Creative Cooking!

Well, it's a little chilly here today, so I was thinking about what I could have for lunch that would be warm, and filling, and free (meaning it was something I already had here at the office and not something I would have to go buy!) - so, I've invented this Asian soup - it's a can of green beans, a can of mushrooms, a can of chicken broth, a few slices of turkey lunch meat, a chopped up tomato, about a 1/4 of a green pepper, chooped, a few shakes of Shirache sauce (not sure about that spelling...), one Mini-Moo (a/k/a one of those little bitty coffee creamers), and last, but not least...about a teaspoon of peanut butter! Heat that up until it's really hot and bubbly, and my-oh-my - that's some pretty tasty stuff! - Just keepin' you in the loop in case you find yourself wondering what to fix for lunch! -- love you all! Mom

From The Lone Star State to The Natural State: Our work in progress...

Hey there family! Roxie has started something that in the future she may have to pay for... I have begun an new addiction to blogging I think.  Here is a blog that I have set up for Brannon and I to share with you all what's going on with the move to Arkansas and the productivity on the house. Hopefully I don't get too carried away with this whole blogging thing that it keeps us from actually getting work done on the house.  Can't wait until you all get to come and visit us and see the final product. Love you all very much!!!

From The Lone Star State to The Natural State: Our work in progress...: "I'm back in Texas today after another long extended drive to/from Arkansas and Texas. Today really wasnt bad at all. Our little girl Charli ..."

Dear Dad got a Deer....

Well, sorry, no pics to prove it, but your Dad got a deer....hit it with my car...would rather he'd have used a gun...or a bow...but to each his own I suppose! He was actually pretty shaken up (Dad, not the deer, although I'm sure the deer was quite shaken too!) It hit the hood of the car, and then bounced around and hit the driver's door -- Dad said he thought it was coming through the windshield! So, the lesson for today my babies, is "beware of deer!" (I've already called Arkansas Collision Center - they have a loaner for me, and Doddie said she would try to save me my $500 deductible since I'm "such a good customer"! -- Love to all! Nonnie

Charli Jo turned O.N.E.

Well everyone ... the time has come for those long awaited photos of our sweet Charli Jo "Chuckles" turning one year old for your viewing pleasure. I deeply apologize for the super long wait but I know it was all worth it. Also a special thanks goes out to Roxie for getting me added to the blog as a contributer so I could make posts of my own. Thank you Rocket! I'm going to try my darndest to post here on a regular basis but with the moving situation and house remodeling situation I'm not making any promises.

On the morning of C.J.'s birthday I had to take a picture of her first thing waking up on her 1st Birthday. I felt sooo bad after I had done it and caught that "what are you thinking" look on her face but it was so worth it though. I can only imagine all the looks I'm going to get through out the years if I keep doing this. I guess we will have to wait and see.

Later on that day her daddy and I took her to play for the first time at the mall that we all went to to walk around at when we were waiting for her to make her special appearance one full year ago. We walked around window shopping, had lunch at Chick-Fil-A. Afterwared we took her to where she got to play in the mall's toddler play place with kids more her size and she was able to explore all on her own. I was really surprised to see how independent she already was when she

wouldn't let us help her do a thing except for help her up the steps at the slide.

There Charli Jo had made her first little friend all on her own. It was soo cute, she had made friends with this 20 month old little boy and they had played so well together until Charli started playing keep away with his sippy cup. Then the little boy had enough and wanted it back so they began a little game of tug of war over his sippy. She finally gave in and gave it back to him when she realized it wasn't hers. I just think the picture of the two fo them staring each other down while guzzling down there drinks is just adorable.

Charli seemed to of really had a ton of fun at the mall. Afterwards we stopped by Babies 'R Us and got her a new pair of jeans. When we got home Brannon pushed her up and down the street on her new Radio Flyer Tri-Cycle that was given to her she can't quite reach the pedals to yet. I think that for her that may have been more fun than playing at the play place at the mall.

