It's Chips and Salsa Time!

In honor of Cinco de Mayo (a.k.a Drinko de Mayo) here's my AWARD-WINNING salsa recipe: 

Ginger's White Girl Salsa

Add these ingredients to a food processor:

2 cans of diced tomatoes (I use Hunt's Diced Fire Roasted canned tomatoes)
2 chopped garlic cloves
about half a bunch of cilantro, chopped
the juice from 1 lime
2 jalapeno peppers
1 green serrano pepper
2 stalks of green onions
salt and pepper to taste (I always use sea salt)

Blend and enjoy!
Side note:  More times than I care to mention, I have confused cilantro with parsley (insert dumb blond joke here) but it actually makes an interesting Italian/Mexican fusion salsa that can be used to make bruschetta appetizers.  Take thick slices of french or sourdough bread, drizzle with olive oil, spread "Italian Salsa" on top, top with mozzarella cheese and bake at 400-degrees for about 5-10 minutes or until cheese melts (don't let them burn!). 

My Sprout and Strawberries

It's a historic day for America and the world.  If you're looking for a reflective and meaningful blog about such events, please click here.  I'm proud to call Martha my friend and I truly love her blog.

If you'd like to continue into Ginger's land of happiness and sprinkles, please read on:

So, spring is here and I'm loving every minute of it.  Except the tornadoes, not loving that, but mostly everything else.  Especially the flowers.  Here in Georgia, unlike California, there are flowers, flowers everywhere.  Random purple flowers line the highways.  And no trash, again unlike Calfornia, because of the $1,000-plus fines given to people who decide to litter on the highways.

And look at this pretty bloom I discovered recently:

For some reason, it seems that the kids tend to "grow like weeds" during the springtime. Is it all the sunshine and fresh air?  Not sure, but our clothing allowance is maxed because of all the new shoes and new clothes needed to keep up with our growing kiddos.

Another great thing about spring...STRAWBERRIES!! 

I came across this yummy recipe (in my People magazine of all places!) - see below - and tried it out.  Grant and I gobbled these up but my Miss Picky gave these the "sad face" rating.  Poor Sienna, she really doesn't like strawberries.  In fact, it was about this time last year she told Bill she'd rather have a spanking than eat a strawberry. 

The conversation went something like this:

Bill:  "Sienna, eat those now.  You have to try a bite."

Sienna gets up, grabs Bill's hand, looks him square in the eyes and says: "Let's go upstairs." Meaning, let's just get this spanking business over with because there is no way I'm going to eat those strawberries.

Man, I love that girl. 

Anyway, if you like strawberries, give this recipe a try.  Great for mid-week breakfast or as an addition to your next tea party.

Strawberries and Cream Mini Muffins

** a mini muffin pan is required (I used my Pampered Chef one, yay!)

1	cup strawberries, slightly under-ripe, diced into ¼" pieces
1	squeeze of lemon juice
1	cup flour
½	cup sugar
1	tsp baking powder
¼	cup vegetable oil
⅓	cup sour cream
1	tsp vanilla extract
1	large egg
1	tsp powdered sugar

1) Preheat oven to 400 deg. Line a 24-cup mini muffin tin with paper baking cups.

2) Put diced strawberries into a bowl, spritz lemon juice on them and stir gently to combine.

3) In a medium-size bowl, stir together flour, sugar and baking powder.

4) In a small bowl, beat together oil, sour cream, vanilla and egg. Pour mixture over dry ingredients, stirring to combine with a wooden spoon. Fold in strawberries.

5) Divide batter evenly among the paper cups in the mini-muffin tin. Bake for 12 to 14 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean.

6) Place tin on a wire rack and leave for 5 minutes. Take out the muffins and continue cooling them in the paper cups on the wire rack. When the muffins are completely cool, place the powdered sugar in a small sieve. Shake sieve lightly to dust the muffins with sugar.

Happy Spring!

Georgia On My Mind

It’s countdown time.  We only have a month and a half left here in Georgia.  It’s official: graduation date set, airplane tickets bought, movers scheduled.  As with most goodbyes, it’s bittersweet.  After being here for four months, we are finally getting comfortable.  A fun network of friends, a great church, we know how to get around town, which dentists to avoid, you know, all the things taken for granted when you’re settled somewhere for a long period of time.  My heart hesitates at having to start the whole process over again so soon.  And mostly, I’m sad to say goodbye to my “Georgia vacation” (the term I have affectionately given our season in Georgia).  It’s been a rejuvenating and refreshing time for our family. 

Here’s what I’ll miss about Georgia:

1.       The best BBQ ever!

2.       Southern drawls and y’alls

3.       The sassy locals

4.       Historic homes and sprawling lawns

5.       Awesome rainstorms

6.       Beautiful sunsets

7.       Warm rain

8.       The multitude of flowers, trees and all the shades of green

9.       The local parks

Here’s what I won’t miss:

1.       Tornado watches and warnings

2.       Tailgating.  And I don’t mean getting tipsy before a football game.  I mean someone riding your tail on the highway.  Forget Meth, tailgating is Georgia’s biggest problem!

3.       Humidity and its nasty side effects

4.       FRIZZY HAIR (see above!)

5.       Two showers a day (again, see above)

6.       Bugs, bees and snakes

7.       Allergies and sinus infections

I know another adventure awaits us, with a new set of challenges and victories.   In the meantime, I’m going to enjoy my last few weeks as a Southern Belle.

