July the 4th

Every year my opinion is confirmed, I just have the best birth-day ever.  July 4th is always buzzing with excitement and activities, not to mention parades and fireworks!

                        (me.  seriously contemplating how fun my birthday is...with my party hat on)

This year we decided to stick with tradition and head north to Monmouth where we used to live for their small town parade and festivities.  We sat with our good friends and laughed at the horrible excuse for a parade that traveled in front of us.  Heidi also kept us entertained with her antics.

                                               "Look Mom!  That horse is wearing leg warmers!"

"Hey Mom!  That Ass...Astro...That guy gave me candy!"

 Our favorite "float" was a truck pulling a flat bed full of hay bales, arranged so people could sit on them; only, there were no people sitting on them.  It was completely unmarked and didn't seem to be promoting any specific business or cause. We concluded it must be promoting Alzheimer's awareness and they all just forgot to show up. :)

After the parade we headed over to the main street park where there are crafts for the kids, food, booths etc.  The girls all had an opportunity to do a bit of screen printing and painting.

About three o'clock we headed back home.  I took a beauty rest (because I foolishly agreed to sleep in the tent again the night before) then had dinner, opened presents and went to fireworks. 

It was a lovely, lovely day!

Mom's Top Ten Lists

It's 9:30 at night and I'm in my room listening to my daughters across the hall rehearsing songs for their Mother's Day production tomorrow.  I'm in love.  Rather than get all sappy on you here I'll give you a couple top ten lists.

Ten awesome things about being a Mom

10.Little foot prints in the sand
9.  I can snuggle and smooch on squishy little cheeks all I want
8.  Anytime I come back from being gone, all my girls will run up to me and hug me
7.  My girls really believe I can make everything all better
6.  I get to do all the things adults aren't "supposed" to do anymore...because I have kids
5.  Right now they still want me to eat school lunch with them.  (Yes, I am fully aware that in five years or less I will be horribly embarrassing.)
4.  I get to decorate my house with all of their beautiful artwork
3.  I will never get tired of hearing, "You're the best Mom in the world!"
2.  Discovering their amazing little personalities
1.   I can finally say, "Because I said so!"

Ten annoying things about being a Mom

10.  I kind of get tired of hearing, "Looks like you have your hands full!" anytime I have my children in  public.
9.  Laundry. Loads of it. Literally.
8.  Most of my day is spent worrying
7.  Washing laundry
6.  Stepping on cereal.  (How does so much of it end up on the floor anyway?)
5.  Forgetting to switch the laundry so I have to wash it again
4.  I miss sleeping
3.  Folding laundry
2.  Putting laundry away
1.  Laundry

I realize I'm biased, but I think I'm the luckiest Mom in the world...and yes, it's worth all the laundry  :)

L's birthday!

My sweet little L turned 10 on March 20th.  I can't believe it!  Unfortunately L was just getting over being sick, so we had canceled all of our plans. N was also sick in bed, so E and H made L breakfast in bed and then they all came out for presents.

N, H, E and L

L requested chicken pot pie for her birthday dinner and amazingly she was well enough to eat cake :)

Yellow cake with lemon frosting

This past week, Land I carried out her birthday plans.  We went into Corvallis for an orthodontist appointment* and then went shopping.  L got a new dress and a couple shirts.  She chose to spend her birthday money on a new outfit as well.  Here she is modeling it!

Happy birthday to my little tender heart bear!  I love this girl :)

*The trip to the Ortho was...informative.  She has severe crowding in her mouth.  The Dr. recommended pulling four of her baby teeth to allow the adult teeth to come down.  (Right now they are so crowded the adult teeth can't even break through the gums and it's pushing her other teeth around making them all wonky.)  So that will be happening in the next few weeks.  Then when she's twelve we'll most likely get braces on her and possibly even extract a few adult teeth to make room for the rest of them.  : /

Spontaneous Spring Break

The Hubby and I had one thing planned during spring break.  Get a new van.  I let Lars look for a van on his own because I would rather do almost anything than spend the day running away from used car salesmen.  Around two in the afternoon Lars came back driving a Dodge Grand Caravan.  I got in the van, saw it had a built in DVD player and told him to go buy it.  Except really. 

