Christmas Lizzies

In the third grade I began "working" for my aunt's mother. I migrated from organizing closets to making cookies to being a chauffeur on fantastic adventures. I "worked" until I graduated from college and got married. I have much love for that family and now every year she gives my husband a cookie jar filed with Christmas Lizzies, he loves them. This year, almost 14 years later, I have received the recipe and attempted to make them in NC. Here we go . . .

We begin by chopping 1 lb of candied green and red cherries (I used 1 lb each red/green and think I made a mistake), 1 lb of candied pineapple, and 6 cups of pecans. Use 3/4 cup of flour sprinkled through the chopped fruit so it does not all become one sticky mess.

Add 1 lb white (golden) raisins to fruit and nut mixture. Note: you will need a large bowl. Next up we cream 2/3 cup of softened butter with 1 cup of sugar and 2 eggs. Mix in 1/2 pint "spirits", my house uses Southern Comfort. Add 1 3/4 cup of flour and 1 tsp of baking soda. Pour mixture over fruit and mix by hand.

Scoop out (I use the Pampered Chef scoop) onto a greased baking sheet (unless you are using a stone) and push down slightly to flatten. The cookies do not spread out so you can put them close together.

Bake for 30 minutes at 275 degrees. Let cool. Store in an airtight container.

Note: makes like 350 cookies and you will want to eat them all.

Grocery List:
1 lb candied red/green cherries
1 lb candied pineapple
1 lb white raisins
6 cups nuts
2/3 cup butter
2 eggs
1 cup sugar
2 1/2 cups flour (3/4 is for fruit)
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 pint bourbon

Animal Kingdom

Oh the Animal Kingdom.  It is our favorite!  The nice shaded areas, the animals, the cultural experiences.  Lions and Tigers and Bears, oh my!  Oh wait, wrong place.  We began the morning with breakfast at Tusker House in Africa where we got to see Donald, Daisy, Minnie and Mickey; we did not wait around for Goofy.  Then three really worn out guys and I took the the park about 10 a.m.  

First stop, the Safari!  One of my favorites, especially now that they took out the poacher plot line.  We got to see quite a few of the animals including the baby rhino and elephants.

Then we headed over to Camp Minnie & Mickey for the Festival of the Lion King after making a pit stop to see Minnie and Mickey!

The Festival of the Lion King is one of the most awesome things in the parks, that and Nemo.  We took in both!  I also got a little video this year so Will can relive it daily on his iPad.

Hunter, however, was not impressed with either!  That or the 6 hours of sleep he had last night.

Mom and Dad snuck in a ride on one of our favorite coasters, Expedition Everest, by using the single rider line.

With Will enjoying dinosaurs, Chris decided he was ready for Dinosaur.  Needless to say he had nothing but crazy eyes when he returned to mommy and refused to go back in!

We finished off our day at the beginning of the parade which put us at the end of the parade and we got to be apart of it as we were exiting the park.

None of the rides or show we took part in had more than a 10 minute wait.  The park seemed crowded but not the rides, except the rapids (hour wait, we passed).

Then for a night cap, we headed over to Hollywood Studios for dinner and Woody and Buzz!  The highlight of their trip so far has been Woody and Buzz!

First Night - WDW

Naps are in and we are headed back to the Magic Kingdom!

We were forced to take the ferry as the monorail line was crazy long.  I like the ferry, gives you a nice view of the lights.

We walked in on the Electrical Parade so we were technically stuck so we watched it twice, once at 9 then again at 11.  We had front row seats for the 11.  

In between we relived childhood memories on It's A Small World, then took down Philharmagic and Buzz Lightyear (multiple times).  

What a beautiful sight!

Walt Disney World - Day 1, 1st half

As I sit and type my photos are uploading and my three men are snoozing.  They are resting up for a long night at the Magic Kingdom.

Today we are celebrating my 35th birthday at the most magical place on earth!

We rose early to head to the Crystal Palace to celebrate with Pooh and friends at 8 a.m., before the park even opened!  There were people already lined up to go in an hour early.  Lucky for us we had a secret entrance (not really but hey its a fantasy land).  Have I mentioned it's muggy in WDW! The people were scarce in the park, it was nice to see the stillness.  Anyway, Crystal Palace was a basic character breakfast and Will enjoyed starting the morning with friends.  He hugged and danced his way through breakfast with Eeyore, Piglet, Tigger and Pooh.

The park is looking rather fall.  It is quite pretty.  I have never been to Disney in the fall so it was a treat to see the decorations.

