A Pick Me Up Wednesday

After endless days of this...

...I'm talking about the rain and the road, I've been feeling a bit down. Kind of cranky, kind of on edge, kind of blah. So when I started thinking about my What I'm Lovin' Wednesday post earlier in the week, I was worried about what it would include.

Then this happened...

I'm loving a Bloggy Birthday Party! And I'm loving the pretty butterfly on my bloggy birthday gift.

A group of bloggy and IRL gal pals gathered this week to celebrate our Bloggy Birthdays. Most of the group started blogging about this time a year ago. So we decided to have a Bloggy Birthday Brunch (say that 3 times fast) and celebrate.

It also gave us an opportunity to do several things that we love to do:

• Some baking
• Some blogging
• Some talking
• Some games

Wait a minute, did I say games? I'm one of those people who really don't like party games - at baby showers, at bridal showers, at anything.

But I have to admit something (just sayin' Cris)...

I'm loving the "one thing" game. I don't think that is its real name, but I can't remember the name so that's what I'm calling it!

Each of the gals wrote our name on a blank sheet of paper and taped it to our backs...yes our backs. Then we moved around the room writing one nice thing about each other (personal comment, comment on their blog, etc). Let me tell you, it was a sight to see...at one time we had a real "commenting train" going on.

After we finished our comments, we went around the room and read our sheets out loud.

I'm loving all the nice things on my sheet...

 I'm loving that others love the randomness of this blog.

I'm loving that I make someone smile.

I'm lovingthat my pumpkin chocolate chip muffins are...wait for it...LEGENDARY. At least they are among a select group of 5-8 year olds in Indiana!

These gals don't know how much I needed their kind words this week. I have the best bloggy and IRL gal pals EVER!

What are you loving today? Head over to this kind of love and share.

What Kind of Blogger Am I?

On Friday I not only spent the day with a wonderful group of women who make me laugh (and laugh at me), but I also met a woman who's entertained me, inspired me and made me into a bit of a stalker... The Pioneer Woman. More details on that adventure later.

via Goodeness Gracious

Ree, aka The Pioneer Woman, was in Cincinnati promoting her new book and as part of the book signing event, she answered a few questions from the 400-plus women (a few men and babies too) gathered to meet her.

One stalker fan asked for advice on how to decide what to write about on her blog. Ree simply said (and I'm paraphrasing) write about things you know...things you enjoy.

This struck a chord with me.

You see, I've been struggling of late on how I fit into this vast space I often refer to (as do many others) as the Blogosphere.

I haven't been able to define what type of blogger I am.

I have had better luck defining what type of blogger I am NOT...

I am NOT a Mommy Blogger...I don't have children so I can't talk about the joys and struggles of raising children. I think it would be frowned upon if I went out and got me a baby just so I could bond with the vast numbers of Mommy Bloggers out there. Though I've talked for years that I would be interested in a time-share child. Anyone interested?

All joking aside, I do have 4 kooky nephews and 2 adorable baby nieces so I do have my share of cute kids on my blog.

I am NOT a Crafty Blogger...I've tried. I've really, really tried to be crafty. I started to learn to knit but messed up on my first scarf and never went back to it. I scrapbook but am about 2 years behind.

I even tried drunken pottery painting. I'll let you be the judge on whether I should go back...

Need more evidence? Check out the shirts that Liz over at Two Maids a Milking and I made for our PW adventure...

More on how these turned out in a future blog post...let's just say I won't be starting my own Etsy store anytime soon!

I am NOT a Foodie Blogger...I do love to bake and don't mind cooking but when your signature muffin looks 10 times better on someone else's blog...you are NOT a Foodie Blogger.

via Goodeness Gracious

Cris, I'm not bitter that you are a better baker...really I'm not!

I am NOT a Deal-Seeking Blogger...I love a good bargain. (My mantra: Free or Better than Free.) However, I have no idea how some of my favorite bloggers/Facebook pages/Twitter pages find all of the great deals/coupons/codes they post. I just don't have the time or the discipline. This leads me to...

I am NOT an Organizational Blogger...hence being stuck on Day 2 of the 21 Days of Organizing Challenge that I started weeks ago.

And finally I am NOT an Advocacy Blogger...while I'm passionate about some issues, I just don't feel I have the expertise/knowledge (or probably more realistically the personality) to try and be an outspoken advocate for anything. That being said, I do realize that since I consider myself a farm girl and I associate with many farmwives (who are NOT advocacy bloggers either), I do have a responsibility to answer questions regarding how we raise food to the best of my knowledge when I'm asked (and I have been)...more on this in a future blog post as well.

So, now that I've determined what kind of blogger I am NOT, what's next?

Who am I?

Hello, anyone still there?

Sorry, feeling a bit sorry for myself for a minute.

I think I'll stick with what I've been doing for almost a year...writing about what I enjoy...what I know...writing about my life.

Because, honestly, some of my favorite blogs don't fall into any of the categories above (and some are a mix of all of the above). They are about LIFE and the randomness that makes life funny, sad, frustrating and worth living!

I can only hope that something in my rambling connects with someone else out there. And if it doesn't...oh well, as long as I enjoy writing on here, then it'll be worth it.

Feeling Good after Freeze-O-Rama

After spending Saturday cooking in the kitchen with 11 blogging buddies, I received the following texts from Liz over at Two Maids a Milking...

Text #1: Convo at breakfast...Niece #1 "I think I know who made these muffins, a girl named Megan." Niece #2 "We should call her and tell her we love them and thank you very much!"

My Text Reply: Tell them I say you are welcome. I love the way kids think!

Text #2: Niece #2 just said tell her we are going to need some more muffins!

