My Favorite Books of 2013

I love reading.  When I get wrapped up in a good book I become a bad mother and wife. My mom has even told me that I am not allowed to read when we visit each other because I ignore her.  In 2013 my goal was to read 100 books, unfortunately, I was only able to read 91.  I want to share with you a few of my favorites from last year (in no particular order).

Roam series by Kimbery Stedronsky

I am a fan of paranormal fiction and the Roam series was wonderful for me.  It is a very interesting and imaginative series, different from most paranormal books I've read.  West and Roam have seven lifetimes to protect her from evil and save the world.  West fails six times and the series picks up with them finding each other in the seventh.  This series is unique and I fell in love with it immediately.  I believe I read the entire series in a week.  

Inferno by Dan Brown

I love Dan Brown and have read all of his previous Robert Langdon books.  This book did not disappoint.  I have always been fascinated with Dante's Inferno so when I found out that the plot of Brown's next book was based on Dante's Inferno, I couldn't wait to read it.  Just like previous books in this series, Robert Langdon is on one huge mysterious adventure where he needs to decide who to trust before the world is forever damaged.

The Story of Beautiful Girl by Rachel Simon

The story takes place in 1968 and tells the story of a young white woman and an African American man who have been placed in the School for the Incurable and Feeble-Minded.  The story spans a 40-year time frame and tells of the seemingly unsurmountable obstacles these two go through for their extraordinary love.  Be prepared to shed some tears if you read this amazing book.

The Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon

Once I start reading and liking a book in a series, I must read them all in succession.  A friend of mine recommended the Outlander series to me and it has become one of my favorites of all time.  This series is a beautifully written, historical fiction work detailing an epic love story.  The time travel satisfies my love of fantasy and the love between Claire and Jamie is great for my need for romance.  The only downfall I have with this series is that the novels are LONG and at times Gabaldon's attention for detail can get a little boring.  I am excited about the fact that the Starz network is creating a series based on the novels.  I can't wait to see how the tv show compares to the books.  I highly recommend this series to any fan of historical fiction and romance.

Crossfire series by Sylvia Day

For any of you who are fans of the Fifty Shades of Grey, the Crossfire series will be perfect for you.  I'm kind of ashamed to admit it, but I am a sucker for smutty books and this one fits into that category.  The love story between the two main characters, Eva & Gideon, who are both flawed and damaged, is very hot and steamy.  Day also tells about both of their pasts which come back to haunt them as they move forward to their future.  If you are a fan of the hot and steamy with a decent story line, this series is for you.  

The Blackdagger Brotherhood series by J.R. Ward

I am also a huge fan of vampires which is why the Blackdagger Brotherhood series is probably one of my favorite series ever.  It is about a brotherhood of vampires who work together to protect the world from their enemies in the Lessing society.  Each book is about a different sexy vampire brother,  the woman he loves and the brotherhood's fight with the lessing society.  These books are perfect for the vampire and paranormal romance lover, like me.  

If you take my recommendations and read any of these books I'd love to hear what you think about them.

Renee

Brown Sugar Glazed Pork Roast

Last weekend when I gave my guys the options for the weekly dinner menu they all voted for the pork roast to be their first meal of the week.  I must admit I'm not a huge pork lover, unless it is bacon or ham, so I wasn't as excited about this meal as the guys were.

  One thing that did get me excited about this meal was that it is a crockpot meal which meant less work for Mommy.  I don't have many crockpot recipes, but when I find one that is good I cook it as often as possible.  

Even though I'm not a huge pork lover, this one makes the cut for me because it is really good.  The caramelized outer layer is delicious.  I love the flavor from the glaze.  It isn't too sweet, just enough.  RJ really liked it, he kept asking for more of the bbq ribs??

One change I made from the recipe I found on Laura's Sweet Spot was that I cooked the roast in chicken stock instead of water.  Emeril always says water has no flavor so I figured I should cook the roast in something that will add to the flavor.  

If you decide to make this, I hope you enjoy it as much as my guys did.

