the aftermath

lovely dinner with A LOT of leftovers.

making the carcass into broth and making turkey schmaltz. now with that i will make a variation of this recipe

Griessnockerlsuppe

Beef Broth with semolina Dumplings

Servings: 12

SEMOLINA DUMPLINGS (24):

2 cups semolina flour, coarse

3 whole eggs

6 oz. soft butter (schmaltz)

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 pinch nutmeg

BEEF BROTH: (turkey broth)

5 lbs. beef bones

3 whole carrots

1 medium red onion

1/2 stalk celery

salt & peppercorns

bay leaves

chopped chives

SEMOLINA DUMPLINGS:

in a small bowl whisk the soft butter until creamy, add salt and nutmeg.

Add eggs one at a time. Make sure the mixture is creamy and airy.

Slowly add the semolina flour until all semolina is mixed with egg mixture.

Cover the mixture and let it rest for 30 minutes in the refrigerator.

Heat water (1/2 gallon) in deep sauce pan and bring to a boil.

Scoop out small dumplings with a soup spoon and form 24 oval dumplings

in the palm of your hand and drop them gently into the boiling water.

Bring to a slow boil and let the dumplings simmer for 10 minutes.

The dumplings are done when they rise to the top

Remove from salt water and place in hot beef broth, 2 nockerl per person.

Top with chopped chives.

BEEF BROTH:

Rinse beef bones. In a large soup pot (4-5 gallons), cover the bones with 2 1/2 gallons of water and all the ingredients. Bring soup to a boil and simmer at low heat for 2 hours.

Skim the foam whenever it builds up on the soup.

Before finishing the soup, check for seasoning and strain through cheese cloth.

Serve soup in a bowl with 2 semolina dumplings.

Garnish with chopped chives

nummies! i had some german semolina dumpling soup at a birth once and have been craving it for the past year.

right nowi am watching dirty dancing.... only on the holidays. :)

kinda local thanksgiving (maybe got 80%)

so i went for the 100 mile local thanksgiving again this year. my mum really wanted a traditional big thanksgiving so i had some resistance to the local thing. with that and a death in the family (memorial the day before thanksgiving) and a birth this past week (the day i was to go out to the royal oak farmers market) i think we did ok.

so here it is:

15 pound turkey - local
stuffing
butter- local
bread- local
onions- local
celery- not local
seasoning- not local
mashed potatoes
pots- not local
milk- local
butter- local
cream cheese- local
sour cream- not local
shrimp dip
shrimp- not local
worcestershire sauce- not local
dried onions- not local
cream cheese- local
corn chips- local and not local (for the curmudgeons)
cheese and grape appetizer- not local (so unfortunate mum bought the stuff)
green beans- local
donns corn dish- a little local (butter & jiffy cornbread mix ;)
pumpkin bread- not local (except sugar)(didnt have time to bake pumpkin and someone only trusted canned pumpkin)
pumpkin pies- not local but homemade (again with the pumpkin)
whipped cream- local
half and half- local
coffee- not local
rolls- local
wine- local
beer- local

so all being said i think we did a smash up job and the turkey is absolutely lovely! guests are here.

happy turkey day!

i have for the most part done this most years for holidays and birthdays (much to my families chagrin) but this year i made it official. my goal is to make most of what i give but this year with a lot of work stuff going on buying handmade will be good too.

the year i was pregnant with the monkey was officially the first handmade christmas - scarves, blankets, candels, cards out of dried sponges and much more. it was great last year when i found the scarf i made my mother with the tag still on.... nice. and a few years ago i found a alabaster sculpture i made my dad in his storage...... i took it back. ;) so with that some may just get a nice basket of home made food or framed kid art.

goodbye grandpa

[IF]

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you
But make allowance for their doubting too,
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise:

If you can dream--and not make dreams your master,
If you can think--and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with worn-out tools:

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it all on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breath a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on!"

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings--nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;
If all men count with you, but none too much,
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And--which is more--you'll be a Man, my son!

--Rudyard Kipling

micro researching.

so i am digging around for alternative info on arthritis and thought i would throw it out here if anyone else could use the info.

here are some links:

Homeopathic remedies to relieve immediate pain and joint stiffness may include Rhus toxicodendron or Bryonia-more info found here


General info here

More on Rhus Tox here

And more here form the Arthritis Foundation

Cider Vinegar


more later....kids a calling.

