Friday Favorites

Isaiah: "You're the best Momma ever!" whispered in my ear, as part of a hug, several times a day.

Katie: "I have tried onions before. They are terrible!" exclaimed with a wrinkled nose, hands on hips and attitude.

Max: "blowing kisses"--holding his hand out for me to kiss

Call for Recipes

I've decided to do another dinner challenge in February, this time from favorite recipes, mine and yours. So, send me your recipes! Here are the deets:

• Five nights of every week in February I will cook dinner for my family, take pictures of each dinner and blog about it. The recipes used can be new to us, either from you or my new cookbooks (birthday gifts), or from our collection, but I will cook at least two new recipes each week (more if I get enough recipes from you-*update: I already have enough to do 3 new recipes a week!*).
• You may submit as many recipes as you wish, but they must be dinner recipes, and their ingredients must be readily available in my relatively small town. I will include recipes or links to recipes in each blog post. I promise to follow the directions as you give them in the recipe. I start cooking February 1, so get them to me with enough time to shop before I cook.
• I will give credit to you in my blog post, I'll even link to your blog or site if you ask. You may link away if you so choose.
• Our family will rate each recipe by the thumb system: Thumbs up, thumbs medium, or thumbs down. (Still deciding whether or not I'll publish that on the blog for each recipe--let me know if you don't want me to rate your recipe publicly.) The top three dinner submissions will receive a prize! (Not sure yet what it will be, but I'll come up with something great, at least something real this time! I'll pick something I would want.)

Sound like fun? Well, it does to me, we'll see how much of a cooking mood you all are in . . . . Send your recipes to rachel at ellishome dot org. I can hardly wait to see what's been cooking at your house!

Decadence

Decadence: dec⋅a⋅dence  /ˈdɛkədəns, dɪˈkeɪdns/ [dek-uh-duhns, di-keyd-ns]; unrestrained or excessive self-indulgence. I think that explains tonight's food gorging accurately.

See, Pete and Colleen are visiting, which is so much fun. You know those friends that have known you long enough that you don't have to explain everything with a whole story? You can quote a movie line and everyone laughs because you all watched it together almost a decade ago (or more), and it was funny then, so it still is. I love that. Having friends visiting is also a perfect excuse to make food, and lots of it, and not just hamburger gravy, but to break out that roast that you froze, waiting for an occasion to make it. Yeah, that's what we did, actually.

First, we made Awesome Pot Roast.

My modifications to the recipe:

I dip the meat in flour and sear it in a pan before putting it into the crock pot. (And, obviously, I use a crock pot liner. This time I forgot until everything was in the crock pot and I literally dumped it into the liner, washed the pot and put it all back in. It was so worth it, I didn't even have to rinse the pot after dinner.) This roast was half-size, so I halved everything, and I added beef bouillon to the water to make beef broth. When it was done cooking, I picked up the liner and just snipped it and let it pour through a strainer into a sauce pan, then brought the strained drippings to a boil. I added about two tablespoons cornstarch and a teaspoon or two of beef bouillon to a quarter cup of cold water and mixed it into the drippings

We also had green beans and plain ol' mashed potatoes:

And what's Sunday dinner without bread? I was planning to make rolls from scratch, but was running short on time. So, I pulled out my backup Rhoades rolls, only to find I only had a dozen. (Not nearly enough for our now-large families.) And I couldn't do my other backup, because I only had a dozen Pillsbury bread sticks. So, I did both. I made Italian-Style Rosettes with the bread sticks. I didn't post a picture when I made them before, so here you go:

So, we ate. And ate. And ate. I think we have a couple of rolls and some green beans left--and that's all. Mmmmmm . . .

Now, for the inspiration for this post. Yesterday, as Colleen and I sat in the kitchen chatting, she was flipping through my February issue of Better Homes and Gardens which had just arrived. She came to a recipe for Decadent Chocolate-Peanut Butter Cheesecake and said, "Mmmm. This looks good." I looked at it, and had to heartily agree. I said, "We could make it for dessert tomorrow." So, we did. It is incredibly heavy and rich. And even though we made it with milk chocolate chips, it had almost a bitter, dark chocolate taste.

Decadent Chocolate-Peanut Butter Cheesecake

18 graham cracker squares, finely crushed (1 1/2 cups)

1/2 cup butter, melted

2 tbsp sugar

2 8-oz pkg. cream cheese, softened

1 cup creamy peanut butter

1/4 cup sugar

3 eggs

1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate pieces (I used milk chocolate chips)

2 tbsp milk

1/2 tsp vanilla

peanuts (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Combine crackers, melted butter, and 2 tbsp sugar. Press into bottom and 1 inch up sides of a 9-inch springform pan; set aside. In bowl beat 1 pkg. cream cheese with electric mixer until smooth. Beat in peanut better and 1/4 cup sugar until combined. Fold in 1 lightly beaten egg; set aside.

