Longing for snow

Mid-November has arrived and I'm longing for snow!

Snow is beautiful and magical and mysterious and familiar. I cannot wait for that glorious white blanket to cover over all of November's brown naked drabness.

Here's hoping we get the first snow of the year on Thanksgiving! Only a little more than a week to go.

Sometimes I miss sugar

I know it's been a while since I posted, and technically this post should be Part IV of "The Cruise that Wasn't," but I really just wasn't in the mood to talk about it. Although I will try to get to it eventually. Anyway, I've been pretty busy and there has been a lot of stuff going on with me and my pregnancy (34 1/2 weeks now!) and having to suddenly switch midwives, but I won't go into all of that. The short version is that I am fine, and Baby is fine, and I am still planning a homebirth with the same midwife who was there for Elora's birth. (Actually, she wasn't there for the birth - but she got there right after! Frankly, I'm kind of hoping for a repeat, not because I don't want her to be there, but just because super fast births are wonderful!). However, because of a few issues that have arisen, I'm trying really hard not to eat refined sugar or processed food/carbs, and to combine my foods in ways that are low-glycemic and won't spike my blood sugar.

I admit it was pretty hard the first week or so. I have a pretty big sweet tooth, and saying goodbye to sugar was painful - especially because I have always thought of pregnancy as the time where, as long as I was eating a really healthy, high protein diet otherwise, I could get away with all kinds of treats without worrying about my waistline since it was non-existent anyway! Knowing myself, if I COMPLETELY cut out all forms of dessert, it would probably be setting myself up for failure, as in one day I would snap and consume an entire chocolate cake in one sitting and drop into a diabetic coma sort of thing! So I have been trying to find healthy alternatives that are very low sugar, use raw/natural sugars, and are low glycemic so they will be easy on my system. So I have embraced things like berries and homemade whipped cream, cheesecake with no crust sweetened with small amounts of raw honey, and dark chocolate. It's been good but...with all the leaves changing colors and falling off the trees and that crisp cold delicious smell of Fall in the air, I really really miss my pumpkin fix! Unfortunately, pumpkin spice lattes and pumpkin cream cheese muffins from Starbucks were definitely out.

My mom came to my rescue in the form of pumpkin cream cheese! She found some at Trader Joe's that was delicious, and then came up with a recipe for a homemade version that had even less sugar. It's delicious spread onto apples, celery, or whole grain sprouted toasted (or just eaten with a spoon, if you're desperate!) I ate up all she gave me and had to make myself another batch today.

Here is the recipe. (I didn't measure my ingredients, so I kind of guessed on a lot of them. I'd say just add/taste until you like it!)

1 package cream cheese, softened
About 1/2 of a 15 oz can of pumpkin (more or less, depending on how "pumpkiny" you want it...I did more)
3-4 T brown sugar or raw honey (again, start out with less and add until you think it's sweet enough)
1/2 t vanilla
3/4 - 1 t cinnamon (to taste)
1/2 t nutmeg
1/4 t ginger
1/4 t cloves
(OR just use a heaping teaspoon of pumpkin pie spice)

With an electric mixer, cream all ingredients together until smooth. Cover and refrigerate. Spread on just about anything for a mouthful of pumpkin-filled deliciousness.

I like this pumpkin spread on the cinnamon-raisin Ezekial 4:9 bread, which is delicious but sadly not cheap, or my homemade sprouted spelt flour bread, which sounds complicated but is SUPER easy to make. I'll try to post the recipe for it tomorrow.

Give this pumpkin spread a try and I promise, you will hardly miss sugar!

The Cruise that Wasn't {Part 3}

I'm sorry it took me so long to go on with Part 3. Real life interfering, I guess. Also, I realize Part I and Part 2 were kind of depressing. Apologies. Things get better today, I promise.

We woke up Friday morning rested, refreshed, and eager to take back our vacation! After grabbing a quick, delicious, and oh-so-healthy breakfast at Krispy Kreme, we got in our little rental car and began the long drive down through the Florida Keys. It was quite an interesting trip - and in this case, I actually mean interesting in a good way, as in we were both interested in all the new sights and scenery!

There is basically only one road that goes all the way down from the northernmost "key" which, I think, is Key Largo, all the way down through the others to end at Key West and "Mile 0." Both sides of the road are heavily lined with this strange type of shrubbery called mangrove trees, which have long curving roots that branch out into the ocean. I had never heard of a tree that could live in salt water before! But mangroves suck up the salt water through their roots and then somehow filter out the salt, which crusts on their leaves. They grew thickly on both sides of the road, which gave one the impression of driving through the countryside, but then suddenly there would be a break in the trees and you would see the sunlight sparkling off the ocean on either side of you! It was not what I expected the Keys to look like at all, but it was beautiful and unusual all the same.

