Soaking Up Summer

This summer has flown by. 

As I am catching up on my posts, I'm pining for it as the clock ticks down to school beginning again.  It's been a delicious summer.  I front loaded it with our activities/camps so that the last couple weeks before school would be low key.  Of course, days have a way of filling.  Life with 3 kids (or any number, for that matter) is just that way.  But it has been wonderful.

We went wild blackberry picking one night.  We found a stretch along the road and picked until our container was full.  We took them home and ate them over Vanilla Icecream.  We ate all the berries in one sitting...they were delicious.




Of course the Bug was more interested in picking flowers.  She does so love her flowers.



We have had fantastic weather this summer.  I am so grateful for every day of sunshine that we've had, and we've had a LOT of them.  The last few summers have been so cool, one summer in particular the children hardly even wore their summer clothes!  It made the transition to fall, a season I normally love, unwelcome and a little depressing.

Not this year.

It has been downright HOT at times and I've loved it.  One summer night I tried a new Antipasto Salad recipe.  It was so nice to just boil noodles and have a light, cool, salad on a hot night.  It was very simple, but tasty.  I haven't posted a recipe for a while, so in case anyone is stuck in a rut (like I have been) here you go!



Antipasto Pasta Salad 

3 c. uncooked tricolor spiral pasta 
4 oz. provolone cheese, cubed 
4 oz. sliced pepperoni, quartered 
4 oz. hard salami, cubed 
1 medium green pepper, diced 
2 celery ribs, chopped 
1 small onion, chopped 
½ cup cherry tomatoes, halved 
1/3 cup olive or vegetable oil 
¼ cup cider vinegar 
1-1/2 teaspooons dried oregano 
¾ teaspoon salt 
½ teaspoon pepper

Cook pasta according to package directions; drain and rinse in cold water. In a bowl, combinethe pata, cheese, pepperoni, salami, green pepper, celery, onion and tomatoes. In a jar with a tight fitting lid, combine the remaining ingredients; shake well. Pour over pasta mixture and toss to coat.

Enjoy!!

New Year's Day, A recipe & Life According to my iphone

I always feel a little "all done" with the blog come January.  The holiday posts sort of take it out of me. I really love doing this blog, but there's a lot that goes on during December that I like to record and so come January I'm just done.

But I need to do a bit wrap up, so this post is it. It's a long one.



We spent New Year's Eve at Shannon's family's house.  We agreed to make it easy, so they ordered pizza, and I brought an icebox cake.  That all worked out great.  Shannon planned some cute things for the kids, and they did balloon volley ball and the "Headbands" game ~ which was funny.



But honestly, my kids were on holiday overload and tired...they were fussy and high maintenance and at one point Andrew decided he was going to walk home so I told him to have a good walk, but it was cold outside. He went out, stood around the van (I watched from the window) then pulled on the door until the alarm went off and he ran in hysterically crying. Don't you love natural consequences? He keeps talking about NOT trying to open the van when it's locked. :)

Love this series of photos...


Mr. Grumpy
(with Dan being the poser)


Miss Fussy


Mr. Pouter.

Happy New Year to us!!!  I'm sure the Sturgis family were SO glad they invited us over!

We actually did end the night on a high note with lots of great dancing.  The kids were so cute and funny.  And we were very appreciative for the effort that went into the evening despite our collective demeanor!  :)

While looking for a dessert recipe I stumbled on this one from Paula Deen. I had all the ingredients and threw it together on New Year's Day morning and it was really good! It's really easy and something that can be put together quickly.



Here it is....

Granite Steps Country Blueberry Coffee Cake
1/2 C. packed light brown sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 12 oz. can pillsbury Big Country buttermilk biscuits (I used the Grands ~ it worked great)
1/2 Cup (1 stick) butter, melted + 2 T. cut into small pieces (Don't worry, it isn't all used)
1 c. quick cooking rolled oats
1 1/2 c. fresh or frozen blueberries
1/4 c. sugar (this isn't all used either)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Generously grease a 9in square baking dish. (This is important or it will really stick). In a small bowl, combine brown sugar and cinnamon and mix well with a fork. Separate biscuit dough into 10 biscuits. Cut each biscuit into quarters, and dip each piece in melted butter and coat with brown sugar mixture. Arrange in a single layer in baking dish. Sprinkle with 1/2 c. of the oats. combine blueberries and granulated sugar in a bowl and toss to coat. Spoon over oats and biscuits and sprinkle with remaining 1/2 c. oats. Top with butter pieces. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until cake is golden brown and center is done. Cool for 20 minutes, serve warm.





