4th and 4th

Jaime tagged me to go to my fourth folder and upload my fouth picture.

I only have two picture folders, one is a catch all and one is a holding tank for blog photos. After I upload them to here I delete them to save space on this dino.

So how bout a pic from the 1st and 4th??

This is me at my fiesta wedding shower thrown by my office. This expression came with the sentence "why are you taking a picture of this??" I had spilled the drink on myself, haha!

That's a weight I wouldn't mind getting back to....... sigh!!

I tag........ amanda, je yall and annemarie

How to tell if you grew up in the country....

It's Fall, y'all!

Which means it it my absolute faaaaavorite time of year!

Pumpkins, hay, cider, apples, soup, cool weather, scarfs, boots....... oh yeah, count me in.

I buy for fall all year round. I bought harvest place mats back in the summer and broke them out at the first hint of cooler weather. Don't even get me stared on all the pumpkin pie and mulled cider candles littered around the house, either.


These are so cute and versatile for the season. Because the pumpkin is just a pumpkin and not a jack o lantern, the mats can be used from mid September until Thanksgiving! And I love that they are made from a very rugged khaki linen.



Hmm.... but I don't have any Christmas place mats.....

It's official!

I have taken the plunge and once again I am working two jobs. I really never thought it would happen again. But as everyone knows, the economy isn't at it's best right now, especially for those of us in the real estate industry.

However, I don't really see this new job as being a hassle. I think it is going to be awesome because I am combining two things I love most.... cooking and people!

I am now a Pampered Chef consultant!!!

I have to do 4 shows in my first thirty days. If you are reading this and you are even some what close to my area (Odenville, AL) and would like to book a party, please contact me! My email is pamperedchefdela@gmail.com and I would love to do a show for you!

Run for your thighs!! Its.... GRILLZILLA!

Bradley's newest bob the builder escapade lead him to assist a friend in building what I like to refer to as "the biggest flippin' grill I ever did see", more affectionately known as..... GRILLZILLA.

Yes it is obnoxiously huge and yes he did have to build a new deck specifically for housing the flavor injecting beast. But that's ok because now my covered deck is going to be turned into a "tropical getaway".

I'm always trying to turn places into tropical getaways, seriously, can one of y'all just move me to the beach and call it good?? Please? My birthday is soon!!

This tropical get away isn't going to happen overnight, as patio furniture is DANG EXPENSIVE even in the off season when it is on clearance. Not to mention no where has it in the store anymore so I'm having to order it offline and pay for shipping and cross my fingers that nothing is damaged in the process. So I'm saving my pennies and if you would like to donate yours... please see me after the show. (ahem birthday soon ahem)

Where was I? Oh yeah, the big black thing in my backyard....

Anyway it came to us late Thursday night and we left a football party early on Saturday because Bradley was itching to go to the grocery store and buy large pieces of various animals to throw into its big steel belly. FEED THE BEAST! FEED THE BEAST!

Let the marination process commence!

And it was good. Sunday was spent "smoking" and not the wacky tabacky kind. (can you tell its past my bedtime?) He cooked a slab of ribs that looked like they were from a rhino.... or maybe an elephant, pork chops (that I rubbed with a new spice mix a friend told me about, don't worry I'll show you later) and an entire chicken. En......tire.....chicken. Remember Magda from There's Something About Mary? hehe That's what Mr Chicken looked like when he checked out of Hotel Grill-ifornia.

Of course we couldn't eat all that Sunday night, so we've spent this week finding new ways to enjoy smoky food. All jokes aside that thing makes some great food! The chicken was turned into chicken tacos last night and chicken nachos tonight. Both equally amazing.

Nothing special, just chips, chicken, rotel, corn, cheese and a spicy sour cream sauce I made up.


Take sour cream, mix in taco seasoning (to taste), mix in juice from rotel until it is a little runny and you are able to "drizzle" it on things like tacos and nachos.

YUM!

i love ya to (center)pieces!

Last week I hosted a girls night in, with my two best friends. One I've known since kindergarten and beyond, the other stepped into my life around 8th grade. Both changed me for the better.

