Picture Perfect

Saturday we all got dressed up to attend a wedding. I saw it as the perfect opportunity to take some pictures of our girlie. She was all pretty in peach and was just lovely!

MY FAV!!!!

This laugh is so infectious! I miss her terribly!

Look how big she is!!

She's so beautiful, so grown and SOOOO MINE!

Slip 'n Slide fun

We had some fun on the slip n' slide today!






Daddy got in on the fun too!



Momma did too but there weren't any pictures... THANK GOD!
See more pics HERE

Anyway, it was fun!






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Best gift EVER!

Hello Lovelies!

I've been MIA for a bit. We had a wonderful Memorial Day weekend at the in laws. LOTS of pool time and just hanging out. I DID NOT want to come home. I felt like I was on vacation and I didn't want it to end. I have a few pictures and need to get them uploaded. I will share soon, I promise.

But onto something else! Tomorrow I turn 33 years young! Just another birthday, not a monumental one or anything. I always love birthdays though and I love that people are calling and sending cards and in the age of Facebook posting all those Birthday wishes!! It feels good to get so much special attention, doesn't it? We don't really have any plans. We have a wedding that day and then who knows what will come of the rest of the day.

The best thing is that yesterday I got an early birthday present! The title to my car. I couldn't be more excited. Now we finally have no car payment and I'm praying that lasts a while.

Here she is!!



We're off today to meet the in laws half way to pick up our girlie. She's been with them since we left on Monday. Apparently she's had a blast!!! Thanks to Facebook I've been able to experience it a little as my MIL has posted pictures of everything they've done. I'm CERTAIN she will not want to come home to rules and no chocolate for breakfast. I love that she wants to stay there and be with them. I love even more that they want her to be there. I can't wait to see her though. It's been the longest week ever! How can that be and it was really a day shorter than most? Crazy!

I hope everyone has a safe weekend. Next time I post, I'll be older hehe

The best PW recipe to date!

Hang onto your hats, or your visors, or sunglasses, or your wig! Heck, hang onto whatever might be on your head!!! This recipe will BLOW you away, and anyone that tastes them!

I finally just bit the bullet and tried a batch of PW's Cinnamon Rolls. OH.MY.WORD!!
You won't be sorry. The work is well worth the outcome, trust me. You can trust me, I'm trustable!

It is a bit time consuming but again, you'll be famous. Ree even says so in the cookbook.
She warns you not to start making them for your friends and family unless you want to become famous for them. She says that everything you've ever accomplished before sharing the rolls will be forgotten... and in my experience, I think she's right!

I made these mad rolls on Sunday. That way I would have plenty of time and be able to share them with coworkers on Monday. I had heard that they make several pans and I knew we couldn't eat them all so sharing was the next best thing.


Here's a picture after I rolled out the first half of the dough to begin the "roll" process. Butter, cinnamon and sugar - oh my!



Here's the best looking pan I made :) Aren't they pretty? Even unbaked!




They baked and smelled HEAVEN and then I made the icing, which I didn't take a pic of the process of and poured it on there directly out of the oven and this.... this happened






Do you see that goodness? That maple glaze = HEAVEN!! Your taste buds will soar!


And I wasn't joking when I said it made several pans. Here are all mine

I brought two to work, kept two at home and sent two with James! WIN-WIN for all!

THE ENTIRE FAMILY AND ALL THAT ATE THE ROLLS GAVE THEM

5 GOLDEN WHISKS

The Good: All of it, every last thing about them is good. There's cinnamon and sugar in EVERY SINGLE BITE. The maple glaze is out of this world and I could just eat it with a spoon. RAVE! RAVE! RAVE! It's all I can do, really.

The Bad (not really): In the book she says to roll them tightly and not worry about oozing. My first set I didn't abide by the rules and well my rolls were puny when I put them in the pan, even though they baked up nicely. However, the second set I rolled nice and tight and didn't worry about ooze and they were SO PERFECT! So, if you make them, don't worry about ooze, roll those babies nice and tight.

The Ugly: YOU CAN'T STOP EATING THEM and neither can anyone you give them too. I was told that I could compete with Cinnabon. Seriously. We've decided that my Cinnamon Roll place would be called "On A Roll" Onna Roll... get it? hehe Anyway, I still have people talking about them. Some of the comments of my coworkers were "best cinnamon rolls I've ever eaten" "You're the baker of the group now" "OMG these are heavenly" So it was all good all the time! I've even had people still asking when I'm bringing more back. I have to say too that I was worried tons about the 1/4 cup of coffee that the glaze calls for. I am NOT a coffee drinker. In fact, hate the taste of it. Sorry Ree (she loves coffee) and I almost didn't put it in there but take it from someone that hates the taste in anything that you cannot taste it in these and it does not ruin the taste at all. Do not be afraid. I'm glad I wasn't!

REMAKE! You better make those again or I'll smack ya! (but it will have to be when I have plenty of time).

I loved making these. I felt so accomplished and loved telling people that I made them from scratch! I haven't hardly made anything from scratch, let alone cinnamon rolls, which seem over the top. So yummy! Oh so yummy!

Ride 'Em Cowboy

The next recipe I tried last week while cooking with The Pioneer Woman was the Cowboy Calzone.

