M&M Game

I grew up in a town that has a FIERCE football rivalry with the town I live in now. Every year, the “M&M Game” takes place between our neighboring towns…the oldest Interstate rivalry in High School Football History. It’s a BIG deal. I BLEED Maroon & Gold…you have to be FROM here to truly understand how deep our loyalties lie.

When I purchased my house, and moved to the enemy neighboring town, I didn’t think about football. My kids are little…what difference does it make? Well…it does. This morning, I dressed my elementary school aged boys in PURPLE (I’m gagging as I type) and sent them off to school for their pep rally. **heavy sigh**

This is NOT going to work…LOL! Is it sad that I’m considering open-enrolling them into a different school district? Haha! (Ok, kidding…sorta.)

I’m actually not GOING to the game this year. (Boo!) My brother, who is a senior this year, decided to quit football (DOUBLE boo!!) but I was there last year, all decked out in my Maroon gear cheering on the team with my family! (The games are better the year’s they play in my home town anyway! We have a far superior field…I think most folks from the other town would agree, to be honest.) BUT, tomorrow at work, we get to dress up to show our support for our home teams, so I will be here in my Maroon & Gold, loving on my “home” team in spirit!

Check me out...last year with my "little" brother!! (We won!)

And in high school...that's me...second from the right. U Rah Rah. :) (The cheerleading pic is actually from the Detroit Lions old stadium where we played and WON our State Championship game!)

A few (ok, maybe like 10) years ago, my Grandparents told me about an old tradition of the West End bar (which has since been torn down, (by my dad, actually) and replaced) making split pea soup and serving all of the bar patrons after the Saturday day-game. That tradition is sadly, long gone but in honor of it, this weekend I will be making Split Pea soup (so watch for that recipe!) My kids and I will be taking a trip to the pumpkin patch so that will be a yummy, warm lunch to come home to. More on that later!

Ciao,

Thankful.

Time to get real. I had a REALLY stressful week (illness, work, misbehavior, loneliness, financial issues, and the list goes on)...and that along with pregnancy hormones really threw me into a funk the past few days. After a morning of relaxing and reading I am feeling more like myself (minus the pink eye I contracted from my Luc) so I have decided to remind myself of all the LITTLE THINGS I am thankful for in life. I should do this weekly. It would be a good exercise for me I think.

So here goes...five things I am thankful for today.

1. As I mentioned, Luc had pink eye all week, and is now feeling better...DEFINITELY thankful for that! But also, I am thankful my boys have Grandma Dori. (Don't get me wrong...I am thankful for every single one of my boys grandparents...they are all amazing in their own way and all deeply loved by my sons.) Today, however, I want to focus on the woman that is "Grandma Dori". She is the master of all things "natural healing" and brewed up an eye wash (some kind of tea) that has worked wonderfully, even with this particularly resistant bout of pink eye. I catch a lot of flack from a lot of people for not running straight to the doctor the second we see pink eye, but hey...if I can avoid antibiotics, we're doing it! Grandma Dori has often come to the rescue with her "eye tea", and for several other ailments with several other essential oils and natural cures. Today, I am thankful for that.

2. My Mikey turns FIVE this week (OMG) and is having his birthday party at his dad's today. The excitement in his little voice was INSANE this morning! I am thankful for having gotten to talk to him this morning from his dad's house. His excitement was completely contagious and got me started on the right foot today. He will have his party here next weekend complete with a lemon poppy-seed and strawberry cake (his choice...no lie! LOL!) Can't wait!

3. Despite all of the stressful happenings this week, we got to spend a wonderful afternoon/evening at the track this week!! It was our last Thursday off before we start our 4 days of soccer per week so I took some pictures of the men riding as the little boys watched in awe. <3

4. I am thankful for the GORGEOUS weather we've had the past week. Winter seemed SO long to me this year, and I know that I am prone to seasonal depression, so I anticipate chirping birds and green grass like you wouldn't believe!! I cannot wait for a long and beautiful summer filled with grilled corn on the cob, lawnmowers moving, bubbles and sidewalk chalk, popsicles and lemonade, BBQ's and hot nights. I just love it!

