Election Day 2012

“Always vote for principle, though you may vote alone, and you may cherish the sweetest reflection that your vote is never lost.” ~John Quincy Adams

Tuesday was the first time in years that I went to a polling place to cast my vote. As a Navy wife, I normally vote by absentee ballot. So this election day was very exciting for me; I got to stand in line for an hour because as you can see in this picture people in Precinct 55 are serious voters! The line all day long was minimum one hour wait at our polling place. 

I received my ballot, looked it over, filled in the little boxes (messed up my first ballot by marking a vote for someone I didn't want to vote for & had to go report a "spoiled" ballot, sign for a new one & get back to business), explained the process to my girls and then inserted it into the ballot machine.

The ballot machine was thrilling or should I say...startling. After I figured it out & placed my ballot in the little feed tray it quickly snatched it from my fingertips giving me a jump, to say the least.

But, before I did feed it to the ballot machine the girls & I took a quick picture of us at our little vote booth area to mark a time in history for us.  

Here we are all smiles, completely thrilled to be Americans, able to vote how we want, for who we want. I pray we will ALWAYS have that freedom and my children will be able to take their children with them as well!

 I can't wait for the next election! 

Here are a few of the interesting Facebook status lines people shared throughout the day that I noted:

“Elections belong to the people. It's their decision. If they decide to turn their back on the fire and burn their behinds, then they will just have to sit on their blisters.” ~Abraham Lincoln

“A vote is like a rifle: its usefulness depends upon the character of the user.” ~Theodore Roosevelt

“Bad politicians are sent to Washington by good people who don't vote.” ~William E. Simon

"We the People are the rightful masters of both Congress and the Courts--not to overthrow the Constitution, but to overthrow the men who pervert the Constitution." ~Abraham Lincoln

"Every step we take towards making the State our Caretaker of our lives, by that much we move toward making the State our Master." ~Dwight D. Eisenhower

"I met with those of our Society who had votes in the ensuing election, and advised them, 1. To vote, without fee or reward, for the person they judged most worthy: 2. To speak no evil of the person they voted against: 3. To take care their spirits were not sharpened against those that voted on the other side." — John Wesley

"Nobody will ever deprive the American people of the right to vote except the American people themselves & the only way they could do this is by NOT voting." ~ Franklin D. Roosevelt

And to close with a word from God's Word:

and [Daniel] said:
"Praise be to the name of God for ever and ever;
wisdom and power are his. He changes times and seasons;
he deposes kings and raises up others.
He gives wisdom to the wise
and knowledge to the discerning. He reveals deep and hidden things;
he knows what lies in darkness,
and light dwells with him. (Daniel 2:20-22 NIV)

Owl Pellet Dissection

What are Owl Pellets?  I know you're wondering...
Let's have a look:

What is an owl pellet?
Owls are birds of prey. That means that they hunt the animals that they eat. After an owl eats the small rodents, birds, and bugs that are a part of its nightly diet, its stomach cannot digest the fur, bones, teeth, feathers, and insect shells from that food. These "extra" parts are formed into a tight PELLET inside the owl and are then are later SPIT UP by the owl. Pellets are usually about as big as an adult thumb and they are often dissected by students and scientist to help them learn exactly what owls eat and what kinds of small animals and bugs live in a particular area. If you get a chance to examine what is inside an owl pellet, you will be lucky, there is a lot to learn and it is surprisingly FUN!

A pellet is a mass of undigested remains of a meal that is coughed up by an owl after consuming its prey; formed by the contractions of the owl's gizzard.

Sounds interesting, huh??

The following are some photos we took during our dissecting of such during our class time at Classical Conversations last Friday:

This is our "map" we'll use to identify what we're finding:

(I don't know why it's uploading sideways but you get the idea.)

Here's what it looked like broken apart and ready for the "dig".

Here you see Chloe & Madeline have broken up the pellet and are now trying to clear out the pieces of skeleton to match up on their chart in order to determine what their owl ate. There is a lot of fur and stuff to dig through in order to find the "good stuff".

