janene – Page 8 – Janene Renee

December 1, 2007

A is for Advent

I love Advent. I actually don’t recall ever having an advent calendar as a child – you know, those paper posters with the little cardboard doors that you got to open once a day starting in December, with a little piece of chocolate hidden inside. And I must have totally missed it when our church did the readings and candle lighting for the Advent Sundays, because I don’t remember them. It wasn’t until college when I started being exposed to different family traditions and religious celebrations that I recall realizing what advent is. Holly says I’d enjoy being catholic or Lutheran, because I love calendars and seasons so much. And I really do. I have such a hard time tracking one moment to the next that I love any period of focused thought or introspection on a particular subject or season, leading up to a final event or celebration. It helps me to focus. Maybe because was never forced to do such a thing as I child, I love such tradition now.

Anyway, I love Advent. I love to be able to check off a day, and anticipate opening some little door, or peeking inside a little envelop, or hanging some sort of little object to count off the days leading toward Christmas. I also love all the different kinds of advent calendars out there. The photo above is just a smattering of different personal takes on the calendar idea that came up when I searched on flickr. I can’t wait to make my own someday. I’m taking forever to decide what to do, because I love so many different ideas, I can’t possibly limit myself to one. Although, who says you have to have just one? You can have more than one, couldn’t you? I think so. There aren’t any rules, I don’t think!

I also love the Advent Sundays in church. We have finally decided on a church to attend, since we have moved out of Snohomish. The decision was an agonizing one, since we have grown to really love our little Snohomish community church, but since we no longer live in that community, and likely won’t for several years, we felt it was important to attend one closer to where we live and work. We have decided to join our very best friends at their church, which is in the same community as the store. What in the world can be better than attending church with your best friend, and watching your kids grow up together in the same nursery and Sunday school? I’m very excited. This Sunday is the first Advent Sunday, I think – this first Sunday is for Hope. Each church likely will have its own readings for that day, so we’ll see what we see tomorrow, but one thing I think of is the familiar poem by Longfellow – its message of hope has struck a chord with me, and has become one of my favorite carols:

I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day
Their old familiar carols play,
And wild and sweet the words repeat
Of peace on earth, good will to men.

I thought how, as the day had come,
The belfries of all Christendom
Had rolled along the unbroken song
Of peace on earth, good will to men.

And in despair I bowed my head:
"There is no peace on earth," I said,
"For hate is strong and mocks the song
Of peace on earth, good will to men."

Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:
"God is not dead, nor doth he sleep;
The wrong shall fail, the right prevail,
With peace on earth, good will to men."

Till, ringing singing, on its way,
The world revolved from night to day,
A voice, a chime, a chant sublime,
Of peace on earth, good will to men!

November 30, 2007

One Day To Go

Only one more day to go before December! Can you believe the last month of 2007 is finally here? What a year. My news that I never did explain was that we bought our first house. Finally! It seems like it has taken so long, but then we’ve only been married for 5 years – many couples wait a lot longer than that to get into their first house, so I think we’re actually especially fortunate.

So, this means we get to celebrate Benjamin’s first Christmas in our first house. We have a bunch of photos of the place, but I don’t have them right now. I’ll post them another time. At any rate, needless to say, I am very excited about the Christmas season this year. Not just Christmas day, but all the wonderful moments leading up to it. Sights, sounds, smells, tastes, songs, stories, and games.

As such, I have decided to post every day during the month of December, to include a decorating idea, poem, song, recipe, craft, or memory, anything that sparks my interest for the month. I hope you find this holiday season to be a very merry one!

November 28, 2007

Baked Brie with Caramelized Onions

Serve with slices of fresh baguette, and apple, like Honeycrisp or Braeburn. Take a trip through the fancy olive bar at your local grocery store, and you’ve got yourself the perfect appetizer snacks for a party! Hope you enjoy…

Baked Brie with Caramelized Onions

1 large sweet onion, sliced into 1/4" thick rings
1 T Olive Oil
1/4 cup pecans, roughly chopped
2-3 T dried cranberries
2-3 T dried apricots, roughly chopped
Frozen Phyllo Dough, thawed (about 5-7 sheets)
1-2 T Butter, melted
1 largish wheel of Brie Cheese

1. Make the filling: Caramelize the onions by heating the oil in a large pan over medium high heat, then add the onions. Cook, stirring somewhat frequently, until very soft and golden brown, about 20-30 minutes. Add the nuts and dried fruit and cook for another 10 minutes until mixture is toasty, and fully caramelized. You may season with some salt and pepper, but I find it tastes wonderful as is. You might like adding a tad bit of balsamic vinegar.