We had salad, bread sticks, chicken and pasta with tomato cream sauce, brownie sundaes, good wine, LOTS of laughter and some great catching up.

I wanted something girly and fun for our centerpiece that included fresh flowers. I'm addicted to glassware (I'll have to show you sometime) so I chose three pretty glasses and floated flower buds in them.

from my kitchen to your.... computer screen!

My blog has been in the operating room and has emerged with a face lift. I kinda like it, but at first thought it was giving everything a yellow tint. So I decided to do some back reading to see if other posts/pictures looked yellow.


I stumbled across posts from when we had just moved in (January '08) and lots of empty house pictures. I then saw where I had promised pictures of my unpacked kitchen.... and never came through.


I'm glad I didn't though because it is just now to my standards. The only thing else I might want for it is a rooster picture, and I have been shopping carefully for the perfect one. I look everywhere I go.


My "theme" is warm neutral colors accented with fire engine red and black, peppered with roosters. I don't want my kitchen to turn into a junk haven, I just want a few rooster pieces. Right now I have a hanging iron rooster, a candle holder rooster for the table (which matched my place mats perfectly, accidentally!), a platter from belk that was marked down - put on sale - and I had a coupon for grand totaling a whopping 8 bucks and lastly, a statue rooster I found at Ross that was on clearance. I'm through with roosters, except for the picture. It will go where the fleur de lis "clock" is that never worked and I'm going to try and convert the "clock" into a trivet.


Yes, it is always this clean. Except for Sunday mornings during football season. After 12+ straight hours of football and snacks, all I want to do is go to bed while visions of Arenas and Tebow dance in my head. "I'll do it in the morning" I say.... every time.


For before pics, please visit here.

feels like home to me

I'm getting more and more comfortable in this new house. It was hard, even though I griped that our old house was too small, I loved it. It felt like home. There were tall tall trees in the yard, a back deck that looked straight into more tall tall trees and the inside was just like I wanted it. Except for the whole no dishwasher thing.

Even though now that we have one, I still find myself handing washing the dishes because I forget I have one.

We, like I'm sure most people who move do, still have boxes that need to be unpacked. Mostly picture frames. I'm not big on displaying portraits all over the house, especially if they are of people in a studio, yeck. Go outside for pete's sake, it's free out there!!!

But there was one picture I missed seeing around the house and that was our wedding signature picture. Or whatever they are called. I missed reading all the cute things it said. I missed seeing that picture of us just hours after we said "I do" and the glowing smiles we had. I can look at that picture and relive that night. I'll never forget it. I remember every detail, right down to the wine glasses of Jane and Greg's that they were sipping from. Love like that is what truly makes a house a home.

So Bradley bought me a little black shelf, hung it in the hall and I set the picture and our cake topper on it(It's a "W" I'm in love with them, they are everywhere here). Perfect!

I have a bad addiction to design shows, and when the "Top 20 design mistakes" came on.... I was front and center. When they get to the number about "no fake flowers" I thought to myself, "Yeah why don't people just buy their favorite flower, plant it and have an endless supply of fresh flowers to display??".

Then it hit me..... I have four big flower bushes overflowing with big orange and pink blooms. I've had them all summer but it never occurred to me to showcase them around the house. So outside I went to collect the prettiest 8 blooms (4 of each color). I battled a weird looking green spider that we won't discuss.... and ended up with 4 pretty little bowls of flowers. One for the kitchen table, one for the coffee table, one for the guest bath and one for my pretty new shelf.


This house isn't so bad, after all :D

Oh and now that I realized you could bring flowers inside.... and summer is over.... what kind of flowers do best during the fall months?

Don't even get me started on fall either..... fall really feels like home to me. Open windows.... billowing curtains.... pumpkins.... apples.... football and the voice of Eli Gold.... hay rides.... and my new harvest theme place mats I bought over the summer!!! I can't WAIT to use them!!!

becoming a home....

This is my guest room






















































I want to make it into a "guest suite"

I do not know why. We've been living together for almost three years and so far we've had two people stay the night at the old house (that ended up falling asleep in the floor watching movies) and one stay the night here (and hes young and was just happy to spend the night away from home).

