Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas tree....

Our annual trip out to chop down our tree...

It was exhausting.

All of us were sick with a chest cold

(probably not the smartest idea to be hauling 4 sick people through the cold

but tradition is tradition...)

It was picture perfect.

Dusty finally broke down and got the toboggan of his dreams.

It definitely made the day more special.

He hauled his two rosy checked girls through the snow and trees

to find the most perfectest tree.

It was one of those moments.

It was challenging.

To get a two year old to agree to walking up "just one more hill"...

and to convince a four-year-old that,

"we are almost done"

when it seemed at moments that it was,

"taking FOREVER".

It was satisfying.

To finally find the tree.

It was memorable.

Despite being sick

we had such a good time

tobogganing and

roasting hot dogs and

drinking hot chocolate....

with
some wearing hot chocolate!

I'm ALIVE!!!

I thought that perhaps I should just post something to declare to the world that I have not died. I am still alive... in somewhat of a chocolate haze. We are still celebrating and visiting and doing all the merry festive celebrations. I am trying to absorb as much Christmas cheer as possible, in order to make it through the next 6 months of WINTER. Well, hopefully that gives Dusty enough time to repair the seadoo's before lake season begins!

Happy Holidays!

Puddin' and Pie (Nope just Cookies)

I almost cried when I realized I didn't save this recipe. These are the best "pudding cookies" ever. I had a bit of panic attack but after a couple of hours of sifting through blogs I sometimes browse I found it and now I'm posting it so I'll have it forever.
Thank goodness.

One more post... that's it I promise.

I know all I've been writing about is the flu BUT for the last 3+ weeks that's all I have been dealing with. Lucy got it then there was a 3-4 break and then I got it. Then there was a 2 day break and then Dusty got it and now the past two days Ellie has been "on the couch".
My laundry is piled up to an unholy level. The dishes are barely being kept up with (thank goodness for the person who invented the dishwasher.... they should surly get a spot in heaven). The whole house feels in disarray. I keep disinfecting but I've given up. I quit. Last night Dusty got home from work and was in a pestery mood. All night he poked me and tickled my feet and brought up subjects that NORMALLY would get a reaction. BUT he was disappointed. I wasn't in the mood. I just sat. I am so tired. I feel like I could sleep an entire day. A whole 24 hours of sleep. Okay. I'm going to try to move on.

I hid $300.00 dollars in my parents house. It's been in hiding for 4 weeks. I've given him a ridiculous amounts of hints but he has not found his treasure yet. At first he didn't really care and didn't try to find it BUT the last week or so my mom, my aunt, and my father have all been searching. They even pulled out the oven! This little treasure hunt has brought pure joy to my heart. It's like hide and seek only I don't actually have to hide and I get to sit on the side lines and enjoy hearing about the hunt. I may actually have to give in and just go get it for them. CLEARLY I won't be showing them the hiding spot! It was my old high school hiding spot. It hid all the things that I did NOT want anyone to see. Glad to see they never did know about it. In all the chaos of my life it really has brought some entertainment.

Hopefully this will be the last week and then I can get back to my Christmas festivities...

cold, flu, and fried food.

It's a cold one again today. Sometimes when it's cold I feel like soda bread and eggs and sausages and potatoes. yum. That's what I've been thinking about all day BUT Dusty is sick. Real ick. So that meals is out of the question. I think instead soup is on the menu (I'm sure my arteries will thank me). It's a quiet day. He hasn't gotten out of bed and the girls watched a movie this morning and now are off to their rooms for a nap. I think it may be my fault Dusty is sick. I was just going off the other day to a friend that he NEVER EVER gets sick. In the 5+ years we've been married I have NEVER seen him barf. EVER. He's never even complained of being nauseous. Well that sure changed and quickly. Last night he assured me he was going to die. I am happy to report that he is STILL living. I went in this morning to give him some gravol and check on him and he rolled over and said," I've NEVER been this sick. It sucks so bad.". UMMM yep, welcome to the flu! So Lucy's been hit this year, I got it, and now Dusty has fallen to it. Ellie is the only one left. She's been quarantined and sanitized and I'm hoping that in 3-5 days she is still symptom free and happy. Only time will tell.

Pie of the Turkey Variety.

I feel kinda like a slacker. I've been cooking and baking tons so it's not like I don't have some really good recipes to share BUT I've just stopped taking pictures. I did remember to take a picture of last nights dinner BUT it was after we'd eaten it and the pictures didn't turn out that great. Yesterday on Pioneer Woman she posted her recipe of turkey pot pie. I was excited because it's ALMOST the same as mine. I just don't fancy it up. I like my turkey pie simple. I was kind of nervous making it because Dusty has proclaimed to strongly dislike meat pies. I've never made him any meat pie because of this BUT I had a ton of left-overs in the fridge so I knew if he hated it he could always heat something else up. BUT he didn't have to. He didn't say much while eating it but asked for seconds and then thirds.

