Happy 1st Anniversary Jake and Colleen!

Owl Punch Jake and Colleen First Anniversary Card

I can’t believe it is already a year!

A year since our family was so fortunate to add a new McKinney member.

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A year since our Jake was lucky enough to “score” one of the greatest girls in the world to be his wife!

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A year since Marty and I were given the gift of a wonderful “Daughter” (in law)!

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A year since the greatest party of all time at Gable Farm!

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A year since “I Do” and “I Do Too!” 🙂

Happy Anniversary Jake and Colleen!

I love you both MORE than you could ever know, and more than words could ever express.

I wish you a lifetime of love and joy and happiness!

Know that it will be tested with trials and challenges, but also know that it is worth it and you are both worth it, and it can last a lifetime.

Cheers and Hugs for the first of many HAPPY ANNIVERSARIES!

Owl Punch Jake and Colleen First Anniversary Card

Love ALWAYS!

Mom

xo

“Instants” I Just Don’t Get….

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… INSTANT Mashed Potatoes

Seriously???!!
NEVER bought them.
What is more instant that peeling and boiling and mashing REAL potatoes?  A no brainer, and SOOOOO much better!

… INSTANT Coffee

GAG!  No more words necessary!  Should not even exist.

… INSTANT Iced Tea

Is it really that much easier than putting a tea bag in hot water and cooling?

… INSTANT Macaroni and Cheese

GROSS!

(I do have to admit to buying this “food” in a box in my younger years when the kids were little. And then there is Nick’s first experience with “cooking” boxed mac’n cheese! You’ll have to ask him about that!)

I’m not sure why I bought it????
I don’t think I was ever taught differently.
But – another – SERIOUSLY??  – What is so difficult about whisking together some butter, flour, milk and cheese and mixing it with a box of macaroni?
Pretty instant I think.
And pretty yummy too!  Who can resist the creamy, gooey, cheesey center contrasting with the browned crusty goodness on the edges?!? – Num Num Num!
Made some for Marty this past week.  Macaroni Salad and Mac and Cheese are a couple of his favorite indulgences I don’t make that often.
But when I do – it’s a big hit!

(especially goes over well a day after I serve him “CHICKEN AGAIN?!” – and even more especially with teriyaki sauce! 🙂 )

I know many of us are busy and enjoy INSTANT things, but I’m liking them less and less….

Then again,

I am at

Life In Between.

Do you have any INSTANTS you LOVE or HATE?  Would love to hear about them 🙂

Cheers and Hugs,

Jodi

Oh Happy Day – It’s Friday!

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Oh Happy Day – It’s FriDAY!

My hummingbird photo quest got me in the mood to make a card with a hummingbird on it too, so I brought out the SU Bloomin Marvelous stamp set  with some pear pizazz and calypso coral inks and created this happy card for today.

Have a wonderful weekend and celebrate EVERY day!

Cheers and Hugs,

Jodi

 

Kicked Up Teriyaki Grilled Chicken Breast Sandwich

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I LOVE Chicken!

It is so versatile.  There are so so so many different things you can do with it.  So many ways to prepare it.

Grilled, fried, baked, broiled, boiled, stir fried…

In pasta, in the crockpot, marinated, breaded, with vegies, with fruit, with sauce, in a wrap or in a sandwich……

The possibilities are limitless, and I make chicken at least twice a week.

So when I saw this AMAZING looking Chicken sandwich on Carlsbad Cravings’ Blog,   I knew I had to try it!

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Since  my dear friend Janet was coming over for dinner this past Monday, I thought this would be a great recipe to try.  (and being that Marty is not a huge teriyaki fan <SERIOUSLY?? – WHAT THE HECK!>, I knew he wouldn’t mind with Janet here 🙂 ).

From the sticky sweetness of the homemade honey teriyaki sauce with a kick of heat to the smooth coolness of the honey lime avacado yogurt sauce to the tangy sweetness of the grilled, marinated pineapple to the crunchy goodness of the crisp red onion, to the heat and bite of the melted pepper jack cheese to the juiciness of the marinated grilled chicken breast to the sweetness of the tomato………..

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SIGH…

Oh My!  Are you dying yet??

So many layers of wonderfulness on a grilled bun!

We all decided it might even be just fine without one or two of the ingredients, but totally enjoyed these delish, but a bit sloppy sammies that are totally restaurant worthy.

Have an extra two or three napkins on hand when eating this one!

We enjoyed with a large fresh tossed salad, and I have lots of leftover chicken for salads and sandwiches and wraps the rest of the week.

