Christmas is Almost Here!

Can you believe Christmas is almost here!? Its like it was just Christmas and now its here again. Its a great feeling though. I love the bright lights, beautiful Christmas decor, the whole spirit of Christmas!!! As you begin decorating, hanging your lights, buying the perfect gift for family & friends may you not forget the "real" reason we celebrate this beautiful season. The birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Take some time and focus on the blessings of this past year and how wonderful the Lord has been to you. Celebrate "His" Birthday!!!

Last weekend I began decorating our home for Christmas. And as you can see....yes that's a Pink Christmas tree. Happy Christmas decorating!!!! Its Christmas Time!!!! Until later.....

What to do with all that Turkey?

Turkey Noodle Vegetable Soup

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons of Olive oil
3 cups of turkey (shredded works well)
1 Onion
2 cloves Garlic
4 Stalks of Celery
5 Carrots cut
8 cups Chicken Broth
Salt (to taste)
Pepper (to taste)
Thyme- optional
Parsley- optional
Oregano- optional
1 can of Green beans
1 can of Corn
Bag of Noodles (Type and Amount-your choice)

Let’s start Cookin’

1. Chop onions, carrots and celery ahead of time. Also press or chop your garlic.
2. In a large pot or Dutch oven heat Olive Oil.
3. Add garlic and onions, stir carefully for about 2 minutes.
4. Add your carrots and celery. Cook for about 10 minutes on medium heat. Make sure they do not burn.
5. Add turkey and stir well. Cook for 5 minutes.
6. Pour Chicken broth and stir, add your salt and pepper. Let it come to a boil.
7. Add any necessary water to your soup if you like. Add any favorite seasonings or more salt & pepper to taste. I like thyme, parsley, and oregano.
8. Add noodles and cook for 10 minutes or until noodles are done.
9. Add green beans and corn. They shouldn’t take very long to cook. They just need to be “warmed”.
10. Turn stove down on low and allow the soup to finish cooking about 5 minutes.
11. Enjoy!!!!!!!!!

A No Parent Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving with the Pentecosts again.....but this time no parents in sight!?! Where ever can they be? Is Mama P hiding under the table? Is Daddy P hiding in the closet? No sight of those crazy people? Just the "Pentecost Kids".

We had our Thanksgiving lunch at our house this year. We woke up to the smell of a delicious turkey baking in the oven. (I woke up a few hours before we got up and stuck the bird in the oven to cook). Everything was pretty much cooked or cooking, so Mark and I took Shanaynay & Bubble out for a walk. The weather was so beautiful....for a moment I forgot I was in Florida. As we walked, there were quite a few gusts of winds that blew the leaves off the trees. Oh so beautiful.

Everyone arrived around 12ish....in came Andrea, a friend of ours, then Jon & Sarah and let us not forget Snoop their Pug, and then in came David & Michele with Chilly their Maltese. The "kids" ahem...dogs played and greeted each other. At times they did things to each other none of us approved of.

After cooking the final dishes we all sat down to give thanks for the bountiful food and each other. The meal was great. Everyone brought something and it tasted delish!

We played a game while we were eating called "Thanksgiving Bingo". You had to fill your card up with the markers (candy) just like in regular bingo, but heres the kicker the phrases on the page had to be said by someone else and that someone else couldn't get credit for it. See picture below.
It was either Jon or Andrea that won the game. It was quite funny!!!

And here we are stuffed!!So....after the delicious Thanksgiving meal, we decided to take a little walk outside and feed carrots to Banner and Texas our horses. Not sure what Snoop and Shanaynay are investigating.
Chilly thought it was his job to put Banner in his place. Chilly began barking and running back and forth standing up to Banner. It was quite hilarious! After a while he calmed down.

A carrot fell and Bubble decided to make a meal of it.

Ahhh...Thanksgiving is over. We wait so long for it to come...it comes then its over. We shop for the perfect food deals and decide what we are serving. We make lists and times on when to cook what....we get up early and put the bird in the oven....and then before you know it, its over. Time to get the extra turkey meat off the bird. Whatever will we do with it? Well David and Michele had dinner leftovers with us and then yesterday Mark and I had leftovers. I think I will freeze some of it. Perhaps turkey soup....turkey casserole. I love to cook so I'm sure to think of something. So you've heard of the "Chicken Dance", but have you heard of the "Turkey Dance"? Courtesy of my crazy husband Mark.......Great job Mark. I'm glad your doing that! Mark.....I saw that!!!!!!!!!!!! And I'm sure Bubble is enjoying every drop!
Well this concludes our Thanksgiving Day. We still never found Mama P or Daddy P. But wherever they are....I'm sure they are enjoying themselves and being a blessing to many!! We miss ya'll!!!!!

Happy Thanksgiving!!!! I hope your Thanksgiving was wondermous!

Espresso Chocolate Chip Cookies

I made these delicious cookies for the Cookie Exchange
Party I hosted 2 weeks ago. I thought I'd share this
yummy recipe with you!!!!


