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.

Chive Risotto Cakes

We have tried the Chive Risotto Cakes and they are really good! They require time sitting in the fridge for at least 2 hours or overnight. I chose overnight. That means that I prepped on Monday night. Oh did it smell insane mixing the ingredients together Monday night! I had each of my kids smell the mixture in anticipation, before putting it in the fridge! I unfortunately had about half to one-third of the chives called for in the mixture, due to a little curious one tipping the container of the rest of the chives on the floor that needs to be mopped. There was no rescuing that!


There are a few things I learned through this experience. Snipping chives with kitchen scissors works well for garnishing, but "mincing" this many chives really works better with a chef's knife!! I used the suggested amount of panko breadcrumbs, but needed to add more for my satisfaction. They sure make a nice crust! It is important to have the burner at medium-low, because if it's not hot enough, the crust won't develop right. If you have it too high, you'll burn the cakes and you don't want that either! So, just to clarify for you, medium-low is that one notch just above medium. I also learned that either my burner element has hot spots or it is not level. I had some cakes in each batch turn out beautiful, while at least one seemed a little under golden. Still, all in all, they were very good. My pickiest eater started and finished before the rest of us were sitting down at the table to start our meal together. I figure, if she eats it like that, it's a keeper recipe! My picture would have looked better if I had dressed it with the balsamic vinaigrette before taking the picture! I realized that after I had already started eating. If I had had some extra chives, I would have garnished with a dollop of Greek yogurt and two strips of chive draped across. I think it is better as a gourmet lunch than dinner though, so I'll probably make it again on a weekend for lunch.






We had strawberry shortcakes for dessert, using the recipe on the Bisquick box. YUM!

Clogging Workshop

Have you ever watched clogging? I saw a bit of clogging in Ithaca, NY, as a teen on vacation with my parents. I also saw some clogging at Tweetsie Railroad in North Carolina several years ago, on a family vacation. Both of which I would consider to be more of the mountain style of clogging.

About 3 years ago we learned that there is a local 4H group of Cloggers. Our neighbor had been involved with the group that year. The following Fall, my two oldest children joined the group. We haven't looked back! They have so much fun! I get so much joy from just watching them! The following year, the next child joined and this year, my second youngest joined. My youngest needs to wait 2 years to be old enough to join.

Yesterday my three oldest and I attended a clogging workshop. This was our second time attending. It is such a fun day! They start instruction at 10 am and break for lunch and then have more instruction in the afternoon until 4 pm. Then, there are exhibitions in the evening. Our group has tryouts for this exhibition. They learn the steps to a new routine, that their leader(s) has choreographed, over a period of several weeks. Then, about six weeks before this workshop, they have to try out for the routine. If they get through the try outs, they have four weeks to perfect the routine.

This year the routine was a difficult one. They did a tribute to Michael Jackson with Motown. They worked so hard on the routine and were still struggling with a few sticky parts in the afternoon before the exhibition. It's a large group, so precision and synchronization are a big deal. They did such an incredible job and NAILED the routine! I wish I could post a video, but there's a lot involved in that, particularly getting permission from the other parents. Then, there's the sad, sad fact that somehow during the night, I had pressed the record button in between routines and didn't realize it. So, instead of actually recording their routine, I have a shot of the closed curtain! Oh, was I frustrated with myself! Fortunately, my friend I was sitting with, who also is a clogging mom, got the routine on her camera! She's going to make a copy for me, so I can have something to show the rest of the family!!! Next year I'll pay closer attention. I have all of last year's exhibition recorded.

I have to tell you, that my totally unbiased opinion is, that our group is in the top three groups that have performed this year and last year! I wish there was judging so I could tell you just how awesome they are!

Is There Such a Thing as Food Lust??