2. Prepare the dough: Slice the wheel of brie horizontally in half; set aside. Carefully unroll the sheets of phyllo dough, set one sheet on your work surface and immediately cover the rest with a damp tea towel to prevent it from drying out. Lightly brush the sheet with melted butter, then lay another sheet on top, angled clockwise from the first sheet. Smooth together with your hand, then brush with more melted butter. Keep adding layers, at an angle, with melted butter inbetween, so you have 5-7 layers of dough loosely making a circle.

3. Assemble the cheese: Lay the bottom round of cheese in the center of the dough, rind side down. Generously pile on some of the filling on top of the cheese. Lay the remaining half of cheese on top, cut side down, then generously pile on more filling on top. (You’ll have some filling leftover, good to eat with cooked chicken, pork, or beef!) Bring a corner of the dough up over the cheese, and brush with some melted butter. Keep bringing up more of the dough, all the way around, brushing with butter, until the cheese is completely and nicely covered with the dough.

4. Set cheese on a baking sheet, and bake on the middle rack in the oven preheated to 350 for about 25-30 minutes, or until golden and fragrant. Soooooooo yummy!

November 26, 2007

Thanksgiving Goodness

"Welcome to my heart, Spirit of Christmas – I’ve been waiting for you all year!" -Kimber Anne Engstrom.

Well, it was a fine Thanksgiving weekend, wasn’t it? The weather over here in Washington State was our family’s absolute favorite – bright and sunny, but cool and crisp. I of course was inside for all of it, however, but that is exactly where I wanted to be, as I was cooking up a storm. I know that most people are trying to get away from the whole spending-all-day-in-the-kitchen thing, but I’m young and energetic and still want to make things from scratch, so I was very happy.

I split most of the cooking with my mother-in-law – she made the traditional things, and I made some brand new things. I was so proud of myself this time, I actually was staying on schedule. See, i print out my recipes, and write down exactly what needs to be done for each, and what time they need to be done, so that everything’s on the table at the right time. Unfortunately, I hadn’t taken into account the need for Elaine and I to coordinate when she arrived at our home with four dishes that needed to be heated up, and two dishes of mine that needed to be made at the last minute, while keeping the stuffing and meat warm.

Ah well – I know better now what to do for next time, and the food really did all taste good. We had turkey, stovetop stuffing, mashed potatoes, candied yams, green beans with toasted almonds, balsamic cipollini onions, cornbread stuffing with roasted fall vegetables, brussels sprouts with chestnuts and gorgonzola, cider glazed pork loin, then all the usual accompaniments. I made Chris’ favorite appetizer – a baked brie wrapped in phyllo dough and stuffed with a mixture of toasted pecans, caramelized onions, and dried fruits. I was thinking of putting this recipe in the next newsletter, but then I realized that is the January/February Newsletter, so it isn’t really fitting. So, I’ll just blog it, then you can make it for your guests!

This Thanksgiving was one of my more meaningful ones, I think. I am so thankful for so many things, and I love a holiday that centers around gratitude. Gratitude must be rather important to have an official, government-declared holiday dedicated to it, don’t you think? I am so thankful that I was able to celebrate Thanksgiving in our new home. I realized that at 29 years old, we now have a business, a home, a son, friends and family, even a cat. I’ve had some less than wonderful days lately, but when I look at the big picture, I realize that we are truly richly blessed. Currently I’m reading a series of books I haven’t read since I was a child, which is set with a family of pioneers who have traveled west to stake their claim in uninhabited territory. We take a lot for granted here in America. I can open a refridgerater full of food and complain that there is nothing to eat. I could complain that our house needs a paint job, new carpet, or a bigger kitchen, but I have running water, a roof over my head, and warm bed to sleep in. My child is not only healthy and happy, he sleeps through the night! And now we welcome in the first Christmas season in our new home, with our new son, and I am just tickled. To see Christmas through the eyes of my child…I can’t imagine any higher privilege in life.

