Just when you think it's over.....

Philippians 4:7New King James Version (NKJV)

7 and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

We had a great Christmas, John and I quietly celebrated our 25th anniversary and we rang in 2015 in traditional fashion with a Twilight Zone marathon. Everyone was doing well and I was feeling great all things considered. My hair even stopped falling out from the combination of Vancomycin and Invanz that I had just finished taking by IV for six weeks.  On January 2nd, my best friend and I hit some thrift stores in Plant City, FL. I found an antique Tom and Jerry set for 3.00 at the first shop (I've wanted one for a long time) and we headed downtown to walk around some antique stores.

We were having a great time when I was hit with a sudden feeling that reminded me of getting the flu.   By the time we made it home, I crawled into bed and didn't get up much for a few days. Even though I had had a flu vaccination, it was apparently not the best match this year and my immune system was taxed.  My fever continued, I had body aches and a headache but nothing else. The next week we had our first cold snap of the season and my back was really achy. I emailed my surgeon's wonderful assistant to ask her if there was something that I should do or take seeing as this was my first experience with cold weather since my lumbar fusion surgery.  She emailed me back in about two minutes with the question "Have you been running any fever lately?"  Oh my goodness. I hadn't thought for one minute that there could be a connection with my previous spinal infection.

In the next few days I saw my surgeon (who later said that my eyes were sunken in and I looked so horrible that I scared him), my infectious disease doctors, had an X-ray, many blood tests and an MRI.   I was home alone when I got a phone call from one of my doctors letting me know that I had a large abscess in my spine and would be admitted that night for a procedure in the morning.  Not going to lie, I lost it. I sobbed and didn't stop. My poor son was the first one home and just held me while I cried. How could this be happening again? I called John who was on his way back from Gainesville because it was treatment day for our daughter.  Family came over, friends came over to hug me and pray with me, I took a really long hot shower and was tucked in at the hospital by my midnight deadline.  I wasn't happy about this but had just started experiencing the familiar infection related back pain so I was ready for whatever happened next.

My surgeon explained that I didn't have a simple round abscess in my back, it was pocketed (like a cluster of grapes).  They were going to try a procedure to drain it without surgery but weren't optimistic because of the nature of the infection.  If they couldn't drain it sufficiently, I would be having surgery again.  So they used a CT scan to decide where to place a catheter, numbed my back and drained out 90 ccs of gunk. I was awake for it all and saw everything. The procedure was quite effective, they started me on the same antibiotics again and my labs and vitals immediately started improving.  They left me with a drain which I would have for another two weeks. On my first night, my drain stopped working entirely for several hours.  I was so discouraged. God and I had a very long talk and I let Him have this situation. All of it. He gave me this incredible peace and I truly felt His presence. 

Things continued to improve. I survived the weirdest roommate situation ever which left me and the environmental services department of the hospital with serious issues. She liked perfume, was happy to "have the privacy to rub her naked body with oil", and cleaned the entire room by herself before she would lay down in bed.  On the second day, the perfumy smell was so overpowering that I ended up camped out at the end of the hallway waiting for a transfer to another room. I spent a couple more nights in unscented bliss and headed home with a shiny new PICC line and three more months of IV antibiotics ahead of me.  I had dodged the surgery bullet and was really optimistic that things were going to start getting normal again.

With the exception of the twice daily IVs, not being able to shower, and my hair falling out, things have been great. I have more good days than bad and I'm adjusting to my physical limitations. At this point I only have a couple more weeks of treatment left so my PICC line will be gone and life will get a whole lot simpler.....for a while.  Unfortunately, the hardware from my fusion was encased in my most recent infection.  Apparently once it's there, I will be carrying around nasty bacteria until my hardware is gone. That means that I will need to stay on antibiotics forever or until I have surgery again to remove that hardware.

That means surgery is coming again. Probably in May, probably followed by months on a wound-vac and who knows what else. The good news is that I'm at peace with whatever we need to do to put this baby to bed. I'm really okay with it.In the meantime, once my PICC is out and I'm allowed a little more physical activity, I'm going to have fun. I want to go dancing and to the beach and ride my bike and take a shower. Lots of showers. I'm taking a road trip with my girls and going out with John on his boat. It's funny, but I feel the need to squeeze as much as I can into the month or so that I will have before surgery, so that's what I'm going to do. 

When your spine turns on you...

Well, this has been a fun six months. Maybe not much fun, but I've learned a lot about myself and the people that I love most. The first week in September was pretty great. We spent a lovely afternoon and evening at the Magic Kingdom, I went to a fabulous estate sale and we were all doing well.  Then my spine decided that I had abused it for too long and it was done with me.

I was ironing lovely vintage handkerchiefs from the estate sale and my left leg decided to stop working. So much excruciating pain that I couldn't bear any weight on it. Long story short, over the next few weeks we found out that I had a slipped vertebrae (spondylolisthesis) and three bad disks. One that even decided to blow itself out and into my nerve canal.  I was using crutches, then an electric scooter to get from room to room in our house. I've been under the care of an amazing chiropractor for 10 years so he was my first choice in treatment. No relief there so then I tried physical therapy and finally a steroid injection.  Nothing helped and I had lost most of my mobility. The pain was about as bad as I can recall ever having.  It became very clear that surgery was my only option.

