Winter, spring and a few things in between

Here we are almost half way through April and all I keep thinking is where did February and March go, and surely my baby boy isn't turning two in a few months. Since the start of the new year each day feels like we navigate through it at the speed of light, which I guess is a good thing, but as I mentioned before it has also become a frightful reminder that Braedan is only growing more and more. So just as quickly as our days and activities move along, I too will attempt to swiftly sum up the highlights of what we've been up to.

Our first winter in Texas was pretty uneventful compared to some of the snow and ice we witnessed during our time in Chicago, but at the beginning of February a "winter storm" decided to head our way making it seem otherwise to native south Texans. On February 4, we were part of a historical event in San Antonio--its first snow fall in over 26 years. Thankfully the snow was gone by that afternoon giving us the green light to mosey on down to the rodeo for Braedan's first taste of the cowboy way of life. While there he rode a pony for the first time and got up close and personal with other farm animals.

Viewing these pictures brings the saying "a picture is worth a thousand words" to mind, because when I look back at these photos I will always remember what took place right before the shots were taken. Although Braedan looks to be enjoying himself on the pony, a few short moments before I took this picture he was crying and hesitant about being placed up there. What you don't see is me trotting alongside him continually reassuring him that it was ok and the fun part of the ride would begin in no time. Thankfully he calmed down and got into the ride, even bouncing a couple times to make his pony "giddy up." It's funny because while he was a little scared at the start of the pony ride, he certainly didn't seem to mind the friendly tap on the shoulder from the goat in the above picture.

During that same weekend, we cheered on the Green Bay Packers during their Super Bowl win and Braedan boogied on down during the entertaining halftime show. Over the last month it seems as though Braedan learns and says a new word everyday, and for a while now he has been into copying and imitating a lot of what we do. While watching the Black Eyed Peas perform at halftime, he picked up some new dance moves from his Tia.

March and the start of spring mean two important things to me -- nice weather to soak up and Fiesta in San Antonio is just around the corner. At the end of March our little family made a trip to St. Mary's University to celebrate its Alumni Weekend and for many of us, it's a little teaser of what's to come at Fiesta. During that visit Braedan indulged in a Fiesta food staple, his first chicken on a stick.

March and April in Chicago never quite lived up to their status as spring time months so it's been a nice change of pace to have the opportunity to spend so much time outdoors lately. One thing we have adjusted to is high wind gusts, which I learned is a normal thing down here for this time of year. But I tell you what, I'll take warm winds blowing us over any day over the possibility of snow showering us during this time of year.

Poof, here's your dinner for tonight!

I wanted to share a recipe for a while now, and I am finally making the time to do so. A lot of you already know that I have never professed to be a good cook, or even a cook for that matter so this is history in the making. I've always been one of those people who was intimidated by the kitchen and many recipes. Now I know you might be thinking what could possibly be so scary about a recipe since you are being told exactly what to do. Well for me, the instruction of a recipe isn't the difficult part but sometimes finding a certain ingredient in the grocery store is too much of a challenge. And don't get me wrong, I love my HEB (missed it greatly while away from Texas), but I don't want to be combing the aisles all day long for ginger, dill weed or any other fancy spice. I am also envious of those cooks who just magically throw something together. I always think, where does that confidence come from. How can you say, just throw in a dab of that and a sprinkle of this and poof, you have a tasty dinner. I guess that's why I am in awe of Rachel Ray because she is the queen of "Now, use one tablespoon of chili powder, eyeball it in your palm and use a 1/2 cup of chicken stock, that's about three times around the pan as you're drizzling it." If I did that, I would get a too spicy, runny mix of goop. Anyways, the recipe below is one of her concoctions, and it's been a hit at our place several times now. I even included a picture of my creation. Happy Eating!

Mexican Beef Pie

Ingredients: 2 boxes of corn muffin mix; 2 eggs; 4 tbsp unsalted butter, melted; 1 1/2 cups of milk; 1 cup frozen corn kernels; 2 tbsp olive oil; 1lb ground beef or turkey; 3 garlic cloves, crushed from skins and chopped; 1 med onion; 1 tbsp chili powder; 1 1/2 tsp ground cumin; 2 tsp hot sauce, I used Tabasco; 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce; 1/2 bottle of Mexican beer (I just used Miller Lite); 3tbsp dark brown sugar; and 1 package of Monterrey and cheddar cheese blend

Preheat the oven to 400.

In a large bowl, combine the 2 pkgs of corn muffin mix, with eggs, melted butter and milk. Stir in corn. Grease the bottom of a 9x13 baking pan. Pour in the batter and bake until the cornbread becomes light in color, about 15 mins. Meanwhile, place a large skillet over med-high heat and add the 2tbsp of olive oil. Add the beef or turkey and brown and drain fat. Return the meat to pan and add garlic, onions, and season with salt and pepper, chili powder, cumin and hot sauce. Cook for 5 mins, then add the Worcestershire sauce, beer and brown sugar. Stir to combine and reduce the heat to low. Simmer until the meat begins to soak up the juices. Once the meat is done, cover the corn bread with meat mixture, then sprinkle with cheese. Put the pan back in the oven for about 5 mins longer to set the topping and melt the cheese. And Voila!