Family Vacation

Last month, my new family (and some extended family) loaded up and drove to Red River, New Mexico for a ski vacation. On this trip I learned something very important. I am not a skier. But I am ok with that revelation. I skied for one day. Failed miserably. And proceeded to spend the rest of my vacation doing what I want to do on vacation - lounge around the cabin with a fire, sit at the bar, read, and catch up on the gossip with my friends. My idea of perfect.

Here are just a few things to wrap up our trip. First, if you've never seen one, this is what a cold front looks like. About 2.5 hours into our trip we saw the sky do this and I can say that we were just a little freaked out. I kept waiting on the sky to fall and a big twister to eat us up. The sky went from really sunny and pretty to...well, dark and crazy looking. But when the temperature dropped a good 20 degrees in about 4 minutes, we figured out that we were safe.

We stopped halfway in Amarillo for the night. When you're travelling with an 8 year old, stopping is important. Though, not quite as important as I thought it would be since he has a DVD player in the car. Anyway - my SD insisted on going to the Big Texas Steakhouse for dinner. I've seen this place on Food Network and I'm a sucker for anything that ends up on FN. Apparently they have this 72 oz steak that if you eat it (with sides) in an hour your meal is free. Yeah...whatever! Someone did attempt it, but failed. Bad. And no, it was not Jason. He has been known in his college days to do crazy things like eat large quantities of food for a free meal.

The food here was pretty good - of course I had steak. And it's a fun "tourist trap" atmosphere, but what else were we going to do?

We were really lucky to have a cabin right across from the main ski lift. Because it also happens to be right across from the bar. After one day of skiing, Casi and I found our home! AND the weather was great - by the third day there we were sitting outside in just t-shirts. It felt great!

Jason and Adam were the only ones brave enough to make it all the way to the top. It really looked pretty. There was supposed to be a bar at the top with a great view, but the only way down is to ski. Considering the trip I made up the small lift and had to walk down...I decided that it would be too hard to walk my butt down with a pair of skiis in tow, so the photos would have to do. Apparently during the summer you can take the lift up and down for $10. So...why can't you do that in the winter? They're so missing out on great booze revenue. I would have camped out there all day. Oh, well.

My "I am so old and boring" part of the trip came New Year's Eve. We (all) managed to make Texas New Year's and that was it! After dinner, the 5 of us walked/slipped our way down to the bar we visited when we first got to town for NYE. We'd heard they were having live music...but promptly turned around when they asked us to pay the $10 cover! What the heck?!?! So, we slipped our way back to the Ski Lift Bar to drink at a much lower cost. And managed to make the New York midnight before heading home. It was Texas midnight when we crawled in bed...but just bearly! That skiing is hard work!

Overall, Red River is great ski town - small, family friendly, great places to stay. I would go back for sure - but I just won't bother trying to ski!!

I need two ovens.

That statement went from a "want" to a "need" during the holidays. The in-laws came in the weekend before Christmas so that we could celebrate with them. And me, being the obsessive "I can do it all" kind of person I am decided that I'd be able to fix this elaborate meal without my MIL bringing anything. Usually I take up her offer on adding in a side and a few desserts, but this time...nope, I can do it all! Yeah, right. When they left I told Jason that next time I'm going to Sam's and buying a freaking box of paper plates and cups. Mostly, it was my dumb fault for thinking that everything needed to be served on my fancy Christmas dishes. The fancy dishes that cannot go in the dishwasher. Idiot.

So, I sat down to create this fantastic meal. The kind that did not include turkey and dressing. I nixed the Roasted Red Pepper soup that I wanted, mostly because Jason correctly stated that I would probably not like it. I ended up with rolls & butter, Spinach Salad with Warm Bacon Dressing, Roasted Pork Tenderloin with Carolina Apple Compote, Potatoes Au Gratin, Green Beans Amandine and the Peppermint Cheesecake from a few posts back. Everything would have worked out great...if I had factored cooking time and temps into this menu. See, three of the above items needed to bake in the oven. For about an our each. All at different temperatures. Nice. And since I waited until the last minute to buy Jason's Christmas gifts, I used most of my cooking time Saturday shopping. Even better.

In the end, I compromised by giving Jason the pork to cook on the grille and moving dinner time back by an hour. Not so bad, considering I was aiming for 6:30.

Pork Loin Roast with Carolina Apple Compote from Southern Living

• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 3 teaspoons dried Italian seasoning
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 1 (3-lb.) boneless pork loin roast
• Kitchen string
• 2 teaspoons canola oil
• 2 pounds Gala apples, unpeeled (I couldn't find these at my store so I bought some other red apples)
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1 cup apple cider
• 5 tablespoons sugar
• 2 1/2 teaspoons orange zest
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• Pinch of ground cloves
• 1 tablespoon butter

The first 4 ingredients are for the pork tenderloin - since I turned that over to Jason I have no idea what he did instead. The recipe calls for the seasoning to be rubbed on all sides of the pork and tied with kitchen string at 1" intervals. Chill the pork for 2 hours. Brown it on the stove top and transfer to a 375 oven for about 1 hour. Instead, we threw this on the grill. The key to keeping things moist and tender is to let them rest when you take them off of the heat. It's taken me a while to get that through to Jason. He wants to take the food off the grill and cut it up right away. Huge difference when you take the extra 15 minutes!

