My trip to hell & back.......

I haven't blog in months, but it's not because nothing was happening.  No it was pretty much the opposite.  So much was happening, that I just threw in the towel on keeping up to date.  Those of you that know, are familiar with my struggles with leg pain.  It's been a long term thing, misdiagnosed multiple times until last Christmas when I developed classic sciatica.  A few Xrays, MRI, and doctors appointments later I found myself faced with needing surgery.  I'd never  had surgery and had planned to keep it that way.  I've 1st assisted before & saw first hand what happens inside an OR suite and wanted nothing of it.  Funny how things work......my one 4 hours surgery turned into an 8 hour surgery followed by a 4 day vomit fest!!!  And being the lucky girl I am, swearing the words, "I'll never have another surgery" with every heave of vomit.  I had to have a 2nd surgery...3 weeks later, the day after Ethan had to have ACL reconstruction surgery. I can't even go there yet.  No parent ever wants to see their child hurting, and mine was hurting, a lot.  Did I mention I was a total wreck on all fronts??? So here we are Ethan pre-surgery and me post surgery #1

There was something else I forgot to mention.  Our surgeries were the week before the start of school.  Oh it gets better, apparently there is a Texas state law that a student has to be present in their homeroom on the first day of school OR they will be unenrolled from the school.  WTH???  Doesn't matter if you had surgery with a note from your surgeon.  Stupid lawmakers!  So Ethan went to school 4 days after surgery for his "warm" body count.  I got a photo of the two boys, because Colin's a Senior and this was my last first day of school photo of them together. 

As bad as it all was, we survived!   That first week of school was painful, more like excruciatingly painful!  IT.WAS.CRAZY!!!!  I had wonderful friends & family taxi me around town, I got a maid, Ron has done ALL the grocery shopping, I haven't done any lawn or pool maintenance, and yet I was exhausted.  

Then we got Colin's first college acceptance letter over the weekend:

That is my incredibly goofy man child!! This week has been good! Ethan also meet the requirements for NHS, don't know if he'll get in but after 2 ACL surgeries less than a year apart, I'm excited that he kept up academically.  Colin asked a girl to Homecoming, so I finally get to make a mum.  I hope that things continue on a positive note.

NCAA World Series

We have been all about baseball for a few months.  It has to do with our incredibly talented nephew and his college baseball team.  We have been watching the Hoosiers play on the Big Ten Network and keeping our fingers crossed that they go all the way.

Well today they are playing Louisville in Omaha at the NCAA World Series!!!  It's the first time that Indiana has ever made it to the World Series.  I'm so excited & happy for Michael.  Right now the game is on in the other room.....I'm too nervous to watch.  I had Ron eat some Irish cheese & then Michael hit an RBI single!!!!  I'll do whatever it takes!!!  Luckily, Ron likes the cheese....

Most importantly......I hope this guy has fun, and a few more wins would be nice, too!!!!

Kolaches

I have been busy baking thanks to the boys.  Ethan needed an ethnic food for World Geography, and I told him to just sign up to bring Kolaches......my plan was to pick some up at the donut shop.  Then I thought about it a tad more, and decided to pull out the recipe my mom gave me years ago for her Kolaches.  I made a quick run to the store for yeast and little smokies, and I was set to make them bright and early Wednesday morning.  

Here's the recipe, with a few photos I snapped while making them.

Kolache Dough

1/2 cup Oleo               

2 tablespoons shortening

2/3 cup sugar plus 1 teaspoon 

1 cup PET evaporated milk

1 cup whole milk

4 egg yolks

2 egg whites

2 packages of dry yeast

1 tsp salt

6 1/2 cups flour

Make sure all ingredients are at room temperature.  The butter can't be cold and you need to warm the milk.  I used 2% milk and mine turned out just fine.  Make sure to use the eggs as written, too many whites will make the dough tougher.

1. Mix 1/3 cup warm (115 degree) water and 1 tsp. sugar into yeast in a 2 cup measuring cup.  Let stand about 4 minutes......it will really foam up.  Turn oven on to heat to 200 degrees, turn oven off when it gets to 200 degrees (you'll be putting the dough in the warm oven to rise)

2.  While yeast is standing, beat Oleo, shortening, and sugar two minutes in an electric mixer (I used my kitchen aid with the paddle attachment).  Add eggs and beat two more minutes, add milk.  

3.  Add yeast mixture into shortening/sugar mixture and add 4 cups of flour, mix for two minutes, add the remaining 2 1/2 cups of flour and continue to mix on low speed for about 8 

minutes (the recipe said to mix by hand for 15 minutes, but I just set my kitchenaid on low and let it knead the dough about 8 minutes or so)

4. Get a large bowl and spray with oil, then place dough into bowl, flip the dough to get oil on the top and then cover the bowl with a damp thin dish towel.  Place dough in warm oven to rise for 1 hour 40 minutes.

