Lemon Petit Fours

So, it's 4:30 in the afternoon and you have a ladies fellowship tonight.
You signed up to bring a dessert but you have no idea what you are going to take.
You have a million things going on and still have to make supper.
But you really want these ladies to know how special they are to you and you
really want to make something homemade.
You want it to be simple but impressive.
But you have no idea how you are going to pull it off.
So you call your BFF (Daisy Girl) in Georgia and tell her the situation.

She asks you if you have a petit four pan.
(she already knows you do because she got if for you on your last birthday)
She then asks if you have a lemon cake mix.
Great! she says. You can pull off some wonderfully delicious lemon petit fours!

She has told you before that she is a devout fan of Duncan Hines Cake mixes.
She will use no other.

She instructs you to make the cake per the directions on the box and only fill each petit four cake well with just a little over 1/2 batter.

She also mentions that she sprays the pan completely with PAM and makes sure to get thoroughly in all the little crevices, but does not coat them with flour as suggested by the pan instructions. It has just never worked out for her.

Once they are done, she says it is best to cool them on a wire rack.

For the icing you have 2 options.

Do you have some Duncan Hines lemon icing? Great! This is a great option if you just want sweet cakes. She scoops some icing into a microwavable container and puts it in the microwave for 5 seconds at a time until it become just a little runny.

Option 2 would be more of a sour icing which also tastes wonderful with the sweet lemon cakes. She uses a mixture of lemon juice and powdered sugar. She is sorry to tell you she never measures it out. She just pours some powdered sugar in a bowl and adds in lemon juice until it is runny.

She then pours a spoonful over each little petit four. (She says it might be helpful to put a pan under the wire rack) (and then she laughs as if maybe she has done this before and forgot to use said pan) As soon as the icing dries, they are ready to be placed upon a beautiful plate and you will be ready to go!


Could they BE any cuter? And they were so fast and easy!

And the ladies will be so impressed.

* These are equally palatable to the male population. They have no qualms with popping 3 or 4 lemon floral petit fours in their mouth at a time. And enjoying every bite.

** You can find the exact pan here or a good deal on a similar pan here.

Thankful Thursday

1.Thankful my husband was able to take off last week and we were able to spend some fun time together. But the kids were sure sad to see him go.

2.Thankful that we seem to be close to getting a bid on our house.

3. Thankful we are all healthy (the Scarlett fever thing had me a little concerned for about a day)

4. Thankful I had the opportunity to share my forgiveness testimony in Sunday School this week.

5. Thankful my parents are coming for a visit this weekend.

6. Thankful my computer is fixed and I can now access all the high speed Internet sites like Zillow. Seriously. You can tell a lot more about a house by using the bird's eye view feature.

And I have been looking at A LOT of houses! And ruling out A LOT by what their lot looks like on Zillow. Ugh.

7. Thankful that America is a free country and that I can pick up my Bible and read it freely anytime I want to.

8. Thankful for Speedo Swim Goggles (thanks for the suggestion Jo!). They are SO adjustable. I just bought 3 pair today. My kids tried them out tonight. And. Loved. Them.

9. Thankful for the 5 ft long black King snake that apparently "lives" between my house and the house next door. He is supposed to be a "good" snake that eats the dangerous snakes as well as rodents and I've been told from the neighbors that they like having him around. Okay, so I'm actually NOT thankful for him. I really don't like snakes... just trying to be optimistic here. He ended up in my garage last week and I was REALLY not thankful for him THEN. Okay, soooo... I'm thankful that his is so big that there is NO WAY I'm going to miss him or accidentally step on him or something. Does that count?

10.Thankful it's summer!

Okay, that's all I've got. I'm tapped out at this point.
So tired. But thankful. That's right. Thankful.

Have a Thankful Thursday!

Oh Brother

When one finds one's 5 year old son tiptoeing quietly through the
house with a satisfied grin upon his face,
one must quickly traverse along his most recent
path to see what mischief has been made.

Ah ha! Here it is.

His sleeping sister.
Covered in pillows.

