Tuesday, November 13, 2012

Welcome, Everett Alan Broadbent!

 A new member of the family! Welcome, Everett Alan Broadbent!....born a little early,on November 1, (see Kaity's blog for birth details...) I left California at 4:30 am on November 1, thinking that I'd be there by the time he arrived as the plan was for Kaity to be induced that morning. But much to my surprise I got a text just after I left Reno that they were done! Kaity didn't have to be induced....went into labor on her own and had Everett at 8:15 am...happy news!

 What a little sweetie...6 lbs. 14 oz., 19 inches...
 I drove all day (observing the speed limit across Nevada...sort of)...and this was my reward!

The many faces of Everett...



Big yawn!!!
















Face palm....aren't you guys done with the photos???














Sunny when he was born, snowy a few days later....


And when I drove home...temperature in Nevada at 7 am....10 degrees...glad I had my seat warmer!



The Broadbent family....






Monday, October 22, 2012

Pasta with Veggies and Peanut Sauce

I put off making this for a while because it looked like a recipe with "too many ingredients"and these days I'm pretty lazy...but it is so delicious, I've overcome my phobia and forged ahead...I make a lot and eat leftovers for a couple of days. And if you cut up your veggies the night before and get them steamed, you can boil the pasta and make the sauce in about 10 minutes...really the most time consuming part is cutting up the veggies...

8 ounces cooked pasta (I used fresh linguini)
2 C broccoli, cut into florets
1 C "matchstick" carrots (use baby carrots sliced lengthwise or cut up a big carrot)
1-2 small zucchini, halved lengthwise and sliced
2 t dark sesame oil
2-3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 t ginger root, minced (I probably used more...I like it gingery)
2 T peanut butter (natural, plain or chunky...whatever you've got)
1/2-3/4 C hot water
1/4 C soy sauce ( I used lite...or to cut sodium, just use more water)
2 t cider vinegar
1/4 t cayenne pepper
2-4 sliced green onion
You can throw in some chicken breast (Costco has some good ones for fajitas that are easy) or tofu cubes to up the protein content...or serve as a side dish.

So, cut up the broccoli, carrots and put in a pan with a steamer basket, cover and cook 6-8 minutes while you cut the zucchini; add the zucchini and cook another 5 minutes until everything is "tender crisp"
Meanwhile, cook the pasta, drain and set aside.
And while all this is steaming and boiling, heat the sesame oil in a large pot. Add the garlic and ginger and cook a couple of minutes. Add peanut butter, stir, slowly add hot water, soy sauce, vinegar and cayenne. Stir until smooth, adding a little more water if it seems too thick...then add the cooked pasta, toss and add the veggies. Sprinkle with green onions if you are so inclined...(this is from FatFreeVegan)

Wednesday, October 17, 2012

Elder Christian Nieman enters mission home...

We are so proud of Christian...he entered the mission home on October 17...he will spend three weeks there and then head to Bogata, Columbia  for 8 more weeks (I think) in the mission home there.....

Sunday, October 7, 2012

Fall Favorites....Apple Crisp



Apple Crisp
Such a simple recipe...but I still get out my old Betty Crocker Cookbook to look up the recipe. The book is falling apart so it will be good to "blog it"

Almost everything in this recipe is "approximate"...sometimes I use a 9x13 glass dish...the apple layer is a little thinner and I make  a little more topping so I still have a nice thick layer...you can double or triple the topping and put the extra in the freezer to make it easier the next time you want cobbler...
Use any greenish or green-red streaked"cooking" apple...golden delicious, granny smith, gravenstein, pippin...














4 C sliced, pared apples (about 4 large...I used 6 which made a pretty thick layer in this dish..it's about 11x9 inches)


















3/4 C brown sugar
1/2 C flour
1/2 C old fashioned rolled oats (Quaker)
1/3 C butter (or margarine)
3/4 t cinnamon
3/4 t nutmeg (I usually just use 1 t of each...can crisp be too spicy?)

Put apples in pan (hope you have a handy dandy apple slicer! I just got a new one..be sure to get one that clamps on your breadboard...the suction ones don't work very well)



Mix dry ingredients..."cut in" butter or margarine and mix (with your fingers) until crumbly...





..sprinkle over top of apples and bake at 350 about 40 minutes...or a little longer if your layer of apples is thicker....actually it's about 30 minutes at 375...but I'm always worried about too much browning so I bake at 350...so if you cook at the higher temp you may want to cover part way through with a piece of foil...also different types of apples cook in different amounts of time....test with a fork...

Tuesday, September 11, 2012

Baby Blankets

A couple of cute blankets I made for Everett...





Saturday, September 1, 2012

Doll Clothes Short Cuts -- T Shirt


So I got this little shirt on sale at Kmart (70% off)...for $1.79...





I cut the shirt front keeping the neck ruffle.


Cut the shirt back...and put the sleeve pattern along the bottom edge using the existing hems.



Sewed sleeve seams, hemmed the neck and bottom edge, velcro fasteners,  and added a cute button

Friday, August 31, 2012

S'mores Chocolate Chip Cookies

 Giant S'mores Chocolate Chip Cookies
from this blog....is it possible to improve on wonderful Chocolate Chip Cookies????
Well, give these a try...


1 C butter, room temp
1 C brown sugar
3/4 C white sugar
2 large eggs
1 T pure vanilla
4 C flour
1 t salt
1 1/2 t baking soda
12 oz. milk chocolate chips (or semi sweet if you prefer)
3 regular size Hershey's Chocolate Bars
3 full (rectangles) graham crackers
6 marshmallows cut in fourths


Make cookies (cream butter; add sugars, vanilla, eggs, dry ingredients, chips)
Scoop heaping 1/4 C dough on cookie sheets (the recipe said use muffin top pans...but I didn't have any)...press down gently...then break two chocolate pieces in half and press into dough.

 Then break and press in a few pieces of graham cracker...



Next a couple chunks of marshmallow....I used two...could have used three pieces...



Bake at 350 about 10-11 minutes...let cool on sheet. This recipe makes about 18 large cookies.