On Halloween, bright and early in the morning, I had surgery to scrape out the worst disk, fuse my spine with bone grafts and a metal cage, and try to align it a little better where my vertebrae had slipped, causing it to be unstable.  I was very much prayed up, had great confidence in my surgeon, had my foxy post fusion brace and was ready to go.  Everything went amazingly well. I woke up in less pain than I started with. My nerve pain was GONE. The recovery was easier than I had expected. Really, less painful too. I spent five days in the hospital and went home.  I was great but almost immediately my incision started draining. First a little, then a lot. I started running a fever and my incision started hurting and my back felt puffy. Ten days after my first surgery, I was having emergency surgery to remove infected tissue from my back.

The good thing about my second surgery is that I was already pretty mobile. I could get out of bed by myself (still using a walker a bit), I could stand up easier and had adjusted to some of the limitations after fusion surgery. The not so great thing was that I would now be dealing with a PICC line for IV antibiotics at home for six weeks. They identified five different strains of bacteria that were living in my back, and they were all quite nasty. I also ended up with another draining seroma which required a wound vac and eventually daily trips for hyperbaric therapy.

By Christmas Eve I was done with all of my treatment. I got to take a glorious shower, boxed up all my old medical supplies and slammed that chapter of my life shut. I was still wearing the brace, still had many limitations but I was done with that part of my recovery and so thankful.

During that time I learned so many lessons. First, how fragile life can be and how we can't take anyone for granted.  One Monday morning my visiting nurse was late. He was never late. I texted him a few times then left a voice mail.  A few minutes later another nurse called for our gate code. I thought maybe my regular nurse was held up chasing one of his cows down (that happened before) and so they sent someone else. That wasn't the case. My young, healthy, kind and caring nurse passed away. He was a husband, father and man of faith. We grew up in the same area of town and we attended the same church at different times. He loved his family and was so proud of them. It just happened so fast, and he was in heaven.

I also learned what it is like to be totally helpless.  Laying in bed trying to hold it so that I didn't have to wake up my husband again to take me to the bathroom, not being able to even roll over or take care of my own basic needs. That broke my heart for people that live that way without any hope of regaining mobility. During this time I saw my husband live out the "in sickness" part of our wedding vows. There was no limit to what he would do for me. He didn't lose patience once. He built me a platform to make it easier to get into bed, another to help me get into the car, completely managed my treatment and did everything he could to make my life better.  I was not in this alone. Our children, parents, family and friends were so there for me. God has blessed me beyond anything that I could have asked for.

Apparently, my back has been a torn up mess for quite a while and this could have happened a long time ago. It could have happened when we had little babies, when we lived two thousand miles away from family, when John was in the USMC and deployed but it didn't. While there is never really a great time to go through a medical crisis, this was the best of times for it to happen for me. Our kids are adults, we live in our hometown surrounded by our family and John works from home. God blessed me with a great time to go through this. That might sound odd but it's the truth.

This wasn't the end of the saga of my torn up spine. It's pretty much the half way point.

Homemade Deodorant SUCCESS!!!!!

Okay, so everyone has seen all the posts on Facebook about how dangerous most commercially made antiperspirant/deodorants can be. I've always just assumed the risk because I don't want to be all sweaty and stinky. After my sister and sister-in-law had great success with making their own, I decided to give it a whirl. It was the simplest thing to make and everything I needed was already in my kitchen.

Here is the recipe that I used:

1/3 c. Cornstarch

1/3 c. Coconut Oil (I like Tropical Traditions)

1/4 c. Baking Soda

a few drops of essential oil, I used tea tree and grapefruit

I measured everything into a glass bowl and used my pastry cutter to mix it all together. Then I scraped it into a little glass jar to keep in the bathroom.

There is a shadow in the photo above, but I wanted to show the consistency with the spoon. It is staying pretty thick even though our air conditioner is set to 80 degrees and coconut oil is usually liquid at that temperature.  My oldest daughter is using it too (and loves it) so I split it with her.

So here's the nitty gritty stuff that no one tells you.  I spread it on with my fingers, not enough that it is visible but enough to cover. Don't rub it in too hard because the baking soda can irritate. Don't apply right after shaving for the same reason, wait a few hours.  I have literally rubbed my finger in my underarm to see if I could smell anything on them at all and NOTHING. I also ran tons of errands and went to both Costco and Sam's between 12 and 2 and thought for sure that I would have visible sweat spots and nothing there either. I line dry all of our laundry and am outside for a decent chunk of time, still nothing. I am completely impressed. Completely. Make it, try it. Let me know what you think.

When your baby turns 18...

    It's probably not the easiest thing to be the youngest child and the only boy.  I absolutely cherish the first glimpses of the man he is becoming but he will always be my baby. As our children became older, we only had big parties when they hit certain milestones like turning 13. Baby boy was turning 18 so it was time for something special to celebrate.   I'm not sure where the idea came from, but it seemed that no one could give him a better send off than his old friends Buzz and Woody. He was going to be gone to his Youth in Government State Assembly the three days before the party so I decided to keep the theme a secret and let him be surprised when he came home the night before the party.

   Maybe it's because he is the baby, but I saved a lot more of his childhood toys than I did his sisters'.  Lucky for me, I saved every Toy Story toy that the boy ever had.  This made it very easy to start planning decorations.  I used them in several areas.

Buzz Lightyears were perfect to hang up high from fishing line

Some of his favorites greeted friends in the entryway along with a page from his scrapbook we took at Disney with his Toy Story friends.

    Then I started thinking about the Little Green Men. We had to incorporate them.  So I cut white card stock into strips and hot glued the little soldiers onto the strips. Then I could use the strips  anywhere I chose.   For some reason, I couldn't find any on parachutes, and we HAD to have some hanging on parachutes.  White Dollar Tree plastic tablecloths cut into circles with the little soldiers tied to them with dental floss is what I decided to use.  They ended up being my favorite decorations of the night.

