21 March, 2011

When it rains...

  This past week has proven to be somewhat of a challenge to my mood.  First, the washing machine started to act a little crazy.  It was not responding to it's keypad properly, stopped completing cycles, and would not unlock the door without my repeated attempts at tricking it's computer.  Then, the drier went on the fritz.  Apparently, at some point, two wires were arcing and finally shorted out, causing one of the wires to completely melt in half.  This isn't the first time we've had a wire issue with the drier, so we should have known better.  However, instead of remembering the previous problem, we spent hours disassembling it and taking pieces to be tested for soundness.  Everything seemed to be in working order, so further investigation led to the discovery of the black melted mess that were once my wires.  Aaron, along with the help of some neighbors, cut the old wiring away, spliced on some new, and replaced the connectors.  I'm not allowed to run the drier when away from home or sleeping anymore in case of further issues.  Yuck.  The fun does not stop there, though.  The washing machine finally decided to give out on me and I was left with an unwashed, completely soaked load of whites with no place to dry them.  The load of clothes literally had about three inches of standing water.  Stagnant, gross, standing water.  It's almost hot where we live, and it does not take long to turn a dirty, wet load of clothes into a nasty and smelly mess.  Major appliance number two, down for the count...but, bad things come in threes, right?  On to the refrigerator.  Aaron and I both noticed that the ice seemed wet and appeared to be slightly melted when we went to get some for our drinks.  Then, I saw that the baby food I had made last week had a thick coating of frost all over, and it was not frozen completely solid.  We checked all of the seals around the freezer, making a guess that one of the girls must have left the door ajar, and decided to recheck it a little later to see if everything was back as cold as it should be.  A while later, I was retrieving something from the fridge half and could not find the source of a very pungent banana smell.  I looked and looked but there was not a banana to be had.  Probably and hour after that, Aaron suggested that I check the freezer half to determine if everything was re-frozen.  Ahhh.  Therein lies the source of the smell.  At this point, everything, including about sixteen overripe, black bananas had completely defrosted.  The bananas were leaking their sticky brown juices all over anything and everything below them.  The ice was floating in it's own water and pouring out of the front of the ice dispenser.  I checked the fridge side and realized that, by now, it was not as cool as it should be, either.  Aaron made the executive decision to get the kids in bed first and deal with the refrigerator later, but we started pulling items out to transfer them to our garage fridge, and ended up completely emptying the entire appliance.  Almost all contents of the freezer were lost.  I salvaged what I could and then moved on to the fridge half.  We checked dates on everything and cleaned out a major portion of our condiments.  It is truly amazing what can get "lost" in such a small space in the back of the top shelf.  I cleaned it out to the best of my ability and proceeded to get the kiddos in bed.  Aaron, in the meantime, was working on emptying the massive amount of expired bottles and jars so that we could set them out for the recyclers to come pick up the next morning.  I went to put the baby in bed and plopped back down on the couch to finish the last little part of my show, only to hear a grunt of frustration from Aaron in the kitchen.  "What is wrong?" I asked.  Fateful last words.  He motioned to the kitchen floor and said, "The sink is backed up again."  Again meaning, this is not the first time this wonderful event has happened.  He had poured one too many items down the disposal and it clogged the main line, causing the nasty food filled water to regurgitate out of the washing machine drain hole in the laundry room.  It was so bad this time, though, that it flooded the entire laundry area, doused the dirty laundry cart, went under the dog's kennel, and reached out to the living room.  I grabbed what towels I could reach and cleanup somewhat began.  Fortunately, it did not back up into the dishwasher, but that was our only consolation prize.  There was just too much water to tackle without the help of a wet-vac.  We decided that I would be the lucky one to run by our friend's house to pick up a plumber's snake, drop by the in-laws for another plumbing tool, and then to WalMart to purchase a shop vac, carpet cleaner, paper towels, and lemons.  Lemons?  Well, I need them for the blueberry pie I now have to make since the freezer went out!  Aaron called me while I was in the store to inform me that the baby was awake and screaming his tiny little head off and could I come home post haste.  I then grabbed the nearest shop vac, ran to the register, and raced to the car.  The last thing we needed was for Anabelle to get woken up by Hudson.  Oh boy.  I was almost home when Aaron called again and told me the baby had settled down and all was quiet on the home front.  I pulled up in the driveway and started carrying everything in.  Aaron immediately began unpacking the shop vac when I glanced at the disgusting, now orange-brown floor.  "Where did all of the water go?"  He looked at me dumbfounded and I immediately dove for the carpet.  Wet.  Soaked, actually.  So now, our already less that desirable carpeting was sitting atop of a rotten condiment soaked sponge that was once a carpet pad.  Bon apetit, dust mites!  We were then able to trek into the garage in an attempt to retrieve more paper towels and found that the water had poured out there as well, run down the walls, soaked my rug, and generally continued the mayhem that is our lady luck.
  Now, here we are today.  I am researching carpeting, as there is no bringing that guy back.  Aaron called in sick because there was no way I was dealing with all of this myself.  We have to go borrow a longer plumber's snake from a family friend because, unfortunately, the one we attempted to use last night was not long enough.  I have to head to a laundromat to do some seriously gross loads of food soaked clothes and towels.  And, somewhere in all of this, I need to find a way to be sweet so that my children don't suffer from something completely out of their (and my) control.  Like I said, this week is really not being very kind to my disposition!

