The Mother of Geese

This week is going to be a bit of a repeater since I did not get to all the eating that we wanted to..so here goes Thursday: French Dip Sandwiches, oven fries Friday: Shrimp in Cuban Mojito Sauce, black beans Saturday: French bread pizza Sunday: Cheese tortellini wih sundried tomato sauce Monday: Quiche-have been craving it like crazy lately, and yes real men to eat it... Tuesday: Jeans white bean chili (I keep forgetting to soak my beans...grrrr) Wednesday: Cranberry chicken in the crockpot Happy Family Dinner times!

Don't tell me that my baby isn't talented. While sitting on the pot this afternoon she had my camera (?....let's not ask why it was in the bathroom. Promise we don't take potty party pictures...)She was so excited to take a few pictures for the blog. Here they are. She would love you to comment on her skills. My favorite is the self portrait at the top

Amelia really liked the crunch of the snow on her feet. I really liked taking the picture from the semi-warm garage. By the by, I ordered my seed catalog today. Spring will come soon, right?

Here is a picture of Abbie several years ago enjoying one of the finer things in life: Mac n Cheese. Thursday: Dinner at Aunt Granny's house yummy! Friday: Mel's Enchiladas Saturday: Loaded baked potato soup Sunday: Roast, cranberry sweet potatoes Monday: Shimp in Cuban Mojito Sauce, black beans Tueday: Orange Molasses Glazed Chicken Wednesday: Jean's White Bean Chili I wanted to send a shout out once again to my favorite cooking show Everyday Food on PBS, for providing the recipe for Tuesday and I would surely be nothing without my stash of secrets from Trader Joe's. I'm thinking I'm going to have to make a road trip to Vegas soon to stock up again though.

Saturday the Guernsey's called to reschedule dinner for Sunday. I had just watched an episode of Everyday Food (the BEST cooking show ever!) and they featured a lovely recipe for flank steak. Usually Brad does not love london broil etc because it tends to be TOUGH, but I bought one a while ago that was on sale (4.00 people) and threw it in the freezer and sort of forgot about it until I bought turkeys this week (Read 4 turkeys). It turned out pretty good. I had the rest of it on a salad for lunch today. Definately a winner. Rolled Flank Steak Serves 4; Prep Time: 30 minutes; Total Time: 1 hour 40 minutes 1 1/2 pounds flank steak 2 tablespoons olive oil 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar 2 garlic cloves, crushed 2 ounces shredded mozzarella cheese (1/2 cup) 4 scallions, sliced (1/3 cup) 2 ounces (1/4 cup) roasted re...

Today Abbie came home from playing with friends in tears because they wouldn't let her in the club. (GRRRRRRRRR some little girls are the WORST ) As a mother, I want to protect her and shield her from all that drama. I think she is brilliant , talented , and lots of fun . Case in point: Yesterday she was riding in the front seat with me while we went to go get Daddy from the office in AF. There is a new fabulous radio station that I am so rolling with right now called "movin' 100.7" and Funky town came on. My baby girl knew all the words and was singing it with all her heart. It was especially cute because she still has a hard time with the f sound so it came out as Sunky Town. I thought to myself she is the coolest kid in my funky town (She also likes to sing Justin Timberlake "Get your sassy on"), and for the record she always welcome in my club.

Brad is the smartest boy in the world. If this computer gig doesn't work out for him he could totally be Bob the Builder. Look what he did! The framing, plumbing, electrical, and air-totally passed! Onto Drywall!

I'm sick. Don't let the big smile on my face fool you. I'm sick. My mom has to bribe me with suckers after she holds me down to wipe my boogs. Take me seriously. I'm sick. Really. I feel horrible. I have a sore throat and I cough. This is how grumpy I am when I'm sick. Watch out. I'm sick.

So since Thanksgiving is next week I am going to buy several turkeys (I think they are like 7.00 at Smiths) Even though I am not going to cook Thankgiving dinner, Brad still wants my turkey (its brined in white wine and spices) so I am going to make Jean's white chilli with turkey next week and Melanie's turkey pasta in 2 weeks. Here's what we are looking at for this week: Thursday: Chicken Pesto calzone, salad Friday: Janet's 3 bean soup (it has a can of refried beans, can of black beans, can of kidney beans, and a jar of salsa. that's it), corn bread Saturday: Waffles, sausage Sunday: Dinner with the Guernsey's Monday: Cod in Piccata sauce Tuesday: Broccoli stuffed potatoes Wednesday: Mushroom, barley soup Looks like it will be a pretty simple week. Abbie is four months old in the picture, but she's never to young to dislike food on her head.

Abbie's preschool got cancelled today because Ms. Nicholle wasn't going to be in town. Abbie felt like doing "projects". I love it when she gets in her mood to clean because she just goes at it (btw yesterday I came home from Visit Teaching and she had a chair up to the fridge and she was wiping it down with the stainless steel wipes). So far this morning: she washed the dishes from breakfast, windexed the back door, wiped down the walls, cleaned my table, and she is still going strong. Its Tuesday Tub day so I might unleash her willingness on the bathrooms. (She just asked for my help in taking out the garbage. Gosh, can't she do that?!)

