5 thing Friday - Adult "tea", a sparkling girl, new bike, lazy breakfasts, bacon

Hubby brought home some Deep Eddy Sweet Tea Vodka from the "pharmacy" as a treat for me.  I thought it would taste better than it did, for some reason.  So I was meh about it until I added it to Simply Limeaid.  

 With lots of ice it's perfect!  Very refreshing.  And great for hot afternoons when I want to pull all my hair out.

 The Girl spent a couple of nanoseconds with us on July 4th.  She lives here, yet I still miss her.  Mostly I see her coming and going.  She's usually exhausted, working two jobs, so we don't see her at meals or much else.  According to Scout she goes directly to her room and sleeps when she's between shifts in the afternoons.  Poor girlie.

 Bubbie has ridden his bike into the ground, literally.  Last time he took it out, he returned with it in a couple of pieces.  So, I went 50/50 with him on a new one.  Got a great deal on one he tried and liked at Wal-Mart by ordering it on-line and getting free shipping to my door.  When they get back from camping, it will require minimal assembly and he'll be on the road again.

 Meanwhile, Scout is enjoying waffles, having the breakfast table all to himself, and casual dressing.  He has started his new gig at Macy's - I hope he can get more hours.

I'm trying to talk a friend into buying a bacon cooking tray for the microwave.  The bacon comes out as crispy as you like, and its easy to pour the fat off into a container to save - a little bacon fat goes a long way and adds yum to green beans or cabbage.  Plus, frying just makes an unholy mess, and takes longer.  Apparently, we do love our bacon around here!

Have a happy weekend,

Gina

Bourbon Baked Beans

These are the beans I make whenever I do the homemade version - I've had the recipe forever.  They come out super sweet and delish!

Hubby ran the smoker on July 4th so we had ribs and brisket to go with coleslaw, pasta salad, these beans, and a banana cheesecake pie.  It was all fabulous!

Bourbon Baked Beans
4 slices bacon
1 large onion, chopped
3 cans pork and beans, undrained
1/2 c. brown sugar
8 oz tomato sauce
1/2 c. bourbon (not pictured)
1/4 c. molasses
2 T mustard
2 T Worchestershire

1 t garlic powder

 Cut up the bacon and fry it up.  Set it aside and cook the onions in the bacon fat.

 I let them get a little soft, but you could carmelize them, if you want.

 Add the rest of the ingredients and simmer about 10 minutes.

Pour into an oven safe casserole dish, top with the reserved bacon, and bake uncovered at 325 about 2 hours.  Check them every now and then to make sure they're not getting dry and add a little water if you need to.

Gosh, those were good!  We served them for Scout's graduation cookout, too  Try them and see what you think!

Gina

Mealplan Monday #118 and a pretty carved wood plaque

See that space above the TV/stereo cabinet?  It has always bothered me.

 But a couple weeks ago when I found that vinyl sign I put in the master bathroom, I also found this carved wood plaque - and I knew it was the perfect size!  It has such pretty detail and the color is a dark espresso brown which is perfect in here.  

It was $80, marked down to $23, and I got a further discount making it less than $20, plus I earned $10 Kohl's cash to use later.

Monday - Chinese take out
Tuesday - Crispy Coconut Shrimp PoBoys, sweet potato tots
Wednesday - One Pot Tortellini and Sausage, kale
Thursday - Pub Burger on homemade pretzel bun, kettle chips
Friday - Herb and Cheese Stuffed Chicken Thighs, roasted carrots
Saturday - mom p/u dinner on her way home
Sunday - BBQ Bacon Spinach Chicken Breasts, braised red potatoes
Dessert this week is a trip to Culver's

  I had to move that TV/stereo cabinet and clean up a bit, then squeeze a step stool in there and get Bubbie to help me center it.  I used my push pin/nail routine: hang it with a push pin, stand back and look at it, remove pushpin and hammer in a nail.  Done.

Gina

Go 4th and eat BBQ

Happy Independence Day!  Not a whole lot going on at Camp Rustown.

 Rustown Art

I'll be at work til 3:30 p.m., The Girl works a double shift with and hour and a half break, Hubby will be running the smoker, and I am sure the boys will be sleeping in.  Firstborn will join us in the evening for some BBQ, Bourbon Baked Beans, Bacon Ranch pasta salad, coleslaw, and Banana Pudding Cheesecake Pie.  The front room no longer looks like a bomb went off since they took the footlockers to the trailer for the trip to Colorado.  Maybe we will go watch fireworks - or maybe we'll stay home and play cards on the patio...we'll see.

Happy July 4th Everyone!

Gina

Mirror improvement with decals

Years ago I added one of those pre-cut vinyl signs to a mirror in the front room:

I really love how it turned out.  I have since removed the faux greenery and switched up the pictures on either side of it to some vintage plaques from my MIL, plus the entire room was painted.  Here's how it looks today:

It's still hard to get a picture of it, but I like the way the gold and black lettering play on the mirror and with the room. 

Anyhoo, I found another one I liked on clearance at Kohl's. 

Plus it was 15% off that.  So, I bought it for the mirror in the master bathroom.

The wallpaper in here is busy, but I love it. 

Whatcha think?

Gina

Mealplan Monday #117 and it's that time again

It's so hard for me to fathom how fast this summer is going - is it because three of the four kids are now graduated from high school?  I don't know, but it's already time for Hubby and Bubbie to go to summer scout camp.  This year it's in Colorado.

Monday - BBQ Chicken Salad, garlic toast
Tuesday - Italian Layer Bake, marinated tomatoes
Wednesday - Thousand Island Pork Chops, mac and cheese, kale
Thursday - Greek Chicken Pizza
Friday - Dad grills - might be running the smoker..
Saturday - mom p/u takeout for Scout and The Girl
Sunday - ditto
Dessert will probably be ice cream

Scout and I will alter our plans very little besides figuring out how to get him to work. 

I know this is not a popular opinion in Central Texas...but I am ready for the sun to shine and my back patio to dry out!

Gina

Asparagus Ricotta Tart

This was one of those recipes I made, enjoyed, but probably won't recreate on a regular basis - for one thing, it requires the oven.  For another, it's kinda frou frou, and my peeps scowl at frou frou.  They did eat it, though.  So maybe.

It doesn't re-heat in the microwave well, but you could eat it cold for lunch the next day, which is what I did!  The original recipe was printed in the Houston Chronicle, but I misplaced it, so here's what I did:

Asparagus Ricotta tart

Pre-heat oven to 400.  Unroll a package of thawed out puff pastry onto a baking sheet (use a Silpat or parchment paper underneath) poke holes over it with a fork and bake 10 minutes.  Remove from oven. Mix 1 large-ish container of ricotta with 1 cup grated parmesan, 1/4 cup chopped Italian parsley, and the zest of a lemon with half of it's juice.  Season with salt and pepper.  Spread the ricotta all over the pastry.  Wash and trim a pound of asparagus and lay the stalks over the top.  Season again with salt, pepper, and the rest of the lemon juice.  (I also added some chopped cooked turkey breast cause people here scream if you serve them a vegetarian meal!).  Bake another 30 min or so, watching carefully to make sure the crust gets browned, not burned.

I served this with a "salad" of marinated grape tomatoes, purple onion, and green olives in some Good Seasons Italian dressing.  It made for a pretty Summer meal.

This might be my new favorite way to serve tomatoes!

Gina

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The Country Cook - Weekend Potluck