This Thanksgiving Eve has been a busy day. I've done a good bit of cooking in preparation for tomorrow, and I'm making more food tomorrow than I have any other year.
I'm roasting my first turkey! It is sitting in a brine right now, hopefully to be all moist and tender... but isn't that everyone's goal for their Thanksgiving turkey?
I assembled my first Thanksgiving dressing. I've made dressing before, but never for Tgiving day!
In addition to the cooking, the weather also added to the feel of it being Thanksgiving. After several days of highs in the 70s, a cold front blew in just after lunch. Greg and the boys and I went out on the porch to see it in. Sure enough, within a few minutes, the wind picked up, great big raindrops plopped down here and there, and the air turned crisp as the temperature dropped about 15 degrees!
So after today, and with cooking and weather being two of my interests, I want to share what my mom sent me (she saw it on the internet):
Thanksgiving Forecast:
Turkeys will thaw in the morning, then warm in the oven to an afternoon high near 190F. The kitchen will turn hot and humid, and if you bother the cook, be ready for a severe squall or cold shoulder.
During the late afternoon and evening, the cold front of a knife will slice through the turkey, causing an accumulation of one to two inches on plates. Mashed potatoes will drift across one side while cranberry sauce creates slippery spots on the other. Please pass the gravy. A weight watch and indigestion warning have been issued for the entire area, with increased stuffiness around the beltway.
During the evening, the turkey will diminish and taper off to leftovers, dropping to a low of 34 degrees F in the refrigerator. Looking ahead to Friday and Saturday, high pressure to eat sandwiches will be established.
Flurries of leftovers can be expected both days with a 50 percent chance of scattered soup late in the day. We expect a warming trend where soup develops.
By early next week, eating pressure will be low as the only wish left will be the bone.
Have a Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!
"Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ." Ephesians 5:20
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
Monday, November 19, 2007
Microwavable Gold
Oh my goodness - I've struck holiday snack food gold!
Usually sometime around this time of year I like to start trying to keep at least one holiday goody on hand to munch on. This usually starts in earnest in early December as I open up our Christmas stuff and find all my 'tins'. (In my case these are actually plastic, but the idea is the same, right?)
This annual Filling of the Tins also coincides with my sister's return home from the fall semester. She usually arrives home ready to commence with all things holidayish - mainly putting up the tree and filling the tins. So... knowing she is across town creating holiday goodness to munch on, and knowing this has been my own intention for a good week or two, I cannot be out-domesticated by my unmarried college-student sister and I finally get serious about the Filling of the Tins at our house.
I've come up with some favorites over the past few years, and some that will never be made again. One of our new favorites just made its debut last year. I'll be sure and share these as they each make their appearances this year.
One simple classic I have never mastered has been party mix. Yes, I know. It is supposed to be easy: square cereal, pretzels, nuts, butter, worcestershire.... but mine is never right. But ohhhh, buddy. I've got it now. My own party mix! So easy, so good, and you make it in the microwave!!!
Inspired by upcoming Thanksgiving preparations and curious about the simplicity of this recipe, I decided to go ahead and give it a try. And believe me: it will definitely have a tin of its very own come December!
So, first the recipe, and then I'll tell you how I changed it. Because I can never just follow a recipe. (It is no mystery why my successes are sprinkled with odd failures, is it?)
Taco Tidbits
(ummm.... not a fan of the name... maybe why I've never made it? Even though it is from a 2001 magazine?)
Anyway...
Taco Tidbits
Taco Party Mix
6 tablespoons butter or margarine
2-3 tablespoons taco seasoning
8 cups corn chex
1/4 c grated parmesan cheese
Place butter in 11x7 microwave-safe dish. Microwave on high 1 minute or until butter is melted.
Add taco seasoning. Stir in the cereal until evenly coated. Microwave on high 1 minute. Stir.
Heat 1 - 1 1/2 minutes longer; stir.
Sprinkle with Parmesan, microwave for 1 minute. Stir; Heat 1 minute longer. Cool.
Ok. So here's what I did. First of all, I halved it since I still wasn't sure it would be any good. (O me of little faith.)
I also added in a cupful of goldfish crackers. Definitely a good addition.
