11 in '11?

My St. Louis Cardinals have won their 18th National League Pennant.  St. Louis has won 10 World Series Championships (the most in the National League). Thanks to the Cardinals putting together an impressive winning streak late in the regular season and the Atlanta Braves choking, again, the Cardinals clinched the Wild Card on the last day of the season.

The Cardinals had to play Philadelphia, who by the way had the best pitching staff in Major League Baseball and probably in history. After the Cardinals beat the Phillies they had to play their division rival, Milwaukee Brewers. The Cardinals' bats came alive during the NLDS and the NLCS and I hope they stay hot.

For the first time in the 2011 post season, the Cardinals will have home field advantage (thanks to the National League for winning the 2011 All-Star game).

So, the St. Louis Cardinals are going to try for 11 in '11...to win their 11th World Series Championship in franchise history in 2011.

I'm looking forward to seeing all the Cardinal greats from days gone by, reunite on tv tomorrow night at Busch Stadium for Game 1...Ozzie Smith, Stan Musial, Bob Gibson, and Lou Brock just to name a few.

"Go Crazy Folks, Go Crazy!" - Jack Buck, announcer for St. Louis Cardinals on

Ozzie Smith's walk off home run in game 5 of the 1985 NLCS

Good Luck Kyndall

My brother's girlfriend is competing in the Miss Tennessee USA pageant this weekend. Best wishes and good luck to Kyndall!

Apple-Cream Cheese Bundt Cake

Try not to be too jealous of the quality of this picture...it was taken with my phone.

I love baking especially during the fall and the holidays. I saw this recipe on the cover of the September 2011 Southern Living magazine and new I had to make it for my small group from church.  The cake was a hit. The next time I make it i will use less apples and add walnuts.

CREAM CHEESE FILLING:

1 (8-oz.) package cream cheese, softened

1/4 cup butter, softened

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 large egg

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

APPLE CAKE BATTER:

1 cup finely chopped pecans

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup granulated sugar

1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon ground allspice

3 large eggs, lightly beaten

3/4 cup canola oil

3/4 cup applesauce

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

3 cups peeled and finely chopped Gala apples (about 1 1/2 lb.)

PRALINE FROSTING:

1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar

1/4 cup butter

3 tablespoons milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup powdered sugar

1. Prepare Filling: Beat first 3 ingredients at medium speed with an electric mixer until blended and smooth. Add egg, flour, and vanilla; beat just until blended.
2. Prepare Batter: Preheat oven to 350º. Bake pecans in a shallow pan 8 to 10 minutes or until toasted and fragrant, stirring halfway through. Stir together 3 cups flour and next 7 ingredients in a large bowl; stir in eggs and next 3 ingredients, stirring just until dry ingredients are moistened. Stir in apples and pecans.
3. Spoon two-thirds of apple mixture into a greased and floured 14-cup Bundt pan. Spoon Cream Cheese Filling over apple mixture, leaving a 1-inch border around edges of pan. Swirl filling through apple mixture using a paring knife. Spoon remaining apple mixture over Cream Cheese Filling.
4. Bake at 350º for 1 hour to 1 hour and 15 minutes or until a long wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool cake in pan on a wire rack 15 minutes; remove from pan to wire rack, and cool completely (about 2 hours).
5. Prepare Frosting: Bring 1/2 cup brown sugar, 1/4 cup butter, and 3 Tbsp. milk to a boil in a 2-qt. saucepan over medium heat, whisking constantly; boil 1 minute, whisking constantly. Remove from heat; stir in vanilla. Gradually whisk in powdered sugar until smooth; stir gently 3 to 5 minutes or until mixture begins to cool and thickens slightly. Pour immediately over cooled cake.

The praline frosting makes the cake!

Here's the picture from Southern Living and the recipe again.

Fried Chicken

The other night I went to the Viking Store and took one of their classes. We made fried chicken, mac and cheese, collard greens, cornbread, and caramel cake.

I must admit, I hate greens. All types of greens. However, after Saturday night I am a fan of greens if they are cooked and seasoned the way we made them.

I've taken many many classes at the Viking Store. If you have the chance I highly recommend taking a class or two.

It is a...

