The Graduate

Sam had his graduation ceremony last night.

Here is a handsome picture of our boy.

In a few short months he is off to college.

Sniff, Sniff

I always get teary-eyed at Pomp and Circumstance

and have had that song in my head all morning.

It was a good night!

To say the least, we are very proud.

watercolor flowers

A couple of small pictures I painted from my flowers

They measure 4 X 4

Tigerlily

Pansy

House Pics 06-09-2010

Inside the house it looked like the builder had been working on heat ducts

A very important necessity, but not a good picture.

More Brick Up

One Side Done

Here is a Simple Pleasure:

Sitting under the Gazebo

with a Coffee Toffee Frosty

and the Newest Country Living

A very enjoyable hour

House Pics 06-08-2010

When we went to the house tonight

we were really surprised to see that the

drywall had been delivered.

It will be odd to not be able to see through the house pretty soon.

The brick is making its way up.

I love it!

Pictures around the house

This pot was so pretty I wanted to share it.  I love the blue lobelia.

And this one too.

Here is the Jim Shore Saint Francis that I found on vacation.

Here are the magnificent tiger lilys.

This guy is amazing to me.

How can they get their nest so smooth?

House Pics 6-7-10

The brick is started to get put on.

It has probably been a month and a half since I picked it out

so I had forgotten what it looked like.

I am pleasantly surprise with it.

It looks pretty around that window.

The house number brick.

The fireplace vent on the back.

and of course the fireplace .

Tom and I brought our chairs and were sitting in the sunroom.

What a wonderful breeze we had.

The partys over

This weekend we had Sam's graduation party.

We had a really nice turn out with many friends coming for food, drink and giving congratulations. 

I only got a couple of pictures because it was a busy time.

Here is Sam the graduate beside his cake.

It was a sour cream fudge cake with buttercream frosting.

It was so thick and fudgy and wonderful.

At the end I will include the recipe. 

Here is a close-up of the cake.

As you can tell the school colors are purple and gold.

I found some gold and purple pansies to top it off.

It turned out really pretty.

This was the menu:

Chicken-(ordered from a nearby restaurant)

Taco Bar

Baked Potato Bar

with all the fixins.

Fruit Salad

Oriental Chicken Salad (recipe to follow)

Taco Chips

Potato Chips

Pretzels

Cake

Drinks (pop, beer, water,Smirnoff Ice and Triple Black)

Everybody seemed to go away full and that's good.

Recipes:

Sour Cream Chocolate Cake

2 cups flour

2 cups sugar

1 cup water

3/4 cup sour cream

1/4 cup shortening

1 1/4 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp baking powder

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

4 oz melted unsweetened chocolate

Heat oven to 350 degrees

grease and flour two round pans

Beat all ingredients in a bowl on low speed scraping bowl often for 30 seconds.  Beat on high speed scraping bowl occasionally 3 minutes.

Pour into pans.

Bake layers 30 to 35 minutes

The tops of the cakes should spring back when slightly touched.

Cool layers 10 minutes then remove from pans.

Buttercream Frosting

1/2 cup shortening

4 cups powdered sugar

5 T water

1/2 tsp salt

1 t vanilla

1/2 t almond flavoring

1/4 t butter flavoring

Mix all together and spread on cooled cake.

Oriental Chicken Salad

1 bonless chicken breast cooked and cut up

2 T toasted sesame seeds

3 T toasted slivered almonds

1/2 head of cabbage, thinly sliced

1 pkg. Ramen noodles, crumbled

Dressing:

2 T sugar

1/4 t pepper

1/2 c canola oil

3 T white vinegar

1 pkg Ramen Noodle seasoning

Mix ingredients well and pour over salad and toss.