Sorry I made an error in the new blog address I posted.. My new blog is at http://thewatsonshouse.blogspot.com/

Moving

Well.. I have decided to move my blog and close this one down. My new blog is going to be all of the thing I said I was going to post about in my last post.. Cooking and books. But I will be doing this new blog with the hubby, since he is the cook.. If you would like to continue following me please go to http://thewatsonshouse.blogspot.com/
Thanks for all the good time on I'm Me. What More Do You Want?!! I've had a blast here and who knows.. maybe I'll pop up now and again on this site..

So, I'm still here. I know its been almost 6 months since my last post. Life has been, lets say, eventful for us in the past few months..

I have had many ideas and things I have wanted to post, but as I said, life got in the way. But I am back for good this time! My goal is to focus more on the cooking. I was good at that! And throw in a few things about book.. So look forward to lots of yummy posts!

Lets start at 6 months ago.. In my last post I mentioned my trip to Oregon. It was such a wonderful trip! I got to hang out with some friends, host an Avon pedi party, and spend time with my family. Oh and of course I got to spend some time on the beautiful Oregon Coast.

While in Oregon the hubs and I made a decision that has altered our lives.. My husband is in his second semester at the University. Which is about 30-45 min away from our house depending on the traffic. We decided to move to the town that the University is in. Now if you remember I had a friend and her kids move in with us. That whole situation has been an experience.. I won't go into all of it now, but things got a bit awkward between us all..

Move to this past month, and here we are in our new apartment 5 min away from the University. We are in a much smaller space now.. Our Kitchen is so tiny, but surprisingly we have been cooking in it a lot more! Hence my wanting to post more about cooking!

As for the rest of today's post, I am going to leave you with the book I am now reading.

What have you been reading lately?

Where has the time gone?!

Seems like forever ago since I was last on here.. Oh wait! It was forever ago! Lets see.. What has happened in the last 2 months.. Well, my friend and her 3 kids have moved in with us. This has been a new experience! I am no longer working.. I quit my job at the Zoo due to my car being broken and not having a way to get to work..

Um, what else? My husband is now a student at the University of Texas Arlington. I couldn't be more proud of him!

I've been getting back into baking, so look out for future food posts.

I am getting to go to Oregon for a visit. Just me. The hubs has to stay here.. I'll be gone for 2 weeks. Should be a ton of fun! I have not been home in 2 years. I already have tons of stuff planned! Trips to the coast, pedicure party, lunch with old friends and hanging out with the fam. I promise to take lots of pictures!!

Well thats all I have for right now.. Hope ya'll have a great Wednesday!!

Strawberry Shortcake

Strawberry Shortcake:

Prep: 30 min Bake: 12 min

Oven: 400 degrees Makes: 8 shortcakes

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1/4 cup sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/3 cup cold butter

1 egg, slightly beaten

1/2 cup dairy sour cream

2 tablespoons milk

5 cups strawberries

3 tablespoons sugar

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Lightly grease a baking sheet; set aside. In a medium bowl combine flour, 1/4 cup sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Using a pastry blender, cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.

In a small bowl combine egg, sour cream, and milk.

Add to flour mixture, stirring with a fork just until moistened.

Drop dough into eight mounds onto prepared baking sheet. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes or until golden. Transfer to a wire rack; let cool.

Meanwhile, combine 4 cups of the strawberries and the 3 tablespoons of sugar. Using a potato masher, mash berries slightly; set aside. To serve split shortcakes in half; fill with strawberry mixture and whipped cream. Top with remaining sliced strawberries.

Wordless Wednesday (Before and After)

Before hair cut

After hair cut

Game Night

I recently got to host a Game Night from House Party . It was super fun! I had some friends over from work and we had margaritas and played the games House Party sent me! I got the newest Trivial pursuit (its not out till August), Taboo, and Catch Phrase. I didn't get any photos of the action but i have some from before the guests arrived!

My fabulous House Party package

Coffee Cake and Peanut Butter Cookies

Goodie Bags and cheese and cracker platters

Table all ready for a night of fun games!

Changes are a Coming!

In 6Th grade, I met this girl who I absolutely could not stand. Her name is Teresa. We shared many classes together over the years, and by the time we hit the 8Th grade it seemed as though we had every class together! In our first period class we were forced to sit together for most of the year.. I would say by the middle of the year we were on track to being best buds! We also had another friend, Michelle who has a blog, here. By 9Th grade the 3 of us were inseparable.

