holycow...

i am sure i have used that title before, but what a whirlwind of a month! I have not yet done a stitch of Christmas shopping, which is very unlike me! all that aside.....where do I begin?? well, in early november, we took a trip to Arizona, where my younger sister got married. It was wonderful to connect with my family, whom I have missed very much, and even planning an extra day off of work and school did not make it feel like "enough" time. The trip down was pleasant, as well, despite tha fact that we realized at the last minute we did not have the proper cables to our van's DVD player. they were misplaced in the confusion of a car accident a year ago, and who was thinking about traveling then?? so - the kids loaded up their toys and books, and we played several rounds of the alphabet game. not too bad of a 13-hour drive with 5 children! woohoo!!

first major stop was a sweet picnic area in southern utah. we had yummy sandwiches and cookies...and caught sight of 4 beautiful "Stellar's Jay" bluejays....unfortunately, i have no pictures of the kids there...just several attempts at a busy bird. the kids WERE there, but I photograph them all the time!

then....we stopped at Glen Canyon Dam...in the neighborhood of the Grand Canyon, and it was a wonderful thing to see. we did get one fun pic of the kids, but again...the scenery stole the stage!

Always need posers!

And the breathtaking sunset over the Utah/Arizona desert....

TURKEY TIME!!!!

I LOVE making the Thanksgiving meal! The whole day is about eating good food, and anyone who loves to cook also loves to be appreciated!! For years now, I have done our turkey an "unconventional" way, but no one is ever disappointed, and I honestly have very few leftovers! What follows is a recipe similar to the technique I have used, and once you stuff your bird this way, you will never go back! It is an extraordinary way to roast turkey that produces a bird of incomparable moistness, with skin as crackly as a potato chip.

You should never rub a turkey's skin with anything but salt. The salt seals the pores and keeps the juices in the flesh. People make a mistake in rubbing turkey with fat, in basting it with drippings, and in roasting it at a low temperature, all of which make the juices run out.

What also distinguishes this method is where the stuffing goes -- a savory sausage paste — directly underneath the skin and leaves the body cavity empty. Roasting the turkey for 2-1/2 hours at 400°F produces a fine, juicy, most flavorful bird. The fatty meat cooks atop the turkey flesh, dripping down and moistening the skin throughout the baking time. What follows is my own adaptation of a timeless Portuguese recipe from Maria Eugénia Cerqueira da Mota.

Ingredients:
A fresh turkey weighing about 15 pounds
2 pounds salt (that's right, 2 pounds)

For the Stuffing:
2 large garlic cloves, peeled and minced
3 tablespoons olive oil

2 small loaves crusty French or Italian bread, diced
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
3-1/2 cups chicken broth (preferably homemade)
2 large egg yolks, lightly beaten
2 lbs. italian sausage
3 T minced onion
1 t. cayenne pepper powder
1 T lemon pepper
2 bags Pepperidge Farm seasoned croutons

Instructions:
Remove the giblets from the turkey and chop them finely to add to your stufing, or discard if you just can't bear the thought of cooking them. Fill the neck and body cavities of the turkey with salt, then rub the skin well all over with salt. Place the turkey and remaining salt in a very large deep kettle, add enough cold water just to cover the bird, and set in a very cool spot for 3 to 4 hours. (Maria Eugénia soaks her turkey a full 24 hours, but in America's superheated houses, that would be unwise.)
Toward the end of the soaking period, prepare the stuffing: In a large heavy kettle set over moderate heat, sauté the garlic in the butter and olive oil about 5 minutes until limp. Add the bread, salt, and pepper, and toss well; now add the chicken broth and beat hard with a wooden spoon until the mixture is pastelike; turn the heat to its lowest point, cover the kettle, and steam 15 to 20 minutes, until the bread has absorbed all the liquid. Add the egg yolks and beat hard until smooth. Remove from the heat and add the onion and sausage. Set all aside. Preheat the oven to hot (400°F; 205°C). Drain the turkey and rinse very well, removing every bit of salt from the neck and body cavities. It's important to rinse the bird several times in cool water, so that all traces of salt are gone. Place the bird on the counter with the neck cavity facing you. With your hands, begin working the skin free from the breast. Proceed gently, taking care not to tear the skin. It's slow going at first, but once you begin to free the skin, the job goes quickly. Loosen it all the way down the bird to within about 1 inch of the tail end, down both sides. Now, with your hands, push the stuffing bit by bit far down under the skin and continue, packing it in lightly, until the breast is covered with about a 1-inch layer. Now fill the neck cavity, skewer the neck skin flat against the back to enclose, and truss the bird.

