Category Archives: Food

Party Pooped

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Finally, the much awaited party post!!! Unfortunately, there aren’t too many pictures of the party itself. As mentioned here Bubba and I were much too busy hosting to snap all those artistic photos I had hoped to capture. You wouldn’t believe the last-minute running around involved in setting up for a little party. Or maybe I’m just an inexperienced hostess with poor time management skills…. Naw, that couldn’t be it!

Anywho,  the photos I plan to share with you will be a mix of  the few photos I was able to snap. But most  have come from my sweet uncle and my Bubba’s brother, who is also very sweet. They did an excellent job of capturing the “essence” of the much planned for party.

It all happened in our little casa’s back yard…

(Wish I had remembered to put my luminarias along the walk way. That would have really dressed things up out there!)

This was the scene before we laid the food out or any of the guests arrived.

All those milk glass vases came from my Goodwill and thrift store collection. I didn’t realize how many I had hoarded collected over the past few months.

I decided to go with a lemon lime theme, so everything was shades of yellow and green citrus-y goodness.

All of the tables had a grouping of my milk glass vases filled with my favorite yellow flowers.  In the background of this picture you can see that we used plastic dinnerware. For the next party, I think I will use real dinnerware if possible. It really classes things up, plus a metal fork won’t fly away in the wind like a plastic one will.  But, it was nice not having to wash a kazillion pieces of cutlery. In hindsight, those table runners really didn’t work in my breezy backyard either. Things to note for next time…if there is a next time, I had no idea how stressful this little event would be!

In the tree we hung tissue paper pom-poms in shades of yellow, green and white. Along with yellow and white lanterns that looked oh so romantic when lit up.

As the guests walked into my urban oasis, they were greeted by the Wedding Tree, one of my first Etsy finds!

Instead of going with my original plan of the thumb print tree, I decided having the guests sign their names on a leaf would be much less messy than sticking their thumbs onto an ink pad. Plus it saved everyone from worrying about getting finger prints on their pretty clothes. And I still have a sweet memento to hang on my wall and enjoy everyday.

Going with my lemon and lime theme, I found a sweet seller on Etsy to design a tree in yellow and green. Can you believe I ordered the Wedding Tree the morning before the party, and that evening the PDF file was waiting for me in my inbox?! After I was over my shock of such quick service, I planned on popping into Staples the next morning to have our tree printed. And print they did. If I ever need any type of graphics work done, I’ll be sure to contact that Etsy seller again and have it printed at Staples!

The green bowl you see  is one of Bubba’s Goodwill finds, the pen holder is a crystal vase my mother gave me for Christmas. And the verse in the frame…

Is my father’s favorite verse:

“But they that wait upon the Lord, shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; and they shall walk and not faint.”  Isaiah 43:31

And above that, I hung an airplane from Dad’s collection. Since my father passed away several years ago, it was so very important to me to have an element of Dad incorporated into the celebration.

After everyone had signed the tree and oohed and ahhed over my flower arrangements and pom-poms (not really)  it was time to eat!

On the menu was smoked pork loin, potato salad, pasta salad, and bbq’ed beans. And for dessert, cupcakes in three flavors: chocolate, carrot, and vanilla. Along with oatmeal raisin, chocolate chip and lemon cookies. I also threw in some brownies for good measure. You can’t have a party without some cavity inducing sweets!

(If I had thought to take some shots of the food, you would find those photos here. Instead I’ll share shots of everyone enjoying the festive feast.)

All of the sides and desserts I picked up at the grocery store, but  not after visiting two different grocery stores the morning of the party. Being the scatter brained little party planner I am, I had forgotten which store I’d ordered the cupcakes from! Thankfully, the sweet ladies at the first grocery store were ever so helpful and called each Albertson’s in the area until we located the right store. That saved me so much time and frustration!

Unfortunately, that was not the only sweat inducing obstacle of the day. But I plan on dedicating an entire post to that story. Let’s just say it involved law enforcement, the fire department, and a very sleepy April.

All in all, the party was a success. Both Bubba and I enjoyed sharing our home with friends and family. Our guests enjoyed the food and the atmosphere. My fears of cops coming in and breaking up the party, or angry neighbors calling said cops to break up the party were all unfounded. Everyone enjoyed themselves, there was lots of good food, and lots of good company. That’s really what a party is all about anyways right?

