Thanksgiving, Anniversary, Bob's Birthday

We went to San Luis Obispo, CA for Thanksgiving, which meant we'd also be there for our 3-year wedding anniversary and Bob's 28th birthday. We stayed with Bob's Grandma, Mary Alice.

It was a lot of fun. One day we went to Morro Bay and a nearby park with Carrie and her daughter, Sierra. Then for Thanksgiving dinner we went to Bob's cousin, Carrie's house in Cambria, CA. There was so much food and the view was amazing.

 

The boys--Pettit cousins.

For our anniversary Bob took me to downtown SLO, to a fancy shmancy restaurant called Novo. I had quail for the first time. It was tasty, but a lot of work to get the meat off the bones of that tiny and perfectly cooked bird. Then we walked around downtown for a while to see various little shops and spend some time together. It was nice to spend time and celebrate our marriage.

For Bob's birthday, we invited family over for dinner (pulled pork sandwiches, sweet potato fries, and various veggies and chips) and French apple pie with vanilla ice cream. We ate, talked, and played games. It was fun.

 

Birthday presents!

Earlier in that day we went to see Bob's Grandpa's grave to pay some respects. Neither of us had been out there to see it yet, so it was good to see where Grandpa Rusty was buried.

Before leaving, we got some photos with various family members. Tani, another of Bob's cousins got to hold and play with Graham before she went home to Lake Tahoe for Thanksgiving.

Jason, Carrie's husband, loved holding Graham.

And of course, Grandma Mary Alice got to dote over her first and so-far only great-grandson. She loves boys, and was so happy to spend time with him.

Jams & Butters

My mom is a doer. She goes on vacation and works. But she makes it fun. That's a skill I need to better develop.

Now, I know she came out here to help me with having a baby, not to go on vacation. But even then, she cleaned and cooked and cleaned some more everyday that she was here. And I don't even live in my own house! My sweet mother cleaned and organized my mother-in-law's house for her as far as she was allowed to (and even when she wasn't allowed to). She's such an angel of a woman. No wonder my Dad chased after her and didn't take no for an answer years ago when he was first trying to date her! What an incredible lady.

So, along with all of the cooking and cleaning she did, I told her that I wanted to make strawberry freezer jam and apple butter while she was here. So we did!

I have these memories from my childhood of my mother once or twice a year making enough strawberry freezer jam to fill nearly half of our big freezer in the garage. Then for dinner most nights, she'd make southern biscuits from scratch to accompany the meal. All of us, especially us kids, would load that jam up on them and just binge eat dozens of biscuits that way. My brother Ben taught me to cut them in half, dig out the inside of the biscuit, and then fill it in with extra jam. We'd have to eat those in one bite or the jam would spill everywhere. Truth be told, we still eat them that way, even as adults with kids of our own. I'm pretty sure that will never change!

So my Mom and I made strawberry freezer jam the evening of April 5th, and later that night I went into labor and delivered Graham the following night. I've heard several women say that they did the same thing and then shortly thereafter they went into labor too. Funny how canning and making jam will do that. 

We found a bunch of miscellaneous jars  and spray painted the lids red. 

Beautiful strawberries in beautiful Southern California.

strawberries, sugar, and sure-gel

My mom's wonderfully care-worn hands.

Made of pure deliciousness.

Ten days after having Graham, my Mom and I made apple butter. But we took a shortcut and made it the easy way. Instead of buying loads of apples and taking hours to peel them and make them into sauce, we just bought a bunch of cheap apple sauce, added the sugar and spices, then cooked it down for a few hours until it was done. And it is SO good! 

I don't look half bad 10 days after having a baby!

Smells like magic and Christmas!

Letting the lids seal.

Apple Butter perfection.

Thanks, Mom, for all of your help, for all of the meals you prepared and left in the freezer for us, and for your wonderful company that I can never seem to get enough of! I sure wish you lived closer or could come and visit more often, but I'll definitely take every phone call and email that you and Dad you have to offer. I miss you already!

I know, it's really not the best photo of my Mom, but give her a break--she was up late every night with us while she was here. 

Grandmas are the BEST to snuggle with!