I have to tell you, go right now, I don't care if you are at work or school, go right this second buy the cookbook and the ingredients to make these calzones. You won't regret it. It's worth every second you might miss a paycheck or homework.

These tasty pockets are easy and heaven. ALL IN ONE!

They call for the pizza dough recipe that is also in the book and this one deserves a post all on it's own, so look for that!

But look at these golden delicious mounds! Aren't they to die for?
Oh, you don't even know. Well you know if you've tried them, but if you haven't GO NOW! I wasn't joking!


This one is more triangular, but the size and shape DO NOT MATTER! It's the taste that will blow you away.

If you haven't already gone to get those items, you will want to now that you see the inside. See that sausage and ground beef and cheese... oh heavenly cheese!!


Really this was one of the best I've tried and I'm serious when I say that the crust is SUPER! You'll hear more later, I swear.

Daddy, Mommy & Girlie all gave this one

5 GOLDEN WHISKS

We really all loved it very much. And Nannie gives it 5 whisks too, it was the first one she was able to try as she had been at a corporate meeting.

REMAKE? You better make these again or I'll smack ya!

The Good: That dough, I could have only eaten it and been settled for dinner. WOW! I made the dough the night before and put it into the refridgerator immediately. I pulled it out the next evening to make dinner and it was PERFECT! Made dinner a breeze!

The Bad (not really): NOTHING! I can't think of one bad thing, except to say that I'm the type of person that after I make something I don't really want to eat much of it. I only ate 1/2 of these but we had leftovers. The BAD thing is that hubby took them to work and shared them and well they raved and raved and raved!! I was worried about the Ricotta as I'm not usually a fan but seriously it was, well, YUM!

The Ugly: The ugly truth is that I'll probably be making these again in the next week. I hope the family really did like them that well! And that pizza dough I've commented on, well it's being made again tonight.

This was one of my favs.

STAY TUNED!!! Tomorrow THE BEST RECIPE SO FAR!!!!

It made me famous... just sayin!

OW, cooking with PW

The next recipe I tried out of The Pioneer Woman's cookbook was the Chicken fried steak. I've never made anything even close to this in my life. But... the reviews from the family were great!

Just a chopped steak breaded in egg/milk, then flour seasonsings twice and fried. Looks great, right?

Daddy give this one

4 GOLDEN WHISKS

Sydney gave this one

4 GOLDEN WHISKS

I gave it

3 GOLDEN WHISKS

I really shouldn't rate this one. I got a tough piece of steak and that's not the recipes fault. Once I had the crappy bite or two I didn't want to eat anymore. But honestly it was good, the gravy is really good! But seriously everyone LOVED it that ate it. Hubby took the 3 leftover pieces with sides and gravy to work the next day and shared... they ate it up! So I really shouldn't rate it!

If my 5 year old loves it, it's a winner, seriously!

THE GOOD: It didnt take that long to make really. RAVE reviews from coworkers!

THE BAD (not really): Wish I hadn't gotten a tough piece :(

THE UGLY: Now I'll be having to make stuff for James' coworkers all the time LOL

REMAKE? If you don't make this again, I'll smack ya!

Cowboy Calzones are tomorrow. Prepare for some mouth watering!!!

More O-Dub cooks with P-Dub

Tuesday for dinner I tried the Sour Cream Pancakes. My are they good. The correct name for them is Edna Mae's Sour Cream Pancakes. God Bless you, Edna Mae!

I had to take a pic to show you how the cookbook is laid out with pictures for every step, isn't this GENIUS?! Seriously!



Ok, now onto the pancakes.
The ingredients are ultra simple and Girlie had to get in there and help me out! I always love when she's so eager to help me!

The batter is so light and awesome. It's mostly sour cream, uh hence the name.

We also had a canine helper! VEGAS!!! She was patiently waiting for droppings I"m sure. Tell me, is this dog huge or what?

Ok, back to our pancakes!

I used my griddle since it does more at a time and well, we like to make shapes. That shape isn't anything nameable just something I plopped out hehe

But once they grill up - WATCH OUT! I could eat 100 of these things!

Family Ratings:

THE MAN

4.5 Golden Whisks

THE GIRLIE

5 GOLDEN WHISKS - she really liked these!

THE MOMMA

4.5 GOLDEN WHISKS

The Good: These pancakes are the lightest softest thing you will ever put into your mouth. The sour cream gives it the perfect texture. They cook up in seconds and you can make a batch in no time and with very few ingredients!

The Bad (not really): I didn't realize at first how much batter it made. If I had another person eating it wouldn't have been enough. No biggie of course I'll just double or triple next time. I'd say that the batter made about 9-10 CD sized pancakes. And since I said I could eat 100 of them, that means about... oh too many batches to count!

The Ugly: I can't stop eating them!!!

I've decided on a new remake scale. Three options

1) NEVER EVER make that again or I'll smack ya

2) Eh, if we're desperate and it's all we got

3) IF YOU DON'T MAKE THOSE AGAIN, I'll smack ya

REMAKE? This got a If you don't make those again I'll smack ya! So to avoid being smacked I'll be making them again!

Note: I have to say that I made these Tuesday but the pictures were taken last night when I whipped up another batch. I'm currently enjoying them this morning for breakfast while I type this blog. So... that means that you can make ahead reheat! They are just as good, trust me!

Tomorrow you'll see - Chicken Fried Steak

Until then!