Changes in the Lentz House

Well, well…hello. Again! My goodness, it’s been literally almost 2 months. I seriously cannot believe it’s been two months since I last wrote, but then again I cannot believe all the changes we’ve had in that time either.

Since I last wrote, a busy stay-at-home mama who joined the PTA board at school, made the huge leap and is now a working mama {and no longer on the PTA board}.

Yes, you read that right, friends. I am now a full-time working mama.

You know how they say sometimes all it takes is being at the right place in the right time? This time all it took was being on a field trip and me having my big fat mouth, as usual.

It’s a funny story of how it all happened and I won’t bore you with the details, but basically because we all know I can talk to a brick wall I started a conversation with a teacher {who was a parent on the field trip}. We began talking, one thing led to another, and by the end of the day I had an interview on Monday for a teaching position that was coming available.

Whoa!

That was my thought exactly. I have to admit though, there was some kind of calm over me through the whole thing {and if you know me, the over-thinker, I usually freak out at things like this}. I prayed a lot and really felt God smiling and telling me to just “go with it.” That He had my back and He was with me every step of the way. It’s been a long time since I’ve had that feeling, but it felt so good and so right.

Eric and I talked about it and when he was as excited as I was, I knew this was it. Our lives were about to change.  I was filled with excitement and joy, and never once nervousness {which again…not like me}.

The next couple of weeks was filled with interviews, lots of waiting, lots of secrets, a fall festival {put on by the PTA and yes, me}, and then it was time. I was handed a classroom full of wonderful 4th grade students on a platter. It might not have been a silver platter, but bless their hearts, those kids had been through a lot in the first quarter of the year. Before long, they will be on a silver platter, and I hope I will get them there. They are a great group of kids, and I enjoy teaching them everyday!

I started three weeks ago. It’s funny, walking back into the classroom after being gone for 7 years, seems like I never left. The teaching feels so right…feels great. The planning is good, a lot because I’m basically living day to day, but let’s face it that’s how teachers really are anyway. I’ve got the most awesome team known to man. They support each other, share ideas and plans, and just have fun. They really enjoy what they’re doing and I love being around them. We are all so much alike in the fact that we just like to be happy.

I get asked all the time, “How’s it going? How’s it been being back at work?” I can honestly say it feels great. I love teaching. It’s in my bones and in my heart. Going from a stay-at-home mama one day to a full-time working mama the next has had it’s changes. I’ve had to learn how to make a menu for the week and get all my shopping done on the weekend. I don’t get to laundry until the weekend, and I don’t get my almost daily Starbucks run {which my thighs thank me}, but over all the changes have been good. I go to school with my kids and come home with them. They are loving me being there with them…especially Dallas. Her confidence is soaring and we are seeing so many great changes in her. It’s the little things. I don’t get to go have coffee or lunch with friends whenever I want. I miss that, but again my thighs thank me. I don’t have the social calendar I used to, and I don’t get to talk to my bestie whenever I want, and that makes me sad.

However, there have been so many positive changes in me going back to work. I have a new purpose. For the last couple of years I have really started feeling like I needed something more. Don’t get my wrong, I have loved every minute of being at home with my babies. I am so grateful and feel so blessed to be able to stay home with them. Over the last couple of years though I started feeling that they didn’t need me as much anymore, and I needed a new purpose. I didn’t really know what that was, and wasn’t sure it was teaching. I joined the PTA board to get my face in the school, get my name out there, and see if I had a feeling for it again. Next thing I knew, the good Lord put and angel in my path and wha-la…my purpose was anew.

In going back in the classroom, I feel much different than I did 10 years ago when I first started. I feel so much more confident in myself, in who I am, and what I can do, and that is a good feeling. I’m much more compassionate in some aspects now that I am a parent and not just some kid out of college reciting text book information. I feel so much happier and better in this body than I did so many years ago. Not sure I can conquer the world, but I know I can conquer 4th grade, and I look forward to the rest of the year with these great students and a great team.

I’m not sure how much or how often I will post in this blog because let’s face it, at the end of the day there’s not much time. I will post when I can. I’ve been using my crockpot a bunch and have made some great recipes I hope to share with you. I’ve got a few crafty things up my sleeve and can hopefully get to those now that I’m tracked out. {Oh yeah, I get a three week break now to wrap my head around all this craziness.} I’ll be around and I hope y’all will stick around and check in from time to time.

