Babies, Books & Broccoli Cornbread.....

....it's official! I'm a Grandmother {as close as I'll ever be, anyway}. My step-daughter, Paulette, gave birth to her first child - a beautiful little boy named Hunter Elliot:

Isn't he the sweetest!!! I can't wait to go see him and kiss him and spoil him. It seems as though Broc {my son} has really stepped up to the plate and loves being an uncle. Actually, Hunter looks like Broc a little and they are not even "blood kin". And just look at that little chin - it's perfect! And everybody is doing just fine.

We went to a "Local Farmers" thing-a-majogie @ Poppies and there were several speakers there, local grown food, local farmers and several people discussing the current status of the economy and the benefits of buying "local". One of the books they were pushing was this:
It's a book about a family that for one whole year only bought & ate local grown food. It's almost like pretending you're an animal. For instance, you'll eat strawberries when they are in season & pumpkins when they are in season. Unlike animals, we as humans are so used to being able to eat whatever we want, whenever we want, that the whole idea of not being able to do that just seems preposterous to us. But if we step back and look at "the big picture", it just may be a way of life we need to start thinking about and getting used to. Eventually the prices of food will be so high, or rationed to a point that we may not be able to afford such luxuries as "choices". Just yesterday, I was limited to the amount of rice I could purchase. Believe me, we're not going to start growing our own food *yet*, but we are trying to buy more local and readily available produce, meats, cheeses & other "local" things. So, we feel like it's a good start. And I'll let you know more about the book when I finish reading it.
This past Monday night was Rainbow's birthday!!! So the hit of the night was the awesome birthday cake that her husband & kids made for her *Happy Birthday Rainbow*. But before the cake was cut, everybody munched on some awesome homemade chili that Mark & Theresa made and my Broccoli Cornbread that is always a hit. By the time I remembered that I wanted to take a picture of it for my blog post, it was all gone. So, as requested {Kaye, you'll love this}, here's the recipe ~ enjoy:

Ingredients:
4 eggs
1 stick of butter or margarine - melted {I always use real butter}
8 oz. of Mexican Velveeta cheese, melted
1 cup of chopped onions
1 can of "Mexicorn" - drained
1 box of frozen chopped broccoli, thawed & squeezed dry
6 oz. of small curd cottage cheese
1 box of Jiffy cornbread mix

Mix all ingredients in a large bowl....and then pour into an un-greased 9x12 baking dish. Bake in pre-heated oven @ 400 degrees for 30-45 minutes, or until toothpick stuck in middle comes out clean and top is nice & brown.Believe me, if you want a "crowd pleaser" this is it!

Well, my sick little computer should be all well with *new* guts tomorrow. $325+ later, it needed a new mother board & processor, which is what I thought it probably needed. But now, I've kinda gotten used to my little laptop again and am so happy I have it for back-up. That's the reason I try not to use it, unless I have to. So with that being said, I guess I should finish up things I need to do and then shut it down for the night. I hope you are all having a wonderful week & trying to stay *cool*. Wayne is busy putting ceiling fans in every room! Lucky for me, he started with my studio and my fan even has a light dimmer & a remote! I'm one lucky girl, for sure :)

xx00 & peace always ~ Kathy

"Love is an irresistible desire to be irresistibly desired" ~ Robert Frost