Making Pasties.....

For as long as I can remember, my grandma would make pasties every winter. We would get our supply every Christmas. My grandma passed away over 2 years ago. My mom and I decided that this year, we were going to carry on her tradition.
Friday morning at 8:00 the process began. We chopped and diced until our arms hurt. When it was time for the crust. We hit a minor road block and might have used a few curse words. Then we got the giggles. Finally we figured out the right mix of flour, shortening and water to be able to roll it out without the crust being an inch thick.

Here they are getting ready to go into the oven.

The final product:

In the end, we made 41 pasties. Hope we made Grandma proud!

Answers.....

Here's my answers to the questions left for me earlier this week.

1. From Libby: What is your favorite sport or athletic activity to do?
I would have to say walking or doing the Jillian workouts.

2. From Jill: What are your 3 guilty pleasures?
1. Peanut butter & cookie dough concrete mixers from Culver's
2. Rap music
3. ????

3. From Kim: What do you want for Christmas?
I would like my boys to get along for one week. No fighting, teasing, screaming....but, since that is completely unrealistic, I'm hoping for a watch.

4. From Jaci: What is your dream vacation?
Fiji - warmth, water, beaches = perfect.

5. From Marilyn: Would you rather be invisible or have the power to read minds?
Invisible - hands down. Would LOVE it!

6. From Jenny: What do you miss most about a) childhood, b) high school, c) college, d) life without kids?
a.)having no responsibilities except coming home for dinner when my mom yelled for me
b.)all the free time to spend with friends
c.)sleeping in, taking naps, happy hours and just living in a college town
d.)having money :)

Frugal Friday......

I'm always looking for a deal and really hate to pay full price for almost anything. There are a lot of websites that I visit to help me find coupons, specials or free items. Here's a few:

www.thecoupongoddess.com
www.coupons.com
www.afullcup.com
www.fatwallet.com
www.retailmenot.com
www.couponingtodisney.com
www.couponcabin.com
www.dealseekingmom.com


I would love to hear what sites you visit ~ please share!

And The Winner Is......

Congrats to Marilyn! She was randomly selected the old fashion way (names in a bowl) for the giveaway post.

I'm saving the answers to your questions for another day as right now I'm enjoying some time with my Mom.

Wordless Wednesday....

This is one of my favorite pictures of Mike & Colton.
Colton was 3 years old and at his first Twins game. Little did I know how huge of a fan he'd become and how he would learn the stats of every player perhaps even better than his dad.

My Apple That Didn't Fall Far From The Tree.....

A few weeks ago, Colton had a list of 25+ things to pick from to share with his reading group about a book that they had just finished. He picked to do a presentation.
I helped him do a little research about the topic and he got very engaged trying to gather every little bit of info he could find on crickets. He typed up his information and printed out a few pictures. He laid out all his work on the poster board and rearranged it about 12 times until he had just the look he wanted.
The next morning he admired his final product and thought perhaps there was a bit more he could add. I kept thinking to myself, "oh my gosh, he is me when I was his age." It made me smile a bit.
As if that wasn't enough to give me a little glow, this past weekend he had to do a project about the word "oak." He asked if me if I would help him create a Power Point presentation. Be still my heart!
He was just jazzed putting it together. His friend called to play and he told him, "not now, I'm working." Too funny. He shared his presentation with the class on Monday. When he came home he asked if he could make another Power Point just for fun.
If I didn't know before, that's enough proof for me that this kid is really mine.

Menu Monday.....

This is one of my oldest child's meal favorites.

Potato Soup

6 cups peeled & cubed potatoes

5 cups water

2 cups chopped onion

1/2 cup chopped celery

3/4 cup thinly sliced carrots

1/4 cup butter or margarine

4 teaspoons chicken bouillon granules

2 teaspoons salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1 12 oz can evaporated milk

3/4 cup bacon crumbles (optional)

3 tablespoons fresh chopped parsley (optional)

In a large crock-pot, combine the first 9 ingredients. Cover and cook on high for 7-8 hours. Add milk, bacon and parsley. Mix well. Cover and cook another 30 - 60 minutes until heated through.

Enjoy!