Hiatus...

I took one because 

I needed to unpack. 

I don't know if I mentioned it or not, 

but we moved 11 hours

before our youngest child was born 

and since that was only a mere three month ago 

we were still living out of boxes. 

I'm happy to report that while 

not every box is gone, 

majority of them are 

and 

I feel like my house is in order. 

I can't wait to begin sharing 

national days again with you.

Today was

National Peanut Butter Fudge Day

National Absurdity Day 

and 

Great American Smoke Out! 

I didn't celebrate any of these, 

because today was crazy.

Now that I've written this, 

I'm going to go try to relax and unwind 

from the busyness of it all 

and prepare for tomorrow's holiday,

which is

National Stuffing Day 

(I'm excited to try a new recipe before the big day!)

Stay tuned! 

Confession...

National Candy Corn Day 

was a major bust... 

Not just because I didn't have any on hand, 

but because I loathe it

and I'm going to be completely honest here...

I refuse to buy it. 

No one should eat it. 

I'm not going to,

Hahaha! 

So, tomorrow is

Halloween (DUH)

National Caramel Apple Day (YUM)

and

National Knock-Knock Joke Day

I'm making caramel apples 

and sharing some corny jokes, 

be prepared for my ultimate nerdyness

to shine through

and please feel free to share 

your best knock knock jokes with me! 

National Oatmeal Day

Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal... OH YEAH! 

I'm going to share something about me here, 

I'm a habitual breakfast skipper.

I'm too busy.

I'm brushing hair, changing diapers, 

making breakfast for other folks

signing forms, 

refereeing,

feeding babies, 

and making sure the pups are taken care of...

with all that and more 

breakfast for me is the last thing on my mind. 

I know, I know it's terrible to skip breakfast

and I do try to get it in, but alas... Chaos trumps food.

So, imagine how happy I was to actually get to take a few moments 

to enjoy a nice hot, filling, and delicious breakfast! 

What made me happier was my daughter joining in 

the celebration by having a bowl of oatmeal with me, 

It was a sweet moment with my precious daughter 

that while fleeting, very memorable.

I'm looking forward to more of those throughout this 365 day excursion. 

More sweet moments, more simple memories, more quiet and calm, more conversations.

A lot more. 

Okay, 

so tomorrow is

National Candy Corn Day

:-/

Guess who's not at all excited about this. 

Not. at. all. 

Guess who's back!! National Chocolate Day

Hi friends! It's me! 

Do you remember me?

I hope so. 

I'm back! 

That surgery and life was crazy. 

I'm happy to report that 

The Duke is all well

and 

we are back on track. 

National Days, 

well...

We celebrated a few while 

on hiatus, but I didn't blog about them.

I did post on Instagram, 

Oh, you're not following me there? 

You can now! Just click on the word Instagram 

and there I'll be. 

I'm also on Pinterest, Facebook, and Twitter, 

We're making this blog official. Ha! 

Now, back to the real stuff.

National Days! 

I told The Duke that I should wait 

and restart on November 1st, but 

he told me I was flaking out...

I'm not a flaker-outer 

(unless it something to do with my family, like surgery),

 so here I am.

Today is 

National Chocolate Day 

and we're celebrating by 

having cups of hot chocolate 

and watching 

Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.

I hoped I've posted early enough for you to celebrate too. 

Tomorrow's National Days are:

National Cat Day

&

National Oatmeal Day

See ya tomorrow! 

Posts On Hold...

The Duke 

had surgery 

and 

I am taking care of my man

until he feels better. 

In case you're wondering, 

yesterday was

National Moldy Cheese Day, 

today is

National Angel Food Cake Day, 

and tomorrow will be

National Sausage Pizza Day

We are celebrating in our way, 

and I'll post an update with pictures soon. 

Keep The Duke in your prayers 

for a speedy recovery. 

Lots O'Love,

The Calender Family 

Fluff, Nuts, Pierogi?

Hey y'all! 

I'm beginning to think 

this blog is all about food. 

