I have been meaning to post this recipe for years.  It is an old favorite in our family.  The combination of rich, creamy cheese sauce and tender cauliflower and spinach is heavenly.  
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Now impress someone.  Make Swiss Sauce Cauliflower.  It's ok if they think you worked all day making the perfect sauce for this elegant dish.  They will never know how easy it really is, unless of course they ask for the recipe.  Which might just happen, it's that good.  

Ingredients:
1 head of cauliflower
2 T. butter
1/4 C. diced onion
1 T. flour
1/2 tsp. sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. pepper
1/2 C. half & half 
1/2 C. shredded swiss cheese
1/3 C. sour cream
1 box 10 oz. frozen chopped spinach

Directions:
1.  Break off outer leaves of cauliflower and trim stem close to the base.  Completely wrap in plastic wrap; place on plate with sealed edges down.  Microwave on high for 8 to 10 minutes, turning over after 4 minutes.  

2.  Place butter and onion in a small microwave safe mixing bowl.  Microwave on high power for 1 1/2 minutes, stir and continue cooking for 30 seconds.  Add flour, sugar, salt and pepper; blend well.  Gradually mix in milk.  Microwave at high power another 1 1/2 minutes or until thickened, stirring every 30 seconds. Add cheese and continue to cook 45 seconds more to melt cheese.  Stir in sour cream.  

3.  Cook the spinach according to package directions.  Drain excess liquid.  Salt and pepper to taste.  

4.  Set cauliflower in the center of a large plate or platter and pour the cheese sauce over it.  Surround the cauliflower with the spinach.  Then savor every delectable bite.  

Linking up at Create with Joy, Lou Lou Girls

Fall is here.  Enjoying the changing scenery, but not the colder weather.  I'm definitely a summer girl.  The boys were enjoying some outside play.  Lots of bug catching and playing in the leaves.  But not anymore, it is too cold.  It is 18 degrees F right now and with windchill feels like 2 degrees.  

Playing store.  My oldest asked his little brothers to pay with large bills so that he could make change.  Real life learning and tons of fun.  

Putting away the groceries.

Planting berries.

The best thing about planting is finding worms.

Clean laundry is so hard to resist.

A fall visit to a pumpkin patch.

I love this simple farm pumpkin patch, no pony rides, face painting or other expensive distractions, just pumpkins.  

Oh the torture...Mom asked us to smile.

Two out of three are smiling.  I'll take it.  Sometimes that's as good as it gets.  

We had a unique opportunity to see Bison on a small family farm.  It was amazing to see these great animals so close.  We didn't get any closer than this because even though they are on a farm, they are still wild animals.  

We are new to scouts and our first event was the Rain Gutter Regatta.  The race was to see who could blow their boats down the rain gutter the fastest.  The boys made their own boats from kits and tried to sand them (with adult help) or curve their sails just right for the most speed.  It was quite an event.  

Our new scout actually won third place for his age group.  He is so proud of his medal.  He tucked his medal and his boat away to keep his prized possessions safe from his little brothers.  

Linking up at A Pinch of Joy, The Life of Faith, Tumbleweed Contessa, Anything Goes Mondays, Mix it up Monday

Disclosure:  This post is sponsored by Global Influence.  All opinions are honest and are my own.  

I love getting ready for the holidays.  I love decorating the tree, getting the decorations out, and yes I love Christmas music.  Confession, I know it's only November, but I played Martina McBride's White Christmas album the other day  while folding laundry.  Laundry is so much better with Christmas music.  

One of my favorite things about the Holiday Season is giving and receiving Christmas cards.  I love catching up with old friends through their cheerful, colorful cards.  We like to display our cards, but this can lead to a big disorderly mess if we don't make a designated plan for Christmas cards.  In the past we set them on the piano which inevitably lead to a massive pileup of photos, cards, and letters.  In a nutshell, Christmas card chaos.  

I have since come to realize that it's not that hard to attractively display my Christmas cards and avoid the dreaded card chaos altogether.  Here are some ideas to help organize your card display this year.  

1.  Door Frame Ribbon Card Holder
My husband and I created this simple ribbon card holder using ribbon I already had and clear thumb tacks.  It was simple, inexpensive and only took about 15 minutes.  

2.  Simple Ribbon Card Holder
You can also make a simpler ribbon card holder without bows.  Simply attach a piece of ribbon to a wall, door, or cabinet and then clip cards onto the ribbon with clothespins.  So easy.  All you need is thumbtacks and ribbon.  My sister made this simple and festive card display.  

3.  Nature Inspired Card Holder
Do you like to bring the outdoors into your decorating?  How about hanging some twigs and branches over the fireplace and then putting ribbon loops on your cards to hang them from the branches.  Or put some twigs in a large vase and hang your cards from them using ribbon or twine.  This is a nice natural card display from Martha Stewart.  