I really wasn't sure about parmesan cheese mixed with taco seasoning, and was going to leave it out, but at the last minute sprinkled some in. Maybe less than even the halved recipe called for? (I didn't measure) But it does go well with it.
Yum-o! as Rachael Ray would say! This is really SO good. I think it would be fine if you wanted to go all out with the pretzels and nuts and everything, but I like the simplicity of it. This is my new party mix! :)
Usually sometime around this time of year I like to start trying to keep at least one holiday goody on hand to munch on. This usually starts in earnest in early December as I open up our Christmas stuff and find all my 'tins'. (In my case these are actually plastic, but the idea is the same, right?)
This annual Filling of the Tins also coincides with my sister's return home from the fall semester. She usually arrives home ready to commence with all things holidayish - mainly putting up the tree and filling the tins. So... knowing she is across town creating holiday goodness to munch on, and knowing this has been my own intention for a good week or two, I cannot be out-domesticated by my unmarried college-student sister and I finally get serious about the Filling of the Tins at our house.
I've come up with some favorites over the past few years, and some that will never be made again. One of our new favorites just made its debut last year. I'll be sure and share these as they each make their appearances this year.
One simple classic I have never mastered has been party mix. Yes, I know. It is supposed to be easy: square cereal, pretzels, nuts, butter, worcestershire.... but mine is never right. But ohhhh, buddy. I've got it now. My own party mix! So easy, so good, and you make it in the microwave!!!
Inspired by upcoming Thanksgiving preparations and curious about the simplicity of this recipe, I decided to go ahead and give it a try. And believe me: it will definitely have a tin of its very own come December!
So, first the recipe, and then I'll tell you how I changed it. Because I can never just follow a recipe. (It is no mystery why my successes are sprinkled with odd failures, is it?)
Taco Tidbits
(ummm.... not a fan of the name... maybe why I've never made it? Even though it is from a 2001 magazine?)
Anyway...
Taco Party Mix
6 tablespoons butter or margarine
2-3 tablespoons taco seasoning
8 cups corn chex
1/4 c grated parmesan cheese
Place butter in 11x7 microwave-safe dish. Microwave on high 1 minute or until butter is melted.
Add taco seasoning. Stir in the cereal until evenly coated. Microwave on high 1 minute. Stir.
Heat 1 - 1 1/2 minutes longer; stir.
Sprinkle with Parmesan, microwave for 1 minute. Stir; Heat 1 minute longer. Cool.
Ok. So here's what I did. First of all, I halved it since I still wasn't sure it would be any good. (O me of little faith.)
I also added in a cupful of goldfish crackers. Definitely a good addition.
I really wasn't sure about parmesan cheese mixed with taco seasoning, and was going to leave it out, but at the last minute sprinkled some in. Maybe less than even the halved recipe called for? (I didn't measure) But it does go well with it.
Yum-o! as Rachael Ray would say! This is really SO good. I think it would be fine if you wanted to go all out with the pretzels and nuts and everything, but I like the simplicity of it. This is my new party mix! :)
Sunday, November 18, 2007
Just a little weekend get-away
What has happened to my poor little blog!?!? I have so many thoughts and stories that cross through my mind that I would love to blog about, but suddenly it seems I can't find a spare moment to sit down and write. (A spare moment where I still have the brain capacity to actually put two coherent thoughts together, that is!) :)
I do have somewhat of an excuse for the past couple of days though. Maybe I should present a doctor's note for missed blogging days? ;)
After a couple of days with a stomach bug, it was decided that Alan needed to spend a night in the hospital for observation. (if you are interested in all the medical details you can go here and click 'read journal').
So... when you go to the hospital for a visit like that, and it is after hours, and a weekend, the first place you go is the ER. Oh, and isn't that a treat. The ER is basically full of kids with things that I would take mine to a pediatrician for. But apparently these people don't have a pediatrician. It all has something to do with no insurance and free healthcare, but I don't know how all that works.
Anyway, we check into the ER. At least they are expecting us because our doctors have called and told them we are coming. I overhear someone say we are "level 2". Whoo-hoo. Aren't we special? All I know level 2 means is that we don't have to wait as long as all those people packed in around us.
