This is Ashlan

Ashlan asked me if she could write a blog post. 

And here she is for today's post.....

Name: Ashlan

Color: Blue

I am 8 years old!

**I Like These Websites So Much!

www.kidblog.org/HuntLibrary    Only if you go to Hunt Elementary!!!!

http://www.girlsgogames.com/     Only if you are a girl!!!!

**I like this dessert!!!

     Strawberry shortcake                          

• 1 1/2 pounds strawberries, stemmed and quartered
• 5 tablespoons sugar
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 cups heavy cream
• Whipped Cream, recipe follows

Directions

Mix strawberries with 3 tablespoons sugar and refrigerate while juices develop, at least 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, remaining 2 tablespoons sugar, and salt in a medium bowl. Add heavy cream and mix until just combined. Place mixture in an ungreased 8-inch square pan and bake until golden, 18 to 20 minutes.

Remove shortcake from pan and place on a rack to cool slightly. Cut into 6 pieces and split each piece in half horizontally.

Spoon some of the strawberries with their juice onto each shortcake bottom. Top with a generous dollop of whipped cream and then the shortcake top. Spoon more strawberries over the top and serve.

                                                   Maybe add some ice cream to top it off with
                                            a chill or a sweet cold treat! I think you should!!!!!!!!

My favorite dog

Collies are very pretty. They are furry and need to be brushed a lot.

Follow me on Instagram at gymnast_ashlan  

Some of my favorites:

Vacation place: Hawaii

Subject in school: Math

Board game: Ocean-opoly

dinner meal: steak or spaghetti

sport to play: gymnastics

my best friend: Megan T.

tv show: The dog with a Blog

movie: MaKenna

holiday: Christmas

store to shop at: Justice

season: winter

month: February

animal: horse

cereal: frosted flakes

drink: sprite

fruit: honeycrisp apple

when I grow up I want to be: olympic gymnast or an air traffic controller

Where I live!

   

I live in Dallas!!

                                          My dream home

               Hawaii Beach

I want to live in Hawaii it is very pretty!

I do not like this food!

         

I love dolphins!

I love to write on this blog.  I will be back soon with another post from ME!

# 20 Pink Champagne Bundt Cake

Nothing says Happy New Year more than champagne, right!

So when I saw the recipe Pink Champagne Bundt Cake (courtesy of mixandmatchmama.com),
I knew this was it.  Perfect for the week of New Year's and perfect for bundt cake #20!

I decided to actually USE a pink champagne, too.
The recipe calls for any champagne of your choice,
but when I came across the pink champagne there was no turning back.
It was perfect.

 This bundt is so festive and pretty.

I am loving the clear crystal sprinkles on the top!

Can you see them?

Shopping List

1 box of white cake mix

2 small boxes of instant vanilla pudding

1/2 cup of veggie oil

1 1/2 cups of champagne, divided

4 eggs

4 cups powdered sugar

1 stick butter, softened

pink food coloring, optional

crystal sprinkles, optional

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Grease (I use Pam) a 10 inch bundt pan

In mixing bowl, combine cake mix, puddings, oil, 1 1/4 cups champagne and eggs with electric mixer.  Stir in pink food coloring until batter reaches preferred pink color.  Pour into prepared bundt pan.

Bake 40-45 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Let cake rest on counter in pan 10 minutes.  Then, invert cake onto serving plate to finish cooling. 

To make the frosting, beat butter with powdered sugar and remaining 1/4 cup champagne until creamy.  Stir in pink food coloring until desired pink color appears. Spread on cooled cake and top with sprinkles.

Wishing you a fabulous New Year's!!!

Lemon Crinkle Cookies

Last night we went to our friends Annual Winter Wine and Dessert Party.

I wanted to bring a sweet treat to contribute, but it was such a busy day and I literally waited until the last minute.  I had about an hour to find a recipe and get it made!

Thankfully, I came across this Lemon Crinkle Cookie recipe.

Quick, easy, and most importantly, I had all the ingredients on hand.

One huge reason why this recipe stuck out to me: the word Lemon.

I love LEMON!

I will be making these again soon.  I had to restrain the girls from devouring them, because they were meant to be shared at the party.  The girls ate two each and wanted more!!

Ingredients
½ cup butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
1 egg
1 tablespoon lemon zest
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon baking soda
1-½ cups flour
½ cup powdered sugar

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray baking sheets with non-stick cooking spray and set aside.  In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Whip in vanilla, egg, lemon zest, and juice. Scrape sides and mix again. Stir in all dry ingredients slowly until just combined, excluding the powdered sugar. Scrape sides of bowl and mix again briefly. Pour powdered sugar onto a large plate. Roll a heaping teaspoon of dough into a ball and roll in powdered sugar. Place on baking sheet and repeat with remaining dough.  Bake for 9-11 minutes or until cookies and cracked on top.  Remove from oven and cool cookies about 3 minutes before transferring to cooling rack.

