The Real Veggie Tales

I have a very smart friend Allison. Actually, I have lots of smart friends, but Allison is who I am talking about at this moment. A couple of years ago Allison and another friend started a food cooperative in our neighborhood. 36 families belong to this produce co-op. Here's how it works. A truckload of produce is purchased every-other week, sorted into laundry baskets, and the picked up by us 36 folks. It's a great way to get a good variety of produce at great prices. (Yes, Costco is a great deal, but you don't always want to have to buy 5 pounds of broccoli to get a good deal.) We also get cool and exotic stuff like daikon radishes and fresh basil. And this week we were able to buy strawberries in bulk at about $1 a pound!! So I bought 16 pounds. I made jam, ate strawberry shortcake three days in a row, waffles with strawberries, etc. Anyway, here's a picture of what I picked up this last Thursday. The downside of the co-op is finding room in my refirgerator for all this produce! Not too bad of a problem. Thanks Allison! As she says, "Saving the neighborhood from twinkies and soda one family at a time." Amen sista!

What's For Dinner? The Never Ending Struggle

I am always curious as to what others have for dinner. Are you? Do my friends and neighbors cook actual meals every night? Take out? Restaurants? Frozen meals? Cereal? I figure in the thirteen years I have spent married I have spent 1,423 hours cooking dinner. That’s just 30 minutes a night—a fair calculation I figure given the fact that many nights dinner actually takes about an hour to cook. Also, the fact that we eat out 1-3 nights a month. I’m not sure what to think about those 1,423 hours cooking. I mean, I do love to cook, but wow, that’s a lot of time spent on something that I can literally see no results from. Once eaten I’m just left with dirty dishes. (However, I will not calculate how many hours a day I spend doing dishes. That could make me cry.)

I keep a list in my giant cooking notebook of dinners we have. That way, when I just can’t seem to figure out what to have, I open my notebook and look at what we’ve had in the past. That usually jogs the creative juices and then I can figure something out. So here goes—all the dinners we’ve had in the last 30 days. (I'm sure you'll be able to figure out a lot by our eating habits. i.e., we love spicy food--I've been on a Thai kick, eating lots of Mexican as always, don't eat much red meat, etc.)

*Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup and Roast Beef Hoagies
*Thai Coconut Chicken Soup with Red Hot Curry
*Asian Broiled Salmon with Stir-Fried Snow Peas
*Chicken Piccata with Rice Pilaf and Fruit Salad (See previous post)

*Roasted Rosemary Chicken and Green Beans (Easter)
*Thai Ruby Restaurant
*Black Bean Chicken Stir Fry
*Chicken Tacos with Pickled Onions, Guacamole, and Queso Fresco
*Taquitos (frozen), Guacamole, Refried Beans
*Red Enchiladas with Sauteed Asparagus (Don’t tell my mom I used canned enchilada sauce)
*Grilled Tilapia
*Oatmeal and Eggs
*Pastrami Hoagies
*Turkey Burgers and Oven Fries
*Pasta with Red Peppers and Asparagus
*Curried Lentils and Rice
*Cub Scout Blue and Gold Dinner (Don’t ask)
*Grilled Hogi Sandwiches
*Roasted Lemon chicken
*Chicken Noodle Soup
*Leftovers
*Pizza Margharita (Paul’s pizza skills come in handy)

*Thai Green Chicken Curry
*Cream of Broccoli Soup with fresh bread
*Grilled Hot dogs and asparagus (I think the veggie cancels out the evil hot dog, no?)
*Pepper Seak with Egg Noodles and Green Salad
*Sloppy Joes and Carrot Sticks
*Chili

*Pad Thai
*Carl’s Jr (I had the Santa Fe Chicken Sandwich..mmm Anaheim Chiles) *Cornmeal Crusted Taco Pie

*Chicken with Pasta, Normandy Vegetables, and Alfredo Sauce

Meals on Wheels (Sort Of)

Four years ago when Hallie was born my friend Kelly brought me Chicken Piccata. It became an instant hit with our family—chicken cutlets in a creamy lemon sauce. Mmm..good. (Then again, if you read my Lemon Love Affair blog you know I’m a sucker for anything lemon.) Since then I make it all the time—for company, for Food 101 with my sister Carolyn, and tonight I made it for a friend of mine (Carly) who just had a baby of her own. I don’t think I’m ultra talented at too much, but I can cook and sew. So whenever sign-ups go around in my LDS ward to take a meal to a new mom or someone who is having surgery, I almost always sign up. I’d rather take someone dinner than weed their yard or babysit their kids anyday! Hey, it’s how I help! The last time I took a meal to someone was in January and it was Creamy Mushroom Chicken with Linguine. Don’t you wish you were sick now? Maybe in 4 years Carly will return the favor to someone else and take a new mom Chicken Piccata. Yup, I’m changing the world, one good recipe at a time.

Chicken Piccata
2 large lemons
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (about 1 1/2 pounds), sliced crosswise into cutlets
Table salt and ground black pepper
1/2 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
4 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 small shallot , minced (about 2 tablespoons) or 1 small garlic clove, minced (about 1 teaspoon)
1 cup chicken stock or canned low-sodium chicken broth
2 tablespoons small capers, drained
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley leaves

1. Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position, set large heatproof plate on rack, and heat oven to 200 degrees.

