Fall Colors!

I finally got out to take some fall photographs, before all of the pretty colors disappeared! I actually went out two separate times (in the same day.) The following were from the first shoot.













This next group of photos were taken while I was out on the second shoot. Bud and I, were walking on the trails out in the woods. The first is taken at the little creek that is back there. On the next three, I was trying to get the sun shining through the leaves.

Funfetti Cookies!

My son's favorite cake is Funfetti.




While poking around for new recipes to try on the Pillsbury site, I came across these cookies and knew "Bud" would love them. OMG! I was right! They were DELICIOUS! So SOFT! YUM!

(Pictures & recipe taken from the Pillsbury site.)


INGREDIENTS
1 (18.9-oz.) pkg. Pillsbury® Moist Supreme® Funfetti® Cake Mix
1/3 cup oil
2 eggs
1/2 (15.6-oz.) can Pillsbury® Creamy Supreme® Funfetti® Vanilla Frosting


DIRECTIONS
1. Heat oven to 375°F. In large bowl, combine cake mix, oil and eggs; stir with spoon until thoroughly moistened. Shape dough into 1-inch balls; place 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheets. With bottom of glass dipped in flour, flatten to 1/4-inch thickness.
2. Bake at 375°F. for 6 to 8 minutes or until edges are light golden brown. Cool 1 minute; remove from cookie sheets.
3. Spread frosting over warm cookies. Immediately sprinkle each with candy bits from frosting. Let frosting set before storing. Store in tightly covered container.

***************

Here is a picture I snapped of "Brat Girl" the other day. I had to take one because she was eating YUCKY seaweed!



Nope! Not going there! LOL! I will stick with the Funfetti Cookies! ROFL!

A New Soldier To Bake For!

This month team Spatulas & Corkscrews is baking for Brandon!





Brandon was actually submitted by my family. He is a friend of the kids. (WOW! He looks so grown up, since the last time I saw him!) Brandon went into the Navy after graduating from high school, and is now deployed in Iraq. He will be there 4-6 months. In his spare time he likes to go snowboarding, rollerblading, and mountain biking. He also enjoys listening to music, photography, and writing.




It's always hard being deployed, but it gets even harder at this time of the year. So, we wanted to help Brandon through the holidays, by sending him some home baked cookies, (his favorite is chocolate chip) brownies, Chex mix, and other yummy things that will bring a little taste of home to him, and the other soldiers deployed with him. (He will be getting so many cookies, that there will be plenty to share with everyone!) Since Brandon is a vegetarian, we will not be including a big bag of beef jerky in his box! LOL!

If you want to bake for a soldier please visit Operation Baking Gals website.

Addicted to Cookbooks!

Look what I found yesterday! The cover made me squeal with delight as I snatched it from the shelf. It's just SO pretty! Isn't it?



I am a sucker for anything from Taste of Home! And this one is perfect because it has all kinds of yumminess to bake for Christmas. I began looking through it last night, while laying in bed. I fell asleep with visions of gumdrops dancing in my head! LOL! (They actually have a recipe for gumdrop cookies) I haven't made it to the bars section yet, because this book has 137 pages of recipes! YEAH!

As for my addiction to cookbooks, I'm not sure exactly when it started, but I'm beginning to think I need a 12-step program or something.

HI! My name is Kathy, and I am addicted to cookbooks! LOL!

I am blaming the grocery stores! It's their fault, that I cannot check out without buying one of these!



And, the bookstores! They get me by having all the smells coming from the deli! It makes me hungry, and I end up in the cookbook section. UH HUH! That's my story! And I'm sticking to it!

YEP! That's RIGHT! That's why I have these:





OH! Don't believe for a second that this is all I have! I have others. Including two of the exact same Weight Watchers cookbooks! OOPS! And I don't see it ending anytime soon, because I am putting these on my Christmas wish list!




I am also anxiously awaiting the Pioneer Woman's cookbook, that will be available sometime next year.

