"Special" Date Night :)

Yesterday afternoon when my husband and I returned home from town, our 13 yrld daughter said she and her two younger siblings wanted to make and serve supper for us.

As she worked in the kitchen, her younger siblings whispered down the hall. At the "appointed time" she told us all was ready and we should wait at the top of the stairway to the basement.
Our young waiter , in black pants, white shirt and tie , appeared and with an elaborate gesture motioned us to follow him down the stairs and into the library.

There we found an alcove formed around the library table with tablecloths and curtains. Behind the curtain was a beautifully set table with silver candlesticks and flowers. Goblets of ice water, placecards and a molded chocolate rose were at both settings. We were seated and after assuring us dinner would be served shortly, he disappeared.
Music began to play in the back ground and a pretty waitress in white ruffled cocktail apron appeared. Pointing to two small bowls , she told us to start with our appetizer and she would be back. The appetizer was apple slices and honey peanutbutter.
The kitchen overhead was full of hurried footsteps and quiet voices. Occasionally footsteps came part way down the stairs, paused and hurried back with a whispered observation.
Soon the waitress appeared with our full plates. Dinner was served. It was delicious; perfectly seasoned pork strips with green pepper and onions served over a bed of fluffy mashed potatoes and topped with a fried egg. (I'm sure this was a spinoff of a recipe older brother brought back from Thailand, usually served over rice) :)

Our waiter appeared to refill our glasses and ask if we would be wanting coffee.
We ate in privacy except for a quick "duck-in" from the waiter who smiled and said to me, "The cook wants to know if you're on a diet." (A little late for that. The plate in front of me was heaped! I assured him I was setting aside any dieting for the evening and to tell the cook the meal was delicious.)
Soon the waiter appeared to take our plates , quickly followed by the waitress with coffee.
They reappeared with Chocolate,Vanilla Ice Cream garnished with chopped peanutbutter cups , piled high in sundae glasses.

After awhile the waiter returned to take our plates .Then the cook with the waiter and waitress all came to our table while the waiter as elaborately as possible around his dancing dimple, told us "We hope you enjoyed your meal and do you have any words for the cook." :) After profusely thanking them,they prepared to leave us. The cook whispered behind her hand,to the waitress "curtsey!" She daintily obeyed and they left our alcove.
Silence ...then the waiter reappeared and told us "You can go upstairs whenever you want to". :)
We left them all a tip and exited our romantic restaurant.
Sometimes you know it's all worth it! :)

This post is linked at Raising Mighty Arrows

The Health Nut???

Coming from a background of great cooking and baking, delectable treats and meals from the kitchen were a requirement for any good little housewife. We were taught at a very young age to take pride in our pies and cookies. We oohed and aahed over the array at a church potluck and exchanged recipes. Every church had their "best cook". Huge, gooey, cinnamon rolls, golden crusted, pies, and perfectly browned, chocolate chip, cookies, were in our DNA. Mounds of perfectly mashed potatoes, creamy corn swimming in butter,or airy melt in your mouth pancakes were what set the "best cook" apart from the rest. This cook was known for her "to-die-for" chicken and that one for her always perfect donuts.

And then ...occasionally...there was the health nut. You could pick out their contribution to the potluck. It was that bowl of dried apples, that plate of dry mounded looking things called cookies, or that crockpot of some unidentifiable vegetable soup.
That's what "healthy" cooking was.
O, yeh , sure we all tried to fix a balanced meal: meat, starch, vegetable, fruit and...sweet! We were good cooks, you know. We take care of our families with well rounded meals three times a day.
And then...somewhere, sometime, something begins to happen. For the truly wise woman, she begins to really think about what health means and that maybe, just maybe, it is different than she always supposed. Maybe, just maybe, she shouldn't be so quick to scorn those dried up little mounds passed off as cookies!
Somewhere along the line that happened to me and I started to change our family's eating style. I started to rethink the cups and cups of white sugar in my favorite cookie recipe, the white flour in that perfect loaf of bread, the airy "nothingness" of that beautifully fried donut and the loaded carbs in those "best of the best" mashed potatoes.
BUT...I refused to believe I had to settle for dried apples and cookies that tasted like cardboard! So the process has been a loooonng one!
Recently, I've renewed the effort to provide my family with truly healthy foods and treats which also satisfy my "DNA"! :)
Articles like this one fuel the effort http://wemustknow.net/2012/03/world-renown-heart-surgeon-speaks-out-on-what-really-causes-heart-disease/
And, I'm proud to link to my daughter's new blog who is on her own journey for perfectly, delicious, good for you, cooking and baking!!!
http://mysliceofsky.blogspot.com/
Here's to happy baking and cooking to a new breed of "health nuts"!

Average?

When I peruse other blogs I find all manner of delightful , cutesy ,widgets, gadgets, pictures, and links. I find blogs on any subject under the sun; homemaking, homeschooling, politics, religion, homesteading, gardening, sewing, scrapbooking, child training, ministry, witchcraft, household hints,baking, cooking, canning ,travel, home business, cake decorating, floral arranging and on and on it goes.


After awhile I begin to feel very ordinary.

I feel uninspired.

Instead of getting tips and how-tos, I shake my head and wonder how you ever find time to do all that and blog about it too.

I feel like a very ordinary housekeeper, mom and wife.

I feel average. Average cook, average baker, average seamstress, average homeschool teacher, average wife etc etc....nothing extra-ordinary.

And I wonder how does one go from doing to talking about doing and showing others how to do. And I wonder how one feels like they have the answers enough to make how-to videos for others.

So I wonder, perhaps, the problem lies in my view of myself. Should I feel bold enough to blog a lot of "how-tos".....

If you want to talk kids.. I have 9.
If you want to talk homeschooling...I have for 10 yrs.
If you want to talk cooking...I was raised in a family of 11 and have a family of 11 so I of necessity have homecooked since I have no idea how old....I was also raised in a family who owned a catering business so I've cooked for thousands.
If you want to talk canning...my folks were of the mind "get all you can, can all you get..." and we put up 1500-2000 qts of everything imaginable every year and I now can for my own family.
If you want to talk baking....the family I was raised in also operated a bakery so I have baked since before I can remember and now bake all my own bread and any goodies or what not.
If you want to talk sewing ...I sewed my first dress by myself at 12.
If you want to talk home business...my family owned and operated home businesses all mym life and my hubby and I have owned several since we've been married.

The list could go on and on....but what would be the point...?

I still wonder how I would be able to feel that is note-worthy enough to make a how-to blog about. I wonder how many of these blogs are more about bragging than simply sharing hints and helps.

But then I wonder if there is another side.....


 I wonder why I feel so average. Certainly, some of it is because when you come from a big family and have a big family you become very self-sufficient and "can-do" and "make-do" and a lot of these things are just ordinary life.

But......I think again and I think perhaps I shouldn't feel so ordinary, so average. Maybe I should feel more talented, more skilled, more capable....maybe I shouldn't take myself and my life experiences so much for granted .

Maybe...just maybe....I should thank God for all that life experiences have taught me and maybe.... just maybe I should feel more confident of myself ...
And maybe...just maybe there is someone that I, "little ole , ordinary me"...could help....


Mom's menu- Beef Rice Pilaf, Corn, Applesauce