Who’s Lucky… I am!

I get to share my Monday with these sweet and handsome guys! Alex and Eli have already helped their Daddy feed the cows,  jumped on the trampoline, had a fruit snack, watched a cartoon, played a game on their iPads, decided on what they want for lunch with Pop and Daddy and now they’re taking photos of one another with their iPads with Santa on the stair landing. Its so fun listening to their conversations and how adorable they are with one another! I absolutely love our grandsons and spending the day with them!

Halloween 2013 with the Grands

Kali, Caroline, Eli and Alex went to a grand Halloween party at Avery Island last night to celebrate with friends. There were hotdogs, treats and a huge bon fire to add to the excitement. There was also a costume contest and everyone enjoyed that a whole lot! I created this little layout using photos that Krista had on her camera. Hope everyone had a great holiday!

Antique Train Case

I’ve heard these pretty little bags referred to as train cases, makeup cases and overnight bags, regardless what you call them, I think they’re adorable and have collected three of them. I’m not sure what I will do with them, at one time I was collecting them to give to the grandchildren for a little train ride to New Orleans that we would do with them.  Then I thought they would make a sweet little gift for Kali and a few girl friends for a slumber party. But as of yet I have not decided, but I will keep collecting them if I see more. I am fond of these in the soft gray green color. Some day I will use them, right now I’ve got them in my office closet, just waiting til I find a good idea.

Halloween with Family and Friends

On Saturday night Alex, Eli, Kali and Caroline attended a fun party and hay ride with their friends and family at our friend Johnny and Kathy’s house, they are so gracious to have hosted this party for quite a few years and we are lucky to be counted in their circle of friends and included with the ‘kids’ and their ‘kiddos’.

 

Kali was a 20’s flapper girl and Alex and Eli were Power Rangers. They all had a blast at the party and can’t wait to go trick or treating this coming week with their cousins!

Our little Linee wore a Dorothy costume that I made for Kali when she was a year and a half, she had adorable red bows on her shoes and in her hair but she took a nap while they were on the hay ride and woke up later at the party and I was able to get this rumpled photo of her, but its that smile that I adore!

CHS Mass day for Kali

Thursday of last week was homecoming week Mass for the students of CHS. Kali was adorable in her Mass uniform and I was able to shoot a few photos before school.

Love how these turned our and will be printing one for our home.

CHS Homecoming Week (Dress up Day 2)

Today Kali chose to dress up as a COP in the Cops vs Robbers dress up day at school. She made an awesome little girlie cop with her braided bun that Mama fixed for her and her whistle and badge finished off the adorable costume. I created a layout using many papers and elements from different Shabby Miss Jenn Designs kits to add to Kali’s album.

Can’t wait to see what she dresses as for the Math-lete vs athlete day tomorrow! Stay tuned!

CHS Homecoming Week 2013

Kali and I have been having fun planning her outfits for Homecoming week at CHS. Its her first homecoming week at her new school and we’re sure she’s going to have a blast. Monday is Cowboys vs. Indians day and she wanted to be a cowgirl, so we ordered a cute little costume online and pulled together boots and put her hair in pigtails with bows. Below is a layout I created using Shabby Miss Jenn Designs “Little Buckeroos” kit.

Before school today Krista and I helped her get ready and I did her hair before she ate her fruit cup and buttery biscuit, just like a true country girl. I took a few photos as I will all week and will share them with you here in my blog.

We hope you have a happy homecoming week Kali!

Fall has Arrived

I created a sweet little memory book page for Dave and I featuring a few photos of pure Cajun deliciousness that I shot in New Orleans last weekend and Shabby Miss Jenn Designs amazing Fall scrapbooking kit AUTUMN SPLENDOR available HERE.

Race for Education SES 2013

This morning Erica and I went to SES to participate in Race for Education with Alex and Elijah. We saw many of our friends and family there and had a great time. Claire, Honey and Pop St. Dizier (Claire’s Dad) were there also.

Here are a few of us with the boys after the race was over. Alex and Eli with Claire, Erica, Me and Honey. (Claire’s mom)

Some of our friends were there too, Carter and Suri, Alicia and Gavin and cousin Natalie with Anna Claire and Abigail.

Everyone had a fun time and it was for an excellent cause! Geaux Pandas!

Bourbon French Parfums

 

Last week when I was in the French Quarter I went into the little perfumery on Royal Street to see what it was all about. I found myself engulfed first in a soft feminine scent that reminded me of my beloved paternal grandmother Eunice and in love with the quaint and adorable shop.

I took my time and smelled all of the shop’s signature perfumes and really enjoyed the scent named “Marguerite”, which is described as a light, clean, fresh spicy fragrance, which was absolutely perfect for me.