I am much relieved.
It could have been worse.

The Magic Kingdom - Part 2

My favorite part of the whole entire trip to Disney World.....

.... when my Minnie Mouse met the real Minnie Mouse!

There are 3 different places to meet "Characters" in the Magic Kingdom. One of the places you can stand in line to meet either 3 of the "Other Characters" like Goofy and Pluto, or you can choose to stand in a line to see 3 of the Princesses.

When we went by the line was 1 hour.

And I just don't think we would have made it.

And our objective was Mickey and Minnie Mouse.

So we went to the Judges Tent where Mickey Mouse was. And we waited in line for 30 minutes. And it was worth every minute. And it was air-conditioned. So that was a big bonus. AND they had a old time Mickey Mouse movie playing on a big screen for the kids to watch. Which was an EXTRA bonus.

And when we were let into the special room where THEY were, my daughter gasped and said... "There she is..... I think she sees me!!! And she started waving to Minnie Mouse and it was all I could do to make her wait her turn.

When it was our turn, she RAN over to Minnie and gave her the BIGGEST hug I've ever seen her give anyone. Ever. Seriously. It was so sweet. And then she turned and gave Mickey a hug too. But then ran right back over to Minnie.

TIP #7 They have this cool thing called Photopass. What they do is they have professional photographers stationed around the parks and in special areas like the characters photography places. Then when they take your pictures they give you a credit sized card to keep and you give it to all the photographers that take you pictures. You can then look at them online when you get home and order them with special graphics or borders and totally customize them. The card is free... but the pics on line are a little pricey. But the best part... is that they will let you stand right beside them and take pictures too!!! Woohoo!

She was just elated when this picture was taken.

And she just lights up every time she sees it.

Amazing.

After lunch, we walked to the "It's a Small World Ride" in the rain, wearing our ponchos.

TIP # 8 The Peter Pan ride is right across from It's a Small World. If I had to do it over, I would have taken a FAST PASS for the Peter Pan ride (an hour wait) and then went across the street and rode It's a Small World (basically a 5 minute wait). When you are done with that ride, it would almost be your FAST PASS time and then you wouldn't have to wait in line for the Peter Pan ride very long. As it was, we did it opposite and didn't get a FAST PASS for Peter Pan and ended up skipping it because the wait was too long.

This was the first of the indoor boat rides and the kids loved it!

We loved it too!

Indoor boat ride = Air conditioned opportunity to rest and put down the backpack

The Race Car Ride was the most popular one with my boys by a long shot.

We rode it twice.

I think they loved the fact that each time they drove they got a "drivers license" which was WAY COOL!

And we were able to get 3 in a car just fine.

And honestly, by the time they are too big to ride 3 to a car, they'll be big enough to drive by themselves and I'm sure they will be just fine with that.

Just fine.

TIP #9 If in your head, you have a specific picture you want of your family or kids, don't wait until the end of the day to take it. Go ahead and make it a priority right off the bat. Because they will be TOO TIRED to mess with it by the time you are ready to leave. And you will be TOO TIRED to figure where the best picture would be to get the castle in the background. And then you will be TOO TIRED to go back and try to get the picture you want. Or so I've been told.

This picture just wasn't the look I was trying to achieve.
But we were worn out and it's the best I've got.

I think you need to be at the other end of the street to
get the optimum pic of the castle.
It looked a lot bigger from here in real life.
But oh so small in the picture.

TIP #10 If you want the hats with the ears, there is a great shop right when you walk in on the right called THE CHAPEAU. (french for hat) They've got every option possible. You can even make your own. So if you have something specific in mind you might want to stop here first because not all the vendors carry all the options (like the Minnie Mouse option)(which was apparently the only one a certain little girl wanted)

TIP #10 Bring along your strong daddy so he can carry you all the way
out to the parking lot when your legs get too tired to walk.

The Magic Kingdom - Part 1

Well, the rashes are gone! The kids perked right up after the 3rd dose of antibiotics.

We have some potential buyers for our house who have said they are planning
on making an offer this week.