For the sauce, cut apples into bite-size pieces and sprinkle with lemon juice. Add cider and next 4 ingredients to skillet. Cook, over medium heat, stirring occasionally, 10 minutes or until slightly thickened. Add apples, and cook, stirring occasionally, 20 minutes or just until apples are tender and liquid is absorbed. Stir in butter until melted, and remove skillet from heat. Stir any accumulated pan juices from roast into compote. Serve compote immediately with pork.

Green Beans Amandine from Southern Living

• 1/2 cup sliced almonds
• 2 lbs fresh green beans
• 1/3 cup butter
• 1 T lemon juice
• salt & pepper

Bake almonds at 350 for about 5-10 minutes, set aside. Split the beans lengthwise, cook in boiling water for about 4 minutes, or until tender. Drain. Melt butter and add remaining ingredients. Toss to coat.

Herb Potatoes au Gratin from Aaron McCargo, Jr. - Food Network

• 1 stick butter
• 1/2 cup flour
• 2 cups milk
• 1/2 cup grated Mild Cheddar
• 1/4 cup grated American cheese
• 1/4 cup grated white cheddar (I used Monterrey Jack instead)
• 1 t chicken bullion powder (I didn't have any, so I left this out)
• 2 t ground nutmeg
• 1 t pepper
• 3 lbs russet potatoes, peeled and sliced thin




• 1 stick butter, melted
• 2 cups Panko breadcrumbs
• 2 t smoked paprika

Preheat oven to 350. In a large sauce pot over medium-high heat, melt butter. Stir in the flour until pasty. Add milk and stir to remove lumps. Let it cook for about 6 minutes, or until thick. Lower the heat and add the cheese, bouillon, nutmeg and black pepper. Whisk until well combined and sauce thickens, about 4 minutes. Remove from heat. In a bowl, combine butter, Panko and smoky paprika. Stir well. Place potatoes into a 9*13 casserole dish. Pour cheese over potatoes and sprinkle au gratin on top. Wrap with foil and bake in oven for 35 to 45 minutes. Remove foil and cook for 10 minutes uncovered. Allow to sit for 10 minutes.

Happy Birthday Jett!!!

A few weeks ago my godson Jett turned two. The Terrible 2's. Really, though, how can someone so stinking cute be classified as terrible? I'm sure there is a way. I guess we'll find out in the next year. So, since Jett was sick with RSV last year, his mom had to cancel his first birthday party. Apparently RSV is pretty contagious to kids...and what fun is a birthday party without any kids? Poor thing - at least he didn't know any better.

Well, this year, his mom did it up right! A Mickey Mouse (or Mi-ey Mouse if you've heard Jett say it) party complete with cake, party favors, cotton candy and popcorn. And lots of wind. For the record, his party was supposed to be a "Jet Plane" party but apparently airplane party stuff is hard to find! So, the week of we made the switch to Mickey Mouse. Good call, because this kid was SO FREAKING EXCITED that Mi-ey Mouse came to his party!!!

And yes, being the really cool godparents we are - we bought him a rockin' Radio Flyer tricycle! I'm not 100% sure if he knows what it is or how to use it or even if his legs reach the petals, but I'm sure he thinks it's fun!

It's chili...but it's not.

Chili is supposed to be made with beef and have this reddish-brownish color. That's it. Anything else can't really qualify as "chili." Well, in my opinion at least. A coworker eats this stuff (I can't say it's food) that comes in a bag and is vegetarian chili. It looks like chili, but she's actually said that it is not really that good. Not bad, but not that good. Why she continues to eat it, I'll never understand. She's NOT a vegetarian. Tonight, the girl will be having a big huge steak and baked potato for dinner (her Friday night ritual with her husband). So why suffer through fake food when you don't have to? I think that she thinks it is healthy. I also think that somewhere in that bag of fake stuff is something that is bad for you. Maybe the dye that makes it look the reddish-brownish color. For the record, today she ate a BBQ sandwich - except the BBQ meat came out of a similar chili-bag and is not really "meat." I don't get it.

So, now that you know what goes on in the cafeteria at work every day, I'll get to the point of the post. I found a recipe for White Christmas Chili and figured it could not be that bad! I just don't think it should be called chili - maybe...some sort of soup. Either way it was pretty good. A few too many green chili's for my taste, but pretty good overall.

