My So-Called Food Snobbery Explained

I've mentioned before that my husband thinks I'm a food snob. There's been a running joke here lately about his comment to me that it's okay if I make "regular food". So am I a food snob? Here's the deal. My mother was and is an excellent cook. If she didn't get my lunch packed before school, she would bring me something homemade at lunchtime. I was the envy of all my friends. When I got home from school, many times there were pepperoni rolls or cookies waiting. She made most everything from scratch and that made a huge impact on me. When I got married I was disturbed to find out that my husband would really secretly rather have the brightly colored macaroni and cheese from a box than mine. The nerve. We dated four years before we got married and I never knew this.



He has since come around to my way of thinking. Although last year I made a pizza with goat cheese on it and he said it tasted like armpit. Honestly though, I wasn't crazy about the goat cheese either. Mozzarella is just fine, but (here's where the snobbery comes in) fresh mozzarella is just much better. I asked him the other day if he wanted anything at the store and he asked for graham crackers and the "crappy" peanut butter, he so affectionately calls it. "Crappy" means the unnatural kind. Hey, I wouldn't change him a bit. Being different is what keeps things interesting.

So, yeah, I have some smug tendencies toward food. It can get you into trouble. A while back at our Bible study, I nearly caused my friend JenaRae's throat to close up when I brought tea that appeared to be simply tea but it was tea with chai. "Shoot, I forgot you were allergic to cinnamon!" Sorry Jena!



Lest you never want to have me over for dinner, let me just say the following: I do enjoy the perks of a cake mix. Velveeta (if you want to make queso late at night after the kids are in bed) is valuable. I make beans and cornbread; sometimes we have pancakes for dinner. Sometimes it's more important who you're cooking for than what is actually on the table. Okay, it's always more important who you're cooking for. I genuinely appreciate any and every effort in the kitchen, especially when done out of love for your family. So keep it up ladies (or gents), whatever your style of cooking may be! You will not be judged.




Happy Cooking!

Cooking Party for Jack

I can't believe that my oldest son is 5 years old now. He is such a delight, joyful and sweet. He has always loved to help me in the kitchen and while it may not be so convenient, I usually find him a little job to do while I'm cooking. It was for that reason we had a cooking party for him. We kept the guest list small and had the party at my mom's restaurant. Each child got to make their own pizza! I laid out a few yummy ingredients for topping the pizzas and my mom made delicious dough. We rolled out a small round of dough and placed each one on parchment paper where we wrote each child's name. After the kids were done decorating their pizzas the whole thing, parchment paper and all, went into the big commercial ovens to bake. Having the party at a restaurant made the whole thing very easy!



We had lots of mommies to oversee the fun. My friends are great to fill in the gaps of what I may have forgotten; one friend brought out some bottles of hand sanitizer during the pizza making.



While the pizzas were baking, the kids made their own fruit kabobs. Be warned that you're dealing with sharp sticks here. Little brothers and sisters did not join in on this and we had lots of moms to help out!



After everyone finished, the kids decorated cupcakes. For favors, I made some really easy aprons which were worn during the festivities. I just bought a big bag of white hand towels from Sam's, folded over the corners on the top and seamed down to make a slot for a ribbon. The ribbon goes around the child's neck then ties behind their back. Super easy and cheap! A week before the party I asked the moms of the party guests for favorite recipes of their kids. My husband printed up little cookbooks for all the kids to take home. This was a big hit! I found lots of ideas here and here.
It was a good time! My big 5 year old enjoyed it and so did I!

The Birthday Gift and My Last Chance

Just wanted to share what my husband made me for my birthday. It's called a cold frame. You start your seeds in small containers and keep them in here while it's still cold outside.



It did it's job well. All the little plants look great and were planted in their permanent spot in the garden this weekend. Gardening has never been my domestic strong point, but I'm giving it another shot! I was a little surprised that he made this for me, knowing I have a reputation for stinking at gardening. He told me this weekend that if the garden didn't do well, that was it-this was our last chance. Shoot. The pressure's on. I'm not prepared for this to work this time. I haven't done enough research. I don't know which plants need full sun. But, if I see any critters out there eating the plants, I'm going to sit in a tree with a BB gun.

Super Easy Craft for Your Little Reader

I came across this awhile back in an issue of Highlights. I thought it was a great way to show Isabelle's progress in reading. She has a big stack of second grade chapter books to go through and this lets her see how far she's come.



It's a bookworm! I wrote the titles of her finished books on the circles before gluing. She helped cut out the circles and added the legs and smiley. Isn't he cute? We left lots of space for more circles to add as she finishes more books.
Now if we can just find a project to help encourage her progress in math...

