Cinnamon Buns & Cream Cheese Frosting

This is a recipe that is modified from Taste of Home's annual best recipe cookbook (that Hannah gave me at my wedding shower - and remains one of my favorite cookbooks). If you all have never read a TOH cookbook or magazine, you are missing out.  It is probably the greatest cooking magazine because all the recipes are sent in from the readers and they are all tested out.  Sure, there are some duds in the mix, but for the most part, I usually like the majority of the recipes.

cinnamon buns (makes a lot - I usually half or quarter this recipe - what do I mean by a lot? It can fill 4ish 13x9 pans, if you make the rolls big: 12 x 4 = 48, if you make them smaller, like me: 24 x 4 = 96)

11 to 12 c flour
3/4 c sugar
7 tsp yeast
3 tsp salt
3-1/2 c warm (105 - 115) water
1 cup oil or applesauce
3 eggs

Combine 8 cups of flour and the next 3 ingredients. Mix a few times in your mixer. Add the warm water while still mixing.  Most of the time I add the applesauce to the water before I add it because I heat the water too much and the applesauce will cool it down a bit. Lastly, add the egg. Mix well with paddle.  Add another 2 - 4 cups of flour.  Tend towards the side of caution with yeast dough, leave it a bit wet if you have any doubts. Cover with wet towel; let rise 1 hour (funny comment here: I had always let this rise for 45 minutes to an hour. Well, I just read the directions and it only tells you to let it rest for 15 min).

Punch the dough down.  Divide into 4 sections (or 1 or 2 if you are halfing or quartering this). Let rest a few minutes. Roll each section out (one at a time).  I have this big cookie sheet with edges that I like to use (it is about 24 x 16).  It contains the flour so that I don't have the scrap and bunch of flour off my counter after I am finished.

Filling:
1/2 c. melted butter
1 c sugar
2 T cinnamon
optional: 1 c pecans
optional: 1 c raisins

Spread 2T of melted butter on each of the rolled out sections. Mix 1/4 c sugar and 1.5 tsp cinnamon together.  Sprinkle cinnamon sugar over the melted butter.  Sprinkle with raisins and nuts, if desired. 

Roll the dough up (make the roll shorter if you want fewer, but bigger rolls, roll it up the long side if you want more, smaller rolls). Slice the rolls. I think I make them about an inch thick... maybe more... maybe less depending on how I am feeling.  They all taste good.  You just have to watch how long you cook them depending on how you cut them.  Place in a pan with edges. Cover with damp towel.  Let rise 15 - 30 minutes or so.  Or you can place them in the frig and let them rise overnight... If you are planning on doing this I suggest decreasing the yeast by at least half.

Place in preheated oven at 425 for 10 - 18 minutes (depending on the size).  Cool slightly.  Frost.

Frosting:
I eat this icing by the spoonful with a nice tall glass of milk.  This is how much I make for a half batch.  I would double this recipe if you are going to make the whole batch.  I have never made the whole batch.
1 package cream cheese
1/4 c. butter
3 - 3-1/2 c powdered sugar
1.5 tsp vanilla
2 - 5 T cream, milk, half and half, water...etc.

Enjoy.

Favorite dip from my favorite 1st grade Sunday School teacher

This is a recipe from Mrs. Render, with a few of my additions and subtractions.

Bottom layer:
1 can refried beans
1 can pinto or black beans or (not a can) of ground hamburger
1 lime juiced
2 - 3 T of taco powder
1 can mexican lime and cilantro rotel (brand) tomatoes 
optional: 1 can corn

Middle layer:
grated cheese
optional: guac (I usually leave this out because I eat this over several days)

Top layer:
diced green onions
diced green, red, or yellow peppers
optional: diced tomatoes (I am indifferent)
optional: cilantro (jared doesn't like)
optional: diced olives (I don't like)

I eat this for lunch and dinner many days. It is very easy to throw together. Eat it with some good chips or on a pile of lettuce or spinach. Yum.

Random bits of life:
* I picked 18 quarts of strawberries last night.  It was lovely.  Picking strawberries is one of my favorite activities.

