Today is my birthday...and here is what I had for breakfast.  I dare not comment on what it looks like....I'll let you decide.  ;)  And this is not a set up picture...this is how it came to the table.

Here is my beautiful birthday cake that my family got for me.  It was from Deerfield Bakery - my favorite cake is yellow cake with fudge frosting - and look at all those beautiful flowers.  I love my family!!

Yes....those are Chanukha candles....we didn't have any birthday candles and the kids wanted to make sure I had candles to blow out for my birthday.  I love my kids and husband SOOOOO much!!

New yummy obsession....and good for you too!! Kale!

1 pound of raw kale
1/4 cp white balsamic vinegar
2T agave syrup (could use honey)
1/4 cp almond slivers (could use pine nuts)
1/4 cp currants (could use cranberries)
1/4 cp shredded parmesan cheese

Wash and pull ribs off of the kale
Put everything but the kale in a small container.  Shake the container to have everything mixed together - taking special care that the agave is all dissolved.
Pour the dressing over the kale and that is it.
Good for a couple of days....if it lasts that long.

Here is some info about kale:

What's New and Beneficial About Kale

• Kale can provide you with some special cholesterol-lowering benefits if you will cook it by steaming. The fiber-related components in kale do a better job of binding together with bile acids in your digestive tract when they've been steamed. When this binding process takes place, it's easier for bile acids to be excreted, and the result is a lowering of your cholesterol levels. Raw kale still has cholesterol-lowering ability--just not as much.
• Kale's risk-lowering benefits for cancer have recently been extended to at least five different types of cancer. These types include cancer of the bladder, breast, colon, ovary, and prostate. Isothiocyanates (ITCs) made from glucosinolates in kale play a primary role in achieving these risk-lowering benefits.
• Kale is now recognized as providing comprehensive support for the body's detoxification system. New research has shown that the ITCs made from kale's glucosinolates can help regulate detox at a genetic level.
• Researchers can now identify over 45 different flavonoids in kale. With kaempferol and quercetin heading the list, kale's flavonoids combine both antioxidant and anti-inflammatory benefits in way that gives kale a leading dietary role with respect to avoidance of chronic inflammation and oxidative stress.

We were invited to a friend's house for dinner on New Years day.  There was some delicious food there!  Here is one of the of dishes I loved eating....
Sheryl made this and everyone could not get enough of it!  Crunchy, sweet, tangy, bit of heat....had something for everyone.  It was SO great...and she said if you can follow directions you can make this.

Orange Almond Salad

For the salad:
Lettuce mix
1 can mandarin oranges
Slivered almonds or pine nuts 

For the dressing:
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1/4 cup Dijon mustard
1 small minced onion (I leave this out)
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp celery seed
1/2 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 cup salad oil 


And here is another - these are brownies our middle daughter made...they were SOOO good!

She put powdered sugar on them because the tops were somewhat uneven and this hid that fact well.  She also lined the pan with parchment paper so that they would come off of it easier.

Very impressive for a 13 year old...she found the recipe and made the whole thing herself.

Ingredients:

• 1 1/4 cups margarine
• 4 eggs
• 2 cups sugar
• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 3/4 cup cocoa
• 2 cups nuts (optional)

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Melt butter and add cocoa; mix. Stir in sugar and blend in the eggs, one at a time. Add vanilla. Stir in flour and nuts; mix well.
Bake in greased 9 x 13-inch pan for 30 minutes in preheated oven. Let cool on rack, 20 to 30 minutes. Cut into 20 square pieces.

My New Years hope for you....

May you....
Find the special moment in each day
Be with friends and family you enjoy eating and laughing with
Say thank you and I love you to those you love
Not take anything for granted
Turn your face to the sun and smile
Remember you are not alone

And thank you to all of you that are reading this.  This blog has become an outlet of sharing food and love for me....and I am grateful to all who have read this blog.

