New Year's Eve

We had a nice evening at Steve and Angela's to celebrate New Year's Eve. We watched movies, had some fabulous caramel popcorn and then played some Wii bowling to ring in the new year. Thanks for having us over!!

CARAMEL POPCORN
1 cup butter
2 cups brown sugar
1 cup Karo syrup
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 can sweetened condensed milk
Popped corn

Stir butter, sugar & Karo in sauce pan. Bring to boil. Add milk and vanilla. Cook to soft ball stage. Pour over popped corn.

Baby Shower

Marcie had a baby shower to celebrate Robert and Carmela's new baby, due in January. She took advantage of the fact that Carmela and Robert were visiting for the holidays and gathered as many family and friends as she could. I agreed to help out and brought meatballs and cocktail wieners to add to the appetizers. Guess how I kept them warm? In my new Trio Crock pot!!

Marcie made a yummy punch:

CUCUMBER LIMEADE PARTY PUNCH
1 cucumber, sliced
1 container frozen limeade concentrate, do not dilute
2 liters of Sprite or other lemon-lime pop
Ice

Add the limeade concentrate and cucumber slices, then the pop and ice. The ice will melt into the punch helping to dilute the frozen concentrate.

Movie Day

Steve's birthday is near the end of December, so often gets overlooked due to the holidays. So Audrey made sure we planned to go to a movie to help him celebrate. We had a slight change in plans, though, and ended up having the guys go to one movie and the gals go to another.

Steve, Ralph and John went to the Tom Cruise movie "Jack Reacher".

Audrey, Brianna and I went to see Les Miserables. I enjoyed the movie and had to get out the tissues, even though I already knew the plot and how the story ends.

After the movie, I dropped the girls at Ferguson's Cafe so Grandma Gramlow could treat them to an afternoon meal. Mariska, Grandma and Cheyenne met them there.

Christmas

We were going to make crepes and sugared bacon, but honestly, went for cold cereal, hot cocoa and opening presents instead.  Gave us more time to relax before getting our Christmas Dinner preparations underway. Here are some of my favorite present opening shots:

John received Star Trek cookie cutters from Audrey plus some dress shirts, bungee cords, a power cord and an LED portable work light. Audrey received some Disney blue-rays, a couple CDs, a wireless gaming headset, a Firefly t-shirt and the Bond 50 blue ray set of all the Bond movies. Can you guess what the rest of the Christmas break will look like around here? I received a Mickey umbrella and the Lion House Soup cookbook from Audrey. John got me Mint Melts from Crate & Barrel, an EWU zippered sweatshirt, hot cocoa spoons, a Zumba Wii game, a pressure cooker and the Crockpot Trio Little Triple dippers. Sidney got a tin to store her little soft food cans as well as the ability to chase around balls of wrapper paper.

At the last minute (meaning Christmas Day), we invited Steve & Angela to join us for dinner. We served rolls, Prime Rib with horseradish sauce, steakhouse potatoes, green bean bundles, cranberry jello salad,  olive & pickle tray,  shrimp cocktail, stuffed cheese & pimento celery and cookies & candies for dessert.

We played a dice game after dinner. Here are the basic rules. I think there are a lot of variations out there, but the one we are familiar with is called Ten Thousand.  Each person takes a turn and rolls the six dice and sets aside any dice that are worth points. They can end turn and record points or roll the remaining dice in an attempt to increase the score. Must earn points on each roll. If not, then they loose all points they had "set aside" on that roll. The person who reaches 10,000 points first wins.

Point System
5's are worth 50 points
1/s are worth 100 points
Three 2's rolled at the same time equal 200 points.
Three 3's rolled at the same time equal 300 points.
4's = 400 points; 5's = 500 points; 6's = 600 points; 1's = 1,000 points.
A roll of 1,2,3,4,5 and 6 at the same time equals 1,500 points.

Green Bean Bundles

GREEN BEAN BUNDLES
12 slices of bacon
1 pound green beans
2 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon brown sugar
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. Rinse green beans and thoroughly dry. Season with salt and pepper. Make a bundle using about 7 to 10 green beans. Wrap a slice of bacon around the center of the bundle. Place seam side down on baking sheet. Repeat with remaining beans and bacon. In a small saucepan, over low heat, add butter, sugar and garlic. Lightly whisk until butter and sugar have melted. Using a pastry brush, brush the mixture over the tops and sides of bundles. Cover with foil and bake for 35 minutes. Remove foil and bake another 10 minutes, or until bacon is a little crispy. Makes 12 bundles.