But no offer yet.

So I'm still searching through a gazillion houses online using realtor.com and zillow.com. Does anyone else have any favorite house hunting site you use?

Back to Disney World!

We had a great time. But I do have a couple tips. We had planned to walk into the entrance of the park the minute it opened at 9:00, so we left our hotel around 8:15 thinking that would give us plenty of time to park and make it for the opening.

TIP #1 Don't rely on your GPS to take you to the park. Ours took us there. Only it thought we must be employees because that is the entrance it took us to. Which is a LONG way from the visitor entrance. It took us about 30 minutes to get back around to the correct entrance once we figured out where we were.

TIP #2 The Magic Kingdom Parking Lot is not right in front of the Magic Kingdom. We pulled in about 8:55 and had to board a tram which then took us to another transport area where you could choose between a boat or a train thing (I'm sure there is a correct term, but I have a headache and can't recall what that would be) to take you to the actual entrance.

So we chose the Boat ride on the way over. I think the train thing would have been faster but the boat was really fun.

We ended up being a little late for the opening ceremony dance production with all the Disney Characters.

TIP #3 I would have tried to get there earlier if possible so we could be up front for the show at the castle. There is one that starts first thing and a lot of adults feel it is more important that they stand up on the walls so they can see and block out the views of little children standing right behind them. But I'm not bitter or anything....

Okay, so the show had started and as we walked up the magic started.. My little girl said excitedly, "Mommy, mommy, mommy!!!... there are ALL MY FRIENDS!!!!" And she waved and waved and waved. She even waved with both hands for a while! She was SO excited. The boys were excited too. The 2nd one waved for a while.

But the oldest really struggled with whether an
almost 7 year old should be waving at dancing Disney Characters.
So he didn't, just to be on the safe side.

Ahh.. here they are.. all her friends!

The first ride we chose were the spinning teacups.
I remember riding these when I was a kid!

I think we could have gotten all 5 of us in one teacup
but we thought we'd spread out a little for this one.


Both working together to spin as fast as possible.

Sitting back and letting little sister spin it around a time or two.

TIP#4 The thing to remember when you get off is that you will most likely be a little discombobulated so double check to make sure you didn't leave your sunglasses in the teacup.

Because the lady who works the teacups is very distracted trying to keep everyone ordered and moving into and out of the teacups in an orderly fashion and it's really hard to get her attention to see if anyone has found some glasses.

I'm just sayin...

Next up... DUMBO!!!!

We really were able to get an adult and 2 kids into most rides. So I'm just blowing the top off the theory that one must have an even number of children just in case one ever goes to Disney World and wants to ride rides and not leave anyone out.

And dad is smiling because he ended up in the Dumbo with
the cautious one while I ended up in the Dumbo with the high flyer.

That's right.

The second things started she took that flying elephant up as high as it would go.

And she loved every minute of it!

TIP #5 We brought our own PB&J sandwiches for lunch and our own bottled water. They let you take food into the park so we were able to save some money on lunch and snacks. We did end up eating supper at the park but we had budgeted for that.

TIP #6 It might be prudent to take ponchos with you. Wal mart carries ponchos for $3 versus the Disney ponchos are more around $8 (which adds up quick). We took our Walmart ones and it actually rained on us the first day and we used our ponchos.

Well, I'm off to search online for more houses.

I'll post more about Disney as I get a chance.

Well, we made it back from the Magic Kingdom and we had a GREAT time!

The kids all brought back Mickey and Minnie Mouse Hats and Scarlet Fever.

That's right.

Imagine that.

Getting our kids together with a million other kids all touching the
same things and riding the same rides and ending up sick.

I'm shocked.

I'm not for sure what we could have done differently except worn masks and gloves. But we still had a great time. And I'll try to post pictures and stuff next week.

Their doctor said they should be fine and no longer contagious after 24 hours and the rash should go away in 6 to 10 days.

Great.

The whole way home we listened to one of our favorite Christian Singers, Steven Curtis Chapman. We have been fans of his since WAY back and have been inspired by his adoption of 3 girls from China.