I like to catch the shows on Food Network every now and then. There was a period of time that I watched it as much as possible (when we first got the channel). I haven't watched as much lately, because it got to a point where there were a lot of reruns. And then, kids grow up and need your attention more, because they actually hold conversations. Anyway, I caught a couple of shows the other day. Let me just say, they got me to lusting after the dishes they were making. Let me explain that a little more, lest someone think wrongly of me. I looked up the definition, because the definition I knew of was the sinful one we all know of. I wanted to make sure that there was another definition than that. And there is! According to my copy of the Third College Edition of Webster's New World Dictionary, it also means "intense enthusiasm; zest" and zest is defined as "keen enjoyment; gust". So, yes, I think there is such a thing as food lust and I don't necessarily think it is sinful. Unless it gets you into big trouble.



How would I describe it? Well, have you ever walked by a display case of food and felt your mouth start to water and you want to taste that food that is causing your mouth to water so much? Or, have you ever watched a cooking show as they assemble their creation and thought "man, I wish this television was smell-o-vision or taste-o-vision"? I mean, it looks sooo good, that you just have to have a taste! Yes? Well then, you know what I mean. As I watched these shows, I told my daughter that she needed to finish up on the computer so that I could print up these recipes. Let me clarify that I wasn't just idly sitting there watching, I was also correcting schoolwork or working on scheduling schoolwork.



So what are these dishes that got me salivating so bad? Well, Ina Garten was making Chive Risotto Cakes. Oh they looked so good! She served them with a simple salad. Paula Dean was making cookies for a cookie swap. All of them looked divine, but I can't make all of them since some of them had nut ingredients. However, I can make her Loaded Oatmeal Cookies and just eliminate the walnuts, maybe add a few more raisins or some craisins. The Neely's were making some good food too. The dish that caught my eye was their Cookies and Cream Cake. That just might be the next birthday cake we make here. Just so happens that I had to go to the grocery store that night. I picked up the supplies I didn't already have to make the Chive Risotto Cakes. I think I already have all the supplies for the Loaded Oatmeal Cookies and the Cookies and Cream Cake. I'll be working on these recipes soon and will try to post pictures of how mine come out.



So, I don't think that food lust is such a bad thing, as long as it doesn't get out of control. Let me know if you try any of the recipes!

Food Coloring and Colored Sugar

It's been too long since my last post. I will be spending the next few days trying to catch up.

We've been playing with coloring our food around here lately! Yes, playing with our food! Lorianne's birthday was last month and Clarissa wanted to make her cake. I ask the kids for a theme they are interested in for their birthdays (we keep celebrations small and pretty much in the family for my sanity) and do my best to find things with that theme. It's a little challenging, since we can't go to the bakery for the cake, so we do what we can. This time Lorianne wanted polka dots and stripes. Clarissa helped me pick out the plates and napkins. The cake was made and then came the time for the decorating of said cake. We did our best to match the colors of the plates and napkins with the frosting. Now, if you looked at the cake without the plates and napkins, it truly looked odd. But, we were amazed at how good the cake looked on the plates! We couldn't have done a better job matching the colors! This was Clarissa's first time decorating a cake freehand!

After playing with food coloring for Lorianne's birthday, I colored cookies for St. Patrick's Day! We had green sugar cookies with green sugar! I had been on a hunt for a sugar cookie recipe like this one for a while. We love the taste of the famous Lofthouse Cookies, but we can't buy them due to Courtney's nut allergy. I think I finally found a recipe that comes close enough for me! These cookies are sooo good, that they are bad!

I made the same sugar cookie recipe for Easter, separated the dough into two bowls and colored the dough in one bowl rose and the dough in the other bowl orange. I decided to bake the orange dough first and then use the same scoop for the rose colored dough. The result of doing that gave a few of the cookies a sherbet looking color! That was cool! Again, they were sooo good, that they were bad!

So, sometimes it's good to play with your food! It's got me thinking about making some edible play dough in the near future.

