Happy Thanksgiving!

Hubby and the kids have vacation this week so I'm on a blog vacation. I am also doing my first wedding cake this weekend (actually a 50th anniversary cake but it's a replication of their wedding cake) and I'm starting to have cake nightmares. The party is on and I haven't even started baking yet.....then I can't frost the cake without it falling apart.....then I have a spill carrying it.....darn cake nightmares :)

We'll resume with Food Notwork Chef's Cooking Challenge and Kid Friendly Friday next week. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving.

GO Gators!

Turkey Fun

Kid Friendly Friday - Christmas Books

I wanted to share with you are great list of Christmas books. I have been gathering them for a few years (some listed I do not own) and only take them out for the month of December. There's such anticipation and we have fun enjoying them during the advent season. I have gotten many of them at used books stores or on-line at half.com No need to buy brand new! Click HERE for more information about how we celebrate Advent all season long.

Traditional Christmas story:

Little One We Knew You'd Come by Sally Lloyd-Jones - my favorite

There Was No Snow on Christmas Eve by Pam Munoz Ryan

The First Christmas produced by The Complete Works

How God Decorated Heaven for Christmas by Ron Mehl and Melody Carlson

The Christmas Path by Sue Wright

The Christmas Story told through the eyes of an animal:

A Dozen Silk Diapers by Melissa Kajpust

The Crippled Lamb by Max Lucado

Christmas is the Stable by Astrid Lindgren

Little Lambs Christmas by Josephine Page

The Donkey's Dream by Barbara Helen Berger

Who is Coming to Our House? by Joseph Slate and AShley Wolff

Christian Santa Stories:

Santa's Favorite Story by Hisako Aoki and Ivan Gratschev

A Special Place for Santa by Jeanne Pieper

Santa Are You for Real? by Harold Myra

Celebrations in Other Cultures:

The Legend of the Spider by Julie Puntch

The Legend of the Poinsettia by Tommy dePaola

Light the Lights by Margaret Moorman

Misc Stories:

The littlest Angel by Charles Tazewell

The Legend of the Candy Cane by Lori Walburg

The Tiny Star by Arthur Ginolfi

O Holy Night; Christmas With the Boys Choir of Harlem Illustrated by Faith Ringgold

Silent Night illustrated by Susan Jeffers

The Indescribable Gift by Richard Exley

Do you have a favorite Christmas book? I would LOVE to hear about them!

This is Kid Friendly Friday so link your post to ANYTHING kid friendly below. Can't wait to see what you have been up to this week!

Advent Celebration Calendar 2009

When I posted about how we celebrate Advent all December long I told you I would post this year's schedule so without further ado:

2009 Advent schedule

Each night – go through the Christmas cards received that day and pray for those people.
Remember to have Christmas music on a bunch. Wear aprons when cooking. Light the smelly candles (I love evergreen).

Sun Nov 29 - Decorate the Christmas Tree! Light the first Advent Candle. Read Luke 1:26-31, 37, 38

Mon Nov 30 – Make a paper prayer chain for the advent season

Tues Dec 1 – E – Skate Night SO…D, L and S read Christmas books and watch Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer

Wed Dec 2 – Have breakfast for dinner in our pajamas!

Thurs Dec 3 – Make noisemakers with ribbon spools.

Fri Dec 4 – E’s Prophets and Promises event at church at. Bring Cookies

Sat Dec 5 – 9 am - Build a wagon at Home Depot! 3pm - Watch the Gator Championship Game. After the game - Visit “A Walk Through Bethlehem” 5-9pm

Sun Dec 6 – Let’s go shopping so you can pick out a gift for your sister! Then let’s come home and wrap it! Kendall’s Birthday party. Light the second Advent Candle. Read Luke 2:4-7

M Dec 7 – Look through scrapbooks and home video.

T Dec 8 – Bake cookies for the Northland Cookie Drive

W Dec 9 – Make Kool-Aid play dough

R Dec 10 – Make Christmas cards for your teachers (thumbprint reindeer).

F Dec 11 – Bring Cookies for Northland’s Cookie Drive – E performs Frosty at 7 pm!

Sat Dec 12 – Run the Reindeer Run! Deliver a basket for Northland. E performs Frosty 7pm.

