Matt isn't a big fan of pumpkin. Okay, he hates it. So, when I set out to make our Thanksgiving menu, I set out to find a fallish alternative (I bought a pumpkin pie for Rob and I anyway). In my search, I came across this. Matt generally doesn't like egg nog, but has just recently been more open to the taste, so I offered this delicious-sounding pie. As I'm posting this, I have yet to actually try this pie, since it hasn't set yet because I'm a dummy and put it in the fridge to cool with the plastic lid, causing the heat to linger. I'll let you know when I actually try it, but here's the recipe anyway. If you manage to try it before I do, you're on your own.

Egg Nog Cream Pie

2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons cornstarch
3 cups egg nog, divided
6 eggs, yolks only
2 teaspoons vanilla
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 graham cracker pie shell (8-inch)

1. Place the sugar, cornstarch and salt in a 3 quart heavy sauce pan and whisk together.

2. Whisk egg yolks with 1/4 cup egg nog in a small bowl. Then add the egg nog mixture to the dry ingredients in the sauce pan and whisk together.

3. Add 1 3/4 cups of egg nog to the sauce pan and whisk well. Cook on medium high heat until the mixture thickens, stirring constantly.

4. Remove from heat and add vanilla and remaining 1 cup egg nog; whisk well. Pour into the graham cracker pie shell. Refrigerate. Top with whipped cream.

George Washington's 1789 Thanksgiving Proclamation

Washington's words in his Thanksgiving Proclamation are so beautiful and God-glorifying. If only we had leadership like this today, working to do God's perfect will instead of fighting against it in disobedience and arrogance. How different our country would be if we had kept this God-honoring mentality.

Whereas it is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits, and humbly to implore His protection and favor; and Whereas both Houses of Congress have, by their joint committee, requested me to "recommend to the people of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer, to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many and signal favors of Almighty God, especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness:"

Now, therefore, I do recommend and assign Thursday, the 26th day of November next, to be devoted by the people of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being who is the beneficent author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be; that we may then all unite in rendering unto Him our sincere and humble thanks for His kind care and protection of the people of this country previous to their becoming a nation; for the signal and manifold mercies and the favorable interpositions of His providence in the course and conclusion of the late war; for the great degree of tranquility, union, and plenty which we have since enjoyed; for the peaceable and rational manner in which we have been enable to establish constitutions of government for our safety and happiness, and particularly the national one now lately instituted for the civil and religious liberty with which we are blessed, and the means we have of acquiring and diffusing useful knowledge; and, in general, for all the great and various favors which He has been pleased to confer upon us.

And also that we may then unite in most humbly offering our prayers and supplications to the great Lord and Ruler of Nations and beseech Him to pardon our national and other transgressions; to enable us all, whether in public or private stations, to perform our several and relative duties properly and punctually; to render our National Government a blessing to all the people by constantly being a Government of wise, just, and constitutional laws, discreetly and faithfully executed and obeyed; to protect and guide all sovereigns and nations (especially such as have shown kindness to us), and to bless them with good governments, peace, and concord; to promote the knowledge and practice of true religion and virtue, and the increase of science among them and us; and, generally to grant unto all mankind such a degree of temporal prosperity as He alone knows to be best.

Given under my hand, at the city of New York, the 3d day of October, A.D. 1789.

G. Washington

Source

Snowy Saturday/Drew Update

We got our first snow this Saturday, so of course the two older boys had to head outside to play. Here's them working hard on their snowman.

Rob decided to take the supervisor position instead.

They finished just as the sun started coming out. Both pretty stinkin' cute, if you ask me. :)

Meet Sam. Sam the Snowman. Hi Sam!

An artsy shot I took. He was trying to look up at me, but the flakes kept getting in his eyes. He finally gave up and enjoyed the feel of the flakes hitting his face.

As you saw in an earlier post, I made Rob this adorable earflap hat. His poor little hands kept freezing on Saturday because we lost his mittens, so I made him a pair to match his hat today. I'm pretty proud, as they're the first I've ever successfully made!

Here's Drew's side-to-side hat. I think it turned out pretty cute! I made it gray to match his stormy personality.

And here's just a really cute shot of The Drewster. That smile says it all. We have seen a noticeable change in him in the last week or so thanks to the chlorophyll. He's much calmer and happier. He still has his moments, but when he cries now, it's for a reason and not just because he's miserable. God is good!

