Birthday Sad Stuff

I’ll say it here, and I’ll say it only once… I don’t want to be a whiner, I’m not into being sad, and I don’t mean to seem needy, or anything like that.  But I feel like I need to say it, so the blog gets to be the place.

I miss my mom. I miss her a lot. And tonight at 7:30, I’ll miss her even more. She used to call me at 7:30 in the evening on my birthday every year. Why 7:30? Because that’s when I was born, and she would say she couldn’t wish me a happy birthday until it was really my birthday - and birth time. It was a silly little thing jut between us, and it always made my day. I miss that LOTS.

There.  It's out.  It's done.  And now, on to a great birthday. 

Christmas

I could go on about Christmas for days.  I'm not sure where to even start.  I guess I'll start with Christmas Eve.

On Christmas Eve - Friday - it started to snow mid-morning.  And when I say snow, I mean big, wet, sticking to everything and accumulating, snow.  By the time I left work at 3:00, the roads were a slippery mess of slush that was quickly turning to ice in some places.  YUCK.  The snow did sort of taper off by mid-evening, and the roads were passable, though still messy.  Rachel and Ted had planned to come to church with us at 11:00, and by that time, driving wasn't too terribly bad.  We met them at the church without incident...  that is, until we got inside.

At church, the heating/cooling system for the sanctuary was totally messed up.  The blower was going full blast, trying the heat up the place, but...  the heat wasn't working. The blower was going SO full blast that the flames for the candles were flickering like crazy, and I wasn't sure Jack was going to make it down the aisle as acolyte without losing his flame.  And all that blowing mean it was FREEZING in the sanctuary.  Everyone toughed it out, though, wearing coats and gloves during the entire service.  We survived, and I guess it gives us something to look back at and laugh about. 

Getting out of church at midnight makes for a bunch of sleepy people, and we went straight home, enjoyed a reading of "The Night Before Christmas", and hit the hay.   The paper route means that morning comes quickly!  And on top of that, the H.H. told the grandparents to come over at 8:00 am.  The kids living in this house haven't seen 8:00 am on a day off in years.  Ugh.  So...  we had to wake them up to open presents. HA!  You know the kids are not little anymore when you have to wake them up to open presents, and they just move from their beds to the couch.  : )  

Granted, once they were up and opening, and the momentum built, they woke up and got excited about the day.  It was just gettin' them started that took a little doin'.   And for next year, we've decided to shoot for a much later start to the day. 

Early start aside, I think the present opening frenzy went pretty well...

There were some excited surprises...

And some calmer gift-opening moments (who knew the calm moment would be from one of the kids!)...

After the presents were opened, and all the new clothes and shoes had been tried on, and the new video game was going, I got dinner started, and we just sort of chilled for a while.  Christmas is always sort of weird like that - you're so excited for the craziness of it, but you're also so excited for the relaxing part of it. 

We had a pretty yummy dinner with just about the most delicious, fatty, wonderful au gratin potatoes I could possibly make.   And after dinner, naps were in order until evening.  Charlie and Kathryn had both been fighting a HORRIBLE cold for days and days and days, so taking time for a nap was a must.

In the evening, Sarah and Jack went to visit with their grandpa for a short while, Kathryn went BACK to bed again, and eventually, Charlie, Jack and I went to my brother, Dale's, where we visited with him and Patty, Rachel and Ted, Amber and Steve, and, of course, Oscar...

Oscar's growing exponentially.  He's so much bigger that he was the last time I saw him!  And even as he grows bigger, I think he grows cuter.  He's started giggling now - It's great to hear his own little personality coming out in his voice.   He's totally a joy!

We ended the night with a rousing (yes, I said rousing) game of Apples to Apples, where we each ended up with WAY more of the green cards than the official rules say are needed to win, and WAY more silliness going on than the makers of that game ever expected anyone to have, I'm sure. 

Overall, Christmas was definitely a good day.
 

The Saga Known as Kathryn's Life

Well, about two weeks ago, Kathryn bought a car (with a teeny bit of help).  A '99 Hyundai Elantra.  Black.  Cute.  She got seat covers, and floor mats, and cool "stuff" for it.  Even before her 16th birthday, she was set.

We celebrated her coming milestone birthday with dinner out, with Jacob, at Wings, etc.   She had the largest chili dog ever.  It was even big enough to share with Sarah. 

And then, on the 13th, she got up early and we went to the Secretary of State's office so she could get her license.

It was a "snow day" for our school district because of some crazy-cold temperatures.  By 9:00 am, she was officially off school, licensed, and a car owner...  She was a very happy girl.

The happy lasted for just about 4 days.

