Wish

I wish my whole house were as clean as my kitchen is right now. I spent three hours scrubbing and scraping and wiping and it is SO clean. I even rearranged some cupboard contents. Been wanting to work on the kitchen for days, so am happy I finally had the energy and time to do it!

Well, it's New Year's Eve. We're not doing much - just going to the grocery store to buy ingredients for homemade pizza so we can start a new NYE tradition. I can't wait to make the crust in my KitchenAid mixer!

So I went to the doctor on Saturday morning to tell him about my myriad digestive woes. He put me on Prevacid (which I think is already helping) for my reflux and Librax for my IBS. Haven't started the Librax yet but will soon. He wants me to have another panel of tests (colonoscopy, abdominal catscan......) but our insurance isn't great and we simply cannot afford those tests, so maybe later this year.

The other night, we had put Lissy to bed and over an hour later she was still babbling in her crib so Scotty and I went in to get her and brought her into our room. The three of us horsed around for about an hour on "the big bed" and it was so much fun! She was SO giggly and excited and adorable.

Speaking of giggly, here is a picture of Miss Giggles that I love:

And here she is with her Grandpa Conger on Saturday when they came to spend the afternoon with us:

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Pastry

It is my greatest weakness. Actually, any baked good is my greatest weakness. (And if it's a chocolate baked good - I'm completely powerless.)

Today we had lunch at Panera. While I wasn't looking, Scotty bought a pastry. It was small and round and had a slice of apple in the middle. It tasted caramel-y. It was very good. But in a state of high self-confidence, I told him, "I could make something even better than this." He then challenged me to try.

I didn't know exactly what the pastry was. As soon as we got home I searched online and found some recipes for similar pastries to what we had eaten, but I wasn't satisified so I took my "Martha Stewart's Baking Handbook" off the shelf. I found it! It's called a Tarte Tatin. Upon quickly scanning the ingredients, I realized I had everything I needed to bake it. So I hauled down the food processor and made the dough, which had to chill for at least an hour. A little bit of knitting and an episode of "Grey's Anatomy" later, I went back into the kitchen and finished baking my tarte tatin. It was a surprisingly easy pastry to make, and when the oven timer beeped and I turned the pan upside down on a parchment paper-covered cookie sheet I audibly gasped. It was so beauty-full, if I do say so myself. And I do say so myself! Another Martha recipe brought to perfect fulfillment. I *heart* Martha.

I tasted it. Buttery crust, tart apples and chewy caramel. Heaven.

Here's my tarte. It really is nice and round - the edges that you see are the caramel-y syrup melting onto the parchment paper.

......So my family Christmas party was wonderful, as usual! We all had a great time and we all received wonderful gifts. Some of my favorites are a large Vera Bradley bag to keep my knitting/crochet projects in, a cookbook called "Cake Batter Cookies", a set of three wooden spoons, two Golden Spiced Pear Yankee jar candles and a dozen Yankee votives, a Pancake Puff Pan (a la an infomercial I saw a few months ago), and a novel that I'm looking forward to reading, and an awesome thick fleece blanket from Kenzie, and some fleece jammies with snowflakes on them. It was a good, good Christmas, indeed!! Scotty got lots of clothes and a DVD and a Playstation 3 game. Lissy got MAJOR clothes (all SOOOO cute!) and toys. She had an absolute blast. She wore a very cute dress to Grandma's house. She's like her mama in that she doesn't wear dresses all that often, so when she does - it presents a rare and precious photo op.

And here she is today right before we left for lunch, modeling the scarf that I knitted for her. Doesn't she look warm and toasty?! I was surprised she didn't try to rip it right off, but she didn't. She kept it on and seemed proud to be wearing it!

Signing off for now. Merry Christmas Eve!

Christmas

I love most everything about it. I don't love the ridiculous commercialism and the even more ridiculous traffic, but those things aside - what isn't to love about Christmas?

