Buffalo Chicken Dip

This past weekend we got together with some of Melissa's co-workers for a late holiday party. Everyone brought appetizers to munch on. If you know us, you know that we LOVE a good dip. Having said that, we decided to make buffalo chicken dip for the party. It was delicious! A little on the spicy side, but still delicious.

Here is the recipe:

Ingredients:

• 8 oz. package cream cheese, softened
• 1/2 cup ranch dressing
• 1/2 cup buffalo sauce (we prefer Frank's)
• 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
• 2 cans (12.5 oz each) Swanson White Premium Chunk Chicken Breast in water, drained

Directions:

• Heat oven to 350
• Place cream cheese into deep baking dish and stir until smooth
• Mix in rest of ingredients
• Bake 20 minutes then stir and serve

*Best with pita chips/bread, crackers, celery

Welcome home...

We've upgraded! It was finally time to say good-bye to the little Civic. She was great while she was with us, but entirely too small! Now it's time to say hello to the big Tahoe! Pat and I both LOVE Tahoes and knew this would be our next set of wheels. So here it is- back in black!

They're Back!

Marshmallow Easter Puffs. Yes folks, it's THAT time of year again! I must confess- I am a sucker for these! You have no idea how excited I was when I spotted the infamous "puffs" on the end of the aisle at Target tonight. I'll try my best to keep it to one a day. However, I don't feel so bad since I failed to purchase Girl Scout cookies this year.

A question for Little Debbie: Have you ever thought about Christmas or Halloween puffs? Then I wouldn't have to wait a whole year :)

FSBO

For Sale By Owner.
Black 2008 Honda Civic Coupe LX

28,500 miles
$13,995

Any takers?

Home Economics 101.

A friend sent these tips to me today via email and I thought I'd share:

• Take your bananas apart when you get home from the store. If you leave them connected at the stem, they ripen faster.
• Store your opened chunks of cheese in aluminum foil. It will stay fresh much longer and not mold!
• Peppers with 3 bumps on the bottom are sweeter and better for eating. Peppers with 4 bumps on the bottom are firmer and better for cooking.
• Add a teaspoon of water when frying ground beef. It will help pull the grease away from the meat while cooking.
• To really make scrambled eggs or omelets rich add a couple of spoonfuls of sour cream, cream cheese, or heavy cream in and then beat them up.
• For a cool brownie treat, make brownies as directed. Melt Andes mints in double broiler and pour over warm brownies. Let set for a wonderful minty frosting.
• Add garlic immediately to a recipe if you want a light taste of garlic and at the end of the recipe if your want a stronger taste of garlic.
• Leftover snickers bars from Halloween make a delicious dessert. Simply chop them up with the food chopper. Peel, core and slice a few apples. Place them in a baking dish and sprinkle the chopped candy bars over the apples. Bake at 350 for 15 minutes!!! Serve alone or with vanilla ice cream. Yummm!
• Reheat Pizza- Heat up leftover pizza in a nonstick skillet on top of the stove, set heat to med-low and heat till warm. This keeps the crust crispy. No soggy micro pizza. I saw this on the cooking channel and it really works.
• Easy Deviled Eggs- Put cooked egg yolks in a zip lock bag. Seal, mash till they are all broken up. Add remainder of ingredients, reseal, keep mashing it up mixing thoroughly, cut the tip of the baggy, squeeze mixture into egg. Just throw bag away when done easy clean up.
• Expanding Frosting- When you buy a container of cake frosting from the store, whip it with your mixer for a few minutes. You can double it in size. You get to frost more cake/cupcakes with the same amount. You also eat less sugar and calories per serving.
• Reheating refrigerated bread- To warm biscuits, pancakes, or muffins that were refrigerated, place them in a microwave with a cup of water. The increased moisture will keep the food moist and help it reheat faster.
• Newspaper weeds away- Start putting in your plants, work the nutrients in your soil. Wet newspapers,put layers around the plants overlapping as you go cover with mulch and forget about weeds. Weeds will get through some gardening plastic they will not get through wet newspapers.
• Broken Glass- Use a wet cotton ball or Q-tip to pick up the small shards of glass you can't see easily.
• No More Mosquitoes- Place a dryer sheet in your pocket. It will keep the mosquitoes away.
• Squirrel Away- To keep squirrels from eating your plants, sprinkle your plants with cayenne pepper. The cayenne pepper doesn't hurt the plant and the squirrels won't come near it.
• Flexible vacuum- To get something out of a heat register or under the fridge add an empty paper towel roll or empty gift wrap roll to your vacuum. It can be bent or flattened to get in narrow openings.
• Reducing Static Cling- Pin a small safety pin to the seam of your slip and you will not have a clingy skirt or dress. Same thing works with slacks that cling when wearing panty hose. Place pin in seam of slacks and .... ta da! ... static is gone.
• Measuring Cups- Before you pour sticky substances into a measuring cup, fill with hot water. Dump out the hot water, but don't dry cup. Next, add your ingredient, such as peanut butter, and watch how easily it comes right out.
• Foggy Windshield- Hate foggy windshields? Buy a chalkboard eraser and keep it in the glove box of your car When the windows fog, rub with the eraser! Works better than a cloth!
  
