Thursday...almost the weekend!

These came in the mail today and I couldn't be happier to have a rainy Thursday afternoon!

My sister came in town today and I'm looking forward to a weekend filled with the sweetness of my nieces!

Biscuits

Did you know that September in National Biscuit Month? I didn't either until my friends at Chick-fil-A informed me on twitter. With that said, I recently saw a recipe for biscuits that took me straight back to my childhood. It's the easiest biscuit recipe and the best if you like a light, fluffy biscuit.
Growing up, my mom's best friend lived in Austin.  We refer to her as "Aunt Terri" although there's no blood relation. We would visit her a good bit and she always made the best biscuits. She told me it was Popeye's secret recipe and it called for sprite and sour cream.  I thought that was the strangest thing as a child but they were always so good and I requested them when we would visit her or she came to Louisiana.  She even made them for me the day before I got married!
So now, after 4+ years of marriage and less visits with Aunt Terri, I figure I ought to step up and start making the famous Popeye's (not so secret anymore) biscuits! The recipe is all over the internet but I'll share it here too!

Popeye's Biscuits

2 cups Bisquick

1/2 cup sprite

1/2 cup sour cream

1/4 cup melted butter

Preheat oven to 450.
Melt butter in bottom of 9x9 glass dish.
Add sour cream to Bisquick. Add sprite.
 This will make a very soft and sticky dough.
Place dough on lightly floured surface.

Most recipes will tell you to roll out the dough and cut out biscuits,
but I just flour my hands and scooped a handful of dough and drop them in the dish.

The biscuits won't be uniform, so if that bothers you, roll it out and use a cookie cutter!
Bake about 15 minutes or until tops are golden brown.

This recipe made 9 regular size biscuits so if you've got a crowd, double it!

The perfect topping for the perfect biscuit? Homemade blueberry jam, of course!

what a busy summer...

I've counted 15 weeks from Memorial Day to Labor Day.  Of those 15 weeks, there have only been 3 weekends that Elliott and I have been at home, together with nothing going on! Most weekends have been small trips here and there-bachelorette/girls weekends for me, guys trips to Grand Isle for Elliott, weddings, parties, vacations...you name it.  Initially for every reason I had to start blogging, I had 3 on why not to, but after such a busy summer, I'm so grateful I've been documenting all that's been going on!
Once upon a time, I was an avid scrapbooker but somewhere in college I slowed down.  A little while later, I realized how far behind I was.  I stopped taking pictures because the thought of "catching up" overwhelmed me.  Then, I got married and decided I would start again.  BUT, we had NO space for me to spread all my stuff out and NO money to feed my habit.  About that time, my laptop from college crashed and the thought of losing all my pictures (and MEMORIES) saddened me.
So, for now, blogging is taking the place of scrapbooking and journaling.  I'll never say I'm not a scrapbooker and I will stand by my words that I'll "catch up" one day! (as if there will ever be a phase of my life when I'll have more time for scrapbooking)
Although it was busy, it was a great summer. I'm very grateful for all the opportunities we had and great friends to make such sweet memories with! I think this summer started some really fun traditions but with football season underway, I'm looking forward to a laid back fall and won't be planning anymore trips until next year!

LSUvsOregon in DALLAS

We spent Labor Day weekend in Dallas for the Cowboy Classic LSU vs. Oregon game.  I was so excited when, about a month and a half ago, it was confirmed that we had tickets to this game! I remember last year thinking how fun it would be to go to the opening game in Dallas.  We were not disappointed. It didn't hurt that one of my best friends lives in Dallas and our visits are few and far between these days. Friday night we went to Erin's (said best friend) for dinner (her mom's famous pizza that she's just about mastered-wink wink). 

A bunch of us congregated at her apartment and then we all went out. It was such a flashback to college. I could swear we were in Baton Rouge as I recognized way to many faces from the past! Saturday morning we woke up to Game Day, got some brunch, and got ready to head to Arlington for the game.  

All clad in our LSU attire, we knew we were nearing Arlington when we could spot the giant stadium from the interstate. We tailgated at a bar with a bunch of LSU fans and more flashbacks ensued.  I ran into several sorority sisters and was able to catch up with old college friends. 

 BFF Erin 

like El's new coach's hat?

Part of our excitement for the game was experiencing the stadium so we went in a bit early to take it all in. It was pretty amazing and the best part was that 90% of the stadium was LSU fans and the 10% that was wearing green made it look like Mardi Gras amongst the purple and gold.

Hearing pre game and all my favorites from the Golden Band from TigerLand was the icing on the cake for the Cowboys Stadium experience! The game and whole weekend was a great time and it didn't hurt that we WON. It  really helped get me excited about the upcoming games and I hope the victory is an indication of how we'll do this season.