Slow Cooker Jambalaya

One of our favorite meals in this house is Jambalaya.

And when I say Jambalaya, I mean this Zatarain's mix below.

I must have 5 boxes of this, on hand, in our pantry.

All I do is slice a pound of sausage and add it to this mix.

It's a favorite.

But then I came across this slow cooker Jambalaya recipe last week.

Slice up chicken and sausage, toss in a can of tomatoes, add some spices, and turn that slow cooker on.

Toss in rice the last 15 minutes of cooking.

I made this yesterday.  So easy and very delicious!

It's a nice change from our typical Zatarain's Jambalaya dinner....

Here is what you need:

1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breast halves - cut into 1 inch cubes
1 pound smoked turkey sausage, sliced
1 (28 ounce) can diced tomatoes with juice
3 Tbsp dried minced onion flakes
1 cup chicken broth
2 teaspoons dried oregano
2 teaspoons dried parsley
2 tsp minced garlic
2 teaspoons Cajun seasoning
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
white rice or instant rice (I used 2 packs of Uncle Ben's Ready Rice)

In a slow cooker, mix the chicken, sausage, tomatoes with juice, onion, garlic, celery, and broth. Season with oregano, parsley, Cajun seasoning, cayenne pepper, and thyme.

Cover, and cook 7 to 8 hours on Low, or 3 to 4 hours on High. Mix in cooked rice cook for about 15 minutes to warm through.

ENJOY!!

2012: In Review

As I reflect back on 2012, I realize just how busy our family was and just how busy the media must have been.

Lots of personal moments for our family in 2012...

Lots of media reports from huge events/happenings around the world...

I wanted to highlight what I thought were the top stories for our family in 2012.

(in no particular order)

-In August, we took the girls to Kauai.  Simply a fabulous time with the girls in a slice of paradise!

I posted some blog entries on that trip, but click here for our favorites from that trip.

-Ashlan broke her first bone.  She fell off her horse and broke both bones in her wrist.

Remember this post.

-Nick's Senior Homecoming.  He looked so handsome!

See more pictures here

-Our 10 year anniversary trip to the South Pacific!

-In April, we flew to California to see one of my best friends, Caroline. She was in the states visiting from Sweden.

See more on that visit here

(Ashlan and Caroline at Lassie's Hollywood star)

-Brent was honored in D Magazine in their Best Doctors edition for the 12th year in a row.

This is the picture we used for his bio in the magazine.

-Still so fresh in our minds and hearts.  The Sandy Hook Elem. Mass Shooting.

My heart still breaks for these innocent victims below.

-Oh yes, Notre Dame Football!  

Headed to the BCS Championship in January!

Go Irish!!!!

-In April, Brent and I sailed the Caribbean.

-This media report sickened us all!  The Penn State Scandal.

-Iphone 5

-Presidential Election.

Not happy about the outcome...at all.

-Summer Olympics!

-My precious Uncle Bob passed away.

(my father's only brother)

-Hurricane Sandy devastation

(between the hurricane and the shooting, I'm guessing 

no one will be naming their baby Sandy for quite awhile)

-Honey Boo Boo, unfortunately, makes the list.

We don't watch this, but it's true, the child took the world by storm.

-Sweet Eulala passed away.

(my dad's aunt)

So there you go.  When I think back and reflect on 2012, those are the events/happenings that come to my mind first.  I'm sure I left out some important things, and I'm sure after reading this post you thought "why would she include that?"  But for me, the above is what I think about when I see 2012.  

Now for the year 2013~ This is a big year for us.  

Some things I can share, others I can't share quite yet. 

1. My awesome stepson, Nick, will be graduating from high school!  He plans to study law.

(that kid couldn't pick a better profession for himself.  He can argue his way OUT OF ANYTHING) 

2. My beautiful stepdaughter, Kate, turns 13.  Hello, TEENAGE years!

3. We will become grandparents!!  Brent's oldest son, Chris and his wife Laura, are expecting a baby girl in March.  We eagerly await the arrival of Miss Avery Lynnette.

I am so excited for the year 2013.  So many exciting changes headed our way!!!

Wishing you and yours a new year full of the blessings of love, peace, family, health, and joy!

#19 Chocolate Chip Bundt Cake

Chocolate Chip Bundt Cake

My sweet friend, Hailey, emailed me a few weeks ago recommending I make this bundt cake. 

She has made it several times in the past and knew this would be a perfect addition to my bundt cake challenge.

Thank you for the recipe, Hailey!  This cake is definitely a winner!!!!

You need:

1 box of yellow cake mix
1 box of of vanilla INSTANT pudding (I buy the 3.4 oz box)
3/4 cup of vegetable oil
4 eggs
1 cup of sour cream
1 tsp of vanilla
1 package of chocolate chips (I buy the 12 oz bag of semi-sweet chocolate chips)
Hershey's chocolate syrup (Several generous squirts)

Mix first six ingredients. Pour 2/3 of batter into greased (Pam) bundt pan.