But maybe it is because we never had a guest suite to sweeten the deal.

I can see it now.......

*que harp*

*computer screen goes hazy and clears up to two people sitting at their kitchen table enjoying morning coffee and planning their holiday visiting*

"you know honey we should really go visit all our family in St Clair county."

"i do miss them so, but with gas so high we cant afford to drive all the way there and then stay in a hotel and eat out at expensive restaurants just to be near family"

"well i heard that deLa and bradley just finished their guest suite. you know they love to cook so we wouldn't go hungry"

"oh honey that is an excellent idea! i love you! let's never stay in a hotel again!!!!"

*back to reality*

SEE! This is what I'm missing out on with my messy guest room. No house guests!

I know what I want to do.... it is just putting it into action. The bedding is taken care of, it will be our old bedding ensemble:

















So that is taken care of. Then I want a little reading area with a comfy chair and a small table and lamp. That will be in front of the window. I also want a bookshelf to put a tv/dvd player and house lots of DVDs and books if the guests need some time to themselves.

I also want one of those things in hotels that you set your suitcase on.

But I have one problem...... the room needs to be painted. I want it to be a color that is VERY calming and soothing. Something that will make them feel at home.

What color makes you feel comfortable and relaxed?? Please tell me!

Our bedroom is painted a grayish brownish blueish color. It was supposed to be chocolate milk color. I already know it goes with the bedding, should I just use that?

What amenities would you want to have while you were away from home? Anything else I need to add to my guest suite?

I need to know what you think, and you need to tell me.... because, who knows... YOU may be my first house guest!

I'm Sick

But not as sick as I was.

Friday night we had a girls night and I stayed out later than I have in a LONG time. The night started out around the pool. I had two drinks and then turned to ice water around 9 or 10 o'clock.Then around midnight someone called "the dew".... which means this TINY tiny bar near my neighborhood where..... "country" people go to karaoke and dance with the lights on. I love it because you dont have to worry about guys hitting on you and then getting pissed off when you decline their offer. Theyre just a bunch of country guys and would rather sit and laugh with you about everyone dancing this physically hitting on you. That AND you know everyone when you walk in the door so no one would even dare hit on you out of respect for your - father, mother, husband, sister, brother......

Wow Im getting off track here. My point is that once we got to the bar, I was still drinking ice water and did the entire night. I was having so much fun no one even noticed. Someone even "complimented" me on the way I was putting my drinks away and I just smiled. So after we shut it down and I'm climbed into bed, I couldn't go to sleep for coughing. I blamed it on the smoke and just made myself sleep. I woke up at 8:30 and cleaned house and just felt like crap. My initial thought was "gah im hungover, im getting old" but then I remembered that I hadn't drank anything. That's when my ears started ringing and my throat started closing. OH no..... I'm sick!!!! I rolled around in bed all day waiting on Bradley to get home, come to find out he was sick in another region so he couldn't baby me. In fact I even went to the store to get stuff to try to make him feel better. We ordered pizza and went to bed early. Sunday morning he got up early and made breakfast and I ate half a biscuit and a few bites of eggs. I was just worthless.

He had to go do some stuff so I stayed in the bed and moved to the couch later on. Actually just in time for a huge black cloud to move in front of the window and forewarn me to let the dogs in now lest they be soaked rats in a few seconds. So I did. Daisy immediately went to the window and stared out, like she always does, nosy thing. Then I heard a "pop" and another "pop" and I yelled at her for hitting the window..... but was it her? Then I saw it... a golf ball bouncing in my yard. Who the crap is throwing golf balls at my windows.... wait.... that's not a golf ball... THATS HAIL!!!

Yes, it hailed in JUNE in Alabama. I am stunned. I thought it had to be cold. It was more like quarter sized once I got up and looked. This went on for about 30 minutes and I cringed every time one hit a window, just waiting for it to bust.

