A dream is a wish your heart makes....

I have been missing Disney World lately.  After all, it has been 235 days since we were there according to the app on my phone.  I thought I'd take a little stroll down memory lane to help me cope with the separation anxiety.

This was the first of many (read dozens) of pictures of Cinderella's home that I have taken over the years. 

Cinderella Castle - June 2007

It is pretty from every angle.  Ending the night watching fireworks explode over the castle is a must.

Wishes - October 2008

At night, when lit up with ever-changing colored lights it is magical.

June 2010

June 2010

  And at Christmas when it is covered with thousands of twinkle lights, the effect is breathtaking.

Christmas Castle - November 2011

I guess now I will go read a Disney blog or look through the kids' pin collections.

Brownies - Baking & Devouring

Brownies are the perfect casual dessert.  A rich brownie with a cup of coffee or a glass of ice cold milk is so yummy.  Tonight, I just wanted to make a quick dessert, so I used my go-to mix - Ghiradelli Double Chocolate Brownie Mix.  They are so chocolatey and moist.

When I really want a "wow" brownie, I use a simple, completely from scratch recipe, that I got from an old Hershey's cookbook. I think that the ingredients you choose when baking make all the difference in the outcome.  Always use real butter when you bake.  The flavor that you get is so much better than using margarine.  I always try to use cocoa and vanilla from Penzey's Spices (see the link to their website).  Using the best ingredients you can afford will make the goodies you're baking for your family and friends even more of a special treat

Besides picking the best mix or recipe, another tip for baking brownies is to line your pan with nonstick foil.  After they are baked, you can simply lift out the brownies with the foil, slice, and enjoy.  Then you can throw away the foil and put the still clean pan back in the cabinet.  Perfect!

Best Homemade Brownies

1 cup butter

2 cups sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

4 eggs

3/4 cocoa (sift if lumpy)

1 cup all purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup chopped nuts (optional)

3/4 cup chocolate chips (optional)

Heat oven to 350 F.  Line a 13 x 9 baking dish with nonstick foil (allow edges to hang over at least 1 inch).  Melt butter on stove top or in microwave.  With a large whisk, combine sugar, cocoa and butter.  Add vanilla.  Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.  Add flour, baking powder and salt and beat well.  Stir in nuts and/or chocolate chips, if desired.  Pour batter into prepared pan.  Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until brownies begin to pull away from sides.  Cool in pan on wire rack for as long as you can stand to not eat them.  Remove foil and brownies from the pan.  Cut into bars and enjoy.

Five Years Later

There is just something about late summer in the South.  It is so hot, your shirt sticks to your back when you walk to the mailbox.  I swear I got a sunburn waiting the 5 minutes outside the school to pick up my daughter from kindergarten.  One of the best things about late summer is preseason football.  Even if the teams playing aren't your favorite, just hearing the CBS theme music playing in the background conjures up the memory of cooler temperatures, and for many, cooler temperatures mean football.  Right now the Saints are playing the Chargers on CBS.  Here in south Mississippi we love the Saints.  Even back when they weren't playing as well as they did last year, they were still the team people cheered for.  Now it's as if their success is a gift to the region - a way for everyone to come together to celebrate, to be proud.

Sunday, it will be five years since Katrina came roaring on shore.  We woke up Sunday morning, August 28, 2005, to see a Cat 5 monster bearing down on New Orleans.  Being in Hattiesburg, that meant we were on the "wrong side" of the storm.  We threw things into suitcases, grabbed the cd copies we had of the pictures of the kids, and packed our 4 year old and 6 month old into the minivan.  We headed to my husband's parents in Birmingham to wait and watch with the rest of the Gulf Coast to see where Katrina would go.  How strong would it be?  Where would the eye hit shore?  There is something so strange about knowing that your house and all of your stuff might not be in the same condition you left it when you go home.

We waited until Thursday to travel back home to check on the damage.  We were so lucky.  We lost a couple of shingles when the eye of the storm passed through our town, still packing hurricane strength winds.  Houses one street over from ours had as many as 7 or 8 trees on top of them, many completely destroyed.  Beautiful old trees were uprooted and laying in yards and across streets.  It took months for all of the storm debris to be collected.

Today, things in our city are back to normal, but when you travel down to the coast or over to New Orleans, it's a little different.  There are still empty lots where businesses and restaurants used to be, and houses that have been abandoned.  There are still things that need to be done, but that's why the Saints are so important.  They bring everyone in the region together and give us something to be excited about.