Click here to view the embedded video.

Yep the weather has got us down.  There is more snow on the way, but we are finding ways to get through it. Not by getting the Wee one sauced up on Spaten though. Just thought it was a funny picture. She was actually trying to copy her Dad and his bottle “tooting” skills.

Anyway there are no signs of Spring up here in Timbucktoo… yet… We are managing thanks to good neighbors with plow trucks and a road crew with lots of sand. The wee one and I have ventured out for some shopping and library visits.

I set up an Art Station to help bust up the Wee Ones boredom. This morning we painted with water. We also invested in a new box of Twistable Crayons. A great solution to our crayon eating problem. We also love to play with sticky notes and tape. Yes the bottle goes everywhere with us she is addicted and I’ve found it’s not the contents because I’ve watered everything down and it doesn’t phase her at all. So any suggestions on how to overcome bottle security issues?

We also have a new member of the Marcoccia household. Meet Dorothy the fish. Gary picked her up while we were in Germany. Do you think he was lonely? Poor guy. She seems to be happy here with lots of light and plenty of things in her water to play with like plant dirt, feathers, pretty much what ever is on the floor. Hopefully she can survive Ellie’s little fish experiments and live a long happy fishy life.

One last thing. I found a new Soup Recipe. I’m not really a soup person but this one is yummy. I think it has a lot to do with the bacon. It got us through the first few storm days…

Bean and Bacon Soup

8 oz Cannellini Beans

3 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil

1 onion chopped

3-4 carrots chopped

2-3 Celery Stalks chopped

1 Tbsp Fresh Rosemary

4 strips of Bacon

2 Garlic cloves crushed

1 can diced tomatoes

4 cups chicken/veg stock

4 cups water

2 tbsp fresh parsley

Heat oil in sauce pan over med heat.

Cook onion, celery, carrot, bacon, herbs, and garlic about 5 min

add beans, tomatoes, chicken/veg stock, water bring to a boil

Simmer gently for 20 minutes over medium Season and serve with parsley

enjoy…

Ellie wasn’t going to eat her dinner last night until we let her feed her self. Once she got a hold of the “greens” she seemed as though she had an insatiable appetite.

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Well I spoke too soon. The Wee One is sick. She had a temperature of 102.7 on Sunday evening so we  took her down to the “5′minute clinic” in Heber. Her temp registered 103.5 there yikes. We had a relatively good experience at the clinic the PA there was very helpful, understanding, and thorough. She was tested for strep, influenza, and urinary infection. Which all came out negative. So we loaded her up with some children’s Tylenol and some Motrin.  Yesterday and today the fever has been up and down. We took her to our regular Dr today to follow up. They did a chest x-ray and blood work. The x-ray was fine and we will get a call on the blood work later. We know she pretty much caught Gary’s virus but the MD’s wanted to run all those tests so they could rule out any other secondary issues. This is the first time Ellie has been really down and out sick. She’s had a little cold last year but never has had this high of a fever. Needless to say she is exhausted today after all the poking and proding. I’m not sure it was necessary to take her into the Dr today and put her through all that testing but it comes down to we are better off safe then sorry. So far today her fever has been more mild. So we will continue to direct our thoughts to healthy bodies and love…

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We had grand plans of going to Alta for a ski day today. Unfortunately Gary woke up with a very stuffy head ughh. It’s been around for a couple of days and he has put up a good fight but last night/this morning it has the upper hand. He caught this little cold while in Vegas last weekend. I was under the impression that what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas. Humm….

So, Ellie and I took to the grocery store this morning to get some Chicken Noodle Love Soup essentials. You know like chicken, parsley, onions, Rootbeer (I can’t explain my RB obsession lately, weird), and a donut for good measure.

Here is my recipe:

Take a whole fryer chicken and put it in a big stew pot with 8 cups of chicken broth. Cook that up for about an hour. Meanwhile, chop all the veggies you have on hand like onions, carrots, celery, leeks, squash, and such. Think about how much you love your family while you chop. Chop up some parsley and dill while your at it. Reflect on the things that make you happy like a beautiful blue sky day, dogs, and laughter. When the chicken is done do what has to be done, and you know, separate the meat from the bones. This part is the worst but if it helps your sick one feel better it’s worth it. Put some more loving thoughts into what you are doing. Strain the chicken broth. Just smelling it is already making the sick one feel better. Add your veggies and chopped chicken to the broth and more water if you need it. Let these cook. Think some more about healing the sick one with some love and soup. When the veggies seem soft add some noodles. Again, pour some good healthy thoughts in there too and stir it up. Finally when the noodles are done serve it up. While enjoying your chicken noodle love soup think about how your not going to get sick.  Really,  your not and neither is the Wee One.

