Christmas Baking

I really like to make pretty food. When I started making a special cake for Christmas every year, I realized it was my favorite thing to cook. I've been using different recipes, some very detailed, some not. This year, I decided to make the easiest one I could find with the fewest ingredients -a vanilla cake with a buttercream frosting and we gobbled it up at our church Christmas dinner.

The day after Christmas, I was lamenting that I hadn't gotten to make any other desserts or special foods this year. I asked the girls what the one dessert they missed getting and without hesitation, they all agreed on pumpkin pie. I made one immediately and it was a huge success. 

It's a Birthday Party at the Rhodes House

Ray turned fifty-five in October and we did a lot of cooking. He likes lots of options on the table so for his birthday, that's what he got - fried chicken, fried eggplant, potato casserole, roasted cauliflower and zucchini, and crusty bread. Dessert was a pound cake with strawberries and homemade whipped cream. He usually likes healthy eating, but he didn't get that.

An activity he really likes is something we've been calling the read a line game. Everyone in the house gets a book that they've been reading lately and reads a line, a paragraph or a page from it. I'm always impressed by what the girls find meaningful that they want to share. I wish we did it more often.

I love that the little ones wanted to read books that they have memorized. Their sweet little voices have already gotten the hang of the sing-song rhythm of reading aloud. Josiah chose Little Blue Truck, Susannah read If You Give a Pig a Pancake, and Abi read The Red Ripe Strawberry and the Big Hungry Bear.

This is the first time Rachel and Adrian played with us and we couldn't get her to stop reading. We should probably come up with a few rules like-

• pick your portion before anyone starts
• no reading silently while others are reading aloud
• have a question or comment about each person's reading
• there should probably be a time limit too

It's a good thing to enjoy books and reading!

Let Them Eat Cake

This triple chocolate buttermilk pound cake is featured on the February issue of Southern Living. Try it! It was great!

It really isn't about the numbers, but...

... it just happened to work out that way.

Five boys

Four days

Three Nights

Two pounds of pasta

One dog

We've gotten some great time with some amazing boys. Our nephews have given me hope that living with boys is possible, even really great.

So, Josiah, look out... Grammy has a few ideas!

Valentine Fun

...and yes, she does wear this dress every day.  This Pinterest project is so easy a three year old can do it.

Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper and lay out a single layer of pretzels.

Painstakingly unwrap lots of Hershey kisses and put them on top of the pretzels.

 Put the pan in the oven for about 3-5 minutes, just until the kisses are hot but not loosing their shape. I did that for her, she isn't that tall.

Separate a bag full of M & M's, using only the red ones.

While the kisses are warm, press the M & M's down into the kisses.

Cool in the fridge to set the kisses hard again. 

They turned out cute, but if you used the Hershey hugs and Valentine colored M & M's they would look more like Valentines.

White Christmas

Some favorite cooking events this year turned out to be completely different. 

White Chocolate Cake

Stealing from Paula Deen and Southern Living recipes that I used last year, I have found my favorite Christmas cake recipe. White chocolate in the layers and the frosting. It was very rich and makes a huge cake so it feeds a crowd.

Making gingerbread houses with the O'Neil children

Another Soy Free Favorite

Cream of Mushroom Soup

8 ounces fresh mushrooms
2 tablespoons onions, chopped
1 -2 garlic clove, minced
2 tablespoons butter
2 -3 tablespoons flour (separated)
2 cups chicken broth
1 cup light cream or 1 cup evaporated milk (I usually use milk)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg


Directions:
Cut the mushrooms into slices.

Melt butter in large frying pan. Add in onions, garlic, and mushrooms. Cook until onions are soft.

Blend in 2 T. flour and stir. I used more

Add in the chicken broth and heat until slightly thickened while stirring frequently.

Stir cream with additional 1 T. flour and seasonings. Add in cream to soup. Heat to thicken while stirring frequently.

Summer Stash!

Going to Mama's in the summer means "putting' up vegetables. We didn't get to Dublin until late this summer so we were only able to get peaches and field peas (my favorite) but what we got is delicious and will hold us for a while. It's important for children to have a hand in food preparation. These girls know that a lot of hard work goes into fresh food and they really appreciate it.

My mother knows how to "put up" anything. Somewhere, I have a picture of my grandmother that looks almost like this.