* I took my parents some strawberries. My Dad gave me almost 2 pounds of asparagus and a vase full of roses and I was able to see my parents and favorite two youngest siblings.  I definitely received the better end of the deal.

* I am very proud of my siblings, all of them. Whenever I have a chance to mention how awesome they are, I usually do.  It makes me sad that other people don't seem to enjoy spending time with their family. I am very thankful for mine.

* I am glad I have a talented, smart little brother and I am glad I have multiple, beautiful sisters.

* I am playing in a soccer tournament on Saturday.  Yikes.

* I reserved my spot in Paris for June!!  In the first two weeks of June, I am working only 1 and a half days, taking 2 vacation days, 1 holiday, and being paid for 5 days in Europe.  It is going to be sweet (catching up on the work on all my teams is NOT going to be sweet, but I am not going to think about that until I come back -  ha).

* Jared is really funny.  If you have a chance you should come and see him play Felix Unger in the Odd couple in the 3rd and 4th weekends in June.   

* The longer I work, the more thankful I am for all those HORRIBLE engineering projects and teams that I was on.  It has completely and fully prepared me for the real world of terrible projects and crazy people. It is amazing to me that many of these people are in positions of authority. Moreover, it is even more incredible to me that the world works.  God must really hold the whole thing together.  I don't think that verse in Colossians just means that he holds the universe (matter) together, which I believe he does too, but also the every working of people and their stupidity. 

* I really like the new slogan on Ikea's new catalogs.  This is one more reason I love Ikea! I could not more fully agree ("A home does not have to be big, just smart").  That is how my brain sees the world.  I see spaces and I think about the most efficient use of a space.  I would LOVE LOVE LOVE to work for them!!! That is my dream engineering job.  Yes, owning my own Bed and Breakfast is still top of my list. 

Gumbo!

I finally did it; I finally made gumbo. I had made jambalaya before (what is the difference you ask because I did before I made them, simply (and this is really a simple explanation), one is a red based (tomatoes) and one is a brown base (roux).  They have many of the same ingredients and they are both served over rice. It was that roux that was scaring me away from making this. On a whim I decided to whip some up.  I still don't know why I tried this.  I had been in long, long meetings with a customer for the first two days of the week and then the CEO was coming the next day to visit with our state senator and I had plenty of work to do. However, somehow instead of being super tired, as I normally am, I had energy and thus, I made Gumbo.

So, to start this you can either brown chicken in oil or just boil it in a pot.  I choose to boil it in a pot because that way I make chicken broth at the same time. I have posted the recipe for chicken broth before. It is super easy to make your own (and I actually just scoped this out of the pan my chicken was boiling with and replaced the water that I took... because I needed chicken broth and didn't want to wait the full time that it was supposed to cook).

Ingredients:
1/2 c. vegetable oil
1 c. flour
1 c. minced onions
1 c. minced green pepper
3/4 c. minced celery
1 tsp Tabasco (or more if you like it spicy - we usually sprinkle it over our bowls at the end)
3 T Worcestershire
2 bay leaves
1 tsp commercial Cajun seasoning (look up a recipe online: I used a bit of garlic and pepper and salt and paprika)
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp red pepper (I used Cayenne)
2 quart chicken stock (stolen from pan with boiling chicken)
1/2 c. chopped green onions
1 tsp minced garlic
1 lb andoulle sausage thinly sliced
chicken

To make your roux: Heat up oil to medium heat, sprinkle in flour and stir.  Keep stirring on and off until the roux is a medium brown.  I was cutting up my onions, peppers, and celery while this was cooking.  I probably cooked it for 15 - 20 minutes.

Stir in the onions, pepper, and celery.  I found it was best to remove this from the heat or turn it way down (if you have gas). You want to cook these until they are a bit softened. 

Next, add the Tabasco, Worcestershire sauce, bay leaves, Cajun seasoning, pepper, red pepper, and chicken stock. Mix well.  It is best to add the chicken stock in small amounts.

At this point, turn the heat down to low, add the chicken, thinly sliced sausage, minced garlic, and green onions.  Simmer 1 - 2 hours.  The longer you simmer, the better it tastes. 

