"I gonna huff and woof and blow you away!"

Those are the words that came out of my youngest's mouth tonight at dinner.  She is a little confused and is mixing up a few stories but they are all great.  A few moments later she even said, "I gonna cough and huff and blow you away!"  You see this morning on Sesame Street was a story about the Three Little Pigs and since then the girls have been trying to blow things down.  This is not the exact scene from Sesame Street but it was quite similar: 

This comes right on the heels of one of the funniest few minutes of the past week.  Our youngest got her jammies on all by herself the other night and Jill tells her, "Honey, you blow me away", which was followed by our little one blowing on mommy.  Jill was a bit confused and then she did it again and said, "Go away mommy!  I blow you away...good-bye!!  It was the darn funniest thing I have seen in quite some time.  Our life is just a barrel of laughs these days. 

On another note.  My oldest did blow me away on Sunday when she proceeded to parade around the house carrying her little girl broom up in the air and singing a song about church and Jesus.  I asked her what she was doing and she said, "I'm carrying the cross like at church!"  It was awesome, she was doing her own procession and opening hymn.  It is amazing what God can teach a three year old.  Until next week....

Razor Scooters

Jill and I have been wanting to get the girls some scooters ever since the preschool got some new ones a month back or so and our girls just love them.  Our little daredevils are still in three wheel territory in scooterland but the razor scooters are not to far off.  Now a new razor will set you back at least $30 minimum and can go for much more.  That being said, razors would have to wait for at least the girls birthdays (both in March) or even next Christmas.  But last Saturday my youngest and I were headed to Trader Joe's for some one on one time when I spotted a garage sale.  It was still early in the day (8:30 AM) so I though we should swing by and see if there was still anything good.  As we got out I spotted three well loved razor scooters and a mini skateboard.  I asked for prices and was told $3 for the skateboard and $15 for each of the scooters.  Now I never have cash so this would pose a problem since my wallet had a total of $4 in it.  I called Jill and told her of the find and she said to go back home and pick up some cash.  Back in the car we went to get some cash and then back to the garage sale.  I walked up to the money guy and told him I would give him $20 for all three scooters and the skateboard.  He countered with $25 and I pulled out all my cash and said, "All I got is $24, will you take it?"  He nodded and I gathered up my new found treasures and put them in the back of the minivan.  I was stoked to say the least.  On Sunday the girls tried them out without much luck but their older cousin was pretty good on it.  That evening we had a few people over to watch football and for dinner and we had a blast (Go Chargers!!!!)  Later that night, I realized that we were out of coffee.  This is not an acceptable state of affairs in our house!  Jill promptly dug out some Starbuck's cards and directed me to get some beans.  I asked a few of our guests if anyone wanted to walk to get some coffee.  My pal Ingrid agreed and then we were followed by my brother Josh, and our friends JT and Ben all on the scooters!  It was a hoot.  Three grown men racing around the streets of Long Beach on razor scooters.  You would have laughed if you would have seen them but they did not care, they were loving it.  Well to wrap it up the boys had one final race down Pavo street and we were all safe and sound back home.  It was a great weekend and I can't wait until the girls are able to zip up and down the sidewalk on their scooters.  

Pictures from Mammoth

Thanks to my friend JT here are some pictures from the weekend. Scroll down for the regular Tuesday post.

My minivan is under there somewhere!

Digging out the Subaru.

Ben and I stuck in a snowdrift.

The Tuesday Tease...

Not much time tonight to write a full post so here is a tease of what is bouncing around my head tonight:

#1- Spent the weekend in Mammoth with the college ministry of the district and witnessed about 5 feet of snow in three days.  I had to dig the van out twice.  Pictures may be coming if I can get them from JT.

#2- School starts next week and I am not quite ready for it to begin.

#3- The other night we forgot to put a sippy cup in the fridge for my youngest and she was found at 3 AM sitting on the floor staring into the open fridge moaning, "Where's my Miiiiiiilk?????"

#4- The Chargers won a playoff game!!!

#5-  My sister is selling Shaklee.  Don't know what that is?  If you want to go green in your house in 2008 check out her site by clicking here. (More to come on this topic, I promise!!)

