Tuna Cornbread Cakes with Lemon Aioli

Think crabcakes, only better (and I love crabcakes!). Serve these with a green salad and these Cajun-style sweet potatoes for a kickin' meal even the kiddos will eat.

Tuna Cornbread Cakes

1 (6oz) pkg buttermilk cornbread mix
2/3 c. milk
2 T. mayonnaise
3 green onions, thinly sliced
3 large eggs, lightly beaten
2 T. chopped fresh parsley
1 tsp. Old Bay seasoning
1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
2 (5oz) aluminum foil pouches herb-and-garlic flavored light tuna chunks
3 T. butter
3 T. vegetable oil

1. Preheat oven to 425F. Stir together cornbread mix and 2/3 cup milk. Pour batter into a lightly greased 8-inch square pan.
2. Bake at 425F for 15 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on a wire rack 5 minutes or just until warm.
3. Stir together mayonnaise and next 5 ingredients in a large bowl.
4. Crumble cornbread to equal 2 cups. Reserve remaining cornbread for another use. Fold cornbread crumbs and tuna chunks into mayonnaise mixture until well blended. Shape tuna mixture into eight 3-inch patties.
5. Melt 3 T. butter with vegetable oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add tuna patties, and cook, in batches, 2 to 3 minutes on each side or until golden brown; drain on paper towels. Serve cakes with Lemon Aioli.

Lemon Aioli

3/4 c. mayonnaise
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp. grated lemon rind
1 T. fresh lemon juice
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper

1. Stir together all ingredients.
2. Cover and chill mixture up to three days.

Moore Cove Falls

Ready for another adventure? I'm finally starting to catch up from my time away, so here are some pics from a hike we took last week to Moore Cove Falls in Pisgah National Forest. After living here for three months, I've learned not to take a sunny day for granted because a whole week of rain is probably right around the corner...

Ruby and Max are starting to come over to the dark side and are actually excited to go on our little adventures now. The only problem they have with our outings is having to drive in the car to get to the the trailhead. They both feel that travel by car is something to be endured, rather than enjoyed. Anyway, this first shot is from a small "cave" along the trail. This is what Ruby does for at least half of each hike-- holding those little binoculars up to eyes and shouting, "Wait, Mommy, I just have to check something out!".

This trail had quite a few footbridges over streams and narrow walkways over wet spots. It was kind of stressful at first to keep Bubba from running the kids off the edge in his haste, but we're starting to get the hang of things a bit better now.

Here's one of the views Ruby needed to "check out". I have to admit, it's quite a beautiful sight!

After our 0.7mi hike, we were rewarded with this beautiful view. I really don't think that the picture does it justice. It was pretty magical finding this in the middle of the forest! The really cool thing about the falls is that you can walk down behind the falls, which is what we did next.

Here's Bubba and the kiddos behind the falls where we ate our picnic lunch. It was a perfect morning that resulted in a restful afternoon with two very pooped kids!

Although there are some things that I miss from living in a bigger town, the payoff is definitely worth it! Ruby and Maxwell are learning to appreciate and wonder at God's beautiful creation. I sure am thankful to be along as their guide.

Triple Falls... and Bubba!

One of the bigger reasons for getting a dog was as a hiking companion for the kids and I. Although I have been taking the kids out, I have been advised by many locals that I really shouldn't go out unless Jared is with us. I've also been advised to carry a gun. Since those two options are pretty much out, we decided it was time to get a can of pepper spray and a dog. That's about the same, right? ;)

So, for the last month or so we've been visiting pet stores and checking listings online for a dog to adopt. Several times, I thought we had found the perfect puppy, but it didn't end up working out. Then, after visiting our friends, the Danfords, who have a 3-4 month old cockapoo we decided that we weren't quite ready for a puppy! A few days later, I saw a listing for Bubba on craigslist. He's a five year old Boxer from a family with three preschoolers. He's great with kids and doesn't bark. And he's house trained! Sounded like a perfect fit and so far it has been pretty great.

Our first hike with Bubba was to Triple Falls in DuPont State Park. It's not a long hike (maybe 1.5 mi round trip), but it's steep! The kids were real champs, but I still felt that I was getting pulled in half by the slowest member of our group on one hand (Max) and the fastest/strongest in my other hand (Bubba). Ruby was a trooper and just powered up that slope like a real pro! The pay-off was worth it for this beautiful view!

We did stop for a quick snack before continuing down to the bottom of the falls. Bubba enjoyed meeting all of the people and pups who passed us while we hung out.

Thankfully, they have a beautiful long staircase leading to the bottom with several benches along the way so the trip down wasn't TOO tough. For scale, look at the people walking around on the rock slab between the two falls!

One last view of Bubba. (Isn't that tail LOOONG? I was thinking Boxer tails were usually docked, but not Bubba, he just wags that thing hard and fast 24-7... it's a bit of nuisance really!)

