November 18th: My Next Project

Meet Anna.  She came to visit me about a week ago, for a little photo shoot.

Anna lives in a hospital in the city- she's a big helper in the sibling classes, helping the kiddos get ready for their mom to have a baby.



Anna needs to clone herself, so she can ALSO be at the hospital clinic in our little town.  My friend teaches these sibling classes, and offered me the chance to make a Mama doll for them.  Since dolls are something I love to make, I have some extra help around the house right now, and the holidays are always a great time to take in a little extra cash job here and there...sure!  Everything will be pretty straight-forward- she's a four-foot rag doll, with pretty yarn hair and a pretty little face.  I get total license as to how she's made and what she looks like, since she'll never be in the same building as Anna!  Under the gown, she has a little rag doll body, but there's an upside down pocket on her tummy to tuck a little baby in.  Think kangaroo pouch, but facing down.

We went to the store tonight to get supplies- I have tracings from Anna, and everything I need to get started!

November 17th (Tomato Jam)

I'm sad I can't smell a darn thing today, because I've been told my kitchen smells AWESOME.

This tomato jam is simmering on the stove- lime juice, tomatoes, sugar, cinnamon, cloves, and chili flakes?  For sure.

Clementines and limes are soaking for tomorrow's marmalade canning session.  Doesn't clementine and lime marmalade sound amazing?  I hope so- I'm making it up, and can't smell.  Hmm.

Yesterday I went through the salsa, so today I'm going through last year's marmalade- it seized up when I added some last minute sugar, but a big spoonful stirred into hot water?  Fantastic!  Cold and flu season is not for sissies...unfortunately, I'm a sissy :)

I still need to make a pie today- I invited a friend for dinner, and then had to bail at the last minute, something came up for tonight.  Did she want to have dinner with me after the kids go to bed?  Because I won't say no to eating a meal with an adult...one that won't pitch a fit over who gets the pink cup, or whether the sauce touched her noodles, and can I please cut everything??  She's bringing the salad, I'm making dinner...and there must be pie.  On girls night, there MUST be pie.  I think I'm going to give a pumpkin mousse pie a dry run- it's on the docket for Thanksgiving, but I've never made it before.  But, I haven't roasted my pumpkins yet.  So it will probably be apple cranberry...because I have 45 pounds of apples...

(Watch for another post today- I have a deal on a steam-punky pocket watch necklace that I LOVE.  Sigh.)

What I made today?  Tomato jam.  Lots of marmalade.

--Myrnie

November 16th

One of the perks of having Wonder Daddy at home this week is that when the kids take their naps, I can LEAVE.  Like, by myself.  It's kind of beautiful.

Yesterday I abandoned my cooling milk to the yogurt-making-ministrations of my husband and took a long walk. We had a surprise gorgeous day- not too cold, bright sun, and gorgeous leaves.  I walked past a chipper truck...and backed up to ask the man running it if he had any plans for those wood chips?  No?  Well then, here's my address!  3 hours later we had about 7 yards of (free) bark mulch in our driveway.  AWESOME SAUCE.

It was too late in the day to get a start on it, but this morning Wonder Daddy and I went at it, gonzo style.  Aunt LoLo invited my three kiddos to a playdate at the church.  I've been pregnant or holding a baby for so long, it was really nice to get out and use MY muscles in a yard project, instead of just directing traffic.  We made a good dent before I had to pick up the kids, and he finished up all but the very last bit by himself.  Wonder Daddy!!  Maybe 15 more wheelbarrow loads tomorrow, and we will be golden.  Love it.

In other news, I have a head cold.  I'm currently medicating it with Tylenol, and copious quantities of salsa.  I'll let you know how that works out!

Made today: New mulched pathways.

November 15th

Life is about to get more interesting: My son has developed a super power.  He has super suction.

He can't crawl, and only waggles like a beetle if he falls over.  He can roll onto his belly, but then wails for rescue.  Yet, anything within three feet of him ends up in his lap!  His massive thighs splayed on the carpet, he uses them as ballast to bend and stretch, and then bounce back to an upright position with his prize in his grasp. (His sister really needs to learn to put away her school books, he's tried to destroy them three times today!)



Mimi's fancy hair-do last week- I was rather proud of myself for fitting every pink clip we own, onto her tiny head!

In other news, I have four loaves of bread cooling on the counter, half a gallon of milk cooling for yogurt, two kids in bed, and it's sunny outside.  The kitchen is clean, school is done for the day, and my husband is at home today.  We have friends coming for dinner tonight, and my friend is coming for a jewelry night on Thursday.  Friday I get to SEE MY HUSBAND for hours at a time, without the big kids...and life is just looking up.