Serve over rice.  Sprinkle with Tabasco, if desired.

Feel free to add shrimp, crab, or other kinds of seafood.

March and April Goal report

Read 2 books:
March - yes, I read 4
April - no, I read 1

Cook more meals:
March - yes
April - no

Lift Weights more:
March - yes
April - no, failed at going to gym at all due to long hours at work and travelling

Lose 5 pounds:
March - still on track
April - complete failed thanks to travelling to Philly and CUU, visiting VP and his consultant, and visiting CEO, VP, and state senator. Gained back all 5 pounds that I had lost this year. Boo.

Work fewer hours:
March - worked almost all 40 hour weeks
April - fail! I worked 50 - 60 hours almost every week. Sigh.  Hopefully, all famous people have made their rounds for a while and I am through with travelling for a while (less France in June).

If I had children, I would buy one of these t-shirts.  I think the helicopter is my favorite design (it may be because I work on the design of them).  This is a neat shop; they are making these t-shirts from upcycled shirts to raise money to adopt a baby.  Because I sew and bake and a few other crafty things, I have come to realize the value of homemade items.  I try to support people that make home made goods as much as possible.  

Speaking of helicopters, in late March I was able to tour one of the plants that we supply parts to.  It was pretty sweet to walk up and down the production line and actually see things that I have worked on. They allowed us to walk right up to the birds and stick our heads inside and look how all the parts were assembled together.  It was an engineer's dream come true (or course it all came with a cost, getting out of bed at 4am to drive to Philly is not especially my favorite thing to do). Thankfully, it was only a two day trip and I could drive there (driving beats flying).   

How do you find outfits as cute as this in thrift stores? I especially love the plaid jumper (top 2nd from left) and the checkered dress (bottom, second from right)

If you have a chance, please, vote for my sister:

http://design.greenbag.softcoin.com/vote-for-designs/bag.aspx?BagId=8655&ad=1

Click on Kroger.
Bag #8655
Sarah B.

She is entered to win an art contest to be displayed on a reusable Kroger bag!! She is currently in 7th place out of 19,000.  You can vote once each day!! Please, vote.

Thank you!!

I sort of want this book just for projects like this.  I know I could figure our how to make these peeps, however, I think this book would give me some fun inspiration.  If I ever see if cheap somewhere I will pick it up.  I am old fashion.  I enjoying flipping through books for inspiration so much more than searching online.  It is more comforting.

Speaking of inpiration... I love this blog.

What a great idea!  I have been really wanting to buy some dye and play around with it.  This has sealed the deal.  I am going to buy some onsies and some dye and start giving them out as showers.  I love this idea.  And I love the bold colors you can get with dye. 

PJ pants for kids tutorial.  I have made similar things with Cindy before.  PJ bottoms are some of the easiest things to sew.

Dad, I think we should make one or two of these for the garden.  You can pick your food in this basket, rinse it off, and let it dry. 

Okay, so you know I love Mason jars... if I had a front porch (or even maybe a back porch), I would make these.  So pretty.  These are solar lamps made out of mason jars.  Love love love.  

I really enjoy playing checkers. My Dad taught me when I was pretty young (5 or 6).  Sarah and I used to play on Sundays.  I would like to have one of these for my kids to play in doctor's offices or in other places where we have to wait and need something to do.

I like when stuff is off the floor in its own place.  Baskets for toys are going to be a must when I have kids.  Right now I have two baskets that I store under our table in the living room, one has my library books in it and the other has my sewing supplies.

That last tutorial came from this website that I found recently.  They have a few fun sewing ideas.

These little sandels might be a cute baby shower gift.  I wonder if they would stay on?

Neat paper lamp (Ikea hack with some cupcake holders).  

Strawberry Cake

Doesn't this look amazing?  I made this for my old boss's birthday.  He is one of my favorite people to work with at my plant; he gets things done that I need to be finished and he does it correctly more often than most people I work with.  For that, he gets a cake.  ha. We also talk about food often.  He said he asked his whole family to bring some sort of dish that included fruit for his birthday, but they all refused.  Personally, I thought it was a great idea.  I can think of a lot of dishes that I make that have fruit in it. I make a really awesome stuffing that has pork and apples in it.  I love cranberries and chicken.  Anyhow, that is beside the point.  I wanted to make this cake and I was glad to have a reason to make it.  The end.  

