Thanksgiving Favorites (food & people)

For us, Thanksgiving began on Tuesday this year.  Jack and the other first graders at his school led the Thanksgiving Mass.  And it was one of the most beautiful masses I have ever attended.  Jack was the first speaker as he read a part of  "Thanksgiving Is..." to open the Mass.  All of the readings were done by the first graders, the music was wonderful, and the Archbishop gave a meaningful homily.  Brent and I said over and over that the Mass really set the tone for Thanksgiving.  The first graders were dressed as Pilgrims and the kindergarteners were dressed as the Indians, and after Mass they welcomed the Archbishop in joining them in the annual Thanksgiving feast. 

On Wednesday, we went to my parent's home to celebrate with Gramma, Granddaddy, Mimi, Aunt Karen & Uncle Matt, and Cal & Brady.  This year was dubbed "What is your favorite Thanksgiving dish?" and Mom made sure that it was on the table.  Jack's favorite is the fried turkey and mashed potatoes & gravy.  Will's favorite is the dessert (shocker!).  Mom asked Cal what was his favorite thing to eat for Thanksgiving and he replied "Turkey and Cheese!"  The boy loves him some cheese....he would have been perfectly happy if Mom had set a block of cheese before him as his meal!

Brent's favorite Thanksgiving dish is his grandmother's Pork Stuffing, so he got the recipe from his mom and made it for us for the first time this year.  It was delicious, and we'll probably expect him to make it every year now!

Grandmother and I were Brent's sous chefs, and here is Grandmother (aka Mimi) prepping the celery for the stuffing.

I was chopping onion and celery too, but I was still in my glasses and pajamas and refused to let anyone take my picture.  You're welcome.

And what were the little rugrats doing?

Granddaddy and Will were playing Webkinz.  Poor Granddaddy!

And Jack was enjoying the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.  He watched the entire parade; Jack loves him a parade!

Thanksgiving dinner was fried turkey, cornbread dressing, pork stuffing, mashed potatoes & gravy, sweet potato casserole, cranberry fig relish, green bean bundles, bread pudding, and pumpkin cheesecake. Yum, yum, and yum!

And then a wee bit of activity to burn off the carbs...

A wonderful day of being with family and reflecting on all our many blessings!

And All the Angels Will Sing....

There is nothing that stirs the Spirit in my soul like the Hallelujah Chorus; I always feel like I am getting a little glimpse of what it will be like in Heaven with all of us singing our praises to the Lord together.  And I hope and pray that I will be redeemed with a bea-u-ti-ful voice, because I plan to sing LOUD.  You might not want to stand next to me!

Check out this video of a Flash Mob singing the Hallelujah Chorus.  What a blessing!

Happy Halloween

We have been counting down the last 13 days until Halloween, and the night lived up to the spooky fun we were anticipating!

As per every holiday in our household, Halloween got off to an early start -- before day break.  Jack and Will arrived in our bedroom singing their very own song:  "Spooky, Spooky, Spooky Halloween."  Not only was it a catchy song, but it was being sung by a 7 year old in a pair of skeleton jammies that glowed in the dark.  And boy, were they glowing at 6:15 am this morning in our pitch black bedroom -- quite the effect, let me tell ya!!!!!  As Jack quickly adapted to his new nickname - Skeletor - little brother was demanding to be included in the fun.  So, Brent christened him Smelletor, which the three of us thought was pretty funny!  Will was not amused.  Will had pre-determined that he would be Ghostator (don't even know what the heck that is!!) and was adament that he be renamed.  So, to make a long story short, Skeletor and Ghostator were raring to go early, early, early!

Jack and Will decided long ago what they were going to be...Jack as a Vampire and Will as Buzz Lightyear.  This year Brent and I decided to join in the fun, so Brent became Buzz's sidekick Woody.  Every evil vampire needs a witch, and I fit that bill perfectly!

We had so much fun slicking back Jack's hair and painting his face to transform him into a vampire.  Not wanting to be left out of the makeup fun, Will reminded me that he needed Buzz's swirl on his chin.  I had no idea what he was talking about, so I had to consult the Toy Story DVD case, and sure enough, Buzz has a swirl on his chin!  So we had to make sure that Will was authentic.

