Memories of my Mother-in-law...

Happy Birthday Grandma!

Today would have been her birthday and one of my favorite memories was coming to visit and she had made her famous Mint Chocolate Chip Meringue Cookies. So in memory of her, I give you....

Mint-Chocolate Chip Meringue Cookies

6 egg whites

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 1/2 cup white sugar

1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 275 degrees F.
2. Beat egg whites, salt, cream of tartar until very firm. While continuing to beat the egg whites, gradually add sugar and vanilla, beat until eggs whites will set up in stiff peaks. Gently fold in chocolate chips.
3. Drop by teaspoonfuls on pan. Bake 275 degrees for 25-30 minutes. They should only be lightly browned.

Happy Anniversary to the Chef's At the Pantry...

The Pantry Chef's Celebrated their 25th Wedding Anniversary Today....

And to Charleston we went...
It was uH.....okay - Nothing Special!



We left Myrtle Beach, stopped by Pawley's Island, (It was fantastic!!!!!!) we wish now we would have just spent the day there.




Anyway, left there.... went on down to Charleston. Battery Park was awesome for history stuff.
WE didn't go over to Fort Sumter or anywhere like that because we are taking the Scouts for an overnighter there in OCT. So we just stayed inland.








We went "Hyman's" Seafood Restaurant (rated #1), NOT IMPRESSED!!!!! only made TO (note: not through) the apps.... one taste and we were done.....very disappointed and expensive.... so we We then walked through a awesome open air market and had an excellent Chocolate Eclair at a little Bakery there. We looked around the area for another place to eat, but nothing good struck our fancy...










So we left early and came back to Capt. Benjamin's in N. Myrtle Beach for Calabash. We had a great time just simply because we love spending time together exploring new things,


but we have decided that we are due for another foreign affair... so a trip to the Swiss Alps will be our next adventure.

Remembering 9-11...

That day is still so real and raw in my heart and mind. I will never forget that day and how blessed my family and I am to be here today. There is not a day that goes by that I don't thank my Heavenly Father for that continual prompting and warnings that he made so clear to us those few months leading up to our not going to NYC on that day. I am so grateful for an willing and obedient husband that also is willing to listen to the spirit of the Lord. We have been truly blessed!!!!

"Around The World in Eighty Day" - First Week - England

For our First Cooking Challenge we choose "Yorkshire Pudding". Yorkshire Puddings are one of the major components of the National Dish of England which is Roast Beef served with two Vegetable sides and Yorkshire Puddings. The recipe is very simple and if made correctly, should be well-risen, golden brown with a crisp exterior and soft middles when served fresh from the oven.


You need:
4 large eggs
Equal quantity of milk to eggs
Equal quantity flour to eggs
Pinch of salt
6 teaspoons vegetable oil or drippings
2 tablespoons of cold ice water


Heat the oven to 425*. Pour the eggs and milk into a large mixing bowl and add the pinch of salt. Mix thoroughly with an mixer, blender or whisk. Let to stand for 10 minutes.

Gradually sieve flour into the milk and egg mixture, again using an mixer, blender or whisk to create a lump free batter resembling thick cream.

Let the batter to rest for minimum of 30 minutes, longer if possible.

Add ½tsp vegetable oil in 12-hole muffin tin and heat in the oven until the oil is smoking. Give the batter another good whisk adding 2 tbsps of cold water and fill a third of each section of the tin with batter and return quickly to the oven.

Leave to cook until golden brown approx 20 minutes. Repeat the last step again until all the batter is used up.




If anyone would like to join us in our Challenge "Around the World in Eighty Days" next week we will be in Paris, France.

New......... "From The Pantry" Challenge Week #35

Good Morning ALL!.....

Because we have been craving Chocolate pudding at our house AND I wanted to do a challenge with a little different flair this week... I decided it would be fun to do a Chocolate Pudding Challenge....Hope you all enjoy as much as we do!

Your Challenge is to create a monochromatic colored LO using only the pudding (Brown-your choice) and the whipped cream (white). You may add one spot of red, if you like cherries. Also, I challenge you to use the Dry Debossing Technique some where on your page, either as background, accents or embellishments. Keep in mind that if you don't have a brass plate you can use anything that will make an indent or pattern.

mmmmmmmm........ Chocolate Pudding!

