Today is Halloween!!!

My all time favorite Halloween Treat are the candy pumpkins!

What is your Favorite Halloween treat of all Time

Some mornings are more challenging when it comes to fixing and eating breakfast, especially Sunday mornings for me!

If I had the time I would love nothing more than to cook an awesome breakfast of grits, eggs and bacon but lets be real, I do not know of many people who have that kind of time on a Sunday morning when trying to get ready and out of the house in time for church.

What is your favorite breakfast on the go item for the mornings you do not have time to cook?

I enjoy tailgating and watching College Football like anyone else in South does!
My favorite part of tailgating is eating!
My favorite Tailgating food is cocktail meatballs!

The recipe for this dish is super easy- It only calls for 3 ingredients
You need equal parts Grape Jelly and Chili Sauce
And at least half a bag of meatballs.
The sauce you will make with the chili sauce and grape jelly needs to cover the meatballs completely
you can slow cook them in a crockpot for a few hours or fast cook them on the stove top if you are running behind.

You can also use that sauce mixture for cocktail sausages

What are your favorite tailgating foods?

If you are anything like I am, you love to stay in doors on rainy days!!
On cool, rainy days, I can remember my Nanny making a huge pot of Chili or Potato Soup. To this day I love to have a bowl of potato soup or chili when it is raining outside.

Incase you are wondering there is a simple way to make a small pot of chili to enjoy just 4-6 hours after putting it together. All you need is:
1/2 a pack of the small hamburger meat or ground turkey- COOKED
2 cans of seasoned chili beans
1 can of diced tomatoes- I do not like tomatoes in chili so I only used half a can
1/2 pack of McCormick chili seasoning
Chopped bell peppers and onions
Salt and pepper

Mix those ingredients together, put in a crockpot and cook on low for 4-6 hours or you can cook this on your stove top. The longer chili cooks the better it tastes.

I made a pot of chili like this the other week and it was fantastic!! I used the ground turkey when I made it

Chili is a great, versatile meal. You can make it with ground beef or turkey. You can add vegetables to it if you please. You can also add or subtract the amount of meat, beans or tomatoes you add to the pot.
Once it is finished cooking you can top it with crackers, fritos, cheese or sour cream!
How do you eat your chili?
What is your favorite food to eat on rainy days?

I have a horrible case of the Monday's..
Monday's are my least favorite day of the week- but on the Brightside its almost dinner time, which means Monday is almost over!!

Tonight for Dinner my family is having:
Grilled Pork Chops
Green Beans
Rice with Brown gravy

It may not be a fancy meal from my Nanny's Cookbook but it will work for now :)

What is your family having tonight?

How do you spend your Sundays?


I normally go to church and then out to eat with my family. For the
afternoon, I usually catch up on housework or homework. But this past Sunday we
did something a little different. My brother and I went to our grandparents and
had lunch with them; we have not done that in a very long time. We wound up
  grilling burgers, making homemade fries, and baked beans. The boys watched
football and my nanny and I sat on the front porch in the rocking chairs. It was
a sweet day and a sweet surprise for my grandparents.


I did learn one thing about cooking on Sunday and that was how to
cut and make homemade fries (I do not fry food very often).  


All you need to do after you peel your potatoes is slice them into
thick disk shaped slices and from there slice them vertically into fries- this
gives  you the ability to make them
as thick or thin as you please.


Then you add the potatoes to HOT oil and fry them until they are golden
brown! Enjoy!

The first homemade cake my Nanny taught me to make was a plain homemade pound cake.
This year in our garden we had fresh blueberries and I wanted to use them before they went bad.
So one day I decided to bake a pound cake and add the blueberries to the batter and needless to say it is a new favorite of mine and my families.
 
The recipe I used for the cake is as follows:
3 cups of all purpose (plain) flour
3/4 teaspoon of baking powder
1/4 teaspoon of salt
1 Cup of unsalted butter, softened ( I use sticks of butter)
1/2 cup of shortening
2 2/3 cup of sugar
5 eggs
1 cup of milk
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
1 teaspoon of lemon extract ( I prefer to use 2 teaspoons of Vanilla)
1 cup or more of blueberries ( I like to use one cup of blueberries but you can use how much you like)

Making a pound cake does take a lot of time to prepare and bake. The one thing to remember is to NOT preheat the oven. Pound cakes MUST go into a COLD oven.

-After you have all of your ingredients out, grease your tube (bundt) pan
-Then you want to sift together your flour, baking powder, and salt. SET THIS ASIDE for now
-I use a stand mixer but a hand mixer would work as well (it may take longer to mix)- mix together the butter, shortening, and sugar- mix this for about 10 minutes
-add the 5 eggs one at a time
-after the eggs are all well beaten into the mixture
-add the flour mixture and milk alternately until the flour mixture and milk is gone
-add the vanilla and lemon extract
-make sure you stir the bottom of your mixing bowl to be sure that all flour and the other ingredients are mixed in

Once everything is mixed together add the mixture to your tube pan
Fold in your blueberries on the top of the cake mixture when it is in your pan ( To keep blueberries from sinking to the bottom I use partially frozen blueberries and do not press blueberries to the bottom of the pan)
Once you have the mixture in the pan- Turn your oven on to 350 degrees- then place the cake in the oven
Bake for 1 hour and 10 minutes- Check cake with a toothpick and if the toothpick does not come out clean then leave the cake in the oven for 5-10 more minutes. 
 
Once the cake is finished keep the cake in the pan for 1 hour to cool
After the first hour is up, take the cake out of the pan and place it on a cooling rack to allow the cake to cool for 2 more hours. Once the cake is completely cooled you can put the cake on your favorite cake plate or wrap it with plastic wrap.

The cake does not have to be completely cool to eat and enjoy it!!
You also do not have to add blueberries to the mixture.

I hope y'all enjoy this cake as much as I do!