Valentine's Dinner a la Wes

I truly do have one amazing husband.  He always tries to do right and really, what more could you want?  He got the idea that he wanted to cook for me on Valentine's Day.  He works from home on Wednesdays, so we decided that would be a better day.

He knows my love of surprises so he did his best to keep his meal a surprise.  That's pretty easy to do when you don't even know what you're making until the day before.  I knew he wouldn't let me down so I tried not to nag.

He ended up selecting one of the seemingly easiest recipes.  As I said recently, sometimes the easiest, least complicated recipes are the best.  This one fit the bill.  It's most intriguing but once he told me it came from an 87-year old Italian lady that is thought to be a culinary legend, I knew it would be great.

The simplicity of the sauce allowed the tomatoes to shine.  You could really taste the tomatoes and weren't bogged down with competing flavors.  Three ingredients, that's all.  Simplicity at its best.

Wes was so proud of himself, as was I that he had selected his own recipe, researched it, and executed it perfectly.  He enjoys being in the kitchen, he just doesn't get to do much of it.  He said he'd be happy to make this again and again.  And I'd be happy to eat it, again and again!

Marcella Hazan's Tomato Sauce
from Steamy Kitchen

1 (28oz) can San Marzano whole, peeled tomatoes
1 yellow onion
5 T. salted butter

Place the butter, onion, tomatoes (roughly chopped or mashed with a potato masher) into a pot and simmer 45 minutes.  Simmer until the droplets of fat float freely from the tomato.

Remove the onion (I enjoyed this on the side since it was packed with yummy tomato flavor).  At this point you can either lightly puree the sauce or leave it chunky.

Serve over pasta and top with freshly grated Parmesan cheese.

Valentine's Day Recap

Another Valentine's Day has come and gone.  Colin's dresser drawer is stuffed to the brim with paper valentines that he insists on keeping.  Every one of them.  Wes proved that he knows me well when he said he didn't buy a card because they're a waste of money.  Then he felt guilty when I asked him if he found mine.  What card?  The one I secretly placed in your bag this morning?  Didn't see it.  So much for a surprise.  Never fear, the card was free from Tiny Prints.  For me to use my freebie on you, you must be pretty special.

After spending 2.5 seconds looking for the heart-shaped cookie cutter in the playroom, Colin resurfaced to inform me he couldn't find it.  Geez, thanks for the effort, son.  Not being one to let anything (anything!) go, I later went up to surely find it.  On my way, a detour to find the unnervingly quiet Colin in his room.  He was standing mysteriously, about to come out of his room.  He had just shoved all 487 of his Valentine's so tightly in his drawer that I had to spend the next 2 minutes trying to pry it open.  Seems harmless.  Until I discovered sugar overload had also been shoved into said drawer.  Parents, why must you inflict pain on other unsuspecting parents and attach sugar poison to every valentine?  What's wrong with a good old tattoo?  Sure it may take a solid 2 weeks to wash off but think of it as the gift that keeps on giving, without the hyperactivity.  I should know, Colin looks like Jesse James with all the ink up and down his arms.  Back to the sugar rush.  I asked Colin if he had eaten any of the candy.  He assured me he had not.  I should have known after I found the trail of KitKats up the stairs not to trust him.  I had more important things on my mind, that heart cookie cutter!

I begin my archeological dig through the heaps of toys that Colin has shoved into every nook and cranny in the room.  Not 1 minute into my search, I hear Colin tell Sawyer he's not supposed to have that.  I ignore his bossy ways the first time but then I turn to see what he has.  Oh it's just 2 huge shards of broken glass.  As I quickly freak, I instruct a 4-year old to take an 18-month old out in the hallway any way that he can get him out there.  That was a good idea.  Now I have a child with a dislocated shoulder because his brother pretended he was a rag doll.  Sawyer's bawling, Colin's coddling, and I'm trying to avoid a trip to the ER as I pick up the glass.  Of course the picture had to have the largest surface area of any picture in our entire house, but thankfully the glass broke in large pieces.  I examine Sawyer for blood to determine if the blood curdling cries are from pain or torture and abort my mission to return all parties to the kitchen, out of harms way.

