Christmas foodie pics

A cheese & ham scone with a pinch of dried basil.

Sweet corn bread. Sweeeeeeeeet!!

See this for “Al’s Messed Up Stuffing" recipe. Yes, well, it definitely looks like messed up stuff. See the goma? I would have to say, that goma is essential & lovely all at once.

Pear & Almond Tart. Oh Joy! My first try at a short crust. First time making a tart in general & I really did nearly eat the whole thing. That’s like, a 10” around tart pan.

In the foreground is husband’s 2nd love fresh mozzarella & tomato salad. We’re looking into getting a female lactating buffalo on Yahoo!Japan Auction so that we might be able to produce mozzarella daily. The negotiations with our neighboring home, (Bayside) is still in the works concerning her grazing in their back yard, please keep it in your prayers.

A classic winter dessert. A "serve warm" pear & raspberry cobbler. The raspberries are sweet & tart & the pears are creamy & mellow. This cobbler has a unusually crispy, buttery topping that goes perfect with a little ice-cream melting on top & a dollop of whipped cream...and you're set for a great Christmas dessert. Or at least, Elaina is, apparently!! I don't know what happened, one day she was a purely rational sweet mommy & the next she's having bouts of grabbing & shaking my arm & talking about "THAT COBBLER". I'm alarmed! I try to avoid saying the word "raspberry" or "cobbler" for fear of sending her off. Please don't show her this post!

And that's all the foodie pics I have for today. I've been ambushed by friends for the New Years and will post more about that momumental event later.

Basic Pie Crust

Kari, I hope I'm not too late. Here's the most basic pie recipe. The key is 1) keep all the ingredents cold. Use ice water, if at all possible use shortning, or unsalted butter, but if you don't have that then you can use margarine, but have it be COLD!!! 2) Minimal handling, just mix in the water till it's just mixed in, bring it all together (if its really dry & won't hold togetherthen add the 4th tsp of water), put it on the floured surface. I prefer to do it on some saran wrap so that I can lift it into a pie plate easier.

1 1/4 c flour
1/4 tsp salt
1/3 c shortning, or unsalted butter
3 or 4 tbsp ice water

cut the shortning into the flour & salt, use your fingers till it looks like bread crumbs. Use a fork to mix in water. Mix till it's like larger chunks of dough. Bring it together, chill in the fridge for 20 min. Flatten on floured surface & roll out with rolling pin. (Start at the center & roll out). Poke holes with a fork in the bottom & sides to prevent cracking. If you want a "pre-prepared" crust bake at 180c for 10-12 min or until golden. You can check out the Irish creme pie post for a cookie crumb crust.

Hope it works out good.

MERRY CHRISTMAS

Merry Christmas Everyone!

I hope it’s been a good one. I imagine we were the only people on this side of the world that actually celebrated Christmas on Christmas Day. I may not have gotten to do this, maybe next year, but I had a spelendid Christmas. Wonderful pictures shall be forthcoming. It was great, and at times even relaxing. (No, that was not a joke) I had my children stay in their room till 9:30 so I could get up & get some Word, coffee & start on a nice Brunch of:

Maine Pumpkin bread
Cheese & Ham scones
Eggs, toast & sausages

My wonderful son Travster stayed asleep till 9:30 if you can believe it. Why can’t every day be Christmas day? We had devotions around the table with the kids & then delved into the presents. I am trying to remember why we got Travster a mike stand. It’s lethal no matter how he uses it. If it’s not a mike stand it’s a bass, if it’s not a bass it’s a sword/whipper-snapper, taiko sticks, machine gun, etc….Oh, well! The men-folk took the kids out of the house so I was left in the kitchen alone. (Nya ha ha ha, could it really be?? Shouldn’t there be a baby trying to yank off the oven knobs, or a small child cracking eggs on the countertop?)

