Snapshots: Closing In On the End

First: We have lambs!

Two very healthy ewe lambs.

 The kids came home from school with these t-shirts this week.

It was a rather hectic year, with all the construction, moving schools, new teachers, etc.

Those were the shirts for the elementary field day this year, a day much anticipated by Poppy and her only brother still in elementary school.

Me and my finger waiting on the running events to start.

About two minutes after I took that photo, Poppy fell at full speed while running the 50-yard dash*. She was wearing shorts, and she absolutely shredded her knee on the rough track. It was ugly. She missed out on the sack race and the tug of war, although she did manage to do the egg and spoon race, since that's mostly walking.

The next day, her class went on a field trip. She was not in good shape when she got up in the morning. We had to soak her gauze bandage off, and she couldn't walk very well because she couldn't really bend her knee.

The place they went for their field trip had a climbing wall, which she was greatly looking forward to. I had told her she probably wouldn't be able to climb, though, because of her knee.

I should have known better. A. was there because he drove the activity bus, and he sent me this photo.

She wasn't quite tall enough to reach the bell in the middle at the top, but she almost made it.

I went to the FFA awards banquet this week. There was a peony on each table. 

Mine was sad.

And last, I found some purple flowers outside church to add to the yellow flowers that were already there.

A lot healthier than the peony.

There you have it! My life, snapshotted.

* She was winning, too. Alas for short-lived glory.

Friday Food: Blender Sugar

Friday 

Short version: Leftover potato soup, omelets, still-frozen green beans

Long version: I had quite a bit left of the pureed potato soup that I had made the previous day. Some children elected to have just that. Then I made a cheese omelet for A., me, and the one child who dislikes soup. A. had soup with his omelet. The soup-hater had some leftover rice with his.

Saturday

Short version: Sonic for the girls, more omelets for the boys

Long version: Poppy and I had an outing this day to go into town and do a Walmart stock-up. She came with me because one of the mission churches in our parish is an hour away from our house, but right on the way home from the town with the Walmart. Poppy wants to see every church in our parish, and neither of us had been to this one, which only has Mass the second Saturday of the month.

So we went to town, did our errands, had some Sonic for an early dinner, and went to Mass on the way home.

The inside was nicer than the outside, but I don't have a picture of the interior because there were several people already there praying, and I don't like to take pictures of churches in that case.

A. made more omelets for the home crew, because we have a LOT of eggs on hand right now. I think eight dozen.

Sunday

Short version: Mother's Day Frito pie, cheesecake bars with strawberry-rhubarb sauce

Long version: I love Frito pie, but rarely eat it. However, on a day when I feel entitled to something I cook really for me, it seems like a good option. It also has the great benefit of being something that can be made ahead, so I don't have to cook on the actual day. I made the chili on Saturday morning, so on Mother's Day, all I did was re-heat that and chop up all the toppings.

I made the cheesecake bars on Saturday, too, using this recipe. Instead of topping them with berries, though, I cooked rhubarb and strawberries down in the oven while the bars were baking, and then anyone who wanted to could put the fruit sauce on their cheesecake bar.

This person did. I did not, because I don't really like fruit on my desserts.

Edited to add: I didn't have graham crackers for the crust because I never have graham crackers. HOWEVER. I made a "crust" with almonds, pecans, brown and white sugar, and melted butter in the food processor, and that was delicious. Better than a graham cracker crust for sure.

Monday

Short version: Chicken and rice with caramelized onions, asparagus, green peas

Long version: I found one of the roosters we butchered awhile ago in the bottom of the freezer, so I took that out to thaw. I cooked it by simply simmering it until I could pull the meat off. Then I used the meat, plus the stock, to make this recipe, more or less. I needed to use quite a bit more stock to get the rice all the way cooked, and I had to use some balsamic vinegar because I never have white wine on hand, but it's still good.

I remain enamored of the asparagus's bright green color.

Spring in a skillet.

Tuesday

Short version: Tuna patties, mashed potatoes, green salad with vinaigrette, Mexican wedding cookies

Long version: This is a very popular meal with all of my children. I myself fail to see what is so exciting about canned tuna in a patty, but it makes them happy.

Happy plate.

I made a rash promise to one child who was dreading a day of testing that I would make custard for dessert. But then in the end, I didn't want to use so much of my dwindling milk supply for custard. My next thought was Mexican wedding cookies, which are just as beloved as custard. I got the butter all soft and the nuts crushed and chopped, as needed for the recipe, when I remembered I used all my powdered sugar for the First Communion coconut cake .