In the afternoon we headed over to Mike & Michelle's house.

I didn't bring my camera but snapped some photos with my iphone.
I had to take a picture of michelle as she was dicing tomatoes just because she looked so pretty.



She & I make a quick trip to downtown to Pottery Barn. We took Kaitlin who had to wear her New Year's crown and sit on every blessed chair and sofa in the store.



She was "watching a show" here.

She said the ballerinas were so beautiful! She liked the purple one the best. :)

We headed home where the guys were watching football, and Dan was snuggling with his ipad.





We were laughing at the bar behind us ~ usually it's closed, but we're looking like quite the party animals today.

Matthew, 8 going on 38.



And I loved this of the little boys. Classic. Snuggling under a blanket together eating Doritos (though it's hard to tell). One year at Thanksgiving when they were 2 they hung around the Dorito bowl all day. Little has changed. :) In fact, I think they are the sole reason Doritos are served at every holiday. At least in my mind.



We had some delicious tacos & carne asada with a yummy cabbage slaw. And then we headed home with one blissful day left of Christmas vacation. We spent the day playing games and took the kids to see "The Muppets." Which I loved. It was SO cute and just a great kids movie with lots of cheesy humor, silly dance numbers and I don't know how many times Dan and I looked at each other over the kids' heads and smiled. It brought back so many memories and I loved it.

And now, for a lot of randomness wrap up from our holiday vacation and before.

I took some photos of the boys one afternoon as they were working on homework. I love how close these two are.





And if anyone is still reading this, (bless your heart, if you have made it this far!) I know I have a few teacher friends who read along...can you tell me an easier way to do finger spacing for left handed kids? Andrew had a hard enough time writing to then make it into a game of finger twister!





...We're still working hard on those small motor skills. We'll get there!

(On a side note, today Andrew cut something out, and Matthew ~ who is not long on compliments, and has recently been the recipient of some conversations about being encouraging ~ remarked that it was "perfect." You should have seen Andrew. I think that was worth about 100 compliments coming from me. Truly. So great).



The Bug's sweet hands with her sparkly New Year's Day manicure from Mommy.

And now for the latest installment of "Life According to my iphone."

I love doing this because it's really just the minutia of our life that we'd otherwise never remember.


It's all about capturing important memories like this. Seeing the Weinermobile at the grocery store!!! Andrew wasn't nearly as excited and was having a pout about me making him pose in front of it. Honey, some day you'll thank me for this. Truly.

:)



We took hot chocolate to the Salvation Army workers. They were a lot happier about it than they look in this photo.



the kids had fun taping quarters to a ride they loved when they were little. And on gumball machines...



Then had to pretend to ride the ride.



We had a play date with very sweet friends from pre-school that we don't get to see often enough anymore.  I love their mom ~ she always greets me wtih a warm hug and says things like "My house isn't clean but it's picked up."  I love when people have you over even when there are crumbs on their floor, because then you feel like you can have them over when there are crumbs on your floor!  She's an amazing mom and I always enjoy our chats.



We made a few stops at this house that has lights that dance to music. Katie loved it, Matthew liked it, and Andrew kept asking when we could leave.



Christmas Eve church.

I have a problem.



I can't help myself!

Katie went to her very first birthday party without me. I had the boys and so I left her with a group of moms that I know and love and trust and headed to the mall to run a quick errand. Andrew recruited Matthew for his favorite mall past time.



Posing as a mannequin.



We visited the pet store. (What is it about boys and reptiles. Really? Ick.)



And enjoyed lunch.



I so enjoyed the time with them. It's so different without Katie! She's usually always along ~ it's so rare I'm just with my boys and really had fun just enjoying them.






I texted pictures of the kids to Dan at work while we waited for Andrew at OT.





I documented some sweet snuggle time with Katie when I normally would be rushing out to pick up the boys. Savoring the quietness and ease of the day.



The bug crafting on the floor in her costume and crown from the birthday party. Notice the mess around her? My house looks like a complete tornado because I've been cleaning out drawers, toys, cupboards, etc. instead of working on everything else. And at the speed around out house, whatever I'm not focusing on, falls apart.

But I'm sure my friends are thrilled that I can now text them as I'm organizing things...





