Chicken Soup Better Than Your Momma's

Chicken soup with heavy cream, Parmesan cheese and cooking sherry is being served over at What's for Dinner?.
It's the only chicken soup I make and I will never need another chicken soup again. Unless someone else cooks their Chicken Soup for me. In that rare instance, their soup will be better than my soup. I will eat it and love it. Then follow them home and ask to be adopted.

Here I am making the stock for the Chicken Soup. See my apron? It was an early birthday gift from someone special. Aprons make everything taste better. This one matches my decor. It's so Martha! I'm so Martha in it!


I discovered that I loooooove wearing aprons. I feel so official (as if wiping snotty noses on my shirt tale and cleaning toilets didn't feel official enough). Sometimes I wear it to watch TV (did you see Top Chef last night?). I decided that there was nothing better than to wear an apron all day long.

Then I came home from a tennis lesson and put on my apron. I have changed my mind about the apron. There is nothing better than wearing an apron over a tennis skirt. Pure bliss. I'm officially athletic, officially cute (in the little skirt) and officially a great mom and cook.

Where is the UPS man when you need him? The stars would have to be perfectly aligned for me to #1 not be wearing pajamas at noon, #2 have applied make-up that day, #3 be wearing a tennis skirt and #4 be preparing a meal while wearing my apron. But what would he think when he rang the bell and there I would be...all aproned and skirted and the sweet smell of a gourmet dinner in the air. He would surly ask be to run away to Brownsville with him!

A girl can dream. And eat Creamy, Parmesany, Sherried Chicken Soup.

Hum? What is this I see hidden in the corner behind a chair? Is that someone's Easter basket?Yes, it looks like someone was hiding back here with their Easter basket. But what could they have been doing? Is that a Reese's Peanutbutter Cup wrapper I see?
Why yes it is a Reese's wrapper. They must have been sneaking Easter candy without permission. And what is that piece of clothing?Elmo panties? Good gravy. What was she...I won't even ask.

A Big One Makes Pat Happy

I've never been one to think that size really mattered, but apparently it does. Today the patient received a package in the mail. Since I am the one home alone with el sick-o I would have preferred for the package to have been delivered via my favorite shipping company, The United Parcel Service, where the men in brown take such good care of the packages and would have come to my door and chit-chatted while the gimp lay helpless in the bed wondering where his ice bag was and why I had not come back to his side, refilled his juice and massaged his...oh never mind. But I won't look the gift horse in the mouth (whatever that means).

Above, the nurse delivers the patient the package (By the way, she would have preferred UPS too).

The patient is excited. Even before he opens the box, he can tell it is the "big daddy" he has always wanted.

Kelly must appreciate big ones, too. Careful there Little Lady, don't set your expectations too high; you are bound to be disappointed. Pat is reading the directions and already making plans for his next prescribed burn.

Thank you, Jeff, for thinking of Pat when you ran across this extra large lighter. You must have remembered this post and knew that Pat loves burning down woods. Thanks to you, he is now cured. He has left the bed, his shoulder is in perfect condition and he has figured out how to flick the bic!

Below is our backyard early this morning. Hello trees. I have always been grateful that we did not cut you down when we built. One day our children will climb you and create memories that will last forever. See? The kids are grateful for the trees too.

I'll call this shot BEFORE the big one.

And below...

AFTER the big one

On another note, I must tell all how helpful the miniature nurse has been to the lame husband. She is there for his every beck and call. She yearns to please him. She insists on delivering his food, fetching his napkins, refilling his cold compress. I'll tell ya where I'd like to stick that cold compress. She also wants to wear her nurse apron while doing her duties. She is a regular Clara Barton, that one! One day she will make some man very happy, and I'm afraid it won't be her daddy.

I have had two sisters make suggestions regarding this little nurse's apron and myself and I have one comment for you: Are you nuts? I need him to get better and I will not encourage this type of sickly behavior.

Happy Easter!

The Easter Bunny made it safely to our house last night. He ate the lettuce and carrots we left out for him and he brought Patrick a jump rope he's been asking for.

I guess the bunny didn't realize Kelly would also have liked a jump rope.

After we played tug-a-war (in our new swimming goggles) it was time to hunt for some eggs. On your mark. Get set.

Go!

And they're off...

Sam enjoyed watching, but really had eggs on his mind. And bacon. And pancakes.

Eggstra Easter Eggs?

If you have eggstra Easter eggs, peas try this salad at What's For Dinner.

