Where did the kitchen go??

Well folks, my computer is back from the dead, so first order is to update the blog. I am just finishing up a week away from work, a much needed break from the rat race we call the Clinton Herald. While on Vacation, i decided to try my hand at installing granite countertops in the kitchen at home, something i will never try again. That stuff really is heavy. After two days of securing, transporting, cutting and carrying this rock,i have no feeling in my fingers, but i sure do have feeling in my back.
With everything torn up in the kitchen, we have been eating on the fly, ordering in, or going out for dinner, and it has been difficult keeping the "Got a Minute" promise, but we are still on track. Wednesday was our wedding anniversary, so in between ripping the old countertop out and sweeping up dirt, we managed to get some chinese food and sit down in the dining room for supper. Our oldest son has come back to the roost of late, so the conversation is a little more lively, what with the siblings arguing and all.
i do believe, through the "Got a MInute" campaign, we have slowly become closer to our children. I can also see the cahnges in them. they have come to enjoy our sit down dinners, and i think they look forward to them now. These are the things we need to be doing if we want to keep our kids out of trouble.

what does purple hair and a vibrating chair have to do with family dinners? read on.

We took a trip into the big city last weekend. My wife found a bluegrass concert in Evanston, il. on saturday night. we kind of decided to call that our Christmas present to each other, and i booked a room back in December, reserved the tickets, and we were all set. driving into Chicago with me can be exhausting at times. you see, i know how to keep up with the city folk, it's in my blood. When the road opens up to 3 lanes, i immediately become more aware of my surroundings. When i see 4 lanes wide in front of me, i start seeing spaces in traffic that a normal person doesn't see. i make moves that require me to know within one inch of where my back bumper is. No, people don't yell at me, they just look at me like "I can't believe you just did that." then they always look away and avoid eye contact. They can't tell whether i am crazy or just being dumb. My wife, on the other hand, can tell you i am just turning into a 17 year old boy again, something that happens every time we go on a trip.
Meals can be more difficult when the family is on the road. We ate at the Dekalb Oasis on the way out, but it was not without distractions. From the guy with the purple hair and nose ring who took our order, to the elderly woman who kept putting dollar bills in the Vibrating Chair, there was plenty to watch. i don't think we broke the "Got a Minute" rules, though. We didn't watch a TV and we did eat together.
We had a nice sit down dinner after the show at IHOP, a great place if you are ordering pancakes. Not such a good place to order steak and mashed potatoes. Just sayin...
We did have a great time, and i knew it was a success when i heard my 10 year old on the phone with his buddy. "It was awesome!" was all i had to hear to know.

you never get too old for your mother to set you straight

You never get too old for your mother to holler at you, i guess.  Mom chewed me out good this weekend for telling people i was underfed on myu blog. Anyone who knows me now would never believe it.  Well, just to get mom back a little, below you will find another one of her "secret" recipes.  i'm not worried, mostly because after my last post, she probably won't read me any more. 
  Let me tell you a little more about my mother.  She raised six children.  That should be enough to impress. She didn't just bring us up.  She brought us up to dream big and anything could be within reach.  Mom taught us about good manners and to be respectful of others.  She taught us to be different, to stand out in a crowd, and she showed us how to care about others.
  Mom also started her writing career while raising us.  As i turned 17, mom became a single mother, with still three children under me at home, living on a shoestring budget.  Yes, mom is tough and very resourceful when it comes to her children, but i haven't told you the best part. 
  Mom did much of her work from the kitchen and dining room.  She was our therapist, our mentor, our parent and our friend, depending on what we needed.  She was always cooking or writing, and when i sat down, she would listen to me.  That may sound small, listening, but it can be very difficult focusing on only one child when there are five other children pulling her in other directions.  Many a time i can remember her solving my problems from across the dinner table.
  The dinner table was mom's desk, and the kitchen was her office.  That may be what is disappearing from families these days, and i guess that's why i am passionate about this subject. we just don't spend enough time with each other, my family and me.  that needs to change, and we are starting at the dinner table, because that's how mom did it.