In love and stuff

our little get away to k-zoo was not even 24 hours but it was absolutely lovely. but before i get into that let me briefly talk about the build up.

big daddy and i have not taken a getaway from the kiddos in 7 years. there was one night when the monkey was two or three that we had a night off in our own home but that ended up as a poopy night. we dropped him off at 7pm at my brothers (my mom was there too) and my mom dropped him off at 11am after letting his stay up for about 4 hours in the middle of the night watching cartoons so to say the least he was a nightmare when we got him home.

so we planned this getaway to k-zoo a couple of months ago- one night away. i have been on call for a client and she called on tuesday to update and tell me they scheduled her for an induction next tuesday and her husband was thinking the baby would come on saturday (the day we were to jet out of town) so i was very anxious about missing this night away. big daddy would understand but it would be disappointing. he worked really hard finding a hotel and places to eat. he was awesome.

i get a call on thursday about the drs wanting to induce my client. ok, i thought, although i was not too sure about why they wanted to induce her- the reasons are still pretty questionable. they ended up calling me in on friday morning and after a long hard laboring the baby arrived saturday morning. i was home by 8am (on 1 hour of sleep) in time for big daddy to go to school and for me to take the kids to martial arts class (a make up class since he missed thursday-we had a false alarm with the induction and i went in on thursday night only to be sent home). after that i cleaned the kids rooms like a mad woman we played webkinz (i am totally hooked on cash cow) and watched chronicles of narnia. big daddy got home from school we packed waited for my mom and we were off. got to k-zoo at 7ish.

it took us about 40 minutes to find the damn hotel and calling twice for directions. bad direction giving by the receptionist. big daddy went in and got the key and we were off to dinner at The London Grille as suggested. IT WAS AWESOME!!! appetizer, we both had steaks, he had a beer i had an irish coffee and we split a nice scotch. thanks time for the great suggestion. it was a really great evening over all. absolutely great to hang out with my lovely husband uninterrupted. i forgot how much i really love hanging out with him- jackass and all.

we were planning on sleeping in but the biological alarm clocks would not allow. so we lazed and loafed a bit and were out by 10:30. breakfast was iffy but the coffe on the way out of toen made up for it. it was from the water street coffee across form bells brewery. i wish we had breakfast there. the ride home was fun. i did a postpartum visit at the hospital while big daddy read in the lobby. and home we went.

we got the kids new webkinz which they were totally geeked over- the monkey really wanted the platypus looking one and pouted about it when we went to frankenmuth a couple of weeks ago. and my mom wanted the house rearranged for the BIG thanksgiving dinner (of which i still need to buy a lot of stuff for the 100 mile local thanksgiving) so we whipped that up (it looks great actually and there is room for the free stand up piano i am looking for) and were off to friends house for dinner. bi-bim-bop. it was wonderful company and homemade bi-bim-bop cannot be beat. btw i think big daddy has found his long lost brother in jackasshood. it is heeeelarious.

after that i dropped the kiddos at home and was off to practice the songe i am to sing at my grandfather memorial on wednesday. i didnt even know the song until tonight. that was causing some stress but now i feel a little better. i just hope i dont get all sappy and cry or get shaky voice from nerves. that would suck.

this week is going to be strange and very busy. i will be happy to have it behind me. then i have to bust out these two projects and i will be golden. it kind of sucks that i have to have a close cut deadline to get anything done.

ps- thanks to those who checked in on me this weekend and sent happy thoughts. that makes a gal happy. ;)

btw. i totally want to move to k-zoo.

dolmas...

who knew they were so yummy???

a2 coop much better than ypsi coop unfortunately. i see an over indulgence in my future.

hmmmm.

why do they call them "grave blankets" and "grave pillows"?

and

doesn't one have better things to spend $100 on?

mental floss

i have two big projects due before christmas. that being so my mind starts to wander and procrastinate. here is where i go in that noggin of mine-

-i want to go get a masters in bioethics at MSU with intention to move on to a Phd to work towards ethical regulation of homebirth midwifery.... or something like that.

-i want to buy my ever coveted jewelers bench and fill my tanks to make jewelry again

-i want to quit all my jobs and be a stay home mom only

-i want to be a midwife assistant and maybe a midwife when my kids are older

-i want to travel teaching doula trainings

-i want to go get my masters in jewelry

-i want to live a while year on completely local and seasonal food.

-i want to raise goats

-i want to live in a yurt

-i want to interview senior citizen women and collect their birth stories

-i want to travel

-i want to be super mom

-i am very happy with my amazing family

-i am so happy my marriage is getting better every day

-i am happy with the work i do

what the ferg?

the kids are running around playing crazy
the bean had a baby doll in her shirt saying she she had a baby in her belly.
the bean says the baby is coming the baby is coming
the monkey says hurry you need to get to surgery
......... what the f*** is that?

i step in of course with a look of horror on my face i am sure. the monkey replies "what? babies all are born in the hospital?" again - wtf?! i proceeded to inform him that his sister was born at home adn he was there (he knows this we talk about sometimes) the conversation went on but dribbled out. it is not that i dont want the kids to know that babies are born through surgery at times but as a default for "birth play", nuh-uh. i am over reacting i know and i am ok with that.