Brand Spankin' New

When we moved into this house there was a working side by side refrigerator, with a good sized dent in it.  I'm not fond of that style, but it worked, so we've stuck with it the past three years.  We couldn't put anything in the top third of the fridge that gets damaged by freezing.  It didn't hold a week's worth of milk for our family with the other groceries we would need.  In other words it was a bit inconvenient, but we did okay by working out a system of what went where and stopping by the store mid-week to pick up produce and some milk.

It developed a new noise recently though.  We are eligible for a family discount through the company Justin's dad retired from, so we decided it would be better to replace it now, with the discount, rather than have to buy whatever we could get at full price in a hurry, while we juggled food and insulin.

In all the appliances we've purchased in all our years of marriage, I think this is my favorite.

 The only thing it is short on is crisper space.  I plan to get a little bin to put fruit in to make it easy for the kids to get a piece for snack and free up drawer space.

Isn't she pretty?

Summer Skills - Kate Decorates

This summer each of the girls has chosen a skill to work on.

Kate picked cake decorating.  I didn't happen to take a picture of the first cake we worked on together, but I did get the next two!

We went to visit my parents for Father's Day.  Since we hadn't seen my mom on Mother's Day we made a combined cake.  On half I drew the outline of a vase and placed roses (one of the skills one would learn later in cake decorating).  On the other side I outlined a tie.

Katie filled in the outlines with different tips, drew the stems, leaves, made her first attempt at writing on a cake, and did the edges with a little assistance.

I think it turned out quite well!

The next week I mentioned a gal from our small group at church was having a birthday.  After confirming we would see her that evening, Kate set to work on a cake for her.

  

I helped mix up the icing for her and gave advice.  I helped squeeze the bag as she lettered "Happy", but by the time we got to "Birthday" her hand was tired of the constant steady squeezing required, so I helped more on that word.  I did very little else, aside from the bottom on the sides with the handles--a tight place to work.

Kate and Ellie with our friend

She really enjoyed doing something special for someone.  Our friend felt special because she was thought of too.  Well that, and because Ellie lets her hold her!

I can't wait to see how Kate's skills blossom as she grows in strength and dexterity and with practice.  I sure wasn't decorating cakes at her age!

What's Cooking

I made these kale chips.  Justin loved them.  The kids hated them.  Such is life!

I also made strawberry preserves.  They are very good! Even if the recipe says it is jam...I'm not sure the technical difference, but we always called this preserves...

What's Cooking?

We had a traditional Passover dinner during Holy Week, so I made apple walnut charoset, unleavened bread, and lamb chops (though I didn't bookmark that recipe).  I  use prepared horseradish, simple salt water, a hard boiled egg, and fresh vegetables for the rest of the meal.

I've also made a delicious broccoli salad.  So very good!

With a busy practice schedule, I made Apple Breakfast Bars to have on the go for the kiddos. I thought these were wonderful, and they disappeared quickly, though I made a double batch!

I think that might actually be all that was new in my kitchen this month.  We've been gone in the afternoons quite a bit, and I've cut back on my baking.

What's Cooking

Since it is the end of the month, and I'm sure everyone has been waiting with baited breath (Ha!) to see what I've been cooking lately, here it is...

I made spanakopita bites to take to a ballet recital/tutorial ceremony thingy.  We haven't actually eaten them yet though!  They are supposed to freeze well, and since our thingy is on a weekday evening, I made them up ahead of time.  Justin got to eat the first, awkwardly shaped, one.  He assures me they are awful, while simultaneously asking if I need others disposed of, so evidently he thinks we should keep them here--good news.

I made the Italian Wonderpot recipe.  I've seen it around for awhile.  We thought it was quite good.  It was a bit light on the protein for Justin, so he was still hungry.  I think perhaps I'll make it even more Mediterranean by adding some beans at the end when I make it again.

The kids aren't big fish fans, so we always have fish on Friday's during Lent, despite being Protostant, because we think the practice is food for them (on more than one level)!  I made Crab Cakes, but we really weren't impressed.  I much preferred the tuna ones I made from an old fashioned cookbook--if you know what that is, these days!

For dinner tonight I'm making wraps.  They are inspired by Pioneer Woman, but in my true style, they are only vaguely reminiscent of her recipe, since I used more what we had on hand and less sun dried tomatoes and feta cheese type things.