16 March, 2011

Chinese Laundry

Would you like to see what it looks like when a family of six with no outdoor clothesline, not enough quarters for the laundromat, a week's worth of dirty clothes, and a broken dryer looks like?

Well, folks, feast your eyes.  And, no, I did not take photos of the neighborhood rummage sale or the local children's secondhand clothing store racks...

I still have another load in the washer waiting it's turn on the racks...

Note the sheer ingenuity I had here- who knew a card table and chairs could be used for things other than forts and sitting upon!  Or, shall we call it...desperation? 

And, while my back was turned, look what the girls decided to do to poor Hudson:



Oh well, at least they didn't put makeup on him!

15 March, 2011

Kids

The girls are so sweet with little Hudson.  I caught a few pics of cuddle time.  Enjoy.

I helped host a baby shower for some dear friends this past weekend.  Soooo fun.  I love having grown-up time!  La Madeleine was perfect and didn't seem to mind when we brought in our own cake and treats.  I think everyone had a great time and the girls got a lot of good stuff for their precious new additions.  Erin and Jocelyn- I love ya!

Old Blue is gone.

  Well, a twenty-nine year legacy is gone.  We sold Aaron's 1982 Chevy truck yesterday.  It finally came to the point where Aaron decided that keeping two project vehicles was not the best of ideas.  It had been sitting at the back of Joe and Janet's property for quite some time.  The starter had gone out in downtown Fort Worth one afternoon when Joe had been driving it and it had to be towed home.  For years, now, junk has been piled in it's bed and squirrels were the ones getting the most use out of it.  Aaron always said that he wanted to keep it in case we needed it for our property (the property we sadly don't have yet).  I teased him about it, but never really wanted him to make the fateful decision.
  One Sunday, we ran into some old friends from College Hill and the subject of the truck and our general vehicle situation came up between Aaron and Jerry, a fix-er-upper fanatic.  He then, in turn, mentioned it to another fellow we once knew who mentioned it to a friend of his...long story short, the friend of a friend of a friend bought it almost sight unseen.  There really are a few people out there who can still recognize one of the good ol' boys, Old Blue.





