This & That

Around Here This Week

So around here this week....

This is the stupid plum tree. It was supposed to be close to freezing last night, but not cold enough we would have to #savethepeaches.

Sigh. C'mon little baby plum tree!

We had Jude for an afternoon. Everything is always an adventure at Grandpa's house.

Even vacuum-packing some popcorn.

Sent to me from the kids and grandkids this week, I got this one of Ephraim. Since I'm old and have zero knowledge of video games, I had to text his mama to find out that this is a Bonko from the Legend of Zelda. 

James and David have been playing soccer this spring. The end of game treats are James' favorite thing.

They look pretty official in their uniforms.

I got several pictures of big brothers holding Hazel.

They just love her, which is so cute.

Even Jude has some tender moments with her when he forgets she's usurped his spot in the family.

 

He's 6!

It's always fun when someone in the family has a birthday, because I can take a little walk down memory lane.

Our Levi turns 6 today, and he's celebrating with an adventure.

This boy loves his Legos, 

and loves to draw fantastical creatures.

He also loves all things Ninjago, and giving hugs. I was at his house a while back and got ready to leave. He was doing something else when I headed for the car. Then the door was hurled open and Levi came running down the sidewalk so he could get his goodbye hug.

He has a smile that can light up a room, and we love him as we love all our sweet grandchildren. Happy birthday to Levi!!!

Strawberry Shortcake Bars

My husband was on another outdoor adventure during the latter part of last week, which put me in the kitchen working on a little more freezer cooking for Marc's family.

The week started off with cooking a ham. Marc's Easter pork roast was very tasty, but I was missing my ham leftovers, so I did this crockpot version of Honey Baked Ham. Yes, the ham was too tall for the crockpot, but fortunately they give you handy-dandy tips in the recipe about how to work around that.

The ham made an appearance in the freezer cooking I did, and in a couple of dinners for my husband and I before he went out of town. You can see I had several things going on the days this happened. The requirement this time was that everything had to be non-dairy except for baked goods. All the babies in Marc and Rachelle's family seem to get really spitty about this time in their little lives, and if Rachelle cuts out dairy it seems to be somewhat better. That switch has been flipped with Hazel, so I needed to be more careful in my selections to give them.

I made this split pea soup in the instant pot one day and froze it in individual portions in these Souper Cubes.

The logic behind this was that the soup wasn't something Marc's boys would enjoy eating, but both he and his wife like it, so I froze it this way so they could heat up individual servings for lunch and wouldn't have to thaw a whole single family-sized freezer bag of soup. At least, that's the plan. Those silicone freezer tray things come in all kinds of different sizes. This was the first time I'd used them and it was pretty darn slick.

 I'm sure by now you're all wondering how the pineapple canning session went.

The answer is that it went, and I learned a lot. I learned that there's a fine line between trying to use the corer tool on a just barely ripe pineapple and an over-ripe pineapple, and it affects the way the fruit cans. The very ripe pineapples tended to get a little squishy, were much harder to cut into nice looking chunks, and as such didn't look as nice in the jars, so I'd err on the side of just barely ripe were I do to this again. I also learned that if I had a pineapple tree growing in my backyard, and there was no way for me to buy it at the store.....I'd know how to bottle it. I'm just not sure it's worth the labor involved to do it for the heck of a good sale. In future, I'll probably just buy a couple on sale and enjoy them fresh. But hey, I can say I've canned pineapple.

This brings us to this week's recipe, which I found here. I had strawberries in the fridge that needed to be used up, and after several days of freezer cooking I was looking for something that would incorporate them, come together fairly easily, and was non-dairy for my daughter-in-law. While this recipe had more steps than I wanted to fulfill the "comes together easily" requirement, it's definitely a seasonal winner, and it's just so pretty. 

Strawberry Shortcake Bars

Crust:

• 1 ¼ cups flour
• 1 cup quick oatmeal
• ½ cup lightly packed brown sugar
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 14 tablespoons cold salted butter, cut into cubes

Filling:

• 1 ½ cups flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ¾ cup granulated sugar
• 8 tablespoons salted butter, melted
• 1 large egg

Strawberry Topping:

• 2 pounds diced fresh strawberries
• ½ cup granulated sugar
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
• ½ teaspoon vanilla extract

INSTRUCTIONS 

Preheat the oven to 350° and spray a 9x13 pan with cooking spray.

