On Jan 29, 2007, I wrote:

This is something new for me, but I thought it would be a fun way to stay in touch with friends and family. You can periodically 'check' in on us and see what is new. I'll be posting updates, hopefully several a month...we'll see how it goes!



And 2 years later, and over 500 posts, I laugh - "several a month"? BAH hahahaha I hadn't a clue as to what I was beginning. And I didn't have a clue as to the wonderful friendships I'd make.

Thank you to each of you for making this so much fun!!

And, if you are reading, and don't have a blog, go ahead and start one - you never know where it will take you!!

Wash-out Wednesday

As I opened the door to snap this picture, I could hear the rain hitting the snow.

Not a nice day to sled - wash-out.

My driveway is covered in snow.

My husband is 50 min away for an all day meeting.

I had minor outpatient surgery on Monday.

The driveway will not be cleared - wash-out.

All the schools were cancelled.

Including, co-op. Today was to be our first class for the spring semester - wash-out.

While it looks yucky inside, we are snuggling up after eating some warm cinnamon buns and getting ready to watch some movies - wash-out perfect!!

A few more pictures from..

We always love driving past this beautiful church in Bennington, Vermont.  It is "The First Congregational Church" built in 1805.  Too bad there is an arrow sign smack dab in front!

Another view...

Reminders of friends!

HAHAHAHA!  Look!  I'm 5' 6" tall -  BAH hahahahahaha  I can't even say I was standing on my tip-toes - because if you've ever put ski boots on, you know you can't stand on your tip-toes!

I think I'm crazy!!

A few weeks ago, my good friend Just Mom went on a family vacation to Hawaii. Sounds great in the middle of winter, doesn't it? That would be my kind of vacation!!

This past week, while blogger posted our family's favorite new recipes, I was on vacation too - 400 miles away - in Vermont - not quite a warm Hawaiian vacation.

Sometimes, I think I'm nuts to go to a colder destination for vacation.

But then, you see the man you love and your firstborn ski down the slopes together - and your heart quivers. You see your daughter strap on ski boots for the first time and you choke back a little tear. A sport that I have enjoyed with my hubby since he taught me to ski when we began dating - 16 years ago. And now, our children are learning to love to ski - and I just picture the vacations ahead of us, with everyone strapped into skis and skiing down the slopes together.

Warm vacations are nice, I know - but the warmth in my heart while watching my hubby teach our children to ski - watching my kids ski with their cousins - and having a wonderful time with family - melted away and cold, frigid temperatures we may have experienced in Vermont. Am I crazy? You bet - crazy in love with my family!!

I apologize for the shakiness - I mean, I *was* skiing! ;-D The wind gets a little loud too when I had to speed up to catch up to Quintin!

(She looks thrilled, doesn't she? This was on our way in for lunch.

No one gets in between this girl and her food, ahem, just lik e her mommy!)

A Tasteful Week: Chicken Tetrazinni

One of my husband's favorite meals is his mom's Chicken Tetrazinni. I agree it is yummy, but when I cam across this take on the recipe, in my Southern Living magazine, I had to give it a try.

The magazine featured many variations, but I went with the one they pictured in their magazine, pictured below. I know you will love it too! Of all the recipes, I think this was T and my favorite!!

Chicken Tetrazzini with Prosciutto and Peas

3 oz finely chopped prosciutto
2 tsp vegetable oil
1 (7-oz.) package vermicelli
3 c chopped cooked chicken
1 c (4 oz.) shredded Parmesan cheese
1 (10 3/4-oz.) can cream of mushroom soup
1 (10-oz.) container refrigerated Alfredo sauce
1 (4-oz.) can sliced mushrooms, drained
1/2 c chicken broth
1/4 c dry dry white wine
1/4 tsp freshly ground pepper
1 cfrozen baby English peas, thawed
1/2 cslivered almonds

Sauté prosciutto in hot vegetable oil in a small skillet over medium-high heat 2 to 3 minutes or until crisp.

