Christmas Eve

We had a wonderful Christmas. The first for our new family. On Christmas Eve we hosted a buffet dinner including grandparents, my brother with his family and the Chef's sister.

The spread... Not shown is the delicious New England Clam Chowder that the Chef made.

The kids got there first.

The new crew.

Menu for the week-Jan.14 to Jan.20

Here's to another week. More fun and games involving way too much driving since the bus strike is still going on. There are 6 kids in this house going to 4 different schools who all need rides twice a day. The schools range from one end of the city to the other. Then there is the oldest who has appointments and meetings anywhere from 4 to 7 times a week.

With the increased traffic because there are so many more cars on the road, I'm looking forward for this strike to be over in more ways than one.

Breakfast

Th -fried eggs and toast

F -cereal

M -bacon and cinnamon toast

T -muffins and hot chocolate

W -bagel and boiled egg

Lunch

same as last week

Dinner

W -egg rolls and vegetable fried rice

Th -burgers, coleslaw and oven fries

F -baked fish, green salad and potato salad

Sa -easy thai supper

S -roast beef, green beans, roasted potatoes

M -chicken with cranberry sauce, mashed white beans and sugar snap peas

T -lentil soup and homeade bread

Dessert

W -lemon cakes

S -german chocolate cake

T -chocolate chip cookies and ice cream

Baking

Zuchini and pineapple muffin

chocolate chip cookies

***There were some changes in last weeks menu plan, as usual. You know what they say about best laid plans!

On friday we ended up having fried perch, hash browns and coleslaw, courtesy of my Mom. (Thanks Mom) For baking I made peanut butter chocolate chip muffins instead of banana and I made my Granny's oatmeal cookies not chocolate chip.

For more menu plans, check out OrgJunkie.

Menu for the week -Jan.7 to Jan 13

Breakfasts

-fried eggs and toast, juice
-cinnamon toast, bacon, tea
-cherry coffecake
NO BREAKFAST COOKING BY ME ON THE WEEKEND!
-smoothie and bagel
-oatmeal, juice
-muffin, hot chocolat

Lunches

kids choose from:
1. cold cut sandwich or cold cut, cheese and crackers or cheese/tuna/egg salad sandwich or soup/leftovers in thermos.
2. jello, pudding, yogurt or fruit
3. granola bar or chewy bar or rice krispie square or cookie
NO LUNCHES COOKED OR MADE BY ME ON THE WEEKEND!

Dinners

W -chili and garlic bread, carrrots and celery sticks and dessert
Th -smothered pork chops, mashed potatoes, broccoli
F -eggs with cheese,onions and peppers and oven fries
Sa -thai supper with ground beef
Su -chicken pot pie, salad and dessert
M -salmon with maple cream sauce, roasted potatoes, peas
T -turkey noodle soup with bread

Desserts

apple crisp
ice cream

Baking

chocolate chip cookies
banana muffins

Where I've been

It's been a long, long time.

This is some of what I've been doing:

We've moved here.

And cleaned up 3 years of neglect in the yard,

And put in a huge vegetable garden and many flower gardens.

To get ready for the big event in August. The chef and I got married in the yard with 70 guests in attendance.

But now I'm back!!!!!!

Summer reading

Here is my summer reading list. Of course, more books will probably be added as the summer wears on but this is my must read pile. A couple of the books listed aren't out yet which is why they aren't in the picture. Some of these I've bought, a couple are from the library and a few have been gifts. There are also a couple that I am waiting to get from the library, those are the ones with the LONG waiting lists.



There's nothing like the reading bug!



*Intellectual Devotional by Kidder and Oppenheim

*History of the Ancient World by Susan Wise Bauer

*Whitehorn Woods by Maeve Binchy

*Body Surfing by Anita Shreve

*Lollipop Shoes by Joanne Harris

*Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

*Gap Creek by Robert Morgan

*Hot Flash Club chills out by Nancy Thayer

*Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows by J.K. Rowling

*Elizabeth by Eileen Dunlop

*The Emperor's Children

*Animal, Vegetable and Mineral by Barbara Kingsolver

*Miles from Nowhere by Barbara Savage



Oh and the two read alouds for the younger kids are "The Penderwicks" and "Tom Sawyer"

Granny's Cookies

My Granny made the best oatmeal cookies...thin, crisp, with a hint of nutmeg. I finally tracked down the recipe and made them. Almost as good as Granny's!

*Granny's Oatmeal Cookies*

Stir together the following and put aside:

1 1/2 cups flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp nutmeg

Cream 1 1/2 cups of margarine or butter.

Add:

1 cup brown sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla

1 1/2 cups rolled oats

Add flour mixture and combine well.

Turn onto lightly floured surface Knead until smooth. Roll into a 10 x 12 inch rectangle. Cut into 1 1/4" squares.

Place 1" apart on ungreased cookie sheet.

Bake at 300 degrees for 20-25 minutes.

Makes lots!!

Camp food

Dinner the first night.
Step one
Get it on the fire.

Step two
Get it cooking.

Step three

Let's eat...glazed ribs, carrots and onions, with potatoes. (The hole in the potatoes was my fault. I was checking to see if they were done. Can't blame the cook for that one!) I've got to admit I don't even like ribs but these looked and smelled so good that I just had to try them...WOW, I'm now a convert.

Chef at work. Notice how everything is laid out ready to be used. This was dinner on Saturday night. The Chef made a wonderful meal of chicken with a Jack Daniels BBQ sauce, potatoes baked in the coals and steamed carrots and onions. Absolutely delicious. Too bad I ate it all before remembering to take a picture of the finished product. Sorry!

Sunday breakfast cooked on the fire. Bacon and eggs just don't taste like this at home! Notice the paint scraper...necessity is the mother of invention. (Needless to say it was new)

Breakfast the last day

oatmeal with pears, apples, nuts ,brown sugar and cream

Okay so I am totally spoiled. I admit it. And very, very lucky to have such a great guy in my life.

Other than boiling water, warming soup and making toast I didn't cook a thing all weekend!!