Bradley finally made it home and I was just rolling around in pain and congestion. The cough syrup I had was just laughing at me and my throat was killing me. So he decided to make me up his own special cough syrup. Oh boy.

Actually it was really good and we dubbed it, "The Sweet Jimmy". Rub a lime around the top of a shot glass and then dip the rim in a cinnamon sugar mixture. Fill it a little less than half way up with a mix of lemon/lime juice and honey and then top it with Jim Beam. Stir. Sip or shoot.... I sipped. I had two and it really did stop the coughing and kinda numbed my throat from the pain.


Monday was doctor but I got some bad news.... my doctor was out of the office and I could either wait until Tuesday or see the other doctor in the office. Great... shes gonna be PACKED, but I needed something now so I got an appointment for 2:30. Which meant I was gonna work up until time to go. A few of my customers called me and said "Oh Im sorry I was trying to reach DeLa" I was like its me I just sound like a man. Oh and did I mention that on Monday "work" consisted of building a Habitat for Humanity and it was sheet rock day?! The doctor yelled at me for that. Then she gave me a shot in the hip and like usual I almost passed out and my back really did have convulsing pain for about 5 minutes. It was weird, I hate shots. All this was after I set in the waiting room coughing on the magazines for 45 minutes. Then I had to make the long journey from Pelham to Moody and wait in CVS for my 3 rx's. I did find a cute little cordless tranquility water fountain to the day wasn't a complete loss. Got the drugs and then headed another 20 minutes east to HOME. I got an allergy medicine, horse pill antibiotics and home codeine cough syrup. She said not to take it during work or I would be loopy. I needed some NOW so I did something stupid that we both thought would be a good idea - take more than it said to. I went and jumped in the shower and by the time i got out.... Bradley had to help me to the bed so I could lay down and keep from hurling. I lied there for about an hour and finally set up and drank a coke then tip toed into the kitchen and set in a bar stool and told him how to cook dinner. I wanted to cook SO BAD that I got him to put me a chair by the grill so I could baste my corn as he turned it while laying down. I don't think the charcoal grill got hot enough to cook the corn or maybe I'm just use to canned corn or maybe I had a medicine mouth and nothing tasted right. But I'm saving it and plan on making a hash with it and some potatoes and bacon. Which I thought of last night when the cough syrup had worn off and I was laying in bed wide awake.

I also learned that if you are so doped up that you can't ring your mouth to eat dinner and need your husband to help you eat it - don't hang on to his right side if he is right handed and expect it to go much better. He was REALLY sweet and helpful though and I did get my fill.

Today I still feel dopey with waves of nausea. But life must go on.... so I'm off to eat breakfast, take medicine and start my day. Getting out of the house always makes me feel better.

new toy :)

When you go to the beach with the girls, you do what girls love to do! Talk, lay out and SHOP!

While almost everyone else went to the clothing stores, Amanda and I browsed the cooking stores and "ohhhhh'd" and "ahhhh'd" over all the great finds. And trust me - there were some great finds! I got a kitchen aid hand chopper, in empire red, for $11! I also got a lovely bottle that I plan to use when I infuse my own olive oil. Stay tuned for that!

Right now, I want to show you something I found that I have been wanting since Christmas. A mortar and pestle.


What do I need with a mortar and pestle, you ask? Well it all started when Bradley gifted me with this super cool awesome spice rack with like two point five million different spices on it. Several of them were in "seed" state. Meaning, they needed to be ground up to use them to their full extent. One of which was - Coriander.

Coriander was new to me, but I have since read up on it and pretty much fell in love with it once I ground it and was hit with a giant cloud of lemony heaven. I think it is going to be the perfect touch to my chicken marinade.

Fun fact - coriander is the seed of the plant and is used as a spice. The leaves of the plant are used as an herb and have been given the name "Cilantro". Betcha didn't know that! If you did, please keep it to yourself. No one likes a bragger.

Just kidding!

Now, back to the matter at hand. I have found that if you do a little bit of grinding at a time, it works best. So let's place a few dried coriander seeds into the mortar.


Obviously that is less than what I would use if I was going to put it in a marinade, but this is for training purposes... and so I can get another whiff of that great lemony breeze!!

