Table Setting/Brownie Bites/Family Photos/Headbands

Last week, I saw all of your awesome table settings for Thanksgiving. Then, I looked at my table, which had become a total dumping ground for junk. And it occurred to me that maybe, if it was set nicely, things wouldn't get dumped there as often. So, I went to wally world, picked up some chargers for about $5, and plucked out the only four of our dinner plates that haven't chipped, and set the table.

That same day, I decided to make some chocolate dipped marshmallow brownie bites, which were directly inspired by Inside Bru Crew Life's Pumpkin Spice Brownie Bites. I followed the Bru Crew Life instructions, except that I eliminated the Hershey's kiss and dropped about 24 mini marshmallows in a grid shape on the brownies for the last 5 minutes of baking. Then I cut the brownies around the marshmallows, and smushed the brownie so the marshmallow was in the middle. They were super yummy, but really rich.

On Thanksgiving, we attempted to take a family photo for our Christmas cards {which I WILL send out this year!}. Lizzy is becoming such a ham.

Earlier, I mentioned Inside Bru Crew Life's blog. Well, while looking at her blog on Wednesday, I also came across a tutorial for fabric headbands. And because I didn't have enough to do on the day before Thanksgiving, I decided to make one. Once I was finished, I remembered that there's a craft bazaar at church on December 4th to benefit the church's partner school. And because I didn't have enough to do the week after Thanksgiving, I signed up and decided that I could sell all kinds of fabric headbands, among other things.

Overall, it was a really good weekend! We got to spend a ton of time with family, snagged a really cheap TV during the Black Friday sales to replace our dinosaur that was getting green and pink spots {thanks to our sweet daughter who decided to be awake for the day at 3am on Friday morning}, rearranged out entire living room, watched some Firefly, ate a modest amount of Thanksgiving food {I did not feel stuffed at all! Yay!}, made some Christmas CD's {loving Glee's version of O' Holy Night!}, caught up with my best friend from high school, and Justin and I even went to see a movie {Unstoppable--not my first choice, but it ended up being really good}.

Hope everyone had an awesome Thanksgiving!

A Post About Farts

I can't believe I'm posting this on my blog. It's kind of embarrassing. But it's also kind of funny.

See, last Saturday we were all lounging around enjoying a quiet morning.

When all of a sudden, out of nowhere, I farted. Loudly.

And sweet Lizzy immediately turned, and looked directly at Justin.

As if to say, "Daaaaad? Again?!"

I guess she hears that noise come from my sweet husband quite often!

A Taste of New Orleans

Shortly after we were married, Justin and I traveled with about 15 other people to New Orleans to help with the rebuild effort. We were there two years after Hurricane Katrina, and I was not at all prepared for the level of devastation that we would encounter in the 9th Ward, and other places outside of downtown.

I had been to New Orleans before, but was a vegetarian at the time, and wasn't very adventurous in terms of food, so I didn't try much of the local cuisine. So when Justin and I went back, I made it a point to try more of the local food. One of the places that we ate at was The Gumbo Shop, where we had Chicken Espagnole, which I LOVED. In fact, I loved it so much that I bought The Gumbo Shop cookbook, and attempted to make it when we returned, to terrible results. It was WAY too salty, even for Justin.

I decided to try again this weekend, while making a few modifications, and did like how it turned out, though it didn't taste as much like the original as I'd hoped, and didn't have that Cajun "kick" that I remembered. Though, upon further reflection, the difference in taste may be partially due to the fact that The Gumbo Shop's menu says that Chicken Espagnole is "chicken simmered in a brown sauce with mushrooms, shallots, wine, and garlic"....BUT, the Gumbo Shop's recipe doesn't include either shallots OR wine. LOL. Maybe that would make a difference! Either way, it was pretty good, so I thought I'd share the recipe:

{ Just add this recipe to the list of "food that tastes good but doesn't photograph well" }

You Need:

About 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts

1 stick butter

1/2 cup flour

2 cups finely chopped onion

3/4 cup  finely chopped celery

3/4 cup finely chopped green bell pepper

1 tsp minced garlic

1/2 tsp sage

1 tsp thyme

1 tsp black pepper

{the original recipe calls for 1 tsp white pepper, but I omitted it} 

4 cups reduced sodium beef broth

1 lb sliced mushrooms

1/2 cup thinly sliced green onions

Cooked Rice (this chicken is always served over rice)

What To Do: 

-First, get the chicken going--either sautee it, or toss it on the grill. If you have a Cajun Seasoning mix, I'd season with that. Otherwise, just season with whatever seasoning salt you'd normally use. We tossed the chicken on the BBQ earlier in the day when we were making lunch, and then cubed it. You can cube it, leave the breasts whole, slice them, whatever. 

