Denise – Page 11 – All About Becoming

Halloween Dinner Ideas

It’s that time of year when I have to figure out what we are having for Halloween dinner. Do I do the “orange” theme, the “pumpkin” theme, or that whole “gory fun food” thing?

In case you are looking for some ideas, here’s what the Webster’s had last year. We had a body.

Starting at the top, but hard to see is the hair. That was made of salad.

Deviled Egg Eyeballs. Use an olive in the center and dip a toothpick in red food coloring to make veins on it, if you want.

The lips were wax lips. Throat was a cucumber sliced but not quite all the way through.

We had real ribs this year and a nice intestine. (I’ll have to post the rib recipe soon.) The intestine is a pie crust that is stuffed with anything you like. You can do a meatloaf, potatoes, or veggies. Just pinch the pie dough together in a tube and lay it in a 9 x 13 pan. After it’s cooked, put some red food coloring in some water and brush it on. Add veins by dipping a toothpick or fine paintbrush in blue and red food coloring and drawing veins. Looks good, huh?? (I think mine is stuff with seasoned mashed potatoes. Since I have some children who will die if they don’t eat mashed potatoes with their Sunday meal.) Just to make you feel a little better, I bought these pie crusts. Not enough time to make my own. Here’s the link if you want the original recipe.

The legs are made with breadsticks. I think I bought this dough, too. Depending on how long you want your bones, you can either tie a knot on the end of each strip or you can use a separate piece and just attach it to the long length of dough.

I used cauliflower for the wrist and ankle joints and turnip halves for the knee caps.

Toes are vienna sausages and fingers are baby carrots. I did find this cool gummy hand so used it.

My favorite attraction this year was the homemade jello heart, complete with gushing blood. I thought it looked pretty cool. Here’s the link for the original recipe. Since I didn’t know what grenadine was, I tweaked the recipe. And I didn’t have a mold, so I made one out of a bread bag or sandwich bag. I’ll have to post my made up instructions.

It appears from the background of this picture that I did throw in the traditional drink of orange sherbet with orange soda over the top. (Orange float if you will.)

I’ll have to post pictures of the cool Halloween dinner we did when Wes cut his finger off. We had all “finger foods” that year! It was pretty cool!

So what are you all having this year? Give me some ideas!

Good Phone Conversations

Here is the one end of the phone conversation I hear yesterday afternoon with BJ Dude talking to either his dad or brothers who had left to go deer hunting, but stopped at the grocery store on the way out of town…..

“Where are you?”

“Lins? Getting what?”

“THICK SLICED BACON??!! Livin’ the dream, huh?”

I’m still laughing!!!

Who says the scriptures aren’t funny?

These struck me as funny in my reading this morning….

“It is better to dwell in a corner of the housetop, than with a brawling woman in a wide house.” Proverbs 21:9

“It is better to dwell in the wilderness , than with a contentious and an angry woman.” Proverbs 21:19

Some wise counsel from Solomon. Someone must have been dealing with a troublesome woman. Still cracking me up!

The Measure of a Man’s Character

My sweet BJ Dude landed kind of funny in his football game on Sept. 29, 2010. So funny was the landing, in fact, that he had to be hauled off the field in an ambulance.

Turns out he had a pretty nice dislocated elbow and a fracture that needed surgery and a pin put in it.

Following the surgery, the nurse came out to take us back to recovery. She said to us, “He is the nicest boy. Even though he is in so much pain, he keeps thanking us and saying ‘I’m sorry.'”

Immediately into my mind came these words, “the measure of a man’s character is not how he acts when things are going good, but how he acts under adversity. Your son has great character.” I almost became emotional as I thought about this brave 12 year old boy who was being so tough and only cried when talking about the play– landing on the one yard line instead of in the end zone, how the pain felt, and what it was like looking down at his arm all cock-eyed.

