Happy Birthday Margie!

Happy birthday to you... happy birthday to you...

Today is my sweet niece's eighth birthday.  It just seems like yesterday that I was meeting this cutie pie for the first time.  To celebrate I put together this collage of the many faces of Margie.
Love you!  Auntie Ruth

P.S. Photo collages are super fun and easy to make with Picasa :)

Homemade Mac 'n Cheese

This week I was signed up to bring a meal for a friend and her family.  So I decided to try The Pioneer Woman's recipe for macaroni and cheese.  I figured it should be a hit with the kids, right?  

So I gathered the cast of characters.  These are the usual suspects...most likely you will find most of them hanging around your pantry and fridge.  Nothing too out of the ordinary but when you put them together that's when the magic happens!

Oops!  These two were camera shy and didn't make it into the "group shot" :)

   You can find Ree's step by step directions here.  I used whole wheat penne instead of regular macaroni just because that's what I had in my pantry.  Hope you give it a try sometime.  It's an easy recipe that delivers lots of great taste!

My lunch date

I had a lunch date today!  Lena and Charis (and Kim) joined me for a beautiful al fresco lunch by the fountain.  It was so good to see the girls and to catch up with Kim.

Looking forward to more of these.   

Lena was eating peanut butter and jelly "scrolls"

Charis was just hanging out in her stroller taking it all in

Grateful for all the friends in my life... big and small!

Beautiful sun!

"Love comforteth like the sunshine after the rain"
-  William Shakespeare

Rain, rain, rain...

We haven't had much rain this year so I'm not complaining!  I decided to look on the bright (though wet and cold) side and play with the raindrops.  Rainy days are great days for having some fun with the macro setting on my little point-and-shoot camera.  Enjoy!

Happy Leap Day!

"Thirty days hath September,

April, June and November;

All the rest have thirty-one

Save February, she alone

Hath eight days and a score

Til leap year gives her one day more."

Think of someone you could encourage today.  You have an extra twenty four hours in your year to do something special and let them know how much you care!  

I'm a big fan!

I am a big fan of The Pioneer Woman's cooking show on the Food Network.  Last Saturday morning, Ree made some delicious looking chocolate cookies which I knew I had to make and share.  

This was an easy recipe and the cookies turned out really good too!  I got 24 cookies in the batch but depending on the size the cookie cutter you use you could probably get a few more.  Here are my step by step pictures...

Chill the dough a few hours or over night

Roll out the dough (to about 1/8 inch thickness) on a floured surface

Cut with a cookie cutter and place on a cookie sheet and bake for about 8 minutes.

Allow to cool completely before decorating.  Melt chocolate and white chocolate discs separately

For the toppings I just used things I found in my pantry.  Sliced almonds, pistachios, candy coated chocolate pieces and shredded coconut.  

Add a bit of the melted chocolate and sprinkle with the toppings... Enjoy!

See Ree's post and recipe for the cookies here.

I can't tell a lie - Holiday Inn (1942)

In honor of Washington's birthday, here is a clip from one of my favorite movies. Enjoy!

Blog interrupted...

I have been struggling with keeping up with my blog since the end of last summer. I could blame a myriad of things for being the cause of my blog block but in all reality all the blame must be placed upon Facebook. I think of something to post and find it easier to just update my status... sad, I know. So today I am making a conscious effort to get back on the blogging saddle and keep it current. Ok, so I know that just a few people see this versus FB but regardless I will do it for me.

So here's to spending Sunday evening with a hot cup of tea, the logs in the fireplace crackling and Jude Law in The Holiday (2006). I'm actually trying hard not to think about my least favorite holiday of the year which is coming up in a few days... blech!

Here is one of my favorite quotes from one of my favorite scenes the movie...

Amanda: "Who cut out all of those beautiful stars?" 
Sophie: "We did." 
Olivia: "The three musketeers." 

Merry Christmas!