Christmas Memories 2011

We've had a crazy Christmas Season. As the boys are growing older, the mystery isn't there so much, but they play along - I'm sure for my benefit. I believed in the jolly old elf until the year I got married - there's nothing wrong with that! 


December started with the Festival of Trees, decorating and cookies! Well... Mr. Vintage decorated the house,I mostly stood by and offered moral support and criticism. Didn't he do a marvelous job? Nice work Mr. V! Aunt Kelli brought the cookies,the frosting and the sprinkles! hmm... maybe I need to be a better Christmas supporter as all I've done so far is show up and instruct. Well, you know what they say - "If you can't be an athlete, be an athletic supporter."

Anyway, moving on...Then it was the Miller Family Party - also at our house - also with everyone bringing in the food! Anytime you would like me to host a party where you bring everything,I am happy to oblige!

The Nativity is my favorite part of Christmas and it's always made better when we have a sweet new baby to play the role. This is my beautiful sister Lindsey,her husband Marc and baby Luke. So sweet, we all had tears. 

It's my mom's tradition to always makes the girls a beautiful handmade gift.  This year it was aprons. You are awesome mom!

Finally it was Christmas Eve! And a great party at GG's House. GG is the ultimate hostess - she wont let anyone bring anything and she made the best dinner we've ever had - Prime Rib and super delicious mushrooms, brussel sprouts and potatoes. Awesome! We hope she'll invite us every year. 

At last it was here - Christmas Day! We opened presents, visited family, listened to the choir sing, ate lots of cheese in many forms and fell into a deep, deep christmas sleep. Merry Christmas to all and to all a good nap!

Oh What Do You Do in the Winter Time?

A few days ago, my boss asked me if I was going camping over the Christmas Break.  Spoken like a true Floridian. He just cannot fathom the level of cold we Utahns experience. Unfortunately this seemingly mind-numbing and hypothermia inducing cold is not conducive to camping. So the hooligans, Mr. V and I have been forced indoors for the long winter ahead. So what are we doing to maintain sanity?  


Well... The hooligans have made all manner of forts out of blankets, watched 13 seasons of "Top Gear UK" and learned how to do the "Superman" onto the spare bed in the basement- something to do with running, bouncing on the big exercise ball and landing on the bed - all with a red hoodie tied around their neck to simulate a cape. Very entertaining.


Mr.V has been refinishing furniture and finding goodies for his Milk Barn Project. He does such beautiful work. I love this and I am seriously thinking of keeping it at home - I don't think I'll get that wish, but that hasn't stopped me from trying!  

As for me, I've been doing two of my favorite things...cooking and quilting. Here's my latest quilting creation.

  

This is an Irish Chain Quilt. It took two years for me to get around to finishing it and I'm quite pleased with the result. It's not that it's a hard quilt, it's actually quite easy, however, my attention span is only about two days long. If a project takes longer than 48 hours, I usually put it away for another day...hence the reason this one took two years. It's got nice warm black minkie on the back and a thick bat in the middle.  It has taken up residency on the Eldest Hooligan's bed - apparently living in the coldest room in the house warrants it. Sweet Dreams Superman. 


As for the cooking... well,  that's proving to be more of a challenge, but a super yummy one!  Yesterday I made "Chicken in a Pot" from "around my french table" by Dorie Greenspan.  Take a look at what it was supposed to look like.

hmmm...So mine didn't look exactly like that...apparently I need to work on my dough skills.

And on my ability to determine which end is UP on a whole chicken - I roasted it upside down.  This is a challenge that runs in my family - I am not the first.  I also need to work on mixing in the herbs and spices rather than just dumping them on the top - it might help with the presentation.  And last, but not least, I need to clean my stove!  Yikes - sorry about that, I didn't realize what a mess I made.  Oh well!  I'm not sorry enough to make another one so I can photograph it with  a clean stove - please forgive. 

All those challenges aside, the finished produce was Tres Magnifique! 

The chicken was tender and juicy, the potatoes were fab and had just a hint of lemon flavor - something I wouldn't have thought of as  tasty- but actually quite nice.  The carrots were the best!  Needless  to say, there wasn't much left in the pot when we got done.  

So here's to more cooking and quilting adventures - I've got a 10 more days off - I'll share what it brings. Winter activities are pretty fun...why not enjoy the indoors while waiting for spring camping to come again? Happy Winter All!  

Airstream Auction

Check this out! Orvis is auctioning off a completely rebuilt 1954 Airstream Flying Cloud.  You've only got until December 11th - so go break open the piggy bank!  


Enter your bid at the Orvis Airstream Auction site.

I would also be happy to accept this as a Christmas Gift is anyone is feeling extremely generous and you don't have anywhere to park it - I will make room!  

Oh Witchy Poo!

This post is to be read in your best Sanderson Sisters voice... can you hear it?  Ok, now go...


Halloween is here!  This is my favorite holiday of the whole year. I love it even more than my birthday and Christmas.  I take every opportunity to dress up in my witch-poo moo moo and prance around town with my gaggle of witchy poo sisters. 

 Today was Breakfast with a  Witch! The kids all join us for a most enjoyable frolic.  What a great group of cousins - the hooligans, T,W,R and this year G joined the gang. He is so sweet. Yodelayheehoo! The eldest hooligan has a new girlfriend - Brazillia the Witch.  She loves him lots- she even sang him a love song on stage.  He swore me to secrecy, so naturally you are the first to read all about it! 

Last weekend was Witch's Night Out and Witch-A-Palooza!  This is a long tradition we enjoy with thousands of other cacklers at Gardner Village. I wait all year long for this one night out on the town with the girls. Some of the witches would like to skip it next year - they need a good kick from my broom ... oh Ye Witchy Poopers.   

