Ruth's Chris Potatoes Au Gratin

Now that the holidays are in full swing, I thought I would share this little gem of a recipe. It would be a great addition to any of your holiday meals, and it is super easy.

Austin actually found this recipe. He had the privilege of going to Ruth's Chris while he was in Washington D.C. with my dad, and they had ordered these potatoes. He liked them so much, he wanted to try and make them at home. He has also recently started the tradition of cooking our family dinner every Sunday...it was just something he wanted to do, and I wasn't about to complain! He is a great cook, and also does all the grilling for our family. Yep, I'm one happy Mama! Anyways, he looked up the recipe and gave it a try. We were all drooling when it came out of the oven, all cheesy and crispy around the edges. And it was sooooo delicious. I made them again last night with our tri-tip, and was delighted once again. I doubled the recipe for a 9 X 13, but a single fits nicely in a square baking dish or pie plate. The only substitutions I made were to use 1 cup milk and 1/2 cup half and half, instead of the heavy cream and milk proportions they use. There was no lack of richness or creaminess whatsoever.

Here is the recipe:

4-5 medium russet potatoes

1 cup heavy cream

1/2 cup milk

1 1/2 T flour

1 large clove garlic, pressed

1/4 tsp salt

1/8 tsp fresh black pepper

1 T butter softened

1 1/2 cups grated cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cut the potatoes into 1/4 inch slices, then quarter each of those slices. Beat together the cream, milk, flour, garlic, salt and pepper by hand just till well combined. Coat the inside of a large baking dish with the softened butter. Arrange the potatoes in the dish and pour the cream mixture over the potatoes. Cover and bake for 20 minutes, uncover and bake another 40 minutes or until the potatoes are starting to brown on the top. Sprinkle grated cheese over the top and continue to bake for another 5-10 minutes or until the cheese is melted and slightly browned and the potatoes are tender.

Enjoy!!!

First camping trip of the season!

We just got back from a wonderful weekend away in beautiful California City. For those of you who think the words "beautiful" and "California City" should not coexist together, you are sadly mistaken. I think I witnessed the most beautiful sunsets, and it was incredible to watch the moon rise over the horizon into the starry sky. Sunrises and sunsets are really quite spectacular in the desert, and I love the big sky and all the stars. Our Creator is so creative!

It is so exciting for me to watch my boys enjoy the sport of dirtbiking like their Daddy has for many years. What a great thing for them to experience together, and such a "boy thing" too. I mean, what boy wouldn't like dirt, motorcycles, and soda? Pretty much sums up our trip.

Anyways, we had a great time with some great friends. Magnum loved his first camping trip, and was a great camping dog. Summer on the other hand.....I think we will leave her home next time!

Here is a video my friend's son filmed while we were there of the kids riding. See if you can spot Luke's "no-footer". Enjoy!

Pizza Dough

I have been on a quest for the best homemade pizza dough for years. I have probably blogged about it before and you are tired of hearing about it. Well, I finally gave up, because every dough I tried either baked up with an unappetizing texture, or was way too much work. I resorted to using Trader Joe's dough, which quite frankly, is cheap, easy, and pretty good! At what, $1.49 per dough, that is still a remarkable cheap way to put dinner on the table. But I have finally beat that! Trader Joe's has NOTHING on this recipe. Try .40 per dough! Take that!!!

If you follow my blog, you may have read about my discovery of the Artisan bread in 5 minutes a day...if you haven't read about that, you can find it here. Well, the pizza dough is a variation of this method. An even easier variation to boot, if that is even possible. It is so simple. Simply mix the ingredients together in a bucket, let it sit for 2 hours on the counter, then refrigerate. The batch makes 4 pizza crusts, and can stay in the refrigerator for up to two weeks! When you are ready to make pizza, you pull off a hunk of dough, roll it out onto parchment, and you are ready to add your toppings.

