The link

is fixed. It's the Barbecue Beef sandwiches. Seriously good.

Hooray for Crock Pots!

I have cooked meals in mine 4 nights this week. I love the thing.

But one recipe I made this week was new to me -- I found it here and it is so delicious and mouthwatering I decided I had to link you directly to it here, so that you can experience the deliciousness for yourself.

This one was a home run- everybody loved it, it made plenty so there were leftovers, and we have already had requests for me to make it again.

Yummy.

39.

That's Rob on a tractor. Just because I find it amusing.

He rarely checks in here but I have to wish him a happy birthday. We went to the gym today and went through the machines with a trainer (more for me than for him). We teased and needled each other through the session and sort of acted like we were dating, not like an old married couple. Good times.

Then I brought the cake into work. My German Chocolate cake has taken on legendary status there -- people look forward to it every year. It's so much fun to see how much people enjoy it (and how tiny they try to make the piece they take because it's so rich).

Book fair tonight, more volunteering tomorrow, and a weekend at home with the whole family together. I am so looking forward to that.

Crap.

The texture is wrong. They are not deliciously crunchy. They aren't "pickle-y". They look pretty, but I am disappointed. Sigh.



I will try again, but right now I need to sew.

Pickles, part trois

They are in the boiling water bath right now. Five pints. Perhaps not a grand total for the time required, but given the sort of iffy scent I've decided I can try them and make more if they're good.

Right now, I am a little afraid. I am taking comfort in the fact that I generally am afraid at this point in the canning business, regardless of what I am canning, so I'm trying to stay calm. Won't be able to try them until tomorrow at the earliest.

Rob and the boys left this morning for our hometown for a visit with both grandmas and Papa Dave. I am hoping to get some stuff done from that list ... if I get a few "have to"s accomplished (in the vernacular of Spence's preschool), then I will perhaps have time for some "want to"s. Like scrapbooking. And reading a Jen Lancaster novel. And watching hours on end of The Deadliest Catch.

First -- sewing. Yep, the curtain and valances for my bedroom. And maybe a slipcover. With luck, a couple of table skirts, too.

Wish me luck.

Pickles ... part deux

I was mistaken. It's 4 days. Argh. Yesterday and today I had to boil the sugar and vinegar syrup with the rinds. This is what they look like after day 2 and as I put them on the stove for day 3.



Syrup:
7 cups sugar
2 cups white vinegar
1/2 tsp. cinnamon oil
1/4 tsp. clove oil

You can find oils (NOT extracts, which are alcohol based) in drug stores and baking/candy making stores.

Tomorrow, I can.

Patience is a virtue

My mom always told me that. Mostly because of all of the good qualities I am in short supply of, patience probably tops the list.

This week will be an exercise in patience for me. The watermelon pickles take 3 days. Seriously.

Day One:
Peel the dark green skin off the watermelon rind. Cut the rind into small pieces, approximately 1"x2". Place in a container, cover with cold water, and mix in 1 tablespoon of powdered alum. Let sit overnight.



Yep. It's riveting, I know. I'll update daily, though, and by week's end I will be reveling in the crispy deliciousness.

Yesterday afternoon we partied at the pool with some friends -- here are my 3 boys along with David and Nora. A good time was had by all. LOL



Later, guys.

Now we're cookin' with gas

Okay, not really, as I have elaborated here before on how much I hate cooking with a gas stove. But I felt compelled, after Rob helped me with MSPaint, to show off my beautiful recipe binder. The background of grapes was taken at a vineyard in Napa and it looks great in the kitchen. (It has to, since all of my cabinets are custom and are not as deep as standard size. Which is a little problematic when installing a dishwasher which is supposed to be flush with the cabinets, but I digress.)

I have to say that this problem was a huge pain in the ass. I have collected recipes for years, from coupons and package labels to newspapers and magazines, I had a million of 'em. It was a very good thing to go through them, determine which ones I would probably never try, even though they sounded amazing, and get the ones that were actually possible into a place where I could find them. A huge pain in the ass but well worth it in the end.

