More Old Picts of Clint 2

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From the emails I've been getting, these have been a hit. I have one more series of pictures of Clint for comparison against our boys coming in January.

 
I can see both Joshua and Caleb here.

 

Caleb smiles like this.



Clint is on your far right.
I can see Caleb in the angle of Clint's face, and Joshua in his eyes here.
Brandon is close to this age now, and he sits just like Clint is in the photo.



I can see Emily and Hannah in my face here. I was about 4 and am holding my puppy Smokey.

I can't find more old pictures of me at the moment. I have a few, but not many. I was heavily criticized starting around age seven, so I have never enjoyed having pictures taken of me. If I find any more old ones, I will post them.

Our pictures are in disorder. I have a plan to organize them, but my priorities have kept me from it. The pictures of the past are fun to look at, but aren't more important than trying to be a godly wife and mother.

Best Big Sister

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For her birthday, we gave Amanda a sign that said "If I had a tiara and a cape, I could rule the world." We gave her a tiara at the time. Now, she has the cape too! Check out those red Converse high tops!

Best Big Sister Ever!
She is going to make an awesome mother and already has so much experience with small children. It is one the benefits God gives children of large families.

Amanda watched the program on the decorations being put up at the White House and wanted to try her hand at making a decoration she saw. She reminded me of my grandfather who would see something made out of wood and would go out to his shop and cut it out from memory alone. She used glitter instead of leaves because it will last longer.

Marriage: The Best Weapon Against Child Poverty

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Marriage: The Best Weapon Against Child Poverty 

"Child poverty is an ongoing national concern, but few are aware of its principal cause: the absence of married fathers in the home. According to the U.S. Census, the poverty rate for single parents with children in the United States in 2009 was 37.1 percent. The rate for married couples with children was 6.8 percent. Being raised in a married family reduced a child’s probability of living in poverty by about 82 percent."

Happy Summer - I'm Back

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California Poppies & Purple Lupine

I hope everyone is having a wonderful summer.  I'm back from months of having to take a blogging break (due to two moves, yuck, glad to be settled again).

What memories have you been creating this summer so far?  I'd love to hear.

My little family has had a lot going on, some wonderful changes, which I will be sharing about in the near future.  Here's a little peak at some of the memories we've been creating.

Enjoying the beauty by the river on a hike with my dear friend Kim.

"Little Love" & Me

Stunning Bodega Bay, CA

"Big Love" & Me

My Beautiful Little Love

Little Love enjoying the bicycle powered carousel at the Davis Farmers Market.

I'm hoping to get back in the swing of posting recipes more often again.  Please stay tuned for those.

A special thank you for all of the support I have received from you over the last few months, especially on my Facebook page.  I am so grateful for my readers, I can't thank you enough for all of your kind words.  I am approaching my 1 year anniversary of this blog, and I am just so overwhelmed by the love and support I have received from my readers and fellow bloggers.  I love this community and I look forward to sharing more with you.

Love and Light,
Emily

Bacon Wrapped Cheese Stuffed Dates

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These are SO delicious!  They’re probably one of my favoriteappetizers ever.    
Perfect appetizers for holiday parties, dinnerparties or for a special dinner for two with your honey on Valentine’s Day. 
Equipment:Toothpicks, Large Baking Pan/Sheet (I use Stoneware), Cutting Board, SmallParing Knife, Small Bowl, Tongs
·     16 organic dates –pitted (buy pitted or remove pit during prep)·     ¼ cup organiccream cheese, softened ·     ¼ teaspoonCeltic sea salt (See Resources)·     ¼ teaspoonground cinnamon – optional·     8 pastured ororganic bacon slices, cut in half (See Resources)
·     16 toothpicks
1.   Preheat ovento 400 degrees F.
2.  Prep dates –open up dates carefully with a paring knife, cut 2 lengthwise slits in thedates, making sure not to cut all the way through the date, remove small pieceof date (save to snack on), remove pit if necessary.  See picture.

3.  In a smallbowl, mix the cream cheese, sea salt and optional cinnamon.  Stuff dates with about ½ teaspoon of thecheese mixture.