Last Day of Winter

Birthdays

This is birthday month in our house. I turned the big 3-0 on Friday and my husband and son also have birthdays this weekend. Once that's over, my little girl will be next in April. Which means lots and lots of cake. I was just beginning to make some progress getting back into shape after baby then the holidays. I cannot resist the cake, especially when it is my mom's. My husband surprised me Friday with a little party. It was a special evening that took place here.



This dear friend gave me all I needed to sew a bag from a great book, Handmade Home. I tried everything possible to link to the book, but had no success. Normally I would blame that on my computer, but it's probably my fault. Just google it, it's great. I had been wanting to make it but had been putting it off. Gina cut everything for me so all I had to do was sew. She's a gem, I tell 'ya. Here's the finished product. Looks great, I think.



Hubby's making me a special gift that is nearly complete. It's pretty impressive. Hopefully some pics will come soon. It's a good opportunity to brag on him a bit.
More birthday fun coming!

Fabric Hearts Garland

I love Valentines Day. The colors, flowers, romance and just the plain fun of it! It is when I make up for all the baking I didn't get done at Christmas. Nothing tastes better than a heart shaped cookie with sprinkles.
We've been doing lots of crafting around here and this is a project I've been thinking about for awhile. We've seen this kind of thing for birthdays and Christmas, this one is just for Valentine's Day. I'll probably hang it in my girls' room after the day has passed.
This is very simple, just sewing wrong sides together and then doing a top-stitch.

A few tips:
I drew a heart on paper and traced it onto the wrong side of fabric. It's very simple to sew if you stitch right on the line. Don't forget to leave a little space to turn it right side out.

When you reach the points in the heart, stop with your needle down and then pivot. It makes for a nice heart shape.

Trim around the heart, leaving about 1/4 inch. Go back and trim a little more in the top inner corner and make a little notch right in the top point and then make little notches around the curves. This keeps the fabric from pulling after you turn it right side out.

Iron it smooth, pressing down your opening. Then do a little top-stitch.


I used one package of extra wide double fold bias tape binding to join all the hearts. I was thinking it might be nice to put a felt layer in between, but I didn't want to do an extra step.

This was pretty quick and easy and just looks adorable across the kitchen window.

Peppermint Marshmallows

A few of you have asked about this recipe, sorry I'm just now getting around to posting this. I had hoped to get it posted around Christmas, but I guess there's plenty of hot cocoa drinking weather left.
Okay, I know someone is out there rolling their eyes at the thought of homemade marshmallows, but these are easy and so much better than store bought. Even my husband, who thinks I am a bit of a food snob, loves these. This recipe is from Betty Crocker. Some people cut these out into shapes with a cookie cutter. I tried that the first time I made these, and it was difficult. Since then I've just cut them into squares. Also I'm sure you could leave out the peppermint if you want. I've never done that, but I think they would be just as good.

You'll need:
powdered sugar
2 1/2 TBS unflavored gelatin I used the box that has packets, I poured about 3-4 into a bowl and then measured it.
1/2 cup cold water
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1 cup corn syrup
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup water
1 tsp peppermint extract

Generously dust a 11x7 baking dish ( I use glass ) with the powdered sugar. Sprinkle gelatin on the 1/2 cup cold water in large mixing bowl and set aside.
Heat sugar, corn syrup, salt and 1/2 cup water in 2-quart saucepan over med-low heat, stirring constantly until sugar dissolves. Heat to boiling and cook without stirring to 250 degrees on candy thermometer or until small amount of mixture dropped into very cold water forms a ball that holds its shape but is pliable (firm ball stage). Remove from heat. I don't have a candy thermometer, so I just start testing it after about 5 minutes of boiling. I use a clear glass measuring cup of cold water and take small amounts out and drop into the water. It will separate, but when you can scoop them up and form them into a firm ball that can be squished you're ready to take it off the heat. It usually takes between 10-15 minutes. It sounds complicated, but it's really very simple.
Now, that's the hardest part. Next, slowly pour syrup into your softened gelatin while beating with electric mixer on high speed. Beat until mixture is white and has almost tripled in volume. Now add your peppermint and beat on high 1 minute. Pour into prepared pan and sprinkle with lots of powdered sugar and pat with hands. Let stand uncovered 8 hours. Last time my husband and I couldn't wait 8 hours and I cut them after 6 and it was fine.
Turn pan upside down onto wax paper and more powdered sugar. Cut into shapes or use a knife dipped in water to cut into squares.
The original recipe says to store in airtight container up to 3 weeks, but they keep much longer than that. And it makes a lot. They're fun to give as gifts in little cellophane bags. I dust more sugar around the cut marshmallows to keep them from sticking. Plus it looks pretty!

Simplicity

These days the simple things mean so much to me. So thankful that God has been working in my heart to bring contentment.
Enjoy your week.

