Catchin' Up

It's been a busy week or two at the Smith house. Last weekend we went to Idaho to visit my family. It was good to see my dad settled in his new home. Even though his health is failing, he was in good spirits! It was also good to see my mom taking care of him. We took both my mom and dad out for breakfast...at 8 am...because that's when my dad eats breakfast ;)



The people at my dad's rest home were very nice and accomidating of a wiggly four year old. aka Brinley Ruth Smith. One lady in particular made friends with Brin. Brin sat on her lap and they discussed clothing and dance moves, Brinley showed her several of her "tricks" (which are a series of jumps and twirls). The elderly lady would clap and tell her "how cute!" At this point in the story, I should mention that the lady is of Japanese decsent...and at one point I thought I overheard Brinley say, "hey your eyes go like this..." but I hoped with all my heart that I did not hear correctly! On our way back to mom's I mentioned what I "thought" I heard to Brad. He said, "Nope, I heard it too!" Guess we need to work on cultural differences in Family Home Evening!



Here is a picture I got of my dad and the girls.
It's hard to see your parents health deteriorate. I look at the man who was my provider, protector and advocate for 20 years. He seems so small and frail. It made me so sad to leave. It was hard. I was surprised at how bad I felt leaving him. For one moment, I wanted to live in Idaho so I could be closer. I hope this doesn't get back to my sister's or brother...but I know I am my dad's favorite. He is the one person I never have to TRY to impress, because he thinks I am "wonderful"...His "wonderful daughter, Michelle" That line is a HUGE joke in my family...but I treasure that knowledge and know that no mattter what he is always proud of me.


Later that day we met Brad's dad, Richard and Mindy for lunch...Brinley was so worn out she fell asleep at the table over her mac and cheese. Unfortunately I left my camera in the van, so I didn't get a picture.


I have been sticking to my resolution and trying new recipes. Here is my review of what I have made:
1. stuffed pork chops. I got this recipe from a simple and delicious magazine. I have always wanted to try stuffed chops, and this did not disappoint! It was yummy. Emily even ate the spinach stuffing! (Brin not so much)


2. Cranberry Bliss Bar. I found this copy-cat recipe two years ago on the web. It is a knock off of the cranberry bar starbuck's sells at christmas. OH MY!!! It was sooooo good. Its kind of like a blondie, with a lemony topping. I could have eaten the whole pan...but didn't since I am watching what I eat.

3. An artichoke chicken dish from a Cuisine magazine. Brad really liked this, I thought it was ok. The recipe had honey in it and I am not a fan of sweet tasting chicken or meat. In my book, meat should be savory!

Teenagers and Chocolate Chip Cookies

On of the most common questions I get, is "how can you stand to teach teenagers", and to be honest I'm not sure how or why.. I just do. But today...today was one of those days...where I wanted to throw in the towel and just have a bunch of runny nosed 3rd graders!

I'll start with my Foods 1 class(es). The topic is FIBER. And we talk about what it does, how much we should have, and how to add more fiber. So the lab is Chocolate Chip Cookies (with half whole wheat flour for the FIBER) This naturally leads to much wailing and nashing of teeth, because "can't we just make regular cookies" and my favorite "I don't eat wheat". I tell them to buck up; it's one cup of whole wheat flour and get over it. ( i may have threatened that they can just read the chapter out of the book on fiber...there isn't one, but they shut up)

So everyone gets to work and one girl notices that the chocolate chips in the container are different colors. I tell her it's because I mix semi-sweet and milk chocolate chips together. I do this for two reasons: 1-I like the different chocolate flavors and textures in the same cookie. and 2-because in groups, half will like milk chocolate and the other half semi-sweet. this chocolate preference has been the cause of many fights in class, so to stop the bickering i just mix the two together. Well this girl does not like milk chocolate, she only wants semi-sweet and basically demands that I accomidate her. Needless to say this FROSTED MY COOKIES! I give her one of my up-down looks and tell her she can pick out the semi-sweet chips. And SHE DID! It took her over 30 minutes, her group was MAD. They didn't freakin' care- they just wanted their cookies.

Next is a girl who is allergic to chocolate. I have some butterscotch chips for her to use. I ask her what type of allergy it is. I mean is she going to go into anaphalactic shock...tummy trouble...what. She whispers that chocolate causes HORMONAL IMBALANCE. So I am thinking, yeah if you DON'T eat chocolate then your imbalanced...it kept that to myself

Now for Foods 2: One of the Utah State objectives is that they "plan, prepare, and evaluate a meal". Last week they planned, all of the groups did a fairly decent job. One group however wanted tuna fish sandwiches and oriental sautee'd mushrooms. I told them that menu didn't really "go" together...they were SOOO offended that I didn't like their idea. After all "you told us we could plan anything" and "we like mushrooms and tuna". Today they made their tuna and sautee'd mushrooms...and they didn't like it. It smelled DISGUSTING and looked worse. Then they wanted to take it to someone to eat and I said (ok yelled), "THAT IS NOT LEAVING THIS ROOM. I DO NOT WANT ANYONE TO THINK THAT I CAME UP WITH THAT! I have a rep to protect" This offended them as well, and being teenagers, their response was..." you let us make it".

So I am pondering how many credits do I need to teach elementary?!

What's for Dinner?