-Meanwhile, make a dark brown roux. If you haven't made a roux before, this article from All Recipes gives a good overview.

-As soon as the roux has reached the appropriate color, add the onion, bell pepper, and celelry. Cook for 15-20 minutes, or until veggies are tender, stirring occasionally. Then, add the garlic, sage, thyme, and black pepper. Cook for about one minute, then stir in beef stock. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer about 15 minutes. Once sauce just starts to thicken, add the chicken to allow time to heat through. 

- Add the mushrooms, and cook for a minute or two, until tender. Top with green onions, and serve over rice.

BQOTD- New Airport Security Guidelines

There's been a lot of buzz in the news recently about the new TSA airport security regulations--the backscatter machine and the aggressive pat-downs that went into affect on Nov 1st. Some of the common concerns that I've heard are:

-Heightened radiation exposure with the full body scanners
-Concerns that the "naked" images of us or our children can be saved (TSA officials say that they cannot, but a similar machine in a Florida courthouse apparently had thousands of saved images when it was dismantled).
-Concerns about the aggressive pat-downs if you elect not to use the backscatter machines (or apparently if there is not a backscatter machine at your airport), which focus on genital areas.
-The fact that, apparently, once you "begin" the TSA screening process by getting in line, you MUST finish it. If you are uncomfortable with the screening process, ask for it to be stopped, and just elect not to fly, you are subject to an $11,000 fine. 

So I'm curious--what do you think of the new procedures? Are they a necessary evil to protect national security? Do you associate more with Benjamin Franklin's famous quote that those who would give up liberty for security deserve neither? Have you flown since the new regulations came into affect?

Setting the Record Straight.

Some of you may have heard of a website/blog called "Birth Or Not". I am not linking to it, because they have ads on their page, and do not deserve the traffic and subsequent funds that will result.

Essentially, the website is a "pregnancy journal". The couple apparently became pregnant after several miscarriages, and is now experiencing a semi-high-risk pregnancy that requires weekly ultrasounds and doctors appointments. But, the couple has a poll up on the side of the blog that essentially says, 'Vote whether we should keep the baby or have an abortion. You have a chance to decide.' The couple often says that the 'votes will not go unheard', and counts down the number of days left that they could legally abort the baby in Minnesota.

Up until recently, when the website was spammed to several pornography related message boards, the vote was overwhelmingly to keep the baby. However, the vote has recently swayed in the opposite direction, to abort.

I have seen a number of bloggers appeal to their readers to go and vote for the couple to keep the baby, which I totally understand. However, you need to know that the website is a hoax by an anti-abortion extremists {I will explain below}. 

First of all, the couple says that their child will be 17 weeks today, putting the date of conception somewhere near the end of July/early August. However, the WHOIS information for the website shows that the domain name for the website was purchased in May. That's some serious foresight right there.

Additionally, the Google Analytics for this site is the same as for "The Church of Global Warming" website, which is a conservative extremist website related to global warming {this one of 1,000 reasons I believe it to be an anti-abortion stunt opposed to a pro-choice stunt}:

 

  screen grabs from Ministry of Truth

It isn't my intent to start an abortion debate here. I have just seen a number of friends and bloggers get genuinely upset about this blog and for this child, and they {and you} deserve to know that it is a hoax. I don't care what your stance is on abortion--stunts like this are wrong. I have no tolerance for crap like this. Please spread the word.

Sour Face

Lizzy loves limes. She grabs for them, and gets really ticked if we have one and don't give it to her. Last night, we had taco stand for dinner, and I was squirting a lime on mine. She started motioning for the lime, so I gave it to her. And promptly grabbed my phone to video the sour face. It never gets old.

