I don’t know if you got the memo, but the economic climate has affected Santa as well. (More so than global warming, if you ask me.) Due to the recession some of the elves had to be let go (no worries, they have other options, right?) and this has left the Big Guy short-staffed (hahaha… short-staffed, get it? Phft.) Imagine our surprise when Santa stopped by the afternoon before Christmas… during Caleb’s nap (what a crazy random happenstance!)… to hand off Caleb’s gift, so we could get a head start on constructing the rubik kitchen. Thanks, Santa. But special thanks to Mike, who armed with a screwdriver and pliers, assembled the toy, pulled the Abominable’s teeth and helped Rudolph save Christmas.
Ahem…
Anyways,Caleb got a good stash this year, we went Old Skool. Caleb received a gender neutral kitchen (so he can leave mine alone), another car, a toy piano (so he can leave Marné's alone), clothes, and the Fisher Price farm box set.
After opening presents we gorged ourselves on the traditional Thomson Christmas breakfast. Every year I worry that I don’t make enough… this year it was cinnamon rolls, waffles with various toppings, bacon, biscuits and gravy, and orange juice.
It’s timeonce again to feed my freezer. My 2001 Space Odyssey freezer.
Yesterday I made 27 Asian Meatballs, 37 regular meatballs and taco meat.
Today’s plan is to make shredded chicken and Crockpot Chicken.
Tomorrow I’ll be making waffles and perhaps freezer jam.
Whew. Here’s a peek at our dinner menu for this incoming month:
And here’s a recipe for everyone in Flagstaff, stay warm!
Dirty Snow (Oreo fudge)
The appearance is reminiscent of the cinder and snow covered Route 66... Aw, winter in Flagtown.
What you’ll need:
3 cups sugar
3/4 cup butter or margarine
2/3 cup evaporated milk
8-12 ounces white chocolate chips
1 (7 ounce) jar marshmallow cream
About 10 Oreo cookies chopped into fourths
1 teaspoon vanilla
What you’ll do:
Mix butter, sugar and milk in a saucepan, after brought to a full boil and stir for five minutes. Remove from heat. Stir in chips a little at a time until melted. Stir in the rest of the ingredients (the marshmallow cream, cookies and vanilla) Spread into a foiled-lined and greased 13" by 9" by 2" pan. Cool to room temperature. Cut into squares and serve.
PS The Branch Christmas activity was good. We are glad we had so much help and that so many people came! We collected 20 kits and a whole bunch of food. We'll be sending the kits to Salt Lake this week!
PPS My friend posted thison facebook. Thought I'd share. : )
How goes the boycott?I swear, if I see any Michael McLean contraband at your homes this Christmas, you’ll be blacklisted. Forgotten Carols indeed. Moohahahaha…
Whoah. Halloween is over, better put the crazy away there, Angela.
Anways, there’s something you should know about me. I was not primed to be a domestic... well, anything, in any way. Well. That’s not true. My mother is a very clean person, so you’d think it would have rubbed off on unto me, but alas, it was scrubbed away in her efforts. Sorry, Mom. But, that is another topic for another day.
Today, I’d like to telldiscussadmit to you my cooking habits.
A term coined by Sandra Lee, Semi-Home Cooking is an accurate description for my culinary concoctions. If it isn’t cheap or easy, it isn’t on my menu.
First step in the program is admitting I have a problem:I am a wife and mother who serves her family seven-layered dip, tortilla chips and cheese crisps for dinner one night, then chicken salad sandwiches and a bagged green salad the next. I have canned soup in my pantry! And I have every intent of using it – and none of my plans involve a casserole! Just a side of grilled cheese. (Oh the humanity!) I like tried, tired and true. Recipes that give me consistent results, even when I don’t use exact measurements because I used all my measuring cups the day before and don’t feel like washing them... or let’s face it, I never measure-out any ingredients anyways so how those instruments got dirty is a mystery. I suspect Caleb. A Kerri-Strugg-kind-of-a-recipe. That’s what I like. One-legged and bringing home the gold. USA! USA!
Whew. Got sidetracked there. Again.
Ever heard “misery loves company”? Well, so does sloth and gluttony.
