mailbelle

about me

I've lived in several different places (Mississippi, New York, Germany, Montana, Georgia) because my husband was a military officer, but we decided to make Alabama our home after his military career. I've worked for the US Postal Service for the past 14 years and love my job! I have beautiful twin daughters (pictured above). My oldest (bottom photo) is an art major and musician (she plays viola, guitar, piano, drums, and has the voice of an angel) and since moving into an apartment has begun to enjoy cooking for her friends. Sadly (for me) she has just left to spend the summer in Bozeman, MT with Chi Alpha ministries. My youngest (top photo) is a former professional ballet dancer and is now a French major, a Starbucks barista, and she loves to cook; she'll tackle anything. She left June 4th to spend 8 weeks on a mission trip in China. I'm terrified since they just had the big earthquake (and all of the aftershocks), but she has a servant's heart and is even more motivated to go now. All prayers for her are greatly appreciated.

I'm so glad they enjoy cooking because I've never been much of a cook; when they were little, I remember someone asking them what their favorite thing was for their Mommy to cook---they answered Poptarts!

I've always been a compulsive recipe clipper. I'm always clipping recipes from magazines, newspapers, or copying them out of library books, but so many times when I go to look for something I know I've clipped, I can't find it! Not any more! Now I check to see if it has been posted on Zaar, and if it hasn't, I post it to try later. If I haven't tried it, I always mention that in the recipe description.

A big THANK YOU to everyone who reviews my recipes! Since I'm not a premium member, I'm not able to email and personally thank you.

Biggest pet peeves:

(1) People who block grocery aisles. I know you've all seen them. I'll be merrily making my way down the aisle, when another person in the aisle will see something they want on the opposite side of the aisle. They could either (a) steer their shopping cart towards the item so that they and their cart stay together (allowing me to pass whichever side they're not on), or (b) leave the cart where it is and walk the 3 steps to retrieve the desired item (allowing me to pass between them and their cart). Instead, they leave their cart where it is, leave one hand on it, and s-t-r-e-t-c-h all the way across the aisle to retrieve the item, blocking the entire aisle for the folks ahead and behind them. It's as if they're afraid that if they don't leave one hand on the cart, some crazed grocery thief is going to make a getaway with their groceries!

(2) People who tailgate me when I’m driving. I recently saw a license plate frame I’d love to get that says, “The closer you get, the slower I drive.”

Favorite Foods:

To eat: seafood. I grew up on the Gulf Coast and was raised on seafood. My grandparents lived on the water and had a pier where we could catch fish and crabs. My favorite things to cook are anything that tastes great with a minimum amount of effort. You'll never see me posting any recipes with a gazillion ingredients or a gazillion steps. I like simple food with no frou-frou ingredients. I love making casseroles and one-dish meals. I really prefer things that I can make up ahead of time and then pop in the oven so I can get other things done (I really dislike having to babysit things on the stove). The recipes that I'm most often requested to make are Semi-Homemade Chicken and Dressing, Easy Bruschetta Chicken and Baked Bean Casserole.

Foods I don't like: water chestnuts, beets, Miracle Whip & Velveeta.

Favorite Restaurant: Can't decide between these two:

(1) Felix's Fish Camp - just outside Mobile, AL. Their crab cakes served on top of fried green tomatoes with come back sauce are to die for! Their menu is a fun read too. (www.felixsfishcamp.com)

(2) Ray's On The River - Atlanta, GA. They have a fantastic All-You-Can-Eat Sunday brunch with the biggest variety of food I've ever seen at an AYCE. We've driven two hours to get there and then waited another two hours to eat because it's THAT GOOD! (www.raysrestaurants.com/)

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