige was home I decided to embroider a pillowcase for her and since my skills are somewhat sketch I decided to stick to what I know, French knots. I wish I knew how many went into this but I will tell you my fingers still have not gotten all their feeling back yet.


I wanted to add a Crown or some additional design around the "P" but time did not allow. Crusty and I thought it was cute enough for Paige to take back to FSU with her as is.

First day of School ~ Florida State University

Well it really was not the first day of school but it was her first day at school, in the dorm and the day we left our baby at College. I only cried for about 20 minutes, not bad.

Perfect basket!

I got this basket a few months back with the intentions of using it for the beach. Well I started using it around the house for different things and using it in the truck to carry things in and out. But today I used it for breakfast for Stacy's office and it worked perfectly!


I layered the food with the hot items on the bottom and the cooler items on top. The top layer was Big Sur Power Bars. I found really nice little light weight trays that just happened to fit perfectly inside the basket. I could not have planned this well fitted set up if I tried.


The second and third layer was Breakfast tarts with eggs, swiss cheese and chives. and the bottom two layers were hash brown casserole. They stayed nice and piping hot tucked in the bottom of the basket. I can not believe how well it all fit together in one container like this.

Sen10r

Today was the last day I can say my daughter is a Sen10r. Where does the time go? I am not old enough to have a daughter in college, only 14 days until that happens. We had a great day and God shown mercy on us and made the weather perfect. Not too hot or too humid.


The only thing that was not perfect about today was the shutter on my camera decided to get stuck open when Paige got her diploma and gave me a big sparkle pretty wave. The photo I have waited 17 years to take. I guess in the scope of things it was minor.


It was a great day. We are so proud of our daughter. Her academic achievements far exceeded our expectations but we are even more proud to say Paige is a nice, kind, giving person with a big heart. We are honored to call her our daughter and can not wait to see what the future has in store for her.

Sun, Fun and Great Parking!

The secret to great parking at the beach is getting there early. We found a great parking spot without driving round and round the lot. I also found this little car on the beach, looks like they had an all nighter at the beach.


Our day at the beach was made easy by this magnificent fishing cart that Mr. Hygiene got for us this past week. Only one trip from the truck to the beach with no heavy lifting or multiple trips to the truck. We worked a little on customizing it by adding a chair hook to the back, it can hold up to 4 chairs, its removable and adjustable as well as being a place to hold Stacy's sand wedge. I have more plans for this little cart but for now this is how it looks.


Just getting ready for his big glass of Lemonade. Casa de Prince is set and ready for enjoyment.

It was a very nice day. Wish I could go every day and someday I hope to have a little place on the beach.

Perfect!

One more perfect thing for my picnic basket. I found these Antique Silver Spreaders today while I was looking for something else. These will make a great addition to my collection of Picnic goods I have gathered over the past few years to make a day at the beach, regatta or park an event worthy of time spent with family and friends. I like to make it nice. No paper plates here. We like the real thing. I am tempted to go back and get the cork screw, I love it. It says "One good turn deserves another" but most of the places we go do not allow the kind of beverage one would need to truly enjoy this tool.

SEN10R Prom!

Prom. Prom. Prom. There is a lot of work that goes in to Prom. Hair, Dress, Shoes, Nails, Photos.


Oh did I say Photos. We did not plan enough time for all the photos Paige and her friend Ryan wanted. Poor thing having to climb into this joint with her heels. Love her smile.


Just enough time for a few quick shots in the new concrete drainage pipes that have not been put under ground yet. Then also a few at the bus stop as well.


No pool screens, retention ponds or palm trees in these photos. Nope. They got what they wanted and I think they even had a good time at Prom.

On Broadway

Paige had another concert this past week. We came, She sang, We went. Repeat. Two nights of songs from Hairspray, Rent, Mama Mia and others.


I can not believe how good a high school production can be. I have to give a big shout out to Mr. Kilpactrick He is an amazing teacher and not only love by the kids but the parents as well.

Class of 2010

Where does time go? How could I be taking Senior class photos of Paige?



Shouldn't she still be 6?

A day with friends

It was a beautiful day here in sunny Florida. We were so excited to get to see our friend from Kansas City, Shelby who was here on her Senior class trip.


The manatees are not at the springs at this time of the year, they are out and about leaving the springs open for land mammals to enjoy.


We enjoyed our few hours with Shelby and hope we get to see her again tomorrow at the beach.

This week at the beach

Three pelicans were released.


Two turtles got sent to swim with the fishes


I forgot my kite again, someone remembered theirs.


Championships were won


And one little boy asked Stacy if he lives on the beach.

Balls!

Yep, balls. Well they are really called cake pops but balls sound funny. I made these for Stacy to take to work for the 4Th annual Mini Masters Golf Tournament he puts on at work. This year in addition to the trophies I made cake pops that some what resemble golf balls.


This was the first time I have made them. I have seen them on several blogs and decided to give it a go. They are easy to make just time consuming.


I started making them last night, I made the cake filling and rolled them in balls and put them in the fridge over night.


Then this morning I put them on the sticks and covered them in the white chocolate bark. Stacy and Paige have had a taste and love them and the people at Stacy's office enjoyed them as well.


Here is a photo of them in action in Stacy's office at the winners table.

I love the beach

Days like this could almost make me like Florida. The beach was perfect Saturday, absolutely perfect! We had our usual picnic, yum! Paige got to bring along friends and Stacy and I took a long walk. We spotted some land that we liked and imagined how we could use it. I want an amazing deck with a outside shower, a fire pit, an air stream trailer, little lights surrounding it, a long table full of wonderful homemade food and chairs filled with people we love and one chair for Pearl. The beach is where I get to look at this smile, I love this smile. I wish life could be like this every day.