gratuitous birthday pics for grandparents and menu details for kc and pixie

see next entry for lead-in story...

due to inclement weather, we ended up with only 14 in attendance. mostly hubby's family. fred and wilma (of moab fame) were with us too. they came early and we had a blast preparing all the goods. mother in law had cleaned my house by the time i finally got home from nashville. i so owe her.

all in all, it was a very nice, mostly relaxing dinner with dear friends and family.

i am not going to caption all these pics.
daughter #1 (Sam) is in pink with pigtail
daughter #2 (Savvy) is the curly headed blonde
birthday boy (Smith) is in yellow John Deere t-shirt he got from his Mississippi grandparents for his birthday.
hubby in long sleeve grey shirt.
I still do not have on makeup (see previous post) - and am hiding as best i can when i see the lens aimed my way...
other kids are cousins. big kids are aunts, uncles, fred and wilma.

that's 'fred' teaching my son all about 4-wheeling in moab...

ok, menu information. here's how you do it when you have had the week i have...

mind you, i can do all this homemade with my eyes closed and one arm tied behind my back. seriously, i can. however, i am smart and knew that if i tried to do the entire meal from scratch after traveling and having the kids all day, it would be an emotional disaster and i would gain no enjoyment from it at all. and quite frankly, i had just worked too darn hard to get home for my son to not enjoy it...

with that said,

i made hot wings from scratch - buy the wingettes - not the wings. makes a difference. use ONLY Franks Hot Wing sauce. do not bother with any other. trust me on this or pay the price. recipe is on bottle of Frank's sauce. is stupid easy.

served with side of celery sticks and carrots - crisped in bowl of ice water - served with Ken's Steak House Blue Cheese dressing. again, BE BRAND LOYAL on this item.

then bought two bags of romaine lettuce - washed and chopped - tossed with shredded (not grated) parmesan cheese, croutons and Ken's Steak House Caesar.

one loaf french bread and one loaf sourdough - both fresh from the bakery.

this next dish will get you a marriage proposal from any man. i guarantee it. four cans WHOLE green beans - not the generic brand. Wishbone Fat Free Italian dressing - no other will do. if you don't use FF, the dish will be one big oil slick. one package of cheap, thin bacon. don't get the spensive thick stuff.

drain beans - pour in large mixing bowl. spray 13 X 9 pan with Pam (or such). Cut bacon in half.

on cutting board, take one half piece of bacon, get about 8 beans, lay across bacon and wrap the bacon around the beans. place in pan. repeat till all beans and bacon are used. should fill a pan nicely. you can squeeze them in tightly if need be as they will shrink a bit when cooking. cover the beans and bacon with bottle of salad dressing. if there are any broken small pieces of beans left, i throw them in too.

bake in preheated oven at 350 degrees for an hour. serve and wait for proposal. i am famous for this dish and it is stupid easy.

finally the entree - Stouffer's frozen lasagna. micro, bake and serve. it's as good as any i could make.

of course desert is cake and ice cream.

so this was an easy one. hope you enjoyed - we sure did. i have one other recipe i am famous for and although i did not serve it the other night, i have to share it with you. but be warned, if you ever make this and take it to a covered dish affair, you WILL BE ASKED TO BRING IT AGAIN and again and again. and it's not cheap to make. so think twice before sharing it with others...

two bags prewashed salad greens - or two heads of lettuce- whatever you prefer works.

package of strawberries, washed and quartered

package of blueberries and/or raspberries

bag of apricots, diced - cut each into about 6 pieces

bag of Craisins - the original ones

bag of sliced roasted honey glazed almonds

small container (about 6 oz) of Blue Cheese crumbles

bottle of poppyseed dressing - i usually buy fat free and it is just as good to me - your preference.

toss everything but strawberries, blueberries and raspberries very well. when it is mixed, gently toss in remaining fruit. i just sprinkle the raspberries on top as they are so delicate.

serve immediately.

bon appetite...