Traditions Swap

You are all the kindest, sweetest, most supportive bloggy friends anyone ever had.  Seriously. Best Christmas present ever!  Thank you.  Singing is something I've always done.  My first public performance was a duet with my sister at a baptism.  It was a large audience, and we were probably 8 or 9.  We've sung together and apart ever since.  (If you know what CES broadcasts are, I was a soloist in May 2001, when Elder Eyring spoke at the University of Idaho.)  But something happened when we got older.  The funny thing about being a twin is that people are wild to find some difference between you too.  It became "Ohhh....Lolo sings and you play, right?"  Over the years, that's exactly what would happen, and I've become the go-to accompanist for most music events I've involved in.  It's probably partially on my own head, since I never ask for a chance to sing.  I want to change that, and use the talents the Lord has given me.  I hope you'll come along for the journey this coming year!

***Random music rant: I took FOUR YEARS of piano lessons from my mother, ages 8-12.  After that I just picked up whatever music I could find to play, and kept being asked to accompany choirs and soloists.  I had to improve in a hurry.  However, I shouldn't be the go-to accompanist!  Where is everybody else?  All those millions of kids who took piano lessons?  We need you!  End of rant.  :)  ****

OK, on to crafty stuff!

I sent off this little package for a "traditions swap" through Meg McElwee at Sew Liberated. I was excited that I got my name in on time- it's a popular swap, and limited slots. I was paired with Jenny from Little Jenny Wren. I felt OK about everything until I visited her blog- sakes alive, the woman is a doll-making genius. Genius, I say. Makes you want to cry with joy just to look at the little waldorf-style girls and boys that come out of her busy little work shop.

I sent Jenny a stuffed and embroidered door-hanger, a letter detailing some of our favorite family traditions and how to do them, and a few of my favorite recipes. The requirements said holiday recipes...but my sister agreed with me, we don't really have any holiday recipes. We always have hot cider in the crock pot, with a few cinnamon sticks and maybe a clove-studded orange bobbing in there. There's always red Jell-O for Uncle K. Other than that, it's all up for grabs. One year we had beef wellington. Lots of years we have ham with scalloped potatoes. Often those scalloped potatoes came from a box. It's not that my family doesn't cook, it's just that at holiday time there are so many other things to do...fancy recipes seem a little onerous. Heck, ANY recipe seems onerous! So we have the years where everyone spends days preparing a single dish to share, and we have years with boxed scalloped potatoes and an oven-warmed Costco ham. The tradition is that we share the meal. We share our time. I think that's a pretty good tradition, don't you?

(This year was ham, but I hosted so I made the scalloped potatoes, macaroni and cheese, quinoa salad, and french bread.  And of course, dessert was Grandma's Miracle Cobbler, with blackberries I gathered in the summer and stashed away for Christmas.)

Have a Merry Little Christmas, Y'all

You asked for it, and here it is!  My little Christmas present to you.

Have a very merry Christmas, folks.  May your family and friends be close and your troubles be far.

--Myrnie



Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas from Myrnie Twin on Vimeo.

Piano stuff and salty noodles

Thank you thank you for all your sleepy thoughts- Mimi slept well Wednesday night.  (Last night she got up 3 times and partied from 12:30-2:30.  But I'm counting my blessings for a good Wednesday night.)  Hopefully she'll get back on schedule soon.

We had our recital last night.  I never sat down and counted, but I'm pretty sure we had over 40 people here.  14 students playing.  It was phenomenal- I've never been more proud of my kids.  I've taught some of them for 8 years.  If this doesn't sound weird, it is so wonderful to know that I'm able to teach well enough to pass on this beautiful gift of music.  I'm so grateful.  Every student was great.  The cookies were delicious.  I haven't dared go downstairs to the playroom yet to see what fun was had down there- my husband gravely advised against it last night.  In fact, as soon as the girls were tucked in he pretty  much threw me into bed with a heat pad.  Isn't he lovely?  He's such an excellent man.

We had a late breakfast today of pad see ew- very delicious, I heartily recommend it.  Salty noodles are just what we needed to contrast the pile of goodies in the kitchen.  I used cellophane noodles, broccoli, celery, and lots of tofu.