If you look closely you can find them in all sorts of places.

   We had to have party favors and I found these amazing Toy Story Pez Dispensers and ordered two boxes.  Then I decorated another area with more old toys and red bandanas for them to wait to be handed out.  By the way red bandanas are SO handy to have. I've used them for Independence Day and assorted other occasions in decorating.

FYI, the Pez Dispensers had random quantities of characters but I'm happy to report that everyone that wanted a Jessie got one.

    Because I couldn't leave well enough alone, we HAD to have a photo booth.  This was so much fun to put together. I used Dollar Tree plastic tablecloths again. The background was pale blue and I taped it with clouds cut from paper to make it look like Andy's room.  Then I used darker blue tablecloths to make the curtains.

There were Woody and Jessie hats, a Buzz Lightyear mask and assorted props for my son and his friends to use.

The Boy and Buddy the Boxer had their photos taken with the Etch A Sketch frame that I made from red poster board, foam board and a little gold paint.

At the end of the night, I'm pretty sure that I had the most fun of all. It was so much fun getting ready for this party. I've loved every minute of being this boy's mom. He is loves his family, is a hard worker, has an incredible sense of humor and the kindest heart. Believe it or not, throwing this party helped me start letting go of the little boy so that I could appreciate the grown man.  It was the first of the "lasts" that were soon to come with it also being his senior year of high school.  Later that night, when only a few of his friends were left, they decided to make a video. This was the "thing" when he turned 18 and it seemed the perfect way to end the evening.  The one in the Batman underpants belongs to me and I couldn't be prouder.

Ancestry.com DNA House Party Fun!

 

   Today we had an extra special House Party at our house. If you've never heard of House Party, you should definitely check them out. I've had the opportunity to host several over the years and have really enjoyed sharing products that I love. Today was no exception.  I had the amazing opportunity to participate in Ancestry.com DNA's testing service. Their technology is a great tool to enhance your family history project or connect with other relatives.  I received a testing kit in the mail and had my results within about six weeks.


     For me there were no surprises in my ethnicity. My results came back that I was 99% European, 82% of that being Europe East.  My mother's family is Polish, my paternal grandmother is Czech/Austrian so that was pretty much what I expected.  The most interesting and rewarding part of my results was a special match to a distant cousin that shares a relative on my dad's biological father's side of the family.  It's complicated, but that side doesn't really acknowledge him so that was especially rewarding. I have been a member of Ancestry.com for several years and would recommend that you take the time to make your own family tree, do some research and enjoy the incredible Ancestry DNA testing experience for yourself. Here are my ethnicity results:

   My party pack contained really nice party supplies to use during the House Party, as well as some nice little goodies for my guests. I was also emailed a coupon to forward to my guests so that they can have their own Ancestry.com DNA experience.

I broke out some old family photos to add to the decorations.

We had an assortment of foods from my family's heritage.

Just for fun I translated the word "Coffee" into other languages.

A couple of times we gathered around the computer so that I could walk my guests through the Ancestry.com website as well as review my Ancestry DNA results. 

Our guests were able to use the map and flags to show where their families came from.

I even found chocolate bars made in Poland for the goodie bags we gave to our guests.

    One extra special thing about this House Party is that my sister-in-law Lindsay was also chosen to be a host. We contacted House Party and got their permission to host our parties together. Her Ancestry.com DNA results weren't what she expected so it was awesome to have her take on the experience as well. I know that several of our guests are excited about sending off for their own tests soon. It will be so exciting to watch our friends go through the same awesome experience.

Homer Laughlin is my home boy....

If you have ever had dinner at my house, you've probably noticed that everyone almost always eats on a different colored plate. You might not have given those dishes a second thought, but they make me so very happy.  There is something special about Fiesta made by Homer Laughlin China for many, many years.  Right here in the USA.  Newell, WV to be exact. I love that they are made in the same styles as the 1930's, I love that American hands are hard at work making them, I love that they have never chipped and that they don't have to all be the same. My Fiesta is close to my heart and it makes me happy.

The first time that I ever laid eyes on Fiesta was in a Betty Crocker catalog. When I was a young wife I saved the tiny little white rectangles on Betty Crocker products to turn in for credit towards products that they sold. You still had to pay for the products, but it was at a very good price.  So I started ordering a few pieces here and there, including my lovely Plum colored "Betty Bowl". We definitely didn't have enough pieces to use every day but I was hooked. Then there was a scare regarding dishes made in China containing lead.  I purchased a test kit and to my horror, the test turned red and I had been feeding my family on dishes containing lead. Yikes.  My first thought was of Fiesta and how those lovely dishes would also be safer for my family.

Over the years I've become more of a collector than I thought I would. I had the opportunity to purchase a nice selection of factory seconds, so I did. After our years of military moving, my husband bought us our first dining room set with a china hutch. Guess what it is filled with?  I've purchased many items at thrift stores, made a visit to the Son's of Anarchy House (that's a story for another day) to buy some from a Craigslist ad, and shopped around for really good deals. I really prefer the pieces that have been made after 1986, (when Fiesta reintroduced their new lead free dishes after taking a long break) but there is something wonderful about stumbling upon something in "radioactive red" that was used for decades and still in fantastic condition. 

Here's a peek at some of my favorite Fiesta pieces:

Hanging above the china hutch is a painting by my late grandfather. When my grandma passed away last year, this was brought to me. Not only did the color of the walls match the painting exactly, but the colors of my Fiesta set the colors in the painting on fire. He would LOVE how good it looks here.