Sadly, our grilled cheese sandwiches had to be eaten as boring old rectangles.  We did have some delicious Kenny's cheese on them but imagine how much better they would have been as hearts.  There's always next year...at least for some of us.

Later that night, Wes was just about to take his turn reading to Colin when Sawyer opened a drawer in Colin's desk.  I lost my breath for moment when I discovered...an empty candy wrapper!  He admitted he had eaten it before dinner, as in right before he bold face lied to me about not eating anything.  Oh momma was mad.  No books from Daddy and no desserts for the rest of the week.  Normally the waterworks would have ensued but I think he knew there was no hope of getting out of this one.  Wes summed it up by telling him, "Buddy, you don't mess with Mommy."

Tattoos wouldn't have done that.  Your welcome fellow parents that I didn't inflict the sugar coma on you.

Up next, my Valentine's meal from my Valentine, with a much happier ending.

My Valentine

How did I get so lucky that I have 3 gentlemen in my life to call my Valentine?  It's a hard life having 3 adoring boys swooning at your feet.  It's a life that I love though.  Through all the snotty noses (and booger picking), boo-boos, wrestling, and loudness, the life as a boys mother has it's moments.  But I wouldn't trade those moments for all the cake in the world.  And I love cake!

Colin informed us last night that I was his girlfriend.  When Wes protested and said I was his girlfriend, Colin got upset and said I could be more than 1 person's girlfriend.  So I'm not a polygamist.  The more the merrier, right?  I do have a lot of love to share!

To celebrate this day of love, we had a special breakfast treat of Magee's bakery biscuits with jelly for Colin & Sawyer and egg and cheese for Wes and I.  Shortly after Wes took the kids to their various locations, he called to say we were apparently supposed to bring a treat for Colin's school.  Whoops!  I thought that was optional.  Needless to say, he'll be on sugar overload when he gets home.

For dinner we'll be having roasted tomato soup (red) and grilled cheese sandwiches cut in the shape of a heart.  That is if I can find where the children absconded it to.  If not, we'll be having gingerbread grilled cheese with a dot of ketchup for the heart!

For dessert are these delicious brownies.  Well I say delicious but I have yet to try them.  Everything this lady cooks looks delicious, so I'm assuming they are.  I have a lot of faith. 

courtesy of Tracey's Culinary Adventures

The rest of our evening will be spend giving baths (to the children, dirty minds!), reading books, and trying to manage to stay awake past 9pm.  Wild and crazy times!  Happy Valentine's Day to you and yours!!

A Hundred For a Home

So not only is the designer I selected a talented designer, she also is a good Samaritan.  One of her friends had a friend who posted about some design questions.  Her friend told Abby (A Delightful Design) about it and Abby said she'd love to help.  Little did she know what she was getting into.  You see, the family that she volunteered to help could easily be on Extreme Home Makeover.  You know, the show where you cry your eyes out because of the hand that poor family has been dealt and your heart overflows with compassion?

Abby posted about their touching story (as in go get the tissues) today and I couldn't help but share it too.  As I told her, it makes Colin's incessant questioning and talking sound like sweet church music.  It makes me want to run home and hug my children and never let go.  I have healthy and happy children and I need to cherish that more often than I do.

Here's their story, as they told it:

Waverly is 7 years old and Oliver just turned 4.  They were diagnosed almost 3 years ago with MPS IIIA, also known as Sanfilippo Syndrome.  (I have a detailed explanation of the disease on the right side of the blog.)

Waverly is a beautiful little girl.  She has always been kind and gentle.  She was an easy baby.  She was big for her age and lagged behind her peers in gross motor skills.  Otherwise, she met all of the usual milestones.  Around age 2, I started to grow concerned that she seemed to have slowed down in her development.  Our pediatrician was not concerned, since Waverly was incredibly social and happy.  