For years, I have made pizza every Wednesday night for dinner, since Wednesday is our night down at church for Awana/bible studies. Pizza is an easy meal to serve, and simple to clean up, so we can get out of the house quickly after dinner and be on time to where we need to be. I can now make a batch of this dough, and it will last for two Wednesdays in a row (two pizzas each week), minimizing the work even furthur. I buy a two pound hunk of mozzarella at Sam's club, which is the perfect amount for two weeks dinners. So half a hunk = two pizzas. I make a homemade sauce which is enough for 2-3 weeks, and just freeze the leftovers in little containers that I can pull out Wednesday morning. Add some pepperoni or whatever toppings I have on hand, add a salad, and dinner is served. Here is the recipe for the pizza dough. Perhaps you will institute a pizza night at your house!

Pizza Dough (From Artisan Bread in 5 minutes a Day)

makes 4 one pound loaves

2 3/4 cups lukewarm water

1 1/2 tbsp yeast

1 1/2 tbsp salt

1 tbsp sugar

1/4 cup olive oil

6 1/2 cups unbleached flour

In a large bucket or bowl with lid, mix all ingredients except flour. Add flour, and mix with a large spoon until well combined. Place lid loosely on bowl or bucket, and let sit on counter for at least two hours. Refrigerate for up to two weeks.

To bake, preheat pizza stone or pan in oven at 550. Make pizza by stretching dough onto parchment with floured hands. Add flour if necessary to prevent sticking. Add toppings and slide onto hot stone. Bake 8-10 minutes, or until cheese is melted and bubbly and crust is browning.

Lately

I have SO dropped the ball with this blog. I just can't seem to keep up on it, and then I find myself with SO much to say that I am overwhelmed. This school year has really ramped up our lives. Having a high schooler, a junior high student, and an elementary student has us all over the place. It is busier than I am used to being, but I am slowly settling into life and rearranging my once very organized schedule to accomodate for all the activities. I still remain confident that in order to homeschool, you actually need to be home! I am still sticking with my healthy fear of overcommiting and being careful that all of these things don't get in the way of being able to effectively serve my husband and my family's needs, and that our home is still clean, organized, and running efficiently. And I am most happy when that is the case! With all that said, we truly are enjoying all of our wonderful opportunities this year, and the boys are thriving. We are so blessed.

I never did blog about my Dad's wedding! He got married last month to a sweet and wonderful lady, Mili. My sister and I threw them a magnificent 50's themed reception at Karen's house. There is no need for me to go into details, because Karen blogged it perfectly right here.

Dave has been super busy at work, which is SO good, and SO God. He is choosing to prosper Handmade in ways we could have never imagined. And Dave gets to build incredible works of art! We are so thankful. And we love his schedule....he has Fridays off!

Austin ran for ASB secretary of our homeschool group, and is now enjoying serving in that capacity. He is really enjoying planning and recording all kinds of fun events for our group, and I am enjoying seeing him grow and learn to be a leader.

Luke started drum lessons a couple week ago. Wow! He is doing so well. He went from making ridiculously irritating noises in the garage to playing beats in a matter of one week. His teacher is awesome, and he is really enjoying it so much. I love listening to him play now! It will be such a great outlet for Luke's energy, and I look forward to how he can use his skill in the future.

It's camping season! We are going to ride dirt bikes this weekend in Cal City, and we are starting to plan our big annual Thanksgiving Camping Trip for next month. So fun. And when I say "We are going to ride", I really mean "Dave and the boys." I enjoy being the "trailer Mom"....and no, that is not a redneck term. I don't ride anymore, after my seemingly harmless rides usually end up with me being confined to a bed in pain for a week. "Why do you have to be soooo OLD??!!" That's from the movie Despicable Me, and it seems to be my motto these days. Yeah, I just prefer to provide the meals, snacks, and activities for all my happy riders, and let boys be boys. I just stand at the trailer door and ask "Do you want a cookie?" It's exactly where I like to be.

Our little puppy Magnum, or "Num-Num" for short, it getting so BIG! He is now six months old, and it's as if we never knew life without him. Summer and Magnum are buddies, although both probably prefer people before each other. Magnum is such a good dog, and Summer is, well, not like that. Summer just doesn't get along with other dogs, but she loves people. And barking. And gophers. Nuff said.

So that's my update. I'm sure you are better off for knowing it. Sure. I promise to provide something valuable in the near future. Maybe some new recipes? Pictures??? I'll work on it!

The First Day of School....summer is gone!