Peanut Butter Sandwich Cookies

Photo Credit: Our Best Bites

I saw these and I HAD to make them, so I was excited to know that I had an excuse to when I saw that we needed to bring a dessert for our church's Thanksgiving Pot'faith'. Needless to say, they went quick. Thankfully, each of us were able to have atleast one here at home prior. They are simply awesome! Thank you again, Our Best Bites!

Peanut Butter Sandwich Cookies

1 C butter flavored Crisco
1 C creamy peanut butter 

1 C sugar

1 C packed brown sugar

1 t vanilla

3 eggs

3 C flour

2 t baking soda

1/2 t salt

filling:

1/2 C creamy peanut butter

1/4 C (4 Tbs) real butter, softened

2 C powdered sugar

2 t vanilla

2-3 Tbs milk

Cookies

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Cream shortening, peanut butter, and sugars together until light and fluffy, 1-2 minutes. Add in vanilla, and eggs one at a time. In a separate bowl whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt and add to dough. Mix to combine. The dough will be very soft- that's normal!

Roll dough into 1/2 inch (or a little larger) balls, roll in sugar, place on ungreased cookie sheet and do the little forky criss-cross thing.

Bake for 6-8 minutes, or until puffed and set, but not browned.  Remove from oven, let cool on baking sheet for 2-3 minutes and then transfer to cooling rack.

Filling: Beat peanut butter, butter, sugar, and vanilla together until smooth, if needed, add milk until desired consistency is reached.  When cookies are completely cooled, spread a layer of frosting on one side and sandwich together.
yield: about 4 dozen sandwiches (I ended up with just shy of 2 dozen)

Neither Naptime Nor Monsters...

Bet your mailman isn't this cute...

Photo-Themed Update

 I've finally figured out hats (couldn't figure out how to make the crown for some reason), so I've been in hat-making mode. It started with a friend of mine from church requesting a flapper hat (pictures to come...maybe) for a 20's style party (see what you started, Lark?). I was happy to give it a go and now I can't stop. This is Rob's new earflap hat to match his new coat. It's a little big, but It's still really cute on him. Can't leave Drew out, so he'll probably be the next recipient. Rob himself is doing good. We're battling some sin areas (i.e. arguing, back-talking, bossiness, and tantrums, mainly), but he can be an incredibly sweet kid when he wants to be. And a riot, I might add. He's always eager to please and entertain.

Baby boy's doing okay. We're still hit and miss on his health and mood, but we've been trying the herbal route with him because we're desperate. The pediatrician isn't helpful whatsoever and tells me to "keep doing what I'm doing". Well, what I'm doing isn't helping. Now what? His eczema isn't clearing up, his tear duct is still plugged, and he's, more often than not, miserable. Two trusted friends from church suggested we try him on chlorophyll (yes, the green stuff plants make). I was skeptical and still kind of am, but I have noticed that he has been a lot more mellow lately than he usually is. If that's all it did, it would still be worth it! We'll just have to wait and pray for the best. I just wish he'd be happy and healthy. Other than that, he's trying to crawl and gets very frustrated that he can't. He likes to yell at his limbs as if to say, "Hey! DO SOMETHING!", but he has figured out how to go from a crawling position to sitting up on his own. He's also into EVERYTHING.

On Saturday, a family from church asked us to do a shoot with a unique prop - a firetruck! Mom and Dad both volunteer with the Filer Fire District, so we shot nearby just in case they got a call. Rob has a new-found love for firetrucks, so we were planning on getting together with this family eventually so he could see one up close. Two birds, one stone! We didn't tell him where we were going and as soon as he saw the truck, his jaw dropped and he said, "firetruck" under his breath. He also got to RIDE in it, too! My friends were so sweet and completely made Rob's year by letting him get the full tour of of not only the truck itself, but the firehouse, too. So, he got to try on a helmet, see inside of an ambulance, and climb all over various trucks parked there. Talk about little boy heaven! You can see a few of the results from our shoot by visiting my set on Flickr. The hat, by the way, is my first attempt. I didn't care for the pattern.

In other news, Matt still hasn't heard back from PSI, but is kind of hoping they don't call him. He'd like to stay with Pepsi, especially since it's been brought to their attention that they're losing drivers due to poor pay, hopefully nudging them towards raises. The Lord's will be done, but we could certainly use a little more. This barely scraping by thing is getting old and stressful at times.

