When You Smile...

Here's a quick follow-up post to show that William isn't always so sad at Christmas time!  We recently had the annual Lukefahr family Christmas dinner at Brennans. We all had a nice suprise when the jazz band stopped by our room. Check out the video to see how much William loved it! When you are his age and you smile, the world really DOES smile with you! :)  Thank goodness for an iPhone to capture the moment!  And here are a few pictures from the day, including little Luke, the newest second cousin / first cousin once removed addition!



William spend most of the meal looking out of the window - thank goodness for it!




I wonder if we will ever get a family picture with all of us smiling?




Helen & Luke Tanner



William and his Aunt Ann or 'Nana' as he calls her

Everone with their crowns!

The Crying Pictures Are Memories Too

William has really taken a liking to Santa, or "Ho Ho" as he calls him. I think mostly because his Mimi (my mom) made and sent him the neatest video (see here to make your own http://www.portablenorthpole.tv/home?gclid=CJnvwpvW8aUCFQHs7QodpHV9oA).  Every time William wanted to watch the video, he would walk up to the computer and say "Ho Ho."  He really loved it. 

I really debated about whether or not to have Santa pictures made this year, because I was 99% sure sweet William would bawl.  But today, at the mall, I asked if he wanted to go see Santa, and he got really excited. He kept saying "Ho Ho" and trying to wiggle out of his stroller. We stood in line, and he was still excited.  He saw Santa and was still very excited.  There was only one kid in line in front of us, and William was so excited that he wanted to run up to Ho Ho.  Since it wasn't his turn yet, I had to hold him back. That made him mad and he started crying.  Uh oh.  I knew it was over.  I knew my chances of getting a happy Santa picture were done. 

I tried anyways.  Because what happens is, 'they' let you take your own pictures only if you promise to buy theirs.  I had already taken my own pictures by the time I realized it wasn't going to be pretty. I was stuck.  I had to buy their pictures.  So, I took William and tried to put him on Santa's lap.  He was screaming harder and harder and holding me tighter and tighter.  I basically had to pry him off me to put him on Santa's lap.  I know I had this look of sheer mom guilt/desperation on my face because Santa said the sweetest thing. He said "The crying pictures are memories too."  So.... I let go and stepped away long enough for them to get ONE picture. This is the one.  (Thankfully, my friend Kayla was with us and she was able to capture some of the happier moments on her camera. I'll add those later.) 

Thanks, Santa. 

Tyler Florence!

I met Tyler Florence!  A while back, Ann and I trecked up to the Macy's at Memorial City Mall where he did a cooking demo for about an hour, and then signed copies of his new cookbook. Can you tell which of us loves him more?


If you are not a Food Network (or Applebee's commercial) watcher, then you may not know who Tyler Florence is.  He has had various shows on Food Network for about 10 years - and I love his current show 'Tyler's Ultimate' where he makes the 'ultimate' version of food classics like mac and cheese. I've made several of his recipes and they are wonderful. I think my favorite of his is the spaghetti and meatballs. I make the meatballs with half turkey (instead of beef) and half pork, and it's still delicious.
 
A few helpful cooking tips I've picked up on from Tyler:
1) fresh herbs are like fresh flowers: Cut their stems and store them in water in the fridge and they will last about a week.
2) roll fresh herbs (like parsely) in a tight 'roll-up' prior to chopping - it makes it much easier!
3) if protein (eggs, fish, etc..) sticks to the pan when you cook it, that means the pan wasn't hot enough when you put it in.  A little butter or oil always helps too.

Egg Salad Is In...

... at our house anyway. I found a recipe we all love, and I can't stop making it. It's good and easy and made with ingredients I almost always have on hand. Perfect! I originally found this posted on http://www.101cookbooks.com/archives/001575.html  I really don't know why it's so good - the ingredients are very simple, but the whole is better than the sum of its parts!