 

This perfumery has been in the French Quarter for over 170 years.  Began by August Doussan in 1843, there are brides who go into the little shop to purchase perfume which was custom blended for their own grandmother several generations back, the perfumery keeps them on file forever, and they wear the signature scent on their wedding day. I find that perfectly charming.

Bourbon French Parfums can be found online HERE.

NOLA and a New Friend

I met my friend Janie while I was heavily into designing table scapes for our home, we both were posting on the blog “Between Naps on the Porch” which is still a very favorite blog to this day. I adore keeping up with her and her family on her blog Janie’s World. She’s got a passion for entertaining, a love of her family and husband and we share so many common likes and interest, I truly admire this girl!

Thursday she and I took a relaxing drive up the river from New Orleans (while her husband was speaking at a work related conference) and visited Nottoway and Oak Alley plantations. Both are lovely but I only got a few cool photos at Nottoway as my camera battery was exhausted before Oak Alley came into view. The stories of these working plantations are truly interesting and the history is amazing, but I’m  featuring the table scape of Nottoway as this is what actually brought us together in the first place.

Here’s a shot of the two of us in front of the fireplace in the beautiful white ballroom at Nottoway plantation.

 

Friday evening Dave flew into town, after picking him up at Lakefront Airport he and I met Janie and her husband Bob at Irene’s Cuisine for a lovely meal. They brought us some fabulous “See’s” chocolates which are made near their home in California, they are truly delicious and probably worth a trip to the west coast alone! Thanks again for the treat, Dave and I really enjoyed them!

After dinner we went to Balcony Music Club and listened to the Dana Abbott Band and had a few cocktails. Dave took a photo of the two of us, it came out a bit fuzzy but I’m going to include it anyway, the others were even worse because of the dark room!

 

Looking forward to growing our friendship and seeing one another soon!

Jujube Apples

When my Mama was growing up they had a jujube apple tree and she told us about them when we were little, they called them zuzus though. One day Mama and Daddy found a tree and got one and planted it. We grew up eating them off of the tree in the yard. The apples were about the size of a small kumquat and we never did anything but eat them fresh off the tree. The jujube fruit originated in Asia and starts off green as as it ripens it becomes speckled with brown and then the entire fruit turns a pretty dark brown. The seed in the middle is shaped like a plum seed but thinner, eating around it is easy.  

We bought our tree at a nursery in Abbeville which has since closed, but it has larger fruit than the one I grew up eating. Ours are shaped like the photo above but I’m not sure what the name of it really is. Here below is a chart of several different types. There are no measurements in the description so I am not positive about the variety, but I think ours is shaped like the honeypot variety. My mom’s tree was more like the football shaped Tsao.

This is what the tree looks like. I haven’t got a photo on my computer of our tree but I will take one tomorrow.

This is a bowl of the ones that Erica picked tonight.

Last year I made some apple butter and it turned out pretty good, the tree is loaded right now so I may make some more soon. For now we’re enjoying eating them fresh off of the tree. Caroline and the twins really like them too, you will find the boys with pockets full of them as they ride the Rhino around the yard or while jumping on the trampoline. They are funny fellows.

 

You can read more information on the jujube fruit here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jujube

Pear Tart with Peach Glaze

Tonight I taught Alexa how to make a pear tart, she went to my Daddy’s house this past weekend after he called her to let her know that the pears were ready to pick. I picked two medium sized pears, peeled, halved, cored and sliced into thin strips.

I put them into a bowl and tossed them with about four tablespoons of light brown sugar. Then I arranged the pear slices down the middle of the puffed pastry which I thawed and cut in half and put onto a baking sheet that was sprayed with non stick cooking spray, I like Crisco’s butter flavored spray. I took 1/3 of a block of real butter, cut it in half then cut them into 1/4 inch pieces and dotted half down the middle of each of the tarts. Using about seven pieces across each.

Next I put four tablespoons of the peach preserves I made in July into a small bowl and with a little whisk I broke it all up, but didn’t add anything to it and spooned the preserves down the middle of the pears on the tart. I slipped the tarts into the oven which was set on convection bake at 350 degrees and cooked it for about 13 minutes, Alexa checked the doneness of the pears and how much it had browned at that point and decided to put it for another five minutes.

The pears were a tiny bit crispy once cooked all the way. We let it stand and cool for a little bit before moving to a glass serving plate. Dave declared it delicious after having about 2/3 of one of them. Thanks to my Daddy for sharing these delicious fruit and to Alexa for driving over to pick them. Prep time and cooking time was only about thirty minutes and I think it would be awesome served with ice cream when having guests over or at a brunch with coffee.

Fred had a piece before he left tonight and was very impressed with how good it was for the little effort that it took to make it. The recipe was a combination of one that I’d learned on Barefoot Contessa which was made with apples and apricot jam and the Pioneer Woman’s apple and brown sugar. I sort of combined both methods and used my own fruit and home made preserves for a Cajun country Katy version.