Sunday, October 23, 2005
Friday, October 21, 2005
Harvest Party Menu
Salad (with tortilla chips)
1 can black beans, drained
4 plum tomatoes, chopped
Salt
2 cups corn kernels
about 1/4 red onion, chopped
1 bunch cilantro, chopped
Juice of 1 lime
1/4 cup olive oil
Pepper
Cayenne
In a serving bowl toss tomatoes with salt and set aside for 10-15 minutes to bring out juices. Add beans, corn, and onion and mix well. Add cilantro, lime juice and oil. Stir to coat. Season with salt, pepper and cayenne to taste. Serve immediately, or set aside for 30 minutes for flavors to intensify (I served it the next day and it was just as good).
Turkey-Cranberry finger sandwiches (aka Thanksgiving -on-Bun)
Wheat rolls
Pulled turkey
Stove Top turkey stuffing, prepared
Cream cheese
Cranberry sauce
Layer ingredients on wheat roll and serve cold
Fall Fruit Dip
1 can solid pack pumpkin
80z package of cream cheese, softened
1-1/4 cup powdered sugar
3 tsp pumkin spice (or a tsp each: cinnamon, cloves, ginger, dash of nutmeg, etc)
Beat cream cheese and pumpkin together until smooth; stir in sugar and spices, Chill and serve with sliced pears and apples.
Punch: Old Orchard Apple Passion Mango Juice (2 frozen cans); 2 cans water; 3 litres ginger ale; ice.
Chili w/ cornbread- I had other people bring these items, but they were delicious. Also, I had planned to make Peanut soup, but considering the guest list, I settled on an Old Fashioned Chicken Noodle Soup (Chicken broth, celery, carrots, fat egg noodles, choped white chicken---99% fat free and YUMMY). However, Peanut Soup is so good, I want you to have the recipe. Same with the cider.
WEST AFRICAN PEANUT SOUP
1 cup chopped onion
1 TB vegetable oil
1/2 tsp cayenne or other ground chiles
1 tsp grated peeled fresh ginger
1 cup chopped carrots
2 cups chopped sweet potatoes
4 cups vegetable stock or water
2 cups tomato juice
1 cup smooth peanut butter
1 TB sugarchopped scallions,chopped
roasted peanuts
Sauté onion in oil until it is transluscent. Stir in cayenne and ginger. Add carrots and sauté a couple minutes more. Mix in potatoes and stock, bring to a boil, simmer 15 minutes(until the vegetables are tender).
Puree the vegetables with tomato juice (and some of the cooking liquid if necessary) in a blender or food processor. Return the puree to the pot. Stir in the peanut butter until smooth.
Check sweetness and add sugar if necessary. Reheat gently, using a heat difuser if necessary to prevent scorching. Add more water, stock, or tomato juice to make a thinner soup if desired. Serve topped with plenty of chopped scallions and chopped roasted peanuts.
Spiced Cider
2 qt. apple cider
¼ c. brown sugar
2 bay leaves
2 cinnamon sticks
½ tsp. cardamom
½ tsp. nutmeg
4 whole cloves
zest of one orange (optional)
Combine the cider, light brown sugar, bay leaves, cinnamon sticks, cloves, cardamom, nutmeg, and orange zest in a large pan. Bring to a boil, then simmer uncovered 30 minutes. Strain the spices from the mixture and discard. Return the cider to pan and keep warm. The cider is ready –serves 8.
There! Now go have your own party, and don't forget to delegate.
1 can black beans, drained
4 plum tomatoes, chopped
Salt
2 cups corn kernels
about 1/4 red onion, chopped
1 bunch cilantro, chopped
Juice of 1 lime
1/4 cup olive oil
Pepper
Cayenne
In a serving bowl toss tomatoes with salt and set aside for 10-15 minutes to bring out juices. Add beans, corn, and onion and mix well. Add cilantro, lime juice and oil. Stir to coat. Season with salt, pepper and cayenne to taste. Serve immediately, or set aside for 30 minutes for flavors to intensify (I served it the next day and it was just as good).
Turkey-Cranberry finger sandwiches (aka Thanksgiving -on-Bun)
Wheat rolls
Pulled turkey
Stove Top turkey stuffing, prepared
Cream cheese
Cranberry sauce
Layer ingredients on wheat roll and serve cold
Fall Fruit Dip
1 can solid pack pumpkin
80z package of cream cheese, softened
1-1/4 cup powdered sugar
3 tsp pumkin spice (or a tsp each: cinnamon, cloves, ginger, dash of nutmeg, etc)
Beat cream cheese and pumpkin together until smooth; stir in sugar and spices, Chill and serve with sliced pears and apples.