Have you found any great new recipes lately?

Laundry

If you've been around long, then you know that laundry is not my favorite thing to do to keep the household running.  I decided to do a couple of things to make it more enjoyable.

 The first is I made cute labels for the jars I use for my laundry ingredients.

I had them labeled, practically, with a Sharpie, but I much prefer these pretty labels.

The second is I'm going to add some of these to the wash rotation in September.

We're expecting our fourth little one in September of this year!

We can't wait to meet him or her!  The girls are over the moon excited.  They are dancing and singing about the baby.  Nate, well, I'm not sure he quite gets it.

  

Back to Granola

Have you been reading about GMO corn?  It is getting a lot of bad press, and the studies are pretty condemning.  Corn is everywhere.  It is in so much of the prepared foods we purchase.  While I do a great deal of cooking, I do still buy things with corn in the mix--BBQ sauce, ketchup, and the one that has really been bugging me is cereal.  Condiments, those are occasional use, but cereal, the kids eat that on a regular basis.

I've never been one that would buy chocolate flavored cereal or the kind with the mini-marshmallows, as much as I remember enjoying them as a kid.  My kiddos had plenty enough energy without the extra sugar, plus add Justin's diabetes to the mix, we just don't do it.  After much cajoling and me checking the sugar content of a cereal, the kids convinced me to buy a cereal with pink icing.  It made me ill to pour it.  That was the last straw.  Ick.  They were going to eat that!

I went back hunting and found a granola recipe.  Most of the time I'm looking for ways to save our family money and this does cost more, corn crops are subsidized after all, but it isn't a ridiculous expense--I'm estimating it will cost $6.75 (plus any dried fruit or nuts we choose to add) as opposed to the $5.38 I paid for that icky stuff, for the same number of servings.

Here's the recipe I used as our basis--though I'm guessing it will take about 2 times that amount to feed the kiddos granola for 5 days.

I hope your week is going well.  It is spring cleaning week around here, so I've been a busy Mama.  I've washed windows and curtains, scrubbed toilets and floors, laundered blankets and pillows, and done my annual dusting.  Oh, you're supposed to do it more often than that?  Oops.

I am big on clean bathrooms and kitchens.  I clean the floors regularly.  Unfortunately dust and clutter don't really faze me.  And while I do dust more than once a year, it is definitely not every week!  So this week I'm doing some of those things that get put off and pushed aside.  And then there is the dumping ground: our bedroom is the dumping stop for confiscated things, all things in need of repair, and clothes outgrown.

The littles think it is grand fun.  Windows without curtains are great for looking out of, laundry is fun to toss in, it is fun to 'clean' with damp rags, and Mama sure is funny carrying all those things from one room to another.

I got my nifty pop-up book in the mail this week.  I'll have to tell you all about that and my latest used book sale soon, but for now I'm off to make some lunch for my munchkins and then head back to clean!

In case you ever wondered...

coffee can and will explode in the microwave.

I had read a recipe calling for strong coffee. We had regular coffee, so I reasoned that I could drive off some of the water and have the strong coffee required for my little recipe.

I am a reasonable person, so I heated the coffee for a couple of minutes and then stopped, so it wouldn't boil over. I came back twenty or thirty minutes later to heat it again. After one minute and eight seconds the coffee went boom and the microwave stopped (on it's own), flashing :52 at me.

I scrubbed out the microwave around the measuring cup until it had a chance to cool. Then I moved it and scrubbed some more. The inside was sparkling clean, but the big question was, "Will the microwave work after having exploding coffee in it?"

The answer is a thankful yes. I guess I'll forego the coffee milkshake. Or at least think of a better way to make 'strong coffee.'

Dish Washin'

We bought this house nearly a month ago, knowing that the dishwasher wasn't usable. We opted to wait to order one until after closing, since there had been a few bumps along the way and we didn't want to have a dishwasher show up and not be able to get inside to hook it up. Besides, we weren't moving in for a week, and I could wash dishes by hand for a few days if it came to that.

Then the dishwasher wasn't immediately available, as we were ordering directly from the manufacturer. When it was to be available, our order had to be delayed due to Kate's camp, since I couldn't be available the entire day while I was with her in the mornings. Since then it has been delayed three more times. In the course the the past month we've used disposable plates a grand total of once (when we had company over for pizza and I was expecting to have 19 of us). That's a whole bunch of dishes we've been washing for a family of five!