Keith and I found out on July 15th that we were going to have a sweet, precious, healthy, little baby girl. We are so excited. I've been spending money a lot these days buying all kinds of cute baby girl clothes. It is so much fun. The most important thing we learned at the doctor's office is that our daughter is healthy! Yes, we do have a name picked out for her...Molly Diane. Molly is my great great great grandmother's name and Diane is my mom's middle name as well as my middle name. Molly Diane will be here in December!

Miss Tennessee 2011 Pageant

This past weekend I had the chance to attended the Miss Tennessee 2011 pageant. My brother's sweet girlfriend, Kyndall, was a contestant. She was Miss Metropolitan. I've never been to a state level pageant before so I didn't know what to expect. There was so much excitement in the air. It was really neat! This was Kyndall's first time in the Miss Tennessee pageant. Kyndall was the 4th runner-up which means she finished in the Top 5 which is a huge accomplishment. Congratulations Kyndall! I'm so proud of you.

Pageant Week 2011 started off with a "Meet and Greet" at the mall in Jackson, TN. The contestants were introduced and then they signed autographs (in the pageant program books).



Kevin talking to Miss Metropolitan 2011



The preliminaries started on Wednesday and ran through Friday. The final night was Saturday. Each night, the girls arrived in a tour bus escorted by police cars. The security guys would unload all the luggage off the bus and after each girl waved to her fans, friends, and family, she picked up her luggage and went inside to finish getting ready.

Kyndall arriving at the Carl Perkins Civic Center



After the opening number, the contestants introduced themselves.

"A 20 year old Junior at the University of Memphis. I'm Kyndall Covington, your Miss Metropolitan!"

The first night Kyndall was judge on her talent. She sang "Note to God". Kyndall has a beautiful voice! She did an outstanding job.


Kyndall performing "Note to God"





The second night Kyndall competed in the swimsuit competition. Once again, Kyndall did an awesome job. She looked great! She looked as though she had been doing this for years. Apparently, she's a natural.

Kyndall competing in the swimsuit portion of the pageant.

We were all so proud of Kyndall on Thursday night because she won the swimsuit preliminaries!

"The winner of tonight's swimsuit competition is Miss Metropolitan!"

Swimsuit winner Miss Metropolitan and Talent winner Miss Shelby County for Thursday night

The final night of the preliminaries Kyndall competed in Evening Gowns and the on-stage interview. Kyndall looked so elegant and sophisticated in her evening gown. I'm not sure why, but the evening gown winner was not announced during the week.


Doesn't she look stunning?

After the evening gown, she did a quick change and came back on stage for her on stage interview which was basically a question about something each girl wrote on their questionnaire.

Kyndall is telling the judges why she is the "chicken" in her family.

Thus ended the preliminaries. The next night, Saturday, was the final night. Kyndall made it to the top 5 which meant she competed in talent, swim, evening gown, and an additional interview question.

Kyndall answering her interview question from Alison Demarcus (Yes, she's married to Jay from Rascal Flatts).

After the interview question, the top 5 held hands while they waited on the announcement of the Miss Tennessee 2011.

The Top 5 (the winner is on the far left).
Apparently the blondes got a memo telling them to wear beige/cream dresses. ha ha ha

Although Kyndall did not win Miss Tennessee 2011, I am very proud of her for finishing in the top 5 (and she should be very proud of herself). I think she should have won but I'm also biased.
Kyndall is a beautiful girl but her beauty doesn't even come close to her beauty on the inside. Kyndall has a sweet spirit and people are just drawn to her!

Congratulations Kyndall!

And Baby Makes Three!

Yep, we are having a baby. We tried for three months and well, the rest is history. I am 14 weeks and 3 days pregnant. Yes, we are excited. Baby should be here around December 10th!

For the most part I've been feeling pretty good except for the overwhelming exhaustion and the "morning sickness" that occurs at night. The doctor gave me some medicine and it takes care of my nausea. Medicine is a wonderful thing.

I'm not craving anything in particular. I'm just eating more than usual. I'm not starting to show yet but as one of my friends on twitter said (she is about 2 weeks behind me) she just looks like she's had too many cookies. That's the way I feel also.

We are planning on finding out the sex of the baby and once we do...I'll be hitting the stores.

I stay indoors alot. Mainly because it's been in the high 90s for the past 3 weeks or so and I don't like it.

Thanks for checking in!