It's official.

I am now a soccer mom. How funny. (I mean funny peculiar, not funny ha-ha.) This is definitely NOT how I envisioned my life at (dare I say it?) almost 40. Dear god.

We went to practice Monday night to get all the details. And to be the only family that thought 6:30 was a convenient practice time and agree to change the practice time because I didn't want to be THAT mom (okay, I AM that Mom, but I try not to let people in on my dirty little secret until I've known them a little while). So practice is now at 5:45. Honestly, this is not that convenient for me. Argh. I'll live.

Having frozen my proverbial ass off Monday night, I left Evan at practice tonight and ran to get the dog's nails clipped, buy her food, and get some potting soil for Evan's classroom project. It was over 70 degrees today (Ahhh! Bliss!!!) so I wouldn't have been as miserable sitting there, but I was grateful to have errands to run, anyway.

Rob is down to 5 short days of class left and is off at a meeting tonight. It has not been horrible having an MBA student in the house, but he and I will both be grateful for the break the summer will provide. Plus then he'll be able to help me get out of the house for those oh-my-god-it's-early soccer games. EIGHT o'clock? A. M.? Seriously? I know, I'm ridiculous. But I've paid my dues in the getting-up-at-Oh-dark-thirty game. What's the Oh for? See above.

And I neglected to mention the crop I attended last weekend. Friday night and Saturday. I ran out of adhesive, people. this is a good sign. I worked on my kids' school albums and made significant progress. Plus she had a ton of great food there. Fresh fruit, a veggie tray, a baked potato bar ... some of my favorites. AND a Tastefully Simple consultant. You MUST try the Pomegranate Chipotle sauce. It is heaven with some cream cheese on a Wheat Thin.

This week I'm the sexton at church (In case you're wondering, there is no sex in sexton, Rob already asked. LOL) and I'm the Caring Coordinator for the next couple of weeks as well. I am hoping it stays quiet, as I have drawn that job the last 2 Decembers in a row and it has been busy. Like December isn't already busy enough.

So again, life is busy (whose isn't?) and the weeks fly by faster and faster. I guess right now I am most looking forward to Rob being done with school. Four weeks. Three weekends. Five days. We're getting there. (I mean "we" like he meant it when I was in labor. The kind where you act like the pain is yours, too, but really, the entire miserable freaking burden has been on the other person all along. Yeah, we're almost done. LOL)

There.

So it's out of my brain and I won't waste precious sleeping time involuntarily composing vitriol in my brain. And I feel better.

I just didn't want anger to be the focus of the blog on a Monday morning. It looks like this week we may actually see some warm temperatures (like in the 70s). It has been an insanely long winter and all of us in the north country are ready for a major change.

So now we turn to my accomplishments of late. Oh, how that makes me smile! We all know I cherish my lists and the checking off of tasks. So here's what has been done:

Remember last fall I was working on a system for my recipes? I mentioned it at the very bottom of this post. I spent a lot of hours copying recipes onto 4x6 index cards. Most of my recipes from friends and clipped from magazines and newspapers had been stored for years in a sturdy box from Lands' End. I moved that box to California, vowing I would have the recipes organized by the time we moved back. Are you laughing out loud yet? So last fall I decided I was going to at least try to get it done. And I am proud to say that today it is done. All of the recipes have been copied, they are divided up into categories, and I have plans to add some of my favorite stand by recipes that I don't actually have written down, but it is done. And it looks great. But it's a 3 inch wide binder and it's too big to fit in the cabinet. LOL



I also finished a Christmas project. I bought the letters J, O, and Y around Christmas. I have plans for them beyond this, but step one is done: they are decorated with non-traditional Christmas colors and today I blinged them all up. Cute, no?



