Pumpkin Pie with Shortbread Cookie Crust and Marshmallow Meringue

For Thanksgiving Dinner I made a pumpkin pie for my grandson who must be on a wheat and dairy-free diet. I have made a number of crusts for pies without using wheat, and I must say they have gotten mixed reviews.

Then the other day, my friend Bonnie asked me what I would use for a pie crust and she mentioned that her daughter, Brooke, was thinking about using a gluten-free cookie crust and I thought it was such a good idea that I decided to try it myself. We loved it. The cookie mix I used was the Bob's Red Mill Gluten-free Shortbread Cookie Mix.

I mixed it up using half the package of cookie mix, 1/2 cup margarine and enough cold water to make it a stiff dough. It was easy to do and worked really well. It even rolled out without breaking all apart. I will say that it needs to be rolled thinly because this crust will rise just a bit, but since it is a shortbread and lighter on leavening it works better than many cookie recipes.

The crust was flaky enough and had a mildly sweet flavor -- perfect for a pumpkin pie.

Coconut milk, brown sugar, pumpkin puree made up the pumpkin pie and the topping is a small jar of marshmallow creme, heaped on top and baked to a golden brown. Regular marshmallows could have been heaped on top of the warm pie and baked but I wanted to try the marshmallow creme. It worked well and gave the pie a more exciting flavor than an egg-white meringue. Who doesn't love melted marshmallows, right?

Pumpkin Pie with Shortbread Cookie Crust and Marshmallow Meringue

Crust
1/2 package Bob's Red Mill Shortbread Cookie Mix
1/2 cup butter, trans fat-free margarine or coconut oil
Cold water
Potato flour for rolling out pie crust

Mix together cookie mix and butter, margarine or coconut oil with a pastry knife. Mix in cold water until dough is formed. Pour out onto parchment paper cover with potato flour. Roll out thinly and place into 9.5 inch deep dish pie plate.

Pumpkin Pie

1 can pumpkin puree
1 cup coconut milk
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 tablespoon cinnamon
2 eggs
1/2 teaspoon salt

Pour into unbaked pie shell and bake at 350 degrees for one hour or until pie is firm to the touch.

Marshmallow Meringue

1 small container of Marshmallow Creme.

Spoon a small container of Marshmallow creme (for a larger meringue, use a larger container of marshmallow creme) onto top of warm pie. Bake at 400 degrees until top is browned, approximately 5 minutes.

Easy Mexican Corn Bread Muffins

I love old-fashioned corn bread but sometimes my corn bread turns out great and other other times it is dry. I usually prefer cornbread that is savory and not sweet. The only exception to that is Jiffy Corn Bread Mix. It is cheap and I can't seem to mess it up -- no matter how hard I try!

The other day I decided to make some Mexican cornbread to go along with chili. Rather than use my usual Mexican Cornbread recipe that takes a long list of ingredients and even more time, I decided to try something much easier.

I bought two boxes of Jiffy Cornbread Mix and mixed them up according to the directions on the box. To that I added 3/4 cup of chopped green onions and a cup of mild salsa. I spooned the mixture evenly into two, twelve-count muffin pans, sprayed with baking spray.

It was then baked according to directions and everyone really enjoyed it. It made 24 muffins and was fast, easy and good.

Plus, I have never had a bad batch of these muffins. As I said, I personally would prefer corn muffins that don't have any sugar in them. These are slightly sweet and very light. I always have plenty of compliments on my cornbread when I begin with Jiffy and that it what is most important. When I make them from scratch, I have rarely had a compliments. I have to go with a sure thing.

There are just a few more suggestions: First, if you use hot salsa you will have a spicier muffin. I used mild salsa because I wanted to make muffins everyone would like. Sometimes hot peppers in food can turn people off.

If you add a can of corn to the batter, you can eliminate all or half of the liquid. It might be better to bake it in a pan or skillet, rather than as muffins because it will bake up a very moist cornbread.

Also, you can go to Jiffymix.com and sign up to receive a free Jiffy Corn Bread cookbook. Mine is in the mail.

Why I Feel So Lucky!

I feel so happy right now because I have such a wonderful loving man in my life. I am so lucky that I found such a great man to be with.

