Holiday Eating Tips...kinda

Okay, okay, so I've been mia for a few months or so...I've been busy! Doing what? Who knows, but let me tell ya, that takes up a lot of time!  But, I figured I better make some sort of a holiday appearance on this, or you really might think I closed up shop! 

In honor of all that is good with the gluttony accompanying Thanksgiving, Ugly Sweater Parties, Christmas, New Years Eve,and Amaretto Straight-Up (my absolute favorite holiday drink), I present you with....

Holiday Eating Tips 2010

1.    Avoid carrot sticks. Anyone who puts carrots on a holiday buffet table knows nothing of the holiday spirit. In fact, if you see carrots, leave immediately. Go NExt door, where they're serving rum balls.
2.   Drink as much eggnog as you can. And quickly. It's rare... You cannot find it any other time of year but now. So drink up! Who cares that it has 10,000 calories in every sip? It's not as if you're going to turn into an eggnog-alcoholic or something. It's a treat. Enjoy it. Have one for me. Have two. It's later than you think. It's Christmas! 
3.   If something comes with gravy, use it. That's the whole point of gravy. Gravy does not stand alone. Pour it on. Make a volcano out of your mashed potatoes. Fill it with gravy. Eat the volcano. Repeat. 
4.   As for mashed potatoes, always ask if they're made with skim milk or whole milk. If it's skim, pass. Why bother? It's like buying a sports car with an automatic transmission.
5.   Do not have a snack before going to a party in an effort to control your eating. The whole point of going to a Holiday party is to eat other people's food for free. Lots of it. Hello?
6.   Under no circumstances should you exercise between now and New Year's. You can do that in January when you have nothing else to do. This is the time for long naps, which you'll need after circling the buffet table while carrying a 10-Pound plate of food and that vat of eggnog.
7.   If you come across something really good at a buffet table, like frosted Christmas cookies in the shape and size of Santa, position yourself near them and don't budge. Have as many as you can before becoming the center of attention. They're like a beautiful pair of shoes. If you leave them behind, you're never going to see them again. 

8.   Same for pies. Apple, Pumpkin, Mincemeat. Have a slice of each. Or if you don't like mincemeat, have two apples and one pumpkin. Always have three. When else do you get to have more than one dessert? Labor Day?

9.   Did someone mention fruitcake? Granted, it's loaded with the mandatory celebratory calories, but avoid it at all cost. I mean, have some standards.
10.  One final tip: If you don't feel terrible when you leave the party or get up from the table, you haven't been paying attention. Re-read tips; start over, but hurry, January is just around the corner. Remember this motto to live by:

"Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, chocolate and wine in one hand, body thoroughly used up, totally worn out and screaming "WOO HOO what a ride!"

Parsleypalooza!

Dried Herbs?  Bad
Fresh Herbs? GOOD
Fresh Herbs anytime other than the summer from my garden?  Outrageously expensive, and sadly subbed out with dried herbs most of the time
Solution? Yes, I have one!!

I had very high hopes with the herbs in my garden this year. 
I planted:  2 rows of basil, 1 row of dill, 1 row of cilantro, 1 row of chives, and a half a row of parsley.
I currently have:  2 rows of weeds, 1 row of dill, 1 row of overgrown gone-to-seed cilantro, 1 row of weeds, and a half a row of the most beautiful parsley you have ever seen!
(note to self- next year all herbs are getting started in the greenhouse, no more of this seed business!)

Anywho, this morning and afternoon I have ALL to myself at home, so I thought I better do something with that parsley besides watch it go to seed too.  I set out to chop it up with olive oil, kind of like pesto, and freeze it.  This way, I will always have fresh parsley, and it won't turn black and grody because I added the oil.

So, out with my scissors and my bowl, cut all my parsley.  I'm so proud of my parsley crop...this bowl is stuffed full, and my row is only about 5 or 6 feet long!

 Can I get a shout out to my first 2 ripe tomatoes??

 Lovely parsley again, all washed up, with little critters and weeds removed

 My two BFFs...olive oil from Costco, and my Cuisinart.  If I had to choose 5 things to take to a desert island, these would be 2 of them!

 My mini tartlett tray via Demarle (no they aren't paying me, yes I had to pay for this!)...this is what I used to freeze the parsley in.

 Next, I ripped off the top leaves and got rid of the excess stemmy business...no need for the extra roughage in my opinion.

 See? Who needs all that junk?

 Throw it in the Cuisinart (stuff it kind of full, or this will take a while as I found out), with maybe a 1/4 cup of oil, and use the pulse button, not the chop button, you don't want to make paste, just finely chopped.

