I have to say that I enjoyed my mini vacation this weekend.  My house is clean!  WooHoo! I also had a lot of fun playing in the snow with Sophie.

This is Sophie.  Sophie is the world's most hyper dog and a lot of fun.  She is Kevin's dog (my brother) but she lives at my parents' house.   She gets fed at both houses.  When my brother decided to turn his garage into a new addition to his house, she packed her bags and moved into my parents' garage.  Sophie has invisible fencing and can come all the way to my property line.  Valiantly, she spends her nights protecting us all from wild animals - unfortunately, she wakes us up in the process.  (She can be rather barky at night.)  I love Sophie. 

That's an earlier picture of Sophie sitting at the end of her invisible fencing waiting for me to walk over and play. 
Luckily we now live next door to mom & dad so the snow/ice didn't stop us from all having Sunday Dinner at mom's. 

That's a picture of Daniel trying to steal Papaw's apple pie.

Well, I've reached my snow quota for the year.  Bring on the Spring!  Moo. 

Let it Snow Baby, Let it Reindeer....

When I left my office it was snowing rather heavily.  It hasn't snowed at all at my house....YET.  I know it is coming.  I hope everyone has milk and bread.

Speaking of food, Scott has recently become a connoisseur of all things pizza.  He has been making his own pizza dough for a while but recently decided that to make a truly good Italian pizza he would need to make the pizza dough with caputo flour.  So....he had a box of caputo flour delivered all the way from Italy.  He made the tomato sauce using San Marzano certified tomatoes (among other things) and covered it with fresh mozzerella and pepperoni.  It was really good. 

After eating all of that pizza, I have decided that it is time to get serious and start exercising regularly.  Last night I finally tried out the EA Active program for Wii.  Luckily, I have a really great (4 legged) workout partner.  Here's a picture of Greta standing on the Wii Fit board.  I'm actually working out beside her but I can't compete with all of that cuteness.  Scott didn't take a picture of me.  :-) 

Speaking of exercising...I'm hungry.  I think it is time for supper. 

Good night!

Where's Greta?

Laundry Day

My friend Liz and I have recently discovered that we share the gift of procrastination.  I have developed a bad habit of only doing laundry on the weekend.  The problem is that I don't always catch up.   You can see how this presents a problem.  Here is a picture of some of today's pile: 

The picture shows about 6 large loads.  I couldn't show all of today's pile because I would have had to wake Scott up so that I could take the blankets and the sheets off of the bed.  I also have to admit that there is about 2 more loads that didn't make the picture.  Actually, after seeing this picture...it doesn't look so bad after all.   OH and by the way, I will not be putting Greta (cat) in the washing machine.  Or the dryer.  Just a good policy to have. 

Chicken Little

Last night Scott made BBQ chicken.  It was AWESOME!  The recipe is from Myron Mixon, Chief cook of Jack's Old South Bar-B-Que competition team.  Here is a picture of my piece of chicken: 

And this was the small piece!  Here is the recipe if anyone is interested: 

Ingredients

• 4 (3 to 4-pound) chickens, halved
• Jack's Old South Meat Marinade, recipe follows
• 1 cup apple juice
• Jack's Old South BBQ Rub, recipe follows
• Jack's Old South Competition Vinegar Sauce, see recipe

Directions

Combine the chicken and marinade in a large non-reactive pan. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours and up to 6.

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F.

Remove the chicken from the marinade and coat generously with some of the rub. Arrange the chicken, skin side-up, in a baking pan and pour the apple juice in the bottom. Cover the pan with aluminum foil and roast for 1 1/2 to 2 hours.

Uncover the chicken and continue roasting, basting with the sauce occasionally, until the skin is golden.

Jack's Old South Meat Marinade:
2 quarts apple juice
1 cup Worcestershire sauce
1 cup orange juice
1 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 cup lemon juice
2 tablespoons hot sauce
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup salt
Combine all the ingredients in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Whisk until the sugar and salt dissolve. Let cool.
Yield: 12 1/2 cups

Jack's Old South BBQ Rub:
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup sweet paprika
1/4 cup kosher salt
3 tablespoons black pepper
2 teaspoons garlic powder
2 teaspoons onion powder
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon dried basil
Combine all ingredients and mix well.
Yield: 3/4 cup

Bon Appetit

Wordless Wednesday