Friday, November 25, 2011
Turkey Day
Thanksgiving 2011
Menu:
Warm Brie
with Apricot Jam & Pecans
Ham Asparagus
Roll-ups
Warm
Cranberry Apple Cider
Brined and Roasted Turkey
Stuffing with
Apples and Cranberries
Garlic Mashed
Potatoes
Homemade Cranberry Sauce
Roasted
Butternut Squash with Brown Sugar Glaze
Rosemary Rolls
Green Beans (Brought by Mary)
Green Salad (Brought by Brenda)
Bourbon-Molasses Pecan Pie (Which was HORRIBLE)
Pumpkin Pie (Brought by Donna)
LOTS OF WINE!
Thanksgiving went pretty smoothly with only a few "Almost
Disasters". I had a big table set up in the kitchen with all my serving
trays laid out, and I prepped almost everything the day before. Chopped all the
veggies, made the gravy (added the drippings the next day), made the cranberry
sauce (twice), and got the turkey in the brine. The morning of Thanksgiving I
roasted the squash, and then baked it with the glaze 10 minutes before dinner,
and I was able to cook the stuffing after the turkey was done. It's so much
easier to cook the side dishes after your turkey comes out of the oven.
Almost
Disaster #1- Started making the brine about 5hrs before we needed to put the
turkey in, not realizing that the brine would need ALL day to cool. Disaster
averted by pouring the brine in three smaller containers and placing them in
the sink of cold water!
Actual
Disaster #2- Thank goodness we tasted the first batch of cranberry sauce,
because the orange I used must have been bitter. The sauce left a HORRIBLE
taste on your tongue. So once again Martin came to the rescue and went to the
store and got more Cranberries, and orange juice. The second batch was AMAZING!
Actual
Disaster #3- Forgot the Pecans were in the oven roasting. Mmm Black Pecans.
Again, Martin to the store!
Almost
Disaster #4- Forgot the Pecans were in a pan roasting on the stove. So they
were slightly black, but still tasted yummy.
Otherwise
everything turned out great. And the pumpkins from Halloween were still perfect
for decorating since it’s been so cold outside. So I finally got to do my
pumpkin vase!
Unfortunately
I didn't get a picture of the turkey, but I assure you it was amazing.
OOOHH! The
pie... I cooked it the EXACT length it was supposed to be cooked, firm around
the edges and slightly gooey in the center. Well when I cut into it, I knew
something was wrong. I took one bite, and quietly walked into the kitchen to
spit it into the sink. I swear none of the alcohol cooked off! I got tipsy off
one bite! The crust was lovely though, and we had Donna's pumpkin pie. So NO on
the Molasses-Bourbon Pecan pie. However my dad liked it, so he took it home.
I made a
pumpkin pie today, and almost passed out it tasted so good!
Leaves
While I was prepping for turkey day Martin was watching Lenora. He
wasn't supposed to have Wednesday off, but I am SO glad he did. It helped out a
ton!
Martin and Lenora went outside to look for fallen willow branches
for my centerpiece. I looked out our kitchen window and saw Lenora sitting in
the middle of the yard.
Of course I had to go get the camera, and then I made sure she
wasn't eating leaves...which she was. Yum! She loved to play in the leaves;
well she mostly loved to put them in her mouth, but whatever. She's exploring.
It was a fun filled daddy/daughter afternoon.
Thursday, November 17, 2011
Walking
Lenora is pulling herself up on everything, she was even using the pillow to try and climb up on the couch. Today she decided to use her walker to walk across the living room. One day soon, I'm going to be in the kitchen and she's going to walk around the corner!
Monday, November 14, 2011
Crawling in The Kitchen
Lately Lenora has been venturing out of the Family room and has discovered there is more to the house and LOTS more to get into. She's even been venturing into the kitchen. Well she usually doesn’t get too far because it hurts her knees, but my goodness she figured out a way around it! She's so hilarious there just aren't words to describe it. I can't believe how much life and personality she has at such a young age!
This is how she crawls on hard floors.
Saturday, November 12, 2011
Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal for Lenora
Today was my baby food making day, however I only made her oatmeal because it's getting late and we have the new Harry Potter to watch. So I'll finish her food tomorrow.
I usually make her Banana Peach Oatmeal but I haven't been able to find peaches anywhere lately. So then I made her Banana Mango Oatmeal, she likes it but Mango's are a pain to peel/chop and they smell like a pine tree. So I decided to make her Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal for something different. I found the original recipe in a magazine, but I almost tripled the ingredients. The original recipe also called for regular or golden raisins but I didn't have any.
I made a big batch so I could freeze it, and here is the recipe.
My lovely smarty pants of a husband calculated it all out and we discovered that it making it this way it only cost's about 0.20 cents a serving! That sure beats the 0.99 cents the gerber jars are. And this will last us a whole month.
This is a website where I get alot of my inspiration for baby food. I love it. It also has a great section on adding spices to baby's food.