With a reliable car in our posession we figured we should probably take it on it's maiden voyage.  Thursday we piled into the car and drove out to I-5 where we had to make a choice...north or south.  We went south...and kept going south until we hit Crescent City California.

As we pulled into town I told Lars to find a hotel with a pool.  He pulled into "The Penny Saver".  I suggested looking around.  He suggested saving a penny, so we stayed.  They did have a pool, but they saved a penny by providing towels big enough to wrap around one leg.  They did have beds, but they saved a penny by not washing the blankets.  (I won't tell you how I know that...dry heave.)  They did have a bathroom that doubled as a sauna because they saved a penny by not having a fan in the bathroom.  They did have internet connection, but they saved a penny by not actually letting anybody on their network.  In the end, as Lars said, it was a place to sleep...and not much more than that.  :)

 L didn't want to share a bed with her sisters so she opted for the closet floor.  :)

The other girls snuggled up in bed.

In the morning we loaded back up in the car and headed south again into the Redwood Forest.  We meandered up and around the scenic highways and byways.  

  We stopped at all the historical markers (just like my Dad always did) and the girls groaned (just like I always did).

 We stopped along the road to marvel at the big trees.  Isn't that what you do in the Redwoods?

At some point we turned around and started back North again up Highway 101.  The night before and all that day was pretty windy and rainy so there were a lot of rock slide and washed out roads.  We stayed the night in Gold Beach because 101 was closed.  Our hotel was advertised as "rustic".  It reminded me of my parent's basement. 

 Saturday we spent some time in Bandon, Oregon's Cranberry Capital.  We saw some of the cranberry bogs and sampled some cranberry candy (o.k...lots of candy) and ate a cranberry bagel sandwich (yum!) and took lot and lots of pictures of a cranberry lighthouse.  (There's nothing cranberry-ish about the light house.  I just really like cranberries.)

Eventually we made our way safely through all of the high water and rock slides.  The girls are happy to be home and I'm itching to go again! 

Christmas Eve and Day

Saturday we got to drive up to Portland and spend the evening with Lars's brother and family.  Apparently I didn't get a single picture of them...but I did get one of them sporting their new p.j. pants from grandma Ingrid :)

Santa came to our house and brought the girls some toys and boots.  Grandma and Grandpa spoiled the girls as well.  Our favorites were the adorable aprons that my sister made for us.  I wore mine ALL day while I was cooking.  Thanks Elizabeth!  :)

That afternoon we had our friends over to share a traditional Swedish Smorgasbord...sans pickled herring and liver patte.  We had ham, orange rolls, Swedish meatballs with lingonberry sauce, yams and apples, braised cabbage, pickled beets, roasted brussel sprouts, salad, crackers and cheese, veggies and spiced cider. 

After dinner the girls and their friends made Ramses a throne and a crown.  Here is photographic proof that we got a very tolerant cat.  I still won't be surprised if he ever tries to escape out the bathroom window.  I've been tempted a few times myself :)

Day 12-Merry Christmas

On the twelfth day of Christmas my gift to you from me is my favorite roll recipe...

Feather Rolls or Ingrid's Orange Rolls
(It is no surprise that this recipe also came from my MIL)

Mix and let stand
1/2 c warm water
2 T yeast
1 T sugar

1 c milk, scalded
1/2 c butter, melted in the milk
1/3 c sugar
2 t salt
2 eggs, well beaten
Mix and add into yeast mixture.  Beat in 4 1/2 c flour.  Let mix for several minutes.  The dough will be very sticky.  Cover and put it in the fridge overnight. 

 Two hours before eating, knead dough and divide in half.  Roll out each half into a rectangle.  Melt 1/2 c butter and stir in the zest of an orange.  Spread melted butter on dough, roll up, and cut into 12 rolls. 





Put the rolls in muffin tins and let rise a bit before baking in a 425 degree oven for 10-15 minutes. 

