Growing Up

I am happy to report that today Ethan had his very first hair cut where he did NOT cry! Usually the minute the clippers turn on, he starts bawling. But today he didn't cry even one tear! I really was proud of him. It gives me hope that one day I'll be able to vacuum without it causing trauma.

Sibling Love

Ethan hugs a little too tightly at times . . .
But Madeline never stays upset for long!

These two are great friends!

Thank You

Thank you to all my dear friends who gave me this card last night. The party was fantastic and, like always, I had a blast. I'll miss you girls so much!

Moving Miles

In five days, Todd and I will be making our third move in five years. And none of our moves have been close ones. I guess we like to change states each time too. Our first move was just over 1100 miles, our second over 2000. This one will be just under 950 miles. That means we've moved over 4000 miles in five years! That might not seem like a lot for some people, but growing up, I never imagined I'd move anywhere! I have enjoyed these big adventures, and I'm willing to entertain the idea of doing it again someday, but I’m also glad to know for now, that since we are renting a place in Utah until our house sells here, our next move will hopefully be just around the corner.

Thomas Extravaganza

Ethan loves Thomas!

Pictured: Ethan in his favorite of three Thomas shirts (this one lights up), and wearing Percy socks. Thomas roller backpack, Thomas Laptop, Thomas lunch box with Thomas puzzle inside, and Thomas friends which include: Thomas, Gordon, James, Harold, Percy, Henry, and Billy.

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Not pictured: Ethan’s Thomas milk cups, Thomas socks, Thomas stickers, Thomas toothpaste and other two Thomas shirts.

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Joining the collection soon: Thomas underwear!

More Soup

I love soups. And on a cold drizzling rainy day, I love them even more. So here’s another soup recipe. I made this one tonight and I thought it was amazing. The croutons are so good, I’ll never be able to eat bag ones again. And the soup was sublime. Not to mention beautiful (and insanely green). You really should try it.

French Pea Soup
Potage Saint-Germain
From The Gourmet Cookbook

Serves: 6
Active Time: 35 minutes
Start to Finish: 45 minutes

For Croutons:
1 baguette or loaf Italian bread, crusts discarded if desired and cut into ½-inch cubes (1 ½ cups)

2 TBLS unsalted butter, melted
Salt

For Soup:
1 ½ cups chopped leeks (white parts only; 2 large leeks)
2 TBLS unsalted butter
3 cups chicken stock or store-bought low-sodium broth
2 cups water
2 (10 oz) packages frozen peas, thawed, or 4 cups shelled fresh peas
4 cups chopped Bibb or Boston lettuce
½ cup fresh mint leaves
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
¼ cup heavy cream (optional)

Make the Croutons:
Put a rack in middle of oven and preheat oven to 350.
Drizzle bread cubes with butter in a shallow baking dish, tossing to coat well, and bake, stirring occasionally, until golden and crisp, 10-15 minutes. Season with salt.

Make the Soup:
Wash leeks well in a bowl of cold water; lift out and drain well. Melt butter in a large saucepan over moderately low heat. Add leeks and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, 6-7 minutes. Add stock and water and bring to a boil. Add peas and lettuce and simmer, partially covered, until peas are tender, 6-10 minutes. Stir in mint.
Puree soup in batches in a blender (use caution*) until very smooth. Return soup to pan, season with salt and pepper, and reheat over moderately low heat, stirring, until hot.
Beat cream, if using, in a small bowl until slightly thickened but still pourable. Season with salt. Ladle soup into six bowls. Drizzle drops of cream, if using, on each serving and draw a skewer or knife through drops to form a decorative pattern. Serve with croutons.

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*Use Caution When Blending Hot Liquids (a note from The Gourmet Cookbook)
When it comes to transforming hot broth and soft vegetables into a perfect pureed soup, an old fashioned blender is hard to beat. But be careful. The hot steam escaping from the soup gets trapped between the liquid and the lid, creating a sort of combustion chamber. When the steam expands under pressure, a blender can literally flip its lid, spattering it searing cargo over the kitchen and the cook. Since soups must be pureed while they are still hot in order to become as smooth as possible, it’s best to blend them in batches, filling the blender jar no more than halfway and starting the blending on low speed. It also helps to open the small center cap in the blender’s lid slightly, to decompress the contents. Drape the blender jar with a kitchen towel, press the button, and stand back.

What I’ll Miss Most

My friends, of course. I’ll miss my friends most of all when I move. I’m moving. I’m sorry if you just found out by reading this. But it’s all happening so fast. We’ve known for less than a month and we’ll be gone in 11 days. Dear friends, thank you for your friendship. I’m going to miss the girl’s nights out, staying up too late and laughing like crazy. I really will miss you. I am excited to move and very happy, but I truly love the Northwest. There is much here to miss. Here are just a few other things I’ll miss when I move:

The Tulip Festival

The Lake

The Deer

The Berries

The Bay

The Beauty!

sigh . . .

Tweezers Anyone?

I love plucking my eyebrows. I think it’s fun. Several years ago, I think I was verging on obsessed. During my freshman year of college, I liked it so much that I convinced my roommates that they needed to start having their eyebrows plucked. A few were scared to pluck their own, so I happily offered to do it for them. It was probably a good thing that I had other people's to pluck, otherwise I might have plucked mine out entirely! My obsession isn’t quite so extreme now for two reasons. I have kids and bangs. Kids make me busy enough that I don’t think about my eyebrows as much and bangs because you can’t see my brows anymore anyway. I still think it's kinda fun though.

January Recipe

Fresh Mushroom Soup

From The Gourmet Cookbook

“All you need is a loaf of crusty bread with some good butter to make this a meal.”

Serves: 4
Active Time: 15 minutes
Start to Finish: 30 minutes

2 cups half-and-half
1 medium onion
½ stick (4 TBLS) unsalted butter
¾ pound mushrooms, trimmed and thinly sliced
4 tsp flour
1 cup beef stock or store-bought broth
½ Turkish bay leaf or ¼ California bay leaf
¼ tsp salt
1/8 tsp freshly ground black pepper
2 tsp fresh lemon juice

Bring half-and-half just to a boil in a heavy saucepan, then remove from heat and cover to keep warm. Meanwhile, cut a ¾-inch-thick crosswise slice from center of onion; reserve remainder for another use. Heat butter in a 6-quart wide heavy pot over moderately high heat until foam subsides. Add mushrooms and cook, stirring, until golden brown, 8-10 minutes. Add onion slice, then sprinkle mushrooms with flour and cook, stirring, for 2 minutes. Add stock in a slow stream, stirring constantly, then add half-and-half, bay leaf, salt, and pepper. Reduce heat to low and cook, uncovered, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes. Discard onion and bay leaf and stir in lemon juice.

Bad Hair Days

I left my flatiron in Utah. Sad!! It has been five days without it and it's getting sadder every day. If my hair could sing, it would be singing the blues. I will be glad to get it back. I've never been a fan of the natural frizzy wavy look. Especially not good for my bangs. I also left in Utah two baby spoons, a nightlight, and Ethan's new bubble bath. But so far, only the flatiron has been missed.

Fiesta!

Today I am happy. Why? Because I finally got to open my Christmas present, put them in my cupboard, and use them! I had no idea how much I loved dishes until I got some that are really nice. Thank you Mom and Dad for such a wonderful gift that I’ll be able to use three times a day, or four or five if you count snacks!
Four Cinnabar, four Heather. I already have plans to collect the Tangerine and Plum. Someday that is . . . when I’ve saved my money.

I learned a new thing about myself today: I LOVE DISHES