A few good recipes

Chilly weather makes me want to cook. Here are links to a couple of recipes I've made lately.

First, there's these French Onion Gruyere Cups from Rachael Ray. They are a quick version of French onion soup in cute little individual biscuit cups. They have Gruyere cheese (obvious from the name, huh?), which makes anything taste yummy. I think the little biscuit cups would be a great way to serve other thick soups, too, like chili or broccoli cheese soup.

Last week I tried this Gingerbread Pudding recipe. It makes a delicious gingerbread with caramel sauce. This version of the recipe calls for sorghum syrup, which I didn't have, so I just used molasses. It was perfect for a cold night.

Speaking of perfect recipes for cold nights, here are a couple of incredibly easy soups I've made lately.

Broccoli Cheese Soup

Start with some broccoli. I use 3-4 small heads. Put them in a soup pot and cover with water. Add about half a chopped onion. Cook until the broccoli is bright green. Add a can of evaporated milk, a can of cream of mushroom soup, a big block of Velveeta, cubed. Cook until the cheese is melted.

Tomato Soup

Slice up a couple of cloves of garlic. Saute in a couple of tablespoons of olive oil in a soup pot until just starting to turn golden. Remove the garlic and discard. Add a big can of tomato juice to the olive oil. Heat. Add a tablespoon or two of dill (to taste). Just before serving, add heavy cream until the soup is as creamy as you want it. This is great served with TV critters (those dilly ranchy oyster crackers I always make at Christmas).

She couldn't wait...

We got Emilia a Rody for her birthday. I asked Ryan to air it up before the party so that Emilia would at least have some idea what it was. We didn't bother to hide it from Emilia since she really has no concept of birthdays, or presents, or opening presents, or surprises. The problem? This immediately led to jealousy on Ella's part. "Why did Emilia get a present early? It's not fair. I can't wait until my party to open my presents." She had already been driving us crazy all day, and this new whining about pushed us over the edge.

We knew Aunt Brandi wouldn't mind if Ella opened her present early. (In fact, she'd already given us permission. Aunt Brandi understands the need to open presents early.) So we let Ella at it.

A Sponge Bob stereo!

Little Girl in a Tutu

Birthday Chaos

We held a combined family birthday party for Ella and Emilia tonight. As you might expect, I have lots of pictures. Here are just a few for now, and I'll add more later. Leanne made an adorable and delicious cake, which you can tell both of the girls thoroughly enjoyed.

More pumpkin patch pics

Pumpkin Paradise

We really should have gone to the pumpkin patch yesterday when the weather was absolutely beautiful. But we didn't. We were tired. Ella was asleep. Excuses, excuses. We were lazy, and we paid for it.

We should have left Emilia at home. It was really too cold and windy for her. But we didn't. And she was a little trouper.

We bundled up and discovered it was much windier and colder without the windbreak provided in town. Baby hair a blowin' windy. And dustier, too. Much dustier. Gritty teeth dusty. Dirt in the nose dusty.


Still we had fun. And found lots of cool pumpkins.

And some gross ones.


And warmed up with hot chocolate when we returned.

Happy birthday, Emilia

Emilia turns one today. I can't believe how quickly this year has gone; I'm sad to see her growing older. When I held a friend's newborn last week, I realized Emilia has lost her baby smell, which really made me sad, but I'm also looking forward to a time when I won't constantly have a 25 pound tumor attached to my hip.

Here's what Emilia is up to these days....

She's walking all over the place, and she's so proud of herself. She loves to go up and down stairs, too. She would spend all day on the stairs if we would let her.

She loves to be outside.

She wants to be where the big kids are.

She loves to clap. She claps like a proper lady, holding one hand still, palm up, and tapping the fingers of the other hand on top.

She loves to be tickled and scared. She has the cutest laugh.

She can blow kisses and wave hello and goodbye, but you have to be pretty special to see any of these actions.

She can say several words (ducky, apple, mama, that), but her favorite catch-all word is dada, which seems to mean just about anything.

She loves drinks. She's obsessed with straws. She loves snack foods. She's not always in love with real food (table food or baby food), but she's always up for crackers. (We have discovered that she loves Stonyfield's Yo Baby 3 in 1 meals. They combine yogurt with a fruit and vegetable, like apples and sweet potatoes or pears and green beans. They're a good way to sneak in foods she doesn't like on their own.)

She has junk food radar. Let anyone drop a chip or cookie on the floor and she's there.

She gets her feelings hurt whenever anyone tells her "no." She cries and cries and cries.

She is the cuddliest baby in the world. She likes to get as close to people as she can, especially when she's sleepy. Pick her up, and she'll put her head on your shoulder and snuggle right in.

Happy birthday, Emilia!