Day 11

I'm posting this today because we'll be gone most of tomorrow, so here you go...
On the eleventh day of Christmas my gift to you from me are some more cookie recipies.  (Just what everybody needs right?)

Toffee Diamonds

1 c butter
1 c brown sugar
Beat until fluffy.  Add in
1 t vanilla
1 egg yolk
Mix again and then stir in
2 c flour
Mix.  Add in
1 c mini choco chips

Line cookie sheet with parchment paper.  Press dough into pan.  Bake in a 350 degree oven for about 20 minutes.  While still warm, cut into 2" diamonds.  Make frosting.

Melt in a sauce pan
1/4 c chocolate chips
1/2 c powdered sugar
1/2 t vanilla
1/8 t salt
Add in milk 1 t as a time until mixture is a thick, spreading consistency. 

Dot each diamond with a drop of frosting and top with a walnut. 

Lemon Thumbprint Cookies

Preheat oven to 350.

Mix until light and fluffy
1 c butter
2/3 c sugar
Add in
2 egg yolks
1 lemon zest
1 T lemon juice
1 t vanilla extract
Mix in
1 t baking powder
1/4 t salt
and finally add
2 1/4 c flour

Scoop out balls of dough.  Use your thumb, or dip 1/2 t measuring spoon in powdered sugar and press into cookie dough.

 Mix together 1/2 c jam, any flavor, and 1 t lemon juice.  Fill cookies with 1/2 t jam.  Bake for 20-ish minutes until golden brown.

Day 10

On the tenth day of Christmas my gift to you from me are my favorite side dish recipes...

Garlic Green Beans

2 lbs. green beans, fresh or frozen
2 T butter
2-4 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 c slivered almonds, toasted
1/2 t coarse sea salt
1/2 t freshly ground black pepper

Met butter in large sauce pan melt 1 T butter and saute minced garlic until brown.  Add in green beans and toss with butter and garlic.  Add a bit of water and steam green beans until crisp-tender.  Drain any water and season with salt and pepper.  Just before serving, sprinkle with toasted slivered almonds.

Roasted Sesame Asparagus

1 1/2 lbs. asparagus spears
1 1/2 t. dark sesame oil
1 T balsamic vinegar
1 1/2 t sesame seeds, toasted
1/2 t crushed red pepper
salt
pepper
shaved Parmesan cheese, if desired

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.  Snap off tough ends of asparagus.  Arrange asparagus in a single layer on a baking pan coated with cooking spray.  Drizzle or brush asparagus with sesame oil.  Bake for 10 minutes or until crisp-tender.  Take pan out of oven and add vinegar, sesame seed and red pepper, tossing gently to coat.  Put asparagus in your serving dish and sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Top with cheese if you are using it.

(I stole the pictures this time...is that proper documentation?)

Day 9

On the ninth day of Christmas my gift to you from me is my ninth favorite recipe...

"Green Lemonade"
recipe by Natalia Rose

This is a GREAT way to start your day.  Drink one of these bad boys for breakfast and you will have an amazing amount of energy.  Yum!!

1 head Romain lettuce
6 stalks kale
2 organic Fuji apples
1 lemon, peeled
1-2 inches fresh ginger, peeled

Press all through a juicer, one fruit/veggie at a time.  Drink it down.  Go brush your teeth.  You don't want green teeth :D

If you want it sweeter, add another apple or some sweet organic carrots.

Day 8

On the 8th day of Christmas my gift to you from me are another two of my favorite recipes :)

These are both Swedish recipes (surprise) we make each year to celebrate St. Lucia

Engelska Pepparkakor

(these are like a thinner, crispier gingerbread)

1/2 c sugar

3/4 c brown sugar

3/4 c dark syrup *

2/3  stick butter

2 t cinnamon

2 t ginger

1/2 t cloves

1/2 t cardamom

1 t grated orange peel

1 1/2 t baking soda

Combine all and mix well.

3/4 c heavy cream or half and half

Beat until lightly foamy and add to sugar mixture.

