I stayed up way too late on a school night.

Written on Tuesday.

Yesterday, I made the crazy decision to go see Pioneer Woman in Buckhead and get her to sign my cookbook. Every other book signing I have ever been to has not taken that long, so I didn't expect this one to be any different. I mean, not that many people in Atlanta could read the same blog? Right?

Wrong!

We got there at 6:00, which was the earliest that we could have gotten there and were given green wristbands. Little did I know, these were not the first color that were being called. They had given out orange wristbands hours beforehand. Some people had even gotten there that morning to procure their bands. Who knew? I sure had no idea.

We got upstairs and then we saw the crowd. At this point, I probably should have turned around, but for some reason I still thought that it wouldn't take too long. After standing around for a little while we found an empty chair. That is where we hung out until about 10:00 when green c was called. After all that time we finally got to get in line. Around 10:30, we finally reached the front of the line and got to meet Ree. She was really very nice. It was kind of hard for me to believe this because by then, I was not feeling so nice. My pregnant self usually goes to bed around 9:00 and sometimes sooner.

Overall, I am glad I went. I think it is kind of neat to have a signed cookbook. I probably won't do something like that again though, because it was a bit too much for me.

Here are some pictures:

Jason was a trooper. He stuck by his crazy pregnant wife and was one of only a handful of guys that were there.All the books we lugged around all night to get signed.

This is Jason showing me how excited he is.
My green wristband.

This is me, way past my bedtime, waiting in line.
Look! We made it. Here we are talking about how I am pregnant, but she didn't want to ask because she didn't want to be wrong.

The final shot with all my signed books.

Things are Looking Up

Well, I have decided to make it official. We are expecting a new little Satch in June. I haven't wanted to make an official announcement until after my doctor's appointment today. I have been kind of marking this week as a milestone. I felt like if I made it to yesterday and today I would have really made it. Now, I'm sure that my worries and fears are not totally going to go away, but hearing that fast little bump, bump, bump finally made it seem like we were going to make it. It was also reassuring to hear the doctor say that the chances of us losing this one have gone way down since we have made it this far. So, we are looking forward to meeting our new family member at the start of the summer.

Expected due date: June 4, 2010

Jason's Banana Pecan Pancakes

Jason is kind of the breakfast maker in our house. He will get up and make biscuits from scratch along with eggs and bacon. This morning, he made Banana Pecan Pancakes. He got the recipe from our favorite Betty Crocker cookbook.

Here it is:

2 large eggs
2 c. all purpose flour
2 c. milk
2 c. mashed ripe bananas (4 medium bananas)
1/4 c packed brown sugar
1/4 c vegetable oil
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 c. chopped pecans (if you aren't much of a nut lover, like me, you can use less)

1. Beat eggs in medium bowl until fluffy. Beat in remaining ingredients except pecans just until smooth. Stir in pecans.
2. Heat pan over medium heat. Pour slightly less than 1/4 c. batter onto hot griddle. Cook pancake until puffed and dry around edges. Turn and cook until golden brown.

Lucky for you that Jason did the cooking, because he takes pictures of the things he cooks. Enjoy!

Good Old Betty Crocker

Have I ever mentioned what my favorite cookbook is? My favorite cookbook is this:I have no idea if the original "Big Red Cookbook" is exactly the same, but this edition has to be my favorite. My mother-in-law gave this book to me on my wedding day. I think she wanted to make sure her son was well fed. From the start, this has been my go to book when I need to learn how to make something. When Jason suggested that "we" needed to learn how to make mashed potatoes, I used this book. From it I learned that once you drain the cooked potatoes, you should return them to the pot on the stove to steam off any excess water so that your potatoes are nice and fluffy. This book includes pictures and helpful hits if your food doesn't end up exactly the way it is supposed to. I have cooked many things from this book. If there is ever something seemingly basic (like biscuits or mashed potatoes) that I don't know how to cook, I can be assured that this trusty cookbook will have it in it.

Well, now you know my little secret. I follow directions really well and if you have ever had my chili, the base of it comes from this cookbook. I just tend to add some other stuff in. :)

If you know someone getting married soon, definitely try to pick this one up. Unfortunately, I don't think it is in print anymore, but you can get it on Amazon for less than $10.

Without further ado, a couple recipes that I have made recently. (all from Betty Crocker)

Baking Powder Biscuits

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 TBS sugar
3 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/2 cup shortening
3/4 cup milk

1. heat oven to 450 degrees
2. Mix flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in medium bowl. Cut in shortening using pastry blender or two knives, until mixture looks like fine crumbs (Jason edit: make sure all of the dry ingredients are mixed well before adding the shortening) Stir in milk until dough leaves side of the bowl. (dough will be soft and sticky)
3. place dough on lightly floured surface. (I more than lightly floured mine, because the dough was so sticky, I'm not sure what Jason does) Knead lightly 10 times. Roll or pat 1/2 inch thick. Cut with floured 2 to 2 1/4 inch round cutter (we use one of our juice glasses). Place on ungreased cookie sheet about 1 inch apart for crusty sides, touching for soft sides.
4. Bake 10 to 12 minutes (longer if you are using stoneware) or until golden brown. Immediately remove from cookie sheet. Serve warm.