Your dough will look like this when it comes out of the oven:

The next step is were you'll get your hands dirty..........Get a floured pastry cloth (I didn't use the rolling pin)  Now flour your hands and get a knife that will cut your dough.  Dip the knife in the flour and cut a piece of the dough from the bowl.  Cut off smaller pieces about 1-2 tablespoon size, and then pat them out to cover your sausages.  Make sure that the sausages are warm, I just heated mine in the microwave to get the chill off them. 

Place your Kolaches on a greased baking sheet and pat with oleo.  Let them rise for 40 more minutes.

Bake in oven preheated to 375 degrees till they are light brown.  I had to turn my heat down to about 360 and baked them about 15 minutes.  I checked them at 10 minutes to make sure they didn't get to dark.  I think my dark pans helped them bake faster.  Once they are done, remove them from the oven & pat them with some more oleo.  They will look like this:

It had been years since I baked Kolaches & it was very relaxing and fun to spend the morning in the kitchen baking.  I also have the recipe for the apricot and poppyseed filling and topping.  I can e-mail them to anyone who might want them.  You can also use the canned pie filling, but I'm old school and like the homemade fillings better.

Sleepless in Pearland......

Since I can't sleep, I figured that I might as well blog.  I guess I'm not a good blogger, because my posts have been few and far between.  Let's just say that I hate uploading photos, and what's a post without a picture to go along with it??

So here's what we've been up to lately, or more truthfully......what I remembered to photograph!!

We just went on a campus visit to Texas A&M with the boys.  It was very informative and the campus is beautiful.  We met with the engineering department admissions rep (I guess that's who it was) and the boys got a wakeup call on how hard it is to get into an engineering major!!!!  I felt like standing up & saying "I told you so" and doing some sort of jig for all of my prodding of the boys to study...study....being validated. 

 They both crashed on the drive home......it sorta reminded me of when they were toddlers and fell asleep on road trips.  Yep......I was a sappy mom on the ride home.  I just keep thinking, in just one year Colin will be graduating and leaving for college.  Then I thought of how I it must have felt for my mom when I went off to A&M pre-cell phones, computers, or Skype.

Totally switching gears....and no I don't have ADHD, just sleep deprived and trying to blog this stuff before I forget it.   For the first time, I was able to attend the Women's Prayer Breakfast at our church.  I  sat at a table with all my Bible study friends and we had the best time.  I plan to make this an annual event.

I can't forget to post a photo of Colin and his date at the Band Banquet.  This guy was a dancing fool and kept that smile on his face all night.

Ethan just finished his JUMP program and officially completely his knee rehab.  He will be doing a modified training for the remaining off season, but has already sent in his paperwork for summer football camp.

Had to add this photo of the kids playing my old Perfection game.  They have been watching Duck Dynasty and began asking me about the game after it was on an episode.  I told them we had the game, but it was at Granny's house.........they had a blast playing my old "vintage" game.  Check out that box!!!

That's it for now......I probably should try to get some sleep.  Hopefully my next post won't be all over the place, but then again it kinda the way I am~

Book Worm

I've been reading lots lately.  It's always fun to read, when you get your hands on good books!  I highly recommend these three books that I just recently finished reading.

First on the list is One Thousand Gifts.

I'm reading this book for Bible study, and just love the way the author writes.  The DVD and study guide are spoken & written like poetry.  She has a different approach than I'm used to, but I really find myself enjoying this study.

Next up is The Paris Wife, this month's book club book.  I was beyond happy to see this book make the cut for our book club.  I remember A Farewell to Arms being one of my favorite books to read in high school for English. I knew parts of it were based on his life, but never looked into his life story.  The Paris Wife is about Hemmingway's first wife and the years they spent in Paris & Europe.  I really liked it and picked up A Moveable Feast to read the story from Hemmingway's point of view.  He was definitely one messed up guy!!!

 The last book, that I just finished last night, will be added to my all time favorites list.  I LOVED this book!!!!  I was instantly sucked into the story, and then fell in love with the family and all their struggles.  I could relate at times to Alice and it has seriously changed the way I am looking at my life.  Did I say I loved this book???  It also has some really funny moments & I could seriously see myself hanging out with the "old" Alice.  I think you need to be in your 30's or 40's to truly appreciate all the stuff happening and be able to relate to the characters.

There's my list, so go out and pick up a book & read!!!!

