Merry Christmas!

Hope Everyone has a joyful Christmas and a safe holiday weekend!!

Grape Salad

Here is an easy recipe for a side dish for any occasion. I just made it for my work's Christmas party and it went over really good.


GRAPE SALAD
Ingredients:
4 lbs of red seedless grapes washed and dried overnight
8 oz cream cheese softened
8 oz sour cream
1/2 cup sugar
Directions:
Mix softened cream cheese, sour cream and sugar together. Then whip for 5 minutes.
Place grapes in bowl and gently mix with cream cheese mixture. Place grape mixture in 9" X 13" glass pan. Mix together in a separate bowl:
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup chopped pecans
Top the grapes with the brown sugar/pecans mixtures. Carefully mix some of this mixture down into the grapes and then spread remaining on top of grapes. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours. Enjoy!

Weekend Recap

Friday night Mike and I went to a friend's house for a surprise birthday /card party. Ended up playing pitch till midnight.

Saturday I headed back early to clean my house... a.k.a Mom's and Dad's basement. Had all my cleaning done by noon and it was such a great feeling considering I am not a morning person. Later that evening I met back up with Mike to head to yet another surprise birthday party. Birthday girl was very surprised! Once again we played pitch for a while. Later the girls decided to play Mad Gab, which I found I am not very good at playing. Here is a few pictures from the night.

Mike and I between pitch games.




Sunday we celebrated my oldest brother Chad's birthday who turned 31 on Saturday, December 12th. Hard to believe he is that old, time truely does fly by. Mom fixed a huge supper for everyone, lasagna which is Chad's favorite. Grandma and Grandpa Feeler came down to eat and visit as well as my Aunt Kaye and her daughter MacKensie. For dessert we had Hot Fudge Pudding Cake.

This week I am looking forward to a day off work on Wednesday. For the first time we decided to do our Christmas shopping in St. Louis at the Mill's Mall. Looks like a very nice mall and even has a Cabelas store. Hopefully we will find some good deals.

BBQ Bacon Wrapped Shrimp

For Christmas Eve we go to my grandma and grandpa Feeler's and usually everyone brings some sort of finger foods. I was looking online today and came across this easy recipe for BBQ Bacon Wrapped Shrimp on the food network website. So I thought I would share this recipe with you.
Ingredients
20 strips bacon (about 12 ounces)
20 medium-large shrimp, shelled and deveined (about 1 pound)
1/2 cup barbecue sauce
1/4 cup canola oil
3 tablespoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon dijon mustard
3 tablespoons chopped chipotles in adobo sauce
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
Freshly ground pepper

Directions
Soak 5 to 8 bamboo skewers in water for about 20 minutes to keep them from burning on the grill or under the broiler.

Meanwhile, cook the bacon in a large skillet until halfway done, about 4 minutes. Drain and cool on paper towels. Wrap a piece of bacon around the middle of each shrimp; skewer with bamboo through the point where the bacon ends meet to keep it from unraveling. Thread 3 to 5 shrimp on each bamboo skewer.

Puree the barbecue sauce, oil, lemon juice, mustard, chipotles, red pepper flakes, cayenne pepper and 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper in a blender. Set aside half of the sauce for dipping.

Preheat a grill, grill pan or broiler. Grill or broil shrimp (on a foil-lined baking sheet, if broiling) for 5 minutes, basting with the sauce once they begin to turn pink. Flip, baste again and grill or broil until just cooked through, about 4 more minutes. Serve with extra sauce.

Thanksgiving / Weekend Recap

On Thanksgiving we went to my grandma and grandpa Feeler's around noon. Mom had fixed a carmel pecan apple pie, it was very good even though the apples weren't all the way done. Todd was a little shocked with "mom" making a pie, since she never makes pies. Later that evening Mike and I headed to his aunt and uncles house for their Thanksgiving.

On Black Friday, mom and I headed into town around noon to do a little shopping. We ate at Los Cazadores. The food was awful, neither one of us could finish our food. I don't know if we are just used to La Posada's food/salsa or we went there on an off day. Definitely don't plan to go back there again. That evening I headed to St. Elizabeth so Mike and I could go to a house warming party. The house was beautiful with a finished basement where we played pitch the rest of the night.

Saturday I headed home to get some rest since I wasn't feeling the greatest. Felt better after a much needed nap so I decided to go ahead and go out that night. St. Elizabeth had a mini festival going on after Saturday's Mass with a horse carriage ride, wine, food, music, a live nativity scene and the local craft store was open.

I've been fighting this cold/sinus crap for two weeks and Sunday morning I woke up with the cold! Didn't really have much time to think about it. I wanted to make my pumpkin pie and get my basement clean since we were having the Elrod's Thanksgiving at our house that evening. We had a good dinner and mom made yet another pie, cherry. It was very good, I think she surprised herself in making pies the past week!

Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving!

Scalloped Asparagus Casserole

Here is one of my favorite holiday side dishes!

Ingredients
2 lbs asparagus
6 tablespoons butter or margarine, divided
3/4 cup soft breadcrumbs (or saltine crackers)
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper, to taste
2 cups milk
1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
3/4 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese (or Velveeta cheese)
1 whole roasted red pepper, drained and chopped to fill 1/4 cup
Directions
Wash asparagus, remove woody part of stalks and cut into 2 1/2-inch pieces.
Cook asparagus in boiling salted water until just tender.
Drain and place in a shallow baking dish or casserole.
Melt 2 tablespoons butter in saucepan.
Mix 2 tablespoons of the butter with the soft bread crumbs; set aside for topping casserole later.
Blend flour, salt, and pepper into remaining butter in saucepan.
Continue cooking and stirring over low heat.
Gradually add milk, stirring until thickened.
Add Worcestershire sauce, red pepper, and cheese; stir until cheese is melted.
Pour sauce over asparagus in casserole; top with buttered crumbs.
Bake at 350° for 20 minutes or until bubbly

Happy Thanksgiving

Have a great Thanksgiving everyone!

