Christmas in pictures

So this one is blury, but if you squint slightly, you can get an idea of what the three Scheppmann kids and their significant others look like. And yes, Desiree and Lou will soon be welcoming Baby Boy Chiappetta. I am a very excited aunt! You can view their blog here.

A picture of Andy and I on Christmas Eve at my parent house.

It is a Christmas Eve tradition in our house to make a bunch of appetizers earlier in the day, go to church, and then come home, eat, and sit and open our gifts to one another. There is nothing better than keeping holiday traditions with your family! One tradition that Andy and I started last year was to put our holiday card picture in an ornament. We sure think it will be fun to decorate our tree in 10 years and look at each years pictures. And plus Hobby Lobby has so many cute picture frame ornaments!

Christmas morning we headed back to Iowa City to spend the day with Andy's family. We had a fabulous dinner and Andy and Brian were surprised with matching snowblowers! Iowa winters have proven to be a bit harsh, so it is a gift we will certainly appreciate.

Menu Monday

Southwest Tatertot Casserole

(So my picture isn't too appetizing, but you can tell by how much the two of us ate that it was really good!)

1 lb ground beef
1 onion chopped
1 green pepper chopped
1 can diced chilies
1 pkg taco seasoning
1 pkg frozen tatertots
1.5 cups frozen corn, thawed
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1/2 cup milk

Brown beef, add onion and peppers until cooked. Add taco seasoning , green chilies, and thawed corn to meat mixture. Combine milk and cream of mushroom soup in a seperate bowl.
Meanwhile, bake tatertots at 400 degrees for 26 minutes.
In a casserole dish, layer cooked tatertots, meat mixtures, and pour soup mixture on top. Fold together gently. Top with 3/4 c. shedded cheddar cheese. Cover. Bake at 375 degrees for 25 minutes. Uncover and bake for an additional 10 minutes.

Serve with a bit of sour cream and hot sauce if you desire. So good!

Let It Snow

We will certainly have a white Christmas around here! We are getting lots of practice shoveling...that is what we get for living on a corner. Although a hassle, it really is very pretty. Because we are in full holiday mode around here, a few pictures of our decor...

And a picture of Andy and his buck that he got last weekend on his "man's trip". Thankfully the deer was donated to a meat pantry. Having a big buck head above our couch is not my idea of classy decor! Sorry, Andy.

Thanks to everyone for the fun Christmas cards. I love coming home and opening them up each day. Enjoy the next few days of Christmas preparation!

Tasting Party

Tonight Andy and I went to a Tasting Party. It was downtown IC in a two story loft style apartment. We walked in and there were little dishes of food everywhere. The idea is that you eat one of these Magical Fruit berries and then sample the food to see how the berry changes the flavor. Lemons and limes tasted the same, but were not at all sour. We decided that it isn't the wierd berry that would later make us feel a bit sick, but the fact that everyone was eating sour cream (tasted like frosting), vinegar, straight lemon juice, and just about any other condiment. The strangest thing I tried was lemon sorbet mized with Quiness beer. It tasted similar to a coffee ice cream shake. Very strange, but fun! Here are a few pictures...



Here are the berries. The party host had them flown in from NYC, but apparently they are grown in Florida.

Andy, who usually doesn't like sour things (of fruit for that matter) enjoying a lime slice.
Here are Meghann and Alaina with some of the mood lighting behind them.

Still intrigued? Try googling magical fruit to learn more.