I especially love my family's Christmas party. Usually it's on Christmas Eve but this year we're having it tomorrow (Saturday). Oh, I can't wait! It'll be Mom, Dad, Steph, Kenzie, Scott, Lissy and me. What I'm looking forward to the most: Watching my girl. I can just see her already -- running around touching every present under the tree with the tip of her little finger....helping Kenzie pass out the gifts....giggling with Auntie Steph...."helping" Grandma in the kitchen, wearing oven mitts that go up to her armpits....sitting on Grandpa's lap with her blankie and wide eyes as she listens to his deep voice. Christmas. It's way cooler when you have a kid!

Our menu always includes a large, very untraditional variety of foods:

Meatballs

Potato skins

Cheese and crackers

Tortilla chips with taco dip

Cranberry jello

Fruit salad

Pumpkin bread

Pumpkin pie

Fudge (with nuts and without)

Peppermint ice cream

Eggnog (BLECH!)

....Quite the mish-mosh, eh? It's one of the best meals of the year! My stomach's growling just thinking about it. I made the fudge today and I'm bringing the canned fruit to Mom's so I can make it when we get there.

And yeah, the presents are pretty fun too! It's so fun to see what we all got each other.

But, on to other topics - like plumber crack. Lissy's pink jeans were just a little too loose today. Need I say more?

Her Great-Grandma and -Grandpa Conger sent her this way cool toy - an old-fashioned top. She absolutely loves it!

And here she is sporting the very stylishly pink Calvin shirt that Auntie Rachel sent. Yep, my little prep!

I'll be back soon to write about the neat-o presents we get! ;)

Bombardment

This entry will probably raise some disagreeing eyebrows but so be it. I have to vent somewhere!

I am SOOOOOOOOOOOO TIRED of girlymen on TV!!!! It seems like almost every show on every channel bombards us with them. Martha has them on her show a lot, offering fashion tips or explaining how to style your hair. That blonde, ultra-femmy Carson guy comes on during holiday movies on Lifetime and giggles after he makes subtle funnies about his extreme gayness. Right now I'm watching TLC and there's a little guy who's flitting around acting and sounding more girly than a girly-girl. Correction: I'm not watching it. I just turned it off.
That's what makes me sick to my stomach: when they act so disgustingly feminine - exaggerating their S's and clucking their tongues and sticking their pinky fingers out. Come ON. You're a MAN, for crying out loud! You were born a male. Deal with it.
From what I have observed, it seems like there are two types - those who you would not know were gay unless you asked, and those who just scream "I'm sooo gay." Though I do not support the lifestyle at all, I feel that the first type are much less offensive. I'm sorry, but it is downright offensive to me when a man flaunts his homosexuality by flitting around and giggling and making their voices sound as high-pitched as they possibly can. It's just.....not the way it's supposed to be.
I have met some homosexuals who are some of THE nicest people I have ever known. I firmly believe in "hate the sin, not the sinner." (And yes, I also firmly believe that it's a sin. You believe what you believe. I'll continue to believe what I believe. My mind will not be changed.) ...But back to my original point: Why do we have to be inundated with femmy men every time we change the channel?? Will it ever go away??

Life....

....has been busy and fun this past week! I haven't blogged as much as I would have liked to. Guess I'm on the naughty list now. SHOOT!

This morning we took Liss to meet the big guy himself. At first it looked like she might freak, but she didn't. The clubhouse in our townhome development had a "Breakfast with Santa". It was SO nice because we wanted to get her picture with him but didn't really want to fight the crowds and stand in a long line at the mall. We just had to drive a block from our house and there he was, just waitin' for her! :)

And I had to show you this picture. She was playing in a "fort" with Daddy the other night and her hair was soooo staticky!! Look how it's sticking straight up! This picture just cracks me up, and it's DEFINITELY going to be shown for all to see at her wedding reception!

It's gonna be another pretty busy week. Some friends are coming for lunch on Monday...Liss goes to daycare on Tuesday and an electrician is coming to do a couple odd jobs...I have lots of Christmas gifts to wrap...
And of course the endless trips to the grocery store and laundry and everything else that keeps the home fires burnin'.

