Three Pictures

Down the street from our house:

(Long story to this pic...thanks to a friend from church for taking this same pic and posting it on FB.  The fall colors are gorgeous right now.)

The sunset on our way to visit family in Fogelsville:

This is delicious!  And I made it :)  It's key lime pie and the easiest thing I've ever made!  Recipe below.

Key Lime Pie

1 can sweetened condensed milk (regular, 1% or fat free)

1 8-oz package of cream cheese (regular or low fat)

4 oz key lime juice or regular lime juice

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 package pre made graham cracker crust pie shell

Optional- lime zest and whipped cream

1.  Place softened cream cheese and sweetened condensed milk in a mixing bowl.

2.  Using electric hand mixer, starting on low, begin mixing cream cheese and sweetened condensed milk.

3.  Continue to increase speed of mixer until cream cheese and milk is smooth and creamy.

4.  Add the vanilla and whip together.

5.  Lastly, add the key lime juice.  Start on low setting; increase speed until everything is thoroughly mixed and it looks all creamy and luscious :)

6.  Pour the mixture into the ready made pie shell.

7.  Place in refrigerator for at least 3-4 hours.  Overnight is better, even best if possible (didn't work for us!). Pie can be place in freezer for 30-45 minutes if crunched for time.

8.  Zest a lime for additional color and/or add a dollop of whipped cream.

You can make this recipe 'all fat' or 'no fat'.  I used low fat cream cheese, but regular sweetened condensed milk.  I also used a shortbread crust, as I'm not a big fan of graham cracker crusts.

Cat In The Bag!

I bought a cat in the bag a few weeks ago with the intent of Samson going to visit his 'sisser' Alyssa.  I decided it might be better to do a short trip before we attempted a 1.5 hour one down to Horsham.  I managed to forget cat treats at the grocery store yesterday, plus we will be needing cat food soon, so decided to take the opportunity to see how Sammy liked his new cat bag and take him along with us to Pet Supplies Plus.  With him weighing 22 pounds he is just too much for me to handle, so Papa got to ride along ;-)

He was very docile the entire trip, which made me happy; I was sort of afraid he'd freak out.  Kurt said he looked around while we were driving, but for the most part, just laid alongside Kurt and didn't make a move.  It's hard to know how he felt about the whole thing, but he didn't cry, he wasn't shaking, he was breathing ok, so I think he may have *enjoyed* it.  And since he was such a good boy, he got a cat nip toy at the store :-)

Chicken Pie

This is a keeper!  And using a rotisserie chicken made it easier :-)  I made it in an 8x8 pan and it has given us 3 meals.  I made some rice with it and a nice tossed salad.  See recipe below.  I did make a can of chicken gravy with our left overs tonight as it wasn't quite as juicy as it had been the first night.

Chicken pie:

Rotisserie chicken (cleaned off bones)

1 can cream of chicken soup

1 15 oz can chicken broth

1 pack refrigerated pie crusts

2 tbsp butter

Mix chicken, soup and broth.

Spray 8x8 or 9x9 pan with cooking spray.

Spoon 1/2 the chicken mixture into pan.

Cover this layer with strips of pie crust (using one of the pie crusts from the package).

Dot the strips with 1 tbsp butter.

Bake in preheated 400 degree oven for 25 minutes.

Remove and repeat above procedure and bake an additional 25 minutes.

Let set for 5 minutes before serving.

The only thing I did differently was to add a frozen bag of corn.  It was easy to make and it will give us several meals.  I'll definitely make this again.

We Are!!

  Alyssa's college roomie, Sarah, asked her if she wanted to go to the Penn State-Maryland football game today.  Sarah works/lives at the Baltimore Country Club, and the game was at the M&T Bank Stadium which is where the Baltimore Ravens play.

They attended the alumni tailgate at the Hilton with the Penn State Blue Band:

She said they had nose bleed seats:

Blue Band (I think I see Jake!)

Penn State managed to squeak out a win 31-30 :-)