andrew's poem

Andrew chose and memorized this poem for school.

The Sure-Footed Shoe Finder
By Andrea Perry

How many times has this happened to you?
You’re late for the school bus and can’t find a shoe.
It might take you hours unless you have got
The sure-footed shoe-finder there on the spot

Just lift up the lever and open the gate,
Then toss in the shoe that’s missing it’s mate
With a beep and a clang and a stagger and lurch,
The shoe finder’s off on it’s shoe finding search.

The powerful foot-odor sensitive vent
Tracks down your sneaker by matching it’s scent
And mere seconds later the shoe is retrieved
You won’t miss the school bus,
Now aren’t you relieved?

Most of our customer’s happy to choose
Our standard shoe model for footwear they lose,
Although the new Jumbo shoe-finder can trace
even those snowboots you children misplace!


Did you know that you can buy cd playing shoes?
How about a shoe table?
and here's a shoe you can ride in.
While looking at shoes I found this strange 'viper' made from keyboards.

lemon ice-box cookies

These are the lemon icebox cookies that I spent 3 weeks hunting the ingredients for. The cookbook, said these were very easy and they were IF you could find the ingredients.
Pistachios, already unshelled so that I would use them only looked in 3 stores..
A specific cookie; that I found finally on the internet, I could purchase a case of them but that seems excessive even for me. Especially since I have never tasted them and I'm supposed to be dieting so I compromised with these almond cookies.
a specific lemon curd, found in the third grocery store the first week. And finally creme freche, an ingredient unknown to any grocery store around here. I looked it up on the internet and THEY (the very popular and all-knowing they) said that I could find it in FRANCE! So I made my own; heavy cream with 2 T. buttermilk and made like yogurt. So I thought I had ALL the ingredients and went to make it and I was missing the one simple, easy to find ingredient, a lemon. So 2 days laterI finally got my act together and it only took 3 weeks. EASY and YUMMY!

(Of course one of the kids didn't like them!)

andrew's 11

I was sick last Monday, so I went to bed and the 3 'boys' did the candles on the 'cake'. Can you tell we ran out of candles? So they made do and he will probably remember this birthday more than others since something different happened. I had planned on making his favorite black-bottomed cupcakes but he LOVES cheesecake and it was the easy way to go...maybe this will be a new tradition for us. He didn't seem to care that I hadn't made the cupcakes.

wedding

We lived in a town about 45 minutes from our present home for 17 years. During that time we made good friends with the Bywaters; they had kids about the same age as ours and we traded babysitting and playdates and attended each others birthday parties. We spent almost every Thanksgiving together and many Christmases since neither of us had any family nearby.

At Christmas time we learned that their oldest, Eddie, was getting married, I toyed with the idea of flying to Hong Kong (they live in Singapore now) since I thought they would be getting married there but I decided that that would be too much and too far to go. Then we found out the wedding would be in the Salt Lake City Temple and I still decided that in the wedding hoppla I wouldn't even get to visit with Mary. Tuesday Elizabeth received her invitation and let me know that she was going to try to go (she lives 4 hours away). When I started to cry I realized that I really wanted to go...so I am.

So strange that I can actually leave my kids for 2 1/2 days.

Then Liz and Carter are coming here for a week. So lovely.

Now, What do you get for a wedding present for someone that will have to transport it thousands of miles?

austin paul update

I tried to concentrate on quilting last weekend. I knew Saturday would involve baking so I spent Friday sewing on the borders of Austin's quilt. Then I started pulling fabric for Liz's wedding quilt.
Then since I didn't do much on Sunday I worked on my bird exchange and another Hawaiian quilt...this time a baby size.

