Donuts and Pepsi - Sound like Nita's in a good place!

 We knew it wouldn't be too long before Nita crept out of hiding and gave us a hint as to where she might be.  And bright and early this morning (though she must have tracked through the three inches of snow we got overnight to get here...) the kiddos noticed the flag was up.  And there wasn't just one message - but two!

The first, told them to check their email...

We received the following message:

 Dear Gatchel Detectives,

I stopped at one of my favorite donut places today ,which just happens to be headquartered in nearby Winston-Salem, when I noticed a shady looking character reading a local map (she was paying particular attention to Mount Mitchell) while she feasted on her glazed donut fresh off the line.  It seemed really strange to me and I’ve heard rumors that Nita Direction may be in the area.  MOMG asked me to contact you and pass along the information as soon as possible.  I’ve attached the photo I was able to snap of her.  Hope it helps!

A Concerned Citizen

They were able to spot Nita - can you?

(Mike does it again!)  Noah was quick to point out Nita AND that she was at a Krispy Kreme....

The other clue was addressed specifically to the Bean

Her brother helped her read the following:

Mikayla,

The soda used in this recipe originated in the state I’m currently hiding in.  Why don’t you and your Mom whip up this pie for dessert tonight in Kid Kitchen when you get home from school.  When you take each bite think of me safely hiding from you yet again!  You’ll never catch me!!

ND

She then received a copy of the following recipe for Pepsi and Lance Peanut Pie    I told her I'd pick up the ingredients when I was out shopping this morning.  (In between all the shoveling, of course...)

So I went grocery shopping, shoveled, picked up the Bean, finished the shoveling and then we came in to try our hand at Nita's recipe.

Ready for the oven

Baked and ready for us to try

In the meantime, I've had a full afternoon working on trying out my new toy - the ice cream attachment for my Kitchen Aid :)  I have been so blown away by the awesome creations my sister, Shell, has been sharing at family gatherings that I decided to use some of my Christmas money to give it a go myself.  I have been talking about getting an ice cream machine for quite awhile now, so I'm excited!  I made the base for my first attempt (a vanilla that we are going to add oreo candy cane cookies to!) and we'll give it a good churn tomorrow and see how it goes.

In the meantime, it's Monday which means NJ chowed down as soon as he got home on Slow Cooked Chicken Dijon (yay for crock pot Monday's.  And for the record - everyone here LOVED this recipe.  They all said I can make it again any time.  Even my non-chicken eating Bean.  Noah finished his whole dinner in less than 20 minutes.  Definitely keeping this one) and then hightailed it off to CCD.  We waited for him to get him to cut the pie and...

Ooey gooey goodness

The verdict - it didn't really taste much like Pepsi but everyone liked the midle and the gooeyness.  Probably won't go rushing out to make this again, but thanks, Nita ;-)

Tomorrow the Bean and I are going to meet up with Shell for some shopping, hanging out and lunch (yay!) in Toledo.  And I'm sure there'll be more data coming at us from MOMG or Nita.  The kids weren't able to remember exactly where Krispy Kreme or Pepsi originated, but they were definitely excited about both of them.  In unrelated news - GO DUCKS!  We'll catch you all tomorrow, so until then...