Thanks·giv·ing

( P ) Pronunciation Key

1. An act of giving thanks; an expression of gratitude, especially to God: a hymn of thanksgiving.
2. Thanksgiving Day.
3. Taking a group of people, who normally spend the rest of the year avoiding each other, put them in a room together. Add years of bitterness and resentment and liberal splashes of alcohol and watch the ensuing fun! (dripping w/sarcasm)

I brought a wonderful appetizer that had to finish cooking, so there was a bit of a dance in the kitchen and there was concern my MIL's potato dish would suffer, so I had to pull them out sooner than I wanted. Not as browned as I wanted, but lucky for me, everyone raved about them and some had seconds... I will share that recipe at the end. Oh, and her potato dish survived and was quite delicious.

Other than that, the meal came and went without incident. So, just before we leave, my son makes a break for the outdoors after I told him he had to wait for me to go with him. There are a lot of dangers lurking out the door, one being a yellow lab, who has a habit of menacing small children, as well as various cutting tools for wood working are on the porch. So, I stop him short of running off the end of the porch and doing a nose dive into the gravel, and give him a swat on the behind and tell him no and explain why. My swats do not hurt, and my son responds very well to quick reprimands followed with a hug and me telling him I love him and not to disobey me again when I ask him to do something. So, I bring him in and by the time I set him down he is smiling and off to find his daddy, but my MIL looks at me like I have just whipped him within an inch of his life and sputters, "Oh, poor little baby!". GAAAH! I wish she wouldn't do that!

Thankfully, my SIL and her leech of a boyfriend who is in dire need of a sucking chest wound (kidding... sort of), were still M.I.A. at that point. I will repeat myself by saying it was refreshing without them slinking and slithering around looking for any opportunity to insult our parenting, and decision to raise our children as meat-eaters (they themselves are the subversive and pushy vegetarians). My MIL actually actually nice to me, other than referring to me by my first name when talking about me to my own children. It bothers me because I asked her not to do that because I don't want my babies to stop calling me mommy... EVER.

So, I am thankful for my beautiful children, my loving and supportive husband, my irrepressibly sweet parents and for a Thanksgiving dinner with my in-laws, sans SIL and her submissive lackey, that was closer to comfortable than not. Hope everyone's Thanksgiving was fabulous.

PORK TART IN ROASTED GARLIC CREAM
Ingredients

• 12 ounces boneless,pork cutlets, medium diced
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
• 12 ounces sweet Italian sausage, medium diced
• 1 cup tomato, peeled, seeded and chopped
• 1/2 cup red onion, finely chopped
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1/2 cup dry white wine
• 3/4 cup prepared peppercorn gravy
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh basil leaves
• 1 cup mozzarella cheese, cut into 1/2" cubes
• 20 sheets Athens Fillo Dough, thawed
• 1/4 cup butter, melted
• 1/4 cup fresh chives, cut into 1/2" lengths

Place pork into small bowl, season with salt, pepper and vinegar. Marinate for 1 hour. Remove from marinade and place in pan. Place sausage in separate pan. Roast both in preheated 350ºF oven for 20 minutes. Cool chicken and sausage; mix together. In large skillet, sauté onions in butter for 5 minutes. Add wine and simmer until liquid is reduced by half. Add pork, sausage and gravy. Stir together and bring to a simmer. Cool. Add basil leaves, mozzarella and half of chopped tomato. Prepare 6 fillo tart shells, 4" diameter, in greased pan according to directions for Cups, Pie & Tart Shells. Bake in preheated 350ºF oven for 7 minutes or until golden brown. Cool and remove from pan. Spoon mixture into fillo shells and bake in preheated 350ºF oven for about 8 minutes or until cheese bubbles. Prepare Roasted Garlic Cream (recipe below). Spoon hot garlic cream onto plate. Place hot tart in cream and garnish with chives and remaining chopped tomatoes.
Yield: 6 tarts

ROASTED GARLIC CREAM
Ingredients

• 12 unpeeled cloves garlic
• 1 quart heavy cream
• Salt and pepper to taste

Place garlic on ungreased cookie sheet and roast in preheated 400ºF oven for 15 to 20 minutes or until golden brown and soft. Peel and mash garlic. Add cream to saucepan with mashed garlic and simmer until reduced to 2 cups. Season with salt and pepper.

My Little Love Bug

my lovebug.... that is all.

