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Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Christmas Eggs
This is a variation on a recipe Sarah found.
12 oz grated cheddar & jack cheese
1 Tbsp flour
about 8 oz frozen chopped broccoli (do not need to thaw)
2 oz grated sharp cheddar cheese
chopped mushrooms and red bell pepper
3/4 lb bacon, cooked and crumbled
12 eggs
1 cup milk
Toss 12 oz cheese with the flour and place in the bottom of a greased 9 x13 in baking dish. Layer the broccoli, 2 oz cheddar cheese, mushrooms and bell peppers, and bacon over the cheese. Beat eggs and milk and pour over all. Cover and chill 8 hours or overnight. Remove from the refrigerator 30 minutes before baking. Bake, uncovered, 40-45 minutes at 325 degrees F (or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean). Let stand 5 minutes before cutting.
12 oz grated cheddar & jack cheese
1 Tbsp flour
about 8 oz frozen chopped broccoli (do not need to thaw)
2 oz grated sharp cheddar cheese
chopped mushrooms and red bell pepper
3/4 lb bacon, cooked and crumbled
12 eggs
1 cup milk
Toss 12 oz cheese with the flour and place in the bottom of a greased 9 x13 in baking dish. Layer the broccoli, 2 oz cheddar cheese, mushrooms and bell peppers, and bacon over the cheese. Beat eggs and milk and pour over all. Cover and chill 8 hours or overnight. Remove from the refrigerator 30 minutes before baking. Bake, uncovered, 40-45 minutes at 325 degrees F (or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean). Let stand 5 minutes before cutting.
It was a Merry Christmas
A brief summary of Christmas 2008.
The day was just right. The kids opened stockings at home that had two (!) presents in them and a candy cane that was consumed immediately. Nora is an excellent gift recipient because she gets so excited. She jumped for joy after getting a diaper I made for her baby.
Then we headed over to wake up the aunts. Not necessary. Everyone donned their Santa hats and Steve fed Helena the second half of her breakfast.
We breakfasted on coffeecake and egg casserole. Present opening took all day with plenty of breaks for eating and playing. Here is Nora mid-bounce as she unwraps a present.
Henry would start opening a gift and say "Oh! This!" and then we would ask "What is it?" And he would reply "THIS." Sometimes he would exclaim "Tires!" when catching a glimpse of what was to come.
Henry helps Anja with her new scarf.
Nora and Henry help Helena open one of her gifts.
Playing the new memory game while wearing the fruit basket hat.
Anja drinks some refreshing felt tea made by Henry.
Henry and Liisa sending his new motorcycles down the stairs.
After naps for some of the adults, we decorated gingerbread houses and ate the candy intended for their embellishment.
We had turkey, mashed sweet and white potatoes, coleslaw, broccoli and cauliflower, and cranberry sauce for dinner. Mark carved the turkey and Steve did the dishes.
The day was just right. The kids opened stockings at home that had two (!) presents in them and a candy cane that was consumed immediately. Nora is an excellent gift recipient because she gets so excited. She jumped for joy after getting a diaper I made for her baby.
Then we headed over to wake up the aunts. Not necessary. Everyone donned their Santa hats and Steve fed Helena the second half of her breakfast.
We breakfasted on coffeecake and egg casserole. Present opening took all day with plenty of breaks for eating and playing. Here is Nora mid-bounce as she unwraps a present.
Henry would start opening a gift and say "Oh! This!" and then we would ask "What is it?" And he would reply "THIS." Sometimes he would exclaim "Tires!" when catching a glimpse of what was to come.
Henry helps Anja with her new scarf.
Nora and Henry help Helena open one of her gifts.
Playing the new memory game while wearing the fruit basket hat.
Anja drinks some refreshing felt tea made by Henry.
Henry and Liisa sending his new motorcycles down the stairs.
After naps for some of the adults, we decorated gingerbread houses and ate the candy intended for their embellishment.
We had turkey, mashed sweet and white potatoes, coleslaw, broccoli and cauliflower, and cranberry sauce for dinner. Mark carved the turkey and Steve did the dishes.
Friday, December 26, 2008
Christmas Eve
We started our celebrations on Christmas Eve with afternoon coffee, Finnish style.
Then we went to church.
We came home and made pizza: one marinara with fresh mozzarella and one pesto with salami, bell peppers, mushrooms and red onions. There was pumpkin pie for dessert.
While we were waiting for dinner to bake we dressed the baby as Santa Claus. Henry is wearing Mark's foot duvets, he refers to them as his "booties."