What a relaxing Christmas cooking experience. And just incase I forgot the Lord loves me, he did even supply me with wonderful ingredients, my favorite fruit, 12 pears for 300Y. I tried a French Pear & almond Tart recipe with (get this) Apricot jam for the glaze. You will only understand this if you receive provisioned goods from the PC. I mean, it’s written right there, “Apricot Jam & Lemon Glaze”. Words fail me to describe this tart, I nearly ate the whole thing, just because I was doubting my own tastebuds, marveling the whole time. "Did I actually make this? Is it allowed to taste so good?" Mascarpone cheese (thank you Kari) and Espresso coffee & maker (thanks Mike & Aich) for Tiramisu. I just had a fun time in general with my unusually short menu:

-Turkey, (Niki I followed your good example & stuffed the turkey with an orange, pear, onion, 2 cloves of garlic, bunch of fresh rosemary, bay leaves & sage, thank you for teaching me the "way")
-stuffing (see recipe below)
- gravy
- raspberry sauce (it was a great substitute, since I could NOT find cranberries anywhere this year, not even COSTCO, and the color…..ahhh, don’t get me started on raspberries, I'm still polishing off the rest of it with my toast, wait till I get my hands on an ice cream, nya ha!)
- minuscule amount of potatoes for those white guys,
- cornbread,
- tomatoes & mozzarella salad,
- jello & punch for the kids,
- pear & raspberry cobbler,
- pear tart
- Tiramisu.

As for my favorite part of Christmas dinner it most definitely is the turkey sandwiches & turkey soup the day after. And if you haven’t had your Christmas dinner yet, here’s my stuffing recipe for you which I have decided is my favorite until I try out yours. The list of ingredient can be shortened by using either not both varieties of bread nuts & dried fruit. But please, please don’t nix the apples. Whether you’ve had Christmas dinner or not, Merry Christmas & a Happy New 2007

AL’S MESSED UP STUFFING:

2 c whole wheat bread
4 c white bread
1 c onion
¾ c celery (leaves & all)
2 ½ tsp sage
1 ½ tsp rosemary
½ tsp thyme
1 apple chopped
¼ c raisins
½ c dried cranberries
¾ c turkey broth or stock (can use chicken bullion)
¼ c pecans
¼ c walnuts

Toast the bread cubes in the oven for 10 min at 180c. Sauté the chopped onion & celery for 10 min. in butter, COVERED! Add apple & sauté for another 5. Toss all ingredients into bread cubes in a large bowl. Stuff turkey or bake, covered for 1 hr at 175c (or the same temp. as you’d cook your bird) And that’s it

Screaming Amy's Holiday in the Boonies!

Yes, that's right my very own sister, is here from LA for the Holidays. My kids deemed her "Screaming Amy" quite awhile back, as they have 2 Aunties named Amy & the name stuck. She is the one of the "screaming" variety. "Aaaaaaaaaaaaa.......RyRy.........Eeeeeeeeeeeee...You're soooooo cute!! (repeat with other 4 children) " Well, you know....it's all very loving. She showed us some of her movie & TV work, it's weird to see what she does. And she's good too. Always the dramatic one.

Here are some pics of the last time all us sisters were together (Jan 2005) nearly 2 years ago. I have to preface these pics & say...well...gee...what is there to say. Except I hope none of them get sore about me posting them. Chala & I have to be the most awful models ever. And I shudder to imagine that Dad is probobly scheming to take yet another "family picture" this year. I love you, Dad!

Christmas Pies Part 2

As promised (to most likely a one person readership) my second installation of "Christmas Pies". Here are yet more fun-loving ideas. Not all pies but tried & proven.

Pumpkin Chiffon Pie:

Ewwww....Look at that kitchen. My dad will faint dead away! No, the Baysidian Kitchen does not look like that anymore. Yes, there are indeed 8 pies in the above picture. Long story, got paid to make them. Hey, is that the first picture of me? I look awful, that 1 year old nursing look!

I referred to this in my "Christmas Pies Pt 1". It is my most beloved Pumpkin pie recipe. It must be something about growing up in Japan that makes you pretty impartial to using vegetables in desserts. As in Japan it seems like nothing is too horrible to try. Spinach, carrots, renkon, & God forbid, the “forbidden fruit” goya. Ewww!! Back to reality, this is a light non-bake pumpkin pie. It can be made the day before which is a real plus & makes Christmas dinner prep. all the less stressful.

