Ducksgiving

  Soooooo, how many people really like turkey anyway? Like jump-up-and-down-I-can't-wait-to-have-some-on-Thursday kind of like it? Not us. Graham and I have been itching do an alternative Thanksgiving menu - glammed up versions of the traditional components - for a while now but the opportunity never presented itself. But this year we were invited to my parents the weekend before Thanksgiving for a little celebration with the immediate family since we couldn't be there on the actual day. When Graham and I volunteered to cook, my mom happily handed us her kitchen. And we went crazy (like any couple who hardly sees each other who is given the opportunity to cook a huge feast with built-in babysitting the Saturday before Thanksgiving would do).

We selected turkey's next of kin and made Duck a l'Orange for our main course. Not many people can say they've butchered a whole duck but Graham now can! Well, it was dead when he started but he had to cut it into all it's pieces. Honestly, I almost lost my lunch shopping for the beasts (we had two) - let's just say that Asian grocers don't always package their meats in the most appealing of fashions. I did go with the head-less, beak-less, eye-less option but still, the other guy was right there literally watching me grab his brother as I fought back a heavy wave of nausea.

 

Anyhow, let's talk about happy things like bread! We replaced rolls with a less traditional but three times as delicious Rosemary Flatbread with Blue Cheese, Grapes and Honey. Seriously awesome.



Instead of green beans, we had Kale with Garlic and Bacon. It's a proven fact that everything is better with bacon. And it was (though we didn't use as much as the recipe called for). We did use 4 full heads of kale though. I love how you can eat SO much of that delicious stuff without realizing it when it's sauteed.

We traded in mashed potatoes for Grandma's Crushed Potatoes, fingerling potatoes seasoned with toasted cumin and coriander seeds and turmeric. And duck fat. I'd been saving the duck fat from our bird nicely in an almost half-full mug. I turned my back (which one should never do when cooking with Graham!) and it was nearly empty. Gasp! And delicious.

For some reason I neglected to photograph dessert. Probably because it was a pie and I don't really like pie. (I know, all you Croziers are disowning me right now - how could I say such a thing!?) Graham requested a Sweet Potato Pie and it was pretty darn good if I do say so myself. For a pie of course. All in all, our meal was yummy but I think we can do better. The duck was too classic for my taste which I guess makes me a duck snob. The breast is definitely best! But we had a blast cooking without having to entertain children at the same time and mostly we enjoyed time with family.

 

Let's not forget about the diners!

Emma was a duck fan

Oh yes and we drank a Cotes du Rhone since we were dining on French fusion (sort of).

Grandma and Lilly

Silver, Josh & Ben - we had the WHOLE family together which was awesome!

And my wonderful parents!

I love my family - thanks for a fun, relaxing weekend!

Isla: 39 Months

Dear God,

 

Thank you to whomever you gifted with the GENIUS idea of "OK to Wake Clocks."

They have saved my bacon.

 

Amen.

 

I'm not sure what to say other than Isla is in transition with her sleep habits! There are many moments where I wonder if someone has stolen my girl and replaced her with the energizer bunny. She wakes at the crack of dawn and can go all day without a nap and then well into the evening before she finally gives in to sleep. Sometimes I think it is time to drop her nap and then other days, everyone around us KNOWS without a shadow of a doubt that that time has not yet come. So, thanks to her new clock, we've instilled boundaries around sleep. Or more accurately: "sleep." Isla must wait until her clock glows green (7:15 AM) before she comes out of her room in the morning and then I set it for 1 1/2 hours at nap time. It works ~63% of the time but I'll take it! My alone time this year is precious and infrequent and so these boundaries are much needed. For both of us!

The best part about the whole clock thing is that she always, always, always carries the clock downstairs with her to show us that it's glowing - makes us smile! Feel free to ask her about the clock when you see her next. She LOVES to talk about it!

 

I've lost track of how many house guests we are hosting at this point in time but Isla's "friends" come and go frequently. Sometimes they are pregnant. Sometimes they need to nap. She has quite the imagination and she is such a social creature!

 

She wants to go to school SO badly and asks us all the time when she gets to. We are considering preschool next year but in the meantime I try and occupy her with her "preschool book." She's learning to identify numbers and letters and group objects together. She loves it and will spend almost an hour "doing school" with me!

 

Isla loves heaters. I'll find her snuggled up in front of one with a Better Homes and Garden Magazine and a blanket, just like someone else we know. She also likes to sit in front of the one in my room in the morning, claiming it helps make her hair "soft and curly."