But I'll try to be back soon! Have a blessed week as you get ready for the big day!

SBD

No, I'm not referring to soundless farts.

I started phase one of the South Beach Diet today and I'm less than enthusiastic about it. But I have to do it. Waaaay too much sugar goes into this body and it's gotta stop. My sweet tooth is outta control! Also, if I don't have a turning point now, I'll end up fat and that would suck. I don't ever want to be fat. Far too many health problems go along with it and that is just not happening for me.

Scott's sister and her husband told me about the South Beach Diet on Thanksgiving and they got me curious enough to go buy the book. After reading it, I decided to just do it. So last night we went grocery shopping and spent an outrageous amount of time in the produce section. I felt like a rabbit! I also felt very health-conscious while putting armloads and armloads of vegetables on the checkout counter. Peppers of every color, cabbage, baby spinach, celery, tomatoes, zucchini, cucumbers......Like I said - RABBIT!

Phase one lasts two weeks and consists of very, very few carbs and zero sugar. By the end of these two weeks my sugar cravings are supposed to be "virtually eradicated." Phase two reintroduces some fruit, nuts, whole grain breads, yogurt and even a little chocolate (THANK YOU, LORD!). In phase three (i.e. lifelong eating) you're kinda on your own and by then you know what to eat and drink and what not to eat and drink. You are also allowed sweets in moderation. That is my ultimate goal. I want to enjoy sweets (especially since I love to taste-test my baked creations) but not in the ridiculous amounts that I usually do. A bite or two here and there will suffice.

I think I can do it.

So you, my loyal blog reader, may look forward to periodic updates on how this SBD thing is going.

I'm hungry.

Precious

Last night when I laid her in her crib she said "Nigh-nigh, Mama". I thought about it all night long.

VACATION!

San Diego is way cool.

On our second day there I walked to Borders and bought a notebook and a pen:

When I bought this notebook just now I thought the pages were lined. They're not. It's a good thing I'm gonna transfer this to my blog when we get home. Me and unlined paper aren't great together.

I'm sitting at Borders in San Diego. I'm in California. I'm in California. I couldn't stop saying it during our plane trip here: "We're going to CALIFORNIA!"

I like it. San Diego is very hip. Pretty much the hippest city I've ever been to.

......Okay, it's three hours later and I'm back at the hotel. I had the coolest time! From Borders I cabbed it to Seaport Village, a touristy area right on the water. Got some great pictures, sat by the water, walked through some shops and ate lunch (chicken tacos with beans and rice). My dining companion was a pigeon. There were pigeons and sparrows all over the place and they even sat on the tops of the tables. Annoying little buggers, but cute all the same.

A big coastal storm is rolling in as I write this. There's supposed to be major rain and wind as well as flash flooding and ocean debris on some roads. Lovely. I just pray that it'll be okay on Saturday when our plane's ready to take off. OH my gosh, speaking of planes -- I think we flew right over the Grand Canyon on our way here! It was rocky and cliff-y and mountain-y and unspeakably beautiful. Looking down at the land from 37,000 feet in the air is so, so awesome and it always reminds me of how powerful and beautiful our Creator is!!

This has been a fabulous trip so far. I miss my sweet baby girl something fierce, as I knew I would. It will be sooooo wonderful to see here when we get home. But this has been a super break (for her too, not just for us!). She's doing GREAT with Grandma and Grandpa and it sounds like they're having a blast with her. When I talked to Mom this morning she said that Lissy is truly "one in a million" and that it is clear that we're doing a great job with her. I'm sure I was literally glowing just then. What a rockin' compliment - one of the best I've ever received.
We have had our share of minor frustrations on this trip. Last night our hotel room smelled like rotten eggs. Sulfur in the water, especially the toilet. It was nasty. And I have a bionic nose, so eew. Finally they moved us to a different room on the tenth floor. Then this morning Scott discovered that our toilet would not flush. Thinking that it would be neat-o to avoid our new room smelling like an outhouse, I called the front desk and a dude came up and fixed the potty right quick. Phew. So now I raise a glass of sparkling water on the rocks to NO more bathroom malfunctions.

