Honeybun Cake

I made this cake for our first family Christmas get together.  And was then instructed to make it for the next two as well, it was that good!  I have a small tolerance for overly sweet things, so after one piece I had my fill, but it went quick at each gathering.

WHAT YOU'LL NEED:

•1 box (18.25 Oz. Box) Yellow Cake Mix
•4 whole Eggs
•1 cup Sour Cream
•¾ cups Vegetable Oil
•1 cup Light Brown Sugar
•2 teaspoons Cinnamon
•2 cups Powdered Sugar
•6 Tablespoons Milk
•1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract

WHAT YOU DO:

Preheat your oven to 325 degrees.

By hand, blend the cake mix, eggs, sour cream, and oil until well-incorporated. The mixture will be pale yellow; it’s okay if it has some lumps! Then set aside.

In a separate bowl, mix together the brown sugar and cinnamon until well-blended; set aside.

Pour half of the cake batter into a greased 13×9 pan, spreading the batter out into a thin layer. Add half of the swirl mixture to the top, covering the entire layer of batter. Don’t be alarmed if it looks like you’re over-saturating the cake—it’ll taste great! Pour the rest of the batter on top, and spread the batter until the cake is even. Top the cake off with the rest of the swirl mixture. With a knife, swirl the batter.

Place the cake into the oven and bake for 45-50 minutes, or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.

While the cake is baking, make the glaze. In a bowl, mix the powdered sugar, milk, and vanilla until glaze is of desired consistency. When the cake comes out of the oven, immediately pour glaze onto the hot cake. You might have to pick up the cake and tilt it to spread the glaze evenly. Let the cake sit for a few minutes so the glaze can set and serve warm or at room temperature.

Thursday Thirteen: Resolution Update

Well another year has come and gone.  Did you stick to your resolutions that you made?  Here are the ones I made, let's see how good I did....
1. I resolve to NOT give up any of the few vices that I have.  Actually, I should drink more wine; add to that vice.  I think I did pretty well on this one.  In fact, I've found some new wines that I really love, like this one.

2. To read more books than I did in '09 (which may be hard because I read a lot of books this year).  I think I probably achieved this one as well.  While I have a list of all the books I've read, they are archived by author not chronoligical order, and I'm too lazy to go back and count them all. 

3. To expound on that, I want to will finish this series.  CHECK!  I've read all of the ones that she has published so far.  As well as both the Aurora Teagarden and Lily Bard series.

4. To become credit card debt free (and I'm almost there!). CHECK!

5. To run another 5k... okay make that two. CHECK!  I actually ran 4 and one 7k. 

6. To go on our first vacation as a family. CHECK!  We were lucky enough to be able to take a few family vacations this year. 
 
7. To make it down to Oklahoma to visit these folks. CHECK!  It was the first family vacation we took and we had a great time.  I can't wait to go back again!
 
8. To have a winning season with my volleyball team. Well that one I failed at, but at least we had fun!
 
9. To not waste money on seasonal fads that probably aren't that cute anyway.  CHECK!
 
10. To not count calories as well as not deny myself scrumptious desserts and other goodies.  Moderation is what it's all about. CHECK!  Which was evident this past week, holy cow, I've eaten more sweets in one week than I have probably had all year.
 
11. To do more nice things for random strangers.  I'm not sure if I've completed this to my satisfaction, I think I'll work on it again next year.
 
12. To slow down and enjoy life's small moments, not just the large ones. CHECK!  But, I think this is one that I can continue to work on as well.

13. To learn how to operate our camcorder and actually use it.  I failed.... miserably.  I haven't used it once, but JC has, so at least one of us is succeeding at it!

Wordless Wednesday: Sledding

There's more than one way to enjoy a new sled!

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A Little Humor

Ole Baxter Smith cruises through a stop sign and gets pulled over by a local Texas policeman.  Baxter hands the cop his driver's license, insurance verification, plus his concealed carry permit.

"Okay, Mr. Smith," the cop says, "I see your CCW permit. Are you carrying today?"

"Yes, I am."

"Well then, better tell me what you got."

Smith says, "Well, I got a .357 revolver in my inside coat pocket. There's a 9mm semi-auto in the glove box. And, I've got a .22 magnum derringer in my right boot."

"Okay," the cop says. "Anything else?"

Yeah, back in the trunk, there's an AR15 and a shotgun. That's about it."

"Mr. Smith, are you on your way to or from a gun range...?"

"Nope."

"Well then, what are you afraid of...?"

"Not a damn thing..."

Thursday Giveaway!

Once again, I am not the one that is having a giveaway, but a great friend/photographer is and I wanted to share with you.  I've mentioned her blog on here before and if you didn't check it out then, you should now. 

I REALLY love this jewelry she's featuring:

Head on over to Imaginate Photography and maybe you'll be lucky enough to win her final 12 Days of Christmas contest, you only have until midnight tonight!

Wordless Wednesday

Hmm... I'm having a hard time captioning this photo.  Any suggestions?

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New Tradition

A friend of mine told me about a Christmas tradition that she does with her kids.  We don't have one started with Monkey yet, and since I loved her idea, I borrowed it!

She wraps up 24 different Christmas books and starting on December 1st, the kids get to open one book and read it before bedtime.  The last book is opened on Christmas Eve.  This helps them keep track of how many days are left until the big day and helps to squelch some of their excitement by getting to open something every night. 

It didn't take Monkey long to figure it out... 

