Lemon Icebox Pie

Image Via

I have received a few requests to share my lemon icebox pie recipe. This pie is wonderful and we have it at absolutely every holiday. I even have a cake recipe that is also Lemon Icebox.

I want to give a warning that the recipe uses two uncooked egg yolks. My family has been making this pie way longer than I have been alive, and the yolks have never been a problem. But, if the raw egg scares you, I believe Emeril's recipe does not call for egg. After searching different recipes, I may also add a block of cream cheese to mine to thicken it up a bit, because lets face it, cream cheese makes everything better!

Lemon Icebox Pie - (Recipe from my lovely mawmaw)

1 graham cracker crust (Chilled) - If you can find a Nilla wafer crust, they are even better

1/2 cup lemon juice (minute maid makes frozen lemon juice and it works perfectly)

1tsp grated lemon rind (I usually leave this out if I use the minute maid juice)

1 can (14 oz.) Condensed milk

2 eggs yolks

Combine lemon juice and rind. Gradually stir into condensed milk. Add yolks one at a time and stir until blended. Pour into chilled crust. Put in fridge to set. Top with Cool Whip topping.

Enjoy!

Superficial Things I'm Thankful For

I know this is the time when you are supposed to be expressing your Thanks for everything you are blessed with. Of course I am thankful for my family and friends, for health and happiness. I would just like to give thanks for some of the little things too! So here is my list

Some people get excited about Thanksgiving turkey, dressing cranberry sauce or whatever... I am solely a pie fan. Lemon ice box pie to be exact. I look forward to this all year long, and usually I make a pie just for myself to ration out over the next week.

My crockpot. I never had much of an appreciation for a crockpot before I had Keating. The crockpot was something that I used to warm cocktail weenies once a year for Christmas parties. Now I dont know how I would ever live without it. This thing makes my life so much easier. I come home, and like magic, our dinner is ready. AMAZING. If you havent checked out www.crockpotgirls.com I highly HIGHLY recommend it. There are tons of recipes on there and I haven't tried a bad one yet. My favorites are the pulled buffalo chicken sandwiches, chicken and dumplings, and cheesy potato soup.

Lucerne tainly look marvelous. My favorite OPI shade ever! I will be wearing it for the next few months.

I will also be living in my new GAP maternity pants. They are so comfortable, and skinny maternity pants are hard to find. I looked everywhere! I hope I'm not judged for wearing them as much as I am planning!

Which brings me to my last and probably most superficial thankful thing. Breaking Dawn. Although I have not had the willpower to fight the crowds at the theater yet, I am SUPER excited to see this. I have read the book *cough cough* a few times, and it is by far my favorite of the series. Damon Salvatore is still my number one vampire, but Edward runs a close second.

Am I the only one that is superficially thankful? =)

This and That

Where is this month going? It seems to be flying by soon enough Christmas will be upon us! Life has been "cray cray" as Keating would say, in our house. For two weeks he was sick with some sort of cold that turned into a sinus infection and ear ache. Every night we would put him to bed, and he would start coughing and hacking. As many of you know, you cant give a toddler any sort of good medicine. We tried all of the homeopathic remedies and still nothing worked. It was a miserable two weeks. Did I mention that Keating has inherited the world's weakest stomach, so when he was up coughing, he would throw up. There was not a day within that span that I was not stripping his sheets off at night. As many of you also know, changing the sheets in a crib is the biggest pain, like wrestling an alligator.

We did have a chance to have a few family photos taken by my coworker this year. They turned out great despite Keating feeling under the weather. He isn't smiling in many of them because I bribed him with sweet tarts. I probably should have waited to give them to him until we were done shooting. Oh well, live and learn. At least he was actually sitting still!

We are really looking forward to Thanksgiving in our house. My food responsibilities include homemade mac and cheese and peanut butter pie. I shared the Mac and Cheese recipe a few years back here. If you never tried it... I highly recommend high tailing it to the store to get the ingredients. Just dont think about the calories... also be prepared for your family to request it EVERY year... it's that good folks. What is going to be on your Thanksgiving table??

We have also been scratching a few items off of our list of to do's around the house. I have painted bookshelves for Keating's room that need to be hung... then his room is complete and I can share! I ordered photos to frame for our bare hallway, we finally have shades in our master bathroom, my china cabinet is half way painted, and should be complete this weekend, and I am in the process of sprucing up our Ikea curtains in the living room. If I am feeling extra ambitious I may even redo the hall bath vanity. Not sure if this is considered nesting or just wanting our house to be finished by our annual Christmas party.

Speaking of Christmas party... this is the dress I will be sporting from Asos maternity. I heard the site mentioned a few times on other blogs and those girls were right. The dress fits perfect and leaves just enough growing room in the mid section. I definitely plan to order from there again!

Moving on, is anyone else already having Vampire Diary withdrawls?? January seems like a lifetime away! Good thing I will be occupied with fun festivities!

Check it out!

Thank you to Centsational Girl and Best of The Blogosphere for featuring my kitchen in this weeks edition! I am so excited to be featured on one of my favorite blogs! To see it and the other BOTB selections go here.