California is so way cool. I hope to visit here again, maybe next time closer to Hollywood so I can do some star-searching. How fun would that be?! I would also LOVE to go to New York City someday.

I'll write more about the trip soon. Obeedoobee.

So that's the gist. We went to the San Diego Zoo on Wednesday and had a great time. The day was perfect - sunny and about 70 degrees. It was an extra-special treat to see the panda. He looked SO chubby and CUDDLY!! I wished SO badly that I could give him a huge hug!!

Friday was rainy, windy and chilly so I stayed in the room most of the day reading books and magazines and watching "Grey's Anatomy" on my iPod, and lounging on the bed. Bliss.

Then Saturday we flew home. The flight home seemed to go really quickly, which was great. I was really anxious to get home by Saturday! The American Airlines plane seemed like a glorified tin can, but it got us home in one piece so I won't complain too much!

Sunday morning we went down to Mom and Dad's to pick up our girl. When we first walked in, she looked at us with a completely stoic look on her face for a long time. Then Daddy picked her up and she smiled and said, "Dada!" and eventually she came to me and patted my shoulder and said "Mama!" Other than the couple of times she spontaneously broke into I-miss-Grandma-and-Grandpa tears today, she seems very happy to be home. We've had a nice, relaxing day together at home - with the fireplace on and candles lit and everything. It is SO good to be with my girl again!

Tarts

So my friend Bekah and I went to a one-time class at Kendall College downtown on Saturday. It was called "Pies and Tarts" and oh my gosh - it was SO much fun!!! The two instructors were great. We made three things:

• Blueberry Crumble Tarts
• Apple Galettes
• Savory Goat Cheese and Onion Tart

We learned that the difference between a pie and a galette is that with galettes, the crust folds over the filling (like the picture above - that's one that we made). I am gonna make more of these because they are easy and so much fun and they turn out so cool-looking. Like a "rustic" pie, the instructor said, We used an egg wash on the crust, then sprinkled them with coarse sugar and brushed on an apricot glaze. Stinkin' COOL!!

Bekah and I had a blast. It was snowing and sleeting our whole way home and it took us FOUR hours to get from Evanston back home (a trip that should take just over an hour). Driving in that was so terrifiying. I think I'm still tense from that trip!

But the class was worth it. And it made me even MORE excited to start the Food Preparation class this January!!!!

.....So we leave for San Diego tomorrow afternoon. I'm not taking my laptop so I probably won't be blogging at all until we get back. No doubt, I will have LOTS of pictures and stories to share from our trip! I am sooo excited. But ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh am I gonna miss my baby girl!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

See ya when I'm back! :)

CAKE!!

Don't you hate it when you try a new recipe and it totally BOMBS? It happened to me twice this week. Twice. *insert very dramatic sigh here*

Monday: I made Molasses Sandwich Cookies. The filling was grainy and the cookies were nasty. I chucked 'em.

Wednesday: I made Turtle Pumpkin Pie. It was a no-bake recipe but had to be refrigerated for "one hour". Yeah. The next morning, the thing was still total soup. I chucked it.

But I was NOT to be defeated. This girl does not make two failed recipes only to quit in utter disillusionment. Nay, she saw it as a delicious challenge and would be appeased only by a culinary victory.

Thursday Afternoon: Grocery store baking aisle.... I zipped through the store and picked up semi-sweet baking chocolate and peppermint extract, as well as buttermilk, heavy cream, unsalted butter and peppermint candies.

I was going to bake a Chocolate Peppermint Cake and, so help me, it was GOING to be heaven on a platter.

Friday Morning: The kitchen is prepped and the ingredients are measured out. The chocolate and butter are melted in a heat-safe bowl over a pan of hot water. This looks good. The chocolate is melting beautifully and it looks like dark brown silk.

The other ingredients are added and I whisk while in a state of confectionery bliss.

The batter is poured into the pan and I have all I can do not to dive head-first into it and slurp down every last scrumptious-smelling drop.

