Cream Cheese Catalyst

The 3rd Saturday in October is a sacred time in college football. It's the meeting of a 2 SEC rivals, Alabama vs Tennessee. In my family that means a weekend with our favorite Bama fans, where the winner buys dinner and loser buys cigars a la Bear Bryant. When it's our turn to visit Tuscaloosa, there is usually a stop by The Cypress Inn for a post game dinner of the champions. Once you've ordered your Jack and Coke, they'll bring out these delicious mini muffins that you can't stop popping. So of course, I had to try my hand at them.



As you'll see, the recipe is quite large. Since 5 cups of flour sounded like more than my mixer wanted to handle today, I halved the recipe and seriously what was I going to do with that many muffins! Also, I substituted apple sauce for the veggie oil and added in 1/4 c craisins because who doesn't love 'em! I also opted to make these as regular muffins instead of minis. Well 12 muffins later and still a lot of batter to go, these guys are a great way to start your morning...even better when you add some cream cheese. As I've mentioned before, cream cheese truly makes everything better! If you go with the regular size, just remember to cook them about 5 minutes longer than the recipe suggest.

Cat Door No More!

After a near run in with the big mean black vacuum, Manning quickly figured out how to jump through our preexisting cat door, which provided hours worth of laughter for Mr. Diva and myself. Since this dog is clearly going to be bigger than a small cat, we decided to go ahead and purchase a doggie door. I've long wanted to get rid of the cat accessory, so this project was big on my to do list.



Mr. Diva went right to work with the drill and hacksaw.



After about an hour of elbow grease, Manning was ready for his new door....
Next up: Tiling the sunroom. Who puts cream carpet near an animal door? Seriously, I could write a book of don'ts for the previous owners of our house.

Can you dig it?

Puppy Diva, aka Manning, has been taking to Chez Walker very nicely...a little too nicely. He has been hard at work attacking my garden, specifically my little hostas...poor guys. Thankfully, they'll come back next year. I just wish Manning would learn to pull weeds and then we have a match made in green thumb heaven.

We are Nashville!

Its been a crazy week in Music City. The flooding and devastation has been overwhelming, but the outreach for help has been amazing. Casa Diva survived with only some minor basement flooding. We were definitely luckier than a lot of people. With over $1.5 billion in damages, it's going to take lots of love, support and money to get Nashvegas back to normal, but that hasn't stopped this city from finding reasons to smile. There are lots of ways to help our community rebuild. You can volunteer at your church or local shelter, donate thru the Red Cross or buy a cool shirt to help support the efforts.

Mrs. Diva Greenthumb

So before Manning took over my attention, I was fast at work in my garden. I have become a woman obsessed! I even joined a local gardening society. I've seriously dorked out on all things gardening. It's so rewarding to see everything come to life this time of year. Hostas...iris...ferns! I love it. I just hope the little pup stays clear from all my hard work.









A few weeks ago, Mr. Diva and I decided to clear out some overgrown shrubs and replace with grass. Here's what we started with:
After clearing out all the ivy & weeds, we tackled the shrubs. I took the 5 large laurels and transplanted them throughout the yard. I hate for a perfectly good plant to go to waste. Then, we tilled up the dirt, planted some grass seed and viola! It's nearly complete...just another round of grass seed and I think we've got it. Plus it's really opens the backyard up for Manning and potential football throwing!

Diva goes to the dogs!

After months of pleading, I finally gave in to Mr. Diva's plead for a puppy. It's been a crazy weekend adjusting to a new puppy amidst one of the worst storms Nashville has seen in 100 years. Yuck!


Manning is slowly adjusting to life at Casa Diva, where he loves to eat, play and nap...


lots of napping. If only I was so lucky, blasted flooding basement!