Merry Christmas!

Dear Readers,
December has flown by and I must admit that I am still working on consistently updating this blog when my life in the real world gets busy! Once again I have so much to say and so little time to say it.  Christmas 2010 was a wonder. For the first time in my 35 years, I did not make the pilgrimage to my hometown to spend Christmas with my family.  Instead, my husband and I were determined to begin our own Christmas traditions with our boys.  I spent the day watching a marathon of The Christmas Story, listening to a mix CD of great Christmas classics like Silent Night by the Temptations and Let it Snow by Boyz to Men, telling our children the biblical Christmas story, preparing a delicious Christmas meal, loving on my hubby and enjoying family time.  In a word, AMAZING.  The look on my five year old's face when he opened his favorite gift was worth every day of financial struggle we have faced this year. The sound of my three year old's laughter as he ran through the house will always be with me when I remember this Christmas.  The icing on the cake was a Skype chat with my family that was almost as good as seeing them all in person.  What a day.  I thank God for allowing us to have such a wonderful day of joyful memories.  I hope you and yours had a Merry Christmas 2010! Talk to you again soon.

Happy Birthday to Me:)

Today I celebrated my 35th birthday! So many feelings, so little time to share them tonight.  I will think on it and post more tomorrow.  In the meantime, I have been pondering the story of my life lately and thinking on who I would want to play the principal roles.  These initial selections are based in part on the personality of the actor and appearance.

Young Clair- played by Anika Noni Rose.  I love the way she carries herself, there is a vague physical resemblance and she can SANG! My life story might need to be told as a musical:)

Hubby- played by Dennis Haysburt (The black guy from the Allstate commercials).  Strength, dignity and style. Plus there is some physical resemblance:)

My Mom- this was a hard one.  My mom has a special persona that could not be captured by just anyone.  After consulting with her, we decided that Loretta Devine could do the job.  There isn't much physical resemblance, but I think Ms. Devine could capture my mom's mannerisms and ways.

My Dad- another tough one.  I haven't settled on an actor yet, but I'd give Fred Hammond an audition for physical resemblance reasons.

My Children- At this point, they could play themselves in the movie:)

OK, enough random thoughts.  Only 23 minutes of birthday left. Time to find hubby and finish it with a bang! Literally;)

Kitchen Cred: Five recipes I am trying to master

This morning I made a traditional breakfast for my family of blueberry pancakes, bacon, and scrambled eggs. I must admit, cooking a meal that is well received always boosts my confidence in my credentials as a wife and mother. As I watched my five year old eat his second helping of pancakes, I came up with a list of five recipes that I would like to perfect to secure my place in the minds of my husband and children as a true master of home cooking.

1) Pancakes.  Still working on the recipe- my goal is to figure out what IHOP does and copy that.  My pancakes still tend to be too heavy and doughy for my taste.  I want them to be light, slightly sweet and delicious.  I might as well work on waffles while I'm at it.

2) Turkey and the fixins.  I have only prepared one turkey in my life.  It was dry and only slightly flavorful.  This one will require practice during the off season (times other than Thanksgiving) to perfect.  I also need to settle on a recipe for Greens, Macaroni and Cheese, and potato salad.  The cool thing about side dishes is that every family has their own tastes, so I just have to perfect them for the taste buds of my household. 

3) Chocolate Chip cookies.  I feel pretty confident with my current recipe and it already wins rave reviews from my family members. My next goal is to memorize it and be able to throw it together at will.

4) Pound cake/ birthday cake.  Cake has never been my strong suit in any form.  My mom makes the best pound cake, but I have never been able to duplicate her recipe.  I will continue to practice.  I'd also like to be able to make a delicious yellow or chocolate flavored cake for birthdays without relying on Duncan Hines or Betty Crocker.

5)  Baked pork chops or chicken breasts.  Every time I make a baked piece of boneless meat, there is at least a 50% chance that I will overcook it until it's dry.  When a pork chop is baked right, it's delicious and succulent.  When it's cooked wrong, it's like seasoned rawhide.  This one is just a matter of technique- I am confident that I will figure it out.

Let me know if you have any recipes you are currently trying to perfect.  What recipes do you remember most fondly from your mother's kitchen?  I love my mom's Oven fried chicken, pound cake and macaroni and cheese.  I also love the way she makes fried eggs:)