Camp Outreach

I spent last week at a summer camp. It's not your ordinary summer camp. Instead of swimming and hiking and canoeing, and whatever other activities you regularly find at a summer camp, the campers at Camp Outreach spend their days painting, cleaning up overgrown lots, replacing roofs, and all kinds of other projects in a neighborhood in downtown Indianapolis. And they love it! Some of these young people (and not so young people) have returned year after year after year.

This was my third year. The first year I helped out in the VBS for the neighborhood kids in the mornings and then worked on various projects in the afternoons. The last couple years I helped out with VBS in the mornings and then was responsible for feeding all our hard-working people dinner every night. There's a lot of planning, a lot of shopping, and a lot of work involved, but it's all worth it. And I certainly could not do it without lots of help.

If you're interested in seeing a bit about Camp and hearing from some of the young people who were involved this year, be sure to check out this video and discussion of Camp Outreach 2017.

Perhaps it's something you'd like to get involved in next year?

Have These Always Been a Thing?

I recently started making Kombucha, thanks to some friends who love it and were willing to share some info and a scoby. I don't really know much about it, so I've been doing a bit of reading, and I read that the scoby should never touch metal. I'm not sure what the reasoning is, and I'm not sure if it's more about actually being stored in metal or just a momentary touching. But, I've used a mesh strainer a couple times - and it's metal - so I thought I'd look for some kind of plastic colander or strainer to use. I did find some really cute and colorful colanders at Aldi - a set of 3 for $5.

But then I found a set of 4 nylon mesh strainers. They look just like the metal ones, except they're nylon, and the mesh collapses for easy storage. How perfect, not just for the kombucha, but also for everything. I use my strainers for a lot of things, but it seems that the metal always ends up rusting, and I haven't figured out a way to stop it. These should completely avoid that rust problem. I'm actually very excited about these things and wondering if they've been around for a while, and I just never noticed or if they're something new.

Does anybody know?

What is Art?

I don't tend to think of myself as artistic. People who can take pen, pencil, paints, canvas, or other art material and create something that other people can see the beauty in, those people are artists. People who can sing, perform Shakespeare in front of an audience, write poetry, crochet blankets, make jewelry, or knit a sweater are artists.

The first definition of art on dictionary.com is:

the quality, production, expression, or realm, according to aesthetic principles, of what is beautiful, appealing, or of more than ordinary significance.

"Of more than ordinary significance" I like that. Art should lift us above our daily existence and show us something special.  It's possibly the best way to share how we see, hear, feel, or otherwise experience the world in a way that others can (hopefully) understand.

And this is where I think, "But I'm not an artist!" I have some very talented people in my family, people who draw and paint, write poetry, and play music. I have a very talented son who can make Shakespeare understandable. I love to watch him on stage! And my daughter can crochet an amazing blanket in an unbelievably short amount of time. I have absolutely no idea how she can take a bunch of string (yarn) and create such gorgeous things. I'm not sure where my kids got their artistic talents, because their dad and I have none of that. It must have skipped a generation and come from their grandparents, though that doesn't explain my musically talented brother and the serious photography skills of my youngest brother. (I'm sure my other brother has some great skills with that truck he drives, but I'm not sure that's art. Or is it?)

Another definition under 'art' on dictionary.com reads:

the principles or methods governing any craft or branch of learning: the art of baking;

So truck driving absolutely can be an art. We already know that it takes some serious skill, and most of us would never dream of driving one of those big trucks, let alone trying to back one up. In fact, I know a truck driver who does not back up. She lets her partner and husband do that. But she's very skilled in all kinds of other artistic things.

But let's get back to that last definition of art and the example used - "the art of baking" - I bake! And I cook. And apparently that can be viewed as an art. Which would mean that I am artistic after all. I may not be able to take a blank canvas and create something you'd want to hang on your walls, but I can definitely create something you'll want in your belly!

It's not quite the same as this video I saw on Facebook the other day, but in a way it is. The artist takes the sounds she hears, and sees as colors, and creates gorgeous pictures. I can usually read a recipe and know what it's going to taste like before I've even tried it, which is why I'm always changing recipes instead of actually following them. They're more like guidelines, anyway.


