DayLook: January 21, 2012

Looking out from my back porch... looks cold.  The wind is blowing around the little bit of loose snow that we have, making it extra chilly.

I am thankful for... fireplaces, chai tea, fresh eggs, clean bathrooms, weekends…

I am reading… still… Purgatory!  I’ve finished about 4-5 books since starting it, though.  Sometimes you need to insert a light, fluffy read between heady reads.

I am praying for... my pregnant sis, my God-children, my own kids, friends’ special intentions.

I am hearing... the fan over the stovetop and the wind blowing around the house.

From the School Room... this past week, I didn’t even go down to the school room on two days.  I let the kids be accountable to themselves and had the littles come up when they had questions or needed help with reading.  It was a needed reprieve.

From the Kitchen... Zeke has been put in charge of unloading the dishwasher; he’s really good at it.  Dash and Angelina have been assigned to wash up any ‘remaining’ dishes (usually those that won’t fit in the dishwasher after supper or pots that do not go in the dishwasher) in the evening.  It’s so awesome to wake up to a clean sink area and NO dirty dishes and it NOT being me always responsible for this task.

I’ve also been on a grapefruit kick.  Greg sold fruit as an FFA fundraiser and I always like to buy a few grapefruit at that time of year (December).  My favorite way to prepare is to cut it in half, but it in a bowl, sprinkle with about a tablespoon of brown sugar and put it under the broiler until the sugar is almost carmelized.  I never realized how much of a time saver the grapefruit spoons would be!  The serrated edge means I don’t have to take the time to cut around the edge and the sections.

From the Garden… time to start thinking about starting seeds if I’m going to start seeds this year.  I plan to pare back on the amount of tomatoes this year, regardless!

From the FarmYard… absolutely loving the colorful variety of eggs.  We generally pick up 12-18 each day.

A successful moment…

A few plans for the coming week… Angelina’s dance has been moved to Thursday, Eric is gone to an Ag Show all week, I plan to stay home as much as possible!

A picture memory... our old tramp broke, so we have a new one.  Louis has figured out it’s a ton a fun to jump (no to mention it wears off a bit of energy) and just today learned this new trick.  Strong.

Tour a country…

CHC’s social studies program has been fun for Zeke and a LOT of planning for me.  Thank goodness this hasn’t been a stressful year (ha!).  So, he’s finished up his study and reading about Peru.  I’ll admit we keep it pretty light, but we really enjoy experimenting with the food.  On Tuesday, we prepared a Peruvian meal with four courses: Empanadas, Arroz (rice – the dish was supposed to be Arroz con Polo, but I didn’t need another meat dish), Spicy Peruvian Pork, and Rice Pudding.  Zeke is my little foodie; he LOVES to eat, so this is great fun for him and the rest of us have enjoyed the different dishes, too. 

Zeke took this picture for his ‘passport’. 

Our menu:

Chicken Empanadas – my recipe is based on this recipe by Paula Deen.

This recipe made a huge amount of filling.  It asked that only 1tsp of filling be put in each empanada, but I increased that to 1 Tbl.  After filling 2 dozen empanadas, I save the remainder (about 2 cups) and plan to use it for quesadillas.

Spicy Peruvian Pork

The meat marinated in the spices for a bit, then the recipe called for it to be browned.

The sauce thickened up a bit more from this final picture.

Arroz

I used the rice portion of this recipe, then served the Spicy Peruvian Pork over it.

The rice was browned in oil first, which gave it a nice texture and flavor.

Rice Pudding – Arroz con Leche

He’s licensed!

Wednesday DayLook: 1/11/12

 

Looking out from my back porch... it’s a grey day.  There are snowflakes falling every once in a while and it just looks cold.

I am thankful for... a somewhat quiet day, husbands who offer to take daughters to dance, the idea of quiet (something to yearn for!), the ability to MAKE time to read, my kitchen, the gas fireplace to warm us at night, the BISON win this past Saturday!

I am reading…

‘Mastering the Art of French Cooking’ by Julia Child (I am soooo craving poached eggs and hollandaise sauce!)

‘The Omnivores Dilemma’ by Michael Pollan

‘The Pure Joy of Monastery Cooking’ by Brother Victor-Antoine d’ Avila-Latourrette

‘Let Freedom Ring’ by Al and Joanna Lacy.

I am praying for... less stress.

I am wondering… why it seems that only adults loose their voices (from a sore throat or some other innocuous reason) and never kids. 

From the School Room... we are back in the swing, but it’s still not a very smooth ride.  Some students just need to question every darn little thing, and I’m getting worn down and stressed.  There are days when I think the next three years could just not go fast enough.  Please, pray for that kid, cuz my hubby is ready to send him to school.

