Day three of the beach . . .there were no pictures on day two!!

We arrived at the beach on Thursday . . .and for some reason, I did not take enough pictures this year. I think I was too busy talking and visiting.  Hayden and Jan had to drive back to Panama City on Saturday night to catch an early flight back to Nashville . . .because their daughter was getting married (and is now married) in just two short weeks.  So they packed up and we all put on our nicest beach clothes and headed outside for some group picture taking.  At one point, we had taken so many pictures and Mark said, "what is this?  a wedding?  why are we taking so many pictures?"  Of course, we just kept taking pictures.  Here we are crammed into the elevator . . .

Hayden and Jan were loading their car and I snapped a cute picture of Guy and Phella.  I always love their pictures as a couple.

Here is the whole crew - year five - we are all in our 50's now . . .and we are a pretty fun group.  I hope we will still be taking a group picture at the beach . . . in September . . .when we are in our 70's . . . and maybe even 80's!!  When Mark had his arteriogram last week, the doctor told him that his heart has at least 30 more years . . .he is the oldest in the group . . .so hopefully, we will still be going to the beach in our 80's.  (that was a weird thought process - sorry!!)

Yes, we were trying to make sure that sailboat was in the picture.  We were acting pretty silly.

I love this picture of Hayden and Jan . . .except I think Hayden's eyes are closed.  Wonder if I could photoshop in some open eyes!!

Here we are and I have no idea what Mark is saying . . .this could be the "what are we doing?  Are we in a wedding?" comment time.

ok - there is a story behind this picture.  On Friday night, Jan and Phella and I went to the outlet mall.  We left the "boys" at the condo.  When we returned . . .I kid you not . . .we found all three guys sitting on the sofa in the condo . . .watching the Shopping Channel.  Now . . . .we think that it was staged,  like the picture below, but we don't know for sure.  They were actually able to tell us what the product was on the tv screen . . . .I was honestly so shocked that I didn't even think to grab the camera!!  So here they are - recreating the moment for us.

I love this picture - the sun is setting and the glow is hitting their faces . . .I think this was a staged picture also!!

Yes, Mark is standing "IN" the big fishing net . . .and yes, we were acting like a bunch of fools with a camera.

The girls . . .I think this is a pretty good picture of the three of us.  There is such joy on our faces.

The sun . . .needs no words.  God's beauty.

Mark's eyes are closed in this one . . .see that pretty sun in the background.

I love the beach!! I love this time of laughter and fun!!

day one - fall beach trip 2011

We love our fall beach trip!! This year was year five and we are already looking forward to next year!! We always leave early in the morningn so that we can arrive in time for a late lunch at the Original Oyster House. When we pulled into town, the bottom fell out of the sky. It was raining so hard!! We all ran into the restaurant and began the "catching up" portion of the week-end . . . which actually continued all week-end!! After lunch, we picked up our keys and stopped by the store for a few items. I had told everyone that I had made homemade pimento cheese but didn't bring crackers . . .so Jan politely borrowed a few from the basket at the restaurant. If you know me . . you know that I'm LOUD . . .and while we were in Walmart, I yelled down the aisle at Jan - "Hey - do we need any more crackers other than the ones you stole!!" Then we all laughed hysterically.  I guess you had to be there with us for it to be funny!!  When we arrived at the condo, we unloaded everything and decided to go sit on the beach even though the skies were gray.

Mark found this "thing" on the beach . . .we still don't know what it is . . .sea snake?  I need to google it!

He played with it and "pondered" about the origin of his "snake."

I, on the other hand, buried my toes in the sand and began the process of relaxing!!

Guy and Phella and Hayden and Jan went for a really long walk.  The waves were gorgeous!!

I tried to take my own picture - not too successful!!

Mark had also begun the process of relaxation!!

I think this picture was actually taken on a different day . . .Mark has been trying to kill the beavers that are destroying the trees at the farm . . .We wrote our names on our cups . . and Jan wrote "Beaver Killer" on Mark's cup.  He seems pleased.