So, I'm going to go ahead and make this my post for the day.  What have I made to be creative today?  Bread and yogurt.  And now I'll go enjoy it.

Ta-
Myrnie

The Wedding Reception

SO, I catered my first wedding reception tonight- I was in charge of planning and buying the food, and getting it all set up.  The wonderful bride found volunteers to run the kitchen during the reception, and more to do the chopping before hand for the cheese and produce, and she came herself the night before to set up the buffet to look all pretty and fancy.  I just had to fill in the platters, make sure everyone knew where stuff was, and that was it!  Since there were so many hands, I had time to do a few extra things, like sugared cranberries and oven-dried tomatoes.  (My wonderful sister baked the bread for us, 8 loaves!  My brain goes haywire if I try and do more than 4 loaves at a time.)

Purty.

Sugared cranberries- cranberries soaked in a hot simple syrup, drained, and tossed with sugar.




Brie


Funny story about brie.  The bride apparently REALLY loves brie, and wanted it at the reception.  I couldn't figure out how to have volunteers toting hot brie from the oven all night, with a reception held IN the kitchen.  The bride actually had no idea that brie should be served warm.  So, we scrapped the brie idea, but I needed a few more pounds of cheese when I was a the store and grabbed just one brie.  We'd serve it room-temperature, there would just be one, the bride would be happy, no biggie.  So almost everything was set up tonight, and a girl walks in with SIX brie cheeses, and maybe seven loaves of bread.  (I had 8 loaves of french bread already.)  I guess the bride REALLY wanted brie, she called this girl in at the last minute!  We had a lot of brie.  (And yes- that girl stayed all night, toting brie cheese from the oven to the buffet.)

Oven dried tomatoes.



So, I found a case of tomatoes for $13.  My oven was running from Saturday to Friday morning, drying sheet after sheet.  Did you know that a case of tomatoes, once dried, fills half a gallon-sized bag?  True story.

Swiss cheese


Butter and Olive Oil whip, for the french bread



(Sorry, that pictures blurry!)

Vegetable tray- broccoli, carrots, baby bell peppers, sliced zucchini, and white button mushrooms.  That tray was ENORMOUS.  Like, over two feet long.  Very, very cool.



Orange slices with pomegranate seeds, drizzled with cranberry syrup



Cheddar, pepperjack, and dill havarti cheese



The set up.  Those ladies did a great job making this look nice, and the home was gorgeous!


(Please note the CLEAR PLASTIC PLATES.  Having those was SO important to the bride, we had to order them from Amazon and pay $20 shipping!  The look beautiful on the buffet.)

Hot cocoa bar


We had milk chocolate and french vanilla Stephen's cocoa, plus hazelnut creamer, half and half, whipped cream, crushed starlight mints, andes mints, chocolate sauce, pumpkin spice syrup, and vanilla syrup.  This was a big hit tonight!

Simple lemon water.  This monster held about 4 gallons- I wish I had cupboard space to store something like this, it makes parties so much easier!   (This belonged to the hostess.)


We had a "little" pantry to work in.


I was pretty nervous when I found out that the buffet would be in the kitchen- all the prep work and supplies needed to refresh trays, etc. are NOT pretty and are NOT calm.  This little room was off to the side and worked really well.

Which is good, because I brought a lot of food!


Oh, and I didn't take pictures of the meatballs- just simple meatballs in marina sauce, easy as pie.

I am so glad this day is over!

But, you know...getting feedback is nice, too.  Someone said recently "No one cares how well you changed that diaper."  In the work force, and in public settings, there's always feed back.   You do a good job, people notice.  If you go the extra mile, people notice.  At home, with the kids??  No, not so much.  I would never trade what I do, but every once in a while it's so nice to put effort into something and listen to others admire it.  To dress up, and be told I look extra nice.  

Getting Ready for Naps

These monkeys.  Sigh.  Good thing they're so cute, right?  I dragged them all over creation today.

