Waiting for Baby

For the past few weeks I have had plenty to occupy my time, and attention.  Between trying to finnish our basement, school, trying to get the house ready for a baby (despite all of the construction) and being sick with a severe head-cold for a week which then morphed into bronchitis that lasted for another week, I have had plenty to keep me from going too stir-crazy waiting for the baby to be born.  Unfortunately things have calmed down a bit now.  I am healthy again, and I think I am as ready as I am going to be for the baby; I have a freezer full of meals for after the baby is born, all the baby's clothes are washed and ready, and the house is as organized as it is going to be until the basement is finished.  Now all I have to do is wait, and that is one of the hardest things to do when you get to the "I'm too miserable to bear another minute of pregnancy" state that I have now reached.  My husband keeps trying to console me by saying that since my due date is less than a week a way, we know that at the most I will have the baby within three weeks, but when a day feels like a week, that is little consolation.

I thought I would pass some of the time by sharing some of the things I've learned over the past few weeks.  Here they are, in no particular order:

• 2 tablespoons lemon juice, and 2 tablespoon honey, heated and mixed with 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper is a good natural remedy for sore throats.  Gargle a bit and drink the rest.  It didn't even give me heart burn. . .
• That same 2 tablespoons lemon juice and 2 tablespoons honey heated, minus the cayenne pepper, can help sooth a cough, but not always . . .
• Eating an apple is a great natural way to get rid of heart-burn.  It has worked for me every time.  Even with the really bad cases that wake me up at 2am.
• These are great freezer recipes.  Double or triple the recipes and make some for dinner tonight and put the rest in foil baking dishes in the freezer for another night when you can't, or don't feel like cooking and you won't have to do any extra work to fill your freezer with food.
   Baked Penne with Chicken and Sun-Dried Tomatoes
   Vegetable Enchiladas
   Lasagna Primavera
   Vegetable Chowder (I froze this and the next recipe in gallon freezer Zip-Lock bags)
   Tomato Soup
I also made and froze meatloaf, and spaghetti sauce, but those are recipes I have to type up if I find the time.
•  This is not a great freezer recipe (or regular recipe for that matter).  Unfortunately I didn't find that out until after I made a double batch. . .
   Mandarin Orange Chicken
In all fairness, I did recently find this recipe in its original form, in the book Once a Month Cooking.  It looks like their instructions would have corrected many of the things that caused the recipe to be so terrible, but I don't think I will give it another try.
• Babies come when they're ready, and no amount of wishing otherwise will change that.  Once they are here you forget all about the waiting and have a whole new set of joys and challenges in your life, so you might as well enjoy the moment.  (Well this is one I am still trying to learn, or at least remember.)

My Thanksgiving Menu

I love Thanksgiving!  I love that it ushers in the Christmas season, allowing us the opportunity to reflect on our many blessings, hopefully giving us the perspective we need to more fully rejoice in the true meaning of Christmas.  I love that it is a time for celebrating with family.  I love the family football games and (this year) 5k runs.  I love the post-Thanksgiving "redemption" bike rides.  But I have to admit my favorite thing about Thanksgiving is the food!  A few years ago we started a new tradition.  Since we always spend Thanksgiving day with our extended family we never got any leftovers, and in my opinion, Thanksgiving isn't Thanksgiving without Turkey sandwiches and all the other delicious leftovers.  To remedy this situation we decided to have our own Thanksgiving meal on Saturday of Thanksgiving weekend. A couple of days ago I went shopping for our Thanksgiving dinner, so I thought I'd share our menu.  Every year I do a Spice-Cured Turkey.  The recipe says to let it cure for 24 hours, but I do it for 72 hours.  It is the best!  They're always moist and very flavorful.   Rather than using the Apple-Chestnut Stuffing in the recipe, I use a Cornbread, Apple, Cranberry, and Sausage Stuffing. (Recipe is at the end of this post.)

It is my husband's favorite.  I like to experiment with new recipes, but he won't let me touch the stuffing!  

