I'm a cool Mom because...

...I took my kids to their first concert today! And that is why I can't finish my post about meeting The Pioneer Woman. It has been a long day ( and a long night before that) and my head is pounding, I'm trying to reason with a tired, grumpy 6 year old and finishing my "To Be Continued" is just not going to happen tonight. Hopefully I will get the chance tomorrow!

I'm a cook that got to meet The Pioneer Woman!

So as most of you know Ree Drummond (aka The Pioneer Woman; aka PW; aka P-Dub) wrote a cookbook. Let me rephrase that she wrote a BEAUTIFUL cookbook. Oh! This cookbook is heaven! The photos are beautiful, the recipes delicious and the cover is divine! (OK, so I like the cover because it is orange and that means I can display it in my kitchen, and it won't look out of place!) And since most authors take a book tour, Ree did too. Or as she calls it a "book trip". On November 4th she was here in SLC! I was so excited she decided to stop here! We are not in any way shape or form a big city like Chicago or LA, but as shown by the number of fans that came out to see her, we loves us some PW! Let me back up here...a few friends and I decided to go out to The King's English Bookstore to see her and have her sign our cookbooks. We planned for a little bit, and then Traci came up with the idea to make aprons with a cute vintage cowgirl printed on it, so we could maybe have Ree sign them and it might make us stand out a bit. We planned for a little bit more, chose our aprons and had one made for PW, then got out names embroidered on them (and of course Ree's on her's along with "SLC loves Pioneer Woman"). On the day of the book signing, Traci picked me up (in my carefully picked out "book signing outfit") and we headed to Sugarhouse. We were meeting Katie and her friend Michelle, and hoping Barbi would be able to come out with us too (Barbi wussed out, but I don't blame her, and Traci's friend Annie had a sick baby, so she couldn't make it). As Traci and I were on our way Katie texted me telling us to hurry, because there were tons of people, and more kept showing up! Now I know not all of you have been to The King's English but it is a quaint bookstore amidst a few shops along 15th and 15th smack dab in the middle of a neighborhood in SLC. The first thing I thought (and texted to Katie) was "SHIT!" Thinking we were not going to be able to make it to see Ree. We pulled up and parked (up a hill, and I was wearing my new "hot" boots) at about 5:40ish. We rushed down the hill and got in line, even before seeing where Katie and Michelle were. We were so lucky! We hadn't been in line long when a lady came by and handed us a "ticket" to the book signing. Traci and I were "F". Now at the time I didn't know what that meant, but I eventually found out that there were 20 of each letter, so that meant we were in the 5th group of 20 people to be able to go in and meet Ree. (Katie had "C" and Michelle had "D" lucky bitches!) The letters went to up "Q". And there were more people that didn't get tickets that waited for after the people with tickets had taken their turn. Seriously, we think there were 500+ people there to meet Ree and get their books signed. WOW! We stood in line (after buying our books from the local bookstore) for about 45 minutes. They opened the gallery (cute art gallery where Ree spoke) at 6:30 and we were so lucky that Katie and Michelle saved us seats or we would have been standing like 300 other people that didn't get seats (THANKS!) Ree was slated to speak at 7:00, so we waited in the midst of the excited crowd,taking pictures, and browsing the cookbook. The "roadies" tested the microphone, the bookstore representative (at least I THINK that's who she was) said a few words, a hush fell over the crowd (well, as much of a hush that would happen in 500 people) and.... TO BE CONTINUED! (Aww..it's late, and I'm still tired, and well, this post has been long. And I need something to write about tomorrow, dontcha know?)

I'm a hobbyist wishing I had more time for my hobby.

Even though I don't get enough alone time to hone my photography skills, I've still been trying to take photos and use my camera in different ways. I think I need to watch the DVD that came with my camera, so I have a better idea of what I'm doing.

This week's You Capture Challenge was to shoot whatever I wanted! So I took my camera with me a few places this week and came up with some fun stuff....at least I think the photos are fun.

Glow of a fake Jack-o-lantern decorating a hallway at my husband's work

Glow of a REAL Jack-o-lantern on our front step

Glow of a Pioneer Woman Signing Books at The King's English in SLC

Go check out the other great photographer's You Capture Shots at I Should Be Folding Laundry! And tomorrow I will have a post about the whole experience meeting Ree! (Sorry I didn't get one done today Barbi...it's been a long day!)

I'm a Pioneer Woman fan too.

Well, you already knew that! Just in case I get home from Ree's book signing a little late, I'm posting this so I don't miss a day of NoBloPoMo. I'm so excited to get The Pioneer Woman's new cookbook, and have it signed and to see her in person! I hope to be able to meet her and get a pic with her and give her the surprise my friends and I got for her. I'll give you an update either later tonight, or tomorrow! Yee-Haw!

I'm a cook loving that soup weather is here!

Soup is one of my favorite things to make. It is easy to make, and one of the greatest comfort foods ever! I have a few no-fail soup recipes but this has become my family's favorite (OK, so Colin doesn't like it since he doesn't like potatoes). This recipe makes a TON of soup, so it is great for sharing whether with a family that has a new baby, or for a dinner party with friends. It is so yummy to serve with fresh grilled panini's or in a soup bowl. If you are vegetarian you can always use vegetable bouillion cubes and leave the ham out. If you try it let me know...I'd love to hear your take on this recipe! Potato Cheese Soup 6 cups potatoes diced 3 chicken boullion cubes 6 cups carrots diced 3/4 cup butter 1 onion chopped 3/4 cup flour 1 cup celery diced 1 quart half & half 16 oz velveeta diced ham (optional) Put vegetables in large stock pot. Add bullion cubes and enough water to cover. Cook until vegetables are tender. Add velveeta, stiring occasionally to melt cheese. In seperate pan melt butter and add flour to make a roux (add salt and pepper to taste). Slowly whisk in half & half, cook until thickened. Add white sauce to vegetables and cheese. Add ham and heat through.

I'm a blogger participating in NaBloPoMo.

What is NaBloPoMo you might ask? NaBloPoMo stands for National Blog Posting Month. Every Novebmer a challenge is issued to bloggers for them to write at least 1 post a day for 30 days. We all know that there are very few bloggers that can post something every day, so it is a fun challenge to attempt. I was so wrapped up in Halloween that it snuck up on me this year. Last year I vowed to try NaBloPoMo when I came around again, I forgot about it until I read this post by Tia over at Clever Girl Goes Blog. Thanks for your post Tia! Since she reminded me of it, I've decided to try it despite all the stuff going on. Maybe I'll get brave and share, or maybe I'll just use Plinky most of the month. Whatever gets posted, at least I'll feel like I've accomplished something. So stick with me, and see what I come up with!

I'm a Mom on her game!

Look! It's the day after Halloween, and I actually have my Halloween slideshow finished! I'm finally on top of something...now if I could just get my Raider's Curtains done. We had some fun this Halloween season and even though we didn't get to see the Witches at Gardner Village this year, the kids still had plenty to keep them occupied. Enjoy the pictures!

Make a Smilebox slideshow