One Resolution for 2008

Ok, I have a few days to go before the New Year's Resolutions actually kick in, but I've been doing some thinking about what I resolve to do in 2008.

One idea I have is to improve how I clean the house - to be more efficient so the house will be clean, yet I don't have to spend all my free time cleaning. Now, anyone who's visited my house knows that I don't spend all (or sometimes any) of my free time cleaning.

Since I really love having a clean and organized house, it's time to kick my "if you can't do something right, don't do it at all" strategy, which has never really worked in any area of my life. I could present numerous examples of this strategy's shortcomings...some of my college grades come to mind...

In my pursuit for a new approach (is this reminding anyone of my planning my planner plan post?), I've come across a website that I recommend for anyone looking to increase their cleaning efficiency or get started after not doing much cleaning.

FlyLady.com

There's so much information on the site and much of it is touchy-feely rather than practical, which makes it kind of overwhelming. There's an optional email group you can join and I'm not sure what to think about that yet. They send about 10 emails a day with brief hints and tips. With all the other email I receive I can see that getting annoying.

Her tips gave me some great strategies to get started on my own routine. I will spare you all the details, but one thing not on her list is creating masking tape labels for the different areas within your refrigerator (e.g., "dairy," "fruit"). Perhaps she would be interested in hearing about this tactic from you-know-who-you-are, but whom I will not name. :)

One requirement she has is wearing shoes pretty much all the time. I don't see the purpose of this and I don't like wearing shoes in the house, so slippers will have to suffice. I think the site was originally targeted at some stay-at-home-moms who may not feel like getting dressed and ready for the day. That's not an issue for me and I'm not wearing shoes!

Take a look at the site and let me know what you think. I'm also interested in anyone's efficient cleaning tips! And look out Chris!!

Most Literate City in America?

Why, Minneapolis, of course! And St. Paul is number 3, behind Seattle, according to research conducted by Jack Miller, president of Central Connecticut State University.

From today's Star Tribune:

Miller looked at six indicators of literacy to rank the 69 largest cities -- those with 250,000 people or more -- in the United States. The categories included newspaper circulation, number of bookstores, library resources, periodical publishing resources, education and Internet resources.

Denver placed fourth followed by Washington D.C., St. Louis, San Francisco, Atlanta, Pittsburgh and Boston.

Minneapolis was second in Miller's 2006 survey and St. Paul was fifth a year ago.

Miller has conducted the study annually since 2003.

Best Christmas Moments

Instead of giving all the details of the fun and excitement we had over the past five days, I thought I'd create a list of my favorite moments from this year's Christmas celebrations.

Best one-liner: "I love your shoes" (3 1/2 year old Madison to 20-something stranger)

Best new addition to our family (tie): Cloe and Olivia

Most surprising Cranium secret weapon: Jack

Most shocking Cranium falter: Mine (sure, graffiti looks right with one "t" when you write it down)

Most esteemed college grad: Kelsey (way to go!!!)

Most contextually inappropriate commencement address: MN State Rep. Brita Sailer

Best entertainment: Mike's DVD of family photos set to some great tunes

Scariest moment: when Trevor fell/dove head first into the hot tub (although I knew it was coming)

Most ironic observation: "Geez, it's so cold in Fargo - I can't wait to get back to South Dakota."

Best use of balloons: little kids using them to pummel Jack

Looked like she had been pummeled in the eye: Grandma Julie after a nasty fall the night before

Funniest gift: 2,000 packets of Splenda

Second funniest gift: pocket version of the US Constitution (never know when you might need that)

Best hand-me-down-gift: sewing machine from Grandma Dottie

Most thoughtful and time consuming gift: the wedding album Amber made for us

Most fun gifts to watch others open (tie): Grandma Dottie's digital camera/printer and all of Trevor's gifts

Most excited about someone else's gift: Amber about Trevor's clothes (he sure wasn't very excited)

Best food: all of it, but especially Grandma Dottie's komla

Most overboard on the gift giving: Mom (again!)

Least fun: when it was all over and driving home in the snow (but thanks to Chris we stayed on the road)

Thanks for the fantastic times and wonderful gifts!!

