Graduation Day

Baileigh-Robert-Brandon (The Graduate)-Stacy

Robert (Dad)-Brandon (the Graduate)-Stacy (mom)-Me (Aunt Bee)-Deborah (Grandma)-Baileigh (sister)

It's that time of year that graduations are taking place all over the country.   Among those was my nephew Brandon.  With boys being so difficult to buy for, my mama said she was going to give him money.  With a little assistance from me, well maybe more than a little, this is how she presented it.  A Money Cake.  How cool is that?   Two hundred brand new, rolled dollar bills, topped with candy.  Seriously this might be the easiest cake I have ever made.  No baking required, and it would have been fat-free but I just had to add Hershey's Kisses, Lindt Truffles and Hershey's Nuggets.  It's chugged full of chocolate's.

 Deborah (Grandma)-Brandon

Mama was talking the other day saying Brandon sure is going have a time unrolling  and ironing all those bills.  I said, "Yeah, but then he can honestly say he worked for it."

Money Cake

Supplies:
Green Styrofoam Disks-Top: 1 15/16" X 3 7/8"-Middle: 1 15/16" X 7 7/8"-Bottom: 1 15/16" X 9 7/8"
200 ($1.00) new bills, if possible
Gold Metallic Ribbon
large rubber bands for holding bills in place
tape
Graduation topper
Glue Gun
candy (optional)

After helping mama with her gift, I came up with a creative way to give Brandon his graduation present from Stone and I.  With fifty brand new one dollar bills I began folding them into bow ties.  This did take some time.   Then I entertwined the bills through the ribbons, thus making the sash.

Uncle Stone-Brandon-Me (Aunt Bee)

Money Sash

Supplies:

50 ($1.00) new bills

7/8" X 7 yds. Blue Ribbon

3/8" X 30ft. Yellow Ribbon
Instructions:
Fold each bill into bow ties.  Using ribbon, weave in-between dollar bills.  This will hold them together.  With extra ribbon make tassels.

 Brandon receiving his diploma.

 Cap-Tossing

 Brandon and sister Baileigh

 Youth and Technology

 Me ( Aunt Bee)-Baileigh

 Brandon-Robert

One Proud Papa

 Brandon-Deborah-Robert

 Brandon-Stacy

Through tears she watched as her first born received his diploma, proud of the man he has become.

Me (Aunt Bee)-Brandon-Uncle Stone

 One happy graduate.

Stone and Robert

Memories Of Home

Forty-five years ago I made this stepping stone with my hand and foot print back in 1970.  I was 11 years old.

 The American flag has ALWAYS flown at my parents house.

 My mama's petunia's.

 My daddy would always sit in this swing.

 These beauties grow wild in my mama's yard.

 They say everything is bigger in Texas and this is just more proof of it.  My day lilies are not this big.

 For years it has been 100' no matter what time of year I'm in Texas.

There are so many memories of my daddy barbecuing on this ol' pit.  My favorite was always the hot links. 

 Birdhouses have alway been placed throughout my parents yard.

Back during mine and my sisters younger years, when a date brought us home, we would have a little time before having to come in.  If these lights began flashing, it meant it was time to get in the house.

 I don't think I have ever owned one of these.

Another birdhouse in front of a rose bush that Stone and Michael helped daddy plant a few years back.

If this cone was out, it mean't and still does DO NOT PARK THERE!

Hello Old Friend

I have know this couple Raydean and Terry since 1981 while living in a small town in Texas called Uvalde.  We were lucky enough to be neighbors not once, but twice during our time there.  While each of us have four children, I have three daughters and one son, and Raydean has three sons and one daughter.  You can imagine our culdesac with just the two of us having a total of eight children.  Actually Raydean had her youngest after we moved.   Our oldest was best friends during their younger years prior to our moving away.  

Uvalde is part of a region that is usually considered the southern limit of the Texas Hill Country or as some would call it, the most northernly part of South Texas so I would had never thought that we would had received a foot of snow, but we did.  I believe this was sometime around 1985 or so.  This is one of the many memories I have of my time there.

This is for all my cooking friends who ask me about my pie crust recipe. Raydean is the one who gave it to me so many years ago.  It is the only recipe I use for my pie crust.

Raydean's Pie Crust

Ingredients:

2 cups all purpose flour

1/8 cup granulated sugar

pinch of salt

1 cup crisco

1/2 cup hot tap water

Instructions:

1.  In a mixing bowl, add flour, sugar, salt and mix.  

2.  Add crisco, using a pastry blender mix until it looks like peas.  

3.  Add hot tap water and lightly mix using a spatula until all incorporated.  

4.  Refrigerate overnight. 

Raydean-Terry-Stone-Me

Stone and I  have met up with Raydean and Terry through-out the years. Once we were lucky enough that some of the kids had joined us when we both had  daughters graduating from the same college.  On the most part it's just us and we always enjoy catching up.  On this particular trip we did an overnighter with them.  They showed us their stomping ground of Wimberley, Texas.  While Terry was at work, Raydean played tour guide showing us around town.  Honestly, next time we will stay longer since it wasn't enough time to see and do everything and our visiting time just wasn't enough.  Below are some pictures of our tour around town.

 Cypress Creek

Wine Tasting

 Big ol' tree along the Cypress Creek

Scary tree along the Cypress Creek

Local chainsaw artist Craig Johnson created these carvings from dead trees.

Check out this picnic table behind Ino'z Brew & Chew.  I thought I was in Bedrock.  I kept looking for the Flintstones.

Sangria Margarita's at Ino'z Brew & Chew

Bootiful Wimberley

There are fifty boots that were painted by local artists, located though-out Wimberley.

Hostess Gift

Pineapple-Chocolate Wine Bottle

Supplies:

1 bottle of wine

4 (5.3 oz.) packages Ferrero Rocher Chocolates

Ribbon of your choice

2 sheets Green Scrap-Booking Paper
Glue Gun

Glad Press and Seal

Instructions:

1.  With a hot glue gun, attach each chocolate to the bottle of wine.   

2.  Using the Glad Press and Seal, wrap around the chocolates tightly without mashing candies and tuck under the bottle. This will hold the candies in place and keep them from falling off.  

3.  Fold each sheet of  scrap-booking paper in half and cut.  Next cut about inch wide slits, not all the way.  Cut ends to make a point.  Curl strips like you would curling ribbon.  I used a knife.

4.  Wrap around neck of bottle, gluing as you go.  

5.  Lastly tie ribbon around the bottle.
Ta-da, it's the perfect hostess gift...