a little ice cream

I'm pretty particular about my ice cream. It's actually gotta be ice cream ... not some sad imitation concocted with who knows what. The local store here doesn't carry the ice cream I usually buy ... so I had to make my own!!! My in-laws have been trying to pass the homemade ice cream making tradition onto us for a few years now ... but I never really had the oomph to do it until last night.

First, I googled for recipes a bit until I couldn't stand the 42.6 Kbps internet speed another moment. (I was trying to find something slightly healthier than my in-laws' tried and true recipe.) Then, I called my friend who regularly makes homemade ice cream. She gave me her grandma's recipe and I decided to try it ~ with minor revisions. She said, "it's good," and then I imagine that she shrugged ... but she should have RAVED about it ~ it's beyond delicious!!! Jeff picked up the cream and the whole milk for me this afternoon and I made it right away ~ even though it was almost suppertime. It was very tempting to skip supper and go right to dessert!

YUMMY VANILLA ICE CREAM
4 pasteurized eggs ~ beat until foamy
then add:
2 c. sugar
1 quart whipping cream
3 c. whole milk
1 T. pure vanilla extract
1/4 tsp. salt
mix well

*put in ice cream maker (takes about 40 minutes) and ENJOY*

a little grilled pizza

Last night, due to a desperate desire for good pizza (since last week's pizza outing was so-so), I attempted to grill a frozen pizza. When I googled "grill frozen pizza", I was bombarded with links saying things like, "whatever you do, don't even think about grilling a frozen pizza". I discovered that most recipes for grilled pizza call for quickly grilling the crust first (no thick crusts allowed), then slathering on some sauce, and finally, throwing on the toppings ~ which must be minimal to cook properly ~ as fast as humanly possible. Unfortunately, I didn't have an oven or a fresh, unassembled pizza. I had a grill, two Carbone's frozen pizzas, and determination.

After a little more searching, I finally come across someone who said, "I don't know why the internet is full of failed attempts at grilling frozen pizza. It worked for me." Then, he shared how he did it. Turn all burners up high to preheat. Then, leaving on just one burner, put the pizza in and let it cook with indirect heat (not over a flame). Rotate a bit every several minutes and try to maintain the temperature around 400. Sounded easy enough and it worked okay ... but because it was so cold out, it was hard to keep the temperature over 325 ~ even with two burners going. It eventually got cooked and it was mighty tasty ... but ovens are definitely easier :)

a little policeman

My six and 3/4 year-old son was reduced to tears tonight. He likes to play that he is a "real pretend policeman" and this requires his vest, several badges, usually a whistle ... handcuffs and a gun ~ the last two each have a felt holder that he strings onto a large, flat lace and ties around his waist. He doesn't know how to tie bows though, only knots, so often there is a problem of trying to unknot the lace around his waist. This being said, he doesn't know how to tie his shoes yet either. He's had velcro or 'slip-on and cinch' style shoes for most of his life and we keep forgetting to take the time to teach him how to tie.

Tonight, however, after unknotting his waist string Daddy said, "You can't wear this string anymore until you learn how to tie so you can get it off by yourself." He immediately started crying ... "Then I can't be a policeman!" Sob ... sob ... sob. "You can be a policeman as soon as you learn how to tie your shoes," said Daddy. "It's too hard! I can't!" Buddy blubbered. "No, it's not hard. You could learn how to do it tonight," Daddy encouraged. "I can't do it!" More tears. "Yes you can ... and you are going to learn to tie your shoes right now," declared Daddy.