This is how my cake turned out:

This is how it was supposed to look, but I changed the frosting:

REVIEW:  The icing is INCREDIBLE!!! The batter tasted amazing too.  I had to keep reminding myself that there was raw egg in the batter... someday I am going to have a bad case of food poisening and I will stop eating raw egg ... for a few months.  :)   Ha.  I found the recipe to be TOO sweet and strawberryish.  So I added the extra drizzle of chocolate icing to give it just a hint of something else.  I think chocolate chips baked in the cake next time would be delicious.  I will definitely make this cake again.


Strawberry Layer Cake with Whipped Strawberry Frosting



Strawberry Layer Cake
Yield: 3 x 8" round layers
Ingredients:
1 cup whole milk, room temperature

1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
1/4 cup strawberry puree made from frozen strawberries (puree itself should be closer to room temp, not frozen or icy)

1 3/4 cups granulated sugar
1 package strawberry flavored gelatin (such as Jell-O)
1 cup butter, softened
4 eggs (room temperature)

3 cups sifted cake & pastry flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt


Method:
1.  To make your own strawberry puree, place in blender and puree until smooth. Measure out 1/4 cup for cake and 3 tablespoons for frosting, and make a strawberry smoothie with the rest (add a banana and some yogurt if you need a bigger smoothie).
2.Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter and flour three round 9-inch pans (the recipe calls for 8", but I only have 9").
3. Combine milk, strawberry puree, and the vanilla.
4. Sift dry ingredients together.
5. Cream the sugar, gelatin, and butter on medium speed until light and fluffy--about 5 minutes.
6. Add the eggs. Scrap sides of bowl with spatula.
7. Add the wet & dry ingredients. Do not overmix.
8. Divide the batter in three.
9. Bake 25-30 minutes or until a cake tester comes clean when inserted into the center. Be so careful to not overbake. Check cakes at 20 minutes, but not before, and once you feel it's almost ready, set the timer for 2 minute intervals. Let cool on racks for 10 minutes before loosening the sides with a small metal spatula, and invert onto greased wire racks. Gently turn cakes back up, so the tops are up and cool completely.


Whipped Strawberry Frosting
Ingredients:
2 cups heavy whipping cream + 1 package vanilla pudding (recipe calls for 3 sticks + 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened and cut into cubes + 1 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract + 1 T milk)
4 cups sifted confectioners' sugar 
pinch of salt
5 - 7 tablespoons strawberry puree

Method
1. Whip butter for 8 minutes on medium speed (I use "4" on my KitchenAid). Butter will become very pale & creamy or whip heavy whipping cream for 4 to 7 minutes.
2. Add remaining ingredients, except strawberry puree, and mix on low speed for 1 minute, then on medium speed for 6 minutes. Frosting will be very light, creamy, and fluffy.
3. Add strawberry puree (can be cool, but not frozen or icy) and mix until incorporated.
4. Best used right away, but can be covered in an airtight container at room temperature for a day or so.

Chocolate Icing
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1/2 cup boiling water
pinch salt
1 T flour
1/2 tsp vanilla

Mix (whisk) everything, but the vanilla, on top of the stove until it thickens.  Remove from heat. Add vanilla.  Drizzle on top of cake. Strawberry Layer Cake Assembly
1. Place a cake layer face-up on cake plate or 8" round thin cake board.
2. Place 1 cup of frosting on top, and spread evenly with a small offset palette knife.
3. Repeat step 1-2.
4. Place final layer, frost, and chill. With the whipped topping you will not be able to frost the sides. 
5. Drizzle with chocloate icing.

adapted from source

Jesus paid it all.

I hear the Savior say,

“Thy strength indeed is small;

Child of weakness, watch and pray,

Find in Me thine all in all.”

Jesus paid it all,

All to Him I owe;

Sin had left a crimson stain,

He washed it white as snow.

For nothing good have I

Whereby Thy grace to claim,

I’ll wash my garments white

In the blood of Calv’ry’s Lamb.

