25 Years, yet it feels like yesterday

I remember January 28, 1986 like it was yesterday. I was 11 years old and in Mrs. Smith's science class.  Anticipation had built for weeks as Mrs. Smith talked about outer space, planets, space exploration and how science experiments could be done in those situations.

Shortly before lunch Mrs. Smith turned on the televisions that had been placed in the classroom for the special event. She was excited. Her excitement bubbled over into her students.  And we watched with awe as the Space Shuttle Challenger launched into a wide blue sky.  And then our little faces watched in horror as dreams exploded in front of our eyes. 

We quickly learned terms like "O-ring" and "rocket boosters." We learned how their failure led to the loss of seven lives. And even as middle school kids we realized that the nation had suffered a great loss.  It was the first national disaster that I remember. And when the scene replayed in 2003 with the explosion of the Discovery, we all wept again. 

It was later in the afternoon that we took comfort in our parent's explanations of tragedies. And we turned to President Reagan for an explanation. He reassured us saying, "The crew of the space shuttle Challenger honored us by the manner in which they lived their lives. We will never forget them, nor the last time we saw them, this morning, as they prepared for their journey and waved goodbye and "slipped the surly bonds of earth" to "touch the face of God."


25 years later and it it still feels like yesterday.

Hunk of Meat Monday: Beef Stroganoff

I am stealing the Hunk of Meat idea from my good friend Leah at Beyer Beware.  She makes recipes that cause my mouth to start watering! Check her out for some great pork chops this week.

Meat is a staple in our house. While The Farmer will eat anything I cook, his favorite meals revolve around comfort food. And I am lucky enough to have a gigantic cookbook of recipes my mom gave me that are all the comfort foods I grew up with! She literally took all of her recipe box, typed up the recipes and put them in a 3-ring binder.  I probably have 1000 recipes from her cookbooks.  Best gift ever!

My Mom's Beef Stroganoff recipe is one I remember her making but never needed a recipe.  It's a dump and go recipe. And that's how I cook many of my meals.  Dump, taste, add something, taste, add something else, you get the point.

Last week I had to be out of town for work.  And just in case The Farmer thought he should take the Panda, Monkey and Lion Cub to that awful drive-thru with the golden arches, I made a few meals that he only had to reheat.  And my kids devour this Beef Stroganoff. But they eat anything!

First, prepare a bag of wide egg noodles.  They take about 7 minutes to boil.  Drain.

Then brown a package of hamburger.  Drain off the grease. Return to pan and add a 16 oz container of fat free sour cream, a can of fat free cream of mushroom soup and a can of mushrooms.  Stir together.



  Serve the beef mixture over noodles!  That's it! It doesn't look appetizing, but it really tastes good.  And it's better than going to a fast food drive thru!

The Duck That Almost Got Away

 I am fortunate to have a family that will eat almost anything.  Even my Panda and Monkey have adventurous pallets.  My Panda thinks pickled beets are the best food ever and my Monkey would take a bowl of lettuce over a candy bar almost any day.

So I really count my blessing that my kids ate duck!  Since I'm participating in my friends, Ott. A's Iron Chef's duck challenge, it was time for me to figure out where to buy duck and how to make it! With my coupon from Maple Leaf Farms in hand, I headed to my little Kroger store.  The only way I could find duck was as a whole duck.  No problem.  I've roasted plenty of chickens, pork loins and turkeys.  I figured I could just roast a duck!

My first experience eating duck was at my wine festival, Vintage Indiana, long before I was in charge of the festival.  Maple Leaf Farms served duck at Vintage the year I attended as a guest and I loved it. So I was excited to get that duck home and cook it.

I defrosted my duck in the refrigerator for two days.  Since it was frozen solid when I bought it, this gave it plenty of time to thaw.

I searched through a dozen recipes trying to decide how to cook this duck.  In the end, I simply seasoned it with one of my favorite additions. This lemon sea salt and peppercorn seasoning is from Kroger and I add it to everything!

I simply put the duck, breast side up, in my favorite old roasting pan with a stand in it to keep the duck from boiling in the fat drippings.

It needed to cook at 375 for 2 hours and 15 minutes.  My whole house was starting to smell wonderful.  And then I heard a boiling sound. Upon opening the stove I found this...

My duck collapsed! Which prompted my Farmer to ask me if it was trying to fly away?  Funny guy.  I quickly fixed my fallen duck and returned it to the oven.  After 2 hours in the oven, perfection.

And it tasted even better.  I picked the meat off the bones just like I do whole chickens.  I served it shredded for my Farmer and I and added some BBQ sauce for the Panda and Monkey.  My Lion Cub, now nearly 5 months old, had a chance to lick one of my fingers! He liked it too.

While it would have been easier to cook just breasts, I'm happy with my whole duck experience!

Resolving

I'm not a big fan of New Year's resolutions.  Why set myself up for failure? No need to say I'm going to lose "x" amount of pounds only to be hit by a chocolate craving in a month.  Or to promise myself I'm going to read a good book every night when I know I spend my evenings reading Green Eggs and Ham and It's Hard to Be Five. (Both very good reads, even for a grownup!)

However, I think this year will be different.  Like most Mom's, I spend way more time on my family than on myself.  I cook, clean, wash clothes, feed animals, wipe butts, noses and whatever else might be dripping and manage to work full-time with a 3 hour daily commute. There is very little to no time left for me.  And I don't want much time.  Just a few minutes at the end of the day to call mine.

So here is a list of my resolutions.

1.  Read the Bible daily.  It has been a few years since I have read the Bible from Genesis to Revelation.  I downloaded the Bible app to my ipad and I intend to read my electronic Bible daily. Reading it on my ipad is not the same as reading my actual Bible, the one with pages and room for notes, but this will have to do this year.  The app has a One Year Bible built in and that's the way I want to read.

2.  Sleep. This is a big area I'm missing.  There is no time for sleep.  Note the three children pictured below and you'll understand why I don't sleep.  They are ages 7,4 and 4 months.  I am constantly on the go.  And my Lion Cub doesn't sleep through the night.  My Farmer doesn't seem to wake up when the baby cries so it's up to me. I wouldn't trade those early morning little talks I have with my Lion Cub. There is nothing as soothing as rocking a baby when the rest of the house is quiet.  But middle-of-the-night feedings will require me to start going to bed earlier.

3.  Live in the Moment. OK, this sounds a bit lalalaish, but has a good intent.  When I'm at work I think about the kids. When I'm home I am constantly checking email or fretting about a work project. Work goes with me everywhere.  When I'm with the family I need to really be with the family.  Simple enough, hard to implement.

3.  Blog. Easy enough. FenceRow to FenceRow was very neglected in 2010.  I will blog once a week.  At least.  I hope!  Then maybe I'll get some actual followers!

4.  Shed the Excess.  (weight, stuff)  Everyone wants to lose weight. I have babyweight to lose. And I'd like to do it before my Lion Cub starts college!  As for stuff, I can't stand stuff.  I think as a society we have too much stuff. I don't like knick-knacks that I have to dust or move around. I'm not a fan of having stuff just to have it. I want to be more of a minimalist. I keep important stuff; homemade items from the kids, family heirlooms and treasurers and the like. But I don't need 50 different candles or the stack of magazines my Farmer keeps but never reads! You get the picture. Just need to pare down.

Simply, 2011 will be a great year. Just need to make a few tweaks along the way!