• Re-opening envelopes- If you seal an envelope and then realize you forgot to include something inside, just place your sealed envelope in the freezer for an hour or two. Viola! It unseals easily.
• Conditioner- Use your hair conditioner to shave your legs. It's cheaper than shaving cream and leaves your legs really smooth. It's also a great way to use up the conditioner you bought but didn't like when you tried it in your hair.
• Goodbye Fruit Flies- To get rid of pesky fruit flies, take a small glass, fill it 1/2' with Apple Cider Vinegar and 2 drops of dish washing liquid; mix well. You will find those flies drawn to the cup and gone forever!
• Get Rid of Ants- Put small piles of cornmeal where you see ants. They eat it, take it 'home,' can't digest it so it kills them. It may take a week or so, especially if it rains, but it works and you don't have the worry about pets or small children being harmed!

Dean the Dream!

This weekend, we made a trip to Raleigh to visit one of our dear friends Dean. He flew in from Florida to hang out for the weekend. For those of you that don't know, "Dean the Dream Supreme" is the life of the party! When you put Dean and Pat together, well, it's trouble (and needless to say, LOUD)!

Me and Dean

Some of the guys: Ben, Jay, Pat, and Sam

Kelly and Sam

John and Alex

Me and Kelly

A trip to the vet

This week Mason our Yorkie, was due for a check-up and grooming. I dropped him off at the vet in the am and picked him up when I got off work. During his short stay, the vet found several "abnormalities" about Mason: he has an ear infection in his right ear, his knee pops in and out of socket (causing him to skip), and he has a twisted tooth that has to be extracted. Interesting. Who would have thought sweet little Mason has so many issues! On a positive note, she did NOT mention his weight, which happens to be a big 8.6 pounds! (Usually every time we go they tell us he is overweight).

Before: Having a little trouble seeing

After: Looking spiffy!

A sweet treat

We have discovered a new sweet treat in our house. They aren't a healthy treat by any means, but boy are they yummy! Chocolate covered pretzel rods, or dip sticks as Pat likes to say! You can satisfy the need for something sweet and something salty all in one bite. One of the best parts about making these pretzels is the chocolate aroma that fills the air. For Valentine's Day, we gave a few to our mail carrier. She always leaves treat bags in our mailbox for the holidays, so we surprised her with a treat of her own! How cute would these "dip sticks" be at a shower, tailgate, or bake sale? Hmmm, my wheels are turning...

After almost two years...

In our new house that is- we have finally finished most of the interior decorating. It will always be a work-in-progress for us, but the majority of it is done. I have never been the so called "domestic" type (Pat will agree), but here recently I've hung curtain rods, made pillows, fused fabric, and hemmed curtains. It's very rewarding to see (and be happy with) the end results! I thank my mother-in-law, Kathryn, for providing the fabric, letting me use her sewing machine, and adding finishing touches.

Can you guess what's on my birthday wish list? Hint: needle and thread.

Master bathroom toppers

Guest bedroom #1

Window treatments

Guest bedroom #2

Pillows for sofas in den

Leopard pillows for sofa in living room-they compliment the leopard chair below

Our next projects will be geared towards the exterior of our house. These will include mulch for the backyard, a new banister on the front porch, and fixing a cracked driveway due to a snowy winter.


*Note: The floral and leopard fabric (and chair) came from Pat's grandmother, Peggy Goodman. All of the window treatments were made by Pat's mom, Kathryn. The hardware was left up to me :)

Here we are!

We did it. We were some of the last people to join Facebook, now we've started a blog. Somehow we gave in.

Considering we have family and friends in Europe, Ohio, Georgia, Florida, Chicago, and well, all over North Carolina, we thought this would be a good way for you to keep up with our crazy life. Here it goes so enjoy...