Yes, this “man” had character. I, on the other hand, nearly jumped across the bed and kicked the Dr. in the shins when he was putting his arm back in socket. The Dr. is a good friend of ours and I couldn’t figure out why he would not knock him out for this procedure. I wasn’t thinking too Christlike at that moment. Yet my boy was brave and kind.

What a great lesson to me in how I need to face my trials and adversities– with “thank you’s” and “I’m sorry’s” and remembering to be Christlike. I will always be grateful to my sweet son!

Great Bags of Fire!

So last night after watching “24,” my sweet hubby, Mr. Perfect, got up to stoke the fire. When he opened the doors, some ashes fell out and what looked to me like quite a few embers. He usually takes the little broom and shovel and sweeps them up and throws them back in the fire. Then he will take the vacuum and suck up all the little things he missed.

As I jumped up to run for a potty break, Mr. Perfect was bringing the vacuum around by the fire. I swear it had only been less than a minute, I was rounding the corner and my house smelled like something was burning and it was full of smoke. Also, there was this draft of cold air billowing in. I looked to my left to see my front door opened, the vacuum on outside the door with Mr. Perfect kneeling there.

At this point, I did what any good wife would do. First, I said, “please don’t tell me you sucked up the embers and started the vacuum bag on fire!” To which he pointed to the vacuum bag laying on the sidewalk in the rain and mumbled something about him saving us all and it really didn’t burst into flames.

Second, I ran and grabbed my camera because, let’s face it, this was funny! And for some reason it always delights me to catch Mr. Perfect in a not-so-perfect moment since I seemed to be ladened with them. And really, his stuff is FUNNY!

By now the comments are coming in quickly, one child thinks that we will die from second hand smoke. Doodle Bug said our house smelled like a Vegas Casino. They were trying to open doors and windows, but it was pretty cold outside and that really defeated the purpose of the fireplace in keeping the house warm. So I sprayed some Lysol. To which another commented, “Great now it smells like Lysol AND smoke! It pretty much permeated the house. I’m hoping all of our clothes don’t smell like smoke now!

Here’s the bag laying in the rain, smoltering.

Can’t you see that smoke rising out of it, even in the rain?

And here’s a couple of more views of the bag.

If we would have been staying at a hotel, we would have requested another room! It was so awful, I had to stick my head under the covers so I could fall asleep!

This morning there is still a little lingering smell of smoke. And here’s what happened overnight. In the rain. While I slept.

It’s a good thing Mr. Perfect saved us! And hopefully now, he’s learned his lesson. DO NOT suck up embers into your vacuum. Hot embers + lint+ paper vacuum bag + a great sucking scoop of oxygen = smoltering vacuum bag fire.

At least our smoke alarm didn’t go off. Now THAT would have been embarrassing!

Good job, students, now you’ve had your fire safety lesson for today!

The Real Secret of John Stockton Shorts

Yesterday, Cinco came in with some new shorts he had bought for his birthday. He wondered if they were big enough or if he should go trade them in for a bigger size. (Bear in mind, he’s always had clothes that are too big because he gets all the hand-me-downs.) I looked down at his shorts which seemed to fit perfectly. I said, “What is the problem with them?”

He said, “They’re only this long,” moving his hand to show me the length below his knee.

I said, “Well they look long enough to me.”

“Well, my other shorts come to here,” he said making a line at his calf. (Which made me realize that this kid has always worn really long shorts.

Then Mr. Perfect chimed in, “Well, what about John Stockton shorts?”

To which Cinco quickly replied, “Well, they come up to here (making a line at his thighs), and I just don’t have the legs for that!”

He’s 10. He’s funny. I can only laugh and wonder what he thinks great legs look like…..

And now you know the secret to John Stockton’s shorts.

Strange Cities

This morning BJ Dude was giving me a run down on the elastic bracelets on his wrist. He had a red, yellow, and blue one. They each had character trait words on them.

