My Defenses are Down!

First of all Happy New Year to all. I will be ushering the New Year in hopefully in bed. Not only do I still have the remnants of my cold - I now have the stomach flu. I have spent the day praying I wouldn't throw up - and then scurrying to the bathroom. So I hope that the worst is over and I now can sleep. It has been going on for almost 24 hours. I got a blessing from Clyde and Cassidy Childs. Thank heaven for Priesthood Blessings.

I hope that next year is better and this is not a preview of the year to come.

Happy 37th Anniversary to Clyde and Me

This picture was taken 3 years ago. Wow! I can't believe all that has happened in that time.

This is our engagement picture. I can't find any wedding pictures. I don't know where they are. Oh, well. this one will do. I can't believe I was that little thing.

I got to spend all morning of our anniversary in the Dr's office. I am now on anti-biotics and nasal spray. That little trip to the Doctor's office wore me out so badly that I literally slept for 2 hours this afternoon. If the phone hadn't rung, I would probably still be sound asleep. I wouldn't have gone to the DR if Clyde hadn't pushed me out the door. I am glad I went though.

For 37 years we have worked hard on our marriage. Yes, somedays we have worked harder than others - but now when we are separated, we don't function as well as we do when we are home together. I never thought we would get to that level of togetherness but we have. It doesn't matter where we are - as long as we are there together. I am grateful for my eternal companion. He has been the best choice for me.

Things I am thankful for: Clyde, temples, Doctors, anti-biotics and nasal sprays.

Monday's Heroines

Before I begin blogging about my heroines of the week, I would like to thank my daughter, Heather for my new background. She designed this background just for me. It is beautiful and I am delighted with it.

My first heroine this week is my granddaughter, Carlye Anne Pfiester. She will be 9 years old tomorrow. She is my oldest grandchild and my oldest granddaughter. She is beautiful, a wonderful student, an avid reader and a very protective sister to her brothers. She takes wonderful care of her dog, Emmaline and tries to set a good example for others to follow - even though she realizes it is a heavy burden sometimes. Grandpa and I are very blessed to have such a wonderful granddaughter.

My other heroine is Anne Bailey or as her grandchildren call her, Gr'Anne. She is a wonderful mother and has been a wonderful grandmother to our children, their whole lives. We have been very blessed to have her be a part of our lives. Happy Birthday, Gr'Anne.

I am thankful for: Nyquil, Mucinex, orange juice, warm drinks and blankets to wrap up in.

Julianna Dittmar Foote's Wedding

This blog is going to be picture heavy and may not be the only blog of the day. It was beautiful wedding and fun day. Clyde and I saw so many friends that we had not seen in years. We had a wonderful time. This is a picture of the Dittmar family and Marianne's and my parents.

This is Julianna and Jared with Popi and Grandma Doreen. By the way for those of you that have seen "Merry Madagascar" the catch phrase of the day was 'Happy Juliannuary!'. I can't think of anything more appropriate.

This is a picture of me in the foreground talking to Sally Neuberger with her husband Laurence to the far right. My Aunt Norma (one of my favorite people in the world!) is in the middle of the picture with her arms folded. Off to the far left - almost cut off from the picture is my son-in-law Carl and that is Carianne's long hair flowing in the left.

Here are the happy couple, shivering in the cold. It was supposed to be in the 70's and it never got out of the 50's.

Here is a picture of me with my beautiful nieces (obviously without Julianna). They are as precious to me as my own daughters. Left is Annemarie, next to me to the right is Sara and then Christina (notice Christina is wearing my Christmas sweater - it is quite the fashion statement).

This is a picture of my father with my sister and me. It was so good to see Dad. It has been over 2 years since I have seen my father. So I got lots of fatherly hugs yesterday.

This is an awful picture of me but I am with my sister. We had such a wonderful day. It was a very long day. We left the house a little before 10:00 a.m. and got home a little before 9 p.m. However, Clyde and I finished our Christmas shopping. Plus we were able to see friends we have known since I was Carlye's age.

