Caprese Skewers

This recipe is one of the easiest appetizers you'll ever make, and if you have an abundance of cherry tomatoes and basil still overflowing in your garden, then it's perfect to make right now! With just three ingredients, you'll be able to put these together in no time!

Caprese Skewers

24 grape or cherry tomatoes

12 marinated mini mozzarella balls

12 large basil leaves

12 mini skewers

Olive oil (optional)

Balsamic vinegar reduction* (optional, recipe follows)

Salt & pepper (optional)

1. Thread two tomatoes, one mozzarella ball, and one basil leaf onto each mini skewer, alternating ingredients.
2. If using unmarinated mozzarella balls, consider drizzling with olive oil and balsamic vinegar reduction and sprinkling with salt and pepper.
3. For best results, assemble up to 4 hours prior to serving. Store in the refrigerator.

Notes:

• We used marinated mozzarella balls so that we could skip the additional step of drizzling with olive oil and balsamic reduction and sprinkling with salt and pepper.
• We used large basil leaves, so only used one per skewer. If you are using small basil leaves, you may want to use two per skewer.
• One recipe yields 12 appetizer skewers. Double the recipe for a larger crowd.
• Because of their beautiful red, white, and green color, these also make a great (and quick!) appetizer to bring to Christmas parties. If you're wondering where you can find fresh basil in December, most grocery stores carry fresh herbs in produce section.

How to Reduce Balsamic Vinegar

If you want to use Balsamic Vinegar Reduction for your recipe, complete this step first and allow to cool while you assemble your Caprese Skewers. Here's how to reduce Balsamic Vinegar if you are using unmarinated mozzarella balls. 

1. Pour 1 cup of balsamic vinegar into a small saucepan over medium-low heat.
2. Cook, stirring occasionally, until vinegar has reduced to about half a cup (this will take about 15 minutes or so). Vinegar will be the consistency of a thin maple syrup.
3. Allow balsamic reduction to cool before drizzling over your Caprese Skewers (it will thicken as it cools).

Pig Pickin' (Mandarin Orange) Cake

You might have seen this Pig Pickin' Cake called everything from Mandarin Orange Cake to Pineapple Mandarin Sunshine Cake to Pineapple Sunset Cake. This light and fluffy cake is easier than ever to make because it starts with a box cake mix. It has mandarin oranges beaten into the batter and pineapple is mixed into in the Cool Whip frosting.

Perfect for picnics, summertime potlucks, and BBQs, this old-fashioned cake originally got one its name from how popular it was to bring it along to Southern pig pickins. And, of course, North Carolina (the Harris Sisters' home state) is where this cake seems to have originated.

Pig Pickin (Mandarin Orange) Cake

Cake

1 box of yellow cake mix (plus ingredients the box mix calls for)

11 oz can mandarin oranges (drained)

Frosting

20 oz can crushed pineapple (drained)

3.4 oz box of instant vanilla pudding

12 oz Cool Whip

Garnish

marischino cherries (optional)

Mandarin oranges (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9 x 13 baking dish with cooking spray. Set aside.
2. Prepare cake mix according to package directions.
3. Beat in the drained oranges until blended.
4. Pour into greased 9 x 13 baking dish.
5. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Remove dish from the oven and place on a wire rack to cool. Allow to cool completely.
6. Once cake has cooled, prepare the frosting. In a bowl, combine the drained pineapple and dry vanilla pudding mix.
7. Fold Cool Whip into the pineapple-pudding mixture.
8. Spread the frosting over the top of the cake.
9. If desired, garnish with additional Mandarin oranges and maraschino cherries just prior to serving.
10. Store this cake in the refrigerator.

Notes

If you want larger pieces of oranges in the cake, gently mix or fold them into the batter in step 3.

You can also make this recipe as a layer cake in two 8 inch cake pans, baking for 23-27 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Keep the cake refrigerated until ready to serve. The cake can be out for about an hour, without direct heat. Refrigerate any leftovers. Cake is best 3-4 days after baking.

Tracking Your Family's Travels - Part 2

At the beginning of each new year, we always look forward to planning this year's family vaction. And it's always fun to look back on some of the trips you've taken before. Spending time with family is one of the things I'm most grateful for, and I'm hopeful that tracking our travels has become a tradition that my children will cherish for years to come.

We track our family's travels on a map, and I wanted to check in with you guys again to provide an update to this original post from 2014 (when our family had visited 8 states in 8 years). Where's our family on our journey now, and how many states have we visited so far? Let's have a looksee!

18 States in 17 Years

Aidyn (our oldest son) is the real history lover in our family. Because he loves history and geography so much, we continue to visit different states and explore the historical sites they offer. As a reminder, when we started tracking our family's travels, we decided to only track visits to states since we had the boys. So we have not included on our lists (or on the map) any states Ryan and I have visited without them.

9.  Georgia

We visited Atlanta, Georgia for Spring Break in 2015. While we were there, we saw the World of Coca Cola, the Georgia Aquarium, the Fernbank Museum of Natural History, Legoland, Atlanta Botanical Garden, Centennial Olympic Park, Zoo Atlanta, and did a quick side trip to Stone Mountain Park. At the time, Aidyn had a broken collarbone, but having his arm in a sling didn't really slow him down one bit! Lots of fun things to do with kids in Atlanta, Georgia. You can read about all of the details of the Georgia trip here.

