More Birthday Surprises

   I thought my birthday was over, but it wasn't!  My mom told me last weekend that there was more to my gift and that it wouldn't be here for about a week (after giving me the cd and potato bag) but I thought when I got my laptop that she had been referring to her contribution to it.  Little did I know she had ordered THIS!..

   It was a very thoughtful gift!  She knew I had been following The Pioneer Woman pretty closely on her blog for 3-4 months now.  I hadn't asked her for the book, or even told her about it, but had been talking to other people about it and hinting to my husband that I sure would like to have that cookbook.  And now it's sitting right next to me, a cow staring at me and fried chicken begging to be cooked!   I've looked through about half of it so far and read some of the recipes thoroughly, and so far its even better than I expected.  It's not just a cookbook with fabulous pictorials, it's stories of ranching and photos of the country I wanted to be apart of as a child.  I've already made, from her recipes online, her moms Christmas cookies, Fancy Macaroni, and the A-MAZ-ING Sherried Tomato Soup, and I look forward to cooking up more goodies in the very near future!!

   My only regret is that I hadn't started reading her blog a little sooner and had this book back then when she came to Minneapolis to meet us Minnesotans and sign cookbooks at the Mall of America.  But I'm over it and my life will continue on just fine.  Speaking of life continueing on just fine, tomorrow we're taking the girls to Sesame Street Live!  Traffic and parking may be interesting with the Vikings game and all, but we're going and will have a great time with our girls.