glimpses

Here are some glimpses into my life the past few weeks:

First there was Thanksgiving in New York City with almost all the cousins....

what a handsome group!!

Then there's my home life....

the best big sis ever...

...and her happy lil bros

Yep. Das right. You see it. I did it.

And the sibling squabling begins...

....they never used to fight...

...but now they do...with Anders being the initiator. Always. He is one big bully. But oh so lovable!!

Anders is also the biggest mess maker. Always and constantly. The messes NEVER end.

yumminess

As anyone who knows me knows, I looooooove to cook and I loooooove to eat. I haven't shared very many recipes on this blog because I keep thinking I am going to start another one with only recipes, cooking tips, etc. Cooking is my passion and one of these days I would love to share it! One of these days...... For now, I can barely keep this journal/blog going and updated. Barely.

Anyway, a friend requested in her comment below that I share this Chocolate-Pumpkin Cheesecake Bar recipe and boy, these are so scrumptiously delicious I did not want to share the last couple...and I didn't. I kept the last two hidden in my fridge and I just devoured them. One right after the other. I couldn't leave one all alone, hidden by itself, cold and lonely in my fridge. Ok...ok....I have NO willpower. None.

• Crust

  • 20 chocolate wafer cookies (half a 9-ounce package)
  • 2 tablespoons sugar
  • 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

• Filling

  • 2 packages bar cream cheese (8 ounces each)
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 cup canned solid-pack pumpkin puree
  • 3 large eggs
  • 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon pumpkin-pie spice
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 4 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line bottom and sides of an 8-inch square baking pan with parchment paper or aluminum foil, leaving an overhang on all sides. Set aside.
2. In a food processor, blend cookies with sugar until finely ground (you should have about 1 cup crumbs); add butter, and pulse until moistened.
3. Transfer crumb mixture to prepared pan, and press gently into bottom. Bake until fragrant and slightly firm, 12 to 15 minutes. Set aside to cool.
4. Place cream cheese in food processor; blend until smooth. Add sugar, pumpkin puree, eggs, flour, pumpkin-pie spice, and salt; process until combined. Set aside.
5. Place chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl; microwave in 30-second increments, stirring between each, until melted. Add 1 cup pumpkin mixture; stir to combine. Set aside.
6. Pour remaining pumpkin mixture into prepared pan. Drop dollops of chocolate mixture onto pumpkin mixture; swirl. Bake until cheesecake is set but jiggles slightly when gently shaken, 40 to 50 minutes.
7. Cool in pan. Cover; chill until firm, at least 2 hours (and up to 2 days). Using overhang, transfer cake to work surface. With a knife dipped in water, cut into 16 squares. Serve.

11-11-11

I just had to post on 11-11-11. How many days do I get to write/see that date on, well, anything? One day and only one day. The 2000s have been fun that way -- with every year bringing a similar type of date -- and, as my boy pointed out, we only have one more year to have that because "we can't have a 13-13-13!". My lil girl was born on 04-05-06....which is so perfect for a forgetful brain like mine. I am grateful that at least one in 3 birthdays is easy to remember!!

Anyway, today just happens to be Veteran's Day as well and I need to pay some respect to our men and women defending our freedom every single day -- both in the past and the present. Every night in November my family says what we are thankful for at dinner (and I may continue beyond November...but recently I've heard about a few people who do this in the month of Thanksgiving and I thought it was an excellent idea, so I copied) and last night my 2nd grader said, "I'm thankful for our soldiers."

Me: "Why?" (they always have to explain why they are thankful for what they are thankful for...I like to dig a bit deeper....)

He: "Because they keep us safe."

His class talked about D-Day this week and he was so excited because he had been "on the beaches where we fought the nazis" this past summer. I was so happy he had retained at least some of the history lesson from our trip abroad. I am also happy he remembers to be thankful to so many people so worthy of our thanks. Every day.

And while we are on that subject, I would like to share a segment from my very favorite show on tv (ok...besides "ellen" and "Modern Family"...but it's right up there!), CBS Sunday Morning. This past Sunday they did a few tribute segments to Andy Rooney. Andy Rooney's D-Day description depicts so succinctly what my family learned about our brave soldiers on D-Day, "one of the most monumentally unselfish things one group of people did for another," that I can't help but share it with you on this Veteran's Day, 11-11-11.

Thank you soldiers and families of soldiers. Every one of you.

our snowy halloween

We had quite a different sort of Halloween this year. A nor'easter came through on Saturday night and took away all of our power. That didn't stop our town from trick or treating however! Most towns were postponed (some until one WEEK later!!) or even cancelled. Not ours though. We just walked around in the darkness on Halloween night listening to the sound of generators as we shouted "TRICK OR TREAT!!"

