Greece Someday...Maybe?

I've seen a few movies that are based in Greece lately. The scenery looks absolutely gorgeous and inviting. Cities on hillsides, culture, the food, the people and their daily activities. I know that the movies make it look peaceful and restful and usually don't show the difficult stuff. But, I'd still like to see it.

There is so much of the world that I would like to see before I die. And to experience it with Steve would be awesome. I know that it will probably have to wait until the kids are grown and on their own. So, that's my dream today. To see more of the world with my best friend that I married. It might be fun to see it with some of our friends too. I'm looking forward to growing old with Steve and hope that we get to travel as much as we would like to.

Restablishing Routine and Hibachi Night

I don't know about you, but it has been a whirlwind of activity in my household since May. I have a lot to catch up on here. It was nice to hear of some people missing my blogs and asking if I still am blogging.....thanks Jennifer! I've jokingly told Bev and Betsy that at times I feel like I should carry a small notebook around with me to write down the blogging ideas that come to me so that I don't forget them. Yes, I know I can do that on my phone, but I like the idea of seeing that on paper and being able to flip back and forth between pages. I know I still have to blog about the Oreo truffles.



We have had homeschool convention, 4 H Public Presentations, County and State Level, clogging performances and 4 H Farm Fair. We have also attended VBS and Family Camp. And we had a vacation in Hershey/Lancaster, PA area. Now the summer is coming to a close and it's time to get back into our homeschool and normal life routine.



We also just updated/upgraded some of our equipment and it is taking some time to familiarize ourselves (myself) on the new technology. I have pictures to upload from the camera too and some of the planned posts are suppose to have at least one or two of those pictures.



In the meantime, Steve and I went out tonight to Mikado for Japanese Hibachi dinner. It gets expensive to go to those places, so we don't go often, but it sure is a fun experience! I hope that someday we will be able to take all of the kids and not worry about Courtney's allergy. I think they would really enjoy the experience. Clarissa went to this particular restaurant with our church youth group in the spring of this year. She loved it so much that she said daddy and I needed to go sometime. The most memorable part of her experience was that the chef had a little boy figurine that holds a liquid (I personally think it's water) and when he squeezes it, the little boy "pees"! I think it's water, cuz it seems to be a steaming effect and the chef does it after the seasoning of the food. Clarissa said that daddy would get a kick out of that - he did! I love the show that comes with the dinner. Our chef flipped a piece of broccoli into our mouths...Steve got the first one...the chef had to try a second time for me! We ordered rolls for appetizers. Steve got a beef negamaci (?), essentially beef rolled around scallions and pan fried in a sauce. I got an Alaskan roll, smoked salmon, avocado, cuccumber and mayo. We tried each other's and they were both tasty. Steve ordered chicken and NY Strip steak. I had Filet Mignon. Both meals were very good as was our show. We decided to have desserts that I would probably not make at home. Steve had banana tempura with green tea ice cream. Bananas were dipped in Tempura batter and then fried, drizzled with honey and served with the green tea ice cream. I had a chocolate caramel pyramid. It essentially is chocolate mouse with a caramel center, dusted with cocoa powder and topped with whipped cream and a marachino cherry. Both were very good desserts. A good time out together.



I will be back soon with more blog posts!

Mexican/Indian Night

I was on a hunt for a really good rice pudding recipe. I started to look through one of my older cookbooks, one that's as old as me and was my mom's, and found a recipe that I might try soon. Across the page from it was a recipe for Baked Indian Pudding. Hmm...it looked interesting and you know I just had to try it! It is made of cornmeal, milk, butter, light-brown sugar, dark molasses, salt, cinnamon, ginger, cloves and light cream. It smelled good baking. Steve thought it tasted like ginger snap cookies. I thought that was a pretty good description. All but one of the kids tried it (she didn't get to try because she didn't finish her dinner) and liked it, even said it was blog worthy!

Since I was making Baked Indian Pudding for dessert, I had to have something close to complimentary for dinner. I decided on Taco Casserole. That was a hit with four out of the five kids too! After they finished, I informed them that they had enjoyed mild taco sauce and diced green chilies! What a mean mom, sneaking spicy food into them! They said it deserved a spot on our favorite meals board!