By the way, we did make it back to the parking area okay, though Bubba was moving like a snail this time (wanting to sniff all the dogs and the scents they'd left along the way). Meanwhile, Ruby was running down the trail with me screaming, "RUBY, SLOW DOWN!" the whole way and Max was fussing that he really needed to be carried. We made it though and had a great time doing it!

Check back soon for pics from our next hike with Bubba!

Yummy Mysteries!

Moving out to Pisgah Forest last month we made a troubling discovery: the Dish satellite TV and DVR that we had come to adore was no longer an option. Apparently the dish needs to actually talk to the satellite to get the aforementioned adored programming. Living in a forest kind of puts a damper on that, so we're back to fuzzy basic cable. Nothing like watching fuzz on a big screen TV. No siree, it's the tops...

Which is why I've been reading more again. And this is a good thing. I think my brain was beginning to rot a little bit trying to stay up late catching all of my recorded programming. It was a bit silly really. I've also been cooking more, since I find that all of these culinary mysteries have such scrumptious recipes I really cannot pass them up!

Two of my recent reads have been a few more from Joanne Fluke's Hannah Swensen series-- Key Lime Pie Murder and Carrot Cake Murder. The heroine is a Minnesotan cookie baker with her own shop. She is 30+, lives alone with her cat, Moishe, and has two or three boyfriends at a time. She also is a technophobe, which is highly annoying to me! In this first book she just gets her first cellphone (it's written in 2007) and is totally clueless about them. My GRANDMA had a cellphone before then! Good grief! Anyway, on to the books.


Key Lime Pie Murder takes place during the annual county fair where Hannah Swensen (cookie maker extraordinaire) is one of the judges for the baked goods competition. As you can imagine there are oodles of rich recipes from all of the winners--not for the calorie counters among us! In fact, when I saw the recipe for fried candy bars I decided that I ought to return the book to the library immediately before I became tempted with a treat that may add several inches to my waistline all on it's own!



The storyline is much the same as Fluke's other books: Hannah stumbles upon a dead body and races her half-boyfriend (she has two), Mike the detective, to solve the mystery. One of the more annoying aspects of the series is the whole two boyfriends thing. I mean, really, WHO would put up with such a ridiculous scenario?! She also has another out-of-town guy that we met in a previous book who likes to send her (and her silly cat) gifts. But, I'll give it to Fluke. I keep reading... hoping that someday Hannah will join us in the real world and choose one. Or better yet, all the boyfriends will give up on her and live happily ever after with someone who isn't quite so cruel!


Carrot Cake Murder takes place later that summer in Lake Eden when Hannah's business partner, Lisa, has a huge family reunion. Replay the tape-- Hannah stumbles on dead body. Hannah and half-boyfriend, Norman, race other half-boyfriend, Mike, to solve the mystery. Hannah is put in harm's way and is valiantly saved by the boyfriends. This is not higher reading, but it does entertain this Mommy who is interrupted often... maybe even several times a page!


All that said, there are some really yummy recipes in here! Last night I couldn't resist these brownies, and if you're a Michigander with easy access to dried cherries you shouldn't miss it either! They were DELISH! So here's the recipe, minus all of the superfluous notes "Hannah" likes to add in:


Black Forest Brownies


4- 1oz squares semi-sweet chocolate
3/4 c. butter
1 1/2 c. white sugar
3 eggs, beaten
1 tsp. cherry extract (or vanilla)
1 c. flour, packed
1/2 c. pecans, chopped
1/2 c. dried cherries, chopped
1/2 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350F.
2. Prepare a 9x13-inch pan by lining it with a piece of foil large enough to flap over the sides. Spray the lined pan with nonstick cooking spray.
3. Microwave the chocolate squares and butter, stirring periodically, until melted. (~90 seconds)
4. Stir the sugar into the chocolate mixture. Feel the bowl. If it's not so hot it'll cook the eggs, add them now, stirring thoroughly. Mix in the cherry extract.
5. Mix in the flour and stir until just moistened.
6. Mix in chopped nuts, cherries, and chocolate chips. Spread the batter into your prepared pan.
7. Bake at 350F for 30 minutes.
8. Cook the brownies in the pan on a metal rack. When they're cool grasp the edges of the foil and lift the brownies out of the pan. Put them face-down on a cutting board, peel off the foil and cut them into brownie-sized pieces. Store in an airtight container.

Hooker Falls

Ruby, Max, and I have been taking advantage of the sunny days to go on short hikes in the area. I thought it would be fun to show you all of the waterfalls that we visit on our travels. Of course many of them are longer hikes than I'll be able to tackle with the kids on my own, but for now there are still quite a few for us to visit.

Here is a view of Hooker Falls in DuPont State Forest. It's a relatively small waterfall that looks like a wonderful swimming hole in warmer weather. The water is relatively show moving in the large pool at the bottom. I'm sure you could easily go up under the falls (if you weren't toting a 2 and 4 year old that is!).

The lighting wasn't on my side, but I thought this side waterfall was the prettiest part.