Espresso Chocolate Chip Cookies




INGREDIENTS
3 (1 ounce) squares unsweetened chocolate
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup butter
3 eggs
1 cup white sugar
2 1/4 teaspoons finely ground espresso beans
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup chopped walnuts

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease cookie sheets or line them with parchment paper.
In the top of a double boiler, melt together the unsweetened chocolate, 1 cup of the chocolate chips and the butter. This can also be done in a microwave oven on low setting. Stir occasionally until melted. In a medium bowl, beat the eggs and sugar until thick and light, about 3 minutes. Stir in the espresso. Add the chocolate mixture, mix well. Sift together the flour and baking powder, fold into the egg mixture. Carefully fold in the chopped nuts and remaining chocolate chips.
Drop dough by tablespoonfuls 2 inches apart onto the prepared cookie sheets. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes in the preheated oven. Cookies will have a crackled appearance when done. Cool on baking sheets.

Cookie Time

Today I hosted a Cookie Exchange Party for the Lady's Group at my church. As you can see there were many delicious and tasty cookies!

Pumpkin Cookies, Espresso Chocoate Chip, White Chip Chocolate Cookies, Chocolate Chip, Peanut Butter, Pudding Bars, Cream Cheese Pinwheels, Sugar Cookies, and Chocolate No Bake Cookies!!!

We played a fun game called "Guess Who", where you had to guess the name of the person on your back who you "were". But here's the clicker......the only answers that could be given were "yes or no". Esther was our 1st place winner and Michele was our 2nd place winner.
Took Gina a while to figure out who she was....... "Barbie"Everybody eating lunch.
Gina gets creative............ how nice!
Whats that in your mouth Gina?


Time for sampling cookies!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And now....time for exchanging..........

I believe a fun time was had by all. And now that we've got new recipes from today's cookie exchange.....I wish you ladies Happy Baking this holiday season!!!! Love ya!

For more info and all the happenings from my church, check out www.youmanschurch.org

It's our Anniversary!!

Tomorrow will be our 3yr wedding anniversary! Wow....how time flies! Last weekend we decided to celebrate our anniversary. Unfortunately we got rained out everytime we wanted to do something outdoors. Saturday we took the horses out and enjoyed a nice long ride after it rained all day. Sunday afternoon/evening we got rained out of visiting Old Town in Orlando, we ended up dining at the famous NYPD Pizza Restaurant. I took a few shots of us just enjoying some time together and watching the rain fall.

Afterward we headed for the ice cream parlor and enjoyed a sweet treat!!

The weekend wasn't a total bust due to the rain, we were still together and enjoyed each others company. We reflected on the past few years together and just how happy we are.

God has blessed me with a wonderful, amazing, sweet, loving, handsome, kind, smart husband. Each day spent with him is a wonderful day and I thank God for those days and the many days to come.

Happy Anniversary Mark!!! I love you so much!!!!!

Pumpkin What?

As promised here are some delicious "pumpkin eats" Enjoy!

Pumpkin Cookies

This pumpkin cookie recipe includes directions for making your own pumpkin purée.

INGREDIENTS:
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup light brown sugar, firmly packed
1/4 cup molasses
1 egg
1 cup pumpkin purée, canned or homemade*
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 cup milk
sifted confectioners' sugar, for dusting

PREPARATION:
In a large mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in molasses and egg. Stir in the pumpkin purée. In another bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and nutmeg.
Stir flour mixture into the creamed mixture along with the milk. Blend thoroughly but do not over beat.
Drop cookie dough by rounded teaspoonfuls onto greased baking sheets. Bake at 375° for about 12 minutes, until set. Cool for a minute; remove to racks and continue to cool. Dust pumpkin cookies with sifted confectioners' sugar.

To make pumpkin purée, cut pumpkin in half, crosswise. Remove seeds and membranes. Place on a greased baking sheet, cut side down, and bake at 325° for 1 hour, or until tender. Cool for 10 minutes. Remove pulp and place in blender or processor. Purée or process until smooth. Place in a cheesecloth-lined mesh strainer or sieve and let drain into a bowl for about an hour. When dripping has stopped, put purée into a container, cover, and refrigerate if not using right away.Makes about 3 dozen pumpkin cookies.

Pumpkin Muffins

Fill muffin cups 3/4 full or nearly full for high tops.

INGREDIENTS:
2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 scant teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 can (15 to 16 ounces) pumpkin puree
1/3 cup melted butter
1/2 cup evaporated milk or half-and-half
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
1/4 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs, beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 to 3/4 cup chopped pecans or raisins
cinnamon-sugar, optional

PREPARATION:
Directions for Pumpkin Muffins In a large bowl combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Stir to blend In separate bowl, combine pumpkin, melted butter, milk or half-and-half, the beaten eggs, sugars, and vanilla; mix until blended.

Stir pumpkin mixture into the dry ingredients until moistened. Fold in pecans or raisins. Do not overmix. Line 12-cup muffin tin with paper liners or grease well and dust with flour. I use a baking spray. Fill the about 3/4-full with the pumpkin muffins batter, sprinkle with cinnamon-sugar if desired, and bake at 375° for 20 to 25 minutes.Serve warm or at room temperature. Makes 12 to 16 pumpkin muffins.