Check out the recipe Jen posted here for what she calls Honey Teriyaki Pineapple Chicken Sandwiches with Honey Cotija Avacado Spread and tweak to your own taste and enjoyment (i.e. I subbed Feta cheese for Cotija cheese, which I was clueless about…)

I’m pretty sure you are going to love this.  I know I did!

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Cheers and Hugs,

Jodi

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hummin’ the Hummingbird Tune!

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And doin’ the Hummingbird Dance!

WOOHOO  – OOO – OOO – OOO!

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Captured it!  The elusive (when my camera is handy!), delicate, delightful, dainty hummingbird.

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Score!   Goal!    Touchdown!    Homerun!

Ok – maybe a bit of exaggeration, but super excited if you haven’t noticed.  🙂

And another checkmark to check off on the photography list.

Such a beautiful, tiny creature that brings me such joy!

Hope you enjoy it too.

Cheers and Hugs,

Jodi

 

 

S’More Cookies Please!

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I could barely wait to share this recipe for S’More Cookies that I made on Sunday!

OOOOO  LAAAA  LAAAA!!!

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It’s like a campfire memory in a cookie!

I was inspired to make these as I began thinking about cookies to bake for Jackie’s Wedding (which is only a month away!!!  Sooooo excited!!!).

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the beautiful bride to be, Jackie, at her bridal shower, with yours truly

For those of you that don’t live in or around Pittsburgh  – aka “Da ”Burgh,” – we have what I’ve come to learn is an unusual tradition at weddings.  (Much like french fries on salads, calling rubber bands “gum bands”, calling groups of people “Yinz,” being the ultimate “Stillers” and “Buccos” sports fans,  calling bologna “Jumbo” and – oh – I could go on and on about our wonderful Pittsburghese – isms! 🙂 )

We have Cookie Tables at weddings.

VERY large cookie tables.

Like where Cookies are APPETIZERS and DESSERT…  AND go with the meal…

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The Cookie Table at Jake and Colleen’s Wedding on July 13, 2013 @ Gable Farms, Lake Latonka, PA

And just to be sure you understand correctly – this does not mean we don’t have wedding cake….  Oh my no – we have BOTH – cookies AND cake!

So when thinking of how to best celebrate our sweet Jackie and what kind of cookies to bake, I thought of S’Mores – which are Jackie’s favorite treat –  and I found this amazing recipe by Jen at CarlsbadCravings.com.

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I couldn’t think of anything to make it any better, so here is Jen’s recipe exactly as she posted.  I hope you don’t mind me sharing Jen! (Photos are of the ones I baked.)

The only things I changed were that I baked for only 7 minutes on baking stones in my convection oven.  I always under bake slightly and let set on stones to finish.  I also added about an extra 1/4 cup flour, which I often do to cookie recipes to give them more fullness and chewiness.

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Soft and Chewy S’more Cookies
Author: Jen@CarlsbadCravings.com
Serves: 3 dozen 2″ cookies  (of course I doubled the recipe 🙂 )
Ingredients
  • ¾ cup butter, softened
  • ½ cup white sugar
  • ½ packed brown sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 cup graham cracker crumbs
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • ½ teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 ½ cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
  • 2 Hershey bars, broken
  • 1 cup mini marshmallows
Instructions:
  1. Cream together butter and sugars; mix in egg and vanilla.
  2. Add flour, graham cracker crumbs, baking soda and salt. Mix until smooth.
  3. Stir in chocolate chips and chocolate chunks until well combined.
  4. Drop by heaping tablespoons onto cookie sheet about 3 inches apart.
  5. Bake at 375 degrees for 8 minutes. Remove and quickly press marshmallows into cookies. Return to oven and cook until done, about 3-4 minutes

smore 4If you like s’mores, you will love these cookies.

I’ll be making these for Jackie’s wedding – most likely AGAIN – as I’m not sure these will last……

Cheers and Hugs,

Jodi

Finally Caught a Butterfly

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Patience is a virtue I don’t have much of, and photographing nature – especially the living, MOVING stuff (like birds and butterflies and animals) – takes it.

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So I was super excited when I had the chance to quietly sneak up on this beauty that practically matches these posies on our deck it was enjoying this weekend.

(Sneaking up reminds me of one of Pap’s classic jokes – totally off the subject – but because I can hardly ever remember jokes, and I don’t know why I remember this silly one – unless maybe because he told it approximately 4,823 times that I can recall – here goes)

Q:  How do you catch a unique rabbit?

A:  You neak up on it.

Q:  How do you catch a tame one?

A:  Tame way

LOL!  HaHa! HeeHee!  Snicker Snicker!  🙂

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So YAY!  And Check!  Get to cross this one off my list.  (the photo opp – not the joke! 🙂 )

Still working on the stinkin’ hummingbird.  Those dang things move really fast!   Caught a few shots yesterday, but not good enough to share…. yet.