4.  Christmas Card Tree Ornaments
Decorate your Christmas tree with your ornaments.  Simply attach ribbons to your cards and hang them from the tree.  I love this idea, plus if you display your cards another way and run out of room, you can always hang some from the tree.  Great idea from The Weekend Homemaker.

5.  Garland Card Display
String garland or ribbon across a mantle, staircase, or window and attach cards with clothespins or clips.  I love this card window display from A Story Book Life. So simple and cute.  

So many beautiful and inspiring ideas.  Do you display your Christmas cards?  I would love to see some pics.  

Disclosure:  This post is sponsored by Global Influence.  All opinions are honest and are my own.  

Linking up at Friendship Friday, Handmade Hangout, and French Country Cottage and Create with Joy.

This is a total repost from last year, but I think it says it well.

My husband took this picture (a year ago) to say "Thank You" to our brave men and women who have sacrificed so much for us.  I also want to take a moment to thank all of the families of veterans and active duty military for their sacrifices.  Thank You for your service!

Linking up at Create with Joy, Lou Lou Girls

Delicious, simple, and perfect for fall.  Put this on your menu for an easy comfort meal on a chilly night.  

Slice the squash in half and scoop out the seeds.

If they won't sit level on your rimmed baking sheet, you can slice a little off the bottom.  

Sprinkle each half with salt and fresh ground pepper.  Then add about a half tablespoon butter and a heaping tablespoon brown sugar to each half.  Bake at 400 degrees F for 45 minutes to 1 hour or until fork tender.  

I love the sweet and slightly savory combination of salt, pepper, and brown sugar on Acorn squash.  Delicious!




Linking up at Create with Joy, Lou Lou Girls, Voice Boks

So I am really late in posting this, but I have a few more summer photos to share.  I am missing the slow days of summer already and flip flops and shorts and warm sunny skies.  I am a warm weather girl at heart.  I know every season has its blessings, but my favorite is summer.  

The boys had fun riding on what I would call a scary fast ride at one of our local small town festivals.  No, I did not ride it, but they had a fabulous time whirling by as I waved at them.  

And the little one got to ride too, toddler style.

There is an adorable little zoo about an hour away that we visit almost every summer.  The boys get so excited to see all of the animals.  

This was actually at another zoo.  The boys pretty much love any zoo any time. Sometimes I think our house is a zoo.  Who am I kidding our house is a zoo.  My 5 year old posing silly with a (pretend) alligator.  

We took a really fun end of summer weekend trip to visit family and got to do some fun things like visit the Chicago Botanic Garden.  It's so hit or miss when photographing kids so I was really excited to get this picture of my three year old in such a beautiful setting.  

This was the coolest attraction ever.  The model trains at the Chicago Botanic Garden.  The boys ran around pointing at everything with such excitement.  The trains just went on forever.  I bet this is awesome at Christmas...as long as it's not too cold.  

We spent a really fun afternoon at the lake when visiting family on our weekend trip.  

Lots of fun memories.  We thought we would just enjoy the water from the shore and didn't bring extra clothes with us and of course the boys were soaked.  They couldn't resist the water and had fun splashing and running around.  To be a kid again...


Linking up at Create with Joy.

We discovered an Urban Organic Garden Stand last week.  It was so quaint with a box to drop money into and a scale to weigh the produce.  It was next to the garden which was actually a large lot for an Urban garden.  There weren't a lot of choices at the garden stand, but given the time of year there was a lot of produce.  We bought the most delicious cucumbers.  I ate three cucumbers in two days.  They were so good, I even sliced them and put them on my sandwich. 

The most fun was our purchase of these beautiful fingerling eggplants.  I should have taken a picture of them before I fried them.  They were striped purple and the daintiest little things.  

Well on with the recipe because these were AMAZING!    

Ingredients:
Buttermilk
Oil
Flour
Fingerling Eggplants
Spices (Use your favorites)
I used salt, garlic powder, cajun seasoning, and homemade Bam (Emeril's seasoning from a recipe I found online)

Start by trimming off the stem end of the eggplant fingerlings and then slicing them in half.  

Meanwhile, heat about 1/4 inch oil in a skillet or electric skillet.  I cooked these at 400 degrees F in my electric skillet.  

Next, coat them in buttermilk.  If you don't have buttermilk, a rich milk or cream will work.  Then dip them in flour to coat.

Set them gently in the hot oil, then sprinkle with seasonings.  Fry on each side until golden brown making sure to season each side.  Remove to a paper towel lined serving bowl.  

Linking up at Create with Joy