Hello!

This is a special hello to my Dad who will be viewing this blog for the first time from Thailand. Hope you like it!

Christmas Tree 2008

Putting up the Xmas tree

Our tradition is to put up the Christmas tree on the day after Thanksgiving, but that was postponed this year due to Christmas light malfunction. So today we went out and bought some new strands which the girls did a great job of stringing on our Christmas tree. Poor Winston did not care for all the hoopla and spent a lot of time hiding under the coffee table amongst ornament boxes. Scott helped by putting hooks on all the ornaments. Of course Susan was in charge of making sure there were good photos for the blog. It was Corey's year to put the Angel on top and after several attempts found the piano bench to be very helpful. The tree looks great thanks to Corey & Gabby. Are those presents I see underneath there??

Black Friday 11/28/08

Another year almost gone by....can't believe it's nearly December. We had a great Thanksgiving with Susan's family in Puyallup. We taught Julie & Tony to play "Kings, Queens & Paupers" and I think they're hooked! We hope they will join our monthly card group. This morning Marti and I headed out to get some great after-Thanksgiving deals. Thanks, Marti, for getting up so early and coming with me! We made it to Fred Meyer by 5:40 and had free donuts & orange juice and spent too much $$. We also made it to Target & JCPenney's (which was really crowded) before heading home. Good thing I have a mini van now-we bought a lot of stuff! But I had a great time and got some really good deals. I started wrapping some gifts and Gabby promptly told me I had bought Scott too many presents and didn't get enough for her. We'll just have to wait & see what Santa brings!

Recipe of the Week

This is a recipe I've made before but haven't done so for a while. I decided to make it again yesterday just to make sure it was "blog-worthy" and it sure is! The following recipe is for Pumpkin Cheesecake. It's rated as "intermediate" but I didn't find it very hard to make. I put the original recipe below, but for mine I did make a few changes (see remarks following recipe). I think the best thing about baking is being able to put your own special touch to a basic recipe. I actually tried this after I made it and it was very good. The true test was that Gabby ate a whole big slice, crust and all! Enjoy!

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 c graham cracker crumbs
• 1/3 c butter, melted
• 1/4 c granulated sugar
• 3 pkgs (8oz) cream cheese, softened
• 1 c granulated sugar
• 1/4 c packed light brown sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 can (15 oz) pumpkin
• 2/3 c (5oz can) evaporated milk
• 2 TBSP cornstarch
• 1 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1 container (16 oz) sour cream at room temperature
• 1/3 c granulated sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

For crust: combine graham cracker crumbs, melted butter & granulated sugar in medium bowl, press onto bottom & up 1 inch of side of 9 inch spring form pan. Bake 6-8 minutes. Cool on wire rack for 10 minutes.

For cheesecake: beat cream cheese, granulated sugar & brown sugar in large mixing bowl until fluffy. Beat in eggs, pumpkin & evaporated milk. Add cornstarch, cinnamon & nutmeg, beat well. Pour onto crust. Bake 55 to 60 minutes or until edge is set but center still moves slightly. (I found I had to add 10 extra minutes per my oven).

For topping: combine sour cream, granulated sugar & vanilla extract into small bowl, mix well. Spread over surface of warm cheesecake. Bake for 5 minutes. Cool on wire rack. Refrigerate for several hours or overnight. Remove side of spring form pan & serve.

My changes: I decided to do a gingersnap crust instead and used gingersnap cookies that I then crushed. They were really hard to crush. I put them in a bag and used the smooth side of a meat tenderizer to get the crumbs. But if you're one of the lucky ones who has a food processor, I'm sure it'll be a snap. I also added 1 tsp of vanilla to the cheesecake filling when I added the eggs & evaporated milk.

Just a tip regarding the springform pan. It can leak sometimes, so I placed mine on a jelly roll pan covered with aluminum foil for easy cleanup. I made a cheesecake once without doing this and there was goo all over the bottom of my oven. Live and learn, then go forth and bake!

Olympia Capitol

One of the advantages to living in Tumwater is that we are so close to the Capitol in Olympia. Today started off cloudy and misty, but by around noon the clouds had burnt off and the sun made it hard for us to stay inside. We decided to do one of our favorite family activities-walking the dog around the Capitol grounds. The thermometer in my van said it was only 46 degrees. BRRRR....but it felt a bit warmer in the sun. We visited most of the war monuments and also walked across the bridge onto the side of the street where a lot of the state buildings are. We usually get to take Winston's leash off and let him run around in this area, but the sun brought out too many other people hoping to enjoy some outside fun before winter rears its ugly head. But that was okay, we were still able to poop Winston out by just walking around. I guess that's a clue that we need to walk him more often. We also got to see some fabulous views of Capitol Lake and the Puget Sound. It was a great day. Hope you enjoy the pictures.

Olympia Capitol

Recipe of the Week

Here is a very simple recipe for Chocolate Pudding Pie. If you don't like chocolate pudding (which is hard to believe) don't try this one. But everyone in my family loves chocolate pudding, so we make this one a lot. It's incredibly easy, especially since you can just buy the already-made crust. You can use any kind of pudding. I tried the mint-chocolate one before and it was very good. I like to add different sprinkles on top to make it more festive. Another variation is to lay sliced bananas on top. Just use your imagination. If you use the bigger pudding box (5.6 oz), just add an extra 3/4 cup of milk and a bit more Coolwhip. Enjoy!