Jonah

Meet Jonah Timothy Paice, born September 15, 2009.
God is great. I'm so thankful that me and this little gift were safe after the delivery. I approached Jonah's arrival with a lot of fear. Fear for myself and the baby during the delivery, and lots of concern about how I was going to manage another little one in the home. Having been unplanned, the thought of another baby so soon took all of the nine months to get used to. While I was excited to have another baby, I still felt unprepared for this unexpected gift. I say all that to say that God's grace is so amazing. I'm so glad that God is in control and gave me this blessing in my life even though I don't deserve it. I didn't plan for this, but God did, and if He didn't, I wouldn't have Jonah.

Fried Pickles

When you find you have an enormous amount of pickles in your fridge, do what I did and slice 'em up and fry them. I recently bought a huge jar of pickles simply because I wanted the huge jar for something else (I love jars). I emptied the pickles into a very large bowl and now we are eating lots of pickles and the fridge is really smelly.
So, I found this recipe and they made a really delicious afternoon snack for the kids and me. I realize that this has zero nutritional value, don't worry, we ate plenty of fruit and good stuff that day too. Also, they had me reaching for the Tums later.

Anyway, these were really tasty. I didn't use nearly the amount of red pepper the recipe calls for, and I was low on paprika. So use caution with all that spice. I was thinking they needed a dipping sauce, but I didn't come up with anything; I'll leave that to your creative devices.

Enjoy!

Strawberry Pie and Perfect Pie Crust

I made this pie for a dear friend after she had a baby and just in case I would have time to blog about it, I took some pictures. Recently she asked for the recipe, so here it is.
I'll start with my pie crust recipe. I realize that you can buy pie crust already made, but I genuinely enjoy making my own. I'm not sure where this recipe originated, but it's been in my family for a long time. I've been making it for probably ten or so years, and it always turns out great. This recipe will yield two or more pies, depending on whether they are double-crust and the size of your pie plate.
Here we go...

Perfect Pie Crust

4 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp salt
1 TBS sugar
Mix these together, then cut in:
1 3/4 cup crisco (I usually do a bit less)
Just cut in until it looks crumbly, I use a pastry blender at first then usually finish with my hands.
Next mix in the wet ingredients:
1 egg
1/2 cup water
2 TBS vinegar (apple cider or white)
Just mix with a fork until blended. I always roll mine out into a circle and fit into my pan, but you can also press it in. Finish your edges however you like it and that's it. Use this with any pie recipe; I make a bunch for Thanksgiving for pumpkin and chocolate pecan. Also, don't try to use butter in place of the crisco. It spreads too much.
If you are making this for a pie that you will not bake, such as the strawberry pie, you will need to pre-bake the crust. Just line it with foil and bake at 450 for 8 minutes, remove foil and bake for about 4 minutes more.

Now onto the strawberry pie...Again, don't know where this originated.
Use the above pie crust or a graham cracker one is good too.
Place in a saucepan:
1 1/4 cup apple juice
1/2 cup sugar
3 TBS cornstarch
Mix and stir these over medium heat. You want to cook this just until it starts to thicken up. The original recipe said "cook and stir 2 minutes", but it takes longer than that. I just let it cook until it starts to look cloudy and feels thicker with my whisk. You may even turn up the heat a bit.
Remove from heat and stir in:
1 pkg of strawberry jello (4 serving size) I use sugar-free
Stir 2 minutes
Now place about 2 cups sliced strawberries in your crust and pour the mixture over the berries. Chill two hours and of course, serve with whipped cream.

Grace and Expectations

Hello again. I've been wanting to post something for so long, but not having the time or let's face it, energy, it has taken a back seat. I am in my 19th week of pregnancy and feeling so much better. There are days when I wonder how in the world I will be able to manage things in the next few months, yet there are also days when my children are delightful, the cleaning gets done and dinner is on the table. There are going to be good days and bad days.
Lately I have been thinking so much about how much God has blessed me. I commented to my husband the other day when he was talking about God's blessing of our children that I feel so undeserving of what He's given me. Then again, when are we ever deserving of His grace? So many things to be thankful for.
Spring is here and with that comes a long list of projects. This is a list that is composed of projects that will get done and some that I will later decide are too lofty. Every year I want a big garden. However, the seeds that survive and don't get gobbled up by birds and actually grow into plants meet their fate of being gobbled up by deer. One year, I carefully planted an herb garden right outside the front door thinking the plants would be safe from the deer. I never considered something would come from under the ground and eat the seeds, but that is what I found- lots of little tunnels in the dirt, but no seeds. It pains me to not be able to accomplish this domestic goal. Especially since my parents and grandparents were always so successful at gardening.
I guess it's a good reminder that I can't do it all. I seem to constantly need this reminder. Sometimes it's in the form of a failed garden, sometimes a failed recipe, and sometimes a soggy load of laundry that didn't make it into the dryer. Over the past few years, I've been able to do less and less. Amazingly, I'm becoming more and more used to that idea, and letting go of my high expectations has freed me up to enjoy other things. Things like watching my oldest ride her bike without training wheels, my son and his amazing zest for life which he gets honestly from his father, and my baby who over the past couple of days has become quite the talker.
This post has been all over the map, but that is life around here lately. Lots of learning and lots of letting go.
By the way, sorry about the candy corn border. I will deal with that later; I'm letting that go.

