Gift Giving

Over the past few days I have been taking things "easy" as my knee gets back to normal. Monday I started back to teaching, which I am very thankful is part time, so I can come home and "rest" during the afternoon hours.

One of my sweet neighbors found out that I had surgery so she volunteered to watch my youngest daughter for an afternoon! That is no easy task. It is just so wonderful to live in a neighborhood and have friends who can help you out in a pinch.

This makes me think of the morning I woke up and my "water broke" with my youngest daughter. We called upon our neighbors at 6:00 AM to take care of our oldest daughter. Again, so thankful for friends that can help out.

With this in mind, today I was able to drop off some homemade peach jam and a tray of frozen apple crisp to my neighbor who watched my daughter last week. It was great that I had these things on hand - with the mindset to use as a gift or for a time of need. Food always seems to make the perfect gift!

Barbie

You know you are a Mom of two girls when all the band aids in the house are of Barbie! Here is a picture of my knee - can you believe this picture was takin just two days after surgery!

Saturday's Job

Last Saturday I defrosted and organized our garage freezer. I had been so busy cooking meals to freeze that I was running out of room because of all the ice build up. I don't think I defrosted it since we moved five years ago - yikes! But now look at how nice it looks and I had enough room to get all my meals in order.

I love having the prepared food around and it has especially come in handy this week. You see I had surgery on my knee yesterday. Thankfully it was minor and I'm recovering just fine. But it is so nice not to have to plan any meals for the next few days.

What is This?

One of the teachers that I work with has been telling me about this item. Some people think it is from the bottom of the ocean. Some think it is the newest Christmas decoration. Although these are good guesses, the answer is this is

ROMANESCO! You still might be confused about what this is - it is actually a vegetable! I did steam in for dinner and it taste pretty good. It is an Italian Cauliflower with a lime green color. If you ever see this at the store - buy one, break it apart, steam it and serve with a little salt & pepper. No need to add butter.

By the way, this wasn't purchased at the local grocery store. It was purchased from a local organic farm. One I'm going to look into next Spring.

Apple Day

I had off the past two days from my teaching job and I returned to my summer ways of domesticity. Lets just say that I've been cooking up a storm. In my freezer I have 4 meals of sloppy joes, 3 meals of Whiskey chicken, 3 meals of chicken cordon bleu, 4 meals of seafood stuffed shells, and 12 pans of apple crisp.

Yesterday was spent with my friend, Jen. We had two bushels of apples between us and we went after then in full force. We made 22 pans of apple crisp and I canned 9 quarts of apple butter for the first time. Both of us thought it was a lot easier to tackle a big project with the help of a friend, especially when you are questioning the "why" behind what you are doing.





The majority of my recipes came from, Cooking Among Friends. A big batch cookbook, written by a couple of local gals who also happen to sell the tin foil pans by the case. I purchased a case of 500 six years ago, and I'm finally getting low. I did divide up the tins with some other women - they freeze well, stack well, cook in them then throw them in your recycling bin (for easy clean up!)



The other inspiration for a lot of my recipes (especially the apple butter) are from the www.reluctantentertainer.com website. She is great and so inspirational with her ministry of cooking and hospitality.

By the way, I'm not pregnant! I'm just sticking out my gut! I don't want to start the rumor mills!

Pretty In Pink

When people do laundry some have a dark load, some a white load, some a load of towels and some a load of jeans. At our house we should have a load of pinks! My girls both love the color pink and it makes up the majority of their wardrobes.

The funny thing is that when my oldest daughter was born, my husband was adamant that she was not going to wear pink. That only lasted for a few days and now he is surrounded by pink. Funny how things like that turn around!

Fantasy Girl!

Now that I got your attention, I want to clarify things! First of all this is a family blog, so don't worry!!

I just wanted to share with you one of my hobbies - that would be fantasy football. You see my sweet husband loves football and I have to admit that I have always enjoyed it! It is my favorite spectator sport. so, a few years ago (six to be exact), I remember carting around our newborn baby daughter to a fantasy football draft. I had no idea what to expect. We showed up late, grabbed some pizza and started drafting. I was so new to this I didn't have a list of top players, or any idea of who and how to draft. Now, six years later I have a little more idea of who is playing and it brings watching professional football to a whole new level.