This week's quotation is one that you won't find in any book or magazine. It was related to us firsthand by Professor Norbert Duckwitz. When we were at BYU, Spencer worked in the Middle Eastern Studies office, doing odd jobs, editing, answering phones, etc. Professor Duckwitz was a hoot. He is German born and told us many funny stories, one of which was about when he was on his mission. He served in Germany and President Benson was the Area Authority at the time. When President and Sister Benson would visit, they stayed at the mission home. Professor Duckwitz was working in the office at this time. When he was serving, missionaries were still allowed to go out in the evenings and see movies. Well, one evening, Elder Duckwitz and his companion were leaving to catch a flick. Sister Benson hears them leaving and pokes her head out the window and sees them in the street. He said that she called after them and said,
"Boys, where are you going?"
Elders: "Well, we're going to see a movie, Sister Benson."
(they were a little nervous because they thought she was going to call them back to do something for her.")
But she said, "Boys, oh boys, can I come too?"
Just the way that Professor Duckwitz related it, it was so sweet. If you need a new book to read, pick up Ezra Taft Benson's biography. Wonderful insights and inspiring stories. So, it has merged into our own life as an expression. Someone is leaving to do something alone and you call out after them, "Boys, oh boys, Can I come too?"
We went beyond our usual boundaries this Thanksgiving. Since Sara and I were both husband-less, we didn't go all out but we also tried gearing the meal in a more healthy direction. Sara made these amazing savory sweet potatoes. Cut into chunks, seasoned with herbs and garlic (garlic, mmmm, that's what i remember) they were the best sweet potatoes to ever cross my lips. And I really don't like sweet potatoes. The other alternative food on our menu was Fauxtatoes. (mashed cauliflower, but it sounds yucky, so I use the faux-ternative. ha!) And of course they had garlic in them as well. No, there isn't some special agenda with the health advantages of garlic in a diet, we just really like garlic!! I cooked up the cauliflower, mashed it up and then put it in the blender. **Side note** I was noticing some straggling stems hanging onto the side of the blender and, since the mixture wasn't spraying, I took the lid off. Everything going fine, I use the push stick to integrate the stuff on the sides. I guess my stick went down a little too far and caught the blade at the bottom a little. So the mixture just blew up right in my face. All over my front, face, hair and the cabinets. See, this is why I don't cook in the shirt I'm going to wear for dinner. Anyway, back on the subject, the fauxtatoes were a hit. I also made some regular mashed potatoes just in case the cauliflower didn't work out. We served both and fooled the kids.
"So, how did you like the mashed potatoes?"
Kids: "They were goooood!"
"They weren't all mashed potatoes."
Kids: "WHAT?? Then what was it?"
"Cauliflower."
Kids: "No way. Yuck. Ew. Blech."
"No, really, and you just ate your plate clean."
We revealed at the end of the meal which kids ate which and really, nobody was the wiser. I think these may become a staple in our house! So the rest of the menu was pretty basic but oh so good and traditional. Turkey, stuffing, corn, gravy, relish trays, fauxtatoes, roasted sweet potatoes and also, Sara's wonderful yeast rolls. Apparently she had to use a different recipe, but really, anything baked that comes out of her kitchen is just perfect. (and now on to other martha stewart impersonations.) Oh, and desserts. Well, Sara saved the day there, too. We both bought a box of these Pumpkin Gems. They are mini pumpkin pies made in big cupcake cups with crust and everything. I was up late chopping vegetables and such and decided to do the Gems (ooh, it's truly outrageous) after Thanksgiving dinner. Sara made her's the night before, so then everyone would have the choice of cooled or warm pumpkin pie. So, while ReRe is doing dishes (yay for maids) I'm in the kitchen starting on the pumpkin gems. Well, apparently I put in too much butter. Really, could that ever be possible? But the crust was like a blob of goo. It was not forming and so we decided to just bake them and see what happens. It would be just crust on the bottom and filling on top. Sooo, it comes out of the oven 12 minutes later and yuck, they are gross. I totally messed them up! Fortunately we had the other 6 Sara made. She also made this apple crisp that has more crisp than apple (the way it should be).
