Forty Two is More Fun Than a Game of Dominoes

I am not one of those people who dread birthdays as they get older. In fact, it's just the opposite.  I still look forward to and get just as excited about my birthday as I did when I was a kid.  The days slowly creep along until October 11 finally arrives and tahdah!  I am older!  What a miracle!

I thoroughly enjoy each card, greeting, and hug.  Birthdays are the best when you work at an elementary school because the kids are just as excited as you are.  Their precious offerings of drawings, cards and songs send me over the moon.

I suppose a few things have changed.  I no longer present my family with a list a mile long of outrageous requests of presents and parties.  In fact, I find myself wanting to simplify and missing most what I used to take for granted.  If I had it to do over again, this is how my birthday list would read:

1. the EARLY morning phone call from Mama, my great grandmother reminding where she was "__" years ago.  At the hospital waiting on me.  Mama was always the first to wish me Happy Birthday. 

2. being serenaded by my granddaddy.  His version of "Happy Birthday" was the only song he ever sang.

3. Nanny's chocolate cake with seven minute icing.

These are the gifts I treasure now and miss the most. 

This year was absolutely perfect!  I left school in birthday bliss and picked out my own cake and then picked up some steaks and went home and cooked for my most favorite people -my family!  Yes, I cooked my birthday dinner.  To some that may sound strange, but it's what I love to do.  Then some girlfriends came over, we had more cake, and watched "Say Yes to the Dress" & "What Not to Wear".  (Providing our own sugar-induced commentary of course)

Birthdays to some are just another day. To others they are a day to dread. To me they are a day to celebrate.  With all that is going on in this world, the fact that you are here another year is a miracle. 

In the words of Brother Grady, my beloved pastor, "We're all gonna die." So we might as well get out and enjoy life especially birthdays!

Love & Blessings! (and Birthday Cake)
Puddin'

Mama, me, & Dutch on my 5th birthday.

this is my take on steak and potatoes...
Birthday Steak and Fries
go to a GOOD BUTCHER if you have one and have them cut you a 11/2"-2" rib eye
let it sit to room temperature and rub it with kosher salt and pepper and olive oil on both sides  (it's a good cut of beef so it shouldn't need anything else)
heat your grill on high and then turn to med high
grill steaks for 5-6 min per side or desired doneness
DO NOT LEAVE ON GRILL UNATTENDED
allow steaks to rest 5-10 minutes before slicing

fries:
preheat oven to 425
1 russet potato per person
slice with a food processor or mandolin
soak in water for 10 minutes and dry thoroughly
toss with olive oil, kosher salt, garlic powder, onion powder, and pepper
lay in one layer on a sprayed sheet pan
bake 15 minutes and then turn and bake 10 minutes more

*Save Room For Cake!

Finally Fall

Howdy Y'all
I borrowed that phrase from one of my favorite Texans - Big Tex.
Like Big Tex (a huge plaster statue who stands sentry over our great State Fair) I've had a rough go lately.  Unlike Tex, I did not spontaneously combust!
But October is here and things are looking up!

I just love October and let me tell you why!

1. Fall is my favorite time of year.  We really don't have fall in Texas but when those temps dip down in the 80s, I am in heaven. Yep the 80s are fall in the Lone Star State and we often are still wearing shorts when we carve the turkey. True that.

2. The State Fair - Texas holds its State Fair for three weeks from the end of September through the middle of October.  It is sensory overload in every sense- midway games, rides, exhibits, museums, new cars, concerts, Broadway musicals, waterless cookware, and Vitamix salesmen. You run the gamut just to get to the Holy Grail - Fletcher's Corny Dog Stand. There's only one and they are worth every ungodly ticket charged (so much so, that I go back several times before returning home). I don't need fried cupcakes or fried PB&J's just my Fletcher's please.  I'm a simple girl.

3. Football. I know football begins in August but it gets REAL in October. All of those fancy uniform wearing games are over and we can get down to business:)

4. The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown is back on TV - enough said. The world could use more Charlie Brown.

5. Daylight Savings is approaching - call me weird, but I like it when it's dark at 7:00.

6. It's my birthday this month- I won't tell you when, but I love birthdays.  Not for the presents, but because each birthday itself is a present.  (I also love cake)

7. Families (or at least mine) starts to slow down a bit.

8. Leaves, Pumpkins, and Cider!  One of these days, I will take a trip up north and experience a real fall, but for now I have decor courtesy of Hobby Lobby and Scentsy!

So good-bye and good riddance September. This year you were a real booger and I am more than ready to see you leave.
October, I thought you would never get here!

So Happy Fall Y'all!
Love & Blessings,
Puddin'

Here's a great recipe for those "cool" fall days of watching football and the Great Pumpkin!

Spicy Pulled Pork
4-6 lb pork butt
2 yellow onions, peeled and halved
2 cans Barq's root beer
1 can chipotle peppers in adobe sauce (chopped and sauce reserved)
1/2 cup brown sugar

in a dutch oven, place the roast that you have seasoned with salt and pepper on top of the onion halves
top with chipotle peppers in sauce, brown sugar, and root beer
cover with foil then lid
place in a 300 degree oven and cook for 5-6 hours, basting every hour.
remove roast from pot and shred and return to pot ( you can skim fat and remove onions if you wish)
serve on warm buns with cole slaw and sweet potato fries