Halloween Thirteen!!

            So..............can't wait to be back tomorrow with pics of my FOUR little gremlin grandkids!!!

Couldn't wait till morning!!!  As each pic came in tonight, I just got more and more excited and even a tad bit verclempt.......just so dadgum happy with the way my boy's lives are playing out!  They make me re-live so many moments of our lives as we raised them....
Just look how precious all of these grand goblins are!!!

Lilli and her friend Gregory!

Austin and his friend Lila!

KatieJane!

Case and his mom!

Sigh............I couldn't be a happier YaYa!!!

 

 

 

Chicken Pot Pie.......and Greens!

When  I was on the east coast a few weeks ago, I had the best chicken pot pie.  And because I had chicken I needed to use and because it's supposed to be Autumn with cooler  temps.....hahahah 82 and muggy humid today....I decided to make a pie that was just as tasty as that yankee pie!!

My top crust didn't brown well enough because well.........when the boyfriend is ready to eat, he's just plain ready to eat.  Capishe?

recipe called for frozen vegetables but I'm not so into those frozen veggies so I just chopped up my own and softened them a bit in the butter.

forgot to get pic before it went into oven so this is about 3 min after going in.

The one we had in Chatham had the sauce on the side and it was very good. So, even tho I mixed the vegetables in sauce before going into crust, I saved a bit to drizzle on top.  YUM.

And what is even better on an Autumn night? Mustard Greens with a big ol' ham hock cooked into them that came straight from our garden and picked by Cap'n and ms. Lilli!

 

 CLASSIC CHICKEN POT PIE

Ingredients

Crust

1 box Pillsbury® refrigerated pie crusts, softened as directed on box                        

Filling

1/3 cup butter or margarine                        

1/3 cup chopped onion

1/3 cup all-purpose flour                        

1/2 teaspoon salt                        

1/4 teaspoon pepper                        

1 3/4 cups Progresso® chicken broth (from 32-oz carton)                        

1/2  cup milk                        

2 1/2 cups shredded cooked chicken or turkey                        

2 cups Green Giant® Valley Fresh Steamers™ frozen mixed vegetables, thawed                        

 

(I added garlic, red pepper flakes and chipotle tabasco to the sauce.....I'm from the south, remember?)

 

Heat oven to 425°F. Make pie crusts as directed on box for Two-Crust Pie using 9-inch glass pie pan

In 2-quart saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Add onion; cook 2 minutes, stirring frequently, until tender. Stir in flour, salt and pepper until well blended. Gradually stir in broth and milk, cooking and stirring until bubbly and thickened.Stir in chicken and mixed vegetables. Remove from heat. Spoon chicken mixture into crust-lined pan. Top with second crust; seal edge and flute. Cut slits in several places in top crust.

Bake 30 to 40 minutes or until crust is golden brown. During last 15 to 20 minutes of baking, cover crust edge with strips of foil to prevent excessive browning. Let stand 5 minutes before serving.

 

 

 

 

 

                                            

                           

 

 

               

                         

           

 

 

 

 

 

 

Day by Day....we're getting there!

 

Ghostly Ghoulies!!

A Smile for your Hump Day!!

KatieJane!!  my 2nd granddaughter!

She just makes me happy!!

Chocolate Explosion!

I have a lil bible study group.....ummmmm.....that loves to eat, drink and laugh WHILE we discuss the bible... that met at our deer camp last week.  You know...to get really close to nature and enjoy the natural gifts from God while we talk about Him.....

And because of that love of fun food, I made a lil chocolate explosion for their enjoyment!!

How can something so right be SOOOOOOO wrong??!!!

TRIPLE FUDGE BROWNIES

Bake one pkg brownie mix in a 9 inch square pan according to directions.  Cool completely. Chop one 10 oz bag miniature chocolate-covered whipped nougat bars (3 muskateers). Sprinkle half of chopped bars over cooled brownies..  In a double boiler, melt 2 cups semi sweet chocolate morsels. Add one can sweetened condensed milk stirring and heating till chocolate melts. Spread melted chocolate mixture over brownies. Press remaining chocolate candy into chocolate frosting. Chill 30 min.  Cut into bars.

Oh yeah babyyyyyyyyyyyy!!!  so wrong but oh so right!!!!!

The Pumpkin Patch!

does anyone feel the pain of trying to photograph a toddler and two infants in the middle of a pumpkin patch in the heat of a hot southern day??? even with two mamas helping set it up??  WHEW........we really shouldn't have tried to do it in the middle of the day, but how else could we also fit a Mexican lunch in there too????  Priorities....dontcha know?!!!

even tho I never could really get a shot of them all looking and grinning in the same direction..(even tho I took 188 of them!!)   There was a lot of this!

But poor Lilli.. since she's the BIG kid now, she has to do all the work with the babies.  She had been holding them up, trying to make them laugh and be used as a prop but after a while, she had just had enough. 

that's when we decided it was time to get her some "tias" (soft flour tortillas-her fave) and queso!

