I Can Still Eat Brownies With Stitches In My Mouth

Okay, so maybe I won't lose weight while I have stitches in my mouth, especially if my four year old daughter keeps convincing me to make treats like these! Yesterday we were looking through our cookbooks for recipes we could make with the ingredients we had in the house. We came across this amazing recipe and I knew I had to share it with all of you. The best part, you probably have the ingredients in your house right now, too!



Brownies

▪ ½ cup butter, melted
▪ 1 cup sugar
▪ 1 tsp vanilla extract
▪ 2 eggs
▪ ½ cup all purpose flour
▪ 1/3 cup cocoa
▪ ¼ tsp baking powder
▪ ¼ tsp salt

Heat oven to 350ºF. Grease 9-inch square baking pan. In medium bowl, stir together butter, sugar and vanilla. Add eggs; with spoon, beat well. Stir together flour cocoa, baking powder and salt; gradually add to egg mixture, beating until well blended. Spread batter evenly in prepared pan. Bake 20 - 25 minutes or until brownie begins to pull away from sides of pan. Cool completely in pan on wire rack. Frost with Creamy Brownie Frosting if desired.

Creamy Brownie Frosting

▪ 3 T butter, softened
▪ 3 T cocoa
▪ 1 T light corn syrup
▪ ½ tsp vanilla extract
▪ 1 cup powdered sugar
▪ 1 to 2 T milk

In a small mixer bowl, beat butter, cocoa. corn syrup and vanilla until blended. Add powdered sugar and milk; beat to spreading consistency.


Notes: This is a great recipe to make with kids. The only thing I needed a hand mixer for was the frosting. Zoe mixed all the other ingredients with a wooden spoon. The texture of these brownies is perfect. Very fudgy and brownie like. I don't like a lot of from scratch brownies because they often don't have the texture I'm looking for. These do. These are great without the frosting, but that does take them to a new chocolatey level. If you like nuts in your brownies, add up to 1/2 cup. You won't be sorry you tried these! I used Ghirardelli's unsweetened baking cocoa, which I've discovered makes any cocoa recipe yummier. But any good quality cocoa should work well.

A Trip To The Periodontist

I went to the periodontist yesterday and felt compelled to share my experience here. (I know Bobbie Leigh, you have stopped reading by now, that's okay!)

The reason for my visit was the gum over my right upper front tooth (can't recall the name of the tooth. Alison, maybe you could help?) was pulling away. There was a little "u" where the gum pulled away. My dentist sent me to a periodontist because when something like that happens in the front of the mouth, a filling starts to look pretty bad. After my initial consultation it was decided that I needed "minor periodontal surgery." Basically, the doc takes a piece from the roof of my mouth and attaches it to the gum above my tooth. Yeah, eeeew. And, oooooooww.

I had about three weeks to anticipate the procedure. I finally decided I would be fine. I have been having cavities filled since I was five years old. I have had at least two root canals as well as several crowns. I even had my wisdom teeth ripped out of my mouth as an adult about 6 or 7 years ago, with nothing but the numbing novacaine shots. If I can handle all of that, a trip to the periodontist should be a piece of cake, right?

And actually, it was. In fact, except for the number of shots to numb the roof of my mouth, the procedure itself was better than getting a cavity filled. There was no drilling or loud noises associated with drillings and fillings. The worst part was when he said it appeared I had a lot of bone loss under this tooth, a surprising amount. There was no pain, but I imagined what he had to do to look at the bone under the gum, and that pretty much grossed me out. I patiently laid with my mouth open and eyes closed while he sliced some flesh from the roof of my mouth and sewed it over the gum. I knew the procedure was almost over when I felt the thread he was using to sew the stitches against my upper lip. Then he was rubbing some strange goo over my gums, though I couldn't really feel it, and holding it in place for several seconds. He placed some mesh over the part in the roof of my mouth where he had taken the graft, and "cemented" it in place. After all this was done, they wiped off the outside of my mouth, which I'm assuming had blood on it. The assistant handed me a cup with four ibuprofen pills in it and a cup of water. I took all four and waited for the numbing to wear off. The doctor handed me a paper with directions for post op care and wrote me a prescription for an antibiotic and one for pain pills. Then, because he finished about ten minutes early, we sat and talked about our families, where our kids go to school, some mutual people we know. It was very funny and strange.

I walked out after paying my bill and headed to the car. I still had to pick up my kids at school. The first thing I did when I got in my car was look at my mouth. Above about three of my teeth is a white putty like substance. The dentist said it will likely fall off before I come back next week to have my stitches removed. The mesh covering on the roof of my mouth is black. My daughter, Emma, loves looking at it. My son, Ian, told me he wasn't going to make me laugh for the next week because he didn't want to see it. For my part, it's kind of novel. This morning it looks a little grosser, there is some seeping blood that has left brown streaks through the white putty. My mouth feels good, though. No pain pills yet today.

And as Irish Coffee House told me, maybe my trip to the periodontist will result in some weight loss. I think it could. I'm eating softer foods, but it takes me so long to eat that by the time I get halfway through something it is cold and unappealing. I wouldn't recommend it as a diet, but if you have to have work done, you might as well get some side benefits!

Shame On Me

I didn't vote for him. I admired him. Found him exciting. Thought his family seemed nice. But, I couldn't get past the fact that his voting record was extremely pro-abortion. I never once disparaged him in front of my children or husband (who likely did vote for him, though I don't technically know for sure). I did not stand up for him when my staunch Republican parents visited and made nasty comments during the local news coverage.

