A Walk In The Woods

Weather cooperated with us today and I was able to take the girls outside for some fresh air and a walk in the woods. I've been wanting to get a picture like this for awhile now and wanted to time it with the girls walking under that fallen tree that arched across the path. Youngest started to pull away from her sisters and walked back to me with arms outstretched, saying, "Up, up!" When I tried to put her back down by the arched tree, no go. Her legs clamped around me and her little hands clenched my sweater in her fists. I like this picture, though.

Our time outside was cut short, when Youngest fell face-first into a pile of branches. All I could see was that one sturdy branch and I saw it connect with the top of her forehead. As quickly as it happened, she was just as quickly in my arms, wailing and crying. Thankfully, it was just a scratch about 2 inches long, broken skin but no blood. Whew.. Her guardian angel was looking out for her today. I carried her back into the house and she clung to me, wanting more comfort and then I mentioned "hot chocolate" and she released me, running to the fridge where she knows the makings of hot chocolate live. Hot chocolate and warm banana bread fresh from the oven cures all!

We will spend more time outside this weekend, if it isn't too cold. I'd like to gather greens and branches for garlands and maybe a wreath or two. Hope you all have a lovely weekend away from the hustle and bustle of the stores.

Rolling With The Punches

This Live Oak tree in Florida is over 200 years old. It was astonishing to walk up to this tree and admire the arching branches, humongous in size, and seemingly graceful in the way the limbs reach to the ground. This tree is protected and has become a tourist attraction. I can only imagine what this tree has seen, and the fact that it has survived over 200 years of hurricanes, disease, overzealous lumberjacks, termites and rot is no small feat. They built a deck around the base of the tree, to keep people from trampling the roots, but you are also welcome to climb and sit and pose for pictures on it's branches. It was an amazing tree to see and nearly impossible to capture the size of it on camera.

This tree has got me thinking about just how fragile life can be, but also how determination can win out in the end. We wake up daily to a new day, not knowing what life has in store for us. We can make plans and map out our days, but the reality is, anything could happen. Good or bad, the unexpected shapes our lives. It could be as small as running out of ketchup and milk and making an unplanned stop at the grocery store, then while there, bumping into an old friend which leads to an invite to dinner. Or as big as someone announcing an engagement which will then change the lives of two people and their families.

It's how you deal with the unexpected that shows what kind of person you are. I know some that can roll with the punches and it never fazes them. Then others that are very resistant to change and buckle at the slightest upset. I like to think I am somewhere in between, leaning more to the flexible side. I like stability in my life and tend to avoid confrontation or crazy over scheduling. I think I deal with the unexpected with a cool head and manage to turn it into: "since we're here...might as well!" On a smaller scale, it's like taking bananas that have gone over-ripe and making banana bread out of them. On a larger scale, it is losing a job that forces you to re-evaluate your priorities, figuring out what is absolutely necessary and what is simply, a luxury.

I made bread the other night, which gave Hubby an excuse to propose to me again when he put my wedding ring back on my finger. In all sincerity, he asked me if I would marry him, for richer or poorer, with emphasis on the poorer part. I replied, yes. I didn't marry him for money, I married him for love. And I do love him. For richer or poorer. A rejection letter came in today for a job Hubby interviewed for and we're rolling with the punches on this job searching. Tomorrow is another day. We're rolling.

Birthday Boy

Today is my husband's birthday.
I don't know what I would do without that man.
He means the world to me and our children.
Without him, they would not exist.
He is a loving father, though sometimes stern;
a single look from him quiets the girls quicker than when I holler and plead for them to behave.
I love that the girls only need to bat their eyes and smile, then he melts and dissolves.
He is a man in a house full of women, and he loves it.
He does a perfect imitation of a gorilla, and the girls love it when he becomes gorilla daddy.
Oldest calls him her furball.
He beams when he has all three of his girls in his arms.
I beam too.
He has a lovely shiny head and when he puts on his shades, combined with his goatee and his size,
he looks quite mean.
I have seen other men look him up and down and hold the door open for him.
I have seen small children cower when he comes near.
But I know that deep down, he is a pussy cat.
He's my pussy cat.
Shh, don't tell anyone.
I came home one day, to find he pierced his ear by himself.
A gold hoop now dangles from his pirate ear.
He loves music and there is not a moment when the radio isn't on.
We blew a fuse in the van that shut the radio off and poor man was miserable for the rest of the drive.
A fuse was quickly bought and replaced.
Peace was restored.
The music played on, no fat lady singing here.
He makes me laugh just to hear my high-pitched squeal.
He likes my high-pitched squeal.
He lets me warm my cold toes on him at night;
then I get to hear him squeal!
The man has a great palate, and I am always testing him, asking if he can taste what spices I used.
He is usually right 95% of the time.
I like to mix things up just to confuse him, but he is too smart for me!
When I take off my wedding ring to knead bread or make meatloaf, he puts it back on my finger--
proposing to me every time.
I always say "yes".
He wears the same aftershave since I've met him.
I don't like the way it smells when he puts it on,
so he puts it on at the last minute, before he heads out the door.
Just for me.
But I love the way he smells after he's been marinating in said aftershave at the end of the day.
He loves me;
just the way I am.
And I love him;
just the way he is.
Happy Birthday, baby.