Holiday Cranberry Jell-O Salad

We've made this before, but it is definitely a favorite.

HOLIDAY CRANBERRY SALAD
2 small packages raspberry Jell-O
1 and 1/2 cups boiling water
20 oz can crushed pineapple
1 can whole cranberry sauce
3/4 cup cranberry juice
1 cup pecans, chopped
8 oz package cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup sour cream

Dissolve Jell-O in boiling water. Add crushed pineapple (juice and all), cranberry sauce, liquid mixture, cranberry juice and pecans, reserving some pecans to sprinkle on top. Mix it all together well. Mix well. Pour into a 9"x 12" glass dish and refrigerate until firm. Cream together cream cheese, sugar and sour cream until smooth. When the first mixture is firm, spread the creamed ingredients on top. Sprinkle chopped pecans on top.

Steakhouse Smashed Potatoes

We wanted to try a new recipe for a potato side dish. This worked well with the prime rib and was both easy and tasty.

STEAKHOUSE SMASHED POTATOES
5 medium Russet potatoes
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
4 oz cream cheese
Garlic salt
Dried parsley
Pepper

Leaving the skins on the potatoes, use a potato chopper to create a fine dice - or chop by hand. Heat a large pot of water over medium high heat and add the potatoes. Bring to a soft boil and cook until tender. Drain the potatoes and place them in a large bowl. Immediately add the butter and allow it to start to melt down. Start smashing the potatoes just until the butter is incorporated. Add the cream cheese and smash until well incorporated and it reaches the texture you desire. Season to taste with the garlic salt, parsley and pepper.

Prime Rib with Horseradish Sauce

This was the very first time we made prime rib at our house. Might be our new Christmas Day tradition. Oh..my..word...yummy!

Buy your roast. You want a standing rib roast or prime rib roast; same thing, different names. Rub your roast  liberally with kosher salt. Wrap loosely and refrigerate overnight.

Put roast, fat side up, on rack in shallow roasting pan. Insert ovenproof meat thermometer into thickest part, not touching bone or fat. Do not add water or cover roast.  My meat cutter said "low and slow" to get best flavor, so I followed the directions he gave. Preheat oven to 450 degrees and cook roast for 20 minutes, then reduce the heat to 325 degrees and continue to roast until it is done as you like. We like medium well (150-155 degrees) or well done (over 155 degrees). When you take the roast out, you want to let is "rest" before serving/slicing.

We served with a Horseradish Sauce:

1 cup sour cream
3 to 4 tablespoons prepared horseradish
1 teaspoon ground pepper
1/8 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
Stir until mixed thoroughly.

Christmas Eve

Our assignment for the Christmas Eve meal at grandma's was to bring a fruit salad and monkey bread. This is what the bread started looking like before we brought it up - it was making me nervous!!  Thought it was going to explode or get all over the oven or something. It ended up looking fine (see second picture).

OREO MONKEY BREAD
18 frozen Rhodes rolls
1/2 cup melted butter
1 package Oreo pudding box mix
2/3 cup cream cheese, softened
2 TB milk
2 TB sugar
Heat oven to 350 degrees. Coat a bundt pan with nonstick spray. Place all of the dough in staggered formation inside the pan. Sprinkle the pudding mix over the rolls and then drizzle the butter over the top. Meanwhile, mix the cream cheese, sugar and milk until smooth. Dollop over the rolls, leaving a little in the dish to lightly drizzle over the top after baking. Cover with saran wrap and let rise for 4 hours or overnight in the fridge. (If you place in fridge, allow to come to room temp for an hour before baking). Bake for 20-25 minutes at 350 degrees. Turn out onto a platter.

FRUIT SALAD
Fresh apples, grapes, pomegranate and canned mandarin ranges and pineapple slices. Combine with a jar of Coconut Creme spread (similar to a pie filling).