Pre-prepared cookie crumb crust (or plain baked crust)
1 envelope gelatin (2 1/2 tsp)
1 tbsp water
2 c cooked mashed pumpkin
1/2 c granulated sugar (or 1/3 c honey)
4 egg yolks (beaten)
1/2 c cream
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
3 egg whites
another 1/4 c granulated sugar

Dissolve gelatin in the water, @ 10 min. Mix pumpkin, sugar & soft gelatin add egg yolks, cream & spices & cook until thicker (about 10 min?) Cool slightly beat egg whites with 1/4 c granulated sugar till stiff. Fold into pumpkin mixture. Pour into prepared crumb crust chill till set (2 hrs). Top with whip cream. Other additional toppings could be pumpkin seeds, walnuts, mint leaves. ENJOY!!

Mom's Cheesecake:

This is called "Mom's" not because she made it but rather because the way to my mom's heart is through a giant piece of this no-bake cheesecake. I get almost irritated at the predictability of her asking for it for every birthday, & every Christmas & every time I make a dessert. I want a bit more of a challenge. Don't ask me why she likes it so much cuz' it's so simple it's crazy. As a matter of fact it's from that "family produced" cook book series. You know the colorful ones. It's in the pink "Dessert" one. So for anyone who doesn't have that cookbook, (I don't) here's how it goes. It calls for 1/2 c sour cream but as you all in Japan know, that costs as much as 3 containers of yogurt, so just use 1 c yogurt One thing you ABSOLUTLEY do need for this recipe is a blender. I've tried it without. Huge lumpy sorry mess!! Don't do it!

1 cookie crumb crust
1 envelope gelatin (2 1/2 tsp)
3 tbsp cold water
1 egg
1/3 c honey
1 8 oz (250g) cream cheese
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 c yogurt
1/2 c sour cream

Dissolve the gelatin in the water. Put the egg, honey, cheese, vanilla & yogurt (& sour cream if you're using) blend till...well....blended. Nuke the gelatin for 10 sec. or so till dissolved, but not boiling. Blend into the cheese mixture. Pour into crust & chill till firm. Top with berries. Better yet cherry pie filling (yes, another arm & leg in Japan) the picture above is blueberry pie filling, try strawberries, canned cherries, canned peaches, frozen raspberries, frozen blueberries. I did a topping with raspberries that went really great with it. Blend 1 c (defrosted raspberries) in the blender 1/4 c sugar & 1 tsp gelatin softened in 4 tbsp water & dissolved in the microwave (10 secs) blend in the blender & cover the top with it. Don’t get me started on Raspberries

And that's it for today folks. Happy Christmas baking!

Recent Pics.

Here are some recent goodies. The good photos are from Mark's camera & the lousy ones are from Josh's keitai.

Look at that stud-muffin! Ry is 5 now. And it's not every day he looks that contemplative. (Didn't I just say this about Trav? ) What a dude!!

Erika on her park-time with U. Merk. She's constantly getting stuck, falling over, eating something horrid, getting muddy etc... I think she had climbed the stairs of the slide up to there.
Ah yes, the whole gang/mob/tribe/team or what have you. That was a cold family day where we did some Christmas witnessing & went on an "exploring" drive with daddy (aka: we won't get grouchy when daddy gets us horribly lost)
Ah yes, this is the "Guitar Cake" for Trav's 3rd Birthday on the 3rd of Dec. As you can see, Travis has reverted to the chicken smile & no longer has eyes. I discussed with him what kind of cake he wanted, the runners up were: "Blues clue paw print, "T" for Travis, Mike playing drums (No, GOD!!!) Uncle STEM playing guitar (MAKE IT STOP!!) or a guitar" Somehow we convinced him he wanted this one. He liked it well enough, though it's got like, 3 1/2 pokey strings.

Numbers of the day

- 10 mouths fed
- 9 year old girls with convincing arguments of why they shouldn’t have to…..
- 8 braids I fixed on my daughters braided head
- 7 is what time I almost started my Word time
- 6 6 & 6 is the song Travis has been singing all day
- 5 children were just put in bed.
- 4 hugs I’ve gotten today
- 3 loads of laundry, which I did with inspiration.
- 2 meals that I did with mediocrity, & not deciding till the last minute Libra style
- 1 letter of apology that I wrote today to a friend that was way way overdue
- 0 kids with broken bones

Thing I’ve done today that I hope I won’t have to do again tomorrow (WARNING: excriment story follows):