Thanks for stopping by!

S~

Back Where I Come From…Part 2

Hey there, friends! Long time, no see. I have to apologize. After I last wrote my kids tracked out. Track outs for us year-round schoolers means we have three weeks to cram everything in…think of it as summer break on steroids. We travel, see friends and family, vacation, and do all the around the town fun we can. It’s Operation:Keep kids busy and happy. Which means no blogging for this mama. As much as I try it just falls to the waste-side. But hey, kids come first, right?!

Another thing that has taken much of my time is I’m now serving on the PTA board at our school. I thought the opportunity was a good one since both kids are now in school, it would be a good fit for me. Well, I must say that I was starting to think that when people tell me, “You can do this job, it’s easy”, I should run the other way as fast as I can…sprinting is more like it. When I took over the position of VP of Members and Volunteers I failed to take in the consideration that not only was I learning a new position and Excel and the craziness of the beginning of the year and membership drive, but oh yeah, my kids are tracking OUT!

I was a bit overwhelmed by it all but with a lot of help from some great new friends and fellow board members, I’m finally feeling at ease with this new position and I’m starting to feel like I know what I’m doing. Or at least I’m faking my way through all of it. Ha!

Ok, so back to the matter at hand. I just wanted to give you a little background as to where I’ve been the last month. Just in case you missed me {Maybe a smidgen?}

Any-way, when I last wrote I think I left on kind of a downer. With my Back Where I Came From post I wrote about how I had heard my hometown…the town I love…was “dying”. And how could people let a great little town with so much potential just die and not let it prosper.

It’s hard. When you move away from your hometown, things change. I remember my childhood and what a fabulous one I had in this great little town and in some crazy way I think it will always be that way. The buildings will always stand, the roads will always curve, and the spirit will always live. All these are true, in a sense. Buildings as we know do crumble and fall, but roads will always curve; maybe not in the direction we want them to, but they curve for the good. And the spirit. We can’t forget the spirit. As I rolled into town a few weeks ago, I have to admit I was nervous. I didn’t know what to expect. Had my hometown become this dark and dreary place where no shop would be open or stop light would work? Or had it become more like a ghost town you see in the old Wild West movies with dust flying everywhere and buildings falling down.

Ok, so maybe I’m exaggerating a tad. I mean it’s not like I’ve not gone back in years…only since December. But to be honest, when I read things on social media about my hometown not offering incentives for businesses to come in and grow and how some might feel the leaders don’t want change. It kind of paints a bad picture in this girl’s head who moved away. I know that was not the intention and people are genuinely concerned for the town, but I have to say I was very pleasantly surprised to see just how well the town was doing as I rolled down Highway 19.

The highway had been expanded. There seemed to be life out there, and I believe I even saw a smile from the heavens as I passed those golden arches into town. I was back. I was home, and it wasn’t dead…and as my daddy put it, “they’re not even sick.”

You know how when you have kids and you see them everyday, you don’t notice how much they grow. But, you go away for even a couple of days to return to these beings that have grown 5 feet {ok, again, a tad exaggeration…but you know what I mean}. I feel it’s kind of like that for me. No I don’t see the day to day life in Thomaston, but when I come home I feel it’s grown. No, the textile mills aren’t there anymore, but there’s still great shops that I wish we had here in Raleigh. Friendly, neighborhood shops where everyone knows everyone and are genuinely happy to see you. And no, I don’t see the ins and outs of starting businesses in a small town {any town for that matter} so I don’t know how all that works, but I do know I saw stores being opened and buildings that have been empty for years being used once again. I know for a fact that you can take your embroidery work to the local shop and she’ll have it done that day. Doesn’t happen here.

Yes, we may have more “things to do”. Other towns may have a Target, Starbucks {which I always crave while I’m home}, and a Publix. But we don’t have the mom and pop shops that have been around for years, where you can go in and just put your purchase on your “tab” and leave. I didn’t even think that existed anymore! Having moved away I will say there is something to be said for a small town. Yes it does has it’s downfalls, but doesn’t every city. Name me one other place where you can have your hairstylist come to your house and do yours’, your children’s, and your husband’s hair all at the same time. Would never happen here, and I’m good friends with my hairstylist {Love ya, Kat!}

I think just like with everything, the grass is always greener on the other side. For Thomaston that might be a short drive to Griffin to shop at your favorite grocery store, or hit the road for an hour to visit the closest mall. A big{ger} town has it’s downfalls too. You miss the hometown feel that a small town can bring, even if that means everybody knowing your business.