Things I am thankful for: grandchildren, patience, family, friends and the temple.

Just so you know

Well I am not sure I will be blogging until after Christmas. I am off to visit Carianne. My niece is getting married in the San Antonio Temple, so I am taking this opportunity to go and spend some time with her and my family in Kerrville. I am so excited. So while my blog goes by the wayside - because I know I will be focusing on getting all the hugs and loving I can get for the next 10 days - I would like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas. I will blog about my joyous visit when I come home!

Things I am thankful for: Airports and jets (because they get me to my family); this wondrous time of year; the joys of the gospel and the temple.

Monday's Hero

Those of you that know me well, know that I love Christmas and that I still believe in Santa Claus. I collect Santa Claus paraphernalia. I love Santa Claus for what he represents. He gives selflessly to everyone but especially to children. He loves all. There are more and more people that are concerned about their children growing up with the myth of Santa. That somewhat breaks my heart. So I will share something with everyone. Several years ago, our daughter Heidi gave me a book by Diane G. Adamson. It is called "I Believe In Santa Claus". I highly recommend it. You can get a copy on Amazon.com. It beautifully discusses Santa and Christ during the Christmas season.

All the Stories of Santa Claus and St. Nicholas always entail selfless giving. He is someone that during this season of stress and greed that we could all emulate. I think that is why I always keep a few Santa's up around the house all year - to remind me to be selfless all year long. There is no harm in that.

We tried to teach our daughters that giving was the way of Christmas. I watch them to this day as they are more excited about giving the gifts than they are receiving them. We would pick families out and anonymously give part of our Christmas to them. We did the 'giving trees' and Toys for Tots. Many years were spent with our family bustling around for 12 days before Christmas giving gifts to a family for the 12 Days of Christmas. We always had such a good time doing that. These were all inspired because of our family's love of Santa Claus. So today I honor someone that may not exist anywhere but in our hearts - but may he make our hearts be turned to Christlike ways during this holiday season.

Things I am thankful for: Jets, suitcases, Christmas cards and gifts to give and receive.

(P.S. I have no idea who is in this picture. It was in the clip-art and I thought it was cute.)

Recipes

Heather emailed me and wanted to get Grandma Brugger's Chili recipe along with my Beef and Barley soup recipe. I thought since we finally had a measurable snow here today - why not? My sister serves my mother's chili on Christmas Day along with fresh tortillas (you can buy almost homemade ones at Walmart out West and then brown them off to taste fresh as homemade) along with tamales. This year sometime I am going to learn how to make tamales before the family moves from the ward. Even if we don't get them done before Christmas - we will have New Year tamales instead. Then I will practice and be able to pass the tradition on to the rest of my family. Anyway here is my mom's chili. Oh, you will need a big pot or half the recipe - it makes a huge pot full. But it also freezes well.

Carolyn Brugger's Chili
2 1/2 pounds lean ground beef
2 - 3 quarts tomato juice or V-8 juice
2 pounds kidney dried kidney or pinto beans
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 large onion, minced fine or 1/4 cup dried onion
1 1/2 Tablespoons salt
1 Tablespoon black pepper
2-4 Tablespoons chili powder (depends on how much heat you can stand)
1/2 Tablespoon Cajun Seasoning (optional

Soak the beans overnight or bring the beans to a boil and cook for 5 minutes. Take off the heat and let sit for 1 hour. Drain and rinse the beans in cold water. Bring 2 quarts of the tomato juice to a boil. Add the ground beef, beans, onion, and all of the seasonings to the pot. Sit it on the back of the stove, semi-covered and cook it on medium low heat for 2-6 hours (sea level plays a big role in how long it takes your beans to cook through). Add water or more tomato juice as needed. When the beans are tender - serve.

