Regular is Good Too

Last week was a lot of fun.  It was the museum open house and for Max it was Spirit Week/Homecoming at school.  I worked Friday morning, came home, and took a 3 hour nap.  When I got up, it was ugly.  I kinda had the whole tired sore throat thing going on and wasn't feeling too good.  

Hubby made dinner,  got Mexican food takeout Friday night.  We crashed.

After a fun filled week at work and school, everything falls apart at home.  I spent Saturday making things right by catching up on the laundry and the cleaning.  I baked chocolate mocha cookies, pumpkin bars and calzones.  The guys had lived on leftovers long enough.

Sunday afternoon through the evening we watched Parent Trap, A Bugs Life and Matilda.  It was a movie marathon.  Hubby made us kettle corn.  Max drank over a half gallon of milk.  Refueling, I guess.

Now it's Monday and just a regular week.  I'm ready for regular.  It's all fun until someone get tired...

Night at the Museum

The Lynden Pioneer Museum Open House was hugely successful last evening.  Everyone was there, literally hundreds of visitors.  We moved it to a Thursday evening, rather than compete with Friday night lights.  Plus, we were part of the Lynden Music Festival, with the Polecats playing Bluegrass music.   And our very own publicist, Jerrie Luginbill did a super job of getting the word out.  And lastly, the deal clincher... Starbucks brought the coffee and my docents baked cookies.

Ms. Branham was the schoolmarm in the museum's school room.  She had adorable students.  One of her past students heard that his favorite teacher would be at the museum so he came for a visit.  Max had a great time catching up and reminiscing with his second grade teacher.  We love her!

Tonight

Tonight is the Lynden Pioneer Museum's Annual Open House.  

It is this evening from 6-9 p.m.  So many cool things going on this year.  

Be there or be square.  

Oh, and it's free.  

And Starbucks will be served.  

Enough said.

Into Infinity and Beyond

It's Spirit Week at school and Curt, Max and Kassie made for a great Toy Story cast.

Fall Y'all

We had our last cord of firewood delivered Friday evening. Hubby stacked it on Saturday morning. I was inside baking, fall cleaning and decorating for the season. If you look at the photo out the kitchen window you will see Hubby outside moving the firewood.

I baked a pumpkin roll and I made our favorite fall snack on Saturday morning. When Hubby and I were first married I made the Karmel Korn recipe, that one of my students shared with me, on Saturday mornings. We'd get our chores done and then snack and watch football all afternoon. Then we had boys and spent every Saturday at Bender Fields. I didn't have time to lay on the couch, snack and watch football. But I think those days are coming back.

I got our popcorn popper from my Aunt Shirley for a bridal shower gift. Love it! We used it camping, for kettle corn, popcorn and for Karmel Korn. And uhmmm, yes, I do know how to spell. I'm just sharing the original recipe and using the K.

I use my biggest bowl, and make two batches of popcorn.

I stir occasionally while the butter, sugar and syrup are boiling. Notice the difference after the soda is added.

I mix the popcorn and caramel in the bowl but you could mix it in the paper bag.

I stir, shake the bag twice during the four minutes. I wouldn't dream of having something in the oven for an hour when I can get it done in four minutes in the microwave. But suit yourself.

Let cool, break apart and enjoy! Be warned though, this is a crack of a snack. You may go to bed with a tummy ache if you're like me and have NO self control. I did do a lot of yard work to rationalize all the Karmel Korn I ate.

Happy, happy Fall Y'All!

Outside the Walls

Once every four years Lynden Christian High School has Outside the Walls. It happens once every four years so that each student has the opportunity to participate during their high school career. I think it should be called, Outside Your Comfort Zone. Four years ago Karen and I hosted Creating Mosaics, this year we hosted Entertaining, a Five Course Meal and Table Manners. A Martha Stewart, Food Network, meets Emily Post combination workshop.

We started at my house, each student had a pile of dishes and silverware. A BiG pile of dishes that had to be set as instructed. I made menu cards with their names for place cards. They were given a pretty piece of paper with it and then they had to assemble it. I had stickers and glue sticks set out in the laundry room.

Each student had a different place setting so that we could show them the many different ways to set the table. Christmas, Valentine's Day, Thanksgiving, and a travel theme were just a few.

After we sorted through our piles and set a beautiful table we went to Karen's house where she had stations set up to prepare each of the five courses. We chose the courses for teaching moments. The students learned how to caramelize onions, make a salad dressing, prepare chicken cordon bleu, pipe potatoes, pipe chocolate, make a mousse, make a roux for sauce, and so much more.
The students were great! They got busy with assignments, trading off so everyone got a turn, and helping us keep up with the dirty dishes. There were fourteen of us!

There was 'thyme' for some jokes and puns too.

Our Menu:

Appetizer

Caprese Skewers

Soup

French Onion

Salad

Mixed greens with a Poppy seed Dressing

Served in a Cucumber Cup

Main Course

Chicken Cordon Bleu

with a Thyme Sauce

Twice Baked Potatoes

Roasted Asparagus

Dessert

Chocolate Treasure Box

Our menu wasn't chosen just for teaching opportunities of cooking techniques but also for teaching manners; such as removing the appetizer from the skewer, how to cut your meat, how to properly eat soup. We were all chanting, "Like little ships gone out to sea, I push my soup away from me." Did you know it is good manners to eat your asparagus with your fingers? They were each assigned a course to serve, refilling water and sparkling cider properly, clearing and keeping straight who had which place setting.

We staged dessert in the laundry room. It was a beautiful presentation and delicious!

Most importantly, good manners are to be respectful and kind. These students had very good manners. This wasn't a group of student that signed up as a group of friends, it was a very diverse group that came together, worked well with each other and ended up with having a fun lunch with great conversation and lots of laughs. Great conversation and delicious food are what makes for a very successful party!

Struck my funny bone... While we were having a lesson on setting the table, one student said, "I know this is a bracelet but it's way too small for me." "Uhmmm, no that would be a napkin ring, and I'll show you how to use it."