Derby Days

We met Billy, Rita, and Alison in Louisville, Kentucky on Saturday. We dropped off Ivy at the hotel and headed for Churchill Downs. It was very hot, but the tour was neat! A tunnel lead from the front gate to the general admission stands- our tour guide said today, it would take us about 2-3 minutes to walk that, but on the day of the Kentucky Derby, it takes over an hour! I think I’ll watch it on tv!

We headed to the Hall of Fame Café for some lunch and drinks to cool us down. Louisville is famous for Derby Pie and Hot Brown. At lunch, Alison wasn’t very hungry, so she only ordered Derby Pie. Rita and I really wanted some, but we were too full from our big lunch to order a piece. We had a sample of Alison’s and it was fabulous- vanilla ice cream, caramel, warm pie! Amazing!

Rita and I agreed that we could not leave Louisville without trying our own piece. Later that night, we went to the restaurant in our hotel and ordered Derby Pie a la mode. They were out of ice cream! And the pie was not warm and not delicious. We were so disappointed! We did try the hot brown and it was very good.



We came back to Nashville after a big brunch on Sunday. I couldn’t let our last memory of Derby Pie be a bad one. So I made some Derby Pie and it was great!

Derby Pie

3 eggs, lightly beaten
1 c. light corn syrup
1/2 c. brown sugar, packed
1 c. chopped pecans
1/4 t. salt
1/2 t. vanilla
6 oz. package semi-sweet chocolate morsels
1 T bourbon
1 9 inch deep dish pie shell, unbaked

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Mix all ingredients and pour into pie shell. Bake for 10 minutes and reduce heat to 350 degrees for 35 minutes more. Serve with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.

E’s Notes:

• I used Jack instead of bourbon- it’s all whiskey!
• I had to put foil around the edge of my crust because it was getting too brown.
• Serve warm with ice cream, of course!

J- O- B

I am so completely thrilled and excited to report that I have a J-O-B in Oklahoma City. And it's a job that I am really excited about! I am going to be the Director of Outreach and Volunteers at the YWCA- Oklahoma City.

I feel so blessed! Jeremy, so many of you, and I have prayed about this for such a long time. It has been really hard over the past few months to have patience and trust that God knows what is best for us. No doubt, it's been a long road . . . but we are so happy to be at this point in our lives!

We are sad to leave Nashville, but we feel really good about what is ahead of us in Oklahoma City. This job is something I would love to do even if I didn't have to work! Here's a little synopsis of my job duties:

"The Director of Volunteer and Outreach Services is responsible for recruiting and training new volunteers for all YWCA program areas, as well as maintaining involvement of current volunteers. The Director will also represent and speak on behalf of the YWCA in a variety of capacities."

It's going to be challenging, but rewarding. I can't wait to start. My start date is August 4th (so soon- I know!).

A funny story- the mission of the YWCA is "eliminating racism and empowering women ." Recently, the YWCA-OKC decided to state the mission when they answer phone calls. As you can see, the mission is a little long and a little wordy. Apparently, more than one person has been caught saying- eliminating women and empowering racism. Oops! Hopefully, I won't make the mistake!

Only two things money can't buy . . .

True love and home grown tomatoes! I absolutely LOVE fresh-from-the-garden tomatoes. They are nothing like any of the tomatoes that are bought in the grocery store. They have so much more flavor and color! The pictures don't even do them justice!

Jeremy's parents have a garden and they have all kinds of delicious vegetables. But the tomatoes, without a doubt, are my most favorite! I slice them up and salt liberally. They probably gave me 6 or 7 tomatoes to bring home with us. I was a little worried, because Jeremy is going to be out of town, but I think I can probably eat them all myself! My mom suggested making a homemade salsa- I'm thinking about it, but if it didn't turn out well, I would feel like I wasted a tomato. They are only available for a limited time and in limited quantities!

They also gave me some squash and cucumber, so I'll be coming up with a few recipes to use those vegetables!

Red, White, & Blue- Strawberry, Cream Cheese, & Blueberry

We had a fabulous July 4th! On Thursday night, Alison and I baked and decorated a cake for their community's annual 4th of July picnic. I would post the recipe, but we used a mix and store-bought icing. It's a strawberry cake mix and 2 containers of cream cheese icing (Duncan Hines).

Then we decorated with fresh strawberries and blueberries! As most of you know, I really like making things from scratch, but this was pretty darn good. And as always, the fun part was the decorating.

Unfortunately, Alison had to work on Friday, so she wasn't able to attend the picnic, but we saved her a piece!

Isn't Alison's new haircut cute?!?!

Jeremy and I went to Ms. Thelma's house for the picnic. Don't you love potlucks?!?! There was so much food. We had barbecue (that means pulled pork in TN), fresh tomatoes, chicken dorito, green beans, corn on the cob, all kinds of little salads, vegetable trays, spinach dip. And then, the desserts!!! They had pecan pie, blondies, strawberry cake, sugar cookies, other cookies. It was a feast!

That night, we went to see Lexington's fireworks. Alison and Cody invited us out to watch the display from Cody's boat. We had front row seats! It was a very impressive display. My pictures didn't turn out too well, but trust me, they were good. The fireworks lasted for over 30 minutes!

Alison, Cody, and their friend, Ricky.

Jeremy and I on the boat.

Fireworks reflecting off the lake.