  As I backed out of the driveway, I watched the guy who bought Old Blue from us get under him and work on getting him started again like Aaron did so many times before.  I cried as I remembered trips to the lake in Abilene in no air conditioning, windows rolled down and the radio cranked so we could hear it over the roar of wind and engine.  I thought of how James Dean-like Aaron looked driving it, with his blue corduroy coat collar flipped up just slightly around his neck.  How, when I'd hear him coming, my stomach leapt with butterflies.  I recalled the rumbling of a cranky diesel engine on cold mornings at our first apartment, Aaron bundled to the hilt with long johns, sweatshirt, coat, and baseball hat getting it ready to drive to work.  I fell in love with my man in that truck, before kids, in my twenty year old body, when Skeezix was still my best friend.  For some reason, letting the truck go has made me let my old dog go all over again.  Some of my favorite memories will always surround that 82 Chevy.  
 

07 March, 2011

Twice Baked Potatoes, Chicken Fried Steak, and Cream Gravy...oh boy!

  I had an evening with just Aaron and myself (and little Hud), so I made some good ol' boy food.  I came up with this recipe for Twice Baked Potatoes, and it turned out super yummy.  In my gluten free journey, it really is amazing at how much we eat that is already naturally GF.  The Chicken Fried Steak and Cream Gravy are altered recipes that I've made into my own.

Enjoy!

TWICE BAKED POTATOES  by: Lorrie Dickerson
Serves 8

4 large russet potatoes, baked and cooled overnight in fridge
1/4 finely chopped sweet onion
1 small tub (8oz) GF sour cream- (I use Daisy)
1 stick butter, melted
5 slices bacon, cooked crisp and chopped
2 c six-cheese Italian style blend shredded cheese
1 Tbsp kosher salt (to taste)
1 to 1 1/2 tsp fresh ground black pepper (to taste)
1/2 to 1 c half and half (to desired creaminess)
chives (optional)

Halve the potatoes lengthwise.  Using a spoon, remove the majority of the inside of the potato, leaving about 1/4 inch lining the skin.  Place potato skins on a large baking sheet and the insides of the potatoes in a large mixing bowl.  Place remaining ingredients except for 3/4 c of the cheese in the bowl with the potatoes.  Beat using the paddle attachment of your mixer to combine.  Stream in the half and half until you reach your desired consistency.  It should be creamy, but not runny.  Lumps and bumps are ok if they are not too large.  Spoon potato mixture into a gallon ziplock bag and snip off the bottom corner.  Pipe the potato mixture into the potato skins, distributing evenly.  Bake at 350 for 30 minutes.  Top with remaining cheese and bake an additional 10 minutes or until cheese melts and just begins to brown.
For added color, snip chives from a height over the potatoes after baking.


CREAM GRAVY  by: Lorrie Dickerson
Makes approx 1 1/3 c

2 Tbsp bacon grease
2 Tbsp butter
2 Tbsp Tom Sawyer GF flour
1 1/3 c milk
salt to taste
1 tsp fresh ground black pepper

Melt butter and bacon grease in a medium cast iron skillet.  Whisk in flour to prevent lumps and stir, cooking for approx 1 minute.  Stream in milk, whisking constantly to prevent lumps.  Bring to a boil, stirring all the while.  Season with salt and pepper.  Simmer to desired thickness- will thicken quickly.


CHICKEN FRIED STEAK  (adapted from the Nigella Lawson fried chicken recipe)
Serves approx 4

4 thin cube steaks (tenderized)
1 qt buttermilk
1 Tbsp plus 1 tsp salt
1 c Pamela's Baking Mix
1 tsp cayenne pepper (or less for less heat)
1 to 2 eggs, beaten
2 1/2 c shortening for frying

In a square, glass baking dish, place cube steaks and sprinkle with 1 Tbsp salt.  Pour buttermilk over  and cover.  Marinate overnight or for several hours.  Combine 1 tsp salt, baking mix, and cayenne in gallon ziplock bag.  One at a time, place cube steaks into bag and shake to coat with flour mixture.  Dip into beaten egg and replace in bag.  Shake to coat a second time and place cube steaks on a baker's cooling rack for around 15 minutes.  Heat shortening in deep skillet until very hot, turn burner down to medium. Cook two steaks at a time, turning frequently to prevent burning.  Once cooked all the way thru, remove to a paper towel lined plate.  Finish cooking remaining steaks in the same manner.