Now, if I would just get into the kitchen and COOK some of the recipes from these wonderful books! Maybe then, Mr. Mister wouldn't roll his eyes at me whenever I pick up another one! LOL!

Twilight Fans!

I was catching up on Jessica's blog, and saw that she had taken this quiz over at Twilighters Anonymous to tell her which female character she would be, from the Twilight Series. So, of course, I had to take the quiz too! It would appear, that I am Bella! LOL!


Take the Quiz and Share Your Results!

You are observant, diplomatic and often aim to please. You are unaware of your
attractiveness and despite being uncomfortable with any form of attention, people enjoy your company. You can be impatient, stubborn and headstrong, but you are true to your word and mature for your age, often taking care of your family and enjoying a good book over chatting with girlfriends on the phone.

Well, I am definitely impatient, stubborn, and headstrong! LOL!

WAIT! That means I get EDWARD! OOOOOOH! But then there's JAKE! Do I really HAVE to choose between the two? What's a girl to do? I can't make up my mind! OK! I've got it! On Mondays, Wednesdays, & Fridays I will spend time with Edward. And then Tuesdays, Thursdays, & Saturdays will be with Jake! Of course, everyone knows you need to rest on Sunday! ROFL!

Shoot! I will have to figure Orlando in there somewhere!

OH! Hi Mr. Mister! What am I doing? Ummmmmmmmm nothing!

Gotta GO!

Operation Baking Gals News!

Our baking group has heard from Chaplain Jones and his team!

Several emails were sent from Anna-Marie Greenfield, the assistant Chaplain to Michael Jones. She has sent thanks from themselves, and all of the soldiers that are enjoying the care packages we sent out. It appears that all of the goodies are disappearing QUICKLY! LOL!

She also included several pictures!

Here is Anna-Marie with Chaplain Jones (Chappy):




Anna-Marie:



Anna-Marie and some of the soldiers:



This is the Honor Chapel Office Team:



And, last but not least, Anna-Marie with Chapel Albertson:



It is so good to know that the boxes have arrived, and that everyone is getting a little taste of home!

I am planning to sign up again! They are now forming baking teams for round four! So, if you would like to send some LOVIN' from your OVEN, to the troops overseas, head on over to Operation Baking Gals, and choose a team. Boxes are to be shipped out the last week of October.

See ya there!

Anniversary!

Mr. Mister and I have been married for 23 years! WOW!

Saturday, started with a wonderful breakfast, that Mr. Mister got up early to make for us!

He snuck out to the store and bought all kinds of yummy stuff. (All of the food pictures were taken by my son!)




We had eggs, bacon, sausage, hash browns, and orange juice.

But, my absolute favorite, were the Belgium waffles topped with strawberries and whip cream! YUM!



Later, we headed out, to wander wherever the car took us. We had no specific plans, and ended up driving toward the river. I LOVE just taking a drive. And it was a beautiful day to do that. (The 80's in October!) Of course, since we were headed in the direction of Fast Eddie's, we had to make a stop there. Mr. Mister really enjoys eating there. We were so stuffed when we left, that we took a walk around some antique stores in the area.

It seems that we have started a little tradition in these last few years. We end up at antique stores, and I try to find some new crackle glass pieces to add to my small collection. I got really lucky this time, and found THREE pieces! Aren't they GORGEOUS!





After visiting the antique stores, we continued up the river. On our way back home, Mr. Mister ran over TWO snakes! (Accidentally!) They were out on the road, because it was so hot. EWW!

Once we made it home, we decided to go to a movie. So, out the door we went again, to see Nights in Rodanthe. It was a good movie. Although, I must say, that I didn't like the ending!

On Sunday, we went to eat at Romano's Macaroni Grill. We were actually going to go there on our anniversary, but we were still too full from eating at Fast Eddie's. We also stopped by the Home Depot to pick up a new sander, and some saw horses so that we could work on the basement.

It was a busy weekend! But, we really enjoyed it!