From the Kitchen... I’m definitely in the mood to spend more time in the kitchen.  Cooking and baking are a stress reliever for me.  I so want to try some of the recipes from the cookbooks mentioned above.

From the FarmYard… the Barred Rock rooster is perilously close to ending his time here on earth.  I don’t dare let Louis (who is smaller) go out there as this rooster is mean to Grandma, Grandpa, Angelina, Zeke and Graham.  The kitties have made a successful transition from being housed in Grandma’s brown garage to living in the barn!  In fact, they often make their way up to our home to walk around the porch.  Happy hunters keep the mice away!

A successful moment… I did finish a puzzle on New Year’s Eve with about 20 minutes to go till the new year (Angelina helped with a handful of pieces), but there are no pictures except for the one below, which just DOES NOT do it justice.

A few plans for the rest of the week… headed to Fargo for a meeting and our CCL chapter is getting together for a potluck.  Blessedly, there are no plans for the weekend.

A picture memory...

Zeke put together the tool bench for Louis and he’s been having so much fun.  And, this is about at much snow as we’ve been able to get this year.  Of course, it melted within three days.

Yes, bright and early on the first day of the New Year, this is what happened to the puzzle.  I tell you, I didn’t even get to look at it in detail.  I was not a happy camper.

This was one of the best gifts this year.  Our old upright piano is on it’s last leg, as it will hardly hold a tune.  So, this will be our back-up and intermediate piano.

The kids’ Christmas program at church was on the Feast of the Epiphany.  This Three Kings cake for the potluck turned out really cute. 

Truth in Advertising??

My kids determined that I NEEDED a SodaStream for my Birthday and Christmas.  So, they pooled their finances to  purchase this amazing (more so in their eyes) for me.  They did ask me and I agreed that they could give me this gift, but I didn’t have time to really look into it and do any research.  It has truly been a learning experience for them however, and that has been more of a gift/lesson for them. 

First, Dash insisted that ordering from the SodaStream website was the absolutely best deal because they could order extra flavors, samples and an additional CO2 pack.  However, he forgot to calculate shipping.  In reality, Amazon would have been the better option because of super saver shipping, which would have resulted in no shipping charges.

Second, my kids (especially, Dash) know that I cannot stand the taste of artificial sweeteners, nor do I consider them a healthy alternative to cane or beet sugar.  Unbeknownst to me, ALL the regular flavors use sucralose for sweetening.  To his defense, the product descriptions say ‘all natural’.  But, I don’t consider sucralose a natural sweetener!  I can taste it and it’s awful.  After my first small glass, I wouldn’t consider drinking any more.  I had grave reservations about letting my kids drink any, but relented.  I did toss the flavor that is compared to Red Bull and all the diet flavors.  Thank goodness they were just small sample packs.  But, what do I do with all the full size flavors?

Third, the kids had assumed this would be a huge money saver because I’d ‘for sure’ like Dr. Pete better than my sugar filled Dr. Pepper.  After trying the others, I didn’t have the heart to tell them I wouldn’t be trying Dr. Pete with it’s sucralose sweetener.  Now, there are naturally (cane sugar) sweetened flavors, but most of them cost twice as much as the same amount of regular flavor and make half as many liters.  Definitely not as cost effective as the kids had dreamed. 

This won’t replace Dr. Pepper for me.  Now, I truly would like to cut back or cut completely my Dr. Pepper habit because the waistline is affected.  It’s an extra and isn’t necessary… it’s an indulgence.

We occasionally buy rootbeer for making rootbeer floats as a treat.  Eric and I enjoy Colorado Bulldogs, which use about 12oz of cola (usually Coke) for two drinks.  We make these maybe twice a month.  It can’t be returned, so I’ll be checking out the Sparkling Naturals flavors at some point.

peace and quiet

Peace and quiet are elusive.  In my mind the two are linked in a way that there cannot be peace without quiet and there cannot be quiet without peace.  If one is absent or only partially present, neither is fully realized. 

An acquaintance once mentioned she gets up at night to pray because it is quiet.  I’ve thought about that many times since because I think that may be the only time these two qualities are present in my life!  However, the thought of giving up any of the little sleep I manage to get would be a hard trade for me.  I suppose I should just try it. 

I tend to believe that less sleep will make the activity in my days even harder to manage with a cheerful spirit, but the days without much prayer (when one yearns for it) are equally hard. 

There’s a New Years resolution somewhere in all this rambling, I’m just not sure what it will be, yet.