He pointed to the blue one first. “I don’t care if the word ‘honesty’ is up or _____.” Pointing to the yellow, he said, “I don’t care which word is up on this one either. But the RED one. I will only leave the word ‘leadership’ up on this one. This other word….Ten…a…..city….is just dumb. Why would they put a word like that on there.”

Quickly glancing over, I noticed the word, “tenacity” printed on it. I quickly said, “sweetheart, the word is ‘tenacity’, not ten-a-city. Tenacity is a good word. It means that someone has the courage and determination to get a job done even if it is difficult.”

By the time we pulled up to school, he said, “Now I don’t care which word the red one is on.”

I told him to look it up in the dictionary when he got to school.

One thing about this kid, I look up more words on dictionary.com than I ever imagined. He wants to know what every word means. Now think about that. Some words you just understand what they mean, but when you have to articulate a definition, it gets a little shaky and your parent credibility waivers. Thank heavens for dictionary.com! It has saved me on more than one occasion. And just so you know, here is the definition for tenacity…..

“The act of being tenacious.” Ok, so look up tenacious…..

Ten-na-cious [tuh-ney-shuhs]

1. holding fast; characterized by keeping a firm hold (often fol. by of): a tenacious grip on my arm; tenacious of old habits.

2. highly retentive: a tenacious memory.

3. pertinacious, persistent, stubborn, or obstinate.

4. adhesive or sticky; viscous or glutinous

5. holding together; cohesive; not easily pulled asunder; tough.

Aren’t we all increasing our vocabulary better these day? Just keep checking back here for more.

Parental rewards

As I was dropping off Cinco to school today, he commented about the upcoming Kite Festival on Saturday. He wanted to go. I asked him if he filled out his paper and turned it in, because I haven’t seen the thing since it came home months ago. They have to read every night for 15-20 minutes for three months to earn a kite. He told me he had turned it in. I asked him if he was honest and had really done it. To which he replied, “Yes, Mom! Don’t you trust me? I couldn’t live with myself if I lied. If I won an ipod or prize and didn’t earn it and lied about it, I would feel guilty. When I lie I feel guilt.”

Shocked is a good word for what I was feeling. Shocked because these are the values I want to be teaching them, hoping to be teaching them, but wondering if any thing ever sinks in or comes through.

Today was a good mom day. My boy has integrity, and that is something not many people have. How grateful I was feeling. And I thought, “guilt is a good thing. It should keep us doing what is right if we don’t push it aside.”

He’s a good kid and somehow, it makes me worry a lot less about him.

Zucchini Bisque

I love this soup recipe. It is especially fun when I do my “green” St. Patrick’s Day dinner. It is a nice flavored soup and even some of my picky ones will eat this one. It’s a fairly quick and easy one to make, too.

Here’s the cast of characters for this soup:

2 medium onions, 2 tablespoons butter or margarine, 1 1/2 pounds zucchini, 3 cups chicken broth, 1 1/2 cups half-and-half, 1/3 teaspoon pepper, 1/8 teaspoon salt, 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg, Pinch cayenne pepper (optional), Grated cheddar cheese

First, slice your onions.

Melt your butter in your soup pan.

Add your onions to the melted butter and saute until clear and tender.

While the onions are cooking, wash your zucchini and trim the top and bottom off. Slice your zucchini. I like to use the mandolin slicer because it gets them a little more uniform and thin….and it is fast when slicing so many. I like to slice mine fairly thin so they cook faster. Have you figured out that I’m an impatient cooker yet?

Stir your onions off and on while slicing zucchini. Can you see how they are clear now? This means they are ready for you to add the broth and zucchini to the pot.Like so. Can you see how the zucchini is fairly white and solid looking? Keep your eye on the zucchini. When it turns clear then you know it is ready for the next step.

It takes about 10 or 15 minutes. You can see in the top right one zucchini that isn’t quite as cooked as the rest.

