Men's wild game dinner

Last night, my husband attended a special event that our church holds each January--the men's wild game dinner.  It is promoted several weeks in advance to the men in our church so that they can begin inviting other men to attend. Since it's focus is on sharing the Gospel, they are encouraged to pray and seek out those who do not know the Lord.  Q said that over 100 men were in attendance, many of whom were visitors.

The men enjoyed a good time of feasting on lots of wild game--elk, deer, buffalo, geese, fish, boar...all cooked in different ways. Some choose to prepare their game in a stew or casserole--including lasagna!  After the meal, games are played.  One of the games they played this time was one where contestants had to cast a fishing line into a hula-hoop.  They also have everyone fill out an information card that is then put in for a drawing.  The grand prize is usually a shotgun.

At the end of the time together, men got to hear the Gospel, presented by a guest preacher. Q wasn't sure how many were saved, but he said that several raised their hands indicating that they had received Christ as Savior during the closing prayer.  Praise the Lord--this is what this event is all about!  

The above picture of Q was taken almost a year ago after his pheasant hunt with some men from church.  I thought it was appropriate to show this along with this post.  He looks so proud of his bird, doesn't he?  After taking the picture, he cleaned up the bird then cooked it for dinner.  He's quite the outdoorsmen--so opposite of me, but I love that about him.:)

Fun birthday cards

I made this card for Q's 30th birthday this past fall.  I first cut out a piece of the "happy birthday" paper and glued it onto the card.  Next, I cut out a square out of red card stock and decorated it using a smiley face hole punch.  I wrote, "to my sweet husband on his 30th birthday."  I used sticky foam to glue this square on so it looked like it was floating on the card. I also used the smiley face hole punch to decorate the envelope.  I then drew squiggly lines and hearts around the face.

Inside the card, I stamped balloons and wrote the numbers 3 and 0 on them to look like "30."  I really like this stamp that says "I Love You" on it--it's so pretty!

This is a cute little card I made for a young boy in our church.  I used the balloon and cake stamps dipped in black ink, then colored the images in using colored pencils.  I drew my own confetti and the wording on the card.  For the final touch, I glued on birthday scrapbook paper and ribbon to the bottom of the card.

Want s'more?

These s'mores bars are so delicious that you won't be satisfied with eating one--they are that good!  I made these for our teen bus team and they really loved them.  The recipe comes from a Taste of Home cookbook called, Fast Fixes with Mixes.  Enjoy these with some friends and some ice cold milk.

S'mores Bars

8-10 whole graham crackers

1 package fudge brownie mix (for 9" x 13" pan)

2 cups miniature marshmallows

1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

2/3 cup chopped peanuts

Arrange graham crackers in a single layer in a greased 9" x 13" baking pan.  Prepare the brownie batter according to package directions.  Spread over crackers.  Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean.  Sprinkle with marshmallows, chocolate chips and peanuts.  Bake 5 minutes longer or until marshmallows are slightly puffed and golden brown.  Cool on a wire rack before cutting. Yield:  2 dozen ( or 12 very large bars:)

A dignified monster

I just finished making this little monster out of corduroy and red cotton fabric.  Isn't he cute?  I made my own pattern, then went off to work on this fun project.  I had seen a couple little monsters at a popular clothing store and used those as a starting point.  I added my own twist on this by adding button eyes and a bow-tie.  I plan to give him away to one of the new babies in our family that will be arriving in the spring.  I'm using the same fabric to make a matching t-shirt and corduroy pants set.  It will be a fun gift to give when it's all done.

Chocolate chip cookie dough icecream

I finally did it--made my first batch of homemade ice cream!  Q bought me the ice cream maker bowl for my Kitchen Aid mixer for Christmas.  It is so easy to use and it makes gourmet-quality ice cream.  We had some friends over last night to try this awesome stuff--I think we all had a second helping in our ice cream parlor glasses.

Here are the recipes I used to make it.  The ice cream recipe came from the Kitchen Aid instruction booklet and the cookie dough recipe came from a cupcake recipe from Taste of Home.  The cookie dough was used as a creamy filling in the middle of the cupcakes.  It doesn't use eggs in it and still tastes like the real thing.  Even though this recipe is specific to the Kitchen Aid ice cream maker, you should be able to adjust the measurements and/or directions for your ice cream maker.

Step #1:  Make the cookie dough so that it has enough time to chill in the freezer for a while so that it's ready to be mixed in the ice cream.