On Thursday afternoon, on her way back from Jacob's house, someone pulled out in front of her, resulting in a pretty bad accident involving the two of them.  Kathryn was - and is - OK.  But her cute little car was not so lucky.  No pictures for now, but it was pretty mangled in the front, and most certainly totaled.   And just to be on the safe side, she spent several hours at the E.R. that night getting double- and triple- checked over.  And, thankfully, they confirmed that she didn't sustain any serious injuries. 

Well, except that she's really, really, really mad and frustrated about the whole situation, but that won't leave a mark.

Yummies

Yesterday, for some reason, I woke up wanting to bake, or make candy, or something of the sort.    So, after a little shopping, I stopped in at County Market and got a few extra ingredients like milk chocolate, bittersweet chocolate, and cocoa.  Ha!

After dinner, I got busy, and made some chocolate chip cookies, and some chocolate, nutella & sea salt fudge - a recipe I found on Pioneer Woman's Tasty Kitchen site (of course).

Let me just say it is THE BEST FUDGE EVER.  It's a dark chocolate fudge, and it is amazing.  Everyone loves it, and it was super-easy to make.   Which is a bonus, since I'll have to be making it often to satisfy my newfound craving for the stuff. 

Tonight, I continued with my baking "blitz", and made some peanut butter blossom cookies, at Sarah's request. 

And they turned out pretty good.  At least that's what I was told.  I won't eat any of them, of course, since I made them using a traditional recipe with wheat flour, and that's a no-no for me. 

I'm not sure why I'm on a baking "kick" this weekend, but I suppose it probably has something to do with the fact that Christmas is coming up next weekend.  Christmas is always a good time to make some goodies, and share them.

Anyway, when I decided to make those Peanut Butter Blossoms, I also decided to take a few pics of the whole process.    I always say I'm going to do that, but never follow through with pics of the entire process.

First, of course, I gathered all of my ingredients...

Then I got started with my favorite part of baking -  creaming the butter and sugar.

I can't explain it, but that's been my favorite part of baking since I was a little girl.  Probably something to do with the way the grainy sugars combine with the butter and get smooth and creamy.  (duh - it's called "creaming")

After the dough was mixed, I dropped small balls of it into sugar, and got them ready for baking.

Once they came out of the oven, the tricky part started.   Once they come out of the oven, you've got mere seconds to get the kisses placed before the cookies start to cool.  Thankfully, I think I've got the hang of it. 

I also cranked out a pretty good batch of snickerdoodles tonight, and got a sampling of everything I've made this weekend boxed up to deliver to a few people for the holidays.

I think my baking urge is passing, but you never know.  There may still be some candy in my future...

Being Sick Sucks

Plain and simple, being sick sucks.  I took Jack to karate class last night, and about 10 minutes after we got there, I developed THE WORST stomach cramps.  My tummy just plain HURT.  And even worse, I realized getting sick was inevitable.  Thank heavens for our friend, Scott, who is a black belt at the dojo, and a close neighbor.  When I said I was going to have to leave, he offered to give Jack a ride home.  And, wow, was I thankful for that offer!  I made it home with no time to spare.  I was sick, sick, sick.  I know it's not "technically" the flu, but if you say "flu", everyone knows what you mean, so I'll say it...  I had the flu.  And it was a flu of the worst kind.   I don't remember ever having such pains in my stomach.  Ugh.  I was sick.  And I was just about totally out of it until mid-afternoon today. 

I'm feeling pretty much back to normal now, and we're back at the karate dojo for class again tonight.  So far, so good! 

The Rest Reviewed

Yes, I know this isn't very timely... Oh, well.  I'm mostly writing for myself, anyway, so it doesn't matter so much, now does it?  :)

I've reviewed the turkey brine/roast process, and the perfectly perfect pumpkin cheesecake, but there was much more.  When I said I did almost everything from scratch, I meant it.  The only thing that I purchased already prepared were the rolls.  And those, while pre-made, were not mass produced.  I got those at Great Harvest Bakery, and they were freshly made there in the bakery on Wednesday.   As for the rest, lets start with the potatoes.

Potatoes..  Mashed.  Boring.  Regular.  Plain.  That's about it for the potatoes.  The only thing noteworthy about them was that I made them on Wednesday night, and just heated them up in the crock pot on Thursday.  Dull.  So....  on to something more exciting, like stuffing.

Charlie's mom makes oyster dressing every year.  The kids and I are not huge fans of oysters, and in the past I've thrown together some stove top.  In this year of "homemade Thanksgiving", though, I tried a recipe for "Apple Sage Walnut" stuffing, using a really tasty whole grain gluten free bread as the base.

While it WAS pretty tasty, the whole grain bread made it a little heavier than I think we'd have preferred.  Next time, I'll go with a white rice bread as the base - it's much more neutral and has a flavor more like "regular" white bread, and a density more akin to sourdough (in my opinion, anyway).