All-in-all, I’ll finish my tangent to say this…Thomaston was, still is, and will always be my hometown. As Kenny Chesney said that’s, “Back where I come from”. I love driving into town and seeing the changes. I love bringing my kids to a town that I call home. So yes, the buildings still stand, the roads still curve, and the spirit lives on. Don’t get discouraged my Thomaston friends. Fight! Fight like crazy to keep that town we love special to all of us near and far. Don’t give up! There will always be mountains to climb, but climb them and press on. From this girl who moved away in my eyes, Thomaston is not dying. You’re looking good!

Ok, now for some pictures! Like I said we did have a great time visiting my parents. We got to catch up with old friends {which I absolutely loved}, we went to the river to skip rocks, swam in a family friend’s pool, went and got some GA peaches, and even had a history lesson {we visited the old covered bridge}. What a great week we had. Here’s a few pictures from our trip.

Thanks for stopping by! I hope you stuck with me through my little tangent there. I truly love my hometown!

Until next time!

S~

Back Where I come From

To hear that my small hometown is “dying” is heartbreaking.

You see, I come from a small industrial town in middle Georgia. It’s one of those towns where when I grew up everyone knew everyone {and everyone’s business}. There were cotton mills throughout the town and if you were quiet and still you could hear the hum of the machines day in and day out. It’s a town where dogwoods bloomed in the spring and skeeters {that’s mosquitos for all you city-folk} would eat you alive in the summer. The fall was full of high school football, and if we were lucky enough we’d get a dusting of snow {but mostly ice} in the winter.

There was no hustle and bustle of the big city, but there were mom and pop shops, diners, and churches on just about every street corner. And then there was the Silvertown Ball Park, where I spent most of my younger days eating snow cones and watching my brother play baseball.

It was a town with ice cream socials at church on Sunday afternoons, and parades through the town square for just about any occasion.

There was floating the Flint River with all your friends, dinners at the local Piggy Park, first dates to the Ritz Theater, and Friday after school gatherings at Big Chic.

People came together, and laughed, and gathered, and was one big happy family.

Picture it:

1981 – A little red-headed girl sitting at a base ball park watching baseball with red snow cone dripping down her chin.

1988 – A stadium filled with fans throughout the town dressed in black and gold cheering for the R.E. Lee Rebels who just won the high school state championship.

1991 – This same red-headed girl {with maybe a little more brown now} who had the perfect 90’s bangs getting ready with her friends to go hang out at the local “teen club” The Hanger.

1995 – K-mart parking lot…the local hang-out for kids

That little girl is all grown up and gone now.

After leaving I always loved {and still do} coming “home”. Coming up Highway 19 and turning onto R street {yes, that’s the name of the street on which I grew up} feels so good. My heart is happy and skips a beat when I come into town.

When I became a mama I dreamed of the day I could bring my kids to come and visit this great town in which I grew up. I looked forward to showing them what small town living is all about…the goodness, the pureness, the love.

I’ve been gone for over 10 years now and it saddens me to my core as to how much this town has changed. The humming of the cotton mill machines have long since stopped. In fact what’s left of any of the mills are just sad, dilapidated buildings. The mom and pop shops have mostly closed, and the town is hanging on by strings.

And then to hear that some people within the town don’t want to change it, don’t want to make it better, just breaks my heart. I know people don’t like change, but people change is good. I’m not saying the town has to become a Peachtree City or the next Atlanta, but what’s wrong with bringing back it’s greatness. Who says there can’t be a Mayberry of 2013. Personally I think that would be pretty cool.

Let’s get our faces out from behind our iPhones, get out on the streets and have a big old parade just because it’s summer, and come fall show up at Matthew’s Field on Friday nights to support those high school boys. Why should we, you ask? Because it’s who “we” are; because it’s Thomaston and that’s what we do!

Yes, the dogwoods will bloom in the spring, the skeeters with eat the stuffin’ out of you in the summer, and I would love nothing more but to bring my children back to my hometown to experience “being southern” at it’s finest.

 

With all my love to my great hometown!

S~

 

Happy Weekend

Hey friends! Hope y’all are having a great weekend.