#6-  I stumbled across some great music the other day.  Do yourself a favor and check out Cary Brothers on iTunes or just pick up his CD titled "Who You Are"  you won't be disappointed.  You might know him from the movie Garden State.  Here is a sample:

Well that is just a tease, more to come later...or next week.  Until then....

French Toast and Fire Trucks...Happy New Year

With the drop of the new million dollar, energy efficient, crystal clad ball in times square 2008 is officially here and let me say to all of you HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!  New Year's Eve around our house was not to eventful (New Year's Day is another story but that will come later).  Jill's sister and family came over as well as my brother and some other good friends.  We ordered a bunch of pizza and had some "adult style beverages" and tried to survive five loud cousins having a great time with each other.  There were some screams and some misunderstandings (mostly from the kids) but for the most part all were well behaved.  The kiddos and a few grown-ups that will remain nameless turned in early and there were five of us who watched the ball descend from its lofty perch above Times Square for the 100th time.  We popped the corks of a few bottles of bubbly and toasted to the new year.  Then by about 12:45 I was dozing off on the couch.  I guess I can't party like I used to.  

The one thing about having five short ones in the house who all got to bed at a decent hour is that they woke up with the sun.  Needless to say the late night revelers were a bit groggy and not too excited with the pitter-patter of little feet at the crack of dawn.  Eventually I shook the sleep from my eyes and started creating a breakfast feast which included bacon, sausage, french toast, OJ (mimosa style for those needing a bit of the hair of the dog), and fresh fruit.  Soon after starting, the house smelled of coffee and bacon.  It doesn't get much better than that.  After breakfast the cousins watched the rose parade and my oldest loved it!  She loved to see all the princesses and I think she might have watched it twice (got to love KTLA channel 5 for all day coverage).  

The rest of the morning was spent playing, having lunch and resting on the couch.  The grown-ups had appetizers for lunch / dinner while the Rose Bowl was on.  And my wife cut up her wedding dress to make dresses for the girls (but that is another post all together).  Soon after that the real fun began.  While cooking said appetizers our smoke detector went off.  Now this is not anything new.  Let me give you some history.  As a child there were times where things got a little too done in the kitchen back in Garden Grove and our smoke detector was close to the source of the smoke.  Now when it would go off we would all jump into action.  Not to get out mind you but to quickly make the ear piercing sound stop.  We all had jobs, it was like the military.  One of us would grab a Time magazine to wave in front of the offending  nine volt air-horn, another would open the back door and still another would open the front.  It all worked like clockwork.  Fast forward to 2003 and with the addition to our house we received brand new smoke detectors.  Our first big meal cooked with the new addition finished we were greeted with the most haneous noise of all five smoke detectors working in concert to make our ears bleed.  I of course jumped up in great Pavlovian style and grabbed the nearest magazine and began furiously fanning to stop the noise before I went deaf.  I soon had trained friends and family and when the horn would sound we would be at battle stations in a matter of moments.  Every time we cooked we had to be ready.  Today was no different.  Soon after the first blast we all had our duties completed and the sound was abated.  Abut five minutes later it started again and would not quit.  I went to the garage and got out the big guns and brought back the box fan to do the fanning job.  We seemed to be in the clear when the smoke detector started to beep, telling us of a low battery.  I feverishly tried to determine which of the five was the culprit but in the end I just changed all of the batteries.  In the midst of this the chirp became a full fledged alarm again.  This time the cooking was done and the children were starting to get annoyed.  Ten minutes later, with all the batteries changed, golden silence was heard once again.  Just as I grabbed another drink and settled in to the couch for the second half of the game the real fun started.  The smoke alarms started up again and this time there was no stopping them.  I dashed around and checked the batteries again with no luck and eventually I gave up and called the fire department.  Thanks to my good friend Josh T. I had the number for the Long Beach Fire Department in my cell phone so no need to tie up 911 on New Year's Day.  In about 10 minutes the fire truck arrived and we were busy feeding children oranges and cheese on the porch in the glow of the Christmas lights that are still on the house.  The firemen combed through the breaker box and crawled in the attic, they checked all the offending little white beasts and eventually identified the culprit.  In their estimation the detector in the hall was somehow faulty and when they unplugged it, silence was most graciously greeted once again.  So my thanks go out to the brave men of station 18 from the LBFD for helping us out tonight.  