As we were heading to our neighborhood's Halloween party, we snapped a couple of quick pictures.

Buzz and the Vampire posing in character

To infinity and beyond....

I vont to suck your blood....

 

 Buzz and Woody.  Notice how Woody strategically posed Buzz right in front of himself!  He was probably worried about a blackmail picture.  Buzz and Woody were a hit at the party.

The vampire and his witch.  What you can't see is that the witch's dress was a bit on the short side, and thus elicited a few cat calls.  So the witch was certain to wear her hat all night so as not to be mistaken for a streetwalker!

Happy Halloween 2010

We went trick-or-treating with our new neighbors, Jack's and Will's new best friends.  The children had the best time running from house to house.  And Will is a little beggar when candy is involved.  All of the other kids would come back from the door with a respectable 1 or 2 pieces of candy, and without fail, Will would come back loaded down with 4-5 pieces.  Buzz knew how to work it!

We came back home when the Halloween buckets were filled to the top and there was absolutely no more room for candy.

And then we had to sample a little bit of our stash...

 

Buzz loves him some candy!

 

The vampire devouring his loot!

The boys were so tired that they were begging to go to bed!  A successful evening...Happy Halloween!

Books, Books, Books

Jack is at such a fun age when it comes to reading.  He is a good reader in his own right, and Brent and I enjoy that he can already add inflection and different character voices as he is reading to us.  But what I have really found exciting is that Jack has subjects that he is interested in learning and reading about.  Right now, he is gravitating toward nonfiction, but I still like to throw in some picture books and poetry books as well.  Last month, he was studying the colonial times in Social Studies and he requested more books on Colonial Life in America.  So I headed to the library and found about six books on kids and life in colonial times.

This month, Jack wanted to learn more about Christopher Columbus because he had the Columbus Day holiday and more about the Titanic.  So off to the library again and this is what I found:

Christopher Columbus: A Great Explorer by Carol Greene (age-appropriate biography)

The Sinking of the Titanic by John Dudman (age-appropriate history of the ship itself, the voyage, the wreck, the following inquiries, and the discovery of the wreckage)

How Does Soda Get into the Bottle by Oz Charles (Jack still talks about his visit to The World of Coke so I thought he would find this interesting)

Cultures Collide: Native Americans and Europeans 1492-1700 by Ann Rossi (detailing life before and after these two cultures met, I thought it would be a good follow-up to his colonial life studies)

Because of Winn-Dixie by Kate DiCamillo (Newberry Honor Book; a chapter book for us to enjoy together)

Cliff Hanger by Jean Craighead George (picture book geared toward older children)

Matthew and Tilly by Rebecca C. Jones (Georgia Book Award picture book)

What a Day It Was at School by Jack Prelutsky (funny poems about different aspects of the school day)

Which Way to Witch School by Scott Santoro (a fun Halloween book)

Of course, I always check out a selection of picture books for Will, too.  But what I have noticed is that Will tends to prefer familiar books, those that we have read and read and read again.  So at bedtime, I'll let him choose a book from his bookshelf and then I will select one of his library books to read, too.  It's all about exposure!

And to see what I have read, am reading, or will read next, check out My Library.

What are your children reading?  What are you reading?

Weekend Wrap-up

We have had a fun, busy weekend.  It got off to a great start with a strawberry margarita and enchiladas with mole sauce.  Am I the last one to know about enchiladas with mole sauce?  My new favorite Mexican dish because it is DELICIOUS!!

Saturday morning we were able to sleep in, which is always a bonus, before Jack's soccer game.  The Blue Tornadoes pulled out another win and celebrated with Slushies and candy from the concession stand!  We came home and watched the Arkansas v Auburn game (Auburn looks good) while the boys played with our neighbors.  A new family has moved in next door and they have 4 children.  They are a wonderful family and a God-send; our children love to play together so Elizabeth and I just keep our back doors open and listen as they go from one back yard to the other playing, exploring, running and laughing.  I am thrilled that they are spending so much time outside playing the way I did when I was a child.

