It Started Like This.....

Thanksgiving-2011! We adore our Thanksgiving traditions with our Olsen Family. We begin like this.......watching the Detroit Lyons football game. Come as your are---pj's, sweatshirts, pillows, blankets, slippers, etc. Touchdown's, you score chocolate delights...YUM! When the opposing team scores....someone draws a slip of paper out of a bowl and we have to do whatever it says on the paper....we ran laps, danced, etc. Always fun.

Table clothe art, after the football game.

Here are the results, before dinner was served buffet style.

My husband drew this around his table setting.

And, he drew this around mine....oh, good. You get a chance to see my dinner. It was so good.

When I cleared my plate from the table, I found this......yep, he is a good catch and all that goes with it.

We adore our traditional desserts. We have divine fudge over to the far left upper corner....can't miss the fabulous chocolate cake.....pies---need I say more? Well, a little more. L to R, coconut cream pie (with a bottom layer of nuts, butter and brown sugar), apple crumble pie, and double layer pumpkin pie (theirs a whip cream, cream cheese, sugar layer hidden beneath the pumpkin). This has to be served buffet style so that you can have a little of each. It is a must!

We then, settle ourselves down into the cozy couches and watch a fun movie to top off our Thanksgiving day.

Love the holiday season. Wonderful memories from Thanksgiving with those near and far....loved all the email, texts, phone calls and conversation from before, during and after the holiday weekend.

Happy days to you and yours! xo

HALLOWEEN and such!

Great HALLOWEEN!!!

Zombie time!!

Yep...getting into character and all that goes with it! Party on, Zombie boy!

Lots of Halloween parties over the last week. All good! Our town hosts trick-r-treat from 4pm until 6pm...followed by cider and donuts and a costume parade for the little ones, downtown. Makes for a perfect Halloween and love that everything begins early in the day...no late night stuff.
So, our family had a nice yummy dinner of Pumpkin Corn Chowder and crackers. It was delicious. I must admit, I was sceptical, but, WOW! This was really a tasty Fall soup recipe.

We had what we call "dinner theater" and ate our dinner and watched the Halloween episode of Psych from last week----and for those of you who follow this series, you will understand our dessert choice----we cut up a fresh pineapple and boy oh boy was that delicious.

Now, these little pumpkin cookies may look like dessert. Not so fast! Ha! I made these pumpkin cookies fairly healthy...whole wheat, oatmeal, ground flax seed,wheat germ, raisins, walnuts, very low sugar...added some dark chopped chocolate for the fun of it. These actually became our appetizer...not intentionally. Just turned out that way as everyone arrived home from work, school, and Halloween doings----nearly starving to death. So, piping hot pumpkin goodness was enjoyed right away.

Hope your Halloween was sensational and that your holiday season, (which has begun here in our household ---even heard Christmas carols on the radio over the weekend and I don't seem to mind--ha!), will be wonderful and full of joy and happiness. I have got Thanksgiving thoughts running through my head. Watch out Olsen's....we will be to your house to celebrate and eat turkey and all the fixing's before you know it. And of course, GO LYONS! XO

Pumpkin Corn Chowder

In a large soup pot (Dutch oven works well), melt 2 T butter. Add in and cook for 5 minutes, 1/2 small yellow onion and 2 cloves minced garlic.

Stir in 1 t Curry Powder and cook for 30 seconds or so.

Add in 2 cups cubed sweet potatoes and 2 cups cubed potatoes.

Next, 1 14 ounce can of chicken stock, 1/4 each salt and pepper.

Bring to boil; reduce heat and simmer, covered for 15-20 minutes.

When that is all cooked nicely, add in.....1 14 ounce can pumpkin, 1 14.75 ounce can cream style corn, 1, 10.75 ounce can cream of celery soup, 1 cup milk, 1 t dried thyme, crushed. YUM!

I let this soup sit for about an hour and 1/2 before serving...just like spaghetti sauce...this soup tastes better with a little aging. Can't wait to taste what little soup was leftover for my lunch today. Bet the flavor will be bold and divine.

Can serve with a sprinkling of pumpkin seeds, sour cream or crackers.

Pumpkin Cookies

My mom makes excellent cookies. I do remember her making pumpkin cookies and applesauce cookies. These two cookies were always so moist and delicious.

Oven...375 degrees.

Mix 1 regular can of pumpkin, with 1/2 cup sugar, and 1/2 cup shortening. ( Can decrease sugar to about 1/4 and add in 1/4 cup applesauce and reduce shortening to 1/4 cup).

Add in....2 cups whole wheat flour, 1 t baking powder, 1 t baking soda, 1 t ground cinnamon, and 1/4 t salt. And, if your care to, here is where I add in a little ground flax seed, and wheat germ. I also use ground oatmeal with the whole wheat flour to equal the 2 cups.