I have a question for you: if these wonderful blogs are places to talk about what we make and craft, what do we do if we make something other than clothes or dolls?  I've been having the "recording itch" lately, and was wondering if anyone would be interested in seeing what I'm working on?  If there's any interest I could record some Christmas music.  Maybe just accompaniment so you can sing with your family?  Or with vocals?  Hubby and I have a few songs we've been working on as well that I hope to record over the holidays- did I mention we have a pretty good recording studio set up in our basement?  I love my husband :)

Make This: Reindeer Food

Major accomplishment today, making something with the big kid. Before I tell you why I'm crowing, let me tell you what we did so you can do it too!

Reindeer Food:

Materials:
sugar
oats
liquid food dye

I put about 2 Tbsp of sugar in a jar and let E squeeze in 2 or 3 (or 5 or 6- whoops!) drops of food coloring. She shook that really good, then we funneled in about 1/2 cup of oats. And there you have it- oats for the reindeer, and sparkles to catch the light of Rudolph's nose and show Santa where to land. Ernie's dad will help her throw a few handfuls up on the roof Christmas Eve.

I've seen this done with glitter, but glitter isn't very kind to birdie tummies, so we used sugar.


Now....let Mimi summarize the rest of our week up to this point.

For some unknown reason, Mimi can.not.sleep. Last night: asleep 8-11:30. Nursed, and we both went back to bed. I'd been in bed since 9, but never fell asleep. (Whatever I've done to be punished with insomnia, I'm sorry!) She fell asleep right away, I dozed off around 12:30. She was up again at 1:15, and just couldn't sleep in her crib. I hauled out the quilt and sat in the chair with her until 5:30- she slept fine, but I've lost my magical sleep-sitting-up abilities. I finally put her back down and tried to sleep. I fell asleep around 6:15, and was up at 7:30 to teach piano lessons. She took a 45 minute nap in the afternoon- I never managed to fall asleep. Drat.

When I say she can't sleep in her crib, I mean it. Believe me, after 3 nights of nearly no sleep, you better believe that I'm trying everything I can. This is one tired mama! I don't know if it's a sore throat, or achy teeth, or maybe something in her ears? She has snuffly breathing at night, but no runny nose during the day. However, she likes to sleep on her tummy and knees, bum up in the air. She quiets as soon as I get her out, and often just rests on my shoulder for a minute or two before jumping from my arms back to her crib. I tuck her in...and she's crying again 2 minutes later. She's exhausted, and she and I both want nothing more than some good quality crib time for this poor girl! Tylenol, space heater, cuddly blankets, humidifier, normal routine...she has them all.

So please send sleepy thoughts our way. I have 3 more piano lessons to get through tomorrow, and then I'm hosting a piano recital for all 14 of my students, and up to 30 more spectators. Forty-five people in my living room tomorrow night... why I never thought of moving the recital to a larger location, I'm sure I don't know.

Christmas Crazies

I've fought it.  I really have.  But here we are on the 12th of December, and I'm feeling the crazies.

Our tree this year would be simple- Ikea sells them for $20, with $10 back when you return it.  Problem was, there was a wedding that weekend.  I'd agreed to help set up in the morning, and Daddy didn't want to take the girls by himself.  I ended up going Friday morning when my mom offered to watch the girls, impromptu.  Great.  Easy.  Until I nearly lost the tree going sixty on the freeway!

Now the tree is up, and we have lights on it.  And that's all.  Baby would just climb to reach any ornaments, so it's simple.

I've fought with myself to make presents equally simple this year.  I canned all summer, thinking "Christmas presents!"  Winter hit and I found myself thinking "Ooh, I'll sew 6 of these and 4 of those, and just a few of those...".  No, Myrnie.  Remember?  Closet full of jars?  For Christmas presents?  Oh, right.  Simple.

Why am I fighting it?  Why do I feel like the simple things I have planned aren't enough to show our love and appreciation?  I still have more dolls to make, more beaded lovelies, more cookies, more packages to ship...why does it not feel like enough?

Regardless of all this, I'm making something special tonight, for you.  Something simple.  I hope you like it.

Beaded Pom Pom Ring

I've had this ring in my mind for a long time now, and finally had all the supplies on hand to make it!

I desperately need a hand model. (Dad, you don't remember this but when I was TEN you exclaimed "You have the hands of a 70-year-old woman!" It's so totally true.)

I think it's such a rad piece of hand bling- I love the weight, the sparkle, the movement. There are 32 head pins full of beads and attached to the ring form. I wish I could have fit more on there, but it was FULL!

Bending The Rules

Caught a great book signing this week- Amy Karol, author of Bend the Rules Sewing and Bend the Rules with Fabric, came to a book signing at The Quilt Loft in Seattle. That's driving distance! Plus, she was accompanied by the fabulous Miss Black Apple, Emily Martin. I was so stoked.