Oh no. We only have to wait an HOUR. Surrounded by every type of cough I can imagine, with a couple of people holding those kidney-shaped pink puke buckets, just for good measure. Oh how I wish I could have held my breath for an hour.
At least they had a movie on - Shrek 2. Good distraction. Except for OH - it was in SPANISH. I'm not even going to go there.
But I couldn't concentrate too much on our Spanish movie or all the germs swirling around me, because I was too busy coming down with whatever Alan had had that got us there in the first place. Oh yes. The nausea was fabulous. I am one of those types that has a hint of nausea and I go horizontal, not to move for a couple of days. Yeah, well, try that in an ER full of coughing, spewing germ-carriers.
After our hour in the upper dungeon was up, we got called back to the depths. But the depths are much more pleasant. (relatively speaking, of course). We had our own room there. But I couldn't help thinking of all that coughing out in the dungeon and wondering about all of the people that had sat in this very same private room all day before we got it. *shudder* But hey - we did have the option of English tv. But since Shrek was in the last 10 minutes we decided to finish it instead. You know, to increase our Spanish skills and all.
All was going pretty well until Alan had to get poked. Four times. That was not pleasant.
Not to mention the fact that I was supposed to be carrying on intelligent, medical-parental conversations with every level of medical professional there is. Every person that came through the door wanted the whole story, beginning with "was it a normal pregnancy?" all the way to "and what brings you here today?" Even though they have this information on paper right in front of them. And I had to answer all these questions and relay all these details, when all my brain was telling me was "DON'T MOVE OR YOU MIGHT THROW UP". Yeah, I'm sure they all thought I was soooo 'together'.
In fact, after a couple of hours of this I finally 'fessed up to one of the doctors that "I feel like poo." Oh yes. I am so mecially savvy. I use technical terms for describing how I feel. You know, like 'poo'.
Oh well. The job got done. And I am very happy to report that I did NOT throw up. Oh I came very close. And I did have some er, other problems. But thankfully, everything kept moving in its natural direction.
After first entering the ER upper dungeon at precisely 6pm, we were finally led to Alan's bed for the night at 12:30. By 1:30am we were finally all 3 settled in to our beds. And blissfully, we were not woken up at 6am for a blood-draw or 6:30 for rounds or 7 for shift-change. Nope! Alan was awake for a little while around 5, but after he fell back to sleep next to me, we slept until 8. 8 am! That is amazing for being in a hospital!
Not a lot to tell from the whole day (it was long). And this post is already long enough. But I want to leave you with a picture. They told us we would be getting released around 5pm. Knowing full-well how things really work, we started bugging our nurse at 4:45. And, by 10 after 6, I was signing release papers. But during that long, restless hour we had to entertain ourselves (and more importantly, Alan) somehow. Enter: bucket rides! :)
Alan loved it! He is just getting good at baby-signing more, and this gave him good practice. Whenever the bucket stopped, he was ready for more. And ready to climb out.... so keep it moving please! :)
So there you have it. My doctor's excuse for not blogging these past few days. :) Please watch your step: as I read back through I see there is sarcasm dripping everywhere. :)
Oh - and I am feeling much better! I never 'sort of' get any sickness - I either get it or I don't. But this one kind of brushed me, and I know it is thanks to God's goodness and all of the prayers for us as we headed off into this weekend hospital venture. Thanks to all of you who were part of those praying, and thank You Lord that we are home again! :)
I do have somewhat of an excuse for the past couple of days though. Maybe I should present a doctor's note for missed blogging days? ;)
After a couple of days with a stomach bug, it was decided that Alan needed to spend a night in the hospital for observation. (if you are interested in all the medical details you can go here and click 'read journal').
So... when you go to the hospital for a visit like that, and it is after hours, and a weekend, the first place you go is the ER. Oh, and isn't that a treat. The ER is basically full of kids with things that I would take mine to a pediatrician for. But apparently these people don't have a pediatrician. It all has something to do with no insurance and free healthcare, but I don't know how all that works.
Anyway, we check into the ER. At least they are expecting us because our doctors have called and told them we are coming. I overhear someone say we are "level 2". Whoo-hoo. Aren't we special? All I know level 2 means is that we don't have to wait as long as all those people packed in around us.
