Cabin Photos

Here's a photo of the mudroom (incorrect door placement and everything) coming off the back of the house. Eventually we'll have a detached garage next to this and this will be the entrance we use the most--especially the kids so they can dump all their junk before coming into the house. And out here, we really do need a room to contain the mud!
OK, this is to show you Abe's shenanigans of the morning. If you look closely, you'll see a rope coming off the van hitch and up and over the roof of the house.
The rope is tied to his waist to keep him from falling off while he puts on the chimney cap. The door in this photo comes off the living room. Eventually we'll have a nice large patio/deck of some sort and then we'll have you all over for a party! Plan on 2 or 3 years from now at the rate we're going :-)

Contractors Schmontractors!

OK, so we hired a contractor who is very nice and came highly recommended to help speed up the work on our house a bit. So he came with his crew and worked all day framing our mudroom. He came to the door once to ask for the plans and also for the window that goes in the mudroom to make sure he was getting things right. After lots of banging and noise all day they left at about 5 pm and I go out to take a look. It looks great...straight walls, sturdy construction, everything you'd expect...but wait, that door doesn't look like its 3 feet from the wall (we plan to put a freezer along that wall so if its too shallow...no good!)...and I thought the window was tall and narrow, not wide? I got out the plans, checked the measurements myself and measured the window. Somehow, he managed to get the door AND the window in the wrong place as well as made the window cutout the wrong direction. Give me a break! These were not complicated plans. Did he even look at them? I called Abe to gripe and vent and he called the contractor who is going to have to come back and fix it all which is super frustrating when we're on a time crunch as it is. Sheesh! On a positive note, I'm excited to design the inside of the mudroom (once everything is in its proper place, that is) with, hopefully, individual cubbies for each person, shelving/cabinets for food storage and pantry items, a chest freezer, and a small craft table for my sewing machine. Hope I can fit everything in!

My new addiction!

So, I'm sitting here in my fleeciest of fleece PJs (yes I realize its after 1:00 but do you know how cold it would be to change?) with a thick wool gray sweater on, wool socks and slippers, with the space heater right at my feet (my kids, of course, are playing outside without coats on and don't seem to notice the temperature too much) and CRAVING these little chocolate covered fruit pieces from Dilletante chocolates. Its all my Dad's fault. He has to bring all kinds of treats to our monthly family dinners. I would never buy these just to try, especially as I typically abhor chocolate covered fruits. They're usually really waxy, poor quality chocolate and frankly disgusting. These are heavenly! I brought home a sandwich baggies of M & Ms from the dinner for my kids to snack on and realized there were still a few of these gems in the bag. After digging out the remaining 5 or 6 out of the bag I sit here completely dissatisfied. I want MORE! This pictured mix just has berries in it. The one we had had apricots and cherries and I think even pomegranate. Of course, I shouldn't be eating any of these at all right now. Perfect way to have a fat baby (and a fat momma for that matter!) But what else should I be doing right now? Its too cold to actually DO anything. Like, take care of the box of awesome pears Aunt Pat gave us the other day that are so yummy but we'll never be able to eat all of them fresh...or assemble the rest of these cabinets/drawers from IKEA to finish the kitchen...or do some laundry which would entail going down the (non)stairs to the even colder basement. I'll just sit here and shiver and dream...Yum!

Chicken Curry!

This is my favorite chicken curry recipe (Marcie, this is for you). I got it out of an Indian cookbook from the library and then lost the recipe this past year. I just checked the book out from the library again for an India night we had with some friends this past Monday. It was soooo good! We had Aloo Gobi (a potato cauliflower dish), this curry, dal (bean dish), basmati rice, naan (an Indian flatbread), and mango lassis (a mango yogurt drink). It was a true feast. Hopefully, if this recipe is here online I won't ever lose it again.

