Easter Sunday

Easter Sunday is always so fun, but this year was extra fun because we all knew we were expecting the Easter Bunny and a basket filled with goodies to find! Not to mention ALL THE EGGS that would be hidden! But who knew that some of the eggs would even be in the house! How did that bunny get in here??? Well since it was wet and maybe going to rain, the bunny brought most of the eggs inside to be safe. That was really super fun!! And they REALLY liked that the bunny put one of those big glitter bouncy balls in their baskets!

Sammy found a ton of eggs and was really excited about what was inside them! YUM!

Emma was a super egg hunter too!

After the egg hunting morning, we headed over to the grandparents for a nice Easter dinner and fun with some of the extended fam. I brought the deviled eggs and used the recipe here. They were pretty yummy and I liked the different presentation.


The Best Deviled Eggs

One dozen hard-boiled eggs, peeled
3 heaping tablespoons reduced-fat mayonnaise
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 tablespoons fresh chives, finely chopped (plus more for garnish)
4 slices of cooked bacon, finely chopped (or bacon bits)
2 teaspoons dried tarragon
1/2 teaspoon dried mustard
1/2 teaspoon saltFreshly ground pepper, to taste

Directions:

Take each of your peeled hard-boiled eggs and slice off the bottom (wide) end to expose the yolk. Cut a small sliver off of the top (pointed) end to help it sit up straight. (I ended up cutting them in 1/2 so I could use both sides, but made the cut with the pointed end up.)

Scoop out the yolks into a medium-sized bowl and place the whites carefully into an empty egg carton with the hole-end up for filling purposes.

In your bowl, mash the yolks with a fork and add mayonnaise, lemon juice, chives, bacon, tarragon and mustard, then stir well. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Use a pastry bag with a piping tip or a zip top plastic bag with a corner snipped at an angle to fill your egg whites with the yolk mixture. Add more mayo if the mixture is too thick to pass through. Garnish with chopped fresh chives.Nikohle & Emma

Emma, Nikohle & Aunt Elizabeth.
Jeff, Uncle Anthony, Trey.

Me & Sammy.
Aunt Elizabeth & Uncle Anthony.
Granny & Johnny.
Uncle Anthony, Aunt Elizabeth, Paw Paw, Maw Maw, Johnny
& Granny in front. Not pictured: Uncle Frank.

Dinner w/ Relatives

We recently had Johnny's niece, Felicia and her husband, Aaron & their adorable kids over for a fun time & dinner. We usually see them about once a year, so we don't really get to know each other very well. But recently, it's started to feel like a smaller world...mostly because of her having a blog about her family that I get to read and find out about what they are doing and see their photos! In fact, I must say, she inspired me to start this blog and helped me get going on it a little. I obviously have a long way to go before it becomes interesting, but it's a start.

OK, anyway, on to the dinner evening! My kids really enjoy having other kids over to play with and basically show all their stuff to and tell them what to do. So they really like the younger ones! Caleb is about 2 or so and Hannah is 9-10 months. Check out her blog www.feecha2.blogspot.com. It's quite amazing how she has transformed into a wonderful at-home teaching mommy!

I got one photo of Hannah & Emma=ADORABLE! Caleb is upstairs playing with trains and Sammy is there on the right side of the photo playing scarily close with a rubber band!

I served a yummy new appetizer that I found in a recent issue of Good Housekeeping. It's actually Trisha Yearwood's Warm Feta Dip with Artichokes. It was a great variation on the party favorite: artichoke dip. So here's the recipe:

1 can (14 oz.) artichoke hearts, drained & finely chopped
5 oz. feta cheese, crumbled
3/4 cup mayonnaise (I used light)
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese (I didn't have any so used the sprinkle kind)
1 jar (2 oz.) pimientos, drained & diced
2 tsp. minced garlic (2 cloves)
Melba toast or pita chips

Preheat oven to 350. In a medium bowl, stir together everything (except the crackers) until combined. Transfer mixture into a small casserole or glass pie plate and bake, uncovered, for 25-30 minutes until lightly browned. To serve, place your casserole dish on a larger platter and surround the Melba toast or pita chips (or any favorite cracker or toasted bread). Makes about 1 2/3 cups of dip or about 8 servings.

