Lucky Irish heirloom recipes

On several different years, I've tried making corned beef and cabbage on St. Patrick's Day. It just never turns out how I think it should and every time I ask myself why I feel compelled to make this traditional Irish dish. We're not Irish. I don't buy green candy or decorate with shamrocks. I do wear green, but just because it's funny to wonder if someone besides my kids would pinch me for not wearing green. :)

Today I decided to try a new tradition--Irish beef stew--by using our favorite stew recipe (and just calling it 'Irish'). I gathered all the ingredients and pulled out the crockpot, but when I went to get the recipe, it was nowhere to be found. I've made it many times, but apparently didn't put the card back last time. I called my mother-in-law, who first gave me the recipe. When I couldn't reach her, I made my way through several sisters-in-law, and then to my own mother. Each woman gave me a different recipe, and I had no luck finding a similar recipe online. So I made it according to memory, knowing full well I was missing ingredients and amounts. We haven't tasted it yet, but I wonder if anyone will say, "This doesn't taste the same...."

It made me think about recipes and how they get passed on, changed, adopted as our own. I would seriously consider rescuing my cookbooks if our house was burning down. I've realized today that there are thousands of beef stew recipes, but only one that is our family's favorite. It made me think of a dear friend whose mother has passed away and one of my friend's biggest regrets is that she didn't write down all of her mother's best recipes and the changes she made.

I like trying new recipes, but I'm trying to compile a 'best of' and would be happy to share it once I get organized (check back in a few years!). I have made MANY pots of minestrone, but always come back to my mom's. Her cream pies are the BEST, too. But I don't use her roll recipe (I use the Lion House recipe) and obviously, we inherited a wonderful beef stew recipe from Rob's side. If I get lucky and find it soon, I'll post it here.

Retreating

Sometimes you just gotta get out of Dodge. We are headed to the Great Smoky Mountains in Tennessee to celebrate Sarah Jane's birthday. We try to do an "experience" gift when our kids turn 8, and hers coincided with an invitation from some good friends in Indiana. They have a daughter Sarah's age, and she couldn't be more thrilled than to have a whole weekend of playing with a friend! We are sharing a cabin in the woods and I can't wait for some new scenery, some down time, and some late night visiting with old friends.

Our digs are near Dollywood (huge amusement complex owned by yes, Dolly Parton), and Gatlingburg, TN (a famous mountain resort), but we are planning to spend our time wandering around outside, playing and hiking. A break from your usual life (even just for a weekend) can be so relaxing and refreshing. Plus, we get to eat yummy food all weekend and we even have our own hot tub! Ah, small luxuries.

Our friends are vegetarian, so it has been a fun challenge coming up with meals. Fun because I already have a lot of meatless meals in my repetoire....challenging because the mom is vegan and I hadn't realized how much I depend on eggs, butter and cheese.

Best of all, SJCC is 8 and 8 is great!!! We took her to lunch today and I'm about to start preparing a Chinese food feast for her requested birthday dinner. I love birthdays. I love that she is growing up to be such a sweet, lovely, creative, caring, entertaining girl. Love that she is more excited about going to the mountains than having an expensive, stressful, hectic birthday party.

LOVE that every year, she requests coconut cream pie instead of a birthday cake. Do you think I should break my no-sugar rule to have pie with her? I'm still debating, but dang, that pie looks good. I guess that's a Re-treat of another sort...
Boo. Bad pun, but I couldn't resist. The girls have been very into puns lately and I keep thinking of them. It's genetic.

Skinny and Neurotic

Remember this post? Well, that friend who doesn't bake was my same weight and size 18 months ago. She had a little boy a few months after Bea was born and we often commiserated about losing the weight and getting back in shape. I'm still talking about it, but she has lost almost 40 lbs. and 4 pant sizes. She looks awesome.
I have been exercising consistently all this time and though I feel healthy and strong, I have not been successful in losing weight. Last weekend, I found myself scanning the internet for 'miracle cures' that would help me shed the pounds. As I debated about where and how to spend my money (gym membership? appetite suppressants? herbal cleanse?), I realized that I haven't really and truly tried the thing I know I should: eating less. (It's a painfully simple math problem...)

So starting March 1, no desserts until my birthday near the end of the month. I'm 2.5 days into it and so far, so good. I know it sounds ridiculous, but this is actually a huge milestone for me!! Cutting back on sugar doesn't seem to work for me, so I'm going to try cutting it out and see what happens. I figure 3 weeks should be enough time to tell if it's working or not.

I know this is boring to everyone else (sorry), but I now understand why people who lose weight seem to talk about it a lot---it has to be on your mind ALL THE TIME. Counting calories is boring and makes me feel neurotic, but feeling overweight all the time was making me sad too, so I'm going for the healthy weight/well-adjusted psyche approach. I'll get back to you on it.

The Gift of an Ordinary Day

When I recently wrote about "Mitten Strings for God" by Katrina Kenison, I found out she has a new book called, "The Gift of an Ordinary Day". Her first book was about learning to slow down and simplify life with small children. Now she has two teenage boys who are preparing to leave home and she talks about learning to let go and to appreciate all those "lasts" and the longing mothers feel for that old busy life when your children needed you so much.
I couldn't put it down and it made me both grateful that I still have a few years left and sad for what's to come. Kenison talks about sitting down across the table from her teenage son and realizing that she has absolutely no idea what he is thinking, when she used to be able to read him like a book.
Welcome to my world. Maddie turns 13 tomorrow and is in the full throes of hormonal mood swings, but she also makes us proud with her steadiness and good choices. Bea is coming up on 3 and is constantly testing her independence and our patience. But she also has such a sweet funny little voice and engaging personality that it's impossible to stay mad for long.
Today was just a busy, regular day--helping at the school, a dr. appointment, putting laundry away--but Bea wasn't feeling well and I got in some good snuggles with her and we played Polly Pockets for a while. With 4 daughters, I've played a lot of Pollys and Barbies in my life. I hate it, really. But today I tried to remember that one day I will long for a sunny hour playing with my 2 year old, while she laughs and chatters to me.
Straddling this age gap with our kids (from teenager to toddler) is taking unexpected amounts of energy, ingenuity, and prayer.