Shoulder Surgery

I am on my second XL cup of coffee with Splenda (I'm still on the artificial sweetners despite this) and my favorite milk product (after milkshakes from Scenic 90 Cafe), hazelnut creamer, and therefore feel somewhat human and ready to fill-in my blog-readin'-peeps.

Pat had shoulder surgery on Thursday. It isn't the first time for him, but it is the first time for me as a Shoulder Surgery Recovery Lead Nurse First Housemaid Head Parent. I know you are all wondering... I am doing fine. Ugh, I mean, he is doing fine. He has a lot of pain, but having such good care is really pulling him through the tough times.

Sam went to the doctor for a well check-up this week and he has a full-on ear infection. She gave him a shot of antibiotics, but I am wondering if it worked. He's a bit whiny, but I can never tell if he is just getting spoiled, teething or in ear related pain?

Pat's whining is a little easier to decipher than Sam's. Pat is either feeling under-sexed or his shoulder hurts. Both of which are curable with a couple of Percocets. Thank goodness.

Speaking of drugs, why don't they prescribe meds for the caregiver? Just wondering.

Fifty. That's Five - Oh! Fifty Years Old.

I'm 50. Fifty years old. I like to kiiiiiick and stttttretch and kick! Ladies and gentleman, my name is Sally O'Malley and my caboose may be a little loose, but I can kiiiiiick and sttttttretch and kick. 'Cause I'm 50! Fifty years old!

I put on my red pants 'cause I like to daaaaaance and kiiiiiiiick and sttttttttretch and kick. 'Cause I'm 50. Fifty years old. That's five-oh. Book 'em Dan-o!

This photograph was not staged. It is only coincidence that Kelly resembles Molly Shannon's SNL character Sally O'Malley. Gosh, I miss that skit 'cause I like to shimmy and kick and stretch and kick!

And I know someone who is turning 50 tomorrow...Gus! Happy 50th Birthday, Gus! Do you like to kick and stttttretch and kick? I think of you more as a shimmier than a kicker. You're 50! Fifty years old! That's five -oh! Book 'em Dan-o!

Proud Eaters?

Tonight after dinner Patrick asked that I photograph his plate. I obliged and said, "Say cheese," while trying to get him and his plate in the shot. He objected and asked that I only take a picture of his plate. I guess I have taken a few too many pictures of food lately. Or maybe he is just proud.

(Above) His plate (with second helpings).

And then you-know-who asked for her plate to be photographed as well. Notice the licked ketchup.

We had delicious chicken nuggets for dinner that are both yummy and nutritious . Lorie, CJ will love these and he'll never even sense they may be good for him. I promise.

Whole-Wheat Buttermilk Pancakes with Bananas and Whipped Cream

What's for breakfast? Try Whole-Wheat Buttermilk Pancakes with Bananas and Whipped Cream at, What's For Dinner?.

Please help with this age-old question!

Over on the right you will see I have added a poll. I need your help answering this question that has tormented me for years. Really, it has! Now that I have children I want to make sure that I teach them the proper terminology 'cause I ain't gonna have no kids that don't know how to talk right, especially when it comes to important matters like being neck-id. So please, do you part in ed-u-ma-catin' my youingin's. I have high aspirations for them and it's going to take a village (as Hillary would say).

Puh-lease help my momma to learn me up right.

I'm all jacked-up on Mountain Dew. Baby Jesus as your witness, you better only vote once 'cause this right here is a highly technical poll that my vocabulary is dependin' upon.

What was I born into? This family is nuts. She wears underwear on her head. The boy would rather eat his boogers than his mother's delicious, well-balanced and lovingly prepared dinners (that lady is a saint -- and beautiful to boot). And the man? He just keeps getting in my face and saying dah-dah. Daaaaaah-dah. Say dah-dah. Soon I will have to tell him how I really feel, "Father, I am not your pet parrot. Take your gibber-gabber elsewhere." Until then I will continue to laugh at them, not with them.

Who Needs to Rock When You Can Roll?

Guess who has started saying Da Da yesterday? He said it three times. Once to Pat after some serious coaching. Then to Patrick and later to Kelly. I guess he knows better than to call me that! Afterall, I am the one who feeds him.

Don't these silent videos remind you of some old Little Rascal episodes?

Stuffed Bell Peppers

Stuffed Bell Peppers are what's for dinner. Head over to my other blog to hear about my daily struggle to get dinner on the table without a "short people" mutiny. I take that back. You won't learn anything about keeping mutiny at bay, because the short people almost always rebel. But you can read my Stuffed Bell Pepper recipe...

Happy Birthday Bruce!

