A Great Day!

Christmas day was a blast!  Lots of food, family and friends-noisy with lots of good smells.  And all the gifts I made were loved, yay!

Millie was happy to get her Montana State colored fleece blanket.

Syd got a stuffed spleen from Uncle Dave in Texas.

Dog photobombing.

One reason for the good smells.

The other reason for the good smells, Christmas smells.

Some of us took the dogs for a walk and got in on a fantastic Christmas sunset.

Happy birthday, Jesus

I think she liked her pillow bed!

Today I called in tired, I'm glad I have a job like that.  I'll work a little longer tomorrow.  Right now I feel like I got beat up, didn't sleep much Christmas Eve-had a food reaction that kept me up way too late, then lots of work yesterday.  Fun work, but I was dozing in my chair watching the kids play a game.  I feel blessed that I have so many great people to share the day with.

Sweaters and Sweet Hot Jelly

Finished a couple of sweaters.  Well, to be correct the one sweater was finished about a year ago, but the instructions called for ties at the neck instead of buttons and buttonholes and I didn't like the idea so it sat in my "finished box" until I figured out what to do.

First the baby sweater-it turned out just great!  I do need to give the hem a little more attention, it's still rolling.

The buttons are older than the yarn.  I got them at K Mart probably in the 70s, before bar codes.  They cost 42 cents according to the pink K Mart price tag.  Oops, really telling my age!

This sweater is about a 3-4 years size.  I started it when I had my knee surgery and worked on it in fits and starts. 

What I finally did was crochet little chain button loops.  I think the owls add a really cute touch, don't you?

 And the jelly-Stan and I became hooked on a pepper jelly that Costco sold.  We ran out last week and when I went to find more I was informed that they no longer carried it.  Horrors!  So we did what any enterprising do-it-yourselfer would, we made our own.  Well, Stan did, I left the house until the pepper fumes dissipated.  Not allergic to peppers but the airborne fumes can choke up my asthma.

And here you have it-isn't it pretty?  And the beauty part is we can control the ingredients, down to using the bag of discounted "slightly old" bell peppers from the store.  And the hot peppers are from our garden.

The best way to serve it.  Put a smear of cream cheese on a cracker and top with a small spoonful of the jelly.  Or a large spoonful if you like.  I ate 8 of these before the jelly was cold!

We just love to do things for ourselves, the crackers are even homemade safe-for-me!

Holiday

We had a busy weekend-a housewarming party, a graduation party, church, and I fed the workers at the church on Saturday.  So today we took it a little slower.  I fixed waffles for breakfast, then we drove to the cemetery to put flowers on our parents' graves.  Then I called the boys-Millie is in New Orleans this week, so Jim is alone with the kids-and invited them all over for a burger.  Steve did most of the cooking, something he loves, and we just had a nice leisurely evening.

Lounging around eating burgers.  Note Isaac on the exercise ball!  And see the doggie cleanup crew?

Then-after Jim and his kids left, Syd got on our little bike and yay, he rode it for the first time!  That's two grandkids that learned to ride their bikes in our driveway.  And with the same bike Stan got from the neighbor that had a "free" sign on it.  It's been a pretty useful thing to have.

Look at the utter joy on his face!

Now for some Monday night TV and early bed.  Still fighting the back thing, but it isn't as bad as it was.  If the chiropractor doesn't do the trick, I'm going to get acupuncture.  My massage therapist and the neighbor have both recommended the same guy so I think that's who I'll go with.  I'm going to lick this if it kills me!

More (big) Shots and Bittersweet Goodbyes

Just waiting for Thursday and the shots-never thought I'd be looking forward to something like that!  God certainly is working on building my patience!

Tonight is my last church council meeting.  I am done being a deacon for at least a year.  We serve three year terms and I can't believe that three years have already gone by!  Tonight we will attend the first half of the meeting-a kind of changing of the guard, so to speak, we will break for treats that the outgoing officers provide, and then we shake hands and leave.  I have mixed feelings about the end of my term.  I loved serving-most of the time I was the only woman on the board, but the relationships we established and the work we did was incredibly rewarding.  I love that I am forever ordained as a deacon.  The two that replace Bill and me will have to be ordained too-I am so excited about watching that.  We lay hands on them and pray for God's blessings.  They will then sign the form of conscription that says that they are now deacons.

The process we use is very Biblical, I think.  Members of the congregation suggest names of people that would be suitable, the council goes through the names and sends letters to the candidates.  The candidates then either agree or turn it down, then the names are published in the bulletin for two weeks.  On the first Sunday of January, the names are sealed in envelopes, and the outgoing officers each select one.  I am thrilled that one of the new deacons is a woman-Kara, the lady that married the missionary.  They are back in the area for a few years to receive training, so we get to reap the bounty of her experience.  It's also a great training ground for her-it surely was for me.  The second one is the one I selected.  As I reached out to pick an envelope, I said a quick prayer for God to direct me.  My hand immediately moved to the envelope on the end-very cool and very profound!  The name I selected was definitely God's doing.  This man has struggled for years with a bi-polar disorder and has made great strides.  I just think it was a way for God to tell us that HE picks His servants, not us.  I see great things happening in our church because we are obedient to God's direction!