Our first stop was in Islamorada, the island just west of Key Largo, where we were planning to have lunch. We had heard that the best key lime pie to be had in the Keys was at a place called Mannie and Isa's, a couple who grew the limes in their own backyard and then brought them into the restaurant to make their famous pie. However, sadly, we discovered when we got there that their restaurant had been closed for several years. We stopped to buy some t-shirts for the kids and asked the locals to recommend a good seafood place. This is how we ended up eating lunch at The Fish Company.

It was a beautiful outdoor restaurant sitting on the water.

The restaurant surrounded a central pool, where they would feed sharks, pike, and other fish that would swim up from the ocean for a free meal. Then there was a big fight/feeding frenzy!

The seagulls kept trying to get in on the action, diving down to try to catch the pieces of meat before they hit the water - without getting too close and gobbled up by the sharks themselves!

This seagull was not 6 feet from my chair. He really wanted some of my lunch.

There were a couple pelicans hanging around as well.

View in two different directions from our table.

And there's my handsome husband, just hanging out waiting for his food. We shared stuffed mahi-mahi (the non-cute kind of dolphin) and coconut shrimp - it was yummy!

 After lunch we got back on the road and drove down through several more little islands. Along the way I saw a sign that said "Swim with the dolphins!" and I got really excited. This was something I've always wanted to do, and I gave Robert puppy dog eyes until he gave in and stopped. :-) We went into the Dolphin Research Center and asked if we could sign up to swim with them. Guess what? They don't let pregnant women swim with dolphins either! *sob* I was starting to feel very discriminated against!

 Fortunately we at least got to see some dolphins. They were pretty cute.

A ginormous iguana that was just hanging around:

 And a funny macaw learning some tricks:

A few hours and several more little islands later, we had made it all the way down to Key West! We had a couple of hours until sunset, which we had been advised was a beautiful sight over the water. We walked around Duval Street, which appeared to be the hub of the town, but we quickly discovered it was...well, not exactly our scene, as it consisted mainly of bars, strip clubs, and cigar shops. Yikes. We pretty quickly got disgusted with Key West and decided it wasn't worth waiting around, even for the promise of a beautiful sunset, so we bought a few presents at a souvenier shop and got back in our car to leave.

The funny part was, as we were driving around trying to find our way out of Key West, we ended up on the other side of the island and suddenly everything was lovely! A long, deserted beach with beautiful waves rolling in, nice little houses and hotels, places to rent boats and kayaks and fishing equipment...wait a second - we LIKED Key West! We stopped off at the beach for a few minutes to wade in the surf, and then reluctantly realized that it was getting late and we still had to drive all the way back to Ft. Lauderdale that night. It was just too bad we didn't discover the nice side of Key West sooner.

The trip back was fairly uneventful, as we were mainly trying to get back as quickly as possible. We stopped for dinner at Porky's Seafood and Barbeque in Marathon, which was the first place we could find that was open! Apparently all the little towns pretty much shut down after dark. It was kind of a fun, funky little place that reminded me a big of an old houseboat, as it extended onto the water.

Every square inch was covered with writing by its customers, and there was a live guitarist as well. Robert had a crawfish sandwich and I, having had my fill of seafood, ordered bbq. Then we both ordered key lime pie.

Me with my perfectly normal key lime pie

Robert with his very weird fried key lime pie. He insisted it was delicious.

Dinner over, we drove steadily until we reached our hotel, at about one in the morning, and fell into bed, exhausted but satisfied after our first actual successful day of vacation!

The Cruise that Wasn't {Part 2}

So, evidently, the cruise wasn't going to happen. We drove another hour back to Ft. Lauderdale, kind of vacillating between shock and outrage. We kept trying to get over it and change the subject, but then one of us would suddenly turn to the other and say "I can't believe they didn't TELL us beforehand..."

The cruise had been scheduled for months. I think Robert bought the package back in February, and then it took a long time getting my passport updated, but it had definitely been scheduled for about 3 months in advance. And the worst part is, while he was scheduling it, Robert TOLD the cruise representative on the phone that I was pregnant. "Okay, great!" he replied. Not "how far along will she be?" or "Oh, that's great, but by the way, we have this policy..." Not a word. Then, once it was all scheduled, they sent us some paperwork detailing all the things we would need, the extra fees we would be charged, the papers we would need to get on the ship or if we were going to bring our children.... Guess what that paperwork didn't include? ANY mention of their pregnancy policy whatsoever!