Today Travis stepped in what had to be the biggest pile of poo on this side of Chiba. No doubt by a champion Great Dane with a healthy digestive system and his consciousless master. Did you know that there is a 50,000Y max fine that you can receive for leaving your pet-poo around? At least here in Chiba! Maybe a better incentive like having the owner wear special shoes with poo smell imbedded would motivate. Apparently he stepped in it just because “I could not see if dat was poo, so I did step in it to check & it was really poo…..waaa…..I have poo on my shoes…Unco Mark!!” I took care of the unpleasentries & oh how I wished shoes were disposable along with his socks & pants (I kid you not) or that I could say his shoes were falling apart anyway, but NO they weren’t falling apart in fact they are fairly nice, or – er, were fairly nice. Yes, if you need your shoes covered in something, anything, ask my son. I guarantee a stellar performance. I hope to God he doesn't have this same attitude about other things in life, "But Mommy, I just wanted to see if dat was really a cliff & so I did fall down du cliff". Sigh!!

Happy Birthday Niki!!!

Happy Birthday to a wonderful friend & an even more wonderful Sagg. I will have to say that you give me hope that my dear Sagg son may turn out OK. It's wonderful to know that you made it through your 25th year (& all that that implies) I don't have a huge long post but I do have a lot of love for you & admiration for your willingness to follow the Lord wherever He's leading you. Thank you for being my friend. I'm praying your year will be filled with lots of love, fun, & men. (or just one man, if he's man enough for you) I love you!! XXXXXX Kisses of love ----- Alisa

Christmas Pies Part 1

I’m really itching to get some recipe in here, what’s food blog without food? I’m a little short on recent pictures as I can’t figure out how to move pictures off my phone & onto the computer so for now I shall now amuse you with ideas for possible Christmas desserts. You may discover soon enough that I’m not a cake person but a pie person. (No offence cake people, I love cake people too!)

Now for your cooking pleasure I shall list some regular pies (well, regular at festive meals) in what I hope will be an enjoyable series of Christmas dinner recipes. These are in my “Al’s-cookbook-of-science” cookbook.

Fresh Pumpkin Pie:

I know My pic is not that great but believe me it was a great textured pumpkin, baked but not dense. Well besides my Pumpkin chiffon pie recipe which I consider the best pumpkin pie recipe, this is the 2nd best pumpkin pie. And definitely the best baked one. The honey gives it a great "shine", so it's a real pretty cake (unless you have a “hotspot” in your oven like I do, see the pic.) & VERY wonderfully fragrant & spice filled. Use a small kabocha or about 500ml of mashed kabocha.

INGREDIENTS
1 medium pumpkin (kabocha)
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 premade 9 inch single crust pie
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon salt
4 eggs, lightly beaten
2/3 cup honey, warmed slightly
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream

DIRECTIONS
Cut pumpkin in half, and remove seeds. Lightly oil the cut surface. Place cut side down on a jelly roll pan lined with foil and lightly oiled. Bake at 325 degrees F (165 degrees C) until the flesh is tender when poked with a fork. Cool until just warm. Scrape the pumpkin flesh from the peel. Either mash, or puree in small batches in a blender.
In large bowl, blend together 2 cups pumpkin puree, spices, and salt. Beat in eggs, honey, milk, and cream. Pour filling into pie shell.
Bake at 400 degrees F ( 205 degrees C) for 50 to 55 minutes, or until a knife inserted 1 inch from edge of pie comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack.

Honey Crunch Pecan Pie: (the title will take you to Allrecipes.com)



Yes, I know what you're thinking, does it involve a certain story regarding "eschewing the evil?" Thanks to Costco I have made this for a few C’mas dinners. Some N.American brethrens’ heads did indeed spin.

Note: I nix the white sugar & you can use mizuame for corn syrup. (does anyone remember the “golden syrup that we had a ton of way back? That stuff was awesome for this. And don’t forget to cover your crust or it will burn

Sweet Potato Casserole: (This fills a 9x13” casserole dish, for a good size group (16-)

8 med. Size sweet potatoes mashed
2/3 c butter
2/3 c milk
1 ½ c granulated sugar
1 tsp vanilla
4 eggs beaten
Mix till smooth & put into a greased casserole.

Topping:
1 ½ c brown sugar
1 c flour
2/3 c butter
1 ½ c pecans

Crumble butter into flour & sugar & mix in nuts. Sprinkle over potato mixture & bake for 25-30 min in 175c oven.