This can be divided out and frozen for future use. Or have a chili party when you make this. We cannot get the 'almost homemade' tortillas here. I just warm tortillas on the griddle for 30 seconds. If you eat them while they are hot - they taste great. They toast up and get dry if you leave them on the griddle too long, though.

Note: Some people say that if you cook the beans in tomato juice that the beans will react and not cook properly. The beans will not get mushy - they will always be a little al dente - but they taste wonderful.

Beef and Barley Soup
1 pound stew meat - cut into bite size pieces
1/4 cup dried barley
1/2 cup cut up carrots
1/2 cup cut up celery
2 Tablespoon dried onion
1 - 2 cups cut up potatoes
5 cups beef broth

Brown the stew meat in a little bit of vegetable oil or butter. When the meat is browned on most of the sides, add the carrots and celery and cook for a few minutes - until the celery is just starting to get translucent. Add the rest of the vegetables, the barley and the beef broth. Cook on medium/low on the back of the stove for 1-2 hours until the broth has reduced and the meat is tender.

Note: There are times that I make this and find I don't have carrots or celery (Clyde takes them in his lunch and I don't always check). I always keep a bag of frozen mixed vegetables in the freezer. I cook the meat, barley and potatoes (I don't even always use potatoes, I sometimes add rice) until about 45 minutes before the soup will be ready to eat - then I add 2 cups of frozen vegetables. Measurements are not important on this recipe. Add how much or as little of whatever as you want. I don't measure anymore - this was the original guideline.

This soup tastes good and we can have soup whenever, without rushing off to the store. We do eat a lot of soup because nothing tastes better on a cold night than hot soup.

While I am at it - here is another favorite - that is quick and easy

Chicken and Rice Soup
2 cups cut up cooked chicken (I usually simmer 2 chicken breasts in chicken broth and then dice them up when I know I am making this soup. If the chicken hasn't thawed all the way then I cup up the still partially frozen chicken and dump it in the chicken broth of the soup and go on - it will all get cooked anyway).
1/2 cup chopped carrots
1/2 cup chopped celery (to chop my vegetables - I run them quickly through my food processor until they are they size I want)
1/2 cup rice
5 cups chicken broth
Dump all of this in the pot. Cook until the liquid is reduced and the rice is cooked through - so at least 30 minutes but as long as 1 hour. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Note: When I have leftover broccoli or cauliflower - it gets chopped up and thrown in here too. I have even thrown in chopped up spinach and leftover bell peppers - chopped fine. This is a fast and very warming soup. I am ashamed to say it - but we probably have a variation of this soup at least once a week and sometimes more! I also use leftover rice - but if I use cooked rice then it doesn't get added until just a few minutes before serving. Just cook it long enough to heat it through. Also - measurements are not important on this recipe. If you want more carrots or rice - go for it!

Things I thankful for: crockpots, soups and crusty rolls, a warm place to live.

An Open Letter to my family

I know today should be my book review day but since I keep reading the same authors - there really isn't much to report. I have decided that I need to get some major Christmas Spirit in my life and report some things that have been suggested to me. Unfortunately that probably won't happen in this blog.

I have a young friend that is just out of medical school. He is an Orthopedic surgeon for the Navy. I was hobbling quite badly Sunday and while he ate lunch - I spilled my history of the last 3 years. He told me to tell my daughters and anyone else that would listen to start taking glucosamine and chondroitin. This recommendation is so you won't get arthritis and you will keep your knees strong and healthy. I told him I have had arthritis in my hands since I was in my 20's. He said that then you should especially start taking it because it is important for strong joint health. Whatever your body does not need - it will flush it away. There are several fairly inexpensive kinds on the market and you only need to take the minimum dosage right now.

