Christmas Time Is Here Again....



Christmas Card 2011





Fenley, Mary Ellie, and John Barron


Time for fun and time for cheer! I am baaacckk.  After an embarrassingly long hiatus, a husband actually nagging encouraging me to start chronicling our little family's comings and goings, I am going to fervently try to keep everyone updated about our little family.
First things first, to get everyone back up to speed, Two lambs and a Bear is about to be Two Lambs and a Bear plus a Baby. We are expecting Baby Number Four in the Spring. Our due date is late April but this little munchkin will be making her debut in early March. This pregnancy has proved challenging and complicated {not that the other pregnancies were not challenging but this one has it's own set of complications}. I am resting in bed according to the doctor yet trying to survive the Holiday Season as well.


Baby Flack with her arms and legs covering her face



Baby Flack looking right at us!

 The children have been already getting in the spirit at school: Snow Days and School performances. Bear had his Snow Day at school complete with Gingerbread houses and a visit from Santa Claus! I only got to attend the Gingerbread House decorating aspect of the day. He was adorable and ate three candies for everyone one he attached to his house! Honey was a big help and got there first and helped him until I could arrive for my short outing. It was worth the trouble. Honey and I had a good time celebrating Christmas and playing with Bear.


Gingerbread House Decorating



Bear focusing on his decorating



Bear and Santa Claus


Mary Ellie and Fenley had a Snow Day at their school as well. Parents were not invited so I don't have any pictures to share but they had hot chocolate and met Santa. They were elated. If you are not a fellow Texan, then you probably think the preschools down here are kind of funny pumping in snow to make up for the nonexistent snow in our state but the children love it! They had a wonderful time and I am so thankful that their schools make such an effort to make the holiday season so special for them.
Mary Ellie and Fenley also had a Christmas Breakfast and Performance of The Friendly Beasts that Joe and I did get to attend. We had a great time visiting with their teachers, friends and friends' parents at the Breakfast but an event better time watching the performance. The twins were the Singing Reindeer which is where all the youngest children able to participate in the school play come on stage (after all the friendly beasts, Mary, and Joseph) wearing reindeer antlers and they sing all together. This is really cute since I am pretty sure the stable animals were present at the Birth of Christ but not the singing reindeer. Mary Ellie and Fenley were adorable. Fenley sang his heart out and we were so proud! Mary Ellie seemed to enjoy the onstage view of all the action. Precious Singing Reindeer! It really put me in the holiday spirit.


The Friendly Beasts and The Singing Reindeer





My Singing Reindeer and a Bear


But now school is out and the small people are home all day and every day.  My children have been out of school exactly four days {who is counting, though?!}. I cannot leave the house and entertain them so they are stir crazy and so is this mama. I am trying to drum up some projects and things we can do around the house that require limited standing and activity on my part. If you had three children under three years old you would realize this is an oxymoron but we are trying.
Our first project: Salt Dough Ornaments
Recipe From Fly Through Our Window:

Darby’s Salt Dough Christmas Ornaments

4 cups flour
1 cup salt
1 1/2 cups of warm water                                                                                          
small to medium cookie cutters
1. Preheat oven to 200 degrees.
2. Whisk together flour and salt in mixing bowl until incorporated. (Use a stand mixer with the bread hook attachment.*) Gradually add water until dough ball collects.
3. Using half the dough at a time, roll out on a floured surface until flat and very even. (Dough does not rise at all.) Dip cookie cutters in flour and use to cut out shapes. Using a straw, add a hole at the top of each ornament. Transfer to cookie sheets lined with parchment paper.
4. Bake for 2 hours. Turn off oven and let sit for another hour.
5. Remove from oven and place on cooling racks. Using a basting brush, dust off excess flour. If still soft, put back in preheated oven for another hour.
6. Once dry and hard, paint ornaments, if desired. To finish, spray with clear polyurethane (outside or in a well-ventilated area) or glossy Mod Podge, or leave all natural. Yields 30 - 40 small-to-medium-sized ornaments.
*If you don’t have a stand mixer, mix by hand. Knead until dough is well incorporated and pulled together in a ball.