 

Isla's leadership skills continue to develop and flourish. I tell her often "Isla, you are going to go places!" She usually responds with "Where!?"

 

The other day she was asking me where heaven was. I told her up in the sky and she gave me a look of brief concern before she confidently informed me: "No it's not. Because that's too high for us to reach." Oh, ok.

 

After she's been in trouble, I sometimes ask her if she's ready to obey. Her latest is to announce that she's "going to obey on Saturday!"

 

Then there was the conversation that went like this:

Me - "Isla, you need to wash your hands."
Isla - "I want to use hanitizer!" (hand sanitizer)
Me - "No, we only use that when we don't have soap and water."
Isla - "Why?"
Me - "Because that's what the doctor says."
Isla - "What does Jesus say?"

 

Oh and the other thing I should probably mention is her love of getting dressed. She is very particular about her outfit choices. She hates coats (she wears them for the 7 foot trek from the front door to the car only to toss it on the van floor once she's climbed in...) and would probably wear dresses or skirts every day if she had more that were cold weather friendly. A couple weeks back she came across Emma's Halloween costume and was proud to report "It fits!"

Thanksgiving 2012

 It was a Crozier year this year! And our gathering was "small" (read: we only filled TWO large tables!) After some reminiscing, I think we determined it was Graham's first Thanksgiving off in 5 years so we made the best of the whole day. First just the 4 of us went for a walk along the Kirkland waterfront with Peppermint Mochas in hand. Then I went for a short run (just for good measure) before we loaded up and headed for Graham's parents.

 Our wonderful host and hostess

 Emma perfected her walking skills on Tuesday and so she spent most of the day walking around the house carrying things (cool new trick!) 

 Isla invested her time in a special new puzzle until Grandma pulled out her nativity scene. That was a real hit and she is getting better at telling a slightly accurate Christmas story.

 

 Graham can't for the life of him keep from squinting when someone snaps a picture of him. So, we decided not to bother even having him open his eyes anymore. Trust me, it's better this way.

 Uncle John made the very best part of the Thanksgiving meal (according to Isla): the rolls! She had three! When I told her no to having a 4th, she went and asked cousin Stew. Smart girl!

Cousins! Poor Canon was feeling a bit under the weather but put up with his cousins poking and prodding his face for as long as he could.

I think it's fair to say Emma LOVED the apple pie! She could not keep her hands off of Olona's plate.

 

Look at our thankful tree - we filled it! Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

 

 

I Love Mondays

On a whim last week, I threw together this Thankfulness Tree which I hope will help to illustrate the idea of Thanksgiving to my girls. The tree has four branches (one for each of us) and each day (when we remember), we name something we are thankful for and write it on a leaf. Isla helps glue them on the proper branches and pretty soon, our tree will be colorful and full.

 

My branch has an odd item: Mondays. You see, I love Mondays. Seriously, who says that!? I certainly never thought it'd be me! But Monday nights have grown to be a precious gift to me over the last 7 weeks since the quarter began. Why? Because Graham gets home in time for dinner!!! It's not like he gets home early. Actually, he always misses dinner prep and the bewitching hour(s). The house guaranteed to be a complete disaster and sometimes everyone is crying by the time we see the whites of his eyes but he's HOME! The girls light up like candles when they hear the front door unlock as often times they only see him once, sometimes twice in a 7-day stretch. And I am a happy wife to have a second pair of hands to put the girls to bed once a week.

 

Life is exhausting - but we are surviving, in case you were wondering (though I did order black dress socks on Amazon because I couldn't find time to do laundry and then last night when I did, I put dish washer detergent in the washing machine!!) I almost told someone the other day "9 months to go!" when I realized Wait a second, we are 1 1/2 months in - that means only 7 1/2 months to go!! The quarter ends in 3 weeks (not that I'm counting) and then we are going to do a whole lot of absolutely nothing!

 

Despite the craziness, we have much to be thankful for, as you can see by our tree that is filling out with leaves. And today, I just love Mondays!

Jesus' house

Sometimes I wish I could climb into Isla's brain to better understand what she is thinking. She ask questions at the most random, seemingly-unrelated of times but I'm sure it all makes sense in her head. Here is a snapshot of what she was thinking about on Monday (or at least what I can remember):

"When are we going to Jesus' house?"

"Will there be heaters at Jesus' house?"

"Will there be toys and magazines at Jesus' house?!"

"Why are we still alive?"

"Why will we not be wearing any clothes at Jesus' house?"

