Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday

Ready For Santa

Christmas Tree Adventure Weekend

So this is the weekend that it decided to get cold and the weekend in which we headed to the tree farm to pick out our Christmas tree.  At first I wasn’t sure how this was going to go since I am sick and the boys seemed a little cranky.

It all started out ok but then one of the boys saw a tractor and well, that seemed to be the primary focus.  He wanted to sit in that tractor and that was all she wrote.  The guy sent us over the the hill way over yonder for the taller trees.  We wanted at least a 9 ft tree since we have vaulted ceilings.  We went to where he pointed and the tallest one was 7 ft.  I am now frozen, and the boys aren’t cooperating.  The one who wanted the tractor decided to stop moving, throw his hat on the ground and proceeded to scream.

Meanwhile, my husband has the other on the little tree cart, and they are bouncing through the hills.  I wave back and say i’ll be right back to see if we are in the right place.  I find an old guy and he says, “ok see the opening there, make a left….head to the second douglas fir sign, you’ll see small tiny white pines, head back to the neighbors fence line and there’s about 40 trees there.”  By now I can’t feel my face so what’s a little more cold?  So we head off into the hills one more time, and find the patch of 40 trees.  They were basically tall sticks with a few sprigs.  So I had resigned ourselves to a much smaller tree.  We head over to the 7 ft trees and I look at the price and its $50.  They had some premium frasier firs already cut, smelled phenomenal and they were 10 ft or taller up front.  For the extra $30, my husband says, lets just get the one you really want and be done.  I think we had all had it by now.  The years previous we were able to find a tree with no problem, but I guess they all had been cut.

They packed up the tree, shook it out, and put a hole in the bottom and we creatively tied it to the roof.  We began our hour drive back and I prayed the tree wouldn’t fly off the roof.  Even though I knew it wouldn’t go anywhere, my dear husband pulled back the cover to the sunroof so I could babysit the tree.  I could see it, but if it did come undone, it’s not like I could catch it.

I spent the day Sunday decorating and getting ready for Santa.  The tree turned out beautiful and now Santa can come to our house.  I love the magic of Christmas!

Holiday Hustle and Bustle Mary Poppins Where Are You?

So now that we are staring December right in the face, I am finding myself in a typical yet slight panic to get everything ready.  Today we put lights on the house so Santa knows where to find us.  I explained to my three year olds that this is how Santa finds our house to bring presents. What was I thinking when I signed this binding agreement which now means I have to put lights on my house every year?

Next week we will head to the tree farm and usher in Christmas full force.  I ventured into the local mall this weekend and I had expected much bigger lines, but surprisingly I could actually look at stuff without being butt to butt and shoulder to shoulder with some complete stranger.  I was mainly there to find some more clothing for the boys so I am not running out of pants before the end of the week.

We are also heading down the potty training path.  We waited to potty train and we weren’t in a particular hurry to get it done.  We figured that the boys would sort of let us know.  Today, they did great and only had 3 accidents between them.  I treat jar stuffed with dollar toys and gummy candies, does wonders.  They have wised up and will go to the potty even if they just went 15 min ago  lol.  So we have restricted potty treats to once and hour.

Do you ever just feel worn out before you even get started?  I love the holidays but wish I could wiggle my nose to get it all done.  Where is Mary Poppins when you need her?

Happy Thanksgiving

As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them.  ~John Fitzgerald Kennedy

Although we didn’t get to spend Thanksgiving with our bigger families, we still gathered around the table and had a wonderful meal.  I began the dinner by telling the boys that I was thankful for having them and their daddy, for the roof over our heads, the food on our table, for our dog and cat.

I asked them what they were thankful for and I got the cutest responses, and although I wasn’t sure that they totally knew what it meant to be thankful, I wanted to start this tradition.  One of them was thankful for his fork and for the television  lol.  The other was thankful for marshmallows, his turkey, and his fire truck.

I hope that you and your families had a safe, happy and healthy Thanksgiving.   There is always something to be thankful for, no matter how big or small.

Wordless Wednesday

Hi Mom!

(This is one of my fur babies!)

New Moon Movie Weekend

For the first time in well over four years I found myself sitting in a theater this weekend for New Moon.  I was determined to go see the newest movie in the Twilight series of books and I didn’t care that I was going alone.  I wasn’t overly impressed with the first movie Twilight, but compared to the books, the movies just cannot possibly do them justice.