I don't know what I ever did before texting! :)



I mean, who isn't interested in my spice drawer?



I scored this pillow for my entry bench at Target for $5 and that was text worthy!

Whew! If you made it to the end, I'm impressed. Thank you for loving us enough to sit through all that!

A Recipe ~ Frozen Pumpkin Mousse Pie

The weather on Saturday was beautiful.  After the game, we came home and enjoyed what might be our last dinner out on the patio for the season.

I made a frozen pumpkin mousse pie for dessert.  It was a new recipe, very easy, and surprisingly good!  My strategy for our busy weeks is to cook two big dinners on the weekend that we can eat for left overs on monday and tuesday because those are my busiest days.  I made pumpkin chocolate chip muffins for breakfasts before church on sunday as well and we had this great pie, so our tummies have been happy so far this week. :)

I wanted to share the recipe because it was really good!  It pretty much tastes like pumpkin pie but a much lighter texture.  It qualified for our "keeper" file.

Here's what the family thought of it....





(I didn't tell Andrew to wipe his face before I took the photo because this is truly andrew...he always has food on his face!)





That's 6 thumbs up! And we had 5 empty plates....enjoy!  We did! :)

Frozen Pumpkin Mousse Pie
Prep: 25 min
Bake 10min + freeze for 4 hrs.


1 1/2 c. graham cracker crumbs
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
6 T. butter, melted


Filling:
1 can (15 oz) solid-pack pumpkin
1 jar (7oz) marshmallow creme
1/4 c. packed brown sugar
2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1 carton (12 oz) frozen whipped topping, thawed, divided.

In a bowl, combine the cracker crumbs, brown sugar and butter. Press onto the bottom and up the sides of a greased 9 in deep dish pie plate (I used a regular pie plate ~ it worked fine). Bake at 350 degrees for 7-9 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool completely on a wire rack.

For filling, in a large bowl, whisk the pumpkin, marshmallow creme, brown sugar and pumpkin pie spice. Fold in 3 1/2 c. whipped topping. Spoon into prepared crust. Cover, freeze for at least 4 hrs. or until firm. Garnish with remaining whipped topping. Yield 8-10 servings.

Enjoy!!

Baked Ham Recipe

My sister in law gave me this recipe. I think it came from the newspaper. It is the BEST ham. I'm just doing my menu planning for the next 2 weeks and this is on the menu for Easter dinner. I thought I would share this recipe ~ it's a family favorite. I'm one to always try new recipes but this is the Gold Standard Ham recipe ~ I never try any others because we love this one so much. And the best part ~ it's EASY, but doesn't taste like it! So, here it is!

15 lb. or 7-8lb shank-smoked bone in ham
1 1/2 c (1 jar) orange marmalade
1 c. Dijon mustard
1 1/2 c. brown sugar
1 T. whole cloves

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Set a rack on the lower middle level. Cut off excess fat and tough outer skin of ham. Put in large roasting pan. Score 1/2 in deep and 1 in. apart (criss cross). Roast 2 hrs. plain (or 1 1/2 hrs for a 7-8 lb ham).

Remove ham, increase oven temp to 350 degrees.

Put cloves at intersections and brush with glaze generously.

cook 1 1/2 hrs (15lb) or less for a 7-8lb ham brushing with glaze at least 3 times (this is the part that makes it so good! I am liberal with the glazing.)

Total cooking time 3 1/2 hrs for a 15 lb ham or until proper temp.

Rest 30 min before carving.

Enjoy!

Coffee Cake Recipe

I'm anxious to get my blog back on a more cheerful tone. Sorry it's been a little heavy lately. I thought a delicious recipe might lift the mood! :)

Here is the coffee cake recipe I promised. It's not a quick recipe--but I promise, it's worth the effort. It's delicious!! Oh--and I made it the night before I served it, wrapped it in plastic and then in foil and it was still moist and delicious the next morning.

Enjoy!


Sour Cream Coffee Cake with Brown Sugar-Pecan Streusel

Serves 12-16
A 10-in tube pan is best for this recipe

Streusel

¾ c. (3 3/4 oz) unbleached all-purpose Flour
¾. C. (5 ¼ oz) granulated sugar
½ cup packed (3 ½ oz) dark brown sugar
2 Tablespoons ground cinnamon
1 cup pecans, chopped
2 Tablespoons unsalted better, chilled and cut into 2 pieces

Cake
12 Tablespoons (1 ½ sticks) unsalted butter, softened but still cool, cut into ½ in. cubes, plus 2 Tablespoons softened butter, for greasing the pan.

