Mmmmmm.... Monday

I'm no Ree Drummond.

Don't know Ree? She is The Pioneer Woman, blogger, author of two best selling books, mom, cook, photographer, home schooler and all around wicked awesome ranch wife. I started reading her blog in '09 after her cookbook was published. Just this month her second book, this time an autobiography, was published.

I whipped through that sucker in the first 48 hours I had it in my hands. For anyone with two small children, you know that is quite the feet.

Saturday night was her book signing in STL. Now I know she is popular, but I had NO IDEA how crazy it would be. The signing was to start at 6pm, so I wander up at 5:30p and there is a line around the building to get in and according to the woman counting at the door I was number 480-something into the building. The final count, somewhere around 700. Multiple people I met drove in from out of town, the farthest being 6 hours, to meet her.

I finally met Ree, who complimented me on my purse, at 9:45pm. I know that makes me a little crazy. (But hopefully not as crazy as the people who drove 6 hours, right? Right?)


She couldn't have been any nicer. Honestly.


I had her sign her cookbook as well as her biography (seen above). Did you notice the bonus autograph at the top there?

That's right, Marlboro Man (Ree's husband) was there as well holding his own impromptu book signing.

Please excuse the blurry cell phone photo. MM was equally as gracious.

SO...

In honor of The Pioneer Woman and her recent STL book signing I am posting my own tasty kitchen recipe today. If you are familiar with PW and her recipes, complete with photographs, you will be disappointed. However, I am giving you the oft requested....

SPUDTACULAR POTATO SOUP RECIPE!!!!!!



1 med-large onion, chopped
3 celery ribs, chopped
3 carrots, chopped
2-3 T Olive Oil
6 potatoes
1 t seasoned salt (like Lawry's)
1/4 t rosemary
1 t thyme
32 oz Chicken stock
2 c milk
1 c cheddar cheese, grated

Saute the onions, celery and carrots, (sometimes known as the trinity) in olive oil. Once they are tender, but not mushy, add in the potatoes, seasoned salt, rosemary, thyme and chicken stock. If the stock doesn't cover the potatoes you can add a little water until they are just covered. Boil until potatoes are cooked through. Remove from heat. Use a potato masher and smash the soup by hand in the pot it cooked in. Once smashed, add the milk and cheese mixing constantly until the cheese is melted and combined.

How simple is that?!?!

I've made this soup a million times and there are a couple things I've learned along the way that I thought you'd want to know.

1- I wrote the recipe with Olive Oil but you can also use 3-4 tablespoons of butter. I am trying to cut down on the amount of butter in my cooking and olive oil has the better for you omega-3 fatty acids. Go fatty acids!

2- I use fresh herbs from my garden when they are in season, and from what I can tell, the thyme is ALWAYS in season. I've dug it out of the snow three or four times this winter to use. If not, dried herbs work just fine.

3- I use a potato masher to hand mash the veggies after they are cooked. The first time I made it I blended it but it had too much of a bisque consistency, but if that kind of thing gets your juices flowing by all means, blend away!

4- Recently I substituted a butternut squash for the potatoes and it was delicious. I recommend. Look at that two for the price of one soups!

So I may not be The Pioneer Woman but I promise this soup will get you through until spring... how many more weeks again?

Doing my part to "green" my daughters

Do you read a million blogs like me? Do you need one more?

One of the newer blogs I read is Greening Sam and Avery. I love her blog because she focuses on simple activities and crafts to do with her children (who are about the same age as mine) that focus on getting out into nature and caring for our earth. She is a very passionate naturalist and is sharing her ideas for all of us who may not be like minded. I mean I try to live by reduce, reuse, recycle. Try.

Each month Abbie presents a challenge for her readers. In August it was camping. That wasn't going to happen. This month she as asked her readers to make something new out of something from your recycle bin. Although I have a larger project for some glass jars I rescued from the recycling bin, but who knows if I'll get to that in time to meet the deadline. So today, when an idea for a VERY simple craft and reuse hit me I thought of the Greening Challenge.


I emptied this small plastic spice jar today.

So I had Madeline clean it out and we dried it really well. See that part with the holes on the right? I threw that back in the recycle bin.

Then Madeline filled it up with dried pinto beans.

See?

We only filled it a third of the way because:



The shake is just so much more satisfying in person. Promise. Lydia loves anything that makes noise. She shook that can for ever and carried it around under my feet as I cooked dinner.

It is a tiny little project I know. It took all of 10 minutes. That is my kind of project.

So go check out Greening Sam and Avery and let's hope there is more time in my life for her wonderful activities!

mg

Comments enter grade school

So on my last post I got a comment that was totally wacky. It wasn't anyone I knew, nor did they have anything to do with my post. I'd say it was clearly spam. This being said, I am turning on word verification and moderation for the time being so that I can control my comments.