BQOTD- Thanksgiving Traditions

It's been awhile since I've done a Burning Question of the Day, and I'd love to hear about your Thanksgiving traditions. What do you guys do for Thanksgiving? Do you always watch football? Is it not Thanksgiving without mom's pumpkin pie? Do you ditch the "normal" Thanksgiving meal and go for Chinese instead?

For us, both sides of our family live so close that we usually go to one set of parents' house for dinner, and the other set for dessert. Sometimes it's a little hectic and crazy, but it is so nice to see everybody in our family during the day. I'll admit though that I most enjoy when we eat at my parents' house, and Justin admits that he most enjoys when we eat at his parents' house. There's just something about the food that you grew up with on Thanksgiving, no?

I would sort of like to start the tradition of participating in this 2 mile fun run/walk the morning of Thanksgiving to benefit a local food bank. I'm not sure if that will happen this year or not, but I'd like it to become a family tradition in the future. 

Black & White Love

My love for photography was spurred through old school black and white photography. With an old Pentax camera that you had to wind yourself. The red glow of the dark room. The magic that happened as that little piece of paper entered the developer and you saw the image float to the surface. I could (and did) spend hours at a time in the dark room. Sometimes I miss it, even though Photoshop can give me the same result in a lot less time. And I'm very much enjoying playing with different tints and such on top of the black and whites {for example, the last photo in this group has a light espresso tint on top of the black and white}.

I've done a number of photo shoots recently. Mostly senior pictures with a few family sessions sprinkled in here and there. Yesterday, I was looking through all my recent sessions, and I realized that my favorites from each session were black and whites. There's just something so elegant and classic about a good black and white photo.

Veteran's Day: Celebrating Grandma

Growing up, my grandma and I didn't always get along. We were both independent, stubborn, and opinionated. It didn't seem like I could get through a family gathering without her "tsking" and recalling the time that I was about 4 and told her that just because she was old didn't mean that she was always right. She'd critique the fact that I'd dish up meals from the center of the bowl rather than the sides, and I'd continue to dish from the center just to spite her.

Grandma is still fiercely stubborn. For example, earlier this year, she and my dad had a disagreement about her walking home from mass in the dark, wearing all black, up the steep hill to her house, without her cell phone or any other means to contact someone if she fell. She wouldn't speak to him for awhile after he told her that she just can't do that anymore. For awhile, she was quite bitter and difficult. But I know that really, the root of the issue is that she was {is} just scared of losing her independence...and that's something that I completely understand.

Over the years, I've come to understand my grandma a bit more--why she is the way that she is, and what a truly incredible woman she was.

My grandma was actually the youngest nurse in World War II. She had to petition the governor to allow her to join the army, since she wasn't 18 yet. However, she also had a cleft palate, and the army wouldn't let her join, saying that the wounded soldiers deserved something pretty to look at.

A friend, who was a foot doctor, offered to attempt plastic surgery {which was virtually unheard of at the time} to repair her cleft palate, and did. She then joined the army, and has incredible stories about her time overseas...stories of monks burying surgical equipment to hide it from their local government.

Can you imagine being so determined to serve in the army that you'd undergo plastic surgery from a doctor with no experience, before you're even 18? Can you imagine some of the things she must have seen overseas?

I've heard stories about my grandma's time serving--about her nearly being court marshalled for speaking her mind to her superiors. Stories indicating that she was a clear leader, even though she was the youngest among them.

My grandma came home, and became the head surgical nurse at the local hospital. She worked hard, for many years, and is still well-known in the town where we grew up, especially among the medical community.

I've been blessed to be able to get to know grandma again, as an adult myself, because I've had the opportunity to realize that she's really pretty incredible.

Today, on Veteran's Day, I'm celebrating my grandma. I'm celebrating Kaitlin's husband, our good friend Jesse. Heck, I'm celebrating Kaitlin, as a military wife...because Lord knows she's served too, in a different way.

Who are you celebrating as a veteran?

Letter to Lizzy- Ten Months

Dear Lizzy,

I can hardly believe that in only two months, you will be ONE YEAR old. I honestly remember the day that you were born just like it was yesterday. It is so weird to think that you've already gone from this:

 one week old

to this:

such a big girl!

At ten months, you are walking pretty darn well, though you still usually prefer crawling since you're faster at it.