I understand the policy (now that it's been explained to me), and I don't really have a problem with it. See, after 23 weeks, babies born early have a lower but very real chance of survival. If a pregnant women were to go into premature labor and have her baby early, they don't have the neo-natal facilities or resources to properly take care of it. It doesn't have a helicopter pad, either, so it would take longer to get the woman and her premature baby back to the mainland to get to a hospital, etc. I understand that they are afraid of getting sued and don't want to deal with it. I get it. And I would have had no problem with this stupid policy if SOMEONE, ANYONE had bothered to mention it to us BEFORE we tried to set foot on the ship!! We would have scheduled the cruise for 3 weeks earlier and everything would have been fine. But...BUT...

Back in Ft. Lauderdale, we found ourselves being shuffled back and forth between the "Welcome Center," the cruise line phone representative, and the hotel staff, none of whom seemed to want to claim us. We were starting to feel like Philip Nolan, the fictional character from The Man Without a Country! Our plane didn't leave until Sunday morning, so we were here for another three nights no matter what. We went to get some lunch at a local seafood place while waiting for the whole situation to get straightened out so we could get another hotel room.

Right next door to the seafood restaurant, we spotted this:
 

Did you know in an alternate universe, I'm a notary public? ;-) When you have such a strange name as I do, you always get excited to see it in random places. It's even spelled correctly! Also, the seafood place, Flannigans, was good. Robert was very happy with his shrimp linguine, and I even ate smoked fish dip and clam chowder of my own free will and enjoyed them. (I'm not a big seafood person, in case you can't tell!)

Back at the hotel, we FINALLY got our room, and went and fell into bed and took a four hour nap, trying to catch up from a night of little sleep and a day that held frustration from start to finish! Woke up feeling better, grabbed a quick dinner at the hotel, and took a short walk to buy some water bottles. Then we girded up our loins and began planning Our Vacation: Take 2.  Robert suggested we take the car the next day and drive all the way down through the Florida Keys, stopping at various interesting sights along the way. We resolved that no amount of aggravation from the cruise line or the "Welcome Center" was going to prevent us from having a terrific vacation after all!

Our plans and resolution being made, we went back to sleep. Can you tell we're parents with small children??

To be continued...

The Cruise that Wasn't {Part I}

Last week Robert and I took a vacation. It wasn't the vacation we intended to take - it wasn't the vacation we planned - perhaps it wasn't even the vacation we wanted. But it was the vacation we got, and, as I believe God has His hand on everything in our lives, it surely was the vacation He knew we needed.

Originally we were supposed to go on a cruise to the Bahamas. Robert found a good deal, and we had been planning to go for months. We wanted to have one vacation with just the two of us before the new baby comes and we can't really go anywhere for a while. (Nobody wants to take five children on a cruise ship. NOBODY. Can you imagine? I would spend every waking second and probably most of my sleeping ones trying to prevent one or all of them from getting lost or falling over the side. Oy. That is not a vacation!) So, we planned, we scheduled, we packed, we ran around frantically trying to find our passports that I had gone to tons of trouble to have expedited and then hidden carefully away from the children and then couldn't find the day before our trip...!

Finally all was ready and the day was here. The kids were packed up and sent off to Grammie's for their four-day "sleepover," which they were super excited about, and Robert and I boarded a plane bound for Ft. Lauderdale and our glorious four days of sun, ship, relaxation, and all the food we could eat. Or so we thought.

The first "bump" in the road was our flight getting delayed coming into Denver - all flights, actually, due to bad weather - which resulted in our flight to Ft. Lauderdale getting bumped back three hours, which meant we arrived at 2:15 am local time, give or take a few minutes. We trekked the deserted airport, got our rental car and directions, and drove out into the POURING rain to try to find our hotel. It was not terribly near the airport, but we finally arrived, got our room, and fell into bed to get a few hours sleep.

The next morning we had to rise early all the same, because we had a tour scheduled with the "Welcome Center" as part of the package deal we signed up with our cruise in order to get an inexpensive hotel room and rental car. Turns out the "Welcome Center" was most inaptly named. We arrived at 8:30, said "we're here for our tour," and were informed (quite testily) that the tour was actually located an hour away! Gee, thanks...that would have been nice to know when we called you to check in yesterday! Every single person who worked there was not only less than helpful, but quite rude about it. Finally we managed to get the tour rescheduled for Saturday after our cruise ship returned, retrieved our boarding passes, and set off for the Port of Palm Beach to get on board our ship!

After another hour drive, we arrived at the port to see the World's. Biggest. Ship. stretched out in front of us! I have never seen anything that massive, particularly up close. It dwarfed everything around it, including the "embarkation building" next to it, and made up feel like ants next to a mountain! Two tiny little ants who parked our car, went through security (security?? To board a ship?? It was nearly as thorough as TSA!) checked our luggage, and went to fill out our final paperwork to get on board. While Robert was writing, a tiny little Asian lady came up and smiled at me.

