Laura's Corner

Update & a Gift

Hey hey blog readers!  How are your Holiday's so far?  I hope everyone is enjoying the hustle and bustle.  Me?  Not so much.  lol  I'll start from where we left off...

Thanksgiving was a hit.  It was tons of work, but the food was great and everyone seemed to have a good time.  I, however, made sure to tell Jaime that I DON'T want to do the whole meal again for a couple years.  lol

The day after Thanksgiving, we took Josh to Strasbourg.  He loved it of course.  They had their tree lighting ceremony that night and the Christmas Market was just getting started.  It's SO pretty there at Christmas.

We got Josh off to the airport on Saturday and I proceeded to get control of the house so we could start the Christmas decorating.  However, on Wed... exactly 2 weeks ago... I slipped on the snow and did a number on my right ankle.  I thought it was broken... holy cow was it painful.  Jaime came home from work to take me to the clinic.  They took X-rays and said it wasn't broken, but I'd pulled all sorts of muscles, ligements, etc.  OUCH!!!  I hobbled out of there whith crutches and instructions for bed rest.  UGH!  My ankle and foot continued to swell and proceeded to turn all sorts of yucky colors.  Green, purple, yellow... not a pretty sight.  My foot looked like one of those latex cloves when you blow it up like a balloon.  Anyway, it took a week before I could hobble around enough to help the girls decorate the tree and now, 2 weeks later, I'm limping on it with no crutches, but if I stay on it too long, it's very painful and swollen by the end of the day.  Nice timing eh?

Nothing else to report since I've been temporarily handicaped.  I have managed to finish my Christmas shopping and got gifts and cards in the mail yesterday.  Hopefully they went out in time!

This is the last week of school for the girls until after New Year's.  I'm really looking forward to spending time with them and sleeping in... I just hope we can keep the fighting between them to a minimum.  They don't do well when they spend too much time together.  UGH!

So, in the spirit of giving, I thought I'd share a little gift with anyone who wants to partake.  I created these a year or two ago and I still use them, so I thought someone else might find them useful as well.  They print up really nicely and I love that I can customize them.  They photo tags are great for gifts for the teachers and friends... or the grandparents!  Just print, cut and stick.  Normally I just use double sided tape or ribbon for the tags, but this year I found sticker paper.  It works great!  I hope you enjoy them...
 

 

::DOWNLOAD HERE::
 
Have a wonderful day and don't forget to slow down enough to enjoy family and friends!

Deep Fried Turkey

I'm here with just one recipe today...

When I hear about fried foods I automatically think thick batter, greasy, stinky house, etc.  However, Deep Fried Turkey is so NOT any of those things.  For years I had heard about how amazing fried turkey tastes, but just couldn't imagine it for Thanksgiving... until I finally tried it.  I vowed then and there that I would never use the oven to cook a turkey again.  There's just no reason to.  Deep Fried Turkey comes out SO moist, NOT greasy, and depending on the size, it takes between 1 and 1.5 hours to cook.  Here's what you need...

~ propane fueled turkey fryer
~ approx 3 gallons of peanut oil (it won't be as good with any other kind of oil)
~ 1-2 turkeys (you can use the oil for more than 1 turkey)
~ turkey injector and seasoning mix (optional)

Turkey frying should be done OUTSIDE!  Start by taking your wrapped turkey (sitting up, not laying down) and set it in your turkey fryer.  Fill the pot with water until your turkey is covered plus add an extra inch.  Take the turkey out of the water.  Mark the line with a marker or crayon.  This is your oil line.  Make sure you do not fill your pot with any more oil than needed.  Unwrap and clean your turkey... don't forget to take out the packet inside the bird!  Heat your oil to 350 degrees F.  Very slowly lower the bird, legs up, into the oil.  Cook for 3.5 minutes per pound.  The secret to a perfect turkey is to go no larger than 16 lbs.  This keeps the legs and wings from cooking to a crisp.  For a crispier skin, add about 5 minutes to your cook time.  For extra flavor in the meat, inject the turkey with a seasoning mix before frying.  When done cooking, let the turkey stand for approx. 15 minutes before carving!  ENJOY!

Here are a couple pics of Jaime and a friend frying our turkey a couple years ago... and it was DELICIOUS!
  

More Recipies & Uncle Josh

Dislcaimer: my spell checker isn't working, so I can't guarantee the properness (see, told you) of this post.