• 8:00-10:30 "Please go get dressed so we can go."  Yeah, it took that long.  I finally went and put Cocoa in the car, and THAT convinced the girls to stop dancing around in their princess undies....
• 10:30-12:30 Drive across town to the restaurant supply store, to get all the perishables for tomorrow's wedding reception.  I'm a nut job, I know, I know.  But...I kind of feel like I owe the universe at least one good wedding reception deal, after all the help we got with mine!  But yeah, mostly I'm a nut job.  (Wait till you see pictures of my NEXT project.)
• 12:30-1:30 Drive across town to deliver everything that needs chopping, to the lady who organized volunteers to do the chopping.  And we chatted a little bit, because it turns out that she's the most darling, kind, wise, sane, calm lady I've met in a looong time.  I kind of wish we could be buds, but her youngest is my age, so maybe she'd feel a little weird about that?
• Drive home for lunch- I forgot that I let the girls pick out a cookie each at the store, and they chose the 4-inch, pink frosted, sprinkle-bedecked behemoths of a sugar cookie.  (I think these are a regional thing.)  Mimi took her bread and cheese, tore it into confetti, and then piled it high on her plate- she made a PIE.  Good grief.
• Put Cocoa down for his nap, send Mimi to use the toilet, and put the girls in bed.
• The girls are still shrieking and playing around.  Tuck them in again.
• Go back one more time....and drag Mimi to the shower.  Poopy Princess Panties.  Gah.

I spent the rest of nap time cleaning the kitchen, getting some spreadsheets up to date, and hiding downstairs with Cocoa and my phone, gabbing with my sister and waiting for the girls to wake up.  As soon as Mimi woke up, an hour after Ernie, we all piled into the car to meet up with their cousins for Ernie's first Tae Kwan Do lesson at the Y- they're really great about letting kids "audit" the class once or twice to see if they like it.  Ernie LOOVED it, but I didn't love the time (5-6 pm.)  Cocoa, Mimi, and I spent the class time running to the new Asian market in town, Jing Jing, to get sterno and pomegranates for tomorrow's reception, and stock up on things like spring roll wrappers, air-dried whole grain ramen, persimmons....and panda cookies.  What's a trip to the asian market without a package of panda cookies?  (They're hollow and crispy, with a frosting filling inside, and a picture of a panda printed on the outside.)

We were happy to find out that Wonder Daddy had some time in between work and rehearsals for an upcoming show tonight, and got to have dinner with us!

And that...is my day.  What did I make?  Umm...a pile of stuff for the reception.  A pile of laundry that needs to be washed.  A new friend.  

Art Every Day Month, Day #9

Cocoa helped me make a new pendant- think I know just the person to send this to!



It's copper wire, like the others, but colored a bright gold.  The stone beads are a pale, translucent pink.  From the recommendation of my sister, I'm toying with a new way of finishing the nests- I attach a jump ring straight to the nest, without fooling around with a wrapped loop.  I think I like it!



This nest felt trickier than others I've been making- I couldn't find the way the wire wanted to be until about half way through.  It's always so nice when it just *clicks,* I need to remember to slow down and pay attention, instead of getting frustrated it won't do what *I* want it to do!



I'll be ordering more supplies soon, and I'm toying with the idea of getting a different kind of metal wire.  But honestly, I'm a little scared- I've never worked with anything but this gauge of copper wire!  The shininess of sterling silver wire is kind of alluring, but I LOVE the colors of the copper!

Reading Time

I don't know when or if Ernie will ever realize how much of a blessing she is to her siblings.

I took these pictures yesterday- I found the girls cuddled up together after I sent them to their room to get ready for nap.  Ernie is really SUCH an awesome big sister, and I'm sure she doesn't even know it.  It doesn't occur to her to exclude Mimi because she's little- they're just compadres in everything.  We went to the library yesterday, and I think Ernie spent at least two hours reading to herself or to Mimi!

These pictures are also appropriate today because my girls are in their room right now....Wonder Daddy is out for the evening, and the kids are giving me a run for my money!  Cocoa is so clingy that he starts barking and clapping like a seal whenever he sees me, the girls took a solid hour to use the bathrooms after dinner (and missed dessert AND bath time), and then played some sort of demented May Pole game that ended up with a ribbon around Ernie's neck.  Ribbon is in the trash, girls are banished to their rooms to read until scripture time, Cocoa is taking his nightly nap, and I'm just enjoying some quiet!

We had school this morning- Ernie learned about charts in math, I think she'll take to those just swimmingly.  I pushed the girls outside after their naps today, it was a surprise GORGEOUS day.  Sunny, not too cold...perfect for playing on the swingset, sweatshirts, and getting more of the garden put to bed.  We had our first really good frost on Sunday, and the tomatillos and ground cherries and nasturtiums were ready to be torn out after that.  I clip them off just below the soil line, to let the roots decompose and leave little air pockets in the soil.  There was a lot of fruit thrown away with the tomatillos and ground cherries, but it was almost all split open with the cold and rains.  I spread last year's leaf mold on the tomatillo/tomato bed- it's GORGEOUS.  Dark brown, almost totally composted, a few worms here and there that found their way in... I'm filling up every bucket I can this year with leaves, to spread on the beds next fall.  (Wonder Daddy runs over them with his mower, with the bag attached, and puts the chopped up leaves in garbage cans I've drilled with holes.)  So, my creative item today?  A compost pile.