Since we had eaten a large lunch, we had pimento cheese and crackers and hummus and pita chips and apple slices and cheese slices . . .and margaritas!!!

Lots of pink for baby girl shower

We are having a baby girl boom at work!! First . . . .let's see - David's wife, Tina, had a baby girl . . .then Kristi had a baby girl . . .then Jeanne had a baby girl . . .and Amy and Karen are both expecting baby girls! Isn't that amazing? These pictures are from Jeanne's baby shower. Baby Ellen has now arrived so I'm a little late posting these pictures.  Ann's (our boss!) daughter made the baby cake.

I made the pink puff balls.

Kristi picked up the balloons and the pink paper plates and stuff.

Let's see . . there is Julie on the left and we sure do miss her.  She is no longer working with us.  Robert, our wonderful intern, is standing in the back.  Karen has on stripes.  Kristi - with no face - is beside Karen and Amy is in the front.  I love working with all of these folks!!

 

Donna is on the left and she brought the fun pink punch - I think it was pink lemonade which was yummy!!

 

Here are our three who were pregnant at that time -- Jeanne on the left (baby Ellen has arrived), Amy in the middle (her baby girl is going to be named Cora) and Karen on the right (I don't think she has told us her baby girl's name yet).

 

Jeanne received some fun gifts!!  Hopefully, they are practical and useful, too!

These are our guys who attended (besides Robert in that first picture) -- Scott is standing and Drew is sitting and that is Amy L. talking to Scott.

 

It is so wonderful to work with all these folks and it is so neat that so many baby girls are arriving!!

We didn't have to sit home on Saturday night!!

Mark and I love spending time with friends!! Dean and Donna invited us over for a wonderful dinner of shrimp and lemony pasta - delish!! I only snapped two photos all night -- this one of Mark and Donna.  I do believe that Mark has his mouth open about to say something :-)

The only other picture that I snapped is of their kitchen table . . .because I love this table. I don't covet it . . .not much anyway . ..but I love it!!

It is such a cool old farmhouse table. I wonder how many folks would fit around that table???  Look over to the left . . .there is an antique high chair - isn't it cute???  Good food and good conversation equals a good night.

recipe for poppyseed chicken for a crowd

I know that I've shared several recipes lately but that seems to be "where I am" right now.  This middle-aged momma has been doing some major cooking lately.  I've written about our Tuesday night study before so I won't bore you with details about all of that but I've had a problem.  I'm cooking for 25-30 people each week and sometimes I find it hard to quadruple a recipe. Do you quadruple the spices? I've worked out the proportions for one of my favorite recipes and thought I would share . . .just in case someone else needs to make poppyseed chicken for a lot of people!!

First thing is to cook a lot of chicken.  I usually use boneless chicken breasts and I buy them when they are on sale or either I buy a couple of gigantic bags at Costco.  I always cook one whole bag and almost the whole second bag.  I usually save about 4 breasts to cook for my family at a later date.  I simply fill up my two huge stock pots with chicken breasts and add water to cover.  I add lots of pepper and a good bit of salt.  I usually add some Cavender's seasoning also and a little garlic salt just for flavor.  When the chicken is done, I remove from the boiling water and place in one of my disposable pans and let it cool enough to handle.  I turn the burner back onto high and let the broth cook down at this point to use later.  After all the chicken is chopped or shredded into bite sized pieces, I start assembling the casseroles.  I use the 1/2 steam table pans which I buy in a big pack at Costco. 

I mix up one pan at a time.  I've tried it the other way and believe me, this works much better.  It is hard to stir all the ingredients if you mix it all together.  So for each steam table pan, you will need:
24 ounces sour cream
1 big can of cream of chicken soup
1 regular can of cream of chicken soup
Spray pan with Pam and then add sour cream and soup and gently mix together in the pan.