** I am making the Cinnamon Salt Dough Ornaments First. "You can make cinnamon salt dough by omitting 1 cup of flour and adding 1 cup of cinnamon and 1 cup of nutmeg. I think I’d skip the glaze and let them be “natural” as to maximize the scent! Her’s always smelled wonderful, even through many years!" Fly Through Our Window

We made the salt dough both ways. They turned out darling! It made our kitchen Christmas Tree very homey and it smells wonderful. Mary Ellie, Fenley, and Bear decided to add their school ornaments to the kitchen tree to spruce it up a little more. One holiday project down and I think we have a new tradition.

The Ingredients

Bear watching the mixer action

First, mix the dry ingredients

Slowly add the water until dough forms

Fenley and Mary Ellie putting the ornaments on the tree

The Flack Children enjoying their ornaments and gingerbread house display

The Finished Product

Hmmm....a little low?

Mary Ellie making round two: plain salt dough ornaments

Ta-da! I even remember to do their hands

This was an easy and fun project for the kids. I highly recommend it to anyone looking for something crafty and not too labor intensive. We enjoyed it. Let's see what else I can drum  up to do next....

PS Forgive the choppy writing, I'm pretty rusty!

If These Walls Could Talk

If these walls could talk, then they would tell you "Thank goodness it is March and February is over!". Our house survived a long series of viruses which resulted in 3 sick children and one very weary mama. Instead of recapping February and it's misadventures, I am charging forward with March and Spring. I will do a series of Post Scripts to fill you in on where we were and why we disappeared for a month. Hello March! A few Spring announcements:
1. First of all, a HUGE thanks to Carolyn, for helping me update the blog and make it even better than before. She is awesome to work with and you should check her out if you need blog assistance! Her blog Life in Graz is really cool too. Thank you so much. I seriously know nada about computer and Internet stuff and Carolyn gets me and what I want AND has the ability to not make me feel like a total dummy. I love the updates and look forward to get blogging again.
2. It is March and that means the mummies are donning new Saint Patrick's Day themed apparel. Hysterical. Thank you to their mama and stylist, Laurel, who keeps the joke going. We are rooting for the mummies to make it at least until swimsuit season this summer!

Getting Ready for Saint Patrick's Day

3. We have a new cousin! Precious Addison Faith has arrived. The two lambs and baby bear are super excited to meet baby "Addy". Welcome to the World, Addy!

Baby Addy and Proud Parents Aunt Holly and Uncle JP

Baby Addy

4. I tried a new soup recipe because I am trying new foods to make things healthier around here. It was delicious! Some of my children agreed and the non-eater, Fenley, thought it made a great decorative paste on his grilled cheese sandwich. Here is the recipe:
Cream of Carrot Soup


3 tablespoons butter or margarine, melted (I splashed in some olive oil too)
1 clove garlic, chopped (I used 3)
1 medium onion, chopped
3 cups carrots, sliced
1 potato, peeled and diced
10 ounces of chicken broth
10 ounces water
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon dried tarragon leaves
1/4 teaspoon white pepper
1 cup milk




Sauté garlic and onion in butter or margarine. Add carrots and potato. Stir to coat with the butter or margarine. Add chicken broth, water, salt, tarragon and pepper. Simmer, covered, over medium heat for 15 minutes until vegetables are well cooked.


Purée the soup in batches using a blender, hand blender or food processor until it is smooth. Pour the soup back into saucepan. Stir in milk. Heat and serve.


Makes 5 cups.

*Adjust the whole milk, fat free milk, cream etc to your family's needs and your fat intake desires. I personally made mine high in fat because my children drink whole milk so we used that and I splashed in some cream. Hey, not totally healthy, but getting extra veggies down them is the goal and if we have to baby step to become vegetable lovers, we will!
**I grated fresh ginger in my soup. Do this to taste and it makes a world of difference. I also omitted tarragon for my munchkins but it would have been even better with it. And a dash of yogurt, cream,or cream fraise on top! or even a smidgen of olive oil!
*** This recipe gave me an excuse to use my new Cuisinart Green Immersion Blender. This will be bring on a whole slew of recipes alone. Why oh Why Did i not buy this awesome little guy sooner? It saved any food mill preparation, blender or fancy schmancy Food Prep thing that I have long ago abandoned in my cabinets because it was too hard to clean with children underfoot. Go get an immersion blender! Here is a link to one like mineSur La Table Immersion Blender

