Friday Favorites

It's the best day of the week, and the forecast is calling for 82 degree weather today! I'll be opening up all the windows because I know that our days of warmth are limited. Pour yourself a cup of coffee, and read on for my favorites from this middle week of September!

 

For those of you who missed the post on Wednesday about Nolan's Camping Party, all the details are here. I always say this, but it's my favorite party to date! :) I think Nolan is going to be talking about it for months to come!

 

Speaking of the party, a few of you asked if the cake I made was difficult. I assure you that it wasn't! I like using several layers, because the cake has that WOW factor with its height. I made two yellow cake mixes (baked in 8-inch round pans) to end up with the four layers. A cake leveler is very helpful to trim off any round-domes. Then I used store-bought whipped chocolate frosting as filling. For the white frosting on top, I mixed a jar of marshmallow fluff with an 8-ounce block of cream cheese (yum!) using the Kitchen Aid. Then I stuck regular-size marshmallows on the top, and Steve torched them a bit to get them the toasty brown look :)

Another recipe I want to share this week: Classic Green Bean Casserole. I don't like the word casserole, but this dish is amazing. It's the easy recipe that you see everywhere, but I had never tried making it myself, and maybe you never have either. We had an overabundance of green beans from the garden that no one was eating, and I decided they needed a little "doctoring" up. You'll love this!

Ingredients:

1 (10 3/4 ounce) can Cream of Mushroom soup

3/4 cup milk

dash of black pepper

4 cups cooked, cut green beans (use fresh, frozen, or canned)

1  1/3 cups french fried onions

 

Directions:

Mix soup, milk, and pepper in a 1 1/2 quart baking dish.  Stir in green beans and 2/3 cup french fried onions.

Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes, or until hot.

Stir. Then top with the remaining 2/3 cup french fried onions. Bake 5 minutes more.

 

I FINALLY finished the one book I set out to read this summer. I can't tell you how many times I renewed it from the library. Despite the time it took to finish, Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis "The Untold Story" was fascinating. Her struggle with post-traumatic stress disorder after JFK died made her life exceedingly difficult. Yet even after reading about all of her insecurities, I feel a great deal of respect and admiration for Jackie. She was a classy lady, and I want to learn even more about her.

 

On Wednesday, the boys and I tried out a new park with a lot of fun features. We had the whole place to ourselves, and we had a blast! Nolan is my very cautious, afraid-of-heights child. And Ephraim is my risk-taking little climber. I chose this park because it was a bright, sunny, 80-degree day, and I heard that it has a little splash pad. Strangely enough, neither boy was brave enough to get wet, so we just admired the fun fountains from a safe distance ;)

 

On Tuesday, I wrote about the five ladies that I would love to invite to dinner party at my house. It was fun to go through and read who everyone else in the link-up chose as their guests! I haven't met too many famous people in my lifetime, but I guess you never know whose path you are going to cross :)

NEXT THURSDAY the 24th, Astleigh are hosting a link-up about HOME DIY PROJECTS!  Think of a craft, a decorating tutorial, a piece of furniture you've redone, or a room you've rehabbed, and join us!

Enjoy this last weekend of 80-degree summer!

See you back here on Monday :)

Do you have Instagram? Follow me @floralandfudge.

 

Linking up with Andrea, and Erika.