Refinished Craft Table

Here is the final results on my craft desk.  After weeks of sanding and prep-work, I finally got the color stain that I liked for my new desk and finished it.  It's darker than I originally planned, but I really like it.  Here are a few photos of it.......

The new drawer knobs are one of my favorite things about it.  I still have lots more purging and organizing to do to get things the way I want them.  I also need to hang up my squirrel print that Ron doesn't like at all, but hopefully it'll grow on him~

foodie post

Just wanted to post one of our favorite recipes.....or at least mine!  I remember eating eggplant parmesan all the time growing up.  I started cooking it for us on Fridays during lent, and Ron fell in love with it too!!  Now it's a year round favorite.  I originally used a Ragu cookbook recipe, but it's been altered so much that I'm just gonna tell you how I make it.

Eggplant Parmesan

1 large eggplant

2 eggs plus 2 tablespoons water

1 cup bread crumbs

3/4 cup parmesan cheese

1/2 teaspoon italian seasoning

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

salt & pepper

1 jar pasta sauce (I use Newman's Own Tomato Basil or 357 Sauces from Whole Foods)

2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

Preheat Oven to 350 degrees

First go out and get yourself a nice oval shaped eggplant, you want one easy to peel & then cut it into slices about 1/8 inch thick or so.

Place the 2 eggs & water into a shallow bowl or dish and beat them (I sometimes add additional italian seasoning to this mixture)

In another dish, combine the bread crumbs with about 2 tablespoons of grated parmesan cheese, the italian seasoning, & garlic powder.

Get out a nonstick baking sheet and spray it with Olive oil.  Then get a slice of eggplant and dip it into the egg mixture and then coat it well with the bread crumbs & place it on your baking sheet.  You may need 2 baking sheets to bake all your eggplant.  Place the eggplant into the oven and baked it for about 20-25 minutes.  If your slices are thicker, like mine then it takes closer to 25 minutes.  

After the slices are baked get out a casserole dish (I use a white oval pyrex dish) and spray it with olive oil.  Place about 1/2 cup of sauce on the bottom of the dish.  Layer your eggplant onto top of the sauce, then sprinkle with some of your parmesan & mozzarella cheeses.  Keep layering until you use up all your eggplant.  The last layer should be sauce.  I go heavy on the sauce & have been known to use part of a second jar depending on the size of the eggplant.

Cover your casserole and bake it for 30 minutes or until it is nice and bubbly.  Uncover it and sprinkle top with cheese and bake for an additional 5 minutes to melt cheese.  

That's it!!!!  It sounds harder than it is to make.  I make it all the time and you really can't mess it up.....really you can't !!!

I made this yummy cake for dessert!!!  It's called darn good chocolate cake, and it is darn good!!!!

I hope to be back soon with more yummy stuff I've been cooking.......and I'm wondering why I can't lose weight~

Craft Room Finds

I had the best day yesterday.  I was heading out to run errands, and stopped at one of my favorite resale shops.  I had noticed the sign outside read 50% off furniture.......I was a tad excited about that because I have been looking for furniture for my craft room.  Let's just say that everything I found was  priced way more than I wanted to spend.  I found the cabinet below that was in really good condition.  It's solid oak and the only thing I need to fix is one of the front latches (that's why the tassles are on it).  I plan to purchase some matching baskets to store my craft items in it.  Right now I am just using some baskets and jars I already have.  

 My other find was a table to use as my craft desk. This table has some really good bones!  It was a steal at $62.50 and solid wood!!!  These are the before photos and I will post after photos as soon as I refinish it.  I plan to stain it the same color as the cabinet and replace the knobs with antique crystal ones,

 This is a close up of the casters on the cabinet...........they're wood!!  I've never seen wood casters before!

So that is my good news at the moment.  I have a project and a goal for 2013........refinish this table and organize my craft room!

First post of 2013

I thought this photo would be appropriate for today.  Linda & Kristen are at the Texans' game, and I'm wearing my shirt for the Packers' game later today.  I love my shirt.......it's one of my favorite Christmas gifts.  I think I like it most, because Ron is mortified that it says, "Shades of Clay".  (on a side note I think my punctuation is wrong, can't remember if the period goes inside the quotes or not.....)  

We had a wonderful Christmas and New Year. We went to lots of parties & I took lots of photos.  I may post a few pictures at some point, or I might not. I am trying to decide what to do with my blog.  I haven't been very inspired to write or photograph lately. I think I have too much going on and need to redirect my energy to just a few things.  I'm hoping to get my craft room decorated & organized and maybe that will inspire me to blog again.  Don't be surprised at what direction I go......I really don't know myself~