There are 9 other Laura Nicks in the US!

Thank you Ashley Buske for always forwarding silly emails! However, this one is pretty interesting.

There are 9 other people in the US with my name and even more oddly there are 36 Laura Choates! So once I figured that out I had to look up everyone else:

• Chris Nick: 4
• Caroline Nick: 2!!! And I have one of them!
• Carla Choate: 8
• Guy Choate: 4. We know that there's that one lawyer in Texas that handled the cult compound kids. That's half the puzzle so now we just need to search for the other 2.
• Ike Nick: 1 or fewer. I guess the government has one guy named Ike Nick that they don't know if he's alive or not.
  
  
  

HowManyOfMe.com

There are 9 people with my name in the U.S.A. How many have your name?

4 days.

So it's been four days since I realized that I left my phone charger in room #1002 on the Florida coast. That means it's been four days that I've survived without a cell phone. Call me Guy Choate but I sort of like it. I didn't realize until now my cell phone bad habits... texting while driving, yes I am guilty! The worst part is I'd like to call some folks but I have no idea anyone's number. My freedom is over tomorrow though since my new phone is supposed to be hand delivered by the UPS man and then I'll be reconnected with the world. Ah.

By Request: Oatmeal Carmelitas

Back by popular demand from my Grace Group, this recipe was discovered during my maternity leave kitchen days. Luckily I had the wise food critics of my Grace Group and John Morgan to test it on and now it's been requested to be posted so here it is (without pictures but just read on and your mouth will be watering):

Oatmeal Carmelitas

Prep: 25 min., Bake: 30 min. Line the pan with nonstick aluminum foil, if desired. Once baked and cooled, lift the foil and the cookie out of the pan. Place on a cutting board, and carefully peel foil away from sides of cookie. Cut into bars.

Ingredients:
2 cups all-purpose flour (I have used half wheat flour and half all-purpose before)
2 cups uncooked quick-cooking oats
1 1/2 cups firmly packed light brown sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt 1 cup butter, melted
1 (12-oz.) package semisweet chocolate morsels
1/2 cup chopped pecans or walnuts, toasted (optional)
1 (14-oz.) package caramels
1/3 cup half-and-half

Preparation:
1. Stir together first 5 ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Add butter, stirring until mixture is crumbly. Reserve half of mixture (about 2 3/4 cups). Press remaining half of mixture into bottom of a lightly greased 13- x 9-inch pan. Sprinkle evenly with chocolate morsels, and, if desired, pecans.

2. Microwave caramels and half-and-half in a microwave-safe bowl at MEDIUM (50% power) 3 minutes. Stir and microwave at MEDIUM 1 to 3 more minutes or until mixture is smooth. Let stand 1 minute. Pour evenly over chocolate morsels. Sprinkle evenly with reserved crumb mixture.

3. Bake at 350° for 30 minutes or until light golden brown. (I usually cook a little longer.) Cool in pan on a wire rack. Cut into bars.

Yield:
Makes 24 to 30 bars

Our Waterbaby

As you all know Caroline's school is on the corporate campus of Schering-Plough; Plough makes a lot of health products including Coppertone sunscreens. Long story short, the name of Caroline's class is the "Waterbabies" named for a sunscreen line which could not be more appropriate for our little frog! She loves the water and loved being in the pool during our vacation!

We had an awesome time joining the Henry family on vacation! They are very serious vacationers -- we had an official vehicle convoy complete with walkie-talkies and a set eating schedule. They also don't just go lay on the beach -- they set up an entire camp on the beach which took a day just to get it all up! It was great and we were so lucky to get to go!

The Nicks are...

Beach Bound!!!

Creative and edible

Yes, I know this blog is supposed to be all about Caroline but lately I've been inspired by my ultra creative pals to post other things and show more goings on of the Nick house. So I thought I would share my latest attempt in the kitchen. I am always game for trying new recipes... Just ask Cherie and John who became my dessert taste testers while I was bored on maternity leave. One of my favorite places to find new recipes is from this fun little quarterly magazine from Kraft Foods. (It's free so sign up at Kraftfoods.com.)

But even better than a new Kraft recipe is a tried and true recipe from my Nana. She calls this "Better Biscotti"; I call it Nana's Addictive Biscotti. So tonight was my second try because I was amazed at how easy it was the first time and I could do it all while Caroline was napping.

1 ½ cup All purpose flour
1 ½ cup whole-wheat flour
1 T. baking powder
½ t salt
1 stick butter, softened
1 ¼ granulated sugar
3 large eggs
1 t. almond extract
1 t. vanilla extract
1 cup chopped almonds or walnuts, toasted

Heat oven to 375 degrees. Grease cookie sheet or coat it with nonstick cooking spray.

In a large bowl, thoroughly mix together both flours, baking powder, & salt. Set aside.

In a large bowl with electric mixer, beat on medium-high speed the butter, sugar, eggs, and almond and vanilla extracts until light and fluffy. Gradually add flour mixture into egg mixture and beat on medium speed until well blended and smooth. Stir in chopped almonds and mix well. With floured hands, shape dough in 2 (11 by 1 ½ inch) logs. The dough will be a little sticky so you’ll need to use a generous amount of flour. Place logs as far from each other as possible on prepared baking sheet; press to flatten slightly and make edges straight. Bake for 25 minutes.

Please note, the Master Chef uses a little chopper to chop the almonds. I have been taking the easy way out and buying them sliced which seems to work too.


Slightly uneven, but you get the idea.

Remove sheet from oven and place on rack. When cool enough to handle, carefully transfer logs to a cutting board and cut crosswise on a slight diagonal into ¾ inch slices. Place slices flat on cookie sheet, return to oven and bake 10 minutes more. Turn slices over and bake until lightly browned, 5 to 10 minutes more. Transfer to racks to cool. EAT!

Let the games begin!

It's been quite a week for us but we ended things on a high note, err HOT note! I drug Brittany out for a 5k so she could face the elements... and the elements were hot! But we both finished strong. Here is us pre-race, partly because our fan club took pictures of someone else finishing the race that 'looked like' me!

So from here our sights are set on the St. Jude Half Marathon in December. Luckily it should be cooler by then but you never know in Memphis. A big thanks goes out to our fan club....


It's been a whirlwind of a week for us-- Chris was in Jacksonville, Florida, I was in Nashville and little miss Caroline lived it up with all her relatives in White County. Separation anxiety for mom and dad but Caroline was just fine.

Caroline also had her 6 month check up on Friday. She's weighing in at 14.9 lbs and 27 inches.