The girls are so excited.  My brother got here on Friday and they haven't left him alone since.  We took him to Garmisch over the weekend to show him Bavaria, the Alps, a little bit of Austria and the Neuschwanstein Castle.  The girls were so excited to take him swimming in the pool at the resort.  lol  We all had a good time and Josh was really impressed with the castle.  We got home last night and today we're just being lazy.  It's a long drive so I deserve it, right?  Here are some pics from the weekend... 
 
Like I said, today we're just relaxing and getting the house back in order after having suitcases explode all over the place last night.  Not sure what we'll do tomorrow, maybe take him to downtown Wiesbaden to walk around if the weather is nice.... Starbucks here I come.

OK, so since I missed a couple days of blogging (what's new right?) and haven't posted another recipe like I promised, I'm going to share 2 today.

I like stuffing, really I do, as long as it's not dry.  However, about 9 years ago I had the imense pleasure of being in North Carolina and sampling some of the best Southern cooking I can remember at General McArthur's Pig Pickin' Restaraunt.  Set in the middle of huge cotton fields, this place was the epidomy of all that is delicious southern food.  For the 1st time ever, I tried Cornbread Dressing and was HOOKED.  Since then, it's the dressing of choice at our Holiday meals and when we've had guests, I get loads of compliments on it.  So, as with my yam recipe, if you'd like a slight variation to an old faithful, try this recipe... I promise you won't be disapointed.

::SOUTHERN CORNBREAD DRESSING::
  
6 c. crumbled cornbread
3 c. soft bread crumbs (use any kind of bread cut into tiny pieces)
2 c. chopped onion
1 c. chopped celery
4 c. chicken broth
4 oz. butter
1 tbsp. sage
1 1/2 tsp. thyme
1/2 tsp. rosemary
1 tsp. marjoram
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
2 eggs slightly beaten

To save time, prepare cornbread the day before.  Heat oven to 400 degress F.  Combine cornbread & bread crumbs in large bowl.  In sauce pan, sautee celery & onion in butter until tender.  Combine veggies with bread mixture.  Stir in chicken broth, seasonings & eggs- blend well.  Spread mixture in 10x15 inch shallow baking dish.  Bake for 30-35 minutes.  (photo obtained from the internet)

Now for a yummy desert.  This cake is best served the day it's prepared as the topping does harden.  It's a delicous, fall-type recipe... especially if you like pumpkin.

::PRALINE PUMPKIN CAKE::
 
1 c. packed brown sugar
1/2 c. margarine or butter
1/4 c. whipping cream (not cool whip)
1 c. chopped pecans
2 3/4 c. all-purpose flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp. ground cloves
1 1/2 c. granulated sugar
1 c. vegetable oil
4 eggs
1 can (15 oz) pumpkin

Heat oven to 325 degrees F.  In 2-quart saucepan, heat brown sugar, butter and whipping cream over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until butter is melted.  Pour into ungreased 13x9 inch pan (do not use dark pan).  Sprinkle with pecans.  In small bowl, mix flour, baking powder, salt, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves; set aside.  In large bowl, beat granulated sugar, oil, eggs and pumpkin with electric mixer on medium speed 1 minute, scraping bowl constantly.  Gradually beat in flour mixture 2 minutes, scraping bowl occasionally.  Starting with the edges, carefully spoon batter over pecan mixture.  Bake 50-60 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.  Cool 10 minutes.  Place heatproof serving tray upside down over pan; turn tray and pan over.  Let pan remain over cake for 5 minutes.  Remove pan, cool completely and serve.

That's about all I have for today.  I hope you try and enjoy the recipies!  Let me know.

Pictures, Excitement & Recipies

Has it been over a week since I updated?  How does time get away from me so easily?  Anyway, I promised Halloween pics... so here they are...

 

They both had a lot of fun.  We went Trick-or-Treating with our neighbors.  It was insane...there were SO many people out.  Our stairwell compiled the candy we'd bought and ended up with 12 bags.  The couple in our stairwell with no kids passed out the candy and was OUT in less than an hour!  INSANE!  We stayed out for an hour which was fine becuause the girls still got a ton of junk.  It was fun though.

In other news, my baby brother is coming for his 1st visit!!  It'll be his 1st time in Europe and we're all so excited.  He hasn't had a real vacation in about 6 years, so he really deserves a good time.  I can't wait to show him around!  His flight lands in about 5 hours and he'll be here for 2 weeks.  He'll be hitting the ground running cuz we're taking him to Garmisch tomorrow morning for the weekend.  Next weekend he's doing a quick Paris tour.  If we have time, he wants to make it to Amsterdam and we'll, of course, take him all around Germany.  And, he'll be here for Thanksgiving... YAY!