And last, the surf painting I have been working on for the boys' room for FAR too long is progressing nicely. Here's a sneak peek. I had been struggling with my little projector and the scale of something in the painting. In swept my husband today, with a few tools and a good bit of patience. He fixed my problem, did the majority of the pencil tracing onto the canvas, and I spent much of the afternoon painting. It looks great, and I'll post the finished project later in the week.



So, my dear readers, happy Monday. Have a wonderful week. I am looking forward to sunny days, warm temperatures, and possibly soccer. They are still deciding whether to start tomorrow or postpone the season another week. Keep your fingers crossed for Evan -- he is ready to play. (Evan's mom has to confess that she will not be disappointed if she has to wait another week until the weather is warmer.) Shhhhh.

Snack Tray

Capping off this lovely day was what my children requested for dinner.

We haven't had this in a long time, and it is one of their favorites.

I used to do it a lot, when they were smaller and more particular (although I have been lucky to not have picky eaters, really).

This is a great solution for days when you don't want to fight over every bite that goes in their mouths. Pick items that are finger food, kid-friendly, and reasonably healthy. Put them in a container. This is a Pampered Chef sectioned tray -- you can get cheap ones at the Dollar Store or use a muffin tin. The 6 cup ones are perfect -- fill up each cup with a different thing and each child gets their own.

In here tonight:
*green grapes
*red grapes
*a few black olives
*peanuts
*string cheese
*raisins
*carrot sticks
*Sun Chips

Other things that have made their way into our snack trays over the years are Craisins, almonds, cubed cheese and cheese cut into fun shapes, cubes of leftover turkey breast or roast beef, melon, strawberries, apples, peanut butter, mandarin oranges, dried pineapple, dried bananas, raw broccoli and cauliflower, strips of bell pepper, ranch dip, goldfish crackers, jello jigglers, oyster crackers, hot dogs cut into chunks ... you get it. Simple and a perennial favorite.

Plus, it's pretty!

My favorite deadly sin

Rob and the boys are at the Twins Home Opener against the California Angels. Garrett is basking in the glow of Torii Hunter, who started his career with the Twins the weekend Garrett was born and who now plays for the Angels.

They are eating junk food, and with any luck, are now in possession of new Twins baseball caps that were being given out at the game.

I am at home, and this is what I've accomplished so far:


That WAS chicken strips & fries from McMurphy's Sports Cafe. YUM. And a Dr. Pepper and some candy I will likely tuck into after I take the dog for her walk.

The kids' room is clean (expect more "clean" blogging soon -- I know you can't wait) and the laundry is slowly moving through. Tomorrow I'll be sorting through clothes, although it will be harder to put away the winter things since it is freaking SNOWING here right now.

Spring break. Humbug.

A Very Good Day

I was pretty low when I answered those questions the other day. Thanks to those insightful enough to see it and email me. I appreciate it. It was parenting angst which I shall not dwell on today because it was a perfect day.

This morning we got up and went to a camp near Pepin, Wisconsin to their "Maple Syrup Day." On the way we saw a sign for the birthplace of Laura Ingalls Wilder and took a 14 mile detour to see the site of the Little House in the Big Woods. I loved those books as a child I read them over and over. Laura was my friend, and to walk on the land that she played on as a little girl was surprisingly emotional for me. There is a little reproduction cabin that is open to tourists (although it is empty and not staffed) and we went in and saw the small space in which a family of 4 lived. I could almost see the onions hanging from the rafters and the jars of canned goods on a shelf in the corner.




On to the camp, then, where we got to taste the sap of a sugar maple (the taps look like little spigots and the sap looks like water and was not as sweet as I expected). It takes 40 gallons of sugar maple sap to make just 1 gallon of maple syrup. We ate the syrup on delicious pancakes and if you've never had the real thing I recommend it.



The kids had the opportunity to try archery and climb the big climbing wall, and they made friendship bracelets at the Arts & Crafts area. A total blast. Now all of them want to go to summer camp. We are accepting donations. Email me and I'll give you my PayPal address. LOL






Stopped at LARK Toys for a birthday gift and then home to Rochester where I checked my email and found that my candidate for Chair had prevailed in a contested election at our DFL County Convention. Plus a really awesome guy was elected Affirmative Action Representative and I think he is going to do amazing things to draw in some of the immigrant and minority community members which are underrepresented in our party.