It has been a year and a half with my boyfriend and I feel like the luckiest woman right now. All he keeps saying he wants for me is to be happy all the time. I will tell you I have never felt this happy with anyone else. I will always love him with all of my heart and soul. He is everything to me and I hope you knows that. He is a very special man. He really knows how to treat lady. He is very faithful to me too. Don't get me wrong we do have are bad days but we work it all out. In any relationship the main thing is communication. That is what is important to me. That is what we have and let me tell you it is good that way.

He is really good with my kids and his son. I know I have said this in another post I did but he does treat my kids like they are his kids. He loves them all the same. I am very lucky in that sense. Because I didn't know how that would all turn out at the beginning.

When I found out that my son's girlfriend was pregnant with my granddaughter my son gave us a card. On the card it said to Grandma and Grandpa. Yes saying my boyfriend is her Grandpa. I started to cry when I seen that.

The only thing is I miss my dad so much right now. This was his favorite time of the year with all the Christmas decorations. He has been gone for about fifteen years.

Friday when I came home from work I had another rose laying on the bed with a card. This one thing he does once in awhile to surprise me. I couldn't believe it when he did it the first time.

Yes I am really sentimental right now. This is just some things I have been thinking about lately so I just thought I would share it with everyone.

All of this is why I am saying I am so lucky. My boyfriend, our kids, our families and all of our friends and friends online means so much to me.

I am leaving you with a video and I would really like to hear your comments!♥

Bears Week #12

Yes the Bears lost to the Raiders 20-25 yesterday.

Hanie completed 18 of 36 passes. With three interceptions by the Raiders first half. He also 254 yards passing and the Bears totaled a seasons best 401 yards of offense.

In the fourth quarter Hanie threw  a 81 yard pass to Knox. Then Davis came in and Hanie threw a 9 yard touchdown pass to him.

Cutler was on the sideline with his hand all wrapped up. Cutler was talking to Hanie on the sideline too. I just hope he is giving Hanie some ideas of how to have some confidence on the field.   

The defense was on fire yesterday. They did a really good job keeping the Raiders from scoring touchdowns.

I did miss some of the first half because I had to work. But when I came home and seen the score I was not happy.

Here are some of my thoughts why they didn't win the game. When they practice I think the starting quarterback gets the most practice time. I don't think the second and third string get as much time to practice. I think that is a lot of the problem for yesterday's game. Hanie didn't get his share of practice time like Cutler always gets. So now everyone is going to pick on him because of that. I think he did a good job for his first time starting a game.

I would really like to hear your thoughts about the game!♥

We have made broccoli!

 I am so excited about our most recent garden crop. We have the most beautiful broccoli I have ever seen. Above is the broccoli my sister picked for Thanksgiving.

The other day while in the garden I said, "Look, we have made broccoli!" -- like Tom Hank's in the movie Cast Away. After building a fire, he said to his soccer ball, "I have made fire!" as if he was the original discoverer of that element.

This was our first successful broccoli, so it is understandable, (I think) that we should be quite excited and proud that we finally were able to grow broccoli after many futile attempts. I will give God credit for the original discovery but I admit I feel quite proud and thankful for our success. It is nice to know that planting it in the fall is the best time for broccoli. We may even have another crop in the spring. We are keeping our finger's crossed.

My sister made the absolute best broccoli casserole for Thanksgiving Dinner and we both think it was partly the cook and the rest -- having very fresh and organic broccoli.

Also in the garden, our Brussels sprouts -- nothing is sprouting yet. It will be spring before we have Brussels sprouts. Behind them are the collards that I think are a bit behind in their growth. The rain will probably help this week.

Our kale is finally beginning to grow.

And our turnip greens look a bit ragged. We need to get in the garden and pick some greens this week.

I am just glad we have something to show.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Yes I am writing this early. I have to work tomorrow and on Thanksgiving Day. I just wanted to make sure that I posted this for everyone.

This has been a National Holiday since 1863 and it was proclaimed  by President Abraham Lincoln. This was during the Civil War.

The first Thanksgiving was to give thanks to God for guiding them safely to the new world. The Pilgrims and the Native Americans got together for a feast that lasted for three days. Sometimes I think that people forget what this Holiday is all about. It is about giving thanks for everything that we have. To celebrate our thanks with the people we love and to thank God for what we do have.