One more thing you can enjoy with your soup.

“Ginger Lemon I Feel Sorry for You Honey Tea”

Fill your teapot up with water, peel and slice some fresh ginger, add some lemon slices. Heat it up until nice and steamy. Spoon out a dollop of honey into your favorite mug. Poor the ginger-lemon water over the honey spoon. Sip and relax.

Ellie and I went out and played in the snow today after lunch. She was more prepared than me thanks to our friends Jen and Scott. Who have generously out fitted the “Wee One” with hand-me-downs both this winter and last. My winter/ski gear still needs to be brought out of storage. So needless to say I was soaked by the time we came in. We even tried out sledding with a cookie sheet. It worked pretty well. I just couldn’t tell if she liked it or not. As usual she was a little stoic. No crying but no shrieks of laughter either.

Afterward we came inside and warmed up with an excellent afternoon treat of Donut Muffins and warm Milk. Ummm… Donut Muffins you say?? Yep, they are muffins that taste like a donut and I think they are great. I found the recipe here. Which is now my new favorite food blog. Did you see her Bake tattoo? I love it although I’m not so sure I’m that dedicated of a baker….

Please forgive my out-of-focus photography. I’m learning

My sister recently got involved in an organization called Operation Baking Gals. Baking GALS (GALS stands for Give A Little Support) is a group of volunteer bakers who bake and ship homemade goodies to our heroic troops that are currently deployed.  Each soldier is “Hosted” by a blogger, and potential bakers are “recruited” from the bloggers own site as well as the GALS site.  Each Host recruits between 20-25 bakers, meaning LOTS of goodies get delivered to our soldier…so many, in fact that he or she has plenty to share with their fellow troops!

Leslie enjoyed it so much she decided to form her own team for her friends who are now serving in Iraq. Captains Terry and Hammons. These guys are Army Dentists that do an excellent job maintaining the smiles of our soldiers down range. In their dental unit there are approximately 25 Soldiers that will benefit from our sweet treats. This group of professionals see aprox. 1000 soldiers per month doing everything from fillings to root canals to crown and bridge work to dentures. They service a patient population of 60,000 soldiers and another 60,000 Third Country Nationals, Contractors, etc. on an emergent basis.

I’m excited to be apart of Leslie’s group and be able to show my support to these guys in some small way. I made some Gingersnap cookies for them. Gingersnaps are one of my favorite cookies I like the spice. So, I hope Captain Terry and Captain Hammond enjoy them as well. Cheers to them and all of their efforts, sacrifices, and hard work.

We had an excellent breakfast this morning. Apple Oven Pancakes from the Williams-Sonoma Essential Baking cookbook. My Mom gave me this book a few years back it has great basic recipes and I have officially put this one and the Ginger Scones on my top 10 favorite baked goodies list. I think I was actually the most animated over breakfast this morning. I got so excited seeing those puffy golden cakes. Gary isn’t much of a breakfast kind of guy, but me, ohh I love breakfast. It’s the little things that bring me pleasure like some good coffee in a beat up old red mug that I’ve had for years. I don’t know what it is about that mug but if it isn’t available to me in the morning the whole rest of the day can be thrown off. One time I caught a friend using it for her tea when I wanted it for my coffee oh the dilemma.  I couldn’t believe how it threw off my whole morning. What’s up with that? Do I have tale tale signs of OCD? Anyway, this was about those Apple Oven Pancakes…

Here is the recipe

4 Tbsp unsalted butter

4 cups diced peeled apples

2 Tbsp brown sugar

juice of 1/2 a lemon

1/2 tsp grd cinnamon

4 eggs lightly beaten

1 cup whole milk

1 cup flour

1 tsp vanilla

1/8 tsp salt

Heat oven to 425. Saute apples in frying pan with 2tbsp butter just until tender

remove apples from heat sprinkle with brown sugar, lemon juice, cinnamon

Place baking dish in oven heat for 5 min

Remove from oven and add remaining 2 tbsp butter to it coat with melted butter

Spoon apples over bottom of the dish

Whisk together eggs, milk, flour, vanilla, and salt

Pour over the apples

Bake until puffed and golden brown 20-25 minutes

I have that little jig stuck in my head from Prairie Home Companion not even sure how it goes? Anybody know what I’m talkin’ about? So as I was putting in the linky link I found out they are having a Rhubarb Tour this summer. Rhubarb funny… Anyway, they are coming to Utah! At Red Butte Gardens on August 19. Not sure if we will be able to make it might overlap with our German vacation this summer. I haven’t had the opportunity to listen to PHC for so long. Sigh. It got inside my head this morning when I decided to go ahead and make myself a little treat for Mother’s Day.