1 Cup sugar
1/2 Cup cocoa powder
1/4 Cup cornstarch
1/4 tsp. salt
1 (12 oz) can evaporated milk
2 1/2 cups half & half
1 tsp. vanilla extract

In a heavy bottomed saucepan, combine all of the dry ingredients and stir. Over medium heat, gradually add the milk and half & half, stirring constantly. Bring to a low boil over medium heat. Continue at low boil, stirring constantly for 3-4 minutes or until thickened. Remove from stove and add the vanilla, stirring constantly to blend. Pour into serving bowls and chill uncovered. Pudding can be enjoyed warm or cold. Top with whipped cream and chocolate sprinkles for an extra treat.


Please upload your layout using Keywords....... SCS52WK35

You can view the gallery...... Here

Here is My Sample..... Wilderness Pals!

Fall is in the Air....??????

Maybe......! I am not sure yet. It's hard to tell here is South Carolina. But I felt like it was time for a fun fall card anyway. The Challenge was to use FUN FOAM and texture pates to create a stamp to stamp a background with. Here is my card.....

Remembering My DaD!

Happy Birthday DAD.....

Experimenting in the Pantry Again....

I had this wild idea to take my favorite dish of Bacon Wrapped Scallops & my favorite recipe of Pasta Alfredo and combine them together for a new found friend, AND this is what I came up with...

Scallop & Bacon Alfredo

serves 2-4

1/4 cup butter
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 onion (diced)
1 clove garlic, (crushed)
1 1/2 cups freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
10-15 large Scallops
1/2 lb. of bacon (diced)
2-4 cups of Favorite Pasta (cooked)

In a medium sauce pan over medium heat add butter, Bacon and onion. Cook until bacon is done and onion is tender. Add Cream, Garlic, cheese, stir and reduce until it will coat and stick to a spoon when stirred. Add Scallops to sauce and turn slowly every two minutes until scallops are done. (about 4-6 minutes on each side depending on how large the scallops are) Drain Pasta and place in serving bowl, Pour Scallop Alfredo mixture over warm Pasta, Sprinkle with fresh parsley and serve...

Challenge of the Day...

Today our "Limited Supply" challenge at SCS was to use our 1 1/2 inch scraps and create a scrapling. I had a lot of fun putting these together and it makes for a great use of my large supply of scraps.

Also I was thinking that these scraplings would make great card candy or scrapbook page accents...

Time for a new look!

Fall is here.... Well, at least it should be? But hey..... I live at the beach now!



Anyway, I have been thinking that my blog needs a new FALL look... so I will be making some changes again.



Change is good right???????????

All Spread out and ready to go....

Okay.... I have spread my wings!

Here is my new Cooking Blog......

My need for More Cooking Space....

I have been thinking more and more about the movie "Julie & Julia" and I was chatting online with some of my friends and they were telling me about this great website ....Barefoot Bloggers , where a bunch of people have grouped together to cook with the Barefoot Contessa from the food network .... Great fun!

While I was there I was introduced to another great food site called Foodbuzz.com. I joined both!!!!

And now I have come to understand that I need a blog for just my food passion....

Don't we need a blog for everything....?????????

"Back to School" - For Personal Enrichment!

Good Morning Ladies....

I am off to take Hubby to work and then shopping for the menu items on tonight's dinner for our "Back to School" night for our Personal Enrichment (Homemaking) activity at the church. They asked me to be in charge of the food and to teach the mini-lesson on nutritious Lunches for kids and family. In putting my thought together for all of this, I thought it would be fun to take fun and regular sandwiches that we make for our kids and gourmet them up a bit...

SO, the menu includes three different sandwiches made with those new little round flat sandwich bread from Arnold's Bakery (you can by them at Sam's Club and Walmart):

" Mozzarella Chicken Caprese"
*Bread
*Lettuce
*Tomato
*Mozz Cheese slice
*Fresh Basil
*grilled chicken
*mayo & olive oil

"Twisted Club"
*Bread
*Ham
*Cheddar Cheese slice
*Apple
*Bacon
*Lettuce
*Mayo

"Chicken Harvest"
*Bread
*Chicken Salad
*cucumber
*dried cranberries
*sprouts
*lettuce

We are serving them on small plates in a brown paper bags, so I thought it would be fun to just have fresh fruit as the side dish, so there will be a wedge of watermelon, thin slice of cantaloupe and a small bunch of grapes or kiwi. Also for dessert, we are serving gourmet S'mores and Ice Cream. The Gourmet S'mores are really easy and fun too.

