Homemade Corn Tortillas

Today I made homemade tortillas for the first time.

I used The Homesick Texan's recipe from her new cookbook.

 

I have been so excited to use this tortilla press I borrowed from my mom.

Masa balls.

My first tortilla!!!

They were smaller than what I expected. At first I didn't think they would be flexible enough to fold over for tacos; but as I kept stacking the finished ones under this towel, the steam made them more pliable. 

One of my tacos. I didn't get enough fixins on this one. Although the tortillas are small, they are dense, and so require lots of fixins.

Josh's lunch tacos for tomorrow, doused with his beloved Cholula sauce. 

P.S. I'm so into my hair today. It's so calm.

Christmas!

OMG I had the best Christmas ever. It was like old times, only better because my husband showed up for lunch. I am so full of the Christmas spirit, and so ready to go out in search of heavily discounted wrapping paper come morning.

If you look very closely you can see me in the blue Christmas ball. I'm wearing the boots of my dreams.

 

Christmas lunch was so good this year. We had roast beef, mashed potatoes, broccoli casserole, homegrown salad, and rolls. It was perfection.

 

The garnish, as promised. Rosemary sprigs from Mom's backyard + cranberries from Thanksgiving.

 

Let me just say, Grandma Forga knows a Southern Living cake when she sees one. 

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night. :)

White Christmas Eve

Today I've been enjoying Christmas Eve by making a Southern Living cake for our dessert tomorrow. I'm home alone today. Josh is spending Christmas Eve in Fordyce with his dad & brother. I didn't go with him this year because I've been missing spending Christmas morning at my mom's house. We'll be reunited tomorrow at lunchtime. For now I've been enjoying the solitude and the all-day cooking project. And the leftover shrimp.

 

Roscoe and the cardinal.

Hello!

Our outside friend Ineko. AKA "Sneaky Ineaky."

I like to juice my lemons with this old-timey thing.

Love me some cake batter.

Lemon filling.

Fluffy white frosting.

Pre-frosting.

Pre-coconut.

And done.

Stay tuned for the garnish!

Winter Solstice Party '11

Yesterday evening, my mom hosted a lovely winter solstice party. (Like a Christmas party where you look at the moon.) 

Her house looked amazing, and there was a lot of seriously delicious food.

This is the dining room, where a lot of the food was. And there's Mom getting a shot of the shrimp.

The shrimp... This shrimp is my favorite. Mom has been making it for Christmas parties since I was a little kid. They're coated with olive oil and seasonings.

The beautiful and delicious citrus salad with avocado. I used to be leery of this, but fortunately for me I have come around. And I did my deviled eggs again as you can see in the background. Not pictured but amazing were: Becky's artichoke dip, Lucy's salad with pecans/craisins/feta, Amber's reuben dip, Morgan's reindeer balls, and Jodi's salmon/pesto dip. 

Here's me with my drink and my curly hair.

And here's my whole outfit.

Christmas Cookies

Mom and I have been making Christmas cookies for the last two days.

We used recipes from my grandma's old Christmas cookie booklet. 

 

Cherry-winks.

Pinwheel cookies.

Cookie press win.

Cookie press fail.

 

We made tamales too. 

While I was over at my mom's yesterday, Josh was wrapping presents. This is what I came home to. 

So, a few weeks ago I found these vintage cookie tins at a local thrift store.

(Closeup of cuteness.)

Anyway, I'm seriously in love with these.

They're just perfect for our retro-fabulous cookies!

 

Love the sides.

Cherry-winks, pinwheels, icebox with pecans.

 

Cacoons, spritz.

 

Merry Christmas!!!

Quote of the Day: 12/4/11

Josh: Blah blah blah blah blah...

Me: I need to eat or I'm gonna kill you.

Don't get in my way when I'm hungry.

Thanksgiving 2011

Well, now that I'm up from my Thanksgiving nap, I think I'll do a little Thanksgiving blogging...

 

These are the pies I made. Apple and pecan.

 

Mom made a salad using lettuce that she grew. I want more.

 

Josh made the turkey. It was tryptophan-tastic.

 

 

We named our turkey "Fowl Roker" because we used Al Roker's grilled turkey recipe. Haha.

 

Sweet potatoes, cranberry salad like Grandma used to make, Pioneer Woman corn & wild rice casserole, dressing, KP's rice with deer sausage.

 

Pioneer Woman rolls, deviled eggs.

 

Josh waiting impatiently. He hadn't eaten since lunch the day before. (Savin' up.)

Wow, I have a lot to be thankful for. Especially my cute husband. :)

Quote of the Day

"For the first time in your life you're almost as sexy as I am."

~ Josh's dad to Josh