When Waverly was 3 years old, her little brother Oliver was born.  He ended up spending 2 weeks in the NICU with heart and lung issues.  We thought for a few days that he wasn't going to make it.  During his time in the hospital, he failed his newborn hearing screening test.  We discovered he had a severe hearing loss at 6 weeks of age.  Our audiologist suspected Waverly had the same hearing loss, after meeting her.  We thought that the hearing loss was the answer to our question of why she seemed behind the other kids her age.

The kids were fitted with hearing aids and the family moved to London for my husband's work.  Waverly was enrolled in a preschool program run by speech therapists and OTs.  Everything felt perfect.

After a few months, Waverly's speech therapist met with me to discuss her concerns.  Waverly's behavior was not typical for a child with a hearing loss.  She was concerned there may be something additional going on, so she referred us to a Pediatric Neurologist and a geneticist.  We had multiple appointments, blood tests, urine tests and an MRI done in London.  The doctor suspected there was an underlying issue, but no diagnosis was made.

I ended up getting a report back on some blood work from the lab.  One item was flagged for follow-up. The neurologist was not concerned, but when I googled it I became VERY nervous.  That particular item was associated with another serious disease.  I grew tired of waiting for the doctors to figure out the problem, so I ended up flying back to the US with the kids.  

We were able to get Waverly in to see the chief neurologist at CHoP.  The doctors there were incredible!  Waverly underwent a battery of tests.  One month later, after Matt had flown back for the appointment, we sat in a hospital room along with 4 doctors.  I knew that was a bad sign.  They suspected Waverly had Sanfilippo and they received the confirmation test results that morning.

That meeting is a bit of a blur.  I remember them telling me she had MPS III.  They began to explain what that meant and I interrupted.  I wanted to know if she was going to die.  He told me that yes, children with Sanfilippo die tragically young.  I then asked what treatments were available.  He told me there was nothing we could do.  We talked about Oliver and the potential that he had it as well.  In my heart, I knew he was going to test positive.

Our life changed dramatically that day.  I remember staring at Waverly in the back seat of the car during our hour long drive back to my mom's home.  She was completely unaware of her fate.  I wept.  She sang "If You're Happy and You Know It".

I appreciate the little things now.  That is a recurring theme here.  Each smile and laugh mean so much more to us.  We try to create memories with them whenever possible.  We love them for who they are....while mourning who we wish they could be.  They bring incredible joy to us and to all who meet them.  They have impacted the world more in their short lives than most people do in a lifetime.

 Waverly no longer speaks.  She is beginning to have difficulty walking and uses a wheelchair.  Her ability to swallow is getting weaker, so we have had to adjust her diet to dissolvable solids and purees.  She will eventually need a feeding tube.  She can no longer scribble with a crayon, put together a puzzle or stack blocks.  Her fine motor skills are deteriorating.  However, she is happy.  She loves to look right in your eyes and smile.  She loves to giggle and be tickled.  She loves to watch Cinderella and Winnie the Pooh.  She loves to hear us sing her favorite songs.  She will sit and listen to her favorite stories, like "Sammy the Seal" and "Click. Clack. Moo".

 Oliver has never really said a word.  He is able to run and kick a ball.  He loves playgrounds - slides and swings are his favorite.  He loves to watch Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and Cars.  He is a very active TV watcher - running, jumping and clapping throughout the show.  He loves the water - bathtubs, sprinklers, pools - he doesn't care.  He enjoys paging through his books, but refuses to sit still long enough to be read to.  He enjoys dot painting.  He loves sleep and will run to his bed for nap time each afternoon.  He is my cuddle bug.  He constantly runs up to me for hugs, always with a little tap on my back to let me know he really loves me.  Ice cream cones are the way to his heart.