Our hearts were grieved last night when we got home to find out about the death of his youngest adopted daughter. You can read more about it here.

Our hearts also continue to grieve for this Florida family . The father was the Senior Pastor of Bell Shoals Baptist Church and was killed recently along with his son in a plane crash in North Carolina. He left behind a wife and 5 other children.

Compared to this, all of our difficulties seem small.

And life seems so fragile.

We will be praying for both of these families and trying to cherish our own families all the more.

Magic Kingdom

Well, I will be going radio silent for a couple days because we are going to ...

DISNEY WORLD!!!!

Things have been stressful at work for my husband and we have really been missing him everytime he has to leave so he just took the week off. We decided that we will never live closer to Disney World than we do now so we are headed to Florida for the week!

The kids are SO excited! My daughter keeps listing all the characters she wants her picture with. They really have no idea what to expect but I think we are going to have a great time!

So I'll be back next Friday with some pics of our adventures of the Magic Kingdom!

Ta Ta!

Fabulous Friday Favorites

My favorite for this Friday is Oxyclean Free.

I just like it.

If I am doing a load of whites or a load that is extra dirty I just throw in a scoop of Oxyclean and things come out so much cleaner.

If there is a specific stain, I just make a little Oxyclean paste using some water and then rub it in and let it sit for a little while. Or I will soak the stained garmet in some hot water with the oxyclean.



It hasn't failed me yet.

I like the Oxyclean Free because it is free from dyes, fragrances, harsh detergents and chlorine bleach.

Well, that's all I've got for today. Head on over to Mrs. Troop to find some more Fabulous Friday Favorites and if you have one, please just jump right in!

All Dressed Up And No One To Tell

So tonight was the big recital.
And I took the kids by myself.
And I really didn't want to go.

I actually checked the kids' temperatures a couple
times today just in case they might be sick and
we wouldn't be able to go.

But no luck.
They were all feeling just fine.

So we got all dressed up and went.
And they did SO WELL!!
Really better than I thought.
And I have no one to tell.
My husband is on an airplane.
My parents and siblings are out of radio contact.
So that just leaves my virtual friends (as my husband calls ya'll).
So I'll tell you.

My kids did GREAT tonight at their recital!!

This one went first.
He has been taking lessons for 2 years now.
He is actually holding out for "rock and roll guitar lessons" but
for now he is playing the violin.
He played "Allegro" with piano accompaniment
and he played every note perfect!

I was really impressed and I hear him every day.
I mean, he played it the BEST he has ever played!
Woohoo!

This one started taking violin lessons last fall.
He could actually play it better than his sister but he
just didn't LOVE it and so we switched him to piano around February.

Tonight he played a one handed duet of "Variations on Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" to the rhythm of "pepperoni pizza" (it's part of the Suzuki method) with his piano teacher and he PLAYED EVERY NOTE !!

I just have to tell you that this is nothing short of a small miracle.

I mean, he played the best he ever has!
And he when he was done he bowed 3 times and then he
almost sat down but went back to the piano and bowed 3 more times.

I think he really liked the applause!
It was really fun to see how much he was enjoying the performance.

Then this turkey actually opted not to play when her turn came.

She politely declined.

It was totally a power play.

When the last person was playing she went and told her teacher that she was ready to play now. And so she did.

And she really did the BEST PERFORMANCE she has EVER done!

She played the first section of the song "Variations on Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" and actually played all the notes. She didn't even break out into playing her version of a little hoedown (which was my true concern) or start dancing during the middle of the song (which was another valid concern).

So I feel like I can finally relax.
All the end of the year presentations and recitals and awards ceremonies are over.

We have "officially" finished with school for the year and we ended on a good note!

Woohoo!

And you, my Internet friends, are the first to know.

