Ding Dong Bell

Measles have made a comeback in this country recently.  There is a big debate about whether children should be vaccinated or not.   Apparently back in the days of the Brady Bunch, the measles were not a big deal.  Remember the episode where all the kids are sent home from school with the measles.  I vaguely remember it, but my daughter reminded me of this episode.  I think it originally aired in 1969 well before she was born, but the reruns played forever.  The episode was titled "Is There A Doctor In The House".  It was about the girls wanting a woman doctor and the boys wanting a man doctor, but that isn't what my daughter remembered.  She remembered all the kids ordering their parents and Alice around.  Each kid had a different way to get attention because they were sick.  One had a whistle, one a cow bell and so on.  Whenever they wanted something, they would use the noisy gadget.  Alice and the Brady parents were running themselves ragged, and then Mr. Brady and Alice got the measles too.  Here's the link if you want to refresh your memory.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZaKgoObr2cc

I found a Public Domain photo of the Brady Bunch.

Now to the point of this background story.  As I have mentioned before, my 90 year old dad has had some health issues recently.  He has pretty much recovered from an infected gall bladder, sepsis, atrial fibrillation, and aspiration into his lungs.  He did have the stomach flu the past few days, but he is feeling better from that as well.  The first few nights after he came home from the hospital, I slept in a chair near his room so I would hear him during the night.  Needless to say, I didn't sleep very well.  I am the type of person who needs all conditions to be perfect before I can sleep well.  Since I needed to sleep in my bed, we came up with a variety of things to get my attention if he needed me, just like the Brady kids.  We tried a soda can with pennies inside, we tried a small bell, we even tried knocking on the wall.  I really couldn't hear any of these methods very well.  Then it dawned on us that perhaps a wireless doorbell would work.  I found one with the chime for $7.96.  It was much less expensive than a baby monitor, and I could put the chime portion in my room.  We have not needed it, but we tested it to make sure it worked.  I can hear it loud and clear, giving me peace of mind.

Quick and Easy English Muffin Bread

It's Fat Tuesday again.  Last year I made Paczki's which were not a complete success.  I think I will pass on it this year.  Maybe I can find a bakery to buy some.  http://www.thecabincountess.com/2014/03/dont-bake-paczki.html

I won't even attempt to make a King Cake.  The thought of it is not appealing to me.  Who wants to find a plastic baby Jesus inside a piece of cake.  Actually it isn't really a cake, it's more like a bread with colored frosting and sugar on top.  The colors of the frosting are purple, green and yellow which represent royalty.   It is also draped with Mardi Gras beads in a similar color.

Today my Fat Tuesday recipe has nothing to do with Mardi Gras or Fat Tuesday.  It is another recipe for English Muffin bread.  This is the third time I have posted recipes for this.  Each are slightly different but equally delicious.  The first time was when I started this blog.  http://www.thecabincountess.com/2014/06/creamy-vegetable-soup-and-english.html

Then I posted my recipe for making traditional English Muffins.  http://www.thecabincountess.com/2014/10/make-your-own-english-muffins.html  I like this recipe very much, but it does take more time than most people want to spend.  Recently I found another recipe for English Muffin bread on www.littlehouseliving.com  It is quick, easy and has the same texture as a real English Muffin.

English Muffin bread raising in the pans.

Easy English Muffin Bread Recipe

What You Need:

• 5 cups All-Purpose Flour
• 4 1/2 teaspoons Dry Active Yeast
• 1 Tablespoon Sugar
• 1 teaspoon Salt
• 2 cups warm Milk
• 1/2 cup Warm Water
• Cornmeal

In a large bowl, mix half of the flour with the yeast, sugar, salt, milk, and water. Make sure the water and the milk are warm so they help to activate the yeast. Mix together for a few minutes to give the yeast a chance to activate.

Add in the rest of the flour and mix until just combined. I used my Kitchen Aid mixer but you can simply mix the dough together by hand.  The dough is sticky.  Don't add more flour to make it look like regular bread dough, it is supposed to be sticky.   Make sure you do not overmix.

Grease 2 loaf pans and sprinkle cornmeal in the bottom of each pan. Divide the batter into the pans, sprinkle more cornmeal on the top, and let it rise in a warm place until doubles in size.

Bake at 375 for 35 to 40 minutes.