The menu consisted of waffles, scrambled eggs, bacon (lots and lots), orange juice, eggnog, fruit salad and the Oreo monkey bread. After dinner (breakfast) we exchanged gifts and then played one of the games that someone had received.

I received a cool scarf that mom made and a necklace holder. I did not mention that on my wish list but had been on the hunt for something. She found exactly what I wanted without knowing that was what I wanted! I got a cool red bread basket and homemade cookies from Brianna. John got chocolates and vise-grip adjustable tool from mom. And assorted tools for duct work from Dakota. Audrey got an infinity scarf, Susan Boyle CD's and some Coca-Cola items from Grandma. She got the Adele CD and Oreo's from Mariska. We gave for our exchange items  Rooster serving plate/bowl to Michelle (from John), Jingle Bell Voice Male CD to Brian (from Sam) and a 12 piece Brave action set to Cheyenne (from Audrey).

After having a great time, we headed home to find some Santa gifts there! Some PJ's for Audrey, some PJ's for Sam and a Norman Rockwell Christmas book for John.

Italian Dinner

Read somewhere that it was a Christmas tradition to make an Italian meal for Christmas or for Christmas Eve. We already had planned meals and events for those days, so we made an Italian dinner on the 23rd of December. It was delicious, but note to self - - too much food to have before multiple large food gatherings. Need to do a week before so you have time to finish leftovers before filling your fridge with food for the holidays. We made lasagna and cannoli cups.

EASY CANNOLI CUPS
Pre-Made Fillo Cups (or can use fillo dough and shape into cups using muffin tin)
Filling:
1/2 cup heavy cream
2 Tbs sugar
1/2 cup ricotta
1 tsp fresh grated orange zest
1 tsp vanilla
1 TB sugar
2 TB mini chocolate chips

Beat the heavy cream and 2 TB of sugar in a bowl with an electric mixer until soft peaks appear. In a separate bowl, beat ricotta, sugar, vanilla and orange zest until smooth. Slowly fold the ricotta mixture into the whipped heavy cream until incorporated.Scoop the cannoli cream into the fillo cups and sprinkle with mini chocolate chips.

Cookies

Kathy invited us over to her mother-in-laws (where they were staying while visiting from Denver). Brianna had spent a lot of time making these adorable cookies and then had us help decorate. Brianna is extremely talented! Mine did not look this good. While we were decorating, John was helping Brian on some home projects for Donna. It was a nice relaxing Saturday.

Nerd Party

After my biopsy....

We went to a "surprise" NERD birthday party for Kevin Erickson. What a fun idea! It wasn't too hard for these computer and band geeks to find something to wear. A pocket protector, borrowed glasses from mom's drawer, bobby pins and plaid shirt. They had PB&J sandwiches and Nerd candy for treats, Star Trek items for decorations, and lots of different games to play. It was fun!

We had also been invited to celebrate Tom Z's birthday party at the Hartman's. Audrey was already there, so we joined in more games and snacks and this super yummy chocolate cake that Mary's mom had made.

Expensive Eye

You might have noticed a weird spot on my eye in some of the pictures... or not. Anyway, this spot started showing up in October. I thought it might have been a zit or an ingrown hair, so I fiddled with it and it just got bigger and red and swollen. Since it would not go away, I finally went to my regular physician on November 12th and she started me on an antibiotic to see if it was just an infection of some type. Of course the swelling went down since I had also stopped picking at it. But it did not go away or get much smaller, so my doctor had me make an appointment with a dermatologist. My first appointment with Dr Dixon was on December 10th. He tried another round of antibiotics (stronger) and had me make a follow up appointment on December 21st. Silly me, I thought the follow up appointment was just to see how the antibiotics did. He did check that out, but then started in on a biopsy right there. I guess it was a good thing that I did not have time to prepare and get nervous about the whole thing. He sliced into the skin, took a piece of of the bump, stitched up the opening and sent the sample off to be looked at.