  Happy Halloween to you...and your little dog too!

Chicken Picatta

I've been on a bit of a cooking spree. I decided that the old standbys are just that - old. You see, like many other girls I know, I am an avid collector of cookbooks, which look lovely and appetizing on the shelf but seem rather daunting from an actual implementation perspective. Sometimes I don't have a single ingredient called for or the contents require a trip to a foreign land to obtain (hmmm... maybe that's not so bad). Anyway - I decided it's high time I started actually using my cookbooks for their intended purpose - delicious non-standbys that make husband and hooligans happy campers.

Here's tonight's adventure - Chicken Picatta by the lovely and talented Ms. Ina Garten.


This is a marvelous lemony, buttery and crispy chicken dish which allows you to get out all your aggression by beating the chicken breasts to a lovely, tender and juicy piece of heaven.

Caution: It's very lemony - VERY LEMONY. My dear sister, J. Alfreda Hill will NOT love this dish - she has a strong aversion to lemons (she's a sweety, not a tart). For those who prefer the tart, this is the dish. We snarfed it up in 10 minutes or less and loved every bite. So get cooking girls! Here's the recipe: Chicken Picatta

Enjoy!

The Winners!

It's been several weeks since I posted the Hobo Bundle / Tin Foil Dinner Challenge.  I'm so sad to report that the entries were very few.  In fact there were only three, so that means that everyone wins!  Wahoo!  Let's all get together and I'll make you some delicious french comfort food since the winter months are already upon us.


Lindsey South's Submission:
Bacon-Wrapped Teriyaki Chicken Skewers
Chicken Breast (cut into bite size pieces)
Bacon- NOT thick cut (cut into thirds)
Pineapple chunks
Teriyaki sauce

1. Cut Bacon into thirds. Count how many pieces you have and then keep that in mind when cutting up the chicken breasts.

2. Drain the pineapple. Set up a workstation with kabob skewers, chicken, bacon and pineapple.

3. Wrap a piece of bacon around a piece of chicken and thread onto the skewer and top with a piece of pineapple. Repeat twice (or until you fill up the skewer.)

4. Place skewers in a heavy duty ziplock bag and marinate in 1/2 cup teriyaki sauce for 4-8 hours. (obviously keep them in a cooler)

5. Place skewers in foil and baste with teriyaki sauce. Close up foil and place on coals.

6. Check after about 10 minutes, turn over the skewer and baste again with teriyaki sauce. And cook for another 10 minutes. They should cook rather quickly because they are bite size!

ENJOY! 

We tried this and everyone LOVED it!  Good recipe sis.  Thank you for participating.

Kris Belcher's Submission:

Mexican Oatmeal Cake

Combine:

1 cup oatmeal

11/2 boiling water

Add:

1 cup brown sugar

1 cup sugar

2 eggs 1/2 cup oil

Let stand until cool.

Sift in:

11/2 cups flour

1 tsp soda

1 tsp salt

1 tsp cinnamon

Pour batter into foil-lined 12" Dutch oven. Cook 10-20 mins with minimal heat on bottom and majority on top.

Frosting:

6 Tbsp butter

3/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup canned milk

Boil together for 5 mins. Add 1/2 cup pecans. spread over cake while warm.

Ooh Yum - we all agreed this takes the cake! Thank you Kris.

So there you have it!  Two new yummy recipes to try next time you're out trailering. Eat Up! 

Tin Foil Dinners vs. Hobo Bundles

Here we go with my favorite no fuss recipe which really isn't a recipe at all - more a collection of whatever you've got in your fridge thrown together in a tin foil pouch and cooked in the coals until its steamy and delicious!

On our most recent excursion, an investigation of the fridge revealed:

1. Chicken

2. Potatoes

3. Onion

4. Carrots

5. Cream O' Chicken Soup

Wrap it all up in evenly portioned tin foil pouches (double foil just so you don't lose the goods during rotation), then add your favorite seasoning. Heat the coals to a nice grey and place the pouches on top! Rotate them every 7 to 10 minutes and soon you'll be biting into a delicious hobo dinner that is the epitome of camping fare.

Note to Self:  Bring along some leather gloves and tongs so you aren't fishing these little gifts out of the coals with your bare hands.

Now I've been told you should pre-cook the meat so all you're really doing is re-heating.  However, I have a strong aversion to re-heated chicken.  Soooo.... I just ignore that rule and put everything in raw.  It takes a bit longer to cook, but the result is divine. Moist and delicious chicken, tender and perfect veggies - ooh I'm getting hungry. 

Now I know this is not a revelation in cooking.  Many folks do tin foil dinners many ways.  My friend Andrea made a custom dinner for each member of her family using hashbrowns, hamburger, cheese, corn or even sliced hot dogs - whatever each person likes!  I've also made them with summer squash, tomatoes, cheese, rice and veggies. The hooligans cooked their freshly caught rainbow trout in a foil packet with butter, salt and pepper, and I thought I died and went to heaven! Really anything you can imagine can be cooked in a tin foil pouch.   

I was delighted to see that Sunset Magazine had an article this month on "modern" hobo dinners!  They call them Hobo Bundles...not the kind that are wrapped in a red bandana and tied to the end of a stick. Very Chic, vegetarian friendly, Hobo Bundles.  Check them out here Sunset Magazine Hobo Bundles.  

So here's my question to you - What do you include in your favorite Tin Foil Dinner / Hobo Bundle?  Leave a comment with your recipe. I'll try them out and award a prize for the best one. You don't have to be a hobo to cook like one...so get cooking!