And we watched the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade. It has gotten crappier each year. I don't know why I keep watching, probably for the nostalgia. It was great when I was a kid, but really, in the last 15 years, it has gone downhill. I have one thing I look forward to seeing in the parade every year, and that's the Rockettes. I think they are so cool and I think Sara would make a great one, too! Well, I forgot about the parade and turned it on about an hour and a half late. So we missed the Rockettes. Although then, we saw the greatest parade moment in history this Thanksgiving. There was this float about the cartoon Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends. This is actually quite a funny show. There was the big house and all the characters from the show. They stopped at their place at the Macy's storefront and then started singing this inane, weird song. Gag me! Then, as we are losing interest, this other music starts up and Rick Astley walks out of the front door! The float was rickrolled!!! Sara and I were literally gasping for air, laughing so hard. And all of our kids did not get why their mom's were laughing like lunatics! They were disappointed that the Imaginary Friends quit singing! It was the highlight of the day! That and the savory sweet potatoes (is that an oxymoron?) and the fauxtatoes. and the rolls. and the apple crisp. Ok, now I'm done. And the turkey. Alright, really I'm done.
#1. What’s your favorite carbonated beverage?Diet Coke, duh. Next question. #2. What’s your favorite spicy food?
Kung Pao shrimp at P.F. Changs. I'm not really a very spicy food person. I like my salsa medium. I can take some heat, but I don't revel in it. My husband, however, will relish a hot beef curry dish spiced up the yin-yang, beads of persperation gathering on his nose and upper lip. So it's a rare dish that is actually named in association with something fiery hot that I really like. And maybe it's the fact that it's not too "kung pao" to begin with, in my opinion.
#3. How do you handle hot dishes? Oven mitt, pot holder, towel?
A combination of all three. If I don't need much dexterity in extricating the dish, I'll use an oven mitt. Pot holder is for pots. And I'll use a towel if I'm too lazy to hunt for the other two.
#4. Ice cream. How do you like yours?
Well, this can be handled many ways. Are we talking soft serve or scoop? Cone or cup? Homemade versus storebought versus parlor? What kind of flavor? Toppings? A perfect sundae for me would be two scoops of Edy's Vanilla Bean with caramel, candied pecans (for the crunchies) and some homemade whipped cream. I'm a sucker for caramel! Now, if we're talking flavors, it's gotta be Rocky Road. Hands down. Breyer's has a good version. The almonds are toasted and dipped in chocolate. I am drooling all over myself here, I haven't had good ice cream for quite long time. Although that's of my own design. I'm on this here thing called a Diet. (It's working! 23lbs in 3 months. Thanks Sara!) And preferred mode of transportation for the ice cream to my mouth? Waffle cone. And soft serve or scoop? Depends on the place. FroYo, as I like to call it (frozen yogurt, hey, it's sweet and frozen) is the best at Mill Hollow in Rexburg, ID. Their flavors change every day. And not crappy ones. They have wonderful tart blueberry, lemon, blackberry, strawberry, apricot, cherry, I could go on and on. So in that department, FroYo for soft serve and ice cream in scoop form. Yay!
Thanks to Lulu and Nancy, I can now make my very own collages and really kick it up a notch in the photo displaying department. For my first blog Vision Board, I chose the theme of things that make me happy. Starting out, it was really tough. What makes me happy? Do I go material or conceptual? I just threw it all out the window and put whatever! As you can see, I was all over the place. And that cupcake isn't cupcake sized, it's cake sized! I want the mold for it! See, it's things I like, things I like to use (or want to use) or look at. All of this makes me happy! Now in retrospect, what with today being Thanksgiving and all, I should have made one of things I was thankful for. I'll work on that for this weekend. I made this yesterday, but just couldn't make myself post twice in one day!
Narcoleptic nar'co·lep'tic (-lěp'tĭk)
adj. narcolepsy n.
pl. nar·co·lep·sies A disorder characterized by sudden and uncontrollable, though often brief, attacks of deep sleep, sometimes accompanied by paralysis and hallucinations.I don't know why I picked this word. I just like saying it. Narcoleptic. Narcoleptic. And maybe because I wish I could sleep. I haven't been sleeping well since Spencer left. Don't know why, just laying in bed until 2am. Believe me, I've tried a lot of remedies. I don't need any advice, I'm just frustrated and weary of it. Anyway, I've got to go chop vegetables and make pumpkin pie!! Enjoy your word. Narcoleptic. Narcoleptic.