Happy belated birthday to my brother, Bruce. I've watch it approach on the calendar, but let it roll past. I love you.
Thanks for always smelling good and for laughing at my jokes. It is my goal in life (at least when you are around me) to make you laugh because I love to hear it so darn much. You have one of those laughs that is just music to my ears. I know I'm not the only one because I've discussed it with other people and we all agree!
I love you!
K

It is nice to finally see a kid appreciate something he has. Patrick got roller blades for his birthday and he really likes them. In fact, we have to force him to take them off inside the house. These ones are cool for mom's too because they are adjustable; they fit shoe sizes 1 to 4, and since Patrick is a size 11 these skates will - cross my fingers - last him his entire life. I highly recommend them to any parents in the market. They are cushiony and comfy yet they strrrrrrrrreach to fit him later. He just wears socks (unlike the Fischer Price ones you wear with tennis shoes). These even look cool which is a top priority for hip 6-year olds. They are made by Schwinn and sold at Target. I think they are called "Shark". They cost $30. There were some roller blades at Target for $15, but since these will be his last set of wheels until he buys his first car, I splurged! Ha!

Do you think he will still appreciate these skates when he is finally a size 4 and entering college?

Come on Baby, Light My Fire

To my knowledge, Pat has never read my blog. That suits me fine because if he doesn't read it he can't ridicule me for writing it. He sits at the computer next to mine while I peck away at this keyboard (why didn't I take typing in high school?). He doesn't ask any questions or even make comments. For this I am grateful.

I am sure he would prefer I keep him and all his bi'ness out of the mix, but while downloading some photos from his camera this morning I found these pictures and thought they are interesting enough to share. If there are any males who read my blog they may appreciate these pictures more than the lady-folk. Don't get any fresh ideas! It is Pat we are talking about; however, these aren't those kind of pictures!

Along with the men in the blogosphere, Katie S. will like these photos, too. She expressed interest in marrying a handy-man like Pat after seeing him swing an axe at a huge stump in our backyard a few months ago. She ran around to the front porch to find me and suggested that I hurry out back and watch my husband swing the axe. She had, I guess for the first time, realized the importance of having a manly-handy dude as a husband -- and it had nothing at all to do with the chores he could accomplish around the house. If you catch my drift...

So Katie, these pics are for you (and for me) and for the men who take interest in pyrotechnics.

Pat has a new flame.

Although he's been keeping it hot around here for years, he is now a certified prescribed burner. He has always loved prescriptions and enjoys burning things so the natural step was to become a licenced Prescribed Burner.

Maybe burn-out would be a better way to describe him. Above you see his flame thrower. Below is his flame.

It's getting hot in here.

Dumpster Diving Momma

Pat is trying to teach Kelly how to ride the bike I so generously picked-up for her while dumpster diving in our subdivision. I didn't actually have to dive, the bike was propped up next to the trash. And it wasn't literally a dumpster, it was a standard trash can issued by the sanitation department. The only embarrassment surrounding the whole scenario was that the bike belonged to some folks renting a house a few doors down and my kids thought I was stealing it from their driveway. I saw the mother take it out to the street one morning while I was loading my kids into the car. I knew better than to let that bike sit there too long because I lost out on a really nice Schwinn a few months back because I said to myself if that bike is still there when we get home, it's ours! Apparently I have some trash-digging competition in this neighborhood. Damn military people! Why don't we pay them more? God must have know what he was doing when I had that last bike snatched out from underneath me, because this one is a reeeeeeeal beauty! It was barely used. If fact, I never even knew kids lived at that house until they were there for about 4 or 5 months because I never saw any children outside. Come to find out they had two kids. They must have watched their fair share of The Cartoon Network because this bike is brand new.

By-golly, Kelly isn't gonna keep it new for long. She is gonna learn to ride this sucker!

And if she can't learn to ride it...

Pat will!

For you information, the bike's family of orgin has since moved away so there is no embarrassment what-so-ever when we peddle down the street and parade past their empty house. Ummmmm, well that's not exactly true. I am a little embarrassed that Kelly insists on wearing this vintage pink and white gingham dress I found at a consignment shop and agreed to buy her to wear as a "costume". This "costume" is now her favorite dress.

Life is great!

Everybody Dance Now

To celebrate Patrick's 6th birthday he had a few friends over to spend the night. Needless to say it turned into a dance competition. Everybody dance now. Dunt. Dunt-dunt-dunt.

My Teeth Don't Stink

Check out those two bottom teeth. Nevermind the strained green beans on his face; the teeth are the important part.

The better to eat you with, my dear!

