Merry Christmas Season

We've been having a fun Christmas Season. Gabriel loves everything Christmas and has wanted to do all the traditional activities. We've had Christmas music on nonstop and are bursting with Holiday Spirit. Genevieve loves the tree, or rather loves removing all the ornaments and tearing off the beads. I've had to redecorate the tree almost daily and I'm definitely looking forward to next year when maybe she's a little less handsy with everything. 

We took the kids to the Botanical Gardens for their winter festival and it was FREEZING. We didn't last very long, but managed to get some pictures of the kids all bundled up. 

Gabriel was so excited to see Santa. He loves to smile for pictures. 

This is Genevieve saying, "HI!"

Our Primary kids did a Nativity scene for our Ward Christmas Party and Gabriel was Joseph. His friend Kiersten was Mary and they have told us they're getting married.

  

Genevieve was much more excited about her candy cane than Santa, but we were just glad she wasn't crying. She hadn't slept very well that day and was definitely getting cranky at the party. 

Part of the Christmas Party was a display of family traditions. This was the picture to go along w/ ours. When I was little my mother made a small manger and next to it put a basket full of straw colored yarn. All through the month of December, anytime we did something nice for someone or someone did something nice for us, we would place a piece of yarn in the manger. By Christmas Eve the manger was full of yarn, making a nice bed for the Baby Jesus. We would place the Baby Jesus in the manger full of good deeds. 

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

What's For Dinner?

Shrimp with Baby Penne and Baby Arugula

Serves 4-6

INGREDIENTS

· 1 pound baby penne

· 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil (EVOO), plus some for drizzling

· 2 pints grape tomatoes

· Salt and freshly ground black pepper

· 4 cloves garlic, finely chopped or grated

· 24 medium shrimp, peeled and de-veined

· 6 scallions, green and white parts chopped on a bias

· Zest of 1 lemon

· 3/4 cups basil, thinly sliced into ribbons

· 3 cups baby arugula, roughly chopped

PREPARATION

Pre-heat oven to 400°F.

Bring a large pot of water over to a boil over high heat for the pasta. Once the water comes to a boil, add a generous amount of salt and the pasta. Cook until al dente. Drain the pasta, reserving about a cup of the starchy, pasta wa

ter.

While waiting for the water to boil, place the tomatoes on a cookie sheet, drizzle them with EVOO and season with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Place tomatoes in the hot oven and roast until the tomatoes just start to burst, about 8-10 minutes. Transfer to a bowl, smash them lightly with a fork or a potato masher and reserve.

While the pasta is working and the tomatoes are

almost ready, pre-heat a medium size skillet over medium-high heat with two turns of the pan EVOO, about 2 tablespoons. Add the garlic to the hot skillet along with the shrimp.

Cook the shrimp on both sides until firm and pink, about 2 minutes per side. Add the scallions, cook for a minute or so, then add the pasta, a ladle of the reserved pasta water, lemon zest, basil, arugula, salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Give it a good toss and pour it into a serving bowl.

Add the reserved roasted tomatoes; toss to combine and serve.

I've made this w/ shrimp, or just vegetarian. Enoch was actually the first one to try it from his days as a stay-at-home dad. Tonight it was w/ only tomatoes, basil, lemon juice & garlic. I love the smashed grape tomatoes w/ garlic bread...delish!

Here's ours:

http://www.rachaelray.com/recipe.php?recipe_id=98

Wannabe Crafty

Tonight some friends and I got together to make hair clips and ribbons. Everyone knew how to make different kinds and it was so nice to learn some new tricks. I make bows and flowers to go with all of Genevieve's outfits, but I usually make the same kinds of headbands all the time.

Here are the ones I made tonight:

I think Genevieve will definitely be excited about her new variety of hair accessories. I have new patterns for some more involved clips that I'm excited to try. I'm so lucky to have such crafty friends who are so patient in teaching those of us who are still learning. Can't wait for our next craft night!

Favorite Restaurant Meal

One of my favorite restaurant meals is without a doubt the Salmon w/ Orzo & Rice Salad at J. Alexander's. I had been wanting to try making the salad for a long time now, but the long list of ingredients in the recipe had turned me off. I finally decided to take the plunge and try the recipe out. It is amazing! It is so flavorful and while the prep does take awhile, it is definitely worth it.

J. Alexander's

ORZO AND WILD RICE SALAD
(copycat recipe)

DRESSING: (Makes 1 cup)
4 1/2 tablespoons balsamic white vinegar
1 1/2 tablespoon lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
1/2 tablespoon dijon mustard
1/2 tablespoon sugar
3/8 cup ( 1/4 cup plus 1/8 cup) canola oil
3/8 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/2 tablespoon fresh basil
Salt and pepper to taste
FOR SALAD:
2 cups cooked orzo
1 cup cooked wild rice
1/4 cup diced red onions
1/4 cup currants
1/8 cup fresh corn niblets
1/4 cup toasted almonds
1 tablespoon chopped parsley
3 tablespoond diced red peppers
3 tablespoons diced yellow peppers
1/2 cup sliced green onions
1/2 cup dressing (recipe follows)
Salt and pepper to taste
1 teaspoon granulated garlic
1/8 cup cut fresh basil

FOR DRESSING:
Dissolve vinegar, lemon juice, garlic and sugar with a hand whip (three minute stirring). Fold in the mustard, basil, salt and pepper. Slowly add oils, while whisking vigorously. Refrigerate.

FOR SALAD:
Place all other ingredients in a mixing bowl and mix well. Serve ice cold.

Hot Potatoes!

Here are some pictures from our ward Trunk-or-Treat. I don't think we have any of Enoch and I both in our full costumes.

Enoch isn't big on dressing up so I just added felt faces to brown t-shirts and we wore white gloves. I had a flower hat and Enoch had a bowler hat.

At first I was having a hard time finding a shirt for Enoch, so I told him he could just go shirtless and I would tape the face to his chest since he was already brown...he was not big on this idea :)

I also got to wear my costume to Gabriel's preschool when I helped out with their Halloween Party. I was surprised they knew what I was right away, they got a real kick out of it.

I told Enoch we should all be The Incredibles next year, but I don't think I'll be able to sell him on head to toe spandex....we'll see :) :)

Happy Halloween!

This year was the first year that Genevieve actually dressed up since she was so little, so I knew I wanted to do something w/ the kids together. Gabriel had his heart set on being IronMan, but it didn't take much to get him on board w/ Woody and Jessie costumes. It definitely took some planning to find all the pieces of their costumes, but I love how they turned out and the kids had so much fun wearing them. My glue gun skills only took me so far, so Enoch's mom came in and made Gabriel's vest and the top of Genevieve's shirt.

We had so many opportunities to dress-up so the kids definitely got some miles out of their costumes. We had lots of trick-or-treating, work parties, school parties and our ward trunk-or-treat. For the trunk-or-treat, Enoch and I also went w/ the Toy Story theme and dressed as Mr. & Mrs. Potato Head.

It took lots of practice to get Genevieve to wear her hat, but once she was sold on it, she loved wearing it. I think it will be a permanent staple in our dress-up clothes.

So Happy Happy Halloween to all! Gabriel is already talking about what he wants to be next year, but I think we'll at least give till July to get started on that costume :)

Falling Into Fall

We have been having a wonderful fall! Gabriel loves all the leaves and he's taught Genevieve how much fun they are to jump in. Last week was very windy and it created huge leaf drifts all around our house.

It's now impossible for us to walk off our back porch w/o one or both kids diving into the leaves. It makes leaving the house very interesting. Thank goodness I have one hand for each child. Anymore kids and someone would be left in the leaf pile :)