Scrapbook Factory Kits!

Scrapbook Factory, the store that I used to work for, is now offering some of their kits online.

They have been selling kits for years now, and they have always been a favorite with customers. Whenever we participated in shows, the booth was always crowded with women who had their arms full with kits. Some scrapbookers have driven hours, anticipating what new kits would be available. (They would even call ahead to the store and have us hold anything new to the side for them.)

These kits are GREAT for everyone! People who are just starting to scrapbook like them because it keeps them from being so overwhelmed, by everything they see around them in a store. Advanced or busy scrapbookers, purchase several at a time, to quickly help them catch up on the stack of pictures they just had printed. Everyone LOVES that they don't have to spend extra time trying to plan how they want their pages to look, or sorting through all of their paper and embellishments to make sure they coordinate well with each other. The guess work is taken out of the process, because everything needed for the layout is included in the kit. (Talk about stress free scrapbooking! LOL!)

The kits also come with a color photo, as a guide to help you put the layouts together. What's even better, is that you don't have to create the layouts exactly as you see them in the picture. If you want to change things up a bit, you have the freedom to do that.

So, if you are looking for a little bit of "help" with your scrapbooking pages, take a look at the kits, I am sure they will have something that catches your eye! They can even help get you ready for all of those Halloween, Fall, and Christmas pictures you KNOW you will be taking!

Make sure you keep checking back, because the website is still very new, and they are adding more every day.

Operation Baking Gals - Update!

The team (Spatulas & Corkscrews) that I am on for Operation Baking Gals, received a little information about the soldier we are sending care packages too.

I don't have a photo to show you, but hopefully we will get one of him after he receives all of it.

His name is Michael Jones and he's a Chaplain with the 10th Mountain Division, stationed out of Fort Drum, New York. He is now in Iraq, stationed at Camp Victory.

Since he is a Chaplain, we know that he will have LOTS of people to share all of our home baked goodies with.

Here's what I put in my box:

Oatmeal Scotchies



This is one of our FAVORITE cookies! I have mentioned them before.

Rice Krispy Treats



Doesn't EVERYBODY love these? You cannot go wrong with Rice Krispy Treats!

Homemade Chex Mix



This is SO good! Once you start eating it, you CANNOT stop! I used to work with a girl that made this all the time. She would bring each of us our own baggie filled with this addicting mixture. Of course, I had to get the recipe from her!

Homemade Chex Mix

Ingredients:

3/4 box Rice Chex Cereal
1 Family Size Box Cheezits
1 Family Size Box Wheat Thins
1/2 lb. (1/2 bag) Pretzel Squares
1 10 oz. Bag Oyster Crackers
3 Cups Peanuts Or Cashews

Dressing:

2 Cups Canola Oil
2 tsp. Garlic Powder
2 tsp. Dill Weed Powder
2 pkgs or 1/2 cup Hidden Valley Ranch Salad Dressing Mix (Dry)
2 tsp. Lemon Pepper

In a large roasting pan, mix all of the crackers, cereal, and nuts together. In a small mixing bowl, thoroughly mix the dressing ingredients. Pour over cereal mixture. Stir. Bake @ 250 degrees for 30 minutes, stir mixture, and continue baking for 30 more minutes.

Note: I did not use any nuts in the batch I made, because we don't like nuts in ours. I bought some OKE-DOKE brand Corn Puffs (because we are always picking the puffy things out of the store bought Chex Mixes and eating them) and used that instead. I also had to bake this in two batches, because it makes A LOT! I didn't have a pan big enough to bake all of it in at once. I mixed it all together in a HUGE pot, then poured half of it into the roasting pan.

I finished everything up last night, and mailed it out today.



I cannot wait to hear that it has reached him!

In the meantime, I am going to start gathering stuff for the next round. I am sure they will begin teaming up again soon. Packages are mailed out at the end of every month. If you are interested in participating, please go to the Operation Baking Gals site for more information.