Ingredients:

2 pounds pork tenderloin

1 teaspoon ground sage

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1 clove garlic, crushed

1/2 cup chicken stock

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 tablespoon cornstarch

1/4 cup balsamic vinegar

1/2 cup water

2 tablespoons soy sauce

Instructions:

Mix together the seasonings:  sage, salt, pepper and garlic.  Rub over tenderloin.  Place chicken stock in crock pot.  Place tenderloin in crock pot.  Cook on low for 6-8 hours.  About an hour before roast is done mix ingredients for glaze in a small sauce pan:  brown sugar, cornstarch, balsamic vinegar, water and soy sauce.  Heat over medium and stir until thickens, about 4 minutes.  When roast is finished cooking, remove from crock pot and place on aluminum lined baking sheet.  Brush roast with glaze and put under broiler for a few minutes until caramelized glaze is achieved.  Brush roast 2-3 times while under broiler.  Serve with glaze on the side.  

Renee

Honey Cornbread Muffins

My family loves cornbread and I make it for them quite often.  I just pull out my box of Jiffy and tada, cornbread!!

One day I was surfing Pinterest and I ran across this great looking recipe for honey cornbread muffins on Relativetaste.  I know so many people who make their cornbread from scratch so I figured I give it a try.  

I was pleasantly surprised, not only were they easy to make, but they tasted great also.  The recipe called for paper liners, but I didn't use liners.  I just sprayed my muffin tin with Baker's Joy and that worked out fine.  

I told Hubby that this recipe was good enough for me to stop using my Jiffy and he said "I hope so".  So I guess he liked them too.  :-)

Ingredients:

• 1 cup yellow cornmeal
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup milk
• 2 large eggs
• 1/2 stick butter, melted
• 1/4 cup honey

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.  In a large bowl, mix the cornmeal, flour, baking powder, sugar and salt.  In another bowl, whisk together the milk, eggs, butter and honey.  Add the wet ingredients to the dry ones and stir until just mixed.  Place muffin paper liners in a 12-cup muffin tin.  Evenly divide the cornbread mixture into the papers.  Bake for 15 minutes, until golden.  

Renee

Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

My parents spent Christmas with us again this year so I had to make one of my dad's favorite cookies, oatmeal raisin.  

Doesn't the cookie dough look yummy!!  

Hubby also loves oatmeal raisin cookies and it was very comical watching their playful quarrels about who I actually made the cookies for.  

One thing I started doing after I made this batch of cookies was using parchment paper.  This was my first time using it and I promise I will never make cookies without parchment paper ever again.  

The cookies just slid off the baking sheet.  

In addition to the oatmeal raisin cookies, I made 4 other types of cookies for my daddy, the cookie monster!  I will share those recipes with you later.

We were hoping we would get a little snow Christmas day like we did last year.  Unfortunately, it was just really cold so we enjoyed our cookies in front of the fire.  

I have accumulated quite the collection of Christmas tins.  They really came in handy this year with five different types of cookies to store away.   

I hope if you enjoy oatmeal raisin cookies, that you will make these cookies for yourself and your family.

Oatmeal Raisin Cookie Recipe

Renee

Saints vs. Seahawks - Who Dat Baby!!

I am going to have butterflies in my stomach all day as I await the Saints vs. Seahawks playoff game at 3:35 CST.  My Saints have made it to a second round playoff game and the entire Who Dat Nation will be anxiously watching this event.  

In addition to a win, I am looking forward to seeing my favorite player, Jimmy Graham, make some big plays.  

Whatever happens, I love my Saints and they have given us another great season of football.  We really don't want it to end yet so we are lighting our candles, saying our prayers and making our gris gris in order for us to beat the Seahawks today!!

Our boys are the underdogs in this game, but win or loose our fans will be behind them 100%!!!!

Renee

Proud Member of the Who Dat Nation!

Beef Tenderloin Bruschetta

On the rare occasion that Hubby and I get to go out we enjoy going to Winewood Grill here in Texas.  The atmosphere, food and service are all wonderful.  One of our favorite menu items is their beef tenderloin bruschetta.  

It is on the appetizer menu at Winewood, but it is so good I think it would be great as a main course.  

You can't imagine how excited I wast to find the recipe in a local magazine. I couldn't wait to give it a try.  