Abigail's favorite job was tasting every peach!

She did get in on the bagging. She picked up the peas one at a time and put them in, she refused the help of a spoon.

Mary's 14th Birthday

Me - Mary, what would you like for your birthday meal this week? (It's been Christmas, she doesn't get early planning.)

Mary - I don't know, I like casseroles.

Me - Like chicken and rice? (Surprised, everyone knows that I make that way too often because it's the easiest thing in the world to whip up and and it's always different.)

Mary - No, like vegetable casseroles, like squash casserole, cabbage casserole, green bean casserole. And do whatever decorating you want to do, just make it easy on yourself.

I used a chocolate pie left over from New Year's Day and piled it high with lots of ice cream balls and whipped cream. Now that's making things easy for yourself!

Though this didn't make a beautiful plate, I was really glad to make squash casserole in my new ramekins. I have had ramekins on my wish list for years, but no one ever got them. On Mary's birthday when I went into Kroger for a few last minute things, I saw two boxes on sale for an incredible price. I bought them and didn't even feel guilty about it.

We made the table cloth out of an old book and wrapped a present in it too.

Abigail couldn't wait to dig in.

Susannah couldn't get enough of her granddaddy since they had been gone to Minnesota for the week.

Abigail and Susannah provided lots of entertainment.

Hannah found this Christmas ornament at a thrift store that just fits Mary's style.

Mary's big compliment of the evening to me, "Even though you aren't always the coolest mom, you are  cool most of the time."

Christmas Cakes

I love to make cakes, but rarely do because of the time and cost that it takes. So at Christmas, I try really hard to make at least one for some special occasion. The two that I have made the most are the hummingbird cake and caramel cake. They are both delicious and usually turn out to be pretty tasty. What is probably one of the highest compliments that I ever received is many, many years ago, my father-in-law told me that my caramel cake tasted just like his mother used to make. I'm not sure about that, but it certainly encouraged me to keep making it. It has been requested so much that we kind of got tired of it.

I made two completely different cakes this year and both had the huge "wow factor"because they were so pretty. (But definitely not as pretty as the picture in the magazines that I got the recipe from.)

This is the peppermint, white chocolate cake that was featured on the cover of the Paula Deen magazine. The white chocolate layers were amazing, but I didn't love the buttercream frosting. If I make it again, I will try to find a great way to crush peppermint candy. 

Southern Living featured the red velvet white chocolate cheesecake and it certainly looked impressive when it was cut! The alternating layers of red velvet cake and cheesecake were beautiful and the white chocolate icing was delicious! 

I think the conclusion of cake making this year is that I need to make the white chocolate layers and cover the cake with the white chocolate icing.

What We're Having To Eat

It seems like I've gotten in a rut cooking lately, so I decided to write down what we're eating. Writing it down helps me see what I'm skipping and forces me to be a little more creative. I can tell it's fall because there isn't nearly as much fruit as we like and that we aren't eating enough leafy greens. My list also confirmed what I already knew, we eat a lot of leftovers and we eat too many chicken casseroles! My plan now is to see if I can keep from making any type chicken casserole until the end of the year.

Two weeks menu

Tuesday
Breakfast - scrambled eggs with spinach and mushrooms, grits, leftover banana muffins and pumpkin muffins

Lunch- pb and j, leftovers, pita chips and hummus

Supper- eat out with friends, girls ate homemade chicken noodle soup (took some to a sick family too)

Wednesday
Breakfast- scrambled eggs, leftover hash brown casserole, strawberry muffin from a mix

Lunch - leftover chicken noodle soup, pb and j

Supper- taco soup, tortilla chips, tossed salad, apple turnovers (Church supper)

Thursday
Breakfast- scrambled eggs with mushrooms and onions, frozen waffles, sausage

Lunch - leftover chicken noodle soup, ham sandwiches, pb and j

Supper - leftover taco soup, nacho chips and cheese, carrots and celery sticks

Friday
Breakfast- scrambled eggs with sausage, mushrooms, onions and cheese, grits, pumpkin/apple streusel muffins

Lunch- chicken and rice casserole, broccoli

Supper- ham and cheese sandwiches, chips, carrots

Saturday-
Breakfast- eggs scrambled with sausage, grits, leftover pumpkin muffins