Follow up: I had the stitches out on December 28th. Dr Dixon originally sent to a lab in New York. However, with Hurricane Sandy in late October, the lab was still digging out from the damage so they sent the sample back to my doctor. He then sent to a dermatology pathologist at the University of Washington. The results came back in late January. It was a condition called Granuloma faciale which is an uncommon benign chronic skin disease of unknown origins characterized by single or multiple cutaneous nodules, usually occurring on the face. So as my doctor said, we don't know why it showed up and we don't know if it will come back. But thankfully, it was not cancerous.  It was, however, rather expensive. Below was my out of pocket expenses after my insurance had negotiated a better rate. (I have a very high deductible so have to hit the first $1,500 out of pocket before insurance will pay).

$  98.50 first doctor visit
$   6.92 RX number 1
$  84.86 first dermatologist visit
$   3.29 RX number 2
$ 318.73 biopsy
$  49.52 stitches out
$ 116.54 lab work
$ 401.67 more lab work
$1,080.03

I know for many health procedures, this is not a lot of money. But put into perspective, that was a "$1,000 bump" over my eye. The kicker? I had purchased some Bio Oil - since after the biopsy I realized I did not want a big scar above my eye. Said it worked on stretch marks and scars. Once I started applying the Bio Oil, the bump went away on it's own.... if I would have only known!

Bio Oil - what "cured" the bump = $12.00 at Target

It's a Wonderful Life

Kathy and her family flew to Spokane for the holidays and arrived yesterday. I had previously asked her to do a girls-night-out with me and go the the play "It's a Wonderful Life". I bought her ticket as my present to her for her birthday - her birthday is the 13th of December and mine is the 8th. It is fun to have our birthdays so close together.

We started our evening with dinner at Europa, an Italian restaurant located in the historic Atrium building. It happened to be conveniently located right next to the Interplayer's theater, so we were able to walk to the performance after enjoying dinner.

The performance was described as "Chances are you're familiar with the heartwarming story of Frank Capra's classic holiday film, It's a Wonderful Life. And if you're a fan of the film, you won't want to miss Interplayers' old-school rendition of the story, performed in the style of a live radio play, as many radio broadcast performances were done back before television became a common convenience. The twist with this show is that each actor in the five-member cast will perform multiple roles to portray all the film's characters, while also contributing live sound effects. Just like the good old days."  

We had a great time! It was fun to see the five actors play the different parts and the different sound effects.

Gingerbread Houses

Joan invited us up to decorate gingerbread houses. She makes the dough, assembles the houses, puts them on a cardboard circle, gets all the decorating supplies/candies/frosting out and then invites small groups up to her house. I cannot even guess on how many she made or how many groups she hosted. Our day was Monday evening and our group consisted of our family (Audrey, me, John); Ralph & JoAnn; Verne; and Rebecca and her friend. Joan was in the room (crocheting) and Dena was there helping replenish our supplies. I'm not the best decorator, but I definitely had a fun evening with family! And it was super cool to have all the hard work completed for us : )

Present in the mail !

My birthday present from Kathy came in the mail. She has been making me runners for the table in my living room. Today I got one that I can use in the summer - a 4th of July runner! Thanks sis!!

Sam's Birthday Celebration

I'm sure we always just need excuses to celebrate, but since last Saturday much of the day was spent at the Ward Christmas party, we needed to fit in the "birthday-movie-lunch" event we always do. My movie of choice was "Lincoln". I loved it! I could not believe how drop-a-pin-quiet the movie theater was during the entire movie. We just sat and watched the whole thing and then the audience clapped when it was over. First sound we heard for over two hours besides the movie track.

Then, because we had a coupon, we went to Red Robin. I know - it was the exact place we went to for John's birthday celebration just a few weeks before. But what really cracked me up when I downloaded my pictures? I'm wearing the same shirt.....  really, same shirt? really, same restaurant?  I'll have to work on being more unique for my 47th year!!  And really love the picture Audrey captured with Banzai burger dripping down my face.

We walked over to the Davenport to check out the gingerbread houses on the mezzanine level. I love the Davenport when it is all decked out for the holidays. And look at that gingerbread (green) cookie tree! Amazing talent! We purchased some Bruttles (soft peanut brittle) before heading home.

And then drove by John's first home purchase. It had a sign in the window so looked like perhaps it was owned by the bank now. John bought, fixed up and sold this house before we even started dating. I think home remodeling is in his blood.