See these happy children??? It's because they were starting the first day of the 2011-2012 school year! Oh yes, check back with me in a couple weeks. Those smiles will be wiped clear off those faces. Ha!

I am homeschooling for the 11th year in a row, and I don't have any plans on stopping soon. Every year brings more work, more challenges, more planning, more stress, but I wouldn't have it any other way. It is such a privilege, blessing, and yes, even enjoyment to have them home. This year we have our first high school student. Yep, Austin is old enough to be in high school, which also means I am old enough to be the mother of a high school student. Where did the time go? That's OK...the other day, I got asked by the Sam's club checker if I was the boys' sister or mother! I'll take it!

This year we have a lot of fun classes and activities planned. Austin is taking a science class at the Master's College, Luke is taking an algebra tutor class, and Austin and Luke are taking creative writing classes as well. There will be many exciting field trips and activities with Lighthouse (our homeschool group) coming up as well. Austin is even running for ASB Secretary of our group, which will be a fun experience for him...campaigning and all!

Summer was pretty uneventful. We just finished putting in a walkway down our driveway, which was a lot more work than we bargained for, but it looks beautiful! It widened our driveway, so more vehicles can fit in the driveway without driving over the grass (which Dave had to do to get his truck in). We also replaced our last few original windows in the house with new ones, including a beautiful one for our dining room. Next up on the project list is to paint the exterior of the house and then re-landscape our backyard, which is currently dead grass, weeds, and potholes from the gophers. We are thinking new grass, a path down the sideyard, and a deck with a fire pit. The work never ends!!!! We are thankful for and are really enjoying our newly renovated interior, thanks to State Farm and a pesky little flood. There won't be any interior improvements needed (except to kick out all the irritating colonies of ants which have been invading my personal space all summer). I give them credit for working so hard.

And we did end the summer with another broken bone for, you guessed it, my youngest offspring. He falls, it breaks. It's that simple. He chipped a bone in his wrist coming off the roller skating rink at family skate night with the church Junior High group! So another pretty blue cast for him! He's a good sport. And conveniently, it is his right hand, the one he writes with...just in time for school to start!

Well, we are looking forward to all the Lord will have for us this coming year, and trusting in Him as He unfolds that plan according to His will. Happy school year everyone!

Healthy Frozen Treat

It is HOT here in Santa Clarita! Nothing beats the heat like popsicles and colddddd frozen treats. But most popsicles are just so unhealthy, and the healthy all-fruit ones can be so expensive, especially when there are 3 boys around eating them. I have been making this special treat over and over around here, and can't keep them in the freezer. They are cheap, relatively healthy, and amazingly delicious. They call for Greek yogurt, which, did you know, has twice the protein of regular yogurt? Try these some day soon, you will not regret it!

Mixed Fruit Smoothie Pops

8 oz plain Greek yogurt
3/4 cup sugar
8 oz whipped cream
2 cups frozen chopped strawberries
1 can crushed pineapple
2 bananas, chopped

Mix the yogurt with the sugar and blend well. Stir in the whipped cream. Add all other ingredients, and mix gently. Pour into popsicle molds, or you can use dixie cups and popsicle sticks, if you wish. Freeze until firm. Watch them disappear!

Grace and mercy in loss

We lost our beloved little puppy Sprocket. God gave him to us for three short weeks, and he spent those three weeks extremely ill. We cared for him like he was a human child, spoon feeding him every two hours because he had stopped eating. He had lost 20% of his already frail self, and by the time we took him back to the vet again, he had fluid in his belly, the possibility of pneumonia, and he was extremely malnourished and dehydrated. The cause was a really bad case of roundworms, which infested his lungs and kept him from being able to absorb any nutrients. The day we put him to sleep was so sad. I don't think I have ever cried that much over the loss of a pet. I felt bad that we couldn't do more. We wanted nothing more than to help him and see him get healthy. We were all so heartbroken.

Dave said if the boys wanted to try again, we could go adopt another puppy. Knowing we had already paid the adoption fees and medical costs of Sprocket, and that the shelter makes no guarantees of health for their animals, we figured we would again incur the cost of adopting a new pet. Although the shelter has a 30 day exchange policy should your animal not work out, they didn't have any guarantees should your animal get sick or die.

