It's a Boy!

No, I am not pregnant. I threw a shower with help from a few friends for my dear friend Sally Duffin and her sweet baby boy Bennett who I haven't actually seen yet because he will be born in three weeks-ish but I know he will be sweet just like his parents. We had a blast at Sally's shower, played fun games and ate some great food.

 I got these little baby feet and toy shaped lollipops for the favors and made a little arrangement of them for the food counter. Of course I forgot to tell people to take them as a favor so now I'm stuck with lots of baby boy favors.

 Some of the group eating. We had creamy tomato basil, chicken noodle and broccoli cheese soups, sourdough bread and crescent rolls. For dessert we had lemon raspberry bars and butter bars. Yum Yum. Recipes to follow. :o)

 More fun friends and relatives.

 Ballroom girls!

 We played a fun game I had played at a shower a long time ago. You put small safety pins in a bowl of uncooked rice and you have one minute to pull out as many safety pins as you can with your eyes closed, it is much harder than you think! The other game was guess the size of Sally's belly. Each girl guessed her belly size in inches and whoever got the closest got a prize.

 Opening gifts. I realized I wasn't very crafty when gift after gift came out and I kept asking, "Did you make that?" And of course the girl would always say, "yes". Good grief, I guess I need to gird up my loins and just whip out the old sewing machine.

I'm so grateful for the help of Kylie for doing the games, Carly for making the delish Broccoli cheese (I'm still waiting for that recipe ;o)) and Callista for bringing rolls. It really helps when others contribute. I can't wait to see Bryan and Sally's little man and I am so excited for the three of them!
Recipes:
From cjaneinthekitchen.blogspot.com

Gooey Butter Cake

AKA Butter Bars

Crust:

1 yellow cake mix

1 egg

1/2 cup butter (1 cube), melted

Filling:

1 8 ounce package cream cheese, softened

2 eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla

1 stick butter, melted

3 cups powdered sugar

Combine crust ingredients and pat into a 9 X 13 pan. Beat cream cheese, eggs, and vanilla until smooth. Add butter and sugar. Mix well. Pour over crust. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.

Variations: use lemon cake mix and add lemon juice and zest to filling, use chocolate cake mix and add 3/4 cup peanut butter to the filling. I have never tried any of these, if you do, let me know how you like it!

Lemon Raspberry Bars

Lemon Raspberry Bars

For the crust:
1 1/2 cup graham cracker crumbs
6 tablespoons salted butter, melted
1/4 cup sugar
Zest of one lemon
For the filling:
2 large egg yolks
1-14 oz. can fat free sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon lemon zest
6 ounces fresh raspberries
Preheat the oven to 350F. Spray a 8 by 8 inch baking dish with cooking spray. Set aside.
In a medium bowl, combine the graham cracker crumbs, melted butter, sugar, and lemon zest. Stir until graham cracker crumbs are moist. Press crumbs into the prepared pan, pressing the crust mixture one inch up the side of the pan. Bake for 10 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool to room temperature.
Once the crust is cool, combine the egg yolks and condensed milk until well mixed. Stir in the lemon juice and lemon zest. Stir until mixture begins to slightly thicken. Gently fold in the raspberries. Fold carefully so you don’t break the raspberries.
Pour the lemon raspberry filling evenly over the graham cracker crust. Bake for 15 minutes, or until just set.
Cool to room temperature, then chill for at least one hour before serving. Cut into bars and serve. Keep bars in the refrigerator-up to five days.
*Note-use fresh raspberries and make sure you gently fold the berries into the lemon filling or you will have pink bars.

Chicken Noodle Soup
From Lion House also courtesy of Rachel Neeley
Here we go - I only know this from memory when I am putting all the ingredients together.
2 cans chicken stock
1 bouillon cube - start boiling and melt the cube
add veggies -
chopped, carrots, celery, onions
let them slow boil until they are getting softer
add1 can cream of chicken soup
add 1 can corn
add chicken (for this I use the cans(2) of chicken from costco)
put stove on low - and let simmer

while simmering - boiling noodles (I use egg noodles for best flavor)
then add soft noodles to mixture
stir and bada bing
Oh - add pepper for taste

(I would recommend adding more chicken stock if there isn't much liquid)