The Groove is in the Heart

A friend put an 80's dance mix on my ipod and it makes me nostalgic every time I listen to it. Today as I ran my way through OingoBoingo, Erasure, The Pet Shop Boys, Def Leppard, and Dexys Midnight Runners, so many memories came flooding back.

I almost laughed right out loud when Pour Some Sugar on Me came on and I was transported to the summer of 1988, between 8th and 9th grade. I have a really strong memory of going to Lagoon many times that summer (Did I have a season pass? How did I get there? Did my parents really let me go to Lagoon unsupervised? I have no memory of these things) with my friends and this song seemed to always be playing. We loved it and would dance around and sing it at the top of our lungs. It was so loud and wild compared to the usual synth pop we listened to....so Def Leppard was my rebellious music phase (and only this song). Other sharp memories from that time of life include Slurpees at 7-11, chocolate cake donuts from Wally's Donut Shop, riding the city bus to my best friend's house, and some pretty sweet white ankle boots with fringe on the side. (My best friend, Alica, and I bought matching boots at Payless with our babysitting money. Yes!)
Through it all, I had some of the best friends ever, Alica, Kim, and Megan. We did a lot together in those years and they were such fun girls, and NICE girls too. As my own daughters begin to navigate the tricky world of girl friendships, I'm especially aware of and grateful for the good friends I had.
We are starting to see the first tiny signs of Maddie's interest in boys, and I can't help but think of all the boys who passed in and out of our lives in those years. The boys in my ward and neighborhood, who were always around, for better (and for worse, usually). All the crushes, phone calls, drive-bys, conversation dissections and school dances. If Maddie is even half as boy-crazy as I was, we are in some serious trouble, with a capital T!

All these thoughts as I ran and wondered how I became who I am now from the girl who danced in the sun at Lagoon 22 years ago.

The Tale of Timmy Tiptoes

He's a favorite nap-time story friend....the fat little squirrel who hides nuts in a hollow tree. (I personally favor his naught friend, Chippy Hackee, the striped chipmunk, but that is entirely besides the point of this tale.) Chippy Hackee is the best name ever.

Now, however, fat squirrels are no longer my friend; now that there is one trapped in our chimney and I can hear him scrabbling, climbing, and falling down over and over again. It's agonizing...and disturbing...and creepy...and loud.

A mystery animal died in our chimney a couple of summers ago and it was very bad and stinky for a long time, because we couldn't get it out. We had our chimney opening wrapped in wire as they do here, but apparently, we have a really cozy chimney that attracts critters.

I spent a long time on the phone today with various chimney sweeps and animal control people. One woman insisted I tell her specifically what kind of animal it was, even though I repeatedly told her I couldn't SEE it, only hear it. Another man tried to reassure me that it was a squirrel, saying "cuz if it was a 'coon, you'd hear all sorts of screamin' and cryin' goin' on." Yikes. I guess I'm thankful we can only hear it scratching and not screaming--I don't think we could handle that. We're already pretty freaked out by the scary noises coming from the fireplace.

It's just much nicer to think of squirrels wearing aprons and little red vests and talking amongst themselves about where to bury the nuts. And then Beatrix Potter's little birds can sing, "Who's-been-digging-up-my-nuts?" and "little-bit-of-bread-and-no-cheese!"

We've got someone coming in the morning with a tall ladder, a rope (so the squirrel can hopefully climb back out), and a new chimney cap. So long Timmy Tiptoes.

Something Fun(gus) for Lunch

Oh, mushrooms, how I do love thee. And now I hardly ever see you anymore since my husband hates you. Luckily he's not a picky eater and will eat anything except you, but I really wish he could appreciate your good qualities....

Once a year, I make myself a pot of Hungarian Mushroom Soup--a recipe I got from a friend a few years ago. It is so delicious and I savor it all week long, since no one else in my house wants to eat it. As the craving has been building, I've been telling my running partner about it and she wanted to try it too, so yesterday we had a little tasting party. I invited a few friends over for lunch and asked them to each bring something they love to eat, but that isn't appreciated by the rest of their family. We ended up with mushroom soup, homemade pretzels, awesome salad with pecans, cranberries, and goat cheese, and oatmeal raisin cookies. (Weirdo husbands--who doesn't like goat cheese or raisins, I ask you?!)

After being cooped up in the house for several snowy days, this was a really fun break and a delicious way to spend a couple of hours. Best of all, there was exactly one bowl of soup left, so I get to enjoy it once more. If you like mushrooms AT ALL, try this soup and you won't be sorry. The only thing I do different from the recipe is use fat free half & half instead of milk, and I omit the salt since there is plenty in the chicken broth.

What do you like to make that nobody else in your house wants to eat? Can you come over for lunch and bring some? I will make stuffed mushrooms next time...

**mushroom photo from aaaaahhhhshark.wordpress.com