I normally have a hard time sitting down and reading much of anything and if I am going to read, it better capture my interest immediately.  I blew through the entire Twilight series in just 7 short days.  I had stayed away from the first movie for the sake of preserving my dreamy images of all the characters.  In Twilight, it took some getting used to staring at characters that didn’t fit into my active imagination.  The movie should have been four hours long though and I wouldn’t have cared because they would have been able to include a little more detail.  The movie is never as good as the book, with the exception of Gone With The Wind, and you saw how long that was!

Did New Moon change my outlook on the movie?  Well, it was definitely better than Twilight, and they left you hanging so you know they will come out with the next movie.  I thought it was good for movie representation standards, I still feel like they left too much out.  The movie’s portrayal of the Volturi was spot on and I love Alice.  There was a good amount of humor presented in this one, and it made the movie a little more likeable.  Overall, I would say it was good as the time limit would allow, but tack on another hour and it probably would have made A-list.

I still have the books to read again so I can slip into the awesome world of vampires and the Cullens.  My only hope is that Stephenie Meyer writes more! Ok, I admit Edward is growing on me.

Can You See Me Now?

Well it has been brought to my attention that no one has been able to see my most recent posts.  In fact the only thing they could see was up until September.  I immediately freaked out when Trisha over at momdot pointed out in comment love that she could not see my recent posts.

Well apparently my database was corrupted, whatever that means….I am so thankful for my husband in this department, I am clueless.   But now it should be working and you should be able to see my latest post.  At least I am hoping!

Martha Stewart Living Thanksgiving Hotline

With the upcoming holidays, you know that us moms will be in the kitchen and cooking some of the family’s favorite dishes. I am a huge fan of watching cooking shows when I get the chance, and if I had more time, I would probably be trying new things more often.

I just got wind of an upcoming event on Sirius radio with Martha Stewart. This woman has her stuff together when it comes to anything crafty or anything food related and I wish I could be a fly on the wall when these broadcasts go live. I love just about anything Martha Stewart and drool over all the beautiful things that she does and secretly dream up in my head the energy it must take to get all of that done.

One of my favorite things are the cookie recipes she comes up with for the holidays and all the neat ways she packages them up for giving. Eventually when the boys are older, I want to get back to doing those things.

Here is a little bit about the upcoming Martha Stewart Living Thanksgiving Hotline..it looks like it is going to be a great show!

NEW YORK  November 10, 20009 SIRIUS XM RRadio (NASDAQ: SIRI) today announced that more than 30 top chefs and entertaining experts will participate in the Martha Stewart Living Radio “Thanksgiving Hotline.” For 30 hours over three days

November 23, 24 and 25 these chefs and experts will broadcast tips, trricks, recipes, and kitchen secrets on SIRIUS XM to listeners across the country while answering questions from callers and tackling holiday quandaries ranging from the traditional to the unexpected.

For this annual SIRIUS XM special, more than 30 of the world’s leading chefs and entertaining experts including Martha Stewart, Emeril Lagasse, Mario Batali, Lidia Bastianich, Jean-Georges Vongerichten and Bill Telepan will join the Martha Stewart Living Radioo hosts live in studio to reveal their juiciest Thanksgiving tips and personally answer questions and offer advice.

The Martha Stewart Living Radio “Thanksgiving Hotline” will air November 23, 24 and 25 from 7:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. ET on Martha Stewart Living Radio, SIRIUS channel 112 and XM channel 157 as part of “The Best of SIRIUS” package.  Each full day of programming and interviews will replay nightly at 7:00 pm ET on both SIRIUS and XM.

This extraordinary “Thanksgiving Hotline” offers Martha Stewart Living Radio and SIRIUS XM listeners a rare chance to hear these culinary legends divulge their favorite Thanksgiving recipes for the main course, hors d’oeuvres, variations on the traditional turkey meal, desserts, wine pairings, specialty cocktails (including non-alcoholic suggestions) designed for the holidays and much more. They will also share their personal Thanksgiving memories and family traditions.

Martha and her team of Thanksgiving experts will also supply useful tips for cooking on a budget and share simple yet elegant suggestions to spruce up the table and spread holiday cheer.

SIRIUS XM Radio listeners can call 866-675-6675 or email their questions to radio@marthastewart.com.