Once you have chosen just the right amount of spice you desire to pulverize, go ahead and use the pestle to grind it up. I like to do a circular motion.


Check it every now and then, to see if it is at a stage that fits your liking... and to sniff the pestle.

There you have it! From seed to dust in just seconds, and its completely man powered, so you are saving money by not having to buy gas!

A very postworthy purchase

Ever since we bought a new home I feel like my blog has turned into more than just recipes. Not that that is a bad thing. I am just discovering so many things as I decorate the house that I feel the need to share with everyone.

Saturday we made our weekly trip to Lowe's and I picked up an orchid I'd had my eye on for a while. The glass brick window in our bathroom lets in SO much light during the day that I knew a house plant would flourish there and with all the steam from our showers, an orchid would be right at home.

Once I placed it just right on the bathtub I couldn't help but take pictures of it. The colors were so pretty against each other. I think I'm going to frame the 3 close ups and hang them together somewhere.

Just a few pictures of the house

The kitchen stayed in disarray this weekend. We did a lot of cooking, I even got to use my stand mixer - TWICE. So I don't have any pictures of that just yet. Here are some of the master bed and bath and the guest bath.

I replaced the plates in the master bed and bath with these :

This starts the guest bath:


Notice that the birds on the basket....


Are also found on the shower curtain!


And this little buddah guy was too cute not to buy!

first meal of the new house

I don't know where my camera battery charger is right now, so you are going to have to visualize this. Once I find it I will show you what Bradley got me for Christmas and also show you how utterly sexy my stand mixer is on my counter and how cute my little teapot is on my stove.

But first I'm going to tell you about last night's meal. I had almost forgotten that I knew how to cook! It's been a long while since I got to make dinner. We don't have many groceries but we have some good staples so while we were unpacking the kitchen, I laid out some chicken breast strips to thaw. Chicken Alfredo sounded good to both of us.... actually, anything home cooked sounded good. You would not believe the amount of fast food we have been eating.

So I boiled some small shell pasta and topped it with a jarred Alfredo sauce. I'm picky about my jarred foods.... but I do love Classico's line of sauces.











I initially wanted to do a Chicken Bacon and Ranch pasta, but couldn't quite figure out how to make the sauce "ranchey" or if that would even turn out good. But I still wanted to include the bacon. So I rubbed one side of the strips with garlic powder, basil, oregano and ground red pepper. While that was soaking in, I fried 2 strips of bacon. Then I put the strips, spice side down, right into the grease. Yes... there goes that lean cuisine I had for lunch. Anyway.... let them get golden on that side, then turn them over and turn the heat down and just let them finish cooking.

Plating - Pasta mixed with sauce, crumbled bacon, freshly grated Parmesan and then lay the strips on top. Add a fork and a napkin - voila!

Now.... Let me introduce you to one of my kitchen besties. It is a chunk of fresh Parmesan that is contained in its own grater. I'll give you some time to pick your jaws up off the floor. Bradley is completely addicted to Parmesan, he puts it on everything. So this little guy gets used a lot! It is not on the aisle where the other Kraft parm's are, it is in the refrigerated section. Go get one... NOW!











Well... that is it for now. At least until I find my battery charger. I just had to make sure to tell you all about the "first meal".

small additions to the page

Ah how I love a slow day at work

First off, I got a counter - look at the bottom of the page. So now I can count you people and oh and ah over how many times my page has been viewed.

Second, I wanted a little pin up girl that was cooking to put in the banner at the top of my page. To go along with the theme "I don't look like ya mama and I ain't gonna cook like her neither!" All I could find was the girl to the right, she isn't exactly what I wanted, but will do for now.

Enjoy :)

New Year, New Kitchen

This is a foodie blog, so I can get away with posting a "brag book" of my new kitchen.... right?! Of course! Because I know you are all dieing to see it! But I am dieing to cook in it!!!! OHHHH MAN Do I want to get in there and just cook until my fingers fall off. Right now I can touch pretty much everything in my kitchen at the same time... and fold the laundry... and yell at the dogs through the window. Yes, we are country. This will not be the case any longer! There is plenty of cabinet space, plenty of counter space, plenty of SPACE. It is a little naked right now, but not for long! We take possession on January 7th!