5 1/4 c flour

Add to spicy mixture.  Work the dough until shiny and pliable on table adding more flour if needed.  Divide the dough into two halves.  Pat out to a disk, wrap and refrigerate over night, or a few hours if you can't wait that long.  Roll out to 1/8" thin and cut with a cookie cutter.  Bake in a 350 degree oven for 8-10 minutes.  The most traditional Swedish shapes are pigs, goat and apples.  These taste fabulous with egg nog, hot cider or hot chocolate. 



*Dark syrup is dark corn syrup, however you can use molasses.  It just makes the cookies softer rather than crispy.   The flavor remains pretty much the same because of the other spices.

The traditional recipe is Saffron bread or "Lussekatter".  If you've ever looked, you will know that Saffron is obscenely expensive.  So I've adopted this recipe of

Buttered Sweet Potato Knot Rolls

1 T yeast
1 c warm milk
3/4 c mashed sweet potatoes, canned or fresh
1 T butter
1 1/4 t salt
2 large egg yolks
5 c bread flour

Dissolve yeast in milk.  Let stand 5 minutes and then add sweet potatoes, butter, salt and egg yolks.  Mix with a whisk.  Add 4 1/2 c flour and stir until dough forms.  Knead and add remaining flour.  Cover and let rise until doubled in size.  Punch down and let rest 5 minutes. 

Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.  Divide the dough into 24 equal portions.  Working with one at a time, roll dough into a "snake", tie into a knot and tuck ends underneath.  Put 12 rolls on each baking sheet and spray with cooking spray.  Cover and let rise until doubled in size.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Bake rolls (uncovered) for 12-15 minutes.  Brush with butter while still warm.

Day 7

On the seventh day of Christmas my gift to you from me is my seventh favorite recipe...

Today you get my two favorite Sauces
Thai Peanut Sauce

3 T peanut butter
2 cloves garlic
2 t hot chili oil
2 T maple syrup or honey
2 T soy sauce
1 T rice vinegar
1/4 c water
peanuts

Mix all in a saucepan over med heat.  Stir until peanut butter has melted and all ingredients are combined.  Serve over stir fried or sauteed veggies and rice.  Sprinkle peanuts on top. 
I usually double the recipe.  It's good on everything!

*As a Raw recipe, mix all and puree.

Hot Fudge Sauce
(This is my mom's recipe, for all of you who have ever had this and wanted the recipe)

3/4 c sugar
1/2 c cocoa powder
2/3 c evaporated milk
1/3 c light corn syrup
1/3 c butter
1 t vanilla

Combine sugar and cocoa in a medium saucepan.  Blend in evaporated milk and corn syrup.  Cook over low heat stirring constantly until mixture boils.  Boil and stir for one minute.  Remove from heat; stir in butter and vanilla.  Makes about 2 cups.  Serve warm or cold over ice cream, brownies, cake or with a straw. :)

Day 6

On the 6th day of Christmas my gift to you from me, is my 6th favorite recipe...

Swedish Meatballs (once again from my Swedish mother in law)

1 c water
1 egg
In a small bowl, add together and mix well.  Stir in
1/2 c bread crumbs OR 1 medium potato, cooked, cooled and mashed
Let mixture stand while you are grating
1/2 yellow onion
Stir into bread crumbs with
1 1/2 t salt
1/4 t pepper
Add in 1 lb. lean ground beef* and
1/2 lb. ground pork (plain, not seasoned)

Knead in the meat until all the ingredients are well blended and the mixture is smooth and fluffy.  Shape into 1" balls. 
If you want the meatballs to stay round, place on a baking sheet in the fridge for an hour before cooking.
Over high heat in a heavy skillet, melt some butter and oil.  Add the meat balls 8-10 at a time.  Reduce heat to medium and fry the meatballs on all sides.  Transfer to a baking dish and keep warm in a 200 degree oven while cooking the rest of the meat balls. 
After the meatballs are cooked, use the same skillet and pour off the fat.  Add water and a little cream.  slowly add 1 T of flour mixed with some water until smooth and whisk it over medium heat for 2-3 minutes until you have a smooth gravy.  Add beef bouillon or more cream to taste.
Pour gravy over cooked meatballs in baking dish.

