Thanksgiving 2015 Recap

This year, we continued our tradition of heading up to Whidbey to spend Thanksgiving at Eric's parents' house.

They are so kind to open their doors to us each year ... and we don't say that just because Eric's dad smokes a turkey AND roasts a turkey. (SO AMAZINGLY GOOD!) Not only do they open their doors to the four of us, but also to my side of the family (who couldn't make it due to other family obligations and illness this go-around) and  the practically-family friends who we bring along.

We have a great system for dividing up the work (aka meal prep) and the holiday tends to go quite smoothly. Sure, there's chaos, but it is the good kind of "we're all here and having fun together" kind of chaos. This year, I decided to make some Thanksgiving cookies to (a) eat and (b) use as place markers at the table. I used my turkey cookie cutter for the little cookies. For the place marker (bigger) cookies, I opted to trace Annika and Conor's hands and use them to create handprint turkey cookies. Fun, right??? Each person got a handprint turkey with his or her name printed on it. I had such fun making them and using the kids' handprints made them that much more special. (Unfortunately, my in-laws' puppy got to the cookies before we unloaded them from the car. Lucky for him, he's a mighty cute dog ... it's hard to hold a grudge when the other end of the grudge is a sweet, fuzzy puppy face.)

Little turkey cookies

Handprint cookies
 

"The carnage following the Cookie Massacre of 2015"

Eric's best friend and his daughter joined us on the island this year, much to our happiness. Dave and Anne really are part of the family and having them with us to celebrate turkey day added to the whole day. Our kids played together until they practically collapsed due to exhaustion.... then played some more.  They even ventured out into the cold to decorate the driveway with a variety of sidewalk chalk creations. (After the kids returned to the warm indoors, the puppy turned almost all of the unused chalk into a snack .... whoops! Note to self: replenish the sidewalk chalk supply when we go to the island next time. Tee hee hee!!) The rest of the time, the kids kept themselves busy playing with Legos, balloons, and stuffed animals. The imaginary play they create really is remarkable!

Anne and Annika watching a movie together

Conor nibbling on a snack while watching a movie

While the turkey did its thing in the oven, we grownups pulled out the cards and played Euchre and Fool... two games that were new to us and so much fun to play. (Thanks, Dave, for taking on the role of card game instructor!) We are a competitive bunch, but even so, we have so much fun playing games together. We turn into silly creatures and are often struck with fits of giggles during times like these... it warms my heart to think of days like these. As we played cards, we were surrounded by the smells of Thanksgiving dinner in the oven and the sounds of our kids happily playing together.

After our hearty meal, we lounged in front of the TV and watched some good ol' football. In all honesty, I can't even remember who played in the game, but I do remember cheering my heart out at the time. The kids weren't overly interested in the game, so they sought shelter from the crazy grownups downstairs in the great room, where they happily played/relaxed in a world that was all their own.

We have so much to be thankful for... a roof over our heads, food in our tummies, jobs that we enjoy, our health (speaking of which, Annika's broken wrist is getting better each day!), and loved ones to celebrate the holidays with. A special thank you to Eric's parents for opening their doors and hearts to us... you are true gems!

Daring Bakers Challenge November 2015: Cheesecake Crumble Pie

This month's Daring Bakers challenge was completely new to me, but seemed like a "how could this possibly turn out anything but yummy" kind of challenge. We were asked to do our own take on a cheesecake crumble pie. When I first read the challenge brief, I thought "they want us to make a what??" Lo and behold, this "cheesecake crumble pie" is really a thing and quite a popular thing. Who knew??

We were given quite a bit of leeway when it came to the flavor profile, so I opted to fill my go-to pie crust recipe with a pumpkin cheesecake recipe that I've been meaning to make for YEARS. Plus, it's fall ... no better time for something flavored with pumpkin! Based on the cheesecake recipe given in the challenge brief, I decided to half the cheesecake recipe I decided to use and I'm glad I did ... it was the perfect amount for my pie. I followed the crumble recipe that was provided in the brief (YUM) but easily could have halved that amount, too. I wound up with a bit too much on the pie and still had plenty left in my mixing bowl. That said, always better to have too much than too little when it comes to a crumble topping! :)

 I served the pumpkin cheesecake crumble pie as the dessert for our recent family dinner and everyone gave it a big thumbs up! I wasn't sure if our kids would think much of it, but from the pictures below, you'll see that I shouldn't have wondered. :)

Taste test

Future food critic's official verdict

Crumble face

Here are the recipes I used:

Butter Pie Crust (from a pie-making class I took a few years ago- amounts below make 2 crusts)
2 1/2 c all-purpose flour
1 tsp salt
1 c cold butter
1/2 c ice water

Pumpkin Cheesecake (I halved all of the amounts listed below when I made the pie)
Four 8-oz packages regular cream cheese (room temp)
1 1/2 c sugar
5 eggs (I used 3 when I halved the recipe)
1/4 c flour
2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
14 oz can pumpkin puree
Pinch of salt

Directions: Beat cream cheese until fluffy. Slowly ad sugar. Add eggs one at a time. Gradually add everything else.

Crumble Topping (from challenge brief)
1 cup scooped and levelled / 140g all-purpose (plain) flour
½ cup / 75g rolled oats
1 cup / 200g white sugar
⅔ cup / 135g brown sugar
½ tsp cinnamon
¼ tsp salt
½ cup / 1 stick / 113g cold unsalted butter

Directions: Mix all dry incredients together in small mixing bowl. Add butter and crumble together until it resembles a coarse meal (pea-sized).