We had such a great time, but we're so tired! We went to another picnic on Saturday night. They had more delicious food, including homemade ice cream! It was amazing!

girls- n. sweet n’ sassy

Yesterday, I took everyone on my personal tour of the sites of Nashvegas- we nicknamed it the Ivy tour- she went with us. I took them to downtown Nashville and we saw the capitol building, Ryman Auditorium, Music Row, Broadway, Vanderbilt, Parthenon, Bicentennial Mall, Centennial Park, etc. Did you know that Nashville is also called the Athens of the South? And the three stars on the TN flag are representative of West, Middle and East Tennessee. I could totally be a tour guide! Lisa enjoyed it- I think the girls were a little bored.

Click here for more pics of our Nashville tour.



Today was the day they have been waiting for all weekend! Their trip to Sweet N’ Sassy! They did the Princess Package- mini- mani, makeup app, and a hairdo. Deborah went with the rockstar look and Delancy did the princess look. They asked me about doing it- I told them I am already sweet n’ sassy!



Both Deborah and Delancy like banana pudding and since it is Jeremy's favorite dessert, I decided to make it while they were visiting us. My family traditionally makes the pudding by cooking it on the stove- from scratch, the old-fashioned way. One time, I made it for Jeremy like that and he said he wished it was the cold kind!!! I wasn’t so happy to hear that after I had spent all that time over the stove stirring it and making sure it didn’t burn.

The cold kind takes only a few minutes and it’s so easy! I’ll probably never make the stove top kind again! Here is the recipe for one of his favorites.

Banana Pudding

(the cold kind)

1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese
1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
1 (5 ounce) package instant vanilla pudding mix
3 cups cold milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 (8 ounce) container frozen whipped topping, thawed
4 bananas, sliced
1/2 (12 ounce) package vanilla Wafers

In a large bowl, beat cream cheese until fluffy. Beat in condensed milk, pudding mix, cold milk and vanilla until smooth. Fold in 1/2 of the whipped topping.

Line the bottom of a 9x13 inch dish with vanilla wafers. Arrange sliced bananas evenly over wafers. Spread with pudding mixture. Top with remaining whipped topping. Chill.


We askd the girls about their favorite thing from their entire time in Nashville. They said Nucci's- the Italian Ice and Gelato place. Who would have thought that's all it takes for a fun trip to Nashville?!?! So, with one final stop to Nucci's, they are headed back to the great state of Texas, with a minor detour in Memphis to see the home of Elvis.

It was a fun, interesting, entertaining, exhausting, exciting, filling weekend (plus a few days) with Deborah, Delancy, and Aunt Lisa! I'm so glad they came to visit and hope there will be many more trips to Cousin Erin's- even if I live in OKC!

ve•loc•i•ty - n. rapidity or speed of motion

Monday morning it was off to the Adventure Science Center! They had all kinds of exhibits on scientific theories, dinosaurs, space, planetarium, sound, light, etc. It was pretty amazing and very interactive. We learned about our bodies fighting infection and we played all kinds of games. It was a little crowded, but a very neat experience.

More pics!


We had lunch at my very favorite café/ deli- the Puffy Muffin. They have an amazing selection of baked goods. We had tortilla soup and chicken salad and everyone got to pick out a dessert. Delancy had a huge piece of strawberry cake; Deborah had a triple chocolate mousse bomb; Lisa had a piece of Jackson pie (also called Derby pie); and I had snickers cheesecake. They were all amazing!

We couldn’t leave empty handed, so we got a few decorated sugar cookies and cinnamon rolls for breakfast tomorrow morning! Yummy! Here is the recipe for Jackson Pie/ Derby Pie. I have no idea if this is like the recipe used by the Puffy Muffin, but I can’t wait to try it.

Jackson Pie

1/2 cup butter, melted
3/4 cup white sugar
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
2 eggs
1 tablespoon bourbon
3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1 cup chopped walnuts
1 prepared 8 inch pie crust


Preheat oven to 350 degrees F Spread chocolate chips and nuts in bottom of pie shell.

In a mixing bowl, cream butter or margarine and sugar together. Mix in flour. Beat the eggs slightly, and mix into the creamed mixture. Stir in bourbon. Pour filling into pie shell (over chips and nuts).

Bake at 350 degrees F for 30 to 40 minutes

*** This is only a theory, but I'm going to guess that the difference between Derby pie and Jackson pie might be the type of liquor used. Derby pie calls for bourbon, but I think it would be appropriate to put Jack Daniels in the Jackson pie. JD is from TN and so was President Andrew Jackson! I'll let you know how it turns out!

wa•sa•bi - n. a very pungent green Japanese condiment

On Sunday, we went to church and had Pei Wei for lunch. We stopped by the pool and had some fun in the sun. But the highlight of our day was our sushi experience.

Deborah and Delancy had never tried sushi, but they really wanted to give it a go. We ordered the basics- edamame, California roll, crunchy shrimp, veggie roll, and tuna roll. Deborah loved it! Her favorite was the crunchy shrimp. They both enjoyed the edamame.

Delancy wasn’t crazy about any of it. But she insisted on trying the wasabi all by itself. I told her I didn’t think it was a good idea, but she would not take no for an answer. I put her chopstick in some of the green goo and she put it all in her mouth. Luckily, her water glass was full and she drank every last drop! So, Delancy probably won’t be willing to go back for sushi anytime soon!




Here are some more pics!