Every day is a holiday, 

but 

does every holiday have to be about food?

The answer?

Yes, yes it does have to be about food

because this nation loves food. 

Well, at least I know I do...

So today was 

National Fluffernutter Day 

and 

National Pierogi Day

and of course

we had both! 

Funny thing is I've never, ever bought Fluff before... It felt strange. Ha!

Nor have I ever bought Pierogies and after tasting them... I wondered, why... LOL

 So you see friends, 

we celebrated by 

boiling up some pierogies

and 

making some sandwiches

Honey Wheat Bread, White Chocolate Wonderful,

(sounds more like an adult film than peanut butter, but I digress... LOL)

and Fluff... 

Dinner of champions... Le sigh...

The sandwiches were alright, 

the kids enjoyed them, 

and I told them to savor every bite,

because I wasn't buying it again... 

I may or may not be kidding. ;-) 

Tomorrow is 

National Moldy Cheese Day

Yep. Fun stuff right there folks. 

What did I get myself into! 

Goodnight

Frappe... Rappe? No... Notsomuch...

Can't say much about today,

it was 

National Frappe Day

so I got one.

Tall Salted Caramel Frappe.Yum!

It hit the spot 

and I'm glad I got it

because baby girl was up like 

screaming

partying like it was 1999. 

So this mama

needed the caffeine.

Have you tried the Salted Caramel drinks at Starbucks?

Did/do you like them?

Alright, 

tomorrow is

National Pierogy Day

Fun, fun! 

See ya later!

Noodles, Noodles, Oodles of well...

Noodles! 

Today is National Noodle Day

and 

in true to me form, 

I waited until the very last second to find 

a recipe to make for dinner. 

Thankfully I had everything I needed on hand, 

(thanks to my newfound love of the kitchen)

and I made an easy, light 

 (can you call noodles light?)

dish with linguine and paired it with some sauteed veggies. 

Dinner done. 

Parmesan Garlic Noodles
Ingredients
1 box of linguine
1/2 stick of butter
2 tablespoons of EVOO
1/3 cup of grated parmesan
1 tablespoon of lemon juice
salt and pepper to taste
parsley finely chopped

1. Cook the noodles like the box says, drain, then set aside

2. In a large skillet melt the butter and add the EVOO

3. Add the garlic to the butter and oil, cook for about 2 minutes

4. Add noodles to butter mixture and toss until evenly coated

5. Remove from heat, add the Parmesan, lemon juice, salt, pepper, and parsley, mix well

Serve hot! 

Buon Appetito 

Tomorrow's National Day

is 

National Frappe Day

So, I can totally dig this one. 

Will you be having a Frappe with me? 

I hope so! 

Goodnight Friends

Tacos, Vodka, and Apples Oh MY!

So... 

I totally celebrated yesterday 

and today...

I just forgot to post until around 3 this morning

when I frantically 

awoke from my slumber

and 

accidentally waking my 2 month old in the process

talking about blogging. 

Dedicated much? 

I was seriously kicking myself over 

that all day. 

The Duke told me not to beat myself up, 

that it's an honest mistake 

and that 

you all would forgive me. 

Right?

Alright. 

Now to the important stuff

National Days! 

Yesterday was 

National Taco Day 

and 

National Vodka Day

 

So, since it was a beautiful fall day out 

we took to the streets to see what our local Fringe Festival

was all about, and while there Vodka was celebrated.  

The Duke's vodka mix poured by a bartender at a fabulous little restaurant in our town.

 At home, tacos were on the menu, and

the whole family pitched in to cook dinner.

It turned out great! 

TACOS!!! Delicioso!

This dinner has made me a big fan 

of tacos and I look forward to implementing 

"Taco Tuesday" once or twice a month!

Okay, let's move on to today!

Today was 

National Apple Betty Day. 

I'm going to be honest. I'd never 

heard of Apple Betty until today,

but I'm really happy that today was that day. 