Teresa and I in 8th Grade

The summer between 9Th and 10Th grade is my most memorable summer of all. That summer the 3 of us would spend days upon days at Teresa's house. Teresa's mom was so cool! She would take us cruising down by the university to check out hot guys and midnight trips to the coast. Her mom even sat out in a parking lot while Teresa and I were at a concert 3 hours away from home!

Michelle, Teresa, and I

But, alas the good times must come to an end right? Towards the end of the summer we learned that Teresa and her mom would be moving away! of course there were lots of letters written and visits made. I spent a few weeks with them the following summer. But as always we drifted apart some. Shortly after I left that summer Teresa found out she was pregnant. My mom and I went to visit when her daughter was a month old! And that's the last time I saw Teresa (her daughter is now 11!).

Don't get me wrong, we have stayed in contact, but have not seen each other since then. Over the years she would get a hold of my mom to get my number or address and we would be in contact again, and then drift away until the next time my mom would call and say guess who I just talked to! 2 years ago My husband and I made the trip to Oregon so he could meet the rest of my family ( we'd been married for 3 months at this point) and wouldn't you know it! not even a day after we left and got home, my mom calls and says, "Hey! There is someone here who wants to talk to you!" and knowing my mom that could be just about anybody! So she passes the phone and its Teresa. There in Oregon. A day after we left! If only she had been a day earlier or we stayed a day later I could of seen her again!

After we moved to Texas she found me on Facebook and we have been able to chat more regularly. She started to talk about family she had in Texas and moving down here to be near them. I was like well, what part of Texas??!! And when she told me my jaw just about dropped! I said,"Well, then! You better move on down here because that's the town I live in!!!!" Small world, eh?

So I am super excited! Her mom is on a plan right now on her way down here and Teresa and her kids (she has 3 now!) are driving and should be here Friday or Saturday!

Teresa and 2 of her kids

Oh and Teresa and her kids will be living with us! I am super excited to see her again but a little nervous about sharing my house with them. It's been just me and the Hub's and the kitty's for so long..

Wordless Wednesday

Remember me?

Hi ya'll! Its been awhile huh? I would love to say that I've been super duper busy and just have not had time to blog. But then I would just be lying to ya'll. I have not been busy.. I have just been lazy! Well, that and I just have not had anything I've wanted to blog about lately. I had wanted to turn this blog into a cooking blog. You know, share my yummy baked goods with everyone, but with the the way things are in life right now, I can't afford to bake stuff as much as I've been wanting too.

So, I figured its time for me to get back to blogging, and maybe I can't bake as much as I want to, but I sure do read a lot! So maybe I can talk about books I've read and throw in some day to day life stuff and occasionally throw in some baking! Now, I'm not talking about doing like book reviews or anything, maybe just post the books I'm reading and plan to read.. I can tell you if I like the book, but other than that I'm not much good with review writing!

I also decided it was time for a blog makeover, to go with my fresh start. Of course I think anytime is good for a blog makeover! There are just way too many cute blog designs out there! That's why I could never pay for a custom one.. I would just change it to a free layout a month or two later! Lol!

Well, I went to the library today and picked up 5 books.

I got Burned by P.C. Cast, The Smart one by Ellen Meister, Born of Fire by Sherrilyn Kenyon, Willow by Julia Hoban, and the Hypnotist by M. J. Rose.

Right now I am reading The Queen of Babble Gets Hitched by Meg Cabot. I am almost tempted to put this book down so I can read Burned. I have been waiting for the 7Th installment of the House of Night series forever! But I will be good and finish the one I'm reading first!

Have any of you read any of these books? What are you reading now?

Today at work..

As I was passing the Meerkats on my way out of work today I over heard a woman ask her child if there was only one Meerkat and the child said "Yes, there is only one. The others are dead!" Of course all our Meerkats are not dead.. They just didn't want to come out today. I thought this was cute and had to share!

Update

Just a quick update on my niece. We think we know where she is and she has been in contact with my mom. My mom has offered her a place to live, but there are a lot of things that need to get cleared up. At least we know she is safe! Thanks for all your prayers and concerns.

Please Pray

My niece who is 15, ran away this past weekend. I've been told that she has been spreading a lot of lies about family members and friends. Lies that are hurtful and could get some people into trouble. I'm not sure if I believe that part, but I do know that she has been gone since late Friday night. My sister has already filed a report with the police and is putting up posters in their neighborhood. Please pray that she is found and returned home safely.

Thanks.

You Might Remember Me...

I use to post here often..

Yeah yeah I know I haven't posted anything in a really long time. Yet somehow I managed to gain 5 followers! Hmm.. Maybe I need to take month long breaks more often! Just kidding.. maybe..