2. Halve one lemon pole to pole. Trim ends from one half and cut crosswise into slices 1/8 to 1/4 inch thick; set aside. Juice remaining half and whole lemon to obtain 1/4 cup juice; reserve.

3. Sprinkle both sides of cutlets generously with salt and pepper. Measure flour into pie tin or shallow baking dish. Working one cutlet at a time, coat with flour, and shake to remove excess.

4. Heat heavy-bottomed 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat until hot, about 2 minutes; add 2 tablespoons oil and swirl pan to coat. Lay half of chicken pieces in skillet. Sauté cutlets, without moving them, until lightly browned on first side, 2 to 2 1/2 minutes. Turn cutlets and cook until second side is lightly browned, 2 to 2 1/2 minutes longer. Remove pan from heat and transfer cutlets to plate in oven. Add remaining 2 tablespoons oil to now-empty skillet and heat until shimmering. Add remaining chicken pieces and repeat.

5. Add shallot or garlic to now-empty skillet and return skillet to medium heat. Sauté until fragrant, about 30 seconds for shallot or 10 seconds for garlic. Add stock and lemon slices, increase heat to high, and scrape skillet bottom with wooden spoon or spatula to loosen browned bits. Simmer until liquid reduces to about 1/3 cup, about 4 minutes. Add lemon juice and capers and simmer until sauce reduces again to 1/3 cup, about 1 minute. Remove pan from heat and swirl in butter until butter melts and thickens sauce; swirl in parsley. Spoon sauce over chicken and serve immediately.

ABC Tag

My friend Laurie tagged me, and I always do what I'm told. Here goes:

A- Attached or Single? attached
B- Best Friend? Paul, Kelly, Robyn, Liz, Allison, Laurie, and now Paige
C- Cake or pie? Pie--lemon meringue or peach
D- Day of choice? Friday--bye bye housework!
E- Essential Item? my flat iron
F- Favorite Color? lime green
G- Gummy Bears or Worms? hate 'em both
H- Hometown? Chino, CA
I- Favorite Indulgence? eating pastries
J- January or July? July, preferably poolside
K- Kids? Three of the little monsters
L- Life isn't complete without? Paul's leg rubs
M- Marriage date? December 29, 1994
N- Number of brothers and sisters? 2 blue, 2 pink
O- Oranges or Apples? Oranges
P- Phobia and fears? Losing all my teeth, becoming diabetic,
Q- Quote? "Beauty Fades, Dumb is Forever" (Title of a book by Judge Judy)
R- Reason to smile? my new sewing machine
S- Season of choice? Summer.....always summer.....always
T- Tag three people? Ilene, Paul, Carolyn
U- Unknown fact about me? I blog, there is nothing left unknown at this point
V- Vegetable? right now asparagus cuz of spring in the summer? garden grown tomatoes
W- Worst habit? Not always washing my face at night, consuming heavy cream
X-Ray or Ultrasound? for what?
Y- Your favorite food? Mom's mexican food; or Mexican food from Las Tarascas in Provo; or chicken curma from Bombay house
Z- Zodiac sign? Capricorn. lame question.

Lemon Love Affair

Updated post to include cake photos from 2015

Paul is the best juicer of the lemons

I love anything with citrus, particularly lemons—lemon meringue pie, Chicken Picatta, lemon pudding, lemon pound cake, lemon vinaigrette, and of course lemonade. Growing up in California, we of course had a lemon tree in our back yard. As kids we would cut lemons in half, dip them in sugar, and suck away all the sweet floral goodness. My parents still live in my childhood home, thankfully, otherwise I would think that a lemon tastes like the ones you buy in the store. The difference between the Meyer lemons on my parents’ tree and the ones you can buy in the store is the difference between a homegrown tomato and a store bought one. So each time I head to California I pick as many lemons as we can (as seen by Hallie in top photo) juice ’em (as demonstrated by Paul), and freeze ‘em for the next year. I keep a good 200 or so whole lemons in my cold garage to last me through the winter as well. I’m getting down to just a few left now.

Yesterday I revisted my love affair with lemon zest as I made my favorite lemon cake. Of course it’s from cooksillustrated.com. You really should get a $20 membership to that site if you haven’t already. It will wake up your taste buds. I’ve played around with the recipe and have made a few adjustments for living at high altitude (to prevent the cake from sinking and being too 'wet'.) Enjoy!


Lemon Bundt Cake (Serves 12 to 14)

You will need between five and six tablespoons of lemon juice for this recipe. Because the amount of juice can vary from lemon to lemon, we suggest you first measure the juice from the three lemons you have zested, then juice a fourth lemon if necessary. Serve this cake as is or dress it up with lightly sweetened berries. The cake has a light, fluffy texture when eaten the day it is baked, but if well wrapped and held at room temperature overnight its texture becomes more dense -- like that of pound cake -- the following day.

3 lemons , zest grated and saved, then juiced for 3 tablespoons juice (see note above) 3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour (15 ounces) (16 oz. in high altitude)
1 teaspoon baking powder (minus 1/8 tsp. for high altitude)
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon table salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup low-fat buttermilk (preferably)
3 large eggs , at room temperature
1 large egg yolk , at room temperature
18 tablespoons unsalted butter (2 1/4 sticks), at room temperature (only 2 sticks at high altitude)
2 cups sugar (14 ounces)

Glaze
2–3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (see note above)
1 tablespoon buttermilk
2 cups confectioners' sugar (8 ounces)

1. FOR THE CAKE: Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position; heat oven to 350 degrees. Spray 12-cup Bundt pan with nonstick baking spray with flour (alternatively, brush pan with mixture of 1 tablespoon flour and 1 tablespoon melted butter). Mince lemon zest to fine paste (you should have about 2 tablespoons). Combine zest and lemon juice in small bowl; set aside to soften, 10 to 15 minutes.

2. Whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in large bowl. Combine lemon juice mixture, vanilla, and buttermilk in medium bowl. In small bowl, gently whisk eggs and yolk to combine. In standing mixer fitted with flat beater, cream butter and sugar at medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes; scrape down sides of bowl with rubber spatula. Reduce to medium speed and add half of eggs, mixing until incorporated, about 15 seconds. Repeat with remaining eggs; scrape down bowl again. Reduce to low speed; add about one-third of flour mixture, followed by half of buttermilk mixture, mixing until just incorporated after each addition (about 5 seconds). Repeat using half of remaining flour mixture and all of remaining buttermilk mixture. Scrape bowl and add remaining flour mixture; mix at medium-low speed until batter is thoroughly combined, about 15 seconds. Remove bowl from mixer and fold batter once or twice with rubber spatula to incorporate any remaining flour. Scrape into prepared pan.

3. Bake until top is golden brown and wooden skewer or toothpick inserted into center comes out with no crumbs attached, 45 to 50 minutes.

4. FOR THE GLAZE: While cake is baking, whisk 2 tablespoons lemon juice, buttermilk, and confectioners' sugar until smooth, adding more lemon juice gradually as needed until glaze is thick but still pourable (mixture should leave faint trail across bottom of mixing bowl when drizzled from whisk). Cool cake in pan on wire rack set over baking sheet for 10 minutes, then invert cake directly onto rack. Pour half of glaze over warm cake and let cool for 1 hour; pour remaining glaze evenly over top of cake and continue to cool to room temperature, at least 2 hours. Cut into slices and serve.

Free at Last......Free at Last!

I’m entering a new phase of parenthood. My children can do more physically for themselves and thus I am now able to do less. That’s my goal in life: to teach them to be self-sufficient so that I can become a total leech on the back of society, or at least the backs of my children.

Nathan can cook pancakes. (We still have to help with the measuring though.) Ilene can wipe down the table. Hallie can make her own toast and butter it with 1/2 the tub of margarine. Nathan can scrub the toilet, clean the sink with Ajax, and clean the mirror with Windex. Ilene can clean the bathroom too. (Next, we’ll tackle the tub.) The older two can change their own sheets, take their own showers and unload the dishwasher. (Yup, they are too old for ‘baths’ now.) All three can pour their own cereals with milk, although if the milk gallon is too full they lose a bit to the floor. They can dust (and love to dust!) with the greatest invention of all, the Swiffer, or those cool micro-fiber dust mits. (As seen in photo.) They vacuum, comb their own hair, weed the garden, sweep the floor, and vacuum the stairs. Next stop? The teenage years where all this hard teaching of mine will seem to become unlearned as they become leeches on the back of society. That's karma I suppose.

(Hallie making coconut macaroons)

Monkey See, Monkey Do

Hallie wanted my old rotary cutting mat. She then grabbed the pizza cutter from her kitchenette and went to work 'cutting' fabric scraps. (My box of fabric scraps is her favorite 'toy' in this whole house.) Frustration loomed large though as she started screaming as she was 'cutting', "This isn't working! I need a real cutter." So I told her about the time I got stitches because I cut through my thumb with the dang rotary blade. She was not to be dismissed. Oh bother.

Month O' Birthdays

Phew.....we made it through all the kids' birthdays. Here's a riddle? Three birthdays in 3 different months, and only 29 days between all three? How can this be? Well, on a non-leap year, that would be January 30th, February 4th, and March 1st. I've baked way too many cakes for the blessed days--Yellow cake with Pink 7-minute icing (basically a whipped meringue), Old Fashioned Chocolate with Chocolate Buttercream, and Chocolate Sheet cake with Chocolate Frosting. Yes it's a different recipe than the Old-Fashioned Chocolate cake. I'm a little obsessed with my homemade cakes. I never do boxes and I don't care so much how they look, just how they taste. That's obvious though looking at the photos. Don't ask me why I don't have a picture to post of Hallie with her cake. I do have a video, and tried posting that, but unlike the rest of you, I try to upload the videos and they just never finish uploading--ever.

Pad Thai

The kids loved dinner tonight!

I have a weakness for anything spicy, salty, sour, and sweet. And what better dish to capture all 4 of my favorite flavors than Pad Thai? I've been on a Thai food kick lately. I went to Thai Chili Garden for lunch 2 weeks ago, went to Thai Ruby last week, made Green Curry with Thai sticky rice (in the hat shaped bamboo steamer even) for dinner Sunday, and today made Pad Thai. Oh, what glorious noodles! I used the recipe from CooksIllustrated.com and found a favorite! It's in my book entitled The Best 30-Minute Recipe, one of my favorite cookbooks. Ok, any cookbook by CooksIllustrated/ America's Test Kitchen is a favorite.

