Best Friends

It's true.  Katherine and The Fuzz are best friends.  The Fuzz is extremely protective of Katherine and has been since before she was born.  He would lay on my belly and purr while I was pregnant.  But when my pregnancy started to get complicated, he wouldn't come near me.  He knew something was wrong before we did.  The Fuzz checks on her when new people come to the house.  My mom and grandma came for a visit awhile back.  Both sat on the couch while Katherine sat on the floor.  The Fuzz who is normally nervous in social situations made a point to walk over and sniff Katherine in their presence.  He didn't just walk over; he walked between Katherine and couch effectively putting himself between her and danger until he decided Mom and Grandma were not a threat.  Last night Katherine had a stomach bug and was throwing up.  In between throwing up, she sat on the floor with Steve and The Fuzz came over to sniff her.  He also came into whichever room she was in while she was throwing up.  He looked at us with big concerned cat eyes, waiting for reassurance that she was ok.  Katherine adores The Fuzz.  She smiles, giggles and screeches in delight at him.  She reaches out and smacks him or grabs his fur.  (We're teaching her how to pet him appropriately.)  To his credit, he hasn't bitten her even when she grabs a hunk of fur.  I credit part of this relationship to nature and another part to Steve and me.  When Katherine was very little, we would frequently take her over to The Fuzz and let him smell her.  This let him know she wasn't a threat.  When we brought her home for the hospital, The Fuzz came over and smelled her head.  It was adorable and the prefect start to their friendship.

Thankful...

I've been reflecting on my blessings a lot lately.  I have a lot to be thankful for.  Here are a few in no particular order:

• Katherine
• Steve
• my house
• The Fuzz
• modern medicine
• c-sections
• Katherine's medical team including Dr. Rundquist, Child Health Specialty Clinics, her Early Access service coordinator
• my church
• Steve's church
• my and Steve's extended families
• our friends
• books
• magazines
• Katherine's premature birth because we have learned so much about how fragile life is and baby development 
• babies develop the suck-swallow-breathe reflex at 36 gestational weeks just to name one fact we've learned
• St. Luke's NICU 
• even the mean NICU doctor because she taught me that I will stand up for what I believe is right for Katherine even if trained professionals don't agree with my point of view
• my lactation consultants, Nancy and Dena
• without Nancy's support I wouldn't have a successful breastfeeding relationship with Katherine
• without Dena's breastfeeding support group, I wouldn't meet other breastfeeding moms
• Medela
• Dr. Jones, my OB doctor
• sunshine
• green grass
• my job
• the lactation room at work
• silly comedies on TV
• my education starting with kindergarten and ending with my bachelor's degree.
• all of the conservation projects our grade school made me do because they made me care about the planet
• my life
• every day

Those are just a few of the many things I'm thankful for.

Operation Declutter

I've begun Operation Declutter.  Operation Declutter won't have me dashing around the house like a mad woman trying to declutter everything.  Rather I will be finding places for our items (other than wherever we put them down that moment) and getting rid of items we don't need.  A few examples from Operation Declutter:

1. My knitting, crocheting and quilting small supplies will go in a small plastic tub in the closet.

2. My Scentsy pot and the wax will be sold.  My house is too big and too open for a Scentsy pot.  I'm also afraid The Fuzz will try to eat the wax or knock it over.  Ditto the knocking it over fear with Katherine when she begins crawling.

3. The mandolin we bought over 2 years ago and have used exactly once and never in this house will find a new home as well.

4.  A file will be made for the EOBs that we are still getting from Katherine's hospital stay and doctor appointments.  This file will not be specific only to her EOBs.  All of the family EOBs will go here.  To quote Gretchen Rubin, author of The Happiness Project, "Don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good."

5. My closet will once again be sorted through.  Clothing that I won't wear again will find a home at Goodwill or the domestic abuse shelter.  Maternity clothing will be packed away.  And clothing that currently fits will find a place in my closest.

6. Shelves will get baskets to corral random items.

Operation Declutter will be a lifelong pursuit.  I don't expect my house to be perfect.  I don't want my house to be perfect.  However I would like to stop working around things that we don't use and don't have any intention of using in the near future.  I would also like to be able to find things I'm looking for.  Wish me luck!

