Stool & Doll Bed

Sidney is sitting so prim on a real cool item from my childhood. My dad made this stool (one for me and one for Kathy) for Christmas one year. When you turn it 180 degrees, it becomes a doll bed that rocks. Maybe my mom can share the "rest of the story" with me? (hint, hint)

Mom took the hint and this is what she adds to the story - "You will notice that the stool was made from lumber that was around. Hint is the groove in the one side - a piece of something larger. The handles on both ends (top and bottom) were so you could carry it around whether a stool or a doll bed. I made a cushion for each that could be used as a cushion to sit on when a stool or a mattress when a doll bed. I imagine we were probably short on cash, so making things was the way to go."

John's 50th Birthday

Today was John's official birthday. He opened his presents after work. His brother Ralph kept asking us what John liked and we said "nuts" (because truly, if you have almonds or cashews or peanuts around the house and a chocolate candy bar, he will always go for the nuts. Also, if we make brownies or cookies or zuchinni bread = must include chopped nuts.) With that in mind John got a large box from Ralph. He opened it and pulled out.... NUTS. Almonds, peanuts, cashews, mixed nuts...quite an assortment.

He opened the next box from Ralph. Nice!! A blu-ray player!!

He then opened the gifts from us. The John Carter novel, his annual Star Trek Christmas ornament from Hallmark, some ear buds and a Star Trek pez dispenser.

About this time I started getting the dessert & birthday candles ready so Audrey thought it would be fun to hook the blu-ray player to the TV. She opened the box and then called John back downstairs... hah, hah, more nuts!

We did not want to have too much dessert since it was just the three of us so we stopped by Just American Desserts and bought three single desserts. John's was a berry cheesecake. Happy 50th Birthday John!!

Anniversary

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For our anniversary we wanted to try a new restaurant but nothing too stuffy...basically picked one out of the phone book but was pleasantly surprised. It was called Steelhead Bar & Grille in downtown Spokane. It had a relaxed atmosphere but the food really was fabulous. John had a chicken linguine dish and I had the Pub Steak. Thanks for 24 years together!! Love you!

Early Birthday Celebration

Celebrated John's 50th birthday a few days early by going to the newest James Bond movie "Skyfall". Full of action and nifty gadgets and cool cars. A fun movie. We all enjoyed it a lot. Good addition to the series.

Afterwards we went to Red Robin for lunch. I had the BBQ chicken wrap while John and Audrey ordered a burger: one had the Royal Burger and the other tried the Guacamole Burger.

He seems surprised that he is 50?!!

Overnight at Hartman's

I've decided the best way to spend Thanksgiving Day is to not have to worry about driving home when you are full & sleepy from a fabulous meal. This year we stayed overnight at the Hartman's lake house. After helping them clean up the kitchen and put things away (tables, chairs, serving dishes), we relaxed by watching a couple movies and then went to bed. (Audrey brought Firefly so Richard could experience... he logged onto Amazon that day and picked up his own copy, must have liked it!)

We woke up and had waffles - the Kremin's joined us.

Mary's Waffle Recipe
1 & 3/4 cups flour
3 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 beaten egg yolks
1 & 3/4 cups milk
2 stiffly beaten egg whites

Combine yolks, milk and oil. Stir in dry ingredients. Fold in egg whites leaving a few fluffs. Cook in waffle iron.

As we were cleaning the breakfast dishes, Mary started up a batch of soup, so we definitely stuck around until after lunch. Spent time watching more Firefly episodes and visited. After lunch we went home and took a nap!

Turkey and Navy Bean Soup
2 lbs turkey with bones (if no leftover turkey, use drum sticks)
3 T. oil
2 & 1/2 quarts water
2 tsp salt
2 bay leaves
Heat oil and brown turkey in a covered pot to avoid splattering of oil. Drain excess oil. Add water, salt & bay leaves. Boil for 1 & 1/2 hours. Remove meat from bones. Set broth and meat aside.

3 c. Navy beans (small white beans)
3 quarts water
1 large onion, chopped
12 cloves garlic, chopped
2 T. oil
1 T. ground cumin
2 tsp. oregano
1 tsp. crushed red pepper
3 c. celery, sliced
salt to taste - about 2 tsp.