Saturday night, we went over to our friend's home for a football party.  Everybody brought something to share and we had what looked like a Thanksgiving spread....wings, meatballs, pulled pork sandwiches, wraps, buffalo chicken dip, hummus, olive tapenade, chips and dip, and candy-coated pretzels, cookies, brownies, and s'mores.  We were full as ticks and were taking bets on which kid would be the first to throw up!  We were watching the South Carolina v Kentucky game with some of our friends who are SC alumni.  One of their sons was running around with a SC helmet on, and Kris kept apologizing to me.  No need to apologize to me because I understand that kind of passion!  The party lasted till the Alabama kickoff and then everyone had to get home to put the children to bed.  I stayed up to cheer on the Tide, because you can never be too confident these days.  And we need a bye week soon...our poor guys are the walking wounded out there.

A couple of weeks ago, we bought some Porterhouse steaks from the local butcher, and that was the best steak I have ever put in my mouth.  I am not really a steak person, but these were so juicy and had the best flavor.  Our Jack was all over that steak bone.  This past week Brent and I were planning what we wanted to cook this weekend and I had been craving the Herb and Garlic Lamb Loin Chops, so we went back to the butcher for the loin chops.  Once again, we were not disappointed, they were delicious.  You pay a bit more for the meat but it is restaurant-quality, much better than the cuts you can find in the grocery stores.   

We had the Loin Chops with Dill New Potatoes and Prosciutto Wrapped Asparagus.  On his second serving of lamb, Will declared it the "best meat ever!", which is completely unheard of from Will, so I have to share the recipe.

Herb and Garlic Lamb Loin Chops

• 4 lamb loin chops (be sure to get the loin chops over the regular lamb chops)
• 1/4 c olive oil
• 1 Tbsp fresh thyme, chopped
• 1 Tbsp fresh basil, chopped
• 2 tsp fresh rosemary, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• zest of 1 lemon
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp black pepper

Combine olive oil, thyme, basil, rosemary, garlic, lemon zest, salt and pepper in a bowl.  Spoon marinade over chops, coating both sides evenly.  Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.  Preheat the grill.  Place lamb chops on grill over a medium high heat.  Grill about 5 minutes per side.  Chops should be brown on both sides.

Prosciutto Wrapped Asparagus

• 1 pound this asparagus, ends trimmed
• 3 oz prosciutto
• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 tsp lemon juice
• salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Line a baking sheet with foil and set aside.  Cut prosciutto slices lengthwise into 2 thin strips.  Gather 3 to 4 asparagus spears and carefully wrap prosciutto around asparagus bundle.  Continue until all ingredients are used.  Place asparagus bundles on baking sheet.  In a small bowl, whisk together olive oil and lemon juice.  Drizzle over asparagus.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.  Roast in oven for 8 to 10 minutes.

 

 

Cream Cheese is the Culinary Salve

The only redeeming thing from yesterday's football fiasco is that I made a really great dip!  So in my attempt to lose with humility (ha!), I won't discuss Alabama's loss, but I will share the fantastic recipe.

It is Jalapeno Popper Dip, a spin on that wonderful appetizer of jalapeno peppers stuffed with a cream cheese mixture and then battered and deep fried.  It is so yummy!

Jalapeno Popper Dip

• 2 (8 oz) packages of cream cheese, room temp
• 1 cup mayonnaise
• 1 cup shredded Mexican blend cheese
• 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
• 4 oz can chopped green chilis
• 4 oz can sliced jalapenos

• 1 cup panko bread crumbs
• 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
• 1/2 stick butter, melted

In a food processor, add the first 6 ingredients and process until smooth.  You do not need to drain either can of peppers.  Spread the dip into a greased 2 quart casserole dish.  In a bowl, mix bread crumbs and the other 1/2 cup of Parmesan cheese.  Pour melted butter over the top of the crumb mixture and mix well.  Sprinkle crumb mixture evenly over the dip and bake in a 375 oven for about 20 minutes.  You want the top to get browned and the dip to be heated through and bubble gently on the edges.  Do not over heat this dish or the mayonnaise will separate and you will have a grease puddle in your dip.  Serve with buttery crackers or a sliced French baguette.  Serves 8-10.

A Little Laugh for Thursday

Have you ever heard of Tim Hawkins?  I hadn't until I stumbled upon these You Tube videos, and he has some really funny parodies.  You Tube is such a gem...and a time waster!  Hope you enjoy.

Things You Don't Say to Your Wife

Imagine

Chick fil A