He officially revoked his previous dislike for turkey pie and has said it is one of the best things I've ever made.

Try it.

It's is really good.

Turkey Pot Pie

Ingredients:

4 cups of turkey
1/2 cup of butter

1 cup of carrots and celery

1/2 cup of roasted potatoes cubed small (you can use mashed too)

2 cloves of garlic minced

1 1/2 cups of flour

4 cups of chicken broth (I use oxo because it's cheap and I have it in my food storage)

2 cups of cream or whole milk (I've used everything but skim and it turns out fine BUT it tastes so much better with cream)

salt

pepper

Directions:

heat butter in pan over medium heat.

throw vegetables in

cook for a couple minutes until the celery is clear

Add turkey
(if you're using mashed potatoes add them when you add the garlic)

put in the garlic and cook for a minute or two

dump your flour in and mix it.

slowly pour in your chicken broth, stirring continually.

let thicken for a minute.

slowly add your cream, stirring continually.

add salt and pepper to your taste.

turn heat to low and simmer.

taste and adjust spices.

turn off heat and scoop into pie shells.

bake at 400 for 15 minutes

turn oven down to 350 and bake for 45 minutes.

You will probably have to cover the top of the pie to prevent burning.

Let sit for 5-10 minutes before serving.

For my meat pies I use the Crisco vegetable shortening recipe for pie crusts.

I always get a beautiful flaky and tender crust for these pies.

blue or green?

I turned on the football game to check the score. Immediately Ellie started chanting, "Green". As soon as Lucy figured out what was going on (like in 2 seconds) she began yelling, "blue" which then changed to, "Allouettes". Yikes.

Who knew football could muster such passion in a 4 and 2 year old!

They even asked to stop watching Ice Age to cheer on "their" teams.

In the Quiet

My house is really quiet. Ellie has been playing softly in her room the past two days. The dog has either been locked up or outside. I have just sat. Sitting and holding Lucy. Poor Lucy. She has the flu. She's fevered, restless, and sick. She's hot and whimpery. She says she's cold and wants "pookey"- (that would be pooh blanket). For two days I've done nothing but hold her. I can't wait until she feels better but part of me is really enjoying just sitting in the quiet.

Pumpkin Bread

For the life of me I CANNOT remember whose blog I got this recipe off of. It was someones. It is delectable. Seriously. I don't really love pumpkin or cinnamon and I could eat an entire loaf of this. So good.

Pumpkin Bread by Dixie

1. Preheat oven to 350F & grease and flour your pans.

(This recipe makes a lot of batter so you'll get at least 3 9X5 pans or 30+ cupcakes out of it!)

(I put it in a bundt pan and still had enough batter to make two smallish loaves)

2. In a large bowl combine the following until smooth:

3 cups of sugar

1 C vegetable oil

1 can pumpkin puree {15 oz}

2/3 C water

4 eggs

3. Blend in:

3 1/2 C flour

1 T cinnamon

1 t nutmeg

2 t baking soda

1 1/2 t salt

4. Fold in:

1 c chocolate chip

5. Put batter into baking dishes and bread pans and bake for 1 hour or until knife comes out clean. The cupcakes for about 20 minutes or so & the cookies for 12-15 minutes depending on how big you make them.

p.s. picture to follow

Frightful and yet, Delightful

Oh the weather outside is frightful,

But the fire is so delightful,

And since we've no place to go,

Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!

It is snowing here. It is snowing a lot. Not that it makes much difference, seeing how there was already snow on the ground, in trees, on the cars, and sidewalks to begin with.

It is cold and blustery.

It is the most perfect day to make pumpkin bread.

Normally once thanksgiving has passed, so has my desire to eat pumpkin. It gets packed away in my food storage until next year. This year I've decided to do 2 thanksgivings

(well maybe not the whole thing but at least some of it).

I thought, "Why shouldn't I have thanksgiving, while all our American counterparts are being all festive and merry?".

I think to myself, "There is NOTHING good on the telly (but football, of course). There is absolutely no reason why I can't have turkey and stuffing and potatoes and pumpkin AGAIN."

So in my house I am having one more week of Thanksgiving and eating delectable pumpkin bread.

Because there really isn't much else to do.

It is snowing. IT is snowing a lot.

AND

it's cold and blustery.

AND

THAT

is the most perfect reason of all.