Thanksgiving 2011

Thanksgiving was a success this year! The kitchen only got filled with smoke once, but it dissipated quickly and the delicious aroma of turkey and sweet potatoes soon returned. Also, I failed to get ANY photos of dinner or preparation. I'm really bummed about that. I'll try to make some of these dishes again in the coming weeks and get pictures of those to add on here later, with the exception of the turkey. I was really excited to wear one of the aprons my grandma had sent me a week or so back. It's really cute, especially with my tiny pregnant belly, and I wish I had gotten photos of that too.

So here's how the day went.

I got up around 8am, had a nice slow and easy morning, and after a couple of hours I rubbed olive oil on three large sweet potatoes, poked each of them several times with a fork, wrapped them in foil, and baked them for about an hour.

Then I removed my turkey from its wrapping, took out its neck (but put it inside the oven bag to bake with the turkey) rinsed the turkey inside and out, dried the inside out with some paper towels, and made up a recipe for it, basing it off of one I saw on TV the other day. Keep in mind that Thanksgiving isn't about eating healthy and drinking green smoothies. It's about being thankful for what we're blessed with, eating delicious food, and enjoying life's simple but abundant pleasures. Here's my basic turkey recipe:

(Sorry, I don't usually measure of my seasonings. I just added a shake or two here and there, depending on how strong a spice or herb is--less clove and sage, a little more rosemary and cinnamon, more orange zest and pepper...)

One 12 pound turkey, thawed
2 oranges
1 onion


Combine:
2 cubes of butter, softened
salt
pepper
sage
rosemary
cinnamon
clove
orange zest


Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. While raw, carefully separate turkey skin from turkey breast, making a pocket and being careful not to tear or make holes in it. Tuck some butter mix into turkey skin/breast pocket. Rub remaining butter mix over the rest of the turkey, as well as inside the body cavity. Slice one onion into large chunks, and 2 oranges in half. Place inside turkey's body cavity. Place in oven baking bag, then into large baking dish, and bake in the oven for 3.5 hours.

I got the turkey in the oven a little before 11am. Then I scooped out the sweet potatoes into a large bowl, discarded their skins, and stuck them in the fridge to cool more.

Then I had about 3 hours to clean and tidy up the house. Bob had gone surfing that morning, and around noon he called wondering if he could have his surfer friends and their family come over for a light lunch. He then clarified by asking if we could make tortilla soup with our new Blendtec. I was just excited to use that blender again, so I was excited about it. He stopped by the grocery store and bought all of the ingredients fresh, then came on home. I put everything in the blender, and pressed the 'soups' button, and in 90 seconds we had a steaming hot soup for 8 people ready to be eaten. Add lime, avocado slices, and tortilla chips, and it was perfection.

Our friends went home for their own Thanksgiving celebration after about an hour or so.

Around 2pm I made the broccoli casserole:

2 bags frozen broccoli
1 can cream of mushroom soup
cheese (I used a pre-grated four cheese blend)
1/3 C of butter
1 tube of Ritz crackers, crushed (crush them in the tube before opening it--it's easier that way)

Steam broccoli for 5-6 minutes. Place broccoli in a casserole dish, evenly distributed. Pour cream of mushroom soup over broccoli, spread evenly. Sprinkle desired amount of cheese over top of that (I'm a cheese-lover, so I used a couple of good-sized handfuls). In a separate bowl, melt butter and pour in ritz crackers. Mix well, and pour over top of broccoli/cream soup/cheese. Bake for 30 min at 350.

Before I put it in the oven, I made the sweet potato casserole:

Combine:

3 C cooked sweet potatoes (bake them for an hour, cool, then peel)

1 C sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 C evaporated milk (try evaporated goat milk or try almond milk)

1/2 C melted butter (try 1/3 C coconut oil)

1 tsp cinnamon

Place in greased 8 x11 casserole. Mix topping and spread over top. Bake at 350 for 30 min.

Topping:

1 C brown sugar (try 1 C evaporated cane juice + 1-2 tbsp of molasses)

1/3 C flour

1/3 C butter (try 1/4 C coconut oil)

1 C pecans

1 C coconut

optional: sprinkle mini marshmallows on top.


