Dinner at Jim & Jan's

Ruth & Mary

Jan & Mariah 

 Mike & Whitney

 Michael & Colleen

 Frank, Lia & I

 Andy & Grandma

Ruth, Mary, Frank, John & Jim

Jan and Jim had us over for a fabulous meal of Crab Legs & Steak.  It was great to be with them and at their house, as always.  They are fabulous hosts!  :)

Our Gingerbread/Candy House!

 Frank outdid himself!  It had lace curtains and everything!!!

Lia couldn't resist playing with it...look at Santa wanting in the front door!

Gingerbread/Candy House

Here we are on Christmas Eve day...assembling the house Frank designed and made for Lia.  I got busy and made the gingerbread cookie mix, rolled it all out and cut it out to the shapes for the house & made the icing and Frank applied the house pieces to his masterpiece.  We're working on the roof here, just trying to get a jump on things before Lia wakes from her nap. 

Christmas Cards

We were a little late in getting out our Christmas cards this year...but Lia wanted to help by drawing on some of them.   She really enjoyed being part of this!

Christmas Stockings!

 I've always wanted a home-made stocking ever since Connie and Jim had them when we were little.  I finally got it, by making it for myself (and for Frank and Lia).  My main motivation was a home-made personal stocking for Lia.

Here they are, finished, hanging from our mantel.  These took a TON of work, but I think they're worth it.  Frank even really likes his!  Of course, Lia loves hers and wants to hug and kiss her snowwoman.  Lia will have hers forever, and when she gets older and if she wants the "mom" and "dad" one, they'll be hers!  :)

Christmas Holiday Photos

 Here are our Holiday photos we had taken!  Thanks to Patti who significantly improved this photo above!   :)  We liked our photographer ok, but she was NO Patti Grimes (photographer)!

Baking for and/or with Kids!

Here's Rudolph, a cupcake I made in one of the classes I'm teaching at CFEC "Cupcake Kids".  As you can imagine, it was a huge hit with the children.  This ones a little worse for wear after being transported in a container home.  I found this recipe in Disney's Family Fun magazine.  I let Frank and Lia split this cupcake since I had MNO last night!  :)

 And here's a picture of the Candy Cane Twists (which we also made in class but these are the onew Lia and I made today), and which I also found in Family Fun.  Lia helped some by rolling of the dough with her hands.  She actually kept making the letter and saying "U".  Below is the recipe, with my notes/changes.  Be sure to wear gloves when kneading in the food coloring, or else you'll end up with colored hands like I did (that don't just wash off).

Yummers!

Ohio National's Victorian Village

 Lia and I went out to see Santa and the Victorian Village at Ohio National tonight!  It included a fun train for the kids to enjoy, hot chocolate, cookies, balloon elf artists, candy canes (note above), so many beautiful miniature buildings including a stall for a reindeer and a miniature post office where you can compose a letter to Santa!

We were treated to a group of carolers.

 We waited 1 hour in the cold to see Santa.  However, Lia would NOT get near Santa.  I put her on my knee next to Santa and they completely stopped her fussing by ringing bells and pointing to the camera.  It was very cute.  Once AWAY from Santa (maybe 3 feet in my arms) she was able to ask Santa for what she wanted: "baa baa black sheep" after which Santa replied "have you any wool?".  She was immediately happy knowing that he KNEW what book she loves and wants.  We talked about this the whole way home.  And she told me what she wanted "toys, milk time and bed time".  I guess it was pretty late when we left!

 Writing a letter to Santa on the way out of the Village!

When we got home she was very proud to pose for a picture of her holding her Santa photo!  This one is a bit cuter than the Santa photo!  ;)

A new (Turkey) Gumbo!

I had both a turkey & a chicken carcass in my freezer and made a gumbo.  I like my Mom's recipe from years ago but it isn't designed to be made from a carcass.  So I searched around, found a recipe that is designed to be made from a carcass and combined them. The one I found is a more "traditional" southern recipe using a roux. However, I really like how my Mom's recipe has both tomatoes & okra in it, and also some of the spices. The result of combining the recipes was really delicious.  I was especially excited to use up the rest of my green peppers out of my garden and some of my frozen okra! 

Turner Farm Wreath Making Class!

Lia and I went to Turner (Organic) Farm tonight to make a wreath for our home!  It was sooo much fun.  It was really a lot of work to cut and wrap all of the greens for the wreath (a mixture of Red Cedar & Juniper from Turner Farm and also Douglas Fir).  Melinda, the head gardener there also has a ton of experience in floral arranging, made all of our bows, and we all chose the ribbon.  This was SO worth the $25 for the class fee...also I love supporting this farm.  I invited about 10 friends/famiily to join us and no one took us up on it so we went on our own and had a fabulous time!   :)  Plus we came home with a great hand made wreath!  Everyone's wreaths were so different and beautiful!

Slow Cooker Pork Tenderloin over Pasta

I don't think this photo shows how delicous this dish really turned out.  I was thrilled to find a recipe to use a 3 lb. pork tenderloin - where the left overs are very tender and delicous!  I cut the tenderloin up in thin slices, browned it in butter with onions and then added the rest of the ingredients (caraway seed, paprika, red wine, tomatoes, seasonings and at the end sour cream). It cooked for 5 hours on High in my crock pot and then shredded easily. Frank said I need to serve this to company AND to my Dad!  :)

Black & White Brownies

 I made a new recipe today to bring to our Grimes Thanksgiving dinner - Black and White Brownies - with cheese cake dimples all over.  I decided to swirl them in - to spread them around and also b/c it now looks beautiful.  YUM! 