Lunch- turkey hot dogs, chips, carrots

Supper- ravioli lasagna, broccoli

Sunday
Breakfast- scrambled eggs, hash browns, bacon, leftover muffins and toast, mixed frozen fruit

Lunch- eat at friends' house (it was a yummy chicken lasagna)

Supper- chicken pasta salad, grilled cheese sandwiches, pineapple

Monday
Breakfast- breakfast casserole with spinach, mushrooms and bacon, grits, pineapple

Lunch- leftover chicken/pasta salad, nacho chips with cheese, pb and j

Supper- baked ham, mashed potatoes, green beans, rolls

Tuesday
Breakfast- fried egg sandwiches

Lunch- Chik-fil-A

Supper- macaroni and cheese with ham bake, spinach salad with grapes and oranges

Wednesday
Breakfast - eggs scrambled with ham and cheese, grits

Lunch- pb and j, pita chips, hummus

Supper- veggie soup, Mac and cheese, cornbread muffins, spinach salad, fall cookies (Church supper)

Thursday
Breakfast- scrambled eggs, apple/oatmeal muffins, grits

Lunch- eat at a friends house (butternut squash macaroni bake, I loved it)

Supper- leftover veggie soup, cornbread

Friday
Breakfast- leftover muffins, cereal

Lunch- spaghetti, tossed salad, rolls, cupcakes (Abigail's birthday meal)

Supper- leftover spaghetti

Saturday
Breakfast- frozen waffles

Lunch- pb and j, leftovers

Supper- wings, potato wedges, celery, salad, chips and dip

Sunday
Breakfast- scrambled eggs, grits, sausage, pumpkin/apple muffins

Lunch- poppy seed chicken, rice, brussel sprouts, spinach salad, muffins, pumpkin crisp (company came over)

Supper- clean out the fridge leftovers

Monday
Breakfast- grits casserole, pumpkin/apple muffins

Lunch- pb and j, salad, carrots

Supper- shepherds pie, green beans

Tuesday
Breakfast- leftover grits casserole

Lunch- pb and j, cheese quesdillas, carrots

Supper- chicken/broccoli and rice casserole, tossed salad, rolls

Snacks offered through the week- hot chocolate, pretzels, banana bread, raisins, cereal, peanut butter crackers, pita chips and hummus, chocolate chip cookies, oranges, trail mix, milkshakes, pretzels

How's life without all the sports going?

Coming to grips with that question, I realized a few things. Life is busy all the time, with or without added activities and sports. So, if you don't have to drive to practices and games every day, something else will fill that gap quickly. But I also realized that homeschool is really nicely done at - well.... home. It's amazing what children can learn when I'm at home with them and they are at home relaxed and ready to learn. I think it comes about because I'm not always preparing to leave the house for the next event. I'm sure that's coming again soon because Lydia really wants to play basketball, but for now, I'm enjoying homeschool.

Highlights from this week's school have included:

• healthy debates on whether or not Jim Elliot was waiting on God to lead him to marry Elisabeth or if he was just being a dumb guy.
• learning all five of the basic biomes, again, for the fourth time, only this time, Lydia got to draw them.
• real life daily scripture memory, every day.
• actually singing the preposition song, not just looking at it and saying, "oh that's nice, move on."
• Ray reading a book to us every morning at breakfast.
• the girls asking if we could just keep on having devotions.
• actually cooking from real recipes and not throwing random casseroles together. (Okay, that's not homeschool, but it sure is nice since I'm at home more.)

I'm enjoying homeschool so much, who knows, I might even have the girls try to make a diorama this year. It might have been about thirteen years since we've actually tried that!

Y'all, Just Call Me Paula Deen!

I'm loving my subscription to the Paula Deen Magazine these days, even if I don't get to cook anything out of it. This week I actually tried two new recipes - apple oatmeal cookies and apple cream cheese muffins. Can you guess the apple trees are producing? Actually, I may not get any apple jelly made this year and I'm thinking that a lot of apples will end up rotting.

The apple cream cheese muffin recipe is the best! I can't stop eating them. But beware, for some reason they have upset Abigail's reflux. Even though she has been eating dairy in small amounts, these have her chest gurgling. Also, I made the muffins in regular muffin pans so it made twenty-four muffins and took less time to cook them.

The apple oatmeal cookies were good, but they tasted a little "too healthy." You have to have the powdered sugar icing on them. And I added nuts too.