The Quilting Loft is tucked away in a cute part of the Seattle-area * known as Ballard, near Lake Washington.  I have never been in the presence of so many delicious, vibrant, designer fabrics.  (Overhearing a woman at the cutting counter laughing that she was going to spend over $300 on "this quilt" cured me of any serious designs, though!)

There was a good-sized line, and I joined the back.




I met Amy Karol!  She's darling.



I met Emily Martin, too!  She's so funny- after this picture was snapped she looked at the camera and said "Wonderful!  I look like a vampire."  It's a pretty common look in this area, I'm afraid.  (I love everything in her Etsy shop.  Everything.  I heard tell that a while back, she was the top selling Etsy-er.  Incredible!)




There were cookies from Amy, door prizes for a lucky few gals, and even old friends.  (I felt like such an interloper after finding out the people in front AND in back of me had known Amy for years.

Mom and Dad, thanks again for my birthday books!

Wonder Daddy, THANK YOU for taking solo duty for bed time!!

And Amy and Emily, thank you for coming out this way!

*You have to know that everything near Seattle is "Seattle Area."  There are no breaks between cities and towns.  You drive Seattle-Mercer Island-Bellevue-Issaquah-North Bend-Preston on I-90 before you find a real break.  And it's a mountain range.  So we have Eastside, with Kirkland, Bellevue, Redmond, Issaquah.  South is Renton, Tacoma.  North is Edmonds, Mountlake Terrace, Lynnwood, Snohomish County.  West...well, there's just West Seattle, because of the large OCEAN in the way :)  You better pay attention to your exit numbers in this area, because you'll never know when you reach a new town!

NaBloPoMo Recap

Well folks, it's December 1st.  I never really announced it, but I ran and finished the NaBloPoMo race this year- I posted every single stinkin' day in November.  (NaBloPoMo= National Blog Posting Month, a spoof on a yearly event called National Novel Writing Month.  They write a novel in a month.  Yes, they're insane.  In a good way.  But more so by the end of the month.)

So, how did it go?  Well, in October I posted 17 times.  In November I posted 30.  My page hits went down 1.44%.  My visitors went down.  My pages read went down.  My comments per post went down.  Pretty much everything went down except for my bounce rate (google analytics, I ask you:  What IS bounce rate?  Is it bad?  Considering mine went up, it's probably bad.)  but you know what...I had fun.  I'm in the habit of daily posting.  I've reminded myself that I enjoy writing.

And nobody really wants me to.  *grin*

As I've often heard said, I love ya more'n my luggage...and I'm going to go make something :)

PS- No, I didn't win a prize

An Announcement and a Warning

We all know that all phones are required to dial 911, even with no plan.  If it has battery power and can see a cell site, it WILL call 911.  Federal law.

Did you know that a key-locked phone will also call 911 if you hold down the 9 key?  Yes.  It will.  No, don't try it- Mimi's already done that for you.

The sheriff's office didn't think it was very funny when they called back!

Meal Planning Monday

We're in a rut around here for dinner time.  With piano lessons every afternoon, I need to remember to think about dinner early or we eat a lot of quesadillas or pancakes (not that the girls are complaining- they love those nights!)  Or, in desperation I'll make an enormous pot of something on Monday, like soups or chilis or pasta, and plan on serving it day after day.  Which doesn't make for exciting meal times.  (Except the repeated announcements of "I don't like this!" by the four-year-old.  That's always exciting.)

Over the weekend, I made a list of my go-to meals.  We have most of the ingredients in the pantry, and I know at least 2 or 3 members of my family enjoy it.  Then we all sat down as a family and planned our week's dinners out.  Here's hoping for more variety, and less drama!

Sunday: Yellow Curry with potatoes and shrimp, served with rice (Curry paste recipe  and entree recipe can be found here.  I subbed peeled shrimp and boiled potatoes for the lobster.)

Monday: Turkey Pot Pie (It's bread day, so there will be bread available too.)

Tuesday: Beef Stroganoff (This will make good use of the mushrooms our CSA sent last week, and use up the rest of our sour cream.)

Wednesday: Black Bean- Chipotle Chili , served with rice

Thursday: Scrambled eggs and toast (Ernie's request- here's hoping our Egg Lady can meet me before Thursday!)

Friday: Church party

Saturday: Sushi (Ernie's request- I normally do a tuna/sesame/sweet chili sauce filling.)