GEAUX TIGERS

Baby Anna Caroline

I have the most precious 12 week old niece. I've been lucky enough to visit twice since she was born at the end of May.  Elliott and I went in June and I just got back from a great girls weekend in Atlanta. Anna Caroline is the sweetest baby. You hardly know she's around but as fast as Mary Stewart has become, it won't be long before Anna Caroline catches up with her big sister! Unfortunately, I haven't taken many pictures of AC so these are taken from my sister.  We can't decide who exactly she looks like, but I say she definitely favors the Donald's

I got lots of smiles from her this weekend!

such a sweet face!

And you must know that Mary Stewart just adores her baby sister

MS kissing her baby

By the time we left, Mary Stewart was calling me by name and she asked where I was the next day....those girls, they melt my heart!

summer sweets

a few sweets i've cooked up this summer...

As I've said before, I love all things lime so when I saw this recipe for Lime Sorbet, I wanted to make it immediately! I've made sorbet before but this recipe calls for an egg white which I think definitely makes a difference! If you like lime, you should check out the recipe, it was very easy and so good! http://bakecookeat.blogspot.com/2010/07/smooth-homemade-lime-sorbet-without-ice.html

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Truffles

http://www.loveandoliveoil.com/2010/01/chocolate-chip-cookie-dough-truffles.html

I saw this next recipe on Pinterest and knew it would be a hit!  I had been wanting make them but didn't want to single handedly eat a whole batch so when we were invited to some friend's house for a fish fry I knew it was the perfect opportunity to try them out.  Elliott always turns his nose up when I eat raw cookie dough but thankfully this recipe is an eggless cookie dough and covering it in chocolate just takes it to the next level!

 (Clearly I need a bit more practice with the chocolate coating but not too bad for the first time)

I've been making this next one since high school and it's always a crowd pleaser! It's a Pampered Chef recipe and I always make it on my Pampered Chef baking stone. I brought it to the river for the 4th of July and rekindled my love for this easy treat! I'm not sure of it's official name but I call it Mississippi Mud Cookie Cake

Ingredients:

1 roll cookie dough (or half batch homemade dough)

8 ounces cream cheese 

powdered sugar

1 packet Jello instant chocolate pudding (this calls for 1 c milk)

heavy whipping cream or tub of cool whip

Dark chocolate shavings for garnish

Directions:

Flour or grease your baking sheet or stone and roll cookie dough onto surface. You may need some flour on your hands since it will be sticky.  I usually make homemade cookie dough and have plenty extra dough to freeze for later. Bake the cookie as directed (usually 350 degrees for 10-ish minutes). Meanwhile, mix cream cheese (I use fat free-once you add all the sugar you can't taste the difference) and powdered sugar (until it's sweet enough for you-anywhere from 1-2 cups). Make sure cookie has cooled and spread cream cheese mixture to cover cookie completely.  Put in refrigerator and let cream cheese harden (about 20 minutes).  While that's in the fridge, make instant pudding.  Spread pudding over entire cookie surface and put back in the fridge for another 20 minutes. It's really important for the pudding to set on the cookie before trying to spread the whipped cream.  If it's not set, they will run together and mess up the layered effect.  I like to make my own whipped cream. I usually use about 1 cup heavy whipping cream and a few tbsp powdered sugar. If not, cool whip works fine too, just don't use the Redi-Whip in a can- it will liquify and gets runny! The last step is Elliott's favorite and he usually likes to do the garnish. You can take a chocolate bar and box grater and pretty the whole thing up! I added the strawberry for a colorful touch!

This recipe is the reason I keep chocolate pudding and cream cheese on hand at all times!

I'm not sure where I first saw the recipe for Grilled Peaches, but they have become quite a regular ending to meals around our house lately!

It's really quite simple...slice peaches in half. Brush open face side with melted butter. Grill open side down first, then flip after about 2-3 minutes and sprinkle with cinnamon and brown sugar then fill seed pit with dark chocolate morsels and grill for another 2-3 minutes or until chocolate is melted!

Wedding fun

This past weekend, we enjoyed celebrating Carolyn and Tyler's wedding. Out of my college friends/sorority sisters, Carolyn is only the 3rd to get married!  I was the first and then Valerie who now has an 8 month old. I have a feeling that a few others won't be too far behind so it was funny to watch the bouquet toss since most of them have pretty serious boyfriends! The band was great and played some fun requests and as always, it's great to be with the girls! Now, the bets are being placed on who's next!

Kristine, Val, KP, Lauren, Laura, Me 

 calling all Delta's..."These are days..."

 Me & Katy (who now lives in London!)