My substitutions: I did substitue soy sauce for the fish sauce because I didn't have any. Honestly, I love dishes with fish sauce in a restaurants, but at home it just doesn't work for me. I'm sure I just bought a bad brand. After all, who doesn't love fermented fish in a salty solution? I hate shrimp, so I used shredded chicken. And I doubled this for a main meal for our family of 5. I also used lemon juice for the 1/3 cup lime juice, but I did have lime wedges to squeeze at the dinner table--that's the kids favorite part, squeezing the limes.

Pad Thai from The Best 30-Minute Recipe,

A wok might be the implement of choice in restaurants and the old country, but a large 12-inch skillet (nonstick makes cleanup easy) is more practical for home cooks. Although pad thai cooks very quickly, the ingredient list is long, and everything must be prepared and within easy reach at the stovetop when you begin cooking. For maximum efficiency, use the time during which the noodles soak to prepare the other ingredients. Tofu is a good and common addition to pad thai. If you like, add 4 ounces of extra-firm tofu or pressed tofu (available in Asian markets) cut into 1/2-inch cubes (about 1 cup) to the noodles along with the bean sprouts.

INGREDIENTS
1/3 cup water

1/3 cup lime juice, fresh
3 tablespoons fish sauce
1 tablespoon rice vinegar
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
3/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional if cooking for kids)
4 tablespoons peanut oil or vegetable oil
8 ounces dried rice stick noodles , about 1/8 inch wide (the width of linguine)
2 large eggs
1/4 teaspoon table salt
12 ounces medium shrimp (31/35 count), peeled and deveined, if desired
3 cloves garlic , pressed through garlic press or minced (1 tablespoon)
6 tablespoons chopped unsalted roasted peanuts
3 cups bean sprouts (6 ounces)
5 medium scallions , sliced thin on sharp bias
1/4 cup fresh cilantro leaves (optional)
lime wedges

1. Cover rice sticks with hot tap water in large bowl; soak until softened, pliable, and limp but not fully tender, about 20 minutes. Drain noodles and set aside. Beat eggs and 1/8 teaspoon salt in small bowl; set aside.

2. Make sauce by combining lime juice, water, fish sauce, rice vinegar, sugar, cayenne, and 2 tablespoons oil set aside.

3. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in 12-inch skillet (preferably nonstick) over high heat until just beginning to smoke, about 2 minutes. Add shrimp and sprinkle with remaining 1/8 teaspoon salt; cook, tossing occasionally, until shrimp are opaque and browned about the edges, about 3 minutes. Transfer shrimp to plate and set aside.

4. Off heat, add remaining tablespoon oil to skillet and swirl to coat; add garlic, stirring until fragrant, about 30 seconds; add eggs to skillet and stir vigorously with wooden spoon until scrambled and barely moist, about 20 seconds. Add noodles, to eggs; toss with 2 wooden spoons to combine. Pour fish sauce mixture over noodles, increase heat to high, and cook, tossing constantly, until noodles are evenly coated. Scatter 1/4 cup peanuts, bean sprouts, all but 1/4 cup scallions, and cooked shrimp over noodles; continue to cook, tossing constantly, until noodles are tender, about 2 1/2 minutes (if not yet tender add 2 tablespoons water to skillet and continue to cook until tender).

5. Transfer noodles to serving platter, sprinkle with remaining scallions, 2 tablespoons peanuts, and cilantro; serve immediately, passing lime wedges separately.

Nephites vs. Lamanites

The kids are always hyper after church. Always.

All three of them are playing around and 'rough housing' when the following conversation occurs:

Hallie: "Hey guys, let's plays Lamanites!"

Nathan: "No Hallie, let's play Nephites. The Nephites are good."

Hallie: "I don't wanna be good. I wanna be bad!"

Two minutes later.....

Hallie: "Now let's play Nephites! Because I'm good to Jesus and I teach people!"

Chillin' with Chili

I love a good pot of chili in the winter. It’s a meal in a bowl—protein, fiber, and vegetables. And it’s a meal that everybody in the family likes—that in and of itself is a miracle. Oh, and it's healthy too. But I don’t make the authentic chili with dried ancho chilies and chuck roast because it just takes too darn long. Nope, I like the kind of chili that takes around 30 minutes to make. To me the perfect bowl of quick chili has to have three components—lots of veggies with a tomato base, beans, a good spicy (not necessarily hot) flavor. So after several attempts I think I finally created my perfect chili recipe. Let me know if you try it and like it. This makes a big pot! The pot is this picture is 7 quarts. It’s enough for my family of five to have dinner twice! I love leftovers for lunch during the week.

2-4 T. olive oil
2 chopped onions
1 T. cumin
1 T. chili powder
2 tsp. oregano

1 tsp. red pepper flakes (optional)
1 pound ground beef*
3-4 cloves of garlic
1 large can diced tomatoes (28 oz)
2 cans tomato sauce (8oz)
1 tomato sauce can of water
2 can kidney beans, drained
1 can black beans, drained
2-3 chopped red and/or yellow bell peppers
½ a bunch of chopped cilantro

Toppings: pepper jack cheese, sour cream, lime wedges
Good homemade cornbread. (I like Mark Bittman’s from How to Cook Everything)

In a large soup pot or dutch oven heat olive oil. Saute the onions and spices for 2-3 minutes. Spices need to cook in oil to ‘bloom’ them. Don’t skip this step! Add the ground beef, breaking it up with a wooden spoon. After the ground beef has browned for 4-5 minutes, add the garlic. Stir until combined. Add the rest of the ingredients, bring to a boil, then lower to a simmer for 20-30 minutes or until the onion and bell peppers are soft. Turn off heat and stir in cilantro.

