Dinner

Yes, I have been cooking. Some dishes I have cooked well. There were some enchiladas in there somewhere. Today was very enlightening though. I made some pork chops that were cooked well, tasted well and the boys thought they were great. They were however done before the rest of the side dishes so they were a few minutes overcooked. Not dry per say but not tender. I mastered the art of standing facing the fridge and using the 'last of' a couple of things. Seared in a cast iron skillet, turned down the heat, added garlic and poured in the last of the orange juice. turned down the heat, covered and simmered. My challenge was with the Alfredo sauce that covered the pasta. Wasn't getting cooked fast enough so I turned it on high and whisked it until it was thick and bubbly. When pouring it over the pasta I found I had burned the bottom of the pan. UGH! Stove you VEX ME!
Thoughts during the experience:
-Pickled ginger goes bad?
-Note to self, check the pickles in the garage fridge
-Is that too much oil?
-Turn the heat down so they don't dry out
-Shoot the chops are done but the sauce isn't
-They wouldn't put 10 as an option if it wasn't necessary right?
-Whisk constantly
-WHY is there a HIGH feature if you aren't supposed to use it!!!!

Best result? RJ, 'This dinner is great mom.' Yes, he will be a great husband someday.

Biscuits #1

Like pickles this is a commitment for Phillip. He loves them. I started with the basic recipe found in the Better Homes & Gardens cook book. The red and white checked one. This is my go to book. It's the one that my grandmother, Muzzy got for me when I got married. All the women in my family have one and we even compare the changes that have happened over the years. Yes the original one still has the best pie filling recipes.

So biscuits. These were my thoughts while reading the recipe and attempting to follow them to the letter(ish).
10,10,10
Is the baking powder expired?
Alum & cream of tartar shouldn't be on the same shelf.
10 isn't very many
Don't answer the phone!
Is microwaving butter bad?
Does cream of tartar expire? 2 5/8 is closer to 2 1/2 then 2 1/4 They don't all fit! There are more then 10
Measuring the thickness of the dough is KEY
What do you do about leftover dough?
Using an oven light is rather deceptive
How much time do you add after opening the door?

YEAH, Success! Here are the pics. They were edible. Bland but edible.
I learned that I need a better way of gauging how thick something is besides my finger (the space from knuckle to knuckle on my pointer finger is one inch). Fresh ingredients are important, so is checking in advance that you have everything you need. You can microwave butter from frozen but only just a little bit. And I will move the alum to another shelf.
Also, biscuits are in my opinion, a vehicle for spreads AND should be served warm. Thankfully I have an abundance of spread choices from my preserves this summer. Including the softened butter and honey from the farm we were set. I was successful in getting flaky layers on the ones that were cooked all the way through (note the comments about opening the oven door).

What I really learned was that you really need to have uninterrupted time to cook. Phone calls, children's needs, TV shows, FB; really are a bit of a distraction. But given good planning I think that cooking is do-able. It became abundantly clear that I need to plan for cooking; recipes, ingredients, time etc. This is where the kicker is. I like to plan many things in my life, not as much as the other members in my family prefer and obviously not nearly enough for cooking either. So here we are week one and the growth that I realize I need in order to be successful cooking is not what I thought at all.

This is going to be harder than I thought.

New Year Commitment

Aside from the typical New Year Resolutions that are still on the list from last year: loose weight for more than 6 months; be a better wife/mom/friend/fill in the blank; save money (you get the picture). I decided to make a commitment instead. I am going to become a better cook. Oh stop the laughing right now! I mean it. I know that there have been, how shall we say it, incidents? I can safely say that I haven't hurt anyone with my cooking. And yes, I know it is because I won't let people eat it when it is that bad; i.e. flame throwing chicken. I would like to be able to cook better consistently.

So, I need a plan. Surprise! So here are my thoughts...
-Julia Child's book(s)? WAY to big of a book, not enough pictures.
-A new recipe a day? Uh, yeah no.
-Master a few things? Reasonable.
-A new recipe a week? Well, we'll see.

I decided then to have a more organic experience with reasonable expectations. For now.
I will commit to at least one new recipe a week AND master a few things regardless of how many times it takes.