 We are not sure how much time we have with them.  The life expectancy for children with Sanfilippo type A varies.  The doctors have told us between 10-18 years is typical.  I am not convinced that there is enough time for the current research to save Waverly & Oliver.  However, I would do anything to prevent another family from going through this heartache.

 

The amazingly bright spot of their story is that two of Shannon's college friends decided to start raising money in an effort to help the McNeil's buy their first home.  They have already raised $174,597, but because of the real estate market where they live, this doesn't even begin to cover their cost.

Just this week their offer was accepted on this ranch home in Virginia.

 

Here is how her friends explain their plan on their website:

A Hundred for a Home is a campaign aiming to gather 4,000 friends who will donate $100 each in order to help the McNeil family with the purchase of a house, necessary home modifications, and out-of-pocket medical expenses.

We want to minimize their financial burden, allowing them to enjoy the short time they have with Waverly and Oliver. (Of course donations less or greater than $100 are greatly appreciated!)

As you can imagine, caring for two children who are slowly dying is an unimaginable, devastating experience. In addition, there are straining financial expenses that insurance will not cover like: co-pays, certain procedures, respite care, formula for tube feedings, hearing aides, wheelchairs, and more.

Major home modifications also need to be made for the children. The McNeil’s home must be completely wheelchair accessible which implies the widening of doorways, installation of a wheelchair-accessible shower, and ramp installations, just to name a few.

Please consider donating today. You can donate online: 

or mail your donation to:

• McNeil Family Fund
• PO Box 147
• Jamestown, MI 49427
•  
• Abby didn't ask me to post about this but it touched my heart in such a way, I couldn't not spread the word.  I want to do all that I can for these 2 precious children and their parents.  As a parent, I can't imagine what the McNeil's are going through.  I guess each day is a ray of sunshine if they get to spend one more day with Waverly and Oliver.

A Delightful Design

I decided to enlist some help in decorating our new living room space.  I have always wanted to hire a decorator, mainly because I don't trust my own style.  I've always been happy with my end result but always wondered what someone else would have come up with.

There are some design dilemmas in the new house that I knew I wouldn't want to tackle with everything else going on.  It had been so comforting knowing that someone else is handling that room and I haven't had to stress about it.  You know, marking something off the ever growing list?! 

I follow quite a few design blogs and several of them offer online design services.  That may seem impossible to accomplish without seeing the space but with the internet, online shopping, and a handy dandy camera, it's very possible and quite easy - easy for me to say, I'm not the one doing the design! 

I ended up selecting Abby at A Delightful Design.  Our styles seemed to mesh well and I couldn't be more pleased with my selection.  We've had several phone conversations and I've uploaded a ton of pictures to her.  I told her I wanted to keep the main furniture from our old house but I wanted it to feel different, more grown-up if you will.  She posted a little introduction to our space today on her blog and I wanted to show you that as a "Before".  Hopefully soon I'll be able to get her design plan in play and post some "Afters".

Weekly Recipe: Shrimp Tostados

You know it's a good recipe when you finally getting around to posting about it and it still makes your mouth water.  When I come across simple recipes like this that taste so scrumptious, it makes me think I'm trying to over complicate the whole art of cooking.  Sometimes the simplicity of a dish allows your palate to really taste each component and really savor the flavor.

All that to say, these tostados were darn good!  There's nothing overly complicated about them, so you have no excuse to give them a whirl.  Not a fan of shrimp?  Use chicken.  The other ingredients are pretty crucial to the overall flavor of the dish but you could still add on maybe some fresh salsa or chopped cilantro.

I'm glad I'm finally posting about these because it jogged my memory that we need to have these again.  Soon!


Simple Shrimp and Guacamole Tostados
by:  Bev Cooks

* 6 corn tortillas
* cooking spray
* 2 cups grated cheddar cheese
* 2 avocados
* 1/2 cup chopped cilantro, plus more for garnish
* juice from 1 lime
* 2 Tbs. extra virgin olive oil
* 1 pound shrimp, peeled and deveined
* 1 Tbs ground cumin
* 2 Tbs chili powder
* 1 tsp crushed red or green pepper
* 1 tsp garlic salt
* 1 red bell pepper, cut into small slices

Preheat oven to 350.

