Connie Cox's Blog, page 12

Thanks–to all those who gave their lives for us

Flying High Flying High

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Twitter Weekly Updates for 2011-05-29

.@RomConInc I thought it was worth the wait. #
.@RomConInc Loved it. It was my first 3-D movie. He was awsome. Did you stay after the credits rolled? I did. Yup, lagniappe. #
RT @Bob_Mayer Special Forces Assessment & Selection Thought: The only person holding you back is you; everyone else is merely watching #
I'm #reading SixWeek Marriage Miracle by Jessica Matthews http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/171490802 #
Wow! Didn't know my twitter accnt was hooked up to my facebook accnt??- #
What does a writer do the day after turning in a book to her editor? This writer starts writing her next book…. http://fb.me/10QznnjfY #

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Twitter Weekly Updates for 2011-05-29

.@RomConInc I thought it was worth the wait. #
.@RomConInc Loved it. It was my first 3-D movie. He was awsome. Did you stay after the credits rolled? I did. Yup, lagniappe. #
RT @Bob_Mayer Special Forces Assessment & Selection Thought: The only person holding you back is you; everyone else is merely watching #
I'm #reading SixWeek Marriage Miracle by Jessica Matthews http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/171490802 #
Wow! Didn't know my twitter accnt was hooked up to my facebook accnt??- #
What does a writer do the day after turning in a book to her editor? This writer starts writing her next book…. http://fb.me/10QznnjfY #

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Foodie Friday:Irish Creme Chocolate Chip Cookies

[image error]You know how, at Christmas parties you bring a gift and put it in the pile. Then a person draws your number and you get to pick a gift and hope someone else doesn't take your gift? Well, that's how I ended up with two large ziplock bags full of airplane-sized liquor.

I'm not very knowledgeable about drinking, but I'm a pretty fair researcher, so I found some really great recipes to use up my boozie stash.

Here's the one I found for Irish Creme Cookies (I've modified it, of course. I don't think I've ever cooked someone else's recipe the way they wrote it):

1/2 cup butter softened (real butter, unsalted)

1/2 cup white sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 large egg

1 tsp vanilla (real vanilla–never ever use the fake stuff here)

1/2 cup Bailey's Irish Cream

2 cup all-purpose flour or 2 1/4 cup cake flour (Don't sweat the small stuff. It's casual!)

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

about 10 oz semi-sweet chocolate chips, more or less

3/4 c coconut

1/2 c pecans (I left these out because my husband doesn't like pecans{sigh})

Cream together butter, sugars and egg until fluffy. Add vanilla and Bailey's Irish Cream.

Mix together flour, baking soda and salt. and Add to creamed mixture a little at a time until blended.

Fold in chocolate chips and coconut (and pecans.)

Drop by spoonful onto parchment lined cookie sheet.

Bake at 375degrees for 8-12 minutes. Until golden brown. They never get very dark.

Cook and eat.

The Bailey's flavoring is very, very subtle, maybe because I added a lot more chocolate chips than the recipe originally called for.

Here's what I'm going to try next time: 1/4 c white sugar and 3/4 cup brown sugar; dark chocolate chips; pecans, whether hubby wants them or not! And a glaze of 1/4 powdered sugar w/ 1 Tbsp of Baileys drizzled over the cookies which I didn't do the first time because I didn't want them to be sticky since I intended to put a few in hubby's lunch. But now it's too hot to pack chocolate as it will melt before lunchtime. So bring on the nuts and the drizzle!

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Growing My World

Just spent a great weekend with my husband! We went on a junket to central Texas, just because.

We went to Fredericksburg, Texas where we followed the wildflower trail. No flowers, due to drought, but plenty of rolling hills (which, to this Louisiana gal, looked like mountains and valleys), dried river beds, wild life and a nifty google-as-we-go study in micro-ecosystems.

We ducked into a few shops and husband found a capo for his twelve string guitar–a real prize since he'd only seen capos for 6-strings before. I took in sights and sounds and smells of every kind of boutique store you can imagine. Then we had a great meal at the Bavarian Inn. I don't know much about German food, but I know what I ate was Very Good!