You recognize "If You're Happy And You Know It", and clap your hands right along. This morning, I also noticed that you are trying most of the motions to "The Wheels on the Bus". You've recently become more interested in the songs and their motions since more kids have started coming to our Babies in the Library group, which I'm excited about too.

You've also really started to like playing Peek-A-Boo:

But as always, most of your time is spent chasing after Bones, our cat:

This past month, I believe you also picked what will become your "lovey", or security blanket of sorts. We were in the store, when you spotted this lamb doll. You thought it was a sheep, and started saying "BAAA! BAA! BAAA!" with such insistence that I handed you the doll. Immediately, your whole face lit up, and you gave it the biggest hug ever. I couldn't help but get the doll for you--I've never seen you react like that to any of the toys we picked for you before you were born. You still love your 'sheep', and I often hear you trying to imitate singing "I Just Wanna Be A Sheep" to it. You also snuggle up to it and give it big hugs whenever you are tired, which is about the sweetest thing ever.

You are still a great eater, and rarely eat baby food anymore (sometimes just to get you an extra serving of fruits or veggies if what we're having for dinner isn't a super balanced meal). However, you don't like sippy cups all that much, and would prefer to drink out of a normal cup. In fact, yesterday morning I was sitting on the couch with my mug of coffee. You kept coming over and putting your mouth on the rim like you wanted a sip. I finally dipped my finger in and let you lick it, thinking that you'd dislike the bitter coffee taste and let me drink in peace. Instead, your eyes lit up, and you immediately said, "Mmmmmm!" Looks like we're in for some trouble there! 

Overall, it's been really interesting and fun to watch you learn this month. You have learned so much! Walking! Consistently waving! Clapping! Trying to sing! You are such a blessing in our lives baby girl!



Love you forever and for always,
Mom 

Snippets

 - I don't have a ton to report--I'm going through my annual "I hate that it's getting dark so early" phase.

-Lizzy is officially 10 months old today! Which means that this really should be a "Letter to Lizzy" post. Hopefully I'll have one later in the day, if our house ever stops being so dreary from the rain outside and actually gets some light {to take some photos}.

- Justin and I may actually have date night tonight! J's boss gave us tickets to a concert tonight. Upon further research, I hilariously discovered that the band in question is Christian "hard rock". LOL. Not exactly my genre of choice, but who am I to pass up a pre-paid date night?!

-Lizzy and I are STILL battling chest colds. She's doing well, except for an occasional coughing fit (not of the whooping cough variety though, no worries). I probably need antibiotics, but I'm still trying to kick it on my own. I actually don't feel so bad, but I tried to work out yesterday, and thought my chest was going to explode. There's still a lot of junk in there.

-I'm sad. I have a friends and family card for Gap/Old Navy for tomorrow. Since Gap went and stupidly changed all their jeans, Old Navy's Dreamer jeans have been my go-to jeans post-pregnancy since they come in talls online. I usually only have one pair at a time, since I've gone through three sizes since having Lizzy. I was all set to buy another pair with my coupon, but they don't have any in my size. Again. Actually, I couldn't really find my size in any of their styles either. Lame. 

- I've been doing a lot of reading lately. Within the past week or so, I've finished Catching Fire (Hunger Games Book 2) by Suzanne Collins, A Wedding in December by Anita Shreve, The Host by Stephenie Meyer (of Twilight Fame, but this was her first book, I believe).  All were probably worth reading. But now I feel like I'm in a reading slump. This always seems to happen with me--I breeze through three good books, then read nothing but crap for several months. I picked up Never Tell Our Business to Strangers: A Memoir by Jennifer Mascia at Goodwill yesterday. I was really excited about it, but I'm about 100 pages in, and it's just really slow. I have a lot of book on my "to-read" list, but I'm like 16 or 20 on the wait list at the library for all of them. I wish our local library stocked more than Nora Roberts and Louis Lamour so that I could go browse and find something awesome. Anyone have suggestions for good books that aren't brand new releases?

The Independent Child

Lizzy wasn't very old {3 months maybe?} when it became abundantly clear that she was one independent kiddo. She already had very definite opinions about what she liked/wanted, and she wasn't afraid to let us know. As her mobility has increased, so has her desire for independence, which is sometimes a struggle for me.