Full lineup of scheduled guests:

Monday, November 23

7:00 am ET: Alex Guarnaschelli, chef, Butter
8:00 am ET: April Bloomfield, executive chef, co-owner, The Spotted Pig

9:00 am ET: Michael Anthony, chef, Gramercy Tavern

10:00 am ET: Thomas Keller, executive chef, restaurant owner, Per Se, The French Laundry, Bouchon
11:00 am ET: Gina DePalma, pastry chef, cookbook author
12:00 pm ET: Bill Telepan, chef/owner, Telepan, cookbook author
1:00 pm ET: David Burke, chef, David Burke Townhouse, David Burke Prime and Fishtail

2:00 pm ET: Amanda Freitag, executive chef, The Harrison
3:00 pm ET: Emeril Lagasse, chef, restaurateur of numerous restaurants including Emeril’s and NOLA, television personality, and cookbook author
4:00 pm ET: Martha Stewart, cooking, entertaining expert and founder of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia

Tuesday, November 24

7:00 am ET: Mikey Price, executive chef/owner, Market Table
8:00 am ET: Lidia Bastianich, Italian chef, owner of numerous restaurants including Felidia, cookbook author, television host
9:00 am ET: Michael Lomonaco, executive chef, Porter House, television host, cookbook author
10:00 am ET: Nigella Lawson, television host, bestselling author
11:00 am ET: Johnny Iuzzini, executive pastry chef for Jean Georges, author, Dessert FourPlay: Sweet Quartets From a Four-Star Pastry Chef,
12:00 pm ET: Charlie Palmer, chef, restaurant owner of numerous restaurants including Aureole, Charlie Palmer Steak, cookbook author

1:00 pm ET: Anita Lo, chef/owner, Rickshaw Dumpling Bar; food/wine columnist
2:00 pm ET: Marcus Samuelsson, chef, owner, Aquavit, cookbook author; Isaac Mizrahi, leader in the design business for almost twenty years
3:00 pm ET: Frank Stitt, chef/owner, Highlands Bar & Grill, Bottega and Café Bottega
4:00 pm ET: Jean-Georges Vongerichten, chef, restaurant owner, television personality; Bernie Sun, sommelier, corporate beverage director for Jean-Georges’ four-star restaurant group

Wednesday, November 25
7:00 am ET: Franck Deletrain, chef, Cafe Centro
8:00 am ET: Pierre Schaedelin, executive chef, Benoit Bistro
9:00 am ET: Mario Batali, chef/owner of numerous restaurants including Babbo, Del Posto, Casa Mono, Esca, television personality, cookbook author
10:00 am ET: Paul Liebrandt, executive chef, Corton, New York City

11:00 am ET: Elizabeth Karmel, chef, cookbook author and founder, Girls at the Grill, website that provides backyard cooks with simple barbecue instructions and recipes
12:00 pm ET: Jonathan Waxman, chef, restaurateur, Barbuto, cookbook author
1:00 pm ET: Rick Bayless, James Beard Award-winning chef, Frontera Grill and Topolobampo, cookbook author, television host

2:00 pm ET: Anne Burrell, chef, television personality
3:00 pm ET: Joey Campanaro, chef and owner, The Little Owl and Market Table, television personality
4:00 pm ET: Allen Katz, director of mixology and spirits education for Southern Wine and Spirits of New York; Govind Armstrong, executive chef/owner, Table 8, cookbook author

All of the chefs contributed their own recipes for a special, free online cookbook, Martha Stewart Living Radio’s Thanksgiving Hotline Recipes, created for SIRIUS XM especially for the occasion. This extraordinary collection of recipes and tips covers everything from turkey to desserts to wine selections, and is available for download at www.sirius.com and www.xmradio.com.

For more information, please visit: www.sirius.com/martha and  www.sirius.com/thanksgiving

Thanksgiving Turkey How Do I Make The Perfect Turkey?

I just realized that Thanksgiving is quickly approaching and that means getting ready to do a little cooking.  We rarely head home for this particular Holiday because of Christmas being so close.  I love all the food that comes along with Thanksgiving but sometimes the task of making all the good things you remember a can be an undertaking for our small but growing family.

The boys are still little so they don’t really eat all that much in a sitting, my husband refuses to eat anything with onions or nothing with any taste.  He won’t even eat sausage stuffing and I love the stuff.  I like to go all out so I don’t feel like I am missing the good food like I remember from back home.  The only problem is that, I wind up with all this food and it never tastes the same to me when you eat leftovers.

So this year, I will still probably go all out, but there is one thing, I have yet to master, the TURKEY.  I would love to taste a turkey that isn’t dry, that isn’t undercooked and that tastes like all these famous chefs brag about.  I have no clue what recipes to try, and there are  like a bazillion of them on the internet.  A turkey should be awesome, because it is the center of the meal.  I have heard that to brine a turkey is the best method, and I tried it one year and made a mess.  Isn’t there an easier way?  What is the best turkey recipe? I would love some hints and tips!

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