5. I am thankful for these two adorable and in love people...(who are waiting ever so patiently for my webhost and I to figure out WHAT THE HECK is wrong with my website so I can upload their gallery!!) I will be REALLY thankful when that is fixed!! But until then, I am thankful for the opportunity to photograph people in love...especially when they're this photogenic. Look at this girl work it...fabulous.



So there you have it! Even when I am stressed, tired and cranky, I love and am thankful for my life, family and friends. <3

Thanksgiving Tradition, Tips, Tricks and a Recipe

So, Thanksgiving and I have had a secret (or not so secret) love affair going on for the past 6 years or so. Turkey Day and X-mas run a head-to-head constant competition for my affection, and Thanksgiving just might have the edge.

I made my first Thanksgiving dinner the year I moved to Delaware with my (now ex-) husband. It was delicious. I was hooked. I have since continued with successful dinners (with the exception of the infamous oven fire of ’05!! Story in a minute…) and wanted to share some tips and a fave recipe of mine!

When I divorced and moved back to Wisconsin (home), I wanted to make my own dinner, but my family was NOT planning on showing up. They go to Grandmas’ every year and that is just that. Fine. I don’t want to miss out on that either, so I go to Grandma’s on Thursday (and then to the man’s Aunts house in the evening…yep! TWO Dinners…yummy!)

Then FRIDAY after Black Friday shopping, I come home and make “The Day after Thanksgiving, Thanksgiving!” Some might call me nuts…why go through the work if I don’t have to?? But, I love everything about this holiday. I love the food, the smells, the colors, the time spent with family, the reminder to be thankful for your life…ahhh…Thanksgiving rocks my socks! And I adore our yearly tradition of spending a day with family, and then spending the next day with friends enjoying good food and each other's company!

So, on that note, I am going to share a couple tried and true Thanksgiving recipes, tips and tricks. But first…the oven fire.

November of 2005...I was up early and a cooking fool all day long. I had everything timed out so that our HUGE dinner would be done at 2:45...one of my better “skills” in cooking is timing out my stuff to all get done at the same time, and let me tell ya...I was ON!

We were bringing dinner over to the local church to eat with a bunch of friends. The kids were dressed and ready to go, the ex was bringing food out to the car, and I was finishing up in the kitchen...RIGHT ON TIME.

I pulled the rolls out of the oven...moved the sweet potatoes up to the top rack and set the oven to broil to brown the marshmallow stuff on top. As I'm tossing rolls in a basket, I smell burning marshmallow...ohhhh no!

I open the oven and I kid you not, my entire effing oven was ablaze. I about peed myself. I run out the door and yell for the ex to “COME BACK REALLY FAST" (LOL…I didn't want to scream "FIRE!!!!!!!" across the parking lot…) I remember him saying he could hear the panic in my voice.

He runs up, slams the oven door shut...I'm screaming that I already tried that...Luc's at the gate to the kitchen going "Oooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" and pointing …it was bad. Ex grabbed the fire extinguisher, and emptied the WHOLE THING into the oven.

(As a side note, my grandpa would be so disappointed in me...before he retired he worked for Ansul (Tyco) Corp. traveling all over the world teaching businesses how to use different types of fire extinguishers. He taught us what to do when we were little kids, and like a total d-bag, I did nothing. I got a box of baking soda from him for Christmas that year…LMAO!)

So anyway, I later realized what happened…I was using throw away pans...they've oven safe...but they're CARDBOARD!!!!! Broiler lights the cardboard on fire, which lights the sweet potatoes on fire, which must’ve lit the coils on fire…and the rest is history. The oven was destroyed by the way. Super bummer.

SO…

TIP #1…if you’re using disposable pans, ONLY USE ALUMINUM! (OR…read the directions and don’t stick the cardboard pans under the broiler…whichever!)