Speaking of Thanksgiving, I'm SOO stinking excited for it this year.  We're doing it up big since we'll have family here and now that we have neighbors who are good friends.  lol  SO, I'm doing it all this year and am actually really looking forward to it.  We'll have about 8-10 adults and about 5 kiddos.  It'll be packed in here, but I think it will be FUN.

In the spirit of Thanksgiving and all things yummy, I'm going to do something fun on the old blog.  From now until the big day, I'll be sharing some of my favorite Fall recipies.  Thanksgiving day meal recipies, party recipies, deserts, etc.  Hopefully there will be something you enjoy... maybe it'll become a permanent fixture at your holiday table.  I'll put my 1st recipie at the bottom of this entry.

SO, on to some exciting news!!!  I'm SO stinking excited to finally share.  The amazing Kay Miller has invited me to be a Guest Creative Team Member for the months of November and December!  EEEEEE!  I just finished my 1st 2 pages using her brand new kit debuting at The Sweet Shoppe on Saturday.  Can't wait to show you.

Speaking of SSD, they've been closed for business for a whole WEEK!  Man, it's been a long week.  lol  They're implementing a new shopping cart and new site design.  They reopen on Saturday and I can't wait to see the new look and all the new goodies the designers are sure to have for us.  Go check them out in about 17 hours.  lol

OK, on to my 1st recipe.  I wasn't sure which I should start with, so I decided to go with my FAVORITE way to eat Yams.  I never liked the kind with the Marshmellows on top but I LOVE these.  I'm telling you, this dish is a HIT with anyone who tries them.  If you're looking for a new way to present an old Thanksgiving tradition... try this, I promise people will love them! (Don't let the coconut scare you, it's very subtle!)  I should have a photo.. but I'm a slacker.

::PRALINE YAMS::  

1- 40 oz can Yams, drained
3/4 c. chopped pecans
1/2 c. coconut
3/4 c. firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 c. flour
1/2 c. butter or margarine, softened

Heat oven to 350 degrees F.  Place Yams in ungreased, 2-quart baking dish.  Cut into bite-sized pieces.  In small bowl, combine remaining ingredients- blend well.  Sprinkle mixture over Yams.  Bake for 35-45 minutes or until bubbly.

VOTE

It's election day and it's SO important that we ALL exercise our rights as Americans to choose the best person to lead our nation.  In my opinion, that person is John McCain!  I don't agree with him on all the issues, but I certainly do not agree with Obama at all.  I am afraid of what will happen to our country if Obama is put in "power".  I urge you to read a few entries on our friend Todd Weber's blog.  He is wise for his years and very educated about the issues facing our nation today.  Reading his blog entries did not sway my vote as I already knew I was not going to vote for Obama, but it certainly verfied my suspisions and helped me put my feelings into words.  However, no matter who your choice is, it's very important that your voice be heard... so VOTE!!!

I'll be back a little later to post some fun Halloween pics of the girls.  Love you all! 

Fall Photo Shoot

I just have to share!  I took the girls out in the front yard (before the big cleanup) for a "fall foliage" photo shoot and I'm SO proud of the way the pics turned out.  They were both super cooperative and my new camera & lense are just gems.  Of course, having such darn cute kids helps a lot.  lol  Not sure why the photos are a bit pixelated here, but they're not that way in real life... darn it.
  

A Great Day

Yesterday was the best day Jaime and I have had together in a VERY long time.  The weather was beautiful... chilly, but sunny.  The girls spent the day at a friends' house so Jaime and I jumped in the Jeep and decided to drive through the French countryside.  It was just gorgeous with all the leaves changing colors.  We got hungry so we went into a grocery and bought stuff to make ham & butter baguets... YUMMY!  We parked at a spot near some WWII bunker relics which turned out to be a section of the Maginot Line and made our sandwiches.  After lunch we continued our drive and ended up in Soufflenheim, France where we stopped for coffee and cake, then walked around and shopped for some more of their world famous pottery.  I've had one of the pots for about a year now and have cooked in it SO many times... it makes the BEST roast ever!  Here's a pic of the pot and the 2 new pieces I got yesterday, a garlic pot and a little butter dish...