Happy Thanksgiving, and welcome Christmas Spirit!

November 6, 2007

C is for Cooking

C is for cooking. I love to cook. This is a fairly new thing for me. I wasn’t taught to do much cooking as a kid; my involvement with dinner was relatively limited to setting the table and doing the dishes. But when I graduated high school and moved to Seattle to go to college, I got on this handmade kick that came out of nowhere. I wanted to learn to make everything, and from scratch. I don’t really know why, it just felt really good to take piles of stuff and turn them into something. I learned to make bread (sort of), soap, to crochet, and I started cooking.

My love affair with food has grown slowly and steadily for the last 10 years. When I got my first job in Seattle and started going to lunch with my coworkers, I was introduced to even more new foods and new flavors. This meat-and-potatoes country gal is now cooking fancy-schmansy yummy nummy foods like flank steak, crepes, cheesecake, Vietnamese, Indian, and all sorts of delicious dishes with ingredients like curry, rice noodles, sweet potatoes, fresh herbs, chilies, lime juice, fresh ginger, caramelized onions, and oh….yum. Fortunately, I have a very understanding and adventurous husband who says he is willing to try anything at least once, and has. I’ve only had one flop so far, a broth-based soup with gobs of spinach and not much else. It was very…green. It was very yummy when I had it at Beth’s house, but in my kitchen it was a flop.

Some of my favorite recipe websites are Cooking Light Magazine’s, The Food Network’s, and Epicurious. This weekend we hadn’t much food in the house at all, and of course we were very hungry, and I whipped up something that even made Chris say "I could be a vegetarian every now and then if I got to eat food like this." It was sooooo good.

Roasted Harvest Vegetables

1 Yam or Sweet Potato, peeled and cut into 1.5" cubes
4 medium Red Potatoes, quartered
1/2 small Pumpkin (like Sugar Pie), peeled and cut into 1.5" cubes
2 Carrots, peeled and sliced 2" thick
1 Zucchini, sliced 2" thick
1 Onion, sliced 1/2" thick
1 Garlic head
2 T Olive Oil, plus extra for drizzling
1/4 cup Chicken Broth
1/2 tsp Sea Salt
1/4 tsp freshly ground Black Pepper
1/4 tsp dried thyme
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1 loaf of yummy crusty bread

1. Preheat oven to 425.
2. Remove outer papery layers of garlic head, and slice off top 1/3 (don’t peel the cloves). Drizzle with a teaspoon or so of olive oil and wrap with a double thickness of foil. Set in the middle of a jelly roll pan.
3. Arrange vegetables in a single layer in the pan around the garlic, placing the slices of onion toward the corners, and any thicker pieces of vegetables toward the middle.
4. Drizzle with olive oil and chicken broth, sprinkle with salt, pepper, garlic, and thyme. Toss to coat.
5. Roast in the oven for 45 minutes, or until tender, taking out once to turn (and sprinkle with more olive oil, salt, and/or pepper to taste) after about 20 minutes.

Serve the vegetables with crusty bread, cheese, and fruit. Unwrap the garlic from the foil, squeeze out the cloves, and eat with the vegetables, or spread over the crusty bread. Experiment with different vegetables if you like, such as rutabega, turnip, parsnip, or different types of onion. If you have any leftovers, heat them up the next day along with any leftover chicken broth, puree in a blender, add a little milk or cream, and season to taste, and you have a yummy, healthy autumn vegetable soup!

September 20, 2007

Fall Cupcakes!

Yes, fall is here. Some of you are groaning because this means that summer is over, but remember this also means that, well….autumn is here! Time for brisk mornings and hot drinks, good books and cozy fires, nature giving its grand finale in firey red leaves and big crysanthemums, and of course, baking! This year for my father-in-law’s birthday I added to his gifts by whipping up some cupcakes.