This is the day to be thankful for everything you have. I am so thankful for being with the most wonderful man in the world, our kids, my granddaughter, my boyfriends granddaughter, our families and friends.

Last year for Thanksgiving we went up north to spend it with my family and my boyfriends family. But this year I have to work on Thanksgiving so we can't make it. My family will be at my sisters house and my boyfriends parents are out of state this year. My two older kids will not be with us this year. It will be my boyfriend, my younger daughter, my boyfriends two kids and his granddaughter.

This is the first year I will not be spending the Holiday with my family. That is alright because I am with my boyfriend. He is the sweetest man and I love him with all of my heart. I will miss being with my family and his family. My older daughter has to work that is why she will not be able to make it. My son is going to be with his dad. I do understand why my older two kids will not make it.

Since I have to work my boyfriend has to get dinner started. This will be the first time he is making a turkey so I am getting some stuff started tomorrow for him. Then I will leave instructions for him what to do. He will be alright and I know it.

I hope everyone has a safe and HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Chai Pumpkin Bread

Everyone in "blog land" has a post about pumpkin bread! It's almost like the lowly pumpkin has just been discovered. I read a blog that said that "everything is better with pumpkin in it," and I think that is not quite a complete statement. I would say everything is better with cream cheese, bacon and pumpkin. Pumpkin is the healthiest of those three so that is probably the reason for the sudden discovery and it makes a very moist batter bread that goes well with tea in the fall.

Pumpkin can also be substituted in recipes calling for carrots. It makes a yummy rich pumpkin cake using a carrot cake recipe. This recipe, below, has 1/2 cup of chai tea was very good. Was because it is gone since I very nearly didn't get a photo of it. I made three smaller loaves and gave two of them away. My family then devoured the last loaf.

Chai Pumpkin Bread

3-1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1-1/2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
2 cups sugar
1/2 cup light brown sugar
4 large eggs
1 cup canola oil
1 15-oz. can pumpkin puree (not the pie mix)
1/2 cup strong chai tea (I used my favorite, Bija Rooibos Chai)
1 teaspoon vanilla flavoring

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.  In a larger bowl, combine all the dry ingredients until well mixed. In a smaller bowl, mix the wet ingredients. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and still until just mixed. Pour the batter into two 9 x 5 x 3 inch or three 8 x 4 x 3/5 inch greased loaf pans. Bake for approximately 45 minutes or until top is firm. Allow to cool.

You may drizzle with a topping made with a cup of Confectioner's sugar, 1/2 teaspoon vanilla flavoring and soy milk or regular milk added by the tablespoonful until thin enough to pour onto the tops of the pumpkin bread while still warm.

My Very Berry Tossed Salad

Last Thursday was our Thanksgiving feast at work. It was tantalizing to walk through the building to see what each person brought. The smells alone made us quite hungry. I did not outdo myself because I decided I wanted to just bring a spiced up tossed salad. I was glad I did because a number of people told me how much they enjoyed the salad and I liked it too. It was nice to have something a bit lighter with all the heavy foods.

It was easy because I found some of the berries on sale and found a salad dressing that was perfect. It was a little pricey, but like homemade. I loved it.

I hadn't seen Maple Grove Farms of Vermont salad dressing in my grocery store before. I have purchased their maple syrup and I liked that product, but as I was walking in the salad dressing isle, I looked up and on the top shelf there were some specialty salad dressings. I was looking for a salad dressing that had berries in the ingredient list. I wasn't so sure about this one but I decided to try it. I will tell you it is wonderful and so fresh. It doesn't have that bottled salad dressing taste. I find it hard to explain but most salad dressings have a bit of an aftertaste to me. This one was perfect and was the perfect dressing for my Very Berry Tossed Salad.

I will buy this dressing again, but only on special occasions because it was yummy, but expensive. I think it would make a perfect side for Thanksgiving dinner!

