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Recipe Share: Corned Beef and Cabbage

Happy St. Patrick's Day everyone!

Today we were planning to have corned beef and cabbage, as we do every March 17th.  Normally we boil the meat, but this year I was wanting to bake it (mostly because I needed to be out for the afternoon and I didn't want to leave something cooking on the stove with no one home).  So I did some research (aka googling) and I found some interesting alternatives.  Here is what we did:

-We used the ingredients of this recipe
-with the method of this recipe (which is pretty fast, in my opinion)
-and we used this recipe for the cabbage (yeah for bacon, ick for canned corned beef)

The meal was a HUGE hit with the Happy Crowd!  And for dessert, we stopped at Ted Drewes for some frozed custard.  Did you know that on St. Patrick's Day they tint all their custard green?  The kids thought it was hilarious.

Let me know if you try any of these recipes!

{pretty, happy, funny, real}

Happy New Year everyone!  We are back from the depths of illness-two week Christmas vacation at Grammy and Grampy's house-illness.  Everyone but JMC was sick in December.  Then we were all healthy for Christmas vacation (thank God!).  Then, a few days after we got home, JMC woke up vomiting.  It was the morning after the National Championship.  I wonder if there's a connection.  Hmmm...

Anyway, I hope you had a wonderful Christmas season and that your 2013 has started well!

pretty

I know he's a boy, but everyone is always telling us how pretty he is.  Anyway, this is XLC at a pit stop on our Christmas road trip to South Florida.  These huge bins of oranges seemed like the perfect photo op.  So juicy and delicious.  The oranges look good too!

happy

This was our hotel overnight on the way down to Florida.  We were able to stay in a brand new (as in only open 4 days!) Drury Inn.  The front desk confirmed that we were the first people to ever occupy the rooms.  The five younger Happy kids are sporting their awesome Hanna Andersson jammies- CAC has hers on too but refused to participate in the photo.  I started buying these jammies in 2006 and as the years have gone by, I've passed them down to the younger kids and bought larger and larger ones for the big kids.  They are still in great shape!

funny

JMC received this hat in his stocking.  He LOVES it.  I haven't decided if he looks like a terrorist or like a San Francisco Giants pitcher.

real

You can now follow me on Instagram!  I never had any intention of joining it, but CAC is on it now, so I needed to get on it to understand it.  The truth is that I check her account (what?  Of course I have her passwords!) more than I check mine.  And I know it looks like I only have one child (there are just lots of photos of XLC on my feed because he's always with me!) but you know I have 6.  CAC's friends have all requested to follow me on Instagram, which is OK with me.  I'd like them to see images of a large, happy family since most of them come from small families.

Have a great weekend!

{pretty, happy, funny, real}

Joining the fun over at Like Mother, Like Daughter!

pretty~

This is the mantle in our family room.  During the year, we have various types of shells displayed in these vases.  During Advent, we switch them out for something more festive.

Actually, CAC switched them out for me.  And she added all of the holly in between.  She loves clipping things from our (tiny) yard to use for decoration.  She is just like my mother!

happy~

I love this Nativity Scene.  Have I already shown it to you?  My parents bought it years ago in Paris.  My only complaint is that St. Joseph looks so old.  Every year I am tempted to take a black Sharpie to his hair.

funny~

Santa is great and all, but my kids really look forward to our electric train every December.  Fortunately, XLC is just as excited by it!  He spends a good part of each day watching the big kids run the train.

real~

Three antibiotics, 4 infected ears, various coughs and runny noses.  I'm ready for summer already.  LMC napped today from 10 to 2:30- think he's fighting something?  On a happy note, the 4th infected ear was diagnosed by a new-ish neighbor of mine who is a pediatrician and has three kids herself, so she knows what a pain it is to get to the doctor.  Oh, wait, maybe she doesn't?  Anyway, I was so grateful that she offered to do a "house call" this morning and call in our prescription.

Kids in the Kitchen

It seems that as Fall rolls into Winter, I am spending more and more time in the kitchen.  And as I spend more time in the kitchen, so do the kids.  And they want to help!  Here are a few ideas for things that the kids can do in the kitchen with minimal supervision (IE: they involve no heat or cutting)

For Halloween:
Witch's hats- When we did these, we didn't do the fancy bow.  If you omit the bow, these can be completely done by kids.

For Thanksgiving:
Acorn cookies- I just started a little cooking club for KGC and some of friends (from school and the neighborhood).  We had 8 girls over yesterday and they made these.  A few of the girls have nut allergies, so instead of Nutter Butters, we used mini Nilla Wafers.  I suggested to the girls that they could use these cookies to accompany any pies their mothers would be serving on Thanksgiving.

For Christmas:
Christmas trees- Don't these look cute?

Pretzel turtles- Remember I told you we did these last year?  There are so many versions of these.  Instead of Rolos, you can use Hershey's Kisses (there are so many versions these days!) or those candy chocolates you can buy at craft stores.  Instead of pecans, you can use M&Ms.  By switching the color of the M&M's, you can really make these for just about any holiday (red and green for Christmas, pastel colors for Easter, "harvest" colors for Fall, etc.)

Do you have any other recipes that are easy for kids that you could share with us?

Unsolicited Advice Refresher

I was just thinking how I needed to get my knives sharpened and I remembered that I had written this post on how I get ready for holiday cooking and baking.  Two thoughts:

1. I am really behind on getting ready

2. I haven't bought Stove Top Stuffing since I wrote the original post.  I just can't get past the crap that must be in it.

Do you have anything to add?

Fall Reading

Recently finished: Between Shades of Gray  I recommend this highly.  And not just because I'm Lithuanian.

Currently reading: A Girl of the Limberlost  I think I'm the only person who didn't read this book in high school.  I had never heard of it until a friend recommended it for Caroline.  Also highly recommended.

Up next: The Snow Child  I know nothing about this book other than that someone recommended it to a friend.  I'll let you know how it is.

What are you reading?