My Version of Holiday Baking

Even though I sometimes have good intentions of doing the things we did as children like making cookies for our neighbors and delivering them on a pretty Christmassy plate, I've come to the conclusion that somehow I'm not quite the multitasker my mother is or was! I can multitask, but I seem to have to be a little more picky about the tasks I'm multying nowadays.

Tonight we're having some friends over - I referred to them as LT's friends and was quickly told that they are 'our' friends. Nonetheless, they're all people we wouldn't know except that LT works with them. I have tortilla soup heating in the crock pot, a pack of velveeta and rotel waiting to go in the little crock pot, taquitos in the freezer waiting to go in the oven, and chips and salsa waiting to be opened. I also made a batch of a yummy peanut butter and chocolate treat. Sounds like good eats to me!

One of my all time favorite treats as a kid was Tiger Butter at the candy kiosk in the Richland Mall. It was a soft fudgy, peanut buttery delight! We all know how much I love the combo of peanut butter and chocolate! Every time I share one of these little secrets about myself I'm reminded why I was always a pudgy kid. I digress...I've searched for Tiger Butter recipes and have found a few that look like they could be a match, but then I saw this recipe for Tiger Bark at Lynn's Kitchen. I had to try it! It's very simple and mine turned out quite tasty, but I'll have to do it a few more times to perfect my evenly spreading of the white chocolate peanut butter mixture on my foil lined pan. One side of my first batch is a little thin compared to the other! My broken pieces also didn't turn out as pretty as Lynn's did, either. Everything that tastes good doesn't always look good, right?

Microwave baking really is a great thing. However, even though I have nice little bags to put treats in for my neighbors, they won't be receiving any Tiger Butter or any other baked good from me before Christmas. Maybe it'll be a MLK Day delivery :o) Kind of like my Christmas Letter!

This is my finished Tiger Bark product, take 1.

May I Suggest...

Tonight on our way home from our abbreviated trip (thanks to Maverick's meltdown) to "Chick O Way," LT decided he needed a shake from Jack In the Box. He was the one who had to deal with Maverick's meltdown so I guess he needed some comfort. After we paid for and received his Oreo Milkshake, the boys were pouty because they didn't get one so we drove across the street to Sonic to get them one and to get me a treat. We got them a shake and split it into 2 cups.That ended up not being the best idea we had all night. They had a hard time sucking it up and Bailey told us his was broken!

I remembered seeing their Mini Banana Split advertised at one of our Happy Hour trips so I decided that's what I would get. They didn't have the sign up any more so I had to ask to make sure they still had it on the menu. It was PERFECT. The price, 99 cents, was great and it's just the right size to satisfy that more than ice cream craving. So if you need a sweet, ice cream fix, that's my current recommendation.

Experimental Dinner

As I was driving home from work today, I tried to figure out what I could make for dinner. I knew I had a pound or so of hamburger meat in the fridge and a bag of tater tots in the freezer that I keep forgetting that I bought. I thought maybe I would just do hamburgers and bake the tater tots as the side. Then I remembered that I just might have a can of cream of mushroom soup. You see where this is going?

When I got home, I looked up recipes for Tater Tot Casserole on Cooks. com and scrolled through until I found a recipe or two that called for ingredients that I had on hand. I don't make many casseroles because they're usually pretty fattening, at least the ones that I like, or call for ingredients that I don't normally keep. I've never made TT Casserole before so this was a huge science experiment for me!

The TT Casserole turned out very tasty, but I've learned a few lessons about actually assembling it that I will have to remember the next time I make it. And there will be a next time!

Greek To Me

I've been wanting a good greek salad lately and haven't really known where to get one. What I was envisioning was a good greek salad in a shell like we used to get at the Akropolis Cafe in Charlotte. To add to my greek crave, Rachael Ray was making some sort of a greek dish on 30 Minute Meals yesterday!

So last night, LT went to a little place, Casa Pizza, or something like that, that is about a mile from our house. I had called earlier in the week to ask about their greek options just to make sure they had what we wanted. LT brought us back their Greek plate which was a gyro, a small greek salad and then 2 slices of spanakopita. My meal hit the spot, but it was no replacement for Akropolis Cafe or the Meditteranean Deli in Chapel Hill. The thing that made the difference in our El Paso greek not being as good as our east coast greek was the sauce. El Paso's version of the tzadziki just wasn't as good!

I'm sure we'll go back to Casa Pizza for a greek fix, but we'll be keeping our eyes open for another hole in the wall place that might serve up a good gyro and greek salad combo.

Favorite Snacks

It's amazing the things we pass onto our children inadvertently.

+= YUM-O

For some reason, yesterday I made myself what was once one of my favorite snacks when I couldn't find anything else to eat- Mustard Bread- a piece of bread with some mustard! YUM-O, as our friend Rachael Ray would say, except she'd have to eat hers with a little E-V-O-O! Sorry for the digression...

I wasn't feeling really well yesterday so I was trying to eat things that wouldn't bother my stomach too badly. I had made myself a turkey sandwich, but had to share half of it with Bailey. I was proud of him for eating a turkey sandwich since that hasn't been one of his standards! I must've shared a piece of my mustard bread with him because now he's hooked! This afternoon he asked for bread and immediately opened the refrigerator door looking for the mustard. 3 pieces later, he's moved onto 'cereo,' but not just any 'cereo' - he wants cinnamon toast crunch, the malt o meal in a bag kind of course!

Maverick's new all time favorite food is the Gerber Graduate Li'l Sticks! YUCK-O! They look like vienna sausages except they're either made of turkey or chicken and carrots. He just inhales them! They go into his mouth and instantly disappear. I must be trying to make up for some of Maverick's 2nd Child Syndrome issues becaue I never bought these for Bailey. Every now and then I'm better to my 2nd child than I was to the first!

It's almost time for our pretty regular visit to the Chick Fil A on the Far East! Too bad my children's bellies will be too full to enjoy a good peanut oil fried chicken nugget! Mustard Bread or Chick Fil A - - Hmmm - - - I know what I'll choose!