Presents, Hutch and Smallcakes

My BFF and I took my little sister out for her birthday on December 19th.

We went to lunch at Hutch.  AMAZING food.  I highly recommend the Hutch Burger.

I brought Christmas gifts for my niece.  Yes they were wrapped in Chicken paper.

She loved everything.

For a birthday treat we stopped at a place called Smallcakes.  I’d never even heard of this place but apparently it’s really popular.  They’ve been on 3 seasons of Cupcake Wars, The View, USA Today, MTV and others.  I will tell you this cupcakery is awesome!  The cupcakes are perfect and the homemade ice cream is delicious.  Next time, you’re in Richmond (RVA) then you have to stop in here.  You will not be disappointed.

We each got a smash cake.  You pick a cupcake which they cut it in half for you and then you pick homemade ice cream to go in the middle of the cupcake.  Here’s my niece picking out ice cream.

This is my smash cake.  I got the “CHOCO-HOLIC”- chocolate cake with chocolate buttercream topped with valrhona chocolate sprinkles.  For the ice cream in the middle I chose chocolate and vanilla.  You get 2 scoops of your choice.  OMG it’s sooooo good.

This was my dinner that night.  I ate the entire thing.  My sister had to take hers home because she couldn’t finish it.

A smash cake is way too much for a little girl so we just got my niece a little bowl of ice cream.

2016 Christmas Card

How cute is our picture?  We took it Thanksgiving morning.  My husband has some mad photo-shopping skills.  :)

6th Work Food Swap

Some co-workers and I had a food swap on November 28th.  It’s where you make a dish and bring some to do an even trade.  This was our 6th food swap.  It’s a lot of fun.

Here’s the spread we had.  Lots of goodies.

Gayle made biscotti.  It was delicious and she packaged them in ball jars with some fabric and ribbon.

Sharon made homemade apple butter.  This was yummy by the spoonful.  So tasty.

Jane made a meat rub which she cooked with some chicken.  We put the chicken in some tortillas and had a little taco.  We each got a little baggy of the seasoning.  I can’t wait to use the rub on pork or steak.  It was awesome.

Paula made sausage balls.  She packaged them in little boxes that looked like elves pants.  MMMM!!!!

Sam made mini pineapple upside down cakes.  So flavorful.  My husband really enjoyed one I brought him home.  He loves pineapple upside down cake.

Sue made a ham salad which we all got a container of.  She also made some little wraps that had cream cheese and cranberries.  So good!

Judy (her first food swap) made mini cheese balls for us to take home and a big cheese ball for us to try.  It was delicious!!!

And lastly, I made chicken salad.  I put the chicken salad in little containers and everyone got a container with a bag of croissants.  I served the sample with croissants and chips.

We enjoy baking or cooking and seeing what each person comes up with.  We also like being able to catch up with one another.  

Kitty in the Window

It’s so hard to leave for work in the morning.  Everyday our little kitten, Tyrion sits in the window and watches us as we leave.  He's there waiting for us when we get home too.

How cute is he?

My cute Grandma

I mailed my Grandma a package a package.  She lives in Florida with my Aunt Betty and Uncle Mike.  Grandma is my dads Mom.  She's my last Grandma on this earth.  I’d gotten my Grandma some Alan Jackson stuff from work because I know she’s his biggest fan.  She turned the t-shirt into a pillow by doing a baste stitch.  Here’s a picture of her with the pillow.  Isn’t she cute?  She loves sitting on her bed with her pillow, dog and watches The Price is Right.  :)

Amelia Laid Her First Egg!

My beautiful chicken Amelia who’s a Gold Laced Wyandotte laid her first egg on Election Day 2016.  Amelia was at 28 weeks old.  The egg is pinkish.  

I’m a happy chicken mama.  

My eggs…(The tiny blue one is a piece of candy my kitten found and was playing with it.  My husband and I laughed that he laid an egg too).

Tyrion Loves His Forever Home And His Chicken Sisters.

Tyrion is adjusting to his forever home just fine.  He’s such a sweet baby.    He loves getting into everything and checking things out.  haha

He’s seen his chicken sisters through the back window.  He likes to watch them free range.

He met Amelia up close.  He sniffed her and she just looked at him.  haha

He saw Molly as she greeted him at the back door.

Here’s all 5 of my fur babies.    I love them all.

Frog Level Fall Festival And Parade

On October 29th, I made it down to meet my BFF to Frog Level in Caroline County for their Festival and Parade.

I was invited to be the Grand Marshall of the parade many years ago when I was a DJ on Overnights .  I had a lot of fun and I always try to go back to the Festival when I can.  The best part about Frog Level is their Brunswick Stew.

Here’s the stew being cooked.

I bought 3 quarts.  It’s good to get more so you can freeze and have some later.