"Getting ready to get on the ship?"

"Yes," I smile back.

"Ah. I see you are expecting!" (gesturing to my burgeoning stomach)

"Yes, that's right."

"How far along are you?" (conversationally)

"Oh, about twenty five weeks."

"Oh." Her smile disappears. "Well, I'm very sorry to have to tell you, but we cannot allow pregnant women on board after twenty three weeks."

I blink. "Excuse me?"

Oh, yes, I heard her right. This small factor, which not ONE person from the cruise line OR the 'Welcome Center' had bothered to mention until we were actually boarding the ship, was company policy. No amount of discussion, reasoning, or appealing to more highly authorized personnel did any good. We were very apologetically but firmly refused entry to the ship and shown out of the building, one of us fighting back tears of frustration. You can probably guess which one! The four hours' sleep combined with the hormones weren't exactly helping.

We drove back to Ft. Lauderdale in defeat, tired, frustrated, stunned by this turn of events and wondering how to salvage our vacation.

To be continued...

Daily Life as a Parent

Here is the breakdown of my day:

40% sleep deprivation
20% making food
20% cleaning up messes
10% answering random questions
10% trying to keep them from escaping out the front door
5 % kissing boo-boos/applying bandaids
3 % singing the goodnight songs (over and over)
2% sitting on the potty begging someone - anyone - to bring you toilet paper

And for those of you who noticed that it added up to 110%? Yes, it does. That's because that is the minimum you can give each and every day.

Are we worth it?? You bet we are!!

{naptime} #2

On the other hand, you have days like today where the tired two year old climbs into bed, and then big sister comes along and shuts the curtains, tucks her little sister in, and then crawls into bed and falls asleep right along beside her.

Clearly the solution is to have the three year old put the two year old down for a nap every day!

{naptime}

Putting a cranky two year old down for a nap is like....well, it's like putting a two year old down for a nap.

If you've done it, you know exactly what I'm talking about.

If you never have, there are no words that can properly explain it!

Suffice it to say that by the time the toddler's finally asleep, it's the mama who REALLY needs a nap!

They look so angelic when asleep...it's all a lie.

Sisters

So a few months ago, my sister Daniella posted this picture on her blog, and I just fell in love with it.

It was so pretty and romantic and appropriate to us Neal sisters! Ever since I saw it, I've been wanting to get us all together and take a picture just like it, especially because we all have long hair at the moment.

A few weekends ago, Daniella and Phillip were in town for Lydia's graduation, and the next day was Daniella's birthday. We were all up at my parents' house and decided to seize the opportunity to take our own picture. Here is our version:

You may have noticed there are five of us in the picture. My lovely cousin Tiana, who grew up with us and is practically our sister, was in town too, so we talked her into joining us! (It wasn't that hard. ;-) We all love playing dress up.) Sadly, the one who's missing is my dear sister in law Melissa, who had a family emergency and couldn't come. I hope soon we can do another fun "sister shoot" when she can join us!

Roasted Chicken and Vegetable Soup

Courtesy of the worst allergy attack I think Albuquerque has ever experienced, my diet the past week has consisted mainly of soup and frozen yoghurt, the only things that feel good on my very sore throat. I'll eat canned soup if I'm desperate or too sick to cook, but I much prefer good homemade soup. It tastes better, is better for me, and I can control the ingredients that go into it and guarantee it stays gluten free for the little ones.

Over the weekend I made a giant pot of chicken soup, and the minute we finished it, I started some more! For a long time I couldn't really figure out how to make good soup without buying canned chicken broth. I tried boiling chicken breasts, but all I got was some lame thin chicken-flavored water, not that delicious rich fatty broth that is so necessary to good soup. Then I learned that I needed to boil chicken bones to make good broth, so I attempted that and it was better, but something still wasn't right. Finally I hit upon the happy combination of roasting my chicken in the oven and then boiling it, bones and all, to make a delicious broth that tasted just right. 

This roasted chicken recipe is one of my favorite easy yet delicious dinners to make, and I discovered that if I make a little extra, I can use the leftovers to make chicken soup for another day. It's very easy if you count the amount of work you actually have to do - it just takes a little time for all the roasting and boiling and cooking.

Step 1 - Roast the chicken

You can use a whole chicken, but I prefer to buy chicken thighs and drumsticks, bone in (this is the essential point!), usually 2 pieces per person. Arrange the pieces in a large glass baking dish and sprinkle liberally with salt and pepper. I like to season mine with an herb blend called "Herbs de Provence." I already happened to have a jar of this blend, which I'm sure you can buy in stores, but here is a recipe for mixing your own. Mine does NOT include fennel, however, as I don't like the texture of the fennel seeds. But you can use other seasonings if you prefer. Next, take a stick of butter and cut into pieces, then place butter pieces on top of the chicken pieces. I usually use a whole stick for a large pan of chicken, but reduce if you have fewer chicken pieces (approx. 1 Tablespoon per piece of chicken). 