Post-Thanksgiving

We went to the city for Thanksgiving with Hubby's family. We decided to leave Wednesday and make a few stops along the way before arriving at the In-Law's for the night. Stopped to see my mom, had lunch, went to the super-duper used bookstore, then on to see some friends and drop off their extra luggage storage rack we borrowed for our trip to Florida. I like when we can get multiple things done all on one shot, saving both gas and time, not to mention money, too.

It was good to see everybody and Thanksgiving dinner was great! My mother-in-law got smart this year and ordered a pre-cooked turkey with all the trimmings from the local food store. They went to pick it up on Thanksgiving morning and it included just about everything you would need, even a pie of your choice. All she had to do was heat the turkey in the oven for about 2 hours and heat everything else up in the microwave. She didn't need to slave over a hot stove in a hot kitchen and instead, spent time with her 6 grandchildren. The dinner was really good, surprisingly, with the exception of the stuffing. I asked if they would do it again and was it worth the price (I don't know what they paid) and they both said yes.

We set up the Christmas tree today and stayed home, far away from crazy shoppers. I used to be one of those people that got up at 5 am to go in and get some things for cheap. But these last few years, I've not wanted to participate in that anymore. It's gotten crazy and the stores encourage it! One of the sales papers (I can look!) had advertised their sale hours to be from 4 (!!!) am until 11 am and "once it's gone, it's gone!" So unless you get there before 11, you get it for the sale price, unless, of course, it's gone! Another ad said they would start giving out tickets to people in line starting at 3 am and they didn't open until 5 am. The TV news showed people camping out in front of the stores last night and it was COLD up here.. the temps were in the 30's not counting the wind chill and it was crazy windy with trees falling over and everything.

Anyway, we stayed home, cut out paper snowflakes and set up our tree.It was a nice relaxing day, eating leftover turkey club sandwiches and pie for dinner.

This is a square folded into sixths.. folded in half then folded 1/3 and again 1/3. Snip away and then unfolded it looks like this:

Hubby, Oldest and I all had fun cutting out snowflakes. Middle wasn't interested in the slightest and Youngest was smartly put down for a nap by me. Here is our collection of snowflakes:

Do be prepared to sweep or vacuum when you're done with the snowflake making... You'll have quite a papery mess on the floor!
I hope you all are having a lovely time and enjoying all the leftovers! Have a good weekend!

Bagels, Anyone?

My first try with making bagels was a delicious success! The recipe I used came from my old cookbook: Better Homes and Gardens New Cookbook, dated 1981. Mom gave it to me when I was just a kid and starting to show an interest in cooking without her help. It is looking tattered now, and favorite recipes are marked with a smiley face and recipes I've tried that I didn't like get the frown face with a tongue sticking out. It's been a good cookbook to me over the years, and I have bought or received others, but this one remains my go-to book.

I never had a bagel until I went away to the deaf school when I was 13. In the cafeteria, they had a little bread corner with a conveyor toaster and I'd see these funny looking, donut shaped rolls. I didn't know what they were, so like any normal kid, I didn't bother with them and stuck to the plain white bread. One of my roommates would toast a bagel for breakfast everyday and when dinner was kind of gross, the bagel was her fall-back meal. She'd slather this white stuff all over it and eat it with gusto! I didn't like mayo at the time, and I thought the white stuff was a cousin of the mayo. My curiosity got the best of me and I toasted my first bagel and used butter and jam. Yummy! I learned the "white stuff" was called cream cheese and I ventured in trying just a thin layer of cream cheese on my buttered bagel. Hm, not bad. I have since progressed to toasted flavored bagels with a thick layer of cream cheese, no butter.

The bagels I made are very similar to the Lender's frozen bagels. Same size and texture. I didn't make the holes big enough so when you let the dough rise, it choked out the holes. Next time I'll know to make the holes bigger. Hubby is telling me to make more and freeze them for later. I calculated the cost of making them VS buying them and it comes out about the same, only by making them, I know exactly what is going into my bagels. I made 12 and the next time, I'll probably double it and make 24, some for now, some to freeze.

Have you tried anything new in the kitchen lately?