Here's the easy recipe:

Very Berry Tossed Salad

1 large package mixed salad greens (pre washed)

4 stalks celery, cut into thinly sliced pieces

1 small package (4 to 6 oz.) blackberries (or more)

1 small package (4 to 6 oz.) blueberries (or more)

1/2 package of dried cranberries (Approximately 1/2 cup)

3 ounces basil and garlic flavored feta cheese (broken into small pieces)

1/4 cup raw walnut pieces

Alfalfa sprouts

Maple Grove Farms of Vermont Strawberry Balsamic dressing

Fill a large salad bowl with salad greens. Sprinkle on half of the celery, fresh berries, cranberries, feta, walnuts and sprouts. Fill the bowl to the top with salad greens. Sprinkle on the rest of the ingredients in the same order. Store in the refrigerator until ready to use. Gently toss salad and serve with Maple Grove Farms Strawberry Balsamic salad dressing.

Easy, healthy -- a wonderful treat!

Bears Week #11

Yes the Bears beat the Chargers 31-20. I did miss some of the first quarter because I was on my way home from work.

This  is the Bears 5th straight win. I can't believe it myself. This is great for them.

I just found out this morning that Cutler has a broken thumb and he may be out the rest of the season now. This is going to hurt the team big time. He is expected to be out for about six weeks. It happened in the fourth quarter during an interception Cutler got knocked down by linebacker Donald Butler. Cutler had 286 yards throwing, passing, two touchdowns and ran one in himself.

The defense was on fire last night too. The did a great job keeping the Chargers from making anymore touchdowns.

The offense did a great job protecting Cutler to make all the long passes. I seen the one pass when he had someone holding his ankle. That was awesome.

I would like to hear your thoughts about the game!♥

My Review on Alabama For The Record Album!

I choose this album today because this really tells you how well the band has done all the years they have been together before they retired. This album has two disc's of the best music.

I have been listening to them from when the first album came out. This is one of my favorite bands. I am trying to get their whole collection one album at a time. I did have most of them until my ex sold them. Their music is country rock type.

Three of the band members are cousins and the drummer they hired after the original quit.

I am going to try to make this as short as I can about the songs because there is so many. My thoughts about each song!

Five O'Clock 500- This is a good song for them. I do like this one.

Keeping Up- This song is alright but not one of my favorites.

How Do You Fall In Love- This is one of there really good ballads. I like this one.

Tennessee River- This is a really good song and I do like this one. It is one of their first songs.

Why Lady Why- This is another good song from them.

Old Flame- This one is about one of them after they broke up with a girlfriend and it is a really good brake up song.

Feels So Right- I really like this song it reminds me of my boyfriend and how much I love him.

Love In The First Degree- This is a good song and the instrumentals on this song is so good.

Mountain Music- This is one of their best instrumental songs. I love this song. This is about how they grew up down south. You have to listen to this song and the way the fiddle is in here is awesome.

Take Me Down- I do really good song too.

Close Enough To Perfect- This is a good song and is how they feel about their wives.

Dixieland Delight- This is one of their first songs and I really like it.

The Closer You Get- It is a good song and I do like it.

Lady Down On Love- This is another ballad and a good one.

Roll On (Eighteen Wheeler)- This is a really good song. I like this one because I do have some friends that are truck drivers and this song always reminds me of them.

When We Make Love- It is a really good ballad from them.

If You're Gonna Play In Texas( You Gotta Have A Fiddle In The Band)- This is an awesome song from them. When they played this in concert the Confederate flag comes down. I seen it.

(There's A) Fire In The Night- This is a good song.

There's No Way- This is a really good song. It tells someone that you love how much they mean to you. This song is how I feel about my boyfriend.

40 Hour Week (For A Livin")- This is about the blue collar workers. I love this song it is awesome. They did this for all the fans trying to find the money to come to see them in concert.

Can't Keep A Good Man Down- This is a great song.

She and I- This is an awesome song.

Touch Me When We're Dancing- This is a really great song I do like it.

You've Got The Touch- This is a really good song.

Face To Face- This is a ballad but the song and the music is really good on this song.

Fallin' Again- This is a good song not my favorite. But the music is really good on it.

Song Of The South- This is a really great song. I do like this one.

If I Had You- This is a ballad but a great song. 

High Cotton- This is a great song. This also tells you how the lead singer grew up.

Southern Star- This is an awesome song. The music is great too.