Lia is ever the licker!  She really enjoyed this one because there were 2 tastes to lick off the spoon!

Snowballs!

This is my mom's recipe, and we grew up knowing these were Dad's favorite (Christmas) cookies! I have always loved them and they are definitely one of my all time favorite cookies also. 

Our Stanton Thanksgiving

 We celebrated an early Thanksgiving with Colleen and Andy tonight.  I went with a simpler menu and served Turkey and Wild Mushroom Meatloaf Pattiies with pan gravy, Herb Smashed Potatoes with goat cheese and Garlicky Green Beans (harvested from my garden in July).  This meal was REALLY delicious and I am excited to say I will be serving it for Connie & Chris when we do our Grimes Christmas dinner.  Colleen & Andy brought an AMAZING dessert also!  A Bread Pudding with Carmel Sauce from Take the Cake in Northside.  I think it's the most delicious dessert I have ever eaten!  :)

After dinner we gathered in the living room to watch A Charlie Brown Christmas.  Andy layed down on the floor, so Lia wanted to join him with her pillows and animals.  This was especially sweet because she loves Colleen and always goes to her, and she loves Andy too, but is often more shy with him.

Balluminaria at Eden Park Mirror Lake

 Lia and I went up to Ault Park to see Balluminaria tonight!  It was incredible.  The weather was perfect also.  We got there just as they finished inflating the last balloon and left when they were almost all deflated.

We welcome our new pullet Hen Ms. Welsummer

This isn't her YET, she's a bit smaller but just as beautiful.  However, she is having a tough time as of today in the "pecking order" of our established hens.  It broke my heart to see them going at her and pecking at her almost right upon her introduction to our group of hens.  Later today I came home to check on her and she was hanging out in the security of our big coop area - anything to get away from our other ladies, poor baby girl.  Hopefully this will end soon and she will establish herself in the group.  I really never witness that "pecking" of the other birds amongst our hens, although I am very aware that there is a pecking order. 

Eggs, can't help but to post

Well, we have been only getting about 1 egg a day from our chickens b/c of the cold weather and the time change.  So....I ended up getting some of Kroger's eggs (I am a sucker for a coupon for a FREE dozen eggs) and thought I'd only use them in baking.  But I was desperate this morning and fried up1 Kroger egg with one of ours (laid by Marita).  Can you guess which one comes from a factory farm?  We are quite spoiled here at the Stanton home.  And thankfully we have our friend Karla, our "egg lady", who dropped off some eggs to us today after breakfast!  Looking forward to only GOOD eggs tomorrow.  Thanks Karla!  :)

A BUNCH of memorable food...

 I recently made some the BEST pizza I ever ate and I am not kidding.  HM dough (with some WW flour) I made 2 different kinds...1 with HM marinara base and mozz, kalamatas and kale and the other with EVOO base and mozz with my end-of-summer-tomatoes & Niman Ranch Sopressato (kind of a salami made from pastured pigs).  Lia and I ate them right out of the oven...crisp and delicious. 

 Ok, pumpkin roll!  Kind of my favorite desert (cheese cake) wrapped around pumpkin cake with walnuts (dangerous for me).  SOOO amazing....and look at the yolks from our beautiful eggs.

 And this meal was amazing...local country spare ribs that I cooked in the slow cooker all day, roasted carrots, and roasted potatoes & onions in bacon fat (from local pastured bacon that I save)....need I say more??!!??  BEST potatoes EVER.  OMG.  With some sour cream.  Even better than cheese cake (or maybe just as good).

 Our friends and neighbors down next to the 2 family gave us some trout that Jason caught.  This is the second time that I made this dish...Whole Trout en Papillote...very delicious.  Especially loved this using my own fresh herbs: rosemary, parsley, thyme, and dill!  You just have to be careful of the bones in the fish.

 OK!  Here is an AMAZING recipe (dehydrated) kale from my garden!!!  Connie, my sister, knows I've been dehydrating and sent me an article with recipes in it, one of which was this...Crispy Kale Chips.  Ingredients?  EVOO, lemon juice, a little salt and Nutritional Yeast.  This is a big time favorite of ours!

 And about a week ago we had First Wok and I got (for Lia and I) their steamed shrimp and veggies.  Have been craving it ever since.  I found a recipe for a white sauce on line and adapted it to the veggies and shrimp that I had...very comforting indeed.  Lia eats this ENTIRE dish....consisting of shrimp, broccoli, carrots, mushrooms, water chestnuts, bamboo shoots and baby corn!  SOOOO proud of her for being an amazing eater!!!

Now for Cheddar-Kale Chips.  These I dehydrated today.  They are taking FOREVER to fully dehydrate b/c they are coated with a puree of red pepper, cashews, EVOO, agave syrup, and nutritional yeast.  So far they are good but more work than the crisy kale chips and not quite as good.  Also pictured here is my NEW (well not really new, got from CL for $20) dehydrator that has a top blower and temperature control.  The other dehydrator I have (which is amazing and I got for $5 from CL) has simply a heating mechanism on the base.  But for something so WET like this (or fruit leathers) it is IMPERATIVE that you have a blower.  Thankfully I have both so I will continue to use them.