For the crust, in a large bowl combine the flour, oatmeal, brown sugar, salt and nutmeg. Toss in the cubed butter and cut it into the dry mixture using a pastry blender or two knives or just your fingers until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Measure out 1 cup of the mixture and set it aside for later.  Press the rest of the crust into the bottom of the prepared pan and bake for 8 minutes.

 

While the crust bakes, make the filling by whisking together the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar. Make a well in the center and pour in the butter and egg. Stir with a rubber spatula until smooth and combined – it will be pretty thick. Crumble this mixture over the warm crust and pat into a relatively even layer (doesn’t have to be perfect).

 

In a medium bowl, toss the strawberries with the sugar, cornstarch, nutmeg and vanilla. Spread evenly over the filling and sprinkle the reserved crust mixture over the top. Bake the bars for 40-45 minutes until they are just lightly golden around the edges and the center is no longer soft/jiggly. Cool completely in the pan.

Cut into bars and serve. Store the bars in the refrigerator if not serving within an hour or two. Makes a 9x13 pan, 15-24 bars, depending on how big you cut them.

 

Around Here This Week

So around here this week...

Blooms and buds are starting to bust out all over some of the trees. This is the peach tree, so I'm really hoping there's no more frost in future forecasts so we don't have to #savethepeaches. My sister's already had to do that down in Utah.

This is the stupid plum tree. No matter how much frost we have, nothing ever stops it from having literally thousands of blossoms.

But here's my baby Elephant Heart plum that has quite a few happy little blossoms on it.

With the stupid plum so close to it for a pollinator, I'm hoping for maybe some fruit this year? But as soon as this starts producing well, the stupid tree will be fire wood.

We got to go listen to Levi's music class this week. It wasn't a program as such, but a demonstration of what goes on in a typical kindergarten music class. Interestingly, I was acquainted with the teacher. I accompanied her son on many occasions when I was a voice studio pianist. 

YouTube has again changed how phone videos look and are uploaded. I'm not sure why they can't leave well enough alone. Anyway, I enjoyed watching how the concepts of beat, rhythm, and the use of instruments are incorporated into curriculum. I'll get on my soapbox a little here. Music training is a life-long gift. I've been playing the piano since I was 5 and I'm 63 now. That's more than a half century (which is just a little scary when it's actually said out loud) of using what I've learned to serve other individuals and groups. It's brought me so much joy to be able to participate in beautiful, uplifting music both instrumentally and vocally, and spread that around to those who listen. To my kids, who I made practice while they lived in our home.....if you don't use it, you'll lose it. My technique isn't what it was when I was a teenager, but I manage what I need to, mostly.

Getting down off my soapbox, this also happened. We had to get a recliner when I got out of the hospital so I was able to get my bad leg high enough to help with the swelling. Bottom line, my husband was jealous, so he went out (without talking to me about it, BTW) and bought a matching one. Also bottom line, the furniture arrangement downstairs is now shot all to heck. I told him that now it looks like old people live there. His response was, "Old people DO live here." My kids keep trying to make me feel better by saying it looks like theater seating. It doesn't look like theater seating. And just to show that there's a little bit of karma in him not discussing it with me, his chair had been here exactly 10 days, when it broke. We're now waiting for a repair or replacement and he has to sit on the (oh, the horror of it all!!) couch. 

Sent to me from the kids and grands this week, Eric's family has acquired a few turkeys as a bit of an experiment. The females have started to lay some eggs and he sent me this picture with the caption, "turkey eggs intimidating a chicken egg." We have a turkey egg in this week's egg delivery, but I'm waiting until my husband gets home from yet another adventure to try it, so we can share.

Hazel's mama sent these pictures. This is a doll cradle Rachelle used to play with, and Hazel is just the right size for it.

Doll-baby.

In the meantime, Jude has had a bit of an adjustment moving out of the baby of the family slot into a more middle-ish child role. It's pretty interesting how big he looks now compared to Hazel.

From my daughter this week, I got this adorable picture of Leo. I do really love "from behind" pictures....and his little red hair.....

Meanwhile, the landlord at the house they're renting had just aerated the grass,

and those little dirt plugs were everywhere. While she was taking the picture of Leo,

Jack found one

and couldn't resist.

Now if you just need a smile for your day, some Jack baby giggles for your enjoyment.

Easter Celebrating

Easter was celebrated here, and back east for Collin's family.

