Dallas

Hi Everyone!


No cards to share today, but I'd like to tell you about my day/night.  Tonight was the premiere of Dallas 2012.  My siblings on the west coast haven't seen it yet, but Jeanne and I watched it and I thought it was AWESOME.  So many twists and turns. 


I wanted to take a break today and decided to create a fun "Texas" dinner.  My chili recipe isn't for Texas chili, but everyone likes it so I decided it would make a great main dish.  Actually Robbie doesn't eat it because he's a vegetarian, but Jeanne, Marie and I love it.  So early this morning I put all of the ingredients for chili into my crockpot and had it cook slowly throughout the day.

Marie has been asking for cornbread and I decided to try a new recipe for it.  I found one called "Fiesta Corn Bread" in the Better Homes and Gardens One-Pan Recipes Special Interest Publication.  The recipe makes a 9" x 13" pan of cornbread that has shredded cheddar cheese and diced green chile peppers in it.  The cornbread was to die for...crispy, moist, and packed with flavor.

I folded some bandanas to create holders for the cutlery and added a die cut cactus to each bandana. 

Found some cactus salt and pepper shakers that Beth gave me in my hutch and put them on the table. 

For dessert I wanted to make something quick and easy and decided on cupcakes.  I made the frosting from scratch, but used a cake mix for the cupcakes.  Can't get any easier than that!   I used a cute little gadget called a Cupcake Corer to create a hole in the center of each cupcake.  Then I filled the holes with the homemade buttercream frosting we all love.

I piped frosting on each cupcake and sprinkled on some red sugar.  I used papers from the
DCWV "All About Boys" stack to create western theme cupcake flags. 

When Marie came home from work and saw what I had done she smiled and laughed and said I was crazy, but I could tell she liked it.  Jeanne was impressed too and devoured a huge bowl of chili, several pieces of cornbread, two cupcakes and some ice cream!

Rob arrived home later and wolfed down the cornbread and 2 cupcakes with his veggie burgers. 

Nothing I did was a lot of work or was out of the ordinary, but it made for a fun night for all of us.  It's really true that sometimes the little things in life really are the big things. 

Will hopefully share some cards tomorrow.

Good night!
Carol