Happy Halloween 2007!!

Here are a few pictures of Kinsey from Smokey Bear Park and Museum. We went to a community party there tonight then went Trick-or-Treating.

Fall has arrived!

Fall has arrived in the Lincoln National Forrest. We drove through Nogal Canyon and around Bonita Lake this weekend. The leaves are changing and it's just beautiful. Here are a few pictures I took on our drive.

This last one is us at a beautiful cabin in the woods. Neal was showing us a new subdivision being built near there. This house was gorgeous. The house of my dreams. I'm sure it's going to be someones vacation house. Someday........

The playground is done!

The playground is finally done! We went to two birthday parties there last weekend and it was a lot of fun. This past weekend, my Mom was visiting so she and I took Kinsey and my nephew to the park. Here are a few pictures I took.

Kinsey at the top of the tower


Cade on the fire poleKinsey and Cade in Smokey Bear Park

Happy Birthday to Me!

Today is my 38th birthday. It's been a pretty good birthday weekend. I got to go shopping all by myself yesterday. It was nice to look as long as I wanted and be by myself in the dressing room. Neal and my Mom told me to pick out what I wanted so I got 2 pair of jeans and a purse from Neal and Kinsey. My parents bought me a pumpkin colored denim jacket and 2 shirts. Today my sister brought me a wonderful messy chocolate cake and 4 new cookbooks! I'm super excited about those! My bestest friend gave me candles and M&M's...yummm!

Kinsey was invited to several birthday parties today and we made it to 2 of them. I've had cake a few times today but hey it's my birthday ;-) Here's a picture of Kinsey after the birthday parties.

She has a balloon sculpture on her head from one party and a cat tattoo on her cheek from another. She was a little bit dirty but she had fun!

How about a recipe since this is supposed to be a cooking blog?

I found a new recipe that I've been wanting to try for a week or so. It smells wonderful in my house right now. I put everything in the slow cooker at lunch time and now it's a heady combination of tomato, onion, bell pepper, and garlic....yummmm! Here's the recipe for Swiss Steak I found by Paula Dean

Swiss Steak

1 round steak (approximately 1 1/2 pounds), see note
1 teaspoon garlic powder
Salt and pepper
All-purpose flour, for dusting
1/3 cup vegetable oil
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 (14-1/2 ounce) can diced tomatoes
1 medium onion, cut into strips
1 medium bell pepper, cut into strips

Cut steak into serving-size pieces. Season, to taste, with garlic powder and salt and pepper. Dust meat with flour. In heavy skillet, brown both sides of meat in vegetable oil. Transfer to Dutch oven. Combine garlic, tomatoes, onion, bell pepper, and 1 tomato-can measure of water. Pour over steak and simmer over low heat until meat is tender, about 1 1/2 hours adding water, if necessary to keep meat partially covered. Season, to taste, with additional salt and pepper.

Hint: Cook this in a slow-cooker, according to manufacturers instructions, on low for a most fabulous dinner. Low heat on a slow cooker is about 200 degrees F and high heat on a slow cooker is about 300 degrees F. (I PUT IT IN THE SLOW COOKER FOR 4 HOURS ON HIGH. YOU COULD DO IT 8 HOURS ON LOW)

Note: to ensure tenderness, it is necessary to have the butcher run the round steak through a cuber. (I BOUGHT CUBE STEAK)