French Toast Casserole

Saturday was the official party for the girl child and my cousin's graduations.
She, from high school....he, from college.
It just made sense to my aunt and I to combine the party as 90% of the guests would be the same. Not to mention, convenient for the guests to not take up two separate weekend days during the summer!

It was a fantastic day full of friends, family, and FOOD! (of course!)

People came from all over to join us to wish two very special kids adults well in their future endeavors.

We had quite the spread...none of us ever learned to cook "small"...and then we always add in a few extra this, that, and the others to make sure nobody goes hungry!

My parents were up visiting for the week to enjoy both the actual graduation as well as the party. Needless to say, I enjoyed having the extra hands!

We made:
Deviled Eggs
Baked Beans
Potato Salad
Tuna Sandwiches
Egg Salad Sandwiches

We also had on hand:
Sausage and Peppers
Meatballs
Vegetable Lo Mein
Dirty Salsa
Veggie Sandwiches
Roast Beef Sandwiches
Seafood Sandwiches
Pasta Salad
Taco Salad
Cheese Tray
Veggie Tray
Spinach Dip
2 Cakes
Brownies
Grape Salad

Then I was totally selfish and made my mother make me a batch of her brownies...just for us!

Ingredients:

1 (16 oz) Loaf Cinnamon raisin bread

6 Eggs

3 Cups milk

2 Tsp vanilla

Confectioner’s Sugar

Maple Syrup

Directions:

1. Place bread cubes into a greased 9 x 13 pan

2. Beat eggs, milk, and vanilla

3. Pour milk mixture over the bread cubes

4. Press bread cubes into milk until all are covered

5. Cover and refrigerate overnight

6. Preheat oven to 350

7. Cook for 50 minutes

8. Sprinkle with confectioner’s sugar and serve with syrup

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This recipe was shared on some or all of these pages, check them out!

http://www.raisingmemories.com/2015/06/june-2015-sharing-   time.html
heathernow.blogspot.com

Chocolate Chip Pecan Blondies

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times....

OK, maybe I might have borrowed that line, but boy does it fit!

Sunday was my one and only's high school graduation.
Name an emotion. I felt it. Seriously.

Happy for her spreading her wings
Pride for all she has accomplished
Sad for mommy as my baby is leaving the nest
Angry that 12 years ended so quickly
Excited to see this next chapter in her life
Nostalgic as I watched the same pride on my parents face as they had during my own ceremony
Overwhelmed by her astounding classmates and the bond they forged

She is part of a graduating class of approx 130, with 100% graduation!
There is 1 child taking a year off before university, but will still be taking some classes at the community college. Impressive stats!

Part of me wants to tie her to her bed and not let her go
(but, we all know that can't happen)
She is headed off to a great school where she will hone the skills she has decided to focus on.

I am beyond beaming when I think of the girl child. She is an amazing human being and I am so fortunate to know her.

To my child: I hope I gave you strong enough wings. Now is the time for me to hope for you to FLY!


Adapted from Real Simple

Ingredients:

1 ½ Cups All purpose flour

1 Tsp Baking powder

¼ Tsp Salt

½ Cup Unsalted butter (melted)

¾ Cup Granulated Sugar

½ Cup Brown sugar

2 Eggs

1 Tsp Vanilla extract

¾ Cup chopped pecans

¾ Cup Semi sweet chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 350

2. Spray 8 inch square baking pan with cooking spray

3. Whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt

4. In a large bowl, whisk together the butter and sugars

5. Add eggs and vanilla to the sugar mixture

6. Stir flour mixture into sugar mixture

7. Add pecans and chocolate chips

8. Spread batter into prepared pan

9. Bake 35-40 minutes

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P.F. Chang's Shanghai Cucumbers

Hubby, the girl child, and I headed out to a farmstand today. It was PACKED!
Small location + long line= annoyed customers.

For the most part we all worked well together, helping people reach this and that, or moving so someone can head down one of the aisles.
There was this one poor guy trying to maneuver the tiny tight aisles with an entire cart of greenery. Oh my!