Preheat oven to 350°. Prepare pasta according to package directions.

Meanwhile, stir together chicken, 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, and next 6 ingredients; stir in prosciutto, pasta, and peas. Spoon mixture into 6 lightly greased 8-oz. ramekins or a lightly greased 11- x 7-inch baking dish. Sprinkle with almonds and remaining 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese.
Bake at 350° for 35 minutes or until bubbly.


Thanks for joining me for A Tasteful Week - if you try any of the recipes, please let me know! They'll be posted on my cooking blog, for easier reference, next week.

A Tasteful Week: Bread and Soup

One of my favorite restaurants is Macaroni Grill. And, what I love about it is their rosemary bread they serve when you arrive. This bread is every bit as good as the one they serve.

Rosemary Bread

1 Tbsp yeast
1 Tbsp sugar
1 c warm water
2 1/2 c flour
1 tsp salt
2 Tbsp fresh rosemary
2 Tbsp butter

Place yeast, sugar and water in large bowl or food processor and allow mixture to become bubbly. Mix in 1 T butter, salt, and 2 cups of flour. Add one tablespoon of the fresh chopped rosemary. Knead for about 10 minutes by hand or in food processor about 5 minutes until smooth and elastic. Add more flour if necessary.

Oil a bowl, put dough in it and cover with a towel. Let dough rise in a warm place for one hour until doubled. Punch down dough and divide in half. Let dough rest about 5 minutes.

Spray baking pan or cookie sheet with cooking spray. Shape the dough into 2 small rounded oval loaves. Sprinkle remaining 1 Tablespoon of rosemary over the loaves and press lightly into the surface.

Let loaves rise again until doubled, about 45 minutes. Preheat oven to 375° F. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, until lightly browned. Carefully remove from oven, brush with remaining butter (and salt if desired.).

This is a delicious soup that is low calorie because of the cheese. Adding a small portion to the blender adds body to it! YUM!

Broccoli and Cheese Soup
Yield: 6 servings (serving size: 1 1/3 cups)

Cooking spray
1 c chopped onion
2 garlic cloves, minced
3 c fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
1 (16-oz) package broccoli florets
2 1/2 c 2% reduced-fat milk
1/3 c all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp black pepper
8 oz light processed cheese, cubed (such as Velveeta Light)


Heat a large nonstick saucepan coated with cooking spray over medium-high heat. Add onion and garlic; saute 3 minutes or until tender. Add broth and broccoli. Bring broccoli mixture to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to medium; cook 10 minutes.

Combine milk and flour, stirring with a whisk until well blended. Add milk mixture to broccoli mixture. Cook 5 minutes or until slightly thick, stirring constantly. Stir in pepper. Remove from heat; add cheese, stirring until cheese melts.

Place one-third of the soup in a blender or food processor, and process until smooth. Return pureed soup mixture to pan.

A Tasteful Week: Applesauce and Pie

Homemade Applesauce
4 gala apples, quartered and cored
3 rome apples, quartered and cored
2 fij apples, quartered & cored
2 c water
1 c brown sugar, packed
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg

Heat apples and water over medium heat to boiling. Reduce heat; simmer, stirring occasionally, 5 to 10 minutes or until tender. Stir in brown sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg; heat to boiling.

Place ricer over bowl to mash apples. If you don't have a ricer, you can mash them with a potato masher - but be sure to peel the apples before cooking.

Chocolate Chip Pie
2 eggs
1/2 c flour
1/2 c white sugar
1/2 c brown sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 c butter, melted and cooled to room temp
1 c chocolate chips
1 c chopped pecans
9" pie shell (the recipe suggested a store bought shell, I used my pie crust recipe)

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Beat eggs until foamy, beat in flour, sugar, brown sugar and vanilla until well blended. Blend in melted butter. Stir in chocolate chips and nuts. Pour into shell. Bake for 1 hour. Remove from oven. Serve warm.

A Tasteful Week: Pizza

I've always wanted to try to make a pizza from scratch, but never took the time to look for one and always found it easier to use the purchased packets of mix and sauce.