They were talking about the pumpkin chocolate chip muffins Barbara over at Frugalista Farm Life and I made during Freeze-O-Rama. We fixed up three double batches which made about 90 regular-size muffins and 100 mini muffins.

I love these muffins right out of the oven, so I was glad that some of them were enjoyed right away and not put into the freezer...although we did include reheating instructions with each bag!

In addition to the muffins, Barbara helped me put together 12 jars of Texas Two-Step Soup Mix. We were pinch-cooking for Leah over at Beyer Beware. Check out her post with the recipe here. Here are the final products.

Since we didn't have as much prep work on our dishes as some of the other gals (These ladies were COOKING...I was amazed at the number of potatoes peeled, bacon fried and manicotti filled.), Barbara and I got to enjoy some of the other activities we planned for the day when we thought that we were all cooking in a small kitchen. Luckily the kitchen we were in was wonderful...lots of counter space and a large commercial oven!

Cris over at Goodeness Gracious brought her huge collection of Gooseberry Patch cookbooks and we looked through those. Barbara picked out a couple for her Christmas list, including Cris's suggestions of Best-Ever Casseroles and One-Pot Meals.

Then we received some cake decorating tips from Liz...you should have seen her tackle supply box with her decorating tools. She is a pro! Check out this post of hers.

She showed us how to do roses.

Then she showed Big Sissy from 3 Pigs her tricks.

But Big Sissy really wanted to try it by herself.

Here she goes!

It was a wonderful day. I love spending time with these women. I learn so much from them. There are single women, married women, married women with children and married women with children and grandchildren in the group. But when we get together, we are just women who enjoy each other's company.

Now to the food...if you are interested in some of the recipes that were cooked up and shared during our Freez-O-Rama, check out Goodeness Gracious by clicking on the button below.

Linking up to some other Tuesday fun...

Going Off-Site for Some Freezer Cookin'

Just a heads up...

I did some cookin' this weekend with some Goode friends over the weekend and a linky party is in the works! Head over to Goodeness Gracious on Tuesday and share your favorite freezer meal recipe.

I joined 11 of my blogging buddies for a marathon session in the kitchen on Saturday. There was a lot of activity, a few bloopers, and a mountain of yummy food at the end. I was pinch-cooking (kind of like pinch-hitting) for my gal pal Leah over at Beyer Beware because she was out of town and couldn't participate.

As a single lady (now put your hands up...sorry Beyonce took control of my fingers for a moment) with limited freezer space I don't have room for 12 meals in my freezer, but as a working mother of two, Leah does! So I gladly stepped in so that she could come home from her trip with a few meals ready to go in her freezer.

Baby Sister (aka Frugalista Farm Life) was also there, so we helped each other complete our dishes...my pumpkin chocolate chip muffins for Frugalista and a cool soup in a jar mix for me.

The cooking was done at a church about 20 minutes from my house, so I had to load up all of my supplies.

The scary part...this didn't include 12 pounds of hamburger supplied by Leah to go with the soup mixes and my computer and printer so we could print off recipes if needed throughout the day.

In addition to the cooking, we also had a Pampered Chef demo, cookbook swap & share, cake decorating demonstration and lots of great conversation!

We even had some little helpers, including this sweet thing...

You might remember her from this post. My precious niece is now 5 weeks old. She was quite content admist the hustle and bustle of the kitchen. Doesn't she look cute in her tights?

Stay tuned for more about our 6-plus hours of cooking.

I actually came home with a few meals because Baby Sister split her spoils with me...and because I took Leah's quiche (made by Liz over at Two Maids a Milking) as payment for delivering her meals...I also took a brownie from the pan on her stove and am now craving brownies with chocolate and peanut butter chips.  

Can't wait for the cookie swap Baby Sister is planning for December! Maybe I'll have to make brownies...

By the way...the quiche didn't make it to the freezer. Lil' Sister and I ate some as soon as I got home. I've had it for breakfast and supper today! It has bacon in it, need I say more?

That Time of Year...Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins!

My sister called the other day to chat. During the conversation she casually reminded me that I haven't made any pumpkin chocolate chip muffins yet this year.

I'm not sure where I got this recipe (so if I got it from you...remind me) but it's become a family favorite. Usually I start thinking about making them right before Halloween (when I start seeing pumpkins everywhere). I make them several times between now and Thanksgiving. I think we like them all the more because they only appear for a short time. Kind of like Christmas cookies, Easter Peeps and mint dark chocolate Kit Kats (Hershey's PLEASE bring these back this Christmas).

Since Baby Sister and family were home this weekend to introduce Miss Jocelyn to her great-granny and other relatives, it was the perfect time to start baking. Mom had the whole family (all 14 of us) over for supper on Saturday night and I brought the muffins as a dessert option. We NEVER just have one dessert at a family gathering...Mom made her chocolate chip cookies too.

The recipe calls for 8 ounces of pumpkin but I usually buy the 15 ounce can so I usually double the recipe and make both mini muffins with mini chocolate chips and full-size muffins with regular chocolate chips. I really wanted to use the dark chocolate chips from Ghiradelli (not sure what they are called) but I didn't have them in my cabinet...so definitely next time!

I also had some fun Halloween cupcake liners that I picked up at Macy's after Halloween last year for dirt cheap so I pulled those out to use.

Love how the spiders on the big muffins look orange because of the pumpkin!

These are a great option either for dessert or breakfast. Enjoy!

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins

2 eggs
1 cup sugar
8 oz. canned pumpkin
3/4 cup oil
1 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

In large bowl, beat eggs, sugar, pumpkin and oil until smooth. In separate bowl, combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon and salt. Add to pumpkin mixture and mix well. Fold in chocolate chips. Fill greased or paper-line muffin cips 3/4 full. Bake for 16-20 minutes or until muffins test done.

Serves: 1-1/2 dozen.