Need a Fabulous Recipe for an Appetizer Divine? Look no further!

With the holidays just around the corner, I have been on the look out for a festive and delicious appetizer recipe.

One of the best cooks I've ever met, brought this divine appetizer to our RS Birthday Lunch last week...it was yumalicious, looked festive--AND {she said} easy to make!

Annie's Bacon and Tomato Cups

Ingredients

8 slices bacon {1/2 c. of pre-cooked Costco Crumbled Bacon}

1 can Rotel Tomatoes {mild or use original or hot according to your own taste. Drain well. You can also use 2 fresh tomatoes and 1 can mild green chilies.}

1 can petite diced tomatoes, drain well

2 green onions, chopped

1/2 c. shredded Swiss Cheese

2 T. mayonnaise

1 tsp. dried basil

Pinch of garlic powder

1 can Grands Flakey Layers biscuits {Can choose use any kind of refrigerator biscuits}

Directions: Cook bacon until brown and drain. Crumble into mixing bowl and mix with tomato, onion, Swiss cheese, mayo, basil and garlic. Let sit overnight or several hours to blend flavors. When ready to bake, separate biscuits into quarters. Roll into ball and use rolling pin to get flat or just press into greased mini muffin pan. Fill to biscuit top with tomato-bacon mixture. Bake at 375 for 10 minutes. Makes 32.

...And the Winner Is

{Elvis wanted to get in on the action...but he couldn't read so Savvy took over the honors.}

I don't know about you...but I'm on the edge of my seat!

Heather of Jacobson Family of Five is the winner! Yay! {Heather...which magnet board would you like? Email me your choice and your address and I will send it off Ü}

P.S. Loyal Readers (and lurkers): I am in desperate need of cheap, quick, easy, darling, fabulocity RS Christmas gift idea for 110 women. If I use your idea--I'll send you a magnet board too!

Share please!

Grandpa's Little Cowboy

I just have to post my Grandpa's (Grumpy) charming story about my dad that he shared during the cowboy poetry reading festival on Saturday.

The Little Cowboy
by Grandpa Sumsion

Once upon a time a very very long time ago, there was this wanna-be cowboy. He met a pretty little girl and they fell in love and got married. Soon a real cowboy was born.

As he grew older, this real cowboy fell in love with all animals--especially horses---and he wanted to ride. The only horse available was his father's horse which was too frisky for a young cowboy to handle. But, he tried to ride it any way and it run away with him a couple of times.

So, his father, the wanna-be cowboy, bought a more gentle horse for his little Cowboy to ride.

He rode this horse from daylight to dawn.

He rode it east to the river to swim.

He rode it west to the lake to swim.

He rode it all over the town to play with his friends.

One day, he rode it to his friends house about three miles away. Later that day the wanna-be cowboy looked out the window. Guess what he saw?

Here came his son's horse scared and running as fast as horse could. The wanna-be cowboy looked again and saw a little red wagon bouncing up and down behind the horse with a rope tied to the saddle horn. Every time the wagon hit the ground, the horse would run faster.

There was no Cowboy on the horse and no Cowboy in the wagon. The horse ran straight to the barn and stopped. The wanna-be cowboy never did find out why the wagon was tied to the horse. Maybe some day the Cowboy might tell his grandkids and the story could end.

Later, the Cowboy met a pretty little girl and they got married and rode of into the sunset.

And they lived happy ever after.

{I asked my dad why he tied the wagon to the horse...and apparently he was giving rides to the neighborhood kids in it. Then he decided it looked like fun. So, he put an 8 year old neighbor boy in the saddle--and he hopped in the wagon. After a ways, the horse got spooked and took off out of control. The little boy jumped off quick-like before the horse got going too fast. This left my dad still sitting in the wagon being pulled by a runaway horse. Eventually, dad bailed out too. The horse returned home...without my dad. And that folks...is the rest of the story.}

Isn't that the cutest story? I think I should turn it into a children's book!

The Sunday Funnies: Cowboy Up

My dad's 62nd surprise birthday party was yesterday. A good time was had by all. There was even a program.

Aussie, Dad & Jessika

My mom had asked all of the men in the family to read a selection of cowboy poetry. I tried to help find El Jefe a poem on the internet..but he told me he would take care of it himself.

El Jefe's Cowboy poem

{written by none other than El Jefe}

There once was a man on a horse.

He rode tall.

He rode fast.

His name was Lucky.

He rode the old West.

He rode with the best.

Never did he fall.

The man had a dog.

The sky opened up.

The rain fell.

The thunder roared.

Aliens attacked.

His dog was kidnapped.

This was not Lucky's day.

But he returned standing tall.

Riding through the West.

Riding tall, riding proud.

After the program, I overheard my dad complimenting El Jefe on his poetry skills. One of my brothers mentioned they really liked the alien twist at the end.

El Jefe proudly said, "I figured if Indiana Jones could have an alien...then so could my cowboy poem."