Where I've Been

It seems like in my life, God is always teaching me about control. About how I really have none and to free myself from all kinds of stress, I have to surrender it to Him.
I've always struggled, especially since I've had children, with worry. I worry about so many things, then I worry that I'll pass this on to my children. I worry so much that over the past couple of years, I've struggled with an occasional rapid heartbeat that the doctor could only conclude was due to a build-up of a stress hormone. I never thought that I'd be the kind of person you'd find breathing into a paper bag.
Anyway, around Christmas, I was feeling so in control. I was having all kinds of domestic fun (my favorite kind) and had all of these plans for the new year. My plans did not include another baby right now. But on the day after New Year's I found out that I am expecting again. This came as a huge shock to my husband and I. While we've always wanted more kids, this was a little sooner than we'd planned. I found my head swimming with all sorts of emotions. The biggest one was fear. I was scared of the morning sickness, of neglecting my children during the rough spots, and of just trying to manage with another baby.
I don't think there has ever been a time in my life where I felt so overwhelmed. But, I am a child of God and I found myself remembering truths from His Word that were such an encouragement. One of the very first things I did after I found out was pray for God's grace. I pleaded with God on my bathroom floor for His grace and mercy. Although I'm not deserving of it, He gave it to me. He has been so faithful to me through all of this. I have been so humbled by what God has done in my life through this unexpected blessing. To Him be the glory.
So that is where I've been. I wasn't sure if I should be honest about this for fear that someone would judge me for not simply embracing and rejoicing about this obvious gift in my life. However, I'm not perfect and I'm just so thankful that God takes me as I am. He didn't turn His back on me when I was struggling to accept His plan. He has brought me to a place of rejoicing from a place of fear and dread. I thank Him for His patience and faithfulness to me. I'm not in control, but my Heavenly Father is.

Celebrating and Sewing

Greetings all. I hope you are all enjoying the Christmas season. Things have been busy around here. I have caught the sewing bug and for the past couple of weeks I have not been able to stop. My husband came home from a meeting the other night about 9:30 and heard the sewing machine going. He asked me if the sweat shop was still open. I'm making most of the gifts this year and of course got a late start, therefore I have been sewing like a mad woman.
We are in the midst of celebrating advent and are doing an activity each day to count down the days 'till Christmas day. Some are really simple, like letting the kids build a tent with blankets. The other day our activity was a special story and hot cocoa. The kids helped me make the cocoa mix and we enjoyed it in front of a fire while I read this sweet book called "The Small One."




It was a favorite of my husband when he was little. I can never get through it without tearing up.
Here is my hot chocolate recipe. I found it years ago in Better Homes and Gardens. It is really good. You can leave out the anise seed if you want, but don't be afraid to try it. The flavor is good and not at all overpowering.



All is Calm Hot Chocolate
8 oz semi or bitter-sweet chocolate (I just use chips and only about 6 oz)
2/3 cup sugar
1/2 cup cocoa
1/2 tsp anise seed toasted and crushed (toast in a dry skillet until they smell toasted I guess, and I crush them in a clean coffee grinder)
1/2 tsp cinnamon

Combine all ingredients and spoon into a jar or bag and cover.
To make 4 servings:
Combine 2/3 cup mix and 1/4 cup water in saucepan. Stir over medium heat until chocolate is melted and mixture is smooth. Whisk in 4 cups milk and heat through.

Here is another favorite craft idea that we did last year. I really liked it and decided to do it again. I think I saw it in a Better Homes and Gardens craft book.
All you need is tissue paper and contact paper.
Tear the tissue paper into strips of different sizes. Lay your contact paper out, sticky side up and lay your tissue paper strips on to make a picture. We made Christmas trees. It's pretty easy for kids. Mine just needed help building a tree shape. Make your picture on half the contact paper then just fold it over and smooth out when your done. I had some sequins that we threw in for sparkle.
Then just tape your picture to a window. It's really pretty and festive.
It's great for kids, anybody can tear paper.





We are trying to keep things simple this year and focus on the real meaning of Christmas. I've been praying that God would give us opportunities to give this Christmas. I really want our children to understand sacrifice and giving.

Well, the sewing machine is beckoning. Have a good week!