Soda Bread Success

This year I couldn't go home for St. Patrick's Day and I was really bummed about it.  I know a lot of you not from Emmetsburg will say "Just go to the parade in town.  It's the same thing."  No, it's not.  I don't mean to be rude but it's really not.  Emmetsburg's population quadruples during St. Pat's weekend.  We have beauty pageants  for all ages of girls from kindergarten to high school.  There's a 5K called 'Round the Loch Run.  There's every single person I've ever met in town.  There's a parade filled with people I know who will smile and wave at you.  We're the sister city of Dublin and host an Irish dignitary who is usually a member of the Irish Parliament.  This dignitary visits the schools and talks about the Irish culture.  There are a bunch of other events during the week that I can't remember.  Now, do you still think a parade in some other town is the same?  To make myself feel a little better about not being home for St. Pat's, I decked us all out in green, painted my toenails green and made soda bread.  And the soda bread actually turned out this time!  If you've been reading my blog for awhile, you'll remember this post where I talked about my first attempts at making soda bread and what a flop they were.  In the same post, I also talked about soda cookies.  This year I decided to try soda bread again and this year, it actually turned out!  My aunt and Godmother had emailed me a recipe for soda bread over a year ago.  I flagged it in my inbox and would think almost every day "I should make that."  I decided that St. Patrick's Day when I'm missing my family, my friends and my home was the best time to make it.  Here's the recipe:

Irish Soda Bread

 By Patrick Rooney

4 cups flour

¼ cups sugar (original recipe 2 TBS. sugar)

 1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. salt

 1 heaping cup of raisins

 1 ¾ cup low fat buttermilk

 ¼ cup cooking oil (original recipe 2 TBS. butter)

 Butter

1 egg

Combine flour, sugar, soda, salt, and raisins in mixing bowl; stir well.

In another mixing bowl add buttermilk, egg, and cooking oil; stir well.

Make well in center of the dry ingredients.

Add the liquid mixture to the dry ingredients; stir until thoroughly blended.

Turn out onto a floured surface; knead 5 to 8 times.

Form ball; place on lightly greased cookie sheet.

Pat to 8-inch circle, approximately 1 ½ inches thick.

With floured knife make large cross on top of loaf to keep it from cracking during baking.

Spread top of loaf with softened butter.

Bake in preheated 375 oven 40 to 45 minutes, until golden and loaf sounds hollow when tapped.

After removing from oven, spread top of loaf with softened butter again.

 Serve bread hot with plenty of butter. YUM!

 Makes one 8 inch loaf, or 2 smaller loaves

Sounds yummy, right?  It is!  Anyone with an Irish name like Patrick Rooney has to have great Irish recipes. Of course, I made a few modifications while making the recipe.  I only had golden raisins so I used those instead of regular raisins.  I don't know what the difference between the two raisins is anyway.  I didn't have buttermilk so I made my own by using 1 1/2 cups milk and adding 1/4 cup vinegar to it.  The bread turned out beautifully and we had it with our supper.  Steve and Nathan ate about half of it during supper while I fed Katherine.  (Steve did bring me a piece while I was feeding her.)  I was so pleased with how it turned out.  

I also found a shamrock cookie cutter Monday that I bought awhile ago.  I decided next year I would make the bread and the soda cookies.  I think shamrock-shaped soda cookies would be so cute and a perfect St. Pat's tradition.

Special note: I'm changing up my blog.  From now on, I will be writing about whatever topic interests me at the moment not just food.  There are so many things I want to write about and my decreased time in the kitchen are calling for a change in my blog.  For now, the blog will still be called "For the Love of Food" until I think of a better title (if I ever do).  I hope you'll continue to read!

Cooking with Katherine

                    You may recall that I went to a Guy Fieri show a few years ago with a friend.  Guy reminded everyone in the audience to cook with their kids.  I took his advice to heart and have already started cooking with Katherine and teaching her some basic kitchen knowledge.  Last Tuesday I was actually able to make supper before Steve got home.  Katherine sat in her bouncy seat on the kitchen floor just watching me cook and listening to the little lessons.  I made a sort-of goulash.  I browned some hamburger and added spaghetti sauce, garlic and pasta to it.  I rounded out the meal with cottage cheese, peaches and a salad.  Here are the lessons I taught Katherine:

1. Always wash your hands after handling raw meat.
2. You have to stir pasta as it cooks to prevent it from sticking together.
3. It's OK to use sauce out of a jar and add your own seasonings to it.
4. It's also OK to buy the minced garlic in a jar instead of buying a clove and mincing it yourself.
5. When carrying a pot of boiling water to the sink, carry it over the counter and away from others in the room.
6. Always pour boiling water into the strainer away from you so you don't accidentally get burned.
7. After browning meat, drain it to get rid of the excess grease.