Jukebox In My Memory- The beginning you hear the coin going in the jukebox. The song is great.

Forever Is As Far As I'll Go- This is an awesome ballad. I really like this one. It reminds me of the first time I met my boyfriend.

Down Home- This is a great song and the music is awesome.

Here We Are- Is a great song I really like this one.

Then Again- This song is alright not one I really like.

Born Country- This is an awesome song and awesome music. This is one of their first songs too.

I'm In A Hurry (And Don't Know Why)- This song is really good. It is like me sometimes when I have a day off of work.

Once Upon A Lifetime- This is alright but not my favorite.

Hometown Honeymoon- This is a great song and I really like this song.

Reckless- This is a really good song and I do like it a lot.

Give Me One More Shot- I love this song. The song and the music is awesome.

She Ain't You're Ordinary Girl- The music and the song is awesome on this song.

In Picture's- This is an awesome ballad. This is my favorite balled by them. It tells you how they felt being on the road and seeing their kids grown up.

Sad Lookin' Moon- This is alright not my favorite song.

I have seen them in concert and they are awesome to see. Like I said before this is an awesome band and one of my favorite band's. If they were to come back together and do another concert I would go to see them. They were always there for the fans. This is the kind of band I like that thinks of the fans too.

I would like to know what you think of this album. Please leave your comments. I am leaving you with one of my favorite songs off this album!♥

Snowman cupcakes

This was probably the hardest cupcake I decorated for the 2011 November/December Issue of Newnan-Coweta Magazine. The decorations are made using marshmallows, toothpicks, fruit roll ups, sugar stars and melted chocolate chips.

I first piped icing all over the top of the cupcake. If you will notice, I didn't worry about covering the entire cupcake. I was planning to keep these in a covered container so they shouldn't dry out.

I then took a toothpick and pushed it through the center of one regular-size marshmallow, into the center of a second marshmallow. I secured these marshmallows to the center top of the cupcake, using the bottom part of the toothpick. If your toothpicks aren't large enough, try a wooden skewer and cut it off the length that is needed to fasten the marshmallows securely to the top of the cupcake.

I used green fruit roll ups to make a cap by wrapping it around my largest finger and twisting the top together and fitting the "cap" onto the top of the marshmallows. I trimmed some of the roll up away with kitchen shears if it looked too tall.

I then fashioned a scarf around the snowman's neck with a long strip of blue roll up.

I made a carrot out of a piece of red and yellow roll up mashed together.

Next I melted the chocolate and poured it into a small decorators' bag. Using a small round tip. I added the eyes, and mouth with dots and then drew on the arms with chocolate.

I think they are cute.

The blue sugar stars around the outside edge completed the decoration.

Kids would enjoy helping to make these miniature snowmen. They weren't hard to make.

Thanksgiving ideas

Have you ever used Pinterest? I use it to find ideas for decorating, cooking, crafts and even sometimes for work. I love to find new and creative ideas and keep them at my fingertips. That is why I joined Pinterest.com and I use it almost daily. Here are some of the Thanksgiving ideas from Pinterest. Some I will use and some I just like -- maybe for next year.

I like the little pilgrim hats above from Amber Engelke. I think I could make them gluten-free and dairy-free if I could find some cookies that are similar -- or I could just dip the entire cookie in vegan chocolate chips. Very cute.

This turkey from blogs.babycenter is great because kids can go out and find their leaves and then paste everything together.

These pies from cooking.thenerdswife.com are very pretty. I have cooked custards in little glass canning jars like this but never a miniature pies. I heard that mini pies were going to be big and here is a low-budget, reusable "pie dish" for you.

Oh my goodness! Pumpkin cinnamon rolls, and they are vegan pumpkin cinnamon rolls. I will be baking these for Thanksgiving! Many thanks to eatprayrun.com for the recipe.

 I love this Turkey Pear Salad that any kid could make. familyfun.go.com is famous for charming ideas like this one. I don't know what to use for the feet but I'll bet I could find something healthy and fun. These folks are so creative.

Speaking of healthy and fun, livinglocurto.com made this vegetable tray made from all the right stuff -- that is adorable. If you can't get your kids to eat this they are turkeys! Just kidding, but you should be able to get kids to bite.