As for Thanksgiving, we've decided to go it alone this year. We were invited by a sweet family from church, but we're a "legit" family now - we need to start making our own traditions. Thanks to our church family, we'll be able to make our own dinner and enjoy the day as a family, thanking the Lord for all He has provided and continues to provide. May it be glorifying to Him.

Home life's been challenging and tough lately, but we try to cherish the good times. God is pulling us through, as He always does. It's a season meant for us to bunker down through the storm under His strong foundation. Prayers appreciated.

The Many Faces of Drew

The Many Faces of Drew - Twin Falls, Idaho - 2010, originally uploaded by The Shutterbugette.

He can be such a goof, when he wants to be. Trying to enjoy the good times.

A Scary Sight

It's only a matter of time...

Update of Sorts

Is it really November already? I can't believe this year is almost over. Crazy.

Yes, he's sitting up now. Also crazy. He's still not 100% stable on his own yet, but definitely getting there. When I went to grab him out of his crib at 4am this morning, he was sitting up all by himself, much to my surprise. It was dark, so I think he was sitting up, atleast. He's still trying to figure out crawling, but I anticipate it within the next month or so. Also, I discovered a tooth last night at dinner. It's made him quite "fun" to deal with today.

I'm definitely starting to see a strong bond and relationship between the two boys. It gives me great joy to see them interacting with each other more, in a positive way. It makes my heart smile to hear them cracking each other up at random times.

Rob's potty training? *crazy laugh*

Matt applied for a job with PSI Waste Systems and had an interview yesterday. The recruiter he spoke to prior to the interview made it sound like they were SUPER interested in him because of his driving experience with Pepsi, but then the interview itself seemed lackluster. We'll see how it pans out. There's definite pros and cons to him switching, so we're leaving it to God to hash out. Things tend to turn out better if He takes over anyway.

Really quite irked about the holidays anymore. My grandparents headed south again, and my aunt is leaving to visit my other aunt back east, so we're ditched for Thanksgiving. Again. I'm not holding my breath for Christmas. I think that's all I'm going to say about that.

Business is quiet. We had a shoot last week, but ended up rushing things and flubbing up an order pretty bad. Thankfully, it was a friend from church, who was incredibly understanding and forgiving about the whole thing. I get frustrated with the slow trickle of shoots and the mistakes I make on them, but I also see God's grace in all of it, in that He's giving us lots of opportunities and time to improve. I'm very thankful for that.

Life's just...life. Crazy, stressful, and filled with lessons learned. I can't say whether it's good or bad. Just life. I'd worry if it was anything else.

Slow-Cooked Pulled Pork Recipe

I had a pulled pork recipe I used to make with pork chops and BBQ sauce, but this one is SO MUCH BETTER! I first made this recipe for a family in our church while their mom was away taking care of her mom (a big thanks to the Sanstrom family for being my guinea pigs). It was a pretty big hit, so we tried it for ourselves tonight. Our nostrils were tortured by the savory smells bellowing from the crockpot all day until FINALLY it was dinner time. To give you an idea of just how good the pork was, Robby, who is fickle about what he eats sometimes, ate FOUR HELPINGS WORTH of meat. Yes, it was that good! The meat is tender, juicy, and flavorful and the smell of it cooking is AMAZING. All you need is a little BBQ sauce on your sandwich for that extra zing. Thank you yet again Campbell's Kitchen!

Slow-Cooked Pulled Pork Recipe

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 boneless pork shoulder  roast (3 1/2 to 4 pounds), netted or tied
1 can (10 1/2 ounces) Campbell's® Condensed French Onion Soup
1 cup ketchup
1/4 cup cider vinegar
3 tablespoons packed brown sugar
3 tablespoons Frank's Redhot (optional)
12 round sandwich rolls or hamburger rolls, split

Directions:

1. Heat the oil in a 10-inch skillet over medium-high heat. Add the pork and cook until well browned on all sides.

2. Stir the soup, ketchup, vinegar and brown sugar in a 5-quart slow cooker. Add the pork and turn to coat.

3. Cover and cook on LOW for 8 to 9 hours or until the pork is fork-tender.

4. Remove the pork from the cooker to a cutting board and let stand for 10 minutes. Using 2 forks, shred the pork. Return the pork to the cooker.  Divide the pork mixture among the rolls.