Both Bubba and I are so very thankful for the guests and all those sweet people that helped out. Those that helped in the set up and those that helped us take it all down, and for those who simply graced us with their presence. I know a lot of our guests traveled from far and near and sacrificed money and time to be in attendance. Not only am I thankful for our sweet guests, I’m also thankful for local law enforcement who saved our house from being burnt down (again, that’s for another post), and for the sweet ladies at Albertson’s that saved me time that I didn’t have.

Before I sound like an actress tearfully accepting an award and thanking all those that ever “spared a square”  (thousand points to anyone who can guess which television show that’s from!), let’s share some advice.  To all of you who are planning a backyard party or any type of event at your home, if someone offers to help, take them up on it. Yes, you can do it yourself, but do you really have time? The answer is a loud and resounding NO.

Between landscaping the yard, scrubbing the kitchen, and pulling Bubba’s dirty socks out from underneath the couch I had no time. There was hardly enough time to buy the food and other party supplies, design and mail the invitations (which by the way were not mailed until 3 weeks before the party!), plan on the decor (I forgot to put lighting up, instead of the cozy romantic evening I had planned on, we ended up with a dark and spooky evening), or have an impeccably clean or at least moderately clean  home (There were parts of my home that were used to stash clutter and other I-don’t-know-what-to-do-with items while in my mad frantic rush to clean two hours before the party. I just know some of my guests saw what horrid conditions my washer and dryer live in!). Aside from those things, relax , enjoy your guests and all of your hard work! And remember, cupcakes can be tracked down, fires can be put out, but memories cannot be remade.

Slacking

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My slackerdom has finally cast its ugly net onto my blogging habits now. Today I realized it’s been nearly a month since my last post!  There’s got to be some sort of cure for this slackery. It’s even reached it’s craggly cold hand into my photo editing, as I am still working on editing all the photos for the much awaited and talked about party post. But rest assured, that is coming very soon!

The lack of posts doesn’t mean that Bubba and I have been sitting around twiddling our thumbs, or that I haven’t been snapping copious amounts of dog photos (believe me, my furkids run when they see that huge black clicky box). It just means that I’ve been too preoccupied enjoying the summer. There’s been too many fun things to do out and about rather than sitting at home typing away at my laptop. Even with all those great and spectacular things that have been keeping me away from my beloved blog, it was high time to come back for a little RR in my cozy net cottage.

So pull up a virtual chair and grab a glass of virtual lemonade and cozy up on my virtual front porch for a photo story of what we’ve been up to these days.

Like observing the local wildlife. Be very quiet, the native Annie dogs are grazing.

Notice how intently my Golden girl is still observing the grazing Annie. This is what the evening dog outings entail. Run, eat grass, run, watch other dog eat grass, repeat as needed.

This tail, although it may look harmless,  has caused the demise of many a milk glass vase. But isn’t it beautiful?

Aside from observing grazing Annie’s and avoiding happy dog tails, there’s also been other wildlife to enjoy. I’ve got a pair of praying mantis’ living in the front flower bed.

Annie loves to observe Bubba in his natural habitat, the couch, with a Sponge Bob Square Pants Gameboy.

Sometimes the observing pays off, and you get a new frisbee.

A tail wagging new Frisbee.

And a tail wagging and sniff inducing chew bone.

Also crazy eye inducing bone.

After the new toys had been sufficiently chewed, torn, and otherwise played with, it was time for an evening drive. Goldie loves car rides.

Annie not so much.

But once one has arrived at one’s destination, it’s all business. SNIFF SNIFF

We take our walks seriously around here.

We also take our sunsets seriously. And I mean seriously, is God a great artist or what? He creates a beautiful sunset for us to be blessed with every evening. And they are all different. I hear sunrises are just as awe-inducing,  someday I will wake up early enough to enjoy the beautiful sunrise our Lord has made for us….someday.

All that running and chasing and picture-taking calls for a special treat. How about some peach cobbler? Bubba made this from fresh peaches, baked in his new vintage Fire King dish.

Here’s what it looked like a couple of days later.

We may or may not have had cobbler for dinner one night this week, and it may or may not have been eaten straight from the casserole dish. And my jeans may or may not have screamed out in agony.

