The Original Fried Pie Shop

We have noticed the billboards for The Original Fried Pie Shop for several years, but never stopped until about about a year ago.  It has quickly become a favorite, and we tend to stop there whenever we get the chance.  Today, my in-laws picked up some fried pies and dropped them by our house!  Yum!

Waffles

I woke up this morning craving waffles.  Waffles are one of those foods I rarely eat-not because they aren't good, but because of the time involved in making them.  In fact, my typical breakfast consists of either cereal or toast.  So, anything that takes more than 2 minutes to prepare is normally not even considered.  I have occasionally bought frozen waffles-they heat up just as quickly as toast-but they just taste like cardboard, and aren't very filling.


This morning I remembered that I had my aunt's waffle recipe-and time on my hands-so I figured I may as well go for it.  Once I had decided to make the waffles, though, I realized we were out of milk, but we had whipping cream, so it would be a decent substitute.  


First I got out the 2 eggs, and bowls to separate them in.

Next I separated the eggs-I never look forward to this.  I am always afraid I will screw this up.  Thankfully, no problems this time around. 

I put the whites in the mixer, and combined them with the wire whip attachment.

This step takes a while-waiting for the whites to get stiff.  I am glad we have a stand mixer.  I unloaded the dishwasher while the eggs stiffened.

The recipe says to use 2 separate bowls, but we only have one that attaches to the mixer, so I removed the egg whites back to their original bowl.

They look perfect.

Then I added the yolks to the mixer, and beat them until they started to stiffen.

After that I added the oil...

...and whipping cream.

Once that was mixed well I added the flour...

...sugar...

...baking powder, and salt.

I mixed that up with the paddle attachment...

...and then added the egg whites back to the mixer, and mixed slowly.

I turned on the waffle iron when I added the egg whites back to the mixture so it could heat up.

They turned out just as expected-hot, filling, and delicious!  It made 5 waffles this size, so I could easily double the recipe next time.

Here is my aunt's recipe from my recipe card:


Waffles
2 eggs-separated
1 1/2 cups milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 3/4 cup flour
1 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp baking powder
1 tsp salt


Beat egg whites until stiff.  In another bowl, beat egg yolks until thick; continue beating adding milk and vegetable oil.  Add dry ingredients and beat until smooth.  Fold in egg whites.  Cook on hot waffle iron.

Wordless Wednesday: Longest Work Day Ever. Comfort Food Required.

Another Scarf

Sitting around the house with nothing to do is not good for me.  I have often said that I work, not for money, but for my sanity.  I decided this afternoon that I should go ahead and make the 3rd scarf I had been wanting to make because I needed something to do.  So I checked out a tutorial, and got started.  Most of my old tees are gray or black, but I wanted one with some color, so I chose this blue one.

I cut off the bottom half of the shirt, just below logo, but importantly, just below the arms.

Next, I cut off the hem at the bottom of the tee.

I cut strips (about 1 inch or a little less) all the way to the top, stopping about an inch from the top.

Then I stretched the strips out...

...and gathered the material at the end, and then it was ready!

Here it is with one of the cords wrapped around it to keep it together.  (Yes, I know my shirt doesn't match-lol)

Here it is, wrapped around twice.

And here it is again, clipped together with a flower.

Opening Christmas Presents

As I was going through the pictures on my phone, I realized that I never posted pictures of my family opening their Christmas presents.  The Lord has really blessed us in 2011, and I am so thankful for how He has provided for us to bless our kids with some of the things they want.  I am so grateful!

White Rhino

Cedar Hill has a cozy little, privately owned coffee shop called the White Rhino.  I enjoy going in there when I am in Cedar Hill, although that is not too often anymore.  It is located in an old house, with a hardwood floors.  The environment is very welcoming, and you feel like you could just sit for hours when you go in.  The coffee's not that bad, either!

US License Plate Tour-Texas

SPOILER ALERT


This morning I went to Cedar Hill State Park to go letterboxing, only to find out that the trails were closed today.  Fortunately, there was one letterbox up the road at the Visitor Overlook that I still hadn't found.  This one was called US License Plate Tour-Texas.  The planter, PugHerders, plants a letterbox in this series in each state they visit.  More than likely, this will be the only one in the series I will find.  Following the clue, I parked by the restroom at the overlook...

...and took the trail to my left. 

As the path started to curve to the left, I took the small path on the right...

...and followed it 35 steps until I reached the evergreen.

Underneath the evergreen were 2 rocks...

...and the box was hiding beneath one of the rocks.

What great detail on the stamp!  I was impressed.  This planter attached a piece of wood to the stamp, as well, to help it hold up. I tried to rotate the picture on my phone, but I guess it didn't for some reason. :(

Here is the signature stamp from the planter-such detail work!  Again, sorry it is on it's side. 

I browsed the logbook for a while...cute owl!

Gryzzled Gryphon of Coryell County almost always finds letterboxes before I do...

Coffee!  Yum!  It was a cold day today-this would be nice right about now.

This is another stamp I don't think I have seen before.  Cute!

I have seen Bell Motel's signature stamp on many boxes.  It is one of my favorites!

Neat idea!

I logged my stamp into the book, and then got ready to log their stamp in my book.  This box had it's own ink, but it was dried out.

I used blue ink since Texas license plates are red and blue on white and my red ink happened to be dried out. I pressed hard so that all the detail would show up on my logbook...  

Not bad!  This planter is very creative and talented!

Even though the state park was closed, it didn't turn out to be such a bad thing, considering how cold it was outside.  I'm not sure I could have handled the weather too much longer.  It was a great change of pace for my last day of vacation.