Playing House

Jefferson and I returned from our European adventure a little over a week ago. We had the most amazing time- I will post about that later and add pictures. We were so excited to wake up the morning after we got home to see that everything in our yard was lime green! I am so sad that we missed the Bradford Pear trees, but I got to see Spring in Italy and Greece, so I guess that makes up for it.

I decided that this year I am going to make my brown thumb turn green. I think it is hovering somewhere between brown and hunter green at the moment- so that's an improvment! We spent last Saturday driving around to different nurseries to find the perfect plants for this summer. I had my heart set on gardenias and NO ONE had them. I was so frustrated. We did however find lots of great herbs and flowers to plant in containers. While Jefferson was mowing, I ran over to the store for a second and decided to run into Fresh Market and guess what I found..gardenias. You've got to be kidding me. Drove all over this town and they were right next door. Oh well! Here's a preview of my spring planting :)

Oops. Just realized I totally abandoned my blog. Time for a post I guess! This morning I decided to try The Pioneer Woman Bacon Onion Cheddar biscuits. Jefferson had his exam today so I had to get up an extra hour early to get the biscuits made. Let me tell you. Totally worth it. They were incredible! They were super easy and I had most of the ingredients on hand. Now, in the future I plan on sharing my recipes that I have actually created, but in this case, you can't improve on the original. So, here ya go.


Pioneer Woman Bacon Onion Cheddar Biscuits

Ingredients
2 cups All-purpose Flour
1 teaspoon Baking Powder
¾ teaspoons Salt
¼ cups Crisco (gross, right? It really does make it great)
10 Tablespoons whole Milk
4 Tablespoons Vegetable Oil
1 whole Egg
10 slices Thick Cut Bacon, Fried And Crumbled (I bake mine in the oven to avoid the splatter- use a half sheet pan, 12 minutes at 350 degrees- turning once)
1 cup Finely Diced Onion
1 cup Grated Sharp Cheddar Cheese

Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt. Using a pastry cutter, (what the heck is a pastry cutter? I used a knife) cut in shortening until all combined.
Combine milk, oil, and egg in a separate bowl. Whisk together.
Combine flour mixture, milk mixture, bacon, onions, and cheddar cheese in a large bowl. Stir gently until all combined.
Spoon batter into greased muffin tins. Bake for 20 to 22 minutes on 375 degrees until golden Remove from pan and serve warm.

Yuuummmm.

So, I crossed over to the dark side. I decided to start a blog. I've always made fun of people with blogs. I mean, who wants to hear what I did last night or see pictures of my cat? So why am I doing this? I decided it might actually be a really good way to keep up with my family and friends who I don't get to talk to all the time. I plan on using this blog to share with you what's going on in the lives of Jefferson and me, my decorating dilemmas, great new recipes we've tried, and probably a few cat photos- haha. So, wish me luck in this new endeavor. I hope I don't waste your time.