These are vintage salad plates made in the 50's and before. Missing is the "radioactive red". My husband needed a trip to the emergency room (I'm not kidding) after trying to save it from falling. Gotta love a man that will dive for vintage Fiesta.

Memorial Day through Independence Day I feel pretty patriotic. Here is my thrift store carafe and some other pieces sitting right next to my front door. I love the way the colors look mixed together. 

Fun and Games on a Sunday night

This Sunday night we managed to all sit at the kitchen table and enjoy a meal together.  We had grilled chicken, corn and cast iron roasted asparagus.  After we were finished eating, we broke out one of our old kitchen table games before everyone went their separate ways. When the kids were younger, that is something we'd do at least once a week after dinner. It was after one of those family dinners that ended with a few minutes of a game that I started this blog. That's where the title came from.

We played "Battle of the Sexes" . There is a full sized board game, but we have several card versions of board games that we keep on the table, and this is one of them.  It's played boys against the girls, and there are different cards with questions for either sex.  Tonight we learned that our son was able to identify Vera Wang and Donna Karan as popular designers and that the boys not being able to remember Harper Lee's last name was almost enough to reduce our oldest daughter to tears.  The point should also be made that the girls in this family know way too much about football to be stumped by any of those questions and that this mom knows the difference between a birdie and bogey. We only played for 15 minutes or so but it was fun reconnecting.  

This little metal basket sits on our kitchen table. We keep our salt and pepper (cayenne too), cloth napkins and games in it. We have a couple little boxes of conversation starters too just in case we want to be serious (which honestly doesn't happen too often). By keeping the games on the table, it's been easy for one of us to grab one and start a game.  I hope one day my kids play games at the kitchen table too. Here's a photo, torn boxes miss-matched napkins and all.

After dinner, I loaded the dishwasher (by the way, does anyone know how to keep a dog from trying to "help" with the pre washing?) and everyone scattered.  As a mom of three adult children I can't help but be thankful that our kids still like our silly little family traditions. I hope that one day they keep games on their kitchen table too.

Happy Little Top Ten List

For a while now I've been feeling the need to do more living of the life that I have.  The heartbreaking tragedies that have befallen so many this week only serve to reinforce that sentiment.  I have been blessed with so much but I really seldom take the time to appreciate what I am thankful for.  It's really easy for me to dwell on the negative, but I'm making a deliberate choice to live a happier, more joyful life.  This week's top ten that make me happy (in no particular order):

1. My husband. Married this man going on 24 years ago, love him like crazy and I'm so thankful that we get to spend more time with each other now that the kids are getting older.  We started this week off on a double date with our awesome friends. That alone made me happy, but then I found this photo, which made me extra happy.

2. This has been a very good week in the worlds of our children.  Our oldest is getting very close to meeting some personal goals. Our middle child had a week filled with more good days than bad, one less injection and a visit with a friend. Our baby went to his senior prom and starts a new job tomorrow after his soccer game.

3. Shopping for a new tie for the senior prom with my baby boy definitely makes the happy list.  How about the fact that he wouldn't let his sister come with us because he wanted his mom all to himself?  Try not to ugly cry when you hear your almost grown son say something like that.

4. My fingernails are painted in a lovely wet cement shade called Slate by Sinful Colors. I adore this inexpensive nail polish that comes in colors that are off the beaten path. Today I found another fun muddy green shade called Leapfrog while I was at the Walgreens. I can't wait to try it out.

5. We had a wonderful, long burst of rain one evening this week.  I loved that our grass was watered for free and some of the pollen that is harassing us was washed away.

6. I love my coffee, but this week a new variety of tea has made me extra happy. My friend B brought me some to try on our double date with our husbands. Harney and Sons Hot Cinnamon Spice Tea is my new favorite. Let it steep for ten minutes and it's just like drinking an Atomic Fireball. I love it.

7. So I sort of gave my baby sister the pep talk that I needed myself.  She is going through a really busy time, running on empty working so hard and going to school.  She is so smart and determined. I love that girl so much and just called her to remind her what she's made of and that she can do this. I ended up saying words to her that I probably needed to hear myself. I don't know if she was at all encouraged but that conversation put some things in perspective for me.

8. My butler's pantry is clean. I can see the floor and find things.  That feels really good even if Mr. Carson never comes to visit.

9. There are times that I don't appreciate living in the land of heat and humidity (especially in July and August), but there are things about being here that I wouldn't trade for the world.  We live ten minutes from my parents and twenty from my husband's. Four out of my seven siblings live here not to mention my husband's large extended family.  This week, I'm feeling especially happy that we live so close to them.

10. This week the fact that I went to sleep every night this week with my husband and babies safe and sound under the same roof is a true blessing. The fact that God blessed me with them and kept us all safe has to be the very thing that has made me the happiest of all.

Disney Dinner Series (Part One)

So my girls and I have these lovely, lovely friends.  There are so many things about them that are wonderful, but the one crazy fun thing we have in common is our love for all things Disney.  I'm not sure of the exact moment, but we decided to get together once a month or so to have a themed dinner and to watch a favorite Disney movie.  Our girls also found a blog called Disney Bound, with outfits planned around a Disney theme but using every day type clothing instead of costumes. Dressing up was a perfect idea, and made the experience complete.

Our friends were kind enough to host the first dinner party. They chose a French theme, based around the movies The Aristocats and Beauty and the Beast.  We decided that we would each dress as an Aristocat. At dinner we had Thomas O'Malley, two Maries, Scat Cat, Toulouse and Berloiz. That was fun.  We arrived to be greeted by beautifully decorated theme tables and were served a wonderful four course French meal.  We dined on a lovely salad with pears, beautifully prepared French onion soup with the most amazing smoked guyere crouton, followed by an amazing fresh quiche.  We talked and enjoyed our lovely meal.  Our friends put so much effort into making the evening a very special experience. It was an evening that I will reflect on for many years to come.