What does your family do?   Do you plan your meals in advance, go grocery shopping on Saturday, and sleep soundly at night knowing what your family will eat for the next 7 days?  Do you dive headfirst into the cupboards or freezer at 5:30 hoping you can find another "ten-minute-meal" for your hungry horde?  Make a vat of something every Monday and blithely assume you'll serve it ad nauseum to a willing and adoring family?

And, more importantly...what DOES your family eat?

Inquiring minds want to know!

Sunday Thoughts

Ernie gave her very first talk in Primary today- the topic was "What my family can do to help other people."

This is what she said:
"I have been asked to answer the question "How can my family help other people?"


Sometimes we take our neighbors and friends cookies.  My preschool class is going to visit a nursing home.  We are going to do a play about the night Jesus was born.  We will sing songs and hand out cards to the people who live there.  Another thing we do to help others is pay our tithing and fast offerings.


I love Jesus and Heavenly Father.  I love my family and I'm glad we are a forever family.  I love my friends.  I know the scriptures are true. [smiley face at the bottom of the page]"

I was so proud of my girl.  It's amazing to me that at this time last year SHE WAS NOT SPEAKING!  She really didn't start until late December/early January.  We came into Primary to watch her give her talk, and she was so proud to be sitting up front, facing everyone (there are chairs set up for the children who will participate that day for talk, prayer, and scripture.)  The primary president gestured to me when Ernie stood up, to ask "do you want to come help her?"  No, no- she's fine.  And she was!

She read her talk so well- I'm so happy for her.  It's such a big deal for these kids to have the opportunity to succeed- I firmly believe that we should make efforts to create environments where they are able to learn and grow and feel well-earned successes.

Shop Update

Shop update! Beaded things this week- badge lanyards for the lady looking for a little shine in her work day, eyeglass holders for the people looking to keep their glasses or sunglasses close by with a little sparkle, and crystal earrings for everyone just looking for bling.

Watch for kids' stuff coming soon- tutus, flower clippies, headbands.

A Pretty New Wreath

Welcome to our friends from Melissa's holiday decorating carnival!

I've had this grapevine wreath for years now- I love it!  In every season I can fill it full of new stuff, and it hardly costs a thing to change my look.

I've always loved berry wreaths, but they're so expensive!  I pruned these berries off some tall bushes growing along the west fence in my yard- I'm not sure what they are.  Magic Bamboo?  Witch Hazel?  Whatever they were...they're wreath material now, baby!  They're fairly boring bushes, and tall, most of the year so I had meant to tear them out over the summer.  I'm glad I didn't- I think I'll leave them there just for the free wreath every year!  I clipped berries and red-leafed branches last year and put them, dry, in a vase- the color stayed true when they dried.  I'm hoping this wreath will last until the new year.

For construction, I just stick stuff in- no wire, no tape.  Easy peasy, rice and cheesy!

Oh look- here's my Spring wreath!






Have you started decorating for the Christmas/Holiday/Winter season?  Ernie and Wonder Daddy put up the lights today, and I'm so excited to pull out our favorite indoor decorations and watch the kids' faces light up!

Sknahtevig

Sigh. Banner-stringing FAIL.

Regardless of my spelling prowess, I can GIVE THANKS for so many things. For a warm home, for a happy family, for health, for knowledge, for the ability to learn and grow, for the opportunity to raise our children the best way we know how, and for many, many other things.

I'm especially grateful for my husband, my daughters, my forever family, and my Savior.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone. May your hearts, your bellies, and your chairs be full!

From the Workshop (Mine, not Santa's)

After mulling over ideas for a LONG time (at least a year- I know..."little less conversation, a little more action!") and I finally took pencil to paper this week to draft a doll pattern. Around Christmas time last year my friend bemoaned the lack of dolls for her daughters- she wanted dolls the girls could relate to. Why is it that when little girls come in so many beautiful colors, dolls....don't? Pink skin and blonde hair is definitely not representative of most of the population!*

Here is the first in what I hope is a long line of "me" dolls- this is my "Ernie" doll (I know she's faceless- I'm still figuring that part out.) Not perfect, but I'm pretty pleased with how she came out! She's a nice big size, and firm to squeeze. The legs and arms are sturdy too, so there's no problem if/when this gal is dragged around by the limbs.

