The Young Family Farm »

Masthead header

Kid fun, adult snack & Frankie-poo

KID FUN

This is how we spent our day yesterday…

IMG_8468 copy

Aren’t these two just about the cutest you’ve ever seen?! They are just 14 months apart…Irish twins…and they are bestbuds. We went to a cookie party at Aunt April’s house–and Aunt April knows how to throw a party. She had Miss Gail http://www.missgailmusic.com/ for entertainment pre-cookie decorating. And the kids had SO much fun. Laney are Parker were so funny wanting to SHARE a drum instead of have one of their own. I just love their sweet friendship!!! Ok…so here’s a little taste of our morning with Miss Gail…(warning…turn off music at the bottom of the page before attempting to understand what she’s singin’!)

HOW FUN IS SHE?! I think I may have missed my calling! If only I could play the guitar AND sing…this would be my vote for a job! TOO FUN! Poor Frank slept the ENTIRE show upstairs in the nursery!
After our mini-concert…we scooting upstairs for crafts, cookie decorating and lunch. Here’s my big man about to start a craft…
IMG_8481 copy
Next came the cookie decorating. The crowd was small and sweet. And my kids and my nieces did a good job being sweet…but the MINUTE the crowd left—our kids did what our kids do best TOGETHER…and got…well, silly like their mommas…
IMG_8550 copy
Down it girls!!! You don’t get this opportunity every day…so they went for it…and just HAPPENED to hear giggles and ran around the corner and THEY WERE CAUGHT!

ADULT SNACK

Guess what I finally made for the first time in my life tonight?! CHEESE STRAWS!!! YUM! If you aren’t from the South–you may have never heard of them. But…they are a must holiday snack! I used the recipe of my high school friend Tatum…but you can see Paula Dean’s recipe here: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/paula-deen/zesty-cheese-straws-recipe/index.html I like mine with a little more cayenne pepper though! You can use a manual cookie press for these as they no longer make the electric SuperShooters—or you can do like me and buy one off ebay! Never heard of a super shooter?? They were made in the 80’s and they look like this…

IMG_8571

You just stuff as much of the mixture as you can in this bad boy and then you let it go to town–making rows of the cheese mixture like this…

IMG_8573

You divide in bite sizes with a butter knife before cooking—and this yummy treat only takes 10 minutes to cook in an oven on 350. Just let ’em cool on cookie sheets…

IMG_8574

I doubled the recipe and made A TON. They store best if you put a paper towel between each row stacking them until each container is full. Doubling the batch made almost 4 containers.

IMG_8576

Now I have a fun little appetizer and munchy to pull out all week for guests! YUM. These are HIGHLY addictive AND the kids LOVE them!

And without Frankie-poo making the post…I should show you his new trick—can you see his little head shake?! Poor guy is TORTURED by his older siblings isn’t he?!

Finally…my 2 cents on watermarking…
I have had several folks ask me about watermarking and how I put the watermark on the pictures of my kids. WHICH, by the way, I can’t stress or recommend ENOUGH! I created an action that I could just click one time every time I opened up an image by following this tutorial to make mine. I like the embossed watermark so you can still see the entire image. If you don’t have photoshop or know how to use it–you can use this. If you choose to put your pictures out there without protection…just don’t be sad when you visit another country and you see this. Honestly, though–that would be best case scenerio…being a photographer I have seen some sad and sick things happen with pictures—so protect yours and protect your children by watermarking all of your images. And save yourself the stress and heartache by protecting your pictures in the beginning. Now if you trust your Facebook friends and you have private settings on, I wouldn’t fret about watermarking there–but if your blog isn’t private and any random Joe can visit, well, then any random Joe can copy your pictures too. And who knows—maybe you will get really good with that new camera and lens you are getting for Christmas;)…and once your images get better…I stress watermarking EVEN more! Just my 2 cents—take them for what they are worth. If you have a more user friendly way of watermarking your images for those who aren’t photoshop savy—please leave it in the comments below!

Now…try to sing Miss Gail’s name song to your kids tomorrow;). Have a great 23rd (just 2 days before Christmas)!

XOXO,

Andrea

SHARE ON FACEBOOK SHARE WITH A FRIEND SUBSCRIBE
Amy @ Filled With Praise - December 23, 2009 - 6:24 am

Love all the pictures and videos. Ryann does the head nod quite often…it cracks us up too. Merry Christmas to you guys.
Blessings,
Amy

kristi johnson - December 23, 2009 - 1:08 pm

i heart cheese straws…bring me some some day 🙂 kj