Cookie Dough 

1/2 cup butter, softened

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

4 Tablespoons sugar

2/3 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup confectioners' sugar

1/2 cup miniature semisweet chocolate chips

In a small mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugars.  Beat in flour and confectioners' sugar until blended.  Fold in chocolate chips.  Roll into teaspoon size balls (I love this size because it's so good to bite into a big amount of dough in your ice cream.) and place them on a 9" x 13" pan that has been lined with wax paper.  Place in freezer while you chill and prepare the ice cream batter.

Step #2:  Make the ice cream!

French Vanilla Ice Cream (makes 2 quarts)

2 1/2 cups half-and-half

8 egg yolks

1 cup sugar

2 1/2 cups whipping cream

4 teaspoons vanilla

1/8 teaspoon salt

In medium saucepan over medium heat, heat half-and-half until very hot but not boiling, stirring often.  Remove from heat; set aside.

Place egg yolks and sugar in mixer bowl.  Attach bowl and wire whip to mixer.  Mix on low speed for about 30 seconds, or until well blended and slightly thickened.  Continuing on the same speed, very gradually add half-and-half; mix until blended.  Return half-and-half mixture to medium saucepan; cook over medium heat until small bubbles form around edge and mixture is steamy, stirring constantly.  Do not boil.  Transfer half-and-half mixture into large bowl; stir in whipping cream, vanilla, and salt. Cover and chill thoroughly, at least 8 hours.

Assemble and engage freeze bowl, dasher, and drive assembly.  Turn to STIR (speed 1).  Using a container with a spout, pour mixture into freeze bowl.  Continue on same speed for 15 to 20 minutes or until desired consistency.  Immediately transfer ice cream into serving dishes, or freeze in an airtight container.

Yield:  16 servings ( 1/2 cup per serving)

Step #3:  Mix the cookie dough into the ice cream.  You can usually add in things like chocolate chips during the last couple minutes of mixing, but since I made lots of cookie dough, I decided to mix it in after I put the ice cream into a separate air-tight plastic container.  After you mix it in, cover it well and place into the freezer to "ripen" for a few hours. This gives it time to get a little stiffer in consistency and for the flavors to mesh together.

Hope you enjoy this treat as much as we did!  There's absolutely no need to wait until summer to enjoy a frozen dessert.

Thinking of you....

Here's another card I made in the past that I thought I'd show today.  I made it for a family who had lost their son/brother unexpectedly during Christmas in 2007.  I used two rubber stamps to make this.  The first one I used was the flower stamp, dipped in a red ink pad.  I like to place a sheet of paper under cards so that I can stamp along the edges so that it looks like the pattern is continuous.  The other stamp I used was the leaves stamp and I used a green ink pad to stamp these right next to the flowers.  I used a black calligraphy pen to write "Thinking of you..."  Inside the card, I wrote my own message to the family.

The candy wars

Last night, Q and I came home after watching a couple very intense basketball games.  These games were the ending of a popular week at school called Homecoming.  You remember those days of dressing up in weird clothes and competing to have the best spirit in school, right?

This year's theme was "The Candy Wars."  The teams were Reese's (7th and 8th grades), Butterfinger (9th and 10th grades), and Snicker's (11th and 12th grades).  All week long at lunch or at pep rallies, the teams competed in some fun games to win points.  The students could also win candy bars to fill up their individual team jar if they showed great spirit. One of our school parents manages a Chick-fil-a restaurant and we were able to add on a little more competition there. Each student was given blue tickets to pass out to family and friends.  When you gave a blue ticket to the cashier at Chick-fil-a, the school earned 20% of the profits, but the student also earned points for their team.  The elementary also competed in this.  It was a neat way to fundraise and raise student body spirit.

Each day also represented a certain dress up day and the students could earn points for their team that way. Since we didn't have school on Monday, the week began with a team color day on Tuesday; formal day on Wednesday (the students got to eat at a surprise restaurant location for lunch!); paper bag day on Thursday and School colors day (navy, silver and white) on Friday.

The students had fun all week long playing games, creating team posters and coming up with the craziest costumes--especially for paper bag day! I loved the hats, ties and even a Batman mask all made out of paper bags.  We have some pretty creative students.:)

During the games last night, smoothies and Chick-fil-a meals were offered at the snack shop. Between games and half time, numbers on tickets were called out for many to earn a free little cow that had a coupon for a free meal at Chick-fil-a.  We had a great time although our team did not win.  The guys' game was very intense and close, up to the last few seconds.  There were some winners in the overall competition however, and that was the Reese's team--the seventh and eighth graders! (I love to see the younger kids win!) :)