This begs the question, what to master? Well, I have mastered a few things over the years, and by mastered I mean cook consistently well...
-Chili
-Chicken enchiladas
-Cranberry chicken
-Pineapple meatballs
-Brownies
-7 layer dip
-French toast casserole
-Roasted vegetables
Aaannnd I think that is it.
I can cook relatively decently although not consistently...
-Marmalade roasted chicken
-Mac & Cheese (yes, the kind from the box)
-Pesto lasagna
If you count preserves I can include in this category pickles & assorted jams.

I do want to cook biscuits well. Fish would be most excellent. Asparagus for sure. So those are totally on my goal sheet.

Now since this is Heather taking this on, you know this will be hysterical. So I also commit to sharing the journey. But only if you help. I will post my exploits...flaming chicken and all, if you give me recipes. I will try those that I think I can execute with safety in mind and my children's selective palate. I will also share pictures so that you can really enjoy the ride.

To mark my progress I would LOVE you to share your exploits of my cooking. I know there are some great ones out there. You can email them, post them on Facebook or I think you can leave posts here too.

So to start things off I will try to post the picture of the flame throwing chicken so you can enjoy the 'Best Of'.

New Girl Penny

Okay, the super short of it...

We got a new puppy!!!!!!!!!!!

Penny is Phillip's Fathers Day present. She is an English Bulldog. She is 5 months old. She is the joy of the family since losing Hammie.

Yes, Hammie passed away this spring. It was very hard but he was 11 years old. We missed him desperately and knew that we had to go in a different direction with breed. So Phillip got his dream dog.

Enjoy the photos!

Aaaaagggghhhhh

I am a bad, bad girl. I haven't been on this since August!?!

I promise. I got my camera fixed and will be better. Tomorrow. For now, well, it just is how it is. You all know me well.

U.S. Citizen

Well, leave it to the Federal Government to generally mess things up and make life complicated. In applying for my passport (since you need one now to renew your driver license and do everything but sneeze) I learned that I was not a legal citizen of the U.S. And due to the luck of all things that are Heather, I was neither one of Canada where I was born. Mercy! In all the law changes, rule changes, form changes; my changes (birth that is) were misplaced. And since 9/11 I now had to go through Homeland Security and prove why I deserved such an honor.

Needless to say, it has taken time, money and a sense of humor. I must say that it was easier then I imagined; there was only one form to complete and only 10 pieces of "authorized, notarized copies". It took less time then expected; only 6 months, not the 18 months I was told. It was not free.

I was given the privilege of being sworn in as a Citizen of the U.S.A. on Monday, August 31st at 8am. I was a very excited girl. I am still giggly about it really. I know, ask anyone else it was rather silly- I had to promise to bare arms if required by law and all, but I enjoyed the moment. Waiting an hour and a half to raise my hand for five was less then thrilling for the boys but how often do you get to experience something like this.

I was the only Caucasian. They mispronounced my name twice, in two different ways. I was the only one who spoke only one language. I had the largest cheering section and I DID NOT nod off like the teen at the end of the line;)

Here are the photos!

"I Swear"

Boys killin' time

Signing my name on EVERYTHING

Happy Girl

Me and my Certificate

Camping Trip

They were standing on a sign that said "Keep Off"

I took the boys camping last week. Since Phillip so eloquently puts it, "God did not intend for me to camp", it was just the three of us. Oh and the cousins. We spent two nights at Barview Jetty just outside of Tillamook. It only sprinkled one night so it was an odd trip, usually we get rained out! The big boys slept in a tent by themselves and fell asleep reading comics and talking. I was fiercely strict and insisted that the children be allowed to run in and out of the tents and jump on the air mattress, without shoes of course. I am not a neanderthal.

We spent three hours at the Air Museum and finally left because Kate and I couldn't take another minute. Who knew! We went to the cheese factory; enjoying the show, the samples and eventually ice cream. There were campfires and s'mores. Hot dogs and lots and lots of candy and grape soda. No showers, peeing in the bushes (the boys!) and the train. There was a Weather Rock in town. Note the sign, "Weather Forcast:ie rock is.......wet it is raining...white it is snowing...moving it is windy."

It was nice to get out of the office, away from town and to do something just the boys and I. The only bummer was that the Coast Guard said to stay out of the water because there were sharks close to the beach. Seriously? I have to say I was miffed because it was the first time I had gotten to the beach all summer and playing in the surf is one of the highlights for me. Maybe next time;)