Once I finished putting together the casseroles, the turkey was done. I pulled that out of the oven to let it rest before opening the oven bag and letting Bob carve it. Then I put the casseroles in. I tried a fancy variation of the sweet potato casserole, where I baked it with just the topping so it would get crispy, and then add the marshmallows and broil it for a minute or two to brown them..... And I forgot about it. After a few minutes Bob noticed smoke coming out of the oven. I pulled out the charred marshmallow topping and rushed outside with it to avoid getting anymore smoke in the house. Once it stopped smoking, I went back in, saddened by my mini-fiasco. It was an easy fix though. I grabbed a metal spatula and scooped off the blackened marshmallow topping. Then I added more marshmallows, and tried broiling it one more time. I checked it ever 30 seconds and didn't take the oven mitts off my hands until it was ready to come out of the oven, so as not to forget about it again. I saved the day and no one could even tell I had messed it up the first time. 

Then I made the stuffing:

I sliced a granny-smith apple and added it to a Stove Top mix and 5 minutes later it was done.

My mother in law had made the cranberry jello sauce and rolls the day before, Aunt Wei Wei brought Chinese dumplings (made from scratch, and she's Chinese so these are legit and SO good), fried rice, and 2 pies from Costco--one pumpkin and one pecan. We all sat down and ate at about 4pm (even though it was all ready by 3pm.... Family always shows up late, you know...)

So here was our dinner menu:

turkey

stuffing

sweet potato casserole

broccoli casserole

cranberry jello sauce

dumplings

fried rice

rolls

pumpkin pie with whipped cream

pecan pie

juice or water for drinks

Not bad for planning and preparing my first Thanksgiving nearly all on my own! I think delegating is the key--the less I had to cook, the more I kept my head on and enjoyed the day.

We had a wonderful time visiting together: 

myself,

Bob, 

Lana (my mother-in-law),

Aunt Wei Wei, 

Uncle Bud, 

Sinjin (Bob's cousin and Bud and Wei Wei's son), 

David (a Chinese guy who is renting a room in Aunt Wei Wei's house), 

and the two missionaries from church, Elder Geier and Elder Kirchoeffer. 

We had a good time visiting with family, telling stories, and getting to know each other better. It was memorable and really made me appreciate the family I married into.

Happy Thanksgiving!

epiphanies & 18 hour days

At work, Mother's Day is probably our busiest holiday of the year. Valentines Day is pretty close behind it, but seriously, Mother's Day was....ridiculous. In a good way. We started getting ready for it a week or two ahead of time, cutting the lengths of ribbon we need, folding boxes for arrangement transportation, putting together the 12 and 6 count boxes for chocolate dipped fruit, prepping loads and loads of containers and vases for arrangements, etc. The only thing we couldn't prep that far ahead of time was the actual fruit itself.

Thursday, May 5th was pretty normal, except that instead of going into work at 4pm I went in at 10am and stayed the entire day. Then Friday I went in at 7:30am and didn't get off until after 2am. Saturday was the same. And Sunday I went in at 7:30am and got off around 5pm. I worked a 10 hour day, nd 18 hour day, another 18 hour day, and then a 10 hour day after that. What made it even longer was standing for nearly that entire time. I'd get home and ask Bob to give me a foot massage at 3am, which he'd kindly do for me, then I'd fall asleep during it, and get up a few hours later to go stand some more.

Saturday morning I awoke and sat up in bed to rub the sleep from my eyes. Then I stood up. The familiar throbbing in my feet and tenderness in my knees came back immediately, my hands were stiff and forearms sore from pinching the fruit skewers and pushing them into arrangement foam for hours on end, and my back hurt from holding and leaning over the chocolate dipping pots. It was hard not to whimper as I walked from the bedroom to the bathroom, knowing the day would consist of all the same work, and that I'd be feeling even worse by the end of the day, and worse by the following morning.

Luckily for me, Bob was working as a temporary delivery driver, so he got up with me, sympathized as much as he could, and helped me hobble around as I got dressed and ready for work. Even though I was working non-stop for hours on end, it was always refreshing to see Bob walk through the prep area as he'd scan and take more deliveries. As he walked past me he'd just brush his hand across my back or shoulders. Even though I didn't react to it usually, it was a momentary and pleasant distraction from how much I hurt and how tired I was. It was so nice to have him there for a few minutes at a time, partially because I love being around him and also because I knew he was helping to earn some money.

