85 Degrees and Smiling

Things are warming up here in Texas. It was 85 degrees today and for me that's hot enough! This summer will be interesting...

Anyway, I put this super cute hat on Ruby to keep her bald head out of the sun. She was all smiles and flashin' off her new tooth!

Jucy Lucy & Spicy Sweet Potato Fries

Jon and I were watching Man vs. Food on the Travel Channel last week and the host, Adam, was in Minneapolis (you can catch this episode again on Tuesday, Mar. 30th @ 8:30PM). Adam visited Matt's Bar to try one of their famous Jucy Lucy Burgers. Jon was disappointed with me because I never took him to try one of these hamburgers for himself... I'm a bad Minnesotan! So I promised him I would make him a Jucy Lucy.

Makings of a great flavored hamburger.


Beef mixture.



Beef balls.


Patties.


I love cheese.


Jucy Lucy.


Jucy Lucy - Fuller Family Style



1 lb. Ground Beef
½ tablespoon Worcestershire Sauce
1 teaspoon Sriracha
1 teaspoon Tony Chachere’s Original Creole Seasoning
1 teaspoon McCormick Grill Mates - Hamburger
1 egg
8 Saltine Crackers, crushed
Block of cheese, pick your flavor

With your hands, thoroughly combine beef, Worcestershire, Sriracha, Tony’s seasoning, McCormick seasoning, egg and crushed Saltines. If the meat starts to warm up (from your hands) put it back in the fridge, you need to keep it chilled.

Measure out 6 balls of beef mixture. To keep the beef from sticking to your hands, wet them with cold water.

Flatten balls into a thin patties on top of wax paper, about ¼” high and roughly 5” in diameter.

Cut 9-1 inch cubes of cheese from block.

Place 3 pieces of cheese on the center of 3 patties.

On to each cheese-topped patty, flip a second patty to cover the cheese. Crimp the edges tightly so that the cheese will not blow out of the hamburger. Re-cover with wax paper and refrigerate at least 10 minutes.

Preheat a heavy-bottomed pan to medium heat or cook them on your outdoor grill. Note: The burger may puff up due to steam from melting cheese while cooking and this is normal.

Allow burger to cook 3 to 4 minutes on each side, or until desired temperature is reached. When you flip the burger use a toothpick to prick the top of the burger so the steam can escape.

You MUST let the burger cool before eating. The cheese will be very hot and you will burn your mouth if you bite into it right away.

Spicy Sweet Potato Fries

4 sweet potato’s, (about 2 lbs.)
¼ cup olive oil
½ teaspoon cumin
½ teaspoon oregano
¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
Cooking Spray
salt and pepper for seasoning, optional

Preheat oven to 500°.

Cut washed potato’s into 1 inch wedges.

Place wedges in a bowl and cover with olive oil. Add cumin, oregano, crushed red pepper flakes and toss until evenly coated.

Place wedges in a single layer on a greased baking sheet. For a crispier fry, space wedges an inch apart. Sprinkle with salt and pepper (optional).

Bake on the middle rack for 20 minutes. Turn wedges over. Bake an additional 10 minutes, or until crispy on the outside and tender in the middle.

Also served with sauteed zucchini and squash. Delish!

On Tuesday, Mar. 30th @ 9PM, we'll be tuning in to watch Food Wars' - Minneapolis Ju(i)cy Lucy War where Matt's Bar and the 5-8 Club will compete to see which restaurant has the best Lucy! I'm routing for Matt's!

Poo-Poo on the Potty

BIG night in our house last night. Sawyer went poo-poo on the potty! We are just starting to potty train him and so far he really hasn't been too interested in using the potty. Sawyer's a pretty "regular" little guy. By that I mean when he eats he usually poops shortly there after. He likes to hide when he's going poo-poo, so I know when he's been quiet for a couple minutes I'll be changing a yucky diaper!

Last night, after dinner, he went in the closet (a common hiding place) and I heard him tooting. So I asked him if he wanted to go poo-poo on the potty. He shouted YEAH and ran to the bathroom. Jon helped him get on the potty and Sawyer asked for a book. (I've been giving him something to look at while he's on the potty to keep him there for a bit.) Then, Sawyer went poo-poo. We cheered and congratulated him; it was a proud parent moment in our house!

Sorry for the blurry pictures... Sawyer's getting his treat for using the potty!




I love these Robot pj's. A great E-bay find!

Mama's Shades

Every time Sawyer does something he thinks is cute he asks me to take his picture. Like when he HOLDS Ruby. Or, like the other afternoon when he wanted to drive the car and wear my sunglasses...