My 2nd Son

silly boy

My Sons

I never knew that being a mother would cause me to be so emotional and so... well, sappy. There are moments where, one of my sons will be babbling away in that sweet baby talk (well, my oldest is two so now there are recognizable words in there) that just makes you giggle from deep inside, and I just grab them up and kiss them. They of course either yield to the moment and laugh or squeal in delight, or cry "no mommy!" and squirm out of my grasp, because I have interrupted an important play moment. Gone are the moments where I could just snuffle into their sweet skin and blissfully forget the world for a few seconds without them trying to wriggle away. *sigh*

I worry all the time that I am not doing enough for them. At one of my son's well baby check-ups, the health nurse asked me, "What are you trying to be? The perfect mom?" and I told her yes. She told me to not be so worried about it and relax, that I was doing fine. Easy for her to say!

So, Russell is 27 mos and Connor is 16 mos. Yep, 11 mos apart folks. Irish twins, my grandmother joked. Oh, and just so ya know, all the stories about redheads being extra feisty, mischievous and head strong? True, every blasted one of em! Sometimes its funny and sometimes I want to hang a "Free To Good Home" sign around his neck and set him out on the sidewalk. Oh, but he is a cuddler and likes to stroke my hair and skin as he falls asleep in my arms. When I get home from work he runs to me and proceeds to tell me all about his day in baby babble.

Russell is my busy little bee. I often find him using his plastic tools on various furniture around the house. If he is out of my sight for a few moments and call to him, "What are you doing?" he hollers back, "I'm working back here momma!" Sometimes I sneak a peek and find him talking to himself in a very important tone about fixing things and, ".. hammerin' hammerin'..." or pretending to be a loader and, "... loadin' the truck!". He likes to help his "Gampa" work in the garage and figures out, frighteningly fast, how to turn on various machines (closely watched and protected of course).

My heart breaks to think of a day when they will be too cool for kisses and hugs. Although, I look forward to seeing what good men I know they will be. How do I know? Russell is such a good brother, always has been. From the time we brought Connor home, he made sure Connor always had his nuk (pacifier) and would pat him on the head lovingly. Now he looks out for him, and when he gets into trouble, he says in a stern voice, "Connor! No! Come here." and leads him to me for reprimand (pretty hard with this adorable scene playing out before me). Connor, he likes to snuggle with his brother. He pats him lovingly and gives him kisses. Everything big brother does, he does too (as well as he can muster) and is quickly on his heels where ever he goes. Yes, I love my boys and they will be wonderful men, as they are such wonderful boys now.

In The Beginning

Wow, so this is my first entry in my very own blog. I have a blog for my family, but this is just for me. I will try to have interesting links and recipes to hopefully hold your attention.

I am a mother of two young boys (currently 27mos and 16mos), so I am very busy and struggling to get rid of the baby weight. If I have any epiphanies on how to lose weight that seem to work, I will gladly share them with you. If there are any moms who have any ideas, PLEASE share! I will have an area for that as well.

I live with my family in Alaska. It is a unique life to live in a fishing village, on an island. A lot of my rants may be about the hurdles of thriving in a small community with more in-laws than friends. I grew up in Montana and my husband was born and raised in this town. I may rant about the dreaded MIL from time to time, but I assure you, I would never commit homicide... Unless it was completely justified. ha!

My husband is trying to transition from being a commercial fisherman from the time he was 13 yrs old. Right now he is helping my dad renovate and repair my parents' home. He is a very handy man. I am always impressed with his carpentry skills even though he has had no formal training.

I have just gotten my first job in three years. I work at a interior decorating store that has all kinds of nice serving plates and bowls, jewelry, art and the owner has agreed to apprentice me in matting and framing art. Granted, it is only a few days a week, but if you are a mommy, you know how hard it is to leave your babies. Luckily, my mom is off from her job on the days I work so the transition was very easy for them. The first day I worked, when I got home, my youngest scurried over to me and babbled away as if to tell me all about his day with "Gamma". My oldest ran up to me and yelled, "Mommy home!" and proceeded to tell me how he had helped his "Gampa" fix things. It was a wonderful feeling.

Well, that is me and my life in a nutshell. I hope I can keep this up. I figured it would be therapy to be able to anonymously post how I feel about my life as a mom and wife. IF you have honest good advice I welcome it. If you are a scuzzy blogger abuser who likes to insult and demean people for your own pleasure, don't bother. I am unimpressed by the soul sewage of bottom feeders such as yourself. Other than that, I hope all find something they enjoy about my blog. TTFN!