All you do for them is make a chocolate cheese ball, spread small amount on a quarter of a graham cracker, top with three or four mini marshmallows or a smear of marshmallow fluff , place the other graham cracker quarter on top of the marshmallow and give it a light squeeze. Serve as a quick snack or with Ice Cream.

Since these are a my own recipes and I have never made any of them yet, you will all have to wait until tomorrow for pictures... I am sharing because they all sounded like JUST TO MUCH FUN not to share.... The 30 minute activity and lesson that I am going to present while we are eating is all about the economics and creative ideas for school lunches from home. And I thought it would be fun to start the evening out having everyone find a friend and sharing or trading half of their sandwich with that friend.

Early Morning Surprise....

With this sleep pattern of resting around the clock, I found myself wide awake at 5:00 am this morning and of course the dog also decided that he to needed a potty stop. SO out we went and I noticed that there was a new flower in my garden and I couldn't wait for the sun to rise so that it would open up it's little sunny blossom.... Here is what I found at 7:30!

It's all about a Movie...

Last night, Marty came home early from work and surprised me with movie tickets to go see "Julie & Julia". It's an Awesomely Fun Movie! We then split a salad and some crab dip by the lake at Joe's Crab Shack. So it was a good day!

But it got me to thinking about food and how fun it would be to cook my way through Julia's Cookbook just like the girl in the movie did... What do you think? Anybody want to join me..... We could start our own blog about it!

I'm Back! ...... Did Y'all miss me?

I'm Back..... Our Tastefully Simple National Conference was Awesome. We had a great time and gained some fantastic ideas, inspirational words and personal challenges that would work both in our personal lives and our businesses. The Keynote speaker was KIM DUKE - author of "Tickled Pink", her presentation was not the best but she did share several good and valid points on how to be a better "SALES DIVA". My favorite was the Guest Entertainer MIKE RAYBURN... IF you ever get a chance to see him, he is wonderful! I came away from his presentation so pumped and jazzed not only about myself but about all the possibilities that I have around me. I felt so liberated like the statue of Mary Tyler Moore (in honor of her and the Mary Tyler Moore Show) that stands on the corner of 7th and Nicolette Mall...



Also, with great hesitation... I want to share with you that inspite of all the awesome and wonderful things that I was able to enjoy, I came home to total and complete bed rest for the next week or two, after experiencing another minor heart attack on Thursday evening while I was at conference. I also learned that my condition may be a genetic condition that gets worse as I age. IT SUCKS TO GET OLD!!!!! The reason I share this with all of you, is not for sympathy, but for your prayers... as I start down that path of medical testing (AGAIN), may the doctors finally figure out what is wrong with me and may it not be what or as bad as the doctors in Minnesota have lead us to believe.

SO... with all that in mind, I will have lots of time to SCRAP, STAMP & CHAT this week and I am looking forward to a great VSBN!

P.S. I will post more pictures when I get some done...

Leaving for Minnesota...

I leave early in the morning for the Tastefully Simple National Conference. I feel excited and yet apprehensive at the same time. I will be good to take a break and I have never been to Minneapolis, so as you all know I am always up for a new adventure...

Where did the summer go?

Summer here feels like it is coming to a close, the tomatoes have stopped blooming, the flowers are gaining their seed pods and even the air has that touch of fall early in the mornings, EXCEPT it is still really hot during the days here. Go Figure.... The boys say it is still rainy in New England and they haven't had much of a summer. So I am glad I am here where I can draw strength from the sun and the ocean waves. It has been a great summer of beach bliss!!!! I still feel like I am on the never ending vacation....

"PINK WEEK" Fundraiser....

This year for our Breast Cancer Awareness "PINK WEEK" Party we are focusing on all the many gifts that we have been blessed with and in keeping with the theme and life of the party, my Tastefully Simple Team and I would like to offer you some chosen gifts from the heart. We will be donating 25% of our sales to the "Komen" & "Huntsmen" Breast Cancer Research Centers.