After all, every mom would love their child to be able to play independently, but what mom wants their child to play independently 99% of the time. Because after all,  if we can't sing them nursery rhymes, and practice counting, and read eleventy billion stories each day, and talk about every.little.thing that happens during the course of our day, HOW will our child ever succeed in life and school?! Of course, I'm exaggerating to some extent. But realistically, sometimes I feel like I should be interacting more with Lizzy, and it's hard to do so sometimes with Miss Independent. Sometimes, we only get through one round of "I'm a little teapot" before she's batting my hands away, and walking off to stack blocks by herself. Any attempt on my part to stack blocks with her just results on her walking away to read books by herself. Again, any attempt on my part to join causes a reaction in Lizzy that I have come to understand as, "MOM. I just want to do it by myself!"

When I first started noticing this, I found some creative ways for blocking off part of our living room, so that I could let her down to explore and play independently without having to worry about parts of the house that haven't been totally childproofed yet. And this works sometimes, but what I'm noticing is that when Lizzy plays independently in the living room, I seem to find so many other tasks that could keep me busy--dishes, sweeping, mopping floors, laundry, etc. All things that need to be done, but sometimes I can get on a roll doing them, and have a hard time stopping when Lizzy does crawl over and want to show me something, or wants to be picked up. I have a tendency to try to finish just one more thing, and then sometimes miss that window of when she wants to play entirely. 

So, I've been implementing something that I like to call "room time". We sit in Lizzy's room, which is much MUCH smaller than the living room, I set out books and toys on the floor for her, I sit in the glider, set a timer for one hour, and read a book or magazine. Lizzy usually plays independently, and I read. Occasionally, she'll crawl over to the glider with something to show me, and we'll talk about it until she decides that she's had enough, and she'll crawl away. I have a much easier time looking up from a book than I do stopping in the middle of loading a dishwasher, so it works out well--I don't feel like I'm missing out on the little moments as much.

Initially, I felt a lot of guilt about this--I'm a stay-at-home-mom, I shouldn't be reading while she's awake! I should be spending every moment of the day talking, singing, dancing, etc. I should be cramming every cleaning chore, lunch, exercise, etc.  into nap time {I use the term nap time loosely, seeing as there are days when Lizzy doesn't nap at all}!  But, Justin's mom pointed out to me a few weeks ago that just as constantly talking at Lizzy can exhaust me sometimes, it can exhaust her too. The fact is that she IS an independent child, and she DOES need time to play by herself. The "room time" idea at least ensures that she's getting "side-by-side" time, and attention more readily when she does want it from me.

Do any of you feel like you have super independent kids? What has your experience been like?

Affirmation of Faith.

Note: I often receive emails asking what Lutherans believe. Asking if they're Christian. Wondering what they believe on this political issue or that. The truth is that there are multiple sects of the Lutheran Church, ranging from very conservative to quite liberal. I couldn't possibly aspire to give an accurate representation of what all Lutherans believe, but I can make an effort to continue to talk and write about what I believe, as I'm doing today. My intent isn't to tell you that I'm right, or that those who believe differently are wrong. My intent is to simply share a little bit more about my own life of faith--the struggles that I deal with, the joys that I find, little parts of what it means to be Lutheran, to me.

Growing up, I did not always enjoy attending the Lutheran Church. Sometimes it felt old. Stuffy. In fact, although I attended a Lutheran college, I don't think I went to church but twice in the year that I was there.  I longed to go to church with my friends who attended fellowship-type churches--to me, their churches felt vibrant, and alive with music. They didn't have to deal with the boring rituals of liturgy that felt lifeless and rote. I left feeling invigorated, and ready to approach the next week.

I still love the music and dynamic of those churches, but I have recently {within the past year} begun to appreciate certain things about the liturgy of the Lutheran church as well. Last night, I was thinking of one of the Affirmations of Faith that we said during service growing up:

I have faith in God, in response to overwhelming love. 

I believe that God created me and all that I have, and has given me gifts beyond measure. 

I have faith in Jesus, who emptied Himself out of His love for me. 

I believe that Christ died on a cross for my sin, conquered death and the power of evil, and was raised to life on the third day. His death is mine, His resurrection is mine, new life is mine because of Jesus’ words and work. 

I believe in the Holy Spirit in response to overwhelming love. 

