I hate pumpkin pie. My husband does too. EXCEPT his mom's pumpkin pie. Our first Thanksgiving away from home he worried that it wouldn't feel like Thanksgiving without his mama's pie.

So being the sweetest wife EVER! Secretly, I got the recipe from his mom, went and got all the ingredients, packed them in the suitcase, took them to my aunt & uncles house & made the pie. He was so suprised and so happy, his little face just lit up ... it was terribly cute.

So now, I make this pie every year and it is AWESOME. I LOVE IT. You might love it too! I have already gotten 3 people to make it this year! So if you take a chance and make the pie and LOVE it too ... let me know!

Best Pumpkin Pie Recipe EVER!:

3/4c. Sugar
3/4c. Brown Sugar
1 1/2 tsp Salt
3 tsp ground cinnamon
1 1/2 tsp ground ginger
3/4 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp All Spice
1/4 tsp Nutmeg
1/4 tsp Baking Powder
4 eggs
1 BIG can o pumpkin
2 cans SWEETENED CONDENSED MILK
1/8c. MOLASSES

Mix Sugar, salt, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, all spice, nutmeg, & Baking powder in a large bowl. Stir in pumkin, gradually stir in sweetened condensed milk & molasses.

Beat THE HELL out of the eggs until STIFF. FOLD IN GENTLY to pumpkin/spice mixture.

Pour into pie shells

Bake in 425* oven for 15 minutes. Reduce heat to 350* for 40-50 min or until knife inserted near center comes out clean. Cool on wire reack for 2 hours. Serve or refridgerate

I found the recipe in the 'money savin' section of the Raley's Supermarket and it looks awesome!

Maple Balsamic Carrots

3lbs Carrots, peeled and thinly sliced
1/3 cup maple syrup
3 TBSP Balsamic vinegar
2 TBSP butter
Salt & pepper

1. Melt together syrup, balsamic vinegar, and butter in a large skillet.

2. Add carrots to skillet; cover and cook over medium heat for 20 minutes, stirring occassionally, or until carrots are tender.

3. Remove lid and cook over high heat for a few minutes or until excess liquid has cooked off.

4. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Makes 8 servings

ANOTHER recipe I got from Raleys ;-) Makin this for Thanksgiving!

Roasted Garlic Mashed Potatoes

5lbs YUKON GOLD POTATOES - VERY IMPORTANT, cubed
1 1/2 cups sour cream
3/4 cup (3 bunches) thinly sliced green onions
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup REAL butter
3-4 TBSP minced garlic

1. Cook potatoes in boiling water for 20 minutes or until soft when pierced with a knife; drain well.

2. Transfer to a large bowl and mash until smooth.

3. Stir in remaining ingredients, then season with salt and pepper.

Makes 12 servings

{3 Years ago Thursday ... feels like forever ... in a good way ;-)}

I've been making plans.

Fun plans.

Plans that involve other people and depending on them to come through for me.

So I fear that even by TALKING {read: typing} about it, I may be tempting the fates just a little too much. Oh well ... I'm too excited and have too much going on, I've gotta get it all lined out and on paper {internet} before I get something confused and take my kid out to dinner & leave Brandon at the babysitters ;-)

Our anniversary is Thursday :-D Thanksgiving is next week and the kids are out of school all week. Then there's black friday ... MY FAVORITE holiday ;-) And then that weekend marks the beginning of Christmas!

And YES, we DID realize we were getting married at the busiest time of year ;-)

So Thursday my lil sis is coming over for a visit! We have tried to set this up for MONTHS but something always fell through. I hope it works out this time, her baby is getting SO BIG and I can't wait to see them! And if everything goes well, we might even get a little scrappy! w00t!

Then since Thursday is our 3rd anniversary - have I mentioned that at all? - my friend offered to watch Lil Miss so we're goin out on the town! There's this awesome romantical little place here in town. They have great food, ambiance and a fabulous wine list = perfect! Just give us a table in the back, a bottle of wine and leave us alone! OMG I CAN'T FREAKIN WAIT...

Then we have our first family photo shoot appointment Saturday morning at 9 ... yes, I AM nuts. This is the first time I've set foot in a professional photo place in 7 years ... WOW I'm a bad mother. So we will be takin all 6 of us up in there and PRAYING we get at LEAST one suitable family photo out of it ... pray for us ... and for the fine people at JCPenney.