Then today the delivery company I set a day and time with yesterday called and said, oh yeah, we don't install. I already paid for installation! And while I consider myself moderately good at doing things around the house that don't require heavy lifting, I don't know how to install a dishwasher.

I asked why the manufacturer picked them (out of all the available delivery companies in the world) and why, oh why, did they accept the order. Well, it seems that the fellow who set it up on the delivery company's end didn't know they don't install dishwashers (How did that happen?) and the manufacturer assumed that they did install. You know, since he didn't tell them otherwise. So now what do we do...

Since we ordered through Justin's dad, who worked for the manufacturer from which we ordered (we get the family discount...which truly is a good price), we have to go through him. We're asking him to see what can be done if anything to remedy this. So one of these days I'll get my nice shiny dishwasher, and one of these days we'll have it hooked up so that it works, but I'm not precisely sure which of these days that will be.

So if you need me,

I'll be here.

Curio

Can I let you in on a secret? I have a hard time letting things go...in other words I'm a bit of a pack rat. I'm pretty good about somethings, but I have a hard time letting go of the sentimental. We don't have much of great value, but I like my memories!

Thankfully, I have a nice, pretty place to display some of these trinkets now.


A few years ago, I inherited my grandmother's curio cabinet.


It has the kids baby shoes (and mine too),


The girls' silver cups and a figurine that was a gift when I was expecting Kate,


Willow Tree figurines from a sweet gal who worked with my mom--one for Kate when her great grandmother died and one for us when we bought our house in Kansas,


Our wedding cake topper,


An ornament we bought on our honeymoon,


Doilies tatted by great, great grandmothers,


Folded paper stars from our exchange student from Denmark and a teeny tiny tea set that my Grannie bought for me when I was a little girl.

So maybe I was stalling a bit on my unpacking by taking pictures...shhh.

Chocolate Valances

I thought I'd show you how I made our valances. These will be going on all the downstairs windows (since all the rooms are open to each other)--dining room, study, living room, and at the sliding door for the eat in kitchen.

The first step is to measure your window. I have both 3' and 6' window (and door) openings to cover. You will double your width for your fabric, so for a 3' opening you'll want 6' of fabric (or 2 yards, as 3'=1 yard).

(My actual first step was to look for sales on valances. I couldn't find what I wanted at a price I was willing to pay. It cost me a little more to make the equivalent of 6 of the ones I had priced [2 for the longer spaces] for the cost of one of the ones I liked. This isn't always the case, so you might want to shop around first.)

Now to buy your fabric...you have a choice. For me, making four valances, it made sense to buy a full 4 yards of fabric. Alternatively, you can buy a smaller yardage and cut it into strips to be stitched into a long valance. If you do that, you'll probably want to put one width in the middle and then two smaller pieces on the sides...


Thus. It looks better than a seam in the middle.

You'll also need to buy fabric to line you valance. (*Note the widths of these fabrics may be different, so keep that in mind when planning how much to buy. And I used more of the lining fabric to make the rod pocket.)

If you want to wash your valances (and bought washable fabrics), wash them now so they don't shrink to different sizes once they are all stitched together.


Now to cut. I cut my valances to 18" tall and 6' and 12' wide respectively.

Place the fabric with right sides together.


(I'm showing this with a white fabric to show contrast--I actually lined with brown broad cloth.)

Stitch on the two short sides and one of the long widths. I don't bother with pins for this, but you can use straight pins if you prefer.

Turn your valance right side out.


Turn the bottoms of your fabric in and pin the pieces together. Stitch across the
pinned width.

The valance itself is done, but it needs a rod pocket to hang from. The simplest version would be to turn down several inches and straight stitch across, but this causes you to loose some of your height (or you have to spend more on fabric).

I chose to use more of the lining fabric, which was $2.99/yard as opposed to the front fabric, which was $8/yard, to make myself a pocket.



To do that I cut 5" tall widths of fabric. I pieced them to be 6' and 12' respectively. Turn the ends under and stitch.


Place the rod pocket 2 1/2" from the top of the valance.

I double turned the widths under (so the raw edge is protected) and pinned them.