Looking back it makes sense that this one smoke detector was the one that would not allow us to open the oven on Thanksgiving and would force us to keep our windows open even in the chilly winter evenings while we were cooking.  Since about 6:30 tonight we have had peace in the land.  We didn't want to risk it and the kids all had cereal and milk for dinner tonight.  So lets review:

Late night and and early morning...check.

Fabulous French Toast and a mountain of breakfast meat...check

My wife cutting up her wedding dress...check

The Fire Department at my house.. check.  

Cereal for dinner...double check with milk on top!

Well that was my day I don't even have time to tell you about my nephew Logan and how he shows his muscles.  Lets just say, Legend........(wait for it)...........dary!   I hope your day was as memorable as mine and I pray that this was a good sign of things to come for 2008.  Until next week...

P.S. Sorry for no pictures today, my internet connections is really slow.  

Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree...how naked are your branches

Here I sit, December twenty-sixth (I'm a poet and I didn't know it) deciding how to describe Christmas 2007. Let's begin with the fact that this is a stinkin' busy time of the year for us Church workers. In the last three days we have had seven services, of which I participated in all seven. This included an 11 PM service on the 24th followed by a 10 AM service the 25th with some Santa duties in between. I was plumb tuckerd out! It has been nice to be able to relax today. The girls and I have just been hanging out and playing with new Christmas toys while the women folk are at the mall (I shudder at the thought). Give me preschoolers any day over the mall on the 26th of December! Saturday found me at the grocery store hunting for all the ingredients for two Christmas dinners. We had Christmas on Sunday with Jill's sisters family and I tried a new recipe for lasagna. Let's just say it was AWESOME. I really don't want to give away my secret but I stumbled upon a great website that has some scrumptious recipes. If you have some time check out www.thepioneerwomancooks.com. You will not be sorry although your waistline might. Here is the recipe for her lasagna. Don't laugh at the ingredients because when they all come together it is a party in your mouth:

1-1/2 pounds ground beef
1 pound hot breakfast sausage (Jimmy Dean’s bulk)
2 cloves minced garlic
2 14.5 oz cans whole tomatoes
2 6 oz cans tomato paste
2 T dried parsley flakes
2 T dried basil
1 t salt
10-oz package of lasagna noodles (the wavy kind) (boil adding ½ t salt and 1 T olive oil to water) al dente

Mix together:
3 cups lowfat cottage cheese
2 beaten eggs
½ cup Kraft Parmesan cheese
2 T dried parsley flakes
1 tsp salt

1 lb sliced mozzarella cheese

In a skillet, combine 1 1/2 pounds ground beef, 1 pound hot breakfast sausage, and 2 cloves minced garlic.

Cook until brown. Drain off about half the fat (or more, to taste).

After that, add two 14.5-oz cans of whole tomatoes, two 6-oz cans of tomato paste, 2 tablespoons of dried parsley flakes, 2 tablespoons dried basil and 1 teaspoon salt.

Mix together thoroughly and simmer, uncovered, about 45 minutes, stirring occasionally.

In the meantime, boil a 10-oz package of lasagna noodles. Add 1/2 teaspoon salt to the water, as well as 1 tablespoon olive oil to keep the noodles from sticking. Cook the noodles “al dente” so they’ll still have quite a bite to them. When they’re finished cooking, drain, rinse with cool water, and lay the noodles flat on a sheet of aluminum foil. That way, they’ll be easier to handle later.

While the meat mixture and noodles are cooking, mix 3 cups lowfat cottage cheese in a bowl with 2 beaten eggs. To the cottage cheese, add 1/2 cup Kraft Parmesan Cheese. 2 tablespoons dried parsley flakes, and 1 teaspoon salt. Mix together well.