Fifty minutes later, my house smells like chocolate euphoria and I take the cake out of the oven. It cools in the pan for five minutes and then I turn the pan upside down on the cooling rack in the hopes of the cake being released in one piece. Oh my gosh, look at that - it worked!! God bless parchment paper.

I take in a huge whiff of the warm deliciousness and then make the icing and spread it on the cake.

Wow. This looks amazing. It's definitely time to sample a piece!

Hey, it looks just like the picture in the cookbook - only better, because they used chocolate shavings to garnish the whipped cream and I used crushed peppermint candies!

I take a forkful. SOOOOOOOOO GOOD!!!!! .....Not one to be too self-indulgent, I share my piece of cake with my girl. I suppose this picture speaks for itself.

I decide that if I keep this cake in the house, I will devour it within twenty-four hours, so I pack up the cake and the whipped cream and my girl and we head to Daddy's work. His co-workers loved it. One of them even said to him, "Was your wife raised by Betty Crocker or something?" Coooooool!

Oh and hey, I think I thought of a name for my future cafe: "Sweet Lissy B's." You like?

Nerd

I am a blog nerd today. Huge blog nerd. Three entries in one day constitutes a blog nerd.

I love my camera. I love taking pictures of random stuff like my Starbucks cup. A little while ago I went to Dominicks to buy my sick hubby some chicken noodle soup and crackers. There just happens to be a Starbucks in Dominicks so I treated myself to a Decaf House Blend. Took it home and put some vanilla Coffeemate in it and it was ever so deeeeelightful. I don't get regular ol' coffee from there very often. I even got Scotty a little stuffed Starbucks penguin with a scarf on to cheer him up a little. I think he likes it.

Oh, and while I was drinking my coffee, somebody wanted a drink of her own. She's such a little copycat. :)

Circles

I'm back. I HAD to blog about this cuz it is the best idea!

I was reading "American Baby" magazine last night and a mom said that she uses an apple corer to cut sandwiches into bite-size pieces for her 16-month-old. So I tried it today and OH my gosh - it is the GREATEST!! I never thought of doing that! You can also use the apple corer to cut cheese and plain deli meat and stuff. SO COOL!

And as you can see, Liss loved it!

Funnyface

Grandpa was feeding her mini M&M's the other day and I, of course, was taking pictures. As soon as she saw me point the camera at her, she made this face:

She is definitely a ham!

*** OH my gosh. I am SUCH a hairbrain! I just realized that I already posted this picture a few days ago. JEEEEEZ. Sorry for the repeat, and please do me the kindness of excusing my ditziness! ***

So now Scotty has a cold. He got my sore throat and Lissy's runny nose. Poor dude. He's working from home today because he feels too miserable to go in. I don't blame him. Colds suck. I hope we're all fine by next Tuesday!!

TV

So last night I put channel 7 on at 8:30 cuz I didn't want to miss "Notes From the Underbelly." It was kinda lame. But the show that came on after that was really good. I had never even heard of it before last night. It's called "October Road." Have you seen it at all? Then a friend of mine said that this is the second season of it. Woah! Radar UP. That means there's a season one DVD for sale! I just ordered it from Amazon. Sa-weet!
Okay, this entry is gonna have to be short. I hear my little squirt banging around in her crib up there and she's probably hungry for lunch. I'll be back........!

Snot

My poor little bug has a very runny nose. I think she might be coming down with a cold. Suck. I gave her some Tylenol Cold tonight before bed and she said, "Mmm!" If she does have a cold, this will be the first time she's ever been sick since she was born. Suck.

So here's some news: I'm goin' back to school! Taking a culinary class that goes from January through May. Check out this description - doesn't it sound so fun?!!

"Studies of the principles of food preparation with emphasis on skill development for the production of bread and pastry, salad, and international cuisine. Includes the principles of purchasing, pricing, scheduling, and catering management."

The class will meet every Tuesday from 11-5:00. Two hours of lecture, three hours of lab (kitchen work). Sweetness!!!!!! I am so psyched!!