Reflections on Life: Beginning, Middle and End

Beginning: Birth
Middle: Leaving home for college, marriage and sometimes having your own children
End: Death

I've had the opportunity to reflect on life for the past 4 weeks or so. That is part of why I haven't posted in a while. My family has witnessed quite a few endings to life during this time. In a way, it bothered me. I remember a time, not too long ago, that we attended or were invited to and unable to attend, many weddings. Birth is always a time of celebration. Steve and I have had 5 such occasions ourselves. Friends of ours just had twins and finally were able to bring them home from the hospital. Other friends of ours have 4 girls and are now expecting a boy. All reasons to celebrate. We celebrate life a lot. But what about death? Death can bring so many emotions of varying degrees.

A month ago we literally celebrated the life of a friend, the father and father-in-law of very dear friends. I can honestly say it was one of the best funerals I've ever been to. This friend died young of cancer, but he left quite a legacy. We know for a fact that we will see him again in heaven some day. Not long after that, my parents informed me of the death of a lady who had quite a significant impact on my childhood. She wasn't that old, she was in her 70's. I don't know what she suffered from, but read in the obituary that she had been in a nursing home. Then, a few days later, my parents again informed me of the death of another lady of significance from my childhood. I was really young, but I remember her house. It made me think of a castle. It sat on a hill facing a bridge that crossed over the river of that town. I imagined secret passageways in her house. She was the age you expect life to end. Then, last Wed., we got word of Steve's great uncle passing away. He was 95. We expected his time would come, but was very surprised when it did. His health had been worsening over a long period of time, but because he was hanging on for so long, it seemed like a shock. That night, we got word of someone we knew in college (I actually knew him and his wife before college, when they were dating) had fallen to his death in a construction accident. All of these people I have known through a connection with church. I'm confident that I will see them in heaven.

We went to Uncle Bob's funeral (Steve's great uncle) over the weekend. It was a priviledge. We got to hear stories we've never heard before. We got to see people we haven't seen in a long time. We got to watch him receive Military Honors. Our children got to experience this and had questions, all very good questions. It was another funeral of celebration. Uncle Bob had impacted many people. It was bittersweet.

Steve's Uncle Buck has been dealing with cancer for a couple of years. A week or two ago we learned that he is now on Hospice. We stopped to visit him on our way home from Uncle Bob's funeral. It was a hard visit, but a very good one at the same time. He was set up in a hospital bed in the family room. The last time we saw him he was walking around. The biggest change we noticed was a look of peace on his face and a difference in the way he conversed with us. Aunt Peggy wasn't home when we stopped by, but Cousin Joyce was taking care of Uncle Buck. It was a hard trip home. After we got home, we talked with Steve's mom for a bit on the phone to let her know we got home safely and to talk about our visit. I told her what I noticed and asked her some questions. After we hung up the phone with her, Aunt Peggy called to see how we were doing after the visit. I told her what I had noticed too. My suspicions were right and Uncle Buck had asked Christ to be his Lord and Saviour. So, we now know that we will see him in heaven some day too. That eases the pain, but it is still going to be hard. There was such a peace in Aunt Peggy's voice that we've waited a long time to hear. She had been praying for Uncle Buck for a long time. We have one more trip planned to see Uncle Buck, hopefully before he's gone. They've asked Steve and I to sing Till the Storm Passes Over at the funeral. I have a tendancy to cry when I sing something meaningful. I'm hoping that we both can make it through the song for our friends and family, before we lose it. My friend Theresa said to me "it's hard to sing at a funeral, but the songs are to comfort the friends and family". So true.

So, it's been busy around here. I have a few posts to catch up on. I've promised Bev and Betsy to blog about a few things and I will.

I'll leave you with this for now.

Everything on earth has its own time and its own season. There is a time for birth and death, planting and reaping, for killing and healing, destroying and building, for crying and laughing, weeping and dancing, for throwing stones and gathering stones, embracing and parting. There is a time for finding and losing, keeping and giving, for tearing and sewing, listening and speaking. There is also a time for love and hate, for war and peace. Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 Contemporary English Version (CEV)