11 things on 11.11.11.

1. I am REALLY loving fall this year. I feel like it is more beautiful than any fall I can remember. The leaves are prettier, the weather is better. All around, it is great!

2. As much as I am loving fall, I am ready for Christmas time. I think I may start getting out a few decorations this weekend.

3. Thoughts of Christmas have me excited for parties, seeing plays, Christmas lights, wrapping gifts, Christmas movies, Christmas Carols, good food, Christmas tour of homes, Christmas eve church service, and starting new traditions in our new home.

4. I think we may be close to settling on a name for #2. I will share when it is decided.

5. I am nearing the end of week 16. This pregnancy is going by so much faster. 163 days to go and we will have two little boys in the house! Thats a crazy thought! So much to do, and so little time!

6. This week I ordered an adorable Christmas party dress from Asos Maternity for all of the events we have coming up in the next month. I REALLY hope it fits! I've never shopped there before, but all of the clothes are super cute. I recommend checking them out.

7. I am really over this work week. People never cease to amaze me, sometimes that is a good thing, sometimes it is really bad.

8. I'm ready for maternity clothes to start fitting correctly and not falling down. A slouchy butt in jeans is not a cute look.

9. I cannot pick a Christmas card, there are just way too many choices!

10. Our family pictures turned out great, I will share them next week. I plan on having a few printed for our hallway. It is so much fun to finally decorate a house!

11. There is 1 hour 55 minutes until I officially start my weekend! Cheers!

Kitchen Sources

I just wanted to share the sources and info for our kitchen renovation in case anyone is interested.

The knobs and pulls came from this ebay store

The lantern is from CSN lighting

Cabinet paint color is Sherwin Williams Iron Ore

Island paint color is Sherwin Williams Greek Villa

Wall color is Sherwin Williams Agreeable Gray

The shelves were built by Brad and a friend

and I think that is all... Thanks for all of the comments on the post! I can't wait to show more progress along the way!

Kitchen Before and After!!!

I am excited to share with everyone the before and after photos of our kitchen. This has been a LONG process, but we have come so far! Please keep in mind that it is still a work in progress, but I just couldn't wait to share!! Here is the before, look at all of that gorgeous maroon.

And drumroll please

*

*

*

The BEAUTIFUL after! Please excuse the mess, we are still trying to figure out where things go. As I am sure everyone knows, things that don't have a home often end up in the kitchen.


As for the work that was done... here it goes. We knocked out two openings in the former left hand wall to help with the flow, took out the upper cabinets on the right hand side, took out the old dark slate backsplash, restained the floors, painted the cabinetry gray and the island cream, had custom shelves made, took out the old speckled ceiling and replaced it with a smooth one, added can lights and light fixture, new faucets, new cabinet pulls and handles, new crown molding, new larger window over the sink.

I am really so happy with how everything turned out. Down the road there are a few things on our agenda such as new cabinet doors since we painted the existing ones, a new backsplash, and I would like to replace the new lantern with one that is a little larger. I love it, but it turned out a little smaller than I had invisioned. We are also adding beadboard to the front of the island and I would like to put in nice corbels under the tiny little bar. I am sure you can spot a few areas that need to be painted, such as the trim on the island and the white shoe mold around the cabinets... I will hopefully get around to that!

So far I love having the open shelves. It is nice having everything so accessible. It also keeps me accountable from being a pack rat! See those lemons in the photo below... yep they came from my little lemon tree!!

The top shelf is still a little bare, and they still need a little sprucing up.

A shot of the new hardware. I got all of it off of ebay and it cost around 36 dollars to change out the whole kitchen. You will also notice the gorgeous artwork in the background... I have a little artist on my hands.

A view looking back at the front of the house. The cork canvas is a photo I took. I saved the champagne corks from our engagement night, wedding toast, and honeymoon and photographed them. Then had them put on a canvas.

A close up of the shelves, and my dishes that I oh so missed while they were in storage for an entire year!

A view of our beautiful new faucet. I would like to take credit for this, but it was all Brad. He had to have it. I think he did a great job picking it out! Please ignore the gaping hole between the countertop and the wall, that will be fixed with a new backsplash.

After many stressful months of house renovations, I am so happy to be closer to finished. If anyone wants to know sources for anything, just leave them in the comments. Thanks for checking in on our progress, hopefully I will have a new room to show soon!

It's a.........

BOY!!!!

I had a 15 week appointment scheduled on Friday. As I was leaving my Dr. asked if I wanted to try and see what I was having. Of course I jumped at the chance to find out a few weeks early! I called Brad and he was okay with me finding out without him, as long as I called as soon as I knew. It took the ultrasound tech about 3 seconds before she found the goods, and told me that HE is all boy. So to the majority that voted girl in the poll, myself included... we were all quite wrong!

We are very excited to be having another boy and giving Keating a little brother. Lord help me with the trouble two boys will probably get in to! We taught Keating how to say "brother" and it is the cutest thing you have ever heard, but we may be a little biased!

