Nana's Apple Pie

There is nothing in the world quite like my Nana's apple pie. I have it for breakfast and possibly lunch and supper when I am able to have it. I love the apple pies and she knows it, which is why I am greeted with one every time we head home to visit. This past Christmas, she went one step further...she got me my very own apple peeler/corer/slicer, just like the one she has used for years to make hundreds of crowd pleasing pies.

I remember her letting me help make the pies with her as a child, now I have the recipe and have attempted my own pies. They were good, but I still cannot get pastry right, so Pillsbury steps in to help me out with that one. Last year she made more memories with my girls by showing them the fine art of apple pie making, and they still talk about it

Today I used my new kitchen tool to prepare apples for a soup, but I look forward to many years of making apple pies, apple crisps and applesauce for my friends and family.

Thanks, Nana!

 My new apple peeler/corer/slicer

 Saige trying out Nana's apple peeler

 Jessie gives it a go

Pre-cooking the apples

 The pie ready for the oven

Jessie making a mini-pie with the leftover pastry

One of the pies I have made in the past...Thanksgiving 2006

One Year and Beyond

We have been in Kuwait well over a year, in fact, it is coming up on 2 years this spring. I notice a phenomenon that happens to alot of ex-pats when they hit the one year mark. It happened to us, and others have mentioned it as well.

The first year is the settling phase. It takes a while to establish a new normal, get the house and family settled in school, activities, routines. Making friends, socializing and everything is hard, but it is do-able. It is a year of adventure, and while things are different, you know in your mind that you are a guest in a foreign country, and just accept things are they way they are. You conform to local ways of life, while trying to maintain a sense of still being you.

Then....one year goes by. You enter the anger phase. Angry that there seems to be no morals or rules here. Driving seems to just get to you. Everything about the way things are done here just makes you mad. You get anxious just at the thought of heading out of the house or do anything that makes you go off your normal path. It happened to me, anyway. The carnage on the roads on weekend mornings from the reckless habits of some the night before used to be almost entertaining to see the way cars managed to tangle themselves into unrecognized forms. Now, it is maddening, as you know exactly the reason it happened....bullying by vehicle. Some people think they are entiltled to drive like a manic just because they have a car there is no counter-attack by the local police. Even people 'driving' shopping carts feel as if they have no need to accept they may not be the only ones shooping that day. Kids seem to have no parents, the nannies are afraid to discipline.

So, approaching 2 years here, and I have allowed myself to have the anger phase, knowing there is nothing to do about it. I live my life knowing that I have haven't changed who I am, and will come out of this a better person. The nice part in all of this mess, is that often an act of humanity is witnessed, and it seems as though maybe life isn't so bad here. And by life, I mean we are fine, doing well, happy, just it is hard to witness how some others live in a moral fog. I hear that once you get past the 2 year mark, going home is alot harder! :D

Our annual Christmas card and letter

An entire 7 months without a post....but here it is....our 2011 Christmas card and letter. Click on the images to view a larger image.

Merry Christmas!

Swimming and appetite

If anybody is looking for a sure fire way to increase their kids' appetite: 1 hour swimming lessons. I could NOT get enough food into my children today, especially Saige, who has been an eating machine for a few months now. Normally the lessons are 45 minutes, but we had 15 minutes to make up for today. Here is what the menu was today:

- Soy/rice milk upon waking
- 2 crepes for breakfast
- they each shared a leftover crepe an hour before swim lessons
- I gave them pretzels and apples for a snack on the drive to swim lessons (which falls at lunch time, 11:30 -12:30)
- I gave them a whole carrot to munch on the drive home from lessons
- I made them a smoothie with banana, strawberries, protein powder, avocado, laban (yogurt drink) and flax seed when we got home, plus a carrot muffin
- pumpkin seeds and pears for a snack.
- a small bowl of Cheetos for watching a movie I promised them this afternoon
- They whined the entire first half of the movie that they were still hungry...so I rushed and made dinner (chicken/egg noodles stir fry with carrots and cabbage) at 4:30! I usually feed them at 5:30 or 6.
- Granola and milk before bed

All to be repeated tomorrow. They will come home from school and snack all afternoon until dinner. I have noticed a slight weight gain in them, so it IS going somewhere other than the hollow leg :)

I am thankful for not having boys when it will eventually come to feeding the teenage years.

Did you know?

Did you know that my comsumption of Pringles is directly related to having them on hand in the house?

We have movie night occasionally. With Robb being gone on a business trip, I anticipate one or two movie nights this week. So, while shopping for groceries, I planned ahead and bought a tube of Pringles (our movie snack of choice, lately). BAD IDEA. I know they are there. I cannot help myself. I LOVE them. We have a small store literally across the road that sells them. If they were not in the house, I really wouldn't think to go out and cross the road to buy them. But they are here, but not for long. I am not sure if there is enough left for movie night. I may have to finish them, hide the evidence, then go across to the store that sells them to re-stock. But...I will wait for movie night, to lessen the temptation. :)

Muffins!!

With the LONG 2 week spring break drawing to a close, I decided to fill the freezer with pancakes and muffins for easy, grab and go breakfasts once school is back in. The pancakes crisp up nice in the toaster, add a side of banana or apple, and breakfast is done! Same as the muffins, I either pop one frozen in the lunch box, or thaw overnight for a yummy breakfast for the kids. We have one happy morning person (Jessie) and two not so keen to be out of bed (Saige and Me), so the less hassle to get food in the morning, the better!
The first batch of muffins were Banana Oatmeal - I was hesistant to stray from the traditional Banana Muffin recipe I have used for years...but this is YUMMY and slightly healthier? I don't know where the orignal recipe came from, so here is my adapted version:

1/2 cup brown sugar
1 cup oats - fine grind
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp.baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
3 mashed bananas
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Mix the dry stuff....add the rest, stir till moist. 350F for 20 mins - makes 12 muffins (muffin cups save alot of time!)
And....here they are!

The second batch of muffins I made were Carrot Muffins from the Joy of Baking. I won't re-type the recipe, but I did make a few adaptations. I used 1/2 the sugar, used whole whaet flour, and added 1/4 cup date syrup. I used 1/2 the oil, and used 1/2 the amount as applesauce.

They are good, but I may keep searching for another great breakfast muffin.

And, finally, the pancake recipe at Epiciurious.com: Whole Wheat Oatmeal Pancakes.
Makes about 15 toaster sized, freezable pancakes.

Pea Soup

I have an abundance of beans and other dried lentils to use up. I know the end of June, when we travel back to Canada for the summer, seems far away now, I know it will sneak up. I don't want to be caught with a bunch of unused food in the freezer and cupboards. So, to use up some of the dried peas, and continue on the path of better eating, I found a vegetarian Pea Soup recipe (because of the lack of ham available here, and I don't think any other meat would suffice!). Adapted from The Delicious Truth recipe.



From: The Delicious Truth

 I added 2 cloves of garlic, and I didn't use Bay Leaf or hot sauce, and used veggie broth instead of water. Robb said it was the best soup yet! Which, I had to agree. Thick, and the cumin added a nice taste. I see myself using up a few more beans with another round of this recipe....even though it doesn't feel like soup weather anymore!