The Man of My Dreams

 

Ahh, relaxing and resting my foot while watching Amazing Race with Dustball, Sophie and Scooby-Doo (Sophie's pretend baby).  Ok, maybe the pets are not all that into the show; they are nice cuddlers anyway.  How nice is it to be snuggled under a blanket and surrounded by the glow of Christmas lights?  :)

 

 

 

And the man of my dreams:

 I was secretly scared of this guy for most of my childhood.  I can recall standing in line to see him and hearing shrieks of torture coming from other kids along with a jolly ole laugh!  Good times!

I finished up a few projects I had been working on.  Do ya'all remember the mitten set and headband?  Well, I made a matching scarf to complete the trio.

 

 

 

 

Sorry about the poor quality of these pics.  The cold weather fogged the camera lens a bit.

 

 

 

It's getting to be that time to bundle up.

 

 

 

Another recently completed project is the Tweety pillow. 

 

 

 

 

Now, maybe Winne won't feel so lonesome.

 

 

 

 

Finally, the last of the completed projects which I made while up north for Thanksgiving, this pretty doily:

 

Time to start something new projects!  Ever since I've moved here I've been wanting to do some fly tying, but my supplies had been packed away.  Digging out the fly tying supplies is coming up next.  :)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



Cinnamon Rolls



 

Ohh, don't those look good!  I came across this pic from The Pioneer Woman.  Normally, food like this would be banned from a fitness blog, but I just couldn't resist making these.  However, I have a plan.  The kids and I are only making half of a batch, which turns out to still be enough to feed a small army.  And, the kids and I are making them as gifts for others.  Some necessary sampling may occur though, naturally.

 

It's a good thing we have new neighbors and a friend recovering from surgery to deliver these yummy rolls to.   

Start off by scalding milk, vegetable oil and sugar. Cool until lukewarm, than add the yeast.  Yeast can be very particular and like their temperature to be the same as bathwater for a newborn.

 

After that sits for a minute, stir in the flour.  Cover and let sit for an hour or so. 

 

Next, mix in baking powder, baking soda, salt and more flour.  Now get ready to have some real fun!  Prepare a floured surface and roll out the dough. This is my favorite part.  I work with half at a time to make it easier to handle.

 

 

Brush the dough with melted butter; sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon.

 

Roll it up and slice.

 

Place into buttered baking dishes.

 

These babies are ready for the oven:

 

 

Ahhh, now we are in business-- get an empty mason jar and catch the most delightful scent coming from your oven, then seal it up for the next time you need to inhale this wonderful aroma. :)

 

 

Recipe

Adapted from: The Pioneer Woman

Ingredients: (This is 1/2 the original recipe)

DOUGH:

2 cups whole milk

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1/2 cup sugar

1 pkg active dry yeast

4 1/2 cups flour

1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tablespoon salt

FILLING:

1 cup melted butter, plus more as needed

1/8 cup ground cinnamon for sprinkling
1 cup sugar, plus more as needed

 

Directions:

Mix milk, vegetable oil, and 1/2 cup of sugar in a pan. Scald the mixture (heat until just before the boiling point.) Remove from heat and let it cool 45 minutes to 1 hour.

When the mixture is lukewarm to warm, but NOT hot, sprinkle in package Active Dry Yeast. Let this sit for a minute and then add 4 cups of flour. Stir mixture together. Cover and let rise for at least an hour.

Next, add 1/2 cup flour, the baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Stir mixture together. From here, you could cover the dough and put it in the fridge until you need it—overnight or even a day or two, if necessary. Just keep your eye on it and if it starts to rise out of the pan, just punch it down. Or, of course, you can just go ahead and make the rolls.

Sprinkle surface generously with flour and roll the dough into a thin rectangular shape. Brush 1/2 cup melted butter on top, then sprinkle 1/2 cup sugar over the butter, and finish with a generous sprinkling of cinnamon.

