Friday night fish fry

As I learned in November, Friday night across the state of Wisconsin is fish fry night.

With Todd's mom here we decided to create our own Wisconsin fish fry at the house. We even thawed a bunch of crappies Todd caught in Wisconsin.

The battering process. Just dip each side in egg then roll thoroughly in plain bread crumbs...


Snap, crackle, pop! Drop the fish in a light layer of olive oil...


Whip up some coleslaw, steam some broccoli and butter some cornbread and voila! Wisconsin fish fry!


Friday Fish Fry Coleslaw

Nancy is a coleslaw lover, so I was flattered when she said she wanted my recipe. I can't remember where I found it - probably Cooking Light.

1 pkg. of pre-shredded cabbage/carrot coleslaw mix from the produce section
6 tbsp. light mayo or Miracle Whip (NOTE: I HATE beyond reason mayo/Miracle Whip. I hate the color, smell...sound...of it. But sometimes you can't get around it. I have wanted to try this with plain fat-free yogurt but haven't done it yet. Will report back when I do...)
1 tsp. celery seed
1/4 tsp. salt
3 tsp. sugar
3 tsp. apple cider vinegar

Whisk all ingredients minus the coleslaw mix in a small bowl. Thoroughly combine sauce mixture with pkg. of coleslaw in a larger bowl. Chill until ready to serve.

Christmas cookie madness

Rather than buying presents for our grandmas, Todd had a nice idea to make boxes of baked goods for them.

In theory, this is a wonderful thought. What grandma wouldn't want a box of baked goodies from their grandchildren? However, this has meant I've been baking for four days!

It's been taking a while because we're also trying to get things ready for Todd's mom to visit. She gets in tomorrow. Fitting a batch of gingerbread cookies in around vacuuming, mopping, picking up, etc., has been pretty tight, as you might imagine!

So, after going through the millions of recipes I have I decided the cookie box should include: One mini loaf each of banana bread, some Wyoming-made candy from De's Candy here in Cheyenne, homemade marshmallows (which I've never tried making before and will hopefully get done tonight), and an assortment of decorated sugar and gingerbread cookies.

Todd helped decorate with me last night. I always think starting projects like cookie decorating (or making homemade Christmas cards with Linds H. from potato stamps we cut ourselves) is a good idea until I get about half way through and just want to quit...



Some of the finished product...


A close up...

More cookies! It's madness!


And yes. That is a Coors Light can in the background. That's some product placement, huh?!

Rockin' around the karaoke mic

Last night was Todd's office holiday party.

It was a nice shin dig! Dinner and a DJ at the historic Plains Hotel equals a good night of fun.

But a great night of fun...? How 'bout some karaoke afterward!

We went with two other couples to one of the biggest dives in town: Scooter's. Oh man, is it sketch! But hardly anyone goes there on karaoke night, so it's great because you basically have the place to yourself!

Todd and I with a very un-holiday background at his holiday party...


Singing Picture by Kid Rock and Sheryl Crow (with a much more interesting background)...


Jaimel, me and Susan singing Wide Open Spaces by the Dixie Chicks...


Now this is what I call a happy holiday!