4.  Tightly wrapeach cheese stuffed date with ½ slice of bacon. Secure with toothpick.

5.   Place baconwrapped dates seam side down on baking pan. Place baking pan in oven, set timer for 10 minutes.  At 10 minutes, use tongs to flip each baconwrapped date.  PLEASE USE CAUTION, thebacon grease is very hot, use an oven mitt to protect your hand/arm.  Set timer for another 10 minutes.  Bacon is done when it “looks” crispy and isdark golden brown.  Watch the baconclosely, all ovens cook differently, you don’t want the bacon to burn.  You should be able to tell at the 10-minutemark about how much longer you will need to cook the bacon.  If you’re not sure, just keep an eye on them.  You may need a few more minutes after the 20minute mark to crisp the bacon enough.
6.  Serve warm orat room temperature.  Make sure to wait acouple of minutes before taking a bite, they are super HOT when they come outof the oven.          
Yield: Makes 16 bacon wrapped stuffed dates.  

World Vision Hand-Carved Kenyan Olive Wood Serving Spoons Giveaway

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Aren't these hand-carved olive wood serving spoons gorgeous? The serving spoons were made to benefit orphans of the Kamba tribe in Kenya, who are known for their wood-carving skills. The spoons are 11 inches long and come in a drawstring bag.

They come as a gift with a donation of $65 or more to World Vision, a Christian relief and development organization dedicated to helping children and their communities combat poverty. Since 1996, the World Vision Gift Catalog has sold 160,000 items, raised more than $33 million, and helped more than 825,000 people around the world.

Last year, the most popular gift was a $75 goat. More than 67,000 goats were given to benefit needy families around the world. Or you can gift two chickens for just $25. Or a pig? Sheep? Alpaca?

World Vision also helps girls and women with education, job training, counseling, and small business loans. A donation of $40, which includes a hand-tied wooden beaded bracelet created in a Thai project to prevent trafficking, will help a sexually exploited girl get shelter, medical care, vocational training, and counseling.

The World Vision Gift Catalog gives tons of options to help combat poverty around the world, and if you give to the Maximum Impact Fund, you also get a free gift so it's a win-win for everyone. To raise awareness, the nice folks at World Vision are letting me give away one set of these Kenyan olive wood hand-carved serving spoons.



To be eligible for this giveaway, please visit World Vision or the World Vision Gift Catalog and check out the many options to help or donate and leave a comment indicating you've done so. Which of the ways to help appeal the most to you? Aren't some of the gifts you get in return for helping just gorgeous?

While I've known about World Vision for a while, I had no idea the extent of their various programs. In fact, 86 percent of every gift goes to programs to help children and families overcome poverty in almost 100 countries.



Giveaway open until December 29th at 11:59 p.m. I will draw one winner via random.org and update this post with the name of the winner. You have two days to contact me with your shipping info. If I don't hear from you, I will draw another winner so please check back here to see if you've won or leave a way for me to contact you.

Only U.S. residents eligible for the giveaway.

Thanks to Bozena Luczak at Wilks Communications of World Vision for sponsoring this giveaway.

Merry Christmas everyone!

*****
1 year ago today, Christmas Eve goose dinner and the lights along St. Albans Road - San Marino.
2 years ago today,
3 years ago today, Sauteed Bok Choy with Garlic.
4 years ago today, Chicken Piccata.
5 years ago today, Tiramisu with Japanese Matcha Green Tea.

the first batch of this year's lunchboxes

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If you saw my post over on the full plate blog's Facebook page, you know that I pulled a total dingbat move last night, starting to make lentil soup at 6:00pm... even though dinner should have been ready by 6:30 at the latest for the (hopeful) 7:00pm bedtime. Or maybe it was subliminal, and I really wanted grilled cheeses for dinner, and to not have to make dinner tonight? Either way, we had grilled cheese last night... and the lentil soup finished cooking mid-evening, and I packaged it up so we could enjoy it tonight. But first, I popped a small portion into today's lunchbox.

apple cider as a (super special, he picked it himself) treat + a small portion of lentil soup in the thermos + half a grilled Applegate ham and cheese (which he'd be enjoying cold, good thing he's not picky) + organic strawberries + English cucumber slices


As you guys know, I try to keep our meals colorful. That's the easiest way for me to know our meal is healthful, and to ensure that my children are getting a bunch of fruits and/or veggies throughout the day. No matter what I am planning for dinner/the next day's lunchbox, I try to stay ahead of the curve by having some prepped (washed + cut) fruits and veggies at the ready. This makes assembling my children's meals super easy. Here are a few more lunch boxes from last week to provide some packing inspiration.... and remind you to set aside some of tonight's dinner if you can, so your packing is simple!


organic raspberries + "rainbow" tomatoes and cucumber slices + organic strawberries + baby carrots + cream cheese and jam sandwich + Greek yogurt (don't forget to include a spoon!)