So New Years....I don't like holidays that make me feel like I have to go out, be with people and be gregarious. We just stayed home with two of the three kids. Our oldest daughter went out with a group of our friends and their families.  She had a great time being with everyone.  They ate at Bobb Chinn's - a local seafood place.  She loved her dish of pasta and shrimp, but forgot to take her leftovers home.  Oh well -

I made some special food and we bought some yummies as well.  Then we played a fun game called Ticket to Ride.  I had bought it for our family, then when we were in Springfield, our cousins had it there.  Weird.....but great coincidence.  We learned to play it there with them, so it was easier that only learning from reading the instructions.

Raw, shucked oysters that I had ordered from work.  I had a sauce for it....apple cider vinegar, worcestershire  sauce, and sum baul (a chinese chili garlic sauce).  I just added a bit to each oyster.  It was SUCH a treat!!  I made noises eating each oyster - always a good sign of food happiness!!

Steamed king crab legs.  I travel about 30 minutes each way to go to a restaurant seafood supplier (Supreme Lobster) that also has a small retail store out of their distribution center.  The prices are excellent and quality amazing!

Treats from our local bakery (Deerfield Bakery).  Everyone picked a few things to celebrate with.  I had the eclair and my mouth was VERY happy!!

This is a cute piece of cake our son chose.  It takes him days to finish this treat!

This is a family favorite.  Slow cooker bbq pulled pork.  I got the recipe from Spark Recipes.  And I follow it to a "t".  It is SO easy and SO good.  I serve it with homemade coleslaw and hamburger pickles.  The pork takes 8 hours to cook.  Be patient.  It is worth it.  When the pork it done, I take it out and shred it with 2 forks, just pulling it apart. I take the sauce in the cooker, add about 1/2 t of cornstarch and boil it briefly.  That thickens it up just enough.  Then serve it on the side.  It is great sauce to save as well and use on anything you want a delicious homemade bbq sauce.

Slow Cooker BBQ Pork

Ingredients

1 cup chopped celery  1 cup chopped onions  1 cup ketchup  1 cup barbecue sauce  1 cup water  2 tbsp vinegar  2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce  2 tbsp brown sugar  1 tsp chili powder  1 tsp salt  1/2 tsp pepper  1/2 tsp garlic powder  3 lbs boneless pork roast 

Directions

Combine all ingredients except roast in the slow cooker.
When well mixed, add roast.
Cover, cook on high for 6-7 hours.
Remove roast.
Shred the meat and return it to the sauce.
Note - You may want to thicken the sauce some.
Great for making sandwiches or using in other recipes. The sauce is good on rice too.

Number of Servings: 12

To make the coleslaw - I buy shredded coleslaw at the grocery store...I like the angelhair style.  I add in fat free sour cream (1-3T depending how creamy you like it), 3-5T apple cider vinegar (depending how vinegary you like it), 1t celery seeds, and 1-3T agave syrup.  Just stir it all together and it is ready to go.  SOOOOO yummy with the bbq!!

On the way home from Springfield, we stopped at Cracker Barrel.  Have you ever been at one?  If not...I would recommend it.  It is a totally different kind of place - with lots of "country" stuff to buy in the front of the restaurant and good food in the restaurant.  There is always a wood burning fire place in every Cracker Barrel - which I love.  And on each table is a game they are known for.  It is a triangle cut out of wood with holes drilled into it.  You need to use the golf tees that are in the game to jump each other - the objective being that only one tee is left on the triangle.  I have to admit the only way we did it was by looking up how to do it on the internet.

I had a classic - chicken and dumplings and fried okra.  This is SUCH a great dish.  The dumplings were so light and yummy and big chunks on chicken in the smooth gravy.  The okra was ok....not crispy, but tasty corn meal coating.

While in Springfield, we ate (twice if you MUST know) at a Springfield institution....Andy's Frozen Custard.  I had the same thing both times....vanilla frozen custard with bits of candy cane and Askinosie dark chocolate.  This type of chocolate is made by a local chocolatier who was once a lawyer, but left that to make chocolate.  What I like about it is that it is not very sweet....in fact almost bitter.  Which is a nice break in this decadent treat...that I had twice (and as you can tell, feeling rather guilty about that at this moment!).