Jeg laget lefse...og det er god!

"If one "thinks" Norwegian when eating lefse, many say they "feel" Norwegian when making the stuff." So says the website where I got my lefse recipe. Dette er sann! (This is true!) Especially when the lefse turns out well, as mine appeared to last night.

The trick is really in the dough, which I made from scratch this time. Those mixes are no good and it's not that hard to make. It probably took two hours the first night to peel and boil the potatoes and make the dough. Last night I added the flour, shaped the dough and cut it into pieces like this one:

Then I rolled it out with a covered rolling pin. I always thought that rolling the dough would be the hard part, but it's quite easy as long as plenty of flour is used.

Transferring the lefse to the grill is easier than it looks, too. The main problem I had was that my lefse were getting so big and thin that they almost didn't fit on the grill!

The lefse did like to bubble up, but the bubbles went away once the lefse is removed from the grill.

Once I really got in the groove (I made about 32 lefse, 28 of which are yours to sample at Christmas!), I was rolling out a new lefse while I had one on the grill. This led me to overcook a few and to realize that making lefse with a partner would make it easier and more fun. (Hint, hint - anyone interested?)

What do you think of the finished product? It looks like it is supposed to, but I'll leave the taste testing up to the expert Norwegian palates.

By the way, the title of this blog entry means "I made lefse...and it is good!" Translations courtesy of FreeTranslation.com - not sure if they're accurate, but then again I don't think any of you would know the difference!

Holiday Baking Extravaganza

In yet another chapter of the exciting activities I've coerced Melissa into, we baked holiday goodies on Sunday from 10:30 am to 8:00 pm. And we went to Pilates beforehand! It was a long and exhausting day, but so much fun.

Melissa doesn't have much baking experience, but you could never tell.

She did a great job, but her perfectionistic tendencies did cause some delays. :) Although the real problem was that my spritz press is a piece of junk. That thing made its way to the trash before the day was over.

Precision is essential in baking, but perfectionism is impossible. You just have to go for it - even if it doesn't look great it will probably taste great!

That was definitely the case with our frosted cookies. The frosting recipe tasted delicious, but was a pain to use. I replaced my previous recipe, which spread like a dream but tasted not so good. Amber, you'll have to send me your recipe from work to try next time.

Ok, I'm having a hard time writing this because I keep thinking about all the delicious treats. Of course I have some in my desk drawer and I just can't resist taking a bite. Or several bites. If I don't stop writing about treats I will eat them all. And then what will I eat this afternoon??

The results of our long baking day may not look like much, but here's a list of what we made:
Frosted cut-out cookies
Spritz cookies (ended up being cut cookies)
Fudge with walnuts
Peanut butter/chocolate fudge
Mexican wedding cookies (aka snowballs or butterballs)
White chocolate covered pretzels

Chris also decorated a cookie (and enjoyed some treats), but somehow when he sent me the photos, the ones of him were not included. Hmmm...

For those who may be wondering, yes, I'm bringing treats to our upcoming Christmas gatherings!

I'm also bringing lefse. I completed Phase I last night (using real potatoes this time) and if Phase II goes well tonight, expect to try some this weekend! However, if it turns out anything like last time, I won't be sharing this batch. I don't think I can bear the look on peoples' faces when they bite into it and can't hide their distaste. Except Mom, who pretended to like it!

Angie's Holiday Dancing

One of the things I've enjoyed most since moving to Minneapolis is getting to attend Angie's many events. On Saturday afternoon, it was her dance program. As always, she was the most vibrant face on the stage and one would never guess that she only attended six or seven practices, because her dancing was flawless!

You can call her four-eyes...

I have to post this photo, only because I know how mortified Amber will be by it. She recently got glasses to ease eye strain when using the computer and I think she looks really cute!

Those of us who got glasses in elementary school think nothing of it, but for some strange reason Amber is embarassed to wear them!!!

Calling her "four-eyes" would be a fun and appropriate response, don't you think?

Recipes

Several people requested the recipes for some of the dishes I made last weekend. Here they are!