I wasn't actually upset (or surprised) when he won the election. I allowed myself to be excited that the United States had finally proven itself colorblind. It finally proved we could elect someone other than an old white guy. I began to read about the president-elect. I read about his two beautiful daughters and lovely wife. I allowed myself to believe that maybe he could make great things happen. I thought maybe, just maybe, he'll do really great things and be an awesome president. Maybe he would be able to transcend bipartisanship and bring this country together in the mold of Ronald Reagan.

As the inauguration neared and the local media stalked his every move, I felt sorry for his family, that they couldn't even go to a dolphin show and have a Hawaiian shaved ice without a press pool following them. But, I also was intrigued and somewhat thrilled to be witnessing history. Maybe Barack Obama was the best man for the job right now.

I watched many of the inauguration festivities, something I've not done in the past. I thought Malia and Sasha were adorable at the big concert on Sunday. I thought Michelle looked regal in the yellow dress and coat, not as perfect in the white ball gown. The girls looked pitch perfect in their J.Crew coats and matching scarves. Barack looked dapper in his suit. His slight smile and head bob during the mistake in the swearing in made it obvious he knew what he was supposed to say when Chief Justice Roberts flubbed the words. I was simultaneously surprised and moved by the sheer number of people who went to Washington for the inauguration.

And then reality set in. One day after the 36th anniversary of the Supreme Court's ruling in Roe V. Wade, President Obama reverses the "Bush administration's ban on giving federal money to international groups that perform abortions or provide abortion information." And he has already stated as seen here in his own words, that the first thing he'll do as president is sign the Freedom of Choice Act.

I am sickened at the work he has already undone, and will undo as president against the most helpless in our society, the unborn. It is not okay to kill our babies in the womb through abortion.

Barack Obama may do some good in our country, but giving women unfettered access to abortion is not a good, it is an evil. And shame on me for getting caught up in the excitement and celebration of his inauguration. I knew better on election day, and I should have known better in the weeks leading up to his swearing in.


"Any country that accepts abortion is not teaching its people to love, but to use violence to get what they want. That is why the greatest destroyer of love and peace is abortion"

-Mother Teresa

My 9 1/2 year old son just asked me what I was making for dinner. When I told him Bacon Cheeseburger Roll-up, he responded, "You know I hate that," as if every dinner I make must meet his specific taste standards. I reminded him that it was his little sister's favorite meal. To which he said, "It tastes like crap."

Aaah, parenting. It is such a joy!

Musical Choices

Ever since my husband installed iTunes on our computer several years ago, I've listened to way more music than I had I the past. It's so easy to turn on the tunes while checking out everybody's latest blog entries. What seemed so revolutionary at the time, being able to buy just one song at a a time, is commonplace today. I love it because if I hear a song on the radio that I fall in love with, it is just 99 cents away from being in my iTunes.

Due to strict budgeting, my music purchases have pretty much come to a standstill. But for my birthday my father-in-law got me a gift card to iTunes. I am very excited. I have already bought five songs, leaving me 10 more to choose. Here's the dilemma: I have more songs in my "shopping cart" than $10 worth. I have to pick and choose. It's hard. Do I pick one of my new favorites, like Jason Mraz's "I'm Yours" or do I pick Rosemary Clooney's "Sisters"? (Answer, I picked them both.) But I am finding I'd love a Phil Collins album. If I buy a whole album of his, then I can't get anything else. Decisions, decisions.

My Kitty

I have all kinds of great things I could talk about that happened over the last week. Sledding with my kids on Sunday, the school play tryouts where my two oldest got up in front of everyone and did their bit, all the awesome Mo Willems books we checked out of the library, the bitter cold that gave all of my kids the day off from school today.

But, I'm not going to talk about those things. I'm going to talk a little bit about my cat, Bumper. I took Bumper to the vet last week because she had been losing weight quite rapidly and also because a blood vessel burst in her eye. She is almost 14 years old and except for the frequent vomiting she has had all her life, and the diarrhea she had for close to a year wherein she almost got put to sleep. she's been an awesome cat. She is not moody or mean. She doesn't invite affection and then turn her head and bite you. She lets the kids carry her around the house and never once has even thought to bite or scratch them. She sits on my lap every night after the kids go to bed, and for most of the time we've owned her, she has slept at my feet on top of my bed.


She had a rough start in life. Back in the fall of 1995, I was driving to St Ann School where I taught 1st grade. It was a short drive, probably 10-15 minutes. Cedar Road is a very busy road that leads into Cleveland if you follow it long enough. My drive was straight down Cedar Road. As I passed through a big intersection, I saw something clutching the pavement in the left turn lane going the other direction. I quickly recognized it as a cat. I immediately pulled my car over into the parking lot to the right and jumped out of my car. As I did so, I noticed a large crowd of people waiting for the bus. I heard an audible group cringe as I ran to the side of the road waiting to cross to the turn lane. A car had made a left turn and just barely missed the cat in the middle of the road. As soon as the light changed, I ran out and picked the pitiful little cat up.

I had no idea what to do next. I decided to continue on to work. I usually got there quite early to get work done before the kids came in. That day I had to figure out what to do with this injured cat. I unloaded my bookbag and left the cat in my car where she hadn't really moved except to look around since I put her on the front seat. After getting my classroom opened up, I went and got the cat and took her into the teacher's lounge to talk to my principal. Sr. Dorothy Ann was terrified of cats, a little fact I was not aware of. She stood on the other end of the lounge while we discussed what to do with the cat. We put her in an unused room of the rectory that was just outside of the school building. I then went to work.