For side dishes this year we will be having Butter-Pecan Sweet Potatoes, Brussels Sprouts with Vinegar-Glazed Red Onions, and Buttermilk Mashed Potatoes.  For dessert this year I was asked to bring pies to my family's on Thursday, so we will have those leftovers with our dinner on Saturday.  I'm trying two new recipes and one tried and true one.  The two new ones are Pumpkin Maple Pie Supreme, and Pecan Pumpkin Pie.  

The other is one of my favorite fall pie recipes.  It is Autumn Harvest Pie.

The combination of sweet and tart wrapped in a pate brisee crust is divine!  I'm getting excited just typing this!  I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving.  We will have two!

Cornbread, Apple, Cranberry and Sausage Stuffing

Cornbread (recipe follows) 1" cubes

1 lb. sweet Italian Sausage

4 red onions, chopped

1 c. dried cranberries

1/2 c. chopped fresh sage

1/2 c. butter

8 celery stalks, chopped

1 1/2 C. half and half

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Place cornbread cubes on baking sheet.  Bake until dry, about 20 minutes.  Cook sausage in large sauteé pan over medium heat.  Put in small bowl.  Melt butter in same pan.  Add onion and celery, cook over medium until onion is translucent, 10 -15 minutes.  Add apples and cranberries, stir.  Cook until apples are soft.  Add half and half and cook for three minutes.  Place in large bowl and add sage, cornbread and sausage.  Cool completely.  Can be refrigerated 2 days before stuffing in bird. Fills 16-20 lb. bird.

Cornbread

2 T. butter (for pan)

1 1/2 c. cornmeal

1 1/2 tsp. baking powder

1 1/4 c. milk

1 egg

1/2 c. flour

1 tsp. course salt

1 T. molasses

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Butter 8x8 pan.  Mix dry ingredients.  Combine remaining ingredients.  Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients just until combined.  Pour into pan and bake until golden about 25-30 minutes.  (This is a very dry cornbread.  Not one you would want to eat, but perfect for stuffing.)

Birthday Delights

We officially celebrated Doug’s birthday today.  The kids and I planned a gourmet dinner for him, and I have to say it turned out amazing.  We started with a baguette and a variety of imported cheeses that were fabulous.  For the main course we had Pepper Crusted Filet Mignon.  It was the most tender, melt-in-your-mouth steak I’ve ever had.  It was accompanied by Slow Roasted Tomatoes and brussels sprouts with balsamic vinegar.  The great thing about this menu was that not only was it absolutely delicious, it was incredibly easy.  We finished off the meal with these Chocolate Bouchons.  They were very rich and chocolaty.  I must admit though, that my favorite thing about them was the batter.  It was like a chocolate truffle.  Truly amazing.  It was the perfect ending to a perfect day.  Here is the recipe.

Chocolate Bouchons

3/4 C. all-purpose flour

1 C. unsweetened cocoa powder

1 tsp. salt

3 large eggs

3/4 C. plus 2 Tbs. granulated sugar

1/2 tsp. vanilla

3 sticks (12oz.) unsalted butter, melted and just slightly warm

6 oz. semisweet chocolate chips

Confectioners’ sugar

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Place muffin liners in a 12-cup muffin pan.

 Sift the flour, cocoa powder, and salt into a bowl and set aside.

 In another bowl, mix together the eggs and sugar with a mixer on medium speed for about 3 minutes, or until very pale in color.  Mix in the vanilla.  On low speed, add about 1/3 of the dry ingredients, then 1/3 of the butter, and continue alternating with the remaining flour and butter.  Add the chocolate and mic to combine.

Fill each muffin cup about 3/4 full.  Place in oven and bake for 20-25 minutes.  When the tops look shiny and set remove from oven.  Do not over bake.

Transfer the bouchons in their liners to a cooling rack.  After a couple of minutes, invert the bouchons and let them cool upside down in their liners; then lift off the liners.

Invert the bouchons and dust with confectioners’ sugar. 

Enjoy!