But why the worry?  We've got plenty of time to play again in the punkin patch  AND there will be all those scary costumes to photograph too!!!!

 

 

Much happens while Mama Cat is away!!.......Case's Baptism!

as it should be!!   So much went on during my time away......My youngest grandson, Case, was baptized on the day I left.  The planning just happened that way so I made sure they sent me pics of the day as it progressed. 

#1:  just look at that beautiful baby boy! Heard he slept thru the whole day...even the holy water pouring part!

  What a perfect family pic of them with the priest who baptized mr. case!
#2:  Cap'n with his son and daughter in law.  And the "boy of the day"!  All of the males in that pic have the same middle name.....Nelson.....which was the name of Case's great-great grandfather and has been passed down thru every generation.
#3:  The lineage of McCormicks!!!  Cap'n's brother and his son and all of my family!

                                                         Case's Baptism......September 22, 2013

I love me up some NANTUCKET!!!

So, for as much as I wasn't that crazy about the vineyard......Nantucket was just adorable!
I was having a leetle trouble getting outa bed on this morning but as the text messages from my roommate began arriving.....to tell me that if we didn't go to NT, we would be so mad at ourselves.  So up and dressed and out the door in about 30 min!
Drove to Harwich to catch the ferry ... which we barely made.....but so glad we did.  Another beautiful weather day in the Northeast and this ride would take about 1 and 1/2 hours.

We passed the Great Point Lighthouse...where it was rumored that  the seals would be sunbathing on the small beach

After a nice relaxing ride, we approached the island of Nantucket and passed very close to the Brant Point Lighthouse.. a lighthouse located on Nantucket Island. The station was established in 1746, automated in 1965, and is still in operation. .

As we got closer to shore, the replica of all things Nantucket, became visible.

As we pulled into the harbor, the little men who man the ferry were very excited, for this trip was their last excursion of the season. Yep, we were riding the very last ferry to the islands for the 2013 season. When I asked them what they would do during their wait for next yr...they grinned from ear to ear and said..."Leaving for our Florida home next week!!!"

First things we see right off the boat.....charming shops, cobblestone and brick streets, fish cleaning stations and lots of happy people who were spending this gorgeous fall day on Nantucket!

Of course....as you know by now if you're reading about this trip....our first stop was brunch!!  And since my peep had already researched where we wanted to eat, we went straight there!

Arno's! Where I had the breakfast that saved me! 

Smoked salmon eggs benedict cooked to perfection!!  I'm tellin ya.....saved me!!

Next, we walked the streets loving the quaintness of it.  Even ran across a Farmers Market that was fun to explore.

Spent a few hours at the Whaling Museum where we learned all about historical stories told by a storyteller and of course, about Moby Dick!!

The view from the top of the museum looking out across the harbor

After a full day and heading back to the ferry to wait for our ride back....

there was just enough time for a lil snack!!  Heh.  Hey....I had to have just one more order of those delicious salty raw oysters!

and she had the stuffed clams!

(did  I mention somewhere that this trip involved lots of eating and drinking!! hahahah)

The ride back..

Goodbye Nantucket.........thanks for such a lovely day!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Martha's Vineyard!

For our Martha's Vineyard adventure, we drove to Hyannis to catch the ferry across the water.

The ticket office for the ferry was crazy....busy!

This is a view outside the ferry window.  It was a cloudy, kinda rainy kinda day. But ya know? It was ok because that's the picture I have in my mind about Cape Cod. Even tho it was sunny and warm back on the mainland, the islands were a bit blustery this day. 

Ok...gotta admit, I was a little disappointed with the Vineyard.  Heh.....notice my reference....Heh!  I guess all  the hype about it .... being the playground for  Kennedy's and Swartzenegers and such....I just didn't get it.  Main street was nice but not fantastic and the park area was cool.

"Ocean Park is also the center for the August fireworks display which traditionally draws the biggest crowds of any single Island event, and which marks the conclusion of the high summer season".

In 1835, a Methodist association began holding revival meetings in Oak Bluffs, and the congregation camped in tents. As meetings grew, participants pitched tents on wooden platforms, which evolved into some 300 small cottages. These were adorned with bold colours and whimsical ornamental woodwork in a style known as Carpenter Gothic and make quite a sight today .

Lunch today was at Slice of Life café on Main Street.  Quaint and very good sandwiches. Mine was a green tomato BLT...with truffle fries!

After a late afternoon lunch, we walked the streets doing a lil window shopping....UNTIL....we got to the Alex and Annie  shop. I had fallen in love with the jewelry from here after seeing it on Life in my Empty Nest  blog.  I surprised my peep with a bangle bracelet and charm of Cape Cod when our trip began.

  So it was fun to visit the actual store and browse for quite a while!

Back to the ferry and back to the windmill.  Dinner this night was at Del Mar Bistro.  Yum-Yum.

We had fried artichokes.....chopped salad.....Lemon Chicken and Beef Filet!

Slept like a bebe this night!!!