After dinner, we watched our movies. It was wonderful to share our memories of first seeing the movies. The Aristocats is one of the first I recall seeing in a theater in my childhood. Our girls all grew up with Beauty and the Beast and had an assortment of sweet stories that they shared with us of their childhood memories as well.  In between movies, we enjoyed my favorite dessert ever - Creme Brûlée. What a perfect ending to a really wonderful evening.

Thanksgiving Again

Every once in a while, I will talk to my mom about trying a new recipe out on the family, and sometimes I'm met with "Ok, try it but don't make too much because people won't try it". This recipe was one that met that response a few Thanksgivings ago. It was GONE very quickly, so I doubled it the next Thanksgiving and it was still GONE. This recipe makes a nice sized batch, you could bake it in a 13x9 inch pan.

Cornbread Stuffing with Apples, Onions and Sausage

6 boxes of Jiffy Cornbread mix, follow the package directions, baking in two greased 13x9 pans
1 lb. pork breakfast sausage (the one in a plastic tube)
2 Tbsp. butter
1 large onion, finely chopped
2 apples, cored and finely chopped. Leave the peels on. I use a sweet red apple, not tart, and the red of the peel is pretty
1/2 c. chopped fresh parsley
2-3 c. low sodium chicken broth
Salt and pepper to taste.

If I'm making this for Thanksgiving, I'll bake my cornbread on Monday and let it get a little stale. You can bake it just before you make the stuffing and that's fine too. Crumble it up in coarse chunks in a large mixing bowl. In a decent size skillet, brown the sausage. Remove from pan, then add butter and bring pan to medium high heat. Add onions and apples and cook until soft but not brown. Stir the sausage, apples, onions and parsley into the cornbread. Add the broth, a half cup at a time and stir. You don't want this to be mushy, but wet enough that it sticks together. Taste it so that you can salt and pepper to taste. Pack it into a greased pan, cover with foil and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Remove foil and let bake another 5-10 minutes if you like a little crunch on top. If you are making this ahead of time and putting it into the oven cold, allow an extra ten minutes of cooking time. By the way, if you already have a favorite cornbread recipe, by all means, don't use Jiffy. Also, if you have a cornbread recipe that doesn't call for flour, this recipe would be gluten free.

There you go. Super easy and only a few ingredients. We love this recipe and it has earned it's place next to my mom's Stove Top. I don't have any photos of this lovely finished stuffing, but it is so pretty on your table. This photo is from one of our infamous family game nights, I'm hoping that we can get together for one on Saturday night. Enjoy your weekend!

Thanksgiving Part Three

So your turkey is under control, now let's talk about your side dishes. Everyone has family favorites, dishes that they must have on their Thanksgiving dinner table. In my family, it is Stove Top stuffing. For real. It's what my mom always makes. For a few years I've made cornbread stuffing from scratch and it's now become one of those must haves. Watch for that recipe tomorrow. Today we're talking about shortcuts that can add some sass to your table. Here are a few for you to consider:

Cranberry Sauce - Buy two cans of whole berry sauce, stir in the grated zest (shiny part of the peel) of one orange and a teaspoon of vanilla. Chill overnight for a sassier sauce.

Corn - Cook your canned or frozen corn as usual, but just before serving toss in a couple of strips of crumbled bacon and a tablespoon of chopped fresh parsley. Salt and pepper to taste.

Sweet potatoes - Open and drain two large cans of Bruce's Yams. Add 1 tsp. cinnamon, 1/4 c. brown sugar, an egg and a splash of milk. Beat together until smooth and spread in a casserole dish and either top with a little butter, chopped pecans and a sprinkle of brown sugar or marshmallows. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes.

Carrots - Rinse a couple of bags of fresh baby carrots, then place in a glass bowl covered with plastic wrap and steam for 4 minutes or so. In a coffee mug, melt 3 tablespoons of butter with 2 tablespoons of brown sugar (in the microwave too). Pour over the steamed carrots add salt and pepper to taste and toss together.

You can think of some simple additions or ways to sassy up a recipe with your own creative spin. Don't forget about the power of color. A sprinkle of chopped fresh parsley makes any side dish prettier, and makes me feel better if I'm serving something straight out of the box. As far as your Thanksgiving desserts go, you have other shortcuts that can help you make a splash.

Pies - Homemade pies can be intimidating. Feel free to buy pie crust in a roll, or a ready made one (but put it in your own pan before baking) and try a new filling recipe. I guess that is what you call Semi-Homemade. Try something with a lattice top, just for the fun of it.

Cake - You aren't going to believe me here, but did you know that all you need to add to a cake mix to bake it is a can of pop? Diet or regular, any flavor. No eggs, oil or anything else. Just beat it with a mixer as you usually would. The result is a softer, moister cake that still serves well from a pan but doesn't do well for cupcakes. Great if you run out of eggs, for dieters, or people with egg allergies (if the cake mix is clear). Try a spice cake mix with root beer, devil's food cake mix with black cherry or vanilla cake mix with orange.

Have fun as you continue to plan your Thanksgiving dinner. One week from today...