Then Tuesday my DH is takin off work and my mom is takin the kids until WEDNESDAY! OMG I'm SO EXCITED. I take the kids to her at like 10-12 so after that ... it's all US BABY! It's been a YEAR since our last overnighter when we spent a week in Monterey one night ;-) I don't know exactly what we'll be doing, maybe a picnic lunch with a bottle of wine, a movie, dinner ... whatever we do, it'll be awesome just being ALONE together :-D

Wednesday it's back to work for him and PIE MAKIN! for me! I'm goin over to a friends house and we're making pumpkin pies together while my mom has the kids. Then I'll take the girls to their dad's house and get going on ANYTHING else I can before Thursday.

THEN THANKSGIVING!!!! I LOVE THANKSGIVING! I love cooking all day, drinking wine at noon, and having a great dinner with family and friends. It's gonna be different this year because our older kids will be at their other parents' house, but we'll make the best of it.

THEN IT'S BLACK FRIDAY BABY! w00t! I've already begun mapping out where I wanna go and what I'm getting, click HERE to get a sneak peek of your fav store's ad!. I know everyone groans about the day after Thanksgiving, but I LOVE IT! You make your list, plan, and route the night before, get in & get out fast! No tryin on, no lookin around, and NO CARTS or you get left behind my friend! LOL I gotta system and I should get almost ALL of my shopping done in one day. My and my friend and our moms are going, it's gonna be SO much fun!

Then that evening my very good friend and her family are coming over for a post-Thanksgiving celebration & my girls come home! OHHHH the amount of wine that will be consumed in this house in those two days brings me to tears ... I'm so excited ;-)

Then that weekend marks the beginning of CHRISTMAS!!!!! That means the tree comes out, the decorations need sortin, and its time to deck these halls!

OH MAN! It's gonna be a HELL of a week! YAY HOLIDAYS!

Hey there TAT'ers!

Last TAT, I talked about an organizational project that was LONG over due. I showed embarassing photos of my secret horror ... my kitchen cabinet.

It was bad. And it got a LOT worse before it got better. But it DID get done.


Had to start off, of course, with a clean slate :D

So I went through them all, got rid of the expired stuff and moved some upstairs. The rest of the stuff went into a lovely basket so it's not just out there LOUD & PROUD for everyone to see ... except you guys I guess ;-)

And THIS is what came out of that cabinet ...

I KNOW ... I had no idea I had HALF this stuff. Which is why I decided to catalog, catagorize & type up a list of everything that goes back in ;-) I'm going to print it out and put it on the inside of the door - HOW SMART IS THAT?!

Lil Miss of course decided she needed to help...

She just was just tryin to get in front of the camera ;-)

AND THIS is the finished product! If you're saying to yourself "hey self, that doesn't look all that different" ... well say it quietly so I don't hear you, and then go look at my LAST TAT, it's a VAST improvement!

LOOKIN GOOOOOD!

I KNOW, RIGHT?

So yeah, needless to say, I'm pretty darn happy with it :-D Progress is progress I always say.

For more people TAT'in go check out the Lazy Organizer and see what all the TAT is about!

HEY THERE Sunday Scrappers! I'm a little late, but with good reason! I JUST got done taking pictures of my TA-DA this week and it came out AWESOME. I just love it.

BUT.

It's a gift for my BFF ... soooo ...

REBECCA : ... NO PEEKING!

Everyone else .... click here!

Musings of a Housewife was tagged with this meme, 7 {holiday} things about you, so I decided I would play along! So what if it's like a WEEK later ;-)


1. Hi, my name is Christine, and I'm a holiday addict. HI CHRISTINE. I love holidays. I love just about ALL holidays! I even love the "made up" ones like Valentines day. I love any excuse to decorate/bake/have a party/dive head first into a sugar induced coma. I love all the excitement and anticipation that go into the holidays, it just makes life that much sweeter.

2. Christmas is by far my favorite holiday. People say it's over commercialized and complain about bringing out the decorations too early, but for me honestly, it's almost never early enough! I don't mind seeing Christmas ornaments out in July, it reminds me that even though it's 150* outside, the cooler weather and holidays are just around the corner.

3. I LOVE LOVE LOVE cooking on Thanksgiving. On a normal day if I were to make mashed potatoes they would come out of a lovely box in the pasta aisle with the only directions being "add water and mix". But not on Thanksgiving! Last year I started cooking days before and all day of and loved every second of it. I made everything from scratch and even complicated some that are usually just "open can". And it was FUN! It's interesting the difference drinking wine at noon will make for a gal ;-)

4. My favorite Christmas tradition, besides the kids losing their minds in a sea of wrapping paper, is our traditionaly breakfast, Pilsbury Cinnimon Rolls. It started with my mom always making that for she & I when I was just little. And I have made them every year since I was 18 for my family. The smell of those cinnimon rolls reminds me of Christmas and the fun and excitement of that special morning with my mom, and now with my kids.