Now....I had thought Santa would bring dolls to my girls this year. But a certain little miss found this gal in my room yesterday during piano lessons and ran breathlessly out to me "Mom! Is this me? Is this me, Mom? Is it mine? Can I have it?" (No.) "Whose is it?" She repeated that last question more frantically each time as I reiterated "It's not yours! I don't know whose it is! Put it back!" Phooey. Oh well, she'll be excited to unwrap her Christmas morning, anyway :) But I'm happy she recognized herself!

I'm planning so many details for future dolls- aprons, skirts, embroidered hair, little mary-jane shoes. It's such a fun project! I'm especially excited to match them to my little girls- pig tails, big curly mops of hair, little baby whisps, and side-swept bangs. I'm getting excited for Christmas :)

* Please ignore the irony that my first doll IS fair skinned and blond-haired. I never dreamed I would have blond children.

Sliding in under the wire

Day 24 of NaBloPoMo.  No auto-post this morning, and I've just finished a girl's night with a very good friend I've not seen in years.  We ate sushi, we watched the last video and a half of the REAL Pride and Prejudice, followed quickly by the full play time of the newer version.  We ate kettle corn *, we ate truffles, and I finished up the construction of a not-so-secret Christmas present (more on that later.)

So to all...a good night!

*Oddly enough, the kettle corn recipe is from Our Best Bites, co-written by Sara (my friend and I both went to church with her when we were teens) and her good friend Kate, who I met in college.  Kate later married the son of my Sunday School teacher.  Small, small world.  Yummy, yummy popcorn.

Birthday Presents

Just a little pouch of hair doodad goodies we put together for Ernie's Joy School friend- felt barrettes, flower clippie, and a ribbon headband.

What do you keep on hand for birthday presents?

Sunday Chuckles

Chuckles courtesy of Grandpa.


Happy Sunday, everyone!


-Myrnie

Children in Church

A little boy was in a relative's wedding.   As he was coming down the aisle, he would take two steps, stop, and turn to the crowd.     While facing the crowd, he would put his hands up like claws and roar.      So it went, step, step, ROAR, step, step, ROAR, all the way down the aisle. As you can imagine, the crowd was near tears from laughing so hard by the time he reached the pulpit. When asked what he was doing, the child sniffed and said, "I was being the Ring Bear."

One Sunday in a Midwest City , a young child was "acting up" during the morning worship hour. The parents did their best to maintain some sense of order in the pew but were losing the battle.    Finally, the father picked the little fellow up and walked sternly up the aisle on his way out.      Just before reaching the safety of the foyer, the little one called loudly to the congregation, "Pray for me! Pray for me!"

One particular four-year old prayed, "And forgive us our trash baskets as we forgive those who put trash in our baskets."

A little boy was overheard praying: "Lord, if you can't make me a better boy, don't worry about it. I'm having a real good time like I am."

A Sunday School teacher asked her little children, as they were on the way to church service, "And why is it necessary to be quiet in church?"       One bright little guy replied, "Because people are sleeping."

A little boy opened the big and old family Bible with fascination,  looking at the old pages as he turned them.      Then something fell out of the Bible. He picked it up and looked at it closely. It was an old leaf from a tree that has been pressed in between the pages. "Mama, look what I found," the boy called out. "What have you got there, dear?" his mother asked.       With astonishment in the young boy's voice he answered, "It's Adam 's suit"..

The preacher was wired for sound with a lapel mike, and as he preached, he moved briskly about the platform,  jerking the mike cord as he went.      Then he moved to one side, getting wound up in the cord and nearly tripping before jerking it again.      After several circles and jerks, a little girl in the third pew leaned toward her mother and whispered,  "If he gets loose, will he hurt us?"

Six-year old Angie , and her four-year old brother, Joel , were sitting together in church.    Joel giggled, sang and talked out loud. Finally, his big sister had had enough. "You're not supposed to talk out loud in church." "Why? Who's going to stop me?" Joel asked. Angie pointed to the back of the church and said, "See those two men standing by the door? They're hushers."

My grandson was visiting one day when he asked , "Grandma, do you know how you and God are alike?"       I mentally polished my halo, while I asked, "No, how are we alike?" "You're both old," he replied.

A ten-year old, under the tutelage of her grandmother, was becoming quite knowledgeable about the Bible.       Then, one day, she floored her grandmother by asking, "Which Virgin was the mother of Jesus ? The virgin Mary or the  King James Virgin ?"

A Gift

I adore my husband.

A sunny place to read

A lock

And you can't see it, but there's a heat lamp tucked under that desk.

I am one happy Mama!