**Here's the Bagel Recipe if you want to try making your own...

4 1/2 to 4 3/4 cups all-purpose flour (I use unbleached flour)
2 packages active dry yeast
1 1/2 cups warm water (110 to 115 degrees)
3 tbsps sugar
1 tbsp salt
1 tbsp sugar

In a mixer bowl combine 1 1/2 cups of the flour and the yeast. Combine warm water, the 3 tbsps sugar and salt. Pout over flour mixture. Beat at low speed of electric mixer 30 seconds, scraping bowl. Beat 3 minutes at high speed. Stir in as much remaining flour as you can mix in with a spoon.

Turn out onto a lightly floured surface. Knead in enough remaining flour to make a moderately stiff dough that is smooth and elastic (6 to 8 minutes total). Cover; let rest 10 minutes. Cut into 12 portions; shape each into a smooth ball. Punch a hole into the center of each and pull gently to make a 2 inch hole. Place on a greased baking sheet. Cover; let rise 20 minutes. Broil 5 inches from heat 3 to 4 minutes, turning once (tops should not brown). Heat 1 gallon of water and the 1 tbsp of sugar to boiling; reduce heat. Cook 4 or 5 bagels at a time for 7 minutes, turning once; drain. Place on a greased baking sheet. Bake in a 375 oven for 25 to 30 minutes. Makes 12.

*You can add different herbs to make a herbed bagel by adding 2 tsps dried marjoram; or 1 tsp dried dillweed; or 1 tsp dried tarragon; or 1/2 tsp garlic powder to the flour/yeast mixture.

*You can make onion bagels by cooking 1/2 cup finely chopped onion in 3 tbsps of butter until tender, but not brown. Brush onion mixture over tops of bagels after first 15 minutes of baking.

*Poppy seed or Sesame seed bagels by brushing tops of bagels before baking with beaten egg and then sprinkling with poppy seed or toasted sesame seed.

Blank Menu

Day in and day out:

"What's for breakfast?

What's for lunch?

I'm hungry, mom, what's for dinner?

Can we have dessert?

Can I have a cookie/fruit snack/muffin?"

I am starting to feel a little burned out, trying to come up with a variety of meals that everyone will eat. Oldest is generally pretty good about eating everything on her plate. Middle needs lots of encouragement and she will turn her nose at most meat dishes with the exception of hot dogs and meatloaf. Youngest is going through a stage that Oldest and Middle both went through, but it is nerve-wracking to a mother-- eating very little, much like a bird. Today, though, for lunch I made homemade chicken noodle soup which happens to be one of Youngest's favorite meals and she just plowed through her bowl!

Now it is dinner-time again and I haven't a clue what to make. Seems like the past few days, the meal ideas have been slow to come and I stand in front of the open fridge staring, or in front of the pantry waiting for inspiration to strike. Sometimes an idea will come only to be shot down because I lack one of the main ingredients to make it and there is no suitable substitute. I could make a casserole with ground beef, cream of celery soup and tator tots-- absolutely simple and yummy, but no ground beef. How about bruschetta chicken with chopped pieces of chicken, mozzarella cheese, tomatoes and stuffing? Not enough chicken in the freezer. agh! I know! I'll make a shepard's pie with mashed potatoes and corn and ground be-- oh wait, no ground beef.

I go to Hubby and ask him if there is anything he'd like to eat? I'm hoping for a solid answer and I'll happily go into the kitchen to whip it up, and his answer sounds like this: "Whatever you want to make, baby." Agh! If I didn't have to worry about feeding the kids, I'd tell Hubby he is on his own tonight and I'd settle for a bowl of cereal.

I've had a lot of inspiration in the baking department these past few days, though, and I've made pumpkin muffins, oatmeal raisin cookies, grandma's white bread, cinnamon rolls, brown sugar chewies, and I am getting ready to tackle trying bagels for the first time. I've got such a craving for bagels and cream cheese that if I had some made already, that's what we'd be having for dinner right now! At least I know what we will be having for breakfast tomorrow morning. I'll let you know how my attempt at bagel-making turns out.

I'm off to go stare inside the fridge for another 10 minutes. Any yummy tried-and-true meal ideas that you always make? Kid pleaser and doesn't call for a gazillion ingredients? Care to share? Pretty please?

2 Birds With One Stone?

While I was working for the consignment shop, I managed to lose 5 pounds. Mostly because I was too busy to eat and because the store space was huge and I had to walk a mile just to get to the break room! I've been afraid to get on the scale for awhile now, because I am quite positive I gained it back and more. sigh...


Wouldn't one of these contraptions be nifty to have around the house? Instead of mindlessly riding on an exercise bike while watching TV, or having to get off a normal bike to walk it up the hill, you can ride one of these around the yard and cut the grass at the same time! I'm told it really works. It actually cuts the grass while you ride the bike. Not long after I took this picture, I kid you not, the lawn service people showed up, moved the bike to the driveway and spent the next 30 minutes cutting the grass. So much for exercise!