The whole family was decked out in their Easter best.

Then Alison sent me this one of John and Collin both "resting their eyes."

In Utah, the Easter Bunny came bearing Target bunny ears.

And OK, I was the skeptic that told my daughter the boys would never wear them.

Apparently, she got a good 10 minutes out of them before they took them off.

That's Leo on the left and Jack on the right. ETA: My daughter corrected me....it's Jack on the left and Leo on the right. 

Right here in town, I got Hazel snuggles for Easter. Gramma Honey put her right to sleep.

Later in the day, my youngest sister published this on Instagram. Oh yes, we knew how to rock Easter back in the late 60's.....complete with patent leather shoes, white ankle socks, purses, hats and even a pair of gloves. For those who might be curious, I have 2 sisters and a brother (who was probably inside asleep, he was the baby), and all of us had red hair. Talk about a recessive gene bonanza.

Her publishing that picture prompted me to go back into the digital archives, keeping in mind that those only stretch back to 2004.

I think this was the last dress I sewed for my daughter. It was about this time that she developed a mind of her own and decided she wanted Easter dresses like her friends, which meant store-bought.

Then there was the year we were remodeling the kitchen and had all Easter meals out in the front hall. I don't recall how I made that happen, given that I only had a crockpot, a microwave, and a Coleman stove available for cooking.

It was very nostalgic to progress rapidly through the years and watch kids come and go in their various adventures.

I'm pretty sure this was the last year we dyed eggs. After this, no one was really interested, and I remember that made me kind of sad. There we are, an Easter retrospective.

In the Kitchen

I mentioned that my husband and Evan were on an adventure last week. That usually means I'm not in the kitchen much.

Last week was the exception. I had large blocks of uninterrupted time which I used to make some freezer meals for Marc's new baby family. I got quite a bit done and I know they'll be put to good use.

I tried this instant pot spaghetti again and it was just as good as it was the first time around. And I used this marinara for it.

I also tried these things. I made a batch of raspberry/blackberry yogurt in my instant pot so I could made these DIY Gogurts, or they could also be frozen and eaten like Otter Pops. I'll admit that it took me 3 or 4 to figure out the best way to fill the bags since the funnel included with the bags is very soft silicone and collapses pretty easily while you're trying to fill them. It was a little bit fiddly, but I eventually got a system going.

Do you know what this is? It's the last mostly useable garden onion. There are 4 or 5 still out in the bin, but they are soft, sprouted monsters. The remaining 3 or 4 heads of garlic are the same way. It's a sad day when I have to start buying garlic and onions.

I have to say that this slow cooker salsa verde pork made the house smell really great, but I didn't take the picture to show the meal necessarily. It was for those "bear claw" meat shredders. They really do a quick and easy job of it.

But why do I have 6 pineapples sitting in my kitchen? Well first off, one of the stores in my area is having a killer sale on whole pineapple, but that's not why I bought so many. I saw a gal on my Instagram feed bottle fresh pineapple and I want to give it a try. I know. I'm a little strange, but my curiosity was piqued similar to the recent Instant Pot adventures, and I want to see if it works, but first I need to locate one of those handy-dandy pineapple corer/slicer things. I'll report back.

He Lives....

Happy and joyous Easter!

 

Around Here This Week

So around here this week....

We've had flashbacks of winter, which has been totally ok with me....because I know what's coming.

My happy flowers have taken a beating with the wind and snow, though.

We celebrated Bryce's birthday and his wife made THE CAKE.

It takes a lot of breath support to blow out that many candles, but my boy is a singer and did a good job. 

The Easter bin never made it into the house this year, but I've stashed a few things in various places so I have something to show even if it doesn't. This is new this year from the Redheaded Hostess website. Just its name is enough to have me checking it out. Lots of really great scripture study resources for all ages there.

This came in the mail. Marc wanted to try something different for the Easter entree. It involves de-boning and rolling pork butt and includes all these accoutrements. He gave it a trial run last week and invited me over for a taste and a Hazel snuggle. I was powerless to resist.

My husband sent me this one of Evan from his adventure in Montana. Looks like he's already been put to work.

Eric and his wife are on a different type of adventure. For 2 years now, they've tried to go to Japan, but with Covid shutdowns and restrictions it hasn't happened. They decided New Orleans was a good substitute, but Eric persists in sending pictures like this.