Baked French Toast
Food Network

1 loaf French bread (13 to 16 ounces)
8 large eggs
2 cups half-and-half
1 cup milk
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
Dash salt
Praline Topping, recipe follows
Maple syrup

Slice French bread into 20 slices, 1-inch each. Arrange slices in a generously buttered 9 by 13-inch flat baking dish in 2 rows, overlapping the slices. In a large bowl, combine the eggs, half-and-half, milk, sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt and beat with a rotary beater or whisk until blended but not too bubbly. Pour mixture over the bread slices, making sure all are covered evenly with the milk-egg mixture. Spoon some of the mixture in between the slices. Cover with foil and refrigerate overnight.
The next day, preheat oven to 350 degrees F and make the Praline Topping.

Praline Topping:
1/2 pound (2 sticks) butter
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1 cup chopped pecans
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Spread Praline Topping evenly over the bread and bake for 40 minutes, until puffed and lightly golden.

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Crockpot Egg Bake
About.com
(I didn't particularly like this one - it seems to be too heavy on the meat and spinach no matter how many eggs you add. Some people said they liked it, so I will include it.)

INGREDIENTS:
1 pound very lean ground beef
1/2 pound ground breakfast sausage, mild
1 onion, chopped
2 tablespoons butter
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 can sliced mushrooms
1 teaspoon salt, or to taste
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1 package (10oz) frozen spinach, thawed and squeezed to remove as much water as possible
3 tablespoons flour
6 eggs, beaten
3/4 cup milk, scalded
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese

PREPARATION:
In a skillet, lightly brown meats and onion in butter; drain well and place meat mixture in a well-greased slow cooker. Add minced garlic, sliced mushrooms, salt, nutmeg, spinach, and flour; stir gently to blend.

Beat eggs and milk together; pour over meat mixture. Stir well; cover and cook on LOW for 7 to 9 hours, or until set. Sprinkle with shredded cheese 5 minutes before serving.

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Crockpot Sweet Potatoes
Betty Crocker

6 medium (2 pounds) sweet potatoes or yams, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1 1/2 cups applesauce
2/3 cup packed brown sugar
3 tablespoons butter or margarine, melted
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 cup chopped nuts, toasted

1. Place sweet potatoes in 2- to 3 1/2-quart slow cooker. Mix remaining ingredients except nuts; spoon over potatoes.
2. Cover and cook on low heat setting 6 to 8 hours or until potatoes are very tender.
3. Sprinkle with nuts.

Our First Overnight Guests

We had a wonderful time with Mom, Dad, Jon and Amber this weekend - thanks for coming to visit! We didn't do much other than eat and shop (and some people never left the house), but that's the great thing about living close - no pressure to "entertain."

Amber gave a great run down of the weekend along with some fun pictures on her blog.

I should also note that Bonnie joined us at the MOA, while Duane sat around with the guys on Saturday afternoon. They had Bonnie's work Christmas Party nearby that evening, so were able to spend some time with us before that.

We really enjoyed having Chad, Kristina and Sophia as well as Melissa join us for brunch on Sunday. Although we don't have enough chairs for that crowd, it seemed to work out well!

After brunch, Melissa and I took off to see A Christmas Carol at the Guthrie. Although we were in the very back row, there is not a bad seat in that theater. It was a wonderful production - certainly the most uniquely staged that I've seen.

Well, it's two weeks until Christmas! Does everyone have their shopping done?

Visitors this weekend

We're looking forward to the arrival of our first overnight guests! Mom, Dad, Jon and Amber should be here in a few hours.

I'm disappointed that Trevor's not coming because I really wanted to give him some Mountain Dew and several sugary snacks and see what happened! I'll just have to wait until Christmas to try that!! :)

I do understand why this is not the best time for him to visit - we will all get a lot more done and he will have fun with Dirk and Judy (I assume).

We'll be sure to take pictures and I'll give a full report next week (as will Amber, I'm sure)!!

Moving Update

Well, I don't have much to report. The past few days have consisted of unpacking and going to work! The unpacking will continue for awhile, but I think we're almost ready for our visitors this weekend. Pictures coming soon...