Friday Five - 11.25.11

1.  Happy Thanksgiving!  I hope you were able to see loved ones and enjoy tasty food yesterday!  As I mentioned in a recent post, my late Grandma Johnson's pumpkin bread is my favorite Fall recipe.  I made it again this week, and I think that everyone needs this easy recipe.  So, here it is.

My Grandma Johnson’s Pumpkin Bread

3 c flour                                                                           
3 c sugar                                                                         

1 ½ tsp salt                                                                     

2 c pumpkin (approx. 1 can)                                        

4 eggs                                                                             

2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon                                                   

1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp ground cloves
2/3 c canola oil
2/3 c water
1 c chopped pecans

Combine all ingredients in large bowl and mix well.  Divide batter between two large loaf plans.  Bake at 350 degrees for 1 to 1 ½ hours. 

2.  My mom and I made another pillow this week, and I can't wait to take it back to South Carolina to see how it looks in our living room!

Translation: Make yourself at home :)

3.  Gift Idea - Christmas is just one month away, and slowly but surely, I am getting my shopping done.  If you need a gift idea for someone who likes to cook or read then I highly recommend The Pioneer Woman's Cookbook or The Pioneer Woman's book, Black Heels to Tractor Wheels.  The cookbook is full of delicious, step-by-step recipes, and the book is intriguing and laugh out loud funny!

4.  UNION HIGH SCHOOL (our alma mater) beat Jenks High School tonight, 30-29!  What an exciting game to watch on TV with my family.  Next week, Union will play for the 6A Football State Championship...and yes, Kevin and I have been out of high school for over a decade, but high school football pride runs deep in Oklahoma. :)  Go Redskins!

5.  Operation Christmas Child - I mentioned this on Facebook, but it's such a wonderful cause that I want to post it here too.  If you're looking for a way to help a child in need this Christmas then go to this website to find out how you can pack a shoebox and send joy to a child in another country.

Friday Five - 11.18.11

1.  As you may have heard, Justin Timberlake attended a USMC Birthday Ball in Virginia last week.  He wasn't a special guest or anything like that, he simply accepted an invitation from Corporal Kelsey DeSantis, USMC.  I have a lot of respect for JT for accepting the invitation and attending the ball, but I have even more respect for him after reading the blog post he wrote about his experience.  His words seem very heartfelt and sincere, and I encourage you to read about the evening he calls "life-changing."  (On another note, how cool would it have been to be seated at a table with him?!)

My Night At The Marine Corps Ball by Justin Timberlake

2.  While persuing Justin Timberlake's website for the first time, I noticed a post called So You Think You Can Dance??? with a YouTube video in it.  Because I appreciate talented dancers (and I love the show SYTYCD), I clicked on it and watched.  Wow.  This guy can MOVE, and his video has had over 15 million hits!

3.  Cinnamon Rolls - My mom is the best cinnamon roll maker I know.  Last year, I wanted her to teach me how to make them (for real this time, since most years I just watch her).  We decided to make The Pioneer Woman's cinnamon rolls since my mom thought PW's recipe sounded a little simpler than the recipe she has always used.  We made them, my mom decided PW's recipe was easier/faster to make, and they were melt-in-your-mouth delicious!  We're talking about making them sometime in the next week, and I can't wait.  (In case you decide to make them, I'll warn you that I am not a big fan of PW's maple coffee icing, but I do love vanilla or orange icing on them.)

4.  Chickabug - I recently discovered this company and blog, and I think it will be a great resource for future parties, showers and events.  Check out this post about DIY decorative paper lanterns; what an inexpensive way to decorate vertical space!

5.  My mom knows how to sew, and I do not.  I really want to learn so she is in the process of teaching me the basics.  We've made a bunch of cute burp cloths together, and this week we tackled a new project.  A pillow cover with cording.  Although my mom has sewn many different things, this was her first time to attempt a pillow cover.  The pillow cover part was super easy for her, but the cording was rather challenging.  It was so difficult that I just observed and did a little pinning while she did all of the real work.  It's finished except for hand stitching the opening along the bottom, and I think it turned out beautifully!  Thanks, Mom!

Friday Five - 11.11.11

1. Happy Veteran's Day!  Thank you, thank you, thank you to those who have served and those who currently serve.  We can never thank you enough for all you do to protect us!

2. Happy 236th Birthday to THE UNITED STATES MARINE CORPS! (Yesterday)  The video below, The 236th Marine Corps Birthday Message, fills me with so many emotions that I can hardly put into words.  The men and women who train and fight to protect our country are so selfless, so brave and so admirable.  We as a nation are very blessed to enjoy the freedoms that we do, and those freedoms would not exist without our great military. 

3. On a lighter note, I'm in Tulsa right now and the tree leaves are almost too beautiful to be true!  I should have taken photos of some of the trees I saw in my parents' neighborhood today so I could share them.  I'll try to remember to take some while I'm here so I can post them.

4. Pedi Socks - Have you heard of them?  If you like to paint your toenails or get pedicures in the Fall and Winter, they are really handy.  You just slip them on before your start painting your nails and then you don't have to worry about ice cold feet and ankles while your nail polish dries!  My mom gave me these cute striped ones today, and I know I will use them over and over because I have ridiculously cold feet! (Just ask my husband.)

5. First ever Carrier Classic - North Carolina and Michigan State played a basketball game on the flight deck of the USS Carl Vinson tonight!  How cool is that?!  Here's an article about the game and here's a time lapse video showing how the flight deck was transformed into a basketball arena.  Pretty impressive.

Enjoy the weekend!

Friday Five - 11.4.11

1.  If you need a crowd pleasing appetizer, try this one!  I made Veggie Pizza for the first time recently, and it was delicious.

I used a few different recipes to create my own version of veggie pizza, but the recipe in the link above has all of the basics.

2.  If I had black hair (and eyebrows), this is how I would look...YIKES!  More on this event in a later post.

3.  I made an easy dessert on Halloween (Trick or Treat Brownie Cupcakes) that could easily be made into a Christmas treat.  However, I don't recommend using cupcake liners when baking these because the brownie cupcakes will stick to them!  (I learned this from experience. :) )

I put Reese's PB cups on mine instead of miniature candy bars.  Yum!

4.  I joined Pinterest the other day, but I'm so overwhelmed by it that I haven't even "pinned" one thing yet!  It seems like a great way to organize your favorite links and get inspiring ideas so I plan to start using it.

5.  Have you seen video of the two little girls, Sophia and Rosie, who appeared on Ellen recently?  They are pure entertainment if you need a pick me up!

Have a fabulous weekend!