And now!

...an update.

for a summary of 2009, here's an excerpt from my Christmas letter:

Oh, what can be said about 2009? We lost a grandpa and two dear members of our church family. We gained a sister and a nephew. We worked and played and traveled and visited family. We cooked and ate and went to church. We got root canals. We saw the real, live Topol in “Fiddler on the Roof” and enjoyed watching “The Wizard of Oz” at the Orpheum. We talked to crazies both near and far away. We gorged ourselves on Memphis barbecue and treats prepared by the church ladies. We blogged and played video games and read books and debated with anyone who’d listen. We played air hockey. We preached and taught Sunday School and visited people in the hospital. We went to a marriage retreat and got completely and utterly spoiled. We got beat up and robbed in a Meijer’s parking lot. But we’re okay! We celebrated nine years as an old, married couple. Nine years! Has is really been that long?

Above all, we’ve been tremendously and overwhelmingly blessed. Thank God for His mercy toward us.

---

The Wizard of Oz was great. We ate delicious salmon beforehand and the singing and acting and effects were very well done. No one beats Judy Garland, but that's beside the point. Happy anniversary to us.

---

I baked cookies and fudge and caramels for the church ladies (and church fellas, too). Fourteen hours in the kitchen yielded enough yumminess to serve the entire church. It was fun. Here's hoping nobody dies of food poisoning and I can do it again next year!

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We went to Michigan to spend Christmas and New Year's Day with the family. A wet and rainy and slick holiday. A great time. Visiting with old friends, presents galore and bringing in the New Year with noise and food. Lots of food. And a Snuggie!

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I got my hairs cut! I went from this:



to this:



I highly recommend it. What better way to start a new year than losing a quick couple of pounds?

---

Coming soon:

Brian Regan

and

A roast! Check me out Sunday over at Eddie Bluelights place. Little ole me is getting roasted. Hopefully I can smuggle in some ice cubes...

Reasons I Love My Husband (#1156)

Best gift so far?



He's taking me to see my all-time favorite comedian, Brian Regan.



Love you Steven.

Mmm, crackers...

In preparation for holiday baking (coming soon to a post near you!) I stole this recipe from Joy the Baker.

I skipped the poppy seeds, but only because I didn't have any. They would be extra good with the added texture.

Sea Salt and Poppy Seed Crackers

1 c all-purpose flour

1/4 tsp salt

1 tsp sugar

1 tbsp butter, cold and cut into 6 small chunks

1 tbsp poppy seeds

6 tbsp half and half

For topping the crackers:

sea salt

half and half

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F. Sift together the flour, salt and sugar. Add the butter and, using your fingers, rub the butter into the flour until it is in tiny bits and dispersed throughout the flour mixture. (I used my food processor since I'm lazy.) (Also, please disregard the uber-feminine flannel shirt jacket protruding into the picture. I try to give the darn thing away and it just keeps coming back!)

Stir in the poppy seeds. (Or don't.)

Add the half and half and mix to make a stiff dough. Place on a lightly floured surface and roll out to about 8×10-inches. Cut into 20 squares. (Using a pizza cutter makes this easier.)

Place the dough squares on an ungreased baking sheet lined with parchment or foil. Brush sparingly with half and half and sprinkle with sea salt. (Penzey's. Mmmmm.)

Bake for 30 minutes or until crisp but still pale. Transfer to a wire rack to cool and store in an airtight container.

BONUS!!!

Check out that third picture. See it? The one with hands and a toaster and forks and stuff? There's a yellow-green Nerf ball type object. First one to guess what it is gets 12 billion blog points!!! (Hints forthcoming in a future post!)

This Just In...

I had a crabby day. A terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day. Usually leaving the office and getting that first, glorious breath of fresh, non-crazy air is enough to improve my mood by about 120%. Today, however, the crabbiness tried to follow me home. Grumble, grumble, grumble right down the road. Traffic's clogged up, people aren't paying attention, the dj on my radio station won't shut up and play some music.

I stopped at a red light and took a breath. In: calming, life-giving oxygen. Out: negative, stress-inducing baddayatwork.

Made a list of things that bug me:

* People who can't get to the point. You make me resent you because I can't hang up while you ramble.

* Rubber-neckers (church ladies call them "lookie-loos." Folks who clog up traffic because they slow down to stare at accidents, police cars, stray dogs...

* Christmas music. I'll be Scrooge until December 24, just so you know.

And then I started thinking about things to be thankful for.

* Steven. He loves me madly and without explanation. And he buys me pizza after terrible, horrible, no good, very bad days.

* I have a job. As much as it stresses me out, I have an income while many around our country go without.

* God. He accepts me though I don't deserve it and forgives me when I lose sight of what's important.

* My family. One lovely thing about Christmas is time off to see this:



Thank God my blessings far outweigh my gripes.

Check out this video. It made me smile.

Reasons I Love My Husband (#1024)

He loves me. We're off to see The Wizard!!!

Happy Anniversary, Steven.

I love you, too.

Today's a busy one...

Take time to thank God for our many blessings.

Whether you're cooking for a crowd or dining alone, He has been so good to us.

Happy Thanksgiving.

God bless you richly, richly, richly.

The search for the perfect (swoon-worthy) sandwich bread...

is still on, as it turns out. It was pretty and easy and decent tasting, but it didn't make me swoon.

I made this bread for some delicious sandwiches but wasn't too impressed. If anyone has a good recipe for sandwich bread, send it my way, okay? Oooor, maybe you've got tips for livening this one up a bit...

