Christmas Eve Gift!

Our family has a strange custom, kind of a game, whereby the first person to say “Christmas Eve Gift” to another is supposed to have good luck the rest of the year. I’m too much a Calvinist to believe in random “luck”, and the game is a little self-serving when you think about it, but it’s all in good fun. Really, it’s a contest to see who can outsmart the other! (12.01 phone calls, sneaky emails, our competitiveness knows no bounds.) From everything I can tell, the custom is a southern one, originating back to the days when a small person in the house could say the phrase and be given a gift by the oldest person in the house.  So to all my dear readers, may I be the first to wish you Christmas Eve Gift! And may you all enjoy a wonderful, blessed day knowing the greatest Giver of all. The Lord bless you and keep you!
Hugs,
Renee
PS – There are a gazillion random Christmas pictures I could post, but I’m going to leave you with two of our precious Christmas gifts this year: Emmie & Jack.

And Merry Christmas Dad!

Dear Dad,
What to get you for Christmas? I know you think that food gifts are for “old people” and you certainly don’t qualify on that front. You won’t be getting any jellies or candies or Hickory Farms cheeses from me. (Not that I’m opposed to giving you the odd sack of licorice when we visit. Your secret is safe with me.) I also know that you don’t need any more computer gear – at least not any that I would be able to choose! But I do know that when you emerge from your office that you and Mom can be found in the kitchen, cooking up one of your latest recipe finds.  I think you two were just waiting until all us kids were grown so you could turn into gourmet chefs!
So here’s my proposal: Mom is happy that I’m blogging again (I’m trying Mom! Three posts in one week!) and I think you and I need to start a father-daughter cooking project. To that end I’m sending you your own copy of the same book I just bought. Why this one? Because the very first recipe in there is for smoked bacon! And more follow – for sausage, boudin, cracklins, and tasso. No, the entire book isn’t about pork, and  yes, you are the best “Real Cajun” cook I know, but I thought it would be fun to keep our family “charcuterie” in business. (Plus I’m a sucker for books that speak rapturously of rice and gravy.)
And now I need to find out where to buy pork bellies!
Love,
Renee

Ten for Tuesday: Why I’m Glad I Live in Texas

10. Our snowfall lasted less than an hour and looked beautiful. That’s enough for me.
9. Neighbors don’t shovel your driveway, but they do share their generator during a hurricane.
8. I can look out my window and see these same neighbors boiling the head of a deer in their driveway…
7. …because their sweet little freckle-faced daughter shot her first buck!
6. And she’s a cheerleader. This is Texas and we know how to cheer. And shoot.
5. Our state capitol is so beautiful that we have an ornament from the same on our tree.
4. I can  go Christmas shopping without hauling around a winter coat.
3. Best homeschooling laws in the country.
2. Every person in our immediate family has a town with their name in it. Stephenville, Alice, Kyle, Katy, Cooper, Joy, and Kelsey. Oh, and don’t forget Mathis, Texas (pop. 5295)
1. George Strait’s “When It’s Christmas Time in Texas” (Sorry you other 49!)

Merry Christmas Mom!

The blog is back. In case your life has been lacking in that special something that only Add More Chocolate can supply, I’m here to help. I got a little sidetracked by reading something somewhere that says “your blog should have a niche and a purpose.” Umm…. Ok. So here’s my niche: For all you homeschooling, Christian, writing teachers who cook and are too young to be a grandmother – this blog’s for you! (And your friends, relatives, mother’s friends, etc.) Welcome aboard!
Oh, and my purpose? To post recipes, spout off observations, share family pictures and updates, and occasionally make you laugh at my foibles. Feel free to listen in. I can’t promise that I’ll be giving away Kitchenaid mixers to my thousands of readers, but even if Mom is my only reader – she’s worth it!
And here she is with her two GREAT grandbabies.
Hugs,
Renee