Two out of Four

Today, two of our four new appliances were delivered and installed - the fridge and mircowave. The dishwasher was supposed to be installed, but there was a measuring issue and it didn't fit. lovely. Micah already made a trip back to Lowe's to order a different one. It is a special order and will take a few more weeks to arrive. We are hoping that the stove will be delivered next week. Fingers crossed. We are hoping to have everything in by December 19th, we are hosting a Hanukkah party that evening.

Here are some pictures of our new fridge!!! I love it!!

Thanksgiving recipe updates

So taking the leads from my aunt, i'm listing some of the recipes I'm planning on making next Thursday.  In addition to the traditional menu items, I'm also doing a few new ones, including a new starters and a new dessert. I found the starter recipe while watching the Food Network last weekend. It was a Sandra Lee show, I don't normally like her recipes, but this one caught my interest.

 Sweet Onion Tartlets

Ingredients

4 tablespoons butter
1 Vidalia onion or other sweet onion, diced, about 3 cups
1 box (15-ounce) refrigerated pie crust (recommended: Pillsbury)
3 large eggs
1 1/3 cups half-and-half
1 (1.3-ounce) envelope golden onion soup mix (recommended: Lipton)
1 tablespoon fine herbs (recommended: Spice Islands)
1/2 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese

Directions
Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.

Melt butter in a large frying pan over medium heat. Add onions and cook until golden brown. Set aside to cool.

Unroll pie dough 1 at a time. Use a 2 1/2-inch round cutter and cut as many rounds as possible (about 14 to 16), reserving scraps repeat with second pie dough. Gather together scrap dough and cut out as many rounds as needed to make 36 in total. Fit dough rounds into cups of mini muffin pan. Place in the oven and bake for 10 to 12 minutes. Remove and set aside.

In a small bowl, whisk together eggs, half-and-half, golden onion soup mix, and fines herbs. Set aside.

Divide onions among tartlet shells, about 1/2 teaspoon each. Top each with 1/2 teaspoon of cheese. Stir egg mixture and fill tartlets. Bake for 45 to 50 minutes.

The next recipe is for my brother-in-law, Miles. He requested pumpkin pie for dessert. If you've ever been to Thanksgiving dinner with our family, you'll know that pumpkin pie is not a speciality of ours. So I've been looking for recipes and this one looks yummy. It is from http://www.kraftfoods.com/.

Turtle Pumpkin Pie
Ingredients
1/4 cup plus 2 Tbsp. caramel ice cream topping, divided
1 HONEY MAID Graham Pie Crust (6 oz.)
1/2 cup plus 2 Tbsp. chopped PLANTERS Pecans, divided
2 pkg. (3.4 oz. each) JELL-O Vanilla Flavor Instant Pudding
1 cup cold milk
1 cup canned pumpkin
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg
1 tub (8 oz.) COOL WHIP Whipped Topping, thawed, divided

Directions
Pour 1/4 cup caramel topping into crust; sprinkle with 1/2 cup nuts.

Beat dry pudding mixes, milk, pumpkin and spices with whisk until well blended. Stir in 1-1/2 cups COOL WHIP; spoon into crust.

Refridgerate 1 hour. Top with remaining COOL WHIP, caramel topping and nuts just before serving.

Creep yhotel

I'm a sad excuse for a hotel in McHenry, Maryland. For those of you who are familiar with Maryland, it is in the tail of Maryland, near West Virginia. I'm here because I have a presentation tomorrow morning at a high school at 8 am. And I'm about 3.5 hours away from home, much too far for me to try and do it at 4am. So I'm in very creep hotel, but I'm trying to look past it since I'm only here to sleep. I'll be out in less than 12 hours.

I'm so looking forward to the weekend!!!

Lame excuse for a post...

It is 10:40pm. I got home about thirty minutes ago.... I'm so tired. It was a long day. Sorry for the lack of a meaningful post. But I'm tired, my brain is fried. I promise for a 'real' post soon.  To these lame posts cost as me posting on the blog each day? Probably not, but at least I'm attempting, right.

What to post...

I'm out of things to say today. It has been a long day of meetings.It has already been an really long week and it is only Tuesday. I always feel that the week before a vacation week is really, really long. Only five more days of work before we head to Nashville to visit with family! yeah!!

The New Jew

A friend of mine writes a blog on Jewish family living. She posted a great post last Friday that got me thinking. She asked her readers, how are you making Judaism an important and meaningful part of you life and identity??

