My very first Advent Tea.....

My girlfriend and I hosted our very first Advent Tea at Church this year.

It was a wonderful evening, filled with Friendship, Love, and HOPE.

See the cutesie jars on the table. Can you guess what's inside?? It's a cupcake....yes a decorated cupcake. I'm so bummed that I don't have a better picture. Guess I'll have to make them again so I can take a picture.

The dessert stand in the middle of the table was made by my friend. We bought two plates, one bowl and two candle holders at the Dollar Store, glued them to make this fancy stand that serves many purposes. (I have a candle with greenery and pine cones on it now). Pretty good for $5. I will be making many more of these....have so many ideas!! I will surely post when their done!

Mr. Turkey....

Last Thanksgiving the kids helped me put this yummy turkey together.

What a cute centerpiece for the Thanksgiving table.

This is what we used

Body~Cantaloupe

Head~Potato

Red Wattle~Red Pepper

Eyes~Black Olives

Wings~Cubed cheese, Sausage & Olives

To attach the head to the body use two wooden skewers, stick them through the potato into the cantaloupe and break off the part of the skewer that is sticking out.

Alternate cheese, olives and sausage on the wooden skewers for the wings and stick into the cantaloupe. Attach eyes and red wattle with a toothpick.

Arrange extra sausage, cheese & olives around Mr. Turkey!

Ta Da!!!

Life just got a little easier

Okay so one of my biggest dilemma's is deciding what I am going to cook for dinner on a daily basis. I usually wait until the afternoon of, which then is too late to prepare a wonderful meal. So instead we end up eating soup, sandwiches, tacos, waffles, etc. you get my drift.

So when I found this site, I was excited.....They have some recipes that look pretty yummy, with ingredients that I have actually heard of. Now I can tell you I probably will not make all 5 recipes every week but maybe 2 or 3 to start off. Baby steps.... When you sign up, they will send you a weeks worth of recipes on Thursday so you can plan your grocery list and dinners for the following week.

This Week's Menu
Balsamic Chicken Under Bricks,

Roasted Peppery Pork Chops,

Shrimp Pad Thai,

Chicken Sausage and Pepper Soup with Homemade Basil Croutons,

Creamy Dreamy Mac and Cheese

So these ladies have laid out all the work for me....No more excuses.
I vow to my family to start being a little more attentive when it comes to dinner.

So here it is....GO, sign up and make your life a little easier!

http://www.youvegotsupper.com/

A Man & His Dog

Isn't this sunrise beautiful?? This is one of hubby's hobbies....leaving the house at 4am to watch the sunrise and hopefully have a good day of hunting.

And this not so little guy, will give him a hand retrieving the birds. On this particular day he retrieved 12 birds. Good Boy!!

If only he could help me with my shopping bags, then he would be Women's Best Friend.

And this is the yummy meal that hubby made with the Green Wing Teal he brought home.

Green Wing Teal wrapped in Bacon

*Green Wing Duck Breast

*Jalapenos

*Smoked Gouda Cheese

* Bacon

Marinate duck in Italian dressing for 24 hours. After marinated, brown on the grill for 1 minute on each side. Cut jalapenos in half longways-remove all insides/seeds. Slice a thin piece of Gouda cheese and lay on the jalapeno then place duck on top of cheese. Wrap with bacon and secure with a toothpick. Place on grill for about 4-5min on each side or until bacon is thoroughly cooked.

** Please note** I usually do not like wild game it's just too gamey for me but this recipe was fabulous, I was asking for seconds. So if you have some extra duck laying around you should try this recipe!!

Yummy....

Blackberry & Raspberry Freezer Jam

If you have never made freezer jam you should. It is so super easy and so very tasty. Every fall I have this great idea of canning the harvest of summer, which later turns out to be a not so great idea. You may know what I'm talking about.....But this year was different, I wanted to try making freezer jam and I'm so glad I did.

This is all you need

3 cups crushed berries (6 6oz. containers)

5 1/4 cups sugar

Ball Original Fruit Pectin

Canning jars or freezer safe containers

In the Pectin box is a pamphlet of recipes for jam using various fruits.

What a great gift for neighbors (neighbors love it), teachers, friends you name it who wouldn't love to get a jar of homemade jam. Tie a bow and Ta Da......

Lately this has been my choice breakfast, crusty bread with homemade jam. Yum!!
Now go try it....