 I like this simple tree from familyfun.go.com. It's as simple as getting a small branch and cutting out colorful leaves. Add what you are thankful for and it will be a great Thanksgiving creation.

Last year we were Indians, so I think we should give the Pilgrims equal time. I think these Pilgrim hats would be easy, too. They are from marthastewart.com.

This -- or something similar to this will be hanging on my front door come Thanksgiving morning. It's from marthastewart.com and is so lovely -- and easy.

Turkey pinwheels! What a great idea! We WILL be making this. I think we will use scrapbook paper which is a little stiffer than regular paper. You can find find the instructions at parents.com.

I don't know if we will do this but it is so cute from sheekshindigs.com. It would be a great thing to make and would make the table setting a sheek shindig!

I have so many napkins in sets of 4 and 8, but not a set large enough for every Thanksgiving guest. If I used a DIY napkin ring like this, it wouldn't matter if my napkins don't all match. These are very cute -- and not even ironed and I like them very much. Thanks twoshadesofpink.com for opening my eyes to the possibilities. I don't need new napkins just something to decorate them.

Hope these ideas will inspire you as they have me.

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My favorite cupcakes

I really enjoyed making these fund and easy Christmas tree cupcakes. They were so easy and my favorite way to decorate a Christmas cupcake. You need plenty of green decorator frosting, some sugar candy decorations, a large bag, coupler and a large star tip. Optional needs: chocolate chips.

Forming the trees was sort of like making an ice cream cone at the DQ. Just start in a circular motion and pipe the icing up, up, up -- until you have a little Christmas tree sitting on your cupcake. So easy. The harder part for me was picking up the little stars and decorations and gently placing them on the icing. A pair of long tweezers might have been helpful but I didn't even look for my long tweezers. I just carefully placed the tree "ornaments" all around. They don't need to be evenly spaced, just randomly placed.

On some of the cupcakes I put some white frosting to make "snow" all over the cupcake tops. Then I sprinkled them with silvered sugar and decorated the tops just like all the rest. This one is all stars with a bigger one for the top. I don't know that this might be too much frosting for some people

I used some melted chocolate chips piped around some of my cupcakes. These were chocolate-filled cupcakes and I thought the chocolate melted and piped with a small icing bag, coupler and small round tip was just the right touch.

The only problem with using large tips is that it takes roughly twice the amount of frosting. You will need a double or triple recipe. The good thing is that if you make too much icing, it can be refrigerated or even frozen with good results. Just let the frosting come to room temperature before piping.

Thanks so much to Angela McRae for taking the wonderful photos of my cupcakes.

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Mini cupcake wreaths

More cupcake designs I made for the last issue of Newnan-Coweta Magazine: These pretty and decorative wreath cupcakes were again, easy to do. I used fruit roll ups to make the bows and red hots for this design. Red mini M and Ms would work, too.


I iced the cupcake in white, tinted some of my icing green and then using the green icing placed large, simple stars around the edge with the large coupler and large star tip. The bow can be made in four pieces -- a large loop cut from strawberry roll up and pinched in the center to form the main loops of the bow, two pieces of roll up underneath that piece that forms the ribbon ends and a small piece of ribbon wrapped around the front, center of the bow. I put this together, placed it on the bottom of my "wreath," then added the seven pieces of candy, spaced evenly around the circumference of the wreath.

Roll ups are easy to cut using kitchen shears or with a knife on a cutting board. If roll ups are really thin they may be layered to form thicker pieces that might be easier to manage. At times I was able to cut the roll ups while still attached to the plastic and then take the cut piece of roll up and form my bows. Roll ups make lovely bows for cupcakes, or even a cake.

I may try using this idea with regular-sized cake at Christmas but I would use two rows of stars around the edge of the cake with the large star tip using green icing. I would make a much larger bow or put several together. On a cake you could probably even get away with using a real bow!

I enjoyed making this green cupcake wreath, too. I just picked out candy stars that matched the blue roll up.

Bears Week #10

Yes the Bears beat the Lions 37-13. This was one awesome game to watch. The Bears are 6-3 now. This is the Bears fourth straight win now.