A few hours later Sr. Erin was at my door, ready to take over my classroom. Apparently our secretary had arranged for the cat to get into a vet down the road and I needed to take her now. So I did. She had a fractured pelvis, broken paw, and an infected bite wound that needed draining. The vet's wife used to work at St. Ann's, so the vet had contacted a rescue organization that paid for all the work as long as we'd foster the cat until a home was found for her. I said, "Of course!"


I brought her home after all the surgeries and work was done. The vet thought she was between 6 and 9 months old. We called her "Kitty" initially, so we wouldn't get attached. Riiiight. We never got a call from the rescue organization saying they found her a home. We kept her in our one bedroom apartment against our lease agreement and named her Bumper. (My husband said it was only appropriate, after all the last thing before she saw me was the bumper of a car.)

We have moved four times since I found her that fall day almost 14 years ago. She lived with my husband's grandparents for almost six months while we looked for a house in Illinois. They adored her, as we do. Everyone who has ever met her or taken care of her says she is the most amazing and sweet cat. And they are right.

UPDATE:
I took Bumper to the vet last week and then again yesterday for a weight check. They ran blood tests and took X-rays. They told me yesterday she probably had spleen cancer. I asked them how long until the inevitable. The vet said he didn't know. Take her home, feed her, give her fluids (under her skin with a needle and I.V. bag) and start talking to the kids about how she is sick.

Last night she had diarrhea and it was all down her back legs. She came over one last time to sit on my lap and I realized what was all over her. So I took her up to the bathtub upstairs and got some warm water to clean her up. She didn't even protest and looked so pitiful laying in the big white tub. I knew the end was close. I wrapped her in a white towel and snuggled with her. She couldn't purr, which she always did almost immediately as I picked her up. I laid her in her favorite spot on the couch. I scratched her chin and she lifted her head to let me do it.


This morning she is gone. My husband found her dead on the couch. Now I have to tell the kids. They have a snow day because of the extreme cold we are experiencing in Chicago right now. I am so sad. I loved her dearly. I am glad she is no longer suffering. Goodbye, Bumper.

Thrifty Find

After dropping Zoe off at preschool, I headed out to my periodontist consultation. My gum on my upper front right tooth is pulling away from the tooth and I needed to have a specialist look at it. The office was on the other side of Aurora, and so I trekked over that way and passed several interesting stores on the way. One was a free standing Carson Pirie Scott, which I didn't even know existed! (The free standing part, not the store itself. I've just never seen a CPS outside of a mall.) The other, right across the way from the Carson Pirie Scott store, was called Thrift and Dollar. It got my curiosity and as my consultation only took about 20 minutes, I had some time to kill before having to bus the carpool kids home.

I drove by the Thrift and Dollar, parked, and went inside. As I entered the store, three ladies carrying a plastic toddler bed passed me saying, "What a blessing! Lord we thank you for this bed. Only $30! Thank you, Lord." I looked around and immediately recognized the set up as a store that sells donated goods (like a Goodwill or Salvation Army store.) I took a look at some of the clothes, then started perusing the furniture. There were some great things there! Some of the dressers were surely antiques, though many needed some TLC. After walking through the furniture I noticed the knick knacks. I looked for some angels for my mom, but didn't find any that I liked. There were tons of religious figurines and several Easter bunnies, as well as a few buddhas and some porcelain girls holding parasols.

After looking at the knick knacks, a lovely large brown plate caught my eye. It looked to be from the 70's, judging by the colors and design. It was an orangeish-brown iron stone plate, with a dark brown rim and three dark brown flowers on the inside. I immediately liked it and kept it in the back of my mind.

I looked around some more at all of the little dishes, gravy boats, glasses, mugs and plates. There was so much to take in. I think I could fill my cupboards with so many of the quaint little designs I saw there. Maybe if I ever get new everyday dishes I'll just go back there and buy a mish mosh of cute plates. That really appeals to me on two levels. One, I'll be recycling by reusing perfectly good dishes. Two, I think different patterns would be fun to have on the table.

I wish I would have had my camera. The old irons, the fancy wine glasses, the old tools, the end tables exactly like the kind my husband and I had when we first got married (they were hand me downs then, too), the racks and racks of clothing. I could have shown you some really amazing things. One of my favorite was some old Corelle (I think - maybe they were Libby) glasses that my Mom had when we were growing up. They are hideous brown glasses with flowers around the top. And as ugly as they are, it was fun to see they still existed somewhere.


Anyways, I checked my wallet and realized that I only had $3 in cash. Most of these stores don't take credit cards, so my $3 and change was going to have to stretch. While perusing all the various dishes, another plate caught my eye. This one had a painting of The Museum of Science and Industry right in the middle of it. Around that are four drawings of various exhibits inside the museum. On the back it tells of the founder of the museum and the museum's purpose. There is no date unfortunately, but it does name the company that made the plate and the fact that the plate was made right here in the USA. The price on the tag: $3.




Living in the Chicago area, and my husband growing up here, I knew this was something special. I decided I had to have this plate to hang in my house. So, I bought it. Now I just have to buy some of those plate hanging kits and soon this great plate will be hanging up in a special place.






I love it!

Buckeyes

No swearing in this post, I promise!

For the big game, I made an Ohio favorite for the kids, hubby and me to snack on. It is of course the ever popular Buckeye! And even though my beloved Bucks lost yesterday, we still had awesome treats to munch on each time they scored, and even a few left over today!

My most awesome big sister, Leanne, gave me this recipe. From what I understand, her husband and three daughters, as well as several school teachers and sometimes neighbors get to enjoy these tasty morsels of peanut butter and chocolate goodness several times during the football season. My family is not as fortunate, but come bowl game time, they know they'll be ready for the big game.


