A Little About Me...

Something I really like to do is learn about what different likes and dislikes people have.  Every human being is so different, that it's neat to see the differences in opinions.  Recently, I decided to really get to know myself and figure out what my favorite things are.  Up until recently, I had never really thought about what I really like!  Isn't that sad?  I never really said to myself that Pink is my favorite color.   I always knew I liked the color, but never labeled it as my favorite.  So I thought for this blog entry I would tell you what my favorites really are!  Feel free to tell your favorite things in the comment section!

 

 

A few of my favorite things:

The color pink; Victoria's Secret; shopping; Duck Dynasty; Kenny Chesney; the beach; surfers; colorful parrots; Real Housewives of Orange County; fairs; concerts; The Beach Boys; Ocean City Maryland; Baltimore; The Ravens; The Oriole's; The Phillies; Maryland crabs; beer; thunderstorms; snow; Christmas; cooking; Julie and Julia; The Philadelphia Zoo; Cal Ripken JR.; The Pistol Annies; Dancing With the Stars; The Middle; the song "Better as a Memory" by Kenny Chesney; baking; traveling; Disney; Flavor Cupcakery; consignment shops; mini golf; Texas Roadhouse; coconut scented things; Key West; seafood; Old Bay; the Inner Harbor; nascar; Clint Bowyer and Jeff Burton; boardwalks; coconut shrimp; Gain laundry detergent;  antique shops; yard sales; Cowtown Flea Market in NJ; Atlantic City NJ; Miranda Lambert; lemons; Butter cream scented candle from Yankee; pinterest; Norwegian Cruise Line; pools; sweet corn; A1 steak sauce; blogging; and tennis. 

That's just a list of a few things that came to mind.  Now...for the dislikes...(this list should be a little shorter)

Reckless drivers; old people who are rude and ignorant; rumors, judgemental people, rude family members, tractor trailers, motorcycles, the Twilight craze; the Harry Potter craze, video games for kids under 13, weather over 90 degrees, driving through the state of Virginia, living far away from Orlando Florida, the price of plane tickets, the price of hot dogs at the grocery store, laundry, and hand washing dishes.


Anyone want to share some of their likes and dislikes?  I'd love to hear them!

Farmer's Market Peach Pie

I call this my "Farmer's Market Peach Pie" because last Summer when I went to the farmer's market, they had an abundance of fresh gorgeous peaches.  They looked so lovely that I had to buy them.  I bought a bunch of regular peaches and then a bunch more of white peaches.  I had never really heard of "white peaches" before, but the farmer that was selling them said they were the sweetest ones. 

So, once I got home with all of my loot, the first thing that came to mind to bake was a peach pie.  Part of the reason was because a month earlier, they had a peach pie contest at our county fair.  I vowed then to one day make one and see how it turned out.   Let me tell you, not to toot my own horn, but it was juicy & sweet and the crispy pie crust made it even better. 

 

 

Here's how I did it.....

 

First, ask your local farmer's market stands for a mix of regular and white peaches.  (Yumm!)

 

At the store I bought a box of 2 ready made pie crust dough.  (I really should have made a homemade pie crust to make it more authentic, but hey, I'm a busy mom.  ;)

 

So anyway, the rest of the ingredients I used you probably have on hand.  I like to experiment with my ingredients, and see what I can come up with.  To make it easier, here is the exact recipe.  However, feel free to negotiate your own recipe and add or subtract your own ingredients! 

 

 

Farmer's Market Peach Pie

 

6 of each Regular and White peaches

1 box of 2 ready made pie dough

1/4c Sugar

1/4 c brown sugar

1T Cinnamon

1T Allspice

1/4t Salt

2T Milk or Heavy Cream

 

 

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Spray some cooking spray on the bottom of an 8in or 9in pie plate.  (Just a little to keep pie crust from sticking.) Press one of the pie dough onto the bottom and cinch the edges.  Poke a few holes in the bottom of the crust with a fork.

3. Wash, peel and slice peaches and place slices into a large bowl.

4. Mix Sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon, allspice, salt and milk/cream in with the peaches.  Stir until sugar is all over the slices and not clumpy.  Peaches will start to get juicy...that's fine!  The juicer the better! 

5.  Fill bottom pie crust with the peach mixture.  Spread evenly.  Apply the top pie crust and cinch around the edges together with the bottom dough. Poke a few holes in the top of the pie.  (I rubbed some butter on the top and sprinkled some sugar to give the top crust some extra sweetness.) 

6.  Bake for 20-30mins, but baking really depends on your ovens.  Just keep an eye on your pie as it's baking. 

7.  Enjoy!!  Serve with ice cream if you'd like. :)

 

 

 

 

Ideas for a Bunny themed 1st Birthday!

My little guy turned one last month and we decided to throw him a "bunny" themed birthday party!  I didn't want something like Mickey or Pooh for his 1st one.  I just wanted something simple and cute, just like him.  So, we were able to do a lot of cute things with this theme.  I'm going to post some pictures and maybe you'll get some ideas out of them.

Here is the invitation we used.   Found it at Walmart Photo.  They also have brown and pink for little girls!  I thought it was super cute!  We used an older pic of Cole from his 1st year.  I don't think you have to use a newer pic or even a first pic, but one that captures his personality. 