Where we live it was super cold today, 

so I just wanted to do nothing but 

hang out at home and snuggle, 

but since we have athletes in the house 

I spent the day at their games outside. 

 So let me just say that I was extremely happy to 

bake tonight. 

This went in my oven. Ingredients: 4 apples (peeled and cored), 3/4 cup of flour, 1 cup of sugar, 1 stick of softened butter, 1/4 cups of orange juice, 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon, 1/4 teaspoon of nutmeg

This came out of my oven! Mmmmmm!

 Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 375

2.  Add the peeled and cored apples to a buttered pie dish and pour the OJ on top. Mix well and set aside. 

3. . Combine the rest of the ingredients in a bowl and mix until crumbly. 

4. Sprinkle the mixture on top of the apples and make sure to cover it good (it's not a pie, but that crust is the bomb.com, you'll love it!)

5. Put it in the oven for 45 minutes. 

After you take it out 

bowl it up and serve with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or cool whip! 

Enjoy! 

Tomorrow is 

National Noodle Day

I'm going to have fun with that one. 

See ya then! 

Smiling Techies...

Today was 

National Techies Day

and 

World Smile Day...

To celebrate I didn't put my phone down 

I had my face glued to it, 

and well... I smiled at people... 

I even laughed with strangers. 

I think I made a few new friends. 

Now, because my eyes hurt from looking at my 

screen all day, I'm going to rest them up

and rest myself for tomorrow's festivities

because the following are the National Day's...

National Taco Day

and

National Vodka Day

 Hooray!

Now, who's celebrating with me?! 

LOL 

Fry All The Scallops

This is what I was saying 

quite loudly at the fish market today

and I'm pretty sure 

they thought I was all kinds of cray cray, 

but I didn't care.

Today is
National Fried Scallops Day

&

I was literally floating on cloud 9 because

one of my after-school mom friends 

informed me that there was 

an amazing little local seafood market 

that not only had scallops (fresh from the area),

but also FRIED THEM FOR YOU!!!!! 

(cue sound of music type spinning)

She gave me life with that statement. 

That meant I didn't have to turn my stove on 

AT ALL today! 

Can I get a halleluiah?

I mean, don't get me wrong,
I love cooking, but
this mama is tired today y'all!
Tired with a capital T!

Besides, this seafood market made the
prettiest fried scallops that I have ever seen

Pretty, pretty scallops

We paired them with sweet potato fries
and called it a day.
Now... at 11:30 PM
I'm calling it a night.

Oh... Okay... so here's the deal with the recipe.
My friend read the blog
and
she made me promise not to post the recipe until
I make it, with pictures
because she wants me to be sure that it's as amazing as I said,
and I'm quoting her...
"I want the world to like it. I don't want to be an EH recipe"
So, I gave her my word that I will make the cookies
and post the recipe with pictures... Stay tuned.

Alright
Tomorrow's National Days are
National Techies Day (WOOT!)
World Smile Day

So if you're out and about,
give someone a smile and
while you're at it wave an electronic device at them...
or maybe not... LOL
Goodnight Friends!

L. 

Chocolate Chips... Chocolate Chip Cookies

Today was 

National Homemade Cookie Day

and I chose 

what seemed like at the time 

a fairly easy cookie to make...

and it was... 

However. 

Somewhere 

between this morning 

and 

OH CRAP 

I have to go to the grocer, 

life happened. 

We got busy

and 

time went by...

before I knew it, 

it was time to pick up the kids from the school, 

and high tail it to the nearest store 

for some essentials in cookie making

and I still forgot some things. 

Did I mention, 

I planned on making 

80 Apple Dumplings 

for Bible study tomorrow?

No.. Didn't mention it? 

Well I did

and in between taking out the 

the dumplings 

and putting in cookies

and taking out cookies

putting in more dumplings 

I forgot I had to write this post! 

LOL... So here it is. 

11:52 PM 

and I'm doing it. 

I'm not missing a day 

because I lost track of time yet again 

or because I over-extended myself... yet again. 

