Peter’s Uncle hosted Thanksgiving at his new farm house in the country. We enjoyed pumpkin pie made with pumpkins from their garden and a roasted hog from one of their pigs. So we said Oink! Oink! instead of Gobble! Gobble!

I was glad that I was still in maternity pants so I could treat myself to all the yummy treats. The kids played in the hay loft collecting guinea hen eggs. Peter swung from a huge rope swing proving he still has cool moves!

Hope everyone enjoys their leftovers!

Love,

Jess

P.S. I just had to include Pete’s hay bail jump. Crazy guy, I love him.

Our group is loosely based on the concepts from Cooking Among Friends. At each meeting we discuss and vote on the next months menu.

Each person is assigned a category to cook within each month. We then go home and whip up the approved recipe for as many families as were in attendance at the meeting. Which means usually 10 during the winter and 5 during the summer.

We all have the same amount of money to spend on the ingredients to try and make it fair for all.

Thanks to my good friend Ness who started this group in her home I have come to know and cook for many new friends. Ness is a major recipe contributor to a website for freezer cooking.

It has been a huge blessing to always have meals on hand that are fully shopped for, cut up, prepped, seasoned, marinated, mixed and cooked. The best for me is having a smaller grocery list. Oh and not having to think quite so hard at 5 with the age old question, “What’s for dinner?”

Here are my recipes for my July exchange.

• Tex Mex Shrimp
• Strawberry Daiquiri Pie

• 8 oz. Cool Whip
• 14 oz. Sweetened Condensed Milk
• 6 oz. Strawberry Daiquiri Frozen concentrate (found by frozen juices)
• 10 inch Graham Cracker Pie Crust

Directions:

1. Blend sweetened condensed milk with the strawberry daiquiri mix
2. Fold in cool whip
3. Pour mix into piecrust shell
4. Freeze over night
5. Serve cold