The Dish--What's Been Goin' On In My World...

So you may or may not have noticed I've been a slacker lately.  Now that doesn't mean I don't LOVE LOVE LOVE my "foodie family," I've just been a busy gal this summer.  Golf tournaments, cook-outs, birthdays-all kinds of stuff going on.  I enroll my "Little Devil" for her senior year of high school tomorrow and then school starts and we say good-bye to summer.  And hello to football and Halloween which is my favorite time of year.  Plus we have 7 birthdays in our family in September so there is lots of party planning in my future.  Amidst all the hecticness, I still manage to cook dinner almost every night.  And take pictures of the steps and the finished product.  And upload the pictures to the computer.  And leave the recipes stacked on the desk.  And that's about it.  I probably have at least 30 things I want to blog for all of you.  In my defense, the weather here has been unbelievably hot, and sitting at desk all day in my office is stuffy.  So of course I find other things to do.  Like going to the pool.  When I try to blog in the middle of the night, Mr. Devilish Dish wakes up and scares the tar out of me.  But I promise to do better.  My friend Michaela over at An Affair From the Heart is making me look bad. I went up to visit her over the weekend, and while I was there I attended on of her fabulous parties she is famous for planning.  She ALREADY has the party and pictures on her blog.  Dang.  She's making me look bad.  So I'm going to get after it and get some yummy recipes typed up for ya!  In the meantime, I thought I'd share some of the fun things that have been going on around here with all of you.  Happy Reading & Eating! 

Giveaway COMING SOON!!!

 I hit the 500 mark on Facebook!  That's right I now have 517 people that "LIKE" my Devilish Dish Facebook Page.  I promised a giveaway, and you're going to get one.  As soon as I decide what kind of groovy, crazy stuff I can put in an envelope and stuff in some lucky person's mailbox! If you haven't been to my facebook page, please stop by and "LIKE" it.  I'll let everyone know when I announce the giveway so someone will get a great laugh when they open their mailbox.  At least it will be better than bills!

My "Little Devil" earned a trip to Florida through the Chicksaw Nation Leadership Program.  She's quite the good student and leader and we're so proud of her.  They visited Kennedy Space Center, went surfing and of course went to Disney World.  I was quite envious, because you see I am a HUGE Mickey Mouse fan.  He is allover my kitchen.  I was green with envy until she brought these home for me:

I love Mickey Mouse! 
Especially stuff for the kitchen!

In addition to being a super scholar and future president, my "Little Devil" is also following in my footsteps and becoming quite the baker and crafter.  Her boyfriend just celebrated a birthday and she made him a from scratch cake with her famous homemade buttercream frosting.  (Which she promises she will do a guest blog for me and share the recipe.) 

Little Devil's Homemade Cake
with Homemade Buttercream

Her gift to her BF was also homemade.  A crafty little frame she used with all sorts of buttons.  Some old, some new, but all very clever and cute.  Okay, Okay, I'm done tooting my horn about her for now, but isn't this cute?

She's a CRAFTY Little Devil!

So as I said, I just got back from a visit to Omaha.  Little Devil and I went to visit my friend Michaela, who you may know from An Affair From The Heart.  Her friend Toni, was celebrating her 40th birthday party and Michaela did all of the planning and execution for it.  I was lucky enough to attend and enjoy the great food, friends and atmosphere.  The theme was Peanuts.  I'm a HUGE Snoopy fan so I thought the entire thing was adorable.  It's also proof that you don't have a be a kid to have a great party.  This one was at a wine store for a 40th birthday, but Michaela's ideas could easily be adapted to a party for any age!  I took a few pictures with my phone, but you can view the entire party and more pictures at Michaela's blog:  HERE.

Charlie Brown Christmas Tree
and a Linus Blanket!

Psychiatric Help and Wine?
Perfect for turning 40.

The real reason behind the visit to Omaha was to go to the Motley Crue/Poison Concert.  What can I say?  I'm an 80's hair band girl at heart.  Sadly, Michaela is one of the only people on the planet who will go to these concerts with me.  (Come on people, you DO NOT know what you're missing.)  We had a complete blast.  To quote Michaela, "I've been to a lot of concerts in my life, but that was by far the best."  We even had a total stranger buy each of us a t-shirt.  He had no idea how much he made our day.  We asked his girlfriend for permission to hug him.  He said, "Just pay it forward..."  What a great guy.  Whenever life gives you the opportunity, be sure to pay it forward.  Pay the toll on the highway for the car behind you, buy somebody a coffee at Starbuck's.  Make the world a better place!

Tommy Lee on his drum solo roller coaster

Before leaving Omaha, Michaela's uncle shared a huge sack of peppers with me.  They don't call it the Cornhusker State for nothin.'  They can grow ANYTHING up there.  Of course with 115 degree hell weather in Oklahoma where I live, my garden is almost burned up.  She even swiped a few tomatoes from her mom's garden.  What a weekend.  Motley Crue and garden fresh produce???  I can die happy!

Home Grown Peppers from Uncle Frank!

Mr. Devilish Dish and I had a
"Salsa Cook-Off" when I got home.
He made a "fire-roasted salsa" on the left
and I made a "totally fresh" salsa
on the right.  I won, of course.

Of course I've been saving my best news for last.  A couple of weeks ago I was away from the computer and my blog all weekend watching Mr. Devilish Dish play in a golf tournament (which he won by the way!) and I came to find this lovely award from Isabelle At Home.  She's one of my online "foodie friends" and has a yummy blog with all sorts of delicious recipes.  Be sure to visit her page HERE.  Receiving this Blog On Fire award is just so awesome.  Not only is my blog on fire because I'm The Devilish Dish, but it really means that a fellow foodie likes what I'm doin' over here and that just means the world to me.  Thank you so much Isabelle!

I hope all of you are having a fabulous summer, and adjusting to the back to school schedule without too much stress.  Be sure to check out some of my slow cooker recipes, they are perfect for those hectic days when you have work, school and sports practice.

HUGS,
The Devilish Dish