The Bears offense and the defense was really on fire for the game yesterday. I couldn't believe it.

Hester had a 82 yard punt return for a touchdown. That was really awesome to see. That was his 17th return for his career.

There was about five interceptions that the Bears got and some of them ended up into touchdowns for the Bears. Fourth Quarter with in the first five minutes the Bears got two of the interceptions.

After the second interception Stafford pulled Moore down by the back of the helmet. Then Moore got up and went and slammed Stafford down to the ground and a big fight broke out on the field. Moore ended up getting ejected from the game. The referee went and did a review of what took place before ejecting Moore from the game.

21 points was by the defense on punt returns for touchdowns.

Like Cutler said it was not a clean or quiet game yesterday.

Next week they have San Diego at home and the time for the game is 315pm.

I would like to hear what you thought of this game!♥

Veterans Day!

Yes I am late in writing this. I was meaning to get this done last night but I forgot about it with my work.

Yes we are all very lucky for all the men and women out there risking there lives for all of us. Trying to make it a safer place for all of us to live. I am very thankful for them.

I just wish that they would all come home to there families very soon. So none of there families have to worry about them anymore and they can see there children grow up.

I also feel bad for the families that have lost there husband's, wives, sons daughters and grandkids that have died overseas. When I hear about the people that come home and have been killed overseas I feel so bad for the families.

My dad was in the Army and he was in the Forgotten War called the Koren War.

I have a lot of family members and friends that were in the Military. There is my dad, my uncle, my boyfriends dad, my ex husband, my cousin is in the Coast Guards, a friend that is like a brother to me was in the Army and a lot of friends.

My dad use to drive a deuce half truck which is now called a cargo truck. He had a gas tanker on the back of it. He had to drive in the dark and try to miss the mines in the field. My dad would tell us kids about this a lot. I never did mine listening to my dad talk about it because I really enjoyed it. Learning about what my dad went through over there.

Then my uncle would tell us how it was for the Navy over there also. It was not easy for any of them.

I just want to say thank you to all of the men and women in the Military and sacrificing there lives to keep us safe!♥

Planning for Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is a big deal at my house. My husband loves, loves loves Thanksgiving. I have to carefully plan and include most of his favorite things because I don't want his favorite day of the year to be a disappointment to him.

Last year I really enjoyed my Thanksgiving decor. It was festive, yet not overdone. We like to have a more casual day with food at 12:30 pm, social time followed by outdoor games until everyone gets tired. Last year I purchased sunflowers and used rosemary for greenery.

I made rosemary wreaths for a table decoration and for everyone to take home. The aroma of rosemary filled the entire area with a fresh scent. I picked this out of my garden. Rosemary looks even better during the cool weather months.

We made a ring toss game which didn't impress anyone. Everyone wanted to play corn hole.

The kids enjoyed coloring and making pomegranate turkeys.

And Indian headbands with feathers.

I had plenty of leftovers and made sure everyone had plenty for another meal in these takeout plates from the dollar store.

Last year I made pies. Too many pies really, but I was trying to learn to make better pies. This year I am still working on my menu and decor but we will be keeping it laid back and I think not so many pies. My husband always says, "Let's just have what we had last year." But I don't think that works because there were some good and some not bad, but not so good things about last year and one of those things were too many pies (and too much work!).

I just want to plan a celebration where everyone feels welcome and enjoys themselves. I will know if that happens that it was a success.

IT'S HERE!

Today, I just want to congratulate my friend and colleague, Angela McRae because her newly published book is fresh off the press! Dainty Dining: Vintage recipes, memories and memorabilia from America's department store tea rooms, has just arrived from the printer and is an amazing book. If you remember the vintage tea rooms in department stores all across America, you will love reading what Angela has to say in this beautifully written and photographed book.

She includes well-researched, tested recipes from these department stores and it is obvious she put so much time and effort into her new book. I will admit just looking at all the photos and memorabilia took me back in time and opened up some treasured memories, especially about Rich's, our local department store in Atlanta -- which is gone but still fondly remembered. She is also planning to blog about it and allow everyone to leave messages about their own department store memories beginning soon at DaintyDining.blogspot.com.

I just wanted to say Congratulations Angela! This is a great book and you deserve the best!