Thanksgiving - Talking Turkey

If you haven't read my last post about simplifying your Thanksgiving, please do. Before we talk about how we are going to roast a turkey, let's chat about choosing the right one for you. As far as a whole turkey goes, anything under 20 lbs. isn't worth my while. Maybe it's coming from a big family, but if I am going to take the time and roast a turkey, why not take a little extra time and make it a big one. Even if you are only hosting a few people, the leftovers are great. The next point to consider is whether you (gasp) need to cook a whole turkey at all. If my mother-in-law will be at Thanksgiving dinner, I cook a whole turkey. If she isn't, then we have whole turkey breasts. I purchase several of them and roast them exactly the same way as a whole turkey. These wouldn't be the pressed and rolled boneless turkey roasts, but whole turkey breasts. Big difference there. We end up with only the white meat that my family prefers, and it is a much quicker process. This year we will have one whole turkey and one whole turkey breast.

When cooking a whole turkey or breast, always follow the package instructions regarding temperature and roasting time based on the weight. I generally err on the side of cooking it longer. I do use a meat thermometer to check to make sure it is done, you can click HERE to see how to check using one. Safety first, no matter how you are going to be preparing your bird.

Because we are going to roast our turkey on Wednesday, thawing time of a frozen turkey has to be considered a day earlier because you need it to be completely thawed in time. Wednesday morning, as early as I feel like it, the turkey gets rinsed, the neck and bag of giblets get removed (and tossed!), and patted dry. Make sure that you've prepared by having a huge foil roasting pan, big enough for your turkey and a rack of some sort, to lift the turkey off the bottom of the pan just a bit. You can buy one at the Dollar Tree, or even turn over a muffin pan and place it on that. For the last few years, I've used an electric roaster on my counter top so that my oven is free for baking. It can hold a big turkey, and you set the temperature just like an oven.

Now to season the turkey. It is all cleaned out, patted dry and ready to go, right? Give it a quick check to make sure that there aren't any pokey bits of feather left in the skin. That can happen sometimes, just pull them out. Here is what you'll need to season your turkey:

1 stick of butter, softened
1/2 c. chopped parsley leaves (no stems please)
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 tsp. black pepper
1 whole onion (skins too)
1 large carrot
2 stalks celery
Vegetable or olive oil

Mix the butter, parsley, garlic and pepper together. Coarsely chop the veggies and place them in the cavity of your turkey. Add the parsley stems too. This part is messy but worth it. Without removing any skin, place as much of the herbed butter under the skin of the breast and thighs of the turkey as you can. If there is any left, spread it on the turkey. Then put some oil in your hands and rub the whole turkey to coat. Then sprinkle with more pepper. I don't baste, but you can if you want to. Check your turkey several times during roasting, just to make sure that the breast isn't getting too brown too fast. If it does, take a sheet of foil and make a little tent just to set on top. That should keep it from getting over done. If you know for sure that your turkey is done and it's Wednesday, take your turkey out. Cover it with foil and set it aside for an hour to an hour and a half. That is going to give it time to cool sufficiently for you to be able to carve it easily, but it is also going to give it time for every bit of natural juice to absorb back into the meat, giving you a really juicy turkey. Toss the veggies from the cavity but reserve the drippings in the pan for later.

I use another foil pan at this point. When carving the turkey the day before, be careful to save as much skin in one piece as possible. Set that aside to place on top before you seal the pan with foil. As you are carving, start the white meat on one side and dark on the other of the pan, it's easier that way, I usually leave the legs and wings whole, and they go on top of the carved meat. Once you've carved everything, take some of the drippings from the pan and pour on top. If you aren't sure about this whole "reheating the turkey" thing and fear that it will be too dry, feel free to pour some low sodium chicken broth over too. Place the skin on top, then seal well with foil and pop in the fridge. Clean up your kitchen and you are one really big step closer to a very fun and relaxing Thanksgiving dinner.

Thanksgiving Part One

Hello Blog, I'm sorry that it's been a while. This has been a month of personal struggles and the bright invitation to go back to work. Just one day a week, two classes of really fun kids. I had almost forgotten how much I love teaching kids to cook. It's great to be back.

Tonight, at coffee with some of my girlfriends, the subject of Thanksgiving dinner preparations came up and one suggested that I blog a little about the subject. Thankfully, my wise mother made sure that I knew how to cook a turkey before I left her home. What a huge favor that was. My first Thanksgiving dinner that I cooked completely on my own was the third after my husband and I were married. He was deployed with the USMC for the two before that, so by the time I could make him a Thanksgiving dinner it was a really big deal. Dinner that year would be for myself, my husband, our oldest daughter and one of our very good USMC friends. Needless to say, I did all of the cooking, serving and clean up myself. It was a lot of work. Almost too much for me to really enjoy myself. Over the years I felt the need for Thanksgiving to become a more simple affair. Martha wouldn't approve of my methods but my reward is the calmness of the day. I get to watch the parade with my kids, serve dinner from an almost clean kitchen and enjoy the rest of the day without much effort. Sometimes, you just have to be given permission to shake things up and simplify your life. You can so do this.

The reason my kitchen is mostly clean on Thanksgiving day is due to the fact that nothing is actually cooked on the holiday, only reheated. Including the turkey. Shocking, right? I haven't cooked a turkey on Thanksgiving day in at least ten years and I don't plan on ever doing it again. Tomorrow I will tell you why your turkey turns out better for having cooked it the previous day. By next Wednesday evening, there will be a stack of foil roasting pans in our fridge of various sizes, all ready to be popped in the oven for dinner. We use Chinet platters for dinner, but with real flatware. You see, I want to watch football too. Scraping and washing dishes isn't how I want to spend the holiday. I purchase an extra box of plastic storage bags to send leftovers home with guests, or to store them myself, then the foil pans are trashed too. Dinner is always wonderful but in a more relaxed atmosphere because most of the work is done.