I've had so much craziness going on lately. My goal for this blog this year was to post more recipes and less life stuff, but I can't afford to go out and buy stuff to bake something different every week.. My poor shiney new mixer is feeling very neglected!

For those of you who don't know, my husband is no longer working, and has not worked in quite some time. He is going to school full time to hopefully better our futures. He is doing very well in school and just got accepted to one of the local Universities!! But him not working has put a strain on our financial situation. During the winter at the Zoo everyone gets their hours cut. So my pay check saw quite a pay-cut! Luckily spring is almost here and that means more people coming out to see the animals!

I've started selling Avon to try and help bring in some extra income. I've had a few orders here and there, but its going very slowly! It can only get better right?!

The only other major thing that has happened since I last blogged, is the fact that I had a major blowing out with my sister. I'm talking about the sister that I pretty much moved to Texas for. No, I'm not going to go into details to respect her privacy, but lets just say I don't expect to hear from her ever again. Its been since the middle of Jan, that I last spoke to her. Her last words to me were to tell me where I can shove my perfect life.

So other than all that life is grand!

I'm thinking about doing another giveaway.. not sure yet.. Any ideas?

Carrot Cake Cupcakes

I had a ton of frosting left over from the sugar cookies, so I figured some carrot cake would go nicely with cream cheese frosting. Except I didn't have enough left to frost a whole cake.. So cupcakes!

Plus I got to use my shiney new mixer to make the cupcakes!

Carrot Cake Cupcakes

Prep: 1 hour Bake: 22-26 min

Oven: 350 degrees Makes: about 30 cupcakes

4 eggs, beaten

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

3 cups finely shredded carrot* (lightly packed)

3/4 cup cooking oil

1 recipe Cream Cheese Frosting

Allow eggs to stand at room temp for 30 min. Meanwhile prepare muffin pans with liners. Set aside.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In large mixing bowl stir together flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, salt, and baking soda; set aside.

In another bowl combine eggs, carrot, and oil. Add egg mixture to flour mixture. Stir until combined. Pour batter into the prepare pans.

Bake for 22- 26 minutes or until a wooden toothpick comes out clean. Cool on wire rack. Once cooled frost with the cream cheese frosting.

*Note: The carrots should be finely shredded or they may sink to the bottom of the cake.

Eat and Enjoy!!

Christmas Loot

First off, before I get to the Christmas loot, we had a lovely white Christmas. It started snowing early Christmas eve morning and continued to snow all day.

Sadly it was all gone by the following afternoon.. Oh, how I wish you would stay a little longer, the next time you decided to visit, Mr. Snow!!

This year our Christmas was just the two of us. My sister came over Christmas eve and left early Christmas day. Since the hubs isn't working we didn't really buy presents for each other. But we did manage to be able to exchange small gifts to each other. My wonderful hubs bought me some Disney movies to add to my collection, along with a gift card to Borders. He got all kinds of goodies in his stocking and a variety pack of popcorn kernels for the air popper. And of course I got the Disney movies my mom sent as well!

My wonderful sister got me the bestest gift ever! A Kitchen Aide mixer. It very pretty and shiny! And no, I did not hug it once it was out of the box...

Isn't she pretty? I got to use it the other day, post with pics soon to come!

My decorations were very sparse this year. Christmas came and went before I knew it so I wasn't able to do as much decorating as I would of liked to. As you can see I only decorated the top half of the tree. Thing one and Thing two (Ford and Rocky) wouldn't stay out of my tree...

I hope all of you had a wonderful Christmas and got everything you wished for!

Sugar Cookies

Its not Christmas without sugar cookies, right? I planned on posting this before Christmas, but it snuck up on me before I knew what was happening... I've also included the recipe for the cream cheese icing I used.

Sugar Cookies

Prep: 30 min Chill: 30 min

Bake: 7 min per batch Oven: 375 degrees

2/3 cup butter, softened

3/4 cup sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 egg

1 tablespoon milk

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/4 salt

Pre heat oven to 375 degrees. In a large bowl beat butter on medium speed for 30 seconds. Add sugar, baking powder, and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Beat until combined, scraping sides of bowl occasionally. Beat in egg, milk, and vanilla. Beat in as much of the flour as you can with mixer. Stir in any remaining flour. Divide dough in half. If necessary, cover and chill dough about 30 minutes or until easy to handle.

On a lightly floured surface, roll half the dough at a time until 1/8 inch thick. Using a 2 1/2-inch cookie cutter, cut dough into desired shapes. Place 1 inch apart on ungreased cookie sheet.

