The Power of Fried Chicken!

Did your family have that one thing that your momma or grandma made that was just everybody's favorite???

I love these tradition foods!

I love the anticipation and how people just want to flock to the house and gather round the table. It makes the hard work worth it!

My dad's mom made amazing cheeseburgers. My mom's mom made creamy banana pudding. My momma makes the best sugar cookies around. My husband's mom makes fabulous cakes. His Grandma Ina made scrumptious Christmas brunch.

These ladies all made lots of yummy things, but those are the things we all tend to associate with them, ya know?

So what about me? Well, "my food" is fried chicken!

I didn't set out for it to be. My husband just really liked his mom and grandma's fried chicken, so I just wanted to learn to make it and bless him because we lived away in the military.

The funny thing about the favorite foods seems to be how the recipes get tweaked a little here and a little there until that person knows how to do it and can't really give you exact measurements!

So I just watched and listened and then watched cooking shows and eventually kept tweaking my own recipe until I realized that this was my food.

Somehow fried chicken became the thing my family begs for...the thing friends ask me to make...the thing nieces and nephews whisper in my ear and ask when I'll be cooking it again.

Now, I will admit that I do really love how it tastes and my chicken is my favorite fried chicken, but what I truly relish is that it brings people together!

It's a labor of love, but it's worth every smile and every memory. And I will tell you that I do use it as leverage to get my boys to spend time with me :) "Oh, okay guys, I'll make it, but you have to help through the whole process."

This is the meal they all want for their birthdays. This is the thing they invite friends over for!

Here are some pics of the process. I'd give you the recipe, but then they would all come to your house! Tee hee!

Sorry, this is one we are keeping in the family. Here is a tip though: soaking your chicken for at least 24 hours prior to cooking is key!

Sneak Peek!

Here's a little peek at one of the schoolroom/office projects.

I am super blessed to have lots of littles running around here all the time, and they love making art for me as much as I love receiving it!

I thought we needed a display area so my sweet little neighbor and friend, Addi, helped with some painting. Later, Adalee (my niece) told me where to hang things.

Here are some pics of our work and one of Sethy and Addi creating! (Oh! And one of Tom and Addi having an ice cream break because well, you know, painting can wear a girl down!)

American Summer Porch

I wanted a new porch look for summer, so I opted for All American!

I try to be very practical and buy things I can store and use over and over again. I also new that after having surgery, I wouldn't be able to water flowers on my porch.

I gathered some pretty artificial flowers and containers at the Old Time Pottery store. I picked up a wire wreath, pre-cut quilting squares, and ribbon at a craft store to make a rag wreath. I used a Pinterest tip of tying bandanas at the corners to cover throw pillows we weren't really using. I grabbed some cheap flags at The Dollar Tree and the two red flower pots at Dollar General. I used a couple other things I already had and boom chocka locka, I had myself a new look!

I think this little makeover turned out pretty cute!

Projects Before Surgery

Hey all! It's been a while because I was recovery from surgery. I'll share more about what helped me through that in later posts, but today I wanted to take you back to some projects I did before surgery.

I had a list of things to get done this summer, and when I realized I would be having surgery instead, I kicked myself into high gear on any good-feeling day I had! I gathered up some sweet little helpers every chance I could too!

I painted most of our basement, organized my schoolroom/office, organized almost every room, closet, and the garage!

Here are some pics of basement painting with my adorable nieces, Hadassah and Adalee!