Note: We ate almost all of it and there were only 4 adults eating it. It is yummy so if you make it to take to a party or serve more guests, you might want to double it! Enjoy!!

Then we had a chicken fettuccine that I had bought at Super Suppers and some sides. Then for dessert, we pulled out the Skookie maker and made giant chocolate chip cookies in little cast iron skillets...just like the pizookies they have at BJ's. Topped with vanilla bean ice cream and several spoons...I think we were all happy after that!! We had a great night and the kids had fun too!

Amazing Meatloaf

I was very excited to see my meatloaf recipe in the March issue of Fort Bend Lifestyles magazine! It has been a favorite of mine for probably 10 years or so and I have made it to welcome many new babies and for my family many times! So when the Fort Bend Jr. Service League began making announcements about submitting recipes for the 2nd League cookbook (due out this Fall!), I decided it should go in for testing. The committee chair, Julie Wilson, told me she & her husband tried it and his comment was "it's a party in my mouth". I love that! So try it and let me know what you think. Here's the recipe in case the link above doesn't work.

Amazing Meatloaf
2 T butter
3/4 cup onion, chopped
3 green onions, choppen
2 t. garlic, about 2 cloves minced
2 large eggs
1 cup ketchup (divided)
1/2 cup milk
1 T + 1 t Worcestershire sauce
1/2 t salt
2 pounds lean ground beef
1 pound pork sausage
3/4 cup dried Italian bread crumbs

Heat oven to 375 degrees. Melt butter in a skillet and saute onions, peppers & garlic 8-10 minutes until soft, stirring occasionally. Meanwhile, beat eggs in a large bowl with a fork. Stir in 1/2 cup ketchup, milk, Worcestershire sauce and salt. Add onion mixture & meats. Add bread crumbs. Mix with a wooden spoon or smush with your hands until well blended. Pat into a greased 12x5x2" loaf pan. Brush with the remaining ketchup. Bake for 1 hour 15 minutes or until meat thermometer reads 155 degrees. Let stand 15 minutes before serving. Mixture can be made ahead into a loaf, wrapped tightly and frozen as well.

Spring Shopping Day @ Nicole's

My dear friend Nicole hosted a fun day of shopping and snacking last weekend. It turned out to be a rainy cold day most of the day so shoppers were a little sparse. I had a little "booth" for Simply Sassy Paper and enjoyed seeing some friends and meeting new people.

We had a great time and there was tons of yummy food all day long. The Pampered Chef rep, Shawnne, had some great tasting and great looking appetizers. I loved this one and she was nice enough to share the recipe:

Sun-Dried Tomato-Pesto Brie

1/4 cup pine nuts
2/3 cup sun-dried tomatoes in oil, drained, patted dry and chopped
1 T prepared basil pesto
1 4-inch round (8 oz.) Brie cheese with

rind, room temperature

1 loaf (16 oz) French baguette
Vegetable oil or Extra Virgin Olive oil

Preheat oven to 425. Coarsely chop the pine nuts and sun-dried tomatoes. Combine with the basil pesto. Cut Brie in half horizontally. Place one half of Brie, cut side up, onto center of Large Round Baking Stone. Spread 1/2 the mixture evenly over bottom half and top with remaining half of Brie, cut side up. Spread with remaining mixture, sprinkle with remaining pine nuts.

Using the bread knife, cut baguette on a bias into 24 1/4 inch thick slices. Arrange baguette slices around Brie, drizzle with oil. Bake 8-10 minutes or until baguette slices are golden brown and rie begins to soften. Remove from oven; let stand 5 minutes before serving.

I think it took about 20 or so minutes for the Brie to be devoured. It was delicious and fancy looking! Makes a great appetizer for any party!