Our Big Toy

When I was in high school I took early morning seminary classes at the local church building- scripture study classes. (One year for Old Testament, then New Testament, followed by Book of Mormon, and finally Doctrine and Covenants.) And I DO mean early morning- class started at 6:05, if I remember correctly. Maybe 6:10.

My junior year of high school found me taking a full load of classes at the community college, and going back to the high school just for choirs. What this meant was that while all my seminary classmates had to scurry to get to school before that 7:30 bell rang, my next class time was variable and I had some time to study or eat after class. I was amazingly blessed with my teacher that year- Linda Snow was one of my personal heroes. I couldn't really tell you why, but she just personified everything I wanted to be. Tall and stately, curly gray hair, well dressed, and always a witty comment at the ready. She would sigh and shake her head at my school clothes (why did I ever think clothes that were three sizes too big would make me appear smaller?), praise my efforts in class, and unabashedly declared herself the "center" of our universe. We didn't mind- it generally meant if she woke up extra hungry, we could come to class and find her with a pitcher of pancake batter and a hot griddle, making pancakes for everyone. "If I'm hungry, everyone eats!"

Linda was an accomplished pianist, and a wonderful organist. A few weeks into the school year, a thought occurred to me. "Linda, would you teach me to play the organ?"

She was never one to beat around the bush- I followed her to the chapel after class.
"These are stops. They make the noise in those pipes up there. This is the swell, this is the great. That keyboard down there is for your feet- it's called the pedal. Bass part is on pedal, tenor on left hand, and alto and soprano on right. 8 foot pipes are regular, 4 foot pipes are an octave up. 16 foot pipes are an octave down. Never play a 4 and a 16 together without an 8- it sounds weird. Flutes are soft, oboes are buzzy, these german-sounding ones sound tinny. Take off your shoes, and here's a hymnal. Sit down and play."

She told me where to order my organ shoes, and lent me a book of excercises to explain the crazy fingering needed to keep a sustained tone going, and set me on my way!

When I was called as the congregational organist a few months later (umm...my dad was kind of behind that one. He believes in jumping right in!) Linda was also the one who would come up as I played postlude and congratulate me on a tricky song I had done well on, and suggest her favorite registration for another song that hadn't gone well at all.

Now years down the road, I was excited to be asked to play organ again in our new congregation- it's a fun position, and one that doesn't really take much effort. Or so I thought. Apparently it's been a little TOO long since I last held this position! When a piano student's mother mentioned she had an organ in her basement she didn't want, I jumped at the chance to be able to practice at home.

Organ still un-seen, Wonder Daddy left last Saturday to help load it into her husband's truck and bring it over.

Now, I had a little hand-me-down organ in high school. It weighed maybe 150 pounds.

This honker has got to weigh at least 300. Wonder Daddy is guessing 500, but I think that's just because he's STILL sore from carrying it up our stairs with my student's dad!

We're having so much fun with our new instrument! If you're into old music equipment, it has a real Leslie speaker and actual reverb coils. So very, very cool! The girls love to push all the buttons (and I love that Grandpa's antique head set works perfectly to protect our ears from a reverb-leslie-flute-cello-dixie funk beat cocktail the girls mix up.)

I'm also excited to be able to teach on this organ. I'm lucky to have a high school student in my studio this year (they're generally too busy to take lessons) and she was excited when I mentioned the possibility of learning organ.

Back in the saddle

"I feel like I've eaten nothing but cabbage soup, forever."
(Name that movie?)

I'm devastatingly embarrassed to report that my family has eaten roasted vegetable soup for nearly three weeks solid, in one form or another. Beets, cauliflower, onions, squash, carrots, potatoes, sweet potatoes...all exemplary vegetables (name that movie?). But really. There comes a point when you realize the merit of serving a soup for days on end simply because you inadvertently made enough to feed the Hun army...and made it four times in a row...well, the merit quickly wears off.

I finally threw out the last half gallon of cauliflower (onion, carrot, potato) soup, froze the full gallon of (sweet potato, potato, carrot, onion, beet) pumpkin soup...and it was time to COOK.

Baby, I'm back.

Chocolate Syrup

Spaghetti squash bake (my family sends HUGE thanks to Ms. Alexandra for the recipe inspiration. Seriously yummy stuff.)

Vanilla Yogurt

The best rolls I've ever made. (They better be the best, with twice the normal oil and sugar as my regular recipe, PLUS eggs and powdered milk. Oh snap, these are great. Family, watch out- I'm ready for Thanksgiving "bread duty.")

All in all, not a bad way to spend an hour and a half in the kitchen during nap time!