It occurred to me that I probably spent 4 or 5 Christmases at my grandparents home in all of my growing up years. We always lived so far away that to have Christmas with anyone but ourselves was out of the question. I think that is why we always made such a big deal about Advent and St. Nicholas along with baking cookies and having hordes of people over to help decorate the tree - because unbeknownst to me at the time, Mom was wishing she was home for the holidays. It wasn't until we were in Heidelberg that Mom was no longer lonesome at Christmas - I was 17 years old and getting ready to graduate from High School. My mother loved to do parties and have huge crowds over - no matter how small our apartment was. Sometimes those parties would literally put her in the hospital afterwards, but she needed the socialization, especially during the holidays. I think now more out of habit and from her example, I think that the holidays have to be over the top.

This year has been hard for me. I didn't get a book done. I usually do the book in January -March. But this year I was strapped to that brace and couldn't get under the computer for several hours a day. Plus Clyde had definate ideas about what he wanted and has been too busy to help much. So it never happened. So for the first time in 12 years there is no book. I probably could have hustled and done something earlier this fall but I never could get into the spirit to ever make the attempt. I just haven't cared. I have a 1 foot tree decorated and a new nativity I bought with the money from my father for my Christmas, as the only decorations in the apartment. I do have my Christmas clothes out - but that is all. I am tired of being so far away from my grandchildren. The problem is it will be longer before I am close to any of them and even then I will have to settle for just a few of them. We will never all be together in the same area. That makes me sad but it is how our life is. At least sometime in the not too distant future - we just might have a house large enough where the family can gather for Christmas. I look forward to that day with joy.

Enough rambling and enough of my pity party for today. I love my family more than anything. I am so blessed to have the amazing family that I do have. It would make life so much easier if we didn't like each other and didn't want to be close to each other. Fortunately we do love each other and cherish each minute we do have together - no matter how few they are.

Things I am thankful for: Christmas movies, music and holiday specials.

Monday's Heroine's

My first heroine is my Aunt Norma. She has been more like a sister than an aunt. We have always been super close. I don't have any pictures of her at all except for this picture. I don't know what has happened to my pictures. Anyway, this is my parents wedding picture. Norma is the young girl in the center left. My parent are in the middle of the picture. This would have been taken on September 13 - not anywhere close to December but Norma's birthday is this week - so I want to honor her. She is my anchor and always has been. I am very grateful to have her in my life.

This is a picture of Celeste Bailey - before she was Collins. She is Clyde's younger sister. She would come over and visit us when we lived in North Carolina because she was in Chapel Hill and we were in Durham - so just 10 miles from each other. I am so glad we had that time to get to know her. I wish we were closer now and had an opportunity to know her family better but I know she is a wonderful wife and mother. She has always been been an amazing example of womanhood. I am very glad to call her my sister.

I wanted this to be the picture I used of Heidi in her younger years last week. When we lived in North Carolina, we decided to do an impromptu re-enactment of the nativity. Carianne, Heather and Heidi were the angels. I whipped up some white costumes for them the day of the program and they used them for nightgowns for several years. I love how Heather looks so reverent and angelic in this picture. It is one of my favorite 'Christmas' pictures of our girls. Heidi would have been just 4 in this picture.

I am thankful for clear roads and good weather; for being there to help people when they need it and that Clyde arrived in Virginia safely.

More Recipes

A few of you commented that you did not like pumpkin in any shape or recipe so you would not even try the Pumpkin Spice Waffles that I put in here a couple of weeks ago. (Pam did try them by the way and though she could taste the pumpkin - the Gingerbread flavors overpowered the pumpkin. She quite enjoyed them). I thought I would write up the inspiration for the Pumpkin Gingerbread Waffles. Years ago, my cousin Cyndi Allen Peterson gave me her Gingerbread Waffle recipe. This is the Allen family Christmas Morning breakfast tradition. It was during one of my 'health' nut times and so I tweaked it and played with until I came up with the pumpkin version. I think I also didn't have molasses - so the pumpkin went in as the substitute. Anyway, the Allen's serve theirs with a lemon sauce that I have lost. We serve it plain, with applesauce or fresh whipped cream.