Egg Salad Sandwich (the only one I'll eat)


I've realized that 90% of the challenge here is properly boiling the egg. You need to boil it so the center sets yet stays moist. You also need to avoid the green/grey ring thing that surrounds the yolk in many hard boiled eggs. I use the same technique here that I learned camping with a hardcore egg enthusiast. It has worked for me flawlessly ever since. The key is to avoid over cooking, and to dunk the eggs in a bowl of icy water to stop the cooking after you remove them from the hot water. I always use good quality eggs - but something to keep in mind, the fresher they are, the harder they are to peel after boiling.
6 large eggs

1-2 tablespoons mayonnaise (or Greek yogurt)

Salt and pepper

A tiny squeeze of lemon juice

2 stalks celery, washed and chopped

1/2 bunch chives, chopped

2 small handfuls of lettuce

8 slices of whole grain bread, toasted

Place the eggs in a pot and cover with cold water by a 1/2-inch or so. Bring to a gentle boil. Now turn off the heat, cover, and let sit for exactly seven minutes. Have a big bowl of ice water ready and when the eggs are done cooking place them in the ice bath for three minutes or so - long enough to stop the cooking. Crack and peel each egg, place in a medium mixing bowl. Add the mayonnaise, a couple generous pinches of salt and pepper, now mash with a fork. Don't overdo it, you want the egg mixture to have some texture. If you need to add a bit more mayo to moisten up the mixture a bit, go for it a bit at a time.
Stir in the celery and chives. Taste, and adjust the seasoning - adding more salt and pepper if needed.
To assemble each egg salad sandwich: place a bit of lettuce on a piece of toast, top with the egg salad mixture, and finish by creating a sandwich with a second piece of toast.

Make 4 sandwiches.

Shutterfly: How do I Love Thee...

...let me count the ways:

1. I love your holiday cards and am already trying to decide which one to order, and which picture to use. I'm thinking about this card (http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/cards-stationery/gifted-tag-christmas-4x8-photo-card-4x8-photo?sortType=1&storeNode=93480) with one of these pictures.

2. I love that you are giving away 50 free holiday cards to bloggers who write a post about you! Would you consider throwing in a free canvas as well (http://www.shutterfly.com/home-decor/canvas-wall-art)? I have really been wanting to have one of our wedding pictures printed on canvas....

3. Also, I love your photo books and how often they go on sale.  I made one of these for William - called 'William: The First Year' and it is one of his favorite books.  He loves to 'read' it and point out the pictures of friends and family he recognizes! (http://www.shutterfly.com/photo-books)

Disciplinarian

Although this shouldn't surprise anyone, I'm not the best disciplinarian. Mostly because I have the hardest time not laughing at all of the cute things my son does.  Tonight, for instance, he was throwing food off of his tray at dinner.  Now, this does frustrate me, and I think this is an excellent example of something a 15 month old should be disciplined for.  So, when he threw the food, I looked him in the eye, pointed my pointer finger right at him and said sternly "No, no. Don't throw food. Keep it on your tray or in your mouth."  And do you know what he did?  He took one look at my finger pointed in his face, then took his pointer finger and pressed it against mine, finger-tip to finger-tip (think ET).  I melted. It was so cute and funny I had to giggle.

And, here are a few Halloween pictures of our little Astronaut... and one from last year. I can't believe how much he's grown up!

Pumpkin Patch

This is what I want this post to say:  I took William to the pumpkin patch at Dewberry Farms today.  We met up with a group of moms from our Sunday school class. All of the moms and kids had a great time and I can't wait to go back next year.  You can tell how much fun William had by the smile on his face in all of these pictures!

This is what this post actually says: I took William to the pumpkin patch at Dewberry Farms today.  It was so crowded that we didn't even end up seeing our Sunday school friends.  William got scared by the goats and geese and almost cried on the tractor ride.  He was mostly hot, tired, and about one year too young to appreciate all of the neat activities. And in his defense, he is cutting molars and getting over an ear infection.  But he did like the sweet potatoe fries, and I promise, he did smile SOME while we were there - although I never managed to capture a smile in a picture.  Poor little guy.

Despite all this, I think we'll try again next year.