That was until my friend, http://mylifeasannie.com/, posted a recipe she had just tried. She said her family raved about it - her hubby even suggested she open a pizza shop. So, I just had to try it - and it was delicious! I had all ingredients on hand - my favorite kind of recipe!

Pizza Crust

1 tbsp active dry yeast

1 cwarm water (105 to 115 degress F)

1 tsp sugar1 tsp salt

2 tbsp vegetable oil

2 1/2 c flour

Dissolve the yeast in the water. Add the rest of the ingredients in and mix. Dump onto a floured surface. Knead into a smooth dough (five minutes or so). Roll out and press down onto a greased pizza pan. Add some pizza sauce and your toppings. Bake at 450 degress F for around 12-15 minutes until the crust looks crispy and lightly browned. Dough can also be frozen as well.

Pizza Sauce

1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste

1/2 c water

1 tsp oregano

1 tsp salt

1 Tbsp sugar

1 Tbsp olive oil

1-2 Tbsp Parmesan cheese

"A Tasteful Week"

After my "wordless week" I thought a "tasteful week" was in order. Since the beginning of the year, I've been trying some new recipes out on my family to see if there are any keepers. We've found quite a few - I thought they'd be fun to share this week. However, since it is dark at supper time, the pictures aren't the best. But trust me, if my crew loves them, I'm sure yours will too!

Ok, this first one is for kids! Quintin saw a recipe for "banana dogs" on an afternoon pbs show and wanted to try it the next day for lunch. I just happened to have everything on hand, so he showed Colin, Elle and me how to make them.

Banana Dogs (or what I like to call PB,B&J)

1 hot dog roll

1 banana, sliced in half lengthwise

peanut butter

jelly

Place sliced banana in roll and spread with peanut butter and jelly.

If I could have bottled up his enthusiasm that day, I would have loved to. I tried to stay in the background as much as I could and let him do everything. It was a very touching moment. And, the kids loved their sandwiches.

I had planned to heat up some leftovers from the night before. I had to walk away from the table and while I was gone, Quintin finished. I heard him say he was going to make another sandwich for himself. I looked out towards the table and Elle was standing on her chair watching. I knew something was up, so I stayed away a little longer. After a few minutes, I walked towards the kitchen saying, "I guess I'll make my lunch now."

Elle, in a loud whisper, tells Quintin, "Hurry! She's coming!"

As I walk out to Quintin in the kitchen, he is just finishing adding the jelly to my sandwich. He said, "They are so good Mom, I wanted you to try one!"

"I sure will, son! I sure will!!"

Wordless Week: Friday

7:15PM, Thursday evening

Wordless Week

Thursday

***Happy 43rd Anniversary Mom and Dad!!!***

Wordless Week: Wednesday

(The lemon scented yellow water color marker, partially responsible for yesterday's post, came right out with baby wipes. It was perfect because the perpetraitor could be responsible for clean-up!)

Wordless Week: Tuesday

(Sorry for the confusion of yesterday's post - I was trying to show the new home of our little trees that adorned our porch at Christmas.  Hopefully today's pictures will tell this story better.)

Wordless Week

Monday 

before...

after...

Is that sew?

My mother sews...her mother sews...it just makes sense that I sew...

Here is my mom's latest beautiful creation. It is a queen size comforter, for my nephew, made from flannels. If you click on it to enlarge, you can see it isn't quilted, but knotted. Knotting, like quilting, keeps the 3 layers together, otherwise, the middle layer of batting would shuffle around.

I've been working on a comforter for almost a year now. It is being made for a very special friend...and I know she is waiting so patiently for it. I'm in the knotting phase and it is a slow process since I must do it while sitting. Sitting isn't something that happens a whole lot around here. And, I can't leave it lay out to come back to it because I've got 3 monsters children that LOVE all things soft and big!

But it will be done soon, I promise Sharon! If I have but one goal for 2009, it is to finish this comforter! :-)