 The pieces should be small enough that they hold together, but not so small that it is pasty like pesto can be.  And, add more olive oil if it's not holding together too well.

 Smash it in the tray, and freeze! They will pop right out, and they you can just throw them in the freezer. I figure one little tartlett is equal to about 1 tablespoon of fresh herbs.

 I can't wait to throw this in some lasagna! Fresh parsley just tastes SO much better than dried!

 Where's the maid??

An Exercise in Pizza

Officially, our house does not have air conditioning. Unofficially, we have 2 "whiskey tango" window ac's. If it were up to Andy, those bad boys would run 24-7 as soon as it warms up enough for him to put away his long underwear for the season. I like to use them only when it hits 90+ outside, and would prefer to just keep the windows open and enjoy the fresh air. But, I do what I can to keep the house as cool as possible, and one of those things is trying to use the oven either only in the morning, or not at all. Well, it's tough to work in one of our staple dinner rotations, pizza, when you can only cook it in the morning. So, I decided to give bbqing a homemade pizza a shot. I have done the take-n-bake kind on the bbq, but never a homemade one. A while back my friend Kelly told me that my new favorite cooking gadget, a Silpat, could withstand up to 480 degrees (she also told me broiling on them is a bad idea...bad Liz!!). Well, our bbq on high usually hits somewhere between 350 and 400, so I figured I was safe to give bbqing a pizza on a Silpat a shot. It ended up working GREAT!! No burning the bottom or the top waiting for the top or the bottom to get done, and the crust was nice and crispy, and not a bit soggy! I was unsure at first whether to cook the crust by itself and then add the toppings, but went with it all in at once, and was 100% pleased with the results! Oh, and we have a Traeger BBQ, so I'm not sure how a gas or briquette bbq would work, but I would think you would want to keep the temperature pretty low to keep the bottom from burning. Oh ya, and because I used a Silpat, all I had to do was wipe it off when I was done and that was the extent of my clean up! Happy Mom Factor for sure!! :)

YUM!

Seventeen Month Pictures

Fool me once is all the Picture People are gonna get out of me! After spending a small fortune having Aiden's pictures taken back in October, Andy and I refuse to be suckers again! Luckily, we are blessed with two great  photographers in our family, Andy's dad Pat, and my sister Catherine's husband Cory! Anywho, here are the pics that Pat took of Aiden a few weeks ago...they are pre-editing, which I am hoping that Cory will help me with (hint hint)! Oh, and Cory has a newly founded Nauertz Photography blog... http://corynauertz.blogspot.com/  I'm sure he will be posting tons more pictures soon, he is really getting into his photography groove!

P.S...does anyone know how to edit out slobber? This kid is always drooling all over the place!

Fourth of July

The first summer that Andy and I "hung out" was the very first time that I ever attended the St. Paul 4th of July Parade.  I was newly 21, he was 23 and freshly out of college, without a job, and plenty of time on his hands to "court" me.  That was the best summer....tons of fun and clever dates (swathing, trips to scary cemeteries, out to fun bars) , surprises (carrot cake in a college class, a detailed car complete with my favorite Dave Matthews Band cd), and visits to me at work (also the first summer I worked for Ioka).  The summer between us ended awkwardly, 100% the fault of mine, and is a ridiculously absurd story for some other time (I feel like an idiot even thinking about it).  Luckily for us, alls well that ends well.

Anywho, back to the parade.  We have gone to the parade every year for the past 8 years with just about all of Andy's extended family each year.  It is the best small-town parade... anyone can enter into it the day-of!  There is lots of candy, and lots of waving, and you always see someone in the parade you know.  This year was Aiden's second parade...last year he got to meet Abe Lincolin! :)  We have such a great time going, and look forward to it all year long.

 

Girl's Weekend in Walla Walla

A couple weeks back I headed up to Walla Walla, all by myself (I think that is the furthest I have ever driven alone...it was NICE!) to see my little sister Lydia, and to join one of my best friends from college, Katie, and her sister (who also lives in WW), and their mom and friends for a girl's weekend! It was a relaxing couple of days of chatting, eating, and in true Walla Walla style, wine tasting!! The last time I was up there was in January, so it was a nice change to see all the landscapes flush with bright green, and yummy cherry and sweet onion season in full-swing!

At Three Rivers Winery for a bbq and live music

 The whole girl's weekend crew (minus Emily who was taking the picture)

 Katie & I

 The whole gang, this time with Lydia & Emily

 Beautiful Walla Walla

Father's Day

What do you mean I am a month late with this?? Oh well, better late than never! Andy's Father's Day wish was to go to the Evergreen Air Museum in McMinnville. We had been there once before, but it was for a work function, so we weren't able to spend much time looking around.  Well, going with a kiddo didn't give us much time to look at everything either, so we have decided to go back soon, next time, adults only! :)  We did get lots of "WOW's" from Aiden, which is always so fun to listen to!!