Oh no. We only have to wait an HOUR. Surrounded by every type of cough I can imagine, with a couple of people holding those kidney-shaped pink puke buckets, just for good measure. Oh how I wish I could have held my breath for an hour.
At least they had a movie on - Shrek 2. Good distraction. Except for OH - it was in SPANISH. I'm not even going to go there.
But I couldn't concentrate too much on our Spanish movie or all the germs swirling around me, because I was too busy coming down with whatever Alan had had that got us there in the first place. Oh yes. The nausea was fabulous. I am one of those types that has a hint of nausea and I go horizontal, not to move for a couple of days. Yeah, well, try that in an ER full of coughing, spewing germ-carriers.
After our hour in the upper dungeon was up, we got called back to the depths. But the depths are much more pleasant. (relatively speaking, of course). We had our own room there. But I couldn't help thinking of all that coughing out in the dungeon and wondering about all of the people that had sat in this very same private room all day before we got it. *shudder* But hey - we did have the option of English tv. But since Shrek was in the last 10 minutes we decided to finish it instead. You know, to increase our Spanish skills and all.
All was going pretty well until Alan had to get poked. Four times. That was not pleasant.
Not to mention the fact that I was supposed to be carrying on intelligent, medical-parental conversations with every level of medical professional there is. Every person that came through the door wanted the whole story, beginning with "was it a normal pregnancy?" all the way to "and what brings you here today?" Even though they have this information on paper right in front of them. And I had to answer all these questions and relay all these details, when all my brain was telling me was "DON'T MOVE OR YOU MIGHT THROW UP". Yeah, I'm sure they all thought I was soooo 'together'.
In fact, after a couple of hours of this I finally 'fessed up to one of the doctors that "I feel like poo." Oh yes. I am so mecially savvy. I use technical terms for describing how I feel. You know, like 'poo'.
Oh well. The job got done. And I am very happy to report that I did NOT throw up. Oh I came very close. And I did have some er, other problems. But thankfully, everything kept moving in its natural direction.
After first entering the ER upper dungeon at precisely 6pm, we were finally led to Alan's bed for the night at 12:30. By 1:30am we were finally all 3 settled in to our beds. And blissfully, we were not woken up at 6am for a blood-draw or 6:30 for rounds or 7 for shift-change. Nope! Alan was awake for a little while around 5, but after he fell back to sleep next to me, we slept until 8. 8 am! That is amazing for being in a hospital!
Not a lot to tell from the whole day (it was long). And this post is already long enough. But I want to leave you with a picture. They told us we would be getting released around 5pm. Knowing full-well how things really work, we started bugging our nurse at 4:45. And, by 10 after 6, I was signing release papers. But during that long, restless hour we had to entertain ourselves (and more importantly, Alan) somehow. Enter: bucket rides! :)
Alan loved it! He is just getting good at baby-signing more, and this gave him good practice. Whenever the bucket stopped, he was ready for more. And ready to climb out.... so keep it moving please! :)
So there you have it. My doctor's excuse for not blogging these past few days. :) Please watch your step: as I read back through I see there is sarcasm dripping everywhere. :)
Oh - and I am feeling much better! I never 'sort of' get any sickness - I either get it or I don't. But this one kind of brushed me, and I know it is thanks to God's goodness and all of the prayers for us as we headed off into this weekend hospital venture. Thanks to all of you who were part of those praying, and thank You Lord that we are home again! :)
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
Works For Me Wednesday - Thanksgiving Countdown
Last year, around the last week of October, not coincidentally just as Christmas decorations began to edge in on all the Halloween stuff on store shelves, my then-3-year old began talking about how ready he was for Christmas. Not wanting to spend the next 8 weeks telling him "not yet" I began to explain that first we had to have Thanksgiving, and T-giving was still a while away itself. So, to break down the wait, and to encourage some thankfulness, we made this little activity. First we made a paper chain with a link for each day remaining until Thanksgiving. Then I cut out a gourd/upside-down light bulb shape out of brown construction paper for a turkey-body. I added eyes & a beak, and wrote across his belly, "Dale says: 'Thank you God, for...."