Roast chicken, uncovered, in 375 degree oven for about 1 1/2 hours, until the chicken is nicely browned and the skin is crispy. You might want to check it at an hour and rotate the pan, since everyone's oven cooks a little differently. Slide a knife in next to the bone and see if meat pulls away easily to determine if it's sufficiently cooked. The meat under the skin should be very tender.

Served your family this delicious chicken, with sweet potatoes and a salad, or mixed vegetables and rice, or whatever sides you prefer - but don't forget to save a few extra pieces of chicken AND the drippings from the pan for your soup! You can even save the empty bones for boiling.

*If you're pressed for time, a good shortcut is to buy a whole rotisserie chicken from the store, eat that for dinner, and then save the carcass with a little meat still on it. You can boil the entire carcass to make soup.

Step 2 - Boil the chicken

Take the reserved chicken and pan drippings, which include the melted butter and chicken fat, and put it all into a large stock pot. Fill with water about 3/4 of the way. Now add the vegetables - celery, carrot, and onion pieces. Note that these are not the vegetables that you will be eating as part of your soup - they are simply to add flavor to the broth as it cooks, so you can just include a couple of large chunks of each. This is a great place to use leftover celery tops, carrot ends, etc. Throw in a little salt and pepper and bring the pot to a boil. Once it is boiling, turn it down very low and simmer for a long time - even overnight.

Step 3 - Make the soup

Once the stock has simmered for a long time, turn the stove off and let it cool. Once cooled, use a strainer to strain all the broth into a large bowl or another pot. If you used chicken pieces, strip all the meat off the bones (I admit this is my LEAST favorite part about making chicken soup!) and set it aside. Throw away the bones and mushy vegetable tops, rinse out your pot, and pour your broth back into it. Add in the chicken pieces. Cut up carrots, celery, onion, potatoes, and/or any other vegetables you may desire into bite sized pieces and throw them in the pot too. If you are pressed for time you can just pour in a bag of frozen mixed vegetables. Season with more salt and pepper to taste. Cook on medium-low until vegetables are tender - only about an hour or so, since the meat and broth are already cooked.

*For chicken noodle soup, omit potatoes and wait until the vegetables are almost done, then throw in a package of noodles and cook until they are soft. If you are using gluten free noodles, be careful not to overcook, as they can get mushy very fast.

** If you want to make this soup ahead of time and freeze it, don't add either potatoes or noodles - they do not freeze well. Add the other vegetables and cook, then cool and pour into gallon ziploc bags and freeze. When you're ready it eat it, pull it out of the freezer, dump into the pot, add the potatoes or noodles, and cook until done. 

Amazing Gluten Free Cheesecake

I love cheesecake. I may have a flirtatious relationship with other desserts - "oh hey, I like you, you're yummy" - but cheesecake and I are joined by the bonds of love (and possibly love-handles...oh dear...). Robert and I both love cheesecake so much that we actually had cheesecake for our wedding cake (which, thinking back, may have not been the best of plans for a July wedding...but it was still delicious!), and occasionally we would indulge and buy a cheesecake sampler from Sams club and eat it behind the children's backs.

However, the last couple of months we have been trying to eat not only gluten free, but entirely grain free, which, while it has been good for our health and waistlines, has been somewhat of hardship in that it eliminated nearly every dessert known to mankind. Unwilling to give up dessert entirely, I started exploring some grain free dessert alternatives. One dessert that stuck out as an obvious choice was cheesecake, since it's only grains are contained within the crust. I developed a new crust out of almond meal, which is basically just whole almonds ground very finely until they are almost flour-like, and tried it with my cheesecake, and oh my! Heavenly! I don't miss old cheesecake crust at all...in fact, I think I prefer it this way!

Unfortunately this recipe isn't COMPLETELY grain free, because the cheesecake batter itself calls for 2 tablespoons of gluten free flour, and I haven't yet figured out a good substitute that will bind it together. But spread through the whole cheesecake, that seems a fairly negligible amount. If I ever get around to doing some research, perhaps I can find a substitute that will render the recipe truly grain free, and then I will share it with y'all.

Cheesecake it not hard at all to make, but it does take a long time from start to finish, mostly waiting for things to warm or cool. If you are having company and want to serve cheesecake for dessert, I'd advise making it a day in advance (and hiding it deep in the recesses of your fridge so your kids don't get into it)!

