None of my sons can really be called a child anymore. Danny turned 13 on Sunday, and now he's just a rotten teenager. Okay, not so rotten, but there sure is a lot of testosterone in the house these days.
Danny had some unusual birthday requests. Dunkin’ Donuts. Eyewinkers. Kraft Macaroni and Cheese with Velveeta cheese added. Stir fry vegetables.
William made a Boston Cream Pie for dessert, which Danny didn't request, but enjoyed anyway.
It was a low-key day for such a momentous occasion, but we all enjoyed ourselves. Danny will have his official party sometime soon, when we can coordinate an outing for Laser Tag with a couple of his friends.
Meanwhile, it's back to the routine, and watching my songs grow so fast I can't keep up. In fact, I can't keep up, because very soon I'm going to end up being the shortest person in the family.
Which is not so bad. I guess.
Wednesday, December 09, 2015
Thursday, November 26, 2015
Thanksgiving At Home
Hope everyone had a good day today. We all have most of the week off, and we decided not to venture out into the horrendous holiday traffic this year. We also decided on a fairly unconventional menu for the Thanksgiving holiday.
Oh, there were a couple of traditional favorites, including twice-baked potatoes and baked stuffed clams on the half-shell (a Hardenbergh tradition that the Brooks family has taken a shine to). There was cranberry sauce, too, though not from a can. This year, the boys got to visit a cranberry bog in Massachusetts, and we brought home some free fresh cranberries. Karen found a recipe for crock pot cranberry sauce, and I'm told it turned out very nicely. I don't care for cranberries, so I can't judge.
Karen also put the crock pot to good use today by making a crock pot pumpkin pie. It didn't come out much like a pie, with a bread-like texture despite having no flour, but it was very tasty and worth repeating.
Rotisserie chicken was the main course, since we roasted a turkey recently and still have frozen leftovers from that. It also simplified an already hectic cooking schedule. William and Thomas provided chocolate dessert dishes; William made truffles, and Thomas made a truffle pie. The pie was so rich that we're saving the truffles for tomorrow.
Another experiment on the menu was a spinach soufflé. We've long been fans of Stouffer's frozen spinach soufflé, but we don't seem able to find it in the stores around here anymore. So Karen looked up some recipes that purport to be good substitutes, and indeed the one she chose was very close. With a tiny bit more salt and more finely-chopped spinach, it would have been perfect. That one's a keeper.
As I'm sure is true of many families, we are all happily stuffed, and have lots of leftover food to carry us through the rest of the week. We'll be out for walks tomorrow to work off some of the excess calorie intake, and it looks as though we'll have some good weather for it.
And we intend to enjoy it while it lasts.
Oh, there were a couple of traditional favorites, including twice-baked potatoes and baked stuffed clams on the half-shell (a Hardenbergh tradition that the Brooks family has taken a shine to). There was cranberry sauce, too, though not from a can. This year, the boys got to visit a cranberry bog in Massachusetts, and we brought home some free fresh cranberries. Karen found a recipe for crock pot cranberry sauce, and I'm told it turned out very nicely. I don't care for cranberries, so I can't judge.
Karen also put the crock pot to good use today by making a crock pot pumpkin pie. It didn't come out much like a pie, with a bread-like texture despite having no flour, but it was very tasty and worth repeating.
Rotisserie chicken was the main course, since we roasted a turkey recently and still have frozen leftovers from that. It also simplified an already hectic cooking schedule. William and Thomas provided chocolate dessert dishes; William made truffles, and Thomas made a truffle pie. The pie was so rich that we're saving the truffles for tomorrow.
Another experiment on the menu was a spinach soufflé. We've long been fans of Stouffer's frozen spinach soufflé, but we don't seem able to find it in the stores around here anymore. So Karen looked up some recipes that purport to be good substitutes, and indeed the one she chose was very close. With a tiny bit more salt and more finely-chopped spinach, it would have been perfect. That one's a keeper.
As I'm sure is true of many families, we are all happily stuffed, and have lots of leftover food to carry us through the rest of the week. We'll be out for walks tomorrow to work off some of the excess calorie intake, and it looks as though we'll have some good weather for it.
And we intend to enjoy it while it lasts.
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