Bake for 7 to 8 minutes or until edges are firm and bottoms are barely light brown. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool.

Cream Cheese Frosting

Prep: 20 min Makes: about 3 3/4 cup

1 8-ounce package cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup butter, softened

2 teaspoons vanilla

5 1/2 to 6 cups powdered (I only used about 3 1/2 cups)

In large mixing bowl beat cream cheese, butter, and vanilla with an electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy. Gradually beat in powdered sugar to reach spreading consistency.

Use as much or little powdered sugar as you feel needed. I only used about 3 1/2 cups and found that to be a good amount for the consistency I was looking for.

Enjoy your cookies!!

Peanut Butter Bark

I've been on a peanut butter kick lately.. Can you tell? This recipe is very quick and easy! Very yummy too!!

Peanut Butter Bark

2 4 oz packages of dark chocolate backing bars, broken into pieces

1 2/3 cups ( 10 0z package) Peanut butter chips

1 tablespoon shortening (do not use butter, margarine, spread or oil)

1/2 cup roasted peanuts or toasted almonds ( I used pecans)*.

*To toast nuts, heat oven to 350 degrees. Spread nuts in thin layer on a cookie sheet, bake 8-10 min; Cool.

Cover tray with wax paper. I used a rectangular metal cake pan lined with wax paper.

Place chocolate in medium microwave safe bowl. Microwave for 1 minute; stir If necessary cook for an additional 30 seconds at a time, stirring after each heating, until chocolate is melted and smooth when stirred.

Immediately place peanut butter chips and shortening in second microwave safe bowl. Heat for one minute in microwave; stir. If necessary cook an additional 30 seconds at a time, stirring after each heating, until chips are melted and mixture is smooth when stirred; stir in nuts.

Alternately spoon above mixtures onto prepared tray; swirl with knife for marble effect. Cover; refrigerate until firm. Break into pieces.

Enjoy!

Cranberry Bread

This time of year my mom always makes Cranberry bread. It is one of my favorite things that she bakes, and she has been sending me a loaf every year since I moved away from Oregon. So this year I thought, since I've been doing a lot of baking why not try and make it myself? I'm glad did! Boy that's some good bread! Yum Yum!

If you would like to try your hand at some Cranberry bread, here's the recipe:

Cranberry Bread

1 Cup fresh or frozen Cranberries, coarsely chopped

1/2 cup chopped nuts (I use pecans)

1 tablespoon grated orange peel

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup sugar

1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

2 tablespoons shortening

3/4 up orange juice

1 egg, well beaten

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Generously grease and lightly flour a 9x5x3 loaf pan.

Prepare cranberries, nuts and orange peel. Set aside. In bowl mix together flour sugar baking powder salt and baking soda. cut in shortening. Stir in orange juice, and egg mixing just until moistened.

Fold in cranberry mixture. Bake 60 min or until a wooden toothpick comes out clean. Cool on wire rack for 15 min. remove from pan and let cool completely.

Eat and enjoy!!

Peanut Butter Surprise Cookies

I got this recipe from Sunday Baker. I am very bad about taking step by step pictures.. I was taking these cookies out of the oven when I remembered that I had not taken any pictures. If you need to see the step by step pictures, stop by Sunday Bakers page here.

Peanut Butter Surprise Cookies

Cream together:
3/4 c. creamy peanut butter
3/4-1 c. confectioners sugar

Roll the mixture into small balls. Cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes:

With a mixer, combine:
1/2 c. softened butter
1/4. c. peanut butter

Add to it:
1 egg white
1 t. vanilla extract

Combine in a separate bowl:
1/2 c. granulated sugar
1/2 c. packed brown sugar
1-1/2 c. all-purpose flour
3/4 c. baking cocoa
1/2 t. baking soda

Slowly add the dry mixture to the butter mixture. As the dough gets stiffer, stop using the electric mixer and stir in the rest by hand.

Form this chocolate dough into 1 1/2" balls

remove peanut butter balls from the fridge. On lightly floured surface, flatten one of the chocolate balls with your hand. Put a peanut butter ball in the middle. Wrap the chocolate dough around the peanut butter ball, sealing all edges and making it back into a ball shape.

Place the dough balls on a lined cookie sheet, Dip the bottom of a small glass in water, then in some sugar. Push down on each ball, flattening it, but not completely.

Bake at 350 degrees for 10 min.

Eat and enjoy!

(sorry for the crazy font size.. I'm not sure how to fix it.. I have it all set to the same size and it won't fix itself..)