Boooo.

However! I knew it's possible to make powdered sugar with granulated sugar and cornstarch. I duly looked this up and put the correct proportions of each (1 cup sugar:1 tablespoon cornstarch) into the food processor. After a few minutes of whirling around, it was not really powdery. Still grainy. So then I got out my blender and tried that. Much better, if not quite as fluffy as store-bought powdered sugar.

Blended sugar.

Annoying to have to use two machines, but now I know if I ever have to make it again that the blender is the way to go.

Since I had the food processor out and dirty already, I used it to make the cookies, which came out very well and were very much appreciated by all.

Wednesday

Short version: Leftover chili at home, FFA food out

Long version: I went to the FFA awards dinner, as did the older two boys who are in FFA. It was at the (singular) restaurant in the village. They had a buffet of green chile chicken enchilada casserole, red chile beef enchilada casserole, beans, rice, and homemade flour tortillas. It was so good. Too spicy for me, of course, but that's what sour cream is for.

Thursday

Short version: Lamb steaks, leftover mashed potatoes, asparagus or still-frozen green beans

Long version: Nah.

Refrigerator check:

So many eggs.

Okay, your turn! What'd you eat this week?

Wagon Tramping

Last Thursday, the boys came running into the house after school to tell me that they saw a guy on the road who was driving a tractor pulling two wagons, behind which were several donkeys walking along.

Say what?

Later in the evening, the boys went up to the post office and came back to announce that the whole rig was parked right behind the post office and the donkeys were picketed around to graze.

A. went up there to see if the guy needed any water for his animals. And this is how we learned about wagon tramps.

There are apparently still people who travel the country in wagons. This guy had two wagons, both of them custom-built. One he lived in, and the other was for his livestock. In addition to half a dozen donkeys, he had pigeons, chickens, and a few goats. He was from Missouri and was on his way to somewhere around Taos, to meet with another wagon tramp who was camping there.

A. has been promising the boys for a couple of years now that if he ever had the opportunity, he would get some pigeons. He asked the guy if he would sell any of his pigeons, but he said he had lost a few in a storm and didn't want to sell any right now.

The next morning, I was on my way to the village and stopped at the post office to check the mail. The wagon guy was still there, and he came over to the car to ask me if it was my boys who had wanted the pigeons. When I said yes, he told me that he had found out there was a very large flock of pigeons wherever he was going, so he wanted to give the boys some pigeons.

Home I went again to get all the family and a bird cage*, and then we went back to the wagons.

A couple of the grazing donkeys.

The rig.

A. and the boys were very interested in how the wagons were built. He had a catalog with all the different axles to build wagons on.

He gave us four pigeons.

He also gave me a bunch of chicken eggs, because he said he had too many. He wouldn't take any money for any of this, which I anticipated, so I gave him a loaf of bread I had baked the day before.

He moves pretty slowly, because he can only go as fast as the donkeys can walk. I would imagine it will take him maybe another two weeks to get to Taos, but I'm glad he happened to stop here. 

There are so many different lives out there I never even knew existed. This is certainly one of them.

* The children found the bird cage in the shed of the abandoned house we own and brought it home awhile ago, even though we had no birds except chickens. I had banished it to the barn, and they were very gratified that it was being put to use. 

Snapshots: Mom Things

I still have one child who comes home from school with Mother's Day gifts for me.

 

This year, a tile coaster and my favorite, "All About My Mom."

A. brought me some flowers from below the hill.

Now that we've gotten some rain, I have hope we might get some flowers around our house, too.

Poppy and I read a book together that had a guided drawing at the end. She wanted both of us to do it. I am not very good at drawing, and my rendition of the jellyfish was a bit . . . puffy.

Poppy added the pump to it, which amused me greatly.

Poppy is a much better artist than I am. She has learned how to paint with watercolors from A., and made a very nice card for a baby being baptized at church tomorrow.

I found some images for her to copy of the font and shell, and she did the rest.

There you have it! My life, snapshotted.

Happy Mother's Day to all my fellow moms. I hope you have a lovely day.

Friday Food: Three Meals and Their Leftovers

Friday 

Short version: Giant lasagna, sourdough herb bread, salad, brownies

Long version: My family arrived this day for the weekend to help us celebrate Poppy's First Communion. They all drove, and my mom and sister offered to bring dinner. My sister made the world's largest lasagna.

The beast.

It must have weighed at least eight pounds. We only ate about half of it this night, and then the rest of it disappeared steadily over the next few days for lunches.