4 large eggs
1 ½ cups sour cream
1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
2 ¼ cups (11 ½ oz) unbleached all-purpose flour
1 ¼ cups (8 ¾ oz) granulated sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
¾ teaspoon baking soda
¾ teaspoon table salt

1. For the Streusel: in a food processor, process the flour, granulated sugar, ¼ cup of the brown sugar, and the cinnamon until combined, about 15 seconds. Transfer 1 ¼ cups of the flour-sugar mixture to a small bowl; stir in the remaining ¼ c. brown sugar and set aside to use for the streusel filling. Add the pecans and butter to the flour-sugar mixture in the food processor; pulse until the nuts and butter resemble small pebbly pieces, about 10 pulses; set aside.
2. For the cake: Adjust an oven rack to the lowest position and heat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 10-cup tube pan with 2 tablespoons of the softened butter. Whisk the eggs, 1 cup of the sour cream, and the vanilla together in a medium bowl until combined.

3 Mix the flour, granulated sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in the bowl of a standing mixer on low speed until combined, about 30 seconds. Add the remaining 12 tablespoons butter and remaining ½ cup sour cream; mix on low speed until the dry ingredients are moistened and the mixture resembles wet sand, with a few large butter pieces remaining, about 1 ½ minutes. Increase the speed to medium and beat until the batter comes together, about 10 seconds, scraping down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula as necessary. Lower the speed to medium-low gradually adding the egg mixture in three additions, beating for 20 seconds after each addition and scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary. Increase the speed to medium-high and beat until the batter is light and fluffy, about 1 minute.

4. Using a rubber spatula, spread 2 cups of the batter in the bottom of the prepared pan, smoothing the surface. Sprinkle evenly with ¾ cup of the streusel filling without butter or nuts. Repeat with another 2 cups batter and remaining ¾ cup streusel filling without butter or nuts. Spread the remaining batter, over, and then sprinkle with the streusel topping with butter and nuts.

5 Bake until the cake feels firm to the touch and a long toothpick or skewer inserted into the center comes out clean (bits of sugar from the streusel may cling to the tester), 50-60 minutes. Cool the cake in the pan on a wire rack for 30 minutes. Invert the cake onto a rimmed baking sheet (the cake with be streusel side down); remove the tube pan, place a wire rack on top of the cake, and reinvert the cake streusel side up. Cool to room temperature, about 2 hours. Cut into wedges and serve. (The cake can be wrapped in foil and stored at room temperature for up to 5 days).

 Halloween is right around the corner--I can't believe the month is already half way through!  I'm proud of myself that I haven't already bought and eaten an entire bag of Halloween candy yet!  That's a first!  :)  Usually I have to buy a second one for the trick or treaters! 

 

I promised my fellow organizing-obsessed friend that I would post this next photo so that she could see it.  Does anyone else have a pile of papers that just seems to accumulate in the kitchen?  Papers from school, receipts, bills to pay, things to file, coupons....I'm always trying to figure out how to keep it all organized.  This is my latest attempt.  I can't say that my desk doesn't ever have a pile on it, but this does help a lot.  I found these two baskets at Walmart--in the bathroom aisle of all places.  I had been looking for quite a while for something to hold files upright and I thought this might just work--and it did!  One of the baskets holds files with each of our family members names on it.  I've tried a lot of ways to do this and this works best for us.  Things that need to be dealt with or filed go in these folders.  They're just temporary files and so the idea is that it keeps things at hand and organized until it can be dealt with.  The smaller basket holds my envelope of coupons, and other little things.   So there you go, friend!  Hope it helps!

Does anyone from Tri-Cities remember the restaurant "Jennifer's"? I was SO sad when they closed! I ate there for lunch all the time during high school and my Dad and I would go there often together. They had the best chili...and lattes...and chocolate chip cookies and one of my favorite things was their chocolate almond oat bran muffins. MMmmmmmm....I've missed them so much, I've been trying to duplicate the recipe.

They're not quite the same, but still really good.  I took these out of the oven this afternoon.  They were dessert after dinner and I can't wait to eat one for breakfast tomorrow.