Well, I'd better get moving.  I hope the copier repairman calls soon so I can meet him at the church.  Not good when it goes on the fritz!  And I have to assemble my part of the treats for tonight.  We are having a sundae bar and I am bringing homemade caramel sauce and hot fudge sauce.  The hot fudge is so easy, just bring 3/4 cup heavy cream to a boil, take off the heat, dump in 1 1/3 cups chocolate chips, let stand 5 minutes and whisk til smooth.  This is a basic ganache.  When you want to heat it, just put in a bit of cream-maybe 1 tablespoon, and warm in the microwave.  Best hot fudge ever, and no corn syrup!

First Fruits

Stan picked our first official batch of strawberries today.  Just enough to slice, sugar, and devour over ice cream.

They were delicious!  (Key word:  were!)

The Holidays

Christmas will be different this year. My son and daughter-in-law, after much consideration, and realizing that they are grown-ups, decided to stay home all day on Christmas this year. Usually they come to our house all day. They are, however, spending Thanksgiving with us, which they usually spend with her parents. They just decided to mix it up. I certainly don't blame them-I wish I would have had the guts to change how we celebrated our family holiday celebrations when the kids were young. I finally did, and when I invited my mom to my house, she said, "Of course, your kids never get to stay home and play with their stuff, and besides you don't have a tradition yet." What a wise thing to say!

Anyway it will feel weird, but it'll be nice anyway. Maybe there will be a change in how we do Christmas day, too. We are getting older, and at some point the center of the celebration is bound to shift. One other son will be here, and possibly our good friends Wayne and Connie. My sister for sure, and who knows who else will be here-my door is open. Our house isn't that huge, so maybe we can all fit around one table. We'll still miss them but life just has to change sometimes.

We have never spent Christmas day with Stan's family, because back then I had to give equal time to my family. My mom's gone now, and I'm the old person so I foresee that soon we will be the ones packing up the pumpkin pies and taking them to someone else's house. Not yet-there are others in the family that still count on coming here, but there will come a day.

In the meantime, we have Thanksgiving, and that is an affair to remember! We rent a local Senior Center, show up around noon, mash our potatoes, make our gravy, and carve the turkey. The rest show up, usually between 25 and 50, and we dive into the biggest feeding frenzy you have ever seen! Anyone is invited-we have in-laws and outlaws and the occasional stranger at our door, who usually come back the next years simply because it was such a memorable celebration.

There are traditions involved. I have to bring my homemade Almond Roca. I am not allowed into the building without it! My sister-in-law has to make her heavenly popcorn balls, which she started making the first year she was married and couldn't afford a lot of fancy ingredients for fancy desserts. Stan usually makes the rolls-we're probably neck in neck as to who makes the best ones. Understand that most of these people are fabulous cooks, and many of them have made their living doing that.

After dinner and clean-up, we bring out the games and snacks, including the candy and popcorn balls. Along about 6:00 my mother-in-law will wonder if anyone is hungry. Of course not, but we get food anyway. We heat up the gravy and cut the turkey up into it. We serve it over the rolls, with a big slice of onion, a term commonly known in Stan's family as "turkey buns." THEN we eat the pie we were too full to eat earlier, and look over all the Black Friday ads to decide if we will be alert enough to go shopping the next day. I am cooking a 23 pound turkey, and my sister-in-law is doing the same, and my mother-in-law was worrrying that there wouldn't be enough food. I HAD to say it, "Gram, when have we EVER run out of food?"

I love to cook, so I do look forward to the holidays, stocking up on fancy candies and other treats. It's nice to have a plateful of goodies to give to someone at the last minute. It's also nice to be appreciated for what I do. Well, the holidays are almost here, so away we go!!!!!!!

Our Weekend

We had a very busy weekend. We started off with a barbecue to honor the chili contestants in the state chili cook-off, held in conjunction with the Manhattan Potato Festival. Stan was a contestant. It was pouring rain, so the meal was moved to the senior center. The street dance was bagged because it didn't stop raining until late in the evening. The Festival is held to honor the potato growers in the area. Manhattan area potato farmers grow about 90% of all seed potatoes used in the United States.

Master at chili.

Saturday was the Festival and miracle of miracles, it was sunny. Not really warm but warm enough to get out and have some fun. The parade was fun and full of neat things, and just as the parade started, Air Force One flew over Main Street. Purely accidental, but neat anyway.

Parade loot.