One of my new years resolution (besides being a better blogger) is to try a new recipe every week. Here's the thing...I love recipes, I collect cookbooks, I love Food Network so much that one of Brinley's favorite shows is Everyday Italian (with Giada), I spend LOTS of time on several "foodie" websites and print reams of recipes...I can't help it. I read cookbooks like a novel. It facinates me, it calms me, and it motivates me. Guess it's no wonder I teach Foods! And since I teach Foods, people link me to "foodie" sites, email recipes and it seems to never end. In fact we had to buy a book case that would "hide" all my cookbooks because they were taking over the pantry and I was running out of room for actual food. Don't believe me...Here's the proof:

Bookshelf #1 Bookshelf #2 what's left in the pantry

I have a problem and am looking for a support group. Cookbooks Anonymous: "Hello my name is Michelle and I love recipes"

Over Christams Break I was trying to organize and realized I never even use most of these. So my goal is one new recipe a week. Last week I even made 3 new recipes for dinner and one dessert. Here is what I made (last week):

1) Giada's Creamy Orzo - this was yummy. I didn't have cream so just used milk and it worked out.

2) Giada's Sage and Fontina Chicken Rolls- Fantastic! But time consuming.

3) A crockpot recipe for Italian Beef Sandwiches from Allrecipes.com- Yum-o. great with provolone and a crusty bun.

The dessert was mousse bars for the Curtis's Superbowl party. I liked the filling but wasn't crazy about the crust.

I'll keep you updated on all my attempts!

Valentines

Emily recieved her class list so she could FINALLY do the valentines we bought almost a month ago. Keep in mind it's Friday afternoon...Friday after a very LONG week at work...the last thing I want to do is write names on Valentines. But Emily does NOT like to procrastinate ANYTHING! Her teacher passed out the list, in her 10 year old mind, it has to be done NOW! (Never mind the fact that the Valentines school party is not until Thursday)

Yes she is 10 and perfectly capable of doing Valentines herself....my involvement comes from the fact that if Em gets to do her cards then Brinley HAS to do her card as well.

So we spread out our Valentines cards and candy and started. Brinley chose a very cute Princess and the Frog set...Emily chose the not very cute Wizards of Waverly Place (you may not know this about me, but Selena Gomez bugs the crap out of me) But they are the ones Em wanted...I only care about her happiness...never mind the fact that the darn valentine kit came with a poster and Em teased me she was hanging it on the outside of her door so I could see Selena's stuck-up expression EVERYTIME I WALK DOWN THE HALL! but like I said, I only care about her happiness.

Taping suckers on Valentines got to be a little too much temptation for Emily to handle, so she asked if she could have one. I said, yes and she began slurping away. I thought it was weird that Brin didn't immediately follow suit. So after a few minutes I was worried we were going to run out of suckers and Brinley wouldn't get one; I asked Brin if she got a sucker she looked at me and reached behind her and said, I GOT THREE! The stinker had made sure she had some for later!

Ramblings

Brin has not slept throught the night in over a week. One would think she is 6 months old and not four YEARS old. And when she wakes up, she wakes me up.

Laying awake at 3:30am makes me think about all the stuff I need to do; housekeeping, grading papers, my blog, housekeeping, shopping for school, shopping for home, sharing time, housekeeping. catching that darn mouse in my classroom, will we EVER get pregnant... Seriously...some nights I have to turn on my i-pod and watch The Office just to turn off my brain.


and since it has been over 5 months since the last post...I was at Monica's blog, looking at pictures of her new baby. And my blog is listed on the side and it stated "last post 5 months ago" How embarassing!


Here are the family pictures we took for christmas. I love how they turned out!

We had a great holiday season and hope you did too. Its a month late, but here's to 2010!

End of Summer

Well...it's official. Summer Vacay is over and I am back at work.
Good bye to:
SLEEPING IN
LAW AND ORDER SVU MARATHONS (and getting nothing done)
THE GIRLS IN THE POOL
LATE NIGHTS
EATING LUNCH WITH EM AND BRIN
SCRAPBOOKING OR SEWING WHENEVER I FEEL LIKE IT
A CLEAN HOUSE (ok-its not much better during summer)
READING A BOOK FOR PLEASURE
LETTING EMILY SNEAK IN MORE TV TIME DURING THE DAY (don't tell Brad)
MARIO PARTY WITH BRIN(maybe I won't miss that one!)

As much as I complain about going back,(and I will admit it, I complain, A LOT.)
There is something nice about the first of the school year...new supplies, new goals, new people, new ideas...
I complain, but once I walk into my classroom I am full of anticipation for the year. Lets face it -since I have to work, there is nothing else I would rather do. I love my job. I love that I get to teach kids. I love to see them excited about learning. I love to show them that there is more to food than cheetoes and dr. pepper. When a 16 year old makes his first yeast bread and tells me he wants to be a chef, I feel his excitement and share his joy that all the world has to offer. and I think what a miracle it is that a recipe can open his eyes to that.

So good bye summer...

But welcome back to school!
(i'll just tivo law and order!)

My First Quilt

The talented Camille amd Carrie are having a "parade of quilts" and inviting bloggers to show thier first quilts. So here is mine.
The pattern is from Camille's company (ThimbleBlossoms) and the fabric is Riviera by Connecting Threads. I had the top pieced by Christmas, but didn't finish the actual quilting until last month. I love it so much! It makes me smile just to see it sitting on my couch!


My second quilt is from the book JellyRoll and the fabric is Portabella Market by Moda. I like how it turned out. Its not as cheery as my first, but Brad likes this one better.
So what have I learned since completing my first (and so far only) quilts? Press. Press. Press. It really does make a difference.