Buckeyes

▪ ½ cup peanut butter
▪ 3 tablespoons butter, softened
▪ 1 cup powdered sugar, sifted
▪ 4 oz. chocolate flavored candy coating
▪ 4 oz. milk chocolate chips

Stir together the peanut butter and butter until smooth. Gradually add sugar, stirring until combined. Shape into 1 inch balls; place on wax paper. Let stand until dry (about 20 minutes) or refrigerate for 20 minutes.

Melt candy coating and chocolate chips in double boiler or microwave. Cool slightly. Dip balls in chocolate using a toothpick. Let excess chocolate drip off. Place on wax paper; let stand until set (or refrigerate).

Makes about 30


Notes on this recipe: The first time I made these, they turned out pretty ugly. they tasted great, but not pretty!
Some tips I've learned since that first time:
1. Melt the chocolate in a double boiler. It will stay warmer longer and if you are a slow dipper like me, that's very useful

2. While melting the chocolate, pop the peanut butter balls in the freezer. The peanut butter ball never fell off once when I used this method.

3. Use two toothpicks at once. After dipping one ball, hold it upside down for a few seconds while dipping a second ball. Then place first chocolate dipped ball (buckeye) on waxed paper. I just find the chocolate spreads less and makes for a more authentic lookiing buckeye this way.

4. If you don't want the toothpick hole showing, rub the hole away with your fingers.

5. When I make these, I only get about 25. Might be because I like the peanut butter filling too much, might be because I make them too big. Not sure which it is.

I hope you enjoy these! I know we did, even if the Buck's didn't win. (Don't they look a lot like the real thing?)

Two Fucking Minutes Is Two Minutes Too Long!

Yes, I'm an Ohio State fan. I actually didn't think they had a big chance of winning against Texas, though I still had hope. A college football game often goes to the team who shows up to play, and I thought OSU might be that team tonight.

As the first half ended with them up 6-3, I thought, "Hey, we're still in this. We're even winning!"

Then the second half came and Texas got ahead. I didn't give up on the Bucks, though. They were never down by much, and the possibility of a win still excited me.

Then, with 2:05 to go in the 4th quarter, my Bucks scored a touchdown. They went up 21-17. The thrill of being in the lead so late in the 4th quarter was tempered by my being an Ohio sports fan. I knew 2:05 was too much time on the clock. I have watched way too many Ohio sports teams (pro (Cleveland Browns) and college level) to think that the Bucks had it locked up. My only hope was a strong defense. Please God, could they hold the Longhorns long enough so they couldn't score a touchdown?

And of course, the answer was no. A possible generous placing of the football on 4th down, a missed tackle, and the game was all over.

My husband seemed a little shocked with my cursing and swearing. I am not a foul mouthed person by nature. But big sports events bring it out of me. I'm ultra competitive and when my team doesn't come through, I'm thoroughly disappointed.

Goodbye, Buckeyes. Maybe next year we'll bring home the big game.

New Year, New Weight

This post had the possibility of being about my resolutions for 2009 (which I do have a few of), but instead is going to be about me bitching about my ever expanding waistline.

Towards the end of the summer, I put on a few pounds. Not much, just two or three. I knew I needed to lose them before Thanksgiving, because let's be honest, Thanksgiving is about eating, and I was going to do my fair share. Despite not losing the two or three pounds, I managed somehow not to gain any weight at Thanksgiving.

So I set out to lose the weight before Christmas. Once again, it didn't happen. I decided to go into the holidays happily but carefully. Maybe I could just gain one or two pounds and only be five pounds over my happy weight. I gained two pounds the weekend I went to my mom and dad's house, the weekend BEFORE Christmas. Not a good sign.

And so, after watching the scale continue to rise throughout this last week, I've finally had it. I officially gained 5 1/2 pounds during the holidays and now I'm 8 1/2 pounds above where I feel comfortable.

It might not be so bad if the holiday food was limited to the holidays. But unfortunately there are still Christmas cookies, Fannie May Eggnog Creams, Starbuck's Truffles (okay, these are all gone, but I ate them after Christmas), Eggnog, candy canes, and other waistline threateners. It doesn't help that I discovered the yummiest way to make a mocha or cinnamon latte at home. (It involves sweetened condensed milk for both, and for the mocha, Hershey's syrup). Luckily my birthday cake sucked, or I'd still be eating that, too.

I have to make some changes, and right now I'm weighing what those changes need to be. I will try not to be whiny, but as I figure out these changes, I will probably be sharing them with all of you. I want to be held accountable, and the blog seems like a great way to do that.

Hoping all of you had delicious but calorie free holidays! Hope 2009 is a good year for you all!

Happy Birthday To Me, I'm Now Thirty-Three

Okay, you caught me. I'm not actually 33. I'm really 36 today. But it made my title rhyme, which I really liked.

I had the birthday that I think is fitting for a 36 year old stay-at-home mom of three rugrats. My morning started off well enough when my kids let me sleep in until 7:30 AM. I wandered downstairs with my 9 year old son and my 6 year old daughter and was immediately bombarded with inquiries into playing the Wii. I acquiesced and was soon watching my son battle thugs and others as Indiana Jones on our family room TV. My daughter snuggled up next to me and about 15 minutes later my 4 year old daughter found her way downstairs. A request was made for a green bar (a Nutri Grain bar) just as I excused myself to use the bathroom. I told my four year old that I thought they were on a high shelf, but she could try to get them if she wanted to.