10. Hawaii

We took the boys to Hawaii in 2019 to celebrate our 20th anniversary. (Ryan and I had been before the boys were born, and this was our chance to visit again and show them this beautiful state.) While we were there, we visited Pearl Harbor on Oahu and then spent the rest of the trip on Maui, seeing the sun rise at the top of Haleakela, traveling the Road to Hana, enjoying the beautiful blue water of the Pacific Ocean, attending the Old Lahaina Luau, and visiting the Nakalele Blowhole and Heart Shaped Rock.

11. California

In 2021, once Covid travel restrictions were starting to be lifted, we road tripped through California. We flew into San Francisco and out of San Diego, visiting the Fisherman's Wharf, Golden Gate Bridge, Alcatraz, USS Hornet Museum, the Charles M. Schulz Museum, Yosemite National Park, Sequoia National Park, Disneyland, and San Diego Zoo along the way. You can read about all of the details of the California trip here.

12. Nevada

In 2022, we planned a road trip vacation through several states. You can read the details of our 8-Day Southwest Road Trip here. The vacation started with flying into Las Vegas, Nevada. While we were there, we visited the Neon Museum, attended a Piff the Magic Dragon show, visited many of the hotels on the strip, and ate great food. Once we checked out of our hotel, we drove to the next location . . . 

13. Arizona

On the border of Arizona and Nevada, is the Hoover Dam. When we were done with the tour, we headed to the next location on our multi-state road trip. . . the Grand Canyon. At the Grand Canyon, we rode mules around the North Rim and took in spectacular views.

14. Utah & New Mexico

Our next stop on our 2022 road trip was a "photo stop." We had a specific destination in mind . . . Four Corners Monument. This is the only area in the United States where four states meet in one spot. Those states are Arizona, Utah, New Mexico, and Colorado. We were driving right through this area to get to our next destination, so we decided to stop for a photo op. Even though this wasn't a proper visit for either of these states, this is a fun attraction that we specifically added to our travel itinerary before heading to our next destination.

15. Colorado

Colorado was the final destination on our 2022 trip. And what a way to end our trip! While we were there, we visited many beautiful places, including Mesa Verde, Garden of the Gods, Cave of the Winds, Pike's Peak, Royal Gorge, and Denver. Lots of fun things to do with kids in Colorado!

16. South Dakota

In 2023, we planned a road trip vacation through several states. You can read the details of our 9-Day Western States Road Trip here. The vacation started with flying into Rapid City, South Dakota. While we were there, we visited Mt. Rushmore, Badlands National Park, Wall Drug, Crazy Horse Memorial, the geographic center of the US and lots of fun stops in between!

17. Montana

As we continued our trip, we drove through Montana. Our purpose was to break up a very long drive, and along the way we were able to stop at Little Bighorn National Monument. This is a great activity to stop at while driving between Mt. Rushmore and Yellowstone National Park and routes you through the north entrance of the park at the historic Roosevelt Arch.

18. Wyoming

Wyoming was the final destination of our 2023 trip. While we were there, we visited many beautiful places, including Devils Tower National Monument, Yellowstone National Park, Jackson Hole, and Grand Teton National Park. 

18 States Plus LOTS of Repeat Visits!

Of course, we have our favorite destinations that we visit time and again between visits to new places. Does that slow down our progress of "visiting all the states"? Sure does! Here are the states (and sometimes even the same locations within those states) that we've visited more than once since that first post in 2014 about tracking our family's travels:

• Florida (Disney World, Universal Studios, Amelia Island, Kennedy Space Center)
• Georgia (Atlanta)
• North Carolina (Emerald Isle, West Jefferson, Sunset Beach, Boone, Holden Beach, Oak Island)
• Ohio (Chagrin Falls, Solon, Cleveland)
• South Carolina (Folly Beach, Charleston)
• Virginia (Hot Springs)
• Tennessee (Pigeon Forge, Knoxville, Franklin)
• Washington, DC
  
  

Do We Still Track Our Family Travels on "The Map"?

Absolutely! It's fun to plan out your vacation, search for the places you'll visit on the map, and stick in the pins to keep track of where you've visited. The same map that I originally wrote about hangs in our living room, and we've used up the stash of pins that came with it. You can buy replacement map pins so that you can keep marking your travels. You can find similar maps here. We've got a lot more traveling to do!

Whatever Happened to Your Traveling T-Shirt?

As a follow-up to this post, I thought I'd show you guys that I'm still traveling with Daddy's Marine Corps T-shirt! (Make sure to read the original post to learn about the origins of the shirt and why I started traveling with it.)

Here are a few more photos of me with the shirt. Why do I make sure that Ryan is wearing an Army T-shirt when I'm wearing Daddy's Marine Corps T-shirt? Well, in case anyone says, "thank you for your service," it's so much easier if Ryan is around to field that one since he actually served in the Army and I'm just wearing a shirt.

Pigeon Forge (TN) 2014

Pearl Harbor (HI) 2019

USS Hornet (CA) 2021

Garden of the Gods (CO) 2022

South Dakota Air & Space Museum (SD) 2023

So that's the update! I love documenting our travels on the map. It's actually adds to the fun of traveling and is a great way to see where you've been at a glance. 

We're already planning our trip for this summer - so we'll be adding more pins before you know it! Hope this post has inspired you to start tracking your family's travels too.

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