SUMMER ENCORE - $39.25

(Gift pack includes: Cool ‘n Creamy Cucumber Dip Mix, Berry Buckle Cake Mix, Cherry Honey Mustard Sauce, Mango Breeze Margarita Mix, Pink Grapefruit Cheese Ball Mix & a FREE mini Merlot Sauce)

Simple Traditions - $42.95
(Gift Pack includes: Perfect Potato Cheddar Soup Mix, Dried Tomato & Garlic Pesto Mix, Spinach & Herb Dip Mix, Nana's Apple Cake Mix, Bountiful Beer Bread Mix)

SUNSHINE FAVORITES - $59.99
(Gift pack includes: Baby Blue Cheese Dip Mix, Chocolate Bliss Cheese Ball Mix, Giddyup Guacamole Mix, Granola Goodness Jam Bar Mix, Green Tea Peppercorn Seasoning, Mango Salsa, Pizzeria Ball Mix, Pomegranate Blueberry Margarita Mix & your choose of one free Chiller.... Strawberry Sundae, White Mousse or Oh! My Chi)

The Perfect 10 -$75.99
(Gift pack includes: Absolutely Almond Pound Cake Mix, Bountiful Beer Bread Mix, Corn & Black Bean Salsa, Fiesta Party Dip Mix, Key Lime Cheese Ball Mix, Nana's Apple Cake Mix, Perfectly Potato Cheddar Soup Mix Value pack, Seasoned Salt, Spinach & Herb Dip Mix, "The Trio" Dip mixes.)

Enticing Meals - $99.99
(Gift pack Includes: Asian Zen Noodle & Sauce Mix, Corn & Black Bean Salsa, Dried Tomato & Garlic Pesto Mix, Everyday Grillin' Seasoning, "Everyday with Tastefully Simple" Recipe Book, Lemon Pepper Linguini & Clam Sauce Mix, Meyer Lemon Infused Oil, Onion Onion, Pasta & Pomodoro Sauce Mix, Perfect Parmesan Biscuit Mix, Seasoned Salt, Smoky Bacon Grill Sauce, "Warm from the Oven" Savory Cheese Dip Mix)

Bountiful Pantry - $199.99
(Gift Pack includes: Absolutely Almond Pound Cake Mix, Bacon Bacon, Balsamic & Basil Dipping Oil, Blue Aztec Chips, Bountiful Beer Bread Mix, Cinnamon Muffin Melt, Corn & Black Bean Salsa, Creamy Caramel Sauce,Dried Tomato & Garlic Pesto Mix, Fiesta Party Dip Mix, Garlic Garlic, Key Lime Cheese Ball Mix, Merlot Sauce, Nana's Apple Cake Mix, Oh! My Chi Drink Mix, Onion Onion, Perfect Parmesan Biscuit Mix,Perfectly Potato Cheddar Soup Mix, Pomegranate Chipotle Sauce, Rhubarb Strawberry Fruit Spread, Savory Wheat Beer Bread Mix, Seasoned Salt, Spinach & Herb Dip Mix, Sweet Pepper Jalapeno Jam, Truffle Fudge Brownie Mix, Twisty Grahams, Vidalia Onion Dressing, "Warm from the Oven" Savory Cheese Dip Mix)

We accept Paypal, Credit/ Debit Cards and money orders. To view your cart and complete your order online click here....

or you can email me your order and/or any questions at anamarproductions@yahoo.com

Grandma's Birthday Challenge.....

It's Grandma's Birthday today!

Happy Birthday Grandma and in Grandma's honor, we want to do another Birthday Party Challenge... This year she has been thinking a lot about her heritage and "the way it use to be". She has shared some more wonderful stories with me...

SO My challenge to all of you is to use our favorite colors of Pine Green, True Blue and Soft Pink, (odd.... I know, but after I laid some combos out last night, they actually go real well together.) We would like you to include photos of family heritage or Family Get-Togethers.

In the past month, Grandma has been to her Daughter-in-law's funeral, An extended Family reunion on her side, Her immediate family get-together and this weekend they had the wedding reception of her Granddaughter, (My cousin just lost her mom and is the last grandchild to get married). Anyway, Grandma has had lots of time to reflect and admire the progress of her heritage.

The challenge will be open for Two weeks, ending July 25th, 2009 and then we will judge them. We decided that we would like to see two different categories this time, one for Digi and one for Paper. We have two sets of goody bags to give away!


Anyone up for the challenge.....???????

Please use the keywords GBCJULY09 & SBC09JULY