Then, on to Austin where we were lucky to find a room. Who knew it was graduation weekend? We certainly didn't. Had a fantastic brunch at Threadgills where a Southern gospel band called Bells of Troy played for us. The original band started in the early nineteen-fifties and one of the members was still singing and playing with them. What a yummy breakfast buffet, too!  The cheese grits and sweet potato pancakes were to die for! Must find recipe for sweet potato pancakes.  Send it to me in my comments if you have it, please.

Then we went dinosaur hunting at the Zilker Botanical Garden. Didn't find any prehistoric critters, but DID see wildflowers!

But the best part of the whole trip was spending one-on-one time with my husband. ♥ Through all the driving, walking, eating, and driving again, we had great laughs, wonderfully spontaneous discussions and an all-around good time.

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Twitter Weekly Updates for 2011-05-22

Foodie Friday's blog post: Summer… http://fb.me/M72LfaU0 #
Foodie Friday: Summer Squash, Southern-style http://t.co/M5KR7Tj #
That's Etsy–not Betsy. #
It's a baby cocoon. Lots of story plotting means lots of crocheting. Wonder how this would do on Betsy when I'… (cont) http://deck.ly/~cdAoA #
Did more thinking about writing than writing yesterday. Not good. Today I really #amwriting #deadlineinspiration needs to kick in fast! #
After a weekend of crocheting and mentally editing, #amwriting and #amediting with a vengeance this morning. #deadlineinspiration #

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Foodie Friday: Summer Squash, Southern-style

[image error]

Squash I am growing this summer in a big planter. Only blooms so far. No vegies yet.

I love, Love LOVE squash. My BFF growing up didn't. She called it squish and she refused to eat anything squishy. (Yes, she would eat it fried, but fried squash is another post.)

Not me. I love the texture, the smell, the flavor and I especially love the simplicity of cooking it.

Here's how I do it (because that's the way my momma did it.):

2 pounds. more or less, of summer squash or crookneck squash, as long as it's yellow.

1/2 onion

1/2 stick butter (the real stuff, unsalted)

1/2 tsp salt

at least 1/4 cup ham or 2 strips uncooked bacon. I usually use more.

Chop onion and saute in butter using large skillet.

Cut squash and ham into chunks while onion is cooking.

Add squash, ham and salt to onions.

Barely cover with water and turn heat to low to simmer until the squash is squishy.

(Stir every now and then to keep squash from sticking to the bottom of the skillet.)

That's it. Let's eat!

By the way, all these amounts are not exact. Add more according to how much squash you have and how big your crowd is.

Squash cooked this way both refrigerates and freezes well. If my plastic flower pot of squash makes well, I'll be sharing with neighbors as well as making room in my freezer!

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After a weekend of crocheting …

After a weekend of crocheting and mentally editing, #amwriting and #amediting with a vengeance this morning. #deadlineinspiration

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What I read this weekend:Magazines

I've love them dearly, but the seem to multiply while I sleep. I've got them stacked everywhere, next to couches, on the breakfast table, even in the bathrooms!

Those beautiful, glossy magazines with their dramatic and enticing headlines plastered in super-large font across airbrushed model's torsos are a passion I inherited from my mother. I'm a sucker for those little post cards that promise a year's worth of home delivery for under ten bucks.

But I don't read them as fast as they arrive. And then there are the articles and recipes I want to keep….

So I took this past weekend to gather up all my magazines that haven't had their pages flipped yet. I spent many happy hours speed-reading them and tearing out recipes I'll probably lose before I get a chance to try. And then I tore off their mailing labels and donated the remaining carcasses to a car repair shop's waiting room.

And you were wondering where those mangled magazines came from. Now you know–my house! Sorry about the article that will never end because it had a chocolate mousse recipe on the back of the page.

Oh, an oddity that I've passed on to MY daughter, along with my love of magazines: I read magazines from back to front. While visiting her, I discovered that she does the same! Good to know I've had at least some influence in her very successful life!

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Looking for a weekend dessert?…

Looking for a weekend dessert? I just posted my family recipe for Banana Pudding-the REAL pudding http://t.co/CUsnKgU #cooking #foodie

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