This bread is best toasted but it is moist enough to eat plain.

February School Concert

Today is President's Day.  In honor of February and President's Day two of our grandsons participated in a school concert.  Sam is in 5th grade and Jack is in 1st grade.   My husband stayed home with dad who is recovering from a serious illness, so I was able to go.  The gymnasium was full of parents, grandparents, friends and all the children.  The theme was America and all the songs reflected that theme.

Jack singing Yankee Doodle Dandy.

They even had the Statue of Liberty.

Sam had a speaking part and did a great job.

I was happy I was able to attend.  These kids are growing up so fast, and I don't want to miss these special times.

Pinecone Bird Feeder

I try to write about our grandchildren equally.  All five of them are special and mean the world to us.  Ewan is the youngest.  He will be five at the end of March.  He is a very lucky boy and is loved by so many.  We are a little boring and not nearly as fun as his other grandparents.  They provide him with a lot of exciting experiences.

They let him paint.

They go hiking.

Grandpa Wayne and Ewan playing cowboys.

They relax and watch TV.

At Christmas, Ewan made gifts with his other Grandma Beth.  They did a great job choosing a gift they knew we would like.  Ewan knows we love to feed the birds.

They made pinecone bird feeders.  They spread peanut butter on pinecones and rolled them in birdseed.  I hung them out in the tree right away.

It took a while for the birds to discover them because I hung them away from the area we usually use for feeding the birds.  Birds are amazing, if there is food, they will find it.

A Junco.

A Sparrow.

A Chickadee.

Thank you Grandma Beth and Ewan.

Our Share of Squirrels

With all the bird feeding we do, there is a fair amount of seed that ends up on the ground.  It isn't wasted though.  We have several birds who are ground feeders as well as squirrels who spend the whole day cleaning up the uneaten seeds.  We have gray squirrels, black squirrels and an occasional white squirrel.  http://www.thecabincountess.com/2013/01/squirrels-living-in-harmony.html

Mourning Doves everywhere.

A lot of male cardinals.

Female Cardinal searching for sunflower seeds in the snow.

And then as dusk approaches,

here come the bunnies to see what is left.

Winter Deer Photos 2015

The winter of 2014-2015 brings a lot of deer to the yard looking for food.  Here just a few photos taken from our dining room window.  Fortunately this has been a winter with very little snow so far.  The deer are looking healthy. 

Slow Cooker Chocolate Covered Peanuts

With St. Valentine's Day only four days away, I thought I would make a special treat.  This recipe or variations of it have been posted on Facebook many times.  It makes a big batch.  I got 212 pieces of candy.  It cost $18.20 for the ingredients.  You could easily make half a batch.  It does take a long time to spoon out all the melted mixture.  I will give some to the kids and save some for those times when you (or at least me) are turning the house upside down for a piece of chocolate.

Slow Cooker Chocolate Covered Peanuts

16 oz. unsalted dry roasted peanuts
16 oz. salted cocktail peanuts
12 oz. bag of semisweet chocolate chips
12 oz. bag of milk chocolate chips
2 - 10 oz. bags of peanut butter chips
24 oz. white almond bark

Layer all of the ingredients in order in a 6-quart slow cooker.  Cover and cook on LOW for 2 hours.

Remove the lid and stir everything together.  Combine completely to make sure all the ingredients are melted.

Then drop mounds of mixture onto parchment paper.  I didn't have any parchment paper so I used freezer paper with the shiny side up.  The size depends on how big you want the piece of candy.  I used a generous teaspoon full.  Allow to harden and store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.  They can also be frozen.

Meal Planning System

I'd like to think that we are organized.  I know my husband is for the most part.  He has three notebooks with recipes in.  One is for desserts, one is for meats and main courses and the other is soups and salads.   He also has my pantry cataloged so we know what we have and which shelf it is on.  I am the fly in his ointment.  When I am making a meal I like knowing if we have something, but then I don't always cross it off the list.  I have learned not to put away some things after grocery shopping until it gets put on the list.

Recently I found out that we are far from organized compared to our daughter.  She is the master. She has all the kid toys in bins which are labeled.  The legos in one bin, trucks in another and on and on. They have a toy room and one wall is devoted to the bins.  Her laminator and her label maker are her best friend.

