Girls Weekend Fun and Give-a-way

The winner for last week's St. Patrick's Day kit give-a-way is Joann.  

Thanks for sharing all your favorite green things!

We had so much fun this last weekend at my house!  We probably kept you all up laughing and playing cards.  Saturday night we played Hand and Foot (a card game) until 3:30 a.m..  We did NOT want to stop but we had to start thinking sensible at some point in the weekend. We definitely didn't eat anything sensible on our diets.  The diet plan flew out the window as soon as they stepped foot in my house!  My family is the best!  I know you are all saying ...no mine is the best...but we can all have our own opinions!   We even caught ourselves arguing over who was going to clean up the dishes.  Now that is a good family!


My sister, mom and I each bought one of these buttons. We then put them on and when my husband came home we stood in a line.  We introduced ourselves with " Hi my name is ...... and I'm a loud talker."  He cracked up because this side of the family are very loud talkers.  It is embarrassing.  We are working on this affliction that causes non-family members to hold phone receivers at arms length and find our voices easily in any store.

Friday morning we got facials and bought lots of new make-up because my niece Katie is selling Mary Kay now.  Apparently we made her month...I mean quarter.  We love Katie and we love our new make-up.  A side note: The concealer is the best I have ever tried and I love, love the eye primer so that my eye shadow will stay on all day.  We then sat our behinds down at my dining room table and played Liverpool Rummy and Skip-Bo the rest of the day. (both card games.)  Did I mention we are a game playing family?  Below, my future daughter-in-law Megan (in the black t-shirt) is probably wondering what kind of family she is getting herself into!

Saturday we went into Kansas City to my distant cousin Jane's new store.  Her store is called "Junque Drawer Studio." http://junquedrawerstudio.com   It is FABULOUS and you could see new and different stuff every time you walked around it. My sister-in-law Devra kept pointing to everything and saying ...come see this...come see this!  We just followed each other around laughing at all the sayings on signs, magnets, notepad.... We quickly found all sorts of treasures to buy.  Four of Jane's family members were there that day.  They all love hanging out together too.  It's really not working when you have so much fun together!

Our give-a-way this week is a necklace from Jane's store.  Comment to this post on something high calorie that you have eaten this week to make me feel better to enter our give-a-way.  I am trying to be good now so don't describe it too deliciously!!!  We will choose the winner next Friday March 23rd.

Saturday morning my niece Lisa made us banana stuffed french toast.  This is a photo before I drenched it with syrup.  It has cream cheese in it too.  Can you spell FATTENING with all caps!  It was so good and remember no diets were to be found on this weekend!  I have other recipes and photos that I will give out in later posts from this calorie laden weekend.

Banana Stuffed French Toast
Source: Down Home With the Neelys


4 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup light brown sugar
Pinch ground cinnamon
3 ripe bananas, peeled, cut into 1/2-inch-thick rounds
4 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
1 large unsliced loaf French bread, bread cut into 8 slices that are about 2 inches thick (I like the suggestion that Heather mentioned. She said croissants are amazing in this recipe.)
4 large eggs
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 1/2 cups whole milk
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon rum extract
Nonstick cooking spray
Confectioners' sugar, for garnish
Maple syrup, for garnish

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Melt butter in a heavy bottomed skillet over medium heat. Once butter is melted add the brown sugar and pinch of cinnamon. Stir with a wooden spoon until the sugar melts into the butter and becomes a sauce. Add bananas and toss together. Let cook until the bananas are soft and incorporated into the sauce. Remove to a bowl and let cool completely. Once cool, add cream cheese and mash lightly with a wooden spoon.
Using a paring knife, cut a 2-inch-long slits in 1 side of each bread slice (or croissant), cutting 3/4 of way through bread and creating pocket that leaves 3 sides of bread intact. Divide banana mixture equally among the bread pockets.
In a large bowl, add eggs, heavy cream, milk, cinnamon and rum and whisk to combine. Pour mixture into a 13 by 9-inch casserole dish. Put the bread into the egg mixture and let soak for 3 minutes, turning occasionally. Remove the bread from egg mixture, using a spatula, letting the excess drain off.
Spray a wire rack with nonstick spray and put the rack on a baking sheet. Put the bread on the rack and transfer to the oven.
Bake the French toast until it is golden brown and filling is hot, about 25 minutes. Transfer the toast on a serving platter and garnish with confectioners' sugar and maple syrup.




That's it from Lawrence, Kansas.  Have a great week and don't forget to leave your sewing long enough to enjoy the sunshine.  It's time to open the windows!