Thursday, December 24, 2009

Christmas Eve Dinner

Well, dinner went off beautifully, except for one thing--we're inundated with snow and sleet (horizontal snow and sleet) high winds, sub-freezing temperatures, and Jennie, Tom, and Alisa are in a motel in Pauls Valley (35 miles south of us). They got as far as they could and ran into white-out so stopped where they were--fortunately they were at a town, and got a motel. They're all good, tucked in and warm for the night. They'll try to finish tomorrow, as the storm should be gone by then. If the highways have re-opened they will make it. In the meantime, Bobby's son, daughter and her family and Mark were here for supper. It was very successful this year. I made the best pork roast in the crock pot--I got the recipe from Amy in Houston. I also roasted a turkey breast with lots of herbs, citrus and aromatics--it had a really good flavor and fine texture. I made parmesan and bacon mashed potatoes (yum!) and roasted veggies (cauliflower, carrots and baby Brussels sprouts). Instead of olive oil, I used the bacon grease with salt and pepper over the veggies--what's not to love about that? Every morsel was eaten of the veggies and the potatoes. I had a really small amount of turkey leftover--maybe enough for a couple of sandwiches, and a few inches of one of the pork tenderloins, with its gravy. Oh yes, and I also made a trifle--angel food cake soaked in simple syrup flavored with vanilla and citrus, strawberries and raspberries, French vanilla pudding and REAL whipped cream. I made a syrup from some strawberries and raspberries and that was served over each individual serving--there is a SMALL amount of that left over--everyone had seconds of that. So, not enough for a repeat tomorrow--when Jennie and her group get here, Calysta is also coming and we'll eat cheesburgers for lunch and aebelskivers for supper. Altogether we had a wonderful day, and expect more tomorrow. Merry Christmas all.

Wednesday, December 23, 2009

smiling...

Bobby says the most frequent picture of me lately is sitting at my PC smiling. I have pictures (they change daily--sometimes hourly depending on what pictures were posted last) of Avery on my desktop and can't stop smiling at her. What a darling baby! For me, it's like looking down a tube or looking glass--from me to her--it's a long way there, but she's firmly in my heart. I was thinking about my great grandmother and my great granddaughter--such a span--so many generations. I don't have too much to say--too busy smiling--but Merry Christmas to all! Some of my family will be here this year so I'm happy about that, and I'll have a Merry Christmas, also.

Wednesday, December 16, 2009

New Generation

This is the new generation. Her name is Avery Danielle, and she arrived at 3:55pm CST, weighs 7lb 12oz, and is 19 3/4" long. I heard that Karie was a champ--we're not surprised by that, of course. I see her grandma when I look at her beautiful face. Wow! P.S. -- The word from Austin is that Wilson did a fantastic job supporting Karie during the process. Way to go, Wilson!!

Friday, December 11, 2009

White Wheat

So, I have made a discovery--white wheat! I had a visit from the Relief Society presidency and during our conversation, I had asked about purchasing wheat from the Bishop's Storehouse. She said they bought as a ward frequently, and she mentioned white wheat. As I had never heard of this, I asked about it. The president, Cindy, didn't know a lot, but the counselor she brought with her did, and she liked it. Well, since I wanted to buy some wheat, and it sounded good, I bought 50 pounds of it--besides the price was great--I mean REALLY great--$11.80 for 50 lbs. Well, let me tell you, it's wonderful! The wheat when ground appears about half way between whole wheat flour and white bleached flour in color. The dough it makes is very soft--and I mixed it about half and half to bleached flour. The bread is great--very tender and soft. Bobby's worried because it's very tasty and delightful--he has visions of many pounds added...so, in all, I would recommend this product to anyone who grinds wheat and makes his/her own bread. One more thing. I would like to purchase dried corn next year when I'm in Utah--apparently, here in the heartland where cornbread is the national food, they don't have it! Hopefully someone will help me out and discover where I can buy some.