Thing 1 and Thing 2 would have NOTHING to do with their wigs. Oh well. I wore one for them....

Anders LOVES to make funny faces. He is dang funny.

My handsome Anders who isn't afraid of anything -- including a skeleton. Niels on the other hand.......

My gorgeous pup in the snow she loves so very much. Like crazy about it. Seriously.

Our friends who had no power and no generator stayed with us to keep warm (their trick or treating was postponed until Friday night -- some were postponed an entire week!) . This is Anna Clara's bestest friend in the background while AC watches for her dad to come home and go trick or treating. Our friends handed out candy while we walked around ringing doorbells.

Snow as far as the eye could see......

Anna Clara wanted to adorn herself with all things "princess" -- even the random 4th of July barrette.

Sweet 'n scary.

Punkin man and skeleton boy.

Blurry but SO adorable of my Niels.

Still waiting for daddy.

Off we go to get ourselves some candy!!



ps: I have no idea wut up with the layout here, but I'm goin' with it. At least I finally was able to make the photos bigger without them turning blurry! I am very blog techno challenged...to say the least. I haven't taken the time to figger it out.....oh well. Maybe some day.......

first snow, October 2011

We had our first snowfall today. Four days before Halloween.

Lots of people were all whiny and complainy 'n stuff about it.


Other people couldn't wait to get out into it.


The way I see it is, if there's nothing you can do about it, you might as well enjoy the beauty and the spontaneity of it. It IS New England...where the weather is NEVER predictable. (I've never understood why New Englanders can't seem to understand that...especially the news people. Why show the snowstorm on tv all day when we're all stuck inside wanting to watch something OTHER than the storm outside our windows!!)



A nor'easter is headed our way tonight with hurricane force wind gusts and 3" to 6" (some say 6" to 12") of snow! Trick or treating in the snow for us! At least the chocolate won't melt........before it reaches my mouth the minute it enters our home.....

snack time

The boys came inside from playing in the back yard and decided to plant themselves down and have a drink and a snack.

walk on

My lil Niels has had some problems with walking. Anders started walking at just under 14 months -- that's 3 months ago. He has been cruisin' around ever since. Niels has been very nervous about getting up on his two feet. He has WANTED to, but he is a bit of a nervous nelly...in all things. He lets Anders do the exploring while he watches and learns.

This week, Niels finally took his first steps that went beyond the first few, as in the above video. He had been standing up, holding on to things and "cruising" for months. But now, finally, he is walking a bit more than he is crawling. He diligently practices every day...and it truly is "practicing" as he goes round and round, carefully and with determination -- and does NOT want help. He falls frequently, but gets right back up to try again. I hope that continues in all his trials in life.....

dessert divinity

I made this Grape Jam Tart for dessert tonight. It was absolutely divine. Perfect for tonight. Just had to share cuz I was so impressed with how it turned out. And boy was it tasty.

october fun

Punkin Man strikes again!

Mr. Incredible went all out with the decorations this year....


The kiddos helped me prep grapes for 22 pints of grape jam and 25 quarts of juice. YUM!!
(the grapes came from a good friend's vineyard)

double the fun

It is absolutely true that having twins is double the fun. It is also true that it is double (or more) the work...but I can't help but enjoy -- and want to share -- the fun of watching them play together and laugh together. They are never bored and they are never boring to watch.

my messy life

When people say, "my life's a mess" they usually don't mean that they are constantly picking up messes in their home. Well, that's what I mean when I say that my life is one big mess...after another....and another...and another....and another...and another.....






This was a lil mess left by a peanut loving, football watching daddy....

When not making messes, they are.....



How much do I love this pup (who's not so much a pup at 12 years old....),
let me count the ways.....


Since harvest has been in full swing, I have also been busy harvesting, cooking, freezing and canning....

This was a HUGE gourd -- and I'm not sure this picture emphasizes how big the gourd is, or how big these two have grown this summer....


It was very difficult for Soren to pick. It took him a while to get it off.



Our first lil punkin.


I canned 14 jars of yellow and red tomatoes.


Our very first fruit from our orchard!! And oooohhhh were they yummy.


My girl's first professional haircut...her school pics are this week....

Which reminds me of another first haircut from Nana this past summer...not so professional...but still darn cute!

There goes the baby mullet....



Bye bye white trash mullet boy, hello handsome!!!!


This picture captures a bit of a glimpse into my world: the CONSTANT love and playfulness a big sis has with her lil bros and one of the four joyful faces I have the privilege of seeing every day -- completely blurring out the messes in the background.

Ok, enough "me time"...I'm off to clean up another mess........