November 7th

I can't remember if I got up at 4:45 or 5:45 today.  Is anyone else having trouble with the time change?  I know Cocoa is!  (aka Wonder Boy.)

Today I fixed my little sister's necklace- I don't know why I forgot about it for so long, all it needed was a jump ring and some super good eye sight to put it all back together!  (Oh yeah, my friend the wrist brace was back this morning- it's off now, no idea why it was so sore this morning!)



I snapped some other pictures-

My nest supplies.  It makes me so happy to pull out this box, and have everything right there- all my chains and clasps and beads.  (Wire is in another box.)  Most of the colorful beads are dyed turquoise beads.



Ernie aced her cumulative test today- we're 1/3 of the way through her first grade curriculum!  We just wrapped up the fractions unit in math.  At the library, she loves to get Magic School Bus, Horrible Harry, Betsy and Tacy, Berenstein Bears, George and Martha, and Arthur books.  After school she ran up and begged permission to go do a paragraph.  Umm....Ok!  Sure!

If you look close, you will see that she made an unecessary addendum to that word- it's just a GRAPH :)


These are our two newest residents, Stella and Hazel.  (By the way, that's what was written on those Halloween bags, and the little men were Halloween Goblins.)  These two make me pretty happy, in their shiny bowl with pretty stones.



They make Mimi happy too

November 6th: No Monkeys Allowed

Tonight we celebrated my little sister's birthday.  My mother, officially, has no teenagers left.  (MAN that's a lot of smoke.  Bert, I think we be gettin' old!)  (Photo thanks to my dad- I was across the room with a clingy baby, iPhone saves the day again!)

Birthday girl chose taco bar, and since my traditional present is fixing the birthday meal, we had a hey dey- carnitas in the crockpot, tomatillo salsa from the garden, fresh pico de gallo, guacamole, radishes, red salsa, cheddar, seasoned rice, the most gorgeous halibut you ever saw, corn tortillas, wheat tortillas, and Aunt LoLo brought an enormous chocolate cake.  (Dad brought fish and fixings- thanks!!)  No one in the world can make a bigger burrito than Aunt Bert, and no one in the world can EAT a huge burrito like Aunt Bert.  It's a gift, really.  (And isn't she purty?)

I did actually make something today!  It's a list (well, a few lists) and it totally counts.

First, a story from dad: he calls it the analogy of the flying monkey.  I get the words all mixed up, but basically other people's issues are their own- their own monkeys.  Don't let their monkeys jump onto your pile, just because you got close.  I'm still trying to wrap my head around the difference between doing service, and taking on other people's problems, but I think I need to make a sign for my house "No Monkeys Allowed."

Second, I was reminded in Sunday School today that we need to figure out what is important to us, and shake off other things that suck away my time.  So I made a list.

Non-Negotiable:
Cleaning
Shopping
Daily scripture study/meditation

A priority:
Homeschooling Ernie
Keeping a Garden
Time with kids and family

B priority:
Making "whole" foods, cooking
Creative outlets and making stuff (writing, jewelry, art)
Making music

C priority:
My duties at church (choir director)
Time with friends

Obviously, there are seasons for everything (like, my choir duties are probably going to bulldoze my B priorities in December getting ready for the church program) but as we head into the holiday season, I'm going to keep this list close, and remember not to get close to anyone else's monkeys by mistake.

Do you find yourself stressed in the holidays, too?  I can't even tell you why, but it's a hard time of year for me.  The cold, the darkening days, the expectations and planning....they're all exciting to me, but draining.

November 5th

Salsa verde- I paid Ernie a penny per tomatillo to clear out the patch for me. She earned 59 pennies!  Add those to the pile of tomatillos already in the fridge, I've got about two gallons of salsa on my  hands.  Holy mackerel!  Not a bad thing to end up with from 3 or 4 plants!  (I added the juice of three limes, plus a good glug of white vinegar.  I used 1 big poblano pepper, and one good-sized jalapeno pepper.  I'll be freezing this, because I have no idea if it's safe to can or not.  I should get a Ph testing kit!)  Oh, and if you use that recipe, I cooked it down for a while after pureeing it, because I really have no idea how many pounds of tomatillos I started with, so eyeballed all the ingredients.  It ended up a little runny.  Tastes FANTASTIC though.  Cumin and cilantro is some sort of miracle seasoning, isn't it?



