The three of my favorite “Fs.” Food, family and friends.

See, food brings all three of these together. I love hosting. Making food for the ones I love, or eating with the ones I love, is my most favorite thing ever. Don’t judge — I am a foodie!

I love a good meal, and the company of my loved ones. Going to my momma and stepdad’s over at the farm every Thursday evening for dinner is one of my favorite nights. Last night we just had a Thanksgiving dinner. Yup, the turkey and all the trimmings! My sister in law, Loren Perry, made the veggies and Jello, and I made a festive autumn cake. Momma took care of the turkey, filling, and her famous mashed taters with gravy. We kinda tagged teamed it this week — all pitching in making it easier on Momma. It was an awesome night. I had to say, “Happy Thanksgiving!” when everyone came. Even though it wasn’t technically Thanksgiving, the smell of the turkey and filling, and being thankful just being together made it feel like Thanksgiving. I even put a candle in the middle of the farmhouse table. It doesn’t have to be Thanksgiving to be thankful for the ones you love.

Now, when I say friends, I don’t mean just friends. The ones you see every now and then, or pass in the store and say, “Hey, it’s been awhile! How are ya?” I am talking about the friends who ARE family. Let me tell you about my other favorite people to eat with. Our crew. The crew who we are with every single weekend. The famous text in the middle of week, “OK guys, where are we going Friday or Saturday night for dinner?” The ones where we leave a restaurant and end up talking another 30 minutes in the parking lot. The ones who we always hug each other goodbye, and say I love you! When we are all out on the motorcycles and end up text each other making sure everyone made it home ok. This is my other family. The ones who are always there, no matter what. The ones my kids call aunt and uncle. From nights cooking steaks over a fire, game nights, or motorcycle rides, we are happy just being together. We all call each other family. Even calling my mom and dad, Mom and Dad. I don’t know what I would do without these special people in my life and know what we all have is pretty darn special. We are crazy together, and believe me, there is never a dull moment!

To have a group of friends you can always count on and look forward to each and every weekend with them is the best thing ever.

Food, family and friends. Thankfulness for them every day, not just in November. Treasure your family! They are the one thing we can count on in this crazy world, and God’s love. Be thankful, always.

Fluffy Autumn Cake

Bake an Angel Food Cake. Make from scratch or follow directions on a box. Mine was a Betty Crocker Angel Food Cake mix. Then make an amazing fluffy icing to top it off.
• 4 egg whites
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 2 tablespoon light corn syrup
• 2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Bring a shallow pot of water to a boil. Place all the ingredients for the filling in a bowl that can rest in the boiling pot without its bottom touching the boiling water. Beat the ingredients until the bottom of the bowl is too hot to touch. About 2 to 3 minutes.

Remove the bowl and beat with the whisk attachment on your stand mixer for about 10 minutes or until fluffy and pretty stiff. You can also use a handheld mixer, but it will take longer. Add red and yellow food coloring to make a pretty fall orange color if you don’t have the color orange. Top on cooled cake and sprinkle pretty autumn sprinkles.