"I was born in a small town...."

Okay, that's a lie...I was born in a real big town. But Eric was born in a small town! So I'm a country gal by association.

Ah, Labor Day....one of my favorite times of the year. We always take the long weekend and spend it with Eric's family on their farm. There's a street fest, garage sales, lots of friends and lots of food! It's a great time!

I made the Texas Sheet Cake from Cooking Light to take with us and it was a huge hit! I forgot to take a picture before it was gobbled up!

TEXAS SHEET CAKE
(Recipe Source: Cooking Light)

Ingredients:

• Cooking Spray
• 2 tsp. all-purpose flour
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 3/4 cup water
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa, divided
• 1/2 cup low-fat buttermilk (TIP: I hate buying an entire quart of buttermilk when I only need a cup or so....look for buttermilk in pints! They were about 35 cents at the grocery store!)
• 1 tbs. vanilla extract, divided
• 2 large eggs
• 6 tbs. butter
• 1/3 cup fat-free milk
• 3 cups powdered sugar
• 1/4 cup chopped pecans, toasted

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees
• Coat a 13x9 pan with cooking spray, sprinkle with 2 tsps. flour. Set aside.
• Lightly spoon 2 cups of flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine 2 cups of flour and next 4 ingredients (through salt) in a large bowl, stir well with a whisk. Combine 3/4 cup of water, 1/2 cup of butter and 1/4 cup of the cocoa in a small saucepan; bring to a boil, stirring frequently. Add to flour mixture. Beat at medium speed with an electric mixer until well blended. Add buttermilk, 1 tsp. vanilla and eggs; beat well. Pour batter into the prepared pan. Bake at 375 for 22 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted into the center comes out clean. Place on wire rack.
• Combine 6 tbls. butter, fat free milk and the remaining 1/4 cup of cocoa in a saucepan; bring to a boil, stiring constantly. Remove from heat. Gradually stir in powdered sugar and remaing 2 tsps. of vanilla. Spread over hot cake. Sprinkle with pecans. Cool completely on a wire rack.

Every Labor Day weekend on Main Street is a free (but donations welcome!) Chuckwagon Breakfast. It's a tradition...eating greasy sausage standing up. It cannot be missed!





Here I am chowin' down on my pork sausage patty. No knives at the Chuckwagon...forks only!











Mmmmm...Chuckwagon-y Goodness!









Some good friends of ours are getting married in November. This past weekend, the groom's sister hosted a couples shower for them in their parents backyard. What a relaxing way to spend one of the last evenings of the summer! Fried catfish, bbq pulled pork, fresh corn....YUM!

And best of all....THIS CAKE!Eric (the best man) and the groom (the best man in our wedding) work for competing large equipment manufacturing companies. It's a never ending rivarly. These machines are (ahem) the wrong color!! Heeee!!! :)

Well, the weekend went by way to fast and it was back to reality before we knew it. The end of Labor Day weekend always makes me a little sad because it means summer's over. But with fall comes apples...and pumpkins...and chili...and soups...and all sorts of other yummy warm dishes! I'm actually looking forward to it this year!