Amazing Gluten Free Cheesecake 

**First, leave cream cheese, sour cream, and eggs on counter to come to room temperature, about 1 hour. The softer the cream cheese is, the smoother the cheesecake will be. If it's too cold, your cheesecake will still taste good but it'll be lumpy or grainy.

Crust:
1 cup ground almond meal*
1/4 raw cane sugar
2 T melted butter

Mix the almond meal and the sugar together. (The 1/4 makes for a fairly sweet crust, so if you want it just a little sweet, reduce sugar to about 2 T). Add melted butter and stir until sticking together and crumbly. Press (I think clean fingers work best) into the bottom of a 9 inch springform cheesecake pan, making sure the whole bottom is covered. The 1 cup of almond meal makes enough to cover just the bottom, so if you want the crust to come up the sides, too, I'd recommend doubling the crust recipe.

Bake crust at 350 F for about 10 minutes, until lightly browned. Depending on your oven, you may want to turn once halfway through to have it brown evenly. Cool crust for about 10 minutes. Increase oven temp to 375.

Filling:
2 packages cream cheese, softened
2 cups (1 16 oz carton) sour cream, room temp
1 c sugar (again, can use less for a mildly sweet cake)
2 T gluten free flour blend (I use Pamela's gluten free bread mix)
1 t vanilla
1/2 t almond extract**

3 egss, room temp
1 t finely grated lemon peel

Mix together cream cheese, sour cream, sugar, gluten free flour, vanilla, and almond extract until well combined. Add eggs and lemon peel and beat until smooth.

Pour filling into pan on top of cooled crust. Put on the second to lowest rack of your oven. Underneath, on the lowest rack, Bake at 375 for 45 minutes or until the top is lightly browned, the edges feel firm and springy when lightly touched, and a knife or toothpick comes out clean from the center. Cool on the counter for about 2 hours before attempting to open the spring on the pan. Chill in the refridgerator another 4 hours, at least.


*You can buy almond meal at Vitamin Cottage or probably other health food stores such as Whole Foods. However, if you can't find it, you can also make your own from whole almonds. Follow this link for directions: http://glutenfreecooking.about.com/od/glutenfreeingredient1/ht/makealmondmeal.htm

**If you don't want an almond flavored cheesecake, omit this flavoring or use some other kind of flavoring such a lemon, orange, etc. Robert and I really like almond flavored things, so I use a lot of the extract, but you can also use less, about 1/4 teaspoon, for a less strong flavor. The same goes for the lemon peel; I really like the combination of almond extract and lemon, but if you don't care for lemon, you can reduce or omit the lemon peel, or substitute orange or lime peel for a really exotic cheesecake!


You can serve your cheesecake plain or with whipped cream and strawberries...or cherries...or raspberries...the possibilities are endless. Honestly, the hardest part of this recipe is waiting until the silly thing is cool enough to slice.

As you can see, I couldn't even wait long enough to take a picture first... ;-)

{don't be a} Pushover

I have always been the type of person who avoids confrontation. Most oldest children are "Type A" personalities, and, while I may fit the "bossy older sister" profile in some categories, I am not a very confrontational person. When I get upset, I tend to internalize things and just "stew" over them without telling the person how I feel. And I think the older I get, the more hesitant I've become about sharing my true feelings with other people. There is a very small number of friends and family members I feel comfortable telling "what's what," but for the general population, I am a pushover. I have a terribly hard time saying no to people when they ask for favors, or telling them if their behavior is upsetting me. I like to be liked and I dislike having people angry at me. I tend to be overly apologetic, even if something wasn't my fault. But underneath the placid-seeming surface, it rankles.

I remember one time when I was a child, I was forced to apologize for something I did not do. It was my weekly piano lesson, and this week there was someplace important we had to be right after piano, so Mom impressed upon me "the moment your lesson is over, get your book and come straight out to the car - do not stop to talk to anyone or do anything else!" So, as soon as my lesson ended, I obediently grabbed my book and headed toward the door. As I was running out, the boy whose lesson followed mine was coming in the door. We were friends, so I said "Hi! And Bye!" in the same breath as I ran out the door - my attempt at being polite rather than just ignoring him. Unfortunately for me, his mom was with him, and she decided somehow to take offense at my terse greeting. She collared me, marched me out to the car where mom was waiting, and told the whole story of my supposed rudeness. (Please remember that this story is from my 8 year old point of view). I tried to explain that I just been trying to obey Mom, but in the end, my mom made me apologize to her for what she perceived as me being rude. Probably Mom made me say "I'm sorry if I offended you" or some such thing, but in my childish mind, I was being forced to apologize for obeying my mom and trying be polite. Twenty some odd years later, the memory still rankles. Pathetic, yes. Pathological inability to let things go - absolutely. Did it probably make up for all the things I got away with unpunished? Definitely. But still...the injustice of it all! Somehow the way I felt as an 8 year old, when I was forced to apologize simply because she was an adult, mirrors the same helpless feeling I have today when I am unable to tell people how upset or angry or hurt I really am.

