how domestic

hi my name is Jennifer and i'm a can-a-holic. i've been clean for 10 days (literally, i think every surface of the house has become well acquainted with lysol).



recently, a friend taught me to bottle chicken. i must admit that i was both a little apprehensive and skeptical in the beginning. but, after a few batches i caught the bug and am now a canning addict.
as luck would have it, there was a awesome sell on chicken last week, and after buying 30lbs and realizing it wouldn't all fit in the freezer i decided drastic measures would have to be taken. so, with bags of chicken unthawing and dripping all over the kitchen, i decided it was as good a time as ever to embrace the inner domestic goddess...

the canner reminded me of a time capsule that you would bury and forget about for 40-50 years; only to dig up later, look inside and think, "why on earth would i care to remember all this junk?"
thankfully, unlike the time capsule the canner didn't take 40 years to do it's job. the process starts with raw chicken. after cleaning the chicken up a bit by cutting off any fat etc, you next jam as much chicken into bottles as you can fit. put lids on tightly and lock the bottles in the canner.



2 hours later, if you manage to not blow up the house in the process, voila! perfectly cooked and preserved chicken. it was SO much fun! i even decided to get adventurous and flavor some of the batches - i figure you can't go wrong with roasted garlic and bbq flavored chicken, right? after a few days i think david saw the writing on the wall - i was getting hooked - and he decided cut me off. after 3 trips to the store for more and more chicken, he lost his enthusiasm. okay, by the 6th batch - which means after about 80-90lbs of chicken - the excitement had tarnish for me a bit too, but it was still cool.



we decided to open one bottle and test it to make sure it was worthwhile to have 80 bottles laying around. it was SO easy to use - I mean, open the bottle and dinner is ready, easy! that is definitely my idea of cooking most nights.

and now, i line up all the bottles on the table just to gaze at them... david has the silly notion that he actually gets to open the bottles and eat the chicken; foolish! i think i'm going to save them forever as a reminder that i can be domestic... but only when i really really have to be... look out martha!

because today is a special day

this is one of our favorite past times.
she thinks she wins cause she gets to play in the water.
and, i keep letting her think she's the one calling the shots as towel after towel i mop up the floor - sucker!

18 months, serious?!?

i can hardly believe that 18 months have passed since Lexie joined our family. But, on the other hand, i have a feeling that in a blink of an eye i'll be saying, "18 years?! couldn't have come a moment to soon..."

it has been an action-packed and fun-filled year and a half watching Lex learn, grown, and discover the world around her. she continues to be an absolute joy... she is getting bigger, smarter, and more mischievous as each day passes.
Absolutely nothing is out of her reach - even if she cant see what's on the counter, she knows to put her hands up and 'feel around'... she always comes away with something.
she has developed an absolute passion for clothes and shoes - though she has always had a thing for shoes. on a daily basis, she empties her dresser ('empties' literally meaning, throwing fist by fist over her head) until she finds what she wants to wear. at which point she tries to put the outfit on herself - that usually means the pants/shorts are on her head like a hat, and she has an arm and a foot in the arm holes of a shirt.... have to give her credit for trying though.
she still loves water, books, and being outside. she is not a big talker; even on the day she was born she never really cried - just grunted a lot. don't get me wrong, she still knows how to make her wishes known. course, it could have something to do with the fact that her mother isn't a big talker...
she is an absolute dare devil - she would just as soon walk off the top of the slide, than sit down and actually slide.
she loves food (don't know where she gets that from). she will eat pretty much anything and everything. although, she is still not sold on ice cream and chocolate milk... i know, i don't get it either.

now that she is 18 months that means that she is no longer a child, but now ready to be institutionalized... nursery. i don't know what it is that makes 18 months the magical age, but there comes a time in everyones' life when they must leave the shelter of home and face the real world. I can only hope that we've prepared her well enough...

must be the mother's day spirit

My mother has always been a great cook - we'll fore go mention of the sandy stew and lima bean soup years, everyone gets a freebie. however, since having all of us kids move out, my mother has become an exceptional cook! you name it and she can make it; usually better than any restaurant can, in fact. i love going home to visit because i feel like i am eating at a restaurant every night and i can show up to the table in my pj's, i get seconds without paying extra, and i don't have to leave a big tip.
for the past few years my mom has been on a quest to prefect the baking of bread. usually after she found a good one, a copy of the recipe would end up mysteriously in my email inbox with a message about how it 'practically makes itself. i have to make an absolute correction - in all my years of trying, and trust me i have tried - there is nothing that cooks itself; sigh. each time i went home and watched her waltz around her kitchen for hours saying things like, "see wasn't that easy", "doesn't this look like fun? don't you want to learn?", and "i told you, nothing to it". i would just shake my head, and vow not to mention how long she had been the constant motion in the kitchen.
recently, i could refuse no longer, and a sacred cup of the sourdough start was ripped from its' home and relocated to California. the road has not always been sunny, and i in fact found a way to ruin a batch - even when my mom swore it couldn't be done, let's be clear that all ingredients are required for the desired outcome. i have indeed learned the joys of homemade sourdough bread. i love to follow the process and eat the result... truly does not get better than that... seriously, i don't know how we lived before the start - now we can't seem to go more than a few days without making a batch!