WOW!!!!!

 Aiden was thrilled to be there, can't you tell?

 They also have a huge building just about the space program, it was really impressive!

 Actual piece of the Berlin Wall

 My boys...

Back on the Wagon

When you pick up your Catholic manual at the age of 3 months after your first dunking, the first 10 chapters are on guilt.  All Catholics are thoroughly trained at giving guilt; it's just a part of life as a Catholic, right along with the aerobics we do during mass and the phenomenal displays of Catholic Daughter macaroni salads after a funeral.  The number one most nagging form of guilt (a definite close second to the guilt given by octogenerian grandmothers) is self-guilt.  So, as the days have been passing since I have updated my blog, my self-guilt gland has been running on overtime.  Time to put an end to it.

Since the end of May, life has been grand.  I feel so spoiled to have the opportunity to stay home with my kiddo, that I practically feel like I am on vacation.  It is so nice to have time to do all the things I need and want to do, without feeling like the fast-forward button is always pushed.  Dinner is usually made or close to it when Andy gets home, the house gets cleaned on a regular basis, and I actually do the laundry instead of my mom or my mother-in-law (it just seems to be the lowest on my priority list).  And most importantly, I get to spend my days with Aiden.  What a blessing staying home has been!!  Here are a few pics of what we have been up to...

Playing at the Beach...

 Making Jam...

 Building Fences.....

Also, I have deemed myself with the position of "Marketing Manager" for Schaecher Wholesale Nursery.  Here is what I have been up to...a new logo and a new website in the coming weeks! (www.swnplants.com)

All-in-all, staying home has been fantastic, and I wouldn't trade it for the world!! Cheers!

Tickled Pink!

I am typing this post on my (yes mine, alllll mine) new computer, on my (yes mine, alllll mine) desk, next to my (yes mine, allll mine) very own bookshelf, on my (okay, you get the point) side of our new office!!! YAHOO!!!

Since we moved into our house 4 1/2 years ago, our office has been in one of our bedrooms downstairs, and it has been primarily comprised of Andy's crap.  His farm stuff, his stock stuff, his work stuff, and his random other junk.  It would pile up on the desk until I would get mad at him to file it, or I would throw it away (don't tell him).  The bookshelf was filled with his work books, the large file cabinet was filled with his papers.  Are you getting the picture yet? :) Our Office = Andy's Stuff Storage.  Not anymore!!

Since I decided to stay home full time, and work super part time from home, I was decided that I would need my own workspace.  Not just for my work stuff, but also for my Ag Fest stuff (which there is a lot of), and any nursery bookkeeping stuff (oh ya, I am supposed to do that as I am technically paid to do it....hmmm).  So, we decided to clear out the bigger of the rooms in our upstairs, and make it into a dual office.  A trip to Ikea and a new computer later, we are in business!  It is SO nice to have space for my stuff that isn't in our bedroom or kitchen, and is completely safe from being attacked by Aiden! :) Yahoo again!

I think I might just do a cartwheel I am so very tickled!! 

Home on a Monday

This week I am home from work all week, as Thursday through Sunday I will be "AgFesting"! You're coming right!??! :)  Usually on Sundays I am a little bit (Andy would probably disagree with "a little") of a stress case trying to get groceries, all the laundry done, dinner made, lunches packed...basically just getting things ready to start the week.  Yesterday it was really nice to not have to worry about that, and I am really looking forward to this being the norm instead of the exception. 

Quick question...we don't have cable, so I don't often get to watch Paula Deen (if we had cable, I would probably watch the food network 23 out of 24 hours in a day).  While folding a week's worth of laundry this morning, I was watching Rachel Ray's network show, and Paula Deen was a guest.   That woman cannot possibly naturally say "Ya'll" as much as she does...she has to be paid per ya'll or something, because I betcha she said "YA'LLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL" about 25 times in a 5 minute segment, and she puts them in spots that really don't work.  Or maybe they do, I'm not from the south, so what the heck do I know?? :)

Happy Monday Ya'll!!

Thankful for the Sun

Dare I say, I think that spring is officially here! (although tomorrow I think it is supposed to rain again...yay) It is so nice to feel the warm sun on my face, and I absolutely love walking around the yard each week to see what new plants are popping up. We planted a new lawn a few weeks ago, and it finally got the courage to sprout, so hopefully in a month or so Andy can try out his new riding lawn mower and Aiden can play outside!