Lightly coat both sides of the corn tortillas with cooking spray. Bake for 4 minutes on each side. Switch oven to broil. Evenly divide the cheese over the tortillas and broil until cheese is melted and bubbly, 2-ish minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.

In a small bowl, combine the avocados, cilantro, lime juice and a pinch of kosher salt. Mash up with a fork until you get guacamole. Go ahead and eat a few bites for your well being.

Toss the shrimp with the cumin, chili powder, crushed pepper flakes and garlic salt.

Heat the oil in a medium skillet over medium high. Sear the shrimp on one side for 2 minutes; flip and sear 30 more seconds. Remove from pan.

To the pan, add the sliced red bell pepper. Saute for 2 minutes, scraping the browned bits from the pan, seasoning the peppers. Sprinkle in a little salt.

Spoon the guacamole over each cheesy tostado, followed by shrimp and red bell pepper. Garnish each tostado with cilantro and give another good squeeze of lime juice over each one.

Linking up to Lady Behind the Curtain, Made Famous By, and This Chick Cooks.

I'm addicted to the pin

...to Pinterest.  It's starting to make me feel inadequate.  I could never do every project or make every recipe I have pinned and for this mark-that-off-your-list kind of girl, that's frustrating.  I have set up several boards for the various rooms in our new house and while I love looking at the pictures, I haven't found the time to actually try to implement any of those designs.  That's also frustrating.  I want it all and I want it now.  Too bad.

In the meantime, here are a few of my inspirations.

 

I thought this would be such a clever thing to do with a key from our first townhouse and first house.

We have a lovely side porch and I'd love to paint the concrete like this!

I love this for one of the boys' rooms or their playroom.  It's so fun and educational too.  Oh but that would be 26 nails I'd have to put in the wall.  Too much for me to commit to right now.

My current obsession is to find a cheap dresser that I can paint for our master bedroom.  Two of our large pieces of furniture wouldn't make it up our stairs, so I need something to put our tv on and to give me a little extra storage.  Craigslist has let me down so far but I'll keep looking.  I know the right piece is out there somewhere.

I'm also obsessed with gallery walls.  I love the look of them but again, that's a lot of nails to commit to!

Then I see recipes like this and I want to stop decorating and get in the kitchen.

Now Pinterest needs to come up with a way to send someone to your house to magically transform your house/kitchen/project into what you saw on the web.  Until then, if I like then I'll have to put a pin on it!

Our New Home

This is the place we now fondly call home.  I'm anxious to show you around but being the perfectionist that I am, I have some more work to do.  The previous owners had just completed a complete renovation and addition to the house, before accepting a job out of state.  We feel so fortunate to have swept in and got their practically brand new house.  More to come but I wanted to at least give you a taste.

Weekly Recipe: Bahn Mi Sandwiches

Not much excitement happening around here lately.  Actually there's a lot of excitement in our lives, I just haven't done a good job replicating that on this blog.  The kitchen is definitely open for business and it is the one room that is almost completely settled.  The first time I cooked in there, I found myself smiling from ear to ear.  I told a friend that it felt like there should be t.v. cameras in the next room filming my cooking segment.  If I could move my bed in there, I would.  I love it!

Sometimes recipes sound so good to me when I select them, but by the time I actually get around to making them, I'm skeptical.  Sometimes I'm pleasantly surprised that the dish turns out better than I expected.  These sandwiches definitely fit the bill.  

I had never had a Bahn Mi sandwich or roll before but I have heard a lot about them.  They are part of the food truck craze sweeping the west coast, so they receive a lot of hype.  I've also seen them popping up more and more on various food blogs, so I didn't want to miss the party and I decided to try them.