So now that I know I actually am artistic, what am I going to do? Oh yeah - feed people!

What will you do with your artistic skills?

Be Carton Smart this Holiday

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Carton Smart for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

What if everyone made just one small smart decision every day?  How much of a difference do you think that would make?  Sure, one person's actions may not seem like much, but when everyone joins in, the impact can  be huge.

Tetra Pak® carton packages, designed for maximum efficiency and environmental friendliness, are one small way to live smarter and make that difference.  The cartons are made of 70% paper, a renewable resource, from selectively harvested, re-grown trees that are FSC-certified (Forest Stewardship Council) and use 1/3 of the packaging compared to cans.  Cartons are space saving, easy to store and open, and the unique packaging process preserves the flavor and nutrients of food without the use of preservatives.  So, not only will you help the environment by putting less waste into landfills, when you Become Carton Smart you'll also be able to feed your family better quality food.

I received Tetra Pak® carton packages of  Pacific Foods Organic Jellied Cranberry Sauce, Pacific Foods Organic Pumpkin Puree, and Pacific Foods Organic Chicken Simply Stock - the perfect products for the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday!

Cranberry sauce goes with turkey, the stock can be used to make the dressing, and I think I'll use the Pumpkin Puree to make a batch of these Pumpkin Oat Muffins.  What's great about these cartons is that they're reclosable, so I can use the 1 cup of pumpkin I need for the muffins and easily save the rest in the carton for later.  How convenient is that?



I also like that the cartons fit together nicely - meaning they're great for stocking the pantry.  I am definitely going to have to look for other products I can get in these cartons.

Be sure to Follow #CartonSmart on Pinterest to see lots of great small, smart choices that can add up to make a big difference, and if you have some ideas of your own, be sure to Tweet @CartonSmart to share them.

How will you be #CartonSmart this holiday?  Will you buy at least one of your ingredients in a carton?  Recycle all of the cans and jars you use?  Use real dishes so that you aren't throwing away a bunch of paper plates and plasticware?  I'd love to hear your plans.

Book Review: Bread & Wine

Bread & Wine: A Love Letter to Life Around the Table with Recipes by Shauna Niequist


About this book:

As a follow up to her two bestselling books, Bittersweet and Cold Tangerines, author and blogger Shauna Niequist returns with the perfect read for those who love food and value the community and connection of family and friends around the table. Bread and Wine is a collection of essays about family relationships, friendships, and the meals that bring us together. This mix of Anne Lamott and Barefoot Contessa is a funny, honest, and vulnerable spiritual memoir. Bread and Wine is a celebration of food shared, reminding readers of the joy found in a life around the table. It's about the ways God teaches and nourishes people as they nourish the people around them. It's about hunger, both physical and otherwise, and the connections between the two. With wonderful recipes included, from Bacon-Wrapped Dates to Mango Chicken Curry to Blueberry Crisp, readers will be able to recreate the comforting and satisfying meals that come to life in Bread and Wine.

I haven't read either of her previous books, but I was very eager to read this one when I was offered an advance reading copy by Zondervan.  We've often talked about how important it is in building relationships to share meals together, as well as tying the experience to the bread and wine that Jesus offered saying, "This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me" and "This cup is the new covenant between God and you, sealed by the shedding of my blood. Do this in remembrance of me as often as you drink it."  Are we only supposed to remember occasionally, when we're in church, when we're taking the symbols in a ceremonial manner?  Or is it like Shauna says in this book - "And I believe that Jesus asked for us to remember him during the breaking of the bread and the drinking of the wine every time, every meal, every day - no matter where we are, who we are, what we've done."  Yes!

I really enjoyed the book.  The focus isn't really on the bread & wine, though that is an underlying theme.  Mostly it's about the importance of sharing meals together and the relationships that are built around the table.  Through good times and bad, the common theme is the food and the eating - together.  Shauna gives the reader a glimpse into her life, a life where she is learning to embrace her appetites, let go of her desire for perfection and just be fully present in the moment, and accept herself for who she is, and she invites the reader to "start where you are" and begin doing the same thing.