The Big Surprise

So, my husband's birthday was last week. And since he was out of town, the kids and I had plenty of time to plan a big party and figure out all the perfect presents to get. We had birthday banners everywhere and homemade cards galore. I also was planning on taking him on a Striper and Spotted Bass Fishing trip at a lake here in Georgia. It was going to be a big surprise and I had the childcare worked out and everything but I didn't want the kids to give it away. So I put an emphasis on what a fun surprise the cake and balloons would be and even took them to a local fishing store and let them pick out lures and wrap them. And then I told the kids not to tell daddy about the big surprise.

And my husband spent the week trying to get the kids to give up what they knew.

So our big joke had been teasing him that we are getting him a puppy. (with my kids knowing full and well we were not going to get one at this time and they were okay with that)

Earlier that week my husband was talking to my oldest son and I overheard..

"No dad, I can't tell you what your birthday present is. No, it's not that. No, it's not that either. Well, whatever it is, it's not a puppy. And we're not keeping it in the garage either."

It was really funny. He was having as much fun with it as his daddy was.

The day before his birthday my 5 year old was talking to him on the phone (he was coming home that night) and he said....

"We've got a surprise for you. Actually, we don't. Everything is just the same here. There is no cake, no balloons and everything is just the same. " (as he is looking at the cake and balloons. ) "And there's no puppy in the garage."

I seriously just about died laughing. Just the fact that he added our joke at the end was funny not to mention that he really was trying to cover for the fact that there WERE balloons and cake.

So the day came and we spent the whole day focusing on daddy. The kids came in at 6:00 am with their gifts and my 3 year old said "Hit it boys" and they all sang Happy Birthday to him. They took him fishing in our local pond and for lunch we had a birthday party with cake and ice cream and more presents. Then later that day I took him on his surprise Birthday fishing trip. We had a great time!

This was the first catch of the day. A spotted bass. Which is smaller than a large mouth bass. So this one was actually a decent size fish. (see, happy birthday boy)

This was the best pic I got of a striper. He caught this one on a top water lure and it was so exciting and fought so hard that I just barely had time to snap this before the fish got thrown back in the water and the lure was out to catch another one. (happy birthday boy but impatient to get fishing again for bigger striper) (and yes, he switched hats at one point because his neck was getting burned)

Here is a picture of me with one of the many spotted bass I caught, but there is NO WAY I'm posting a pic of my hair in it's full wind blown glory. Just no way. After a couple trips speeding up and down the lake going from fishing spot to fishing spot, my hair was just one big mass of tangles! Note to self: take a pony tail holder or clippy thing or a twist ties or something to hold down that hair next time!

We had a great day and caught lots of fish and I think he had a great birthday!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BABE!

Status Update

So, we ended up showing the house 5 times yesterday! Woohoo! We haven't shown it in 3 weeks so that was really encouraging! But exhausting. Although, I really do prefer for everyone to show up on the same day because the house was already Southern Living clean. Every. Single. Inch. Closets included. Which is why I was so worn out. And the fact that I'm just a tich OC. My 6 year old actually helped vacuum the carpets but then I HAD to go back over them so that all the vacuum lines were all lined up and carpet fibers were going in the same direction. Does anyone else out there actually feel that that is important besides me?????

Thanks for all the encouragement and prayers that our house would sell. I'm sure it seems like a small thing compared to what many people are going through, but after almost 7 months of my husband commuting to Texas to work, I'm about tapped out. And would really be glad for some semblance of a normal life.

That's my status update for now. Thank you and Goodnight!

Emergency Telegram

emergency telegram from Daisy Girl STOP showing the house 3 times tomorrow STOP cleaning furiously STOP kids don't seem to be that much help STOP just accidentally cut my hand STOP 2 inch long gash STOP don't think I'm gonna make it STOP ready to jump off the balcony STOP not really STOP okay maybe STOP send housekeeper STOP send two STOP send lots of diet vanilla pepsi STOP and a really big band-aid STOP send a hole for my kids to sit in until I get the whole house clean STOP i kid STOP actually three holes STOP pray we find favor with buyers STOP pray for my sanity STOP pray I don't lose it with the kids STOP we need to sell this house STOP tomorrow would be great STOP a bidding war would be splendid STOP thanks much STOP

Chocolate Mocha Cake

After many requests for this recipe, I have decided to post it for you.