And now complete in Him

My robe His righteousness,

Close sheltered ’neath His side,

I am divinely blest.

Lord, now indeed I find

Thy power and Thine alone,

Can change the leper’s spots

And melt the heart of stone.

When from my dying bed

My ransomed soul shall rise,

“Jesus died my soul to save,”

Shall rend the vaulted skies.

And when before the throne

I stand in Him complete,

I’ll lay my trophies down

All down at Jesus’ feet.

Mexico Part II

A few random thrown together notes:
* On a lighter note, so far they have fed me pizza and chicken nuggets... So much for getting to try great Mexican food.
* Having no car while travelling is worthless. I can't go anywhere without anyone else and I have under the mercy of the driver as to how late I have to stay out (I learned this last week when I was in Philly too).
* One of the guys that I am travelling with had an allergic reaction to the sheets in the hotel.  I was really thankful that I am not allergic to the bedsheets.
* Dramamine is one of the greatest drug ever invented.  I am so thankful for that.  I still feel somewhat sick after the flight for a day or two, but it is SO much better.
* On my way from IWD (Dullas) to DFW (Dallas) I sat next to the most talkative man in the world.  He was an actuary from Australia that grew up in South Africa. He worked for the World Bank.  His mother was from Poland and his father from Argentina.  We chatted the entire flight about all sorts of mathy things, food, homeschooling, parents and children, when to have kids, DC, how bad smoking is for you, greek yogurt, genetics (and how they play into gender and intelligent), and statistics.  It was wonderfully distracting to my fear of flying; we were in Dallas before I realized it. 
* Thankfully, I slept on most of the flight from Dallas to CUU.  Not, thankfully, I missed the passing out of the custom's papers and got stuck in customs while the rest of my group waited for me outside.  Thankfully, they waited.
* We have been piling 4 largely build guys (not fat) and me into a little car (Jetta) with no seat belts.  It is the true Mexican experience.
* From 6 - 8 every night the hotel has a free happy hour and they serve free beer and all sorts of liquor, as well as taquitos, wings, and chicken nuggets.  It is one of the weirdest things I have seen.
* I have been going to bed at 7:30 or 8:00 and getting up at 4:30.  Time changes to the West are not cool.  I would rather change in the other direction and be forced to get up earlier.  I don't like everything being pushed back three hours.  By the time I leave the plant here, it is 7pm at home.  My brain is dead after 4ish.  * I am going to be so happy to be home!!

Mexico Update

Mexico makes me sad. However, I highly suggest that everyone should take a trip outside of America to a country that is more poor (NOT England or France or Italy...etc.). It puts the world into perspective, just a bit. Every where I turn there are older women and young children begging for money.  They run out at the stop lights and wait outside of restaurants. 

I came here feeling a bit scared (it could have something to do with our creepy taxi driver that picked us up at the airport late at night and drove us through some sketchy looking streets on the way to the hotel... or the security briefing that I skipped, but the 3 guys that I travelled with were telling me about).  The longer I am here I just start to feel more sad for the people that are so downtrodden.  I see the higher class people from Mexico that I am travelling with and their indifference and scorn for the lower class.  It is very convicting. 

This city is HUGE!
Song by Caedmon's Call:
High above the valley of Quito

An old man and his bride grow roses
Red and yellow, white and golden,
To him they are precious as children
Their daughter, she moved to America
One more break in the Tower of Babel
She has a son that they've never seen at all
They're praying that they raised her well

On the mountain high
They will live and die
As time just slips away
And the children grow
In the God they know
As time just slips away
A man, his bride, his children, and his roses
Planted in faith
And watered in tears
Honey, that's all they have
And they're happier here
Than any of my friends back home
They met Jesus and they really know Him

Now I'm back at home
All alone
And I'm trying to find my thoughts
Of that old man so inspiring
And the TV's always on
And the phone, it won't stop ringing
These bills, they keep on screaming
I'm paying for the things
We never really need
Wonder what he's doing right now?
Maybe walking through his simple field
Thinking about how
God has blessed him so
A man, his bride, his children, and his roses

Parts of other Caedmon Call songs:
She bragged about her boys

How they're growin' into men
How they learned to praise the Lord
Old Style Ecuadorian
To buy the new guitar
They had to sell the swine
Said, "My boys go to school on a foreign angel's dime.
This world calls me poor
I bore my babies on this floor
He always provides
Sure as the sun will rise.
So I'll sing Him songs of praise
'Cause I know He'll keep me in His gaze."