So here are some of my moose fool-proof recipes:
A Chicken Salad for all Seasons…
First thing you need to know is I love chicken salad sandwiches. I have fond memories of Girls’ Camp that involve consuming chicken salad-filled pitas. Second thing you need to know is that it just isn’t chicken salad without grapes. I know there is an anti-grape sentiment regarding chicken salad in some communities that rivals that of the great pickle and tunasalad segregation, but I’ve already admitted that I have no conscience, grudges, or scruples so I am blameless therefore, do not judge me.
Every General Conference I make chicken salad. I have mentioned that before. My recipe is similar to Pioneer Women’s recipe found here. But my sauce is pretty basic: Now. While ca-ruising the grocery store yesterday, I noticed that grape prices are on the rise again. This happens if the state you live in doesn’t directly touch or touch a neighboring state that touches California or Florida. So, what does a member of the pro-grape party like myself do come winter?
I’ll tell you…
Craisins. That’s right my friends. Craisins. Omit the dill weed and add some rosemary or thyme.
Thank me later.
Crockpot Chicken A recipe properly renamed from Cream Cheese Chicken since if I have chicken and if I plan on using the crockpot sometime that month I make this recipe, no matter what. It is the absolute.
It. is. CrOcKpOt ChIcKeN!
I serve it over rice with a side of bread or cooked frozen veggies. A popular leave-it-and-go-to-church Sunday dinner at our house.
So Easy You’ll Feel Bad Cobbler So you eat it all and feel better
1 can of cherry pie filling
1 can of pineapple pie filling
1 box of yellow cake mix
About ½ C of melted butter (I don’t measure!)
Mix fillings together and pour into a long cassie dish. Sprinkle cake mix over the top. Cover cake mix layer with melted butter. Bake at 350 for about 30 minutes or until edges are golden brown. Let setup for ten minutes before serving.
This past week I received the token week-worth of meals
from my Relief Society sisters.
Thank you for cooking with compassion and a conscience.
My family is grateful.
Every now and again
we need some comfort cooking.
Then again, maybe just comfort.
PS Brownie points if you know the pickle-tunasalad debate reference. Leave a comment. And admit you had to look it up. : )
Eating in bed is frowned upon- it leaves crumbs. Reading in bed also leaves crumbs in your subconscious, but you never hear spouses complaining about that. When pregnant, I develop the habit of reading in bed. I devour a book in a night or two because I just read until my eyes become too heavy and I fall asleep with the lights on.
This past week I have been reading through my old college textbooks, mainly the classical and ancient materials. Recently I read the play Alcestis by the Greek tragedian Euripides.
To make a short play even shorter, the jest of the story is about a hospitable king who is rewarded by the god Apollo the eligibility to escape death provided that he can find a replacement for his demise. Sadly, the king can find no one- not even his feeble parents- to volunteer for the task. Finally, his devoted wife, Alcestis, assists her husband by offering to sacrifice herself in his stead.
The play has left a morsel in my mind that I have gnawed on since I read it. The time has come for Alcestis to depart and her son clings to her and says,
“Mother, now without you/ Our home is over.”
…
Throughout the play Alcestis is cited as “virtuous” and a wife above all others which is fair and good but I can’t help but wonder…. was this reputation the result of this solitary action or was it preliminary to her decision to forfeit her life?
I think every woman has a bit of Alcestis in her, I think we are willing to kill ourselves over tasks because we think it’s the “virtuous” thing to do. We try to do everything while comparing ourselves to everyone. When really we should be saying…
It is easy to lose ourselves through marriage, motherhood and everyday notions and motions. Partly this is due to the concept of becoming less selfish through being selfless, but I think we can overdo it. I, personally, need to get back in touch with who I am. I have become so consumed with being there for my family and making our home that I have forgotten WHO I AM. I don’t want to kill myself over ordinary tasks. I don’t want to sacrifice my own progression for temporal attainments.
Back to the original tidbit that started this banquet of realization, the line:
“Mother, now without you/Our home is over.”
It is not “Clean dishes/swept floors/sparkling bathrooms/made beds/painted walls/delish- nutritious-under-one-dollar-per-serving-meals/ supplementary church functions/et cetera, now without you /Our home is over.”
It’s Mother. A mother is what makes and keeps a home. Just don’t let the home make and keep you.
Now, I’m not going to tell you the ending of Alcestis. You can borrow the play from me if you want or even look up the summary on Wikipedia.
Isn’t Wikipedia great? Whenever I am clueless on a subject I can always skim Wikipedia.
Here is Clue #4, my favorite clue and possibly the hardest.
Ignore the the missing 'e' in Genealogy but don't discard the post.