Then, my favorites...add in raisins and chopped walnuts.....as much as you want. So good. Can add in chocolate at this point, as well. Mix and drop by teaspoon full onto greased cookie sheet.

Dough is very soft and fluffy. That is ok. Bake for 8-10 minutes.

SUPER delicious if you can manage to eat these cookies right out of the oven.

XO

Food and Blooms

Prepare yourself! This is a healthy recipe. Shall we just say this mac and cheese takes on a modern tone and taste. All you need for this dish is seen below. Super easy...good hot or cold.

Cook your pasta and either microwave or stove prepare your light-cheese sauced broccoli. I have never used a vegetable that had a prepared sauce along with it. So, I was really curious about how this would all taste. Add together with 3 wedges of the Light, Laughing Cow cheese.
Warm until cheese is that gooey, yummy texture.

Add a little salt and pepper and their you have it. I really liked this dish. It was so quick, so easy, and low in calories. Really a great twist on an old standby. And, thinking of adding chicken to this dish, next time round.


And, please try this recipe. You won't be sorry. Thanks to my blogging friend, Julie (http://www.circlecliffviews.blogspot.com/), who has some of the best recipes ever! This is one of the really, really, really great one's. My family loved these. And, yes! Carrots. Carrot fries. Lot's and lots of carrots. I used about 6-7 large carrots and chopped them into french fry type pieces. Put them in a bowl and add in 1 tsp olive oil, 1 tsp cornstarch and a Ranch Dressing packet. Shake and mix until all carrots are coated. Bake at 400 degree's on a sprayed or parchment paper lined cookie sheet. Bake for 25-30 minutes. YUM!

And, we ate the carrot fries cold, along side our spring salad and slice of focaccia the next day. Carrots...still tasted great.

Now that we have had our fill of food, let's take a little walk in the yard and enjoy all the beauty of spring.

Glad to get my wind chimes hung for the season. Oh, and loved getting the humingbird feeders ready and cannot count how many times I am refilling bird feeders. All great fun and such beautiful birds fill our yard. Wish you could smell the fragrance of all these blossoms.

We gutted out our flower boxes in our backyard and have begun to refill them with wonderful perennial greenery and blooms. Wow do they ever smell so good.

I do love hostas and the baby blue forget-me nots! I love blue flowers.

So petite and so sweet.

The tree's off the front porch are all "popcorned" out! You can hear the bee's a buzzing, doing their work. And, you can spot a golden oriole or two, ever so often.

Love sitting on my front porch.

Preparing a new rose bed for new roses....we have a few Blue Girl Tea Roses, a few Sunny Delight (yellow) Tea Roses and a few Arizona Roses....which are yellow, orange, cream and pink.

And, we are revamping an area for raspberries and grapes. Much to do.

Ooh..heavenly!

Meadow view on a rainy day. Trying to be thankful for the bounteous rain we have had this spring. It has been more rain than I have ever seen in a single spring season. Loving all the greenery.

How are things cooking and whats blooming/growing in your yard? We are still waiting for our garden spot to dry out enough to rototill and plant. My seedlings are bursting at the seams to get out in the garden. Yipes. xo

? and Biscotti

OK......who can name this flower? Not me. My son found tons of these out in the woods. Gorgeous.

The bloom is slightly bigger than the palm of my hand.

And, I have been thinking about Biscotti lately. Maybe because one of our dearest friends is in Italy right now. And, my daughter and I just watched "Letters to Juliet"---again.

Anyways, early this morning, as the sun was just coming up and the birds were singing, I made Biscotti. It is such a fun food. Reminded me of our years in France.

So, let's slow down today and make a basic Biscotti recipe.

Dry stuff first....1 and 3/4 cup flour, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and 1 teaspoon baking powder. Mix.

In a separate bowl, 2 eggs and 2/3 cup sugar...mix on high speed for about 5 minutes. The egg and sugar mixture will thicken. Add in 1 teaspoon vanilla (original Biscotti was flavored with almonds).

Now, slowly mix in the dry ingredients.

Wet your hands and pick up dough out of your bowl. It will be sticky. Lay in on a cookie sheet that has parchment paper on it. Shape the dough to about 12 inches long and 3-4 inches wide. Bake at 350 for 25 minutes.

Nice. cool on a rack for about 10 minutes. Did you know that "bis" means twice and "cotti" (or cottum) means baked. And, that's just what we are going to do...bake twice.

Now, slice on the diagonal. Oh...and turn your oven down to 325 degree's.

Smells so delicious. So, place sliced Biscotti back onto your parchment paper lined cookie sheet. Bake for 10 minutes. Then, turn Biscotti over and bake for another 10 minutes.

Hello Biscotti! YUM!