After washing my hands my son told me he had slipped and hurt his knee. Usual stuff, he was still walking, wasn't too concerned. Then I walked into the kitchen and slipped. I looked down to see what was making the floor slippery. I couldn't really see very much until I took a closer look. There in a huge pool on the floor was my essentially full bottle of olive oil on it's side, and oil EVERYWHERE. I tried to think quickly and finally decided I needed a towel from the laundry room to mop up the oil. I asked Ian if he knew what happened. He said he didn't know. It was then that I noticed that Zoe, my four year old, was nowhere to be found. I asked Ian if Zoe had spilled the bottle. Ian of course didn't know because he had been playing the Wii at that time, thus his brain could not observe anything except how many lego studs Indiana Jones had collected. After cleaning up the oil with the towel, scrubbing the area with Murphy's oil soap and water, then washing all the towels used to clean up the mess, I went to find Zoe. She was hiding under her covers on her bed. She was so upset, and afraid I was angry at her. I assured her I was not angry and then escorted her downstairs where she decided on a bowl of mini wheats instead of a green bar for breakfast.

Next I made myself a lemon cake from scratch. I love lemon cake. I sifted my ingredients three times just like the recipe called for and baked it up to perfection in two 9 inch cake pans. Having never made the cake before, I wasn't sure how lemony it was (it only had lemon zest, no juice or extract). So I decided to make a lemon buttercream frosting to top the cake with. By the time I was done the cake looked very pretty. Unfortunately when we ate it after dinner, it didn't taste so good. Actually, the cake was really yummy, though not real lemony. It was the frosting that wasn't quite right. It was a little bitter and tasted odd. I think when I zested the lemon I may have gotten some of the bitter pith with the zest. I am mostly mad that I wasted 1 1/2 sticks of butter in the frosting, one that won't get eaten now. I'm contemplating scraping the frosting off and still eating the cake. Next time I'll use extract instead of real lemon zest and juice in my frosting. I think it may taste sweeter that way (and less chance for screwing it up).

After dinner and blowing out my candles on my cake, I opened my much anticipated birthday gift. I don't usually have one particular item on my list that I want more than anything else. But this year I let my husband know over and over again what I wanted. And guess what, all my subtle (and not so subtle) hinting worked! He got me the Provo Craft Cuttlebug! I can't wait to try it out.


Oh yeah, my night ended with my husband and I forcing my peepee hold dancing four year old into the bathroom so she wouldn't have an accident. Apparently we were watching the wrong kid, because not more than one minute later my six year old daughter was running through the family room with wet pants yelling, "IAN MADE ME DO IT."

Yes, truly a fitting end to my 36th birthday.

Basking in the Christmas Afterglow

Our Christmas was fun and fast and before we knew it had come and gone. We spent the weekend before Christmas in Ohio with my family. My parents have been rearranging Christmas for many years, making it some weekend other than when Christmas really is. I love this for many reasons. The two best are that whenever they have Christmas, ALL of my brothers (2 of them) and my sister (just 1) are there with their spouses and children, and that my kids get to wake up Christmas morning in their own house and Brendan and I get to experience Christmas morning with just our family. I can't tell you how much it means to me to get to see all of my nieces and nephews (8 of them on my side) and always my sibs and sister-in-laws and brother-in-law. I only get home about three times a year, but each time I usually get to see everyone because my parents are so gracious about making sure it is a date that everyone can make it.

On Saturday we drove down to Minster, Ohio and had Christmas with my Mom's family at a hall there. My mom's family is huge, and we have been having Christmas in the same rented hall for as far back as I can remember. I know in one of my photo albums in the basement is a picture of me dressed up in a majorette costume, a gift from my Aunt Rosie, in that rented hall. If you are not from a big blue collar family, you cannot fully appreciate the chaos that is Christmas with the Barhorsts. Most of my 15 aunts and uncles were there (my mom is one of fifteen), many of my cousins, and lots of my cousins' kids. We always start with a prayer and a big noon meal of food everyone contributes like chicken and noodles, mashed potatoes, baked beans and green beans with bacon and a whole table filled with homemade desserts. The hall and main entree food are paid for by several 50/50 raffles. After the meal, several people (usually the men, but occasionally a few women as well) settle into a poker game at some round tables in either corner of the hall. The little children go up to a "fish pond" by the kitchen of the hall where several of my aunts hook toys onto the end of the lines for the kids to receive. Most of the kids get 5-10 things at the fish pond and need plastic chopping bags to hold their loot in. Several others join in a few rounds of "Robbers Bingo". This is where every number of a card is called and every person can bingo five (5) times. For example, if your first bingo is vertically, you shout bingo and go get a prize off the front table (also items that people have all brought). You then clear that row, and you can now bingo four more times, for the other vertical rows. When you bingo, you can get a prize off the table or steal someone else's prize, as long as they did not get it on that bingo turn. There are always a few items that it seems everyone wants, and so they get stolen a lot. Your best bet is to get the last number, therefore the last bingo, and hope the prize you want is near you. It's a lot of fun, but pretty crazy as well.

I was fortunate enough to get to go to my Aunt Louise and Uncle Dave's house afterward. They are my aunt and uncle from my Dad's side of the family, but only live about a half hour away from Minster. My Aunt was diagnosed last Christmas with breast cancer and I have been doing all I can to keep her spirits up. When she was first going through chemo and other treatments I tried to send her a card weekly. She and my uncle are two of those people who were always great to me as a kid. As her prognosis has improved, I haven't sent as many cards. But I knew I wanted to visit and we had a great time. I gave her some of my homemade chocolate peppermint bread and two ABC recipe card sets for cookies and muffins. They gave Brendan and I some of their home canned beef and a huge ziploc bag of Orville Redenbacher popcorn (their son-in-law is a popcorn farmer for Orville Redenbacher). I was glad to see them both doing well.