Although I hate that, it is like grade school: One person has ruined it for all.

At least for now.

mg

Perspective

One of the top reasons I love reading blogs is that I get a glimpse into the lives of other people. I am a habitual people watcher, just ask Kevin. Eating out is always fun for him, and I normally make sure I am facing as little of the restaurant as possible so that I am not distracted.

But is was about me loving blogs. I get to share in others ideas, their stories, their joys and sometimes, their sorrow. Almost two years ago I started following the blog of the Lauer family. They had an extraordinary son named Noah who was given a difficult for me to imagine diagnosis just months after he was born.

Noah lived 364 days.

I read their blog during most of 364 days and I learned so much from their joys and sorrows. I learned to hold tight to my babies. I learned to be thankful for what I have. I learned that even when life is getting me down, it can always get worse. So much worse.

Although the Lauers said goodbye to Noah their story is far from over. I have watched them welcome little Eli to their family. That is just it, blogs bring sorrow and joy. I love learning from the stories of other people.

I learned about the Lauers from Jodie of Fresh Art Photography. Jodie has such a compassionate heart and she has shared the stories of many families with her blog readers. Today, one year to the day they said goodbye to their son Seamus, Jodie shares the story of the Johnston family. You can read more about it here.


So today I hugged my babies a little closer. I played a little longer. I read a few more books and I held them longer as they were getting ready for bed.

So when people ask why I read so many blogs I tell them all of the things blogs have given me. Most importantly, blogs have given me the gift of perspective.

For that I am very grateful.

mg

My day: Unplugged

So I hadn't intended on staying away from the blog all weekend, just an unplugged Friday. But this weekend was a crazy one, with an open house at the new house and me working (one of my many part time jobs) yesterday and then a birthday party for my MIL last night I just didn't have a spare moment. I hope you didn't miss me too much. You know I missed you. Honest I did.

So without further to do, I give you:
As proposed here.

Friday, May 29th: Unplugged.

So when Jodie first proposed this idea I thought she was crazy. Not that I let Maddy watch TV all day and of course I don't have a business to run or even a job to keep up with but I just didn't think a day unplugged would be as relaxing as she billed it to be. (See link above with her proposal.) And as much as I'd like to say I was wrong... that our day was as relaxing and rejuvenating as Jodie said it would be, it wasn't. I was exhausted (more so than normal) at the end of the day. And let me tell you why...

First thing in the morning I loaded Madeline into the car to meet some friends at the zoo.

Note her oh so happy face, (she is not a morning person, just like her momma!) milk in her left hand and breakfast waffle in her lap. We wasted no time getting out of the house so we could get to the zoo before 9am. (Between 8-9am a lot of the stuff you have to pay for at the zoo is free, ie the conservation carousel, the children's zoo and even the new sting ray exhibit.)

We took our first trip across the Hampton bridge. It was great, except no one in St. Louis seems to know how to use a round about.... this could be interesting.

When we got to the zoo we headed straight for the carousel.

Madeline rode a gorilla, until she decided the bear next to her would be a better choice.


We hung out with the giraffes.


Rode the train (again).


And had a banana (like a monkey) as a snack.


By this time we were pretty beat so we headed home and had lunch out on the deck.


Then I put Madeline down in her bed to take a nap. Until this point I had not missed my technology a bit. I was ok without a TV or computer... but as soon as she went down I panicked... see...


Ok, so I am being really dramatic here. My routine is that I put Madeline down and then I check my e-mails, blogs, etc. So what was I to do with two hours and no computer or Ellen?


Laundry. I didn't do ALL of this laundry during her nap, but I did fold about 1/2 of it... the other 1/2 had been done the night before by my lovely husband whom I adore.

So I tackled the play room.

Before

After

I didn't want to over do the photos, but there is another 1/2 to the playroom to the left of this angle that I also cleaned. Promise.
After Madeline woke up, the thought of letting her trash the room I had just cleaned made my skin curl so I devised a plan to get her out of the house. Our first trip to the POOL!!!!!

Since it is within walking distance (for me AND her!), and the weather was totally gorgeous I thought we'd just head on down.

There were no complaints from little miss either. That is until it was time to leave.

We came home, had a snack on the deck and then:

We weeded one of the gardens! I know, how thrilling! It was somewhat satisfying to be working in the garden. We have a lot of them at this house and I don't really have a green thumb.

After dinner and a visit from Granny and Poppy it was time for a bath and bed. The bath was eventful, but I don't have any photos of that. Let's just say it involved a disgusting deposit of something that shouldn't be found in a bathtub.... you're welcome.

After such a long day I decided to relax with a nice cold beer.

A Fitz's Root Beer of course.