Yay!! They have found a little skull along with various other skeletal pieces they have already matched up on their paper map.

Lauren & Faith are having a great time now that they know it's not a stinky adventure.

It was a lot of fun (Faith was smiling before I got the camera on her, LOL) going through the pellets & learning about owls. 

I highly recommend ordering some pellets of your own and looking through them with your kids. 

Next week, we'll be doing something that will be a real stinker for sure so stay tuned!

Cocoa Time!

It's that time of year again! Hot cocoa is one of our favorite winter treats. 

I have a great recipe to share with you that makes a nice large batch.

 Katie's Homemade Cocoa

1/2 c. sugar

1/3 c. cocoa powder

1/3 c. milk

Add all above ingredients in a medium sauce pot & use a whisk to blend into a nice paste. Heat over medium heat until  slightly bubbly. Once little bubbles start to roll add:

4 c. milk

1.5 tsp. pure vanilla

Stir continually until the cocoa is very warm but not so hot that it's hard to sip for little ones.

I top it with whipped topping or marshmallows.

If you want a little something special you can add:

1 tsp. pure mint or peppermint extract for Peppermint Mocha

Pancakes & Syrup

There's just nothing better than a plate of pancakes is there?

I went on a search a couple of years ago for the best recipe. It took a while but I believe I finally found one that met my critia. I don't like them to have a spongy texture & that's the main problem I was having with a bunch of the homemade recipes. I wanted them to be fluffy but not dried out.

Here's the result:

2c.flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
2 Tbs. sugar
2 eggs
2c. buttermilk
2 tsp. pure vanilla extract (my added ingredient)

Mix all the dry ingredients, add the eggs, mix with a fork. Then add the buttermilk and vanilla; blend it all in nicely. The batter will be lumpy & that's good so don't stress about it not being smooth. Drop the batter by the 1/4 cupfuls onto a hot buttered skillet. When the cakes bubble and the edges dry, give 'em a flip. Then when they're nice & brown, remove 'em onto a waiting plate & put a big ol'pat of butter on top. Mmmm...GOOD!!

(If you find yourself with no buttermilk you can use this easy substitution of 1 Tbs. lemon juice or white vinegar to 1 cup whole milk.)

Also, I found this gem of a recipe at Southernplate.com. It's a website by Christy Jordan whose cookin is a lot like mine..I'm thinkin it's because we're both Texas gals and best yet..native Houstonians! Go wander over on her page, you'll love it!
Here's her original post link:

http://www.southernplate.com/2010/02/todays-post-our-best-pancakes-attitude-mules.html

Now you need something to put on top of them. I like to make my own pancake syrup. It only takes a few minutes to make and the best thing about it is you KNOW what's in it. I hate buying it, looking at the ingredients & not being able to pronounce most of the things the list on the bottle. I mean really...it's sugar, water and flavoring. You can make your own, it's delish and an added BONUS, your house will smell soooo good!!

This recipe makes one very large bottle of syrup:

2 1/4 c. brown sugar, firmly packed
3/4 c. sugar
2 1/4 c. water
1 1/2 c. corn syrup
2 1/2 tsp. maple flavoring*
2 1/2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
2 Tbs. real butter (NOT margarine)

In a deep saucepan, combine the sugars, water and corn syrup; bring to a boil over medium heat. Boil for 7 minutes and stir frequently. Remove from heat; add in the extracts & butter.
Cool, then pour into a nice syrup bottle. Serve warm with your pancakes or waffles.

*if you do not have maple flavor, just use pure vanilla extract in it's place.

Breakfast Time!

When the girls were little I was privileged to be apart of a wonderful group called Mothers Of Preschoolers aka, MOPS.

At MOPS I made life long friendships and one of those is with my friend, Cyndi Parra. Every meeting two of the tables were responsible for bringing breakfast items and one of these mornings my sweet friend Cyndi brought in a scrumptious casserole called French Vanilla Baked French Toast. It was so yummy...

Yesterday I mistakenly defrosted the loaf of Texas Toast which forced me to get on the ball & make some french toast which is the whole reason I bought that loaf of bread to begin with.