With all our little hearts heavy and broken, we set out to another shelter to take a look at a sweet little puppy we saw on the website. When we got there and took him into the "Get to know you" room, we all INSTANTLY fell in love again. It really was magical. It was so apparent that God led us to this one, and that we wouldn't be with this one had it not been for Sprocket and what we went through with him.

We knew this was the one, so we headed to the front of the building to do the paperwork. We shared our story with the lady at the front desk, who immediately went to her supervisor to plead on our behalf for a free exchange. God completely exceeded our expectations, and they gave us the new puppy completely free! She even told me I could file a claim to try and recoop the medical expenses we incurred with Sprocket. I felt so overwhelmed by God's grace and mercy, even in such a small matter as this. God does care about little things, and He is the author of all our adventures.

So here we are again, except this time with a bumbling, over-enthusiastic, abounding in energy little two month old puppy, doing all the things puppies should do! He is a two month old Staffordshire mix. The vet we took him to for his free checkup said he is probably mixed with Lab. He has the most beautiful brindle coat, and is just oh-so-cute. We named him Magnum. The boys all wanted to name him after a gun, and I wanted to name him after some sort of food since he is brown. Well, turns out we both won. Magnum is a type of gun, and also a chocolate covered ice cream bar. Win. Win.

We are just loving these days with our puppy...his fat little self has already gained 5 lbs in the two weeks since he was admitted into the shelter until now. He is like carrying a ton of bricks! The boys absolutely adore him, Summer is loving having a new friend to play with, and we are all feeling abundantly blessed.

New Baby!

Introducing........

Sprocket!!!!! He's an American Staffordshire/Akita mix. We just rescued him from the local animal shelter. We have been talking for quiet a while about getting a companion for Summer, and after doing some research, learned that this type breed would be a good match for Summer.

He is literally the perfect puppy. Introducing our dogs went even better than expected, and Summer welcomed him immediately (I think she thinks he is her baby....it's the cutest thing). From day one, Sprocket has slept all through the night, and goes potty every time we take him out. It's almost like he came trained! We couldn't ask for more, and we are just loving having a puppy around. We're so thankful the Lord has eased our worries about the whole transition to two dogs.

I highly recommend getting an animal from the shelter. There are so many shelters around, and so many wonderful animals that need homes! You can't beat the price (about $100 for the animal, including mandatory spay/neuter, microchip, and shots). They even come with an exchange guarantee, should the animal not work out for some reason. I only wish we could have taken home more!!!!!

Spr

Pictures don't do it justice

You just can't fit Sequoia in the lens of your camera.

The grandeur is too large.

The scale of it too extensive.

The magnitude too overwhelmingly amazing.

The beauty of God's creation so unfathomable.

So breathtaking.

You just can't capture it in the lens.

These pictures don't do any of it justice. You just can't even fit a sampling of the grandeur and breathtaking beauty into the small area your camera can capture. Looking down from 7,000 feet into the valley below, where you can see what looks like a miniscule little line of white but is really a huge, fast flowing rushing river.....looking at the Great Western Divide with their snow-capped peaks that seems to go on forever....looking up at a tree, the size and magnitude of which I have never seen before in my life, so big I cannot move my neck back far even to even see it all....this is Sequoia. You can see the handiwork of the Creator in amazing detail. Dave and I talked about how God is so gracious to allow us to see such beauty here in our world. We discussed how if this is how it looks now, imagine the world before the fall of man, before sin entered into the world! There really aren't that many places in the world like this. While I do think Yosemite is a tad bit more beautiful, Sequoia and Kings Canyon have beauty and splendor you just can't even imagine. As we were driving through, we were amazed at how much the scenery changed in a matter of minutes. One minute we would be at 6000 feet elevation, looking down into the valley, with its trees and rivers....and then around a few bends, we were back down at 1000 foot elevation looking up at granite monoliths!!

