If I were really brave

…..I’d have more colors like this in my house…..

Click here to see the entire, colorful, happy house!

I’ve really been wanting to re-do my hooking room….perhaps once I finish that 3rd garden rug I’ll paint one wall some sort of really crazy happy color!

I like the bright happy colors against the softer prints……we’re talking serious LOVE!

Yesterday we got MORE snow….it started snowing at noon and kept it up into the evening.  Look at the monster icicle hanging off the edge of the sunroom….it’s a whopper! We have so many birds flocking to the feeders, but whenever I open up the back door to take a picture, of course they all fly away momentarily.

So here is a picture to give you an idea of what I spent my day doing……

Yes, that’s right….cooking….pretty much most of the day after I went to the grocery around noon.  I made scrambled eggs and toast for breakfast, then I made Chicken Tortilla soup for lunch, Carrot Pineapple Cake, then spaghetti sauce which we’ll have over spaghetti tonight.

Here’s the recipe for the Chicken Tortilla Soup….it is SO VERY EASY!

Ingredients

• 1 (15 ounce) can whole kernel corn, drained
• 1 (14.5 ounce) cans chicken broth
• 1 (14. ounce) can cream of chicken
• 1 pound of ground chicken (you could also use chicken breast, canned chicken or rotisserie chicken…heck you could use ground beef too)
• 1 (15 ounce) can black beans
• 1 (10 ounce) can diced tomatoes with green chile peppers (otherwise known as Rotel)
• 1 onion chopped
• spices to your liking….I used salt, pepper, cumin, Mexican seasoning, dried cilantro and comino mix (something Kenny picked up that is a variety of whole cumin and whole peppercorns)

Directions

Cook ground chicken and onions until no longer pink and onions are soft, drain.  Next add rest of ingredients, bring to a boil and then simmer for as long as you want, tasting and adding spices to your liking.  Once in the bowl I topped mine with some shredded Pepper Jack cheese….delish!

Enjoy!

*******

Here’s the recipe for the Carrot Pineapple Cake from the Barefoot Contessa (Kenny’s favorite part was the cream cheese frosting….he thought it was the best he’d ever tasted.

Carrot Pineapple Cake (click here to print)

Ingredients

For the cake:

• 2 cups granulated sugar
• 1 1/3 cups vegetable oil
• 3 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 2 1/2 cups plus 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour, divided
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 1 cup raisins
• 1 cup chopped walnuts
• 1 pound carrots, grated
• 1/2 cup diced fresh pineapple

For the frosting:

• 3/4 pound cream cheese, at room temperature
• 1/2 pound unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 pound confectioners' sugar, sifted

For the decoration:

• 1/2 cup diced fresh pineapple

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Butter 2 (8-inch) round cake pans. Line with parchment paper, then butter and flour the pans.

For the cake:

Beat the sugar, oil, and eggs together in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment until light yellow. Add the vanilla. In another bowl, sift together 2 1/2 cups flour, the cinnamon, baking soda, and salt.

Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. Toss the raisins and walnuts with 1 tablespoon flour. Fold in the carrots and pineapple. Add to the batter and mix well.

Divide the batter equally between the 2 pans. Bake for 55 to 60 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Allow the cakes to cool completely in the pans set over a wire rack.

For the frosting:

Mix the cream cheese, butter and vanilla in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment until just combined. Add the sugar and mix until smooth.

Place 1 layer, flat-side up, on a flat plate or cake pedestal. With a knife or offset spatula, spread the top with frosting. Place the second layer on top, rounded side up, and spread the frosting evenly on the top and sides of the cake. Decorate with diced pineapple.

**Here is a picture of mine……I did not use fresh pineapple, I used canned and pressed the juice out of it, but if I were to do it again I’d leave the juice in OR add more pineapple than the recipe calls for. I topped mine with crushed walnuts….I love walnuts! Oh yeah, 1 pound of carrots is about 2 cups of grated carrots. I don’t have a mixer with a paddle attachment…I just used a hand mixer for all of this.

We’re talking heaven on a plate! The recipe says it serves 8, but it’s really rich….I’d say 16 servings if everyone had a thin slice. Kenny says you should have it with a cold glass of milk!

Oh yeah, more snow pictures from Kenny!

Looking out our front door…..lots more icicles!

Dogs on their snow walk.

Cute little snowman that one of the neighbor kids made.

Cleopatra hunting in the snow……she LOVE the snow!

Lonnie looking at Cleopatra’s snow antics and thinking she’s crazy!

Me with both of the dogs….at this point, we are just starting on our walk and Cleopatra has on a jacket…we had to take it off of her because she told us she really didn’t like the way it fit!

Now the next 2 pictures will look totally random…..(big smile)

We ate at Red Lobster, I don’t know, maybe a week or so ago and this is Kenny’s baked potato.  Doesn’t it look delicious?!

Now for a little perspective on the size of it…….(bigger smile)

It’s all about perspective!