I usually make her Banana Peach Oatmeal but I haven't been able to find peaches anywhere lately. So then I made her Banana Mango Oatmeal, she likes it but Mango's are a pain to peel/chop and they smell like a pine tree. So I decided to make her Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal for something different. I found the original recipe in a magazine, but I almost tripled the ingredients. The original recipe also called for regular or golden raisins but I didn't have any.
I made a big batch so I could freeze it, and here is the recipe.
Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal:
3 1/2 Cups Apple Juice
2 Cups Oatmeal
1 Tsp Cinnamon
1/2 Cup Dried Cranberries
1/2 Regular or Golden Raisins (optional)
3 Red Delicious Apples
2 Granny Smith Apples (I know there are 3 in the photo,
but I decided not to add the last one)
Peal & chop the apples into cubes, and put everything in the pan, except for the oatmeal and bring to a boil. Boil for about 8 minutes until the apples are tender. |
She came to see how her oatmeal was coming along, and to see if it was time to taste. (She always taste's her food before we freeze it.) |
Than I pureed it in my Baby Bullet, and Voila! Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal, and Lenora approved! |
It filled all 4 Ice cube trays. Lenora will eat 2 cubes every morning, and this made 28 servings. |
This is a website where I get alot of my inspiration for baby food. I love it. It also has a great section on adding spices to baby's food.
Tuesday, November 8, 2011
9 Months
Yesterday Lenora turned 9 Months old. It's amazing that she is almost 1 yr old. I get sad sometimes and miss my fragile little newborn. Lenora now is anything but fragile! She also thinks she can do everything by herself, we have to keep reminding her that she can't put 6 pieces of cereal in her mouth at 1 time, and that she can't feed herself with her spoon yet unless she wants an eye full of apples/blueberries. I have a feeling she'll be walking very very soon.
Today we took her to the Doctor's office for her 9 month well-check. She weighed 18 pounds, and was 29 1/4" long, 94 percentile for height & 35 percentile for weight. At her last appointment (6 month) she weighed 15.11 pounds and was 28" long.
I asked the doctor about Lenora's tantrums during Nap time, and she told me it was completely normal that Lenora was just strong willed and didn't want to be taken away from exploring. She was impressed that Lenora took 2 naps a day ranging from 1-2 hours and then slept all night from 8pm-6am. So even with the tantrums she is still doing wonderful. She also got the first part of her flu shot today. Usually Martin come's with us when we do shots so he can hold her down, but today I had to be brave and I succeeded, although it was horrible to see her go from happy to instantly screaming. But 30 seconds later she was dancing.
She is so smart, and I sometimes can't believe the stuff she does. Like the other day, I had forgotten to put a outlet cover back in after vacuuming and Lenora crawled over picked up the outlet cover and tried to put in back in the outlet. I have no idea how she made that connection. Oh, and Martin stopped her before she could stick anything in the outlet. But what a smarty pants. Not to brag or anything. She must get her smarts from Daddy.
Today we took her to the Doctor's office for her 9 month well-check. She weighed 18 pounds, and was 29 1/4" long, 94 percentile for height & 35 percentile for weight. At her last appointment (6 month) she weighed 15.11 pounds and was 28" long.
I asked the doctor about Lenora's tantrums during Nap time, and she told me it was completely normal that Lenora was just strong willed and didn't want to be taken away from exploring. She was impressed that Lenora took 2 naps a day ranging from 1-2 hours and then slept all night from 8pm-6am. So even with the tantrums she is still doing wonderful. She also got the first part of her flu shot today. Usually Martin come's with us when we do shots so he can hold her down, but today I had to be brave and I succeeded, although it was horrible to see her go from happy to instantly screaming. But 30 seconds later she was dancing.
She is so smart, and I sometimes can't believe the stuff she does. Like the other day, I had forgotten to put a outlet cover back in after vacuuming and Lenora crawled over picked up the outlet cover and tried to put in back in the outlet. I have no idea how she made that connection. Oh, and Martin stopped her before she could stick anything in the outlet. But what a smarty pants. Not to brag or anything. She must get her smarts from Daddy.
Well here are some of her 9 Month photo's. She tried to eat the grass/leaves, I'm suprised I got any good ones with how hyper she was being. But we've had NO tantrums today. YAY!
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
Insurance Salesman
So for fun, and cause were lame we thought it would be funny to dress Lenora up as an insurance salesman. We already had the polyester shirt (i bought at an antique store years ago). Tucked it into some brown pants, gave her a tie, a handmade briefcase, a comb- over and VOILA an Insurance Salesman. She thought it was hilarious when she looked it the mirror, she laughed and laughed. Otherwise last night was quiet, Martin brought in our pumpkins and fall wreath, we turned the porch light off and shut all the curtains and watched a movie. We watched the Movie 'Priest' (about vampires, but not human vampires) It was actually really good. Apparently its a series of books, so maybe they'll make another one.
Only had 1 group of kids come to the door..they rang the doorbell, and then I could hear them talking:
Kids-"Do you think they heard it"
Mom- "Did you hear the ding"
Kids: "Yah, but no one's coming"
Kids: "Oh this say's please do not ring the doorbell, oops"
Followed by 30 more seconds of giggling and then they left. Silly Kids.
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