I'm dedicated to this y'all. 

DEDICATED!

Alright, 

the real reason you showed up... 

Cookies! 

I tried a new recipe from a baking blog

 I found

and they turned out just okay... 

Not going to post the recipe because they were just eh... 

But... 

I will post the recipe that I would have used

from a family friend tomorrow... 

because those would have turned out 

amazefest USA. 

Yeah... 

I totally just wrote that. 

It's 11:57 PM and I'm exhausted. 

LOL, cut me some slack. 

Now... 

Tomorrow's National Days 

are

National Fried (Pan-Seared in my house, LOL) Scallops Day

National Fire Dog Day

Check back in to see how we celebrate! 

Goodnight! 

National Hot Mulled Cider Day

While today wasn't overly cool, 

it was still a perfect evening to 

celebrate

National Hot Mulled Cider Day

These little mugs of heaven made our home smell divine! I love fall!

Ingredients

• 64 ounces of apple cider (fresh is preferred)
• 3 sticks of cinnamon (put a few on the side for stirring)
• 6 whole cloves
• ½ teaspoon ground allspice
• ½ teaspoon fresh nutmeg
• 1 jar of Smuckers Salted Caramel Sauce 

 The directions are simple, simple, simple!

In your crockpot combine the 

apple cider, spices, cloves, 

and cinnamon sticks

Allow to cook on high for about 1 1/2 - 2 hours

Put a tablespoon or two of caramel in the bottom 

of the mug, pour in hot cider and stir with a cinnamon stick. 

Enjoy your beverage!

To be honest, 

I wish this day would have been 

a week or so later, 

because we haven't been to our favorite farms yet. 

We have a few that we enjoy loading the family 

up and driving to, 

and the foliage here is

really beautiful a few weeks into the season, 

so we enjoy driving for that reason as well...

Do you enjoy a drive through the forest

during autumn?

Do you have a mulled cider recipe? 

Share it with me! 

Tomorrow's National Day 

is...

National Homemade Cookies Day!

Share your favorite type of cookie to make

and give me a recipe! 

You may just be featured. 

Coffee, Coffee, Coffee!

I was pretty much chanting that today 

because it is

National Coffee Day! 

Did you get yours? 

Did you make your way to your local

 Dunkin? 

Starbucks? 

Caribou? 

Keurig? 

I wanted to make my way to my very close Keurig, 

but alas, 

we had errands to run after dropping the two oldest 

kids off at school... 

and 

the baby had to get her 2 month checkup. 

I've always had a love/hate relationship with those checkups. 

I love them because I get to see how the kids are growing, 

but hate them because there are usually shots involved... 

I'm a sensitive mama and I don't like seeing my babies hurt for any reason...

Especially reasons like that, but I also like to see the healthy so... 

Yeah. 

Anyway, back to coffee... 

I'm kind of lucky. 

I had a pretty hot coffee date... 

(no pun intended)

Check him out

                              Those eyes tho...   Those eyes are what got me in trouble a decade ago. LOL The coffee looks good too,                                but I think the Duke may look just a tad-bit better... Just a smidgen. ;-) 

 Okay... so I'm keeping this one short, 

but of course 

you know I'll tell you what day 

tomorrow will be

Hot Mulled Cider Day

I'm really looking forward to this one, 

especially with the cooler weather coming on, 

I need to perfect my recipe for the bonfire we're going to host 

next month. 

You can't go through fall without having at least one, 

surrounded by

good company, 

dishes made with apples

 and/or pumpkin, 

and of course  

(I keep saying that... LOL) 

Hot Mulled Cider! 

Stay tuned for my recipe 

and post! 

See ya later!

National Strawberry Cream Pie Day

Short and sweet this post will be! 

Today is

National Strawberry Cream Pie Day

and 

National Drink a Beer Day

I made a pie! 

