Umma's Birthday!

Sorry I’ve been gone for a few days, but you know how the holidays get busy like that! Don’t you worry though, I’m back with plenty of food, crafts and family pictures to share J

We usually keep it low key for family birthdays, so for Umma's birthday last week we ordered in some Pork Shoppe and picked up a pumpkin cake from Rolf’s. But first, Lil Mama Stuart had to bake something.  Because something home made is always a go-to gift for me.

I wanted to try something new from my pile of recipes that I stash away with the intentions of trying someday, so we decided on White Chocolate Coconut Cookies by Paula Deen.  I love white chocolate and I love coconut so figured it should be good.  As you can expect, the recipe calls for two sticks of butter. Just add that to the nine sticks I needed a few days later for Thanksgiving - yikes! Clearly, I’m not one to be careful of what I eat. And I’m ok with that. J Anyways, two oven burned knuckles later (I should really invest in some nice oven mitts), Doug and I thought the cookies were a little dry.  I should’ve went with my instinct to stop adding oats when folding it in the dough since it was starting to look a little dry. Also, the cookies weren't flattening out, so I smushed them with a spatula half way through.  I'll take note of those two things for next time.  Umma’s friend harassed her for the recipe, so I think it was a success! Onto more delicious things…

To feed the five of us, we got two slabs of ribs (one St. Louis style and the other Baby Back – someone please explain to me again the difference), seven Texas brisket tacos and a bunch of sides.  Even though Doug and I had Pork Shoppe for dinner two nights before, we didn’t mind the repeat. J  The tacos are SO delish, especially with the spicy sauce. I didn’t care for the potato salad and the coleslaw is not your traditional coleslaw.  I think next time we’ll stick with the corn and fries. MmMm MmMm MMm finger lickin’ good! You should check it out if the Kuma's Corner line is around the block (it's just a few more blocks down Belmont). 

Mia was so sweet and gave Halmani popo’s for her birthday and even sang to her!  Doug, Halmani and Mia were all soooo happy that their cheeks hurt from smiling so much! JJJ