As for Charli's Birthday Party we had rented a gazebo at Trinity Park in downtown Fort Worth next to the miniature train depot. We had a small gathering of local friends and family out for a picnic of burgers and hotdogs at the park. After we all ate we took a ride around the park on the train and Charli and all the kids had a great time. It was still on the hotside outside around then but we all toughed it out okay.

When we were done with the ride we came back to open presents and for Charli to have her first birthday cake. I had stayed up the night before making her a double layered strawberry cake with real strawberries in the middle and with white whipped icing. It had sliced strawberries decorated around the bottom with pink and red icing piped around the bottom and top. It was a great little cake even though as soon as we got to the park it melted within the first five minutes even with it sitting in the fridge over night. I didn't even get a chance to take a picture of how pretty it was. Thank goodness Charli was only turning one and not thirteen because she didn't even know the difference. At first she really didn't even know what to think about it. She just sat there and stared at it with this look on her face wondering what in the world she was supposed to do with this big blob of a thing sitting in front of her. Destiny had to help her with her first bite and after that she just picked at it a little bit here and there. I think it may have been too sticky for her liking. Either that or else she was in sugar shock from the first bite. Overall it turned out to be a good day at the park but I think next time we'll just stick to having a gathering either around the house or somewhere inside.

That's all for now folks. I've gotten more pics of Charli today here in Arkansas that I will have to post up next time. Until then we are Charli and I are headed bak to DFW tomorrow morning after visiting Brannon and everyone and working on the house. I think Brannon also took some pictures tha I'll have to get posted up to show ya'll the progress of how the house is going. Hope to see or hear from you all soon. Have a great rest of the week everybody and know that we love you all very much. xoxoxo

with love from houston

hola mi familia. so in the spirit of rox's new place picture sharing.. im sharing too. and b, we will need some photos of your casa nueva soon as well - just in case anyone forgets the 18 or so years they have spent there already - no kidding but really am exciting to see what milah's lovely touch does to old house.alrighty. virtual tour 2010:
the new street complete with primo view of houston skyline

and enter the front door... and the big big speakers courtesy of cody

important reading time place aka the amazing new couch we got for free and under the ugly blue velvet slip cover was a perfectly good white couch. hmm who'd have thought. but it was missing the back pillows so i made us some.

my studio (well one half of the living room) and me working away - this picture may or may not have been faked for your viewing purposes.the dining room scans table makes a nice place to photograph work- we painted one wall solid white, something dad said he has never been asked to do before.

the kitchen from the back porch door. too many bikes? what to do? hang them from the kitchen ceiling duh.


and georges favorite lazy space. oh and codys studio which he has to share with me if i get too messy for the living room.okay. audios. i am working on my espanol. it seems important to understanding this city.

te amo and miss you
monkey lou

Fannie Farmer's (Julia Maestri's?) Fabulous Foods

Okay, so I heard this wonderful piece on NPR this morning (you should go to NPR.org, scroll down to the "FOOD" section, and look at the pictures of Fannie Farmer's 1896 feast) about this man that built a 1896 kitchen and spent 2 years learning how to cook like Fannie Farmer, using the recipes from her 1896 Cookbook. He made jello (okay, gelatin) molds by boiling calves hooves, and homemade "food coloring" from spinach, and beets, and berries. Anyway, it made me think of the cookbook that Grandma Maestri passed on to Roxie, and how Roxie is going through it and cooking each of the recipes, and I was thinking it would be great if Roxie wrote (in her spare time, of course, while she's languishing in the upstairs closet making productive hemoglobin)(tip: have someone else do the spelling part...) about her successes (or failures) with the recipes! Just trying to keep a little family history going.....! Also, I posted another blog back around the end of September, but I can't find it anywhere! It was quite clever, and funny, and I know you would have all enjoyed reading it - but it doesn't seem to be on here, so I must have done something wrong (again) - stupid blogger! -- Love you all! Nonnie

Pics of the Homestead and Thai Peanut Noodles

This is a view from the road. Both of our cars fit in the garage! We were excited about that

This is the first time entering the front door. You can see th stairs and the dining room in the background.