Then, each day we would unfasten a link, write something he was thankful for on it, and then glue it behind the turkey for his tail. (I also put a little symbol on each link as a help - stick person for a person, house for a place, and dot for a 'thing'). Each time the turkey got a new feather we would kneel right then and there and thank God for whatever it was that day. Along with all the usual stuff, you get some interesting things, like soup. And insects. You never know what a preschooler is going to be thankful for! But there is a good lesson for all of us in that. :)
This Worked So Well for us last year, that on November 1st we were ready to go again with a new turkey. This year, Dale cut him out and drew on his eyes himself. And for some reason, he is liking keeping the feathers sorted by color. But hey. It's his turkey. And he's learning (slowly) a sense of time. And he's thanking the Giver of all good gifts. And that Works for Me! :)
Fore more great WFMW tips, be sure and head over to Rocks in My Dryer.
4:30
Four - Thirty.
a.m.
Seems to be
Alan's new
"its-time-to-be-awake" time.
Tired? Why yes! Yes I am, thankyouverymuchforasking!
a.m.
Seems to be
Alan's new
"its-time-to-be-awake" time.
Tired? Why yes! Yes I am, thankyouverymuchforasking!
Saturday, November 10, 2007
Party time!
I want to share all the details, but I'm sooo tired, so I'm just going to have to settle for this. :)
Alan's birthday is Wednesday...we had his party today. He was a sweetheart!
Alan's birthday is Wednesday...we had his party today. He was a sweetheart!
Thursday, November 8, 2007
Homework
You can learn so much from blogs. Not only is this a great justification for spending so much of my spare time reading blogs, it is also very true.
It has been since I started reading blogs that I realized, "Hey! I don't have to do all this stuff myself!" I have been seriously under-estimating a 4 year olds capabilities for being useful to the household.
In the last few weeks Dale has gotten a few new jobs, in addition to his old assignments of making his bed, and putting away his clothes and toys at the end of each day. He is now also responsible for:
- emptying the clean silverware tray from the dishwasher (this is usually every morning)
- clearing plates, bowls, silveware, glasses & cups after each meal and putting them into the dishwasher (this one is pretty flexible... sometimes we ask him to do just his, sometimes we all do it together, and it isn't always EVERY meal)
- sweeping up all the foodstuffs from under the table & high-chair
Because those two boys drop almost as much food as they eat.
Because we don't have a dog.
Because I was tired of doing it (or not doing it, and constantly crunching cheerios and squishing scrambled egg. Ew.) He has his own little whisk-broom set for this, but lately he likes using the big broom. Whatever floats your boat, son. Just no more leftovers between my toes, 'kay?
I hope to add more and more to this as time goes by. He can handle it. And it's time he started pulling some of his own weight around here.
Seriously, though, it was nice after lunch today when Alan was in Hold Me Every Moment mode. I put up the food one handed while balancing a baby on my hip, and while I did that, Dale put away our dishes. No bending & stooping for me, and the job took half the time! :)
All that time spent reading blogs? Definitely parenting research!
It has been since I started reading blogs that I realized, "Hey! I don't have to do all this stuff myself!" I have been seriously under-estimating a 4 year olds capabilities for being useful to the household.
In the last few weeks Dale has gotten a few new jobs, in addition to his old assignments of making his bed, and putting away his clothes and toys at the end of each day. He is now also responsible for:
- emptying the clean silverware tray from the dishwasher (this is usually every morning)
- clearing plates, bowls, silveware, glasses & cups after each meal and putting them into the dishwasher (this one is pretty flexible... sometimes we ask him to do just his, sometimes we all do it together, and it isn't always EVERY meal)
- sweeping up all the foodstuffs from under the table & high-chair
Because those two boys drop almost as much food as they eat.
Because we don't have a dog.
Because I was tired of doing it (or not doing it, and constantly crunching cheerios and squishing scrambled egg. Ew.) He has his own little whisk-broom set for this, but lately he likes using the big broom. Whatever floats your boat, son. Just no more leftovers between my toes, 'kay?
I hope to add more and more to this as time goes by. He can handle it. And it's time he started pulling some of his own weight around here.
Seriously, though, it was nice after lunch today when Alan was in Hold Me Every Moment mode. I put up the food one handed while balancing a baby on my hip, and while I did that, Dale put away our dishes. No bending & stooping for me, and the job took half the time! :)
All that time spent reading blogs? Definitely parenting research!
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