After we spent some time there we continued on to Strasbourg, one of Jaime's favorite cities, and walked around there for a while.  Then, we ate at one of our Fave restaraunts EVER.  I was going to link it up, but the site isn't working.  Anyway, this place is underground, in a cave-like thing and serves Alsacian food.  Kindof a mixture of French & German.  Um... YUMMY!  The problem with this place is they serve you WAY too much.  lol  It was delicious though.  After that we had to head home to pick up the girls, but it was a nice drive.  It was really a wonderful day.  Gotta do that more often for sure.

Today my day will consist of laundry, grocery shopping, monitoring homework (while doing laundry), maybe some scrapping (while doing laundry) and movie night with the family (while doing laundry).  What, my laundry is out of control?  What gives you that idea?

Family Fun Night

Last night was Family Night in the Alpuché house.  We really had a fun time.  The girls and I made pizza with all the yummy trimmings.  They helped me put everything on the Boboli, then while the pizza was cooking we all danced (Jaime included) around the livingroom to Regan's current fave song, Billy Idol's "Dancing With Myself".  Of course, since I was behind the camera, there are thankfully no pics of me, but trust me, I got a workout too.  LOL

On to other fun stuff, the SSD Blog had a fun little challenge.  Check it out...

61 words

Typing Test

And then, some not so fun stuff.  Check out this weather...

4 Dogs in the bed and the little one said...

... get the heck out, this is my gig!

Joe is getting a little fed up lately.  Somehow, I've become the "go to" girl when it comes to people who need their dogs cared for.  Somehow that tells me I need to get out more.  Anyway, I've pretty much been running a doggie day care for a couple weeks now with my clientele topping out at FOUR dogs at once.  Of course there's Joe, who actually belongs here and is so tiny that he takes up no space at all.  Then, there's Spike... he's a sweet little Jack Russel with major separation anxiety when his owner goes to work, barking literally all day long.  So, the owner (dad to one of Riley's friends) drops him off in the morning and picks him up after work.  Then there's Kayley... an adorable, precious, clumsy girl who's owner, a single soldier who works with Jaime, went to Oktoberfest in Munich for 5 days.  So, Kayley stayed with us until he returned today.  And lastly, we have Bonzai, a little black Cairn Terrier who's owners, our neighbors across the hall, have had to make to runs to the emergency room in a few days.  Of course there's no telling how long doggie will be home alone, so they leave me the key to let him out for potty breaks and of course I can't bare to leave him alone, so he comes over to visit too.  LOL  It's a zoo I tell ya.  They're all very good dogs and really, they just lay around most of the day, but I get a little concerned about the smell.  As a dog owner, I've always prided myself in keeping my house "dog smell free", but I'm not sure that's the case with so many at once.  I can't really tell cuz I'm here all the time.  I guess I need to spend a few hours out and see if it smells when I come home.  lol 

It's been 5 weeks since I had my wisdom teeth hacked out of my head and would you believe I'm still struggling?  My gums are healing, but slowly, so they're still tender and they haven't filled in completely and I still have pain in my jaw on the left side.  Now and then that whole side of my mouth all the way up to my front teeth hurts like a motha and if I chew anything that takes effort, the jaw aches.  And of course there's the varying degree of head ache I've had EVERY SINGLE DAY since the procedure.  FIVE WEEKS of headache!!!  The dentist says everything looks fine, but I think now I'm going to go to a DOCTOR and see if they can take X-rays of my jaw.  I just don't think I should still have pain in my jaw 5 weeks later.  I can honestly say, without reservation, that if I'd known how horrible this was going to be, I NEVER would have done it.  Seriously, now that we know there was no decay in the molars next to the wisdom teeth, and since I never had any pain with them... WHY did it need to be done?

I've been a-scrappin'!  I managed to get 3 pages done in just 2 days to try and catch up on my Sweet Shoppe Sweet Rewards Points, plus I had two amazing new kits to work with for my CT spots.  Here's what I've done lately...

First up is a LO I did of Riley doing one of her favorite things.  I just adore these photos so much!

Full credits can be found HERE

Next up is this beautiful kit by the talented Misty Cato.  Here is Afternoon Stroll...

And here is the layout I did using the kit...

Full credits can be found HERE

And last, but certainly not least, is an adorable kit by my girl Fee Jardine.  Sadly I don't feel I did this kit justice, but here is I Wish...

   

And here is my page from the kit...

Full credits can be found HERE

And that, my friends, is about all I have that I found remotely interesting for all 3 of my readers.  LOL  I hope everyone is having a great week so far.  Lots of love!

Happy Birthday Pop!

Today is my Dad's birthday.  We love you Pop... have a wonderful day!