Sun Dec 13 – Small Group Christmas Party. Light the third Advent Candle. Read Luke 2:8-14

M Dec 14 – Game Night! Make mulled cider and popcorn!

T Dec 15 – Neighborhood Christmas Party! See Santa!

W Dec 16 – L’s Christmas Program in the am. Read Christmas books. Color Christmas stained glass pictures.

R Dec 17 – Have dinner using the fine china (dress up for dinner)

F Dec 18 – Bring the tabs to the Ronald McDonald house (bring cookies too!). Dinner at McDonalds

Sat Dec 19 – Make Gingerbread Houses for Neighbors.

Sun Dec 20 – Feed the homeless. Bring them Christmas cookies, blankets, mittens.. Light the fourth Advent Candle. Read Luke 2:15-20

M Dec 22 – Watch The Christmas Story (our traditional holiday movie) and eat popcorn!

T Dec 21 – Have a picnic dinner at the park then go look at Christmas lights.

W Dec 23 – Camp out in front of the Christmas tree and read stories. Make Cinnamon rolls for family and friends.

R Dec 24 - Make a birthday cake for Jesus! Church! Party at Aunt Susi’s.

F Dec 25 – Traditional Christmas morning Breakfast!

FNCCC Week 12 - Danny Boome

This week's featured chef is Danny Boome, host of Food Network's Rescue Chef.

I chose the Lime in the Coconut Pie as I still had a few limes that needed to be picked and used. It was great! It will go on my list of "things to do with limes" that I desperately need each season. It was an easy pie to make and the lime really pops! Our oldest daughter liked it a little, middle daughter had to spit her bite in the trash (didn't like the coconut) and the baby LOVED it. Apparently my husband also thought it was a big hit because I found the empty pie plate in the sink the next morning.

Lime in the Coconut Pie
Recipes written by Danny Boome - All rights reserved by Crash Bang Boome Production LLC

Ingredients
1 prepared frozen 9-inch pie crust (I am not a huge fan of pastry crust so made a graham cracker crust with butter and applesauce)
1 tablespoon grated lime zest
4 large egg yolks
1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup fresh lime juice (about 4 to 5 limes)
3 tablespoons coconut rum (I didn't have any so omitted this)
1/2 cup sweetened coconut flakes, divided
1 cup heavy cream (I also used a little powdered sugar and vanilla in my whipped topping)
3 thin slices lime, for garnish (um, garnish at home just gets in the way of eating :) Maybe this is why I don't have very good pictures)
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Remove crust from freezer and let thaw for 5 minutes.

Meanwhile in a bowl, whisk together lime zest, egg yolks, condensed milk, lime juice and rum. Mix well. It may look like it's starting to separate but mix it well and it will come together. Sprinkle 1/4 cup of the coconut flakes on the bottom of the crust then pour the mixture into the crust and top with the rest of the coconut. (I might have used, ahem, a *tad* bit more coconut than the recipe called for)

Bake until the center is set, but still jiggles a bit when the pan is nudged, about 20 to 25 minutes. (Mine didn't take anywhere near this amount of time....maybe closer to 10 minutes.)

When baked, cool the pie completely on a wire rack. (At this point the pie can be chilled up to a day ahead and topped when you're ready to serve.)
For the topping, beat cream in a bowl with an electric mixer until it just holds stiff peaks. Spread cream over cooled pie; garnish with lime slices. Serve immediately.

After making the filling I just couldn't get the sticky feeling off me. I kept wiping it off and it kept coming back. I finally realized that the filling was all over the back of the baby's head. Don't ask. I have NO idea. She really like it though.

So what did YOU cook? Next week is Thanksgiving (gasp, already?) so we are going to take a break. In case you want to jump ahead, here is the schedule for December:

Dave Lieberman - #13 post December 2, 2009 - he has over 225 recipes!

Duff Goldman - #14 post December 9, 2009 - no recipes, decorate a cake or cupcakes and post!Ellie Krieger - #15 post December 16, 2009
Emeril Lagasse - #16 post December 23, 2009

George Duran - #17 post December 30, 2009

If you ever add anything to an previous chef's post, let me know and I'll make everyone aware.