Place the turkey breast-side up in a large shallow roasting pan (no rack needed) and roast uncovered for about 2-1/2 hours or until the bird is richly browned and a leg moves easily in the hip joint; do not baste. Remove from the oven and let stand 20 minutes.

Remove as much of the stuffing from the bird as possible, and put into a large stock pot. Ladle in 1/2 - 1 cup of the juices and bits from your roasting pan, breaking up the cooked stuffing, blend well. Add in the croutons, continue stirring and adding more of the turkey juices until your stuffing is the moistness you prefer.

Slice the turkey, make a smooth gravy from the remaining juices, and serve it all hot.

This should easily serve 20 guests, with a bit of left over meat, but don't count on much!

Self-ism.

Do you know that the literal meaning of autism is self-ism? This is an interesting link, with a view from an adult autism sufferer....and she details how oftentimes she is into herself, and therefore not noticing the needs or words of others.

Do you think we would have less autism if we trained members of our society to be less selfish? There are seemingly hopeless situations, but most people can think of a quality example of a very polite 3 year old. If a 3-year old can polite, then the same expectations of a 14-year-old-with-the-mentality-of-a-6-year-old should exist. Teach them to notice others. Hold their face and have them look you in the eye, to see that eye contact is respectful of others. Tell them to say hello, even if it is uncomfortable. I had a 2-1/2 year old diagnosed with asperger's, and now you would have to spend a great deal of time with her for anyone to know. She is sweet, quiet, has control, obeys, does not throw tantrums...all things that were once HOURLY issues in her little life. Believe me, the effort will pay off in the enjoyment you receive from those in your life who are worth your time.

Tortellini Cordon Bleu

The combining of French and Italian cuisine resulted in a nice pasta dish at our house last night...

Cordon Bleu is Francais for "blue ribbon"...and the original chicken Plat principal, or main course is yummy with its corn meal breading, enveloping chicken breast, ham and gooey swiss cheese.

Wanting the flavor without all the fuss (it has to be prepared ahead of time and refrigerated for some time before the cooking process), I blended all of this:

4 chicken breasts, cooked in a small amount of water and chopped into generous chunks.
1 pound 5-cheese blend tortellini (boil al dente)
1/3 # swiss cheese, sliced thickly (add to cooked, strained pasta returned to its boiling pot on med heat to melt)
1/2 - 1 c coarsely chopped smoked turkey "ham", or simply ham - we don't do much pork
1 c. heavy cream (pour over pasta & cheese)
3-4 T italian seasoning (grind in palm and add to pasta mixture)
1 T garlic granules (fresh would be better - I was in a hurry)
1 cup organic chicken broth
1 c cream - pour these into pasta pot, heat on med/med-hi to low boil
4 T corn starch - stir into 2 T cream to make thick paste. pour over bubbling sauce, cook until sauce is the thickness you like.

THEN TOSS IN:
1/4 c. dried cranberries, chopped randomly
2 tsp salt
4 T Marsala

Add chicken, stir well, serve hot with crusty bread and a yummy spinach salad. (Which, i should warn you, a 1-cup serving may take the average 11 year old a fair amount of time to eat. Ours did it in just under 2 hours)

Spinach salad

3 c. fresh spinach, de-stemmed, and chopped coarsely
1/4 c fresh grated parmesan or romano cheese
1/4 c dried cranberries
1/4 c pomegranate arils
1/8 c your favorite granola blend
1/2 c frozen, thawed petite peas

combine and drizzle over all:
1/4 c ranch dressing
1 1/2 tsp ginger
2 tsp garlic granules or powder

enjoy!!

the Turkey Bowl!!

Jordan and Ben warming up....

The Young Adults group from our church participated in the Turkey Bowl on Saturday, to raise funds for the "Dream Center" - a local homeless shelter which provides an annual Thanksgiving feast, and feeds and shelters needy people in salt lake city throughout the year.
Jordan, Anne, and Ben all played...I had to control the camera!! If you click on the picture you can see an enlarged picture with details pointing out our family members!

It was a gorgeous November day, and hot chocolate and chili were just right to warm up the spectators when a chilly breeze came!

