Barley Vegetable soup

My mother-in-law visited last week while my husband was out of town, so we got to eat whatever we wanted.  I made this soup, since there is no way that P would eat it, too many vegetables he doesn't like.  We ate it for four days and I wish I had more, I could eat it every day.

Ingredients:

1C chopped onion (1 large)
1/2C bias-sliced carrot (1 medium)
1/2C sliced celery (1 stalk)
2C sliced fresh mushrooms
1 15 oz can red beans, rinsed and drained
1 14.5 oz can stewed tomatoes
1 10 oz package frozen whole kernel corn
1/2C regular barley
2tp dried Italian seasoning
1/4tp ground black pepper
3 cloves garlic, minced
5cups vegetable or chicken broth

Directions:
Put everything together in the crock pot and cook 8-10 hours on low, then enjoy!

Pumpkin Mac & Cheese

My husband loved this dish so much, I couldn't believe it.  He's sitting next to me right now and when he saw this one was getting added to the blog, he got really excited.  I will have to make it again soon!

Original Recipe found here

Ingredients:
2 C dried elbow macaroni
2 Tb butter
2 Tb flour
1/2 tp salt
1/2 tp pepper
1 cup whipping cream
1 cup whole milk
4 oz shredded Fontina
2 cups cooked pumpkin (I used cooked pumpkin, but you could use store bought  canned)
1/2 cup bread crumbs
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Cook pasta in a large pot following package directions. Drain cooked pasta, then return to pot.
 2. For cheese sauce, in a dutch oven melt butter over medium heat. Stir in flour, salt, and pepper. Add whipping cream and milk all at once. Cook and stir over medium heat until slightly thickened and bubbly. Stir in cheese, pumpkin, and sage until cheese is melted. Add Pasta to dutch oven.
3. In a small bowl combine bread crumbs, Parmesan, and oil; sprinkle over pasta. Bake, uncovered, for 30 minutes or until bubbly and top is golden. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

Tag blanket

I'm sure it is obvious that I love my daughter, based on the quantity of posts that are about her, but believe it or not, I've not made a quilt for her yet.  My mother-in-law and grandmother-in-law both quilt, and they have made two quilts already for her.  I haven't needed to make anything for her yet.  

I am now working on an activity quilt for her, but I'm not ready to show that yet.  As a teaser, I will show you the little blanket that my mother-in-law and I made for her this past week.  We were at Mill House Quilts, looking for kids fabric, when we saw these kits for tag blankets.  The kit says it's a Luvi blanket, and that is well suited, because Evelyn loves it!  We gave it to her and within minutes it was soaked. It's only 12 inches square, but it's the perfect size for her.  

6 Months!

Six months have gone by already!  Last year at this time, we were just telling people we were going to have a baby.  It was so exciting to share the news.  Now, one year later, we have a happy, healthy lovely little girl.  Our lives have changes so much since then, all for the better.

The best part of the last month was that E got to meet her Grandpa for the first time!

Polite Politics

An open letter:

Those who know me well know that I'm one of the least confrontational people in the world. If a waiter gets my order wrong, I'm the type of person who will eat whatever is served and still leave a generous tip. That being said, if I get pushed hard enough, I will speak out.

Facebook is a great service. I love being able to keep in touch with friends and family who are living far away from us. It's great to see how they are doing and share in their lives. However, you are allowed to post pretty much anything you want on there, and it shows up on other people's news feeds. The freedom of speech that we are allowed in this country is a great benefit, but we end up hearing everyone's opinion. This includes a lot of hateful speech. My pastor's wife growing up used to say, “garbage in, garbage out.” She wouldn't watch certain movies or TV shows because once seen or heard, those ideas can affect your behavior and thoughts.

With this election season, the political banter that has been showing up on my news feed has really started to affect me. I can drown out the cruel things that are said in the media, but when it is repeated by my own loved ones, it sticks in my brain. Whether people are pro-Obama or -Romney, their emotional comments about the opponent are often full of bile. People stating that if you are voting for the Republican candidate, you can defriend them. Calling the President of the United States “Obummer”. Where has the mutual respect gone? Since when is it appropriate to put down anyone who thinks differently? I am more than happy to discuss facts, political ideas, or challenges facing this country, but not in a disrespectful manner. There is no reason to belittle another person for their beliefs.

Will the world end if your candidate loses? Probably not. There are many safeguards in place to ensure that no one person can control the direction of this country. No matter who wins we won't end up in a state where only the wealthy elite have rights or where people are fornicating in the streets.

I believe that people are better than they sometimes act on Facebook. People are complicated, wonderful creatures. I am not about to end a relationship because someone disagrees with me on abortion or gay rights. However, I refuse to sit idly by and say it is ok to be disrespectful of other people. I will therefore be unsubscribing from posts of those people on my news feed who are saying cruel things about others in their posts. This is the type of garbage that I will no longer allow into my life, as I don't want it to come back out in my interactions with my family and friends.

Swiss Bircher-Meusli

In high-school, one of my best friends had some great family food traditions.  Many of those recipes are ones that I continue to make today.  I usually make this one at least once every summer.

Ingredients:
6 apples, something tart like granny smith
4-6 cups oatmeal
1/4 cup sweetened condensed milk
splash of orange juice
fresh fruit in season (berries, grapes, peaches)
bananas

Directions:
Shred the apples and mix them with citrus fruit.
Mix in sweetened condensed milk and oatmeal.
Add in chopped fresh fruit, but don't add the bananas until ready to serve.

Rich Autumn Pork Stew with Beer

Original recipe from Epicurious.  My friend Sam told me to make this for my husband, and I was very skeptical, since he doesn't like stews.  I wouldn't say he loves this one, but he does find it edible.  I personally think it's delicious!

Ingredients:
2 lbs boneless pork, cubed
salt & pepper
6 Tb olive oil
2 med onions, diced
4 med carrots, diced
2 med apples, cubed
1 bay leaf
1 cup tomatoes, diced
2 cups chicken broth
1 bottle, 12 oz, beer
2 Tb brown sugar
cooked buttered egg noodles

Directions:
Season pork with salt and pepper, brown in 4 Tb olive oil
On low heat cook onions, carrots and apples with 2 b olive oil about 10 minutes adding the garlic in the last 2 minutes.  Add in remaining ingredients except egg noodles, add pork back to pot.  Simmer for 1.5 hours, serve over egg noodles.