This is not exactly a pie but it very well should be classified as one. Very quality. Again calling for the elusive pecans (if you’re in Japan) but walnuts will do fine. Simple ingredients. And if you want to spice it up a bit more add some cinnamon & nutmeg. Serve it warm with ice-cream & whip cream & you have yourself a dessert if I do say so myself.

And there you go! That's all for now.

Post from Lani, Ashley, Ryan (A Parent time Project)

(Ashley:) This is our brother Travis, he's very surprised at the camera.

(Leilani:) He just turned three.

(Ryan:) That's our room.

(Travis:) Mommy, look at Travis' tounge.

(Leilani:) This is me peeling the cucumbers for dinner. I'm peeling them "naked". I call them that because I'm peeling off all the peels. I'm helping my Mom in the kitchen. I usually help set the table. My favorite job is to fill up the water pitcher.

(Ryan:) This is our thanksgiving night and Grandpa came over to visit with us. And he brought some chips. The best thing was the cake, I mean pie.

(Mommy:) Actually it was a cobbler, Ry.

(Ashley:) I set the table for this dinner and it was a lot of fun. When I finished setting the table I went up to watch a video. And then I heard a "ding-dong", then Ryan & I ran downstairs & we saw Grandpa at the door. The focaccia was my favorite part of the meal, not including the cobbler


(Lani:) After dinner we watched a fun movie. In the picture Travis is squinting his eyes...


(Ashley:)....so tight that he can't see the camera.

(Ashley:) We're visiting the museum in Aoba. We saw a picture of Charles Darwin. He's famous for Evolution. We're pointing down because we don't believe in evolution.

(Lani:) We believe in creation. That God created the World. (Can you underline things, Mom? I want to underline "God")

(Ashley:) We hope you like the blog. Hee hee hee!!

(Lani:) Eh-hum....We also had a lot of fun at the museum.

(Mommy:) OK, go brush your teeth! I'll show you the post when you're done.

Mr. Trav Trav

My dear Son Trav will be 3 tomorrow. Whew! If you know him you'll have to agree with me that this is a major feat. He was my largest baby (4.2kgs) & 10 days early. Certainly the most active (from the womb) and adventuresome. Heck, I mean this in the best of ways but he's a Sagg, that should say a lot. He's great with figuring out any kind of equipment. He's curious & likes to experiment with things he finds, very active & gets into no end of trouble. Off the top of my head & to name a few, in the last month or so he's:

- Locked himself in the ofuro to squeeze out the toothpaste he doesn't like
- Drawn on the walls
- In hopes of a bath smeared himself with conditioner & filled up the bath
- Cleaned the toilet & surrounding area with the plunger
- Plugged & washed his own slippers in the sink after peeing on them
- Put Deodorant on every inch of his body
- Cracked his own eggs
- Stuck cars in the CD player

Travis is constantly has something that he's obsessed with & the obsession changes on a VERY regular basis. Observe: From the time we came to this house a mere 3 months ago, he's gone through the following very serious obsessions

- Blue's Clues (Can't get enough of Steve, dutifully answers every dumb question Steve asks)
- Beginner Bible Video (Must watch the opening song & all the following corny songs)
- pretending everything flat is a skateboard (Rule of thumb if it has wheels ride it, if it is flat jump on it till it breaks)
- guitar obsession (pretend everything is a guitar & jump on mommy's bed with it)
- Steve (STEM) obsession "Mommy I want to nisten to Steve music, du Enaina song"
- Present obsession coming out of the "STEM" phase & passing quickly into the "New Worlds to Discover" phase. This one is particularly scary as he walks around the house going, "So what's wrong with 666? Listen to this" or "Now I'm going to introduce you to Jennifer we're going to sing the next song together". I REALLY thought we were done with the whole "New Worlds" dance steps but obviously TIV is here to stay!!!

Well, there's too much to say about this little nut but I'll keep it short. I'm so grateful to the Lord for protecting him. He's had so many accidents but no real long lasting damage. He's not hurt anything or anyone too badly, so that's nice. And above all, though he's terribly wild & has boundless energy he is still (at times) a very loveable & gentle man. And honest too, YIKES! "Mommy, I just hit Erika, nike dis" (Shows me exactly how) "Mommy, I just dropped du cup out du window, nike dis" (Shows me how he deftly hurled the mug out the window) When I asked him what he wanted for his birthday, "Umm I think maybe candy." ????? I tried again "Mmmmm (mumble mumble)" "What did you say Travis?" (Big silly smile)"Maybe I want Moneys" OK, one last time, "Is that it, Trav?" "Ummm....I just want a happy birthday".