For you food history buffs....Biscotti originated in Roman times. Biscotti was more about being a food for travelers because it was convenient. The twice baked Biscotti dries it out and makes it perfect for travel for long journeys. Biscotti was a staple of the diet of the Roman Legions.

After the fall of the Roman Empire, people did their best to survive and there was no culinary development.

But, with the Renaissance, Biscotti reemerged in Tuscany, by a Tuscan baker who served them with the local sweet wine.
So, bring a bit of Tuscany into your day and bake a little bit of Biscotti. Somehow, I think you are going to love it. xoxo

P.S. Can add nuts or dried fruit to biscotti to dress it up a bit....or dip or drizzle with a little chocolate.

Shall We Bake Today?

My April calendar pic!

Just had a very loud thunder and lightening storm pass over us this dark and early a.m. You would have thought it was the 4th of July! Whew. Our spring showers have been massive this year, as it has been for a lot of our country. I am beginning to think this spring calendar picture does not say "hope", but, sort of looks like it says "nope"--not quite spring...ha! Maybe so.

This is one of my very most favorite reading, photography, and recipe books, all wrapped into one. I use it a lot and not just for cooking and baking. Sure I have made the refrigerator pickles, and covered supper beans and rice. And, can't forget the peach buckle and lemon sour cream pound cake. All delicious. But, what I really love about this book are the stories that accompany each and every recipe section.....and every recipe has a little background of it's own. The photography is magnificent. Don't you just love a good read that includes recipes and beautiful pictures?

Ohh...sorry! You can't click to look inside. That would have been nice.

So, this book is where I got the recipe for Jenna's birthday pound cake. It is so good and mails rather easily. The first few times I sent this to Jenna, I baked it in a bread pan. Worked out well. Then, I dabbled in making it into cupcakes and then this last time, a little pan cake for mailing.
Do give this a try. It is really a spring delight...the lemon and the butter makes this oh so good. The smell of it baking, is divine.
3 cups all -purpose flour
1/2 t baking powder

1/4 t baking soda

1/2t salt

1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature

3 cups sugar

6 large eggs

1 t vanilla extract

Grated zest of 2 lemons

1 cup sour cream, at room temperature



Ok...let's get started. Ready, set and GO!

Oven, 325. Butter and flour a bundt pan.



Let's get right to it and sift the flour and all dry ingredients. Set this aside.



Now, beat the butter and sugar with an electric hand mixer until light and fluffy.



Add eggs in one at a time, then, the vanilla and zest.



Flour mixture time. With mixer at lowest speed, slowly, slowly and slowly add in flour mixture, alternating with adding in portions of the sour cream. Beat until smooth. Getting so yummy!



Spread evenly into pan. Bake for approximately 1 and 1/4 hour.



This cake nearly melts in your mouth, on it's own, but, you have just got to make the Lemon Syrup.

Take 1 cup of fresh lemon juice, 1/4 cup water and 2/3 cup sugar. Bring to a boil and cook until the syrup is reduced to about 1/2 cup. Cool.



Now here is a hint....if you adore very thick and tart lemon syrup, you are good to go. If you want it to be a little more sweet, up your sugar and a little more water and adjust to your liking.



Ok...almost done. The kitchen will be smelling more than wonderful at this point. So, when your cake is done, let it cool for 10 minutes. Pour 1/2 of the syrup over your cake. Then, invert onto a wire rack and brush with the remaining syrup.



Now, this recipe ends with ..."let cake cool completely". I dare you to let it cool completely..ha! It is so good hot and cold.

This cake is so fun. I have cut this recipe in half for a bread loaf size pan cake, and cupcake size pound cake. Very fun.



QUESTION... what is your favorite recipe book and why...would love to know and take a peek!

Happy baking to you all! xo



p.s. Now that the baking is done, sewing is next for me. Making a tie, and vest for my son to wear to Prom. Kids at our school are wearing more suits to Prom than tuxedo's these days...hmmm. Ok, we can do that! Show and tell, later gator.

Happy Easter Sunday!

A little reminder that spring and Easter have arrived. Precious new life.

Time for church and new, fresh, spring dresses.

After church, we will enjoy family and friends...visiting, celebrating and eating traditional and not so traditional Easter delights.

And maybe, just maybe, if our "April Showers, Bring May Flowers" holds off a little today...we will walk in the garden and continue to be amazed at the beauty of the earth.

And when Easter Sunday fades away, and everything is still and quiet, before jelly-beans begin to dance in our heads, we will smile as our eyelids gently close, thankful for our lives and the knowledge that Jesus Christ has risen.....

May all of you enjoy this Easter Sunday and the splendor of it all! xo

I'ts your.....BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!!!

Well, well, well! Somebody is having a birthday today!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JENNA!

