Thanks, Lee!

Tropical storm Lee has past, and left us with some lovely fall weather!!

Unfortunately he decided to make landfall right around Labor Day, just when our family was coming in to town!  Oh well ... We originally had a great and exciting weekend planned, full of events like:

Kayaking in Mobile Bay!!!  We even had reservations!!  Obviously this picture is not from there as there are no dolphins in our Bay.  Or mountains.

Visiting the white sandy beaches of Gulf Shores!

But the weather obviously hindered our plans.

We had a great time anyway!  We drove over to Memaw's house in Moss Point, MS for a family cookout.  I think we literally drove through the worst part of the storm.  That always makes for good times.  Once we arrived, her yard could have provided us with a kayaking adventure.

That's like 6 inches, folks!

We also laughed away several hours playing Balderdash, which is one of my favorite board games.  Did you know that in Oklahoma, it's still illegal to steal another man's melons at night?  I didn't either until I played!

And of course, I got my baby fix (which doesn't take too much), with our little niece Vera Kate!  She is kind of adorable, and is now walking everywhere! She can almost talk, too.  You can see an intense expression on her face break out and you know that she really has something to tell you, but all that comes out is "BABABABA!  BRRRRR?  HIEEEEEE!!"  She also entertained the dogs

This picture reminds me I must blog about Winston (white dog).  We adopted him, had to give him back, then adopted him again.  Story to come soon perhaps.

And of course what do I enjoy more than cooking for friends and family (and myself)?  I think the favorite dish of the weekend was an untitled dessert ... a lemony pudding custard thing.  I learned how to make it when I lived in Panama, from a friend who was Costa Rican.  So we'll call it my Latin Lemon Lush.  Here's the recipe if you like!

Ingredients: 1 can evaporated milk, 1 can condensed milk (the little can), 1 pack of Maria cookies (found in the Latino isle), and 2-3 lemons

The cookies

Directions:
1. Open the cookies.  This is probably the hardest part.  If you just look at the cookies the wrong way they will break.  Once you open them, try one!  They kind of taste like 'Nilla wafers, but a bit milder.  Now layer these in a pie pan.

Don't cry over broken Maria cookies!  They taste the same!

2. Grab your blender.  Make sure the jar is on securely so you don't spray stuff everywhere like I did once.  Pour in the two cans of milk.  Turn the blender on and begin squeezing the lemon juice into the mixture.  This is not an exact science, but super nifty.  You can squeeze through the first lemon pretty quick, but slow down on the second.  Keep squeezing until you see/hear a texture change in the blender.  I don't know how this happens, but it does.  Don't keep squeezing or else you'll end up with a clumpy mess.  It usually takes me 2 or 2.5 lemons to get to this point.

3. Pour some of the pudding stuff on top of the cookies.

4. Layer some more cookies.  Repeat.

5. Chill in the fridge until kind of firm-ish.

6. Enjoy!