Food, Fireworks, and Family...

I'm a little late in posting this, but we've been running around like chickens with our heads cut off! Crazy busy around here!!! On July 4th, my family usually travels a little past Wiggins, MS to a HUGE mud hole!!! Madeline, Stephen, Moma, Poppie, Daniel, and I all pack up a weekend's worth of groceries, four wheelers, and our most stained shorts and t-shirts that we don't care about getting dirty again. We stay in a cabin for the weekend and thoroughly enjoy each other's company IN THE MUD! It's always a good time.

This year was a little different in the fact that we decided to spend our fireworks weekend on the lake. I tried to learn how to slolam ski this weekend and almost managed to master it before the nice "lake patrol" decides to check our boat for the proper amount of life jackets(check) and a throwable(not check-ticket instead). The "lake patrol" gave my parents a ticket because they couldn't find their throwable that is supposed to stay on the boat at all times. Needless to say, that ended our weekend with a BANG. A $150 bang at that.
What I don't understand is why he let the three young girls go park their jet ski because they were driving entirely too fast, gave them no ticket, but busts us on the first offense. Why is it that the people who always try to do things the right way always seem to get the short end of the stick?

Either way, we had a great time grilling out with family and playing in the water!

leftovers...

Have you ever made too much of something and let it go to waste? I certainly have since there's only two of us eating dinner most of the time. Well, not anymore! With mashed potatoes anyway. If I ever have any left over mashed potatoes, I always save them in the fridge for a day or sometimes two at the max just to let them get stiff. I will cook hamburgers or something fun that mashed potatoes would taste good with once my leftovers have had a chance to stiffen. I then take my cookie dough scoop to scoop small round balls of mashed potatoes to be fried in a skillet. I dredge them in beaten egg and cruton crumbs and throw them in the skillet. Once in the skillet, I take my spatula and "mash" them into a small pattie, fry it for a few minutes on each side-just enough to brown the breading. Take them out and place them on a plate covered with paper towel to soak up the extra grease and serve them! They are so good and EASY!