Here’s a little closer view. I’m hoping you can see how the onions and zucchini are clear and soft. If you get impatient and don’t let them get quite as cooked, then you have chunky soup. Not that I’ve done that before. More than once. Because I’m impatient.

Once the veggie’s are soft, then you want to blend it. I have done this in my blender one or two cups at a time. You can only do a small amount and you have to be careful because when you turn your blender on, it will explode and shoot hot zucchini stuff everywhere and you will burn your hands. Not that I’ve done that before. More than once. Because I’m impatient. It’s messy, trust me. Yet, it is the way I had to do it before I got an immersion blender, which happens to be my favorite way of blending most things. It is one of my favorite kitchen inventions. It is so simple and I don’t have to mess up more dishes. I used to have to mess up a bowl to pour the soup in, then the blender, then back to the pot. That’s TWO extra dishes to wash. NO likey. Immersion Blender. Get one. You’ll be happy you did. It’s is also a great whipper of cream. Yet, I digress…….

Here are the seasonings and spices. I think the recipe said to put them in before you blend, but I got excited to use my immersion blender, so I just added them after. And you can probably tell that I didn’t measure the pepper or the salt. I’m that way. I just throw a little in, then keep adjusting until it has the flavor I want.

After the seasonings are in, add the half and half. You don’t want the soup on high heat after you blend. You just want to keep it at a low temperature. Especially when you add cream, half and half, or milk. By the way, you can substitute any of these if you don’t have half and half. I’ve done that before, as well. I do prefer the flavor with the half and half the best.

Cream is all mixed in. Isn’t is pretty. It is a nice light green color. Taste it and adjust your salt and seasonings.
Put it in your bowls and sprinkle with cheese. Oh, the cheese makes it yummy!!! Once it melts, it returns to it’s joyful light green color. If you are serving it for St. Patty’s Day, and want it a little more green, I suppose you could add some food coloring to it. Frankly, I had so much green stuff I worried about my family’s skin turning green.

Enjoy this yummy soup!! PS. Gable House used to be a really nice restaurant in town that had delicious food. But the good old days are gone. I can’t even remember who gave me this recipe, but I’ve had it for a LONG time. It’s still a favorite around here!

Here’s the full recipe

Gable House Zucchini Bisque

2 medium onions

2 tablespoons butter or margarine

1 1/2 pounds zucchini

3 cups chicken broth

1 1/2 cups half-and-half

1/3 teaspoon pepper

1/8 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon nutmeg

Pinch cayenne pepper, optional

Grated cheddar cheese

Chop and cook onions in butter until clear and soft, but not browned. Wash and slice zucchini. Combine onion, zucchini, and chicken broth in heavy saucepan and bring to boil. Simmer for 15 minutes or until squash is tender. Add seasonings and put mixture into blender to puree until smooth. (I put blended mixture in a bowl until all is blended, then put back in pan. Or use and immersion blender.) Add half and half, adjust seasonings to taste. Reheat, but do not boil. Serve immediately with grated cheese. Serves 6-8.

Angie’s Chicken (The Best Chicken ever)

I call this Angie’s Chicken because after I had had one of my babies, this dear neighbor named Angie brought a pan of this to my family. It was all I could do to not eat the whole thing by myself. Serious. Some of you may relate to the ravenous appetite you get after having given birth. I would first drink about 25 gallons of juice in the first day or two, then the appetite would kick in.

Needless to say, this chicken hit the spot and is probably the favorite meal of the whole family. It is one of the two items I can only eat as leftovers. It is the one that I serve when we have company. It is the BEST! I’m telling you– the BEST!

And it’s EASY. Which adds to the bestness of it!

Here’s what you’ll need:

Chicken, butter, milk, eggs, flour, lemon juice, nutmeg, salt, pepper, bread crumbs (why aren’t they in the picture? I don’t know.)

