Back in the Kitchen

In my opinion, this is the best taste of Autumn. These golden beauties are not in the stores for long, so I snap them up when I see them. This is a great side dish for any kind of chicken or pork dish. It can be your starch and is a wonderful alternative to potatoes. Thanks to Jim's mom Arlene for this recipe. These were on her Sunday dinner table quite often in the fall.

Acorn Squash-Arlene Krieger Style

1 acorn squash for every 2 servings

butter

light brown sugar

Preheat oven 350-400

Cut squash lengthwise. Scoop out seeds..don't worry about the strings. Place cut side down in an oven proof casserole or dish. I sometimes use a pie plate. Pour in water up to about 1/3 of the squash. Place in oven for about 45 min or so. You can roast them right along with your meat. Almost any temp. is ok it may just take longer for them to get done. They are done when you can press them and they are slightly soft. Flip them over and place about 1tsp of butter and a few tsps. of brown sugar right into the cavity of the squash. Return to the oven until the butter and sugar make a dark brown syrup. Serve on a platter or directly on to the dinner plate. Jim and I eat these differently. Jim mixes the syrup and squash all together right in the shell so it looks like golden mashed potatoes. I leave the syrup right in the middle and tale a little spoonful of squash and dip it in for each bite. Either way...this is delicious!

Make sure that you get the orange squash. They have a milder flavor that the green.

I am not really eating butter these days, so mine is the one with that tiny bit. It was still yummy.

Back into the oven for a few minutes and thats it!

Healthy (er) Soup

I have a great recipe for butternut squash soup that I have made for years. It is rich and creamy. Vegetables...yes, but all of the cream negates their goodness.
In keeping with my quest to get healthy this year...I found a new recipe for a simiar soup...tweeked it up a little. The result, rich and creamy soup with sooooo much less fat without loosing any of the creamy goodness.

Thai Pumplin Soup

6 heaping cups chopped fresh pumpkin or 1 large butternut squash-peeled, cut up
4 large carrots-cut up
4 large shallots
4 cloves garlic -chopped
2 granny smith apples-peeled and chopped
3 Tbls olive oil
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp tumeric
1 can {13.5 oz) coconut milk
1 32 oz container chicken stock (or homemade)
1/2 tsp ground cinamon
2 Tbls light brown sugar
pepitas (roasted salted pumpkin seeds)

Combine vegetables, garlic, apple, shallot, olive oil, spices (except cinamon) in large bowl. Toss to coat. Place mixture in large shallow pan (I used a pizza pan and lined it with foil). Roast at 425 for 35 min.

Remove from oven and place in soup pot. Add chicken stock, salt and pepper to taste. Simmer on low 10 min. Remove from heat and puree in blender, or use an immersion blender right in the pot until smooth. Stir in coconut milk, cinamon and brown sugar. Ladle into soup bowls and garnish each with a sprinkle of pepitas.

You can do a rough chop on everything. It just gets pureed later on.

This smelled wonerful while it was in the oven.

Roasted and ready to go.

Come on over for lunch!

Audrey

Today is my Mom's birthday. And I would just like to say a few words. And to thank her.
My mother created a home for two little girls that was built on solid ground. She provided for us alot of the same things that mothers of that generation provided for their children. She was there everyday when we got home from school, she was there to pick us up when we fell down, she made our holidays magical, she made sure we were clean and well fed, she made us do our homework, she kept our house clean, she nursed us through countless childhood sicknesses...well you get the picture. I love her for all of that. But what I value the most are the things that she taught me about how to live my life. She and my father were in LOVE. She showed me the perfect way to make a child feel secure is to love and honor their father. When she sat me down and told me how I should respect myself when I was dating and save myself for marriage, I looked into her earnest face and I believed her. When she voiced her displeasure over my choice of girlfriends, I didn't know it then, but she had my best interests at heart. When I messed up, she was firm...but her arms were always open for a comforting hug. She made sure that I was in church every Sunday. She kept her bible on her night table and I knew from a very young age how important that book was to her. I know that I have broken her heart over the years, but her love has been unwavering. I finally realize now that she was RIGHT...all of the time. Why oh why does it take us so long to figure that out?
I am 49 years old, and my Mother is still my biggest cheerleader. Anything is possible when your Mom is right behind you, cheering you on. Encouraging you and lifting you back up when you stumble. Even now, she still does that for me.

The best thing that my Mom did for me was LOVE and respect my Dad.

Behind me every step of the way!

Happy Birthday Mommy!