(P.S. T minus two days till the magnet board contest ends...the drawing will be Tuesday at 5 pm. If you wanna double your chances of winning and get an extra entry...comment on this post with your best original cowboy poetry)

Winner, Winner, Chicken Dinner! And a Prize Giveaway!

During the summer, I got a phone call from a USA Today surveyer wondering if I'd be willing to participate on a USA Today panel. I usually don't do these surveys because they start out interesting..and 15 minutes later you wish you would've hung up in the first place.

But, I do like me some USA Today so I said sure.

Yup. 15 minutes later I was wishing I would've hang up.

I remember, the survey-guy kept apologizing for the lengthiness...and said many times...we're almost done..hang in there. I'm guessing he's had many a hang-up at the 14 or 15 minute mark.

So, I hung in there. Then he asked if I would mind being contacted at later dates for more surveys? I said, no thanks.

Trying to sweeten the deal, he added, "How about participating in email surveys. You could win a prize?"

Sold. To the sucker who likes winning...but never does because the odds are not in her favor. making me a bigger sucker is the fact that I had no clue what the prizes were..for all I knew they were giving away USA Today mugs...but, a prize is a prize.

The email surveys generally come every other week or sometimes monthly. Of course, I haven't been able to participate in all of them..but I've filled out my share.

Last night, I got an email from USA Today saying I had won $100 cash for being a valiant member of their panel (okay, maybe it didn't say valiant..but you know they wanted to).

Funny thing is, its been so long since the initial phone call that I had forgotten there was even a prize being offered...and now my altruism has paid off.

Yay me!

And since I'm feeling so altruistic...how bout a prize giveaway. I'm giving away one of these loverly magnet boards (holds a recipe card, a 4x6 or 5x7 picture).

If you'd like to win a magnet board...either for yourself or a Christmas gift for your fav person...then just leave a comment about:

1) The best prize you have ever won..if any.

AND 2) Your color choice...

a) picnic red & black ribbon

b) dark red and black ribbon

c) pink&brown vertical stripes and brown ribbon

d) pink and sage green with cream sheer ribbon

e) cute patchwork squares & black ribbon

f) multicolor quilter stripes & black ribbon

Yay You!

{Loyal commenters (and lurkers)
are all welcome to enter.
Drawing ends: Tuesday,
November 18th at 5 pm--MST}

A Hairy Situation or Tales of a Woolly Mammoth

Austin hates having his hair cut. He has his entire life. It used to be the actual cutting of the hair he hated. The razor, the scissors and the mean comb that pulled his locks.

But, now its the losing of his hair that he hates. He just wants long hair.

This whole haircutting saga has escalated into such an absolute nightmare that I end up going a couple of months before I take him in.

Sometimes three months.

And once even four months...until I told him the zoo was on its way because he was turning into a

woolly mammoth.

It has been 2 months since his last haircut..and we are getting family pictures on the weekend. So, I decided it was time for another fun trip to the salon.

He did not want to go.

So, I did what any other good mother wanting to provide herself with some sanity would do. I bribed him.

During the haircut there was nary a tear or a glare. I was amazed. I thought, finally, he is over the hatred of the hair cut. He did great.

I even complimented him on the way out that I was so proud of how he behaved for the stylist.

"What finally made you decide you didn't hate haircuts?" I asked.

"Oh, I still hate getting my hair cut short. I just decided not to look in the mirror. I stared at the floor the whole time," he answered. "I'm just going to pretend its long."

By the way, the haircut was Wednesday.

And he still hasn't

looked in the mirror.

He brushes his teeth with his eyes closed.

He cleans the bathroom with his eyes closed.

When he gets out of the shower the mirrors are all fogged up--so he can't see himself.

Whenever he passes by a mirror in our house, he shields his eyes from the mirror until he has walked by it.

He has me look at his face and hair to make sure he looks good in the morning before school.

During the day, he feels his hair to make sure there is nothing sticking up.

He's creative. I'll give him that.

I ♥ Blogging Tips

I ♥ to blog. I also ♥ learning fun tips about blogging. Imagine my excitement when I found a cool blogger, Gardenview Cottage, who shares some fabulous blogging tips on her blog!

Click on these links for Blogging 101, Blogging 202, Blogging for Dummies...prepare to be amazed.

My favorite tip was how to put cute symbols within your posts.

First: Make sure you have your number lock on.

Hit ALT and 666 at the same time and you have this Ü

Hit ALT and 3 once and you have this ♥

Hit ALT and 1 once and you have this ☺

Getting the hang of it yet? While I played around with the alt/numbers I found all of these fun symbols:

☻ ♥ ♣ ♠ • ○ ♂ ♀ ♪ ↕ ‼ ¶ § ↑ ↓ → ← ∟ ↔ ▲ ☺ ☻ ♥ ♣ ♠ • Ü ♂ ♀ ♪ ↕ ¶ ‼ § æ

Do you ♥ these blogger tips as much as I do?