Check it out:

4 c flour
2 tsp salt
2 tsp yeast
1 cup warm milk
1 tbsp butter
1 tbsp sugar

Put the warm milk, yeast and sugar in the bread machine pan. Then get all the rest of your ingredients together while the milk mixture and yeast hang out together for a few minites. Put the rest of the ingredients in and set to a 2lb loaf size. Begin to knead.

When the mixing cycle is done, leave in in the bread machine pan to rise for an hour. After an hour, remove the dough from the bread pan and shape into a loaf. Put into a well greased loaf pan. Cover and let rise another hour or so. It should rise well over the top of the pan. If not, let it rise a bit more.

Preheat oven to 375. Bake for around 45 minutes or until golden brown.

Cool completely before cutting.

Eat in honor of my 200th post!!!

WOOHOO!!!

Amazing Grace and the Mall Cop

Once upon a time there was a girl. She was kind, generous and loving. And uncommonly good-looking. To make it easier, (easier than calling her "Sarah: Short and Gorgeous") we'll just call her Sarah.

Sarah had a part-time job and a brand-new driver's license. She'd use any and every excuse to hit the open road, even when it included chauffeuring her younger sisters all around town.

Sarah loved to spend time with her sisters. They'd go to the mall together and get iced coffees from the Beanery (Sarah's treat, of course) and window shop and try on shoes and people watch and evade creepy guys. An all-around good time.

Sarah had a younger sister whom we'll call Patti.

One day after a nice, long mall excursion, Sarah and Patti found themselves at a stoplight next to a creepy guy. Creepy Guy revved his engine, drawing looks from both sisters. Sarah, never one to turn down a challenge, revved back. So what if she was in her parents mini-van? She would have this guy eating her dust in record time. Creepy guy grinned: challenge given, challenge accepted.

The light changed and Sarah floored it. The V6 roared, the van devoured the intersection and raced on towards victory. And yes, creepy guy was left behind to sit and cry. And gloat, as it turns out.

Cue the blue lights and siren. Cops! Sarah toyed with and rejected the idea of making a run for it. As much as she loved and trusted the minivan, she feared her parent's wrath more. She slowly pulled over. Creepy guy eased past, smirking. Curses!

Nervously awaiting the policeman and her fate, Sarah turned off the radio and readied her license and registration. Patti, ever a quick thinker, turned the radio back on and found a Christian music station playing hymns. What better time for Amazing Grace than now!

It seemed to take forever, but the policeman finally arrived at the window, face inscrutable behind his dark glasses.

"Ma'am, what was that?"

Sarah stammered something unintelligible.

In the passenger seat, Patti began to sing, putting on her best Southern hacking preacher voice. "Through many dangers, toils and snares I have already coooooome..."

Mall Cop, looking bewildered, now stares openly at Patti. Was she demented? In shock? What is going on?

Patti sang louder. "Tis grace that brought me safe thus far and grace will lead me hoooooome."

Mall Cop is dumbstruck.

Patti gives the song all she's got. "The Lord has promised good to me. His word my hope secuuuuuuuures! He will my shield and portion be, as long as life endures!!!"

Mall Cop walks away without another word. Halfway to his car he seems to remember himself and mumbles, "Slow it down, Ma'am." No ticket, no lecture, no threats or promises of justice.

Saved by Amazing Grace.

My new favorite song.

Left alone by the police but Patti still felt the need to share the story with their parents, who were not pleased. Not pleased at all.

The moral of the story: You can get away with anything if your little sister's a little loopy.

Such a place really does exist!

There is a place. A lovely place where lovely things happen. Putt-putt golf, batting cages, bounce houses. And also, not so lovely things. Things like a girl whomping the pants off her father in a long-awaited air hockey match. Things like this same girl yelling in triumph for the entire state of Michigan to hear and wonder. Things like this girls mother (and this father's wife) taking pictures documenting this sad, sad day. Pirate's Park: A place where dreams come true. Well, for me at least.

The date: not so long ago.

The place: a near-neglected, disrepaired shack in Flint-town

The extras: Mom, devoted photographer of family feuds
Becky, apathetic sister, along for the ride
Kaeden, loving nephew, always roots for Aunt Sarah (and most determined giver of wet willies I've ever known.)
Mr. X, Park proprietor and all-around nice guy.

Here's what went down.

Though my dear father tried his level best to cheat (I had to REPEATEDLY tell him to "get your hand off the table before I break your fingers with the force of my awesomeness") I beat him fair and square with witnesses. Let the record show. Let the people hear and rejoice:

I AM VICTORIOUS!

And I thought I was a sore loser. He's already demanded a rematch (what's this now, best 51 out of 100?)

Oh, and plus? While my dad distracted Mr. X, Becky and I played on the bouncy things. Sorry, Mr. X! I know you said no adults allowed but we just couldn't resist!

Beans, beans the musical fruit...

This is almost a guest post from my lovely and talented mom, but not quite. You see, she was recently at my house for a visit and made me this delicious bean soup (and homemade bread!) while I was at work and was kind enough to take pictures so I'd know how to make it myself. Sooner or later she's going to make her own blog, but for now, I'll just steal her recipes and claim them as my own.

Mom's Bean Soup

Get beans. Navy ones. Dump into a pot and cover with cold water. Bring to a boil and cook for 15 minutes. Mom's mom says this "gets the gas out." Mmm-hmm.

Drain beans, dump into a bowl and cover with cold water. Allow them to soak overnight. The water may turn funny colors. Fear not!

Put drained beans in a pot with fresh water and add some cubed ham and chicken broth and carrots and salt.

Simmer, simmer, simmer til the beans are soft and the carrots are done.

Eat, dunking in fresh and delicious bread to scoop up the beany goodness.