There were booths in the park that runs along Main Street. There were crafts, food, games, and someone was even selling those dumb visors with the fake fur that looks like hair.

Taking in the attractions.

Stan came in third in the cook-off and won a new camp stove, $50, and a pottery chili bowl from Big Sky Carvers.

Big Sky Carvers is a company that manufactures carved wooden bears and ducks, as well as contracting with other factories to make dishes and figurines. The company has their products in stores all over the world. They are probably Manhattan's largest employer. Every year at the Potato Festival they have a huge tent sale and sell their seconds, overstocks and unfinished items for super-reduced prices. People start getting in line the evening before the sale and charge the tents when they open at 6:30 AM. (Yes, AM)

The firemen have their breakfast-their big fundraiser for the year. I think a lot of people become firefighters for one day just to help put on the breakfast. It takes tons of work to pull off, but the food is always good and it's a good opportunity to catch up with friends and neighbors.

After the festival, we went to a friend's funeral. This was a 56 year old man who went before his time. He was a co-worker of Stan's. This was quite a coincidence because the funeral was held in the same church as last Saturday's funeral. It was sad but Stan and I both got to visit with several of the guys he used to work with.

Today was church, a special service-we installed our new pastor. It was really neat-we as the Council got to lay on hands and pray for him. I think he'll be a real blessing and asset to our church.

Then this afternoon we attended a birthday party for our grand niece. I hadn't seen my nephew since their wedding two years ago, and here he is with his one year old daughter! We had good food, great conversation and were entertained by the kids' antics.

Cutie patootie opening gifts.

Now Stan is snoozing in front of the TV and I'm not too far behind him!

More Pictures of Those Raspberries

We have a bumper crop this year:

Big berries so sweet and ripe they pull away from the stems:

Had to hurry the picking this morning to rescue them from the grackles. Sydney "helped" and ate every one that he picked. We still had two cookie sheets full to put in the freezer. Oh the heaven in the middle of winter when we can't even get to the raspberry patch, we can pull some out of the freezer and be in summer again.

Burgers at Grandma's

My kids gathered to "burn a burger" last night, our term for grilling them. The three little ones had so much fun together and the food was great. The little ones invaded my raspberry patch. We had to follow them so they would only eat the ripe ones-didn't want any tummyaches!

Sam went after them with a vengeance.

Happy smile!

Gotta get the ones underneath.

Not too full of raspberries to eat a good supper.

We finished off with my homemade strawberry ice cream. From my own patch, of course!

In other news, the school pants are finished and safely in Gracie's hands. She really loved the hot pink ones.

My New Blog

I'm so excited! I finally started my cooking blog. I've been wanting to have a place to chronicle my quest to eat allergy-free, so here it is:

http://mrsclauscooks.blogspot.com/

Pop on over and take a look. I'll be thrilled to compare notes, share recipes, and hear your allergy stories.

They're Ready!

The raspberries are ready-Stan picked a handful a while ago. What a perfect berry!

Then I ate it!

Finally Did It!

Our local food co-op has been around, in one form or another, since the early 70's. Finally yesterday I joined. Nothing slow about me! I really am looking forward to finding a few more foods that I can eat, just by the fact that fewer ingredients means lower odds of having an allergen in the product.

They serve meals there and have a divine salad bar. I can eat the honey-mustard dressing they make because they stay away from high fructose corn syrup. This will be great for when I need lunch on errand days. I have eaten the chicken they prepare and haven't tasted anything that good since the "olden days" when I was a kid and nobody added hormones or antibiotics to their poultry.

They were so gracious, too, making sure I had all my questions answered and telling me how pleased they are that I belong. The price was right, too.

Yes, I see a long, happy relationship.

Sunday Afternoon

Listening to music on the public radio station, watching the rain, doing the Sudoku in the Sunday paper. Watching families walk by in the rain. Waiting for the ice cream maker to finish.

Heaven!

Everything??!!!!

Just got a call from my Dr. She has the preliminary results of my allergy tests. The one test that came back OK was the gluten test. However, it seems that I'm allergic to everything else. The list includes but is not limited to:

Corn, wheat, rice, tomatoes, garlic, peas (?), peanuts, and walnuts. She said she's never seen so many positive results on an allergy test in her life!

I'm going to stop by her office and pick up a complete copy of the results. She is going to request a more in-depth test as well-things that might not normally be on an allergy test. She said the reason, of course, that I felt better without gluten was because I was avoiding the allergenic foods. Yup!!

Now just what the heck am I supposed to eat?

Update: Here's the full list of positives: Corn, garlic, peas, orange, peanut, rice, soybean, tomato (my worst allergy), walnuts, and wheat. In addition, she has called and requested that they test the sample for rye and oats,

This is going to take some creativity!

The good news? I am NOT, I repeat NOT allergic to chocolate!!