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:)

southwestern wontons

I hope Kim won't be mad that I'm sharing her recipe, but I made these last night and thought they were great! I remember her telling me they were easy to make, but WOW. They were SO easy and delicious.

Southwestern Wontons

Prep. time: 20 minutes
Cooking time: 10 minutes
Yield: 24 appetizers

1 package wonton wrappers
1 pound ground beef
1 package taco seasoning
2 tablespoons picante sauce
Chunky Salsa
1 cup Mexican blend shredded cheese

Preheat oven to 425°F. Press wonton wrappers into greased mini-muffin cups. Cook beef in skillet until browned. Drain off fat. Stir in taco seasoning mix and picante sauce. Spoon beef mixture into wonton cups. Top with salsa and cheese. Bake about 8 minutes or until wontons are golden brown. Serve immediately.

Mother's Day

About five years ago, Lori, Julie, and I decided to have a Mother's Day lunch at our house, and I guess it has become a tradition. For ONCE all my mother and grandmothers are required to do is show up at our house at the specified time. They are not allowed to bring anything but themselves. It is fun, but also a little stressful since they are all amazing cooks. We want everything to be perfect so they can have a taste of what they always give us at family gatherings.

This year we had strawberry and walnut salad, grilled chicken, roasted asparagus, purple hull peas, macaroni and cheese, and rolls. We decided to serve the plates rather than passing the serving dishes around the table, and it worked out well! We had an assembly line in the kitchen and all the "kids" served the adults.

I asked my dad to take this picture of my mom, my Nanny, and me as everyone was about to leave. He was snapping pictures all day, but right before this picture I realized that we hadn't taken group pictures! I wish we could have gotten one of all the girls, but I didn't think about it in time.



And of course I have to show off the cake Lori and I made! I think this might be the best one we've done so far. Nanny was impressed, which says a lot because she used to work in a bakery!

update.

I am amazed at all the input on the glasses versus contacts post! Thanks for your responses! I tend to overanalyze things, but the fact that people took the time to respond makes me feel okay for thinking it was a big deal.

This morning, I made an appointment to see the contact specialist! She's booked until next month, so I don't get to go until June 6, but I guess that's soon enough.

To all of the glasses fans, don't worry. I'm sure there will be PLENTY of days I don't feel like putting in the contacts.

Thanks again. You guys are the best. I just love my little blog community.
:)

testing that flickr

(Left to Right: Jennie, Lori, Mom, Carey, David, Julie, Stacy, Chuck, Tommy)

I thought I would try blogging from the new Flickr account I set up. My sister-in-law Stacy took this picture at Charlie's Pump-It-Up party.

Of COURSE someone was acting silly, because otherwise it wouldn't be a McClain picture. Look at David in the orange shirt and you'll see what I mean. Unbelievable. At least there aren't any bunny ears - I've never been a fan of those.

four eyes.

Until recently I was taking Plaquenil for what the rheumatologist diagnosed as rhuematoid arthritis. One of the possible side effects of taking the medicine was that it could cause problems with my vision. This was a bit of a concern since my vision is already poor (-3 in my right eye and -4 in the left). I was instructed to visit a specific eye doctor every six months so he could monitor my vision and alert my rhuematologist if there were any changes.

I got to stop taking the Plaquenil recently because my arthritis seemed to be under control, so I went for the final eye appointment on Friday just to make sure everything was normal with my vision. While I was there, I decided to ask the opthamologist about the possibility of getting contacts.

A little background information: I tried wearing contacts in the eighth grade, but it was a disaster. I was told I HAD to get gas permeable contacts (as opposed to soft contacts). Every second they were in my eyes I was miserable. I would leave them in for as long as I could each day, but I would eventually have to take them out and revert to the glasses. After about a month, I finally gave up. I've been wearing glasses since then. It would be impossible to recall the number of times people have asked me to take my glasses off so they can see what I look like without them. For some reason, I really HATE that.

I have mixed feelings about getting contacts. On one hand it would be nice to not worry about getting water droplets on the lenses when walking in the rain, looking through lenses with fingerprint smudges and inevitable scratches, bending the frames while lying on a pillow watching TV, having to use the visor in my car because I can't wear sunglasses, etc. On the other hand, glasses have become a huge part of me. I've worn glasses for approximately sixteen years. I absolutely hate drawing attention to myself, so I can't imagine what it would be like to walk in a room and have people wonder what is different about me. I know that would eventually wear off and people would think it was weird if I DID wear glasses, but I just dread the initial meeting sans glasses.

Obviously the pros outweigh the cons, so I've decided I'm going to go for it! All I have to do is call and set up a time to meet with the contact lady. Oh, and figure out how I'm going to be able to STICK MY FINGER IN MY EYES every single morning.

:)

we graduated!

The last class of Cake Decorating I was Tuesday night. The instructor gave us certificates, which was funny to me. I didn't realize it was so serious! I guess people that want to have a cake decorating business could hang up all of their certificates in their store or office, but I can't imagine having a use for mine.

Anyway, Rebekah said she couldn't wait to see the pictures of the final cakes, so I thought I should go ahead and post them today. I gave my cake to Carey's parents for letting us use the lake house, but I took a picture of it before I gave it to them. I wasn't extremely happy with the way the cake turned out, so I'm just posting a close-up of the roses. You wouldn't beLIEVE how long it took me to get them to look halfway presentable. I had such a hard time at first, but then suddenly they started SORT of looking like roses.

Posted by: jemcclain.

As usual, Lori's cake was very pretty and fluffy. She really loves icing, and I think that is evident when you look at her decorated cakes. Mine are much more simple. I didn't realize personalities and preferences would present themselves in our cakes, but that's what I've discovered over these four weeks!

Posted by: jemcclain.