 1 ready-made graham cracker pie crust
1 pound fresh strawberries, cleaned and hulled
4 tablespoons of sugar
4 oz cream cheese
1 pkg. (3.4 oz.) vanilla flavor instant pudding mix
2 cups Cool Whip whipped topping, thawed, divided

Directions

1. Put the strawberry and sugar in a food processor, pulse until chopped.

2. Ad the cream cheese and continue to blend. 

3. Place strawberry mixture in a bowl and add the package of dry pudding to the mixture and stir until well mixed, about 3 minutes or so...

4. Add 2 cups of whip cream to mixture and fold in lightly. 

5. Spoon mix into the pie crust and place in the fridge. 

Leave it in there until ready to serve. 

I'd say prepare this dish at the earliest 1 hour from serve time, 

but it would be best served at about 2 hours or more later. 

It's light, easy, and delicious! 

*If you don't have a food processor, finely chopped the strawberries and combine the ingredients in a bowl, and begin on step 3 after all of the ingredients (minus the cool whip) are in the bowl.

adapted from here  

 

I'm not much of a drinker, 

but I did have a few sips of The Duke's beer today

in honor of the drink beer holiday. 

Tomorrow is:

National Coffee Day 

and I can't wait to have a cup of the good stuff! 

Are you joining me? 

Feeling a little Irish...

Today's national day 

has me feeling a little 

bit o'lucky! 

Today is

National Corned Beef Hash Day

and 

The Duke couldn't be happier... 

Of course, 

The Duke 

is an 

Irishman

so it's 

just in his blood to 

like this day. 

However, 

it's not in mine, 

and seeing how

I've never made

corned beef anything

I was dreading this task. 

I was especially dreading it

after spending a beautiful day 

lounging outside by the bay.

I just wanted to come in and curl up

with a book and do nothing. 

Ever have those days? 

It can't be just me... LOL

Alright, so here it is. 

• 1 pound corned beef (roughly chopped)
• 1 package frozen hashbrowns (any style will do, I chose southern)
• 1 small onion (finely chopped)
• 4 tablespoons butter
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Fried Eggs as side dish (optional)

Directions

Melt butter in skillet and add the onions.

Saute onions until fragrant, then add the corned beef

Mix the corned beef and onions together for 3-4 minutes on medium heat

Add the potatoes and cook until potatoes are light/golden brown in color

Serve with fried eggs on the side

Alright...

Tomorrow is:

Strawberry Cream Pie Day

Yum! I can't wait! 

Cakes, Cakes, No... Pannnnnncakes!

Today was a good day

I was up early enough to get the kids to school

without rushing, I was able to go by 

Barnes & Noble 

to purchase a book 

written by a friend

(way cool!)

and 

I was even able to 

make good on the promise to feed ducks 

with the littlest ones today. 

I was rocking it. 

So imagine my 

dismay when around 3:30 

I began to get the warning signs 

of a migraine.
I was so very sad about it

because I knew 

 the one that I felt coming on

 was going to be a whopper

and it is... It's a big one. 

I didn't know how I was going to make it tonight, 

but I took some medicine 

and despite feeling 

awful, 

I was able to stick to my guns 

and make the family

funfetti pancakes 

in honor of 

National Pancake Day

They aren't the prettiest pancakes I've made, but they did the trick, and were edible, so I guess that's all that really matters LOL

I had planned to cook these 

bad boys from scratch, 

I had a recipe and all that jazz

ready to go, 

but alas 

my migraine said, 

"No way Lady. You're not cooking from scratch today!" 

Instead, I used 

the just add water 

pancake mix

(the horror)

and 

made the batch as quickly as I could 

so I could return to lying down position. 

I'm taking a reprieve from my 

slumber to write this post. 

I must ask, 

did you celebrate 

National Pancake Day? 

Were you up for the challenge? 

What's your favorite kind of pancake? 

I enjoy funfetti, 

but 

red velvet is a close second. 

Tomorrow is:

National Corned Beef Hash Day

and 

National Chocolate Milk Day

Chocolate Milk, I've got covered, 

but that hash... 