Over the next couple of days I will walk you through the basics of roasting a turkey and share some of my favorite recipes. Remember why we celebrate this holiday. If you need the fuss and rush, carry on, but if you are looking for a change, stay tuned. This is going to be fun.

Soup for you!

In honor or the summer cold that we've been passing around, today's post will be about THE chicken soup recipe. The basics of this soup were passed from my grandmother to my mom, then to me. That makes it special to me. I've played with ingredients just a little, because I can't leave anything alone, but this is it. Really simple and wonderful.

There are two parts to making really good chicken soup. Please read the recipe all the way through for ingredients, as they are listed as you need them. Here's how you start:

Place the following ingredients in a big pot, 8 quart sized is fine.
2 lbs. boneless skinless chicken breasts (frozen is okay for this)
2 cloves garlic, with the skin, coarsely chopped
a handful of celery leaves or tops (the stuff you usually throw away)
half an onion, very coarsely chopped, including the skins, so wash them first
fresh parsley, rinsed but whole, with the stems
2 bay leaves
1 tsp. peppercorns
1 gallon of water

Bring to a boil, partially covered, then lower the heat and simmer for an hour, longer if you are starting with frozen chicken. Check the chicken to make sure that it is thoroughly cooked and tender enough to shred easily. Remove the chicken and veggies and set aside. Strain the soup through a very fine metal strainer into a large enough container to hold the soup. Even a big bowl works, if that's what you have. The stock should be really clear. Right now you have lovely, flavorful chicken stock, with no added sodium and miles better than anything you can buy at the store. You could let it cool and freeze it for later use in your favorite recipes. We aren't stopping here today.

Wipe out the pot you started the soup in. Scrub the white filminess off and rinse well. Return the chicken broth to the pot. To it you will add:

1 lb. carrots, peeled and sliced
5 stalks celery, sliced
2 cups chunky - shredded chicken (that you boiled earlier)

Bring to a boil and simmer just until the carrots and celery are tender (about 20 minutes), then add

1/2 c. chopped parsley leaves (no stems please and I use curly for this)
salt and lots of pepper to taste

Serve over egg noodles that are just barely cooked.I cook about a pound, drain them and set aside to be added to the soup by the bowl. Whatever you do, never, ever cook your noodles in this soup. It will turn it starchy and unpleasant the next day. Please don't. This soup is special because of the richly flavored, clear broth. That should carry over even once you've added noodles.

A quick note: There are some that will tell you that you can't possibly make good stock without using chicken with bones. I disagree, and by adding flavorful ingredients along with the chicken, you give the stock a nice depth of flavor without messy bones and extra fat. You will probably have almost 2 cups leftover shredded cooked chicken after making the stock. I'm sure that you'll figure out what to do with it, but if you'd like, pop it into the freezer, we are going to be making chicken enchiladas soon.

Review from right around the corner

So either I'm late to the party or none of my local friends are sharing their secret with me. This weekend, while out with a friend, we ventured into the Latinos Supermarket, right down the street. I stopped there once, years ago to buy a jicama for the cooking class that I once taught, but this store has changed dramatically and is quite an experience now. This store gives you a little taste of being somewhere exotic. It was a lot of fun.

The first thing that I noticed when I walked in the door is a beauty salon. A small one, with adorable ladies getting their weekly set. They also have an on site jewelry repair booth, which is somewhat open, so you can watch the jeweler at work. There was also large booth with cell phones for sale. Those were all unexpected in what I thought was just a Latin American Grocery store. The produce department was so striking and beautiful. There were fruit and vegetables that I had never heard of before with names like Panapen (bread fruit). They had a full service meat counter, and their meat was cut meticulously. They had cuts of meat that are a little more difficult to find cut properly, like beef short ribs. Watch for a recipe soon.

The aisles of the store were fun to walk, just to look at all the different products. I brought several home to try, just because they looked interesting. Coconut wafer cookies, Cilantro flavored bouillon cubes, Chipotle Mojo marinade (the chipotle part was different), and chocolate. The chocolate was really interesting, and from the Dominican Republic. It wasn't like the chocolate I was accustomed to, it crumbled when I chopped it. Because it had a steamy cup on the box, I figured it must be used to make hot chocolate. Half a chopped little bar went into my coffee instead. It didn't make it noticeably sweet ( I still added my usual creamer and sweetener) but it did give my coffee a lovely, warm chocolate flavor. That was a fun to try.

The biggest surprise at the Latinos Supermarket was their cafeteria. They have a large selection of beautiful food as well as a sandwich counter. There were lots and lots of roast meats, rice, vegetables and seafood. The entire place smelled like heaven. The workers could be seen in the area just behind the prepared food, chopping fresh fruit and vegetables as well as cooking the food.

My husband and I went back for our weekly lunch date to give their food a try. We split a pressed Cuban sandwich and the most fresh and lovely tomato and avocado salad. With two bottles of tea, that set us back less than 10.00. Honestly, this wasn't my favorite Cuban sandwich ever, but it was good and contained all the right ingredients. The salad was fabulous, in a light vinegar dressing with onions and spices. That was a find for sure and worth the trip all by itself. I also tried their homemade spicy garlicky hot sauce. Loved it.

We were there for a late lunch but there was a steady flow of customers both eating there and carrying their food out. Some of items in the cafeteria are sold by the pound, others by the plate.

Right before we left, we checked our the really good selection of kitchenware that they had in stock, right off the cafeteria. Kitchenware is my shopping weakness, and I could have spent a really long time checking it all out. Just another excuse to go back.