Off to a birthday party at Quarry Hill Nature Center, and to see the "Creatures of the Deep" exhibit, which ends Monday, March 31. It is awesome. I have never even imagined a turtle 16 feet wide.




We stopped at the grocery store for avocado and lettuce and all the ingredients for Dirt Dessert, and we are home now, getting ready to have BLTs (with avocado) and oven fries for dinner. A quiet evening together for all of us and possibly a glass of wine with my husband after the kids are in bed.

I saw 2 robins today as we were driving in Wisconsin, the temps today climbed to near 50 degrees, the snow is almost gone, and I feel spring is on its way.

A very good day, indeed.

Again?

I have to confess I have not cooked an actual meal this entire week. My parents were here last weekend and I had cooked a few crock pot meals earlier that week, and on Monday I realized the bottom shelf of my refrigerator was crammed with leftovers. There was meat loaf, twice baked potatoes, pizza casserole, chicken breasts and bow tie pasta, cole slaw, pizza, and tons more.

It's all been good but even I am getting sick of the leftovers.

Not enough to actually go to the trouble of cooking something different, though.

Naked, baby!

Not me. Jamie Oliver. You know, the British chef who took the world by storm with his TV show The Naked Chef? He wasn't really naked -- he just is a simple cook who doesn't fuss up his dishes with a lot of sauces and fancy schmancy stuff.

I love him.

He has a new show, Jamie at Home, on the Food Network. He wears Wellingtons, lives in an old stone cottage, and runs to the back garden to get fresh ingredients for his creations.

The other day he smoked two salmon fillets in a biscuit (cookie) tin. On chicken wire. So cool. Now I need a biscuit tin. LOL

Anyway, in my neverending quest for the coolest kitchen gadgets that are actually useful and which don't take up a lot of space, I give you .... The Flavour Shaker! Invented by Jamie and sure to set the culinary world afire, it is a nifty little gadget with a ceramic ball inside. You shake up whatever you've put into it (peppercorns, herbs, spices, oil, etc) and it blends the flavors and produces lovely spice rubs, marinades and all manner of delicious additions to your own healthy cooking.

Available at Amazon.com for about $35 plus $11 shipping (it ships from the UK), I highly recommend it.

And no, I don't own one. But soon, soon, it will be mine. LOL

In other culinary news, I spent my gift card at Bed, Bath & Beyond on Sunday. It was $25 but using a couple of 20% off coupons and a $5 off your order coupon I saved more than $10. Sweet.

I bought: stainless steel measuring cups (the welds broke on my last set), a microplane (which I am most excited about ... I know, sad), and a green marble mortar and pestle set (which will do until the Flavour Shaker arrives).

And, last geeky thing (for now, anyway): when my mom and dad were here my mom bought me a label maker. *Sigh* It's a DYMO LetraTag. It prints italics, underlines, outlines, and has all kinds of cool tapes ... including magnetic, metallic, clear, and my very favorite ... iron on. Yep. I am totally stoked about it. Thanks Mom!

Food & stuff

Susan's comment made me realize that I do, indeed, have odd taste in food. I am a total food snob in some cases but I love down home cookin' with simple ingredients, too. And I am not sure but I think it might have been the instant pudding that threw her off. See, my mom always made cooked pudding. She would pour it into bowls and let it cool while we ate supper (never dinner, by the way) and then we would eat it for dessert, sprinkled with sugar and drowned in heavy cream.

I always had hot lunch at school and they would often have pudding in little round paper cups that now remind me of ramekins. At the time they reminded me of nothing because I had never heard of a ramekin. There would be chocolate, butterscotch, or lemon pudding, and while I loved chocolate then as I do now, I ALWAYS turned down the pudding. The stuff was made so far ahead of time that the skin on top was half an inch thick, and I couldn't even bring myself to put a spoon near that rubbery, icky thing.