Happy Monday!

Cheers and Hugs,

Jodi

POST NOTE:  Showed my “butterfly” pictures to Marty…   and he thinks it is a moth……..  😦

Anybody know?  What do you think?

Did some research here at the The Library of Congress Reference Services … and I’m thinking because of the antennae and the way it held it’s wings – it’s a butterfly…

Anxious to hear expert opinions!

Oh well – I still think it is beautiful – eh?

The BEST Ever Banana Bread

bbcoverI used to have the best banana bread recipe years ago from Aunt Francie.  (Aunt Francie is Marty’s 91 year old Aunt – who happens to be engaged and living with her 92 year old boyfriend – a random, but oh so cute piece of information 🙂 )

Somehow I seemed to have lost it, so I’ve been trying various banana bread recipes on the web every time I have a few over-ripe bananas to spare.

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Sadly – none have even come close to comparing…

UNTIL NOW.

O… M… G…

I found a recipe for Extreme Banana Nut Bread and read the various comments and reviews.  Seemed everyone LOVED it, but tweaked it this way or that.

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So I set out to put this extreme banana bread recipe to the test with my own little touches, and I have to say…  THIS IS IT!

Dare I say even better than Aunt Francie’s?!

I made it three different ways for my first experiment.

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I divided the recipe into three separate batches.  I added pecans to one batch, cinnamon chips to another batch, and kept the last batch plain.  Then I made some loaves and some muffins.

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This bread is dense and sweet with crispy edges and a buttery, rich banana taste like no other.

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One of the new tricks I tried that made it even EXTRA AMAZING was  greasing the pans with shortening and then coating with cinnamon sugar instead of the usual flour dusting.

WOWSERS!  On top of the banany goodness, imagine a crust that taste like the cinnamon toast of our childhood days. OUTRAGEOUS!!

This bread doesn’t raise very high, and it isn’t fluffy or light in any way, shape or form.  It is more rustic looking as it stays dense and ooeey gooeey.  Some of mine ran over the edges and got extra crusty, but it only added to the awesomeness.

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Not the most perfect loaves of bread to look at, but I dare you to try it and tell me if you’ve ever tasted better.

This is my new GO TO recipe for Banana Bread.

It is truly Extreme.

It is truly the BEST BANANA BREAD EVER.
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Best Ever Banana Bread Recipe:

Ingredients:

1 cup white sugar
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup butter
4 eggs, beaten
1 Tbsp vanilla
2 cups flour
1 tsp salt
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
2 cups mashed over-ripe bananas
Optional: Pecans or Walnuts or Cinnamon Chips
Sugar and Cinnamon Mixture for coating pans

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and cinnamon sugar coat pans (do the same way as you would with flour).

In mixer, beat together sugars and butter until creamy. Add beaten eggs and vanilla, and continue creaming until well beaten.

Combine flour, salt, baking soda and baking powder together, then add to creamed wet mixture, beating well with electric mixer.

Once that is all well combined, beat in the mashed bananas.

If using nuts or cinnamon chips, fold those gently in last.

Fill pans 3/4 full. Bake until toothpick inserted comes out clean. Let loaves cool in pan for about 5 mins, then remove to cooling rack to finish cooling.

Once cool, place in large Ziploc bag or wrap in aluminum foil and refrigerate.

BEST served if refrigerated for at least 2 hours first.

Large loaf pan needs to bake about an hour.
Mini loaf pans approximately 30 minutes.
Muffins approximately 20 mins.

WARNING             WARNING                 WARNING
This recipe is NOT low-fat and may become HABIT FORMING!

ENJOY!

Cheers and Hugs,

Jodi

 

Happy Fourth of July Weekend!

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Just a few touches of stars and stripes and red, white, and blue…

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with some funky junk…

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to celebrate Independence Day…

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with little touches here and there, in and out, and all around the house.

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Cheers and Hugs,

Jodi

Happy Friday – Fourth of July!

Celebrate Today 4th of JulyWoohoo!  Not only is it Friday, but it’s a holiday – Independence Day!  An extra day off work and a day to celebrate.

celebrate today 4th of july insideI was inspired to make a red, white, and blue celebration card and already gave it to someone special.

celebrate today 4th of july flatI’m having fun with a more abstract look in my card making lately using watercolor paper and spritzing and splotching.  I’m loving white embossed on vellum too – and touches of gold string.  And lately, most every card uses the “Gorgeous Grunge” stamp in one way or another.

Hope you and yours enjoy the long holiday weekend…

and celebrate today…

at Life in Between.

Cheers and Hugs,

Jodi