Starting with the wide end, roll the dough tightly towards you in a neat line. Next, pinch the seam to the roll to seal it. Spread 1 tbsp of melted butter in each pan/dish. With a sharp knife, begin cutting the dough into 1 inch slices, and laying them in the pans. Let rest for 20-30 minutes. Bake at 375 degrees for 13 - 17 minutes, or until golden.

IF MAKING AHEAD FOR CHRISTMAS MORNING: Instead of popping them into the oven, just put them straight into the fridge and let them rise for the 2nd time in the fridge overnight (they'll rise VERY slowly in the fridge). Then, in the morning let them sit at room temperature for about 30 minutes, and then pop them in the oven as directed.

 

FROSTING:

Ingredients:

1 lb. powdered sugar

1 tsp. maple flavoring

1/4 cup milk

1/8 cup melted butter

1/8 cup brewed coffee

Pinch of salt

Directions:

Mix together all ingredients, and stir well until smooth. It should be thick but pourable. Taste and adjust as needed. Generously drizzle over the warm rolls. Go crazy and don't skimp on the frosting!

 

Taaa Daaaaaa!

Today there is plenty of sunshine out!  Such a pretty day to do an outside project.  Last week I hung up Christmas lights and today I am going to see if I can get them to actually work.

Let me explain: I checked all the stands of lights and replaced any burnt out bulbs before hanging them all over the front of the house.  Then I plugged them into the two outside outlets and OHhhh it was so beautiful all for about a whole three minutes.  Next, I heard a snap, pop crackle and watched as a puff of smoke rose above the outlet.  Apparently, seven trillion or so Christmas lights is too much for two outlets!?!  Who knew?

Armed with two additional extension cords, a new fuse, and persistent will to cause all neighbors to sleep with an eye mask, I sucessfully tackled this project!

TaaaDaaaaaa!

In other news, a couple days ago, the foot doc gave me what I consider to be the weirdest treatment yet.  My foot was generously sprayed with (freezing cold) glue.  Then the doc applied a thick felt pad to my arch.  Applied a bunch of bandage and tape to hold the pad and my foot in place. Then told me to keep it dry, applied a gauze sock covering, and said he would remove it next week. 

My toes were glued together!  The first night I woke up about 3:30 AM with severe pain from my foot swelling.  After repositioning my foot to bring the swelling down (resting it on the headboard of the bed) the pain went away, but the next day I could feel the bandage and tape loosening.  I've managed to keep the treatment on all day yesterday.  Here's what it looks like now:

At least my toes are able to move freely once again from the glue wearing off.  This foot trouble has not kept me from working out.  While the kiddies enjoyed a high energy Zumbatonic class at the Y, I got to pump some iron. 

Goodnight Ya'all.

:)

Thanksgiving 2012

These are the Mini-Rockettes:

 

 

Thanksgiving morning I was hoping to watch Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade per tradition.  However, that channel wouldn't come in, so I watched the McDonald's Thanksgiving Parade instead.

 

I gotta say-- it was very nice!  Any parade that has giant balloons of Garfield AND Odie is okay in my book. 

 

Santa brought up the caboose, naturally.

 

The rest of the day was spent relaxing-- some more.

 

 

Shooting hoops.  Well, not me because I am still being good and resting my foot per doctor's orders.

 

It was fun watching the kids play.  Grace is making a trick shot:

 

I hope ya'all had a good Thanksgiving!

Easy Pleasy Banana Bread

 

Hi There! 

 

From time to time my computer decides to have nothing to do with pictures.  It's been an ongoing problem for years now and I cannot seem to get it figured out.  Anyway, yesterday's blog only had one of the goodies I made for the trip and I had intended on sharing the others with you too.  We'll get to them here in a bit, cause I can't wait to tell ya'all about Glady's actual birthday, which happens to be today! 

 

First, we drove up north today and met this handsome fellow, at the hotel.  He's my long lost son, the trucker, Glenn Jr. aka Hub.  He was excited to show us his latest hot rod Charger.  I was amazed. 