 

Saturday Craziness

Here’s a look at the inner sanctum of my life…

It’s Saturday morning, Bill is home and wrangling the kids and breakfast, the kids are running around the house singing and I’m holed up in my room.  I’ve had a bit of an attitude problem the past couple of days so there is an unspoken agreement between us that it’s best I have a “time-out” in my room to regain some sanity.  I'm wearing a green facial mask while I’m cleaning my bathroom with my yoga/pilates video playing in the background.  Multi-tasking at its best.  I really had the best intentions of finishing that video but I was interrupted about two minutes into it by the dog, the kids, the hubby, the dust bunnies under the bed (pick one).  I’ll get back to it. 

Meanwhile, my son is running around the house insisting he’s "the garbage man” looking like this:

Normal and well-adjusted might not run in the family.

Easter Traditions

I've been on an Easter crusade for a few years now.  It's the most important holiday of our faith and yet it seems like it gets glossed over in the mix of Easter egg hunts, baskets and chocolate (don't get me wrong, I have NOTHING against chocolate bunnies) and it's one of my favorite holidays so I really like to hype it up.  Anyway, while forming our family traditions it was important to me, more so than any other holiday, to keep bringing it back to the true meaning of the day.  

When the kids wake up on Easter morning, we hunt down the "Resurrection Eggs" (available at most Christian bookstores) along with some candy-filled eggs and take turns opening and discussing the items in the Resurrection Eggs (all items relate back to the Easter story).  The kids are at the perfect age for this and really love doing it. Then the kids and I head into the kitchen and prepare this yummy breakfast treat.  It's a fun and meaningful tradition to add to your Easter celebrations (and super easy!). 


"Jesus Is Risen" Rolls 


1 can refrigerated biscuits, croissants, or breadsticks
About 8 large marshmallows
3 tbsp melted butter 
1/3 cup sugar
1 tbsp cinnamon

Combine sugar and cinnamon in a bowl. Shape and flatten each biscuit into a circle.  Place a marshmallow in the center of the circle and pinch the dough around the marshmallow.  Roll the marshmallow-filled rolls into a round ball, making sure to seal the seams well. Dip the balls into the melted butter and then roll into the cinnamon mixture. 


Place the rolls on a baking sheet with the pinched seams down.  Bake the rolls at 350 degrees for 12 to 15 minutes or until lightly brown.  Cool on a wire rack.  


While the rolls bake, I spend the time talking to the kids about the hope we have in Him.  Then we eat the rolls and celebrate that Christ's tomb was hollow (empty) just like these rolls are now hollow.  


May you have a truly blessed Easter holiday! 

A Girl, The Open Road, and Bob & Larry

I love to listen to music while I'm driving. I sing, I cry, I meditate, sometimes I have dance parties....it all depends on my mood and the music. I think I might be indirectly passing this passion along to the kids because it's not uncommon to find us all singing "Super Trooper" at the top of our lungs while driving to school.  Hey, don't knock it until you try it!  It's a great mood-booster, especially on dreary Monday mornings. 

Anyway, here's what's in the six disc changer in the blue car right now:

1) Third Day Move
2) Adele 21
3) Carrie Underwood Play On
4) Mamma Mia!  (Original Broadway Cast Album)
5) (I'm slightly embarrassed to admit this one...) High School Musical
6) Veggie Tales Bob & Larry Sing the 80s


I almost laugh when I see this list because it's so random and varied but it's a perfect description of who I am, where I am in life, and (since I'm driving) where I'm going. 

Tour of Homes 2011

The historic homes in this area are absolutely charming.  Sun rooms, large porches, shutters, white rocking chairs, sprawling green lawns, tire swings hanging from huge old trees...I love all of it! In fact, I've even told Bill that we should retire here (quite the change from the last time we were here, although summer hasn't hit yet!).  

I went on a Tour of Homes at Fort Benning a few weeks ago and had a great time walking through the variety of houses on post.  I appreciate how people choose to decorate their homes and it was fun to see the modern (i.e. mostly the kitchens) combined with the somewhat historic (i.e. huge wooden staircases and banister, servant quarters, etc.).  I didn't feel comfortable taking photos of the inside of the homes since it's someone's private area but I will share the photos of the outside so you can get a feel for beauty of the homes. 

Of course, my favorite house on post is Riverside, previously a working plantation and now the home of the Commanding General.  It is a huge, beautiful home (over 6,000 sq.ft. with 5 bedrooms, 7 fireplaces, 5 baths, and of course, a powder room, all sitting on a 13-acre "lawn") and we kept making jokes that someday we'd live there.  See, don't I already look at home here? 

On a side note, I look like a wet mop because - in classic Georgia style - it poured on us as we were walking back to our car from one of the stops, and then immediately after the sun came out. 

No mirrors involved here, this is really a long hallway of doors and rooms all connected together

During my time here in Columbus, I found a very sweet group of ladies to scrapbook with (more on them later) and one of the ladies, Sandra, hosted a scrapbooking retreat at her home this past weekend.  I couldn't attend the scrapbooking retreat (my aunt and uncle were visiting) but my aunt and I did stop by and Sandra (who is an amazing and very godly woman, by the way) gave us a detailed and intimate tour of her home.  Her stories were truly inspiring and we had a lovely time with her.  It was so sweet of her to take the time to show us around her home.  I'll never forget my afternoon at "Ridgewood."

This is the back of her home and part of her yard

Me, Sandra, and my Aunt Linda, in Sandra's garden - all smiles on a sunny day!!

As you can see, I'm starting to fall in love with Georgia, the history and the people!