There was this one lady...I will call her frumpy yellow shirt girl (FYSG).
She was waiting in line with everyone else, but very antsy. Kept trying to move up, even though the line wasn't moving.
Then they opened the "cash only" line.
She tried to high-tail it around the outside of the building to get to it quickly.

While this was happening, a small line had formed at that register.
An older gentleman came up and asked me where the end of that line was. I told him, and he found his rightful place. (3rd and last in line)

FYSG weasled her way around the building, and tried to position herself after the first person. She did that whole "sliiiide in" maneuver.
Then she noticed everyone watching her.

It was a nice moment. She took her place in line behind the gentleman.

Moral of the story, don't try to sneak..people are watching you.

Second moral: love love love me some farm stand produce!

Ingredients:

12 oz peeled and seeded cucumbers cut into 1 inch pieces

3 Tbsp soy sauce

1 Tsp white vinegar

¼ Tsp sesame oil

½ Tsp toasted sesame seeds

Directions:

1. Mix together the sauce ingredients

2. Mix cucumbers into sauce

3. Sprinkle sesame seeds over the top

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Recipe adapted from here

This recipe was shared at these parties

Bogging for Books: Cookie Love

**Note** I was provided a copy of this book to review from www.bloggingforbooks.com

Everyone has a favorite cookie...but, sometimes we tend to stick to just those. This book introduces new flavor combinations as well as new techniques.
Some of the recipes are certainly geared towards more "seasoned" bakers.The techniques are more technical and some of the suggested equipment are items that everyday cooks just don't keep in their drawers.
That being said, there were a good amount of approachable recipes.
Very much looking forward to testing my cookie boundaries!

Caprese Chicken

Prior to leaving for a vacation, I try to use up most anything that is around the house. We have some odd meals to say the least!
On the plus side, we are not wasting things that might have been "not so fresh" by the time we returned.
On the negative side, we come home and have to do the mother of all grocery shops!

This particular time, I was walking through the store, minding my own business when an older woman came up to me. She stopped me, looked at the cart, looked at me, and then said "Boy am I glad I don't have to pay for that" and walked away.
Huh?

The more I thought about it, the more rude it became to me.
Told hubby about it and he was all "I would have had some choice words for her".
Yeah, I am not about to start an argument with an old lady in the middle of the grocery.

Was she rude? I don't know, but it certainly was perceived that way.
Could she have just been making conversation? Maybe.
The world may never know.

Ingredients:

1 package chicken breast

1 Cup cherry tomato

1 Medium red onion (diced)

8 oz Mozzarella cheese (fresh block or ball)

¼ Cup chopped basil

⅓ Cup olive oil

⅓ Cup balsamic vinegar

Salt and Pepper

Directions:

1. Cut tomato and mozzarella into bite sized pieces

2. Add generous amount of salt and pepper. Add basil.

3. Add oil and vinegar

4. Mix well and let sit. Taste before serving to test seasoning.

5. Grill the chicken breast.

6. Serve chicken topped with tomato mixture.

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My caprese mixture

Probably one of the ugliest pictures ever..but boy did it taste good!

Come see where this recipe was shared!

Manicotti

You know that Robin Thicke song "Blurred Lines"?
They used it in some commercial (bad advertising...I don't even remember what the product is) and it has been stuck in my head ever since.

Gah!

I am ready to pull my hair out.
I have looked it up on you tube, hoping that hearing it would help. Nope.
I have tried thinking of some of the most annoying things (think Sanford and Sons theme song) to try to get something else stuck in my head. No luck.

This is obnoxious.
Anyone have any tricks to get this out of my head?

This reminds me of the Spongebob Squarepants episode where he has that song worm in his head (creepy, yes?)