And she loves it!

I do believe this is a tradition that we will continue.

Wordless Wednesday

Baby, it's cold outside!



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Christmas Gift Ideas

Looking for a gift for that person that has it all?  If they have any sort of sense of humor check out these websites for fun ideas:

Fred & Friends

ThoseShirts.com

I personally want this shirt:

And these cookie cutters:

I don't recall if I've mentioned that hubby is a black belt in Taekwondo and a lover of all ninja movies.  I think these would be a perfect stocking stuffer for him!

Thursday Thirteen

1. Tonight is our last night of volleyball.  Very sad about that.  But we'll start up the next league in January,  so I don't have too long to wait!

2. I've got all my Christmas shopping done!  And I did 95% of it online, I LOVE not having to step foot in a store and fight the crowds.

3. Speaking of Christmas shopping, I found an awesome site that gives you daily discounts on all sorts of kids (and adult) items.  I've got some great deals on it!  

4.  Three of my classmates from high school are in a band together (Crickets & Cars) and yesterday, they released their debut album.  Check it out, they are awesomely talented.

5. Have I ever mentioned that I went to high school in a corn field?  It's true. 

6. One week from today Annie will be home.  I haven't seen her since her wedding in June.  I feel like a kid on Christmas Eve waiting for Santa to come down the chimney!

7.  We don't go to the movie theater often.  In fact, it's been over two years since we have gone.  I'm squirmy.  I'd rather sit in the comfort of my own home and be able to pause it when I have to go pee.  But I REALLy want to see the movie 127 Hours.  I'll even go sit in the theater for it!  I've heard it is an awesome movie based on an amazing true story.  I love movies that are based on true stories, but what also hooked me, was that people are literally passing out and getting sick during it because of one gruesome scene.  I'm intrigued!  Does that make me odd?

8.  Have you noticed stores are putting out their spring merchandise already?  We haven't even hit the first day of winter yet and there are spring clothes on the racks!

9.  Along the same lines... I'm sick of Christmas music.  It's been playing since Thanksgiving and I'm over it.  I'm not a Christmas music fan in the first place and with the constant playing of it, it's just run into the ground before Christmas even gets here.  Am I alone on this?

10. You know that white cheese sauce Mexican restaurants serve?  Well, I'm trying to perfect that and haven't got it figured out yet.  Any suggestions?  I'll be trying a batch again this weekend.

11. I'm craving Japanese food. 

12.  No, I'm not pregnant.

13.  And I'll leave you with a little piece of wisdom... I've  learned everything from my cows: Never walk on the path that others have made because at some point you will step in crap.

Wordless Wednesday

We had a chance to have some family pictures taken over Thanksgiving weekend.  Here is one that I just love, even though Hank refuses to look at the camera.

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Toon Tuesday

Everyone Has Someone They Can't Forget

Hello darlin'. 

Nice to see you, it's been a long time.

*Sigh* 

I miss Conway Twitty.  That deep, silky-smooth, sexy voice.  I miss it.  Sure, I can listen to his old records and I still love them as much as I did back when he was alive and kickin'.  But it saddens me to know that I'll never hear a new track from him.  He was one of the all-time greats.

Same goes for Chris Ledoux.  That man could make my heart skip a beat!  He was a rare breed.  A world champion bareback rider and an amazing singer/songwriter.  I'm not one to get emotionally attached to famous people, but when he passed away in 2005, I was actually choked up.  He could write and perform a song that made you feel like he was doing it just for you and he was a genuinely nice guy.  My husband and I actually used one of his songs during our wedding.  

I don't know what sparked it, but over the weekend I listened to both of these fine artists a lot.  It got me to thinking... of all the great singers in the world, I think these two are the ones I miss the most.  I would put Elvis up there too, but he was already gone by the time I was born, so I don't think I can really count him. 

Who do you miss the most?  Or is it not a musician, but an actor that makes you long for yesteryear?  Curious minds want to know.  Or maybe it's just my curious mind.

Hunt. Give. Be Merry.

The second shotgun season is well underway in Illinois!  How are all you hunters doing out there?

I told you last year how many hunters in Maryland were getting attacked by HSUS and PETA for donating venison to the needy.  Since these "caring" groups haven't seemed to figure out how to solve the problem of the hungry, there are still millions of people out there that could greatly benefit from your genorosity.

If you'd like to help, check out your local Farmers and Hunters Feeding the Hungry and donate a deer today!

Pecan Pie

I'm just going to say it... I don't like pecan pie.  It's the very last dessert I would choose on Thanksgiving or Christmas.  Actually I wouldn't even choose it at all, I would rather go DESSERTLESS than have a piece of pecan pie.  Hence, I have never made one.  Never. 

However, my husband and father both love pecan pie.  So I decided to try it out this year.  What got me convinced was this:

Whiskey Maple Cream Sauce.  Oh my.  I had to try it.  And try it I did!  Delicious!

I went right on ahead and used Ree's Pecan Pie recipe as well.  I didn't have any more corn syrup so I substituted with a simple syrup made with 1 cup sugar and 1/4 cup water, cooking over low heat until the sugar was dissolved.  The verdict... it was great AND the cream sauce was amazing!

I even used the leftover sauce to pour over monkey bread in the morning.  Try it, I dare you.

Wordless Wednesday: Poor Santa

This is what happens when Monkey drops a snowglobe on the bathroom floor!  Whoopsie!

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