My New Primitive

Our new kitchen is beautiful, but I had a place for everything in the old kitchen, and trying to figure out where everything goes has been a surprising challenge. I used to have an empty wall with a huge bulletin board for all our phone numbers and calendar. Now it's all cabinets. It was tough finding a place for the calendar, but it's working out on the end of the pantry cabinet near the phone, where it needs to be. Our grocery list and a variety of other papers have ended up on the counter and looked really messy and disorganized. I was so thrilled when I found an antique primitive library card holder on craigslist! The owner was nearby, so my husband and I ran right over and I fell in love with it. It is on my counter and each of the four drawers holds important papers. More than neat and tidy--cuuuute!

Vacations Have To End Sometime

December flew by in a blur. I hung on for the ride and loved it, but it ended too quickly. It is Monday and we will homeschool, have band and piano lessons as usual.

Our last vacation weekend was an exhilarating way to celebrate New Year's. 1/1/11 (I just love writing that!) was Sabbath, so we went to church and enjoyed my little friend's baptism, lovely music and delicious vegetarian potluck. Our son went to a sleepover, so Conrad and I appreciated some uninterrupted time alone. It was a beautiful day, sunny and warm with a cool breeze, mid-70's, perfect for a long motorcycle ride. Soaking up the sun and clinging to Conrad filled me with joy, and I fell more deeply in love with my husband.

Sunday, I really wanted to visit my older boys who moved into an apartment across from college. I'm their mother and felt like a visit was long overdue. We loaded up a dresser, chairs, microwave and crockpot, picked up our younger son, and made the long drive south. I can see why they got tired of driving it every day! I was surprised their place looks so new and clean. I felt so much better after seeing what a nice place it is, and convenient for them. A church is nearby, so I hope they go and love it. Brandon made homemade noodles for dinner and we had a nice time eating and talking, sitting in the chairs we brought down. Now my living room is empty and we have a guest bedroom.

Choices

I'm going to bring up the kitchen again. I'm very tired of talking about it, but it is still a work in progress. I have had to make so many choices that my brain hurts! Lowe's is coming Jan. 6 to rip out Diamond-damaged cabinets and install replacements, and to finish all the little details that were left undone. This is supposed to be the last time. After this, it's all on Conrad. We still have to choose flooring (we've moved on from lovely cork to durable tile), backsplash (I am seriously leaning toward white subway tile--simple) and we need some sort of light for over the kitchen island. Also, when we planned this kitchen, we did not plan for a spot for our trash can! So it is in the way, against my John Boos kitchen work island that I must sell, because it's too big and in the middle of the kitchen. I love it and we constantly use it, so felt very ambivalent about putting it on Craigslist, and was partly relieved when the people that contacted me never showed up (typical Craislist!).

How To Stay Warm In Florida

The day-after-Christmas was a big cleanup day here at home and finding places for brand new gifts. A lot of people take advantage of sales, but that has never interested me since I don't need anything and don't like crowds. The day also became very windy and cold. My husband is always hot and I'm always cold, so we play a sort of tug o' war with the thermostat. For Christmas he bought me leg warmers and a foot heating pad for the bed. I put flannel sheets on the bed. My bedroom was Christmas Storing, Staging and Wrapping Area, so my happiest accomplishment was clearing off the treadmill. It feels great to get back on it and walk off some Christmas leftovers, and as this cold weather has continued, I've also discovered that when I'm chilly, a walk on the treadmill warms me right up--without touching the thermostat.

Peanut Butter and Chocolate

Peanut butter and chocolate is a scary-delicious combination. I rarely combine them because I don't want to test my willpower. Christmas was an exception. I mean, if there's ever an occasion for treats you shouldn't eat, Christmas is it! Thankfully, my son made Buckeyes recently and followed the recipe diligently, but they were so soft and gooey that they looked like mini cow pies. They must have tasted terrific though, because they disappeared. I thought the problem must have been our peanut butter, which is natural organic and very runny. I found a Smart Balance chunky peanut butter and decided to see how that worked. I couldn't find a recipe I was totally happy with--other recipes ask for a lot of powdered sugar and butter and omit the graham cracker, but I prefer the texture with it. So I used 2 cups peanut butter, 1 cup graham cracker crumbs and 2 cups powdered sugar. I had to mix it in my food processor because it got very stiff. Then I made small balls and put them in a wax paper-lined container and refrigerated them for an hour, then I dipped them in melted chocolate chips and put them back in the refrigerator. WOW! I highly recommend these! And if you're afraid of eating too many, this recipe can be cut in half:)

Go Truffles!

A few people think vegetarians are weird and bizarre hippies, but I was just raised that way. The thought of eating a dead animal turns my stomach, so I don't. I like to eat organic and am usually vegan, but I try not to stress about food. I've seen a lot of people become fanatical about food, and I refuse to do that. Just trying to keep it in perspective. Life is for living.

My wonderful husband (who is an omnivore like a bear) gave me truffle oil for Christmas. Tonight I made eggplant parmesan and had my first truffle taste. It smelled rather different and strong, almost musky or smokey, so I wasn't sure if I would like it or not. My 12 year old son had never been brave enough to try eggplant, but his truffle curiosity made him throw caution to the wind. We all agree. The verdict is: divine!

I'm Dreaming of a Warm Christmas

Christmas morning, it was still dark, but I woke up and flew out of bed almost at the same moment so I could get fill up the eight stockings before Jake got up. He came out about half an hour later, and we all opened our stockings (including the dog). We packed up the other four boys' stockings to take to them. We opened our gifts under the tree, and finally got ready for church.

Church was such a blessing! Everyone was dressed beautifully and was so friendly and loving. A couple of friends gave me gifts! There was a lot of beautiful music, and I was in the audience and able to just sit with the family, relax, and enjoy. I usually like to saunter out of church, talking and hugging friends as I slowly wind my way through the crowd; but Conrad rushed and nagged me until I finally got into the car. Then we rushed home and scrambled to get all the presents and food packed.

We all converged on my parents for Christmas lunch. My family is vegetarian, so I spent Christmas Eve happily puttering about the kitchen, and we contributed green bean casserole (reheated so the fried onions would get nice and crunchy), yellow squash casserole (Conrad suddenly loves squash), pumpkin cranberry bread, dill bread, sugar cookies, buckeyes and supplies for our family's favorite hot spicy fruit drink, wassail. My mom bought a vegetarian roast and made mashed potatoes and gravy, toasted french bread, a corn dish, and lots of pies! Wow, we were all stuffed. Our boys were going on to another meal--Brandon and Brent were going to their dad's for supper and Juddy and Josh were going home for supper (made by Juddy's girlfriend Annie) with Annie's mom and aunt.

Today---the day-after Christmas---we did a ton of laundry and I cleaned up. We are enjoying our Christmas gifts. I have to send one back. For the first time ever, Jacob and I made homemade pretzels. They were a lot of fun and delicious!