Rain poured from the sky
We raced back to the van
There were tears in the eyes
Of this poor, forgetful man
Mother of eight sons
She knows the peace of God
Lord, help me learn to lean
On thy staff and thy rod
Jesus is all I need
Jesus is all I need

-------------------------------
Share the well
Share with your brother
Share the well, my friend
It takes a deeper well
To love one another
Share the well, my friend

You know I've heard good people say

There's nothing I can do
That's half a world away
Well maybe you've got money
Maybe you've got time
Maybe you've got the Living Well
That ain't ever running dry

How cool is this for a party?  Someday when I have kids, all of their birthday parties may be Dr. Suess themed... ha ha.  This party went all out; I am highly impressed at the level of detail.

Here are a bunch of other links that "One Pretty Thing" had listed a few weeks ago for Dr. Suess ideas.  These are great. 

Happy 16th birthday, little sister, Hope! I can't believe you are 16.  Thanks for being a great little baby sister.  Don't I have the most beautiful sister's (including my college sister (Michelle) and beach sister (Rachel)?

We went to see Toby Mac together.  There is a picture of us in this post.

I remember playing outside of the Taylor's house, drawing on the sidewalk with chalk, when Aunt Suzanne told us that you had been born.  I am glad you were born. 

Favorite toys

These are a few toys that I still love:


Erector Set
I enjoyed playing with my Dad's old set as a child and my parents bought me my own set.  I bought another set after Christmas a few years ago to add to the collection. Almost all of their old ads talk about how these are for boys.  :(



Tinker Toys
Again, I bought 2 barrels of these after Christmas a few years ago and added them to my older set.

Fisher Price Farm
Do you realize that you to find a picture of this farm, you have to type in the word "vintage"? I am not that old. I love this set. Love love love it!  I have almost all the original pieces still and I bought some extras a while ago.



K*nex
These are some cool uses for K*nex. This guy has a working engine.  We used them in my engineering classes.
 


Lincoln Logs
We used to build towers this tall and then throw the little ones at it to knock it over... We may have scarred up the walls in my Dad's newly built addition doing this.  :)



Marble Track
I especially like these wooden ones.

Blocks
How can you go wrong?

Goemags
Confession: I like the idea of these.  I love magnets.  But Jared bought me the multicolored set and when I try to build thing I seem to have more of one color left over and I can't get it balanced and it frustrates me, thus, this set of my toys rarely is played with.  Plus, they are hard to put back in the case because they get stuck to each other.  When you succeed, is is beautiful, but otherwise, to me, it is irritating. 

Ikea Wooden Train Set

add on
When I was at Stef's house,  I built several different variations with the tracks.  I love these. I wish Ikea was closer; on rainy days I would walk around the store.

Metal Tonka Front End Loader and Dump Truck

Oh, yes. Sarah and I owned these. They were hours of fun. We used to sit in the dump truck and push each other around. But I loved digging in the dirt with the Front end loader. Classic. Now that I think about it, Dad, who buys this kind of toy for two young daughters?!?

 

 Some other Ikea toys I spotted that I like:

 

I am sure I have forgotten something.

What are some of your favorite toys?

Baked Ziti

Jared and I rarely eat ground hamburger because ground pork, turkey, and chicken are so much cheaper and better for you.  :)  However, none of those were on sale last week and I resorted to buying regular ground beef.  Half of it went to sloopy Joes and half of it to baked ziti.  This is adapted from my Mom's recipe.  I follow it to the letter, except for I don't add in as much butter.  This recipe always makes me happy; it is a perfect comfort food.