Stitch at the top and bottom of the rod pocket.


Place on rod...Imagine this hanging over a window! :)

Kate-ism

Last week, Justin was later at work than I had expected, so I was going to grill our steaks--generally he does the grilling these days, since we try not to leave the children (Nate specifically) unattended for more than 15 seconds. Um, yeah. I couldn't get the grill to light. The ignitor went out, I tried to light it with a match, but well, fire and I don't get along very well, so that didn't work. I wound up with our steaks in the oven, under the boiler. My mom didn't use the boiler (if we had one--I'm not even sure that we did), so with no experience I pulled out my faithful Betty Crocker. Betty didn't have the particular cut of meat listed, so I made a guess. I guessed a few minutes too long, so our steaks were...a bit crispy.

Yesterday, Justin was outside with the kids. Kate, seeing the grill, noted, "I don't like my steak grilled. I prefer it burned."


(Kate with her 'unicorn,' a horse with an Elmo thermometer shoved in the bridle)

Dragonfly Quilt

I love, love, love making baby quilts. They are so fun. They go together quickly (since they are small), they are easier to move around on the machine to quilt (since they are small), and they are cute because of the subject (oh, and because they are small).

I had a friend decided to decorate her nursery in dragonflies, so I went shopping back in February before I got sick. I finally got my gumption back and got it mailed off last week--the baby is due in a couple of weeks, so I barely made it in time. Whew!

So here is Baby Samuel's quilt:

The center piece is embroidered and the yellow material has dragonflies in the print.

Adventures in Cooking: Hummus

Last week we ventured to the store before lunch one day last week. The same old, same old for lunch was sounding, well, old. So I picked up some hummus and pita bread. Kate tried it and liked it immediately. After watching Kate eat it Gabby decided to try it too. I figured Nate wouldn't like it, so I made him a peanut butter sandwhich, then he ate a third of my hummus. I think he would have eaten all of it, had I let him.

Since then I've been doing a little exploring into the possibility of making my own. The store bought was a tad expensive and we went through it quickly. I found it is a lot like ketchup--everyone has their own recipe, and they all have some of the same basic ingredients.

I tried it tonight with a basic idea of what went into it, but no real recipe. It turned out well. Here is (approximately) what I did, since I didn't measure.

First I couldn't find Tahini, so I placed an entire spice box container of sesame seeds (60 gram size) on a cookie sheet and roasted them for 5 minutes at 350*. As those cooled I assembled my other ingredients:

2 cans of chickpeas (16 oz size), drained
2 artichoke hearts (from a can), squeezed to drain
1/3-1/2 cup lemon juice
2 Tablespoons of minced garlic
1 Tablespoon parsley flakes
1/2 teaspoon of salt

In a food processor combine cooled sesame seeds with enough oil to make a thin-ish paste.

Add all (including the Tahini paste) to a food processor or blender (I used a Vitamix) and pulse until well combined.

Last week's hummus cost $3.49

This week's hummus cost $5.26 ($.84 chickpeas (each); $2.69 seeds; $2.68/3 for portion of artichokes used) for what I guess is three times the amount and the added splurge of artichoke hearts. I'm also going to venture to guess that there is a more economical way to procure tahini.

About a 50% savings.

Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

I made one of the girls favorite treats the other day. They are Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins. My oldest has tried to put aside bananas to turn brown before in hopes that I will make this for breakfast if our bananas turn brown. I made them for no particular reason this time.

The original recipe came from the February 2007 issue of Guideposts, but as I can never leave well enough alone...it is no longer the recipe from the February 2007 issue of Guideposts.



1/4 cup of sour cream or vanilla or plain yogurt
1 teaspoon of baking soda
1 stick of butter or margarine softened (I just set mine out the night before)
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1 1/2 cups flour
1/4 cup milled flax seed (may be omitted, but add extra flour)
2 mashed bananas
1 cup mini semisweet chocolate chips
1 teaspoon vanilla

Preheat oven to 350* and spray a muffin tin. Stir sour cream (or yogurt) with baking soda and set aside. Beat the butter and sugar. Then the egg, followed by the mix of white puffy stuff that formed with the soda and your sour cream/yogurt. Mix in the rest with a spoon. Divide evenly into a standard muffin tin to make a dozen muffins. Bake for 20 minutes.