Now you can either pound your chicken down or not. I like to pound mine down for a couple of reasons. 1. It makes your chicken cook more evenly when it is all the same thickness. 2. Since my first pregnancy where I couldn’t even look at or think of the word “chicken” without getting sick, I now do so much better when the chicken is in thinner portions than in big chunks. It’s just what happens. Those of you who have been pregnant and couldn’t eat, smell or look at certain things will understand me here. So I like to pound my chicken, unless I’m in a mass hurry.

Here’s the best way I’ve found to pound chicken.

Place your chicken in a ziploc bag. You can use the quart size. I was out and just had gallon.

Start pounding at the smallest/thinnest portion of your chicken, then work your way to the thicker portions, pounding until you get a uniform thickness like this:

This will make the portions very large, so I cut them down into serving size portions. Big eaters can take two. ;o)

See my sweet boy cutting them in half for me? The other thing that is nice about pounding your breast is that you can get more servings out of your chicken that way.

Here’s a finished cut piece. See how large it still is? You can cut them even smaller if you have small kids so that they are portioned according to your family needs. (See how versatile I am?)

Now we’re going to get our coatings ready. First we take the eggs and crack them into a bowl. I always add a little milk to make it go a little further. I probably add about 1-2 tablespoons.

Here’s the breadcrumbs. You can add a little salt and pepper to it. You may have to add more bread crumbs depending on how many pieces of chicken you are doing. You can also used the Italian style bread crumbs. I use whatever I have in the house.

Start your butter melting in your pan and spread it around to cover the whole pan.

Line your coatings up next to your cooking pan.

Dip your chicken into your egg wash. (Those are my boys hands. He’s such good help to me!)

Then dip into your bread crumbs.

Flip it over to coat the other side. (I’m sure this was obvious, but I was happy to be taking pictures!)

Place in your pan. (See how impatient I am. Didn’t even wait for the butter to melt entirely.)

Continue with remaining pieces until you have them all in the pan cooking. (I always have two pans going to feed our bunch.)

Once they are browned on the first side and you can see the sides of them turning white, flip them over to finish cooking them. It really doesn’t take too long for them to cook through, maybe 5-7 minutes on each side. That is if they are pounded down. If you don’t want pound them, just make sure they are cooked all the way through before you remove them from the pan. Speaking of which…..

When they are cooked through, take them out of the pan and place them on a plate while you make the sauce.

In the same pan, (don’t you love not having to mess up more dishes?!), melt another 6 tablespoons of butter. Stir and loosen up the bits on the bottom.

Add your flour to the pan and stir in. It will kind of foam up and start to thicken.

Then add your milk and cook and stir until it thickens. Only takes a minute or two.

Add your lemon juice and stir some more. If you like a little more tangy and lemony flavor, I recommend using the juice of half a real lemon. If you like it a little more mild, use the 2 teaspoons of bottle lemon juice. They are both good. I may be leaning to the fresh juice a little more now, though. I’ve also used lemon essential oil, too. It has good flavor. Start with 3 drops for mild flavor, 4-5 for stronger lemon flavor.

Sprinkle on your nutmeg. See how thick it gets? I have to turn my heat down at this point, if not sooner, to keep it from getting too thick.

You have a choice here. You can be fancy and place the chicken on a serving dish or on individual plates and pour the sauce over it. Or you can do what I do…..Place your chicken back in the pan with the sauce.

Then flip them over so they are coated nicely with the sauce. I like them covered in sauce. Sauce = happiness and joy and yummy in my tummy!

They are ready to serve at this point, or you can keep them on low and warm until ready to serve.

Trust me when I say “eet’s thee best! I looovee eet!” (In your best Nacho voice.) We had twice baked potatoes (yet again) and Doodle Bug’s Creamed Corn. Hey! Why didn’t I get pictures of that?? Okay, I promise, I’ll get that one up. You’ll love it. It’s her own creation and not like any creamed corn you’ve ever had!

Enjoy!!