Serve with toppings of your choice and lots of good cornbread.

*To make a chicken chili add 2 cups diced cooked chicken. I like to just shred a rotisserie chicken from Costco.

Surprise Babies

Ok, so my sister-in-law Ilene just blogged about her surprise pregnancy. I was particularly interested in the comments thus far to her blog about how many other ladies out there have had surprise pregnancies. I’ve never had a surprise pregnancy. Ok, so I’ve never had ANY pregnancy. I’ve never gone into details in this blog about our infertility, and I never will.

The closest we’ve ever come to having a surprise pregnancy is the surprises that come from finding out what all is entailed to adopt children in this glorious world. So my dear blogging friends, I’ll open up about something I rarely talk about. I don’t talk much about adoption because I just don’t think it’s a big deal, not because there is anything shameful or un-natural about it. Adoption has been the biggest blessing to our lives. If you ever say anything negative about it to me I’ll punch you in the face. Ok, I won’t punch you, but I’ll role my eyes and then give you a mouthful to your earful. Not that any of my friends would ever say such ignorant things.

But here, my dear readers are some SURPRISING facts that you may or may not know about adoption— (This is not going to be a blog about how awesome my kids are, that’s another blog, or actually all my other blogs.)

1. You have to be finger printed by a police officer. Yup, Paul and I got the full criminal treatment in the basement of the police station. The whole speech from the officer about, ‘Stand here on this line, keep one hand behind your back. We’ll move each finger across the paper, you just hold your hand limp.' I nearly cried as we did this. I felt like screaming, “Does every couple have to do this before they have sex and conceive?” They should, you know. Only fair.

2. You have to answer 52 essay questions in great detail. Well, if you go through LDS Family Services you do. Here are some actual questions: I still have them on my computer: Describe your parents including education, occupation, personality, interests, etc.; What are the strengths and challenges of your marriage ?; Describe your methods to teach and discipline children.; List possible hazards in your home and how you manage them for safety. For example, firearms, medication, etc. Oh, lets save these questions for date night Paul!

3. You get to write out checks left and right to various groups. One is to the state for your BCI (Bureau of Criminal Identification) check. What’s funny about these background checks is that after adopting three kiddies we now know that Paul’s will always be held up for further investigation. Yup, my hubby, the man with only a few traffic violations has an evil twin out there with a similar name who is a criminal so they always hold his BCI check to do further investigations. Again, I ask, do other couples have to do this before they have babies? What would the fertility rate in this country be if BCI checks were a must before conception was allowed? Yea, I know, sounds like Brave New World. Sort of.

4. You have a series of home visits. The first is to determine if your home is safe for a child. On the days we’ve had ours we put away our automatic weapons, our Samurai sword collection, and dump out the cigarette butts from all our ashtrays. After the baby is placed with us, the case worker comes 2-3 more times. So we put away all the contraband items again.

5. And my favorite surrpise of all, the on going questions from morons, such as; “Which ones are yours?” or “What is she?” or “Is her Dad dark?” See, this is where I know the camera from heaven is zooming in on me because all Christian thoughts have now left my brain. I feel like it’s a test from above or below, not sure which. Do I have compassion on this ignorant soul and nicely answer the question? Or do I go with my instinct and humiliate them? Either way, its being written in the book of life and I’ll have to answer for my behavior. Dang it.

Give me morning sickness and stretch marks any day.......

Pillow Talk

Yards of linen.....too many scraps to count.....inspired by Denyse Schmidt's book on quilts........the result? Lots of pillows!

Ode to Postum

Oh Postum, Postum please come back
How could Kraft just give you the ax?
I should’ve stocked up, for that I am berated
Even Seinfeld knew you were so under rated.
I’ve drank you all these years so long
Now I’m singing the Postum-blues song


You’ve been my drink since I was small
I still love you now, though I’m almost 6 feet tall.
In the winter I loved you hot with sugar and cream
In the summer, so cold, with a scoop of vanilla ice cream
That former delight I called it a Postu-ccino
Twas the drink of choice for this girl from Chino

I could never make my husband on you sold
But what does he know? That boy likes Rocky road!
Now my kids, my kids, here’s my big “Oh No”
I never shared you with them, instead giving them cocoa.
Perhaps if I shared you we would’ve bought more
And now I could find you at the grocery store.

Alas, you are gone, gone, with the likes of Tab *
Perhaps I could brew you in my kitchen, my lab?
No, no, I don’t think that will cure my fix
I’ll just have to switch to Pero or Cafix

So farewell, farewell to my hot anti-coffee friend
And just know that I loved you all the way to the end.

* I know you can still buy Tab but it rhymed, back off.

Haute Couture

Paul and I went away last night to Salt Lake City. When we came home today we discovered that Hallie has dressed herself--floral pants, soccer jersey, Grandpa's old camping hat, marshmallow coat. We even took her out in public like this. No, not to Wal-Mart where she would fit in, but to the good ol' library.

Liverpool Dress

Inspired by the housedress in Amy Butler's Midwest Modern Book (left photo), I am making myself a tunic to wear over jeans. I've been toying with the idea for months but thought I was too old to pull it off. After seeing Amy Butler, who I think is around 40, wear it on page 142 of her book, I decided I aint too old! So I bought her pattern for the Anna Tunic and away we sew!