I could really relate to the need to let go of perfection.  I have a hard time letting people into my house (or my life) if I haven't had a chance to prepare, and I can make myself crazy doing all the cleaning and straightening before people are coming over - and they probably don't even notice anyway!  Sometimes the choice is, simply, be here - imperfect, messy, tired, whatever - or miss the moment, the conversation, the time around the table.  In that chapter, I marked the following line - "We have, each one of us, been entrusted with one life, made up of days and hours and minutes.  We're spending them according to our values, whether or not we admit it."  Is it more important to be perfect or to spend that time with the people who matter?

As I try to write this review, I keep looking back through the book.  I have little pink sticky notes sticking out everywhere, where I've marked passages that really struck me.  This one in particular:

"I want to cultivate a deep sense of gratitude, of groundedness, of enough, even while I'm longing for something more.  The longing and the gratitude, both.  I'm practicing believing that God knows more than I know, that he sees what I can't, that he's weaving a future I can't even imagine from where I sit this morning."

Shauna's attitude toward cooking and recipes pretty much sums up my feelings - "Recipes are how we learn all the rules, and cooking is knowing how to break them to suit our tastes or preferences.  Following a recipe is like playing scales, and cooking is jazz." - except that I don't really know much about music.  That being said, most of the recipes shared in this book seem a bit fussy to me, and I love to cook.  Yes, there are a couple that I will probably try - the Dark Chocolate Sea Salted Toffee, for one, OH, and the Roasted Broccoli - but most of them just sounded like too much work, and they called for ingredients that I don't usually have on hand.  Hopefully that won't discourage people from finding their own recipes and dishes to share, gathering people around their own tables, and building those important relationships.  Like she says, "Focus on making people comfortable, on creating a space protected from the rush and chaos of daily life, a space full of laughter and safety and soul."  Shauna has shared what works for her and her family here, and we all have to find out what works for us.  The point is to get started, open the door and start making our own memories around our own tables.

Bread & Wine: A Love Letter to Life Around the Table with Recipes is available on Amazon in both hardcover and Kindle editions.  For more information about Shauna Niequist, visit her webpage.

Thank you to Zondervan and Handlebar for giving me a review copy of this book.  I really enjoyed it.

Related articles

• On My Bookshelf: Bread & Wine (A Review)
• Bread & Wine by Shauna Niequist
• This Book is Making Me Hungry: Some thoughts on Bread and Wine

So Many Dishes

If I'm the only one home, how in the world can there be so many dishes?  In one day.

All clean

Oh yeah - I made bread, cooked the turkey carcass from Thanksgiving, warmed up some chili and made some cornbread for dinner, and there were also dishes in there from breakfast and lunch.  They do add up, but I can stack a lot of them in the drainer, because, while I kinda like washing dishes, I do not like drying them.  Mostly that's because I have the hardest time actually getting them dry.  Seriously, sometimes I can't even seem to get my hands dry when I wash them!  It's really irritating.

Tomorrow I get to start all over again.  I need to make soup with the turkey broth.  I'm thinking this Split Pea Soup or maybe Lentil Barley Soup.  I guess it depends on what sounds good tomorrow when I'm ready to make it - and if I have all the ingredients.  Do I even have split peas or barley?  Guess I better check.  Tomorrow.  When I'm putting all these dishes away, while keeping out the ones I'll be using again.  No sense in putting something away just to get it out again!

Where's the Heat?

So, Thanksgiving is this week.  I'm supposed to be thankful, right?  And I am, really I am - for so many things.
 

Source: foodnetwork.com
via Anna on Pinteres

I'm also busy, because I've got pies to make, rolls to bake, a turkey to cook, and all the other things that go along with having Thanksgiving dinner.  I started today by baking a Bourbon Pecan pie that smells wonderful. 

But now I'm a bit frustrated, because, when the pie came out of the oven, I turned it off for a bit, until I got ready to bake a pizza for dinner.  And when I turned the oven back on, it seemed to be taking forever to heat up.  I waited and waited and waited - and finally went ahead and put the pizza in anyway, but it just wouldn't cook properly.  I finally just finished it up in my roaster oven.  Thankfully I had that down and ready to use, because I already planned to cook the turkey in it tomorrow - while I was baking the pies and rolls in the oven.