Wash beans. Add beans to 3 quarts water. Boil 10 minutes. Set aside for 30 minutes, then cook for 30 minutes more. Saute onions and garlic in oil for 2 minutes, then add turkey & broth as well as the beans and their broth and 1 more quart of water. Add celery and seasonings, cover and cook over medium heat for 1 hour.

Variations - chicken instead of turkey; more veggies; rice or noodles instead of beans.

Thanksgiving at Hartman's

Before we headed to Twin Lakes for Thanksgiving Dinner, we made our Apple Raisin Cream Pie. It was delicious as always and we did not bring home any leftovers. (We will have to remember to make an extra and keep at home next year!)

Apple Raisin Cream Pie
Pastry for a double crust pie
7-8 cups thinly sliced peeled tart apples
1 cup sugar
1/2 c. flour
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1 tsp ground cinnamon
3/4 cup raisins
Dash salt (optional)
1-2 tsp grated lemon peel
1 TB butter
3/4 cup heavy whipping cream

Make favorite pastry; line bottom of pie tin with one crust and set aside. Combine apple slices, sugar, flour, spices, raisins, dash salt and lemon peel; mix together well. Spoon filling into pastry-lined pan; dot with butter. Cover with top crust decorated with steam vents; seal edges. Cut a 1-inch circle in dough in center of top crust.

Bake at 400 degrees for 40-45 minutes. Remove pie from oven; slowly pour cream into center hole of top crust. Return to oven; bake 5-10 minutes longer. Let stand for 5 minutes before cutting. Refrigerate leftovers. 

The McLaughlin's were there - here is a picture of my friend since grade school, Jessie McLaughlin.

Richard carving the turkey

Not enough room to fit everything on my plate. 
This was the first round. Went back for more.

See that sweet potato dish tucked between the mashed potatoes and the turkey? Here is the recipe. It is definitely worth the calories.

Stephanie Wagner's Sweet Potatoes
1 cube butter
1 & 1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup maple syrup
4 yams, peeled, cubed & boiled
Marshmallows

Melt butter in a saucepan with the brown sugar and maple syrup. Place yams in a baking dish, pour over the sauce, dot with marshmallows and bake until heated through.

Mary had suggested we sit at tables "not" with people we knew, so we got a chance to get to know Stephanie and her family a little better. After dinner people played games, visited and rested until time for the dessert course. A fun way to spend Thanksgiving - with family and friends.

The Gang! 
Front Row, left to right: Michelle Gramlow, ?, Cheyenne Gramlow, Christopher Hartman, Connor McLaughlin, Mary Hartman
Second Row: Tom Zollezzi, Jessie McLaughlin, Emma McLaughlin, Richard Hartman, ?, Opal Adams
Third Row: Zach Wagner, Pam Wagner, Mariska Gramlow, Audrey Carter, Sam Carter, Dale McLaughlin, baby Wagner, Stephanie Wagner, 
Back Row: Marv Wagner, John Carter, Dakota Gramlow, Shaune Gramlow, Brad Wagner, ?, Sherry Lansford, Larry Lansford, Carol Lansford, Vern Lansford, Jacquie Gramlow

Truck Boo-Boo

John came home from work to let us know he had gotten a note on his truck while parked in Cheney. A car had to maneuver the narrow roads, so it was either get too close to John's truck or run into the city bus. His side mirror scraped along the side of John's truck and broke the rear light. The other driver's insurance paid for a rental car while John's truck was being repaired and repainted. Within a week after dropping off the truck, everything was back to almost new.

Creamy Chicken Corn Chowder

This was a quick and tasty recipe. Perfect for a weeknight.

CREAMY CHICKEN CORN CHOWDER
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed
32 oz chicken broth
1 c. half and half
8oz cream cheese
1 package frozen S&W sweet petite white corn
16 oz Pace or other salsa
3 c. cooked chicken, shredded
1 tsp cumin
Optional toppings:
1 bunch cilantro, chopped
Avocado
Sour cream
Chopped tomato

Saute' onion and garlic in 2 TBS olive oil, add broth, half & half, cream cheese, corn and salsa. Bring all to a boil. Turn the heat down to simmer and add the chicken & cumin. Cook just until heated. Serve in bowls and top with cilantro, avocado, sour cream and diced tomato.