Amy called the dress on the left the Liverpool Dress "after deciding that it looked like something the Beatles' girlfriends might wear in the early 60s." So see, it's more rock-star girlfriend, than housewife. It's all in the packaging.

A ScreenSaver that Saves

I realize I blog too much about our long winters here in Utah, so quit reading if you're tired of the whining until April or so.

This is the wall paper on my computer right now. It reminds me that somewhere on this planet we could still use the phrase "God's green Earth." Because right now if I were to use that phrase I'd change it to "God's white snowy slushy Earth." Not quite the same effect.

(This is a picture of me at Akaka Falls, near the city of Hilo, on the island of Hawaii. Sigh.)

Take That You Evil Snow!

Snow is powerful stuff. After 3 months of constantly having this white stuff on the ground it begins to affect me in strange ways. Snow has the power to make me want to sell my house and move closer to the equator. Snow leaks toxic fumes into the air which, if inhaled enough, make me yell at my kids. These toxic fumes also lead me to long bouts of baking cakes, pies, and crisps. It makes me log onto the internet and browse airline rates to Heaven, aka, Southern California. Snow is what your mother warned you about.

But today, for the first time in a few months, we hit 44 degrees. The kids were all excited as I picked them up from the bus stop, coat in hands. "Mom it is HOT today. I don't even need my coat!" So like all good kids with cabin fever in February, Ilene thought it was perfect bike weather. She got this very pink bike for her birthday in January and it has sat in the garage due to all the blankety-blank snow that just won't melt. On Saturday, Paul took our snow shovel and cleared ALL the sidewalks on our side of the street so that his little girl could ride up and down. So today was her second time getting to ride the bike in the sunshine. Enjoy the weather little girl, tomorrow it goes 'cold' again.

Before Kitchen.....After Kitchen

Just had to post pics of my new range hood, subway tile backsplash, and under cabinet halogen lighting in my kitchen! Read my "Busy As A Bee" post below for a description of what I did. (Or rather, what I paid someone to do.)

Cookin Up Love

So my kitchen isn't done being 'remodeled' yet but I had to test out my new range hood last night by cooking something that normally smokes up the house--just to see how well it would suck the air out. So I seared some chicken cutlets and made a creamy sauce with mushrooms, basil, and red bell peppers. It was divine. And no smoke escaped the 400 CFMs of my new hood. Happy day.

Busy As A Bee

I haven't blogged in over a month because life has been so busy I hardly have time to think these days. So what have I been up to since my last post?


Bought new living room furniture at IKEA. Love that dang store. I bought 2 chairs in a linen color and a dark brown couch. All three are from their Karlstad collection. Love em! I bought a brown couch because I figure when the kids drop their cup of orange juice from the kitchen table and it splatters everywhere it won't visibly stain the couch. The last couch (which is now in the play room) was stained with bright pink paint because the kids have some stupid paint spinner thing (they've been given two of those--by Winnie and Carolyn--thanks) and they didn't put the cover on one time when they used it. Pink paint everywhere. Hopefully the brown couch solves at least little grubby handprints stains. And chocolate stains too. (Notice the blowing snow storm out the window. Snow is evil.)



I've been busy with my calling. I think I've mentioned here before, or not, that I am the big P over YW in my ward. I've had camp meetings, leaderships trainings, snow activities, planning for New Beginnings, cooking service projects, youth conference meetings, Christmas caroling in the freezing weather, talks to give in sacrament, meeting, etc. I is tired.


To top it all off, I decided that now is the time to make my kitchen the way I would've made it had we built this home. So I hired an electrician and a handyman. They are here today. Nice mess they've made so far, don't you think? I am having a range hood installed that will vent to the outside. Hooray. I can finally cook the High-Roast Chicken from cooksillustrated.com at 500 degrees without setting off my smoke alarms anymore. And seared salmon too. I may just have to make pan roasted chicken breasts with a mushroom gravy to test it out tonight. The electrician is adding under cabinet lighting, adding an outlet in my pantry for a microwave, and fixing another outlet box in the house. Then the kitchen will be beautifully tiled in glossy white subway tiles. I tiled my old kitchen in the subway tiles and I have so missed them. I'll post pics when it's all done. Now if only my husband would give in and let me paint our knotty alder cabinets. Who puts rustic knotty cabinets in a classy craftsman home? Bugs me.



Add to this all the dang birthday parties my kids have been invited to, books reports to help them on, sewing orders to fill, piano recitals, ice skating lessons, and just the general running of a household. Oh yea, I turned 34 and my knees are starting to hurt from all the boot camp aerobics I've been doing this winter. Do I blame the aerobics or my age?

If You Feed Them They Will Come

Nobody asks for my parenting advice because they've seen my kids. Nobody asks for cleaning advice because they've seen my house. Nobody asks for hair advice because they've seen my unruly curls. But people ask my food advice and that makes up for all of it. In the last couple of days I've had a friend call me and ask how to cook a good steak and which to buy, my sister called and asked about what potatoes to use for viccysoise, and I just received an email from Paul's uncle telling me that he tried the butternut squash soup recipe on my food blog and that it turned out great. Next he was tackling the curry. Well, now we're talking!

