What a Precious Sight!

Isn't this a beautiful picture? My son played the role of the Good Samaritan in chapel yesterday and it just melted my heart. It truly captured the type of servant that he is....one of my favorite things about him is that he always puts others before himself. He seldom asks for anything and if we never had to leave the house to go anywhere, he would be okay with that too. What a blessing!

Winter Storm 2008

WINTER STORM 2008 - that is the warning that we continually saw on the newscast the past 48 hours. I have to admit with all of the warnings that I went to the grocery store after school yesterday to buy some goodies (oh, the pressure of being "trapped" without the necessities for your family) - I am not one to purchase the proverbial milk and bread - if I am going to be in for a day or two, I want grits, bacon and eggs and raspberry hot chocolate with whipped topping. Can I get a witness?

Well, I woke up at three o'clock this morning to see that the ground was covered in snow - beautiful snow. I had the urge to wake the hubby and child but resisted temptation at the thought of them being grumpy if we did have to go. I snuggled back under the covers and just KNEW that we would be at home all day today.

I turned on the TV to check out the news - I just adore our local news forecast. Being that we don't get a lot of snow in this area, we certainly get excited and go overboard at the thought of a little dusting of the white stuff. I laid on the couch this morning and watched two hours of video footage of slag trucks on the roads and reporters warning people to stay in.

I needed to head for the shower but, I waited until 5:15 am, then told myself that our headmaster would call school by 5:30 am, then I said, "Okay - if he is going to call it , surely he will do it by 5:45." You see, all other surrounding counties were out - everyone in our neighborhood was out today, but not us. Now it was okay - mmmm.... let's see: A day off to clean or a great day in the classroom? Either one would be fine but I got the latter.

By the way, the roads were just slushy - they did a great job of salting down all of the local roads and bridges. (and we were thankful to make it safely)

I only had 12 kids this morning and they were MAD that they had to come. I said, "Don't grumble - grab a pencil and write about how you are feeling. They wrote things similar to this:

"I did not want to come to school today. I wanted to stay home and drink hot chocolate. I wanted to build a snowman. I am sad."

You have to love first graders and appreciate them for their honesty.

They were so cute and they got over it quickly when I told them that we would have a great time today. Work a little; play a little; work a little; play a little, etc. Tough conditions but we survived.

Whatever you did today, I pray that you got to play a little too!

Kim

Never Trust a Skinny Cook

That old adage - Never Trust a Skinny Cook - is true. I am a huge fan of Paula Deen and one of the reasons is that I think that she represents the south so well. Most of my childhood memories of my grandmothers revolve around the kitchen.

My grandma lived her last several years alone but she cooked a southern spread for us each Sunday that would make Paula Deen proud. Her southern fried chicken was the best and she made the best fried pies - all from scratch - I well remember her draining the chicken and the fried pies on brown grocery bags across the kitchen counter. No wonder a stick of butter in almost every recipe I make...It is in my DNA...healthy eating is just no fun - although, I know that hubby and I need to make a better effort to do so.

Tonight, we are going to our last party of the season. The hostess intentionally held off planning this party so that everyone could be relaxed and free to attend. (with all the Christmas errands behind them) So today, I thought I would post the recipes of the appetizers that I made to take with us tonight. You may have seen some variation of all of these before but these are my favorites. Enjoy! (and if weight loss is your New Year's Resolution, I warn you to not even tempt yourself by reading them - just print them and hide in a drawer until your next bout of PMS strikes - you'll be glad you did!)

Like Crack Cheesecake Bars:
(Hey, I didn’t name them but once you taste them, you will see why someone selected this name for them.)

2 cans of croissant rolls
2 pkgs cream cheese (8 oz.)
1 stick melted butter
1 tsp cinnamon
1.5 tsp vanilla
1.5 cups sugar

Roll out one can of croissant dough and press together the seams in a 13x9 pan. In a large bowl, blend cream cheese, one cup of sugar and the vanilla. Spread the mixture on top of the dough. Roll out the second can of croissant dough. Press the seams together and place on top of cream cheese mixture. Pour melted butter over the dough, drizzling some along the sides of the pan so it gets down to the bottom too. Mix 1/2 cup of sugar and cinnamon and sprinkle on top.Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Serve warm for breakfast or cold for dessert.

Sweet and Sour Meatballs

2 bags of frozen meatballs
1 large jar of grape jelly
1 jar of Heinz chili sauce
1 tablespoon of mustard
1 cup of Heinz ketchup

Heat in crock pot – stirring occasionally. Cook on high until ingredients mix well and then turn back to low until meatballs are served.

Dried Beef Cream Cheese Ball

2 sticks of cream cheese
3 chopped green onions
1 jar of dried beef
Dash or two of seasoned salt
Tsp or two of Worcestershire sauce

Chop dried beef and set aside one fourth of it to roll cheese ball in before serving. Mix softened cream cheese, chopped dried beef, finely chopped green onions, seasoned salt and Worcestershire sauce. Mix well and form large ball in wax paper. Chill at least an hour or longer. Roll in remaining chipped beef before serving. Serve with triscuits, wheat thins or Ritz crackers

In the words of Paula Deen - Eat up, y'all!

Kim