5. I am a Christmas music FREAK. I love the channel that devotes it's self to all Christmas music-all the time during December. And I don't just listen to it while decorating or baking. I listen to it while driving and cleaning and cooking and have been known to shake my toosh to some Mariah Carey Christmas.

6. My favorite thing that my husband does for the holidays is that he celebrates my birthday BIGGER than Christmas. I am a Christmas baby, born exactly a week before. Most of the time my birthday would get over shadowed, if not overlooked completely. That's just the way it is though, people have A LOT going on that week so I don't fault them. But the way I knew my DH was meant for me, he made (and still makes) a HUGE deal out of my birthday, and not as much for Christmas. He always makes sure that I know how special I am to him and goes out of his way to make it a big deal for MY DAY. He's the best.

7. I will never go back to turkey on Christmas. My DH made prime rib last year and OH MY, it was the best thing I've ever had on a holiday. In fact, I think we would make it for EVERY holiday if we could! If you haven't had it for your Christmas dinner yet, I highly recommed Bobby Flay's recipe = awesomeness.

Geez, I could have labeld this 7 CHRISTMAS things! Guess I have holly on the brain ;-)

Well I will tag anyone that reads this blog ... since I don't always know who does! So if you play along leave me a comment and let me know! I would love to read it ... and love the comment! ;-)

Hey TAT'ers! Today Lazy is having her Home Tour edition where we show off somethin around the home ... at least I think that's the general idea ;-)

Well today my TAT is about an undertaking of MAMOTH proportions. This is actually part one of my post because it IS so bad.

SO BAD in fact ... that if Lazy reads this post her organizing OCD might compell her to hop on a plane and fly over here to Sunny California JUST to save me from this nightmare.

This ...

is my kitchen cabinet ...

I know ... the HORROR!

This is the cabinet that started out a year ago when we moved as my baking stuffs cabinet.

It has since morphed into something aweful ... something where things are literally tossed in and held in place so they don't fall back out! A horrible place where cornstarch and carmel sauce mingle next to Tylenol PM and Benedryl!

And not just because I like to eat carmel covered cornstarch and then induce a coma. Just because I couldn't bring myself to tackle this huge project.

Well my fellow TAT'ers ... TODAY IS THAT DAY! And not only because it gives me something to post about, but because my husband is out of town and I'm BORED OUT OF MY MIND! lol

Stay tuned for Part 2 on next week's TAT! And for more peeps TAT'in bout their Home and such ... check out the Lazy Organizer!!

Hey there fellow Sunday Scrappers! Oh I'm so excited to be back this week with something scrappy to share!

So last week I was browsing all the way-more-productive-than-me Sunday Scrappers and came across this AWESOME post!

The idea is to take a regular old notebook and make it into your catch all for holiday-ness! I, for one, NEED more holiday organization. There is so much going on and SOOOO many lists that I would just lose what's left of my little mind by apx December 12th, give or take.

So when I saw the notebook-turned-holiday planner I was in awe of the greatness! So I ran out and got me a notebook and got scrappin!

She had way better instructions than I could sum up here coherently so go ahead and check out her post ;-) But basically all you need is a notebook, some cute papers, ribbon, and adhesive! I just ended up using my sticky squares and so far so good!

The back and the front...

Okay so I decided on 5 sections, one for family lists for gifts, one for friends and business contacts, 3 is for holiday events, 4 is for my making or baking lists and ingredients, and 5 is misc (i.e. whatever I couldnt think of at the time of labeling the dividers ;-)

I used little ribbon scraps for my dividers and they just look too cute, attached with just your run of the mill stapler :D

So far this thing has become a LIFE saver. All my lists in one place and small enough to fit into my purse! And, I have to say, it's just super cute :-D

So my super thanks to Scraps in Bloom and her awesome altered notebook that will save my holiday sanity! w00t!

For more chicks scrappin on Sunday ... check out Sunday Scrappin!

Slow Cooker Chicken & Biscuits Recipe

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite size pieces
1 can condensed cream of chicken soup
1 (10 oz) frozen peas and carrots
1 (7 1/2 oz) refrigerated biscuits

1. Place chicken in crockpot. Pour soup over chicken. Cover; cook in LOW 4 hours or until chicken is tender and no longer pink in the middle.

