14 YEARS!!

Ok, I'm coming back to life after my trip. The price you pay for having fun. This week Steve and I celebrated our 14th anniversary! We have figured out that "lunch dates" are, well, not quite as romantic, but very economical with lunch menus and not having to pay babysitters. Plus, this time I had a coupon for a free appetizer. We enjoyed our time at "Sol", the Latin restaurant downtown Franklin. He gave me a beautiful pearl necklace from India, and my gift to him......don't laugh......nonstick skillets. Can you believe with the amount of eggs we cook, we didn't have a nonstick skillet? He is the egg man, and has constantly complained about having to scrape the eggs off of the skillet, so, that was his gift! He LOVED them!!! I dressed up, as if going out on a "night" date.......wore my Spanks with my very tight jeans, and boy, I can't tell you how fast I drove home to pull those babies off and get into my sweat pants. After homemade guacamole, and chicken/goat cheese quesadillas, they were even more uncomfortable than they were to begin with........plus, I had on my compression panty hose because I had had a vein treatment the day before. I was totally Bound Up and claustrophobic!!! Being serious, Steve is a gift from God, and I am so thankful that he is the man I married. He is funny, kind, has beautiful eyes, adventurous, helpful, "hands on", engaged and involved with the kids, a wonderful husband and "Daddy".....and he loves me. I'm blessed.

Here's a recipe we had last night.......for our traditional breakfast for supper. The kids all chowed on them. They were very good and Fallish! Enjoy!!! J

CINNAMON-APPLE PANCAKES

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 TBLS brown sugar, packed

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp vanilla extract

1 egg, beaten

1 cup milk

2 TBLS oil

1/2 cup applesauce

Combine dry ingredients together in a large mixing bowl; make a well in the center and set aside. In a small mixing bowl, blend vanilla, egg, milk and oil; mix into the dry ingredients until just moistened. Add applesauce; mix well. Pour a little less than a 1/4 cup onto a hot, greased griddle. Cook until bubbly on surface; flip and heat until golden on both sides. Makes 8 to 10.