I know some people who say that skin is the best part of pudding, but the texture of it just turns me totally off. Honestly, I still just don't get how people can eat that. Ewwwww.

It was only when I went to college and had an apartment with a kitchen that I learned the true joys of instant pudding. Ready in 5 minutes, creamy and smooth, and no icky skin to peel off the top.

So there ya go. I am a study in culinary contradictions: I love tapas, stinky cheese, and caprese salad. I also love this layered hamburger hotdish (not casserole) that my mom always made with a can of tomato soup on the top. I love creme brulee and instant Jello pudding. Go figure.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

In other news -- I just uploaded 8 layouts from Spencer's book to Scrapjazz. You can get to my gallery by clicking on the link to my Scrapjazz gallery down there on the right. (Edited to add that I can't seem to get the code working that showed a sample layout from the gallery. The link will get you there but Spence's album is in the sidebar on a slide show, too. I'll keep it there as I continue to upload the pages.) I'll try to get to the rest soon but that's all I have scanned right now and my scanner is acting up (no surprise, since it turns 9 in May). I'll keep working at it.

Giving thanks

For my family, my friends, my cozy home, the beautiful room I am posting from right now, for good food that is in the oven, for the sparkly Christmas tree in the family room filled with ornaments, for the lazy little pug snoozing in the big chair, for the chaos and drama and magic that is life. It has been a quiet day. I am still in my jammies (going to take a shower in a minute) and there has been no stress, no drama, no feeling of pressure or of being overwhelmed.

Rob is looking at the sales fliers. He will occasionally venture out into the Black Friday nonsense. I would rather fight a grizzly bear wearing a suit made of venison.

The pie is baked, the lefse is ready, the cranberries have been made for Rob (I will open a can of jellied cranberries for myself LOL). The heavy whipping cream is in the fridge ready to top the pie after being whipped to frothy goodness, and the kids are all set to watch "The Incredibles" on TV tonight.

Yep. I am about as thankful as a girl can get. I am so fortunate to have all of the people and things in my life that I do. I am grateful for my loyal blog readers (although my Christmas wish will be that you lurkers come out and declare yourselves), grateful for my friends IRL, grateful for the health and well-being of my family.

Have a wonderful and blessed Thanksgiving. And if you're out shopping tomorrow, can you just be nice to the small bespectacled engineer next to you? I'd be grateful for that, too.

Entertaining

I LOVE having people over. Last night we had a blast, drinking this really wonderful Sauvignon Blanc that was all citrus-y and full of the bright grapefruit flavor that just danced in your mouth. We listened to Springsteen, talked about a performance of King Lear that my friend Tracy saw (starring Ian McKellan, no less) and much to my surprise, I beat Tracy at bowling on the Wii.

The kids played, the food was good, Tracy's fall dessert was rich and perfect for the kind of day it was yesterday -- clear blue skies, crisp temperatures, and a hint of a breeze. It definitely felt like fall.

Today, though, I am glad to be sitting here in my scrap room (the desk and scrap shelf are CLEAN, by the way). My kids are watching TV and working on a craft project. I was up last night from 2 to 5 with insomnia so I stayed home while everyone else went to church and caught up on my sleep. I am still in my jammies (flannel pants and shirt, light blue, with Grumpy and Dopey all over them). Rob left for the hardware store at 11. It is almost 1 and no sign of him. LOL I think he is procrastinating on the homework. Poor guy hasn't had any time to just relax in forever. There is a stock pot on the stove, simmering a chicken carcass, a host of vegetables, and a lot of spices. In a bit I will strain it all and we'll have soup one night this week.

Yeah, I do love to spend time with friends in my home. But today, it is clean, it is quiet, and I am simply enjoying being in a cozy, comfortable house while the rain falls outside and the world moves one step closer to winter.

