Tuesday Tatoes

Easter Dinner always involves a lot of family, friends and - of course - food. And one of the things I always tell my kids is "recipes are just a guideline". I grew up in a family with nine kids and not a lot of money - so Mom made due. She could feed a family with nothing more than a can of tuna and a bag of pasta. I don't know how she did it but I do know she taught me to be resourceful. So, when I heard that Paula Deen was having a cooking contest - I thought I could do that. I decided to throw together my own little recipe of sour cream and onion potatoes. Here's how I did it:

but I didn't film the two minced cloves of garlic I sauteed in butter and blended in with the potatoes.

When I told my husband I was making up this recipe he said, "No. I don't want to be a guinea pig - especially on Easter. Besides, the sour cream and cheese will probably curdle. They didn't.

Today, my husband called me at work during lunch when he was eating a helping of leftover ham and potatoes. He said, "these are the best mashed potatoes I ever had. How come you don't make 'em more often?"

Maybe because I just came up with the recipe on Sunday.

So, do you have any EZ fun family recipes you'd like to share?

Three May Writing Contests - thanks to Writer's Market

THREE MAY WRITING CONTESTS

WritersMarket.com lists more than 1,000 contests and awards for a range of writing genres, including fiction, nonfiction, journalism, poetry, writing for children, scriptwriting, and more. Here are three with May deadlines:

The Bordighera Italian-American Poetry Prize is offered annually to find the best unpublished poetry manuscripts, in English, by an American of Italian descent. The deadline is May 31; the prize is $2,000 and bilingual book publication to be divided between the poet and consigned translator.

The Alexander Patterson Cappon Fiction Award is offered annually for unpublished fiction to discover and reward new and upcoming writers. Deadline is May 18; the prize is $1,500 and publication in a volume of New Letters. There is a $15 entry fee.

The Sow's Ear Chapbook Prize is offered for poetry chapbook manuscripts of 22-26 pages. Deadline is May 1. The prize is $1,000 and 25 copies of the published chapbook. There is a $27 reading fee that includes a one-year subscription to The Sow's Ear Review.

Wishes

Just wanted to say
WISHING you a hopping day!

It's Raining Cupcakes

I just started Lisa Schroeder's new book, It's Raining Cupcakes and it's really cute - and I'm talking about more than the cover, which is adorable. This is a middle grade story. I'll let you know more about it when I'm done but suffice it to say, it seems to be a tasty treat.

The story starts with Red Velvet cupcakes and quickly moves to Strawberry Lemonade cupcakes, which inspired me to make a few cupcakes of my own for Easter.

If you'd like to make these same little baskets, just get some pipe cleaners at the store and all you have to do to make the grass for the baskets is mix frosting, with coconut and green food coloring. You can decorate the basket with a couple jelly beans or even malted eggs, maybe even a little peep.

Whatever you do, I hope you all have a sweet weekend ;)

GRANDMA WENT TO HAWAII AND ALL I GOT . . .

WAS THIS STUPID SHIRT.

Actually, my son went to Pair-us (no room for Mom and Dad) and all I got was this bag. . . but I really do love it.

It's made out of a plastic tarp-like material. In the handles are little rubber tubes so that they are cushiony on my fingers when I'm hauling my food out to the car. And, with the holiday weekend and the two dinners I'm planning, believe me-- that haul was heavy. The bag could have probably carried the entire pig out of the store and into my car. That tarp material doesn't tear. And, with this luxurious bag I've never forgotten it in my car or back at home. It's kinda cool to be carrying a French bag into the food aisles.

And, who knows maybe I'll even throw in a croissant - might as well dream I'm in Paris.

Happy April Fool's Day-Duff and Buddy Better Watch Out

But this is NO joke.

I'm a true Wannabe: Cake Boss, Ace of Cakes


Have any of you watched Cake Boss or The Ace of Cakes? I love 'em - but I hate 'em too.

Those guys are a bunch of frauds. They make that cake decorating look so EZ-smeazy that even I thought I could do it. But, if you've followed my blog maybe you might have seen my fondant FAIL. That cake was an absolute disaster. But I'm not a quitter--especially when it comes to food, just look at me and you'll know that's true. So what did I do. . . ?

I signed up for my first-ever cake-decorating class through Joann Fabrics. I know - who would have thought that a fabric store would have cake decorating classes, but they have that and more: knitting, crocheting, sewing--okay you might have expected sewing classes at a fabric store but you get my point.

So for the next four-weeks, I'll be doing my homework, reading my course materials and climbing my way up from that fondant fail floor to a final fondant rematch.

Keep your fingers crossed. I'll keep you posted and we'll see if a little expert guidance--thanks to Joann--can help a wannabe Cake Boss or a new Ace of Cakes...heck, Duff and Buddy better watch out--this might be the start of a beautiful relationship between me and cake decorating.

And with a little luck--or maybe a whole lotta luck--I might just be on my way to becoming the new Queen of Cakes;)

What can I say, my Mom taught me to dream BIG.

Answer to Word for Wedneday

Answer to the Word: Scythed

It is to have cut or mowed

check it out here.