2. In saucepan stir chocolate over low heat until melted and smooth. Remove from heat. Cube remaining cream cheese; add to chocolate. Stir to combine. Stir in milk and vanilla until smooth. Fold in 2 lightly beaten eggs. Spread half the chocolate mixture into pan. Carefully spread all the peanut butter mixture over layer. Evenly spread remaining chocolate mixture.

3. Bake 45 minutes or until top is set when lightly shaken. Outer 2 inches of top will be slightly puffed and dry-looking; center will look darker and wet. Cool in pan on rack 15 minutes. Use small sharp knife to loosen crust from sides; cool 30 minutes. Remove sides of pan; cool completely on rack. Cover, chill 4 hours. Let stand at room temperature 15 minutes before serving. (Sprinkle with peanuts if desired.)

Here's what our slices (well, except for Adam's, his was a little mangled thanks to me) looked like:

As we sat finishing off second (and maybe third helpings of dinner), I said, "You know what would be really good with that cheesecake? That Bunny Tracks we have in the freezer." Pete said, "You two are really bad for each other!" No doubt about it, it was a gluttonous meal. But so delicious. And I even think it was worth it. Mmmm . . .

And it backfired

Katie and I had an encounter today that left me laughing and kissing my sweet girl. Monday night Katie took a whole slew of toys to play with Grandma Bubbles and Grandma and Grandpa Wilson while they were visiting. Tuesday I picked them all up and put them outside Katie's bedroom door for her to put away. Today they were still there, more or less, having been scattered slightly by Mister Max. It was almost nap time, so I should have known better, but getting fed up, I asked Katie nicely to pick up her toys and put them away.

Katie, throwing herself down on the floor: Nooooooo . . . it's too hard! I need help!

Me: I did help you, honey. I picked them up from the living room and put them right here, so all you'd have to do is take them into your room.

Katie: I wanted to carry them from the living room! You did the part I wanted to do!

Me, losing patience quickly: You wanted to carry them all the way across the house?!

Katie: Yes!

Me: You got it sister . . .

Then I picked up all the toys (it took me two trips) and carried them back to the living room, tossing them all across the room. We're talking about a hundred Littlest Petshop Pets, My Little Ponies, and itty-bitty accessories, plus the Petshop Clubhouse, and Ponyville Ferris wheel, roller coaster, and ice cream shop. Katie then bounced up, suddenly full of energy, and called out, "Thank you, Mom!"

Still fuming, expecting more whining, I looked into the family room only to see her busily bustling around, cleaning up. "I didn't mean for them to be all over the room, I thought you'd just bring in the baskets, but this is still easy!" she said as she picked the zillion toys up and relayed them to her room.

Then, she said, "I'm going to help you now, since you helped me!" And she picked up 2 weeks worth of newspapers scattered daily over one corner of the living room by Max. "Now it will be so much easier to vacuum!"

Much humbler, and laughing at my silly, sweet girl, I gave her a big hug and a kiss. So much for teaching her a lesson!

Christmas . . . and a recipe

Our Christmas morning always starts with putting Christmas Rolls (or coffee cake, sticky buns, or pull-aparts) into the oven while we see what Santa brought. It's a tradition from Adam's family, and it wouldn't be Christmas without it for him (and for all of us now). This is a terrible-looking specimen, but I'm all about the pictures, so here's what ours looked like this year. They tasted yummy!

They are super easy and you start them the night before, so there is no time cooking spent away from Christmas morning festivities. Although, I do usually make scrambled eggs to go with them, because between sticky buns and stocking candy, it's a lot of sugar to start your day with.

18 Rhoades rolls
1/2 pkg cook & serve butterscotch pudding mix
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup melted butter
(optional: pecans and cinnamon)

Grease bunt pan. Sprinkle pecans in the bottom of the pan (if using), then arrange rolls around the bottom of the pan. Layer the remaining ingredients as follows: pudding mix, butter, brown sugar, cinnamon. Cover with plastic wrap and raise overnight. Bake at 325 degrees for 20-30 minutes.

After breakfast we move on to opening gifts from each other. Here are the highlights:

Isaiah's fave: DS Lite we bought used from EBay (He'd been assured for months that a DS was really expensive and a really big gift for a 6-year-old, I think he had resigned himself to the fact that it wasn't a possibility--do you see the surprise/excitement?!)

Katie's fave: princess dresses Grandma Linda made by hand (they are gorgeous and easily Katie's most-played with gift)

Max's fave: toddler slide (No pics of him enjoying it on Christmas, he was a bit pukey that day. However, he quickly mastered climbing up and sliding down face-first on his stomach!)