Immersion Blender in Parsley

I also used Pink Salt for this recipe. My pal, Lauren, and I went to a seminar on healthier living. I am trying to purify our house, our food, and detoxify our living environment and Lauren is on the same mission. The creators of Three Branches gave the talk and we learned so much. I am attempting to make small steps to create a better little home for our three. I will chronicle what I have done thus far and fill you in as this month of Spring Cleaning goes by. BUT, check out their article on Pink Salt and give that a try. Note: I bought fine Himalayan Pink Salt at my local Whole Foods.Three Branches
5. It's March. My children are better but I am battling another raging case of tonsillitis. The only upside to this is I don't feel the need to run around all the time "getting things done" and I can focus a little more on my blog. I came across this great poem in one of my children's books. It goes well with my "If These Walls Could Talk" feeling of the past month.

"If" by Rudyard Kipling

IF you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise:
If you can dream - and not make dreams your master;
If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with worn-out tools:


If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breathe a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: 'Hold on!'


If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
' Or walk with Kings - nor lose the common touch,
if neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And - which is more - you'll be a Man, my son!


If....I can survive February and this round of tonsillitis, mine is the Earth and everything that's in it.

All boy with a pail of dirt and oddly a lack of cumbersome clothes

Mamie taking Baby Doll Patsy for a spin in the car to buy milk

a wayward Croc because Fenley refuses to wear shoes {or pants} most of the time while digging in the dirt



I love this happy little rainbow drawing. Here's to March, sunnier skies ahead and hopefully a few rainbows!


P.S. Poor Baby Bear had to be rushed to Texas Children's Hospital with a 106 temperature last month. It was FREEZING. Literally, outside as I bundled him up in the wee early dark hours of the morning or middle of the night as I like to know it. He was an angel. Just a sick, sick little baby that's body was fighting a yucky virus but since he was so young with such a high temperature, they had us go to the emergency room. I am so thankful that my baby is better and we live in a place with access to doctors and medicine. Praise the Lord and big prayers for those without access to medicine.

Baby Bear snoozing. My little man turned 15 months on February 27th! He is growing up so fast. If I could just freeze time and keep him tiny and sweet in his crib forever!

We Were Golden!

Sunday Night the 68th Annual Golden Globes were on television. Joe and I, in our concentrated effort to see movies with Oscar buzz, inadvertently saw most of all the Golden Globe nominated movies as well. So, to wrap up our great week, date night and wind down in "style" {such a loose term around here}, we celebrated with a gold themed evening.
We had golden spider mums, a golden bottle of wine from the wine refrigerator (I promise this happened to be in there and not bought for the theme!), Golden Globe Cookies, Golden Roasted Chicken and Golden Baked Fontina Cheese as an appetizer with our wine. We had a great time cooking, talking, drinking our wine, and taking the pictures for the blog. This was a team effort and Joe is definitely a contributing writer and editor for this post! Here are the pictures and recipes which we both highly recommend. Yum!

Golden Roasted Chicken Recipe

Ingredients:
1 5- to 6-pound chicken
Kosher salt
Ground pepper
Fresh thyme
Fresh rosemary
Fresh sage
1 head garlic, cut in half
1 stick butter (1/2 cup)
1 sweet onion, thickly sliced
2 lemons
 

Moral Support and Taste Tester: Bear

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Scatter the onion slices in a roasting pan and place the chicken on top.  Liberally salt and pepper the inside of the chicken.  Stuff the cavity with 4 tablespoons butter, thyme, rosemary sage, garlic and 1 lemon (cut in quarters).  Rub 1 tablespoon of butter on the outside of the chicken and then sprinkle again with salt and pepper.  Melt the remaining 3 tablespoons of butter and pour over onions.  Cut the other lemon into thin slices and place on top of onions.

Roast the chicken for 1 hour, 15 minutes, or until the juices run clear when you cut between a leg and thigh.  Remove the chicken to a platter and slice immediately.  Serve with the onions. 

Golden Roasted Chicken: DELICIOUS!

Gold Spider Mums from the grocery store and a nicely packaged bottle of wine that I had on hand because I love it!! Makes for a great way to set the tone for the evening!

 Golden Baked Fontina Cheese
from my favorite cook Ina Garten

How Easy Is That? Cookbook by Ina Garten

Ingredients:
1 1/2 pounds Fontina Cheese, rind removed and cut into 1 inch cubes
1/4 cup good olive oil
6 garlic cloves, thinkly sliced
1 tablespoon fresh thyme
1 teaspoon minced fresh rosemary leaves
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 crusty French baguette to dip into the golden mixture

This took less than 5 minutes to assemble and throw into the cast iron pan

Golden Heaven in 6 minutes!