I‘ve never made cupcakes before, believe it or not, and I’ve never made frosting. We didn’t get home until almost 9pm last night and I thought I’d be too tired to get these done, but they went very quickly and easily. I actually ended up with a little leftover, which I poured into a heart-shaped ramekin for Chris and I to share.

The long part was the decorating, because it was of course the fun part. I LOVE baking with pumpkin. If you do too, you’ll love these. It’s based off a recipe from Martha Stewart, which I modified to fit my liking. Hope you enjoy!

Mike’s Birthday Cupcakes (Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting)

2 1/4 cups cake flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon coarse salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, melted and cooled
4 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 can (15 ounces) pumpkin puree
1 bag semi-sweet chocolate chips
4 ounces cream cheese
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) butter, room temperature
1 cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted
1 teaspoons vanilla extract
Food coloring or paste, in reds, oranges, browns, yellows
Candies for decorating, such as chocolate sprinkles, orange sugar crystals, various candy corns, black licorice strings, candy pumpkins, etc.

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line cupcake pans with paper liners (this recipe makes about 24 cupcakes, depending on how full you fill yours); set aside. Measure flour by lightly spooning it into measuring cups and leveling with a knife. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and allspice; set aside.

2. In a large bowl, whisk together, brown sugar, granulated sugar, butter, and eggs. Add dry ingredients, and whisk until smooth. Whisk in pumpkin puree, chocolate chips, 24 drops yellow food coloring, and 16 drops red food coloring.

3. Divide batter evenly among liners, filling each about 1/2 to 3/4 full. Bake until tops spring back when touched, and a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean, 20 to 25 minutes, rotating pans once if needed. Transfer to a wire rack, let cool for 10 minutes. Remove cupcakes from pan onto wire rack; let cool completely.

4. Meanwhile, make the frosting: Place cream cheese in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Beat on medium speed until smooth. Add butter, and beat until fluffy. Reduce speed to low; gradually add sugar, and continue beating until light and fluffy. Add vanilla, and mix to combine.

Now comes the fun part – decorating! Spoon a little bit of frosting into small bowls and experiement with adding color. Red and yellow make orange, add a tiny speck of green to red to make an autumny brick red, etc. Sprinkle orange sugar crystals over white frosting, wind a rope of black licorice in a spiral on orange icing, nestle a candy corn on red icing.

By the way, a note on herbs and spices – this recipe calls for ground allspice, which I did not have on hand. When I got to the store to pick some up and saw the $9+ price tag, I just about gave up. I only needed 1/4 tsp!! Turns out they had a bulk herbs and spices section along with their bulk foods. I’ve noticed more and more grocery stores doing this – our QFC when we lived in Northgate had one, and this was the Top Foods in Snohomish. I bought about a tablespoon of ground allspice and it cost me exactly $0.01. Needless to say, I may never buy bottled herbs and spices again!

September 11, 2007

Sugar Cube House

I'm so excited to report that one of our dearest friends gave in to me not-so-subtle urging and started a blog! Kate is wonderfully creative, colorful, exuberant, and just explodes with life! She's the kind of pretty gal who wears swishy skirts and strappy sandals that lace up your ankles. In many ways, actually, she reminds me of my husband, only she's female. Not that Chris wears strappy sandals, but they are both the type of people to cross by each other on the sidewalk and stop to say hi, and stay there talking for two hours, completely forgetting that they each had a place they were going. I love that. Anyway, she's a wonderful writer, lives a life full of adventure, and can be a bit silly too, so I'm so happy she's be sharing her life with us on blog land. Hope she isn't too shy that I shared her lovely photo. I'll put myself in here too, so she's not on this post all alone. :) Anyway, you can visit her at Sugar Cube House.

And I have to throw in B., too…

September 10, 2007

Crochet Pumpkin Tutorial

For reasons I won’t speak of just yet (but they are good, not bad!), I have to take a temporary break from blogging – there’s a lot going on for the next couple of weeks and I’m just not sure how often I’ll be able to blog. So, I’m sharing a tutorial to keep you all busy! Here are instructions for a pumpkin I crocheted last year – feel free to experiment with different yarn types and colors. It is a pretty forgiving pattern, because if your pumpkin doesn’t end up perfectly round, its completely OK as there are all different shapes and sizes of pumpkins. Feel free to email me if you have any questions. Enjoy!