My gravy was basic gravy made with cornstarch and a combo of chicken and turkey broth.  I will say, though, that it was yummy.  I managed to make it pretty thick, but not lumpy.   As you know, that, in and of itself, can be quite an accomplishment.

The cranberry sauce was probably the easiest thing to make - just cranberries, sugar, and pomegranate juice cooked together.  I'm the only one who likes cranberries (I'm not sure how I managed to find a whole family that doesn't eat the best part of Thanksgiving, but I did....).   I'm still not sure how I feel about the pomegranate element.  I think I may have preferred a cranberry/apple combo instead, and I might try that next year. 

The last thing on our menu was green beans. I'm not sure that needs much of a review.  I just made our basic, usual, steamed green beans.  Why?  Because we all like them, that's why.  Sometimes, simple is all you really need. 

Recipe Review #2 (This is so Cheesy!)

Well, as I said, I watched that Bobby Flay Thanksgiving dinner throwdown and became sure that Ree Drummond was my cooking hero.  My Thanksgiving dinner was completed, in large part, thanks to her blog.  That's where I found the recipe for Perfectly Perfect Pumpkin Cheesecake.  I don't remember which page it was initially on, (heck, it might even have been in a tweet!) but I ultimately found it through her blog site at the Tasty Kitchen, and thank goodness I did!  It...  Is...  Amazing!

I hadn't made a cheesecake in YEARS, so I decided a trial run before turkey day was in order.  The Saturday before Thanksgiving, I made one of these bad boys, and was pleasantly surprised at 1) how easy it was, and 2) how DELICIOUS it was.  I was especially surprised that it turned out well because I made a couple of changes to get rid of the wheat gluten...  I used gluten-free ginger cookies to make the crust, and I used brown rice flower instead of wheat flour in the main recipe.  Apparently, it didn't hurt a thing.  That trial cheesecake had a major portion gone on Sunday within hours of cutting into it.   I took what was left to Jenn and Rad on Monday, and Sarah was greatly disappointed when she found out I'd removed it from the house.  :) 

The Thanksgiving edition of this one was a hit, as well.  A little whipped cream on top of a slice of this, and we were good to go!  And this one stayed right here at home...  well, for a couple of days, anyway. 

Thanksgiving Recipes Reviewed - The Bird

I made almost everything for last week's Thanksgiving dinner from scratch, and I used almost all new recipes.  I figure that means I should sit down and think about those recipes - give them a good review.   
The whole idea of "cooking it all" started the week before Thanksgiving, when I was watching the Bobby Flay Throwdown with Ree Drummond Thanksgiving show.  It all looked so good.  They were making everything from scratch, with fresh ingredients, and everything looked delicious.  And I always prefer "from scratch" anyway, so that I can know exactly what's in the food I'm eating.   That's partly because I don't do gluten so I kinda need to know what's in it, and it's partly because I really do believe natural is better, and healthier.  And you can't have natural if you're buying processed stuff and don't really know what's in it...

ANY way... back to the recipes.  The one thing that seemed furthest from my "norm" for Thanksgiving dinner was the brine for my turkey.  I've never used a brine.  For anything.  I've never known anyone who has.  But I kept reading all sorts of rave reviews about how it could make all the difference in the world.  So...  I decided to go for the brine.

According to everything I read, the key to a good brined turkey was to use a fresh - not frozen - turkey.  So Tuesday after work I hightailed it over to Country Market and picked up a good lookin' fresh 15-pound bird. I'd decided to go with Ree Drummond's recipe for a brine.  I don't know why, exactly.  I suppose just because I really enjoy reading her blog, and because everything she made on the Throwdown episode looked amazing. 

I got up early Wednesday morning, and got to the business of brine.  I had to get it done super-duper early so it could cool, and I could get the bird, affectionately named "Bob" by the H.H., into his bath before I left for work.  I'll admit it was pretty simple to prepare, and it smelled darned good when it was heating up.

Once the brine was cooked and then cooled, I transferred it to a HUGE stock pot, and submerged Bob.  I put the lid on, heaved it all into the refrigerator (a couple gallons of brine over a 15-pound turkey in a huge stock pot is not exactly light), and forgot about it.  I didn't even think about Bob, or the brine, until 8:30 am on Thanksgiving day, when I thoroughly rinsed him and got him ready for the oven.

For roasting, I mostly stuck to the basics - put him in a roasting pan, tightly covered him with a foil tent, so forth and so on.  The one NOT so basic thing I tried this year was this - I covered the breast with a length of cheesecloth that had been soaked in butter, and at the end of the roasting time, I basted solely with butter.   

All-in-all, the turkey turned out to be quite good, in my own humble opinion.  Much moister than any turkey I've ever made before.  I'll definitely brine again. And baste with butter.  I guess it's true - everything really is better with butter.  ; )