So now, I'm hoping it was just some random glitch and the oven decides to work tomorrow.  If not, well, I guess everything will have to be cooked in the roaster.  I started by baking a pumpkin pie tonight.  It looks and smells great, so I know it's possible to bake everything in the roaster oven - it will just take a lot longer than I'd like.

This happened about 3 years ago, and we got it fixed, but it's not something I really wanted to have to deal with again - and the timing is really bad.  Still, I can be very, very thankful that I do have the roaster oven, right?  As well as plenty of food that needs to be cooked.

Master the Meal w/ GravyMaster

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of GravyMaster for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

I love to cook.  I can usually look at a recipe and pretty much tell what it's going to taste like before I even try it.  Sometimes I know that it would be even better if I add a little of this or a little of that.  Other times, though, I can make something, and even though I know it needs something, I don't know exactly what that something is.  I've got a cupboard full of spices, but picking the right one isn't  always that easy.  Chili is one of those things that I'm never sure about.  Chili Powder and, what?

I found this recipe for Chili Stuffed Potatoes that looks really good:

The recipe uses canned chili, which I don't usually buy, but it gave me an idea - add GravyMaster to my chili.  Just looking at the name GravyMaster, I would have thought it was just for gravy - but the folks who make GravyMaster are trying to get the word out that it's not just for gravy.  Sure it's good for gravy.  In fact, cooks have been using it to make great gravies since 1935!  But it's also good for caramelizing vegetables & meats or locking in juices while grilling meats, fish or vegetables, and it's a wonderful addition to sauces or marinades.  This may be just what I need for those times when I'm not sure just what to add.  I think I'll start with the chili!  It's definitely time for a big pot of chili.

GravyMaster contains a carefully concentrated blend of celery, onion, parsley, garlic, caramel, hydrolyzed vegetable protein, apple cider vinegar, salt and pure cane sugar.  NO chemical preservatives, artificial color, flavors or additives are ever used - so I won't feel like I'm adding anything to my food that I shouldn't.

There are several recipes on the GravyMaster website to get us started using GravyMaster and being able to Master the meal - which is where I found the recipe for the Chili Stuffed Potatoes.  Check out the recipes and let me know which ones look good to you or what else you'd use GravyMaster for.  Don't have GravyMaster in your cupboard (like me)?  It's available at most grocery stores, in the aisle with the gravies, or you canorder it from the GravyMaster website.

Quick, Easy Dinner Ideas

Image via Wikipedia

Since we don't have much time between the time Jeffrey gets home from work and the time we have to leave if we're going to go see Cory act, I need something quick and easy for dinner.  Here are a couple quick, easy dinner ideas I used this week:

• Monday night I made grilled cheese with smoked turkey.  (banana peppers on mine)
• Tonight I'm planning to heat up a can of Chunky soup and serve it over baked potatoes.
• and last night, even though we weren't going anywhere, I made omelets using some leftover steak, onions, and peppers I'd cooked up for fajitas a few days ago.  Yum!

I don't know why I feel like I'm 'cheating' when I serve something like that for dinner - those all sound pretty good!  I guess it's because I can cook, I do cook, and I feel like it's part of my job to put a good meal on the table.  Then again, it's also part of my job to balance everything that needs done, and sometimes there's just not enough time to cook a great meal from scratch.  As long as there's something to eat!

Don't get me wrong, I don't cook fancy gourmet meals, and I really do like simple recipes.  Some things just seem too simple, and I have to make myself appreciate that simplicity.  Jeffrey doesn't mind, and when he's home, Cory doesn't mind.  Even the simple stuff is better than a lot of the 'food' he can get at college.

Does it Ever End?

I dusted and vacuumed yesterday and cleaned bathrooms today.  Well, at least I wiped off the mirrors, the bathroom faucets, and all surfaces so they're at least presentable.  We've got people coming over tomorrow, and I'd hate to let them see how we really live.  LOL!

Actually, my house isn't really that bad.  I just get tired of the clutter - newspapers, magazines, paperwork that I stack up because I need to get to it and then never do.  Bills get paid, but I've got receipts to organize and file away, coupons to organize, my freezer list to update, etc.