Latinos Supermarket is located at 131 S.Mt Carmel Rd., just off S.R. 60 in Brandon, FL. My local friends, you must visit soon. Go when you have a little time to wander. Bring your kids and explore a store full of interesting things from other countries. Please leave me a comment if you've visited a Latin American market before or if you have a favorite product that you think I should try.

Simple and easy

Sweet tea is something simple that makes my family really happy. I routinely get phone calls when people are headed home, just to check and see if there is tea made. Water, tea bags and sugar, sweet tea should have been really easy for me to figure out how to make. It took this Northern girl a long time to get it right. I didn't know that you can't just stir sugar into a pitcher of tea and expect it to work. It's about the timing. My husband's granny finally showed me the way. She uses a pot on the stove, but we do it in the microwave and use just a touch less sugar. Here's our standard family "recipe" if you want to call it that.

To make a gallon of tea, you start with 2 quarts of boiling hot water. We do this in the microwave, it takes about 3 and a half minutes. Add 8 standard tea bags (we like Lipton or Tetley) and let it steep for 20 minutes or so (you are making it double strength, so it needs to be dark). Do NOT squeeze out those tea bags or your tea will be bitter. Stir in 1 cup of sugar until dissolved. Fill a gallon sized pitcher half way full with cool water, then add the tea that you've made and stir. That's it. Perfect sweet tea.

One of my most simple and most requested recipes is for the easiest of re fried beans. Honestly, the recipe has evolved over time and we use the beans in several ways. Lately, we've been eating them right out of the pot with cornbread for a lazy dinner. They still remain the very best unfried re fried beans that we've ever had. Please don't be afraid of dry beans. This recipe doesn't require soaking and you're going to be using your crock pot.

Re fried beans
2 lbs. dry pinto beans
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 bay leaves
13 cups water
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
1/2 tsp. Chipotle chili pepper
1 tsp. ground cumin

Rinse and sort the beans. You are looking for little bits of mud or funky shaped or oddly colored beans. Pintos can have quite a few of these, depending on where you get them. Aldi's dry pinto beans are quite lovely and very inexpensive. Once you've checked through your beans, add them along with the onion, garlic, bay leaves and water to your crock pot. Cook on low for 8 hours, checking a couple of times just to make sure that they don't get too dry. Depending on your crock pot, you may have to add an extra cup of water, but not too much. If you are uncertain, err on the side of too wet the first time you make this recipe.

At the end of 8 hours, the beans should be soft enough to smash easily against the side of the crock pot with a fork. If not, let them go another hour and check them again. Stir in the remaining ingredients. Your beans are ready to eat right now, just as they are with some fluffy rice or cornbread or both. You can also freeze these cooked beans, whole, in 2c. portions, to use in recipes that call for a can of pinto beans. The difference is, you have dramatically lower sodium compared to canned beans and they are much tastier. Use a slotted spoon to fill up your food processor with the beans, and pulse until smooth. You could use a blender, too, if that's what you have, just fill the blender only about half full or you might have a mess. The beans will set up just a little as they cool, but if your smashed beans seem too dry, add a little of the liquid from your crock pot. There are your unfried re fried beans. Vegetarian and fat free deliciousness.

Taste the beans once you've finished to adjust the seasoning if you like. Frankly, we like them well enough at this point give them a little sprinkle of cheese and call it bean dip. Allow your beans to cool, then freeze in whatever sized portion works for you. This recipe yielded four 2 cup portions of re fried beans and two 2 cup portions of whole pinto beans. Please try this recipe. You will never go back to the can.

Since my front porch looks like this.....

That only means that this is the busiest time of year for my family. My husband is a high school football coach and I am his right hand man. These Fridays are the best, but it takes a lot of work the rest of the week to make it all happen. This week will be extra special busy for me, so in order to keep it all together, my crock pots, rice cooker and grill were all very busy this weekend. That's why my kitchen looked like this....

The good news is that it will take very little effort to put dinner on the table this week. Most of the work and cleanup are already done. Here's our menu for the week:

Monday - Shepherd's pie and tossed salad
Tuesday - Chicken fried rice
Wednesday - Chicken and bean quesadillas
Thursday - BBQ pulled pork sandwiches, corn and cinnamon apples
Friday - Dinner out with the team
Saturday - Pasta with chicken, bacon and peas
Sunday - Grilled Buffalo chicken, Jalapeno Popper dip, potato skins and veggies (football watching food)

The BBQ pulled pork is from my favorite pork crock pot recipe that isn't really a recipe. Costco sells large pork loins at a great price, that's where I get mine.

Pork loin (7-8 lbs)
one medium onion, chopped
20 oz can pineapple tidbits in juice
1 clove garlic, minced

Place your pork loin in your crock pot. Depending on what type of crock pot you have, either cut it into a few big pieces or wrap it around the inside. That's what I do. Dump the other ingredients on top, and let it go, on low, for about 8 hours. After it cools, remove any visible fat and shred the pork. Usually, I shred it all into a 13x9" pan, then using a slotted spoon remove the pineapple and onions from the crock pot and add to the meat.

At this point, you could stir in BBQ sauce of your choice and divide it into 5 freezer bags for sandwiches. I like to remove 2 cups of the pork and stir in a little soy sauce, brown sugar and garlic powder before I freeze and label it to add to a stir fry. If you freeze the shredded pork flat in quart sized freezer bags, it thaws pretty quickly and is a great stand by if you need something really quick. It's like making your own fast food, just add a bag of burger buns and a vegetable. Cook once, eat five times. That's how we get through Football season here.