Punch: Old Orchard Apple Passion Mango Juice (2 frozen cans); 2 cans water; 3 litres ginger ale; ice.
Chili w/ cornbread- I had other people bring these items, but they were delicious. Also, I had planned to make Peanut soup, but considering the guest list, I settled on an Old Fashioned Chicken Noodle Soup (Chicken broth, celery, carrots, fat egg noodles, choped white chicken---99% fat free and YUMMY). However, Peanut Soup is so good, I want you to have the recipe. Same with the cider.
WEST AFRICAN PEANUT SOUP
1 cup chopped onion
1 TB vegetable oil
1/2 tsp cayenne or other ground chiles
1 tsp grated peeled fresh ginger
1 cup chopped carrots
2 cups chopped sweet potatoes
4 cups vegetable stock or water
2 cups tomato juice
1 cup smooth peanut butter
1 TB sugarchopped scallions,chopped
roasted peanuts
Sauté onion in oil until it is transluscent. Stir in cayenne and ginger. Add carrots and sauté a couple minutes more. Mix in potatoes and stock, bring to a boil, simmer 15 minutes(until the vegetables are tender).
Puree the vegetables with tomato juice (and some of the cooking liquid if necessary) in a blender or food processor. Return the puree to the pot. Stir in the peanut butter until smooth.
Check sweetness and add sugar if necessary. Reheat gently, using a heat difuser if necessary to prevent scorching. Add more water, stock, or tomato juice to make a thinner soup if desired. Serve topped with plenty of chopped scallions and chopped roasted peanuts.
Spiced Cider
2 qt. apple cider
¼ c. brown sugar
2 bay leaves
2 cinnamon sticks
½ tsp. cardamom
½ tsp. nutmeg
4 whole cloves
zest of one orange (optional)
Combine the cider, light brown sugar, bay leaves, cinnamon sticks, cloves, cardamom, nutmeg, and orange zest in a large pan. Bring to a boil, then simmer uncovered 30 minutes. Strain the spices from the mixture and discard. Return the cider to pan and keep warm. The cider is ready –serves 8.
There! Now go have your own party, and don't forget to delegate.
Thursday, October 20, 2005
Steady On
No, I am not suicidal or anything--this is just a funny from today's engrish.com
I am not dead. It has been a crazy week. The kind where you're like totally out of gas and writing a sentence is out of the question. I am guessing I will have about 5 or 6 more weeks like this in a row until I graduate to second trimester bliss. Right now I am anemic and sporting a severely inflamed sacroilliac ligament-thingy for which I have to wear an ice pack on my left butt cheek, but only when I am standing because sitting and laying down are not good for the joint. But then standing up and moving around aren't that great for the tired anemic girl, either. And oh yeah, and remember how I always put Heidi's hair in a little ponytail on top of her head? Um, it's gone. My psycho-barber child, Addie, gave her baby sister a good chop, and took some off of her own scary recovering hair-do, too (of course pix will follow ASAP). Whatever, little freaks. So yeah, life is good.
Really, I am not complaining because (repeat after me) AT LEAST I'M NOT THROWING UP! I've been able to do lots of really good stuff, actually, including throwing a fun baby shower for my sister-in-law tonight. It was a dinner, too (yes, I am nuts) and the menu was fab. So good, in fact, I shall post the recipes when I get a chance cuz...well, just YUM! We played 2 simple games and opened gifts, then ate warm pumkin-carmel cake and said g'nite, all to the sounds of Loreena McKennit and the yummy smells of Gold Canyon Apple Spice candles and the pumkin cake baking. It was a fall-lover's paradise. Now I must sleep. Pictures coming soon...gestation is hard work.
Sunday, October 16, 2005
Googling is Fun
From Crouching Mommy, Hidden Laundry we have this google images scavenger hunt. Go to Google Images and put in the name of the town where you were born, the town you live in now, your name, the name of your grandmother, your favorite food, favorite smell, and favorite song. Then you post the images. So, here goes:


Have a Gander
A surprisingly kind and fair picture of the LDS church and Joseph Smith appears in Newsweek this week: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9630255/site/newsweek/
And now I gotta go be a Mormon...:)
And now I gotta go be a Mormon...:)
Saturday, October 15, 2005
PUMPKIN PARTY-10/12
Wednesday Night was Pumkin Night and the girls went to town carving pumpkins. They also brought a lot of friends, so it was a really fun night. I had to take my two girls with me because Richard was helping a neighbor paint his house, but they had a good time, too.
Jessica & her friend, way into their carving
Kelsey didn't want me to see her punk rock pumpkin!
Brittany and Taylor worked on their pumkins in the kitchen while the seeds were roasting in the oven (that's Brittany's mom in the background doing something with the cub scouts).





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