KNEE PAIN AND BREAD PUDDING

I really don't like to complain but I am "fixin to". I have been having this terrible knee pain for 9 days now. I have been out of work for the last 3 days resting it as much as I can, the whole R.I.C.E. routine and it is still painful. I cannot put full weight on it and I am hobbling around using either a cane or a walker. And I HATE it. Hate is not even a strong enough word. Disgusted...mad...sad...upset...and yes even a little bit of a pity party going on. I am determined to go to work on Monday and I also have an appointment with the Ortho on Thursday. I have been praying up a storm and hoping it gets better on its own. So if you have a few extra prayers to offer, please send them my way okay? Thanks : ) My nurse, Addie, has been wonderful and I don't know what I would do without her. 

The weather has been gorgeous here (altho I haven't been outside to enjoy it). Its that time of year in South Louisiana for festivals....this weekend and next is Jazz Fest. I am sure there are huge crowds enjoying the music, food and beverages! Wish I could have gone....one year I will go...it's on my Bucket List.

 Next weekend my local hometown will be having their annual Volunteer Fireman's Fair and Parade. Its a big ta-do in Thibodaux! If you find yourself passing thru, take a couple of hours to enjoy some wonderful food and help to support our local firefighters!
http://thibfiredept.org/fair/main.asp 

And now for one of my all time favorite desserts - Bread Pudding! Not just ANY bread pudding but bread pudding with rum sauce!!! ENJOY!

NOLA STYLE BREAD PUDDING

Ingredients

• FOR THE BREAD PUDDING:
• 2 cups whole milk
• 4 tbsp (1/2 stick) butter
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 4 cups stale French bread , cut into 1” cubes
• 1/2 cup raisins
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp grated nutmeg
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
•  
• FOR THE RUM SAUCE:
• 8 tbsp (1 stick) butter
• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 1/4 cup rum (may substitute Bourbon or Whiskey)

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. Using a medium size, heavy-bottom sauce pan, heat milk, stirring frequently, until it begins to steam and form small bubbles (being careful not to boil). Melt the butter in the hot milk and stir in the sugar. Pour over bread and raisins in a large bowl and let stand for 15 minutes.
3. In a separate bowl, stir together beaten eggs, salt, nutmeg and vanilla. Add to the bread mixture and gently combine. Pour into a well-greased 1 ½ quart dish and bake for 35-45 minutes until the edges turn golden brown.
4. Meanwhile, start your rum sauce. In a large mixing bowl, cream together butter and sugar until fluffy, then gradually pour in the rum until well blended.
5. Serve on the side or drizzle over warm bread pudding. Enjoy while still warm.

Legends and Banana Upside Down Cake!

A legend...RIP Dick Clark

Sitting here watching American Idol and I have one question...
who the heck is LMFAO? And do they honestly think that is singing????
I'm sorry, but THAT was not singing...call me old, I don't care.
They just don't make music like they used to....agree?
Anyway, I am just glad that Joshua Ledet was saved!
Regardless, he will be very famous one day soon!

I am so looking forward to my 3 day weekend. No big plans, relaxing as much as possible
and spending some special time with family.
Doesn't get much better than that does it?
Last weekend we took a ride to Cabela's and the best part
of it was that we got to take our lil man with us!
Oh be still my heart!
He is such a joy and is so good. He is learning so many things, he imitates
everything you do...especially everything his Poppa does! Rene' was SO proud to
push him around @ Cabela's and show him the huge fish and
see the look in his face when he saw the fish swim by him.


Couldn't you just squeeze him?
Look at this picture...he actually placed his hand over his mouth
and said Ohhhhhhhh LOL

I wish we could keep him little forever!!
::::sigh::::

Now to share a yummy recipe with you.
This is super simple and true comfort food!!

Banana Upside Down Cake



Ingredients


1/4 cup butter
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
3 medium firm bananas, cut into 1/2-inch slices
1 package (9 ounces) yellow cake mix
Whipped cream

Directions


Place butter in a round cast iron skillet.
Heat at 350° for 4-5 minutes or until melted;
sprinkle with brown sugar.
Arrange bananas in skillet; set aside.
Prepare cake mix according to package directions; pour over bananas.
Bake at 350° for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Immediately invert cake onto a serving platter.
Let stand for 5 minutes; remove pan.
Serve warm with whipped cream.

Hippity Hoppity.......

Didn't we JUST celebrate Christmas??? Yep that's what I thought. Wow how time flies. Tomorrow we celebrate the Resurrection...the most solemn Christian holiday.