And from Challenge member Rebekah:

Hi Sarah and everyone!I am quite far behind the rest of you who are doing this Challenge, but at least I am still here! So take a step back in time to Brian Boitano's recipes. :) I chose to do his Coq Au Vin-guine recipe which is an Italian twist on the classic French dish, Coq Au Vin ("cock with wine"). Please read all about my cooking experience by visiting my blog, Sabbath Supper. Thanks a bunch!Rebekah

Tempt My Tummy - Pretzel Covered Fish

I have a hard time getting my kids to eat fish. A friend of mine suggested breading it with pretzels and panko. I didn't have panko crumbs so went with only crushed pretzels and we LOVED it. Even my oldest daughter asked for seconds. I had left over compound butter from a blackened catfish recipe I did the previous week, which put it over the top (I used plain butter on the kid's fillets). The fish was moist and flavorful.

Pretzel Covered Fish

4 fillets of whatever fish you like (We used Talapia)

1 cup pretzels

1 egg

butter or compound butter (below)

Crush pretzels inside an empty cereal bag/liner, because they are thicker than plastic bags, to avoid messy crumbs. My daughter had a rough day so she used a rubber mallet to crush them. There were some pretty large crumbs as you can see by the picture.

Butter the bottom of a baking dish (or use half of the compound butter). Coat the fish with an egg wash (I used only whites) then dip in pretzel crumbs. Drizzle with butter. Bake at 350 for about 10 minutes (or until fish is flaky - will really depend on the thickness of the fish).

Blackened Compound Butter

1/4 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

1/2 tablespoon Creole seasoning

1/2 lemon, juiced (1 TBS or so)

1/8 teaspoon kosher salt

1/8 teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper

Mix all.

Enjoy! Go find more Tempt My Tummy recipes at Blessed With Grace!

Do you have any other ways you can get kids to eat fish?

Kid Friendly Friday - Planning for Advent

Advent season is the time leading up to Christmas and is meant for preparing our hearts and minds for Christ's coming. It starts four Sundays before Christmas, which is November 29th this year. We celebrate the entire Advent season and the entire family looks forward to it all year long. Before we started doing this, Christmas time was a hectic time where I tried to fit a million things into a few weeks and was stressed to the gills trying to make everything perfect. I was exhausted by the time Christmas came. With this new approach I am completely refreshed and can embrace Christmas for what it really is.

Now you have a few options. You can plan a special family night each Sunday (or whichever night works for your family) or you can do what we do, and plan a special family night EACH night of advent. Crazy, you say? I have realized what is important during this time (family, friends, service, Jesus) and not so important (shopping, too many superficial outings, over committing, a dozen different kinds of intricate cookies). The first year we did this I went way over the top. I planned crafts that were too much for the kids, I had a specific Christmas carol for each day, way too long bible readings, and too high of expectations. It was stressful. That isn't what I was going for. My suggestion, make it simple and fun.
The trick to making this successful is in the planning. Get a blank monthly calendar and fill in your normal weekly obligations. Make the activities on these nights very simple, as you are already probably stressed, running around getting everyone to where they need to be. For example, "Breakfast for Dinner (everybody come in your pj's)" or "All Foods Red and Green Dinner" can be events. You are already making dinner, so make it special. Then put on it any of the special holiday events you have (school programs, neighborhood parties, holiday races, etc.). Make these activities the "special" nightly activity. No need to plan anything over and above. Most importantly, do the activities as a family.

I keep the events secret and have put together little boxes they have to find and open each morning which tells them what special activity we have for that night. You can see them HERE. There is also a list of the activities we did last year listed on that post.

I also try to make the atmosphere Christmassy. We have holiday music playing as much as possible. I burn pine smelling candles. I have a big selection of Christmas book that are only out during this time of year. The holiday Little People also come out and the everyday Little People hibernate. We wear our Christmas aprons when cooking. We open the cards we received that day at dinnertime and pray for those families. Each of the Sundays we light the appropriate candle on the advent wreath and read about whichever part of the Christmas story it represents.

Advent is special to us because we are together. We are preparing our hearts and minds together. We are enjoying each other. For me, that is what makes this time of year special.

I'll share a great list of Christmas books next week. Once it's done, I'll share my list of activities we have planned for this year. I'll also do a post on the traditional Advent wreath, readings, and meanings which we incorporate into our Sunday night activities.

Do you have any advent traditions? What did you do this week? Post your link below and let us know!


I'm linking this post up to Amy's Round Robin carnival. Go check it out and add your link there as well!