She shared with me her system for making meals and grocery shopping.  She has a big stack of laminated cards.  On each card is written a main course meal.  She has over a hundred different meals.  Every week her family chooses which meals they would like that week.  It looks like she chose green for chicken meals, red for beef, orange for pork, light blue for soup etc.  I see she also wrote where she can find the recipe.  On each card she wrote recipe box or the name of the cookbook or website.

On the back of each card is the list of ingredients it takes to make the recipe.

From here she makes her grocery list.  She may have some of the ingredients on hand, so everything doesn't have to go on the list.  For example, if black beans were on sale in the past and she bought four cans, then they don't go on the list.  She cuts coupons for the good buys she knows she will need in the future.  When the list is completed, she arranges it according to the map of the store or stores.  It streamlines the buying process.  This seems like a lot of work to set up, but when it is done it saves hours of time not to mention being able to feed her family real food.  Very seldom do they eat out.  In the morning, she knows before going to work what they will have for dinner (or supper as some of us say).  If it requires the crockpot, then in it goes.  Her favorite appliance is the pressure cooker as it is mine.  You can cook a whole meal faster than take out.  I am pretty impressed with her system although any of you who know Heather will not be surprised.

Little Deer Returns (I think)

Last month I wrote about a Poor Little Deer who had come into our yard.  The deer appeared to be injured.

http://www.thecabincountess.com/2015/01/poor-little-deer.html

I hadn't seen it again and feared the worse.  Today I looked out and saw a small deer trying to eat from our bird feeders.   It looked like the same deer, although all deer look pretty much alike unless they have antlers.  Then it is easier to tell who is who.  This deer seems slightly larger than our little deer, but I suppose it could have grown a little in a month.  She still had a slight limp and some scars on her back.   She was all alone.  I snapped a few pictures until someone pulled into the driveway and she ran off.

For those who were as concerned as I about the Poor Little Deer's welfare.  I want to say (or believe) she is fine.

I really like this time of year.  The deer are hungry and they aren't as afraid, so we see them often.  There must be safety in numbers because we see larger groups than we do after the young are born and the yearlings are sent off to fend for themselves.  I know some communities are sick of them, and I understand not wanting them roaming in metropolitan areas.  We have the perfect habitat, so we can enjoy them instead of worrying about them causing damage.

Enjoying Another Missoula Theater Performance and An Honors Concert

A couple of fun and exciting things happened while I was away from blogging.  While my dad was in the hospital, my sister and her husband spent time sitting with dad.  He was beginning his recuperation so all of us didn't need to hover over him constantly.  My husband and I were then able to attend another Missoula Children's Theater program.  I have written about Missoula before.  http://www.thecabincountess.com/2013/01/missoula-childrens-theatre.html  and http://www.thecabincountess.com/2013/06/missoula-childrens-theatre-snow-white.html

Our granddaughter was in the play and was one of the merry men in a production of Robin Hood.  They always do such a good job especially since they audition, practice and perform in one short week.

The group of Merry Men even though most of them are girls.

Melissa in costume and makeup.  

Sheriff of Nottingham, Prince John and Robin Hood

 

Yes, that is Prince John's real hair.

One week later dad was out of the hospital, but I didn't want to leave him alone.  My husband volunteered to stay home so I could see our granddaughter Melissa and our grandson Dylan in a Middle School honors concert.  Several schools participated in a band and chorus concert.   The students arrived early in the morning and met with the guest conductors.  The band conductor was from Lakeland College and the chorus conductor was from Ripon College.  The individual schools had the music in advance and helped prepare the students, but putting it all together was a big task.  They had a complete concert in the afternoon.  I was so impressed how well they did.  Kids can develop their potential if they take advantage of the opportunities presented to them.

The students were very respectful and I didn't notice any disruptions.  Then when the show was over and everyone was exiting, I saw a heart warming sight.  Just ahead of me was an older woman trying to navigate the bleachers we were sitting in.  A man asked her if she needed help.  He took her hand and helped her down to the floor.  I heard her ask him if he had a child in the performance.  He said he did and asked if she did as well.  She pointed out her grandson.  This nice man held her hand tight the entire time.  Usually you see impatience and pushing in these situations, but the whole mood of the day made everyone happy and grateful.  

When I returned home, my husband had done a wonderful job of taking care of dad and his needs.  It was a wonderful day.