Now that, I can try for. Happy birthday Trav Trav! We nuv you!

PS. Sorry no pics looks like Blogger is having some outage problem)

For a certain brother-in-law: Spicy Peanut Chicken

You asked for it a million times, I almost got to forget about it again. Just make it for once & tell me how it turns out. OK? A nice sort of "Asian" tasting meal, not too adventurous for the gaijin tastebuds. I would have to say the peanuts make me think it must be somewhat Indonesian, just PLEASE don't go claiming that it's Chinese or Japanese though. So here it is for the Million & oneth time. :

SPICY PEANUT CHICKEN (serves about 6)

1/4 c chicken broth (or if you're in Japan you can even use dashi)
1 tbsp corn starch
1 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp shoyu
1 tbsp white vinegar (apple cider is fine but sake vinegar is the best)
1/4 tbsp red pepper (adjust that to your abused or pure tastebuds)
1-2 tbsp oil
1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken thigh cut into 1/2" pieces
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp grated ginger root
1 bell pepper cut into 1/2" pieces
1/3 c dry roasted peanuts (fry them in a pan with a few drops of oil for 1 min or so, DON'T BURN, gawd awful taste, ewww)
2 medium green onions (ko-negi) sliced (a few tbsps for garnish)

Mix the first 6 ingredients together in a bowl & set aside. Heat wok or pan over high, fry chicken, garlic & ginger in oil about 3 minutes till the chicken is cooked through, (drain the extra liquid if you don't want the sauce to be too thick) add bell peppers & stirfry for 1 min. Add the broth mixture, stir & cook @ 1 min. till the sauce is thickened. Stir in peanuts, sprinkle with negi. And it's DEKIAGARI!!!!

REST-MORNING DAY

I’ve made or eaten some things that I’m itching to blog about. As for the rest of my life you will find is fairly hectic. Pressured but not Stressed! Well, at least that is the goal. Yesterday thanks to my jolly in-law “Marky-Mark” S.O & I were able to have a “rest-morning-day”. (See, where I live, that is as good as it gets when your sister has just had a baby, your husband is busy & it’s 2 ½ aduts with 6 kids, cooking, dishes, clean ups & lets not forget…..LAUNDRY!)
I choose to spend the evening drinking a bottle of sparkling wine that was hangaku & I dearly loved every drop, including the rather large drop I spilled on my favorite blanket. We watched the movie “Casanova” & I was pleasantly surprised that it wasn’t a soppy, ridiculous, man-fest, but had rather a somewhat humorous plot.
So after foolishly wasting 2 hours of my rest-morning sleeping in (Gasp, shameless!!), I biked to the store & picked up a loaf of still warm freshly baked French bread from the bakery & found some fresh Mozzarella that was also hangaku. (gotta love these Chiba folks) So I slapped together the S.O’s favorite breakfast of: cappuccino, eggs, French bread, tomato & mozzarella with basil, freshly ground pepper, salt a touch of balsamic vinegar & lets not forget THE OLIVE OIL. Ah yes, the olive oil. If my husband could choose one condiment to be the only condiment he could use for the rest of his life it would be OLIVE OIL. Not just any olive oil but EXTRA VIRGIN. “A little French bread with your olive oil, my dear?
What then? 1 hr of reading or rather listening to Word, 1 hour of napping with Erika & we had 2 hrs left over for going to the “2nd hand Costco Store” & a little Nativity-scene-globe-music-box-glittery-light-thingie for the kids, in as much as we have zero Christmas decorations. A quick stop at the MASSIVE warehouse-like restaurant & kitchen-ware store in Soga, where I got a much needed heavy bottom 2L pot. (THANK YOU, GOD) And we’re back in time to take the kids for round 10 of who forgot to flush the toilet.
In other news, my kids now know what a blog is & that I have one. Today at lunch Ashley said, “Mom, the crust on this casserole is so nice, you should blog about it!” Cutie!