Ruby and Max can't go far without lots of snacks. We're not doing any endurance treks, but we have fun!

On our way back we stopped along the river to watch folks on the Triple Falls trail. Ruby took LOTS of photos while Max threw rocks in the river. Her favorite subjects are rocks, dirt and people's feet. I must admit, most of those shots hit the recycle bin!

The water is relatively slow here too--looks like another great swimming hole. Now all we need is the warm weather!

We've started calling our little hikes visits to "God's Playground". I have to admit I enjoy this playground a lot more than the man-made ones around town. Just me and my kiddos enjoying creation and learning a little bit about it as we wander. What a beautiful world God has blessed us with!

Poppy Seed Chicken Casserole & PW's Apple Dumplings

Jared asked me the other night if it was okay to put up two recipes on Tasty Tuesday. Since I'm pretty much the boss when it comes to this blog, I decided it most definitely IS okay--especially when it's been so long since my last Tasty Tuesday! So, today here are two yummy comfort food recipes for those rainy spring days...

Poppy Seed Chicken Casserole
(courtesy of Anne Byrn, The Dinner Doctor)

1 (6.2oz pkg) fried rice flavor Rice-A-Roni, cooked
4 cups shredded, cooked chicken
1 cup fat-free sour cream
1 (10.75oz) can ream of chicked soup
36 butter round crackers, crushed
6 Tbsp. poppy seeds

1. Preheat the oven to 375F.
2. Spoon the rice in an even layer over the bottom of a 2-quart glass or ceramic baking dish. Combine the chicken, sour cream, and chicken soup and spoon evenly over the rice. In the same bowl, combine the crackers and butter. Scatter this over the chicken mixture. Sprinkle the poppy seeds evenly on top.
3. Bake the casserole until it is bubbling and the crackers have lightly browned, 25 to 30 minutes. Serve at once.

Pioneer Woman's Apple Dumplings
(see the original recipe here!)

2 Granny Smith apples
2 cans crescent rolls
2 sticks butter
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
cinnamon
small can Mountain Dew

1. Preheat the oven to 350F.
2. Peel and core the apples. Cut into eight slices each. Roll each slice in a crescent roll. Place in a buttered 9x13-inch pan.
3. Melt butter, then add sugar and barely stir. Add vanilla, stir, and pour over the apples. Pour Mountain Dew around the edge of the pan. Sprinkle with cinamon.
4. Bake at 350F for 40 minutes.
5. Serve warm with ice cream-- Enjoy!!

A little update...

I'm sorry for the insanely long delay. We have had some big changes in our lives and it seems to be very time and energy consuming! First of all, we finally closed on our new house on April 15! We had lots of help from Jared's folks and my sister, Heidi, and her boyfriend to get everything moved and the rental cleaned out within a week! It was wonderful to have all that help.

Then, of course, it's been birthday season, which is exhausting all on it's own! Shopping, baking, partying, doctor's visits, and travelling. Whew! We are enjoying our four year old a lot and are trying to remind ourselves that the two year old monster who has taken over Max will only be here for a while. Then we'll have our sweetie back... we hope.

Finally, we've added a member to our family-- five year old Boxer, named Bubba. He's a sweetheart and very tolerant of the kids. I just wish he could figure out that he should go to the bathroom when we take him outside instead of holding it all for when we have to leave him at home alone... yuck.

As you might imagine, we've been up to our eyeballs with projects around the house. I also still have about half a dozen boxes strewn around the house filled with things that need homes! Little by little, it's getting done though. I have decided that I have to get back on the bloggy bandwagon, though, so hopefully I'm back for the long haul!

Check back soon for more tasty recipes, stories from our everyday life, and lots of photos from our explorations! I've missed y'all!

Happy 4th Birthday, Ruby!!

We had the pleasure of celebrating Ruby's 4th birthday with our good friends, the Danfords, at their home in Charlotte for the weekend! Here are a very few pictures from our weekend together.

We left home early enough to make it to Carter's T-Ball game Saturday morning. The kids enjoyed watching Carter when he was up to bat and ran around in the grass the rest of the time.It was amusing watching all those little 4/5 year old boys play their little hearts out!

After the ball game we headed out to a family fun park for a pizza lunch and lots of fun with rides, games, bumper boats, mini golf, and go karts. The only down side is that the place was really pricey--especially considering how understaffed it was!

Max's favorite rides were the airplane and the choo choo train--big surprise! He was pretty bummed out that he wasn't big enough for the go karts.

Carter and Ruby posing with her princess cake. That cake was a 5 layer pain in my behind, but it finally came together okay in the end and Ruby was thrilled.

We were able to walk around downtown a bit after church on Sunday. The kids looked so sharp in their Sunday best we had to attempt an annoying (to them) photo session. Max was totally unimpressed, as you can see!

Our big four year old impresses us everyday with her huge vocabulary, her caring, and her inquisitiveness. Ruby is an amazing little girl and we thank God every day for blessing our family with her.

Happy Birthday, Sweetie! We love you!