Well, I did it

I bought what I have been eyeing for quite some time. I've been saving and scrounging and dreaming about it. Now it is mine.


I want to let you in on a secret about it, also. I didn't pay full price. Amazon.com has select colors for $199. Red, black and I think white. You better get one, too!

I can't wait to make all sorts of blog worthy dishes when my new best friend arrives!!

Happy Thanksgiving

Take one homemade centerpiece....

Add a brand new gravy boat...

And, voila! A beautiful Thanksgiving table.... for the beautiful new tradition. This Thanksgiving Bradley and I hosted "the feast" at our home. It went perfectly... almost too perfectly. We got up early and made cinnamon buns and started a fire and mixed up mulled cider in a big pot on the stove.


Since we live in the south, our Thanksgiving weather can take on many forms. We can be in short sleeves or we can be bundled up. Rarely does it snow, like I wish it would. My preferred Thanksgiving weather is cloudy and cold, and wouldn't you know it... that is just what I got for my first Thanksgiving. There were only a few setbacks. We both burnt ourselves and I almost took the end of my finger off.... but that wasn't going to stop us from reaching our 2 o'clock deadline.

Our menu was simple, yet fancy. There was portobello wild rice with barley, green bean casserole, chicken n' dressing, Paula Deen's Mashed Baked (with my little twist, bacon instead of French's Onions), asparagus casserole (a family staple at Thanksgiving), giblet gravy, deviled eggs, cranberry sauce, croissants, caramel crunch apple pie..... and of course... the star of the show, the talk of the table, the feature of the feast.... ladies and gentlemen may I present to you... my very first.... TOM TURKEY!!!!

Maple-Glazed Roast Turkey Breast
recipe courtesy of Gourmet Magazine
my tweaks in red

1 whole turkey breast on the bone (6 - 7 pounds)
3/4 tspn each dried sage, thyme and fresh ground pepper i used whole tspn's
3 tablespoons of unsalted butter
3 bay leafs

Glaze:
1/3 cup maple syrup i used 1/2 cup
3 tblspns coarse-grained Dijon mustard i used 4 tblspns

Preheat oven to 375*

Remove skin and excess fat from the turkey breast. Rinse well and blot dry with paper towels. Position the breast in the roasting pan on the rack, put the bay leaves in the bottom of the pan. Melt the butter and mix it with the other 3 ingredients. Rub over the breast, try to keep most of the herbs on the bird.

Cover the pan completely with foil. Roast 1 & 1/2 hours.

In a medium bowl mix the glaze ingredients. Remove foil from bird. Spoon about one third of the glaze over the breast. Return to 375* oven, uncovered, for 20 minute intervals, taking it out and glazing every 20 minutes, equaling 60 minutes. Let the turkey sit for 20 minutes before you carve it, to let the juices redistribute.

~~~~~

The turkey was so so so good! You almost didn't need cranberry sauce, the glaze was so sweet. The balance of sweet and savory was perfect and this will definitely be the turkey recipe for years to come.

Once the spread was on the table, we took a quick second to pause and let the new tradition sink in and start it off right, with a picture to mark the event.

Don't be surprised at the gallon of sweet tea next to every plate... didn't you read the title of my page?! Southern, baby!

Happy Birthday to me!

Someone needs to get a T-A-N for her birthday!

Today I turned an un-eventful 22. I can already get into clubs, buy cigarettes and buy alcohol. Now what? I guess waiting around until I turn 25 so I can rent a car or a condo... and maybe my car insurance will drop.

Isn't the box pretty?? That is a bubble wrap bow on top :) I heart my co-workers! Guess what was inside!! The other half of my dessert plates! Just in time for Thanksgiving at my house. We had a great lunch: cheesecake factory and a fun-fetti cake!!! I haven't had a fun-fetti item since I was in high school and Hollie would make fun-fetti cookies for us.