Gingerbread Waffles
1 1/2 cups flour 2 eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder 1/3 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking soda 3/4 cup buttermilk
1/2 teaspoon salt 1/2 cup molasses
1 teaspoon cinnamon 1/4 cup melted butter
3/4 teaspoon ground ginger

Mix the dry ingredients together and fluff with a whisk. In a separate bowl, beat the eggs and gradually add the sugar until frothy. Stir in the buttermilk and the molasses. Add the egg mixture to the dry ingredients and stir until just moistened. Add the melted butter that has been slightly cooled, last. Cook in waffle iron, according to manufacturer's instructions. Serve with whipped cream, apples sauce, or just sprinkled with confectioner's sugar.
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This is really simple Blueberry pancake recipe. I used fat-free sour cream or yogurt instead of full fat sour cream. In fact I have never used regular sour cream for this recipe. I imagine it would heavenly but I never have it in the house. I also use the lower fat version of Bisquick but the original recipe was for the regular version.

Sour Cream Blueberry Pancakes
2 cups Bisquick mix
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup milk
2 eggs
1 cup fresh or frozen and thawed blueberries

Heat skillet over medium heat or an electric griddle to 350 degrees. Grease the pan or spray with non-stick cooking spray.

Beat Bisquick, sour cream, milk and eggs together (you might have to add a bit more milk to make it the right consistency) in a large bowl with a wire whisk or hand mixer until smooth. Hand stir in the blueberries with a spoon. With a large serving spoon (I use a gravy ladle) pour the batter onto the skillet to form the pancake.

Cook about 3 minutes per side or until the edges are dry. Turn and cook an additional 3 mintues on the other side. Make sure your pancake is not too thick or it will not cook in the center.

I hope you enjoy these recipes.

Things I am thankful for: I have an assistant for Faith in God for Girls; Good friends; Seasons Greetings.

Tuesday Book Review on Wednesday

I am a day late on my book review but I had a busy day yesterday and a terrible headache. It didn't make for a good review day. This last week I have read Jason F. Wright's "Christmas Jars". It was a sweet book that finally got me a little excited about the Christmas Season. Those of you that know me will be a little surprised to know that I have had kind of a "Bah Humbug" feeling this year. I am tired of being so far away from family and fighting my husband about Christmas. I will let others do the hustle and bustle and I will do only what is necessary and nothing more. This book at least made me realize I needed to reach out to some of the ward members that are needy in different ways. I have some plans now to make their Christmas a little brighter.

" Hunting Ground" was good but not my favorite. Heather and I love the Mercy Thompson books by Patricia Briggs and we are constantly trying to find Mercy in her other books. It finally dawned on us that when we didn't find her - we were a bit disappointed. The book is well written and right on track with her story line. I just like Mercy Thompson a bit better than the Alpha and Omega storyline.

This may look like an odd read for me. Well I must confess I didn't read it. Clyde and I listened to it. When we travel we go the library and check out CD's and listen in the car. This time we listened to the Percy Jackson series first two books and then the "American Lion" by Jon Meacham. This is the story of Jackson during his White House years. It was fascinating. A couple of things I learned was that he was deeply loved by the American people but his contemporaries - including his Vice President for his first term - HATED him with deep passion. They felt he had no right in the White House or the Presidency. They even manipulated it so that John Quincy Adams won the election so Jackson didn't get in sooner when the Electoral College didn't come up with the confirming votes for Jackson (It should have been but the House said it needed to be voted on by them so they voted Adams in instead). The senate hated him so bad they decided to censure Jackson when Jackson shut down a powerful bank that was manipulating the Senate and the House votes. That is why we sometimes read that he is the first President to be impeached. What we don't read is that they eventually expunged that from the record (or in other words deleted it). Unfortunately it is like anything that is said - once it is out there - it is always there. I doubt I would ever read this book, but listening to it was fascinating and kept us awake coming home.

Things I am thankful for: Books on CD; Christmas music; Christmas movies; Christmas Decorations; sunshine; that it hasn't been too cold yet (thanks to el Nino')