I ordered a case of romas to use at the wedding reception on Friday- I'll be drying a bunch for the cheese platters, and will have some to play with.  A platter of fresh tomatoes sounds pretty good to me, but maybe not fancy enough, eh?  (At $13 for a case, it was hard to say no to these!)  They're so easy to do, but I think my oven will be on low for a couple days at least...I need to load up the dehydrator, too.



Ernie found another money-making opportunity today: selling me her Halloween candy for a penny per piece. I love these sacks she's decorated to hold all her candy!  I really have no idea what HASAI means, or who the frowning rainbow-armed man is, or really anything about anything on these bags.  They sure are fabulous! (Ernie sold me 33 pieces, and Mimi sold me 13.)  I wonder- could they be the little firemen from Pucca?

Thank you for all your encouraging words yesterday- I'm going to really try and get my big girl panties on, and give it another go!

I think it's funny I signed up for an Art Every Day blogging challenge this month....but my art, so far, has been centered around the kitchen.  Well, I guess that's how it goes!

Couged It

Couging it: "To clutch defeat from the jaws of victory."  --Seth Kolloen *

Facts:

• It's cloudy and gray
• It's cold
• I'm living on Halloween candy and milk, and have lost a pound in the past half week
• I've also been sick for the past half week.  Coincidence?
• I volunteered to be in charge of deciding what food to buy and serve at a wedding reception next Friday.
• I have an accounting degree, took pre-calculus four times studying a different curriculum each time (and yes, getting an A each time**, thankyouverymuch), took Calculus, and have a bachelors in ACCOUNTING.  Yet, the math required for this reception is beyond me.  How many slices of cheese will a person consume?  How many candied cranberries?  Do people eat candied cranberries, besides me?
• I took my necklace inventory to a friend's shop today, to see if she'd be interested in stocking it.
• She counseled me to double the chain length, change the chain color to something more antiqued, only offer solid color beads, and to nearly double the price.
• She might consider stocking them as a favor to me.
• My daughter peed on her shop floor.  I put her just outside the glass doors, and then turned to find her licking the doors.
• I'm not going back there, am I?  Like, ever?****

*Yes, UW is my alma mater.***  Why do you ask?

** Thinking back, the lowest grade I received in my entire college career was marketing.  That doesn't bode well- can't I just sell things because they're AWESOME, and everyone knows it?  I don't have to tell them how awesome they are, right?  Because they are.  Awesome, that is.

*** The Cougars reside at UW's rival, Washington State University, aka. WSU, aka "wazzu."  They're kind of known as a cow-tipping, party school.  I'm not sure what they think of us- I probably don't want to know!

**** I left a necklace with my friend, that she admired, as a gift.  If she tells me that people admired it, then....well, we'll see.

November 3rd

This little nest is going in the mail tomorrow.  I LOVE the pewter-colored wire, especially with this gold!  I had just enough wire left to make this perfectly petite nest- I adore it.

I didn't tell you this, but I have been completely stressing over today.

So, obviously, I called my sister at o-dark-thirty this morning to say that today is a PERFECT day to go to the aquarium!  And, it was- we had an absolute ball :)  I'm so happy we purchased a membership this year.

We came home for naps, and I got the kitchen prep done for tonight's dinner.  I managed to invite an amazing assortment of people- have you ever tried to plan a meal for a group that includes 8 vegans, 1 diabetic, and a total of 9 children?  (We had 14 tonight, including us.)  For a grain-dependent girl like me, it was hard!  We ended up with jumble bowls, with brown rice, sauteed mushrooms, roasted broccoli, cucumbers, olives, corn, black beans, chicken strips, and quick rice vinegar cucumber pickles with sesame.  For dessert I made a cobbler with strawberries and plums...and shortening, stevia, and whole wheat flour.  I tried to mask the taste with extra vanilla extract and some almond extract- everyone licked their plates clean, and most of the kids came sniffing around for seconds.  (Well, the diabetic said no thanks...which kind of made me wish I'd used sugar in the beginning :)

I have a completely unreasonable fear, whenever I put together a party, that I will run out of food.  There must be enough of each dish for every guest to eat that dish, and ONLY that dish, and leave full.  Tonight, the only thing we finished off was the pickles, so I guess I made it through OK :)

While I was prepping before dinner, I gave the girls some packing paper and the cut end of my romaine lettuce- don't the stamps look like snow flakes?  This will make great wrapping paper at Christmas time!