And Nora and Henry opened one present. Nora volunteered earlier that the one present could be hers, but one each seemed like a better solution. I had selected presents from Grandma for this evening and it turned out to be a great choice since they were filled with smaller gifts. Henry took his airplane to bed, but the helicopter had to sleep elsewhere so as not to crush the rotors.
Then we went to church.We came home and made pizza: one marinara with fresh mozzarella and one pesto with salami, bell peppers, mushrooms and red onions. There was pumpkin pie for dessert.
While we were waiting for dinner to bake we dressed the baby as Santa Claus. Henry is wearing Mark's foot duvets, he refers to them as his "booties."
And Nora and Henry opened one present. Nora volunteered earlier that the one present could be hers, but one each seemed like a better solution. I had selected presents from Grandma for this evening and it turned out to be a great choice since they were filled with smaller gifts. Henry took his airplane to bed, but the helicopter had to sleep elsewhere so as not to crush the rotors.
Thursday, December 25, 2008
Monday, December 22, 2008
It will be a white Christmas
We have been out playing in the snow every day. It was a little dark yesterday when this was taken, but here is Nora on her new skis.
Nora peeks out of the window of the fort Mark built using the chunks left by the snow plow.
Sunday, December 21, 2008
More Felt Food
I have been madly making felt food for Christmas. I'm sure the collection will continue to be added to on birthdays. There are lots of excellent ideas, but time and ability limit my production. I am pleased with my latest creations.
A grilled sausage. With embroidered grill marks.
Pita pocket with cheese slice, tomato, and a spinach leaf.
A plate of frosted gingerbread cookies.
A quesadilla with melty cheese.
A grilled sausage. With embroidered grill marks.
Pita pocket with cheese slice, tomato, and a spinach leaf.
A plate of frosted gingerbread cookies.
A quesadilla with melty cheese.
Thursday, December 18, 2008
Snow
It is cold outside, but we got several inches of snow overnight so I sent the big kids out to play. Notice the fingernails on the hand chair.
Here you can see the vestiges of Henry's bruise from bumping into the footstool after jumping on to a pile of pillows.They cleared snow off the back patio, waded through the yard, and ate some snow.
And when they came inside we had tea and a gingerbread cookie.
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Helena : 10 months
She enjoys eating and feeding herself. She still rolls to get from here to there. There are now two teeth. She loves her bath and kicks and vocalizes for most of it, pausing only when she is splashed in the face by the waves she creates. She is still a most pleasant baby, except when the food is gone too soon.
Monday, December 15, 2008
Cookies and candy
This year for the annual church bake sale (that benefits the local pregnancy center) I made sugar cookies, gingerbread cookies and chocolate chip-cranberry-pecan oatmeal cookies like I did last year. I used a new recipe for mocha chip cookies which worked fine, but the chocolate-peppermint cookies failed miserably. I bought a candy thermometer and tried my hand at candy making. I made fleur de sel toffee, tried penuche fudge (didn't turn out very well), two batches of chocolate fudge (one with peppermint) and winter bark with peanuts.Seeing all the goodies that were going to leave the house was a little disappointing for Nora and Henry, but we will bake for us later. They did get to sample some of the broken and/or unsightly cookies.
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
Crafty
I have been making felt food. There is a current craze that you may not be aware of, but a quick Google search will set you straight. This was my very first food item and one of my favorites, a fried egg.
And another fried egg. Since cholesterol is not an issue with felt food, there will be plenty of eggs around here.
A pot full of ravioli.
My newest favorite thing is tea bags, perfect for my tea drinkers.
I have also made some cookies and pita pockets and tomato slices and am working on making spinach leaves that look more realistic. Since they are so small finishing a piece of food doesn't take long. It's going to be a soft food Christmas around here.
And another fried egg. Since cholesterol is not an issue with felt food, there will be plenty of eggs around here.
A pot full of ravioli.
My newest favorite thing is tea bags, perfect for my tea drinkers.
I have also made some cookies and pita pockets and tomato slices and am working on making spinach leaves that look more realistic. Since they are so small finishing a piece of food doesn't take long. It's going to be a soft food Christmas around here.
Christmas is coming!
This year I made an Advent calendar, inspired by this post and with some encouragement from Mystie. Each container has two candies and some have activities suggested...have some tea and a Christmas cookie, make popcorn, etc. The children have had a blast taking turns opening them. And Aunt Anja gave them calendars from Trader Joe's so they have at least two daily treats.
I changed my living room wall fabric to Fandango. It feels very festive.
We put up our tree on Saturday. Mark bought one from Lowe's and it came in this handy net that made it much easier to move around. Nora helped me hang decorations, but Henry wasn't too interested.
It relaxed nicely.
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