And just because we love to fit a million things into one day, I went with my mom to the Holiday Pops symphony while John and Audrey went to Jon & Molly's wedding reception. The only hitch was our pre-paid parking. They are supposed to reserve the spots that the symphony patrons have paid for, but they did not... so we had to back up out of the parking lot (only one way in/out) and find a place to park on the snowy streets. But the concert was great! Always love to hear "Sleigh Ride" by Leroy Anderson. This year there were a few fun additions - "Bassoon It Will Be Christmas" and "Holiday Overture, both by James Stephenson as well as "Fantasia on Christmas Carols" by Vaughan Williams.

Distribution Center Luncheon

Today was yet another party & celebration. This was the annual Christmas luncheon held at the distribution center. Instead of having a restaurant cater as they had done in the past, this year they scaled back and prepared all the food themselves. The meal was no less remarkable though. They served prime rib, baked potatoes, green salad and various desserts. Delicious! Cindy (produce) had asked me if I would make cookies. I agreed, and then had a busy, busy schedule to include the Relief Society Christmas Progressive Party event last night. I had been asked to accompany Rochelle. The event started at Bouvier's (music program), then Simmon's (craft), and finally Whalen's (dessert). Fun and snowy event. I mixed the cookies and then had to leave. I thought I would be baking cookies when I got home, but John did the majority of the work and had them boxed and ready to go by the time I got home. Thanks sweetie - that is a lot of cookies!!

SNICKERDOODLES
2 & 1/2 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup butter, softened
1 & 1/2 cups sugar
2 large eggs
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp cinnamon

Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside. Cream together butter and sugar until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes if using a mixer. Mix in eggs until well combined. Gradually mix in flour until dough forms. In a separate, small bowl, combine sugar and cinnamon together. Shape dough into 1 & 1/2 inch balls. Roll balls in cinnamon sugar. Space about 3 inches apart on ungreased baking sheet. Bake for 9-10 minutes at 350 degrees.

Birthday & Christmas Lunch

I have the best bosses ever. Have I ever told you that? They took me out today to celebrate my birthday and also as an early Christmas. We went to Mustard Seed, can't go wrong there. They gave me gift cards and this floral arrangement.

And even though we were all full after lunch, they had me order dessert-to-go (red velvet cake).

Sam's Birthday and Events

Today I turned 46 years old. We started the day off by attending and participating in the Ward Christmas Breakfast. The theme was "Gifts of Christmas" with presents decorating each of the centerpieces. They served orange french toast for breakfast and then had the program. Audrey was in charge of the technical aspects of the program (microphones, playing the video Mormon Messages "What Shall We Give"). I accompanied the choir and Tiffani & her daughter. And then John gave out gifts to the Primary children at the end of the program with the other members of the Bishopric.

We went home to relax and open birthday presents (of course)!!  I got a "Just Dance" Wii game, "Voice Male" Jingle CD and two fabulous cast iron pans.

Later on the doorbell rang and Jessie dropped off this birthday cake from Just American Desserts. Yay for me!

And finally, Audrey went to Frank's Diner with Grandma Gramlow, Cheyenne and Mariska. This was the "girls" event with Grandma that they needed to schedule before Mariska went on her holiday trip.

Busy Week

This was the start of the busy holiday season and a busy week! I had various groups to accompany on the piano (choir on Sunday and performance on Saturday; practice with Mario on Wednesday and play for him on Sunday; practice with Tiffani & daughter on Thursday and play for them on Saturday) . Grandma agreed to go with Audrey to the MAC on Wednesday as part of a homework assignment Audrey needed to complete. John & Audrey helped to set up for the Ward Christmas party both on Friday evening and early Saturday morning. And I had a Christmas work party for one of my districts on Tuesday (Steam Plant Grill) and then the other district on Friday (Moses Lake). For both of these events I was tasked with getting all the reservations & arrangements made and then getting various award information to my bosses. It made for a busy work week as well.

Some extra fun at the Friday work party, however. Because my birthday was the next day, my store managers got together and surprised me at the Friday event. Honestly, my mind was not on my birthday at all, so it really was a true surprise. They gave me a huge gift basket and then the most delicious birthday cake I've had in a long time. It was chocolate and white marble cake with a strawberry filling in the center, a light chocolate mousse topping and then chocolate ganache over all. Absolutely decadent!