Ingredients:
* A box of noodles, cooked (ziti preferably)
* red sauce (or a jar of spaghetti sauce)
* 1/2 - 1 lb. hamburger, browned with onions
* 3/4 c. Parmesan cheese, divided
* 2 - 3 cups mozzarella cheese, grated
* 1 - 2 T. butter (my Mom says 4 - 6... I just can't bring myself to use that much butter, but it sure is good)

Cook noodles. 
Brown hamburger. 
Grate cheese. 
Make or buy red sauce.
Drain noodles. 
Melt butter in noodles.
Mix in 1/2 c. parmesan cheese.
Spoon 2/3rds of the noodles in pan (13 x 9).
Layer with half mozzarella cheese.
Spread meat and 2/3rds red sauce on top.
Spoon rest of noodles.
Spread rest of sauce.
Sprinkle on the rest of the mozzarella and parmesan cheese.

Bake 350 for 30 - 40 minutes.

knowledge

I love to learn.  I blame this on my parents.  I am so thankful that they choose to homeschool me and let me learn things for myself.  One things I found out in college is that most people don't care about school, they are just there because they have to be.  I feel like I want to know about everything and how it works and why it works and what makes it work and who made it work and why did someone discover it and what were they doing that made them think that this would work... etc.  Recently (the past 2 or 3 years), I have found biographies really fascinating (I consider this a huge sign that I am REALLY old. Really Faith, non-fiction is your favorite type of books?!? I feel like disowning myself sometimes. Who else my age is checking out old non fiction books and reading about how to make your own motor, chairs, model boats, telescope, bobsled, speedboat, slide, etc?). 

While Jared is working on schoolwork,  I have taken to wandering around the SU library and finding old books that no one has checked out for 15 - 20 years.  There are some really treasures buried in the shelves upstairs in the library.  Speaking of the SU library, I am really looking forward to seeing the new SU library when they finish building it.

I also assign particle blame to Aunt Suzanne and this book she had around her house when I was growing up. Every family should have this book around their house for their children to look through! Will someone please, buy this for me as a baby shower present someday? I think that would be one of the coolest baby shower gifts I could receive.  Actually, I might just have to start buying this for all my friends who are having kids.  I used to be (and still am) amazing by this book.  Also, to Cathedral and Castle, which were part of our history curriculum (and I just bought the other day), and all his other books.  

Other awesome books:
* Reader's Digest Treasury for Young Readers (I stole this from my Mom - sorry, Mom. It used to be her book when she was young. My Mom's copy is green, not read as the amazon link shows and the little circle pictures of people are in a straight line across the front. I still read through it every couple months). 
* Biographies on famous inventors -read read read them!!  Be inspired.
* Amateur Craftman's Cyclopedia (published by Popular Science magazine in 1937).  This may be one of the greatest books I have ever seen.  And if someone would buy it for my birthday, I would be one of the happiest people in the entire world... but until then, I am keeping the SU copy out until they force me to give it back.  I LOVE LOVE LOVE this book.  Along with the Way Things Work, I want my kids to be able to look through a book like this and be inspired.  I have not wanted a book so badly in a long time.  This book needs to be owned by me and live in my house. 

For all their glossy, shiny, multiple pictures, I find the newer books can't hold a candle to the flame of my imagination the way that books published for my parents or grandparents generation can.  The simple sketches and descriptions that they give are so much greater than multiple diagrams.  Plus, I find these older books do a better job of explaining things.   
Speaking of books, in the Library of Congress directory, I find that almost all my favorite books are in the T section.  It includes, crafts, handiwork, photography, engineering, efficiency studies (cheaper by the dozen is found in this section), and home economics (hello, cookbooks, canning guides, gardening books, and quilting books).  How can there be any section that is greater than this? Cookbooks, crafts, and engineering, the best things in life. I will give Q, the science section a little credit, but T is by far, the superior category of books in the Library of Congress system.  Needless to say, I spend most of my time walking up and down the T rows at the library.