TIP #2…Do you struggle to bake a perfectly golden turkey like you see in movies and on commercials? I am going to describe my turkey baking process to you. It hasn’t failed me yet, and I have yet to have a single Thanksgiving without people raving about my Turkey...both how it looks and how moist it stays.

Clean the turkey (I use a 20+ lb-er, for the record), don’t stuff it, put it in the pan, and brush it with an entire stick of melted butter. Bake per package directions, basting as you go. I KNOW…I know some people say not to baste...that it's "unneccessary". Well, “Some People” have not tried MY turkey. Baste it…often.

When the top starts to brown, tent it with aluminum foil until it’s done. After you take it out of the oven, let it sit a good 15-20 minutes before carving it. You won’t be sorry. :)

TIP #3…Get someone else to do the dishes! ;)

And, as promised, a recipe I LOVE.

I got this from a photographer friend and I make it every year...

WILD RICE & SAUSAGE “STUFFING”

1 package Uncle Ben’s Wild & Long Grain Rice (Original…not Quick)
2 Tbsp. Butter
½ cup Chopped Onion
½ lb. Bulk Pork Sausage – Cooked

1. Saute your rice in butter until the white rice turns light brown. Remove from pan.
2. Saute your onion in the pan until soft.
3. Stir in the seasoning packet from the rice, the browned rice and boiling water according to package directions, as well as the cooked sausage.
4. Pour into a baking dish and bake at covered at 350 for 45 minutes. You can then either use it as a stuffing (which I’ve never tried) or serve it as a side dish.

SO yummy! I hope every one of my readers has a beautiful holiday! I'll be back posting Friday or Saturday!!

See you then,

'

Stuff and Things

Real quick, before I forget…I need to take a picture of my GREAT thrift store finds from this weekend! I also need to show you a fun kid’s wall art idea I had. AND, I’ve got a new half-homemade recipe coming up this week…just a few things to be watching for!

Anywho…onto my real post for the day…

When I started this blog it was with the intention of posting about the house but also about family and food and life. I wanted for this to be a place where people could read about how to redo a chair, but also a place to celebrate family accomplishments…a place to pick-up a new recipe to try, but also a place to talk about ways we can treat ourselves better, ways we make our families run efficiently, ways we make chores easier or discipline more effective. I want to broaden the spectrum of things I post about, so I am making it a point to include some of these other things here too, intermingled with our constant on-going projects and my love affair with cooking.

With that said, lets talk about words that make us feel ALIVE. I am such a quote junkie...seriously. I just love letters and words, and the way I can read something and it can totally make me FEEL things...ohhhh, I just love it.

When times are tough...keep on keepin' on...

When you're in need of a reminder that you control your destiny... (FYI, MXPX is a pop-punk band...lyrics and I go together like PB & Banana! Yummo!)

And this...this is my current desktop background and will be incorporated into my household sometime (somehow) very, very soon...**love** it. The constant reminder to "just do you". :)

Any fave quotes to share? I can never get enough! :)

Ok...as I said, this week = new recipe + thrift store fantastic-ness + kiddo's wall art extravaganza!

See you soon!

xoxo

Yummy Tomatoes!

Our good friend Lisa gifted us with some tomato plants. We are definitely a tomato loving family...yummy! I'll be the first to admit, I'm not great with plants, but so far so good with these babies!

Don't they look SO cute in my copper tub (turned planter) I scored at the flea market awhile back?? You can't fake patina like that!! Woot! Drilled some drain holes in the bottom, filled it with organic soil and she was ready to rock!



LOVE IT!

Coming soon...a coffee table makeover. I have big plans for the table we got for A DOLLAR at a yard sale! BIG PLANS!

Until next time,

xoxo

JENNAPALOOZA 2009

It's that time again...my annual BIRTHDAY EXTRAVAGANZA!!

If you're interested in stopping by, shoot me an email and I'll get you directions!

See you there!