Luck O' the Irish St. Patrick's Day Bunco

I recently hosted the March Bunco at my house. It was a St. Patrick's theme... clover, Irish food, the whole thing. It was really fun to prepare and everyone seemed to really like the Irish food! My friend Leigh Ann helped with the appetizers and decorations too! Here's the menu we served:

Apple & bacon salad with cheese dressing. I got the recipe here. It was ok, but I wouldn't make it again like that recipe. However, I loved the butter lettuce and will use that again! It was fun to serve it like the chef shows on TV to each person as we "plated" the salad!

We served Irish Soda Bread with the salad and the main dish too, since I made 2 loaves. This is the easiest bread recipe I think! I made a brown flour version and it turned out pretty yummy. Marilyn O'Reilly's Irish Soda Bread was my favorite one but I will definitely be making both of them again for many occasions! All the soda breads have buttermilk but don't really need kneading or rising which is what makes them so easy to me! And this one listed caraway seeds and raisins, which I used but I would like to try it without the caraway seeds next time. Those are pretty flavorful little tiny seeds! It took me forever to figure out what they are so I'll let you in on a secret...they are on the spice aisle at the grocery store at about $4. I was looking in the bulk nuts area and produce thinking they were like sunflower seeds! Anyway, super easy recipe and goes great with butter and the main dish of...

Irish Stew. Here's the recipe I used with some variations. It also includes the 2nd Brown bread recipe. I used one pound of lamb (it was kinda pricey and after reading the reviews, looked like you could sub the beef), and probably 3-4 pounds of beef for stew. I was pleased to see it was already cut up in the meat case! The pearl onions were available loose in my Kroger store and I chose about 30-35 of the smaller ones. They have a great flavor for stew. I used about 5 carrots and 4 cans of chicken broth and a little more water. I bought a 6 pack of Saint Arnold Stout and used 2 full bottles. The fresh thyme is key. This stew takes just a few minutes to prepare & about 2 hours to cook, so easy, low-stress party food! And it was hearty and tasty to all!

The best part of the meal was the dessert! This one is so yummy, everyone is waiting for the recipe, so here it is!!

Bread Pudding with Whiskey Sauce

1 loaf French bread, cut into 1 inch cubes
1 quart heavy whipping cream
2 cups sugar
3 eggs
1/4 cup whiskey (I used Jim Bean)
1 cup raisins (soaked in whiskey overnight) - I used currants (can also omit them)
1 cup white chocolate chips
1 Tablespoon Vanilla

Soak the raisins in the whiskey overnight. Put the cubed bread in a large casserole dish and pour the whipping cream over it, allow to soak in. Combine sugar, eggs, chocolate chips, raisins and vanilla in a mixing bowl. Pour over the soaked bread and stir together thoroughly. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes or until brown and bubbly.

Whiskey Sauce:
2 sticks butter
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
3 eggs, beaten
Bourbon whiskey to taste (1/8-1/4 cup)

Melt butter in a sauce pan. Gradually stir in powdered sugar using a whisk to keep it in suspension. Remove from head and add beaten egg a little at a time. While whisking, allow to cool and add whiskey to taste. Spoon 3-4 Tablespoons whiskey sauce over each serving. Serve warm. Delish!! Note: don't leave out the whiskey sauce! The picture above shows what was left over.

Then we played BUNCO!

The most wins winner was Leigh Ann! YEAH GIRL!

And it just so happened to be that it was her Birthday that day! What a fun birthday gift to win some birthday bunco money!! We all sang Happy Birthday too when dessert was served. And she was a little impressed with how good it sounded.

Here she is being so impressed!

The "boobie prize" winners were excited about winning their lucky
Irish Lotto tickets and stationery from Simply Sassy Paper!

Catherine, Robin & Kathy

It was really a fun time with Bunco friends and here are some more photos from the night:

Katie, Kathy, Catherine & Robin having some salad

Denise, Nicole & Sheri having the salad

Julie & Katherine eating the stew

Katherine, Cammie, Catherine & Sheri checking their scores

Kathy, Leigh Ann, Robin, me & Katie

Who is this sexy hot mama?

Can't wait for the next fun Bunco night!! Let me know if you try any of the recipes and how it comes out! Or better yet, bring me some! :-)