We got to enjoy 6 glorious hours on the boat yesterday, just the 4 of us! It was so much fun.

I have to say, the boat is my “happy place”. I don’t worry about laundry, or dishes, or dirty floors or bathrooms. I just chill with my favorite people and laugh – a lot.

Here are my two cuties. Love them so much!!!

What are your favorite things to do with your family on the weekends???

Kindergarten {Say what?!}

Dear Hunter,

Well, the day has come and you are off to Kindergarten. It feels like just yesterday I was holding you in my arms as an infant. You have grown so much in the last 5 years, but I tell you, you are ready for this next season of your life.

Today walking into school for your staggered entry day, you were all smiles and seemed to not be nervous in the least.

You are such a joy to be around {when you’re happy}. When you’re not happy, you definitely let everyone know. We’re hoping that settles out soon. Overall, you are a fun-loving, silly, and very athletic little boy. You love anything sport related and seem to always have some kind a ball in your hand. Your favorite sport is baseball. You are really good and hitting, and we’re working on your catching.

You love the boat and swimming. You are really good at knee-boarding and you’re working your way up to stand.

You are definitely a daddy’s boy! When your daddy walks in the house the world stops. On the weekends it’s you and daddy all.the.time. Good luck to Dallas and me to try to get any time with daddy. It just doesn’t happen. It’s a good thing though, because I have a feeling you and your daddy are going to be pretty tight when you grow up. Daddy loves that idea.

You are sweet and kind little boy with just the right amount of true boy in you. You love all things super-heroes and you love your “guys”. You have so many figurines that you play with, but your favorites right now are Mike the Knight, Superman, Spiderman, and Captain Jack Sparrow.

You love to dress up in costumes, but you’re starting to get out of that…makes me sad.

I mentioned you are a sweet and kind boy. You are. You are quick to give hugs and when you’re very compassionate about others. You care about other’s feelings and want to make people happy.

Your favorite snack is pretzels with “chocolate stuff” {Nutella}. You love all fruit, milk, and apple juice. Your favorite place to eat out is Chick-fil-a, but you also love Mexican.

As you start your kindergarten year, I want you to know how much daddy and I love you. We are so proud of you and always will be. You make us so happy and you “fill our bucket” with joy and laughter everyday.

Good luck my sweet boy. You will do great!

PS: After picking you up from school today I asked if you had fun. You beamed with delight and was so excited to tell me about your day. I then asked if you missed me and you said: “No.” I said, “You didn’t? Well, I missed you.” You then replied… “You’ll get used to it.”

I couldn’t help but laugh. I guess I will have to get used to it. I’m so excited for you and your new season. You will do great!

Always know that mommy loves you to the moon and back.

Yummy Chicken

Hey y’all! I cannot believe it’s already Wednesday. This week is flying by.

I wanted to share a yummy dinner with you today.

Now, I have to preface this recipe by saying that originally it’s not a crock pot meal. It’s actually supposed to be baked in the oven. But, it works both ways, so I’ll share both ways with you.

I’ll also tell you that this is an old Weight Watchers meal my mama used to make when my brother and I were kids and she was teaching WW. It was one of our favorites!

Ingredients:

4- boneless, chicken breasts or thighs

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

salt/pepper

1/2 tsp. dried thyme

1 Tbsp. olive oil

1/4 cup lemon juice

1 cup orange juice {you can use apple if you don’t have orange on hand}

2 tsp. sugar

1/2 tsp. salt

mushrooms chopped – quantity depends on how many you prefer

1 onion, chopped

In a gallon Ziploc bag put in the flour, salt/pepper, and thyme. Place chicken in bag and gently shake to coat with flour.

Heat oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Place chicken in skillet and brown on both sides – about 3 minutes on each side.

While chicken is browning, chop up your vegetables. Mix the lemon and orange juices, sugar, and salt together and set aside.

Remove chicken and place in crock pot. Put vegetables on top of chicken, and pour liquid in.

Cook on low 6-8 hours or about 4 hours on high.

This is the “fix-it and forget-it” way of making this meal. And it’s good this way. This is however, not the original way to make it. If you have the time to bake it, bake it, but it’s really good either way.

If you do bake it, fix it all the same except for these couple of changes:

1-After you brown your chicken, place it in a greased casserole dish.

2-Place vegetables on top of chicken, and pour juices on top. Cover with aluminum foil.

