A Taste of Houston

We took a little summer vacay trip to down to Houston to visit the Devilish Nephew and oh what an adventure we had!  We stuffed ourselves with with Buc-ee's Nuggets from Denton all the way to Woody's in Centerville where we stopped for a barbecue lunch.  The only thing I can say about Buc-ee's is "It's SOOOO Texas."  It's my favorite place to stop and stretch my legs.  And Buc-ee's Nuggets are ADDICTIVE.  If you aren't making a road trip through the Lone Star State soon, you can find them on Amazon.  I don't know how to describe them other than a it's like eating the best piece of cereal-turned-snack you've ever had.  I recommend Woody's if you're a connoisseur of jerky.  I've never seen so much jerky in my life.  We were too stuffed on barbecue including "shrimp stuffed bacon wrapped smoked jalapeno poppers" to even look at the jerky.  Woody's is the Devilish Nephew's favorite stop for jars of Homemade Chow Chow Relish that he loves to bring home to his grandparents.  Now mind you Mr. Devilish Dish and I had all of these things before we even made it to Houston where the REALLY good food is.  I'm going to go ahead and spoil the surprise and tell you the highlight of my trip was CATCHING A SHARK!  Then I'll share all of the other fun we had:

In full disclosure I have to tell you this was
actually the nephew's shark.  We caught
three, but only kept one.  

Italian Marinated Cheese & Olives + FREE Father's Day Printable OLIVE YOU DAD!

Father's Day is almost here and I haven't even gotten around to posting what I made the Moms for Mother's Day.  But I'm so excited about this post so I'm sharing early.  You know I love CHEESY food puns, like my "Don't String Me Along" String Cheese Valentines  or my Homemade "I Love You Honey Bunny" Honey Buns.  I'll go ahead and spoil the surprise from Mother's Day.  The moms all received homemade salsa and Mexican relish and tortilla chips in bags that said, "MOM, You're All That & and Bag of Chips!" I knew when Father's Day rolled around I would need something equally as silly and delicious.  Nothing says Dad Snack Food more than cheese and crackers, but I decided to level up by adding a tasty marinated olive blend and making my theme: OLIVE YOU DAD.  This mixture is delicious with any kind of olive, but I chose pitted Sicilian green olives and pitted Kalamata olives for my blend.  If you're ever near the international pantry in Norman, Oklahoma stop by and check their huge selection of bulk olives and French Feta cheese. That's where I stock up on my cooking essentials!  I chose to cube some Colby Jack cheese, but any hard cheese that can withstand a little while in the marinade like a firm Mozzarella or Gouda would be tasty too.  Throw everything together and let it refrigerate 8-24 hours and everyone will OLIVE YOU. 

Tell anyone OLIVE YOU with this savory snack.

Combine ingredients in a large bowl.  Refrigerate
8-24 hours.

Enjoy with some quality crackers.

Click on the image to enlarge.
Right click and save to your computer.
Open with the software of your choice
and print onto cardstock.

These images are my exclusive artwork.
Please be courteous when using these printables 
and remember they are for personal use only.

Godiva Chocolate Gift Basket

Michaela over at An Affair from the Heart and I have been great friends for many years.  We originally met over our interest in scrapbooking when Mr. Devilish Dish and I lived in Omaha.  It's safe to say that hobby has gone to the wayside for both of us, but thankfully we share MANY other things.  We both love our family, children, adore boxer dogs, and we love cooking and blogging.  And chocolate.  What kind of friend doesn't like chocolate.  We have this traditional we call the Fun Ball.  It's a small silver ball about the size of a baseball.  It has a hinged opening for storing small trinkets.  I think it's traditionally called a "Friendship Ball" but really doesn't Fun Ball sound more fun?  We mail that thing back and forth constantly.  Sometimes it has jewelry, sometimes cooking spices.  Sometimes a tiny figurine, and more often than not, candy.  It's a challenge finding something to fit in that little ball.  We use the same box, just adding our addresses on top of the other over and over.  Usually until the box is falling apart and one of use finds a new sturdy box just the right size.  For Michaela's birthday a few years ago, I send her a big 'ol basket with all things Godiva Chocolate.  A candle, some liqueur, of course some chocolate.  And I managed to incorporate the Fun Ball in there. I added a little "chocolate" pearl bracelet.  Then I topped the whole thing off with some funny chocolate quotes and a big chocolate brown bow. She has a birthday coming up this weekend, so stop over at her blog and wish her the best!

Isn't this fun?

I found that awesome Godiva candle first,
and the rest of the gift just came together around that.

Here's the Fun Ball
full of chocolate pearls...

And me!

I do love Michaela more than chocolate.
And that's sayin' a lot!