Scattered and Random

This week was busy and FAST! I had such plans for when Hubby was out of town and but kept scaling those plans back.

Gone were the plans to redo a room...gone were the plans to paint our front door. I adore the purple it is now, but no one else in the family does. I think a glossy black will be nice, although the dents will show more, I fear. What to do...what to do?

As far as a project this week while he was gone...none. I spent one day hitting antique and thrift stores with my Mom. That is something we have not done in eons...lots of fun! Meetings almost every night, 4-H stuff and a server that is STILL kicking me off whenever I get involved in something, just didn't allow much of anything else. Oh well.

Several weeks ago, I won a book from Erin at The Whatever Girls.

I adore Max Lucado and The Crippled Lamb is a sweet story. Sugar Plum Fairy is even able to read parts of it to me! Thanks, Erin. We love it!

Have I mentioned that our dishwasher doesn't work? For some reason, I haven't even minded too much...weird.

Sugar Plum Fairy has decided that she wants to be an Indian for Halloween. In a weak moment, I decided that I would make her costume. The lady at the fabric store assures me that sewing is like riding a bicycle...we'll see. I have not sewn much since I made Shaggy's Lion and Jester Costumes when he was a toddler.

(Lollipop Pop as a hydrangea in a pot)

(Shaggy as a Jester)

(Sugar Plum Fairy in the Lion Costume I made Shaggy)

And to cap off the week, I get to see these guys tomorrow!

AMAZING!

SQUEEEEEEEKKKKKK

I may just lose my mind...actually, since I have inadvertently posted this twice before it was finished, I think I have officially lost it. The farmer who owns the field across our driveway will be planting walnut trees this winter. We have mixed emotions about that, but the preparation of the field that has in the past grown cotton, wheat and corn is an interesting process. The first thing they did was to "laser level" the field. There was a lot of soil moved in the field to gain the proper slope for irrigation and planting. It was a VERY dusty job and much of that dust ended up in our house, pool and plants over the course of several weeks...on Monday another machine arrived to begin "ripping" the ground..(Hubby is out of town so I can not ask for his help in proper farming terms) This contraption takes 9 minutes to travel from one side of the field to the other and is in SERIOUS need of WD-40! The driver begins at 6:30AM and leaves between 3:00PM and 4:00PM. If you are so inclined to watch and spend a minute of your life listening to what may just be my demise...feel free...it is quite amazing how much power this thing has to dig so deeply in the earth(turn off the music at the bottom of this page first, or you might lose your mind as well!) Oh, and an added benefit now that he is in front of the house is that it feels like an earthquake...the dogs LOVE it!

Sorry

Not sure how I did it, but posted a post before it was done...please forgive me and check back in a bit....

The 4-H Year is Under Way!

Well, my first 4-H Cooking Project Meeting is over and was a lot of fun. I have the perfect number of kids in it this year. I have had, in the past, too many to fit in the kitchen and have everyone be hands on. As a project Leader, I get to read the kids' 4-H Books at the end of each year and see their suggestions. Last year, one young lady thought it would be fun to learn about foods from other countries. What a great idea! I knew that I wanted to teach them how to make the glorified pancake called a crepe...well, there was France! My Mom made a dish growing up called Palacsintas or Hungarian Pancakes. It involved a mixture of ground ham, olives, sour cream layered with crepes and made a tower of yumminess topped with buttered bread crumbs and baked to perfection. It is then cut into wedges and served. With a salad, this is really a great meal. Several weeks ago, I dug out the recipe to make it for my family. Something happened...schedules changed and we weren't going to have dinner together that night. Rather than pitching a fit and stomping my feet, I changed direction. The crepes were made and rolled around the filling and placed in a pan, like enchiladas. I plopped that into the freezer and went on with my life. Days later, when I was ready (and the family was home), I tossed buttered bread crumbs on top of the crepes and baked until hot. They were devoured and declared a new favorite. While the presentation was not nearly as unique and pretty as the original, the flavor and ease was great. (I have also discovered that if you fill and roll these, place them on a cookie sheet to freeze and then place the individually frozen pieces into a freezer bag, they can be defrosted and heated in the microwave for a quick after school snack for hungry kids) Okay...back to my international 4-H Cooking meeting. I also wanted to teach the girls how they can use the crepe with a sweet filling as well as a savory one, so they made Blueberry Crepes as well. Here are the recipes, if you would like to try them.
Crepes