White Christmas Chili from Southern Living

• 4 skinned and boned chicken breast halves
• 5 cups water
• 1 large onion, chopped and divided
• 2 T butter or margarine
• 2 celery ribs, chopped (about 1/3 cup) (I left this out, neither of us like celery)
• 3 (16 oz) cans great Northern beans, rinsed, drained, and divided
• 3 (4.5 oz) cans chopped green chiles
• 1 cup canned chicken broth
• 1 t ground cumin
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 t salt
• 1/8 t ground red pepper
• 1 T chopped fresh cilantro

Place chicken, 5 cups water, and half of onion in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat, and cook 15 to 18 minutes or until chicken is tender. Remove chicken and cut into bite-size pieces, reserving broth in Dutch oven. Melt butter in a skillet; add celery and remaining onion, and sauté until tender. Stir chicken, celery mixture, 2 cans beans, and next 6 ingredients into broth in Dutch oven, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low, and cook 1 hour, stirring frequently, until thickened. Process remaining 1 can beans in a blender until smooth, stopping to scrape down sides. Stir bean pureé into chili. Remove and discard bay leaf; stir in cilantro just before serving with desired toppings (cheese, tortilla chips).

Just in case you didn't know...

Jason can cook. And pretty well, I might add. So one morning he made French Toast for breakfast. First, I'm not a fan of eggs. Sometimes the smell of cooked eggs will drive me out of the kitchen. So anything like French Toast or breakfast tacos (yes, I can eat these sometimes) has to be light on the eggs and I need something to mask the taste.

I have no idea how he made this, but he did insist on taking a photo.

Not food related, but something else I enjoy

I'm a reader. My favorite thing thing to do is take a hot bath with a good book and a glass of wine. My ideal down time! So, I decided to expand my reading for the next few months by trying this little challenge from The Nest Book Club. I tend to read the same type of books over and over again...or just read the same book over and over. One of my favorite gifts for Christmas were the first two Harry Potter books in hardback! Now if I can ever get HP7 back from my sister, I'm going to read the whole series again.

As for the challenge, I don't think there will be a winner but I'd like to see how many points I can get. It goes from January - March...and I'm hoping I won't give up or burn out.

1.28.09 update: FYI - I suck at this. I'm a good reader and I love reading, but catching up on Season 4 of Lost got in the way of my reading. So on January 27th I finished my first book for the year. That's it. In my defense it was a LOOOOOOONG book. So for now, I have a whopping 25 pts.

2.15.09 update: I finished my second book. Finally. I always thought I was a fast reader... I'm going to keep telling myself that I am a fast reader, but I'm also a busy woman. Hopefully that will make me feel better

The Winter Challenge
5 Point Tasks
1. Read A Book with a color in the title (red, blue, black Ect.).
2. Read A Book with a number in the title (1, 2, 3, etc.).
3. Read A Book with the book Love in the title.
4. Read a Book with a type of Candy in the title (chocolate, bon bons, etc.)
5. Read a Book with an animal in the title (dog, horse, cat, etc,)
6. Read the Book that has been on your TBR pile the longest?
7. Take 10 titles off you TBR Pile (minus the one above if you do it) and put the titles of each on a piece of paper. Then put in hat scramble them up and pick one out. Read that book.
8. Read a Mystery Book. 2.15.09 finished Witness in Death, J.D. Robb
9. Read a Book with a winter word in the title (snow, ice, sleet, cold, etc.)
10. Read a Book where an African-American is the main character. (February is African American history month)

10 Point Tasks
1. Read a Non-fiction book.
2. Read a Book with January, February, or March in the title.
3. Read a Book whose title contains a body part (heart, toe, finger, etc.)
4. Read a Book by an author you have never read before.
5. Read a Romance Novel
6. Read a Historical Fiction Book.
7. Read a book with the name of a city, country, continent in the title.
8. Read a Book about music
9. Read a book about a celebrity
10. Read a Young adult book.

15 Point Tasks
1. Read a book with an occupation in the title.
2. Read a book that you have already seen the movie for.
3. Read a banned book.
4. Read a Book written by an African-American Author
5. Read a Fiction or Non-fiction book about a politician or politics
6. Read a book in a series and the one that follows it.
7. Read a book from the 1001 books list.
8. Read a book from a bestsellers list.
9. Read a Fiction or Non-fiction book about Football, Basketball, or Hockey.
10. Read a book you read in High School.

25 Point Tasks
1. Read a book and then watch the movie
2. Read a Book than cook a meal inspired by it.
3. Read a book over 700 pages. - 1.27.09 finished Outlander, Diana Gabaldon

A Tale of Two Cheescakes

Before Thanksgiving I asked Jason what kind of cheesecake he would want me to make. I was hoping for pumpkin or maybe red velvet. His answer was "plain." Plain? How very...un-challenging. Meaning, bo-ring. Ok...whatever. I'll go for it. But come Christmas, it was my choice! Peppermint. And for the record, Jason's least favorite flavor is mint-chocolate. That's right, he does not like Thin Mint cookies. He'll eat them, but they are not a preference. Crazy.