Now let me say that it was a wonderful day. Both Madeline and I had a great time and I couldn't have asked for more fun packed into a day. I think all that fun is why I didn't get the relaxing benefits. If the day had been more low key, then I bet it would have been a lot more like Jodie proposed. Don't get me wrong, the day was not a bust and I would totally do it again, the exact same way! When we do this again, yes I said when, I think I will plan a more low key day.

Planning is the key word. I will plan more simple activities closer to home. Maybe an art project, or a trip to a local park and a picnic. That is for next time.

Thank you Jodie for this great idea! I can't wait to see what everyone else did for their day unplugged!

mg

Unpluged

Today Maddy and I are attempting to unplug. (See Jodie's grand plan here to find out more.) I will blog about our day on June 1. See you soon!

* Logo courtesy of Jodified Photography and Design.

mg

Stress

I hate stress and I've had a lot of it today. So I cleaned out our front closet. It helped a little.

I've been on the phone most of the afternoon dealing with, well, stuff. (Maybe at some point I'll get into that...) I've also been without a car since Kevin went to work at 11:30am. The dodge is in the shop for the fourth time in a month. Oh, how I hate stress.

But, I thank my blog friends for putting my stress in to perspective. Fern is going though a tough time. Let's just say 2009 is not being very nice to her. (And 2008 wasn't very kind either.) Hop on over to her blog and send her some love. I think she could use it.

mg

Max

Our friends Mike and Becca had there second baby two months ago. Another in a long line of boyfriends for Ms. Madelou.

My friend Jodie* photographed him yesterday.

I'll let the photos speak for themselves. I can't be blamed if you want a baby (either a first, second or even fifth) after looking at these photos though. Newborn baby's have very powerful magic. They make you forget all about the sleepless nights and crying fits (from the baby and the new mommy... what? that didn't happen to you? Liar.)

*If you want to hire Jodie, which I think you should, go here for her photography website.

mg

Why Blog?

I have been asked that question a lot. I have many different personal reasons. Fern sums one of those reasons up with ease. Go here and read this. Then check out her blog. Because she is also one of my reasons. I hope to be half as witty. Blog on Fern. Blog on.

mg

Have I told you lately...

That I love you.

My dear blog friends you are wonderful. I share my woes and you raise me up. Just like that Josh Groban song, but with more respect and less sap. I don't post the bad stuff so you can validate me and rub my head to make me feel better. But you do it anyway and I am oh so grateful. My heart is full of love for your kind words and know that I really truly appreciate it!

Madeline is still great. She spent most of the day with her Grandma and Grandpa at the park and visiting with G G. (Kevin's grandmother.) She is a total trooper in every sense. And adorable too.

One more thing: Although I feel guilt because of this elbow incident I am not laboring under the assumption that it makes me a bad mother overall. If anything it has proven to me just how good of a mother I really am. (And how good of a father Kevin is too.) I am proud of how we handled our first medical emergency. I think in this case we managed to avoid lifelong scaring. For now...

mg

Cha Cha Cha Changes...

sing it, you know, like David Bowie circa 1971. Click here if you still don't know what I am talking about. And if that is the case, shame on you.


As you can see I have changed my masthead. (That is unless you are using a reader of some sort, then shame on you. OK, not really I am just all up on my high horse today aren't I?!?) Again, one of Madeline's many faces.

You might also notice that I am playing with a new title for our little blog. mGk just isn't that exciting nor does it give a potential reader any idea of what this blog is about. So, what do you think? {I am toddler. Hear me roar.} It seems pretty appropriate for this phase in our lives. It is the most clever thing I can come up with. Honestly. Any of you extremely cleaver and creative people out there have any ideas, or suggestions? I am open to ideas.

For now I hope you enjoy the new masthead. I do.

**Updated** to include masthead photo. 2.1.09

mg

As always...

yesterday was better. Today is not as good as yesterday but better than Thursday. I don't have time for a long post or to even begin my laundry list of stress causing factors, but I wanted to let you know that your comments make me feel so much better.

Comments are what keep me blogging and it is so nice to know that there is someone (or someones) out there caring about the mundane details of my life. Trust me, I care about your mundane too. (sometimes more than I think is sane, but not unhealthy. I'm starting to sound a little stalker-ish.)

I realized today that I haven't downloaded photos off of my camera since mid-August. Under normal circumstances there would be hundreds of photos on the camera. Unfortunately there are only about 30. I miss my camera. (and I truly believe it misses me.) Some day very soon I am going to feel caught up enough to take some time for me and my camera.

Until then, I am going to sit down with a cup of tea in a pretty cup, take some deep breaths, and be thankful that it is Friday. I love your comments and I am going to be putting your advice to use.

mg

Need a freelance writer?

Call Fern. Her family got some unexpected and unpleasant news yesterday. Let's just say her husband's employment status has changed. So you need a freelance writer? Give Fern a ring. I am sure she wouldn't mind.

If you don't need a writer, at least send some positive energy her way. They could use that too.