anyway, for those to whom i have shared the start - here are the basics for fabulous artisan sourdough bread. thanks mom... and, now you can never say that i didn't multiply your posterity...

1 1/2 Cup Start (freshly fed 8-12 hours previous)
1 1/2 Cup water
5 Cups Flour
4 tsp Oil
2 1/2 tsp Salt

combine the start and water


add the flour, oil, and salt. mix by hand to incorporate.



mix in mixer for about 3 minutes - let rest 15 minutes, covered - mix an additional 3 minutes - let rest 30 minutes, covered. while mixing, dough should pull away from the sides, but stick to the bottom - will be sticky.



stretch on a floured surface. fold right to left; top to bottom; left to right; and bottom to top. place back on bowl to sit for 30 minutes. repeat this 3 or 4 times.




allow to double in size. separate into 2 pieces and form boules. turn upside down in well floured, towel lined baskets, cover with plastic wrap.
allow to sit in the fridge over night.



the following day: remove the bread 2 hours prior to baking. heat oven to 500. turn bread out onto parchment paper, score the top for steam to be released. place in oven, cover with large dish (run water over the dish before covering the bread). turn the oven down to 450. bake 20 minutes covered. remove the bowl and bake an additional 12-17 minutes.


Enjoy!

Happy Mother's Day

You know we live in a great country when there is a day dedicated to honoring mothers. a mother's day is devoted to cooking, cleaning, managing, and soothing - so it's nice to get a little recognition. although, would it be asking too much for maybe a few more than a mere 24 hours? i'm going to start my petition for a 2010 "mother's month"...
as a young girl i always felt so much pressure on mother's day to get something or do something for my mom that she would really love. most of the time, i think she played along pretty well... no real emotional scars stemming from past mother's days that i can recall (now, mom's birthdays are a completely different story). she dutifully kept all the homemade crafts, didn't complain when she cleaned up the kitchen after we made her breakfast in bed, etc. But, amidst all that, i do recall the undertone of mother's day being - here we go again, let's get it over with.
i must admit, that i myself have adopted this mindset. but, david was absolutely undeterred, and refused to let me ruin his mother's day! i had previously told him that i hate shopping and need someone to buy clothes for me that will make me look cute and stylish. i should have known he was the wrong person to say this to... he bought me a new Sunday outfit. i have to give him props - it looks exceptional on me! i have also been trying to track down the first season of the tv series Life. my funny husband rented it from blockbuster, wrapped it for me to unwrap, and gave it to me (but only for 5 days, unless i want late fees).
it was a good day topped off with a homemade dinner of country fried chicken and mash potatoes (mmmmmm...). And, a quick jaunt to the OC to visit grandma. the one down side was the traffic. I commented to david that we of course should have planned on traffic on mother's day - this is after all California. to which he replied, "every one is on the freeway trying to get away from their mothers! this way they can say - oh, i would have loved to see you today, but i was traveling!" certainly not the direction I expected his mind to go - but really when do i ever get it right when it comes to anticipating his thoughts?

Happy Mother's day! special shout out to my own mom - i love you! thanks for being you... hope you know how much you mean to me and how much i value you. shouldn't come as much of a shock, but you're in this job for life, cause i don't see myself growing out of needing my mommy anytime soon.

plan on it

just scheduled lexie's first surgery:

June 15th

having it actually scheduled makes me more nervous than ever. the thought of her in the hospital is now forming into a very clear picture, but not one i am enjoying. it will be nice to have this over and done - until November, when we'll do it all again on the other hand...
the surgery details to date:

• she cant have anything to eat or drink 10 hours before. they initially wanted to start at 11, but i begged for earlier because i don't think Lexie would understand why she couldn't have food or water and that could make for one very grumpy kid. now we're shooting for 8:30am
• it will last about 2 1/2 hours
• it's outpatient, but she'll be in the hospital for 23 hours observation. so, we can't take her home till the next day. poor kid isn't even old enough to enjoy hospital pudding and ice cream
• she'll be in a cast from fingertip to shoulder for 2 weeks

fountain of youth

the only time we make the effort of going to hollywood is when we have visitors. so, when kristen was here a few weeks ago we decided to indulge ourselves in all the frivolities.
we walked up and down hollywood blvd - hoping to see someone famous, and make the trip worth it - but the only stars that we saw were the ones plastered on the ground.
come to find out, if we had started our excursion a few hours earlier we would have seen Hugh Jackman getting his star on the walk of fame. can't tell you how much that realization hurt - and come to think of it, STILL hurts. that is one of those things in life that i guess i will always have to wonder about: if i had just been there... sigh...

hollywood was overwhelming - to put it mildly - for lex. she spend most of the time with her gaze fixed at the ground. however, she was more than a little intrigued with Disney's El Capitan theater and the fountains in the kodac. once again, when it was time to leave, she was soaking wet. don't worry though, david made sure to take her shirt off after she made her first pass through the geysers. i spend the time sitting on a bench shaking my head... and secretly hoping that the water hole david was standing over would turn on...

u.c.los angeles

Recently the dental school was featured on our local news.
about UCLA they said:

It is one of the finest dental schools in the country with state-of-the-art equipment, highly experienced professors and well-trained students.

Not bad to hear, huh? and, for the price we are paying a little good pr every now and again is a much welcomed thing.
David and i often wonder how life would be different if we had chosen one of the many other schools to which he was accepted. thinking over the list, i think i can sum up how i would be: colder, homesick'er, whiter, larger, and possibly sheltered'er.
it is nice to be confident in the fact that we are where we should be at this stage in life. and, come December who knows where the next adventure will take us...

the link for the full story is:
http://www.abclocal.go.com/kabc/story?section=news/7_on_your_side&id=6798043

merry maid

i dont know what it is about laundry that calls to my daughter, but her favorite day of the week is Wednesday - cause she knows that's when the clothes come out.
since she wants to be so involved in the process, i decided she may as well help out. cause really what is the point in having kids if they can't pull their own weight with chores. one day she'll thank me... when she's married and all of her friends are talking about how they never learned to cook or clean... i'm waiting for the letter she's bound to send me...

she is getting very good at helping me sort, and she loves to transfer the clothes from the basket into the washing machines. that is, sadly, where her helpfulness ends. once the clothes are clean she sees no point in making more work for herself by having everything folded. i have learned that unless i want to fold everything multiple times, the folding happens after bed time.

actually she has just started to pull all her clothes from her dresser and add them to the dirty clothes sorting piles. trip after trip, arm-full after arm-full... by the size of her grin, I think, she really thinks she's doing me a favor!

here piggy piggy

know what this looks say?
"please, mom! not again..."
just can't help myself - gotta play with the hair


getting them in was the easy part...


getting her to hold still for a picture - not so easy.

david and i turn 3

Last week David and I passed the 3 year mark of marriage... in some ways it feels like that number should be a lot bigger - higher - more impressive...
It is fun to remember back to our {brief} time dating; the newness, excitement, fun. ah, good times... these days, our time is just brief...

david called me from school on our anniversary, our conversation went something like this:
david: do you want a leather purse?
jen: already have one.

david: do you want another leather jacket?
jen: don't use the 2 I have.

david: what about a leather watch?
jen: nope, got that too.

david: fine! thanks for ruining everything. bye.

This point of the conversation is where it would have been useful for me to have known that one of his friends on campus referred him to an anniversary website which lays out what represents each year.
if you didn't already guess, year 3 is leather.

I had to leave for a YW meeting when he got home that night - happy anniversary, hon - and, as I was leaving he asked where we kept the wrapping paper. i called his bluff, knowing he hadn't bought anything. without skipping a beat he replied, "oh never mind! I'll find it. i'm going to wrap up everything leather that you own... you have to open something tonight." I'll tell you, life is seldom dull when david has time to think about things other than teeth.

In the end, it was a low key event. and, instead of leather for our 3rd year, it will forever be known as the year of the 'cup o'noodle' cause that's what i wolfed down before running out the door - right about the time david walked through it.

in case you are curious here is the site for anniversaries:

http://www.khulsey.com/jewelry/traditional_anniversary_gifts.html

Happy Birthday Daddy

Happy birthday to you...
happy birthday to you...
happy birthday, Dear Daddy...

Happy Birthday to YOU!!

Hope you had a great day - wish we could have been there to celebrate with you... especially since the celebration happened at the {my} happiest place on earth. I'm going to tell myself that at least one bite of your Gorge burger was dedicated to me.
I love you dad - thank you for always being there. Your counsel and advice are always appreciated, and usually spot on (though, I'm going to keep that on the dl). I couldn't have asked for a better Daddy!!!!