For this challenge, I made and pre-baked the pie crust. When the crust was cool, I filled it with the pumpkin cheesecake filling, baked it at 500 for 15 minutes (10 would have been enough!), dropped the temp to 200, topped the pie with the crumble topping, and baked for 1 hour more. I should have followed my gut instinct and covered the crust with a collar before the 2nd bake because it got too dark, but oh well! No big deal... just a slightly darker crust than I otherwise would have preferred.

Pumpkin Cheesecake Crumble Pie

Yum!

 For the month of November Krista & Nicole of "Two Cups of Sugar" challenged us to make our own version of cheesecake crumble pie.

Annika's Big Owie

Last Tuesday, as I was driving from the park and ride to the kids' school to pick them up, I got a call from the Extended Care teacher saying Annika fell from the playground equipment and hurt her wrist and it looked pretty serious. Fortunately, I was only about 3/4 of a mile from the school when my phone rang, so I was there in a flash. Even with a degree in English and only basic First Aid/CPR training under my belt, I could tell it was broken. There was an odd angle to her wrist and I knew it wasn't because of some funky swelling. 

Before I got to the school and saw her wrist, I called Eric and told him that based on how she was, I'd either meet him at school (so he could take Conor home) or I'd have him meet us at the ER. No doubt about it ... he was meeting us at the ER. I have to say, our local ER is wonderful. Their staff and care providers are always compassionate and efficient. Plus, it isn't a major hospital, so the wait times are often shorter than if we went to UW or Harvorview, for example. The ER doctor examined Annika's wrist and very kindly ordered pain meds for her before they bothered with x-rays (which did eventually confirm that she completely broke her left radius and ulna. The bones were at about a 25-degree angle, and the doctor (who has a friend/former colleague named Annika, by the way!) said setting the bones would require Annika to be sedated. NW Hospital's ER wasn't set up to do a pediatric sedation and after consulting with the orthopedic doctor at Children's Hospital, it was decided that we should switch hospitals. So, they splinted Annika's arm and sent us on our way. 

Side story: About an hour before we left NW Hospital, Eric and Conor headed home so they could let Buca outside and to get dinner into Conor. I didn't need my coat in the ER, so sent it home with Eric. Guess what! My car keys were in the coat pocket. WHOOPS! Fortunately, we live fairly close to the hospital and Eric/Conor were able to pop back with my coat and keys.

Waiting for Daddy to bring Mama's keys

We barely got settled in the waiting room at Children's when they called us back to get Annika ready to have her arm set. The silver lining? Eric's cousin happened to be on shift that night and was one of Annika's nurses!) Jensine walked in to the room Annika was happily watching cartoons in (God bless oxycodone and good hospital planning!) and said, "I wondered if this is the Annika Olson I know!" She gave Annika two little stuffed animals, as well as some marvelously kind/supportive words. 

Watching cartoons while waiting for her turn to get fixed up

Soon, Annika was wheeled into another room that was big enough for the medical staff to treat her arm. The nurse put in an IV and soon realized it didn't go in right, so he had to do it a second time, much to Annika's chagrin. I have to give our little girl credit, she was in pain and scared, yet really did a fabulous job putting on a brave face and breathing through the owie parts. Fortunately, she was sedated for the REALLY owie part... the setting of her bones. I swear, it looked like the doctor was trying to pull her arm off completely at some points during the procedure!! That said, when he was done and the cast was on, he took new x-rays, which showed how nicely the bones were aligned. 

Sleeping it off

It took awhile for Annika to get out of the sedation fog. The doctor in charge of the sedation warned me that Annika would probably see double as she came out of the sedation, and she was right! Annika, it turns out, is a really funny "drunk". She kept saying, "Mama!! Why I see two Mamas? You have four eyes and two noses!" She also tried to "catch" the leaf decorations on the walls in her recovery room. 

Once she was somewhat lucid, she was wheeled to an x-ray room, for one last set of images before we were  given the green light to go home. We rolled up to the house a few minutes before 1 AM ... and found a very tired/worried Eric standing at the door waiting for us. Poor guy couldn't sleep knowing his baby girl was hurt. Eric, Annika, and I stayed home on Wednesday to (a) get some sleep and (b) care for Annika's arm. There were a few tears when the reality of her injury started to sink in ... namely, no diving/swimming classes until she's better. Talk about a broken heart to go with her broken arm!

Feeling a bit perkier ... still enjoying the good meds

By Friday, she was ready to head back to school for a half day. She loved the celebrity associated with being back at school and had many people asking to sign her cast. 

Excited to go back to school

She'll return to Children's tomorrow for a follow-up appointment and to have the current cast removed and then a longer-term cast put in its place. She's hoping the new one will be pink and purple stripes ... much flashier than the plain white one she has now. I'm guessing a whole new round of friend signatures is on her horizon!

She's doing quite well now and is getting feistier each day. She's still sore, but that's to be expected. That said, I told her this morning that she was already almost a week into her healing and she exclaimed, "WOW! That was fast!" (Now, let's see if she still thinks that a month or so from now!) :)

A special thank you to everyone who expressed concern for Annika during this ordeal. We are so grateful for your kindness and compassion!