*note on making biscuits. This is something I learned this week, because I made these for the first time. Jason usually makes our biscuits. Jason says that you want to roll out the dough to the thickness that you want the biscuits to be. They don't rise a whole lot. This may be something everyone else knows, but I didn't, so I made very thin little biscuits. We used them as the tops and bottoms of our breakfast sandwiches.

White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup shortening
1 tsp vanilla
1 large egg
2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt (I used 1/8 tsp, because my nuts were salted and I didn't want my cookies to be too salty)
1 pkg (6 oz) white baking bars cut into 1/4 to 1/2 in chunks (I used white chocolate chips)
1 jar (3 1/2 oz) macadamia nuts, coarsely chopped (I had a bag of the nuts, so I measured about 4 oz in a measuring cup and then chopped those up. It seemed like enough)

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees.
2. beat sugars, butter, shortening, vanilla, and egg in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy, or mix with spoon. Stir in flour, baking soda, and salt (dough will be stiff.) Stir in white chocolate and nuts.
3. drop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls about 2 inches apart onto ungreased cookie sheet.
4. bake 10 to 12 minutes or until light brown. Cool 1 to 2 minutes, remove from cookie sheet to wire rack.

Jason said these tasted like they should be in a bakery or that you could sell them. They really are good.

A Spaghetti I Actually Liked!

So, I have never really liked spaghetti. I like pasta and tomato sauce is okay, but I have never really liked the whole spaghetti combination together. Poor Jason does like spaghetti and I won't make it for him. Well, since I have been able to be at home in the evenings and I have been cooking dinner almost every night I have been trying to come up with new things to make. Well, I found a recipe for creamy chicken spaghetti. I decided to try it. Good news for Jason is that I actually liked what I made.

Here it is from my head:

1 lb. chicken diced
1/4 c. Italian dressing
2 c. pasta sauce
1/2 block low fat cream cheese
spaghetti (I used wheat pasta and I couldn't tell a difference)

1. Cook the spaghetti
2. In a pan heat the Italian dressing.
3. Add the chicken.
4. Once the chicken is cooked, add the pasta sauce and cream cheese.
5. Cook until cheese is melted.
6. Serve with Parmesan cheese on top

I think I liked this better because it was creamy. I really like any kind of cheese too, so that probably made it better to me.

Last night we also had strawberry cake. I will have to post that recipe another time, because I don't want to get up and get it. Just know that it is one of Jason's favorite desserts and it is super easy and yummy.

Mmm Fudge

Yesterday, Jason visited his cousin in Rome and while there ate some fudge that his aunt had made. So, in addition to the three books he brought me to read, he also brought me the recipe for the fudge. Well, since he said that the fudge was so good, I made it today. I think we are going to take it with us to our Journey group tomorrow. I am also thinking about making some more to take to school tomorrow. We'll see, because I also have made granola and I oatmeal cookies today and I still have to cook dinner. It doesn't take long to make though, so we'll see.

Without further ado, fudge.

Yvonne's Fudge Recipe
1 lb. Confectioners Sugar
(3 1/2 cups for those of you who would like to know and whose husbands come home with a 2 lb bag)
1/2 cup cocoa
1/4 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons butter or margarine (melted)
4 tablespoons of milk
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 cup chopped pecans (I don't really like nuts in things, so this is optional. I added some chopped walnuts on the top of half of the fudge after I put it in the pan for those who like that type of things)

Directions: Combine all ingredients except nuts and vanilla in saucepan. Stir. Heat on stove until mixture turns from dull to shiny (it will also get thinner). Add vanilla and nuts (optional) and stir. Remove from heat and pour into buttered pan to set.

There it is. Easy as can be. I'm sure it will taste as good as it looks.

Zenni Optical Review

Well, I finally got my glasses from Zenni Optical, and I have to say I am pleased. I ordered three pairs. One metal framed similar to the ones I already had, one rimless titanium framed pair, and a plastic pair that I got tinted lenses for. I really like all three pairs. I think my biggest fear was that the lenses would be too big and I would look like I had bought my glasses in the nineties. I genuinely like the shape and style of all of my glasses. I also received good customer service from Zenni Optical. After I placed my order, they sent me an email making sure that what I had entered in as my prescription was correct. They probably wouldn't do this for everyone, but since one of my eyes is nearsighted and the other is farsighted, they wanted to check and make sure that I had entered in all the numbers correctly. I emailed them one more time when I hadn't heard that the glasses had been shipped after a little over a week. They emailed me back within 24 hours to tell me that the glasses had been made and were on their way to California and that once the arrived in California I would be given a tracking number. A few days ago, I got an email with the tracking number. Strange thing about that was that I never actually got to track my package (I personally think it has something to do with USPS and not Zenni). When I checked last night, my package info had been entered in, but the package wasn't in the system yet. So, I was pleasantly suprised to find my package in the mail today. Each pair came with a plastic glasses case and a glasses cleaner. My prescription changed just a little, so I don't think it is going to take me long to get used to my new pairs. All in all, I am pleased. I don't think I will have to order any more pairs, because I genuinely like all of the ones I got. I can definitely reccommend Zenni Optical for inexpenisve, but still nice glasses.