Stay tuned... 

National Comic Book Day

Today was

National Comic Book Day 

and 

the kids celebrated appropriately. 

We were going to make a visit 

to our local comic book store to 

pick out new comic books, 

but the dreary and gray 

weather put a damper

(pun-intended)

on those plans.

Tomorrow is 

National Pancake Day

and I know what I'll be cooking 

at some point during the day... 

Fun fact: IHOP celebrates National Pancake Day in March, but

September 26th is indeed the actual day. 

See ya tomorrow!  

That one time I made...

Cherries Jubilee! 

It's National Cherries Jubilee Day 

and 

again. I'm thrilled! 

I'm not thrilled because I am a fan of cherries

because well... I am not. 

I am thrilled because it means I get to get in my kitchen again! 

Woot Woot! 

I'm really loving this y'all. 

Really, really, really loving this. 

The best part is

so is my family!

The Duke 

was singing praises at the 

chicken pot pie today

(It was even better as seconds)

and totally mentioned 

something I noticed as well... 

He said, "We've been eating better in the last few weeks, 

than we ever have." 

I agree. 

We've been eating better, 

making more conscious decisions 

about what we put in our bodies, 

buying the better ingredients

because we're learning more about food, 

granted not everything I've made has been the 

healthiest, but we've sure tried to make it that way

and we're definitely balancing out all these desserts with

a healthy meal-plan (I despise the word diet) and working out. 

But we'll come back to all the healthy talk, let's make a left back to that 

Cherries Jubilee! 

Ingredients: 1 premade graham cracker pie shell, 1 (21 oz) can of cherry pie filling, 1 (8 oz) tub of Cool Whip, 8 oz of cream cheese, 3/4 cup of confectioners sugar, and 3 eggs

This recipe is simple as... 

well... 

Pie. 

Directions

Preheat oven to 375F

In a large bowl mix the cream cheese, egg, and sugar, beat until smooth and 

pour it into the pie shell. 

Bake 15-18 minutes until set. 

Remove the pie from the oven and let it cool for about 10 minutes. 

Spread pie filling all over the top, then cover the pie filling with the cool whip. 

Place in the fridge and allow it to chill until ready to serve. 

Enjoy! 

 See... Simple! 

Let me know if you make it.
I'd love to hear how yours turned out! 

Now, back to this health thing! 

Shameless plug. 

I'm an Independent Beachbody Coach 

and 

since today is also 

National Women's Health and Fitness Day

I wanted to share what I do. 

I help women (and men) get into the best shape of their lives. 

I'm their champion, cheerleader, confidant! 

I help people. I love what I do, I do it well. 

And I'd love to help you, 

so feel free to shoot me an email 

or comment here with your email 

and we'll get you on the way to being 

happy, healthy, and fit. 

Just don't eat too much of that cherries jubilee. 

I'm watching! Haha! 

Tomorrow is 

National Comic Book Day

I know a couple of kids who 

will enjoy this knowledge. 

Do you? lol

Goodnight friends!

Pass the Pot Pie Please!

Alright Folks, 

today's holiday 

rocked hard. 

National Great American Pot Pie Day

was thoroughly celebrated 

and we are all better off for it...

(my waistline notsomuch)

but good grief am I stuffed.

(Visiting with Shawn T after this post)

Okay, so let me tell you

I love me some pot pie.

When I was little it 

was almost all I would eat, 

no, I take that back, 

it was all I would eat. 

My grandma's made it so darn good

and so did my aunts, and my mom. 

Creamy, warm, filling chickeny

 (yes I know that's not a word, but that's alright) 

goodness. 

So just imagine how thrilled I was to be sharing 

one of my favorites with my family! 

Now to share it with you! 

 Pictures!!!

So, I won't win any awards for crimping dough. LOL

Or adding slits... I don't think I did too terrible on the slits.

Finished product, isn't it purdy?