the best brownies

Saturday was our pack's cake auction; I cooked most of the day except when I was resting so I could cook some more. Andrew made the best ever brownies; Chocolate Chip-Brownie Double- Deckers. The recipe is from 'The Best American Recipes 2005-2006' they got the recipe from "The Weekend Baker" by Abigail Dodge. A thin brownie with a layer of chocolate chip cookies on top, probably the best brownie I have ever had....
I also made from the same cookbook Raspberry Walnut Brownies; pretty good but I think I overcooked them a bit so I SHOULD make them again just to be fair.
I also made 2 recipes from the 2003-2004 edition; Cornmeal cupcakes with Pecan frosting-so very good I will definitely make these again BUT I will never use the silicon cupcake liners I bought instead of paper again. I thought the cupcakes would come out and still be pretty, but unfortunately they wouldn't so we had to keep them at home. It was SO SAD we had to eat the ugly cupcakes; I'm sure y'all feel sorry for us. I also made Gingerbread-Cider Cake. The purchaser let me have an inch to taste and that will be a holiday treat for 3 of us from now on.
Finally I made Mayan Mystery Cookies from the 2001-2002 book. The secret ingredient is 1/2 teaspoon pepper and 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper; without the spices I think we would have had a winner cookie with the spices it makes for an interesting twist and is still a good cookie.

No recipes since I've given enough of this cookbook away and don't want the authors to sue; so do a search and buy them for yourself. I hope you have as much fun as I do trying new recipes.

I still need to take pictures of the 'quilting' I did for the quiltathon...
But since today is Webelos I'll have to put it off again.

waiting

Why is it that when you are waiting for someone...(a dryer repairman) You can't really get into a job? My dryer has been out due to a faulty door latch for 4 weeks! I really drug my feet getting a repairman. Now I've had to sit ane wait for him 2 full afternoons. They said after 1 and it wasn't until 4:30 on Monday. Today it's after 1 again so I wonder if it will be after 4 really.

Monday I had my Pilates Reformer class with just me and the teacher. We learned that my left leg is substantially weaker than the right. (I have arthritis in the left hip and knee) I do a great job of compensating when using both legs. We did individual exercises for each leg and today I did the leg presses with one leg at a time. Only 50 lbs on each leg cause the left couldn't handle any more. So how long will it take to strengthen it?

The new computer is fabulous. Things load so much faster, the mouse doesn't get bogged down. I even watched a short video; I had quit watching any since it took so long.

I started with a weight loss coach yesterday. I decided that i needed to loose 5 lbs a month... I've done it before surely I can do it again.

blasted broccoli

Hold onto your belt! I sort of fibbed when I mentioned that I'd ordered another cookbook; The Best American Recipes. I didn't order 1 I ordered 5. What was I thinking? I now know not to order anything at midnight, wait until the next day, you may be saner. They were cheap; $1.99-$7.00 but with shipping from 3 different used bookstores it was $35.00 worth of waistline madness. I can justify it only if I try ALOT of recipes in the next little while; and if I stick to the salads and chicken recipes.
I was surprised to find our all-time favorite recipe in the issue 2001-2002; 'blasted broccoli' we have that about 2 times a week and I'd forgotten where I'd gotten the recipe. We all love broccoli fixed this way. I've adapted the recipe over the years and simply do this;

BLASTED BROCCOLI
preheat oven to broil, move rack to highest position
put broccoli florets on cookie sheet
broil until the tips are brown, almost 10 minutes
Serve
the boys add salt
I add salt and balsamic vinegar
Roger adds 'no salt', pepper and balsamic vinegar

the original has you salt it and olive oil it before cooking.

Yesterday I made a 'pepper salad' actually I would call it a side dish, but they called it a salad.

Pepper Salad
cut a pepper in half (I used red, yellow and gold bell peppers)
clean it out, add a couple of slices of garlic, a wedge of tomato, diced anchovies, some olive oil, tiny pat of butter, salt and pepper. bake at 350 for 30 minutes.
Very easy, very good.
And yes I put the anchovies in, I actually had some leftover from another recipe and that's why I decided to try this one; to make my refrigerator an anchovy-free zone once again.

pioneer flannel

While in Idaho last month I visited a crafts store and found 'Mormon' flannel! Who knew? This is the one that Melissa picked out for one of her baby's blankets. Mom wanted to see it...and if she likes it Liz will be commissioned to get her some. I tried a different technique to get the holes ready, it worked but not perfectly, the holes were too far apart but the crocheting filled it in. I used a wing needle and a star design that goes into the center hole over and over. Here I've gone around it twice and I might do a scallop border if I go around again..
The back is a blue and white polka dot.