Cause this is just the best cake I have had recently and it is SUPER easy to make.

And impressive.

And that is what I'm all about. Simple and impressive.

It's a great cake to take to get togethers, fellowships, to take to new moms
and to new neighbors!

(or people who are moving from Georgia to Texas)

Ingredients
1 package of Duncan Hines Brownies that is the family size
1/3 cup water
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 cup chopped pecans (optional)
3 cups whipping cream
2 tablespoon instant coffee granules
1/2 cup sifted powdered sugar
Bakers semi-sweet baking squares.

2 - eight inch cake pans

First we need to cut out wax paper circles to fit in our eight inch cake pans.

You then spray the pans with Pam, stick the wax paper in and then spray with Pam again.

Then we need to combine the brownie mix, the 1/3 cup water, the 1/4 cup vegetable oil, and the 2 large eggs. ( the 2 eggs make the brownie more cakey versus just 1 egg which makes the brownie more fudgey) If you have pecans, throw in about a 1/2 cup. I had-eth no pecans, so I did not throw-eth them in.

Then you stir it all together.

Now we come to a very critical stage.

It is very important... VERY IMPORTANT... that you DO NOT LICK THE BATTER.

I'm sure the thought never occurred to you.. but just in case you just want to accidentally leave some extra batter in the bowl that you will have to sample later or just in case you accidentally stick your fingers in the batter and feel that you must lick them off... you need to know that you will need every drop of the batter to make this cake.

Otherwise it will be too short.

But I wouldn't know.

So you pour your batter into your 2 eight inch pans. And pop them in the oven at 350 for about 20 to 25 minutes. You don't want to overcook them so check them with a knife and they are done when the knife comes out clean.

Then you let them cool for about 5 minutes and then flip the first one over onto your cake plate.

See how nicely the wax paper comes off?

And there is no huge chunks of cake stuck to the bottom of the pan!

Woohoo!

(leave the second cake in the pan for now)

On a side note, I think I am going to scratch "hand model" off of my future career list.

Now we get to the fun part.
Note, I did not say "fat-free" part.
You combine your 3 cups of whipping cream in a mixer with your 2 Tablespoons of instant coffee granules. I prefer to use the Tasters Choice packets because we don't drink coffee and I don't make this cake very often. So they just sit in my pantry staying fresh until I need them.
And I use the decaffeinated.
I don't feel as bad if the kids eat some that way.


You beat these two together at medium speed until they are foamy.


See how there are stiff peaks starting to form? That is what you are looking for.


Now you add your 1/2 cup powdered sugar and continue to mix it all in.


Make sure your cakes are COMPLETELY COOLED before you put on the topping.
Or it will melt.
Or so I've been told.

So we plop a huge dollop of the whipped cream mixture on the first cake.

And smooth it around but make sure you keep it around a 1/4 inch in height.

Then you add the second cake layer.

And add all the rest of the whipped cream mixture. And then spread it all around. It doesn't have to be perfectly smooth or anything.


Then you get out your Baker's semi-sweet baking bars. I usually go with 4.
If you are taking this cake to a new mom, I'd go with 5.
Or 6.
I think nursing moms need more chocolate.



Then you use a highly sophisticated method of preparing the chocolate.
You take the biggest knife you can find and the just slice it up.
(okay, so maybe you don't need the biggest knife... I'm sure a smaller knife does just fine... I just like the power behind the biggest knife... ha ha ha -evil laugh- )


Isn't that pretty?

Then I pile it all on top.

This dessert is best if it is chilled about an hour ahead of time.

Easy, huh? And wonderfully delicious. And very impressive.

Enjoy! And then go exercise for several hours!

* I am currently trying to make this a lower fat dessert (lower fat = less exercise.. right?) but it must still be wonderfully delicious so I will let you know if I succeed.

Trying different methods of substitutions and also cool whip or dream whip for the topping.

If you come up with something brilliant in the meantime, let me know!