See I told you, it is an thought provoking question. I've asked myself this question before. What do I do? We celebrate the Jewish holidays, have shabbot dinner with family and friends when time allows. We joined the JCC and plan on enrolling Abby in the daycare/pre-school when she turns two. We gave our daughter a Hebrew name, and it was important that her name was the same in English and in Hebrew.

I wish we had the time, or more like made the time to do shabbot dinners every week, went to shul on a regular basis, even kept kosher. But I guess at the moment, these actions are not as important to us as other things. Most Friday nights, Micah, Abby and I spend the time together. We have dinner, play and begin our bedtime routine. Many times over the past couple of months, we have be on the road, visiting family and friends is cities far away, because it is important to us to spend time with the ones we love.

My follow-up question  would be, do not doing or doing these activities/religious practices make me more or less Jewish?  I consider myself Jewish, it is something I identify with, and if asked, I would consider myself a Jewish American rather than an American Jew. Regardless of how 'practicing' I or my family are, or how many of the 'rules' I adhere to, I'm still a Jew.  I've morphed the religion to fit my needs at right now. In the future, I might need more, but for now, it works for me. It works for us.

Thanksgiving planning

This year, we are heading to Nashville to have Thanksgiving with Jill, Miles and Molly. Mom and dad, Grampy and Grampy Goldman, along with Miles's mom will also be joining us. Mom and I are putting together the menu and doing most of the cooking. (Jill has all but insisted that we cook. I think it might have something to do with a stuffing incident that happened last yeat.) Mom and I have had several 'conference' calls to plan the menu and I think we are about finished.

As we are melding many families, I'd like to have at least one dish that is a favorite of each person. There haven't been too many off the wall requests. So here is my request to all my blog readers, answer this question. Thanksgiving wouldn't be thanksgiving without....

New appliances

A couple of weekends ago, Micah and I painted the kitchen/den (one might call it a great room). The room is almost complete. Pictures are hung, curtains are up. Now all we needed were new appliances. But consider that done. After two painful hours at Lowes, a new fridge, stove, microwave and dishwasher have been ordered and will be delivered next week.

All of the appliances, with the exception of the fridge, are the basic, bottom of the line. So the upgrade is very welcome. And even better, I got to pick them out, so they are what I want and what I like. :)

The two most important items for me are the fridge and oven. The fridge is a three-door model, french doors on the top with the freezer on the bottom. And stove is a flat-top electric with a convection oven. I'd love to have gas, but since that isn't an option, this was the best I could get. Micah was more interested in teh dishwasher, and we did get a quieter one, which is important since we spend most of ourtime in this one room and when the dishwasher is running, you practically can't hear a thing.

They all come next weekend. I'll be sure to post pictures once everything is in and in its rightful place.

Technology

Can you believe the technology these days? Last night I posted to this blog by sending a text message from my phone. Tonight I'm posting from my email account (again from my phone). I'm in love!!!!

I'm also addicted to the iPhone. There is so much cool stuff to play with. I can play games, check my email, use facebook and even update my twitter account ( yes, I have a Twitter account. I've posted twice
and gave something 10 followers. They must be waiting with baited breath for me to update.)

With all these cool devices, I feel that I might be too connected. Do people really care what I'm doing right now? Do they always need to know what my status is? Is what I ate for breakfast that exiciting that someone might want to know how it taste?

I think for the first time, technology has surpassed my interest.

Guess I'm off to tweet about tweeting.....

iBlogging-- I'm blogging from my new iPhone. How cool is that! I know you are all jealous. :)

Thank you...

Two simple words that are not said enough.   Thank you to all the men and women who have served, representing, defending the honor of our country. Thank you to my brother in law, Miles. Thank you to my father-in-law  and grandfather. Thank you to the thousands of sons, daughters, wives, husbands, father, mothers, aunts and uncles that leave loved ones behind to all us the freedoms we enjoy everyday.

Thank you

Welcome Molly!!

My beautiful neice was born just about three weeks ago on October 17th. I can't wait to meet the newest member of the Sizemore/Miller family over Thanksgiving. Only two more weeks until I can hold this beautiful girl!

Welcome Molly Gwendolyn Miller!

I'm going to call her MJ (Miles Junior) - he he. She looks just like her dad!

I love sleep smiles!

On top of spaghetti

Okay it was ravoli, but either way Abby loves it.

Can you tell?

10 years

Last night was my ten year reunion for high school. I wasn't able to attend, but from the pictures on facebook it looks like everyone had a good time and we had a pretty good showing from the class. I can't believe that it has been ten years since I graduated from high school. I feel so old, but then I look back and I've done quite a bit since high school - went to college, moved to Boston, attended game 2 of the World Series in Boston (2004), worked with Diana DeGarmo (American Idol runner up), met Micah, moved to Baltimore, got married, realized that I love working in healthcare - specifically non-profits, sold and bought a house (something I don't think like to do again, but sure I will), had Abby, went to London, became an aunt.  This is just a quick recap, I'm sure I missing some things.