Wreck-It Ralph

Audrey and I went downtown to see another movie without John. He's been spending a number of Saturdays "playing" with his brothers Ralph & Steve while they do updates to Joan's lake cabin. Today we saw Wreck-It Ralph. Cute movie. Afterwards we did a little shopping (Auntie's Bookstore, Kmart) and ended up at Senor Froggy/Bruchi's for lunch.

Pre-Thanksgiving Dinner

John's mom had a great idea to get the family together before Thanksgiving, but not conflict with any in-law plans. She had her Thanksgiving dinner on November 15th at the Golden Corral buffet restaurant. Here are a few crazy pictures. Not everyone that lived in Spokane made it, though Susan who lives out of town was able to get away and make the trip. Susan, Celia, Angela/Steve, Audrey/John/Sam, Lisa/Trinity, Marcie, Joan, Ralph/Joann, Nancy/Verne were all able to be there. I think this was a great idea and a way to allow everyone to relax (no meal prep) and just spend time visiting.

Banana Bread Bars with Brown Butter Frosting

BANANA BREAD BARS WITH BROWN BUTTER FROSTING
1 & 1/2 c. sugar
1 c. sour cream
12/ c. butter, softened
2 eggs
3 or 4 ripe bananas, mashed (about 1 & 3/4 cup)
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 c. flour
1 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 c. chopped walnuts

Frosting:
1/2 c. butter
4 c. powdered sugar
1 & 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
3 TB milk

Heat oven to 375 degrees. Grease and flour 9x13 pan. For the bars, in a large bowl beat together sugar, sour cream, butter and eggs until creamy. Blend in bananas and vanilla extract. Add flour, baking soda, salt

and blend for 1 minutes. Stir in walnuts. Spread batter evenly into pan. Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until golden brown.

Frosting: Heat butter in a large saucepan over medium heat until boiling. Let the butter turn a light brown and remove from heat immediately. Add powdered sugar, vanilla and milk. Whisk together until smooth (thicker than glaze but thinner than frosting). Using a spatula, spread the frosting over the warm bars.

Roadshow

Our Stake held a roadshow this year. Well, kind of a roadshow. Each Ward had to get on / off the stage in a set amount of time, but we only held it at one location. (A traditional roadshow would actually be multiple locations and multiple performances in a single night). Below are some pictures from the dress rehearsal. Our production was "We Believe that with the power of God anyone can be a Hero!" This was written by Arah Kunz and Lisa Farman. They did a great job and it was very clever tying in all the various superheros.

Basic story line: Sister Primary (Nicole Simmons) was trying to find a new Sunbeam teacher as her current one was moving. She sang a song "Holding Out for a Hero" (accompanied by me, with revised words and while the YW did a dance number in the background). Her son came into the room (wearing a super hero cap) and gave his mom some encouragement "Never give up! Never surrender!" and zoomed off the stage. Then she took a nap and the Dream Sequences started. #1 Brother Gordon (that would be Flash Gordon) started teaching the class but as soon as someone needed help, he had to run off stage and save them. The Flash theme song played in the background. #2 Brother Parker (as in Peter Parker) came in to the music of Spiderman. And of course as soon as someone yelled help, he ran off the stage. The dream sequences ended with Sister Primary exclaiming that a super hero was not the answer. She got inspiration to have Sister Prince (as in Diana Prince, Wonder Woman) to be the new teacher. She sang "I'm No Superman" (with revised words) accompanied by guitar. Even though she was not sure how she could juggle everything, she was willing to try. The final line (Dakota G) was "Remember, that in a world of ordinary mortals, you are a wonder woman". And the Wonder Woman theme cued up. I helped during the auditions and rehearsals for our ward but accompanied just the one number. Audrey was in charge of collecting and cuing up all the background music during the performance. And while the other wards did their productions, both John and Audrey were in charge of the spotlights. Our friend Richard H did the sound/technician stuff with Doug T. After our ward finished, I went back to the refreshment table and volunteered my time for the remainder of the evening. (They served cookies, popcorn and licorice). It was a fun activity!

Gobble, Gobble, Gobble

Look what came in US Mail today? Kathy made these at her Relief Society craft day. I had her order one set for me. She called me and asked if I should send the kit "done" or "not done". Done for sure or else it would become a to-do pile in my craft closet along with a few other things... Thanks for completing it for me Kathy!