Guess Who's Bringing Dinner.....

We are!! A few years ago, we started doing something extra special for the kids' teachers for their Christmas present. We present them with a "menu" form that they fill out by picking their main dish, 2 or 3 sides, a dessert, and a date that works well for them. They return the form, and on the date selected, we deliver dinner to their house. The kids help me prepare the meal, and everyone involved seems to really enjoy it!!!

This week was our week to deliver. Monday night, we took dinner to Parker's teacher, Mr. Casey. Mr. Casey is single, so we told him if he wanted to invite friends or family, we would fix extra. He did just that, and we made sure to send plenty. He chose: spaghetti, salad, french bread, green beans, and apple pie with ice-cream.Here is the recipe for the apple pie:

APPLE PIE

1 frozen crust

1 can apple pie filling

1/2 c. firm butter

1 c. flour

1/2 c. brown sugar

Add 2T sugar & sprinkle cinnamon to filling. Put into crust.

Crumb topping:

Mix flour, butter, and brown sugar until crumbly. Sprinkle on pie. Bake at 425 for 45-50 minutes.

Tuesday night was Ms. Jeanne's turn. Kinlee helped me make: poppy seed chicken, salad, rice, rolls, and sour cream pound cake. Ms. Jeanne also lives alone, so she invited her mother, 2 daughters, and a son-in-law to enjoy dinner with her.

Here is the recipe for the pound cake:

SOUR CREAM POUND CAKE

1 Pillsbury yellow cake mix (with pudding in it)

1/2 cup sugar

8 oz. sour cream

4 eggs

1/2 cup oil

Blend all ingredients. Then, mix 2 T cinnamon with 4 T brown sugar. Pour half the batter into a greased and floured bundt pan. Sprinkle with 1/2 the cinnamon mixture. Pour the rest of the batter in the pan. Sprinkle with remaining cinnamon mixture. Bake at 325 for 1 hour.

It was fun to be able to help them out for all of their hard work. We have been blessed with great teachers this year. Thank you, Mr. Casey and Ms. Jeanne - hope you enjoyed it!!!

Thanks, Ms. Trudy & Ms. Sonya!!!

For the kids' teachers, we wanted to do something extra special to thank them for all of their hard work during this past school year. So, we decided to put a little "twist" on our Christmas gift we gave them, and instead of bringing supper to their house one night, we surprised them with a homemade lunch at school! Complete with fancy china, goldware, flower, personal note from the kids, and candle light, they were definitely the envy of the Teacher's Lounge!!

Ms. Trudy, Kinlee's teacher, was first on the list. Yesterday, I got Kinlee out of class a little before lunch, and she met me in the Teacher's Lounge to help me get it all ready. Ms. Trudy was very surprised when she walked in and saw her special place setting.

Ms. Sonya, Parker's teacher, enjoyed her lunch today. It was neat to see even Parker excited about the surprise!! I wasn't sure if it would be "too cool" for him or not, but he loved it!! The kids were so excited to be "sneaky" that they couldn't wait for their teachers to come in the room!! (Sorry for Parker's "blurriness" below - I had some kind of smudge on my lens!)

The menu for the day consisted of the following:

Lasagna

Salad

Fresh Fruit

Garlic Bread Sticks

Ice Cream Sandwich Dessert

Lemonade

Here is the recipe for the Ice Cream Sandwich Dessert - very easy and VERY yummy!........

1 box of 12 ct. ice cream sandwiches

8 oz. cool whip

chocolate syrup/caramel syrup

crushed oreos

In an 8x8 pan, place a layer of ice cream sandwiches. Cover the sandwiches with a thin layer of cool whip and drizzle with chocolate or caramel (or both!!). Repeat with another layer of ice cream sandwiches, and the rest of the cool whip. Top with syrup(s) and crushed oreos. Put it in the freezer uncovered until everything is somewhat "set". Cover with saran wrap and foil until ready to serve. Cut like a cake - serves 9. ENJOY!!

Supper for "Ms. Trudy"

Tonight was night #2 of delivering supper to teachers. Tonight was Ms. Trudy's turn (Kinlee's 1st grade teacher). Ms. Trudy actually lives in Greenfield, about 15 miles from here. She offered to let us just bring the food to her at school today, but we told her that the travel there was "part of the adventure". (Besides that, it gave us a good excuse to eat at one of our favorite restaurants, Wimpy's, in Greenfield.) We arrived at Ms. Trudy's house and were warmly welcomed by her, and her neighbor's dog, who Ms. Trudy said is VERY protective. She was nice, but checked us out to make sure we were not there to cause any harm. (The dog, that is, not Ms. Trudy:)). Kinlee has really enjoyed Ms. Trudy's class this year, and we have enjoyed getting to know her, as well. Mark has said on several occasions, "She's got to be the 'smilinest' woman I've ever met!" Thanks for all of your hard work, Ms. Trudy - we appreciate it!!!

Ms. Trudy's dinner choices consisted of spaghetti, shredded parmesan, garlic bread, and peanut butter pie. Kinlee helped me make the sauce, as you can see in the pictures above. (My favorite has to be the picture of her on her tip-toes because she could barely reach the stove.) Parker was glad about the pie because it is his favorite, and the recipe makes 2! Guess who got the keep the second one.....The spaghetti sauce is a family recipe, so if I posted it, I'd have to kill ya. So, to keep the violence to a minimum, I'll just post the recipe for the pie:

Peanut Butter Pie

8 oz. cream cheese, softened

2 c. powdered sugar

1 c. peanut butter

16 oz. cool whip

2 graham cracker crusts

Mix all ingredients until smooth. Divide into 2 crusts. Freeze at least 2 hours. Top with chocolate syrup, crushed oreos, chocolate chips, etc.., if desired!! ENJOY!!

Supper for "Ms. Sonya"

For the kids' teachers at Christmastime this year, we gave them a "Night off" from cooking for their family. They created a menu from choices that we gave them, chose a date, and left the rest to us. Tonight was the night that Parker's teacher, Ms. Sonya, picked as her night. Her menu consisted of Taco Soup, Tortilla chips, Shredded cheese, and chocolate chip pie. Parker helped me with the pie last night, and I cooked the soup today. We delivered the meal this evening, and she was very appreciative. Parker has really enjoyed Ms. Sonya this year, and she is a great teacher. We were very happy to be able to do this for her. It is a small payback for all the hard work she does....

Here are the recipes for the soup and the pie, if anyone is interested. They are both very easy, and among my personal favorites!!

Taco Soup

1 lb. ground chuck

1 can corn

1 can rotel chilis

1 can diced tomatoes

1 lg. can tomato sauce

1 pkg. Ranch dip mix

1 pkg. taco seasoning

(it calls for 1 can of pinto beans, and 1 can of kidney beans. I don't like beans, and beans don't like Mark :), so I leave those out....)

Brown ground chuck and drain. Pour all other ingredients into pot with meat. Add enough water to make it as thin or thick as you'd like. Simmer for a while. Serve with tortilla chips and shredded cheese.

Chocolate Chip Pie

2 eggs, lightly beaten

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup margarine, melted

1 cup semi-sweet choc. chips

1/2 to 1 cup chopped pecans (optional)

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Beat eggs, sugar, and flour together. Blend in melted marg.. Stir in choc. chips and pecans, if desired. Mix well.

Pour into unbaked 9" pie shell. Bake in preheated oven at 325 for 1 hour. Let cool and serve.

ENJOY!!!