Mother's Day Facts

I have a truly wonderful mother. She has always been wonderful, and as far as I can tell, everyone who knows her agrees. She is one of the greatest blessings in my life.
My mother-in-law has brought great joy to my life. She raised a beautiful, giving, and unique family. She is strong, inspiring, and funny; I love being a part of her family.

I love being a mom.

Easy dip recipe

Sun-dried Tomato & Chive Dip

Mix together:

• 1 bar of Cream Cheese (softened)
• a handful of fresh chopped chives
• approx. 1/4 cup of chopped Sun Dried Tomatoes (I like the kind in a jar with olive oil & herbs)
• 1 clove of garlic, very finely chopped or put through a garlic press
  
  Use more or less of any ingredients to suite your taste. Make it at least a few hours before serving (it gets more flavorful the longer the ingredients hang out together). This is great on crackers, vegetables, crusty bread, or bagels! Bon Appetit!

Creativity Flows

I know I've mentioned our little "artwork factory" before.... I try to keep up with scanning Cooper's really cool or special drawings. He loves his art class in school, and we've heard from his art teacher how creative he is. We agree (& credit his Mimaw Jones & Great, Great Grandma Gilmore - the artists in our families)!

Here are a few, of the many, recent creations:

A dinosaur book in the making

A sweet lion in the midst of many dinosaurs

He was working on the dragon below when I went to pick him up from his after school program; an older boy (a 2nd grader) was watching him draw and turned to me to say, "Cooper is a really good drawer.... for a kindergartner."

I like the way he has the sun coming up behind the layers of hills.

He also writes lots & lots of sweet notes with his artwork.

Here's one he gave me to take to work with me (he's started signing his name in cursive).

I hadn't realized until now that it was possible to LOVE someone's handwriting this much.

3 inches and a 3 year old mind

Brady, my you-never-know-what-he'll-say child, cracked me up on the drive home today. We were driving on the interstate heading to pick Cooper up from the after school program, when Brady urgently announced that he had to go pee.

Here's how the conversation went from there:
Me: "You're going to have to hold it, we're on the interstate and I can't stop"
Brady: "Ok, I'm holding it" (literally holding himself)
Me: "Good. How long can you hold it?"
Brady: "Oh, about 3 inches"

I couldn't resist laughing out loud at his random but hilarious response. His timing, pauses & sheer determination about what he is saying are really part of what makes him so funny. Some of his antics do require a lot of will power to resist laughing, like this moment with Rob last week.... Brady had gotten into some trouble in daycare for hitting a friend. Rob was having a serious talk with him, but Brady had lots of reasons why he thought it was ok to hit this daycare friend. Rob finally said, "Brady, the bottom line is YOU CAN'T HIT YOUR FRIENDS." To this Brady responded, "The TOP LINE is that I can hit whoever I want!" Never a dull moment with this one!!

Flank steak & the best carrots ever

(click picture to enlarge)

I'm on a cooking kick (This is what I do while I hibernate during the winter).

So, here's a recipe for a marinated flank steak with red wine, balsamic vinegar, mushrooms & bacon, and a side dish of maple glazed carrots with walnuts that knocks our socks off!

Ingredient list:
Flank Steak
Balsamic Vinegar
Red Wine
Olive oil
2 cloves garlic
Pepper/Salt
Sliced Mushrooms
3 - 4 slices of thick bacon, chopped
1 Tablespoon butter

Baby carrots
Walnuts
Catalina salad dressing
Real maple syrup or brown sugar (either works)

Step 1.
In a plastic bag, marinade the flank steak with equal parts balsamic vinegar & red wine, 2 cloves crushed garlic, a splash of olive oil and ground pepper. It doesn't take a lot, use just enough to surround the meat in the bag. Let marinade for 3- 4 hours, all day, or overnight if you want!