So...I got out my MOPS cookbook, looked up her recipe and got to making!

I didn't have any French Vanilla coffee creamer so I made some myself with a minor adjustment. I'll include that recipe next.

Cyndi's French Vanilla Baked French Toast

1 loaf French Bread (Texas Toast)
1 (16 oz) French Vanilla Coffee Creamer
7 eggs, divided
cinnamon & sugar


Prepare a 9x13 pan with nonstick cooking spray; set aside.

In a large bowl scramble 2 of the eggs & the whole bottle of coffee creamer. Tear the bread into bite size pieces & dip each piece into the creamer mixture. Arrange pieces in your prepared pan. Once you've used up all the creamer mixture, scramble up the remaining 5 eggs in the empty bowl. Pour them evenly over the pieces of bread. Sprinkle with cinnamon & sugar. Bake in a 350* oven for 30 minutes. Serve with or without syrup.

(If you like, you can prepare this the night before you need it. Remember, if you're using a glass pan or a stoneware baker, just pop it in, THEN turn on the oven & let the pan preheat with the oven; this will keep it from breaking. Just add 10 minutes to the cooking time!)

Enjoy!

If you're like me & do not keep flavored coffee creamer on hand here's a quick fix that's just as good but does not include all the crazy ingredients like, PARTIALLY HYDROGENATED SOYBEAN AND/OR COTTONSEED OIL or DIPOTASSIUM PHOSPHATE, DISODIUM PHOSPHATE, MONO- AND DIGLYCERIDES. What in Sam hill is all that stuff??? Geesh...

Here's my take on it and you can make it any flavor you want! Instead of making Vanilla flavored for the baked french toast I used MAPLE flavoring (with a hint of vanilla) and it was yummy!

So without further ado, here's my recipe:

Vanilla Coffee Creamer

1 (14oz) can sweetened condensed milk
28oz whole milk
2 Tbs. pure vanilla (or 1 1/2 Tbs MAPLE flavoring & 1/2 Tbs. vanilla)

In a large bowl pour the can of sweet milk. Be sure & scrape the can good of all that yumminess but DO NOT throw it away. After it's all in the big bowl add the flavoring; mix well. Now get that empty sweet milk can & fill it up with milk, add to bowl & repeat one more time; that should give you 28 ounces. Mix well with a wire whisk & serve with coffee or in a recipe like the one above. Keep refrigerated.

This recipes yields 4 cups of creamer. (you'll need 2 cups for the baked french toast)

Military BRATS

April is the month of the military child. Here are some funny insights to the fun, sometimes crazy & adventurous life our kids (and us) lead.