And in honor of my reunion, here is one of those 'quizzes' from facebook.


Here's one I've not seen before.... Fill this out about your SENIOR year of high school! The longer ago it was, the more fun the answers will be!!

1. Did you date someone from your school?
Yes. Jeff Carpenter

2. Did you marry someone from your high school?
Nope!

3. Did you car pool to school?
No. Unless bringing Jill and Chris counts...

4. What kind of car did you have?
Mom's mini-van or the cavalier

5. What kind of car do you have now?
Mini-van (odd how ten years later, I'm still driving the same type of car...)

6. It's Friday night...where are you? (then)
Hanging out at Jen's house

7. It is Friday night...where are you? (now)
At home...

8. What kind of job did you have in high school?
Working at Valley Home Center and a very short stint at Dunkin

9. What kind of job do you do now?
Community Relations and Hospital Services Manger, The Living Legacy Foundation

10. Were you a party animal?
Ah, no.

11. Were you considered a flirt?
Nope.

12. Were you in band, orchestra, or choir?
yes.

13. Were you a nerd?
Yes and I'm proud of it!

14. Did you get suspended or expelled?
Nope

15. Can you sing the fight song?
Did we have a fight song...

16. Who was/were your favorite teacher?
Mrs. Noyes

17. Where did you sit during lunch?
In the hallway

18. What was your school's full name?
Hillsboro-Deering Co-operative High School - I think

19. When did you graduate?
1999

20. What was your school mascot?
The Hillcats

21. If you could go back and do it again, would you?
No way

22. Did you have fun at Prom?
Loved Junior prom... senior program was all right

23. Do you still talk to the person you went to Prom with?
Nope

24. Are you planning on going to your next reunion?
If you have one...

25. Do you still talk to people from school?
Only through facebook

Nothing much to say

I'm only seven days in to this challenge of posting everyday and I feel like I've run out of this to say or even post about.  This is sad. My life is very boring...

So here is a few pictures of Abby in the HUGE tub in our hotel room in Atlanta a few weeks ago. She didn't know what to make of it at first, but by the end, she was kicking and splashing like normal.

The best answer to a long Friday...

Chocolate peanut butter cookies!

These days I normally make cookies from scratch (it honestly isn't that much more work and they taste SO much better).  However, when you are in a pinch and need a quick sugar rush, Betty Crocker cookie mixes work well.

Weeknight dinners - Creamy Dijon Beef with Mushrooms

I'm always on the look out for quick, easy and nutrious meals to good during weeknights (and weekends to be that matter).  Some recipes I make exactly, most of them I adapt to our likeing.  This one comes from CampbelKitchens.com.

Creamy Dijon Beef with Mushrooms
(served over rice)

1 cup of rice
2 cups cooking liquid
3/4 lb beef (I used a sirlion already cut into chuncks)
1 med. onion
2 cups mushrooms, sliced (to cut down on time, I used canned mushrooms)
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1/2 cup water
2T dijon mustard
1 1/2 cups broccoli (steamed)

First start the rice. I used a short grain white rice, but you could use any rice of your choice. When cooking rice, I almost always use chicken broth, it gives to more flavor.  Here I used one cup of rice in two cups of chicken broth, brought to a boil, then covered, simmered for 20 minutes. (A quick note: don't peak, just let the rice cook for 20 minutes and then fluff with a fork.)

After starting the rice, melt 1 1/2 T of butter in a non-stick pan. Once melted, add onions and cook until transulcent.

When the onions begin to carmelize, add the mushrooms. Cook until mushrooms are warmed through, then transfer veggies to plate.

In the same pan, add the beef. Cook until evenly brown and cooked through.

Add the can of  cream of mushroom soup, 1/2 cup of water and 2T of dijon mustard. Stir and bring to a slight boil.

Serve over a bed of rice. I added broccoli, which added great color and a nice crunch.

A yummy meal for a cool, rainy night.

Now, if you don't like or eat beef, you could always make this with chicken. It could probably also be made without meat as well, however, if this was the case, I would use a variety of fresh mushrooms to add more flavor.

funny twitter page

This will be a short blog post.... I'm tired, it was a long day of traveling (it took me more than 3 hours to get home from Philly).