My sister's boyfriend brought the bread, which he made with the starter I gave him. My mom made the salad. I made the brownies.

Saturday

Short version: Ground beef tacos on corn tortillas, refried beans, leftover brownies, candy variety

Long version: I used around four pounds of ground beef to make taco meat, and then I took out the refried beans with chicharrones that A. had made a couple of weeks ago and that I froze.

This was the only dinner eaten at my house while my family was here. 

We can squeeze ten people around the table if the people on the ends are okay being cozy.

Poppy and I made a LOT of corn tortillas, enough that I had leftovers even.

The candy was brought by my mother for the children. She asked me to find out what their favorites were. They were Almond Joys, dark chocolate, Twix, and Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. The children generously shared, so we had a bunch of candy on the table for the picking. And leftover brownies.

Sunday

Short version: Ham, scalloped potatoes, cabbage and carrots, corn, green salad with vinaigrette, coconut cake, chocolate pudding

Long version: The ham, potatoes, corn, and coconut cake were all Poppy's requests for her First Communion Day celebratory meal. I added the rest of it.

I have never made--or even eaten, I think--a coconut cake. I used this recipe. I had to buy three different kinds of coconut flavoring for this one (coconut extract, coconut milk, and shredded coconut), separate eggs, make cake flour . . . Suffice to say that I will not be making this often.

Everyone loved it, though, and my sister got a pretty funny picture of me with it.

Cheers to cake!

I made the pudding just because I had five egg yolks left after separating out the whites for the cake.

Monday

Short version: Leftovers

Long version: One child opted to have the last serving of lasagna, along with some scalloped potatoes. Carb loading. 

Everyone else had ham, potatoes, and corn. 

There were also both pudding and cake left over. O happy day.

Tuesday

Short version: Cinco de Mayo leftovers, plus chips and salsa and not-margaritas

Long version: We always celebrate Cinco de Mayo. Sometimes in a very lame way, but always something. This year, I actually already had leftover taco meat and refried beans, plus some big flour tortillas my sister left with us, so burritos were a no-brainer.

For the adults, I made a frozen cocktail in the blender that was just grapefruit vodka and fresh-squeezed orange juice, plus ice. 

That's my drink on top of The Party Blender.

At A.'s suggestion, we put Los Angeles Azules on to dance around to while we had our drinks and the kids ate chips and salsa.

Wednesday

Short version: Mostly leftovers

Long version: I made some rice and then combined that with more of the taco meat and leftover corn, plus spices, a bit of cheese, and sour cream. A low-effort meal, but whatever. That's the way it is sometimes.

Thursday

Short version: Potato soup, garlic bread, rhubarb pudding with cream

Long version: More leftovers, this time in soup. I took all of the leftover scalloped potatoes and put them in a pot with the last of the leftover ham plus the liquid, some already-cooked onions from the freezer, and then I rinsed out the containers the potatoes and ham had been in so there was some more liquid. After that was all heated, I pureed it with my immersion blender. Easiest soup ever.

I had baked bread earlier in the day, hence the garlic bread. And I had put the rhubarb pudding in when the bread was done, since the oven was already hot. This is the first of the rhubarb I had used this year. Everyone was very appreciative of it.

Refrigerator check:

Okay, your turn! What'd you eat this week?

Almost There

Today marks eleven days until the last day of school. And that means . . .

The countdown candy has begun.

We started the countdown candy yesterday, because we always start when there are 12 days left, and we have four-day weeks. This year's candy is peanut M&Ms.

I have also changed the boys' inspirational getting-up music from their usual "Reveille" to "The Final Countdown."

We're gonna make it, one M&M and iconic '80s song at a time.

 

Snapshots: Not Sick!

I have some photos!

Like this one on the way to last week's track meet.

And a very unflattering selfie at the track meet. It was sunny and windy, hence the dorky Mom hat.

We know a very well-read 17-year-old boy who said he hadn't read very much American fiction. Despite being American. Well! I have several American boys who are happy to recommend books to remedy that.

Here's what we gave him to start. (Desmond Bagley was actually British, but he did write excellent adventure stories.)

My family is here for Poppy's First Communion today. They're staying at a place in the village that has lovely New Mexican furnishings. Unfortunately, it also has things like this chair.

I am not a fan of Frida Kahlo, so this is really not to my taste.

Also some impressive orchids. (Apologies for the blurry picture.)

I was sitting outside with Poppy while she was playing, and I was amused when she started playing with good ole Dumpy.

We've had this little dump truck for fourteen years, unbelievably.

There you have it! My life, snapshotted.