After all that cobbler it’s time to snuggle up on the couch with your sweetie.

That pretty much sums up the goings on at Casa de Yellow. We have been slacking on some of our chores, but certainly not on our enjoyment of summer.

Give Thanks

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“1O give thanks unto the LORD; for He is good: for His mercy endureth for ever.”

Psalm 136:1(KJV)

Happy Thanksgiving all!! I hope your Thanksgiving is just as bountiful as ours. Remember to give thanks to those you love and to the One who is good!!



Upside-Down One-Bowl Apple Cake

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I found this awesome recipe on Better, Homes, and Gardens. It’s called the Upside-Down One-Bowl Apple cake, it only requires ONE bowl!!! That means only one bowl to wash! Did I mention it only requires one bowl?!I will definitely have to try this recipe out this weekend! And doesn’t it look pretty?

 

Ingredients

  • 1/3 cup  butter, cut up
  • 6 very small  red cooking apples (1-1/4 to 1-1/2 pounds total)
  • 1/3 cup  packed brown sugar
  • 1-1/3 cups  all-purpose flour
  • 2/3 cup  granulated sugar
  • 2 teaspoons  baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon  ground ginger
  • 1 teaspoon  ground cinnamon
  • 2/3 cup  milk
  • 1/4 cup  butter, softened
  • 1 egg
  • 1 teaspoon  vanilla
  • Cinnamon or vanilla ice cream (optional)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degree F. Place the 1/3 cup butter in a 9x9x2-inch baking pan. Place in oven about 5 minutes or until butter is melted. Halve apples; remove stems. Using a melon baller or small spoon, scoop out apple cores.

2. Sprinkle brown sugar over melted butter; stir to combine. Spread evenly over bottom of pan. Arrange nine of the apple halves, cut sides down, in butter mixture. Bake for 10 to 15 minutes or until butter mixture is bubbly.

3. Meanwhile, peel and coarsely shred the remaining three apple halves; set aside. In a medium bowl, stir together flour, granulated sugar, baking powder, ginger, and cinnamon. Add shredded apple, milk, the 1/4 cup softened butter, the egg, and vanilla. Beat with an electric mixer on low speed until combined. Beat on medium speed for 1 minute. Gently spoon batter over apple halves in pan, spreading evenly (some apple may still be exposed and some butter mixture may come to the surface).

4. Bake about 35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool cake in pan on a wire rack for 5 minutes.

5. Using a sharp knife or narrow metal spatula, loosen edges of cake from sides of baking pan. Carefully invert onto a serving platter. Spoon any butter mixture remaining in pan onto cake. Cool for 20 minutes more. Serve warm. If desired, serve cake with ice cream. Makes 9 servings.

Country Cones

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Get your mind outta the gutter! I’m talking about ice cream cones here! Oh, you knew what I was talking about? Well, I guess I’m the only one that thinks cones belong on a road. Construct cones…ya know the orange ones.

Anyways, to end the awkward silence, a couple months ago, I posted about Blue Bell ice cream, which by the way is the  best, most yummy ice cream in the world. OK, maybe second best, I’d have to say that Caliches in Las Cruces is the best, but that’s a whole different post.

My most recent discovery, or should I say the sweetie’s most recent discovery, as he does all the grocery shopping (Yeah, I know, he’s a gem, and he’s mine, and no you may not borrow him!), Mini Country Cones by Blue Bell Ice Cream.

Aren’t they cute?

They are 90 calories a cone, and have vanilla dipped in chocolate with walnuts on top, there’s even chocolate at the bottom of the cone! Needless to say, I was one happy camper. And at only 90 calories a cone, that means they are good for you and you can eat more of them right?!

It’s that kind of thinking that can get a girl into bigger jeans! I think mine just whimpered a little.

But I digress, the Country Cones are awesome if you are like me and need to watch a waist line, just be sure to only eat one.  And no, not one every hour!

Here’s the box if you are in the area and would like to buy some of these cute little mini’s for yourself:

No, that’s not me, but I do occasionally wear a cowboy hat and coordinating vest around the house. But only during fair season 😉

Cookies..nom..nom

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Recently, the sweetie was being his normal sweet self, and baked some of his famous dark chocolate chip cookies.