Amelia is definately my little reader. I heard from someone (Margaret Wise Brown maybe?) that if you read to a child 3 books a day, they will be exposed to 1,000s of books by the time they go to kindergarten. I believe I am already at that number with Amelia. She will follow me around all day with books. She will grab one and start laughing and follow you until you stop what you are doing and read to you. Anytime anyone sits down on the couch she takes that as a sign for "book time" and will get one for you. (As I am writing this Brad is trying to watch Sunday Night Football and is reading My Pretty Kitty to Amelia.) Her favorites are Pat the Bunny, Blue Hat Green Hat, Good Dog Carl, and Where is Baby. She has several toy boxes filled to the hilt that day after day go untouched because she is sittiing in a corner reading a book or waiting for you to sit down so you can read her one.

I know, I know, when you looked and the title of the blog you might have thought I was another one of those thoughtless people who skips Thanksgiving and just heads right for Christmas. I'm not really, but I do like to start thinking of some things in advance so I can start shopping the sales, getting something before they are gone (ahem, cellaphane bags and ribbon...) When we moved to Apple Grove I was shocked, amazed, horrified at all the neighbor gifts that we got by people who we didn't even know (Merry Christmas Donaldsons, Daniels family etc..). Not that I wasn't into the Christmas spirit or anything but I kind of just sat there and ate the treats and didn't do much in the way of reciprocating. Last year I was the FIRST to go around with my neighbor gifts (I made holiday bark with pistasios and cranberrys) and pledged that if I got something later from someone I forgot we would just include them next year. I guess I grew up in a neighborhood where you did the Chri...

On Thursday night we had HOA meeting for our neighborhood and I was elected to serve a three year term on the board along with this other dude. It will be interesting to see how my democratic biases will be taken here...(Power to the people! Down with big business....er I mean Richmond America! Plant trees! Recycle!) It should be interesting

So I might have mentioned that I was planning on making a pumpkin pie from scratch a few weeks ago from a pumpkin that I bought at our fruit stand. Well, I did it and I can't believe how incredibly easy it was--I am not ever going to use pumpkin in a can again. (Well I will probably keep on using it for cookies and ravioli but probably not the pie anymore...) The texture was a little thicker, but it had a very natural sweet flavor. Brad said: "It was the best pie I have ever had..." That is pretty huge since I come from a long line of great pie makers. I had some cinnamon ice cream that I topped it with. If I do it again, I would like to maybe try to do something with the pumpkin seeds-maybe a praline topping...Who knows...Very nice. Here is the recipe I used. (Jean, girl you have GOT to try this...you can do it!) 1 cup ...

So for the last four years that we have lived in PG I had the inkling that our water was hard-what with the itchy skin, use of jet-blue, special cleansers to clean the tubs, need of LOTION....etc...And I kind of knew that we would get around to someday getting a water softener. Our water woes did not end there, however, because I had tried several ways to avoid having to drink anything that came out of the tap--I was certain it would poison me from the inside. So with PROJECT: Basement being moved up on the priority list, we figured before the city came to to the 4-way inspection, we would take care of the water woes. We went to Lowe's (who, by the way, was much cheaper than our our orange friends...) and bought a water softener, whole house prefiltration system, and a reverse osmosis system. Brad puttered on the project for a few days and it took me a few days but I must say.... I AM A BELIEVER!!! Tuesday: was Tuesday tub day, and I didn't have to use the green side of the sp...

Check out the weather high for PG and Danville. A definate rarity for November.

So last week went by pretty well dinner wise-we actually went to a friend of Brad's house for Monday Dinner and she had carrots seasoned with the ranch dressing seasoning and brown sugar. Quite tasty. Here's the list: Thursday: Salmon Salad, TJ Vegetable Bisque Friday: Hot Dogs, Mac n Cheese Saturday: Out with Danielsons Sunday: Whole Roasted Chicken, Parmesan Orzo, Snap Peas Monday: Spaghetti with Meatsauce, Green Beans Tuesday: Pesto Meatball Sandwiches, fruit cocktail Wednesday: Mixed Grain Casserole, Green Salad,-...most likely somthing chocolate...(see last Friday's blog) Thanks Mel for the dinner comments last week. I would like your yummy recipes.

Brad and I didn't really worry too much about Amelia's dental habits up until a few weeks ago, because she was lacking the teeth in which to form said habits. (You'll recall she didn't have ANY teeth to munch her 1st birthday cake with-she was "dentally delayed") So needless to say we are a little out of practice at the brushing the teeth with the toddler bit. I am kicking myself that I didn't take more pictures of "The Fang" (she didn't get her two front teeth, she just got the canine looking one next to it and looked just like our neighbor Dresi who is 8 and is without the front teeth as well). Its a good thing we have Abbie around to help with that brushing the teeth. hmmm, Abbie helps brush teeth, can get Melia dressed, make a bottle, and entertain her for hours. Seems to me like Brad and I can go upstairs and take a nap because she has it all under control.