Serve with mashed potatoes, pickled beets and lingonberry jam. 

I use a mixture of ground turkey and ground pork.  I like the flavor better and they aren't as dense.

4th Recipe

On the fourth day of Christmas my gift to you from me is my fourth favorite recipe...
Scandinavian Almond Bars (this is my mother in law's recipe)

1 c butter
2 c sugar
4 t baking powder
1/2 t salt
2 eggs
1 t almond extract
3 1/2 c flour
milk
1 c sliced almonds, coarsely chopped

Almond Icing
1 c powdered sugar
1/4 t almond extract
3-4 t milk

Beat butter in large bowl for 30 seconds.  Add sugar, baking powder and salt.  Beat well.  Add egg and almond extract; beat until well combined.  Mix in flour.  divide dough into 8 sections.  One at a time, roll into 12 inch "snakes".  Put two at a time on a cookie sheet.  Flatten  to 3 inch width.  Brush cookie dough with pink and sprinkle with almonds. 

Bake in a 325 degree oven for 12-14 minutes or until edges are lightly browned.  While cookies are still warm, cut diagonally into 1 inch strips.  Cool on a wire rack. 

Make almond icing by combining all three ingredients.  Drizzle over cookies.

3rd recipe

On the third day of Christmas my gift to you from me is my third favorite recipe...

Almond Cardamom Stars

6 c flour
3c  powdered sugar
1 1/2 t ground cardamom
1 1/2 t baking soda
3/4 t salt
3/4 c almond paste (NOT marzipan), crumbled (1-8 oz can)
3 T butter, cold
1 c fresh orange juice
9 T vegetable oil

Icing
4 c powdered sugar
6 T orange juice

Mix flour, sugar, soda, cardamom and salt until blended.  Add almond paste and butter.  Slowly add juice and oil.  Divide dough into three sections.  Wrap and chill for 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

One section at a time, roll out between two pieces of parchment paper.  Cut with a star-shaped cookie cutter and cook for 8 minutes.   

To make icing, mix powdered sugar and orange juice.  Spoon over warm cookies.

*You can also just chill the dough in logs, then slice them and bake circles instead of rolling out the dough etc.

Christmasy Things

Well, we have been a bit slow with the whole Christmas thing this year, but we are finally getting on track.  Last week we all piled in the van and drove out to get a tree.  The tree lot we went to was closed, so rather than drive around and find a new one, Lars drove to the local grocery store and picked out a Christmas tree as the rest of us sat in the car holding hands and singing Christmas carols.  (Did you believe that last part even for a minute?  Yeah, I'm a lousy liar.) 

After we got it home we realized we needed to saw off the bottom to make it even.  We couldn't find our saw.  In fact, we haven't seen a lot of things since we moved here.  This move was the first time I didn't stick around and supervise what actually made it into the truck and I'm starting to think that half of it got left behind!  Anyway, we ended up borrowing a lousy saw from our neighbors and it only took about an hour, a wedge, a hammer and finally a log splitter to get through the trunk of the tree.  No, we did not choose a 50 ft evergreen, we just had bad tools and poor lighting.

Eventually we got the tree inside and decorated, complete with a "shooting star" on top.  :)

 N putting the star on top

 L trying

 E taking a turn

 H finally getting the star on

...sort of :)

Thanksgiving Leftovers

We had a rather impromptu Thanksgiving dinner this year.  We had planned to eat at our friend's house but they had a family emergency so we gracefully uninvited ourselves. 

Lars thinks the best part of Thanksgiving are the left-overs, so even though we had other plans, he still bought a turkey.  Lars got it in the brine around 11 and in the oven around 4.  Needless to say, we didn't sit down to eat until 7:30 p.m.  I had already made whipped sweet potatoes with hazelnut struessel, roasted brussel sprouts, cranberry sauce with orange and ginger, and apple crisp.  I made stuffing, mashed potatoes. dill carrots and a pumpkin pie.  Lars finished the turkey and made gravy and we ate a feast!  It was delicious and we had a wonderful day cooking and being together as a family.