This is a very funny twitter account. I'm sure all my English major, writing friends will enjoy!

http://twitter.com/fakeapstylebook

10 Favorite Sounds

To help get my creativity juices going, I did a quick Google search for writing prompts and found this very interesting site and tool, the impagination prompt generator. One of the prompt I got (yes, I admit I clicked it a few times until I found a prompt that inspired me) was list my 10 favorite sounds. So here goes... in no particular order

10. Joe Castiglione's voice - there is nothing like listening to Joe's voice calling a BoSox game on a warm summer night.
9. Peepers on a warm summer night - one of the few sounds that can immediatly bring me back to my childhood, trying to fall asleep during warm summer nights.
8. The sound of rain on the window at night, the soft tapping of rain drops often lulls me to sleep on raining nights.
7. The sizzle of chicken in a hot pan. I love to cook (and bake). It is a way for me to be creative. It is a way for me to relax.
6. A snow plow outside early in the morning. Growing up it normally meant that school might be delayed or even better, cancelled. And when I pull back the curtain and peek outside, I know I'll see a blanket of white covering the ground.
5. A text message ding - I like getting text messages. They are normally from family or friend and mostly a funny message from my good friend Lauren.
4.The sound of the front door opening and Micah saying hello after I've been home alone with a baby and a very friendly dog for week. (Am I bad mother for admitting this?)
3. The sound of thunder -  It reminds me of warm summer nights watching thunderstorms on the backporch with dad
2. Camp songs - I loved camp and nothing says camp more to me than camp songs. We sang them all session long. Micah and I even sing them to Abby now. It always surprises me that we went to two different camps many miles and years apart - and yet we still know many of the same songs.
1. Abby's laugh. I love it when she laughs. The laugh that comes from deep in her belly and then the slight sigh she lets out when she is done, trying to catch her breath.

That was a lot harder. Now it is your turn...

Day 2

Bet you thought I wouldn't make it to even the second day of this month long challenge. However, I squeeked  in with two hours remaining. And I'm even doing my blogging from the comfort of my hotel room in Philly. I'm here for a conference on hospital development. (I know you are all thrilled to know that...) In my two plus hour drive up, I had thought of just about a million different things to post about, but know that I'm sitting in front my computer, and it being 10 pm, it has all gone from my head.

So you might ask, why did I drive up to Philly so late?? That is because I couldn't leave until Micah came home - which didn't happen until 7pm. I was going to write a scathing blog post about how hard I work at being a mom and wife, all while having a successful career, but then thought that wasn't worth it. Every woman is superwoman, supermom, superwife. I don't do any more that the average mom, either working or stay at home, I just do it in a different way. I'm not going to complain, I'm just going to take this day like everyother and put on my pants one leg at a time (how many cliches can I fit in to one paragraph???).

It's late. I'm tired. 6:30 am will come calling sooner than I'd like. I promise to be a bit more positive tomorrow (or at least I'll try...)

National Blog Posting Month

I've made a commitment to myself, well and those at the offical National Blog Posting Month site, that I'd post something on my blog each day for the entire month of November. It is the first day of the month and I'm already at a lost for words. Not sure where I should begin...

I'm sure over the next 30 days, I'm sure I'll be posting lots of recipe ideas, (I've already have a handful of recipies I want to share with everyone), pictures of Abby and hopefully some of my creative writing (wish has gone by the wayside since the arrival of the newest Gelman). 

So, because I can't think of anything else to write at the moment, here is a quick recap of our weekend, which can be done in one word. Painting.  We painted the 'great room' - the room with the kitchen and television. And before many of you already say it, yes we just painted the room when we moved in just two years ago. However, it was a very light green color, which made it seem a little cold. Since we are planning on getting new applicances (fridge, oven, dishwasher) for Hanukkah, we thought it would be best to paint now if we wanted to change the color. So in just under 48 hours, we went from a very light green to a very bold gold and soft cocoa brown. It was a drastic change, but makes the rooms look much warmer.  And with a new rug, a few new paintings and draps, it feels very homey. (I'll post pictures soon, I'm just too tired to get the cord to plug in the camera.)

Late yesterday evening, we finally got everything put back together and I got my kitchen back (and if you've ever been without a kitchen with a 10 month old, you will understand how excited I was.) This afternoon, after I went grocery shopping, we put the finishing touches on the rooms and have just a few more things to add before we can label this room complete.

Oh, and on top of it all, we celebrated a soggy Halloween. The weather held off the tricker or treaters and we only got about six visitors, which was disappointing. But we did have the cutest little leopard stop by. They are rare, but we did have a spotting and here are the pictures to prove it.

Hope everyone had a safe and fun Halloween... and watch out for those pink leopards :)