Stir chocolate chips and chocolate syrup into the other 1/3 of the batter, enough to make a medium brown color.

Pour chocolate chip / syrup / batter mixture over batter already in bundt pan.  Swirl with a knife.

Bake for 350 degrees for 1 hour.

The chocolate chip/syrup batter was so incredibly moist on the inside.

Two thumbs up!

Santa AND Snow Came!

First of all, I hope you had a very Merry Christmas and are now looking forward to the new year!

We had a great Christmas, complete with a visit from Santa and can you believe - SNOW!

Christmas Eve:  The temperature started dropping, but that didn't stop the girls from scattering reindeer food around the house.  

(sorry for the grainy picture.  you can certainly tell which pictures below are taken with the phone vs a legit camera)

After running around the house scattering reindeer food, the girls came inside to cuddle with Dad.

**

If you are wondering where Nick is - well, he is in Maryland.  He wanted to spend the ENTIRE Christmas break with his great grandparents who live there.  Unfortunately, we got word last night that Nick is suffering from the flu.... Makes us sad.  But we know his extended family is taking good care of him up there.

No doubt these two girls were on Santa's Nice List!

He brought them so many fun, exciting gifts!

Kate is going through this phase of obsession with the boy band, One Direction...

I'm not giving her a hard time though because when I was her age, my boy band obsession was New Kids on the Block!  

"One of the most glorious messes is the mess created in the living room on Christmas Day" 

-Andy Rooney

(shared by my friend on facebook)

 Ashlan with her two favorite gifts from Santa ~ American Girl Dolls

The forecast for Christmas Day was to have some snow flurries begin to fall around noon.  Nothing was supposed to stick, but we were excited to possibly SEE flurries on Christmas Day....

Well, the forecast was correct - the snow flurries began falling around noon.

But they were incorrect that it wasn't supposed to last long and it wasn't supposed to stick!

It snowed for 6 hours!  With the wind, it almost seemed like blizzard conditions for a couple of hours.

It was amazing!  It immediately started sticking and accumulating! 

Surprisingly, we got a WHITE Christmas!!!

I will never forget it!

May the blessings of love, family, health, and joy surround you throughout this holiday season and through 2013!

(If you sent us a Christmas card, thank you so much!  We loved them all! Unfortunately, I let the ball drop on Christmas pictures/cards this year....I won't ever let that happen again!)

Layer Salad

Or as Brent refers to it, Inch Salad.

Brent introduced me to this salad 11 years ago.  I had never heard about Inch Salad before.

For him, this was a Christmas staple and that meant I needed to learn to make it.

Over the years, I've had time to play with the recipe and change it up some.

Some recipes call for a layer of cauliflower which I completely take out.  Yuck.

Some recipes call for a full cup of mayo in the dressing. 

I have found that I prefer 1/2 cup of mayo with 1/2 cup of sour cream.

Really, you can play with this recipe however you want.

Here is what you need:

1 pound bacon 1 large head iceberg lettuce - rinsed, dried, and chopped 1 red onion, chopped 1 (10 ounce) package frozen green peas, thawed

10 ounces shredded Cheddar cheese 1/2 cup mayonnaise 1/2 cup sour cream 2 tablespoons white sugar 2/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1.	Place bacon in a large, deep skillet. Cook over medium high heat until evenly brown. Crumble and set aside.
2.	In a large flat bowl, place the chopped lettuce and top with a layer of onion, peas, shredded cheese, and bacon.
3.	Prepare the dressing by whisking together the mayonnaise, sour cream, sugar and Parmesan cheese. Drizzle over salad, cover, and refrigerate overnight.  Toss/mix right before serving.

**One thing I change is that I do not drizzle the dressing over the top.  I actually layer it in between the peas and cheese, as you can see above.  It helps so much when you mix it all together before serving.**

Christmas Cake Batter Truffles

Talk about an easy treat to make.  No oven or stove needed!

Cake batter balls covered in white chocolate with some Christmas sprinkles!

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup white cake mix
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup butter, melted
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
2 tablespoons milk
1 tablespoon Christmas sprinkles + more for decoration
1 1/2 cups white chocolate chips or vanilla almond bark

DIRECTIONS:

In a large bowl, whisk cake mix, flour and sugar. Stir in melted butter, vanilla, milk and sprinkles. Mixture should be moist and be able to hold its shape easily when formed. Using a cookie scoop, form mixture into even balls and refrigerate 20-30 minutes.

In the mean time, melt chocolate in a double boiler or slowly in the microwave. Using a fork, drop one of the cake batter truffles into the chocolate and roll around to coat. Tap off the excess gently and transfer to cookie sheet lined with wax paper. Top with more sprinkles, if desired.

http://www.laurenslatest.com/christmas-funfetti-cake-batter-truffles-oxo-giveaway/

I love any bite-size treat!