I was a bit skeptical as I put the ingredients together that the little meatballs would have enough flavor.  Was I ever wrong!  Fish sauce has a lot of flavor and no, it's not fishy tasting at all.  These little treats were juicy and flavorful and the crunch from the shredded carrots and cucumber were a nice accompaniment on the sandwich.  I opted to omit the sriracha mayo spread and we never missed it.  We will definitely be having these again...soon if Wes has any say in it!

jadf

Bahn Mi Sandwiches

source:  Dinner with Julie

For the Meatballs:

1 lb. ground pork
1/4 cup finely chopped fresh basil
4 garlic cloves, crushed
1-2 green onions, finely chopped
1 Tbsp. fish sauce
2 tsp. sriracha or other hot chile sauce (or to taste)
1 Tbsp. brown sugar
salt & pepper


Sandwiches:
2 cups coarsely grated carrots
1/4 cup rice vinegar
1/4 cup sugar
4 10″ individual baguettes or four chunks of baguette
mayo
thinly sliced cucumber (use a vegetable peeler)
fresh cilantro


In a bowl, mix together the pork, basil, garlic, onions, fish sauce, sriracha, sugar and salt and pepper and mix it all up with your hands. Roll into 1″ balls and place on a rimmed baking sheet. Bake at 400F for 20 minutes, or until golden and cooked through.
Meanwhile, toss the grated carrot with the rice vinegar and sugar in a small bowl. Let sit until you’re ready to assemble your sandwiches.
To assemble, spread baguettes with mayo, if using; top with a squirt of sriracha to taste, and stuff with pickled carrots, cucumber strips, meatballs and sprigs of fresh cilantro.

The New Norm

Most of the boxes have been unpacked, i.e. the entire kitchen!  I do have my priorities.  After all, the kitchen was a huge selling factor of the house, so clearly I was most excited to get in there first. 

After a few trials and tribulations with the double closings (our buyers had some issues with their bank that postponed their side for a bit), a few major pieces of furniture that wouldn't fit up the stairs, and a first night christening of vomit, the house is officially ours!  It already feels like home and we feel so blessed to call it our own.

I had to take some extra keys over to our old house and it was a very odd feeling walking in.  It had already become someone else's house to me and I felt like a visitor.  When we left it for the final time the night before, Wes was a little emotional and nostalgic.  Not me.  I never turned back.  I guess that's how you know you're making the right decision.

I had thoughtfully orchestrated where each piece of furniture was to go.  I had a place for almost everything and was able to sell the remaining pieces on Craigslist (where has that been all my life?!).  Well sometimes the best laid plans don't pan out the way you had envisioned.  Unfortunately, our master bedroom took the brunt end of the pain.  Our armoire, dresser, and box springs are sitting in our entryway, none of them able to make it up the stairs.  The ceilings were too low and the pieces too big to make them fit.  I'm still holding out hope that I can take the molding off the top of the armoire but without taking the banister off, the other pieces are no-gos. 

After an exciting and exhausting day, we were all ready for bed.  No one had any trouble going to sleep that night.  We were all sleeping peacefully until about 3:30am when we heard Colin crying loudly.  Wes jolted out of bed, only to find Colin had gotten sick all over his bed.  He left a trail all the way to the bathroom.  Wes and I just looked at each other and said, "Well the house is officially ours now!"

I have a new routine at night.  I used to put the kids to bed and then play night watchman from my bed as I watched tv and played on the internet.  Well our bedroom is too fancy for it's own good and our old box tv doesn't work in there with the fancy wiring.  So I have literally watched about 10 minutes of tv since Friday.  That has given me a chance to get more boxes unpacked, so I guess I'm not complaining.  Hopefully that will be remedied soon.  90210 comes on tonight and I surely can't miss that!

The floors creak, the gas smells, not everything is in it's place, but it's home and we love it.

Stay tuned for pictures but I'm too much of a perfectionist to post pictures of unfinished rooms.