Of course, Christmas is not just about the presents. The real reason for the season:

The Birth of Christ

(A rag-tag, adorable bunch, eh? Gotta love acting out the Nativity!)

And, of course, the holiday season is all about family.

(Just a note about this picture: isn't it amazing?! The best group picture of Adam's family I think in 5 years! What a wonderful occasion to have everyone but Eric, who is serving a mission, together for Christmas, including Grandma and Grandpa Wilson.) Also, no pictures of my family this year, but they are just as much a part of our hearts and lives.

Hope your Christmas was as merry, and less sick, than ours!

New Year's Resolution

For a long time, months even, I've been mulling over a topic for a blog post about being a mother and how that changes a woman so completely. I haven't been able to put my finger on what exactly I wanted to say until right now, this moment, as I've been pondering how to distill what I wanted to accomplish this year into simple, succinct New Year's Resolutions.

I've spent a lot of time this past week reading. I received some books as gifts, and being as sick as I was, reading was about all I could do. I think I can count it as a blessing in disguise that I wasn't able to do anything else as I realize I have nearly finished every written thing I was given (representing hundreds, if not thousands of pages), because there were some really valuable things presented to me in those pages.

One of those has addressed the discontent I've been feeling as a mother and wife. Now don't get me wrong, I know I am just about the most blessed woman on the earth to have Adam and our beautiful children, and the most important job in the world caring for them. But our generation of girls was done a disservice when we were hammered with the idea that we could become anything we wanted when we grew up: we all got the idea that the age-old infinitely important and essential job of "Mother" was something to avoid. That it wasn't important or valued at all. How on earth am I supposed to feel fulfillment when there are no promotions, bonuses, awards, or even a salary involved?

Of course, the answer is God. Now if you have a pretty good relationship with God, it doesn't matter what anyone says, you know who you are and what your role is. You will feel fulfilled digging ditches or cleaning toilets, or even changing diapers and wiping noses.

That is the essential puzzle piece I've been missing for so long. Of course, God is in my life, but I haven't had a close, meaningful relationship with Him in years. I've been so frustrated myself and my own failings that I gave up trying to do the things that brought me close to Him. But how could I feel His approval with the choices I've made in my life, the things I am doing, if I don't invite Him to comment?

Just now, I was reading from a book Shelli gave me, Contentment: Inspiring Insights for LDS Mothers by Maria Covey Cole, and I came across a familiar quote by Richard G. Scott that has actually struck me with meaning before: "It is easy to forget the fundamental purpose of life. Satan has a powerful tool to use against good people. It is distraction. He would have good people fill life with 'good things' so there is no room for the essential ones."

This is where I remembered an object lesson I gave, I think in Relief Society when I was in the college married ward or maybe it was in Young Women, where I filled a jar with different things: sugar, beans, pasta. When you fill the jar with the sugar first, nothing else fits in the jar. But when you fill it with the pasta first, the beans and the sugar, trickle down in between, finding their proper place.

And I knew what my New Year's Resolutions needed to be.

Focus on the essential things:

1. Return to regular personal prayer and scripture study.

2. Peacefully care for my family.

3. Seek ways to give service to others through Church callings and personal friendships.

I feel like I need to clarify my #2 because written down it seems really general, but I have a specific idea in my head for what that will look like. I'm thinking of the mundane, necessary things like feeding, clothing, teaching, and cleaning up after my family. But finding a peace in doing it, instead of beating myself over the head about trying to do it perfectly. Someone wise recently told me that in all these things is some of our most important spiritual work. Because, "all things unto me are spiritual" (D&C 29:34).

So, here's to a peaceful 2010 focused on what's most important.

Still here . . .

hanging on. One upper respiratory illness and three stomach bugs later, we're still hanging on . . .

Things I've learned over the last two weeks:
1. The best way to clean up a pop tart that has been crushed and scattered over the carpet: call the dog in to eat it.
2. You can entertain a toddler by laying on the floor next to him, moaning, for approximately 42.5 seconds. (Just long enough for the other parent to escape to another room to answer a business phone call.)
3. Christmas decorations start to self-destruct (okay, with a little help from a couple of tiny beings) if left up too long after Christmas. (Luckily, I found and reassembled everything that was missing!)
4. There are at least 4 different ways for a house to smell bad when its occupants are sick.
5. You can be well for the requisite 24 hours (or even 48 hours) after a stomach bug to return back to public and life in general, only to relapse even more violently than ever when you least expect it.

I had great intentions of doing a month-long challenge of some kind for January. I was so pumped (just wait, you'll love my ideas!), but here it is Jan. 1, and I am still recuperating. So, we'll see. But for now, we're just still hanging on . . .