I decided to make them for lunch the Saturday before Christmas and everyone really enjoyed them.  

The meat is so tender and when all the different flavors come together it is like a party in your mouth!  The only variation to the original recipe was that I used my own homemade french bread instead of a store bought baguette.  

If you are ever in the Dallas area, I highly recommend trying Winewood.  If a trip to the Big D is not in your near future then you should definitely give this recipe a try instead.  It is a real winner.

Renee

Recipe
1 small baguette, cut into slices
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 lb. beef tenderloin, sliced thin
1 teaspoonful salt
1/2 teaspoonful pepper
1 cup arugula
basil pesto
tomato jam*

Tomato Jam*
3 large tomatoes, seeded and cubed
1 tablespoon chopped red onion
1/4 cup balsalmic vinegar
1/2 cup red wine vinegar
2 tablespoon mixed herbs, chopped
1/3 cup sugar
1 teaspoonful salt
1 teaspoonful pepper

Place all ingredients into saucepan, slowly simmer for 30 minutes or until thick.  Cool and stir in refridgerator until needed.

Balsalmic Syrup**
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 cup balsalmic vinegar

Place all ingredients in small saucepan, simmer over low heat.  Reduce until thick.  Cool and store in refridgeratior until needed.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Arrange baguette slices on baking sheet and drizzle lightly with 1 tablespoonful of olive oil.  Toast in oven for 3-4 minutes.
Season tenderloin slices with salt and pepper and sauté in pan over high heat.  Sauté until just cooked through and set aside.
In another pan heat remaining olive oil over medium heat and sauté arugula until just wilted.
Top each baguette with 1 teaspoonful of basil pesto, 1 teaspoonful tomato jam and 1/2 teaspoonful wilted arugula.  Then drizzle lightly with balsamic syrup**.

Renee

Welcome 2014!

Happy New Year to everyone!! At the end of 2013 I turned the big '40' and I've decided to make some positive changes in my life.  One of those changes will be to put forth more effort on my blog.  I really do enjoy writing new posts so I promised myself that I will blog on a regular basis.

My last post was from April 2013 and a lot has happened since then.  One of the best was a summer trip to my hometown, New Orleans.  The boys and I had a wonderful time and RJ celebrated his 5th birthday there with all of his cousins.  It took him FOREVER to decide on a theme, but he finally settled on Curious George.

I must admit I had a lot of fun creating the decorations for this party.  It took a lot of time, but I think for a DIY party everything looked great.  The Curious George balloon wall was a big hit.   RJ didn't want to give up his George stuffed animal until the last minute.  I'm not sure what he thought I was going to do with it, but as you can see he finally gave it up.

I loved the kite strings with all the baby pictures of RJ.  I really wanted lots of pictures of him from birth to 5 years and this worked out well.  I was able to incorporate his pictures into the design and it looked more put together than a wall of pictures.

I cut out a large R and 5 out of an old cardboard box that I receive my wine of the month in.  With 2 young boys, you must have your "Mommy Juice" on a regular :-)  I cut out tons of red, yellow and blue crepe paper and glued them to the cardboard.

I set up a table for the gift bags and a Curious George book for our guests to sign and leave notes for RJ.

We had chocolate covered bananas, cupcakes and chocolate covered marshmallows for all of our little monkey friends.

The majority of our party took place outside.  My mother went dumpster diving and found several crates that we used to make a table and chairs for the kiddos to color their Curious George pictures on.  

We also had a large sheet of paper for the kids to do finger painting on.  My dad wasn't too thrilled about this because he had a lot of paint to clean off his house the next day.  Sorry Daddy :-)  In addition we had a pool in the backyard that kept the kids and adults quite busy.

Attached to the house I had my favorite decoration, a balloon banner.  It took me two days to blow up all those balloons, but it was by far my favorite.  

At the end of the party we had a Curious George piñata filled with candy and toys.  The kids all had a blast taking turns hitting poor George. 

RJ had a great time, he asks me on a regular basis what we are doing for his 6th birthday party!!  Hope you enjoy the pictures as much as we enjoyed the party.

Renee