I spied some good looking Rhubarb at the grocery the other day and Strawberries were relatively cheap so why not. Then I did a recipe search on Epicurious the first recipe sounded awesome. Rhubarb Strawberry Pudding Cake! Perfect! I put my own spin on it by adding some ground Cardamom for some flavor flav er spicy spice and because well I just really like Cardamom. I also divided the flour into 1/4 cup whole wheat flour and 3/4 cup all purpose white flour. It’s a fairly simple recipe which is another bonus and motivator for me to post about it. So here it is enjoy…

1/4 cup water
1 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch
1/3 cup plus 1/2 cup sugar
2 cups chopped fresh rhubarb stalks (10 ounces)
1 cup chopped fresh strawberries (5 ounces)

1/2 tsp ground Cardamom(optional)

1 cup all-purpose flour (or 1/4 cup ww flour and 3/4 cup white flour)
1 3/4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt

1 large egg
1/2 cup whole milk
1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Grease an 8×8 inch baking pan or small casserole dish. Preheat oven at 400 degrees

In a sauce pan combine the water, cornstarch, and 1/3 cup of sugar. Add the Rhubarb and heat let simmer 3-5 minutes. Take off the heat and add the strawberries.

Combine all the flour, baking powder, salt, 1/2 c sugar, and cardamom if you opt for it. Stir in the melted butter, add the egg, then add the milk and vanilla.

Put 3/4 of the strawberry/rhubarb mix in the bottom of the pan. Pour cake batter over top and sprinkle remaining strawberry/rhubarb mix over the top of that. Bake at 400 degrees for 25 to 30 minutes.

I’m imagining this would also make an excellent dutch oven dessert for those who love to cook with dutch ovens and coals while enjoying the great out of doors.

I’m also imagining some Vanilla Bean Ice Cream served along side. OOh Yummy!

After a long week of dealing with a nasty cold that has victimized all three of us I decided we could use a treat. I didn’t have the time or energy to make Grandma McKenney’s cinnamon rolls so I improvised and made cinnamon biscuits instead. They turned out quite good actually, but you really can’t go wrong with anything that contains butter and sugar, right? They brought up a flood of memories for me. Whenever I had the opportunity to stay with my aunt Laurel as a youngster she would make a stop almost every morning at the Hardee’s down the road for their yummy cinnamon biscuits and coffee before we headed up the canyon to Alta. I’m so excited because I nailed it. They taste exactly like what I remember.

Cinnamon Biscuits

2 cups flour

2 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 Tbsp sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

6 tbsp unsalted butter (cut into pieces)

3/4 cup milk

Set your oven temp at 425. Combine flour, salt, sugar, and cinnamon in a bowl. Cut butter into dry ingredients. Stir in milk. Don’t over mix or you will end up with a tough dough instead of a nice flaky dough. Bake for about 8 to 10 minutes. Also, you can get ahead of the game by mixing everything but the milk the night before and just add the milk the next morning. If your like me this helps prevent mistakes due to the pre-coffee “morning fog”. Finally mix up a bit of powdered sugar with some milk for a tasty frosting. Wala!

On another topic but relevant to our Saturday morning: Gary informed me that he added the Neil Young “Living With War Today” link to the site. I was going to try to avoid political commentary on this blog but Gary is so passionate about wanting a change I guess we should share what we are doing and talking about. Besides I am a big Neil Young fan, and Harvest Moon is my all time favorite song.

Click here to view the embedded video.

We just got done watching all the video of his recording sessions. In case you haven’t heard about Living With War (LWW), this is Neil Young’s documentary recording series focused on the part of the war you WILL NOT see on the main stream news, and protesting the war in Iraq. Neil is still at it. Bless this man! If you’re interested, here are some links:

• Living With War Today Videos (All videos are included in the “Living With War: In The Beginning” CD/DVD set.)
• This video is particularly touching. Neil talks about how when he finished and was reciting the lyrics to his wife, he broke down crying: Flags of Freedom

Finally something so wonderful to post about. Ellen is starting to sit up on her own! She is also starting to say mama in her babble mostly when she is complaining or on the verge of crying (not sure how I should feel about this). She doesn’t associate mama with me yet but its exciting none the less. Needless to say our hearts are soaring.