We celebrated Christmas on Sunday with my family and then came home on Monday. My kids always have a great time with their cousins. This year they made their own Christmas play about the true meaning of Christmas. Zoe, being the youngest cousin, got to be the baby Jesus. The adults always have fun playing some party game. This year it was Mad Gab. Once we got the hang of it, we had to find ways to make it more challenging, like doing as many cards in the time frame without any passing. My mom finally found a party game she was pretty good at!

We spent Christmas Eve at 3:00 PM mass and then headed over to my father-in-law's house for a delicious meal of leg of lamb and risotto. I brought a new butternut squash recipe (sooooo good) and baked beans made with bacon. We opened our gifts and returned home at about 11:00PM, when we had just enough time to put out some cookies for Santa and sprinkle some reindeer food on the front yard for Rudolph and his pals.

The kids were all up at 6:00 AM (our rule, no one gets up before 6:00!!!!) and had there stockings emptied by 6:03. Emma bounded in and asked us to get up, so we obliged. The presents were all opened by 6:17 (that may be generous) and Brendan and I settled in to undoing those damn twisty ties and plastic zip chord used to make toys stay nice in their boxes. We ate Kringle, played our new Wii games, and sat around in our pajamas most of the morning.

Christmas night was spent with my mother-in-law and brother-in-law at our house. I had to make the hors d'oeuvres, side dishes, and desserts while my MIL brought the main course. I was so psyched I didn't have to make one main course this entire Christmas. Only side dishes and one dessert. It was nice.

Oh, and I have to mention the best gift I received this Christmas? All the good news I received on December 23rd. My cousin's surgery on her neck went well. My aunt's scan on her eye because they thought they saw a new lesion was found to be clear. And my new nephew Declan was born. Brendan went to see him on Christmas day, I went on the 26th. Elizabeth and Patrick are very proud parents to one of the most adorable little guys around.

Hope your holiday were a lot of fun, too!

Gingersnaps

Well, here it is. My twelfth recipe of Christmas. I saved this recipe for gingersnaps for the last one because it is a very special recipe. Not only is it delicious and pretty, but I received this recipe from my husband's grandmother, Eleanor VanDeNorth, several years ago. Grandma Van, as all her grandkids called her, made cookies every year for all of her grandkids and each one got a box of cookies all to themselves. When I was in college dating Brendan, he would share his cookies with me. He told me how the gingersnaps were his favorite, and after having one I had to agree. As we became engaged and then married, I saw Grandma Van more and more often. One night while having dinner at her house, I asked for a few of her recipes (a chicken dinner, her salad dressing and the gingersnaps). She gave them to me and I've been making them ever since. I remember when I told some of Brendan's family that she gave me the recipes for her dressing and the gingersnaps and they were somewhat surprised. Apparently Grandma Van kept her recipes a close guarded secret. I don't attribute her generosity so much to my personality as to the fact that she adored Brendan. He had lived with her through his four years of high school and was an extremely loving and dutiful grandson. I remember visiting over some college holiday and going over to her house so Brendan could cover her air conditioner and do a few other odd jobs for her. She was an incredible woman with a wonderful talent for baking cookies. She died this September and is greatly missed. At our house, it wouldn't be Christmas without Grandma Van's gingersnaps. Please enjoy her recipe.


Grandma Van's Gingersnaps

▪ ¾ cup shortening
▪ 1 cup sugar
▪ 1 egg
▪ ¼ cup molasses
▪ 2 cups flour
▪ 2 teaspoons baking soda
▪ 1 teaspoon cinnamon
▪ 1 teaspoon ground cloves
▪ dash salt
▪ 1 teaspoon ginger

Cream shortening and sugar until fluffy. Add egg and beat. Add molasses and beat well. Sift remaining dry ingredients together. Add to creamed mixture; mix well.

Refrigerate dough for at least two hours or overnight. Roll into small balls and roll in granulated sugar. Place 2 inches apart on lightly greased cookie sheet. Bake 12-13 minutes at 350ºF.

Makes about 60 cookies.

Notes: If you use parchment paper you do not have to grease the cookie sheet. DO NOT overbake these cookies. They burn easily. As they cool they will harden and you will get the distinctive crunch of a gingersnap.


This completes my 12 recipes of Christmas. I hope you have enjoyed seeing them and trying them as much as I have enjoyed sharing all of them with you. Have a blessed and merry Christmas!

Scandinavian Almond Bars

This is a newer recipe for me, although it comes from an old Better Homes and Garden cookbook. I absolutely love almonds. As I was looking through the cookbook, this recipe jumped out at me. Not only does the cookie dough contain almond extract, but their are almonds scattered on top and an almond extract infused drizzle of icing on top. These are truly delicious, and if you have picky children like mine, leave the almonds off the top. They'll still love the yummy cookie without them.

Scandinavian Almond Bars

1 3/4 cups flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1/2 tsp. almond extract
milk
1/2 cup sliced almonds

Stir together flour, baking powder, and salt. In a large bowl, beat butter and sugar until fluffy. Add egg and almond extract and beat well. Add flour mixture and beat until well mixed.

Divide dough into fourths. Form each into a 12-inch roll (like a log). Place two rolls 4-5 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet. Flatten the roll until it is 3 inches wide. Repeat with remaining rolls.