Ingredients:
1-1/2 cups cold milk
1 pkg. (4-serving size) Chocolate Instant Pudding
1 Oreo Pie Crust (6 oz.)
2 cups thawed Coolwhip, divided

Directions:

Pour milk into large bowl. Add dry pudding mix. Beat with wire whisk 2 min. or until well blended. Spoon half of the pudding into crust. Gently stir 1 cup of the whipped topping into remaining pudding; spoon over pudding layer in crust. Top with the remaining 1 cup whipped topping. Refrigerate at least 3 hours. Store any leftover pie in refrigerator.

Christmas Lights Already?

Yes, we put our Christmas lights up today. We couldn't help it....it was such a beautiful day that we felt compelled to get it done. First, though, we had to rake up all the leaves in the back yard. And Scott even went out there and raked the leaves with his coat OFF! I should have taken a picture of this momentous occasion! Darn, I missed my chance! I was too busy trimming my roses. It was the perfect day to get outdoor chores done. The sun was out and though the Internet said it was 53 degrees, it felt more like 62 (which is freezing if you're from Hawaii, but warm to us sturdy Washingtonians). The lights were SO beautiful! We wrapped them around our porch columns and up-and-down our porch railing. We can't wait for the day after Thanksgiving so we can turn them on and enjoy them! Yeah! We love the holiday season!

Recipe of the Week

I just made this recipe yesterday-it is called Mini Chip Snowball Cookies. It's basically a Russian Tea Cookie plus mini chocolate chips. I added the WHOLE bag of mini chips per the recipe, but I found that it was TOO CHOCOLATY. Ok, to some that is NOT POSSIBLE, but if you want to taste more cookie and less chocolate, I would recommend adding only HALF of the bag. I omitted the nuts as no one in my family will eat nuts (except me). My family really liked the cookies. I didn't put powdered sugar on some for variety and it was just as good. I brought these to work and they disappeared pretty quickly. Not sure if it was because they were so yummy or because state workers just love to eat! Maybe a bit of both. Enjoy!

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) butter or margarine, softened
3/4 cup powdered sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups (12-oz. pkg.) mini chocolate morsels
1/2 cup finely chopped nuts
Powdered sugar

Directions:
PREHEAT oven to 375° F. Beat butter, sugar, vanilla extract and salt in large mixer bowl until creamy. Gradually beat in flour; stir in morsels and nuts. Shape level tablespoons of dough into 1 1/4-inch balls. I mushed these down a little when I placed them on the baking sheets. Place on ungreased baking sheets. BAKE for 10 to 12 minutes or until cookies are set and lightly browned. Remove from oven. Sift powdered sugar over hot cookies on baking sheets. Cool on baking sheets for 10 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely. Sprinkle with additional powdered sugar, if desired. Store in airtight containers.

Pineapples & Soccer

Ok, what do pineapples have to do with soccer? Usually nothing, unless you live in the beautiful Northwest where we get a phenomena called the "Pineapple Express". What is this? Well, it's a lovely little weather pattern that involves lots and lots of warm rain carried up from around Hawaii. This just happened to be what we encountered this past week and into yesterday for Gabby's soccer game in Bremerton. The weather was starting to clear up around Tumwater and actually was pretty nice for most of the drive there until we were about 10 miles from Bremerton. That was when the clouds started to look very ominous. By the time we got to the field, the sky had opened up and the girls were SOAKED! Luckily one of the parents brought a portable cover so the parents stayed dry for the most part. But the kids were NOT! Before they even started to play they were dripping wet. Luckily the sun made its appearance for the latter part of the game. They had a good time getting all muddy & wet. Gabby got tripped and fell in the mud and her whole back side was spotted with mud by the end of the game. Her shoe almost came off in the mud during the game. Although they didn't win, I think they all still had a great time. You have to admit they were good sports to play in the deluge and the muck. Good job girls!

Recipe of the Week

This is a great dessert that tastes like you spent a lot of time making it, but is so quick & easy. I made this for our book club meeting a couple of months ago and it was a hit. It is called Freestyle Apple Tart and uses a pre-made refrigerated pie crust. The pie crust was so simple to use and bakes up really flaky. Even I liked this dessert, and as many of you know, I don't usually like fruity things. Enjoy!

• 1 ready-to-use refrigerated pie crust (1/2 of 15-oz. pkg.) I used Pillsbury brand in the RED BOX.
• 4 oz (1/2 of 8-oz. pkg.) Cream Cheese, softened
• 3 red and/or green apples (1-1/4 lb.), thinly sliced
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 2 Tbsp. flour
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• Whipped Cream to top

HEAT oven to 450ºF.
Line 9-inch pie plate with crust. I used my glass pie plate. Carefully spread cream cheese in 6-inch circle in center. Toss apples with sugar, flour and cinnamon; spoon over cream cheese. Fold crust partially over apples. BAKE 25 min., covering loosely with foil for the last 5 min. Cool. Serve with whipped cream. Refrigerate leftovers.

Fall Color in Washington

Nothing against the beautiful colors of Tennessee...but I think the foliage around here is mighty pretty, too. So I decided to post a few pictures of our neighborhood here in Tumwater. We have had a beautiful fall with only a few days here and there of rain. This is why my favorite season is fall.