And of course I ate my cookies without any inhibitions, because come on, a girls got to have her dark chocolate chip pecan cookies.

Nom, nom, nom, nom, nom, nom….

Here’s the recipe he use’s, which he has committed to memory, how impressive is that?! The sweetie originally found the recipe on the Joy of Baking website:

Chocolate Chip Cookies Recipe:

1 cup (2 sticks) (226 grams) unsalted butter, room temperature

3/4 cup (150 grams) granulated white sugar

3/4 cup (160 grams) firmly packed light brown sugar

2 large eggs

1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

2 1/4 cups (295 grams) all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 cups (270 grams) semisweet chocolate chips

1 cup (100 grams) walnuts or pecans, coarsely chopped (optional)

And here is his version:

J’s Chocolate Chip Cookies

3-3/4c flour,

3/4 sugar,

1-1/4c brown sugar,

1c butter,

1-1/4 tsp baking powder,

1tsp baking soda,

2 eggs,

1tsp vanilla,

chocolate chips

Dash of Salt
Enjoy with a glass of milk!!

Screaming for Ice Cream…

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Last week I had mentioned doing a post about ice cream once a week. But with some whimpering from my jeans and the fear that I might pop a button off of them that could possibly land in someones eye, I’ve decided to make these more of an occasional post rather than a weekly.  Which bodes well with my waistline and my jeans.

Last night, instead of having a healthy bowl of Special K, or a nice piece of watermelon, I decided to jump off the healthy snack wagon and have a little scoop of heaven in a bowl.

Blue Bell’s  Peaches and Homemade Vanilla. Heavenly does not begin to describe it. It was all I could do to stop at one small ice cream bowl, but my poor jeans were screaming in pain from all of the stretching. And there was that little fear of buttons flying off of my screaming jeans that kept my need for seconds at bay.

My sweetie and I were not the only ones at the yellow casa who enjoyed a good dose of ice cream heaven.

Well, I think she enjoyed the container it came in more than the sweet treat itself. But I suppose it’s healthier than eating it’s contents, afterall, doesn’t cardboard contain fiber?

We all scream for ice cream…

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Well, unless you are lactose intolerant, then you don’t scream for Ice Cream. But I know I do, in fact, I would eat ice cream for dinner at least 5 times a week if my sweetie didn’t cook for me.  Then I would look like this…

dreamstime.com

Or maybe more like this…actually, I think I may have had a pair of sunglasses like these when I was a kid.  Don’t judge, it was the 80’s, everyone had funny looking sunglasses.

arnoldsrestaurant.com

Recently, my sweetie and I were taking a stroll through the grocery store, yes we stroll…through the grocery store…my sweetie is a bit of a foodie (he hates that word, but he really is a foodie)  and what to my wondering eyes do appear, but a beautiful carton of BLUE BELL ICE CREAM!  I heard angels sing,  light shone on that wonderous carton of Pecan Praline. I tell you, it was like heaven in the freezer section of that grocery store.

What’s the big deal you ask, it’s just ice cream. JUST ICE CREAM!!!  It’s Blue Bell Ice cream, ice cream this New Mexican craved when she moved away from the southerenly portions of the US of A.  You see if you have no idea what I’m talking about then you’ve never spent anytime in the south, I don’t hold this against you, but I do reccommend you have some overnighted right away. It’s scrumptous!

texascooking.com

Since anything sweet at  Casa de April is kind of a big deal  , I thought it appropriate to attempt do a weekly post about the most recent ice cream or dessert experiment.  Tonight I will sample Blue Bell’s Peaches and Cream. Come back soon for the results!

Independence, it’s a good thing!

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With the coming of the 4th of July, and 4, no scratch that 5 house guests (one will be of the 4 legged persuasion), I’ve been thinking of sweet desserts that would be fun for the upcoming celebration of our independence, and the celebration of family getting together. Here are some yummy looking desserts thanks to Martha Stewart.

I love the way this table is set.  They can even make hot dogs and watermelon look fancy!

Are you salivating over these delicious desserts? I know I am. At least one or two of these desserts will be sampled at casa de April this weekend. If a certain someone named after a month isn’t too lazy.

But for now, I must complete the preparations for my guests. Have a happy and safe 4th everyone!!

All images courtesy of marthastewart.com