XOXO

Traditional Sunday = Roast Beef and Football

Jim and Kate took a drive out to Lyman Orchard yesterday and brought home all of the ingredients to make a few apple pies. Kate peeled and I assembled. The result was 2 beautiful pies ready to be served after dinner today. I am putting together my Mom's traditional Sunday dinner. Roast Beef, mashed potatoes, veggie, and yorkshire pudding.
Today is the first season game for the Giants. My boys are excited...the anticipation is almost too much to bear. Even tho we cannot be in front of the same TV, we will be watching together. So here we go Giants, here we go!!

The Window

No decoration from me. Just a vase full of parsley and the daily bounty of tomatoes from my garden. Prettier than anything that I could ever do.

Weekend

It is Sunday evening and after 2 days of moving, cleaning, putting together, and setting up...my office is all set and ready for me to start work when I go back on Wednesday.
Zach, Jim and I showed up Saturday morning armed with lots of cleaning supplies, my dyson vacuum, a bunch of tools and a get down to business attitude. We emptied out all of the existing furniture first. Then I set about cleaning and Jim and Zach started assembling. Kate came over after her class to help a bit and have lunch with us. Long story short, Jim and I wrapped up around 9 last night and then went back to put the finishing touches on today.
My family is the greatest. They are always right behind me in every new adventure. We worked so hard and for so long but we had a great time. Thank you to my sweeties!

It looks so small in this picture. It is actually about 6.5 feet X 14 feet. I should have taken a shot with all of the old furniture, but I forgot that I had even brought the camera. Jim fished it out of my bag at this point.

Spiders behind all of the old furniture. YUK!! It was spic and span by the time that I was done.

Kate making her self at home at my old desk. Everything was a mess!

Zachy working hard.

Ordering lunch from Spartans.

I never thought that I would share a meal with my family in the work kitchen.

Done. There is a little sink and cabinets behind the door.

Still shopping around for a new chair. This one is a bit worn out.

My new space.

Random

4 day weekend for me. Yip! It's Saturday morning and everyone that calls this place home were nestled in their own beds last night. We waited for some wind and rain from the hurricane, but nothing showed up. Instead, I woke up to bright blue skies and temps in the 70's

Zach is home to help me move into a new office at work. He and Jim will put together my new workstation while I clean out an office that probably has not been thoroughly cleaned since 1975. It was originally an exam room, so there is a little sink and cabinets in one corner. Weird for an office, but I am a germaphobe so I love the idea of my OWN sink. It was painted very recently and the carpeting is fairly new and...it has a WINDOW!!! The window was painted shut, but Jim will fix that up for me today. I will actually have fresh air, not the stale ac and heat that I feel just recirculates the sick people germs. It looks pretty bad now, but when we are through I think it will be great. The thought of being at work 5 days is overwhelming to me right now, but at least I will have my own cozy space. If I remember I will bring along my camera to show the before and after.

Jim is back from a week long trip to Cincinnati. He came home worn out, so I am looking forward to taking good care of him this weekend. It is very good to have him home.

Kate started back to school this week. I did not take her front porch picture. I figure that I will do that again when she enters hygiene school next year. She has been so sick this week with a chest cold. She did not miss one class or day of work. I am so proud of her. She is a hard worker.

Zach has some really interesting classes this semester. He has already been fingerprinted twice for his fingerprinting class. He is also taking a class on the history of the Italian mafia. He is in one of the older apartment style dorms. It is a large brick building with no ac. We had temps in the 90's last week and he said he has never been so hot. It is very nice to see his happy face at the breakfast table this morning.

Well, I need to wrap this up so we can get going. Hope you all have a fun and restful Labor Day weekend.

:(

Not feeling too cozy today. In two weeks I will be losing my Tuesday day off. Remember when I took the job, it was 36 hrs done in 4 days...but paid for 40? It was a HUGE perk. Really, the only reason that I accepted that particular offer. It appears that the docs wanted to take the day away years ago, but the previous office manager manipulated them into keeping it. She wanted to keep her day off and went to great lengths to keep it in place. The new office manager (who I really like) is more in the doctors court when it comes to managing, and she is totally on board with this change. She doesn't even mind giving up her day off one bit!
I am devastated! I work because it is necessary, but my heart is constantly called toward home and family. I believe that is how God made me...and there is no changing that. Now...the one day that I used for cleaning, errands, Dr. appointments, cooking my family a great meal, etc., is being taken away.
I am sure that there may be some who will be critical of my feelings on this matter, but I cannot change how I was made. Men and women are not created the same for a reason.

Anyway, I tried to talk it through with them, I offered an alternative plan that would keep the day off, but it was of no use. I have no choice but to comply with this change, but I am heartbroken, not only for me but for my coworkers also.

With all of that being said, I am so thankful that I have a job. I assume that I will adjust and look back on the 16 months that I had extra time for my family fondly and consider that time a blessing. After all, I look back on all the years of working part time that way.

I will get past this, but today...I am very sad.