Day After, or "Nana, why do they call it Black Friday?"

So, on Thanksgiving afternoon, we were watching commercials about "Black Friday" and Calysta thought it should be red and green Friday because it's the beginning of Christmas. Trade, profit and loss, and money-making strategies are difficult to explain to a 6-year old, but she understands shopping. We're going out later today. She is excited to make me something that will go permanently on my Christmas tree, which is about 3 feet tall and covered with stuff my children made me when they were little. She wants to be represented, too. We'll hit the Hobby Lobby first. If we find the right project, we will go directly home to work on it. She's also eager to "put up the tiny tree". I guess we have been making memories and setting traditions without conscious effort. You just never know what memories will stick in your children's heads--or yours either for that matter. Alex called me yesterday to tell me a secret ("I love you, Nana"). Calysta was here and they immediately got on the phone and chattered for about 5 minutes. It was one of the highlights of my day--those two little girls talking and laughing together! I wish all my children and their children a very Merry Christmas season--have fun guys. I also wish this for my other children--those of my brothers--and also their babies--whom I love fiercely and miss terribly.

Thanksgiving prep

Well, I have made the mashed potatoes with bacon and mozzarella and parmesan cheeses (YUM), the dressing with roasted chestnuts (as it turns out they're great--I had never had them before) freshly baked French bread cubes, dried cranberries, sweet Italian sausage and assorted other stuff, both ready for the oven on Thursday after the bird comes out. Mark will be here later to prepare the brine and we'll drown the turkey until Thursday AM when I put it in the oven. Tomorrow I'll prepare the green beans. On Thursday, I'll roast the sweet potatoes and Brussels sprouts (quartered long-wise) in the oven with olive oil, salt and pepper. Oh one more thing, I had bought a container of dried cranberries and put about 2/3 of them in the dressing. Then I reconstituted the remaining 1/3 in cranberry juice with orange rind, orange slices and juice. Made a terrific cranberry sauce--maybe the best ever!! Whew! Tonight I also made beef stew so when Mark comes back after delivering Calysta to her mom, we'll have a nice supper. Then I will sleep very well. G'night all!

Mini-pumpkin Cakes

These were so much fun! The recipes were in the October issue of Southern Living magazine. There are two recipes for the cakes--pumpkin and pumpkin molasses. I used the pumpkin one. The glaze is caramel glaze and the stems/leaves/tendrils are molded caramels. These will be individual desserts or party favors for those at my Thanksgiving Dinner.

November 2009

The month is getting away from me and I haven't written a blog. Eric graduated this month; Jennie will graduate next month. My brother died. I saw the Grand Canyon. Altogether it was a momentous month, not altogether wonderful. I was mentioning a pan I saw in Southern Living magazine, that when I went to the website (www.wilton.com) where they said I could get it, they said it was unavailable. My beautiful and generous daughter-in-law, Amy, told me she had seen the pan at the local Michaels out in Queen Creek. So we ran by and there was one left--and she let me get it! Now I'm on a quest to find her one. It may not be this year, but I'll do it. I'm perturbed that the magazine would advertise something that's unavailable, and I'm sure they and Wilton heard many complaints about it. Maybe that will spur them to make it available again. I'm making the cakes today. I love being retired. I can make whatever plan I choose and barring something unexpected, I can feel assured that I can do it. It's freedom of the First Water. I have been thinking about my great-grandmother lately (for obvious reasons). Her name was Martha Jensen Rasmussen. She's the one who lived next to my grandparent's house who lived next to us. We called her Ma. Her home was a polling place, and she, along with other women ran the polls on every election day. I would go over and watch. I had to sit quietly on the couch and just watch, but it was interesting. When I go to vote these days, I always pay attention to the ladies at the polls and thank them for their work when I leave. One thing: Ma always had coffee and tea served in a beautiful service set, pastries and other goodies for the ladies who were working at her home. Well, my nose is telling me that my cakes are ready to come out of the oven, so I'll go for now.

Momentous news!

Bobby retired yesterday! He had planned to take his return to work authorization to his work and see what needed to be done before returning next Monday (he has been off since late July with back difficulties and surgery, you remember). After he was there for a little while, he just went back to the HR office and told them he was done--do the paperwork, please. He's still a little shaky...

Halloween thoughts

Well, I was wondering why we (my children and I) never made much of Halloween in our family. I tried to remember what I did as a child and I think I had the Big Aha. No one, as long as I can remember, did much for Halloween. When we were really little, Bobby and I had to figure out something to wear--not our regular clothes--usually a gypsy and pirate--we could use mostly regular clothes and do a few extra things to make those costumes OK. I know people did Trick-or-Treating and we did too, but that's about it. No one in any of the three houses we grew up in did any decorating, and there were no scary stories or really anything except foraging for costumes and eating resulting candy. I went to a Halloween costume party once (I must have been around 10 or 11) and there were decorations, games, including bobbing for apples, mothers dressed up as witches and a lot of hilarity, but it was the only time I ever saw that as a child. So, with apologies to my children for our Halloween lack and my particular Halloween lapse I hope you find your First-Holiday-of-the-Season lots of fun and very scary!!