We dropped the kiddos off at their various weekend getaway spots, and we headed out on the road after stopping at Goldsteins' for a bagel and cream cheese. We entered the park through the Three Rivers entrance, where our hotel was also located, just 6 miles from the entrance. We spent several hours in Sequoia the first day, seeing the General Sherman tree, the largest in North America. You just can't grasp the size of this tree!!!!! It is enormous. I was surprised at how much snow was still there at the end of May. It was hard packed, as thick as 3-4 feet in some places. The hike down to the General Sherman tree was flowing with water from snow melt! We got our clothes and shoes a bit wet and muddy, but who cares! We then made our way over to Moro Rock, which was, I think, the hightlight of the trip. You can climb the 400 steps up the side of the giant granite rock to the top, where they have a viewing platform. The whole trip up, I kept stopping to take a look off the side....magnificent. If you wanted to, you could just climb over the guardrail and slide down the rock straight down.....to your death. Upon cresting the top, I just had to catch my breath. Not so much from the hike up, but from the incredible, once in a lifetime views. We were at about 6700 feet elevation, looking down into the valley below. The park map said by some estimations, the drop into the valley floor from the top is deeper than the Grand Canyon. On one side of the rock, you see the Great Western Divide, and just behind that is the largest peak in North America, Mount Whitney. The mountains were all covered in snow...breathtaking. On the other side, you could look down and see the road you travelled to get up there, along with the beautiful Kings River. Add in hundreds and hundreds of trees and some granite rocks, and it truly is a marvel of creation. I didn't want to go back down to the car! We headed back to the hotel to change, and headed to Visalia, a short 20 minute drive around Lake Kaweah for dinner at a fantastic Japanese restaurant. We knew it would be good, as the place was buzzing with locals, and everyone was so happy and having a wonderful time. Filet mignon teriyaki and some sushi, and we were a very happy couple!

The next day, we took the drive into Kings Canyon. Driving through pretty much the middle of nowhere, hardly ever seeing any other cars, we wondered if we were lost! The only life forms we saw were cows. Lots of cows. The road followed a beautiful stream the whole time as we climbed up the mountain. Eventually we made our way into the park. I was ecstatic to find a little food cart next to the little convenience store/gift shop when we got in. The dear foreigner who ran the cart was selling hot dogs and Starbucks coffee. You can't imagine how happy I was to find this gem!!! There was snow on the ground, it was chilly, and that coffee just hit the spot. We headed down to the grove of large sequoias to see the General Grant tree. They also had fallen trees you could actually walk through. Back in the car, we drove the beautiful back country, seeing waterfalls and many other sights to get to Boyden Cave to take a tour. Wow! What a gem. Alongside rushing water lies a large mountain. A short steep climb led us to the entrance of the cave, where a guide took us through, showing us stalagtites and several other types of cave growth. I had never been inside a cave before, and it was intriguing. You could hear the sound of rushing water inside, you could see the water drops forming the new stalagtites, and it was chilly and smelled good, like fresh clean smelling. I can't explain it. How do people find these things, anyways??? I felt like I was inside the log ride at Knott's Berry farm, or inside the Pirates of the Caribbean ride at Disneyland, except this was the real thing! We returned to the car for the drive back to town. It took a couple of hours, and by that time, we were hungry. There is a darling little downtown in Visalia, kind of reminiscent of Old Town Pasadena but much smaller. We ate at a wonderful Mexican restaurant, out on the front patio that bordered the street, and then took a stroll around the town.

We decided to take the coastal route home for a change of scenery. It was time to head back already! We drove through Santa Barbara trying to find a place to grab some lunch and take a walk on the beach, but since it was a holiday weekend, the place was just SO crowded. Too crowded for my taste. Aghhhhh.....too many stinkin' people!!!!! So we got back on the freeway and The Spot in Carpinteria came to mind. YES!!!! It was the bomb....yummy burgers and fries, but too windy and cold to walk on the beach ):

It was such a blessing to get away and take this trip. Dave and I just really enjoyed the time together. Time to regroup, talk about our kids, our goals for them, our memories....such precious time together. We were also so happy to be reunited with our kids, one by one, as we picked them up. While we enjoyed our time alone, we couldn't wait to all be together again. Thankful to the Lord for all these precious blessings!!!!

Interesting snack

Watch this video and get a glimpse into my silly, fun, crazy, strange, yet delightful life. Ignore the fact that the screen is turned sideways.

Yep. That is my son. And I love him.