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.

He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

"He is not here. He has risen." Luke 24.6

Amen? Amen !!

Since strawberries are so abundant right now, I decided to share this Strawberry Cake
recipe with y'all. This is an original Paula Deen recipe so you know it's sweet and
rich! I hope you enjoy it!

Savannah Strawberry Tall Cake

Cook Time: 20 min

Difficulty: Easy

Ingredients:
1 box of white cake mix, baked in three 8” cake pans
3 quarts strawberries, stems removed and cut in half
1/3 cup sugar
Whipped Cream:
16 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
1 cup sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
4 cups heavy cream

Place cut strawberries and 1/3 cup sugar. Stir together and place in the refrigerator until ready to assemble cake.

Mix cake mix as directed and pour into three 8” prepared cake pans. Bake just until set and slightly golden (approximately 15-20 minutes).

When cake has cooled, place cream cheese, sugar and vanilla in the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with whisk attachment. Whisk at medium-high speed until light and fluffy. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed. Reduce speed to low and add heavy cream in slow stream. When almost fully combined, increase speed to medium-high and beat until mixture holds stiff peaks.

To assemble cake: Place one cake layer in a large bowl or on a pedestal. Line the outer edges with a decorative row of strawberry halves. Fill the middle with some of the strawberry mixture. Top with a layer of the whipped cream mixture. Repeat one more layer. For the third and final layer place last cake on the other two layers. Arrange strawberry halves decoratively around the edge. Top with the remaining strawberry mixture. Serve with any left over whipped cream you may have. Have your guests just dig in!

This recipe was specially prepared and created by Paula Deen for Smithfield. Recipe and photo courtesy of Smithfield. Find this and other delicious recipes from Paula at Smithfield.com.

Recipe Courtesy of Paula Deen for Smithfield

Spring and Pink Lemonade Cake

I do believe that spring has sprung! The gorgeous flowers everywhere and my allergies tell me so...

From roses...

to wisteria...

to Jasmine...

Azaleas...

and Redbud....
everything is in bloom and absolutely gorgeous!
I cannot take credit for growing any of the above except for the
Wisteria! No matter how much Rene' tries to cut it down
and kill it...it is mighty and shows him who is boss!
Isn't it gorgeous...and when you walk out my front door
that is all you smell

I love spring almost as much as I love fall, but our spring here is
so short lived and before you know it, its in the 90's and we are
praying for fall/winter once again!
Such is life in south Louisiana!

Yesterday was such an exciting day...other than it being Friday!
It was the drawing for the MegaMillions lottery....640 million ! Cannot even
fathom that amount of money!!
Altho we didn't win (well technically we did...$9 in our family pool and $6 in our work pool)
we still had so much fun talking about it and dreaming of what we
would do with our winnings! It went from quitting our jobs, to buying hot tubs, to buying
cabins in the mountains WITH hot tubs, to moving to Montana, to buying
travel trailers and traveling all over the USA!
But the most endearing dream was one from my husband.
He said if we won, his first visit would be to Children's Hospital in NOLA then to St Judes
to make very generous donations in our son's name.
Awwww..for such a grouch big guy, he is a big softie when it comes to that.
So even tho we didn't win...in actuality, we won really BIG!
And what were your dreams?

Now for a yummy...Easter-y recipe!
Super simple to make and so light and de-lish!


Pink Lemonade Pound Cake

1 (18.25 ounce) package lemon cake mix
1 (3 ounce) package instant lemon pudding mix
4 eggs
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup pink lemonade concentrate
4 drops pink or red food color, optional

Glaze:
1 cup frozen pink lemonade concentrate, thawed
1/2 cup white sugar


Recipe
1) Preheat oven to 350. Grease and flour one 10-inch tube pan or
bundt pan.

2) Combine the cake mix, lemon pudding mix, eggs, vegetable oil, 1/2
cup lemon concentrate and the milk. Mix until smooth. Pour the batter
into the prepared pan.

3) Bake at 350 for 50 minutes to 1 hour.

Remove from oven and prick cake all over with a fork. Immediately
pour lemonade glaze over top of cake.

Let cake stand in pan until almost cool.

LEMONADE GLAZE:
Combine the remaining thawed frozen lemonade and the white sugar. Mix
thoroughly and pour over still warm cake.