Brush flattened rolls with milk and sprinkle with almonds. Bake in a 325ºF oven for 12 to 14 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. While cookies are still warm, cut them crosswise at a diagonal into 1 inch strips. Cool. Drizzle with Almond Icing.

Almond Icing

1 cup sifted powdered sugar
1/4 tsp. almond extract
3-4 tsp. milk

Stir powdered sugar and almond extract together. Add enough milk to make the icing of drizzling consistency.


If you put the cookies on a wire rack before drizzling with the icing, the excess can fall under the rack and not make the bottom of your cookies sticky. These really are good and I hope you enjoy them!

Boston Cream Pie

I made this last year for Christmas Eve dessert. We were going to church in the afternoon and then heading straight to my father-in-law's for dinner. I had to make something that could sit in the van during mass and make it easily to his house. This is one of those super simple recipes that tastes great and looks impressive as well. If you are looking for a dessert last minute that is not too time consuming, this is the one.


Boston Cream Pie

1 pkg. (18-1/4 ounces) yellow cake mix
1 1/2 cups cold milk
1 pkg. (3.4 ounces) instant vanilla pudding mix
2 squares (1 ounce each) unsweetened chocolate
2 tablespoons butter
1 cup powdered sugar
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
2 to 3 tablespoons hot water

Preheat oven to 350ºF.

Prepare cake mix batter according to package directions. Pour into two greased and floured 9-in. round baking pans.

Bake for 28-33 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before removing cake from pans to wire racks to cool completely.

In a small bowl, whisk milk and pudding mix for 2 minutes. Let stand for 2 minutes or until soft-set. Cover and refrigerate.

In a microwave, melt chocolate and butter; stir until smooth. Stir in powdered sugar, vanilla and enough water to achieve a thick glaze; set aside.

Place one cake layer on a serving plate; spread with pudding. Top with the second cake layer. Spoon chocolate glaze over the top, allowing it to drip down sides of cake. Refrigerate until serving.


My family really enjoyed this recipe, and I enjoyed that it didn't take all day in the kitchen to make!

Chocolate Peppermint Bread

If the cake recipe from Wednesday seems like too much work, or you need a really quick (and delicious) gift to give to neighbors, friends, teachers, or anyone special, this is the recipe for you. I made these mini loaves Wednesday morning with my four year old daughter to give to her pre-school teachers at her Christmas party. When we started making them, they were just going to be Chocolate Chocolate Chip Bread, but when I looked in my pantry and saw my bag of Andes Peppermint Crunch Chips, I was inspired to make a little change to the recipe. This was my first time making this recipe this way (I've made it many times without the peppermint chips) and I loved the results. My nine year old son, who loves chocolate mint anything devoured most of one loaf himself!

To give as a gift, wrap in clear plastic wrap, then tie ends with curling ribbon and curl. It makes a very pretty (and tasty) gift!


Chocolate Peppermint Bread

1 3/4 cup flour
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup milk
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, melted
generous 1/4 cup chocolate chips
generous 1/4 cup Andes peppermint crunch chips

Preheat oven to 375ºF. Grease and flour 4 mini loaf pans.

Combine the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl. Stir to blend.

Add the eggs, milk and melted butter. Stir until just blended. Stir in chocolate chips and peppermint crunch chips.

Divide evenly among the 4 loaf pans. Bake until bread springs back when lightly touched, 20 - 25 minutes. Let cool in pan for ten minutes. Run knife around edge of pan and remove bread to wire rack to cool completely.

Yield: 4 mini loaves

Notes on this recipe: This recipe is actually a muffin recipe. If you want to bake as muffins, it makes 18 muffins. Bake for only 15-18 minutes or until done. My mini loaves took 23 minutes to bake. When I say a generous 1/4 cup, make it a heaping 1/4 cup. This has a very mild mint taste. You could up the mint flavor by using up to 1/2 cup of the peppermint crunch chips. If you want just chocolate chocolate chip bread (or muffins), use 1/2 cup chocolate chips and no peppermint crunch chips.


This is great to make with the kids because all you need to mix it is a wooden spoon. We are down to our last loaf and I know we will definitely be making this one again. Really, chocolate and peppermint, what's not to love?

Chocolate and Peppermint Cake

This cake is a showstopper. Everyone will look at your pretty creation and want some. All the recipes are from The Cake Mix Doctor, but she did not put any of them together this way. That is my creation. It really is a great cake, and because it comes from a mix it is so easy! I made this for my husband's grandmother's birthday a few years ago because she has a December 23rd birthday. I love that candy canes are used on and in it. What is more Christmassy than candy canes?


Chocolate and Peppermint Cake

Cake:
1 pkg. devil's food cake mix
1 pkg. (3.9 oz.) instant chocolate pudding
4 eggs
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup warm water
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350ºF. Grease and flour two 9-inch round cake pans. Place all ingredients except chocolate chips into bowl. Mix on low speed 1 minute. Increase mixer speed to medium and beat 2-3 minutes more. The batter should look thick and well combined. Fold in chocolate chips. Pour batter into prepared pans.

Bake for 27-32 minutes (or whatever time the box recommends) or until cake springs back when lightly pressed. Let cool in pan on wire rack for 10 minutes, then remove from pan and cool completely on wire rack.

Peppermint Buttercream Filling:
1/4 cup butter, softened
1/4 cup finely crushed peppermint candy
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar, sifted if lumpy
1 to 1 1/2 tablespoons milk
1/4 tsp. peppermint extract (OR 1/2 tablespoon peppermint schnapps)

Mix butter on low speed until fluffy. Add peppermint candy, powdered sugar, 1 tablespoon milk, and extract OR schnapps. Blend on low speed until sugar is incorporated. Increase speed to medium and beat until the frosting lightens and is fluffy, about 1 minute. Blend in up to 1/2 tablespoon milk if filling is too stiff.