Ingredients:

1 box manicotti shells

32 oz Ricotta cheese

16 oz Mozzarella cheese

¼ Cup bread crumbs (seasoned)

¼ Cup Parmesan

1 Egg

Seasonings: Garlic, pepper, Italian seasoning

Tomato sauce

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350

2. Cook pasta in boiling water for 2-3 minutes less than the package states

3. Mix together ricotta, bread crumbs, eggs, 8 oz mozzarella, and any seasonings

4. Spray 9x13 pan with cooking spray

5. Pour a small amount of tomato sauce on bottom of pan

6. Sprinkle a little parmesan

7. Take pasta tubes and carefully fill each one with the cheese mixture

8. Place pasta in pan. Pour tomato sauce over top

9. Sprinkle 8 oz mozzarella and remaining parmesan on top

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Sprinkle some Parmesan on the bottom

Filling all the tubes

Everybody in the pool!

Baked and cheesy

This is where I party!

Mediterranean Chicken

My husband starts things and doesn't finish them.
Sound like any other husband on the planet? Yup!

He is insane about loose change. Seriously, I will go in my purse looking for a quarter (or whatever) just to find out that I was robbed.
Does it count as being robbed when you know it was the person you swore "till death do us part" to?

We have different containers in different places all over the house for change. Dimes go here, quarters here, and everything else, over there.

So, he has decided that it is time to roll them and bring them to the bank.
He made piles. Gathered up coin rolls. And there it all still sits.

Drive me nuts!

Whateves, I refuse to touch them. Currently I am cleaning around said coin piles.
It's been 3 whole days!.
That "death do us part" issue might come up sooner than we had planned!

Ingredients:

½ Cup olive oil

2 Medium sized onions (sliced thin)

6 Garlic cloves (minced)

2 Cups tomato juice

½ Cup sherry

1 Tsp salt

¾ Tsp paprika

4 Boneless, skinless chicken breast

½ Cup all purpose flour

Directions:

1. In large frying pan, heat ¼ cup olive oil

2. Add onions, turn heat down to low

3. Add garlic and cook until onions are clear

4. Add tomato juice, sherry, ½ tsp salt, and ½ tsp paprika

5. Pound chicken breasts until about ½ inch thick

6. Whisk flour, ½ tsp salt, ¼ tsp paprika together

7. Dip chicken breasts in flour mixture

8. Preheat oven to 350

9. Heat remaining ¼ cup olive oil

10. Add chicken to oil and cook for 3-4 minutes on each side

11. Place chicken in a 9x13 pan. Cover with sauce.

12. Bake for 20 minutes.

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This recipe was shared with:
Flour me with Love, Tumbleweed Contessa, Grace Langdon, Make Ahead Meals for Busy Mom, Our Table for Seven, A Southern Fairytale, A Pinch of Joy, The Modest Mom Blog, Huckleberry Love, I Should be Mopping the Floor, Uncommon Designs, Jambellish, A Mama's Story, All Things Fee, The Chicken Chick, Skip to my Lou, Mom Favorites, April J Harris, Sew Can Do, Mom's the Word, Fearlessly Creative Mammas, Pint Sized Baker, A Bowl Full of Lemons, Cornerstone Confessions, Lou Lou Girls, My Joy Filled Life, Yesterfood, Mandy's Recipe Box, Hope Studios, Kathe with an E, Stone Gable Blog, Dizzy Busy and Hungry, My Girlish Whims, Raising Homemakers, Recipes for our Daily Bread, Buns in my Oven, Sew Crafty Angel, Gingersnap Crafts, Crafty Allie, The Newlywed Pilgrimage, Lemoine Family Kitchen, Gooseberry Patch, Ivy and Elephants, Feeding Big, Grace and Good Eats, What's Cooking Love, Saving for Six, Miz Helen's Country Cottage, Lambert's Lately, Embracing Change, Katherine's Corner, A Delightsome Life, The Pin Junkie, Play Party Pin, Lady Behind the Curtain, Daily Dish, Tidy Mom, The Better Baker, Love Bakes Good Cakes, Craft Dictator, Thirty Handmade Days, City of Creative Dreams, The Diary of a Real Housewife, The Girl Creative, Morsels of Life, Tales of a Kansas Farm Mom, Coffee with us 3, Cooking with Ruthie, Raising Memories, A Peek into my Paradise, Denise Designed