austin's quilt

Considering that the baby is not due until June I'm doing pretty good. I got the top of Austin's quilt done; it still needs a border but I like it. I hope he forgives me for the kitty with a pink bow; it is on a blue background though. The kitty fabric is also a scrap from the baby's great-great-grandma's fabric. There are 4 scraps from thrift store shirts that I bought just for the plaids to put in Brian's quilt. I bought 2 Chinese fabrics...well I should say oriental writing fabric since I can't tell Chinese writing from Japanese. I went into this trying to make a red, white, and blue-not patriotic and little bit Chinese baby quilt...and use mostly scraps; I think it fits the bill. The red blocks are what I call relaxed log cabin; I pull any size scrap from my scrap box and try to use it so the block is a bit skiwampus (is that a word?) and is then trimmed to the right size. The letters are made in a similar fashion, log cabinish. I've seen these letters made all over the web; here and here .
(Austin is Melissa and Eric's baby.)

poisonous snakes in texas

Last night was Webelos (9 and 10 year old cub scouts) I am the leader and they meet in my home. I pondered fixing what a poisonous snake looks like in their minds and decided that they should make snake cookies and frost them like a coral snake, (they are found in this area). They already knew the rhyme ; 'red on yellow kill a fellow, red on black venom lack'. (Although there is a 'red on black' snake in Central America that is venomous.)
After dying the frosting the red, yellow, and black I read about the snake... I should have dyed the frosting brown so they could have frosted a cottonmouth, copperhead, or rattlesnake since they are more dangerous than the coral, and more likely to be encountered. Although the coral is poisonous it has a very small mouth and very small teeth. To get enough venom to hurt you it would have to chew on you for awhile. I can't see that happening.
Anyway the boys enjoyed making, baking, frosting, and eating their snakes.

And I only had a small bite of Andrew's, I don't have much trouble staying away from sugar cookies. If it had been a chocolate chipper I couldn't have resisted.

deviled eggs

During much of my life I did not fix deviled eggs. I LOVE deviled eggs and decided that I will fix them even though the children do not like them. So I bought this tray for them at our local re-sale shop. The next pot luck I will fix and eat deviled eggs. I even considered finding tiny eggs and fixing them for the girls weddings but they need to be done right before the party and so not a good choice for a wedding reception. But I found a recipe I would have used.

PARSI DEVILED EGGS
San Francisco food writer Patricia Unterman calls Bay Area culinary expert Niloufer lchaporia King "one of the best cooks on the planet." Certainly her deviled eggs are the most addictive we've yet tasted on this planet, and you wouldn't easily guess the unlikely secret ingredient: honey. In India, this Parsi recipe, from Bombay, is called Italian Eggs, for reasons no one can begin to explain
The Best American Recipes 1999 by Fran McCullough and Suzanne Hamlin.

6 large eggs, hard-cooked
1 ½ teaspoons fresh lime juice, or more to taste
1 teaspoon honey
¼ teaspoon salt, or more to taste
½ jalopeno chile, seeded and minced
1 tablespoon minced fresh cilantro
1 tablespoon unsalted butter, softened
¼ cup mayonnaise

Shell the eggs, cut them lengthwise in half, and put the egg yolks in a small bowl. Set the egg whites aside. Add all of the remaining ingredients except the mayonnaise to the yolks, mashing well with a fork. Be sure the honey is well distributed. Stir in the mayonnaise and taste for lime and salt.

Spoon the egg yolk mixture into the egg whites and let sit for 2 hours, or overnight, in the refrigerator. Bring to room temperature before serving. (Notice where the recipe came from; another recipe from The Best American Recipes!)


Another crystal dish found at the resale shop; a good reason to keep the kitchen table cleaned off.



The following is an attempt I made to recreat a dish Melissa had in Logan on her way to visit us in Idaho.

Pasta
chicken
pesto
onions
garlic
mushrooms
dried tomato pesto sauce
parmesan cheese
no pine nuts (the original had pine nuts)
Andrew actually ate the mushrooms in this and said they weren't so bad.

Oh, so good.