And speaking of baking, a couple of people asked for the Spice Cake recipe w/Cream cheese frosting.  It is seriously the best spice cake I've ever had.  It was so good--we ended up splitting what was left with my brother's family and from what I hear there wasn't a crumb left over.  Just to warn you, it does have a spice in it that is quite expensive (Cardamom at around $10 a bottle).  I did use it, but I don't know it if would make a difference to leave it out or not.  I also used the fresh ginger like they suggested.  Enjoy!


Spice cake

(From:  The Complete America's test Kitchen TV Show Cookbook)

Serves 15 to 18

Using fresh ginger instead of ground ginger gives this cake a brighter flavor.  You can serve the cake right out of the pan, in which case you’ll only need 3 cups of frosting for the top of the cake.

Note:  I baked this cake in two 9 inch pans at 250 degrees for 20-25 min

1 Tablespoon ground cinnamon

¾ teaspoon ground cardamom (Note: this spice is quite expensive ~ $10 per bottle)

½ teaspoon ground allspice

½ teaspoon ground cloves

¼ ground nutmeg

16 tablespoons (2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into 16 pieces and softened

2 ¼ cups (11 ¼ oz) all-purpose flour

½ teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon table salt

2 large eggs plus 3 egg yolks, room temperature

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 ¾ cups (12 ¼ oz) sugar

2 tablespoons light or mild molasses (I couldn’t find any light molasses and used 1 T. of full flavored instead)

1 tablespoon minced or grated fresh ginger (see note)

1 cup buttermilk, room temperature

4 cups cream cheese frosting

1.     Adjust an oven rack to the middle position and heat the oven to 350 degrees.  Grease a 13 x 9 in baking pan, (or two 9n pans:  see note above) then line the bottom with parchment paper.

2.     Combine the cinnamon, cardamom, allspice, cloves, and nutmeg in a small bowl; reserve ½ teaspoon of the spice mixture for the frosting.  Melt 4 tablespoons of the butter in a small skillet over medium heat and continue to cook, swirling the pan constantly, until the butter is light brown, 3-6 minutes.  Stir in the spice mixture and cook until fragrant, about 15 seconds.  Set mixture aside to cool slightly.

3.     In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together.  In a small bowl, whisk the eggs, egg yolks, and vanilla together.

4.     In a standing mixer fitted with the paddle, attachment, beat the remaining 12 tablespoons butter, the sugar, and molasses on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, 3-6 minutes; scrape down the bowl with a rubber spatula.  Beat in the ginger, cooled butter-spice mixture, and half of the egg mixture until combined, about 30 seconds.  Beat in the remaining egg mixture until combined, about 30 seconds, and scrape down the bowl again.

5.     Reduce the mixer speed to low and beat in one-third of the flour mixture, followed by half of the buttermilk.  Repeat with half of the remaining flour mixture and the remaining buttermilk.  Beat in the remaining flour mixture until just combined; scrape down the bowl.

6.     Give the batter a final stir with a rubber spatula to make sure it is thoroughly combined.  Scrape the batter into the prepared pan, smooth the top, and lightly tap the pan against the countertop two or three tines to settle the batter.   Bake the cake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with a few moist crumbs attached, 30-35 minutes, (or 20-25 min if using 9 in rounds) rotating the pan halfway through the baking time.

7.     Cool the cake completely in the pan, set on a wire rack, about 2 hours.  Run a small knife around the edge of the cake and flip the cake out onto a wire rack.  Peel off the parchment paper, then flip the cake right side up onto a serving platter.  Stir the reserved spice mixture into the frosting, spread the frosting evenly over the top and sides of the cake, and serve.

Cream Cheese Frosting

Makes about 4 cups

If the frosting becomes too soft to work with, let it chill in the refrigerator until firm.

2 (8 oz) packages cream cheese, softened

10 tablespoons (1 1/4sticks) unsalted butter, cut into chunks and softened

2 tablespoons sour cream

1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract

¼ teaspoons table salt

2 cups (8oz) confectioners/ sugar

1.     Beat the cream cheese, butter, sour cream, vanilla, and salt together in a large bowl with an electric mixter on medium-high speed until smooth, 2-4 minutes.

2.     Reduce the mixer speed to medium-low; slowly add the confectioners’ sugar, and reserved spice mixture (if using with the spice cake recipe) and beat until smooth, 4-6 minutes.  Increase the mixer speed to medium-high and beat until the frosting is light and fluffy, 4-6 minutes.