I do sincerely hope that she will grow up loving to cook as much as Steve and I do.  I also know that the first step for that is to cook with her and teach her as she grows up.  That's what my mom did with me.  I don't even remember learning a lot about cooking.  I just grew up watching and somehow it was etched into my brain.

The Liebster Award

I've been nominated for the Liebster Award!  This award is for bloggers who have less than 200 followers but should have more. 

Here are the Rules:

- Each person tagged must post 11 things about themselves.

- They must also answer the 11 questions the tagger has set for them.

- They must create 11 more questions to ask bloggers they have decided to tag.

- They must then choose 11 bloggers to tag with less than 200 followers.

- These lucky bloggers must be told.

- There are NO TAG BACKS.

11 Things About Me

1. I'm a farm girl.  My heart will always be in the country no matter how many years I live in town.

2. I have a daughter named after my paternal grandma and my mom.

3. I miss my dad's side of the family and wish I could see all of them more.

4. I have the best husband in the world.

5. I repeated first grade because I couldn't read.  My mom taught me to read and by 2nd grade, I was one of the best readers in my class.

6. Purple is my favorite color and is in every room of my house as either the accent color or the main color.

7. I have 3 siblings and am the second oldest or the baby of the first set depending on how you want to look at it.

8. I love music and wish that I could play the guitar and have more confidence in my singing voice.

9. I have a BA in Spanish and lived in Spain for a year to become fluent.

10. I know how to knit.

11. I like to write but don't do enough of it.

11 Questions from Nancy:

1. Chocolate or vanilla? Both.  I like chocolate cake but prefer vanilla ice cream that I can top with whatever I like.

2. Do you have a hobby? What is it? Baking, knitting, reading, writing (I sound like a 90 year old woman.)

3. Who is your favorite author?  There are too many to choose from!  A few of my favorites are Mary Higgins Clark and Anna Quindlen.

4. What is your favorite type of book; romance, mystery, historical...?  Again too many to just pick one!  I like mysteries among others but am not a fan of romance novels.

5. What is the most important trait you look for in a friend? Honesty.  I have to be able to trust what they tell me.

6. What is your favorite scent?  Harvest!

7. Are you a homebody or a traveler?  Both.  I like to travel but need time at home as well.

8. Do you believe in miracles? Absolutely

9. Who is your favorite musician and why? Yikes!  I can't pick one.  I know a lot of talented musicians but my cousin Diane comes to mind first.  As far as mainstream musicians, I've always loved Aerosmith's music.

10. What is your favorite piece of clothing and why? I'm not sure I have a specific favorite piece of clothing... which is a little sad.  I like stylish comfy clothes.

11. What is your favorite thing to do on a day off? Snuggle with Katherine.  Look at recipes online and in magazines and make a menu... think about food in general.

I'm deviating from the rules.  Most of the blogs that I follow have already been nominated so I'm just going to post blogs I think you should take a look at.

My Life as Supermom 

A blog by my 2nd mom.  It's a hilarious and touching look at her life.

Darcy Therese 

A blog by my little sister.  She's hysterical.

Northern Hills 

A blog by a coworker who has moved to South Dakota.  She's originally from Brazil and speaks Portuguese, Spanish and English.

The Diva's Divine Days 

My cousin's blog.  She's a professional singer in Europe.