HAPPY

day after Halloween!! Phew, so glad it is over. Did you know Utah celebrates as big (or bigger than) Christmas! I took the older 2 boys, and went to the younger kids' school to watch their "Halloween Parade"...all the kids wove in and out of all of the parents in the gym, and.... HOLY COW, SIR! Little kids, dressed in the most scary, blood-dripping costumes, making the younger siblings that were there all out SCREAM! I contemplated putting this into the blog, but I hope it serves to remind me that next year, i will keep my kids home from school that day! All they did was play games, and be scared. The silly/scary music being piped through the school's loudspeaker system was enough, but the posters plastered throughout the school with frightening images and the large coffin and ghost-filled pumpkin in the cafeteria were over the top.

...on a lighter note, our kids did dress up, and did a little bit of trick-or-treating, and some "trunk-or-treating"...at the school parking lot, all the parents come with their trunks filled with candy, and the kids can go around in a "safe" environment.

Here are some photos to show you how things were fun inside of our house....can you guess what they were? Victoria couldn't help but pose for every picture!

Then there was Luke - he did not dress up for school...too "mature" for that I guess, but upon realizing trick-or-treating would not be too fruitful in normal clothes, he opted to be a rough-and-tough hockey player. Hence, the Karo syrup-and-corn meal wounds on his face. GO, mom!

I had a house full

of polygamists yesterday! technically they are former p'lygs, as my friend corrected me. how wild - to sit and have brunch with people who spent time with the guy on the FBI's most wanted list himself. Boy, does he need Jesus! As do all of those terribly decieved people. I don't even know how much I can type here, but I know that freedom is a precious thing - to be able to wear your hair how you want, or the very COLOR of clothes you like...We take a lot for granted. If you missed Oprah's special on polygamy in this country, you can view some of those interviews here. quite a day! I hope they come back soon...there is so much to tell them!

Yesterday, Today, Forever

DETAIL:

Hi - this is on the art blog, if you have ever peeked there, but I had to post this latest completed art project just for the record of our family/house/life progress...it looks much prettier on the wall now that the wall has been painted, but i can't find that picture!! It is in Greek...Luke did the research, and can pronounce the words if you ask him. All I know is the middle one is something like "Cimarron". The faux-iodized metal background compliments Ben's custom-framework beautifully, and the detail shows a little of the 2-D acanthus leaf in copper with a verdigris finish. Definitely one of my favorites!

have I told you....

how absolutely FABULOUS my husband is??? last night, he made to DIE FOR pizza!!! ~ hand tossed crust, with fresh garlic, and Ragu's cheesy garlic cream sauce, fresh: spinach, olives, mushrooms, feta (sheep's milk) cheese, and sun dried tomatoes and artichoke hearts. WOW! I even had more for breakfast. You could add some garlic chicken, too, if you wanted, but it didn't need it.



THENNN...he has been working on and tweaking this amazing fountain for several weeks, and now it runs beautifully in the kitchen...standing 6 feet tall, it is the most beautiful focal point ever!! The darker portion is brazilian hardwood - moisture resistant, stained a deep mahogany shade. The back, where the water falls is lined with copper sheeting, and the base contains native Utah rocks, straight out of our yard!



Thanks, babe! you're awesome!

making up for lost time...

i may have mentioned, we went away for a little last-minute weekend at a ski resort, and here are some of the photos...from the tram looking down on the lodge, and from the ground with a view toward mountains. SO beautiful, PLEASE come visit us so we can share it with you!! The sun was VERY bright up there....so we are both a little squinty in the photos, but it was very nice to go relax and get in touch with God's creation!!

Today marks the anniversary of....

my 29th birthday! It is not good manners, you know, to just blurt that out to people, but I can here, because I don't think anyone reads this anyhow. my ACTUAL 29th birthday was in 2002, so you can do the math.

last night, ben surprised me with a CROWD of people, and made wonderful pizza, and fun was had by all til nearly midnight. have a great day! ~ jodie

it is wednesday.

who can title their blog post on a wednesday? not me. not I? yep....not I. no one would say "me can't".