I also baked bread today and mixed up a coffee cake to have for breakfast in the morning.  We just have to pull it out of the fridge and bake it tomorrow morning, and we'll have fresh yummyness.  (is that a word?  well, it is now)  Oh, and in the middle of it all, I had to run and get Cory from school because Beth wants him home to help her move this weekend, and while I was out, I put gas in the van, and went and signed some papers at the bank.

And now I need to scrub some potatoes for dinner and make a Mountain Cake for my sweetie, because that's the kind of wife I am, and wash all the dishes from all the cooking, and ...  Can I sit down now?  Oh yeah, I am sitting down, but now I have to get back up and get back to work.

Does it ever end?  Thankfully, yes - it's called the Sabbath, and it starts at sundown.  Yay!

Using Online Recipes

Image via Wikipedia

I love all the recipes available on the Internet!  What I need is a wireless monitor embedded in a cabinet door.  That way I could refer to the recipes I want to use without printing them out or, like I'm doing now, setting my laptop on my kitchen counter.  At least I have a laptop, and I can do that!  Some days I don't even think of that.  Instead I run back and forth from the kitchen to the living room to check the recipe. Not the most efficient, but I guess that's a form of exercise, right?

Speaking of exercise, this bending over to type a blog post while I've got my computer on the counter is working some muscles I don't usually work.  I can feel it tightening up my backside.  Maybe I should do this more often?  I could write blog posts, domain name availability, update website, and all manner of things while standing in my kitchen.  Of course, if I didn't set my laptop in front of my toaster oven, I'd be able to angle the screen back a bit more, and then I wouldn't have to bend over.  The thing with putting the laptop in the kitchen is that I have to keep it away from the sink where it might get wet and away from anything messy - which brings me back to how nice it would be to have a built-in monitor.  I suppose they do have those, but they cost more than I'd want to spend.

Oh well, maybe I should just do my cooking (I'm making this Sweet Potato Chicken Stew Recipe - looks good, doesn't it?) and then take my computer back into the living room to my nice, comfy couch...

Another Day, Another Headache

I'm not feeling much better today than I did yesterday.  I hate this whole headache thing.  Unfortunately it's something I've always had to deal with, and the best I can do is just try to get some extra sleep and wait for it to go away.  Excedrin used to be the only thing that worked for me, and I only took that as a last resort, but I can't take it any more, so I just have to wait it out.  Thankfully it feels like it's on the way out, and now I'm just really tired.  If I'm smart, I'll go to bed early.  Except I'm probably not that smart.

I'm hoping that by tomorrow I'll be back to normal, and I can get some stuff done.  At least more than I got done today.  I did some cooking - made Taco Dip and a zucchini pie for dinner.  Then, of course, I had to wash the dishes from cooking, and I got a couple 'presents' today in the mail and delivered by UPS, and those had to be washed, too.  So I guess I don't get to completely take the day off even if I don't feel good at all.  No sense pulling out the Blue Cross Blue Shield NC card, that is if we lived in North Carolina, and running off to the doctor or something.

Then tomorrow, when I feel better, I can try out my new 'toys' and see how they work.  Hint: one of them is from CSNStores, so I'll definitely be telling you about that one.

If We Didn't Have to Eat...

At 3:00 I realized I forgot to have lunch today.  I guess that's not horrible, considering I usually don't eat until 12:30 or 1:00, but still.  I just got busy and didn't think about it until my stomach started grumbling.  I have a nice Chocolate Zucchini Cake and some Chocolate Pudding sitting on the counter and some Cinnamon Rolls baking in the oven to show for all my efforts, though.  Of course, none of those are available as lunch because they're all for something else - and I'd be needing the best fat burners I could find if that's the kind of things I ate for lunch.

So I ate a nectarine and some cheese & crackers.  That ought to hold me for a bit.  And now I need to go wash all the dishes I made with all that cooking.  I'm not one of those people who washes the dishes as I go along.  No, I wait until a whole bunch of dishes piles up, and then I wash them.  Hopefully they'll have time to dry before it's time to wash the dinner dishes, because while I don't mind washing dishes, I really, really hate to dry them.