2. Stir in frozen veggies. Cover and cook 30 minutes longer veggies are heated through.

3. Bake biscuits according to package. Spoon chicken and veggie mixture over biscuits and serve.

Slow Cooker Pepper Steak Recipe

*1 1/2 - 2 lbs beef round steak, cut into 3"x1" strips
*oil
*1/2 c. soy sauce
*1 garlic clove, minced
*1 c. chopped onion
*1 tsp sugar
*1/2 tsp salt
*1/4 tsp pepper
*1/4 tsp ground ginger
*2 large green pepper cut into strips
*4 tomatoes cut into 8ths OR 16oz can diced tomatoes
*1/2 c. cold water
*1 TBSP cornstarch

1. Brown beef in oil in sauce pan. Transfer to slow cooker

2. Combine soy sauce, garlic, onions, sugar, salt, pepper, and ginger. Pour over meat.

3. Cover. Cook on LOW 5-6 hours.

4. Add green peppers and tomatoes. Cook 1 hour longer.

5. Combine water and cornstarch to make a paste. Stir into slow cooker. Cook on HIGH until thickened, about 10 min.

6. Serve over rice or noodles!

So today I thought I would tell all you lucky folks about our trip to "Disneyland" ... known to most women as Bass Pro Shops. LOL Ok so the place is pretty amazing. I mean they went ALL OUT. From the waterfall in the back and the replica of the largest tree in California to the rust-looking clothing racks, they looked totally authentic.

The outside of the store introduces you to the ALL OUTness of the place. They have a stream and lake running through the PARKING LOT.
Hehehehe you gotta love that look of PURE JOY on his cute little face!
Ok so you walk in and first is the huge tree replica you walk through past the 3 story tall fireplace and lounge (aka place where the women folk knit and wait for the mens) As you can see there are trees and rock formations and deer and all kinds a stuff

This is facing straight forward looking down the HUGE walkway with more animal and nature formations on the wall
This is the waterfall and mural representing Yosemite's Half Dome. The waterfall empties out into a 10,000 gallon fish tank! There's a guy climbing the wall on the left too ;-)
Next to the elevators was a Trout pond complete with fisherman ;-)
The waterfall and tank are pretty big and you can even walk up and behind it to get to the second floor ... it's actually pretty neat
This is looking down on the waterfall from the second floor

There were laser tag games, shooting ranges, and this cool little place where you shoot at the target and then the whole place gets animated! For example, if you shoot the outhouse it opens up and theres a bear sitting there reading the paper! LOL
This is looking down on the place from the second floor, in the corner theres a cute little general store with the COOLEST gifty type items
And this is the 8th wonder of the world ... the backside of water! (LOL a disneyland reference ;-)
On our way out DH entered a drawing for a Bass Pro Shops car ... you know ... cause whatELSE would a little girl want?!
And then there's ladies wear LOL ...

SEXAAAAY LOL
And what little girl's Christmas would be complete without a pink Hummer and pink camo tent!
OHHHHH and don't forget the Disney Princesses Enchanted Tackle Box lol
And your husband's living room won't be complete without a camo LAZYBOY ... just incase he needs to shoot something from the comfort of his living room.

And for the funniest thing I saw that day ....
That's right ... a camo crock pot. Because ya never know when you might wanna make a crockpot meal in your duck blind ... provided of course ... that it has electricity ... LOL

Today on TAT we're talkin bout our Halloween!

I LOVE that Halloween was on Friday. It was so awesome not to have to worry about wakin kids the next day from their candy induced coma's and sending them to school.

And it was nice not to BE woken from my candy coma until at LEAST 6:30!

This year we had the 3 girls home, the boy was with his mom. So starting WAAAAY back in August thoughts of 3 twirling princesses danced in my head! I started thinking up ways to coordinate them or connect them somehow and then sometime in September my excitement came to a screaching halt.

I found that this year, they actually wanted some SAY in their costumes! WHAAAAA?! Since WHEN?!

And it turns out that they are no longer "into the whole princess thing ... egh ...

It turned out ok I guess, their dad helped with the costumes so that was good. And I still have Lil Miss to form and control until she can verbalize otherwise.

They looked AWESOME! And OH MAN did they have a great time!
Tween was a witch and I did an AMAZING job on her make up! IfIdosaysomyself ...

Princess was a pirate. She wouldn't let me put any make up on her, even if the make up were to look like dirt ... "it's not PIRATE-Y" or so I've been told ...
But I DID get my princess! Lil Miss was Sleeping Beauty :-D And boy did she work it! She came home with twice the amount of candy as the other girls since she told everyone "HI! I'm Sweeeeepin BOOOTY!" LOL they were powerless to her princessly powers ;-)
We all had a great time wandering around the neighborhood. After only 1 1/2 hours out we came home with enough candy to FILL two HUGE bags.

And add at least two inches to my waist line. But oh my those kit kats and twixes are WORTH IT! ;-)

What's *your* favorite candy? And if you'd like to see what other Halloweenly things people are TATin about, check out the Lazy Organizer!