Oooey gooey goodness! The dough cooked perfectly and it had that nice crackle sound when you cut into it. Perfection came out of my oven tonight. Perfection y'all.

Easy Chicken Pot Pie

Ingredients

1 cup peeled and diced potato
¾ cup sliced carrot
1 cup peas
⅔ cup diced onion
½ cup butter
1¼ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon ground pepper
¼ teaspoon dried thyme
¼ teaspoon poultry seasoning
½ cup all-purpose flour
1½ cups chicken broth
1 cup milk
3 - 4 cups shredded chicken from an oven roasted or ( quick-meal option rotisserie chicken)
1 package Pillsbury refrigerated pie crusts
1 egg white together with 1 tablespoon water to make an egg wash

Instructions

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Fit 1 pie crust into the bottom of a deep dish pie plate
Place potatoes and carrots in a small saucepan, cover with water, and

 bring to a boil for 5-8 minutes to soften. Drain carrots and potatoes, set aside. 

Melt ½ cup butter in a large sauté pan. Add onions and sauté until fragrant about 1 1/2 minutes.
Add in salt and pepper (to taste), then add thyme, and poultry seasoning and stir together. 

Add flour and whisk, cook for 1 minute, stirring continuously.

Whisk in chicken broth stir for about 30 seconds, then slowly add the milk while stirring.

Grab those potatoes and carrots that you set aside and add them. Let the filling simmer for a minute or two to thicken.
Stir in the chicken and peas, 

then turn the burner off.
 Pour the pot pie filling into pie shell.
Place second pie crust on top and trim excess. 

Press the two pie crusts together to seal and crimp edge
Brush egg white on top of the pot pie and use a knife to cut 4 slits to let steam escape.
Place on a baking sheet (optional, I did not) and bake for 30 minutes.

 

Dinner Done!

 (adapted from here)

Alright folks,

Tomorrow is 

National Cherries Jubilee Day

National Women's Health and Fitness Day

Looking forward to celebrating them both! 

xoxoxoxo

National Ice Cream Cone Day

Today was 

National Ice Cream Cone Day 

and we celebrated accordingly. 

The Duke with an Ice Cream Cone

We each had an ice cream cone, 

the kids had chocolate, 

The Duke and I vanilla, 

and delicious they were. 

We tried Alden's Organic Ice Cream for the first time

and I'm pretty sure we'll be buying it for as long as they sell it. 

YUM! 

Today was also American Business Women's Day

which I think is completely cool 

since I own a business

and I'll be posting more about my business

in upcoming posts. 

Shameless plugs here and there never hurt nobody. Haha! 

So today business women 

we celebrate you!

Keep on rocking hard 

and doing big things. 

Shine bright like a diamond! 

Alright, 

Tomorrow's Holiday

is 

National Great American Pot Pie Day

I'm excited for this, 

I can't wait to share my adventure in the 

kitchen with you! 

Goodnight Friends!

Happy Wife, Happy Pecan Cookie Day?

Hi Friends! 

Today was 

Wife Appreciation Day

and 

National Pecan Cookie Day

Both of which I was 

completely okay with celebrating. 

The Duke 

(as he so affectionately wants to be called on this blog)

 really outdid himself 

for wife appreciation day. 

Not only did he do all of the laundry, 

but he let me do practically nothing all day. 

It was glorious! 

I mean, we did go to church, 

and to our son's baseball game, 

but after that I didn't have to do anything, 

no dishes, 

no cooking, 

nothing. 

I baked cookies that took about 20 minutes to make 

after he assembled all the ingredients. 

Seriously, he totally ROCKED Wife Appreciation Day...

but to be honest, he rocks wife appreciation day 

every. single. day. 

I'm a lucky girl . 

Now...

On to the fun stuff! 

PECAN COOKIES! 

I've never made pecan cookies before, 

so I went to my trusty sidekick pinterest

to find a recipe. 

I found one here. 

Averie is absolutely and completely

 adorable 

(seriously, check out her about me page)

and has a darling blog!

I want to eat everything she makes. 