Glaze above makes the cake moist
Making the glaze to pour over the top of cake:
1. Melt 1/4 cup of butter in a saucepan or microwave.
2. Sift 2 cups of powdered sugar into a medium size bowl.
3. Add the melted butter to the powdered sugar.
4. Add 2 tablespoons of cream.
5. If desired either add 1/4 teaspoon of almond extract or 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla for flavor.
6. Beat until smooth and creamy adding a little more milk if necessary. Drizzle over a cooled cake.
7. Add Pink food coloring!!!

DAYLIGHT SAVINGS TIME AND CANDY BAR APPLE SALAD

Daylight Savings Time...L.O.V.E. I. T.
NOW when I leave work on Monday and Tuesday, it won't be dark...yeah!! I truly hated that, seems like my evening was almost over by the time I got home. So yeah for DST!
Did you know that DST was first suggested by Benjamin Franklin in 1784??? True story!
DST was first adopted to replace artificial lighting so they could save fuel for the war effort in Germany during World War I at 11:00pm (23:00) on April 30, 1916. It was quickly followed by Britain and many countries from both sides, including the United States. Many countries reverted back to standard time post-World War I, and it wasn’t until the next World War that DST would make its return to many countries in order to save vital energy resources for the war.

President Franklin D. Roosevelt instituted year-round DST in the United States, called “War Time” during World War II from February 9, 1942 to September 30, 1945. The law was enforced 40 days after the bombing of Pearl Harbor and during this time, time zones were called “Eastern War Time”, “Central War Time”, and “Pacific War Time”. After the surrender of Japan in mid-August 1945, the time zones were relabeled “Peace Time”.

That was your history lesson of the week!

Now for a lesson on making a delicious simple dessert!

CANDY BAR APPLE SALAD!

Ingredients

• 1-1/2 cups cold 2% milk
• 1 package (3.4 ounces) instant vanilla pudding mix
• 1 carton (8 ounces) frozen whipped topping, thawed
• 4 large apples, chopped (about 6 cups)
• 4 Snickers candy bars (2.07 ounces each), cut into 1/2-inch pieces

Directions

• In a large bowl, whisk milk and pudding mix for 2 minutes. Let stand
• for 2 minutes or until soft-set. Fold in whipped topping. Fold in
• apples and candy bars. Refrigerate until serving.
• Yield: 12 servings
• (3/4 cup each).

Cricut Project!

Addie's 1st Cricut project....more pics to come!

Goodbye Mardi Gras 2012

As Mardi Gras 2012 comes to an end, I am here to tell you that I did not attend 1 parade..not 1 ! And I am okay with that. I have done enough "parading" in my younger days....BOY do I have stories to tell, but that is a whole different blog post! As Mardi Gras ends...so begins the season of Lent. A time to set aside some time of quiet to ask the Lord what he wants you to do.To see if the Spirit of God guides you to something. Today I read this in a blog and thought that it pretty much sums up what Lent is all about....

Millions of people are getting in their last partying before Lent begins on Ash Wednesday, a much more serious time when ashes are applied with the traditional words, "Remember you are dust and to dust you shall return."

Before we turn to dust and blow away, what good are we going to do in this world? The forty days of Lent create a season to positively answer that question since it's a time focused on spiritual growth and simplicity-a kind of spring cleaning.

Simply giving something "up" for Lent-like candy or alcohol or TV-might be a good thing. But it's more useful to give something "back" through positive acts of mercy and charity, helping the poor, doing volunteer work, giving a helping hand to family and friends who are in difficult situations. We can use this time to take stock of the values we promote and how we live our lives.

What will each of us give back rather than give up? That decision is up to each of us. I hope that this Lenten season becomes a time of spiritual discipline and reflection on what really creates the good times.

Those few paragraphs gave me an Ah Ha moment. So instead of the traditional "giving up" something for Lent, I have decided to "give back". My sister's best friend, Bobbi Jo, was in a terrible car accident on Sunday. She is still in ICU in a drug induced coma with multiple injuries that will require several surgeries. So this year for Lent, I am giving one hour of my day spent in prayer for Bobbi Jo. I know she has a long road ahead of her, but I will be positive and pray that when my 40 days of prayer ends, she will be recovered and back to living her life as she has always lived it...as a faith filled woman, full of love and life!

This is for you Bobbi Jo....

"A pearl is a beautiful thing that is produced by an injured life. It is the tear [that results] from the injury of the oyster. The treasure of our being in this world is also produced by an injured life. If we had not been wounded, if we had not been injured, then we will not produce the pearl."

Stephan Hoeller