Paul and I had our annual Christmas party at our house just last Saturday and it was a big ol' success. A few years ago I noticed that nobody has Christmas parties anymore so I set out to change that. Or maybe nobody invites US to their Christmas parties. Well if the mountain won't come to Mohammad.....So we invited 40 people and 34 came!! Our house is roomey, but not that roomey! People were crammed everywhere and for that I felt badly. That's never happened before--usually only half come because it's Christmastime and everybody is too busy. Who's too busy for a party? Did they come in droves because we are loved and adored by many? Maybe it's the fact that the invitation had one catch-your-eye phrase on it "Mexican dinner served." So we fed 34 people a dinner of tostadas, refried beans, and rice. It was a load of fun. Who doesn't like food smothered in hot sauce and cheese? Crazy people, that's who. That's my Christmas present to my friends and neighbors. Instead of a plate of sugary treats that are rarely edible, we feed 'em bacon fat infused beans and fried pork carnitas. Now you know why they came.

Inspector Gadget

My little Nathan has always had a knack when it comes to building things and fixing things. When he was 3 years old he found a screwdriver and took apart Patty’s electric piano. Patty had lent it to me and Nathan watched us put it together. So obviously he just did the reverse of what he watched us do. He carefully removed the legs and proudly showed us his handiwork. Nathan is also very good at building things—particularly with his Legos. Not too long ago he built this depiction of Lehi’s vision of the Tree of Life. For you non-LDS folk out there, it’s a story from the Book of Mormon. We had read that story for family scripture study and Nathan soon afterwards built this wonderful rendition of the Tree of Life. I like how Luke and Obi Won are holding onto the iron rod but Anakin and Han Solo are drowning in the evil abyss.

Well, Nathan is 9-years old now, and he has done it again. I bought a DVD player at Wal-Mart this week for the upstairs TV. That TV doesn’t have any reception so movies are about all it is good for. Anyway, on my way home from Wal-Mart I am thinking with dread that I have to hook this dang machine up. I am terrible at stuff like this. Oh sure, I can read a sewing pattern successfully but I can hardly put together my Ikea finds. But then I remembered that Nathan is Inspector Gadget. When he came home from school I handed him the box and said, “I know you can hook this up.” He immediately told me that he wasn’t sure if it would work because that TV is old and it probably didn’t have the right cable hook ups in the back. (Winnie donated this TV to us and a garbage can donated it to her.) Nathan came down 15 minutes later, announced that the TV didn’t have the right hook-ups, but that he routed the cables through the VCR. (The VCR eats tapes now but we’ll keep it just to run the DVD player. Good grief.) So there we have it. Nathan can hardly answer the phone with more than a cave man grunt, but by golly, that boy can fix/build/connect anything. As Nathan always says about my dad, “Grandpa can fix anything.” Guess it’s all in the family.

Color Me Happy!

I hit my 100th sale on etsy yesterday. Don't have much to say about that. Just want all my friends to be happy for me. I should celebrate. Think I'll go shopping at fabric.com. I'm ill and need help.

Shuffle Me Righteous

I always listen to my ipod while I am upstairs in my studio. (Studio sounds hip and creative, sewing room sounds dull and domestic.) I park the iPod in the docking station and hit shuffle. Putting the ipod on shuffle alone has been quite entertaining. I have all the recent conference talks on there as well as my usual secular music. You see where this is going, don’t ya? As Arsenio Hall used to say, some things make you go “hmmmm…”. Well, I have been going hmmmm a lot lately as I try to read some symbolism into how my iPod shuffles everything. After all, I am LDS and we LDS types likes to see symbolism in everything because it makes for good talks. Here’s a great combo: Sister Beck’s talk called “Mothers Who Know” will come on, and then it is followed by Chris Isaak’s “Wicked Game.” (As a side note—Sister Beck’s talk comes on at least once a day, quite frequently if you ask me for having hundreds of songs on the iPod. It must mean something. But then I realize I put her talk on there twice, hence the frequency it is played.) As I am ironing the seams open on my project, my mind drifts into a sort of stream of consciousness. I wonder if Sister Beck would approve of Chris Isaak. Oh sure, “Wicked Game” isn’t a bad song but if she had seen the music video—the one in black and white, similar to a Calvin Cline underwear commercial on a beach, then I know she wouldn’t approve. Goodness, i don't approve. That video is porn! Would there ever be a venue where we have conference talks followed by a mean rendition on the electric keyboard of “Everybody's Changing” by Keane? (The keyboardist in Keane acts like a drummer in that video. Watch it. Easy Killer. )I think that could seriously help my attention span with such weightier matters. Kind of like a reward for being good. I know, I know, sounds a bit irreverent, but in the privacy of my own studio it’s ok to combine conference talks with heathen music, outside of my studio, wrong. Hey, don’t judge me, I need all the spiritual help I can get.