 

 

 

 

And twice over, because what was more amazing is he let his little sister, Jean drive it!

 

 

Question--What happens if you photograph yourself in a mostly dark hotel room?   Answer-- This Smurfy look: 

 

 

 

Gladys tell me she is writing a NOvel.  Then she says-- but what if I want to write a Circle.  Hahaha

 

 

 

 

Her best friend, Jackawawa, and Grandma joined us in the celebration.

 

 

 

 

Gladys had a really good birthday!

 

 

 

 

Remember the Artichoke Spinach Dip I made?

 

 

 

 

Well, here is a veggie turkey to go with it:

 

 

 

This turkey was actually from last year, but this year the kiddies and I are putting together one like it.

 

The other goodie I wanted to share with you is my Easy Pleasy Banana Bread.  Just as the name implies it's easy and pleasy-- very, very pleasy.

 

I mean, who doesn't like a slice a warm, buttery banana bread, anyways. 

 

 

My kids love this treat.  Plus, it's a great way to use up any extra ripe bananas you might have hangin around.  The bread bakes into a nice dense consistency and stays deliciously moist. I use a wooden spoon instead of a mixer, because I like the bits and pieces of banana.

 

Banana Bread Recipe

• Prep time: 5 minutes
• Cook time: 1 hour

Ingredients

• 3 or 4 ripe bananas, mashed
• 1/4 cup melted butter
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• Pinch of salt
• 1 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour

Preheat the oven to 350°F. With a wooden spoon, mix butter into the mashed bananas in a large mixing bowl. Mix in the sugar, egg, and vanilla. Sprinkle the baking soda and salt over the mixture and mix in. Add the flour last, mix. Pour mixture into a buttered 4x8 inch loaf pan. Bake for 1 hour. Cool on a rack. Remove from pan and slice to serve.

Yield: Makes one loaf.

Artichoke Spinach Dip

Ahh, the thought of sipping a mimosa over brunch while watching Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade with my family has got me totally psyched to celebrate.  In the spirit of the holidays, and to my delight, Glenn and the kiddies put the Christmas tree up.  Usually I wait to put the tree up until the weekend following Thanksgiving.  However, I like the idea of coming home to a nice, clean, Christmasy decorated house.

 

 

Today I made a few goodies to bring up north.  Let's start with the appetizer, shall we?

Appetizers tend to get a bad rap because they are notorious for being bite-sized, calorie laden bombs, that can wreck havoc on a healthy eating plan.  Well, that's exactly why I decided to bring a healthy option to the table in the form of Artichoke Spinach Dip. 

This is what the dip looks like before baking.   This dip is so good the my kids and I like it warm AND cold.  Since I'm bringing this one up north with us, I'm going to wait till we get there to heat it.

 

 

My first glance of this dip was Thanksgiving circa 1980 something.  My sister in law double dogged dared me to try it.  I did, and I liked it.  So much so, that I learned to make a guilt-free indulgent version of it myself!

 

 Artichoke Spinach Dip Recipe nd

• Prep Time 10 minutes
• Total Time 45 minutes
• Yield Serves 8

Ingredients

• 2 cans (14 ounces each) artichoke hearts in water, rinsed, drained, and coarsely chopped
• 2 cups spinach
• 1/2 cup light mayonnaise
• 1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• 1 garlic clove, coarsely chopped
• 1 green onion, minced, plus more for garnish
• 8 oz fat free cream cheese
• Veggies or bread, for serving

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. In a food processor, place half the artichokes, spinach, mayonnaise, cup Parmesan, lemon juice, and garlic. Process until smooth.
2. Add green onion, cream cheese and remaining artichokes; pulse once to combine. Transfer mixture to a 1-quart baking dish. Top with remaining tablespoon Parmesan.
3. Bake until golden and bubbling, 30 to 35 minutes. Garnish with green onion, and serve with veggies or bread.