anyway...LOTS going on here...we have a district women's retreat happening at our church this weekend, at which I am in charge of decorating. Tomorrow night is our parenting class, and we are talking about honoring age. AGE means OLD. I have been realizing lately "age" is catching up with me, but has not yet passed me by....that would be SO nice, to be overlooked by "age". Today, I am in negotiations: 1. to pay on a goofy bounced check, of which our bank faxed me a copy, plainly showing it CLEARED. 2. to wrap up the order form for the church cookbook after the pastor's wife sends me a cute little photo, and time is running out! 3. to secure a room that has been reserved for our ladies retreat DINNER, but is being trumped by some other activity that happens at church weekly. 4. to convince the kitchen to clean itself, after it makes dinner, and now I have a crying 6 year old, because she was on the exercise thing and her sister got on there, too. APPARENTLY, she was on the thing DOING HER LIST, "looking for what she could pick up in the living room". What immediately followed were lots of TEARS!! wow, life can be dramatic at the end of a long day! New rule - no "doing lists" on the exercise thing. phew! on to tomorrow!

wow...

gotta catch up, I guess! yes the past month has been SUPER full!!! sorry i don't even have pictures to post, b/c they are all sitting on my camera, waiting to be transferred to hard drive (G)...it is called that for some horrific word that begins with "G", I think...as in mid-september, we had nearly 2 weeks with our computer on the FRITZ...having overloaded it with action hero stunts, You Tube videos, and Barbie games. I LOVE kids!! even when they are download-happy!! (Did you know my teenage son is on YouTube...playing guitar hero, on "expert", blindfolded. OH, do I wish we lived on a farm where I could give them more to do!

on top of that, our parenting class began, we went to more than one pastor's/leader's conference, a couple of birthday parties, some pot-luck dinners, a few soccer matches, several back-to-school events, had a couple of different flus breeze through here, worked on some more art, painted a couple more walls, organized some closets, spent about 2 weeks at Costco, went on a last-mimute romantic getaway to a ski resort in the beautiful salt lake city mountains, had several pizza bashes, ranging in number of guests from 14(which I now think of as a "small" party, helLO!) to 38...had 3 extra children over one weekend, decorated everything with fall leaves, pumpkins, and 2 cute ceramic pilgrims, and pretty much everything else I can think of, except BLOG! Ugh. I think i even squeezed a couple of naps in there. I did manage to outsmart a number of migraines with some much-needed calcium-magnesium supplements. (Thanks, Sarah!) And, took a bridesmaid's dress in to be altered for my very-out-of-proportioned-too-short-and-too-lots-of-other-things figure. The Chinese woman said "thees will bee a mayjorr prohject." All I could say was "sorry." That wedding had better be a LOT of fun!

Now it is October. Kids are deciding on halloween costumes, ben's parents may come for thanksgiving, we are planning the trip to arizona in november for my sister's wedding, the weather is getting cooler (we even had snow last week!), and then it will be Christmas!! I will try to find more time in there to blog further, but please understand if you check often and read nothing NEW, that I am not trying to ignore anyone...just have a LOOONG to-do list! happy day, see you soon!!

Something new!

perhaps not to all of you, but I am excited...it is a website called BlogVertise...similar to the parent blogger netowrk, where they ask for reviews which you cover in your blog. this tool refers a blogger to companies/website owners who in turn write a review, with honest comments about the business they have investigated. The PERK is that there is MONEY in it! Not a lot at first, but for those of you who enjoy writing, or sharing your random thoughts, it could grow to be a lucrative prospect for a small amount of time each day. Be on the lookout for upcoming reviews! You can check out this funky new BlogVertise here !

Woo Hoo!

what a weekend, and it is only saturday afternoon!!

we had 26 guests at our house last night for pizza..some who had never come before, and some long-standing friends. just for the record, I need to keep track of the WONDERFUL pizzas ben made, b/c i hope he does it again soon!

Cheese
Pepperoni
Garden Vegetable Alfredo (artichokes, peppers, olives, mushrooms, onions, zucchini. feta cheese, spices, and mozzarella)
Chicken and spinach with garlic sauce
Tomato and garlic (commonly a "margherita" pizza)
Chicken taco (Seasoned chicken, peppers, onions, salsa, mozz and cheddar cheeses, doritos, quacamole, salsa verde) YUMMMMM!
Pepperoni and jalapeno-stuffed green olive
Hmm...okay. I thought there were 2 more. I will have to ask him!

One more item of note...
i began a new blog, you can see the link to the right. I am hoping within the next week to develop it into a web SITE..we shall see. I just needed a starting point. If anyone has a fabulous tip for web-page design they would like to send me, I would welcome any and all advice!! Thank you!