I didn't tell anyone else that I was finding out so early, so Saturday night when we went to watch the LSU game at my parents, I brought over a dozen gender revealing cupcakes. It was hilarious to see everyone nearly trample each other to get to the cupcakes and find out what was inside!

Now to start the great name debate and give this little man a suitable name!

TGIF and a Poll

Thank you all for the compliments and suggestions in the comments of my recent post. Y'all are all too sweet. One comment intriqued me about non-alcoholic wine. I am going to do a little research on this topic and report back. Is there more that one brand? With this being the time of year for festive parties, does anyone have a mocktail recipe they would like to share? I am willing to test them out! Wow, I sound like such a lush. I promise I am not! I guess when you start craving something you just cant get it out of your head!

I posted a little gender poll on the right to see what everyone thinks baby #2 is. Let me know your thoughts! Pink or Blue!?

This weekend cant come soon enough. Poor Keating has been sick all week. 102 Fever, runny nose, and throwing up. It just hit me last night that it may be the flu, and stupid me didn't get my flu shot until today. I am crossing my fingers it doesn't spread through the house, this time of year is too great to be at home sick.

On tap for the weekend is a bit of house work, maybe painting a china cabinet, a lot of relaxing, and temporarily trading our UGA allegiance to cheer on LSU. I can assure you, that you wont spot this girl wearing purple and gold... that is one trade that I just cannot make. Sorry to my Louisiana family if you're reading, but a girl's gotta have principles! I think I might also start finding my Christmas decorations. I'm not putting them out yet, just getting my hands on them so I can find it all in the next few weeks. Its right around the corner and I can hardly wait!

14 weeks and bribing toddlers

Happy belated Halloween from our house to yours! This post has been compiling since last Saturday. It has just taken me that long to get the photos onto my computer. I was leaving to do an infant photo shoot and this little guy was waiting for me by the door. I don't know what it was about seeing Keating sitting on my old weathered church pew that did it for me. The anxiousness that surrounded getting into the house and finishing it all subsided. We were finally home. Whether or not our house is "complete" does not matter, it is the people and the memories that fill the house. So glad I had my camera handy to capture this, because it just warms my heart to look at it... even if it is a bit blurry.

Keating was a puppy for Halloween. I mentioned getting crafty and making a costume for him and Lola, but there simply weren't enough hours in the week. Maybe next year... The costume was a hand me down from my niece (Gotta love hand me downs). Originally he wouldn't wear the ears, but with enough distraction we got a few photos.

Tickling also helps... =)

As does bribery. This was especially useful for our family photo shoot on Tuesday!

Keating really enjoyed trick or treating this year. He especially liked the houses where they let him pick his own candy from the bowl. Never failed, when given the choice, he always chose KitKat. Not sure why, considering he has never had one! Must have been the wrapper!

Looking a little scary in this pic, but here is a 14 week photo of the bump last week. Really nothing to see as of yet, which is frustrating because I am in between clothes. My regular pants still fit with the help of a hair tie, but they tend to fall down. Maternity pants fall down because there is no belly to hold them up. Add to that, the up and down fall temperatures we have been having and I have about 3 outfits that currently work. The joys of pregnancy!

I dont have the little weekly survey handy, so I will just give some details.

Total weight gain: no idea, I don't own a scale.

Maternity clothes: some, mostly just for work pants, since dress pants no longer fit. Leggings are also my friend

Gender: We will find out later this month. CANT WAIT! I should do a poll!

Cravings: I have been loving salt and vinegar chips, rainbow sherbert, and starchy things such as potatoes and grits.

Stretch marks: None yet, been lubing up with the Mama Mio again!

Sleep: It was just fine until Keating got sick this week... still the lack of sleep has to do with baby #1 not baby #2!

Movement: Yes! I have been feeling consistent little nudges since about 12 weeks. I was unsure since it seemed so much earlier than last time. I know now that they most definitely were since the spot has stayed the same.

What I miss: I'm going to sound like a huge alkie for saying this, but I really miss red wine, also I would kill for a Sam Adams Octoberfest these days! I just smell other people's drinks and live vicariously through them. Weird?

Too Early for Christmas Cards?

It is November 1st and I am already thinking about Christmas and all that it entails. Today I have Christmas cards on my mind. A photographer friend of mine is going to be taking family photos of us this afternoon, and I can't wait to pick out the perfect card to send to all of our family and friends!

Last year I ordered my cards through Shutterfly and I was THRILLED with the result. They had an endless amount of Christmas cards to choose from and the quality was great. Here is a peek at last year's card. They were a huge hit, my mom still has it on her fridge! We got so many compliments on it! It is amazing how fast this little guy has changed in the last year!

We are big Shutterfly fans in our house. Last Christmas Brad made me the most perfect photo calendar and we gave my parents photo albums with images from the previous year. I recommend checking out the photo gifts that Shutterfly has to offer. The possibilities are endless and anyone that receives them is sure to adore them! They really do make a great and thoughtful gift.

Are you a blogger? Want a chance to win 25 free cards this holiday season? Register here: http://goo.gl/DDw7Q