I think we should take a little walk down memory lane, don't you? It was a lovely spring morning. It was 9 am to be exact, and a Sunday. My husband had just left to go to an early meeting. I heard the door close and within seconds, and I do mean seconds, I jumped up out of bed because my water broke. I remember the shock and surprise--ha! It was April 20th...my due date was May 5th. So, a bit early. I of course, fetched my husband home.

Off to the hospital we went. I remember the happy and stunned feeling, that half smile on my face....it was really happening. I waddled into the hospital and was very surprised at how rapid and "true to life" my contractions were. Maybe this baby will arrive fast as lightening?

Silly me.

I remember labor. I will always remember labor. There is no cushioning of the contractions when your water breaks. And why is it that back labor is so out of this world? I vividly remember a fleeting thought---maybe, just maybe if I get up and out of this hospital bed and RUN...RUN like crazy, I can leave these crazy contractions behind. Of course, it was about this time (4pm) that I received an epidural. Relief. And, it is worth noting that this would be the first, but not last time when I was having a baby, that I saw my hubby have to breath into a brown paper bag to regain himself...poor fellow, the epidural was all a bit much for him-ha!

More of the story...

Around 7pm, I remember chuckling to myself and wondering if anyone was aware I was having a baby. This thought came to me from my view from the bed. In front of me, my husband and Doctor were kicking back, drinking juice, having a snack and watching a basketball game on tv...ha! Hello? Remember me? Having a baby over here. Ha!

And, soon enough, at 9:38pm, on April 20th, our little baby girl arrived....all 6 pounds 7 ounces of her 18 1/2 inch long, self. Lots of dark hair and sweet as pie. Whew!

Our lives would never, ever be the same. We were definitely ok with that little fact, and so happy because we were now a family of three.

So, here's to you, Jenna! Oh, I mean here's a picture of Jenna's favorite lemon sour cream pound cake I sent to her. I sent it in cupcake form last year. Hmmm...I think I need to post this recipe, but later, cuz we are having a celebration right now.
So, thank-you, Jenna, for being such a wonderful daughter and forever friend. Through the years, you have made such a significant difference in our family. Being the oldest child, and first born grandchild on both sides of the family, comes with such HUGE responsibility. You have been so successful in this role. You are loved deeply, respected, and admired by all of us, because of how you have lived your life.

And, now...you have a wee babe of your own. She is such a treasure and so blessed to have you, as her mama.

April 2oth, will always be your day (well, and Jared Nelson's--happy b-day, Jared) and the day that your dad and I will always remember...our hearts grew a little bit larger and a little bit softer, and our lives were changed...all because a little bit of heaven joined our family and made all the difference in the world.

Love you bigger than the sky................................

ALL GOOD!

How was the weekend? Ours started out like this...or with this, I should say! Pineapple Upside Down Cake. That brown sugar, buttery, pineapple goodness with a homemade layer of cake....I would give this little delight an A plus. And, I love the cake layer. Not only does it taste very, very good, but, the name of this cake...... "Dinette Cake"----(sigh), just makes me smile. It is such a throw-back from days gone by. Reminds me of the great baking my mom did when I was growing-up.

And, hello to baby Clara. Here she is on her "Blessing Day", wearing the same dress her mama wore when she was blessed. A small group of family and friends celebrated Clara's special occasion. I was so surprised to see how tall my own son is getting...that or my husband and I are shrinking--ha! Maybe the shrinking has begun and we are not noticing it, yet....until now! Love this family. Will really miss them when they move to Georgia in a few months.

HA! Hard to tell in this picture, but, this little guy loves hanging around with my son. They are actually sitting in the same chair...yes, they are both skinny.

And, on a different note, has anyone started planting seeds? We decided to start with some seeds indoors, in that we really don't have the "go-ahead" to plant outside until around Memorial Day weekend. I have high hopes that what we have planted will actually grow. We are hopefully growing Mexican "ponytail" Grass, Moon Flowers, 4"o'clocks, squash, cucumbers, cantaloupe, etc. A little jump start until we can til our big garden spot and plant directly into the soil.

I guess I forgot to mention that we went from the low 50's on Saturday to 83 degree's on Sunday. Windows and doors were wide open in the house. I loved it so much. Had to take a spring walk around our property and discovered my little, tiny blue bulb flowers in full bloom, and a very large dead coyote...yes, a coyote...out close to our barn. I can often hear the yelps of little coyote pups in the night. Not sure what happened, but, spring brings surprises and odd things to the yard....I guess.

We all were hanging out on our back porch, at first...fascinated by the surprise and wonder of spring time extreme heat. My son was loving the warm weather...t-shirt, shorts, and flip-flops. As he basked in the sun he said, "If you close your eyes and feel the warm breeze, it is just like being at the beach." Amen!

Wish you could have heard all the birds singing and singing. Hubby and I enjoyed sitting on our front porch and reading and reading and reading, until......

...... the birds sang their evening serenade, and the sunset!

Dreamy day!