Florida Winter Is Fierce!

I offer you proof positive that it did actually snow in central Florida. Thanks Sumner family for the borrowed picture.

I can hear my friend in Maine and my sister-in-law in Ohio laughing all the way down here!

Take Your Dog To School Day

Paula In My Crockpot

Well I did it. I cooked up an original Paula Deen recipe right straight from her cookbook. I usually tweek recipes just a little to suit us better but this time there was NO tweeking. Lee and the girls liked it in spite of the onions and bell peppers. I did make sure to cut the offenders large enough to be picked out by the picky eaters among us. The dish was called Swiss Steak and I'm still wondering why it's called that and what Paula is doing with a Swiss recipe in Savannah, Georgia. Anyway, I don't think I can share the exact recipe here, I'm thinking there may be rules against such things. The last thing I need is a night in jail and I would not even know how to word an apology letter to Paula. SO generally speaking I'll just say that I took some cubed steak and dusted it in flour and other seasonings like salt and pepper. I browned it in pan of hot oil then put the pieces into my faithful crockpot. I dumped in a can of diced tomatoes, some chopped onion and bell pepper, a little water and a couple cloves of minced garlic. I used the can of tomatoes that was labeled "Marinated in garlic and olive oil". There isn't much that I would not eat that has been marinated in garlic and olive oil! YUM! I turned the crockpot up on high and let it go for about 6 hours. The result was a tender, delicious, aromatic delight served over white rice with crusty french bread. You gotta give it a try.

At our house we have a rating system for new recipes. I take a poll. Would you be willing to eat this weekly, bi-monthly, monthly, yearly or never again? Paula's Swiss Steak got a solid monthly rating with a wavering bi-monthly from at least two family members. Don't let that fool you though, you have to remember the picky no onion and pepper eaters among us.

BTW, I consider a yearly rating to really be a never again rating. A yearly rating in translation means "Mom we don't want to hurt your feelings and we know you went to a lot of effort here but please never make us eat this again".

A Little Bit Rock N Roll

A Quiz

1. Lucy in the sky with ____________

A. Diamonds B. Emeralds C. Rubies D. Cubic Zirconias

2. We all live in a ___________ submarine.

A. Russian B. Purple C. Yellow D. Navy

3. Help! I need ____________

A. Some assistance B. A Motrin C. Coffee D. Somebody

4. I wanna hold your ___________

A. Money B. Purse while you shop C. Hand D. Chicken

If you answered any of the questions correctly on this quiz, you are probably older than 30. OR.... You (or your cousin) may have received Beatles Rock Band for Christmas. Therefore, every spare minute has been spent perfecting your guitar licks or song lyrics. Rock~N~Roll is here to stay.

I had an interesting thought earlier this week after listening to my children humming Beatles tunes around the house. Generations of children are now being exposed to The Fab Four all thanks to last Christmas's must have gift. My guess is that most of these kiddos could not name those four fellows if they were pressed but they do know "It's Been a Hard Days Night".

The Beatles have been revived and they live on in a new generation.

Is that a good thing?

Answers:

1. A

2. C

3. D

4. C

Notice a Pattern?

Lets hope they are not revived too.

Friends

Look who showed up this morning to help me make my grocery list. These are women I would love to take to Starbucks, treat them to a Latte' and chat the afternoon away. I would not mind a bit if Rachel Ray joined us too. Although I'm not sure who would dominate the conversation more. I think Rachel could give Paula a run for her money in the chattiness category. I've never heard the Pioneer Woman talk but I'm sure that she and I would hit it off just fine. She cooks, she's got kids and dogs and she blogs... What's not to love?

Since none of these gals were available for coffee this afternoon I was forced to settle for their books while I munched my grapes. You cannot possibly browse through these books and not get hungry!

List made, groceries bought, yummy food emerging from my kitchen soon to follow. I'll let you know how it turns out. In the meantime if any of you chat with Paula, Ree or Rachel, let them know about my coffee offer.

Twins?

Isn't this picture the funniest?! That's Lee and his dad. No, we did not plan their outfits, it just happened that way. No jokes please about their predictable wives. Although we Brown gals do have great tastes, in men at least. We know a good thing when we see it!

The funny thing is that Lee's dad got almost the exact same outfit as a gift. Hey! I hear you out there cracking jokes.

There's my hunky Georgia boy in his red shirt and blue jeans.

Happy New Year!

I cannot think of a much better way to begin a new year than the way we did it this year. We were able to witness the beginning of a brand new family. Jason and Labranda were married yesterday afternoon in Raleigh. It was a beautiful ceremony and we were so happy to be a small part of it. We've known LaBranda and her mom and dad, Stan and Betty for about 10 years now. They are folks that almost instantly became family to us. LaBranda was 12 when we met her and boy do I now feel old! What a wonderful young woman she turned out to be. Everyday I'm thankful for the examples of godly virtue like LaBranda that God has placed into my own girl's lives.

The happy couple finally able to sit down for a minute.

Jason, you could not have made a better choice than Labranda to be your bride.

The last group photo I have of all of them together was years ago and they ALL looked like babies. Now I can barely stand to look! They are growing up so fast. Gracie was 2 and 3 when she could see Labranda every day. Back then she was learning to talk and could not say "LaBranda" it came out "Nana" and it stuck. I can hardly believe that our little Nana is now a married woman!

Stan is making very sure that Lee completely understands that this is going to happen to him FOUR times! Yikes! After watching Stan and Betty walk their only child through it, I only hope that Lee and I will be able to handle it all with as much dignity when our time comes.

Weddings make you so lovey dovey and remind you of why you got married in the first place. I love weddings!

Old friends are the best friends!