List update

-copy recipes onto index cards and place in album
-paint back of scrap shelves with magnetic paint
-finish door jambs on main floor
-stain trim in basement
-hang suspended ceiling and install tiles in basement bath
-sort and organize photos
-sort and organize family history stuff
-sew bathrobes for kids
-sew table skirts for scrap room
-finish sweatshirt for Mom
-finish sweatshirt for Nancy
-choose photos, have them printed and laminated to create border for hallway
-mail envelope to Sally with Henry's paperwork
-print family group sheets for Aunt Ida to have them proofed and corrected
-write thank you notes for the Ohio trip
-make cards for Sally for her birthday
-add trim to baking cabinet
-sand / paint baking cabinet before obtaining solid surface top
-stain hot tub
-tear up hallway carpet
-remove tile from entry and bath
-stain arbor
-stain front door trim
-stain back door trim
-hang wood blind in family room
-paint hallway
-finish surf painting for kids' room
-finish bedroom curtains
-work on decorating idea book
-finish crown molding in living room
-finish "Lost Socks" thing
-sand round finials for boys' curtain rod and paint like beach balls

The things with an X after them are in progress and have been worked on in the last 7 days but are not complete yet.
*updated 12/28/07

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

So, yes, I am rockin' and rollin'. Today, not so many projects because one of Rob's classmates is coming for dinner and some work on a joint project. We are having cranberry-lime chicken, a tossed salad, and either oven roasted veggies or green beans amandine. And I have a 10 lb. bag of Haralson apples on the kitchen counter so a pie is definitely in my plans.

In other news, it seems my phone call has generated some good karma. Yesterday my phone rang and the Caller ID showed an unfamiliar local number. It was my friend Sarka (pronounced "SHAR-ka" with a rolled "R"). She is from the Czech Republic and I haven't seen her since July 2004. She's in town and coming for dinner Friday night. I was so happy I cried. (We're having chicken breasts, peanut satay sauce, rice, possibly some steamed veggies, and Jamaican black beans.)

And Saturday some friends are coming for dinner with their kids. The kids all play together really well and this couple enjoys their wine, so of course it is always a fab time when we get together. I think we'll do a self-serve chicken soft taco bar that night, with homemade guacamole and lots of cheese, veggies, and sour cream.

My "To-Do" list is long today so I'll close for now. Lots of dusting and vacuuming, and some catching up on laundry. I am a day behind.

Have a great day!!

Recipe

I mentioned last Sunday that I would be making a special recipe and added a link to it that apparently is reserved for subscribers only. My grandma gives me a subscription to Taste of Home every year and I have to admit I do use it quite frequently, despite the ridiculousness of Reiman Publications' rules for their often hokey and consistently cheesy magazines. I need to warn you that Reminisce is by far the most offensive to anyone with more than 3 brain cells. Argh.

Anyway, what I was planning on making were these little sandwiches. I just didn't cut the faces out. Since we ended up at relatives' last Sunday evening, I am making these tonight. Rob is home and these are in the oven right now.

Trick-or-Treat Turnovers
Cook 1/2 pound ground beef and 1 tablespoon finely chopped onion in a skillet until meat is no longer pink. Add 4 oz. mozzarella cheese, cubed (I used shredded) and 1/4 cup prepared mustard. Cook and stir until cheese is melted. Cool slightly. Flatten all of the biscuits from a 16.3 oz. refrigerated flaky biscuit package into 4 inch rounds. Spoon 2 heaping tablespoons of meat mixture into each. Flatten another package of biscuits and use a cookie cutter to cut out faces. Use extra dough to form stems if desired. Place faces over meat mixture and pinch edges to seal tightly. Brush with a lightly beaten egg, bake at 350 for 10-15 minutes or until golden brown.
Yields 8 servings. (I also added a little ketchup, probably about a tablespoon, to the mixture while it was cooking.)

Here are mine from tonight. Definitely well received by all except Spencer, who generally "hates" everything the first few times he eats it. You can't win 'em all.