Enjoy!
You know you are a military brat if you . . .
. . . are amazed at people who have never left their hometown or have lived in the same place for more than 3 years.
. . . answer the question "where are you from" with "I'm kinda from all over the place."
. . . are able to imitate others' speech patterns easily.
. . . always wish you were back at the last place you were stationed even 20 years later.
. . . are initially confused when asked where you are from, and answer "I was born in TX but we moved here from CA and before that we lived in FL."
. . . can call up actual memories of a country while you're in geography class.
. . . cannot speak the language of the country in which you were born.
. . . can still convert foreign currency in your head.
. . can talk to anyone and everyone from anywhere and everywhere.
. . . find that everywhere you go, you see someone you went to school with.
. . . are brought to tears by military music.
. . . know the words and tune to military march songs.
. . . meet another military brat sometime somewhere and are instantly bonded.
. . . can identify ranks and duty stations by the stickers on a car's bumper or windshield.
. . . conceal your father's rank because once people find out he has stars they'll never treat you the same.
. . knew the rank and name of the kid next door's father before meeting the kid next door.
. . . remember that every room you've ever had was stark white and you couldn't put nail holes in the walls.
. . . . didn't save things so you wouldn't go over the weight allowance of the next move.
. . . had your introductory speech prepared and memorized for your first day at a new school.
. . . feel more at home on a military base than in town even though you've been a civilian for 26 years.
. . hear the sound of freedom when military aircraft fly by, while civilians complain about the noise.
. . . had classes interrupted by the roar of an entire wing of jets taking off in pairs
. . . feared turning 21 because they would take your ID card away.
. . . at age 22 are trying to find someone in the military to marry so you can get a new I.D. card.
. . . don't feel quite right seeing military personnel younger than you.
. . . enjoy seeing guys in fatigues on city streets because it makes you feel "at home".
. . get nostalgic when seeing O.D. Green or Navy Dungarees.
. . . feel more comfortable living near a military base and get bummed-out when a base gets closed.
. . . get the itch to move every 3-4 years and forever feel like the outsider in the civilian world.
. . . give someone a break because they are in the military.
. . . are going to a grocery store but call it the commissary.
…you go into culture shock upon returning to the States.
. . . graduated from a high school that you only attended for a year.
. . . had a supply of C-Rations or MRE’s that you traded with your friends.
. . . had Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners in a mess hall.
. . . had a job delivering the Stars and Stripes.
. . . thought it was normal to have the newspaper editorial staff's names include their military ranks.
. . . have been asked just where in New York APO is.
. . . have to explain that being born in Germany does not make you German.
. . . have USAA as your insurance company.
. . . keep bumping into people all over the world who know friends that you haven't seen in years.
. . . have siblings who were born in various foreign lands or U.S. states.
. . . panic when you can't find your ID or passport.
. . . put your hand over your heart at 5 p.m. knowing the flag was coming down. . . somewhere.
. . . feel the need to stand up and recite the national anthem at the start of movies.
. . . remember being able to watch the Super Bowl or World Series live on TV at 2 am.
. . . start a major portion of your conversations with "when I was in. . .
. . . thought all pens had "US Government" printed on them.

Our son & his friends April 2007. This was his farewell party at NAS Lemoore, CA.

Sunday Visit

My cousin, Brooke, and her sweet little family came to visit us Sunday evening. So of course that meant we needed something yummy for supper time!

On the menu:
Grilled porkchops
Au gratin potatoes
French sliced green beans
Strawberry cake

Believe it or not, I've never made au gratin potatoes before. I found a recipe that looked simple enough & it gave me a chance to use my new food processor for slicing & grating. I knew I liked my food processor but now I seriously LOVE it.

Here's the recipe & picture of the potatoes. They got rave reviews from all so I thought I'd share it here.

Ingredients
8 russet potatoes, sliced thin
1 onion, sliced into rings
salt and pepper to taste
1/4 + 2 tablespoons butter
1/4 + 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups milk
2 cups heavy whipping cream
4 cups shredded Extra Sharp Cheddar cheese
2 tsp. garlic powder
Paprika

Directions
1.Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Butter a 9x13 baker.

2.Layer 1/2 of the potatoes into bottom of the prepared casserole dish.Sprinkle generously with salt & pepper. Top with the onion slices, and add the remaining potatoes. Season with salt and pepper generously again.

3.In a medium-size saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Mix in the flour, salt, garlic powder and stir constantly with a whisk for one minute. Stir in milk and heavy cream. Cook until mixture has thickened. Stir in cheese all at once, and continue stirring until melted, about 30 to 60 seconds. Pour cheese over the potatoes, sprinkle with paprika and cover the dish with aluminum foil.

4.Bake for 1 hour 25 minutes covered; remove foil & bake for 5 more minutes.

Next recipe is one my hair stylist told me a customer brought by to him and thought I'd like it. I didn't love it but the family did.

Ingredients:

1 Strawberry box cake (ingredients to make it according to package directions)
1 can of strawberry pie filling
1 can strawberry frosting
1 container whipped topping

Directions:

1. Prepare cake according to package directions for a 9x13 cake. Let cake cool. (I forgot to take a picture of the cake. So here's one of the box mix.)

2. Spread pie filling on top of completely cooled cake.

3. Mix the can of strawberry flavored frosting & tub of whipped topping together.

4. Spread frosting gently & evenly using a small spreader.

5. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour before serving.