I believe that the Holy Spirit is present here among us and lives within each person. The Spirit continues to call people by the Gospel and creates and builds the church of Christ. Through the power of the Spirit, I have power to stand in strength against all adversity. 

I believe that Jesus is gone to prepare a place for me and will come again to take each of us to be with Him. Amen.

 I was thinking of this text last night because we have sort of begun transitioning from bouncing back and forth between the church that I grew up at and the church where Justin's dad is the pastor. Both Lutheran churches from the same sect, but very different, each with its own strengths and weaknesses, as with any church. It's interesting, because at the church where Justin's dad is the pastor, I've noticed that we tend to say the Nicene Creed as our Affirmation of Faith, rather than the above text. One isn't more "right" than the other--there are many different Affirmations of Faith, and I suspect that each pastor selects the one that speaks most to them.

I love this particular affirmation of faith because I feel like it summarizes so clearly and succinctly what I believe in terms of my faith. Last night I was thinking about how I have felt God's overwhelming love in my life. I have stood through adversity, only through the Holy Spirit. This text is a blessing to me, because it inevitably causes me to stop and remember all those instances in my life. Overall, I just think that this Affirmation of Faith is a beautifully phrased, and I wanted to share it with y'all today in case you haven't seen this particular version before :)

Chicken Curry in a Hurry

Justin worked from 6am until 9pm yesterday. I'm seriously sick, and it's kind of a battle just to get through the day. After dropping off our ballots yesterday, I HAD to run to the grocery store to get a few essentials, and decided that I might as well make a comfort-food dinner that Justin wouldn't like anyway. Enter Chicken Curry. I love Indian food. I cannot get Justin to try it for the life of me. I cannot tell you how many times I've suggested the Indian place for dinner, but I just CANNOT get him on board!

Note: This curry recipe calls for pre-cooked chicken. So, this is a great quick dinner if you have chicken leftovers, or can be made with the help of a rotisserie chicken (as I did tonight). It's an adaptation of an adaptation of a recipe from Better Homes and Gardens...a very basic curry that you can easily dress up or down. And you probably have all but one of the ingredients already (if you keep curry powder, you probably have them all)!  It has some spice, but not too much...Lizzy gobbled it right up! I served over Basmati rice, but any rice (or even noodles!) would be great! 

Ingredients:
2 Tbsp butter

1 1/2 c. finely chopped apple
1/2 c. chopped onion
1 clove garlic
2 T flour
2-3 tsp. curry powder

1/8th to 1/4th tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp. salt
1 c.  fat free half and half (coconut milk would also be amazing)

1 c. chicken broth
2 c. shredded cooked chicken

Raisins, Peanuts, Parsley, or other items for garnish, if desired. 

How: 

Brown the butter in a large skillet. Add onions, apples, and garlic. Cook until onions are just translucent. Add the flour, salt, curry powder, and cayenne pepper to the skillet. Stir well. Add the half & half and the chicken broth. Cook over high heat until sauce comes to a rapid boil. Reduce heat to low, and simmer until sauce thickens. Add the chicken, and continue to simmer until chicken is heated through. 

Spoon sauce over rice, noodles, or potatoes, and top with your favorite appropriate garnish.

October Photo Hunt

1. In Disguise



2. Crisp



3. Fall Colors



4. Jack O'Lantern




5. Shot from the Ground




6. Landscape



7. Fall Tradition




8. Books




9. Dining--Oh lordy. Over the weekend, we went to this local hole-in-the-wall hamburger place that's known for their unique burgers. This was the best hamburger I've had in a looonnngggg time. Bleu Cheese, Carmelized Pecans, Red Grapes, and Green Onions. With a side of sweet potato fries. Yum.




10. Child




11. Faces in Nature




12. Tilt-Shift Photography




13. Black and White with Selective Coloring



14. Bokeh (Archive Shot)




15. Best Photo Taken Oct. 23




16. Something From the Kitchen




17. Something Vintage




18. Something Creepy-- This probably needs some explanation. Have you guys ever had Bubble Tea? Basically, it is tea, with black tapioca bubbles in it. Let me tell you, from my perspective, sucking those black flavorless bubbles up through the straw was incredibly weird and creepy! I'll be honest, Bubble Tea was not my favorite thing!




19. Something Golden



20. Self-Portrait



Check out the rest of the October 2010 Photo Hunt Entries here!