Parsi Chicken Curry

3 T oil
2 medium sized onions, sliced
1 green chili, sliced
1/2 tsp. crushed garlic
1/2 tsp. crushed ginger
1 tsp. turmeric
1/4 tsp. cayenne powder
1/4 tsp. cumin powder
1/4 tsp. cinnamon powder
1/4 tsp white pepper
2-3 medium-sized tomatoes, chopped
1 lb. boneless chicken, cut into 3/4 in. pieces
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. sugar
2 T. cream
1/4 tsp garam masala
cilantro leaves for garnish

Heat the oil, saute onions until golden brown. Add the chili (if I don't have a fresh chili I'll use about a tablespoon of canned diced chilis), garlic, ginger (I use a garlic press to crush both the garlic and the ginger. Don't try and use dried ginger, the taste will be too bland. I always keep a large root in my freezer and cut off what I need for a recipe. It keeps for a long time that way), turmeric, cayenne, cumin, cinnamon, & pepper (I just use black pepper) and saute for 3-4 minutes. Add tomatoes (I'll often just use canned diced tomatoes) and cook until pulpy, then blend to a smooth paste with 1/4 cup of water (this is great because kids don't realize they are eating so many vegetables as it just turns into a sauce). Saute chicken for 5 minutes. Add the paste, salt, sugar, and enough water to cover the chicken, then simmer uncovered until the oil begins to separate from the gravy or really just until the chicken is done and everything is hot. Add the cream and garam masala just before serving. Serve with steamed rice (or steamed diced cauliflower if you're my mom or if like me you have to watch your blood sugar)and garnish with cilantro. If you don't like spicy food leave out the cayenne (this is what I do for my kids and then Abe and I sprinkle some on ours at the table) and possibly the chili depending on if you get a hot or mild one. You can also leave out the garam masala as that's really the only specialty item but I think it really adds to it. I have a purchased spice mix but you can find recipes to make your own garam masala on line. Its a mixture of cumin, coriander, cardomom, pepper, nutmeg, cinnamon, and sometimes some other spices. I was also so excited because I tried a new naan recipe and it turned out better than any other so far, I think because you broil it instead of bake it so its much more like cooking in the super hot tandoori ovens they traditionally cook them in. I should have taken some pictures of them. Super Yummy!

Less than a month left!

So, here's the 36 week belly picture. Less than a month to go and I'm getting nervous. Not about the delivery so much but just about having a newborn with so much still to do. I had an appt. with the midwife yesterday and everything seems OK. He's head down and fundal height is measuring exactly 36 weeks, good heart rate, lots of movement, etc. I bought the birth kit yesterday, with everything in it I need for the delivery (cord clamp, chuks pads, etc.) and the midwife will come for a home visit next appt. to make sure she can find the house and that we have everything ready. On another note, we had a great General Conference weekend. Saturday afternoon we drove to Pleasant Grove and stayed the night so Abe could go to the priesthood session with his dad and brothers (they always go out to eat beforehand) and all the girls went out to eat too. We left the kids at home this time--so nice. We also had a double whammy of good news--Abe's youngest brother got engaged this weekend (welcome to the family, Cassandra!) and Hilary announced she's pregnant (which is so exciting because she's been trying for so long). Congratulations!

Double Oven Installed!

I'm so excited, Abe installed the double oven today! You can get an idea of what part of the kitchen is going to look like. We got the double oven for $30 off of KSL (the local online classifieds) and it works like a charm! At IKEA, the cheapest double oven cabinet was in the $400 range and I had this idea of having it concealed anyway to keep the old world/antique look going. We got this armoire for $200, again off of KSL, took the back off, and built the shelves to the side for cookie sheets etc. I say we, but I really mean Abe. I come up with the ideas (and they are never simple) and he's the slave laborer who carries them out. Didn't he do a good job? You can also see part of the antique hoosier type cabinet that is next to it. Please tell me what you think. Sorry the pictures are kind of small, we took them with Abe's camera phone so they aren't the best.

Blog Game!

I'm glad to have some excuse to get everyone off of the magooshi thread! So, I'm pretty new to the digital photo world (still don't have a regular digital camera yet) but since we got our new computer I've been scanning some prints as well as copying photos from some discs developed from cheapo disposable cameras. Needless to say I don't have many photos on my computer and they aren't neatly organized in files but I went to iPhoto, went to the fourth event, and it only had one photo in it, and this is it. This is a picture of Kensi in Munich with her cousin Tori and friend Pia. Pia's family let us all stay with them when we traveled to Munich with Quinn last fall. I can't believe its been a year already since we were there! The girls each bought a traditional gingerbread heart with a saying on it. I can't remember what they are called right now. I just remember the yummy white sausage I had with a soft pretzel and yummy mustard that day. Mmmm! I've been meaning to post some pictures and tell some about our trip because I haven't really had a chance to share with all the craziness we've been going throught his past year. How do I tag someone?