Then I add the chopped chicken on top of the sour cream/soup mixture.

How much chicken?  Well, I use my glass four cup measuring cup and I fill it to the top.  I would assume that is at least five cups chicken.  Next time, I am going to add another one to two cups of chicken to each pan.  It was a little bit soupier than I like after I baked it.

Now gently mix the chicken and soup and sour cream together in the pan.

For the top of each casserole, melt one stick real butter.  I don't even buy margarine anymore - just butter.  You can see that I'm using that same four cup glass measuring cup.  I use it a lot when I'm cooking.  Melt the stick of butter.  I zap it in the microwave for about a minute or so.

Then I use the tools that God gave me - my hands - and I crumble the Ritz Crackers . . while still in the sleeve.  WORD OF WARNING - if you crumble the crackers too vigorously, you will have a mess because the end of the sleeve will open and crackers will fly all over your kitchen.  Yes, I know from experience.

Add the crackers to the melted butter and add a couple of tablespoons of poppy seed to the mixture. 

Spread all over the top of the casserole.  The topping is really good so you do not want to skimp on this step.  Add more crackers if necessary.

At this point, you can cover with foil and slip into a two gallon freezer bag and freeze until needed or you can preheat the oven to 350 degrees and cook for about 45 minutes to an hour.  If you freeze the casseroles, place in refrigerator the day before needed.  Preheat oven to 350 and cook for a very long time (unless it is totally thawed before you begin baking).  I usually get home at 3:00 and put the casseroles in the oven and take them out around 6:00 p.m.  If you are making multiple casseroles, repeat the above steps.  I usually make three casseroles to feed 25 - 30 people.  That means that you would need:

2 giant bags of boneless chicken breasts from Costco

3 steam table pans

Pam

3 - 24 ounce containers of sour cream  (or nine 8 ounce containers)

3 big cans of cream of chicken soup

3 regular cans of cream of chicken soup

6 tablespoons poppy seed

3 sticks butter

3 rolls Ritz Crackers (I think I ended up using all four rolls for my three casseroles)

Happy cooking!!

Cute, easy and inexpensive baby shower decorations

I saw some decorations like this a few years ago at an event we had at our church and I loved them. Since we are on a "girl" roll in our office, (three office mates have given birth to girls and there are two more girlies on the way!!!) I decided that we needed some fun pink decorations. Supplies for each one cost one dollar and a few cents!! - Can't beat that!!

Butch's recipe for chicken noodle soup - yummy!!

This recipe is from my friend, Butch Smith. She willingly shared her recipe with me . . . of course, this is not exactly the way she shared it - this is the way that I made the soup and it worked and it was delicious. (you can cook your own chicken if you prefer and then use that broth as your chicken broth)


CREAMY CHICKEN NOODLE SOUP


8 chicken breasts halves (bone in is best) (I used three large cans of white chicken breast)
2 (10 1/2oz) soup cans chicken broth (I used 2 cans of chicken broth from the store)
3 carrots, peeled and chopped
2 teaspoons salt
1 small onion, peeled and chopped
1-2 cups little green peas (I added the whole can - drained - but add the amount that you prefer)
1 stick butter
3 cups water
6 tablespoons flour
1 8 oz. package egg noodles
1 1/2 cups milk


Spray pot with pam.  Brown chopped onions.  Pour canned chicken broth and chicken in pot and add carrots and bring to boil. Add salt.  Boil 25 minutes or until carrots are fork tender.  Add water and bring to boil and then add noodles and cook 10 minutes. Prepare cream sauce: melt butter and blend in flour. Gradually add milk, stirring until mixture thickens. Add hot cream to soup, whisking constantly, until well blended. Add chicken and cook on very low heat, stirring often, until soup is slightly thickened and heated thoroughly.

This soup is yummy. It tastes like chicken pot pie without the crust. I think I will be cooking this soup often this winter!!!