When I pick Grant up from preschool, I don't have any of the other kids with me. It's kind of our own "alone time". And he gets to pick a song to listen to on the way home (it's a 5 minute drive). I rolled the windows down one day because it was getting cooler and we didn't really need the AC on. Well, the wind created much more ambient noise and he couldn't hear his song, so I turned it up. Fast forward a couple days. "Mommy, can you make my hair move?"
"What Grant?"
"Roll down the windows and make my hair move, please."
Ohhhh! We had been doing the same ritual: pick song, roll down window, turn up music and sing along. That was how he asked me to get it started! Sometimes he picks "We are the Dinosaurs" by Laurie Berkner. Or "Victor Vito" by the same lady. On the day that I'm writing about, he picks Amarillo. Grant loves the song, "Is this the way to Amarillo?" By Tony Christie. Yes, yes I know I posted about this song last month. But there were a few hiccups with the link, etc. Hey, I'm still new at this blogging thing. Anyway, we get home, get out of the car and we're both still singing the song. He's right on top of the words with me. I start the chorus, "Is this the way to . ." and he sings, "Amarillo!" I sing, "Every night I've been hugging my . . " and he blurts out, "Mommy!" (it's supposed to be 'pillow'.) Oh geez, Grant, just go ahead and melt my heart! "Every night I've been hugging my Mommy." My sweet little boy. He loves his Mama!** You can bet he won't be singing that in 10 years when he's 14. Click on the hotlink for each song to hear it and watch the video. The YouTube video is a bunch of British squadies in Iraq lip-syncing to Amarillo. It doesn't get much better than that! This is a picture of Grant near his preschool. We had just parked the car and he jumped out and yelled, "A door! A door!" And I could not figure out what he meant. I said, "Where?" And so he showed me. Ah, a door in the tree. I asked him who could use that door. He said that mice use it to climb the tree because they can't fly like birds. Hmmm. I'll keep an eye out for mice in the tree.
**name the movie, get flair, etc.
Last night I got a text message from Eliza's horseback riding teacher that she was organizing an afternoon lesson for today (Tuesday) after school. Clubs ended last week, but Eliza is friends with the teacher's daughter and she wanted to go riding with Eliza and another friend. Sure! Anytime! Eliza loves riding and is really good at it. She's been taking regular lessons during the school year for the last 2 years. So, the text said that she would pick up Eliza at school, take them to the lesson and bring her home. Great! And the lesson is only 90 le ($16.28). No prob, bob. I go to my purse and I find 65 le. Not great. I'm home alone with a house full of sleeping kids and it's 10:30 pm. Oooo-kay, let's begin the scavenging. I find 4 one pound coins at the bottom of my purse. Tally: 69le. I dig through a side table in the living room. A crumpled one pound note, hey, every thing counts. I moved through the apartment, room by room, drawer by drawer and couch cushion after couch cushion. I found my camera bag and it had 12 50 pistre (half a pound) notes! That's 6 pounds! What's the total now? I gathered my assortment of change and crumpled, stinky bills (the money here really does stink after it's been in circulation for a while) and began counting. 20, 40, 50, 55, 60, 65, 70, 71, 72. That's it? Oh wonderful, this is just great.
Then I remembered that Eliza is a little packrat. She will save everything. She also has this plastic piggy bank and squirrels away any currency she finds. Usually she asks; like one time she came to me with 50le ($9) and asked me if she could have these 50 pistres (9 cents). Oh, um, honey, that's fifty pounds. Riiight. She's also saved all of her tooth fairy money and never spent any of it. What have I come to? I am borrowing from my daughter! Well, it IS for her lesson. I went to her red, plastic piggy and unscrewed the plug. I dump it upside down and out fall, 1,5, and 10le notes. Plus a menagerie of American, Egyptian, Greek, German and Jordanian coins. So that's what's knocking around inside of you little bank! I ended up borrowing 18le. I'll pay her back. Maybe. No, I'd better do it otherwise I'll be in even more of a pickle then next time I need money! ;-)