Home for the Holidays; Food Edition

               The holidays are here... almost.  I know many of you are probably thinking "But Theresa, Thanksgiving is still a month away."  And while that is true, there is another holiday just right around the corner: Dia de los Muertos or for my non-Spanish speaking readers Day of the Dead.  Dia de los Muertos is a Mexican holiday to honor family members who have passed away.  Altars are made honoring the loved ones and a special bread is prepared.  I learned about this holiday in high school while studying Spanish.  There is more to this special holiday but it's been a long time since high school and I can't remember all of the details.  Of course, I remember the part about the food.  I want to celebrate other cultures' holidays and learn to make the traditional foods.  I think it would be a great way to teach our kids about different cultures' celebrations and traditions.  A few years ago, I did a search on allrecipes.com for the bread that is prepared for Dia de los Muertos.  I made it and took it to work for the Spanish interpreters to try.  I wanted to make sure that the recipe was authentic.  It was given their stamp of approval and I was thrilled.  It's been a few years since I've made it but I plan on making it this year.  The recipe is as follows:

Pan de Muertos (Bread of the Dead)
1/4 C margarine (I always use butter in my baking)
1/4 C milk
1/4 C warm water
3 C flour
1 1/4 tsp active dry yeast
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp anise seed
1/4 C sugar
2 eggs, beaten
2 tsp orange zest
1/4 C sugar
1/4 C orange juice
1 tbsp orange zest
2 tbsp sugar

Heat the milk and butter in a medium saucepan until butter melts.  Remove from heat and add warm water.  Mixture should be 110 degrees Fahrenheit.  In a large bowl, combine 1 cup of flour, yeast, salt, anise seed and 1/4 cup sugar.  Beat in the warm milk mixture.  Then add eggs and orange zest (2 tsp) and beat until well combined.  Stir in 1/2 cup flour and continue adding more flour until the dough is soft.  Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic.  Place dough in a greased bowl, cover and let rise until dough is doubled in size (about 1-2 hours).  Punch down dough.  Shape into a large round loaf with a a round knob on top.  Place onto a baking sheet and let rise until doubled in size (about 1 hour).  Bake at 350 degrees F for 30-45 minutes.  Remove from oven.  Let cool slightly and brush with glaze.

Pan de Muertos glaze
In a small saucepan, combine 1/4 cup of sugar, orange juice and orange zest.  Bring to a boil over medium heat for 2 minutes.  Brush over top of bread while warm.  Sprinkle with white sugar.   

I know some of you are probably thinking "Anise seed?  Doesn't that have the same flavor as black licorice? No thanks!".  And you're right, it does but try the bread anyways.  I don't like black licorice.  In fact, I hate it and I still love this bread.  The orange zest and the glaze balance out the anise seed flavor.

         As you all know (and are probably sick of hearing about), we host Thanksgiving for Steve's side of the family.  As a result, I'm always on the look-out for new Thanksgiving-themed recipes.  My older sister told me about the blog Budget Bytes.  This blog is about eating tasty healthy food on a budget.  We could all use help with that area!  This blog has a section for Thanksgiving and a section called Pumpkin Recipe Round-up 2012.  Each section has a bunch of pumpkin recipes which I'm anxious to try.  (Stay tuned for more blogs about those!)  The Thanksgiving section also has recipes for cranberry sauce, gravy, stuffing, turkey and biscuits.  Check it out.  It seems pretty cool.  Disclaimer: I have not tried any of the recipes or read them in depth yet.  Steve and I are working on finding recipes and foods that will become traditions for our Thanksgiving.  We're having fun experimenting with serving different foods and seeing which ones will stick.  I'll do a blog post about our Thanksgiving later in the year.

      How many of you think of Christmas when drinking hot chocolate?  I don't know why I do.  It wasn't something my family traditionally drank on Christmas.  Hot chocolate makes me think of cold snowy days and being curled up in a blanket watching a movie.  Now hot chocolate mixes are perfectly fine... but so is this recipe:

Mexican Hot Chocolate
3 tbsp instant hot cocoa mix
1 tbsp chocolate syrup
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 pinch chili powder
1/4 C milk
3/4 C boiling water

In a large mug, mix the hot cocoa mix, chocolate syrup, cinnamon and chili powder.  Add the boiling water and stir.  Add in the milk and stir.

I doubt this recipe is an authentic Mexican drink.  I did make a few changes to the recipe above.  I made the milk and water about half and half to make the drink a little richer.  It's slightly watery if you follow the recipe exactly.  I also wait to add the chocolate syrup until after the milk and water have been mixed with the spices.  It just works better this way.  This hot chocolate recipe has a nice spicy flavor courtesy of the chili powder.  I know it seems a little weird to put chili powder in a drink but the cinnamon balances it out nicely. Give it a try!