(And then, moving right along): "When will we go to Mickey Mouse's house?"

After the 4th or so question, I finally dropped what I was doing and went to sit with her by the heater vent where she is hanging out a lot these days. I asked her if she wanted to go to Jesus' house and she said yes. So we prayed together and she asked him into her heart! She is SO excited to go to his house and I'm an excited and proud mama!

***In other news, she just informed me that she wants to go to Zaccheaous' house!!*** :)

Bird Sanctuary

A couple weeks ago, Lani and I took the kids up to Bellingham for a couple nights at my parents during a particularly busy week for our husbands. Part of the fun included a trip up to the Reifel Bird Sanctuary in Canada to feed the birds. We grew up going here and so I was excited to introduce my kids to all the joys of letting birds eat from your hands. Seriously!

Isla let one duck nibble from her hand and that was enough for her! Those birds are EAGER for food so can get a bit aggressive when they see the seed...

The weather was as per usual for fall in the Pacific Northwest - a perfect opportunity to break in my new rain boots (seriously, why has it taken me 28 years of living here to buy a pair of these!?)

Gideon probably had the best time of us all - and the ducks really liked him too since his feeding style involved dumping piles of seed onto the ground. The patient adults in the group got chickadees to land on and feed out of our hands - so cool! 

 Thankfully I thought to get Emma out of the stroller for the last bit of our visit. She had a RIOT waddling right along with the ducks. My mom and I took turns holding onto the upper back of her coat while she pivoted and chased the ducks. She had her tongue out the entire time!

She was so busy watching the ducks that she didn't even realize she was standing alone.

It'd highly recommend the bird sanctuary as a family outing if you ever find yourself in Canada!



Tea Party

A week ago I suggested to Isla that the two of us have a tea party sometime during Emma's nap. Yesterday she reminded me of the idea but Emma woke up before we had finished making our delicious Lavender Scones so we postponed the party. After a couple of failed nap attempts this afternoon, I threw in the towel and decided we'd work in the yard instead. Once we were thoroughly chilled to the bone, I suggested we go inside and warm up with a tea party. Isla was all giggles and smiles for the next half hour. I asked her if she wanted to invite Daddy and Emma too but she requested "just us" this time. She got her own "tea cup" which we filled with warm milk. She loved it so much she had seconds and thirds! We lit a candle and as soon as we sat down she looked up at me and asked "How was the thing you went to this morning?" I wish I could have bottled up her sweetness so I could remember it forever. I had lots I wanted to get done today but tossing my to-do list and taking this cherished pause with her fed both of our souls!  

 

Sweet Lavender Scones                                    

Ingredients

• 3 cups all-purpose flour plus more for surface
• 3/4 cupgranulated sugar
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon dried lavender buds
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1/4-inch cubes
• 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons buttermilk
• 2 teaspoons finely grated lemon zest
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons sanding or granulated sugar
• 1 1/2 cups store-bought lemon curd

Preparation

Arrange racks in upper and lower thirds of oven; preheat to 425°. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Whisk 3 cups flour and next 5 ingredients in a large bowl. Add butter; rub in with your fingers until mixture resembles coarse meal.

Whisk 1 cup buttermilk, zest, and vanilla in a small bowl. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients. Stir until shaggy dough forms.

Transfer to a lightly floured surface; knead until dough forms, about 5 turns. Pat into a 10x6" rectangle. Halve dough lengthwise. Cut each half crosswise into 4 squares. Cut each square diagonally in half into 2 triangles. Divide between baking sheets. Brush with 2 Tbsp. buttermilk. Sprinkle with sanding sugar.

Bake until scones are golden and a tester inserted into the center comes out clean, 13–15 minutes. Transfer to wire racks; let cool.

Serve warm or at room temperature with lemon curd.

Makes 16
(from Bon Appetit Magazine

Happy Halloween!

Somehow we ended up with a bird theme this year....

 I don't particularly love Halloween as of the country celebrates but I DO love making the day fun by incorporating as much black and orange and humanly possible.

And it's a proven fact that children drink more milk when it is colored orange (just ask Isla).

We had oatmeal with raisins and apricots for breakfast, and an assortment of leftover orange and black foods from a MOPS party I'd thrown the night before for lunch.

 For dinner, I made a butternut squash and mushroom tart that went with our color scheme.

Candles were another exciting part of our meal.

 We attended our church's Harvest Party the Friday before and then laid low on Halloween. I did make the girls at least put on their costumes again for pictures.

Have two cuter birds ever walked this planet? I think not.