Never Ever in the Whole Wide World

Have you ever played that game with a large crowd where you go around the room and say things that you have never done, but that most others have? Well, I have a few that always push me closer to winning the game. Here they are:

1. I’ve never been in the hospital. (This always wins me the game in a room full of women!)
2. I’ve never watched an entire football game. Ever. I don’t even know the rules and don’t care to. I went to a BYU football game once as a freshman with my roommates thinking this is it—I’m going to learn to like football now that I’m in college. I left at halftime out of pure boredom. I come from a family where we all hate football--men as well as women. My parents loved the L.A. Dodgers during the 80s, so that was the extent seeing sports on tv. (Then I got married.)
3. I’ve never really liked candy. Pies and cakes yes, candy no. Even as a kid I would never eat all my Halloween candy. It would kind of go stale eventually. (I make up for it by baking all the time.)
4. I’ve never been on a horse. Don’t have much to say about this one. Just haven’t.
5. I’ve never seen a Shrek movie. This may sound like a weird ‘never’ but it seems like Shrek is everywhere these days with the release of Shrek 17, but whatever. Just the cover of the movie makes me wanna hurl. I’ve also never seen Pollyanna, or The Breakfast Club. Ilene has now fallen in love with Pollyanna and is quoting it, but it looks boring to me. Even as a kid it looked boring.
6. I’ve never been water skiing or snow skiing. I’ve had many opportunities to try these sports but am too afraid. And frankly, it looks more fearful than fun. I know, it’s wrong living in Utah and not being a skier. But I will gladly move out of the state lest my being here means I have to learn to ski.
7. I’ve never worn a bikini—have never even shown my stomach the light of day—nor the light of a tanning salon. I found myself wishing more women could say this while I was lounging on the beaches of Hawaii this month. Blech.
8. I’ve never eaten nor purchased Hamburger Helper, Tuna Helper, Chili Helper, Fish Helper, whatever. My mom used to joke that if she made a helper ‘meal’ my dad would give her divorce papers. Just cause I say.
9. I have never received a speedy ticket. Thanks for reminding me of that, KyLeyne!

What have you never done? Come on, don't be shy.

Video Killed the Radio Star

Something scary happened the other day. Paul and I watched a video of our wedding day. We had never seen it. (Patty, my sister, had all of our family videos on tape transferred to DVD.) Now, this wasn’t a ‘wedding video’ per say. We didn’t have any moolah for such nonsense, so we just handed the video camera to different family members and they walked around taping everything. I noticed a few things on this video.

First of all, Paul and I definitely look older. My SIL Ilene quite often posts wedding/engagement pictures of her and Dan on her blog. They don’t look a day older. Those two are adorable. But Paul and I look completely different. Perhaps its because now I actually pluck my eyebrows, don’t wear burgundy lipstick anymore, and shy away from brocade dresses with puffed sleeves. Oh and my hair is 15 inches shorter. Maybe that’s why? Paul doesn’t part his hair in the middle nor puff it up anymore. Consequently, people don’t tell him anymore that he looks like David Bowie. Just a guess. I once told my hairstylist that there are a lot of fashion regrets I have of my wedding, to which she added, “Better to regret the fashion, and not regret the marriage.” Wise words from someone with scissors.

I also noticed on the video that Paul is still the same. Often on the video, he would touch my back to guide me this way or that way. Or lean in to talk to me quietly. He was tender then, and he still is. I think you can work through any problem in your marriage if you are kind and tender to each other. I think if there’s one thing (and maybe that’s the only thing) we’ve done right in our marriage thus far is to be kind and tender to one another. He’s been the example there. I'd like to think that Paul would still send me a note with David Bowie lyrics like he did in 1994: “One day I'm gonna write a poem in a letter; One day I'm gonna get that faculty together; Remember that everybody has to wait in line; Blue Jean-look out world you know I've got mine; She got Latin roots; She got everything.” I know, I've mentioned that in a previous blog already.

Paul and I will celebrate our 13th wedding anniversary next month and there is nothing I regret about that. Even if I did have Brooke Shields eyebrows on my wedding day.

Paradise Found

This is not going to be a typical run-down-of-a-vacation blog. I could write forever about the wonderful things we did in Hawaii but instead I'll simply give you a list of epiphanies that occured in my brain while we were in Hawaii.

• Day 2 of 7 on our trip: "This place is paradise but I could never live here becuase my hair is frizzy and ugly from the 90% humidity." It wouldn't even straighten with my flat iron set to 400 degrees.


• Realized my kids would never eat a bowl of cereal again if we lived in Hawaii because all cereals (even generic nasty ones) were $6.50 a box and milk was $7.00 a gallon.


• Was reminded once again that most people on this planet looked better with more clothes on rather than less. (Including myself.)


• Realized I ate mahi-mahi every time it was offered to me. Kind of like that guy on "SuperSize Me". If they offered to super size his fries, he had to say yes. I made that my rule concerning mahi-mahi. Server: "Our special today is grilled mahi-mahi with a thai chili sauce." Me: "I must have that."


• Realized that the word Mahalo (Thank you) is used everywhere. It's even written on 'rubbish' cans!


• Realized 4 airports in 18 hours is not for me. How do flight attendants do it? Also realized plenty of people drink booze on airplanes at 6am. (The plane was heading to Vegas.)


• Realized it is possible for a mom to read 4 novels in 6 days. (Sans children of course.)


• Once again was humiliated in asking for a fork to replace the chopsticks given to me due to lack of chopstick talent at many, many restaurants.


• Realized that when it's over 85 degrees in Hawaii, that's all people talk about. Me to the airport ticket agent on Kono: "How are you". Ticket agent: "Fine but this heat is awful."


• Realized that 85 degrees is the perfect temperature for my body--day and night. That was heaven. Turn off the air, open the doors, and let the love flow in.


• Realized the 20 plus hours I worked on my tan was all for naught seeing as I am always covered from wrists to ankles in the winter here in Utah.