Preheat your broiler and position the rack 5 inches from the heat.

Throw the cubes of Fontina evenly around the cast-iron pan (Ina suggests a 12 inch pan, no idea what mine is but that looks about right to me). Drizzle the oil on the cheese, distribute the other ingredients evenly on top of the cheese and oil. Sprinkle your salt and pepper next, place under the broiler for 6 minutes, until the cheese is melted, yummy, browning or in my case...golden!

Joe and I ate it, as suggested by the Barefoot Contessa,gathered around the pan with our baguettes ready and wine in hand while watching bits of the Red Carpet show. 

Golden Globe Cookies
original recipe by Rebecca Rather 

The Pastry Queen by Rebecca Rather's Pretty-in-Pink Shortbread Pig Recipe

I have made these cookies a million times in a million different shapes. I got the idea to just make plain ol' round cookies with gold icing simply because it fit the theme and I have never made the cookies yellow before. The original recipe is called Pretty-in-Pink Shortbread Pigs. I have made pink pram cookies for showers and welcome-baby hospital visits, blue prams, butterflies, dragonflies, and all sorts of shapes. I wanted to get a really simple and classic shortbread recipe under my belt that was versatile for my children. I hope in many, many years after many holidays, parties, and worn cookie cutters, my lambs and baby bear can look back at this recipe and fondly call them "my favorite cookie my momma makes" in retrospect of their childhood. They are delicious and adorable. Be as creative as you want or plain looks pretty darn good to me too.

Ingredients for the Shortbread:
4 sticks of unsalted butter at room temperature
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
2 tablespoons vanilla extract
4 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheets with parchment paper. Using a mixture with a paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar in a large bowl on medium-high speed until fluffy. And the vanilla and beat until just combined.



In a separate bowl, stir together the flour and baking powder.



Add the flour mixture slowly to your butter mixture on a low speed (if you don't, well, then flour goes everywhere!). STOP beating as soon as your flour mixture is incorporated. If you over beat your dough, your cookies will be tough instead of light and flaky.

Form the dough into a ball and cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 30 minutes before rolling it out.

Flour your surface (I use wax paper to cover the counters because I hate the mess), roll the chilled ball down until 1/4 inch thickness. Cut out with cookie cutter of your choice and use a spatula to transfer to your parchment paper lined cookie sheet. You can re-roll your dough to cut out more cookies. The recipe warns not to roll out more than twice total because it will make a tough cookie. I have never followed this advice and have never turned down these cookies but consider yourself warned!

Round cookie cutter for the golden globe themed evening. The spatula is the only way I have gotten these little gems off the paper without breaking them or ruining the shape. {I flour my spatula and my cookie cutter too.} Bake for 10-12 minutes until light brown/golden around the edges. Cool the cookies on the baking sheet for about 10 more minutes. Remove with another {clean} spatula and cool completely on racks.
 Ice as desired!

Powdered Sugar Icing:
2 cups powdered sugar, sifted
1/4 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla or almond extract (optional)
food coloring

*I have made this icing a million times. Tips to NOT SKIP if you want perfectly iced cookies. Use whole milk {you are not making diet cookies}. Use the almond extract, it makes the cookie a little more special than the vanilla extract. I also add 2 tablespoons of melted butter to thicken up the glaze. Whisk all ingredients together and then let the icing begin. You can either dip the cookie into the mixture (this sometimes works but sometimes gets crumbs in your bowl) or get a spoon and swirl until your little heart is content!

I liked the plain golden globe cookie look. These are addictive, light {flaky light but probably not too low-cal!}, and delicious. Enjoy and let me know what shapes you make.

Joe preferred the decorated version with GG for Golden Globes on it. Either way...still tastes great!

We had a great time making a plain Sunday night special with minimal effort. $3.99 flowers, an on-hand bottle of wine, cheesy appetizer that takes 6 minutes to make, and a delicious roasted chicken for Sunday Supper. Joe and I enjoyed celebraing the evening on our hobbies, enjoying each other's company, and rooting for the films we had seen and loved. I will have to come up with some new ideas for the Oscars but this time....we were golden!