Crochet Pumpkin

Materials:

1 skein Monteza Classic Elite llama/wool blend yarn in
pumpkin orange (I used #3885), or similar bulky wool yarn
1 ball Crystal Palace Kid Merino yarn in brown (I used
#4673), or similar mohair/wool/nylon blend yarn in complimentary color
1 skein Monteza Classic Elite llama/wool blend yarn in olive
green or brown, or similar bulky wool yarn for the stem
Size H/8 crochet hook
Large eye needle
Fiberfill for stuffing
Optional: Dark green
wool felt, olive green pipe cleaners, small orange button with 4 holes

This project uses only one stitch, the single crochet (sc)
for the entire pumpkin, working in rounds, making it a doable project for
beginners. The stem incorporates a few
half-double (hdc) and double (dc) crochet stitches, but once you get the basic
stitches down, the rest is a breeze. For
instructions on basic crochet stitches, check out any crochet book from the
library, ask a friend or relative to show you, or go to our website www.theweedpatchstore.com. (Feel free to use this pattern for your own personal use, to make your
own decorations or a gift to a friend, but you may not reproduce or
create for selling.)

Instructions:

For the pumpkin (using the orange wool and brown mohair
yarns together):

Foundation and Round
1: ch 2, then 6sc in 2^nd
ch from hk. Place marker by placing a
stray length of yarn of a different color in the last stitch you did, so you
know where the round ends.

Round 2: 2 sc in
ea st around (12 sts total). Move marker
to last stitch (continue moving with each round)

Round 3: [1 sc, 2sc in next st] repeat around (18 sts)

Round 4: [2 sc, 2sc in next st] repeat around (24 sts)

Round 5: [3 sc, 2sc in next st] repeat around (30 sts)

Round 6: [4 sc, 2sc in next st] repeat around (36 sts)

Round 7: [5 sc, 2sc in next st] repeat around (42 sts)

Round 8: [6 sc, 2sc in next st] repeat around (48 sts)

Round 9: [7 sc, 2sc in next st] repeat around (54 sts)

Round 10: [8 sc, 2sc in next st] repeat around (60 sts)

Round 11: [9 sc, 2sc in next st] repeat around (66 sts)

Round 12: [10 sc, 2sc in next st] repeat around (72
sts)

Round 13: [11 sc, 2sc in next st] repeat around (78
sts)

Rounds 14 – 27: sc in each st around (78 sts each time)

Round 28: [12 sc, skip next st] repeat around (72 sts)

Round 29: [11 sc, skip next st] repeat around (66 sts)

Round 30: [10 sc, skip next st] repeat around (60 sts)

At this point, stuff the pumpkin with fiberfill (not too
stuffed!), and continue adding bits of stuffing as you complete the closing
rounds.

Round 31: [9 sc, skip next st] repeat around (54 sts)

Round 32: [8 sc, skip next st] repeat around (48 sts)

Round 33: [7 sc, skip next st] repeat around (42 sts)

Round 34: [6 sc, skip next st] repeat around (36 sts)

Round 35: [5 sc, skip next st] repeat around (30 sts)

Round 36: [4 sc, skip next st] repeat around (24 sts)

Round 37: [3 sc, skip next st] repeat around (18 sts)

Round 38: [2 sc, skip next st] repeat around (12 sts)

Round 39: [1 sc, skip next st] repeat around (6 sts)

Round 40: [1 sc, skip next st] repeat around (3 sts)

Finishing: make one
more sc in middle st to close the opening, clip yarn and weave in the tail.

For the stem (using the green or brown wool yarn):

Foundation and Round
1: ch 3 (counts as 1^st
hdc), 11 hdc in 3^rd ch from hk (12 sts total, incl. ch 3)

Round 2: sc in
each st around (12 sts)

Repeat round until the stem reaches desired length, approx 2
– 3”.