Step 2. Before you start to grill the steak, prepare all the other pieces of the meal. Start the carrots cooking in a small amount of water, slice some mushrooms, cut up 4 pieces of bacon. (I served mashed potatoes with this meal too)

The meat & glaze is fast cooking so I get everything ready to go.

Step 3. All of this is going on at once:

Steak:
Remove from marinade. Salt/pepper. Grill for about 5 - 6 minutes on each side. I usually use my indoor grill pan, but outside grilling is great too. After 5 - 6 minutes per side (if you like rare or medium rare), put the steak on a plate & cover with foil.

Glaze for Steak:
While the steak is grilling -- In a skillet, saute the chopped bacon, add the mushrooms. When finished, let them drain on a paper towel (There shouldn't be a lot of grease from the bacon, but if there was, I would remove most of the grease from the skillet). In the skillet, add about 1/3 cup of the red wine, 3 - 4 Tablespoons of the balsamic vinegar and 1 Tablespoon butter (honestly, I never measure, but just pour in the liquids until it looks like enough - you don't need a lot of this glaze - it is rich!). Bring to a bubble, scraping up any browned bits from the skillet; it will reduce quickly. You can add a little more wine, or pour the juice from the steak plate in the skillet as well. Pour into a gravy boat or small dish that you can pour it out of.

Carrots: When the carrots are almost done, add a squeeze of the Catalina dressing(a light Tablespoon) & about a Tablespoon of maple syrup (I've made this with maple syrup or brown sugar - either turns out well- a little sweet, a little tangy). Bring to a boil & add a handful of walnuts just before serving and stir until the walnuts are glazed and warm.

Step 4. Get it all to the table:
Slice the steak in thin strips across the grain of the meat. Top with bacon & mushrooms. I fix plates before drizzling with the red wine glaze (because the boys don't like as much of it as I do). Salt & pepper as desired.

I'm not sure that my rambling explanation & recipe conveys how easy & quick it is for a really delicious meal !! If it appeals to you, I hope you'll try it!

Something like Chicken Piccata

Chicken Piccata - the capers, + a creamier sauce & mushrooms

I love a nice lemony chicken piccata with capers, but none of the boys in my house like capers, and I knew they would enjoy a little bit thicker sauce more than a traditional chicken piccata.

With a few variations on the traditional recipe, here is what we had for dinner:
Step 1. Butterfly 2 chicken breasts (slice down the middle,but don't cut all the way through, and flip open - they'll cook quickly this way, and be less pieces to deal with).
2. Dredge the chicken in flour (I seasoned the flour very lightly with oregano powder & ground pepper).
3. Melt 2 Tblsp butter with 2 Tblsp olive oil in a large skillet.
4. When the butter/oil is sizzling, add the chicken. Salt & Pepper chicken. Cook for approx 4 minutes until browned before flipping.
5. A minute or two after flipping the chicken, add sliced mushrooms (as many as you like, or skip if you don't like mushrooms, but remember, "don't crowd the mushrooms" - name that movie!)
6. When chicken is browned, remove to a plate.
7. To the skillet add approx. 1/4 cup white wine, 1/2 cup chicken broth, juice of one lemon. Bring to a boil, scraping up all the yummy bits from the pan.
Now, here's where I really went away from the traditional recipe:
8. For a nice creamy sauce, add about 1/2 can of cream of chicken soup (I removed any pieces of chicken). Whisk together with lemon/wine/broth sauce.
9. When bubbling, add chicken back into skillet.
10. Add 1 - 2 Tblsp of Parsley (dried was fine), let it bubble all together for about a minute.

Serve over rice. It was a hit with the boys & pretty quick to make from start to finish!

6 Years

In honor of Cooper's 6th birthday, I'm taking a stroll down memory lane. What wonderful years these have been!

always a precious, easy baby

first swim

taking time to smell the flowers

enjoying the snow

one of my all time favorite pictures



as a new big brother

4th birthday

snuggling Brady when he was sick

in from the cold

making mud pies

Soccer & School days

Cooper, we've loved every moment with you! Happy 6th birthday!