Red Velvet Cake Whoopie Pies

My Red Velvet Cake craving is OUT.OF.CONTROL! All I want to make and eat is THIS...


Since I can not eat Red Velvet Cheesecake for breakfast, lunch and dinner everyday, I was really hoping I would LOVE Yoplaits new yogurt with Red Velvet Cake flavoring...

Well, I did NOT love the yogurt. My Red Velvet Cake craving was not satisfied.

Then, I heard about this place called Yogurtland and that they were featuring a Red Velvet Cupcake Batter flavored frozen yogurt. Luckily we have a Yogurtland here in DFW and it's only 30 miles from our house. Yes, I said 30 miles. When Jon got home from work on the day I heard of Yogurtland and their Red Velvet Cupcake Batter frozen yogurt, we piled the family into the car and set off to try this frozen yogurt. When we got to the shop, I stood along the wall scanning all the flavors and did not see Red Velvet... Jon asked the lovely young lady behind the counter where the Red Velvet was... She said they SOLD OUT of it in 3 days! Did I mention Yogurtland was 30 miles away? Ugh! Again, I was left hanging. We did get some yogurt though and what we had was good.

So, I decided to make these...


For the most part, I followed Paul Deen's Recipe for the Pie's. I made them a lot smaller then Paula did and I did not use the nuts. The cream cheese filling recipe I used is from Martha Stewart.

These were OK... I will make them again when I actually have a working oven in my own home. (right now I have to cross the yard to Jon's parents house and use theirs) I would like to keep a closer eye on them because some baked up nice and cake-like and some went flat and gooey... They did taste good though (not great).

Dry Ingredients and my new sifter.



Butter, Sugar, Eggs (1 @ a time).



Liquids.


Mix together slowly.


I put all the batter in a gallon sized freezer bag so I could make the cookies a nice circle shape. I would have used a small scoop if I had one...



Jon gave them his thumbs up of approval! (He is eating the ONE perfect cookie I had set aside to take a picture of... I knew I should have told him not to eat the cookie on the counter!)


Red Velvet Whoopie Pies

Pie Cakes
1⅓ cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
¼ cup butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
2 tablespoons buttermilk
2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon red food coloring

Cream Cheese Filing (makes about 2 cups)
8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into pieces, room temperature
1 cup confectioners’ sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Sift together flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a small bowl.

Cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs 1 at a time. Then beat in the buttermilk, vinegar, vanilla and red food coloring. Once combined, add the dry ingredients to wet. Mix until thoroughly combined.

Onto a parchment lined sheet tray, drop batter using an ice cream scoop, forming 2-inch round circles.

Bake for 10 minutes, until baked through. Cookies should be cake-like and light. Allow to cool for a few minutes on the baking sheet, then remove to a wire rack to cool completely.

For the cream cheese filing:

Place cream cheese in a medium mixing bowl. Using a rubber spatula, soften cream cheese. Gradually add butter, and continue beating until smooth and well blended. Sift in confectioners’ sugar, and continue beating until smooth. Add vanilla, and stir to combine. Spread onto one cookie and top it with another to make a sandwich; repeat with the remaining cookies and filling. Cover the filled whoopee pies with plastic wrap and store in the refrigerator.

Final thought: My craving is still in full effect. I think I will have to make myself a cheesecake. (and by "myself" I mean I'm not sharing!)

Sawyer Watching Life on the Discovery Channel

Last night we watched Life on the Discovery Channel. I think Sawyer liked it...

Ruby's First Tooth

Ruby's bottom two front teeth are coming in! The one on the left cut through last night and the right one will probably come through today. So, of course, she is chewing on everything. And, looking so cute!





(I'll post a pic of the teeth as soon as I get one.)

LMAO - HAHAHAHAHA

Piper's Perch

As you probably know, we live in a little house. We also have a Pittbull and a cat. Our home really isn't big enough for all four humans and two animals (plus all the OTHER "animals"...). So, finally I had had it up to here (you know what I mean) with having the pets indoors and they got booted outside. Good thing we live in Texas and it is warm here. Our dog, Texas, has a nice fenced in area where he plays and a shed to sleep in. Our cat, Piper, on the other hand had no nice place to play/sleep. She roomed around the yard and under the house... Poor Kitty!

So, crafty Jon built Piper a perch off of our kitchen window. He got her travel carrier out of storage, added blankets for her comfort and put a garbage bag around it to keep the rain out (he's such a thinker!).

She hasn't moved from her perch in 3 days!

A Hat and A Foot