Take the Mission Menus Challenge

Image by audioeric via Flickr

This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of Mission Foods. All opinions are 100% mine.

Have you ever noticed that wrapping something in a Mission tortilla makes it seem a little special?  At least it seems that way to me.  It makes it fun to eat, because you can pick up your food and eat it with your hands.  Using tortillas is also a good way to make leftovers something new.  I like to take leftover steak (grill an extra one or two when you're grilling), and cook it with some onions, garlic, and peppers, cumin and lime juice.  Then just wrap it in some tortillas with salsa, cheese, sour cream, cilantro, tomatoes, whatever you like or have on hand, and you have fajitas!  A leftover rice casserole tastes great wrapped up in a tortilla with a little salsa and some lettuce, too - with maybe some cheese or sour cream.

I'm pretty sure those 'recipes' won't be good enough for the Mission Menus Challenge, but I'm really going to have to see if I can come up with something good.  From now until August 9, everyone is encouraged to submit their own budget-friendly recipes for a chance to win a $10,000 kitchen makeover as well as a host of weekly prizes.  All recipes must:

• include Mission Flour Tortillas
• Be original
• Feed a family of five for $10 or less 

It's the original part that kills me.  As I've already said, I love cooking with Mission tortillas - because they're versatile, kid-friendly, convenient,Trans fat and cholesterol free, and they just plain taste good.  I'm pretty sure I can feed a family of 5 for $10 or less any day of the week, but coming up with my own original recipe is going to take a bit of thought and inspiration.  Thankfully, there's quite a bit of inspiration available at www.missionmenus.com - and I'm ready to try all of these recipes.  You should have heard me Ooohing and Aaahing over all the pictures and recipes when I first visited the page!  Is that weird?  Don't answer that!

Instead just take your great budget-friendly recipe that uses Mission tortillas, and enter the Mission Menus Challenge.   It'll be fun, and you could be the one who wins the dream kitchen makeover.

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Lots and Lots of Food

• Chicken - marinating
• Barbecue Bean Salad - fixed and in the fridge
• Brownies - baked and smelling good
• French Toast Casseroles for breakfast - being made, as soon as the bread thaws.  A hot oven from baking brownies works really well for thawing frozen bread.

So, I think that's the food for tomorrow - except the fruit will have to be cut up for breakfast/brunch, and I might cut up some potatoes and onions to cook, too.  Have I forgotten anything?  Or is there so much that everyone will leave here looking for the best weight loss supplements?  Probably, considering that other people are bringing stuff, too!

Now, I need to figure out what we're having for dinner besides the steaks I bought at Walmart the other day.  I'll probably do a potato packet for Jeffrey to grill along with the steaks and cook some green beans.  Also, those brownies are smelling so good that we'll probably have some for dessert and make some more for tomorrow.  They're real easy, since they're from a mix.  Walmart had them for 75¢ and I had a coupon for 75¢ off 2 - so I just couldn't pass those up.

So, who's coming?  It sounds like we'll have plenty.

I Hope They Like it Spicy

I'm making some Taco Dip for tomorrow.  I really hope everybody likes it a little spicy.  I browned my hamburger and added the taco seasoning.  And then I added some more taco seasoning.  I guess I was thinking about other things, like how to include a random keyword I know nothing about in a blog post, or wondering why people are so resistant to eating healthy - I'm watching Oprah; she asked.

By the time I realized I had twice as much seasoning as I needed, it was too late to fix things - so we're just going to have extra-spicy taco dip.  Without olives, because I don't have any of those.  Good thing my recipes are flexible, huh?

Good Food in Branson

This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of Hiltons of Branson. All opinions are 100% mine.

This sounds like fun. The weekend of Friday, February 26th through Saturday, February 27th the Hilton Branson Convention Center Hotel is hosting an Italian Culinary Weekend. Friday night begins with a reception that includes antipasto and hors d’oeuvres along with great Italian wines.  Then on Saturday participants experience a hands-on cooking demonstration, and it all ends in a 5-course dinner Saturday night.  Prices start at $429 for two people, and that includes the reception, cooking school, the 5-course dinner, and a goodie bag filled with items to take home. 