Strawberry Cheesecake from Southern Living

• 1 3/4 cups graham cracker crumbs
• 1/2 cup butter, melted
• 1/4 cup chopped pecans
• 1/2 t ground cinnamon
• 2 (8 oz) pkgs cream cheese, softened
• 1 (16 oz) container sour cream
• 2 large eggs
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/4 t salt
• 2 t grated lemon rind
• 2 t vanilla extract
• 1/2 t almond extract

Combine first 4 ingredients, stirring well. Press into the bottom and 1" up the sides of a 9" springform pan. Beat cheese and next 7 ingredients with an electric mixer at medium speed. Pour into crust. Bake at 375 for 1 hour, or until middle is set. Cool on a wire rack and chill for 8 hours. ((the recipe calls for a strawberry topping, but Jason wanted cherry pie filling instead...I know, he's strange))

Crushed-Peppermint Cheesecake from Sunset

• 12 ounces Oreos, broken into pieces
• 3 T melted butter
• 1 1/2 pounds cream cheese, at room temperature
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/3 cup sour cream
• 4 eggs
• 2 T all-purpose flour
• 1 t vanilla
• 1/2 t peppermint extract
• 1/2 t salt
• 1/3 cup coarsely crushed peppermint candy

Place cookies in a heavy zip-lock plastic bag and crush with a rolling pin. Pour into a buttered 9-inch round springform pan and pour melted butter over crumbs; mix to coat, then press evenly over bottom and about 1/2 inch up sides of pan. Bake in a 300° oven until crust is slightly darker and looks a bit dry, about 10 minutes (leave oven on). Meanwhile, in a bowl, with a mixer on medium speed, beat cream cheese and sugar until well blended. Beat in sour cream. Add eggs one at a time, beating to blend after each addition. Beat in flour, vanilla, peppermint extract, and salt until smooth. Pour cream cheese mixture into pan over baked crust. Bake until edges are just golden and center jiggles slightly when pan is gently shaken, about 1 hour. Run a knife around edge of pan rim. Place pan on a wire rack and cool cheesecake completely in pan. Cover and chill until cold, at least 4 hours or up to 2 days. Run a knife around rim again, then release rim. Decorate top of cake with crushed peppermint candy, pressing it in gently with your hands.

My new favorite cookie recipe

Who doesn't love some Paula Deen? Seriously - a woman who laughs as much as she does and has a show with a snowman shaped block of butter is someone to idolize. My mom gave me a magazine months ago that was a Paula Deen Holiday special - full of recipies overflowing with butter. I was in love.

Then I got busy and only managed to make one recipe - her Heavenly Sugar Cookies. These are great! I've made them twice and I think they'll be my go-to sugar cookie recipe. I think it is the almond extract.

Heavenly Sugar Cookies from Paula Deen

• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 2 t vanilla extract
• 1 t almond extract
• 3 1/2 cups flour
• 2 t baking powder
• 1/2 t salt

Beat butter and sugar at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy. Beat in eggs and extracts. In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder and salt. Gradually add to sugar mixture, beating until combined. Cover and chill for at least an hour. Frost with your choice of icing - I used the standard Wilton recipe.

The inspiration for these came from Katie's blog...mine don't look quite as cute. Mostly because I decided that making the royal icing and filling them would be too much of a pain in the butt.

Happy New Year!

And a few other missed holidays in there. I think I missed Thanksgiving and Christmas...so hopefully those went well.

Let's see...Thanksgiving was good. We visited my family the weekend before and the in-laws over the holiday. I was in charge of cooking the turkey and a "plain cheesecake" based on the request by Jason. We visited our friends who were in from Delaware - and who are having a baby later this month! The team of the baby is still TBD.

The month of December flew by way too fast. We had plenty of time to visit with friends, celebrated Jett's second birthday and managed to squeeze in a visit to the theater for White Christmas. It is my second favorite holiday movie (FYI Holiday Inn is my favorite) and we were pleasantly surprised with snow at the end of the show!

The weekend before Christmas, Jason's parents and brother came to celebrate. And we headed to my family's house Christmas Eve after a round of golf with my cousins. For the record, the women folk were accused of "too much giggling." Whatever. To wrap it all up, my family headed to Red River, NM the Saturday following Christmas for a ski vacation. Yeah...I'm not a skier. I'm a --- sitter and a drinker. And I'm good at those things! After driving back New Year's Day Jason & I spent the weekend cleaning up, doing laundry and relaxing. We also managed to catch up on 5 episodes of Lost from last season. An ideal Sunday to me!