A Recipe NOT To Try

So, I heard this great recipe to make your own cooking spray. It was cheaper, less expensive, and cleaner. It was -mix one part of cooking oil with five parts of water in a spray bottle. Voila, cooking spray! Right? Wrong! My girls and I have been scrubbing pots and pans for days! Everything sticks to the pans and the muffin pans that I have used for 26 years may not survive. I'm planning to buy steel wool to save them, but I'm wondering if it might be cheaper to but new pans. I know it would be easier!

How to Eat Blueberries

... If you're nineteen months old.

First go to Grandma's house in the Summertime, there is always mounds of them on her dining room table.

Then pretend like you're putting them in freezer bags to save for later.

You have to sneak them into your mouth at first, so she doesn't catch on to what you're doing.

Give her as many big smiles as necessary to keep her off guard.

Then you're home free, and can eat as many as you want. The sky is the limit....or  until your Mommy stops you. 

A Few Mother's Day Pictures

I know, I'm behind on these pictures but I really loved them and wanted to post them.

Rachel makes a beautiful and delicious breakfast braid.

Some days it's just plain fun to have a live wire in the house.

When Lydia loves, she loves with all that she has.

The last family picture before Susannah.

What Kind of Mom Forgets to Color Easter Eggs?

You guessed it, me! Last year, I almost forgot and we ended up coloring eggs at 10:00 the night before.

Since I had a dozen boiled eggs in the refrigerator, I went searching for a recipe to use them. It turned out to be an Eggs Benedict Casserole of sorts.

8 slices of hard white bread
10 hard boiled eggs
Several hands full of fresh spinach
about 1/2 cup of bacon bits
1 stick butter
4T flour
1 3/4 to 2 C milk
1/2C sour cream
3/4 to 1t Dijon mustard
3/4 to 1t yel­low mustard
1 C shred­ded ched­dar cheese

Butter one side of the bread and place it butter side down in a 9x13. Sprinkle spinach and bacon bits over that. Slice the eggs and layer over the spinach and bacon.

(This part is copied straight from the site as she makes roux a lot more often than I do.) The next step is to make the cheesy mus­tard sauce to go over the top! This will need to be done in a sauce pan on the stove, as you are basi­cally mak­ing a roux. You’ll start the sauce by melt­ing 2T of but­ter over medium-low heat. Add 1T of the flour and mix it in with the but­ter (a wire whisk is good for this). Then, slowly add 1/4C of milk and con­tinue stir­ring. Alter­nate adding in 1T of flour, fol­lowed by 1/4C milk until you have a rea­son­ably thick roux and have used about 4T of flour to about 1 3/4 to 2C of milk. Stir in sour cream & mus­tard. Then, add 1/2 to 3/4C of shred­ded ched­dar cheese (or cheese of your choice).

Pour the roux over the eggs and top with about a half cup of cheese. I let mine sit for about hour to let the roux sink into the bread, but it can be cooked right away or put in the fridge overnight. Bake at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes, until it starts browning and gets bubbly. 

I really liked the change of pace from the typical breakfast casserole. The bread was a little too soggy so I might not let it sit before cooking next time.

Since I didn't have everything the original recipe called for, I gave you what I did. I'm sure hers was good too.

Birthday Meals

The girls usually have some options on birthday meals and I try to make things that I know they like, and it can't be too extreme. This year the times were busy so I had to make some executive decisions. You know, moms can do that right? Sarah got hamburgers with all the fixings, but her cake turned out to be a double chocolate chip cookie cake made from a mix. Which she really likes, but I felt guilty making her 18th birthday cake out of a mix. (Why is it that moms often make themselves feel guilty for taking the easy way out?)

I decorated the table with a few things we were trying out for her graduation.

Sarah and Courtney

Hannah's birthday had a little more time to prepare but I still didn't do all that I wanted to. She turned 21 this year so we had enchiladas along with "Shirley Temples."

My sweet friend Natalie had made these delicious cookie dough cupcakes and passed along the recipe. It has everything that a girl loves if she loves cookie dough and it wasn't too hard to make. The recipe only makes twelve cupcakes, but even for our chocolate loving party of twelve, some could only eat half because it is so rich so that there was plenty.

Hannah and Vanessa doing what they do best.