Andy has been working a lot lately, so I have had a few quiet evenings to myself, after Aiden goes to bed of course. Tonight I am typing away, watching the sun go down, and eating Andy's ice cream (as Kevin in Home Alone would say "I'm eating junk and watching rubbish, you better come out and stop me!"). Sometimes this is really nice and welcome, but sometimes it just leaves me too much time to think, which is sometimes no good. I have been thinking a lot lately about how in about a month and a half, all that I have been working toward and building (outside of this house and family) for the last 10 years (college included) will be done, my seed girl identity will be over. I'm not sure how and I'm not sure why, but this reality really hit home last weekend , and more than a few tears followed. No more big sales, no more wheeling and dealing, no more writing up an awesome order...all that thrill will be gone. I know that my decision to "retire" (that's what I like to call it), is and was 100% mine, and it was absolutely the best and most important decision I will ever make, it is still kind of sucky. After 1. wife and 2. mom, what will my identity be? Do I need a 3rd?

I am thankful that I will still be working extremely part time and only from home, and that I have ag fest for my adult outlet. And don't get me wrong, I am very excited to be able to stay home with Aiden, to have time to actually get the laundry done (without help from the amazing grandmas), keep the house clean, and make dinner without feeling like I am constantly running around like a chicken with my head cut off. My type-A absolutley does not funtion at 100% in that senario, and Andy and Aiden are the main victims. I am thrilled to have time to grow an awesome garden and to be able to put a lot of it away in the freezer (instead of watching the weeds outgrow the veggies), and to just have flexibility to do what is best for Andy and Aiden.

But part of me is going to mourn the big part of me that has to go away, maybe for a few years, maybe forever.

Bad Blogger

I know, I know, I've been really bad at this lately! Seems like a fell off the wagon about a month abo when our laptop had to take a two week trip to the laptop hospital, and it's been downhill with my blogging ever since!

Hopefully now I am back on the wagon!

It seems like the last month or so has just flown by. I honestly thought when we had Aiden that things would slow down, but I'm not sure that's the case. Here are some of the things we have been up to lately...

-Lots of work outside, when it hasn't been blowing 100 miles an hour or raining cats and dogs! We got our lawn planted, and our garden is just about ready to plant (if it would ever dry out for a couple of days) I can't wait to plant our garden! I drew out where everything is going to go and when it gets planted, but because of all the rain, I am a couple weeks behind on my peas, lettuce, bok choy, and radishes. Oh well, I'll get it planted eventually!

-Aiden officially started walking about 2 weeks ago! It is a total crack up to watch, because even though he is pretty steady, he sort of stumbles around like he is drunk. And he is quite proud of himself because he figured out how to walk, AND hold something at the same time! I can't wait until it is nicer outside and our lawn is up so he can run around outside...we both have a serious case of cabin fever!

-I've been spending a lot of time planning the HEIDISTRONG 2010 Fundraiser for Heidi! I am having a really fun time doing it, and am absolutely blown away at the generosity of everyone I have come in contact with! It is on June 5th at Bauman Farms...call or email if you want tickets, tshirts, want to donate something for the auction or want to help!

-Oregon Ag Fest is right around the corner, so I have been spending a lot of time helping finalize all of those details as well. This is the 23rd year of the event, and I am proud to say this is my 6th year helping. It is amazing to watch 17,000 people, many of whom have never been on a farm before, learning all about the amazing gift of Oregon agriculture! I feel really blessed and proud to be a part of such a thing. April 24-25th at the Oregon State Fairgrounds....FREE for kids under 12, and all activities are FREE!

-Andy and I are in the process of moving our office upstairs. We have two rooms in the upstairs of our house that right now we just use for storage, but are going to consolidate (and throw away, yay!!) all the stuff into one room, and turn the larger of the two into an office for Andy and I. Our current office is mostly Andy's stuff (a few grumbles from me), but starting June 1st, I will need my own space, as I will no longer be working outside the home, I will be doing extremely part-time work only from home, but still for the same company. YAY!!!! So, starting then, I will officially be a stay-at-home mom!!! It is quite bittersweet though, because I really love my job. If there was anyway to continue to work full or part time, and keep my sanity, I would do it in a heartbeat. But the perfectionist, type-A, must-be-prepared-for-everything gal that I am, just can't do it. Me being home is what is in the absolute best interest of Andy and Aiden, and that is what I need to do.

So, that is what has been going on around here for the last month or so...I will post some pictures when I get around to taking them off of my camera, sooner or later!!

Aiden's Big Bash

Thought I would share some pictures of Aiden's birthday party that we had last Saturday...we took him to pizza at Paddingtons on his actual birthday, and I of course, forgot my camera! They even put a candle in our pizza for him, it was too cute!