 

Here is the beautiful cake.  A friend of mine makes cakes for a little extra cash and she does a great job!  All I did was send her a pic of the invitation and gave her an idea of what I wanted and this is what she did.  Amazing!  It tasted great too!  (Believe me!) :)  Again, we kept it simple.  (Except the 3 tiered cake.)

The balloons were just simple ones since we couldn't find any bunny ones.  Just a few to match the color theme (chocolate brown, blue, white, and lime green)

 

 

Here's our little man, Cole, smiling for his photo op.

 

We thought we'd make a more festive pic of him playing with his balloons.

 

 

I guess he is going to be considered a "neat freak".  He needed some prompting to really dig in.

 

 

The end result.  Once he figured out he could pick up the whole piece and shove it in, there was no stopping this little guy. 

 

                              These were my ideas of Peep Pudding Cups!  Of course we had to make some chocolate and some vanilla.  But they were super easy to make and fun to decorate.  It's easy this time of year to get any peeps in any colors.  Then we added some sprinkles that matched the party colors! 

 

Meet Cole!

This is our little one year old.  (Just turned one on March 13.)  He is our little cuddly munchkin.  The opposite of his brother, he is more quiet and laid back.  He and Chase get along great!  They love each other.  Cole is named after the Phillies pitcher, Cole Hamels.  His middle name, Daniel, after my grandfather.  Cole is walking around everywhere.  Still a little wobbly, but he can move around great.  He absolutely loves Finding Nemo.  He will sit and watch the whole things.  Comes in handy when I have to wash some dishes or grab a quick shower.  He is a joy to be around and I can't wait to watch him grow.  Time goes by so fast, but I love seeing his little personality develop.

Meet Chase

This is Chase. My little 5 year old going on 16.  He's my first born little dinosaur maniac.  He definitely tests my patience on a daily bases, but hey, he's a sweet heart.  He's easy on the eyes too.  Oh, those big brown eyes.  They get me every time.  He's got the puppy dog face down pat.  He gets in and out of trouble more times then he can count.  His favorite movie?  Jurassic Park.  He is for sure going to be a Paleontologist when he grows up.  He loves going to zoos and amusement parks with us.  His favorite restaurant?  Buffalo Wild Wings.  Chase has already been to Disney World 5 times and been on two cruises.  He's such a joy to be around and we would definitely be lost with out his little smiling face.  His name is Chase David.  My husband is a Phillies fan so we named him after the second baseman, Chase Utley.  His middle name, David, is after my dad.  I love this kid.

Welcome!

Aloha!  Welcome to my page, The Dang Housewife.  I'm a stay at home mom of 2 boys ( a 5yr old and a 1yr old).  I'm also a loving wife, domestic goddess in training and believer in God.  Cooking and baking are my ultimate favorite things to do.  I dislike doing the dishes and ANYTHING associated with the laundry.  But I do it.  Why?  Because I have to.  My husband isn't going to voluntarily load up the washer with dirty baseball uniforms and work clothes from the past week.  It's probably a good thing he doesn't do laundry.  The first (and only) time he attempted to help me by tossing in a load of clothes, he loaded the washer with a mix of light and dark things.  (You know where I'm going with this, right ladies?)  Well, needless to say, the clothes came out tie dyed with red stains all over them.  He had washed my favorite pair of Victoria's Secret red undies with the whole batch.  He's been banned from the laundry room ever since then.  So now I have to catch myself before giving him the "you never do anything to help me" speech. 

Anyway, welcome to my little corner of the internet.  I'm Erica.  I'm 32 years old.  I feel like I'm too young to be a housewife, but with daycare prices being sky high we have no choice but for me to stay home.  Don't get me wrong, I love it.  I love the freedom of being able to plan my own days and make my own routines, but I do miss working.  Just a little over a year ago I had a full time job as a Med Tech at an assisted living home.  I loved my job.  I loved the hours I had, the friends I made, the rewarding feeling of helping people and the money I made.  When I became pregnant with my now 1 yr old, we knew I would have to stay home.  I miss the idea of having my own paycheck.  However I am in the process of trying to at least go back to school and take some online courses to push me further to getting my RN degree.  Becoming a nurse is my ultimate dream. 

There's a lot I have to say and a lot I want to talk about.  I'm also open to any topics you might want to discuss.  I love giving advice or tips about things.  Here I will be talking about everything from the beach to the stars or from a great recipe to my future husband, Kenny Chesney.  (I'm so in love. ;) )  So, welcome again to my page.  Hope you will follow me through troubles and laughs!  xoxoxo

Cinnamon Roll Waffles...via Pinterest

 

Cinnamon Roll Waffles...via Pinterest

 

I made these this morning.  I have to admit, I was uncertain how these would work.  I thought for sure they were going to burn or stick to my waffle maker.  However, with a few shots of cooking spray and about 5 minutes of praying, they turned out great!  My kiddos loved them!  Too bad they were all gone before my hubby got home.  If you see these on Pinterest, they are definitely worth pinning and trying!  Trust me!  Your kids will love them!  Also, you will benefit from their quick cooking getting you out the door faster or done in time to finish watching the Today show!  Hope you give them a try!  Oh, and we added maple syrup to them for some extra breakfast flavor.  Yummo!