I like a night that ends with happy tummies - at least a majority!

San Marzano Sauce with Linguine a la Nicholas Sparks

I finished reading True Believer by Nicholas Sparks on Sunday. I really enjoyed the book. In the story, the main characters eat an authentic San Marzano pasta sauce with linguine. It sounded so simple and yet divine, that I just had to try it. All it is, is two large cans of San Marzano tomatoes, 1 stick of butter and 2 onions cut in half. Bring to a boil and then turn down to low and simmer for 1 1/2 hours. I cut the onions in half across the width. It smelled insane!

The San Marzano tomatoes were whole, so I thought that over the 1 1/2 hours of simmering that they would breakdown a bit and they did. I thought it was interesting to put the onions in the sauce in the large halves. I used Vidalia onions. I thought that the onions would soften up and maybe separate during the simmering. Pretty good guess! Not all of the onion separated, but enough did. I would have never put onions in like that, except that the character of the book stated that dicing the onions would ruin the sauce that she learned to make from her restaurant owning grandmother. The onions had a texture that no store bought sauce could match! It was so good! Apparently, I was raving about it through dinner...at least that what my daughter said!

I served the pasta with a salad and biscuits. I will definitely be making this again!

Another Birthday Celebrated

We recently celebrated another birthday here! We have a tradition that the birthday person gets to pick the meals for the day. So, my dear son decided that we were going to have Cinnamon Blintzes for breakfast, Jambalaya for lunch and Papa John's for dinner! Definitely some favorites around here. He said that he chose those meals because we haven't had them in while. He also wanted a Bakugon Cake. That was going to be a challenge for me since I couldn't order one from the bakery.



Cinnamon Blintzes are really, really good and really easy to make. But, they do take time. I didn't think about taking any pictures of them, mostly because I was busy making them.



Jambalaya is wonderful! A friend of ours who happens to have a Creole background introduced us to it. I haven't looked for a recipe to make it, but have use the mix by Zatarain's. I did two pots. One mild, (picture on the top) made with smoked beef sausage and the other, (picture on the bottom) spicy Creole style with Andouille sausage! The kids absolutely love the mild version, except for my youngest with the severe food allergies. The birthday boy tried the spicy version and really liked it, but the second serving ended up being a little too much for him.










I don't need to say much about Papa John's except for the fact that the order got a little mixed up. But, after I called to let them know of the mix up, they sent the correct pizza, so we got 3 for the price of 2! Can't really complain about that!



Now the Bakugon cake had me a little baffled! I go to the local Party City store to get the specialty items that I can't get at Target, Walmart, or the grocery store. Nobody had any cake topper type stuff for Bakugon. So I got an idea while I was standing in the isle at Party City. There was a large Bakugon key chain. I figured, well, I could use that as a topper and put it on a doilie so as to not contaminate the cake. Yes, I actually have to think of that. I think it worked pretty good! At least he was pleased with it! He specified a triple chocolate cake, and that was what he got!



All in all, a fun day!

A Movie I Watched and an Old TV Show I Want to Share With the Kids

I watched Confessions of a Shopaholic the other day. It was a pretty good movie! I think it is based on a book, so now I want to read it.

I also recently discovered that our local library has copies of the old tv series, The Land of the Lost! Anxious to see what the kids think of that! Then, maybe we'll consider watching the remake.

Neeley's Cookies and Cream Cake

I made the Neeley's Cookies and Cream Cake the other day for the most recent birthday and it was really good! It was so good, that it lasted the night of the birthday and one more day. It is now gone! I served it with a bit of cookies and cream ice cream on the side. Empty plates! Worth making again! I think it was the first birthday cake I've made from scratch. I've always used the convenience of the cake mixes or the bakery. It was easy to make. After icing the bottom layer, it looked a bit like an Oreo!

I decided to pour the icing over the top of the cake. I had several people talking to me while I was counting the cups of powdered sugar, so I was either right on or just under. The icing turned out to be pourable. I need some practice on writing freehand on cakes though.

I need to make those Oreo truffles again. I thought I took some pictures, but haven't been able to find them.

I've done some cookies and cream brownies recently too that I'll have to make again.