BIG Tower

Austin has totally gotten into building with Legos recently.  He loves to build “beeeeeeeg towers.”  He gets mad when they fall, unless he’s the one who pushed them down!  Here’s a big one he build in my office the other day.  (I just LOVE the head tilt in the picture he posed for…he’s so dang cute!). 

53 Mondays–Thanksgiving Recipes

For our contribution to Thanksgiving, I made Dressing and pie.  For the dressing, I made a very loose adaptation from Bobby Flay’s Sourdough, Wild Mushroom, and Bacon Dressing. 

Sourdough and Bacon Dressing: 

1-1/2 pounds sourdough bread, crusts trimmed, cut into 1/2-inch cubes (apx 12 cups)

Salt and Pepper

3/4 pound bacon, cut into 1/2-inch dice

1/4 onion, VERY finely diced

3-5 cups low sodium chicken broth

2 large eggs, lightly beaten

3 Tbsp finely chopped fresh sage

2 Tbsp finely chopped fresh thyme leaves

1/2 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Spread the bread on a large baking sheet, stirring a few times, until lightly golden brown, apx 12 minutes. Remove and let cool.  When cool, put cubes into a very large bowl. Increase oven temperature to 375 degrees. 

Put bacon in a large, high-sided pan and cook, stirring occasionally, until golden brown and the fat has rendered, about 10 minutes.  Remove the bacon with a slotted spoon to a plate lined with paper towels. 

Remove all but 2 Tbsp of the rendered fat in the sauté pan and place back on the stove over high heat.  Add onion and cook until soft, apx 4 minute.  Add 3 cups of chicken stock  and herbs.  Season with salt and pepper, and bring to a simmer. 

Add the bacon to the bread.  Add the onion/stock mixture, egg, salt and pepper, and gently stir until combined.  The dressing should be very wet, add more stock if needed.  Scrape the mixture into a greased 13 x 9 x 2 inch glass baking dish. 

Cover with foil and bake for 20 minutes.  Remove foil and continue baking until the top is golden brown, about 40 minutes longer.  Remove from oven and let cool for 10 minutes before serving. 

Child Labor?

Anyone know the current child labor laws?  I’m thinking that I may have broken at least one of them today.

I didn’t feel too badly, since as excited as they were to help, it quickly turned to this:

No thank you.

I’ve been working with my 2-year-old, Austin, on saying, “No thank you,” instead of just his usual “NO!” or “Don’t Want It!”  The cute little stinker actually said it to me yesterday.  It was not, however, the great thing I was expecting it to be since his reply came after I said, “Hey buddy, let’s go upstairs and you can take a nap.”  Yep.  His reply was, “No thank you, mom.  No thank you.”  It’s a start!

A Moment of Awe

Photo borrowed from National Geographic.

Tonight I was flipping through my copy of “O! The Oprah Magazine” tonight and came across an article titled, “The Wonder of It All.”  I was intrigued.  It was about “awe” and what that does to us and what that means to us. 

“Awe is what we feel when faced with something sublime, exceptional, or altogether beyond comprehension.”  Dacher Keltner, PhD, wrote a book titled Born to be Good and he examines more nuanced sensations, such as compassion, forgiveness, humility, and awe, are what push us beyond self-interest and “wire us for good.”  Cultivating awe, he says, is part of unlocking the truest sense of life’s purpose. 

The article discusses an experiment where he had two groups of subjects answer self-assessment questions, such as “I am…” to see how people see themselves.  He had the first group answer questions while facing a full-sized replica of a Tyrannosaurus Rex and the second group answered the questions while facing a hallway.  The result was interesting. 

The group that answered while facing the T. Rex were three times more likely to describe themselves as part of something bigger than themselves (“I am…part of the human species”) than those who answered facing the hallway (“I am…a soccer player”).  Dr. Keltner’s reasoning was that awe inspired the feeling of something bigger than “me.” 

We should look for moments to experience awe and generally, when we experience it, we want to share that with others. 

This got me thinking to my own feelings of awe.  I’ll say getting married in the temple was definitely an awe moment, as was the moments when my three children were born. I mean, what other word can describe that moment when this little bean who was seconds before inside you takes its first breath and is now a this little, breathing, real person with feelings, thoughts, emotions, and OPINIONS.  Awe is the best word to describe that.  That makes sense, as awe is associated with an increase in oxytocin, a bonding hormone. 

“Awe sends the signal…that clears the way for altruism, generosity, and acts of kindness.”

Aside from the birth of my children, I have one really strong memory of awe from quite awhile ago.  I was at the Omnimax at Caesar’s Palace (an IMAX theater).  Sitting in the theater before the show started, there were small lights on the screen around us in the darkened theater.  I remember sitting there very peacefully and imagining as if I were in the heavens looking at the universe, possibly at the formation of planets or Earth even. 

I had this weird, “My mind cannot comprehend this” moment trying to comprehend that there was never a beginning or an end to us, just a change of scenery, if you will.  It’s a little difficult for me to put this in words.  Before life here on Earth, we were…in Heaven and will return there when we pass from here.  But there was no start to our “existence” in Heaven, nor will there be an end.  Kind of mind-blowing.  AWE!

53 Mondays–Maple Salmon

MAPLE SALMON (recipe from “Keeping Up” Cookbook)

6 (6-ounce)salmon fillets

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup pure maple syrup

3 Tbsp soy sauce

1 Tbsp Dijon mustard

1/4 tsp pepper

1/4 cup sliced almonds

Place salmon in a 9” x 13” greased baking dish.  Combine sugar, syrup, soy sauce, mustard, and pepper.  Pour mixture over the salmon. Cover with foil and bake at 425 degrees for 10 minutes.  Remove foil and sprinkle with almonds. Bake an additional 10 minutes or until the fish flakes easily when tested with a fork.  Serve hot. 

I love salmon and this recipe did not disappoint.  It had a gentle maple flavor, but the Dijon really cut down on the sweetness and it was really good. 

Once again, the “Favorites” Cookbook did not disappoint (“Keeping Up” is a follow up to “Favorites”). 

Oh no! Poor Woody!

Alright…here’s the story.  We decided to put up the Christmas tree.  We were inspired and put it up tonight after dad took off. 

Got out the boxes of ornaments and mom went to the task of taking out the carefully wrapped ornaments for the kids to hang on the tree.

I was so excited when I found Buzz and Woody sitting on a present.  I went to go show Austin when I noticed this:  (cue scary background music)

Uh oh!  I tried to move it, but Austin saw it.  He said, “Oh no!  Woody’s head!” I promised him I’d fix it with some glue, but just tried to make him think of something else so I looked for other things for him to play with. 

Like the tractor ornament. 

It would work for a minute, but every third comment was, “Oh no!  Woody’s head!”  Kinda ruined the atmosphere, ya know, with Woody being beheaded and all. 

First chore of the morning will be to find the Gorilla Glue!  Poor Woody