Some unfortunate circumstances that happened to me this week have brought that feeling to the forefront. I let certain people impose on me in ways that made me uncomfortable, and later on, I became quite angry about it. But I didn't tell them how I felt, and I probably won't. Partly because we are not close enough to have that kind of honest relationship, and partly because I am just a plain old coward about confrontation. My husband is quite the opposite. He never backs down from telling people what he thinks - except maybe certain clients who would fire him if he told them just how annoying they are. And granted, this level of honesty means he sometimes offends people and sometimes puts his foot in his mouth. But nobody could ever accuse him of being a coward.

It got me wondering about which response is right. "Turn the other cheek?" "Speak the truth in love?" "Don't cast your pearls before swine?" Jesus always spoke the truth in love. But he also remained silent when he was interrogated and it served no purpose for him to argue with someone He knew wouldn't listen anyway.

I guess I need to find a way to speak honestly, loving to the people in my life. But also, to bear with them and forgive them, not holding a grudge, even if nothing changes.

What about you? Are you pushy? Or a pushover? Which personality type do you think is best?  

What Women Fantasize About (G-rated)

Note - despite the title of this post, it doesn't contain inappropriate material. Or at least not much. ;-)

My husband asked me one day if women struggled with fantasizing about other men. I just laughed.
"Oh, honey," I said. "We fantasize about a lot of things...but men really aren't one of them."

One of the key differences between men and women that men will never understand. Men fantasize about women. Women fantasize about...having enough alone time to get done all the things we want? Maybe that sounds selfish. Maybe it is. Maybe we are selfish in our fantasies because that is the only time we can ever afford to be selfish - the rest of the time, we are too busy taking care of everyone else!

Here's a short list, by no mean comprehensive, of things women fantasize about:

-sitting on the couch, in a perfectly clean house (that someone else cleaned), sipping wine (or sparkling cider for teetotlaers like me) and watching Jane Austen and Elizabeth Gaskell movies

- eating magical chocolate that makes us thinner with each bite

- waking up in the morning looking like we just spent 3 hours getting ready, without actually having to spend the 3 hours

- going shopping by ourselves, without any kids, and coming home to happy children and dinner already cooked

- sitting in church with our husband and adorable, well-dressed, well-behaved children, who sit still and  quietly through the entire service

- bras that make us look good, but feel like we're wearing pajamas, and shoes that look like stilettos, but are as comfortable as bedroom slippers

- finding our favorite brand of clothing, in our size, marked 80% off

- fitting into last year's swimsuit (jeans are applicable too)

- taking a two hour bubble bath with a good book and NO interruptions

- a world where snakes and spiders do not exist

- having a bathroom all to ourselves, so we can scatter our makeup, curling irons, and hair products with impunity and never have to worry about whether the toilet seat is up

- painless childbirth (Hahahahaha! just the thought is hysterical!)

-getting 12 hours of sleep every night

- being served tea and scones from a beautiful china teapot at four o'clock each afternoon by our personal maid just like on Downton Abbey (possibly while watching Downton Abbey...)

- sometimes, I must confess, we fantasize about our husbands getting to experience our monthly periods or, even better, labor! That way they can understand what we go through and show much more gratitude for our forbearance as each month passes without an axe-murder occurring...

- and finally, one of my favorite fantasies, which crosses my mind nearly on a daily basis (including today), looks like this:

Le Sigh. Don't we all wish...

Okay, now pull your head down out of the clouds and go scrub something and find something about your actual life to be thankful for!

Then eat some chocolate and pretend it's magical chocolate that makes you thinner. You never know...it could happen....

Now, what about you, women everywhere? Anything you want to add to my list? (G-rated comments only please!)

{As You Wish}

Back at the beginning of December, my sisters and I threw a bridal shower for our dear sister-to-be (now sister-in-law) Melissa. Since she and Isaac are both so blonde...and so romantic...and had a lot of inside jokes about him saying "as you wish" to whatever she requested...we all took to calling them "Wesley and Buttercup." Thus it should be no surprise that we decided to make the bridal shower "Princess Bride" themed.

We had SO much fun creating every aspect of the shower. Here are the invitations:

For the decorations, Daniella and I made some pennant banners out of some pretty green paper she had lying around.

You can sort of see it in the background here:

A bit more decor hinting at the movie:

We printed up signs with quotes from the movie and posted them all over the castle..er, house...

I have to confess this was probably my favorite of all the decorations:

It just makes you smile. ;-)

Daniella made these nifty nametags for everyone to wear:

Here's our mom's nametag, filled out:

We also had this board of magnets with words from The Princess Bride for people to arrange into sentences. People had a lot of fun with that.