This is the kids on the stairs. You can see into the livingroom also.

This is the back yard from one side. This is probably about 1/3 of the yard.

This is a view of the back yard from the other side.

This is the Sky Fort that Daniel built in the backyard. All of the kids, and I mean All the kids in the neighborhood seam to really enjoy it.

Thia Peanut Noodles

1/2 cup Chicken Broth

3 Tbsp. Creamy Peanutbutter
1-2 tsp. Sriracha Chili Sauce ( the one in the tall squeeze bottle with the Rooster on the front )

1 1/2 Tbsp. Honey
3 Tbsp. Soy Sauce

1 1/2 Tbsp. Fresh Ginger ( I cut it into small enough pieces to press threw the garlic press. I read once that about an inch of ginger once peeled and grated is about a Tbsp.)
3 cloves of Garlic pressed

8 0z linguine noodles ( if they were whole wheat this would make a complete protein with the peanut butter!)

Just wisk all this in a sauce pan till it starts to bubble. Then pour over drained noodles. I doubled it and used the entire box of noodles for my fam. yummy yummy.

The recipe came from a Food Blog called Our Best Bites. They have lots of good recipes that are on the Olsen Family October menu. I will let you know if anymore turn out good. I did make there Pumpkin Crumble the other day, but it wasn't anything to write home about. The temp is supposed to drop here on Wed. so we will be having there Smokey Bean and Bacon soup Wed or Thurs. I will let you know how it goes.

On another note...... As many of you know I entered two of my hats in the County Fair a couple of weeks ago. Sadly, I did not come home with a ribbon! I know, can you believe it. I mean, the judges must be blind, or dumb or both. But for real..... I am thinking you just can't get the full experience of one of my hats when it is laying flat on a table. I also think I entered it under the wrong category. I chose needle work, cause there were lots of crocheted thing in that one, but they were mostly blankets and Klenex box covers,a dn pot holders. I think next year ( yes I will try again, every year until those old lady's accept me! ) I will enter in the clothing and wearable category. There were a few yarn hats and scarfs in that category and they all won at least a 3rd place ribbon. My hats were on a shelf with all the Misc. needle work stuff, so i'm wondering if they were able to figure out they were hats. They could have thought they were some newfangled teapot cosy or something. Who, knows..... but I am excited to try again next year.

Red blood cell production is going good. I am feeling a little better each day. Hopefully before mom and dad come to visit I will be feeling good enough to cook up some yummy dinners and go to the beach. Ok, got to get. Briceson has a stomach bug and just ralfed all over the couch and himself. I got it cleaned up, but now he is laying on a clean blanket on the floor watching WonderPets, waiting for the next eruption. When he was puking, EveyLynn asked " Briceson leaking?" The dynamic between two two year olds is so funny. How they understand and relate to each other. Cracks me up.

Im going to put a couple pics of the new house on here cause Daniel taught me how last night, and I'm feeling pretty cool about my new skill. I have some better ones, but I am hoping to get them all organized and put into Picasa album or something before i send them.

Love and miss you all,

Rox

So..... I'm not as cool as I thought cause I can not get the pics to go at the end of the message and for the life of me can not get them in the order I want. Stupid, Stupid Blogger.

P.S. This last paragraph should have been up by the recipe, but It drifted down here some how. I'm really bad at this Blog stuff.

Ok, so here are the noodles I made. They were very good the next day also but I had to add about a Tbs. of water to loosen them up. The cilantro and peanuts really make them awesom. Isaiah loved the cilantro, but Ali ate them just plane, cause well, she is a plane kind of girl. : ) I only added 1 tsp of the hotsauce, but when I make it for mom and dad I think a bit more will be in order.