So we were watching Food Network yesterday and that guy with blonde, spikey hair (Guy Something-or-other) was at a restaurant where they made "inside-out cheeseburgers" and he's eating the thing going "Oh MAN, this is the BEST burger...." *rave, rave, rave*.... Scott noticed that he said this restaurant (Hackney's) was north of Chicago so we looked it up online and found out the place is only fifteen minutes from us. So guess where we went for dinner last night with Mom and Dad? And yeah, the burgers were awesome. So was the block of onion rings. With LOTS of ketchup. So naughty, but sooooooo nice. And guess where we took our friends for lunch today? Yep, twice within less than 24 hours. It was cool to see this place on Food Network and then be able to go there for dinner a couple hours later!

And without further ado....you know I've got new pictures! The first is one is her playing with her cousin Emily in Green Bay on Thanksgiving. She really likes Emily! The other two are from yesterday when Grandpa was feeding her mini M&M's (or as she says, "Enin-M's"). She loves them so much that she drools in technicolor.

Later!

Tree

...or no tree? I still can't decide, although I'm still leaning towards "no tree". Our little sweetcheeks would be all over it and might even try to climb it, and might even be successful in that attempt. Girl can climb! She'd have the strings of lights off that tree quicker than you could say "NO! Don't touch the lights!" She'd grab the end of the garland and turn in circles until it was wrapped around her instead of the tree. Then she'd try to eat it.
But you should SEE the look of complete wonder she gets on her face when she sees a tree full of lights. I know she'd love having one in her house!
What to do, what to do......?

I've got plenty more to write about but it's getting late and my "Gilmore Girls" DVDs are calling my name ever so appealingly. I'll check in tomorrow!

In the meantime, I hope your turkey and cranberry sauce have digested comfortably and that you listened to Christmas music all day. :)

Love

It can only be young love, right? Lissy getting a great big bear hug from fellow blondie and favorite play date, Charlie:






So I got my hair trimmed today cuz I want it to look cute for the holidays. I love the holidays! I had her "stack" it a bit more in the back. Aren't I stylish? I feel like I should have a French poodle and stilettos. Kidding.




So I might not post again til after we get home from GB, so if I don't -- I wish you and your family and buddies a very, very blessed Thanksgiving!! And let's remember Who all our blessings come from. Thank you, Lord!!!

Happy...

...birthday again, Denise!
I'm treating Denise to lucnh at Steak 'n Shake in a little while. She picked the restaurant. And I'm very happy with her choice - they have THE best burgers! After lunch we're gonna go hang out at her house so we can chat and Liss and Charlie-guy can play. They're good buds! Denise and I have visions of them attending prom together someday. Lol!

Oh my gosh, I was sooooooo happy to see my girl when Grandma and Grandpa brought her home yesterday!! When I answered the door, she looked at me with a confused expression on her little face, but then I could see the moment of recognition and she put her arms out to me. Too funny! She slept in Grandma and Grandpa's bed (inbetween them) for THREE HOURS yesterday morning!! Whuuuut?! She NEVER falls asleep on our bed - I wish she would cuz I love snuggling with her! When I picture her snoozing away all cozy-like on my mom and dad's big bed, it makes me smile.

We're leaving for Green Bay on Wednesday afternoon. I'm looking forward to our little trip. I think Liss will have fun with everybody there on Thursday! And she'll LOVE Thanksgiving food!!! Last Thanksgiving she dined on breastmilk all day. This year's gonna be so fun!

My tummy just growled and at first I thought it was my cell ringing. *snort* I'm hungry.

Oh, I made a RR recipe Friday night - Turkey Sweet Potato Shepherd's Pie. (Did I mention that already in another entry? I think I did. Oh well.) Anyway, here's a pic of the finished product. It was really good. I use Rachael's "garbage bowl" concept when I'm cooking a meal that has lots of ingredients. It's handy-dandy.

And here's a picture of my happy girl, and a picture of her piggy. They are the only piggies in the whole world that I love!!