Grace's Cheesy Potatoes

32 oz package frosen hash browns, thawed
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
2 cups sour cream
1 can cream of chicken soup
2 tablespoons fresh or dried minced onions
1 tspn salt
1 tspn pepper
2 cubes melted butter, divided
2 cups crushed potato chips

mix all ingredients together except potato chips and 1 cube of the butter.  Spread in a 9" x 13" baking pan or 2 square pans.  Mix potato chips and the other cube of melted butter and spread on top of the potatoes.  One can of pringles works great and sometimes i use the sour cream and onion flavor.  Bake, uncovered, at 350 degrees for 45 minutes or so until the casserole is turning light golden brown.  this recipe serves 8-10 people.

can someone come get these scotch-a-roos away from me???

i think i am going to explode.  my eyes, mouth, fork and spoon were bigger than my stomach at our annual family Christmas dinner last week.  "were" is the operative word here, as i believe my stomach just caught up to all of them.  i come from a big family, and we didn't have alot to eat when we were young.  don't get me wrong, we got enough to eat...just enough, but until i was the second oldest and toughest in the house, i never got seconds. 
  so, when we get together now, i believe we overcompensate for that on holidays.  each sibling brings at least two or three dishes to pass, usually something they were denied as a child\.  i'm not blaming my parents, that's just the way it was.  i gained 33 pounds in boot camp in 13 weeks.  midnight chow was my friend. 
  getting together for the holidays gives me a fix.  i need to see everyone eating and talking and laughing together, older ones at the big table, younger ones at the card tables circling around.  that is one thing i will never tire of.  it is what we are made of.  we are a family, through and through.  you mess with one of us, it won't be long before you have a dozen of us breathing down your neck.  i try try to instill this in my children every chance i get, this unbridled loyalty.  it comes from the heart, and it always feels right. 
i truly believe it all started with the eight of us sitting down to eat together each and every night as we grew up.
 don't you think it's time to get back to the table?

splitting a pound of bacon brings a father and son closer

It's Sunday night, and it appears as though i have survived the weekend. my youngest son spent the weekend sledding down our hill with his buddys, and they came in the garage now and then to warm up their hands and feet.  they chattered back and forth, giggling and smiling, knowing full well i couldn't understand them with their 11 year old slang,  the only phrase i recognized was an occasional "I know, right?" 
  we also fit in some last minute shopping for my wife.  her birthday is today.  i wanted to fix a big meal for her on Saturday, but we just lost track of time.  we did sit down together, and it was then i realized i am not even close to being ready for Christmas. 
  this morning i got up early, let the dog out, put on a pot of coffee, fed the animals and started a good old fashioned breakfast.  Eggs and bacon, with toast and juice.  my wife ordered oatmeal and dry toast with her coffee, as she doesn't care for bacon and eggs.  this left my son and i to polish off a whole pound of bacon, and we were up to the task for sure. 
  it seems a bit quieter having a sit down breakfast as opposed to dinner, but it was nice.  at 8 am, we hadn't had a chance to get on each other's nerves yet.
  in church, my nieces sang and played Christmas songs, making me proud to be a part of a big family that enjoys time spent together.  that is, in my opinion, what it's all about, and it is also why i am an advocate for "Got a minute".  they are promoting these values, and i believe in their cause.

growing up in a big family

i grew up in a family of eight, and eating dinner together was a daily thing back in the 70's.  With a momma like mine, dinner was something we all looked forward to.  That woman could cook!  Her fried chicken was to die for, and on the holidays she would make turkey noodles that were so good, just looking at the pot would gain me two pounds.  i just couldn't get enough noodles.  she would start out the night before, rolling out the dough, slicing it into quarter inch strips, then hanging them all over the kitchen on coat hangers to dry.  when she got done cooking, there was a huge 6 quart pot full, and when we got done eating, there was nothing left, i mean nothing. It wasn't easy feeding all of us.  Saturday mornings we would wake to the smell of buscuits and sausage gravy, my dad's favorite food.  i can still smell those buscuits baking.
  Now days, at 74 years old, momma is still working full time as the food editor at Sauk Valley Newspapers in Sterling.  Every other tuesday, a crew comes to her house, films her cooking, taking pictures and video for the paper.
  I am going to put a few of her recipes on the recipe link so you all can enjoy.  Mom's recipes are always simple, and they use ingredients that a cook might have already in their pantry.

turning "Hop and Shop" chicken into a tradition

  This week my youngest son learned how to set a table for dinner, and i learned that my youngst son is very creative at getting out of school homework.  i would call it a success on both fronts.  sometimes, when you let a child speak, just let him talk, you find out more than if you had asked questions.  So, at dinner, i have let him talk, and boy can he talk. 
  Our dinners haven't always been conventional these days, but we have managed to sit down a few times each week to dinner.  it might be "Hop and Shop" chicken on tuesday night, and chili from a can on thursday, but i have thrown in a piece of fruit and a salad her and there.  The one thing everyone at the table likes is a nice salad.  i have to pick the tomatoes and cucumbers out of my youngest son's salad, but it's worth it.  "Pick your battles"  my dad used to say. 
  Anyway, i have received a wonderful payback already from the "Got a minute" program.  i have been given the gift of a son's rambling thoughts on a daily basis.  Maybe it doesn't seem like much to some, but to me it is an awesome gift.