3-Place in a preheated oven to 325 degrees for an hour until juices run clear.

Thanks for stopping by. I hope your family enjoys this meal as much as mine does.

Y’all come back now!

S~

Second Grade…

Dear Sweet Dallas,

Today you started second grade. It’s so crazy for us to think about. It seems like you were just getting out of first. Oh wait, you were. You are on year round school here so your last day of first grade was June 28. You had one week before you started second grade today.

You were so excited that you woke up at 4:45 this morning!!! Aahh!!

You got a new backpack and lunchbox and you’ve been looking forward to taking it to school this year.

You grew so much in first grade. Mommy and daddy are super proud of you. You worked really hard in reading and you are becoming quite the reader. And you love math….you must get that from your daddy.

You have lots of friends. You are a sweet girl who loves to be around your girlfriends. This doesn’t go without some “girl drama”, but you’re learning your way through that, and becoming a much stronger and more confident person.

You love dance, and this year you want to play tennis and softball. We’ll see how that goes.

You also are becoming quite the little water skier. We got a boat this year. At first you were pretty nervous out there, but over the last few weeks you have gained so much confidence to where you can actually stand on the board behind the boat!!! What an accomplishment.

Always remember that we love you so very much. You {along with Hunter} are our pride and joy. You are our heart and you make us smile every day. We couldn’t be more prouder!!

Enjoy second grade, darling, and always know that we love you!

In God’s love,

Mommy {& Daddy}

Summer Book GIVEAWAY!!! - ENDED

We have a WINNER!
Congratulations to Heather Sebastian. You are our lucky winner of "Ladies' Night"!
Thank you so much to all of you who entered.
If you've not checked out Mary Kay Andrews, I recommend that you do. She is a true Southern Belle who writes great stories about the South. She is a gem.

Hey y’all!

It’s about that time again for another giveaway. It’s been a while, but now it’s here. I am so excited!!!

A couple of weeks ago I had the pleasure of attending a lunch/meet and greet session with my favorite author, Mary Kay Andrews {aka: Kathy Hogan Trocheck}.
 

I fell in love with MKA’s books a few years ago when I stumbled across them in the library one day.

I was looking for what my friend likes to call “a pink book”. You know, one that looks pretty. I have to admit, I’m a sucker for a good, easy, sweet book. One that will keep my interest and have a love story to boot. I like books that would translate into a chick flick. MKA’s books do just that.

Her stories are fun, light, always with a little mystery, but as she said, “has a happy ending”. But, the thing I love the most about her books is they all take place in the South.

As a Georgia native, most of her stories take place in Georgia in and around where my roots were planted.

A couple of her stories take place here in North Carolina; and the latest is in Florida, a hop, skip, and jump from where we lived for four years. Needless to say, I can relate to the areas in which her stories take place.

I have to say I love all of her books, and I am SO excited for this new giveaway!!!

Her newest book, Ladies Night, released on June 4.

I recently read it on a trip Eric and I took down to Florida for a little get-a-way. Mrs. MKA, does not disappoint. The story of Grace Stanton is so cute even through her trials and tribulations.

Grace is a lifestyle blogger who loves to post house projects, DIY projects, and recipes. But things go awry when she finds her husband in his $175,000 car with her 26 year old assistant…naked.{gasp} 

That’s all I’m going to tell you. You have to enter the giveaway to win the book and find out what happens with Grace and the “friends” she meets along the way.

I am so excited for this opportunity for you. You not only get a great summer read, but the book is a signed copy just for a fan.

When I met Mrs. Mary Kay Andrews, she was the kindest lady I’ve met. I told her about this giveaway and she really loved the idea. She was so lovely and is the epitome of a southern lady. I loved meeting her and look forward to her next book.

So, how can you win this lovely new book? All you have to do is follow the Rafflecopter below. We will begin the giveaway today, July 3 and will end it on Wednesday, July 17 at 12:00am.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Please remember you must be a US citizen and 18 years or older to win.

Here’s a complete list of Mrs. Mary Kay Andrews books:

Savannah Blues

Savannah Breeze

Blue Christmas

Little Bitty Lies

Hissy Fit

Deep Dish

The Fixer Upper

Summer Rental

Spring Fever

Ladies Night

You can find the list of books she mostly wrote under her given name, Kathy Hogan Trocheck, {HERE}.