Speaking of which, overtime pay is great. So is a generous boss who included a hefty cash bonus with my pay check this week. She also let us make an arrangement to take home on Sunday evening. I wish I'd taken a picture! It was so good! It looked like this, only with chocolate dipped oranges, chocolate cinnamon apples, and some white chocolate strawberries, and I put it all in a cute orange watering-can keepsake container:

I'm glad I made it through last weekend. I'm very ready for my usual weekend off. I'm hoping to get the house cleaned today so that we can play all day tomorrow (well, when I'm not working on Jennifer's bridesmaid dresses).

With all that time to think as I stood at work making arrangements and dipping fruit in chocolate, I realized a couple of things.

I want to open my own store really, really badly. I think I want to open a gourmet dessert shop to start with. I never really got tired of dipping fruit the whole time I did that over Mother's Day or Valentines Day. I just really like to make all of it look pretty with swirls and toppings on everything. I stood there, dreaming and fantasizing about what my shop would look like, what kinds of desserts I'd make how I'd package them for customers, how I'd display them, etc. The more I thought about it the more I wanted to actually get out some paper and write down my ideas and create a business plan, and figure out how to get the right start up capital. I haven't been this motivated about something like this in a while (which is why I'm writing about it).

I love sewing and fashion design, but I also realized I really hate keeping up with current trends, projecting the styles for the upcoming seasons and years, and sometimes I actually get tired of sewing (believe it or not). I hate how long it takes to get one piece of clothing done.

Accessories are different. I could make hair clips and jewelery all day long. In fact, I used to do just that when I worked a Busy Beads & Moore in Clarksville. I never got tired of it. I finally finished Jennifer's hairpiece for her wedding, and got it mailed out to her this week as well. It was a $20 item. If I made and sold just 5 of those a day, that's $100 a day! I know that includes supplies, but I'd still profit a lot on those kinds of things.

I guess I like fast results. I love projects that I can start and finish in  matter of hours or within the day... Like accessories... And desserts... I'm not a fan of baking with yeast or dough. All the kneading and waiting, kneading and waiting drives me nuts. So cupcakes, cake bites, cakes, pies, tarts, and chocolates are all things I love to make. Opening a shop up to sell those kinds of things would take lots of work and time, (and boy, am I learning how to put in long hours at work) but once it got off the ground, I'd rarely have to go in before 7 or 8am, whereas a bakery requires getting started at 3 or 4am because of all that dough and yeast and nonsense.

So, I'm going to work on slowly gathering the start up capital I need, saving money for it, as well as finding things like a commercial sized mixer (or two!), double-boilers, chocolate warmers and fountains, a display cooler or two, freezer(s)/refrigerator(s), bun racks/carts, ovens.... You know, stuff like that. I know a lot of small companies go into too much debt too soon when they first open, so I'd like to avoid that. I'm willing to use things 2nd hand--heck, even 3rd hand if it's in good condition. I don't need or even want brand new stuff. Besides, I love vintage, antique, and steampunk styles. I intend for my shop to be along those lines, so the older the better (if it works, anyway).

I'm so excited about it, I want to start it up now.

*sigh*

But I can wait. I want to start it when we move to San Diego anyway, so it'll be a while until then.

I guess I'm learning patience, too.

Stamping and Baking

Today I was in the mood for creating stuff. 

I made some little miniature cards with those new stamps I bought. 

Then I baked some mini loaves of pumpkin spice bread with pecans and chocolate chips. 

And then I gave them all away.

(I hope that bread was good. I didn't even try any of it.)

Hosting a baby shower...

So Marissa's baby shower was Thursday last week. I learned a few things from it:

1. I spent way too much money on it. But everything I bought was for her! And baby things are just too cute anyway.

2. Decorating blank onesies with stamps and fabric markers is my favorite baby shower activity.

3. Three boxes worth of cake bites is enough to feed everyone at a BYU football game. But man are they delicious!!

4. Well, this isn't news to me, but doing all of this just reiterated the fact that I'm a total over-achiever, in case you didn't know.

5. I should start a business for party and event planning so I can make a profit on it. Apparently I'm good at it.