Celebratory Italian Ice

Please excuse this scary handclaw picture but it is NECESSARY.

Whilst taking me out for a celebratory Italian ice at Orlando's famed (and much blogged about) Jeremiah's, Jonathon was forced to take this picture of pure joy in a cup. What you are looking at ladies and gentleman is... Pumpkin Pie flavored Italian Ice.

OH MAN.

What we were celebrating is not yet OFFICIAL so I am not at liberty to divulge details, just suffice to say if it deserved an ice cream party WITH pumpkin pie, it must be HUGE...

Details to follow.

I may still be drooling...

Simple Homemade Pumpkin Rice Pudding

Happy 10-10-10 yesterday! Did you have a great day?

It is FINALLY starting to feel like fall here, and you know what that means! It's baking time!!!

I have never considered myself much of a chef, but I can bake with the best of them. The 90 degree weather hasn't been particularly inspiring for me to want to get in the hot kitchen and bake something up. So you can imagine how happy the cooler temps have made me.

With it feeling like fall, that can only mean one thing in the world of baking... PUMPKIN. I could seriously eat 2 whole pumpkin pies in a single sitting. There is something just magical about it. If you know me well, you know this is no exaggeration. So I was trying to steer clear of making a pie... :)

I looked and looked and looked for a pumpkin rice pudding recipe that was to my liking but they were all too complicated (with apples and cranberries and such) or they were either boil or bake versions and I just couldn't decide. Finally I chose to just combine the two and make my own simple creation. Voila!

I think I now have enough pumpkin rice pudding to feed a small army. Luckily, the hubs and I can eat like a small army, so it shouldn't be an issue. If you don't like your desserts too sweet, you will really enjoy this one. As an aside, I made my version with soy milk.

Here's my recipe on a printable recipe card for you and a friend. :)

Let me know if you try it. Happy Fall to ya!

Orlando is for Little People

My little bro and sis came to visit a couple months back and I never got around to posting the highlights of their trip. One of the reasons was that we just did so darn much! We had such a blasty hanging out and showing them around town. Here, the highlights...

I took so many pics... see???

Little drummer girl couldn't get enough of Rock Band.

Maka the lasagna! A couple of my all-time favorite chefs!

Since it was still the height of summer, we were able to enjoy a Collegiate Summer League Baseball game while the kids were in town. Yes it was a night game, but we were absolutely melting. These games are so much fun though, my little sis even got to run the bases during 7th inning stretch. Too bad I missed it with the camera!!!

Of course during their trip here, we had to take the little ones to DiSnEyWoRlD!!! What trip to Orlando would be complete without it?! Did I mention it was about 97 degrees out?! Oh man. But we definitely had a blast.

This picture is destined to be a classic. One of those oldies but goodies you pull out 15 years later to embarrass the kids in front of their friends. SO darn cute.

Awwww. We were hot but happy.

I love this pic. Such tough guys.

The highlight of the trip for my sis? SO many princesses.

My artsy close-up of the castle where we ate dinner with royalty. ;)

Happy after a loooooooong hot day at the Magic Kingdom. :)

Jumping for joy at J's work!

Checking out world famous Jeremiahs! Who doesn't love gelati???

The cutests...

I love these two. I asked my little sis what the best part of her trip out here was. You know what she said? "Seeing You." :)

What's better than family?!

What Day Is It?

GAME DAY!

Enjoy the Wednesday night festivities on ESPN baby! UKNIGHT!!!

Babies 4 Us

Sometimes life really makes me want a snuggley little baby of my very own. Like this, for instance, starring at me through the Starbucks glass...

Then I spend one simple morning in the crawlers children's ministry at church and my back tells me otherwise.

Crib Shopping with Ma and Pa to Be

Have I mentioned that my BFF Lindzee is preggers? She is popping out all over the place (she is due in January) so it is definitely time to get that nursery in order. I was fortunate enough to tag along with mommy and daddy on their first crib shopping expedition. It was so fun!

We went to a shop called Cribs 4 Life. Apparently these are the Cadillacs of cribs!

SO excited! Haha, I love this pic. A couple of sillies.

Cribs 4 Life cribs convert from an infant crib into a toddler crib and then into a full size bed when baby is ready for a big-kid bed. Pretty sweet, huh? Lindzee and Erik are GIANT UF Gator fans and are planning to make a tasteful gator-inspired nursery.

I think E was having TOO much fun...

Mom to be hard at work looking at rocking chair fabrics.

Love these three!

Team Spirit Baby

This week at work we had a "favorite sports team cubicle decorating" competition. I guess I work at one of those places now. :)

Since I'm new, I thought I would do my darnedest and let everyone know who I am and what my decorating skills are all about. I thought I did a pretty bang-up job with the limited resources and time I had (we had 1 day to pull this all together) if I do say so myself. It's all in the details.

Don't worry about it, I match my team colors and I still look classy. ;)

My piece de resistance, the wall of men!

I was pretty proud of myself, and I think I did a great job compared to most people. Then again, there is always a couple of folks in the crowd that just CAN NOT LOSE. Ahem, some of my co-workers got a smidge out of control with their decorations...

Can you guess which desk won the competition? Notice the tailgate snacks behind the giant blow-up LSU Tiger... Did I mention there was NO prize for this particular competition???

Some people...