Off we were to Adventureland!  Where our first stop is Peter Pan.  He was great with Will, chatted with him and giggled!  

The Dole stand was not opened yet or we probably would have had a Dole Whip for dessert, we will return for lunch.

Moving on over to Frontierland, which is not an area we have even visited with the boys being that they are one and four.  Will stated he wanted to ride the water slide so off to Splash Mountain for his first ever experience with Chris.  To my surprise, he loved it.  Here they are, second row!

All the while, Hunter dozed off in the stroller we rented from www.kingdomstrollers.com.  What a great and easy experience that was!  We ordered and paid online and picked it up at the hotel.  It was awesome.  

Next up we figure if Will is going to ride he might as well take on Big Thunder Mountain Railroad.  Chris quickly realized he is not ready for the fast moving roller coasters.  He did well but won't be going back this visit.

Off to Fantasyland we go!  First stop the Carosel, quick easy ride up and down and up and down.  As we exited, Chris hurried us off to a secret door, this time it was for real!  I was so confused.  

Much to my surprise we were going to get to see Maurice's Cottage!! Yep that's right, we got to go behind the big wall!  It looks so fun and I have watched it come to life on the Disney blog.  However, about 30 minutes into the line the boys got restless and we had to exit.  I did not actually get to go in but it was great to get to be one of the first people behind the door and I so want to come back later this year to dine at Be Our Guest.  

Next up was our Dole Whip!  We dream of the Dole Whip for months leading up to our trip and we will probably stop by more than once.

Well now it's getting hot and we are headed out of the park to run by Target, get some lunch and snag some nap time.  Until next time . . . 

Lady Antebellum

We graced Verizon Wireless Amphitheater with our presence tonight for the Lady Antebellum concert with Darius Rucker and Thompson Square. We pushed it a little and missed most of Thompson Square. Like me her name is Shawna and they have been married 13 years. Luck for me, Lady A called them back out to the stage so I could get a good photo!

Just after the group song, one of my favorites, Black Water by the Doobie Brothers; I kind of had a little tussle but came out the winner of the guitar pick. I plan to add it to my collection from Better Than Ezra and Gary Allan.

We had a great time with Kristen and Rich! All of my Lady A favorites were played this evening and a couple of covers including Purple Rain (Prince) by Darius and Sweet Emotion (Aerosmith) by Lady A.

Can't wait to see Jason Aldean and Luke Bryan later this summer! Hint Hint (for my spouse)

NOTE: Click on any of the photos above to be taken to the album of 100+ and a couple of videos.

2012 Crawfish Boil

It started with 60lbs of live crawfish flown in from Louisiana.

Vegetables, Zatarain's, hot water, and a special recipe later, we eat!

Our gracious hosts:

And our wonderful cook!

The boys had a great time in the bounce house, running around the Pennington's backyard, and visiting with good friends.

The Kentucky Derby

The day began with us prying ourselves out of the bed and into our dress up clothes. To Churchill Downs we go. We prepaid our parking online in a lot next to a house about 2 blocks from the entrance. That was so nice, but a tight squeeze through the roads.

For the Kentucky Derby we had tickets in the ITW Carrels. For those that have no clue what this is, we feel your pain. All we knew is that they were inside and we had access to the 2nd and 3rd floor Clubhouse. That in itself was worth the price.

We made it in and over to the paddock. From there we find our access to the 2nd floor. After searching around a little we ask someone where our tickets are leading us. They had no clue, seriously, he called someone on the radio and they could not help him. A lady finally showed up, she also had no clue. She disappeared for a few minutes then returned and said, “okay, I think I know where this is.” She led us to the Inter-Track Wagering. We had our own secluded space with about 100 other people. This also allowed us access to stand anywhere on the 2nd or 3rd levels.

Time to get serious and start studying

The Paddock pre Kentucky Derby:

I’ll Have Another in the Post Parade:

And they're off . . .

And here they come! Who is that? I’ll Have Another?!? Was he even on our radar? Nope. He was a winner, we were not.

Here come the flowers!

The winner’s circle

Now off with the roses, and jockey, and saddle . . . ahhhhh that feels soooo much better

And we finished up a great day with a great evening at Lynn’s Paradise Café. Yum Yum. If you are ever in Louisville you have to stop here. The ambiance is awesome and the food is tasty.

Just “horsing” around

And that’s a wrap!

Oh WAIT! Let’s not forget the hats . . .