Sick/hurt kids

I guess it doesn't matter how old your children are, when they're hurt or sick, you're worried and do what you can for them. I went to Dallas to take Wendy for a short procedure, but one that she needed to be driven home from. Anyone in the area could have done it, but since I have just retired, it seemed like a fun thing that we could do together...and we did. We went to dinner together on Tuesday night and then walked around the shopping district near where she lives. We stopped and got pedicures. In the AM, we went to the hospital for her procedure. About an hour after they took her in, they came in to get me, but instead of taking me to the Outpatient recovery area, they took me to a consultation room. My heart stopped for a minute until the doctor, who came in with me, said something like Wendy is OK. Then I wondered why I was in there. He explained a complication that had happened and that Wendy would need emergency surgery. Her surgeon (the one that has operated on her about 3 times in the last 11 years) was in the building and came into the room in just a few minutes. We talked for a minute and I went upstairs to the Surgery waiting room and was there until about 4:30, when I met Wendy in her room upstairs. Basically, we have been in her hospital room for a week (she got out yesterday evening--Wednesday the 28th--went in on Wednesday the 21st the week before). She's going to be spending a few days with Jennie. I drove home after I got her settled. I'm happy to report that the surgery repaired not only the accident that occurred during the outpatient procedure, but repaired a larger problem that had been bedevilling Wendy for quite some time now, and in fact, that had caused the accident in the first place--so she'll be better now than she's been for a long time. I'm tired and she's getting well. Perfect ending!

Correction, please!

So, now you will need to delete all those mental notes you have placed all over your brain about coming to Dallas next Labor Day for the Family Reunion. The final (??) plans are set and the new venue is Provo, UT for Labor Day. We will have our family gathering as well as a very large celebration for Grampy's 85th birthday. I hope all the family can come. I hope I can come...

Family DVD

So, I finished the Family Reunion 2008 DVD. It's about an hour long and contains most of the pictures from the reunion that were on the http://www.photoshop.com/ website that I made for everybody to upload their pictures to. Also included are some really old (well some are older than others) pictures from when we (the Martin siblings--Linda/Bob/Jeff/Cheli) were little, some when our parents were little, and one even from when our grandmother (Nana) was a baby! I just put some nondescript music to it so you could put it on, mute the sound and have it in the background. Actually I rather like the music so at least give it a listen. I will need to know how many of these to make (so far I only have one--mine). As I noted in a comment to one of Bob's blogs, I think they were going to charge $5 for them and use the money to help defray some of the next reunion costs...Dallas, 2010 Labor Day weekend (Grampy's 85th birthday), right? I sure hope to see everyone we saw at the last Reunion and hopefully even more Utah/Nevada Martins--somebody please put a bug in Bobby's ear--I'd sure love to see that guy! --also, Jenna, ahem--we need you and yours, too--and Joni--I know the vicissitudes of BBQ are wide and deep, but we haven't even met your Jared! Everyone put it on your calendars, place it in your hearts, and make many mental notes and scatter them all over your brains--that way no matter what you are thinking about, the idea of going to Texas for Labor Day will pop into your stream of consciousness. Later--gotta go (working on red mush)...

See My New Tools

On the left, my new Kitchen Aid food processor. I have shredded, sliced, mixed up, and just generally made many things. I have started buying block cheese and whole head cabbage, etc. I am hoping I can save a little money buying that way. We'll see... In the middle is my Blendtec Home Kitchen Mill. This is wonderful. Christy brought me some large cans of wheat when she was here at my retirement events, and I have been really looking forward to milling it and making bread. This is really nifty. The flour is very fine and so far, we're enjoying our bread. Tonight I made some with wheat flour, molasses, quick-cooking rolled barley, quick-cooking rolled oats and sunflower seeds. (yum) I am letting it rise overnight in the refrigerator--Wendy reminded me that the longer bread rises the better (finer) the dough is. Thanks Wend. On the right is my newest acquisition, my Kitchen Aid 5-quart stand mixer. Of course it works like a dream. Best job of kneading "I" have ever done. :) I did a lot of "homework" on the internet and running around town finding the best buys--dragging Mark and Bobby here and there checking availability and prices. If anyone wants any information about where to get any of these items, by the way, I'll be glad to share. I got them all in different places and at the best prices I could find--and there were wide variances in pricing. Between my new sewing machine and my new kitchen tools, I have no time for the occasional part-time job I said I'd do. I'll give it a try, but, well, you know... I went to class two days (last Thursday and yesterday--Tuesday) to get trained on two new software applications I'll be using in the job (the OCCASIONAL part-time job). There wasn't anything that was really difficult, but I realized that what I disliked most was, first, having to get up early and get "fixed up" and leave the house; second, being away from my home all day long; third, driving all the long way home; and last, how tired I feel in the evening and the sense that I didn't have any time to do anything at all in my home--just fix something quick to eat, relax a little and drop in bed. No, I definitely have my doubts about this being a long-term thing. Maybe a few months. I don't know, I just LOVE being home every day--or running around--maybe going out of town with Bobby--whatever, just something I choose. Anyone who would just love to come and visit would surely be welcome--you know who you are...