organic dried cranberries + a slice of pumpkin bread + some of the homemade "mac and cheese" (remember the re-purposing post from last week!) + steam broccoli (again, from dinner the night before) + chicken-apple sausages (yes, you guessed it-- from dinner the night before)


turkey-vegetable Bolognese (again from that week when I was re-purposing the extra cheese from the Feta-Fig appetizers... this sauce was studded with lots of cauliflower, broccoli and carrots so I didn't include an additional veggie in his lunch today) + a bit of fruit salad + a fruit smoothie

World's Best Gravy - the secret ingredients

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This is how we spent Thanksgiving morning/afternoon. Bliss.


We got home with about 5 minutes to spare, before we were due over at a friends' home for afternoon libations. So, I literally smothered our bone-in turkey breast with butter, grated some orange peel on top, sprinkled some freshly ground salt and pepper over that, surrounded it with fresh sage and onions... popped it in a 450 oven, then off we went. (I ran home once to baste the bird.)


While there I was coaxed into the kitchen "to taste the World's Best Gravy", whipped up by our friend, Henry. I had my doubts. Gravy is gravy, right? And how many of your friends' husbands can cook.... let alone the "World's Best Gravy"?


I am now a believer. The secret ingredient? Espresso. Espresso? Yes, Espresso.


I am popping this up onto the blog so I can remember this gravy the next time I roast a turkey: drippings + a roux + port + curry powder + brown sugar. Amazing. Trust me.

p.s. Looking t what to do with your leftovers? I am making a batch of these pot pies, and I froze the turkey bones so I could make a batch of nutrient-rich bone broth that will morph into comforting soups this winter.

it's been a little quiet as of late, hmm?

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I know. I know. I'm supposed to update this blog "all the time", and lately I'm lucky if it's once a week.  So, tonight I'm playing catch-up while waiting for batch after batch of sugar cookie to come out of the oven (tomorrow's my little one's 6th birthday and he flip-flopped right up to the bitter end between bringing in "Chinese food and vanilla milkshakes" and "Christmas cookies" for his special treat). So, I have a few minutes while some bake and some cool so I thought I'd share a few pics of what's kept me so busy this past week... First, I got a city fix. I love going into the city, and don't go in enough. My latest city find and food crush? These infused salts.  


OK, then these shots are going to excite some of you....


I had an amazing opportunity to meet Allison Page, SVP of Programming at The Food Network, and as a special treat, I also got to poke my head in to the set of Chopped before I jumped back into my car and listened to "Some Nights" about 50 times in a row, playing on every radio station, while I got totally lost. I should just stick to the train.




Then, at the end of last week, I had so much fun speaking on the topic, "Feeding Your Family Well on the Busiest of Days" at New Canaan Country School. I stayed up late the night before making samples of what I was going to be cooking with the participants, so everyone could try the recipes. Leftovers from the class went to Community Plates, which is a phenomenal organization.



Then, yesterday, we threw my little one's birthday bash.... replete with a Tae Kwon Do-themed cake.



My mother-in-law asked what the bunny was doing on it. Try as I may, I don't see a bunny.


And now, I am baking up a storm. The only glitch? Our temporary digs did not come with a rolling pin. Of course I realized this too late to call a neighbor and ask to borrow one, so I'm making do. The next few weeks are promising to be equally as fun-busy, but I have gotten a few requests for lunch box ideas and green smoothies, which I promise to post soon!

a gift for our teachers

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The post I wrote last week was on the eve of my son's 6th birthday. Each year, I marvel at how much my children have grown, explored, learned, embraced... their little selves so full of joy. And I get to be their mother; a job I cherish. Last Friday, this is where I was during the devastation unfurling a few towns away. In ignorant bliss, I got to watch my newly minted 6-year-old get his 'sea legs' on ice skates. His teachers glided by with outstretched hands, encouraging him to scoot around amongst his friends. Tiny, excited little kids and joyful teachers reveling in the fresh air, before they went back to the classroom. How lucky we are I thought.


And while I am still unable to fully process the immense tragedy, there was some comfort this weekend in settling in with my children to make holiday gifts for the teachers who expertly guide, care for, inspire and love my children.


My children rattled off name after name. So many teachers who play a meaningful role in my children's lives each and every day...








Yes, we are very lucky. May the sweetness of this gift show a little bit of our gratitude. To make truffles for those you love, here is the recipe.