I just got my camera back from being fixed (HOORAY!!) in time to document my leftover Turkey Sandwich creation.

Rosemary Turkey Salad Sandwiches

1/2 c olive oil mayo
1/2 c fat free sour cream
1 t lemon juice
2-3 t chopped fresh rosemary
1/2 t pepper
1/2 t salt
1/4 t garlic powder
1 t dried minced onion
1 stalk celery minced
Mix all.  Add more or less of anything to your own taste.
Stir into 4 cups chopped turkey.

Serve on bread or croissants with left over cranberry sauce!
(If you don't have any cranberry sauce stir some Craisins in with the turkey salad.)

400 cookies

This is officially my 400th blog post.  Who knew I had so much to say?  (Don't answer that.)

Today for my baking adventure I was jonesin' for some Molasses cookies, but I wanted pumpkin in them.  I found a recipe for molasses cookies on food.com and made my own adjustments to it.  They turned out pretty darn good if I do say so myself.  :)

Soft Molasses Pumpkin Cookies

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup softened butter 
• 1/2 cup pumpkin puree
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup molasses
• 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 4 cups flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
• 2 1/4 teaspoons ground ginger
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cloves
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350°.
2. In a large mixing bowl, cream together butter and sugars until light colored and fluffy.  Add in pumpkin and mix thoroughly. 
3. Beat in molasses and eggs; set mixture aside.
4. Dump in salt, baking soda, ginger, cloves and cinnamon.  Mix thoroughly. 
5. Add in flour.  Mix.
6. Scoop out 1 1/2 inch balls of dough onto the cookie sheet.
7. Pour a bit of white sugar in a bowl.  Dip the bottom of a cup into the sugar and press the cookies flat.
8. Bake at 350° for 9-11 minutes.  Do not over bake!

Let the baking begin

Seems like once November hits, I get the baking bug.  There aren't many complaints when this bug comes to stay, aside from tight pants.  My first experiment was a layered pumpkin cake. 

It was actually a very simple cake with ingredients I already had on hand.  The only thing I didn't have was whipping cream for the ganche, so I used canned milk and it worked out just fine. :)

Pumpkin Sandwich Cake from Better Homes and Gardens, November 2008

3/4 c flour
1 1/2 t pumpkin pie spice
1 t baking powder
1/4 t salt
3 eggs
1 c sugar
3/4 c canned pumpkin

1. Preheat oven to 375.  Grease bottoms and sides of two 8 inch round cake pans.  Line bottoms with waxed paper.  In bowl combine flour, spice powder and salt; set aside.
2.  In a second bowl beat eggs and sugar until thick.  Beat in pumpkin.  Add flour mixture; beat just until combined.  Spread cake batter in prepared pans.  Bake 16-18 minutes.  Cool on wire rack 10 minutes.  Remove and cool thoroughly. 
(My layers were pretty thin, so I repeated steps 1&2 to have 4 layers of cake.)

Filling
4 oz cream cheese, softened
1/2 c powdered sugar
1/2 c whipping cream

3.  For filling, whip cream to soft peaks.  In another bowl mix cream cheese and powdered sugar.  Fold in whipped cream. 
(I doubled the filling for 4 layers of cake.)

To assemble cake, place on layer on a serving platter.  Spread cream cheese mixture evenly over bottom cake layer.  Top with second layer of cake.  Spread with c.c. mixture, repeat with 3rd and 4th layers.  Place in fridge while preparing chocolate ganache.

Ganache
1/2 c whipping cream
1 c bittersweet or semisweet chocolate pieces
(I doubled this as well.)

4.  In small saucepan bring whipping cream just to boiling over medium-high heat.  Remove.  Pour over chocolate pieces in medium b owl (do not stir).  Let stand 5 minutes.  Stir until smooth.  Cool 15 minutes.  Spread over top and sides of cake.   

Store loosely covered in the fridge. 

I will conveniently "forget" to include to nutritional content of this cake.  Remember it's fat free as long as you are giving it away.  :)