Yep, sounds like fun.  The only thing is I'd have to find someone else to go with me, because I just can't see my husband doing the cooking school thing.  He's the guy who conveniently forgot how to cook anything when he married me.  Not that I'm actually complaining, because I like to cook, so it works out well.  I think Jeffrey would appreciate the food and Italian wine included in this weekend, but he'd rather get out and enjoy some of the other things Branson has to offer - like championship golf courses, for example. 

There is a lot to do in Branson, museums, live entertainment, lakes, theme parks, shopping, and more.  The Hilton Branson Convention Center Hotel is within easy driving distance to everything.  I just wonder how long we'd have to stay in order to see and do everything we'd like to see and do?  We might not make it for the Italian Culinary Weekend, but one of these days we'll have to find out, or at least give it a good shot.

It Smells Good in Here

I've been cooking all day - it seems like it, anyway, and I still haven't figured out what's for breakfast in the morning.  Usually I either fix something Friday or at least get it mixed up, so that Sabbath morning breakfast is really easy for me.  It might just end up being cereal or yogurt tomorrow at this rate.

I did fix Corn Lover's Veg Stew for the potluck tomorrow, and it smells so good.  I haven't had it in a while, so I'm looking forward to that.  Right now I've got Stewed Lamb cooking.  I got the recipe from My Wooden Spoon - it looked so good that I just had to try it.  I didn't have any ribs, so I'm using lamb chops, and I used a can of diced tomatoes because I didn't have fresh.  Hopefully it will turn out as good as I think it will.  I'm thinking a little Basmati rice to go with it and a salad, and we'll have a really good meal.  Neither one of the kids will be home - Beth is working until 9pm, and Cory went to a school dance with some friends.  So there is more than enough for Jeffrey and me.  We better not eat too much or we'll be looking for some nordictrack coupons or good exercise DVDs on sale - because we'll have to work all that food off somehow.

Anyway, time to go back to cooking - gotta take the lid off the lamb and get the rice started.  I wonder what kind of wine goes with stewed lamb?  I guess I'll leave that up to Jeffrey.

All That Food Means...

I just want to say that I'm really thankful to my family for cleaning up after Thanksgiving dinner - NOT. After working all day Wednesday cooking and then making dressing, peeling potatoes, cooking sweet potatoes, and whatever else still needed done Thursday so we could eat, the LAST thing I felt like doing after eating was clean up the kitchen. I did pretty good keeping things washed up as I cooked, and I got all the leftovers put into the fridge, but the dishes were just too much. I guess they were just too much for everyone else, too, because this is what my kitchen looked like this morning:

I did eventually get around to washing them all, and Cory dried and put them away - just in time for turkey sandwiches for lunch! We used paper plates for that.

Oh, and just saying - the food was so good! Yep, I cooked it all (Beth mashed the potatoes) and I can say that. I love turkey, dressing, mashed potatoes, gravy, sweet potatoes, rolls, the whole thing. (and I don't have any pictures of the actual food - just those dirty dishes)

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• Cooking for Thanksgiving (alwaysbcmom.com)

So Much to Do, and it Takes so Much Time

All right, I finally got to sit down - but I made a German Chocolate pie, Oatmeal Rolls, a pumpkin pie, and cranberry sauce - and cooked a turkey today. I made African Burritos for dinner, too, then had to clean up the kitchen and get the turkey all cut up and the broth put in a pan so I can use it tomorrow. And now I'm just tired.

I've also decided that we'll have to give up Thanksgiving if/when I ever have to get a job outside the home. Not that I really want to, because I'm already making list of things that will have to go and Thanksgiving is the least of them. But my husband seems to think that when Cory gets out of high school that I'll want/need to go back to work. Never mind that I don't know what I would want to do - definitely not rv repair and preferably not retail again, but other than that? And who is going to do what I do now? Still me? With less time?

I know other people do it, somehow. And I used to do it before kids, but I forget how, and back then we lived in a much smaller place. For now I guess we better enjoy this Thanksgiving while we have it, and I better try really hard to get things caught up around here.