Nice Snow Shot

Mr. Heyer took this shot this morning from the Hall of Ad; gave me permission to post it.

A BIG & FABULOUS FOOD POST!!!! :-)

Yesterday on Sunday was a 'thrilling" day for me.  I LOVE the culinary arts, understatement.  Since the cookbook has been out, I haven't been in my kitchen NEARLY as much, but yesterday I was in it all day and it felt great!!!  Had the honor of having my family minus my mom who was sick, the wonderful Mr. and Mrs. Brian Davis and family, love them, they are GREAT!!!!. AND...friends from my old Texas stomping ground, a friend that I grew up with since 2nd or 3rd grade and her family who drove all the way up from East Texas, 5 hour drive,  that morning to make it to the dinner on time before heading to Armstrong Auditorium for Queen Elizabeth's royal Scot band that performed there last night.  What a great day!  LOVE this post, It's all about COOKING....FUN!!!  All of my people pics, except the two shown below, shot during the dinner are on my password protected site of www.royaltruecolours.com.

 I REALLY like this pic of my sister in law!  She looks fab!

Savannah Brown smiles after just arriving....probably happy to be out of the car after the 5 hour drive from East Texas.  Love this pic!  That's one of my favorite gals!....but I'm biased, I've been great friends with her mom since l was like 6 years old, so it's a given.  :-)  You know you're not 18 anymore when your friends child is older than you were when you met their mom!  :-)!

Ummm...long story short, I accidentally caught this potholder on fire...flames were coming from it, pic does not do it justice...had to pour water on it to put out flames.  Me and fire!  :-)

 Making crust for tiramisu cheesecake!

 Crust all done pressed in springform pan, and ready for the filling

 Preparing the cheesecake filling!....It was tiramisu flavored, so of course I had to put coffee liqueur in it!

 Grated chocolate to put on top of the cheesecake

Cheesecakes baking in oven.  Trick to keeping cakes moist, put pans of water under the cakes as they bake, shown, in the oven.

 The coffee liqueur used in the cheesecake.  I'm not a coffee fan, but yummy!

 My homemade finished tiramisu cheesecakes.  Was happy with them.  Also, Melissa Brown baked cookies shown.

 Tons of chicken breasts ready for the oven!  I used one of my own recipes that is featured in our cookbook, Cookbook of Culinary Elegance.  This chicken seems to be a fav of people.

 Added turkey bacon to chicken when chicken was about 15 minutes out from being done.

 I think I like taking "while cooking in the oven" pics!

 A close up the chicken all done.  YUMMY, and the Italian broccoli dish too.

 Chopping up fresh tomatoes for the side veggie dish.

 Moving things out and around in my formal dining room and kitchen in the above and below pics.

 The finished Italian broccoli dish!

 Oops out of sequence....sauteing tomatoes and garlic, and basil for the veggie dish.

Finally Winter Comes Back to Oklahoma!

Snow, shot taken from front door of Hall of Ad close to my desk.  (Was trying to get my car)  Much more has fallen since this shot was taken, roads are now completely covered.  My bro the weatherman :-) says we're suppose to end up with 4 or 5 inches.  Glad everyone except for me seems to be enjoying it.  :-)  I can't drive, without killing my car or myself, on this slick stuff.  :-)  Inconvenience!  :-)  Good thing my bro has 4 wheel drive and lets me ride with him on days like these.  Having family for neighbors definitely has it perks!

Another Blessing in the form of A GIFT!

On Monday of this week I was sitting at my desk in the Hall of Ad when J.A. came in with a gift bag.  I asked him who the gift was for assuming as receptionist I was suppose to hand it off to someone in the office, but to my surprise he said it was for me as a thank you gift for a party I had thrown like 6 months ago!!!...The funny is I then asked him who it was from, ha, ha, and he was like me!  Duh Carolyn!  Thanks J.  You are so kind.  It has found a permanent home on my entertainment center my by ostrich egg.  Like I've mentioned before, I am so blessed, friends seem to always spoil me with gifts, and it is true, when you give, the more you have.  If I didn't have friends my house would be way emptier than it is.  ha, ha!  The Proverb about showing yourself friendly to have friends is so true!  Thanks again!!!

Avocados, Rice Crisps, & Dogs! :-)

Since the cookbook came out there hasn't been a food post in awhile on my blog, so here is one small post!  This morning in a total rush I decided to quickly mash up some avocados and NOT make guac dip from them, but instead to try "different spices."  It turned out so yummy.  Now I will have to remember what and how much of what I threw in it.  Easy and so healthy of a dip.  To keep it healthy I ate it with all natural brown rice chips made from none other than brown rice!  I sometimes make my own, but this morning out of time it was store bought healthy chips time.  :-)

We think we MAY have inherited our neighbors two Great Pyrenees dogs.  Out neighbor with acreage besides ours put his house up for sale last month and we haven't seen him since.  We've noticed that the dogs have really been hanging out on our 10 acres more than usual, so the question is are they our dogs now?  :-)  Still not sure.

What a yawn this morning as I walked out of the door!  Adorable!

Super bowl Party 2013!

My fam hosted a superbowl party Sunday night.  It went fantastic.  It was open house between my house and my brother and sister in laws house.  (We're neighbors)  The theme was ethnic dinner...whatever background you are from is what dish you brought to add to the "all you can eat" smorgasbord of food!  My fam did brisket...Texan background.  :-)  We had Asian dishes, a Swiss dish, a Scottish dish, the list goes on!  ..and I baked a ton of American :-) cakes.  Great night, but what made it special was everyone in attendance!  We LOVED having them over!  ALL PICS are up on my password protected site:  WWW.ROYALTRUECOLOURS.COM

ABOVE:  Photo of Alec Brown, son of Conner and Melinda Brown!  He was saying "Cheese" in this pic.  Too cute!!!

 My brother and sister in law looking at something in my place

My younger student friends huddled around my ity bitty TV

Reniel Padua, a fabulous student, rolls out dough to make something.

I cheated and baked ALL of my cakes at the same time.  Was a lovely aroma mixed of chocolate, vanilla exc throughout my place. 

 My dad sliced the brisket for my mom and I.  He's much better at it, than we are!

 The Swiss dish made by Ariel Buckler

 Some of the food spread that fit on the counter top

 Conner Brown holds his son Alec

 Kyle Tremblay, Ariel Buckler, and Hannah Estebat are looking at something!

 Yours truly!

 Aimee Goulet and Elizabeth Blondeau chat on Liz's experience in Jerusalem.

 Friends enjoying food at the table in my place.

Moving to my brothers house....Ashlynn McLain at my brother and sister in laws house scoping out the desserts!  By the way, so many people came in Jeremiah shirts last night I almost went and put mine on.  I didn't get a pic of everyone present, there were more wearing them!

 My sister in laws spread at her house.

 People watching the game at my brother and sister in laws house.

 Andy McLain watching the game.

My brother's big TV.  This picture does NOT do it justice.  It's HUGE.  I was embarrassed for those at my place...my little dinky TV, ha, ha!

 Sonia avoids being shot on my camera so I told her I would take a photo a post a picture of her lovely hair!  :-)

Alec Brown made it over, with his mom, to my brother and sister in laws for dessert and to check out their fish tank and he kept us all entertained.  Who needs the super bowl commercials when Alec is around.  Smart attentive little boy!  On my favorite kid list!