November wrap-up

As I've been thinking about Thanksgiving over the past couple of weeks, I've had this song pop into my head more than once--

Count your blessings, name them one by one,

Count your blessings, see what God hath done!

Count your blessings, name them one by one,

*Count your many blessings, see what God hath done.

This is one of my favorite songs to sing in church.  I've already written about many of our blessings, but here are a few more to end our month of thankfulness.  

I'm very glad that my kids have two great-grandmothers. I've had fun teaching them about how we are related to everyone in our family. You know, "she is MY mom, but SHE is her mom....." and so on. I'm not sure they really get it yet anyway.

This is my Nanny. My kids totally adore her and she's crazy about them!  We don't get to see her often enough, but they are always talking about her. When anyone sneezes, you'll always hear, "Nanny says scat," followed by a giggle.  And lots of random "Nanny's silly!" comments.

This is my Texas Grandma. I'm so excited that she got to meet my kids for the first time this month, on our recent trip to Brinkley. You might also remember, this was the same trip as the infamous bathroom incident.  As an adult, I haven't seen my grandma as much as I should or as much as I'd like to.  Being separated by distance is a pretty hard thing once you start having your own babies. Note: I'm not sure what's going on in that picture above, but I LOVE IT!


This is my newest favorite photo of my kids.

I am also thankful for our photographer, Kim, who I'm happy to call a friend. She owns Sweet Portrayal, and has done our photos since the twins were born. She also understands that, as a mom, getting kids clean, dressed and wrangled for a photo can be exhausting and overwhelming for me. She has been so encouraging to me (more than once) when I  know we need family photos but I just cannot muster the strength to get it done.

Because of Kim's work, I have a new appreciation for the beauty of  photos done right. (Poor Big Sis, her baby photos cannot hold a candle to the twins').  Kim is a special person with a creative spirit and such a generous heart.  She has blessed my family with each beautiful photo she has taken.  And now, I'm sure she will be really embarrassed by my gushing over her.  : )

Thanks for indulging me. And don't forget to count your blessings, too.

Our Family Secret

This week, I'm participating in the Blogtober Fest Challenge sponsored by Arkansas Women Bloggers. Today is the last day of the challenge.  The topic is Favorite Fall Recipes.


I live in the South, and come from a family of good cooks and good eaters.  That's really no secret--have you seen me? Our way of doing big family gatherings is that everyone pitches in to bring a dish. Really, this is cool because that way nobody gets stuck doing all the work--we can have up to 20 people at any time. I, however, have been given a pass on the cooking lately since we are always traveling across the state with three kids in tow...but I digress.

Our #1 most popular family dish is my Nanny's cornbread dressing. Now, don't get this confused with stuffing; this is most certainly not coming out of a turkey's butt. Nanny's dressing is not just made for traditional Thanksgiving dinner; we have it during regular Saturday lunches in the middle of May. We can be cooking steaks on the grill and someone will make darn sure that Nanny is bringing some dressing! It's really kind of odd.  But here's the problem: there is no recipe, and nobody can make it like her.

The first Christmas after the twins were born, we decided it was wise to stay home instead of hauling it across the state (for obvious reasons). My sister and her husband joined us here instead. Immediately, we realized that Nanny would not be here to make the dressing and neither would my mom. Well, my sister did not get the cooking gene, and I do alright, so I said I'd give it a shot.  I emailed my mom for some directions. I will share with you what I got in return (I swear, I am copying this exactly):

"How to make dressing....

I'm like Nanny in that I don't measure b/c that's the way she taught me. THE MAIN SECRET IS THIS--DO NOT OVER STIR AFTER YOU ADD THE BROTH OR IT WILL BE GUMMY.

Start with 1 cup of buttermilk and beat in 2 eggs by hand. Add corn meal mix, a little at a time, until it is still pourable...not real thin, but not too thick or it will be heavy when cooked. If you get too much cornmeal, add a little more buttermilk until you get the consistency you want. Bake until it's nice and brown on bottom. There are also directions for making cornbread on the cornmeal package, if you prefer precise measurements. (duh!)

Finely chop celery (about a cup or so) and an onion. Boil these in chicken broth until almost clear and tender. Meanwhile, crumble the cornbread into chunks in your baking dish. Mash 2 boiled eggs with a fork until very fine and add to cornbread. When celery and onion are done, dip out with slotted spoon and mix into cornbread. Sprinkle on the sage and some black pepper. Mix gently with fork or your hands. Once combined, pour on the turkey broth, a little at a time. Again, you can stir gently with a fork but be careful not to do too much...just until combined.

Here is where you taste a little to see if it needs more sage, pepper or if it needs salt. The broth is usually salty enough if you salt your turkey well.  Shake the pan back and forth to gauge how much broth is in it. You will most likely need to add some of the chicken broth that you used to cook the celery and onion.

It should be moist enough to move back and forth but not be soupy. If you get too much, you can dip some out and you will need to cook longer to dry it up. Normally, it takes about 30 minutes at 450 degrees. Cook until it's brown on top. Save any leftover broth in case you need to add a little when you warm up the leftovers (only if it's on the dry side).

Good luck! Let me know how it turns out......"


I bet you are wondering how it turned out. Would these directions work for you??  Well, I gave it my best shot. Because she warned me 62 times, I was so paranoid about putting in TOO MUCH broth that I didn't put enough! It turned out fairly well, but on the dry and crumbly side. Nobody complained, but only because they knew better. A sleep-deprived, cranky lady cooking her first solo Christmas dinner....just shut up and eat it!