And don't think he won't try it either. After about three hours if I don't feed him something he starts to chew on my ear lobes, knaw on my elbows and suck on my...well...let's just say he plans on putting these teeth to good use one day!

Until then, the strained green beans suit him fine.

A Secret I've Been Keeping

I have a little secret. I started another blog that will be exclusively for my recipes. This way, I can keep this blog "private" with family photos and the like and the second blog can "go public" with recipes for the whole world to try. And taste. And then delete.

So from now on you will find more personal stuff on this site (UPS man stories, examples of my bad parenting, photos of my children's snot bubbles).

If it is recipes you enjoy, try out this new blog I've been keeping from you. If it is snot photos you like, stay tuned here! Snot--it's what's for dinner!

Oh and one more thing. At this new blog I have a recipe index so you can look up my past recipes for your conveinence and cooking pleasure. Or not.

Pot Stickers

This evening our visitors have left our home to visit the home of someone else. I have been dying to make something interesting and add something new to my cooking repertoire and since the audience was gone, I had plenty of room to make a fool of myself alone in the kitchen. So tonight for my eating pleasure and my children's disgust I made Pot Stickers.

I have always enjoyed eating Pot Stickers - the kind you get in the frozen food section of Wal-Mart have suited me well. Oddly enough it wasn't until I actually made them tonight that I figured out just why they are called Pot Stickers. Indeed, they do stick to the pot and the crisp bottoms make them all the tastier!


Many of these ingredients are also used in my Steak & Portobellos with Sweet Soy Ginger Sauce so if you have them on hand you may as well make both recipes...eventually...before the ingredients go bad...within a year or two.

Oh, and by the way, since Lorie is loaning me a digital camera I thought I would take it for a test drive tonight before she leaves me stranded with a piece of equipment I can't operate. I know, I know, I am no photographer, but it was fun giving it a try anyway!




Pot Stickers


Potstickers:
1 cup bok choy, finely chooped (in my case, sort of finely chopped)
1/3 green onions, chopped
1 T. low sodium soy sauce
1 t. salt
2 t. fresh ginger, minced (in my case, sort of fresh ginger)
1 t. grated lemon rind
1 t. dark sesame oil
1/2 pound pork sausage

24-36 wonton wrappers
3-4 T. vegetable oil
1-1 1/2 cups water


Sauce:
5 T. seasoned rice vinegar
1/4 c. low sodium soy sauce
1 T. honey


Combine bok choy and next 7 ingredients (through the sausage) and mix well.

Take one wonton wrapper and moisten edges by lightly brushing with water. Spoon 1 to 1 1/2 teaspoons pork mixture into center of wrapper. Bring 2 opposite ends together and pinch to seal. Then bring remaining ends together to seal and pinch all 4 edges together. Set aside and continue.

Heat 1 T. oil in large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Careful to not crowd pan, fill with pot stickers. Cook 2 minutes until bottoms are golden. Add 1/2 cup water to pan, cover and cook 4 minutes. Uncover and cook 3 minutes or until liquid evaporates.

Repeat procedure until all pot stickers are cooked and the house smells like a Chinese restaurant.

Prepare sauce by mixing ingredients and serve alongside the delicious Pot Stickers.

This is bok choy folks. It is also good served as a side dish. Maybe I'll post a recipe for sauted bok choy someday.

I bought myself a citrus peeler for Christmas ($$ big spender $$) and now I am finally using it! It feels like Christmas all over again (except our trash can isn't overflowing with wrapping paper and my sink isn't overflowing with dirty dishes).

This is where I take off my rings and dig-in with my hands.

I tried to get the wrappers to pinch together without first brushing them with water...big mistake. The water is apparently a key component to this recipe. Use it!

What a beauuuty!

(to be read in Steve Erwin's Crocodile Hunter voice. God rest his crocodile-wrestlin'- soul.)

After the water is added...bubble...bubble...bubble!

eat me! eat me!

Cook's Notes:

~ Next time I will mix 1/4 pound of pork sausage with 1/4 pound of ground chicken or turkey to cut back on the greasiness (although there is something really authentic about greasy Pot Stickers).

~ Add matchstick carrots, Napa cabbage and chopped water chestnuts to the mix.

~ This is not a kid friendly dish! Get the water boilin' for the Ramen noodles, baby!

Bouncy Bouncy

My visitor has loaned me an old digital camera to keep everyone abreast of our goings on here. Lo and behold, it has video capabilities. I call this little clip Bouncy Bouncy.

We Have A Visitor

We have a visitor...















she has a camera...






















can you name that visitor?