The shoe-tying lesson and practice session took about twenty-five minutes. Buddy was thrilled with his accomplishment and got his "police string" tied on all by himself! He thanked us and then made me seven little pictures (birds, a loon, and a gingerbread person) with "I LOVE YOU MOMMY" on the back of each one :) The small "love" notes were rather special because generally he just draws sheriff badges, walkie talkies, POLICE license plates, and the like ... to cut out and play with.

a little evening "up north"

We hit the town tonight ~ dashing to and from buildings because of the chilly temperature of 14 degrees! We found the local library and thankfully it was still open for another 17 minutes! It was much nicer and larger than I expected, considering the size of the town. We scurried to find as many Boxcar Children books as possible and a couple of police books for our future police officer ... plus whatever else caught our eyes. (Halo is going to be able to survive a few more days now. She's been desperate for something to read!) Then, we had pizza at Rosalini's ~ unfortunately, it wasn't as good as it has been in the past. It was definitely overcooked ~ dry crust, dark at the edges, cheese more brown than golden. It was good to be out of the cabin, however, and the kids enjoyed the Christmas decorations in the restaurant and the festive lights on the streetlamps. Finally, we stopped at Paulbeck's Market to get some groceries and paper goods. Back at the cabin, we raced inside and Jeff hurried to get the fire roaring again.

"I feel like a real wood-burning heat person!" Jeff exclaimed after adding some logs to the fireplace. "Isn't it amazing that we're basically heating this whole place with wood? I mean, the whole power grid could go down and we'd be just fine because we're heating with wood!!!"

"You're like a real wood-burning heat person?" I clarify for my blog :)

"Yep. I'm going to start keeping track of how much wood we go through every day." Such exciting things we're doing here :)

P.S. Halo loves to help haul the firewood and stack it near the house and fill the copper tub when it gets low ... it reminds her of Laura Ingalls ~ who we are so fond of!

a little chicken

Last weekend, my mother-in-law kindly made a batch of her BBQ Chicken for us. It's one of my favorite things that she makes (perhaps my most favorite thing) ~ and it was exactly what my pregnant self was craving! It's a bit spicy ... and reminds me of Asian food (but it's probably missing some key ingredients that would make it such) ... nonetheless, it's delicious and the recipe is definitely worth sharing.

BBQ CHICKEN

8 - 10 chicken breasts or tenderloins (more if using tenderloins?)
flour
2 T. oil

dredge chicken pieces in flour and brown in oil. place browned chicken in shallow baking dish. mix the following and pour over chicken. bake at 350 for 1 1/2 to 2 hours.

1 c. ketchup
1/4 c. 57 sauce
1/4 c. Worcestshire sauce
1/4 c. sugar
1/4 c. water
1 - 2 T. cider vinegar
3 garlic cloves ~ minced
1 medium onion ~ minced
1 tsp. salt

a little about Barbie dolls

I'm not overly fond of Barbie dolls. I wasn't into them as a child either. Nonetheless, I allowed Halo to purchase one this summer ... and she played with it a couple times at most. Then, she asked for more Barbies for her birthday ~ and she received two. She brought all of them up to the cabin with us this weekend.

As Halo was opening the boxes, she read, "Barbie and friends are all about fashion, style, and friendship." Oh, wonderful ... I think. Then, she informed us what each of her dolls have as their fashion motto (according to the boxes). "A touch of sparkle works with everything." "It's all about the shoes." And, "Never underestimate the power of the perfect outfit." What wisdom!

The first thing the Barbie dolls did when they were all unboxed and ready for play, however, was go to church. Halo sang as she danced them around ...

When the sun comes up ... when the sun goes down ... I'm gonna walk in the light of Jesus all the way ...

After "church", Halo went back to reading The Bobbsey Twins while her little brother and sister played Barbies. Buddy promptly made a wakeboard for the girl in the swimsuit out of blue cardstock. He also constructed a boat to pull her behind ~ it worked somewhat. Then, Foofie wanted to put the bikini on another doll and she was having trouble getting the bottoms on. I told her that Halo said the swimsuit didn't really fit the other two dolls very well. "Yes, it does," she said. "I got her top on already. See? She has bumps too!"

a little excitement

Today was an exciting day for us! My husband FINALLY finished his first rehab house and got it listed! It's still a bit unbelieveable ~ sort of like a pregnancy ... how it often feels like the baby will never arrive ~ it felt like this house would never really be completed. But it is! Hooray! And to top it off, our realtor got a call ~ within just four hours of listing ~ for a showing this evening!

Other excitement: Halo turned nine today ~ she's growing up too fast! We went to Olive Garden for supper and then to the mall for a bit. (She had a lovely party this past Sunday at Grandma T's.)