Thanks so much for stopping by! I hope you not only enter the giveaway for this great book, but find a new gem in an author as well.

S~

End of Year Teacher Gift{card}

Hey there! Hope y’all had a great weekend. I for one cannot believe it is already July 1!!! How in the world did that happen?

Dallas finished up first grade last week. Here in Raleigh, we have year round school. I may have mentioned that a time or two. Anyway, tracks 2,3, and 4 finished up the school year this past Friday. The crazy part of the whole thing, is that tracks 2 and 3 only have one week between grade levels. Crazy huh? Yup, so Dallas has this week off school and next Monday she will return entering 2nd grade.

It’s kind of hard to digest, especially if you’re not on the year-round system, but if you’re in it, it makes total sense and we love it.

But, I’m not here today to explain the year round system…ha! I wanted to share the end of year gifts I gave to the specials teachers and her aid this year. I will say buying end of year teacher gifts and back to school stuff is kind of a crazy novelty…but we do it.

This year I got the teachers gift cards to Target. I mean, who doesn’t like gift cards…especially to Target?!

I didn’t just want to hand them a gift card envelope so I made it a little prettier.

This only took a few minutes to do.

I made a little sign on my Silhouette SD that said:

Thanks for helping me hit my TARGET this year!

After printing and cutting out the tags I then picked out some coordinating scrapbook paper.

I cut a strip that was 2 1/2 inches wide.

I wrapped the paper around the front of the gift card enveloped and taped it to the back side.

On the front I attached the sign with a 3D adhesive square.

It was so simple and super cute!

I know for most everyone school is already out for summer…but maybe you got an idea for next year.

Thanks so much for stopping by! Hope y’all have a great week.

S~

Faux Chalkboard Menu

Hey there, y’all! Hope you’re having a great week.

As usual, I’ve been a busy little bee, but that’s nothing new. Today I wanted to share a little project I did this week.

As you’ve probably seen all over Pinterest these days Chalkboard anything is really “in”. It’s all over wine glasses, cookie sheets, and invitations.

I’ve been working on some details for a very special party happening soon and I wanted to share my “faux” chalkboard menu I made.

It’s really quite simple.

First, I created the menu on my Silhouette SD. This can completely be done in a Word document. I did it in my Silhouette simply because I didn’t want to hand cut out 40 menus.

Next, I took 8 1/2 X 11 black card stock, I cute sheets in half and then cut a little off the top too.

With a piece of chalk, I colored all over the paper and covered it entirely.

Once it was covered, I took a tissue and lightly {very important to do this lightly} wiped the chalk off.

When it’s wiped off, you have something like this:

Last, I took a 3-D Foam adhesive square, like these,

and attached the menu to the faux chalkboard paper.

Wha-la! It was done.

Super easy and very cute. The ideas are endless with this faux chalkboard paper: invitations, menus, picture mattes, and on, and on, and on.

Thanks so much for stopping by! I hope y’all come back.

Banana Pudding: Southern Style

Hey there, friends!

Happy Father’s Day to all you daddies out there. I hope y’all all had a great day and were spoiled rotten. You deserve it!

Well, I haven’t posted a recipe in a while, so tonight I wanted to share one of my childhood favorite desserts. Not to mention my husband’s. He’s not a dessert guy to say the least, but the first time I made banana pudding for him, I think I won him over hook line and sinker.

There are many shapes and forms in which one can find banana pudding, but as quoted in My Cousin Vinny, “No self respectin’ southerner eats instant grits…” The same rule applies to banana pudding. I will say it here and take head my friends, No self respectin’ southerner eats banana pudding with instant pudding.

No sir. In order to have a true banana pudding, one must make the pudding from scratch. It’s not hard, I promise! And I’m going to show you how.

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/3 cup all purpose flour
• 3 cups cold milk
• 3 large eggs
• 3 Tablespoons butter, room temperature
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 3-4 bananas, ripe but firm
• merengue – we’ll get to that later

First, you want to preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

In order to make the best pudding you’re going to need a double boiler.

Using a double boiler is quite simple. Fill the bottom pot about half way full of water. Place the smaller pot in the holder that sits on top of the larger pot. Keep the water in the bottom post at a simmer to help heat and cook what is in the top pot.

See…simple.

There you have it…see not so hard!

I hope you try it sometime and enjoy it as much as my family does.

Thanks for stopping by. Hope you have a great week!

S~