 

 

 

For the Love of Swimming

 

 

Can you believe Thanksgiving is just TWO days away?  Gobble! 

 

I'm as ready as I'm gonna be this year, since today I had another visit with my foot Doc and he ordered me to STAY OFF MY FOOT.  He was so serious this time that he had plans to put my foot in a cast.  I'm not talking one of those that can be taken off and tossed under the bed.  Noono-- he had a real cast in mind.  You know the kind made of plaster that you cannot get wet or remove. 

 

Anyways, lucky for me, I had expressed my glorious plans of swimming for five consecutive days with my kiddies and the Doc agreed to postpone the cast and re-evaluate my foot in a week.  Phewww, that was a close one! 

 

In the meantime, he set me up with a brace that I'm to wear all the time, (except in water).  The past six hours I've been wearing it and it feels swollen but, okay.  Such a swollen Footie!

 

 

 

This type of brace provides support for both the plantar fascia and Achilles tendon:

 

 

 

I was rather excited about cooking up a big Thanksgiving supper with all the trimmings here.  So much so, that I was planning it out for earlier this week since I have plans to head north on the actual designated holiday.  This year my slightly less enthusiastic in-laws get to do the cooking.  

 

In other news, Glenn had his first Bully Prevention Seminar here in Pendleton at the Y tonight.   It was rather disappointing because no one showed up.  I really mean no one.  However, all was not lost because I had invited my buddy, and newspaper editor, Mr. George Price.  He is putting together a video of Glenn and Jean and spreading the word that there is a Y right here in little ole Pendleton!

 

While those guys were busy making the video, I decided to hop (literally) over to the stationary bike and get some cardio in.

 

 

I rode for 10 miles in 30 minutes and sweated like crazy!  That's just what I needed to get me back on track.  Then I hopped over to the free weights and did a little toning.  Oh yeah!  :)

 

 

 

 

Do NOT Try this at Home!

WooHoo, I've survived Gladys 9th slumber party! 

 

 

 

 

Right after the pinata, and the neighbors rushing over to see what the kids screaming KILL IT, KILL IT were all about (poor Sponge Bob), the kids came in to have snacks.  Troy and I fixed some mini sandwiches and ham roll-ups.  We also set out chips, crackers, fruit and a veggie tray.  The ham roll-ups were a total hit with these kids.  My sister Kim showed me how to make them when I was a kid.  All ya do is roll-up a sweet gherkin pickle with a dab of cream cheese and put a toothpick through it.   Not only is it easy to prepare, but everyone knows that food eaten from a toothpick is calorie-free as well!  :)

 

 

The Oreo Ice Cream Cake froze hard as a brick.  We let it thaw for a little bit and after a few party games, it was cake time! 

 

 

Cake time rocked!  Everyone LOVED the Oreo Ice Cream Cake.





Things got real fancy after cake time:

 

 

We donned princess dresses, had a beauty night and did our nails.  Oh what FUN!

 

 

While us girls were busy with beauty night, Glenn and Troy popped us some corn.  Troy is crazy about making popcorn in the air popper!

 

 

 

 

Everyone settled in to vote on a movies.  Good Luck Charlie it's Christmas and Home Alone Three (Troy's favorite movie btw), both got unanimous votes, so that's what the kiddies watched.

 

 

 

 

During movie time, I opened a latch hook kit to keep me busy.  Does anyone still do those these days besides me? 

 

 

 

I find it to be somewhat therapeutic.  Especially, while watching movies I've seen multiple times before.  Plus, if I'm busy working this project then I'm not busy eating. 

 

 

 

Most of the girls stayed awake through both movies.  Troy was the first one out about 9 PM, and by the end of the second movie at 11PM two of the six girls were asleep.  The other four girls, including the birthday girl, giggled their way through the night.  I think there was a small window from about 1 to 4 AM were everyone in the house was asleep.  :)  If you like sleep, don't try this at home.