In a medium bowl, whisk together 1 cup flour and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Whisk in1-1/4 cup whole milk and 1/2 cup water. Whisk until smooth and add one beaten egg and 1 TBL melted butter. Continue whisking until there are no lumps. The batter will resemble a very runny pancake batter. Heat a small 7 or 8 inch saute pan (nonstick is ideal) over medium high heat. Add 1/4 tsp butter to hot pan and then 1/4 cup batter. Swirl pan slowly to coat bottom of pan completely. Cook until edges begin to curl back...about 1 - 2 minutes. I used a spatula to flip the crepe over and cook about 30 seconds more. There will be large air bubbles present when done. (The girls thought they looked alive) Slide crepe onto a plate and continue. This recipe makes about 12 crepes.

Blueberry Crepes

Mix 2 cups blueberries (I used the frozen ones I had from picking with Sugar Plum Fairy) with 1/8 cup sugar and 1 tsp. vanilla. Heat until sugar dissolves and set aside to cool slightly.

Place crepe on a flat surface and center about 1-1/2 TBL of the berries on top. Fold two opposite sides of crepe toward the middle and roll entire thing. Place seam side down in a baking dish. Repeat with the rest of the berries. Pour remaining juice over all and bake at 325* for 20 minutes. Dust with powdered sugar and enjoy. (This amount of berries makes about 6 filled crepes)

Palacsinta Filling

10 ounces ham

1/4 cup black olives

1 green onion

Place all into a food processor and process. (You can also just chop this very finely)

Add a scant 1/2 sour cream, 1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce and S and P to taste. Mix all together.

Place crepe on a flat surface. Arrange 2 TBL of filling down the center of crepe in a "log" shape. Roll like an enchilada and place in a baking dish. Toast 1/3 cup fresh bread crumbs with 2 TBL butter in saute pan and top the crepes. Bake at 350* for 20 minutes. Serve and enjoy.

Oh, yes...and because I was a teacher in a previous life, I will be subjecting these lovely children to a test at our last meeting. They will need to remember such nonsense as from whence the term "crepe" and "Palacsinta" come. They will also need to identify common kitchen utensils, terms and food items that they use throughout the year. The details of this are still whirling around in my mind, but it will be fun, not very serious and there WILL be prizes. Can YOU identify each item?

As much as I love 4-H and all that it represents, I am glad to get these first 2 meetings done. I am spending the day with my Mommy today and have changed my mind on the redecoration of the small room while my husband is gone...it will happen eventually, but it was turning into a larger job than I want to battle this week. I intend on enjoying my Thursday and I hope you do as well!

One Down...

...one to go. The first 4-H Meeting this week went well, but holy moly, do 6-8 year old boys have a lot of energy! I purchased plain wooden frames that my Teen Leaders primed white. I also found wooden shapes that represent some of the projects our club offers...sheep, poultry, horse, rabbits, etc. These were primed prior to the meeting as well. I then set up tables in my garage and covered them in butcher paper (I bought a roll when Shaggy was about 6 for crafts and am just now coming to the end of the roll. That was a great purchase a decade ago! Anyway, as the kids arrived, I talked about the different projects they can choose from when they are older and let them pick any 3 cutouts. They painted their frame any color they desired as well as the decorations. I also had letters that they could used to customize their frame. All but 3 kids were able to come, so I took pictures of them and will place on in their frame for the fairs in the Spring. They really turned out well and cleanup was a cinch! Today, my cooking project will travel to France and Hungary to make Crepes and Palascintas! Curious? Will fill you in tomorrow!

Busy!

This photo has nothing to do with anything, but I thought it was cute...this is Rudy.

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I have 12 kids between the ages of 5 and 8 coming to my house this afternoon for a 4-H Mini Member Meeting. The project involves paint...and glue....wish me luck! In all honesty, I really enjoy these kids, but always fear that I have forgotten something. I also planned the first cooking meeting for tomorrow afternoon...figured the house will be clean, so went for it. Throw in hubby leaving in the morning for 5 days, the plans for a redecoration of a small room while he is away, as well as the normal everyday running around I am just hoping I don't forget to pick up a kidnick from something.

Happy Tuesday!

Christopher Columbus Parody

Take a couple minutes and give this a listen. I enjoyed this and hope you do as well.
Christopher Columbus Parody