I mean, REALLY???

This is what my husband has labeled a "target rich environment." I'm thinking that's one really brave raccoon in the background there.

Elisa sent this video of the raw and wriggling crawfish that will soon be edible.

Collin is apparently having the same type of weather we're having.

The weather is perfect for a movie afternoon, and John was appropriately attired for watching "Silverado."

My daughter sent this one of one of the boys (I'm guessing Jack, but I don't have a straight on view of his face. She'll have to let me know if I'm right.) wearing his dad's shoes. Those are some big shoes to fill.

Baked Oatmeal

In the kitchen this past week, there was quite a bit going on.

These are Levi's favorite sliders and I made them for us, then doubled the recipe and took some to Marc's new baby house.

They work up really fast and freeze beautifully.

I also did some experimenting with the Instant Pot. My husband is on an adventure this week with Evan and asked for a couple of meals to take and reheat. I did some chili, which worked very well. I used my recipe and looked up online instant pot recipes for the timing. I browned the meat and onions in there and everything. Instead of simmering it for 2 hours, it was done in 10-12 minutes after the browning. One thing I did notice was that the 2 hour simmering develops the flavors of the spices better, so I had to do some adjusting of those levels.

I also made a batch of spaghetti which was really, really good. I made a marinara sauce first using this recipe, mostly because I don't usually have store-bought jarred pasta sauce on hand. Then I used this recipe for the spaghetti, which was delicious. It will definitely be included in the rotation. Feeling pretty good about instant pot practice this week.

Which brings us to this week's recipe for baked oatmeal. I've tried a couple of different recipes for this. Sometimes it's on the dry side, but this one is quite moist with the inclusion of some shredded apple and ripe banana. My husband is a fan, especially when nuts and raisins are involved. I don't often bake with nuts because I have kids and grandkids that have allergies, and I'm not a fan of chewy, sticky things...it's a leftover-from-childhood issue for me, but my husband does love them. I found this recipe on a purchased menu plan so I can't link you up, but I can tell you I cut the finished product into serving-sized pieces, wrapped them individually and froze them for my husband, and he's very happy with the result. He also always pours milk/cream/half& half, whatever there is in the fridge, over any kind of breakfast cake-type thing, turning it into a soggy porridge mess, but I'm still keeping him.

Baked Oatmeal with Chewy, Sticky Stuff in It

• 3 cups quick oats
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup white sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans (I used black walnuts because that's what my husband had squirreled away in the back of the fridge but....ew.)
• 1/2 cup craisins (I used just plain raisins because that's what I had on hand...some dried out, desiccated raisins, but you could use any kind of chewy, sticky fruit, I imagine)
• 1 large, sweet apple, chopped (I shredded mine)
• 2 very ripe bananas, mashed (I just dropped pieces into the mixing bowl and let the mixer do the mashing)
• 1/2 cup coconut or canola oil (I don't use trendy coconut oil. Isn't that out of fashion now anyway? Aren't we onto avocado oil as the next trendy thing? I don't use it, either.)
• 2 large eggs, beaten
• 1 cup milk
• Cinnamon sugar, optional

Combine oats, sugars, salt baking powder, cinnamon, nuts, chewy, sticky stuff, apple and bananas. Combine well.

Mix oil, eggs, and milk together. Pour over oat mixture and combine.

Pour into a greased 8x8 pan. (At this point, the mixture can be frozen. If you want to freeze it, pour it into a disposable pan. When you want to bake it, thaw, and proceed with baking directions.)

Preheat oven to 350°. Bake 25-30 minutes, or until set. Be sure to test the middle. Sprinkle individual servings with cinnamon sugar, if desired. Serves 6

 

 

Nostalgia

Many of you know that my Bryce's entrance into this world was not the way things usually work. 

I've discussed many times in this forum how his birthday is a combination of feelings, gratitude being the most pervasive. It's difficult however, not to remember how we worried we wouldn't get to keep him when he was first born. There were so many of his birthdays I honestly struggled with how the day just took me back to the terrified feelings.

It's 30 years later now, and I can honestly say that while I can acknowledge that's how I felt in the beginning, I watch how God has had a hand in his life, in his story. 

I am blessed to have this boy in my life as an example of perseverance and patience.

He is a kind and often, hilarious man.

It's my privilege to be his mom, and I love him as I love all my amazing kids. Happy birthday to my Bryce!