Chocolate Buttercream Frosting:
1/2 cup butter (1 stick), softened
2/3 cup cocoa powder
3 cups powdered sugar, sifted if lumpy
1/3 cup whole milk
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/4 tsp. salt

Beat butter and cocoa on low speed until well combined. Add all other ingredients and mix on low speed until frosting lightens and is fluffy, 2 - 3 minutes. Add more milk if frosting is too thick, or powdered sugar if too thin.

Assembling the cake:
Place one cake layer on serving plate. Spread with Peppermint Buttercream. Place other cake layer on top. Frost with Chocolate Buttercream. Sprinkle additional crushed peppermint candy on top for a pretty presentation.


Notes on this recipe: I use a Duncan Hines cake mix because it does not have pudding added to the mix. Using one of the others will probably work fine, but it may result in a heavier cake. If you are making the frosting, do not substitute margarine for the butter. Butter tastes way better.

I really enjoyed making and eating this cake! You can speed up the process by adding peppermint extract to canned vanilla frosting and using canned chocolate frosting. But, if you are going to the fuss of making a special dessert, homemade frosting does taste better. (Especially this chocolate frosting recipe - to die for!)

Only 8 days and 4 recipes until Christmas!

Christmas Snack Mix

If your family is anything like mine on Christmas Eve or Christmas day, you are inevitably sitting around in the kitchen or family room talking, reminiscing, laughing and all around having a good time chatting about anything and everything. While doing this there are always good snacks to eat. This is one of those good snacks. I adapted my recipe from this one here.


Christmas Snack Mix

4 cups Corn Chex
4 cups Rice Chex
2 cups small pretzel twists
1 cup salted peanuts
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup peanut butter
2 1/4 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. garlic powder
1 cup Christmas colored M&M's

In a large bowl, combine cereal, peanuts and pretzels. In a small saucepan over medium heat, combine the butter, peanut butter, Worcestershire sauce, salt and garlic powder; cook and stir until butter and peanut butter are melted. Pour over cereal mixture and toss to coat.

Spread into a greased 15 in. x 10 in. by 1 in. baking pan. Bake at 250ºF for 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes. Cool. When completely cool stir in M&M's. Store in an airtight container.


I love making this snack mix. I really enjoy the salty and sweet tastes together. And don't worry, it doesn't taste peanut buttery. If you are really lucky you can find Christmas pretzel shapes (like I did this year) and use instead of the twists. This keeps well (if you don't eat it all!) for several days, so it can be made ahead. Enjoy! (Only 10 more days and five more recipes until Christmas.)

Fun Monday - RAK edition

Mommy Wizdom is hosting Fun Monday this week. Her assignment is the following:

1) Your job this week is to go out and perform a random act of kindness. Now, before you freak out, please read on. This is actually really easy!! This act may be for someone you know or for a perfect stranger. It can be big or small, it'll all up to you. Obviously, it should be something within your means. For instance, don't go out and buy your next door neighbor a car and then complain to me that you can't make your mortgage payment, ok?

I am in a wonderful Bible Study group with an amazing group of ten women. We've been meeting for three years now, and while some members have left and new ones have come, the character of the group has never changed. Amazing women all trying to live and grow through Christ's love. It is through this group that I have gotten to participate in many random acts of kindness.

This past week, as a group, we adopted a family from our church who will not be able to have a regular Christmas due to financial difficulties. They are a family of seven and we each chose one of the family members and bought a present for them. (I got the four year old girl and bought her a double stroller with two baby dolls). We also all provided two food items and towards their Christmas main course (turkey, ham or whatever they decide) that will be turned into a gift card for their local grocery store so they can buy what they would like. I gave two cans of green beans and peach pie filling. I love that we can do this as a group because within our group of women there are a few who cannot afford much and would not be able to adopt a family on their own. But by going together, we can provide a really nice Christmas for a family who might otherwise not be able to have food, let alone gifts, and we all can do what we are able to afford. It is all done confidentially, and we do not know who the family is. We do know that this Christmas they will have a good meal to share and presents to open.

I also organized four families this year to go Christmas caroling. We went Friday night and visited five houses despite temperatures in the low teens. The ages ranged from adults in their 40's to toddlers not yet two years old. Some of the older kids started off a little embarrassed, but by the end everyone was singing their hearts out. I'm not sure any of my neighbor's knew what to think. But they all seemed to enjoy it. Afterwards we all came back to my house to warm up with hot apple cider and hot chocolate and enjoy each other's company. It was a great way to celebrate the Christmas season, and brought just as much joy to all of the carolers as it did to the recipients.

Now go visit Mommy Wizdom and read about everyone else's RAKs.

So Little, So Profound

This morning, Zoe watched an episode of The Backyardigans. Later when we were making gingerbread cookies together she said, "Tasha and Uniqua didn't know what Christmas was all about. They were trying to figure it out."


Me: They didn't know what Christmas is about?

Zoe: No. But I do. It's when we celebrate baby Jesus' birthday.

Me: That's right! Did Uniqua and Tasha figure that out?

Zoe: No. They just thought it was about having fun and spending time with friends. They didn't know about baby Jesus' birthday, but I do. That's bad that they don't know.

Me: But I'm really glad you know what Christmas is about.

Zoe: Me, too.

From the mouths of babes.