I love it, 

I've bookmarked it, 

and

I look forward to reading more from her. 

Okay, so here's what you came for! 

Pictures! 

Ingredients: 1/2 cup unsalted butter, 3/4 cup light brown sugar, 1/4 cup granulated sugar, 1 large egg (not pictured), 1 tablespoon vanilla extract, 2 tablespoons cream, 2 cups all-purpose flour, 1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice, 2 teaspoons corn starch, 1 teaspoon baking soda, pinch of salt, 2 cups of chopped pecans

 Directions

1.  Preheat oven to 350F
2. Combine the butter, sugars, egg, vanilla, and beat on medium-high speed until creamed and mixed. 
3. Add the cream, and beat on low speed until mixed.
4. Add the flour, pumpkin pie spice, corn starch, baking soda, optional salt, and beat on low speed until mixed.
5. Add the pecans, and beat on low speed until mixed.
6. Using your hands roll the dough into a ping-pong sized circle and space them apart about 2 inches on a baking sheet coated with cooking spray. 
7. Place the sheet in the oven and bake for 10 minutes. Take them out at 10 minutes (they may not look done, take them out anyway) and let them cool on the baking sheet for another 10 minutes. 

The final result! They are completely delicious and taste as if you're biting into fall.

I enjoyed making these cookies. My daughter helped and she enjoyed the process as well.
I can't wait to share these with my girlfriends tomorrow. They're too good not to share...
Plus I can't eat them all.
The Duke and I are starting a fitness challenge starting in the morning
and even though I'm baking yummy stuff, I won't be eating as much of it as I'd like.
Bummer, but, I can't do all this cooking & eating and not take care of myself right?
Right!

So tomorrow's holidays are:
National Ice Cream Cone Day
American Women in Business Day

How to celebrate those two, I have no idea.
I'll come up with something though,
Until then,
Goodnight!

Leave love!  

Apples and Punch

Today we celebrate 

apples, since it's

National Eat An Apple Day

and the drink served at dances all around the world

punch, since it's 

National Punch Day. 

Can I just say, 

I don't particularly enjoy eating apples

UNLESS

they are peeled, cored, and sliced. 

I've been this way from childhood. 

Apples always hurt my teeth 

because the skin would get stuck in there

and I hated that... Well... I still do. 

However, for the sake of 

the blog, and at my daughter's prompting

I shall eat an apple... 

(a small one) 

today. 

National Eat An Apple Day celebration complete!

This morning at the breakfast table the kids were discussing
National Punch Day and were trying to figure out what it meant...
(they thought literally punch someone)
I said, "No,

not that kind of punch!" LOL. 

PUNCH DUDE! You know, like the drink?! Hahaha...
The Duke, witnessing all of this hubbub
 laughed, shook his head, and went back to his morning tea. 

I went back to pinterest 

to find a punch recipe where

I already had the ingredients on hand.

 

I'm quickly finding out that 

this little adventure

I'm taking is getting expensive...

(however, I do take donations... seriously I do)

GoFundMe

Anyway, back to the punch...
I remembered that I had a recipe.
(None of the ingredients, lol)
My grandmother and all her friends
used it for every special event we
went to...
Weddings, birthday parties, anniversary parties,
any kind of party really
you'd find this drink.
 Sherbet Punch.

Simple as pie to make,
refreshing and delicious.
 Today, National Punch Day
I introduced my kids
to a childhood favorite of mine.

Now I'm introducing it to you,
Enjoy

 Sherbet Punch

Ingredients: 1 - 2 liter bottle of Sprite,  1 container of fruit flavored sherbet (ignore the Gatorade, I thought the recipe called for fruit punch and this was the only fruit punch I could find in the store I went to. LOL)

Directions

Empty the whole container of sherbet into a pitcher,
pour Sprite over sherbet,
mix until about half of the sherbet has melted into the drink.
Pour into glasses, serve, and enjoy!

Tasting the creation, they were all smiles afterwards!