Do you have any favorite books that inspire or inspired you?  And what is your favorite section in the Library of Congress directory?

meatballs

When ground turkey and pork are marked down at the grocery store for under $2/lb, I usually snatch it up.  I can make so many useful and tasty things out of them, lasagna, tacos, baked ziti, meatballs for spaghetti, sloppy joes, etc.  Well, this week I look over that list of old favorites and didn't feel compeled to make any of them. So, I pulled out one of my favorite old cookbooks to find new recipes (Betty Crocker is for old favorites, my Southern Cookbook is for biscuits and chicken recipes), Taste of Home 2009 Annual Recipes is the best for inspiration.  I almost made southwest burgers, but instead of I decided to make meatballs.  I was slightly compelled in this direction by the fact that I had just worked out at the gym and I was having to fast for 12 hours to get my blood work done in the morning.  Thus, I needed something before my 12 hour fast that would fill me up.

There are very few junk food/party food that I am especially drawn towards eating.  I usually don't like to waste calories unless I know that it has been made with loving tender care and usually has to include heavy whipping cream, butter, dark chocolate, of homemade yeast breads. Plus, I am under the impression that I can make almost any store bought treat with better ingredients and fewer calories (for ex. cream puffs, cinnamon buns, whipped cream, any kind of cookie) ... That being said, meatballs in that disgusting ketchup and grape jelly sauce are something that I can't seem to stop stuffing in my face at parties... that along with Tacitos (why why why do I like these?  They are so gross) and mozzarella sticks.  Those are mainly my big three weakness.  Since starting to make my own salsa and learning Mrs. Render's mexican layered dip recipe, I have even given up most store bought salsas. 

Anyhow, knowing that I couldn't eat for 12 hours and craving protein after I worked out at the gym is what compelled this recipe to be tried out.  Because I know that I love that jelly and ketchup combination, I tweaked this recipe to include some jelly (also because Jared refuses to eat my homemade strawberry jelly because it is not bright red like store bought jelly and I can't eat it all by myself).  I also tripled the sauce because there was not nearly enough if it.  I added extra mustard, less sugar, and refused to sprinkle the tops of the meatballs with crispy rice cereal (that is just weird - even the picture looks as if someone accidentally spilled their cereal on it right before the picture was taken). 

Barbecued Meatballs
Makes 24

1 egg
3/4 cup crisp rice cereal
2 T chopped onions
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
1 pound ground meat (chicken, pork, beef)

Sauce:
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup ketchup
2 - 3 tsp mustard
1/4 - 1/2 cup strawberry jelly (I am not sure how much I added, I just kept tasting the sauce until I liked it... I also added more ketchup and mustard to taste... so these are all guesses)

1. Mix the meatball ingredients together, also add 2 or 3 tablespoons of the barbecue sauce to the mixture and mix in. 
2. Roll the meat into 1 to 1-1/2" balls and place on a cookie sheet or in a 13 x 9 pan.  I use my fancy Pampered Chef kitchen scoop that my wonderful little mother-in-law bought for me.  :)  I wash it by hand and then run it through my dishwasher to sanitize it afterwards because it is also very useful for scooping cookie dough out in the right size.
3. Put a teaspoon or so of sauce on eat meatball and maybe some in the bottom of the dish.  Reserve some to put the meatballs in after they come out of the oven. 
4. Bake for 20 - 30 minutes at 400 F.  Can be baked at the same time as pizza if you want to maximize the use of the oven. Sorry, my brain just tries to jump to the most efficient way of doing things. 

Speaking of efficiency, I have a cell at work that has doubled its efficiency.  I am pretty proud of them, but that is not what I really wanted to mention.  I have been reading the Cheaper by the Dozen books (and Belles on their toes).  If anyone wants to buy those for my birthday (hint hint hint, Mom) I would love to own them!!!!  If you have not read the books, you need to and if you have not watched the old movies, you need to do that too.  I would also take the movies for my birthday, as well. 

Anyway, this women is my new hero.  I am looking to see if I can find any of her or her husband's books or articles in any of the libraries around here.  If you have not read about Lillian Gilbreth, you should because she is brilliant.  I may write a post about her in the future.  Her husband is pretty interesting too.  He painted morse code in the bathroom so the children would learn it and then he would leave them secret messages around the house so that they would have to keep using the knowledge they learned.  He also made them listen to foreign language records in the bathroom while they took showers so that they would learn French and German.  Pretty cool.