Even our food was Princess Bride themed! 

For example, MLTs (mozzerella, lettuce, and tomato):

The world's most delicious tarts with cream cheese filling and berries, which we called "Princess 

Butter-cups":

We also served also ROUS (Rolls of Unusual Size), a bread, cheese and apple platter complete with "iocane powder," "True Love" kisses, "fire-swamp" (i.e. green chile) stew, and, of course, peanuts!

Here is the lovely Princess Bride with her mother:

And with both mothers:

Melissa and Sophie, both looking lovely:

Possibly the best part of the entire event was that Isaac showed up at the end, dressed as the Dread Pirate Roberts:

He swooped in and quite literally swept his Princess Bride off her feet and ran away with her!

Okay, after a few moments he brought her back. Everyone was quite surprised, Melissa most of all!

It was quite possibly the most fun party we've ever done, and everything turned out quite well, I think. Congratulations to Isaac and Melissa! We love you both.

Me want cooo...kieee....

Raise your hand if Cookie Monster is the character you can most identify with on Sesame Street.

Yep, me too. Who wants to bother COUNTING cookies when you could just be GOBBLING them all up?!

I confess, I make way too many cookies. And ever since our family went (mostly) gluten free, it's been quite difficult to find a good gluten free cookie recipe. I've tried quite a few, some better than others, but nothing quite seems right in terms of taste and texture when compared with "real" cookies. I often end up making two batches of cookies, one gluten free for the kids and one secret stash of "real" cookies for me and Robert. Yes, I know. Don't judge me. Okay, go ahead and judge me. I judge myself...but I keep on doing it. I tell myself I'm doing it for my marriage. Robert likes my "real" cookies.

The other day I was over at Mom's house hanging out with my two delightful youngest sisters, and we ended up making cookies, of course. I used a recipe from her one of Mom's old cookbooks, but I adjusted it to use gluten free flour. They turned out to be the BEST gluten free cookies I'd ever made!Even Robert (who has the most sensitive palate known to man and can detect a single grain of gf flour in any recipe) didn't figure out they were gluten free. In fact, we finished them off (without the kids ;-) and yesterday I had to make some more to give to my mother in law - since she is now gluten AND dairy free, it's hard to find good recipes to make for her! 

My mom asked me to post the recipe so you all can share in the goodness, so here you go!

GF Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients:

1/2 cup butter, softened

1 cup sugar

2 eggs, room temperature

1/4 cup milk (to make them dairy free also, use coconut milk. I did and I couldn't tell any difference)

1 2/3 cups of gluten free oats (rolled, not steel cut)

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (or raisins, if you prefer)

1 tsp vanilla

1 1/2 cups of gluten free flour (I used Pamela's bread mix, not baking mix; I haven't tried it with other gf flour blends, but you can play around with it.)

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 t cinnamon

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Cream butter and sugar until combined; then add eggs and milk and mix. Add oats, chocolate chips, and vanilla. Combine remaining dry ingredients and add slowly to mixture until a thick dough is formed. Drop teaspoonfuls onto a greased cookie sheet and bake for 12-15 minutes, until lightly browned and a toothpick comes out clean. The cookies should be pretty thick and not spread out a whole lot. They are cakey and soft and the chocolate melts a little..mmmmm.

I will now leave you to 

OMM NOMM NOMM NOMM!!

{things I've said}

A short list of things I've actually said to my children this week:

(to Joseph) "Take that camel out of your mouth and finish your reading lesson!"
(Note - I was talking about a plastic piece of the nativity set, not a cigarette, in case you're worried)

(James) "We do NOT pee in plastic bags and then hide them under the table!!"

(Gabriella) "Please take your finger OUT of my ear and do not put it in there again!"

(to Robert) "I have to go clean the dried tuna fish off the piano before Mom comes to give Joseph his piano lesson."

(to myself) "Why is there peanut butter all over the piano keys AGAIN?!"

and, lest you feel that Elora is being left out, here's my anecdote about her this week. She talks in her sleep. It's pretty much the cutest thing ever. A few nights ago, she rolled over in her sleep, sang/said "Di-e-go! Go, Diego, go! I watch Diego?" and then fell instantly asleep again. (Diego is her favorite tv show in the whole entire world. It's kind of like the boy version of Dora the Explorer. We're all quite sick of it...but she loves it.)

Then last night, James came in to tell us he'd had a nightmare about bears. Elora was asleep in my lap and she suddenly sat bolt upright, said "Bears?!" and then fell back asleep. I almost woke her up again, I was laughing so hard.

Yes, life with these little people is many things...but it's definitely never boring.