Next round: ch 4 (counts as first dc), 2 dc in each sc
around (24 sts total, incl. ch 4)

Last round: 1 sl st, 1 sc, ch 5, 1 sc in 3^rd
ch from hk, 1 hdc in next ch, 1 dc in next ch, sl st in next 2 sc (one pointy
stem base made). Repeat around,
completing 6 evenly spaced pointy stem base pieces, or alter as desired. Stuff stem with fiberfill.

Putting it all together:

Using a very long length of orange yarn, make three even
wraps around the entire pumpkin to create the pumpkin-like grooves, threading
through an orange button on the bottom if needed to keep secure. Pull yarn fairly tight so that nice deep
grooves are created, and so that the yarn doesn’t slide. Using a length of the green yarn and the
large eye needle, whip stitch the stem to the top of the pumpkin.

Tips:

If
desired, cut leaf shapes from dark green wool and stitch near the base of
the stem.
Create
tendrils by wrapping olive green pipe cleaners around a pencil and tucking
into the base of the stem.
Make
your stitches tight so that the stuffing doesn’t show through.
To
make a smaller pumpkin, use a lighter weight yarn and a smaller crochet
hook.

September 7, 2007

Daily Life

Just dropping in to say I am indeed back from my sister’s house, but the day I returned Chris came down with the stomach flu! So I’ve been pretty busy taking care of things while he’s under the weather – so far I don’t feel sick at all myself, thank goodness! I’m at our store right now adding a bunch of product to our database and watching the counter, so I’ve blogged a bit at our store blog. Hopefully after this weekend I can get back into the swing of things. In the meantime, I’ve been browsing a few of my favorite blogs – Holly has reminded me that fall is about here, Alicia Paulson has been sharing some of her summer fun (including the Oregon State Fair), and Molly Chicken has shared another free tutorial that makes me want to cozy up and stitch away!

Halloween has arrived here at the store. It is funny to watch people’s reaction as they walk through the door – many come in frowning, with a pouting comment "fall already?!" It seems nobody is ready for the summer to end, but then are we ever? This summer sort of flashed right by me, waving "so long" as it went by. Having a baby will do that, I think. Benjamin is still a delight – it is fun to watch him consciously trying to reach for object so then he can put them to his mouth. This morning I brought a new toy toward him, rattling it a bit from side to side, and his eyes were so fixed on it he jiggled his head side to side as he was watching it. It was really funny.

This is Ben at 3 months with our friend Bobby Michaels. He’s been spending a lot of time with his grandparents while Chris is sick, so I have missed him terribly. But hopefully Chris will be feeling well soon, and sometime after this weekend I can get back into the swing of things! Hope you all are enjoying the end of your summer…

August 29, 2007

C is for Curry

Yum! I just whipped this up the other night, and it is easy, relatively healthy, and de-LISH. If you
think you don’t like curry, give this a try – Chris doesn’t
particularly care for Indian dishes, yet he did really like this. Its
not too overpowering, and is very tasty! It’s made in a slow cooker,
so there is very little prep – you just chop a few things up, throw
them in the pot, then eat in about 4 hours!

Easy Chicken Curry

Ingredients:
1 lb Boneless, skinless chicken breast (uncooked), cut into 1" pieces
1 lg Yellow or orange bell pepper, cut into 1" pieces
1 lg Sweet Onion (such as Walla Walla or Vidalia) sliced into 1/4" thick rings
1 14.5 oz can Italian Stewed Tomatoes
1/2 cup pineapple salsa
1/3 cup water
2 Tb cornstarch
2 tsp Curry powder
1/2 tsp ground Cumin
1/4 – 1/2 tsp hot sauce, such as Sriracha
1/2 tsp Garlic powder
Salt & fresh ground pepper to taste
3/4 cup Cashews, divided
Cooked white or basmati rice (to swerve chicken over)

Instructions:

1. Put chicken, peppers, and onions together in the slow cooker; pour tomatoes over top.

2. Mix together remaining ingredients and pour over chicken mixture.

3. Cover and cook on low for 4 hours or until done. Stir only once or twice.

Serve over rice; top each serving with 1-2 Tb cashews. Yield: 6 servings, with about 1 1/2 cups per serving.

Enjoy!

I’m off to my sister’s place in Hillsboro, OR area for the weekend. I’ll be back on Monday sometime, and will blog more then! Take care!