Domestic Diva Experiment: Salt Crusted Baked Potatoes

You must try this...

(I promise we do more than cook here ... but there have been so many yummy experiments here lately, we've wanted to share them all with you!)

Domestic Diva resorts to an old standby: Apricot Chicken

This is one of our favorite meals. My mom made it when I was growing up, and when I started preparing it for hubby, it quickly became one of his favorites, too. Tonight, we're having it with rice and Mama J's green beans on the side. Simply delicious!

Domestic Diva and Little Domestic Diva Experiment: a new recipe for pumpkin bread

Remember all of that pumpkin puree that I made and froze last year? With the arrival of fall (according to the calendar, anyway), E and I decided that it was high time to make some homemade pumpkin bread. It's a favorite fall treat around here - especially for breakfast! So good with a steaming cup of coffee or glass of milk!

This year, we tried a new recipe. I followed it almost as written (omitting the pumpkin seeds -- we snacked on those last year when I made the puree!), but I did add extra cinnamon, as well as some allspice, cloves and ginger. I like my pumpkin bread on the "zippy" side. Yum!

One word: yummy!

Wordless Wednesday...

Just add a little freshly ground black pepper...

E loves to watch cooking shows with mommy and daddy. Recently, she was helping me make dinner and literally squealed with glee when she saw the pepper grinder. She was tickled to help me add "just a dash of freshly ground black pepper" to our salad!

Just like Grandmome'

E has inherited hubby's mom's sense of style. E's Grandmome' loved beautiful, bright colors. We've inherited some of her jewelry. E loves to put it on and prance around the house -- all the while telling me to look at her pretty bright sparklies. Recently, when I was painting E's toenails, I asked her if she'd like a light pink or a bright red -- she informed me that the pink was "much too pale" and that the red was "much better". Grandmome' would be proud, sweet girl!

Domestic Diva and Little Domestic Diva: repeat of a favorite

This stromboli recipe has become a staple in our home. Easy to make with ingredients that are easy to keep on hand....and so tasty! We love it. E helped me make a fresh batch recently - such a good little kitchen helper!

Room to read...

E has been to known to choose some strange places to read like this and this and this. The child loves books and can often be found with her nose between the pages of our latest treasures from the library. One of her most recent haunts? The stuffed animal basket in her room! I suppose it is squishy and soft -- but it's not the first place I'd think of when selecting a curl-up-and-read location. Silly girl!

A little pizazz during breakfast before school....

Little Domestic Diva: brownies

E has such fun helping me in the kitchen. We made "from the box" brownies last weekend -- nothing exciting, but E had such fun helping out! She could hardly wait for the treats to bake. She kept telling us that the "chocolate smell was so wonderful" and that she couldn't wait to "taste the chocolate treats". Cute girl!

Wordless Wednesday...

Domestic Diva and Little Domestic Diva Experiment: Butter Burgers

Over Labor Day weekend, we made herbed-butter stuffed hamburgers. We've tried these before and they are fabulous. Mouthwatering. Wonderful. Mmmmmmmm. This time, E helped make the herbed butter that goes inside the hamburger patties. Delicious!

Road trip!

We took a quick road trip to T-town this weekend to visit some of hubby's relatives. E thought it was so funny to be able to have "one foot in each state" at the state line!

Domestic Diva and Little Domestic Diva Experiment: homemade pudding pops

E finally tried freeze-pops at pre-K last week. She loves ice cream, but hadn't been brave enough to try other frozen novelties until now. (I'm not sure what the problem was, she just hadn't been interested until now. Those preschool teachers....they can get kids to eat anything!) She's always loved playing with our ice pop molds, but now that she realizes what they're actually for, she asked to make ice pops. Fun, fun!

Here's what we did:

-Make one small box of pudding according to package directions.

(ours happened to be cook and serve instead of instant. We used vanilla.)

-Toss in whatever fruit you like.

(Ours happened to be strawberries past their prime and some

banana that E didn't finish at breakfast.

-Whiz all ingredients in blender until smooth.

-Pour into ice pop molds. Freeze and enjoy!

Domestic Diva Experiment: "Mama J's" Green Beans

I love these green beans. I've had this recipe at potlucks, at baptism celebration dinners, during quiet dinners in the homes of great friends. Yes, many of us love that green bean casserole....but when you're looking for something a little lighter and a little different, you must make these green beans.

Family friend "Mama J" shared her recipe in casual format, so I'm going to do the same here. I really don't think you can mess this up - adapt for your family's tastes - and enjoy. It is SO GOOD.

Mama J's Green Beans

(recipe as told by Mama J)

Saute some bacon, remove bacon (and some of the grease) and saute sliced purple onion in the remaining grease only briefly so it is still crisp. About 2-3 minutes before removing the onion, add sliced mushrooms. I usually use frozen green beans. Cook them separately and only until they are crisp-done (no mushy!!!). Drain them and immediately place in some ice cold water to stop the cooking process so they remain a vibrant green. Drain and add to the bacon, onion, mushroom mixture. Sprinkle with soy sauce and TA-DA enjoy!

ASC note: we were out of soy sauce, so I used Worcestershire - still delicious!

From the Archives: Daddy Day

For the past several months, hubby has been working 10-hour days Monday - Thursday, which means he has Fridays off. Those days have been dubbed "Daddy Day" or "Family Day" around here. Unearthed this cute photo of my sweeties from one of our last daddy days of the summer...so fun!

From the Archives: Jesus Loves Me

Found this adorable video from "Aunt Kelli's visit this summer. Love this!

And three more birthdays...

So many cool people have birthdays today!

And I just learned that my high school and college friend Hope

had little Chloe Abigail at 1:07 this morning...

meaning we know another little sweetie with a

September 2 birthday. It's a great day to be born!

(E's cute little friend Lillian has a birthday today,

AND E's pre-K teacher also celebrated a birthday today, too!

Happy, happy birthday to all of you!)

Happy Birthday to...

...my life-long best friend, former UNT roommate,

confidante and "sister" Jennifer. I love you!

(happy birthday also to E. Stone,

as well as hubby's Uncle L!)

Curlies for my girl...

I have a very close relationship with my curling iron, my hairspray and my blow dryer. So it's safe to say that E sees me using these items quite often (although I try to have my morning workout and resulting shower and hair-foofing done before she wakes...). The other day, she asked me for some "hair curlies". Her hair is so fine that curls usually don't stay in very long, but she was very proud of these hair curlies and pranced in front of the mirror for quite some time admiring. Love that curly girly girl!