Pumpkin Waffles

2 cups flour
2 tablespoons baking powder
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon salt
4 eggs, separated
1 1/2 cups milk
1 cup pumpkin
3/4 cup margarine
1 tablespoon vanilla

Preparation:
1. Combine dry ingredients and set aside.
2. Beat egg yolks slightly. Add milk, pumpkin margarine & vanilla. Add flour mixture.
3. Beat egg whites to a stiff peak and fold into pumpkin mixture.
4. Cook in waffle iron and serve hot with buttermilk syrup.

Autumn Is Here Start Decorating & Cooking!

Welcome to our home.....

Autumn is here!! It's my favorite time of the year. I love the smell of "harvest time", watching the leaves turn beautiful colors (not necessarily in Florida), baking yummy foods in the kitchen like pumpkin pie, apple pie, heart warming chili, various delicious soups and many more.

I started decorating our house last weekend. I pulled out our fall decor and began decorating...one of my favorite things to do!
In the weeks to come, I will begin posting delicious fall eats for all my food fans out there!

Let the holiday count down begin..............

I hope your Autumn Season is Fabulous!

Six years later......Let us not forget

Tomorrow will mark the 6th Anniversary of the September 11th attacks. Can you remember that day back in 2001? What were you doing when you heard the news? I remember I was watching a video that morning before I had to leave for work. My Aunt who lives in New York called us and asked if we had heard the news. We quickly put the news on and saw everything going on. I can remember my heart sinking. I was in shock and scared for everyone involved. I began to pray that God would save them. It was getting late so I left for work, at that time I working in retail. I remember the store being so empty and quite, we all left early that day. Nobody had a radio so every now and then we’d walk to the back and watch the news quickly. I tried to call my Aunt and a few friends that live in New York, but the telephone lines were shut down and we couldn’t get in touch with them. And for many weeks after the horrid attack it was hard to get a free line into New York. As I stood in the store, I began to think. I could have been there! I remembered that 1 ½ months ago, I was in New York. I applied for a job at Goldman Sachs, we had a close friend that worked for that company at the World Trade Center location and I was very close to getting the job, but a few things fell through and I wasn’t hired. I actually flew out of New York exactly a month before the attacks. We later found out that the Goldman Sachs office was blown out, luckily those in the office came through alright. In the days to come, American heard story after story of who survived, heroes, reasons why they left home late, lost friends and family, bravery and much more.

How much has America changed since then? Are we really safer? I can tell you from day to day living in America, watching the news, flying or just transportation in general there is a major change in security. Can we do better? How safe are we? Is America turning to God? Was this a wake up call….and did it wake up America? I remember visiting the World Trade Center in 1998, one of my trips to New York. I remember standing at the top of the building on the view deck. When you out the window you can see the whole city and beyond. It’s quite breathtaking.

Here’s a little knowledge of the future of the World Trade Center

World Trade Center Tower 1, or Freedom Tower, is the centerpiece building of the new World Trade Center complex currently planned for Lower Manhattan. The tower will be located in the northwest corner of the 16-acre (65,000 m²) World Trade Center site, bound by Vesey Street, West Street, Washington Street and Fulton Street.[1] Construction on below-grade utility relocations, footings, and foundations for Freedom Tower began on April 27, 2006.[2] By December 19, 2006, the first steel columns were installed in the building's foundation. Three other high rises are planned for the site along Greenwich Street, plus a residential tower that will surround the World Trade Center Memorial that is currently also under construction, and a museum.
Following the destruction of the World Trade Center towers in the September 11, 2001 attacks, there was much debate regarding the future of the World Trade Center site. Proposals began almost immediately, and by 2002, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, who own the right to develop the site, organized a competition through the newly created Lower Manhattan Development Corporation to determine how to use the land. Public rejection of the first round of designs, the "Preliminary Design Concepts," led to a second, more open competition in December 2002, the "Innovative Design Study," in which a design by Daniel Libeskind was selected. This design went through many revisions, largely because of disagreements with developer Larry Silverstein, who held the lease to the World Trade Center site on September 11, 2001.
A final design for the tower was formally unveiled on June 28, 2006. To satisfy security issues raised by the New York City Police Department a 187-foot (57 m) concrete base was added in April of that year. The final design included plans to clad the base in glass prisms to address criticism that the base looked like a "concrete bunker." Contrasting with Libeskind's plan, the final design tapers the corners of the base outward as they rise. Its designers stated that the tower will be a "monolithic glass structure reflecting the sky and topped by a sculpted antenna." In terms of a completion date, Larry Silverstein stated "By 2012 we should have a completely rebuilt World Trade Center more magnificent, more spectacular than it ever was."[3] On April 26, 2006, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey approved a conceptual framework that enabled foundation construction to begin while a formal agreement is drafted on the following day, the 75th anniversary of the opening of the Empire State Building. Construction began with a formal ceremony that took place when the construction team arrived.[4] It is projected that steel for the building will be visible above ground in 2008, with a topping out in 2010. The building is projected to be ready for occupancy in the first quarter of 2011.[5]
-Wikipedia

Developments:

January. 2006

October. 2006

March 2007

August 2007