Happy Birthday Aiden!

Oh, my sweet little baby boy, how is it possible that you are 1 year old??

So cliche, but I can remember every detail about the day you were born like it, literally, was just yesterday!  I wish I could rewind back to when you were a tiny baby and press pause...even preemie clothes were too big for you, you were almost too small for your carseat, and we were constantly amazed and amused by the funny sounds you made.  Now you crawl and scoot and stand, you say "wow" and maybe even "mama", and you love facing forward in your carseat. 

I can only imagine all the adventures that the next year will bring....walking and talking and all sorts of discovering, I am so excited for you! 

It's hard for Daddy and I to imagine life without you, we love you so very, very, very much!

Love, Mommy

I Must Vent...

There was an article in the Statesman this morning about PGE replacing all of their old antiquated meters with new digital meters, and all the complaints they are getting because some people's bills are going up as the new meters are much more sensitive and pick up tiny amounts of power usage that the old ones did not (the power it takes to keep the lights on your printer on, or the clock running on your microwave).  And, obviously, PGE is cutting a fat hog on this deal, raking in money hand over fist.  ARGH!!  I love how people are so quick to complain, but never stop to think about the incredible amount of resources it takes to run a company like PGE, and that in reality, Oregon's power rates are significantly lower than most other states.   Don't they realize that, in effect, they were stealing power?

I suppose I  have a small dog in this fight as Andy and my dad work for PGE, but I just wish people wouldn't be so dang quick to complain about every little thing that they see as a personal attack by big business, and would actually stop to think about how businesses run and what it takes to be even a tiny bit profitable.  I have a lot of additional thoughts on this, but I think I will just stop now because it could get ugly.  :)  Ahhh, I feel better now!

I Can't Wait!

Saturday we are throwing Aiden's 1st Birthday Party!

I'm sure he could care less, but I am so excited!! I of course wanted a giant party, but Andy rolled his eyes at that idea, so our trade off for a smaller party is having an awesome cake! I had Jennifer at Bittersweet Baking do the cake for his baptism and it was amazing (I am sad to admit that it was better cake than our wedding cake), so I made sure to book her way in advance for his birthday.

Can't wait to post pictures of Saturday up here, especially of the cake!!

Give the Malt-O-Meal Guy a Second Chance

When it comes to groceries, I am a big cheapo. I buy the off brand of everything unless it is a steal, and am always appauled at how much grocery stores charge for basic necessities. Anyhow, I found a great steal today! I was at Winco fighting the crazies (yes, pray for me please), and I needed to get some cereal for Aiden to snack on. Cereal is one of those items that drive me crazy how much they charge. I am quite sure that it does not cost $4 to produce a box of Cheerios...I know for a fact what oats cost per pound (around $.20 per pound), and I would highly doubt that there is more than 2 pounds of oats in one dumb box of Cheerios. Now I know there are many other costs that go into that box, but $4?? Come on!! Woooooooow Betsy, back to the story. So, I was looking for some cheap cereal to keep in his diaper bag and for some around the house snacking, but I was also hoping to get some with nutritional value greater than cardboard.

I always crack up at the guy who scoots around on the floor in those Malt-o-meal commercials, and tend not to buy that brand much after a serious disappointment with their Captain Cruch knock-off (don't buy it, it is a horrible immitation). But, I was checking out their "Tootie Fruities" (their version of Fruit Loops), and I was pleasantly surprised by a few things. The first was the price, $1.79 for a pretty big bag. Second, absolutely no high fructose corn syrup to be found in the ingredients, sugar was about 5th in line, and all the flavoring was natural! And third, I found out when I got home, was that they are a perfect match for fruit loops! Yum! And yes, Aiden likes them (add that to the slowly growing list of foods he likes, none of which are vegetables)! I always love a good food find!!

Walla Walla

Almost 3 weeks ago (yes, I know I am sort of behind getting this up), Andy and I took a weekend trip up to Walla Walla to visit my little sister Lydia.  She moved up there in September to take a job as a copy editor, and that was the first time we had been up to see her.

I always thought that WW was a lot further north in Washington, but in reality, it is just across the border and only about 30 miles from Hermiston, and just about 4 1/5 hours from home.  Oh, did I mention this was our first weekend fully away from Aiden? Yes, it was, and he had a great time at Grammy & Papa's house (my mom and dad)...but I think they needed about 3 days to recover! :)

 When you do a grilled cheese under the broiler, you must watch it closely, or you get this...

 The first winery we went to, Andy really like the label colors

Thanks Cred for the great hospitality!!