November already?

Can you believe it's November already? The month we give thanks for our many blessings. I want to take a moment to share my thankful heart with you. I am grateful for so many things this year. My husband and children, my family and their health, and the love we share, our home, my husbands job, our friends, our community, a good church, our ministries, and a Loving God who gives to us freely and generously. What are you thankful for? Leave a comment and let me know, I would love to hear from you!

Giving Thanks?

I just read the November 2009 issue of Country Living and must say that I am repulsed at the level of "Political Correctness" in the article on page 105 by Matt and Ted Lee. Let me quote,"Though the menu and guests may have changed over time, one element of our holiday remains the same: We begin by holding hands and savoring a moment of silence, remembering all we're thankful for..." EXCUSE ME? A "Moment of silence"? How about a moment to give thanks to the God who not only created us, but provided the abundance we are about to enjoy? How about thanking the God who blessed us with loved ones, and homes, and jobs to provide for our family? How about being "THANKFUL," on this day called THANKSGIVING?!!! Are we so afraid that we will offend someone by giving thanks, that we ourselves refuse to do so? GOOD GRIEF! O.K. Here is what I propose, if you do not wish to give thanks, then you should not celebrate Thanksgiving. It's NOT about the turkey, you Turkeys! As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord! Joshua 24:15 (Emphasis mine)

Jodi's Southern Biscuits

4 cups of unbleached flour, 8 teaspoons baking powder, 1/2 teaspoon baking soda, 1/4 teaspoon Kosher or sea salt, 1 1/2 sticks butter (NO MARGARINE! YOU ARE NOT ALLOWED!!!)and 2 cups of buttermilk.

Sift the dry ingredients together.

They will look like this, nice and fluffy.

1 and 1/2 sticks of butter. (NOT UNSALTED BUTTER. Who uses that anyway? Whats the point of unsalted? It may as well be Vaseline if it doesn't have salt in it!)

Use a pastry blender to cut in butter.

It should look like this when you are done.

See? A nice coarse mixture, no big lumps of butter.

Buttermilk or milk with a little vinegar or lemon juice added to sour it.

Make a well in the center, and add buttermilk.

Use a wooden spoon to gently stir, just till combined.

Remove from bowl and knead about 5 times.

Roll out to 3/4" thickness.

Cut out with a 2 1/2" round cookie cutter. Sometimes I use hearts or other shapes to go with a holiday. Cut out as close as possible to the rest to keep the waste to a minimum. You can roll out the leftovers no more than once. Anything over that and they will be tough, and who wants a tough biscuit? I always let my little ones use the leftover dough to play with and make into shapes or dolly cakes, and then I cook them up separately for them to eat later. They always loved this!

Brush with melted butter. If you are looking for something healthy, go naw on your lawn. Try to use moderation and you'll be fine.

Now that your biscuits are in the oven, put on a kettle of water for tea, and hurry up and clean up that mess! What's the point in waiting? When you are all done, your biscuits will be ready and you can sit down and enjoy them with a cup of steaming tea.

now doesn't that feel better?

Come to Mama little flour babies!

Can you just smell them?

You MUST have plum jelly for your biscuits! This may be a problem for you because I get mine from my Mama. There is NOTHING better than fresh biscuits with Mamas jelly smothered on top!

mmm mmmm mmmmm! Butter on one side, jelly on the other. So good!

Yes M'am! I am a member of the clean plate club!

Kris and Lacy were married at the Little Chapel of the west. The chapel does not allow outside photgraphers in to photograph the wedding, so Jeff and I waited outside until the ceremony was finished. From there we went to Caesars Palace to take pictures. We walked down the strip and took pictures along the way. Everywhere we walked people were congratulating the new couple and even cheering and applauding them! It was very sweet. My favorite pictures are in front of the Bellagio where the fountains were going off with classical music playing. Very beautiful and romantic. The mother of the bride is my dear friend Vicki. You will see her pictured with her twin brother Rick. She played a trick on me when she introduced him, saying, "This is Keith." So the whole time I kept saying, "Keith, come over here, Keith, I need you in this picture, Hi Keith how are you doing?"He finally let me in on Vickis joke. But not before I had called him Keith st least a dozen times....good one Vicki! The groom Kris, was so sweet with his new bride. Carefully leading her along the way, catching her everytime her high heels caused her to stumble. It was very endearing. They make a beautiful family. This is a picture of Kris with their dear baby Ryan. We had a great time photographing them. Ihope you enjoy the pictures! Till the next post...Jodi The Barefoot Shutterbug

Vegas Baby!

Jeff and I went to Vegas to photograph a friends-daughters wedding on Wednesday. We had a terrific time.Lots of work, but lots of fun. There is so much to see and do! I don't know how many of you have been there,I have only been a few times myself. It is mind blowing, everything is outrageously big and glamorous, and extravagant and extreme. We walked up and down the strip and saw the Coca Cola and, the M&M buildings, Hard Rock Cafe, Flamingo Casino, the Bellagio with its fountains, Caesars Palace,the MGM Grande that has tigers inside, and the Eiffel tower just to name a few things. We saw alot of other things too that I will not talk about. Lets just say that it lives up to its nickname "Sin City."I have to mention the buffets. Now I am actually ashamed to admit that I eat at a buffet...ever. It may as well be a feeding troth. But when you are in Vegas, you have to. Every kind of food you can imagine is there on the tables and 24 hours a day! You can even have dessert for breakfast! (Not that I would do such a thing...OK, OK, I confess to you that I did. Please don't tell my Mama!) And does everyone turn into a sloppy pig when they are staying in a hotel, or is it just me? I find myself throwing that towel on the floor instead of hanging it up to dry, and making my bed? Forget it! If housekeeping is going to offer me clean sheets and make my bed and leave fresh clean and folded towels for me, why would I bother? Oink Oink. Here are a few pictures I took while we were on the strip. I hope you enjoy them. Until the next post...