Now, go ahead and build your assembly line: meat mixture, 1 pound sliced mozzarella cheese, cottage cheese mixture, and cooked lasagna noodles. Lay four cooked lasagna noodles in the bottom of the pan, overlapping as you go. Spread half of the cottage cheese mixture evenly over the noodles. Then lay 1/2 pound of mozzarella cheese slices on top of the cottage cheese mixture. This particular brand of cheese was cut very thin, so I had to double up the slices to make 1/2 pound. Don’t let this throw you off—some brands are cut thicker, and would only require a single layer of slices. NOTE: I prefer sliced mozzarella, but you can certainly use grated mozzarella if necessary. With the spoon, make a line through the middle of the meat mixture so you’ll distribute it evenly. Spread a little less than half of the meat mixture over the mozzarella cheese slices until it’s evenly distributed. Repeat and finish with meat mixture.
Top with a pretty generous layer of good ole Kraft grated parm.

Now pop it in a 350-degree oven for 20-30 minutes, until hot and bubbly. (Alternately, you could cover and freeze it, unbaked, at this point or cover and refrigerate, unbaked, for up to two days before baking.)

This dish was a hit that is for sure. Then on yesterday I made my grandpa's famous Muscacholi. It is super good too!!! Here is the recipe for that one:

1/2 pound ground beef

1/2 pound ground pork

3 slices chopped bacon

1/2 cup diced mushrooms

1 onion chopped

2 cloves fresh garlic chopped

2 6 oz can tomato paste

1 12 oz can Italian style peeled tomatoes

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

1 bay leaf

1/4 cup red wine

1/2 teaspoon dried basil leaf

3 Cups grated mozzarella

1 cup grated chedder

Parmesan Cheese

One box of muscacholi, cook according to directions for "al dente" (don't overcook)

Cook bacon in large frying pan. Drain fat, add half the onion and garlic to the same pan and cook till you can see through them. Add the ground beef and pork and brown. Drain fat, and scoop meat into a large pot. Add remaining onion and mushrooms along with red wine to frying pan and saute. While sauteing, use a potato masher and break up the browned meat into small pieces. Add mushrooms and onions to meat. Add tomatoes, one can of tomato paste, bay leaf, salt and pepper. Stir well. Add 1/2 cup of water if you feel the sauce is too thick (even more if needed). Simmer for one hour. Add other can of tomato paste, stir and check your seasonings. Let simmer for 15 more minutes. Remove bay leaf.

Cook pasta according to directions but do not overcook! Pour sauce over cooked muscacholi and add 2 cups of mozzarella cheese, stir well. Put in a 350 degree oven for 45 min. Add last cup of mozzarella, one cup of chedder and some parmesan and sprinkle it over the top and put it back in the oven until the cheese is all melty (YUM!).

I cook my sauce the day before and put it in the fridge. I think it tastes better that way. Here is a picture of the finished product (note: I doubled the recipe this year).

So with full bellies and happy but noisy children Christmas was going quite well...then there is the tree.... Remember the tree from the post from a few weeks ago? Well this tree with the nest was not the best at staying hydrated. We had noticed quite a few needles dropping the past week or so and about four days ago we noticed that they were falling at an alarming rate. So much so that we were sweeping up every few hours. It became progressively worse and by Christmas Eve there were some definite bald spots on the tree. It was looking pretty bad. We all started cracking up when we would hear the avalanche of pine needles every few minutes fall upon the presents below. By last night quite a bit of the top of the tree was bare and then I decided to see just how dry the tree was. One touch to a branch and it released its entire load of needles as easy as new fallen snow. I was intrigued and with some help from some friends we shook the tree a bit and the following pictures will describe much better than words will:

So the tree is naked and has been relegated to the street, but of course we saved the nest and put it with all the ornaments for next year. All in all it was a great day with family and friends as well as good food and drink. I pray that you all had a blessed day as well!

Well I hope you have enjoyed this edition of cooking and Christmas trees, until next time.....

Christmas 2007

Kinda a busy day around here.  I will post later... possibly tomorrow...off to eat some yummy muscacholi... but here is a tease:  The Christmas tree is naked!!!  Really!!!!