For Thanksgiving we are going to my grandma Feeler's around noon to eat then head to Mike's aunt and uncles house for their thanksgiving that evening. I'm sure we will be full of turkey and food by the end of the day. On Sunday we have yet another thanksgiving dinner at my house for my dad's side of the family.

I've never been into the whole black Friday shopping, so mom and I have decided to head to town around noon to eat lunch and maybe shop/look at some stores. We're both not morning people and would rather spend the full price than to deal with the chaos.

Girls Night

With my dad staying at deer camp all week we decided to have a girls night at my house. Both my aunts came over, Judy and Katie (Mary Kaye) and my cousin MacKensie (Katie's daughter). Katie made us comfort soup which we all enjoyed. After eating we watched My Sister's Keeper with Cameron Diaz. It's about a little girl named Anna who wanted to earn medical emancipation from her parents who until now have relied on her to help their leukemia-stricken daughter Kate remain alive.

Weekend Recap

I decided to stay home with mom Friday night since Mike was at his uncle's house with the guys playing cards. We ended up watching The Ugly Truth... it was a good movie even though you could predict the ending from the very beginning. After the movie we watched a neighbors little boy, Desmon and I baked my pumpkin pies for our Fall Supper while mom made a loaf of bread to take.

It was nice to sleep in on Saturday and ended up waking up at a descent time from the pitter patters of Desmon playing upstairs with my brother Chad. Mom had fixed us chocolate chip pancakes which is a tradition most times for when company is staying the night. That afternoon I got ready and headed over to my church's Annual Fall Supper. We had a very good turn out overall and couldn't have asked for better weather. Afterwards I headed to St. Elizabeth to spend time with Mike and friends.

On Sunday Mom and I went shopping at the Lake with my Aunt Kaye and my cousins MacKensie and Tess. We didn't pick a very good day to shop at the lake outlet with it raining hard all day long. At times it was a little frustrating constantly getting wet/soaked but we did find some good deals. After a long day of shopping we stopped at Vista Grande to have a late lunch. I had Spinach and Chicken Chimi with rice and black beans, it was very good and very filling!

Apple Pie Apples

I recently found this recipe from a blog I am currently following. Plan to try it sometime soon, would be a good snack this time of the year!

This is not your ordinary apple pie. Take a large Granny Smith apple, apply a thick coat of fresh, creamy caramel, then dip it in sweet white confection. Then, while still hot, roll it in brown sugar and cinnamon.
Optional: For the stick use a cinnamon stick

Also can be found on the RMCF website. They also have several options to try with apples like cheesecake and rocky road.

Weekend Recap

Is it September? This weather has been perfect this past week, definitely not our typical November weather.

Friday evening I headed over to Mike's house to watch Mall Cops. Overall it was a good movie and I highly recommend watching it. After it was over we helped Mike's brother Randy and his girlfriend Elizabeth make deer jerky. It was very time consuming, but the end product was well worth it. I brought a bag of it home and it's already gone. I think dad devoured the rest of it Saturday evening.

Saturday I headed back home to get ready and take Shelley's family pictures. Later Mike came over and we headed to Vienna for a benefit dance/auction. It was nice to see a community come together and donate their time and money for a good cause.

Sunday we celebrated my grandpa Feeler's 85th birthday at the Broadway Baptist Church in Vichy. Several people had brought pictures of grandpa and spent the majority of the afternoon reminiscing from the pictures.

Picture of grandpa's cake.

Ashlyne decided to take a picture of our feet.

My cousin Ashlyne and Aunt Kaye


Lloyd Terry brought these hats for grandma and grandpa

Weekend Recap

Friday

Met up with Mike to watch his brother Steve bowl then headed to the local bar to catch up with friends. 

Here is a picture of Elizabeth, Me and Mandy

Saturday

Headed back home to do some laundry and to get ready for our trick-or-treaters. You can see the pictures on my mom's blog of our trick-or-treaters. Later that evening I headed back to Mike's house to stay the rest of the weekend since we were both off on Monday to go to Boonville. We headed to a friends house to play some pitch. On our way there we had to cross a creek, we were only the second ones to cross it since you could only see one set of tracks on the other side in the mud and sand. Luckily we made it across okay and enjoyed the rest of the evening playing pitch and watched a couple of the guys get their hair cut. It became quite entertaining considering the clippers quit half way through leaving his hair to look like a toupee. Needless to say one of the guys lives close by and went to his house to get his clippers to finish the job. 

Sunday

Went to church with Mike, his brother Steve and his Uncle Junior. I feel like a chicken with it's head cut off at the Catholic Church. Everyone knows the routine down pat, sayings, prayers etc. Overall it's wasn't a bad experience just one I'm not used to. Compared to my church we all visit before it starts unlike their church you could hear a penny drop clear across the church it's so quiet. After church we ate dinner at Mike's house, his brother Randy grilled Sausage and Ribs. Everything was good as always. That afternoon Mike and I headed to Bass Pro in Columbia then off to Boonville to the Aisle of Capri. Neither one of us had the greatest luck but it was nice to get away on a mini vacation away from work on Monday.

Monday

Woke up early to head back to Mike's house since he had to help his uncle put insulation in the turkey house. I stayed at his house to finally get caught up on my facebook. Once I was finished I headed up to his grandma Luebbert's to eat lunch. Nothing beats a grandma's cooking no matter who's grandma it is! We had round steak with mushroom sauce, sweet corn right off the cob and of course mashed potatoes.