New Life

Now that most of the world knows, I feel safe to finally announce to the blog world that I am going to be a new Grandma! To twins!

My son and his dear wife are expecting their precious babies in the fall and we are all over the top excited.

My motto is "one for ME and one for everyone else!". Twins assure me of the fact that for the most part, I'll always have a baby in my arms when we are visiting.

I love babies, I really do.

Overnight Soft Herb Rolls by Chef Bradley Ogden from Lark Creek Inn in Larkspur, CA

These are simple, fast and delicious. The directions below are directly from the chef. Personally, I just warm up the milk and butter together, add the remaining ingredients to the bread maker and use the dough cycle. I'm all about easy.

Ingredients

1 pkg active dry yeast (about 1 Tbsp)
3 T sugar
1 tsp table salt
1 T minced flat-leaf parsley
1 T minced fresh dill (I used 1 tsp dried dill)
1 T minced fresh rosemary - this I did have fresh in my front yard.
1 T minced fresh chives
2 Tbls melted butter
1 C milk or half & half
1 larg egg plus 1 Tbsp lightly beaten egg, divided
3 1/2 to 3 2/4 C all purpose flour

Preparation

In a large bowl, sprinkle yeast over 1/4 C cool 70 degrees water. Let stand until dissolved, 5 minutes. Stir in sugar, table salt, herbs, butter, whole egg, and milk; add 3 1/4C flour and stir to moisten.

Knead dough on a lightly floured board until elastic and not sticky, 15 minutes; add flour as needed to prevent sticking. Shape into 12 equal balls; place in a well buttered 9 x 13" pan.

Let dough rise in a warm place until doubled, 45 to 60 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Brush rolls with beaten egg and sprinkle with coarse salt. Bake until deep golden, 25 to 30 minutes.

Make ahead directions: Prepare through step 2. Immediately wrap airtight (do not let rise) and chill up to 1 day. Proceed with step 3.

Cheese Tortellini Pasta Salad with Chicken

This is a quick and easy recipe you can throw together for a fancy lunch or a light dinner. If you like, you can add sliced red or yellow peppers, sliced cucumbers or other veggies.

1 pkg fresh or frozen cheese tortellini, cooked and drained
1/2 can garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained
1/2 can kidney beans, rinsed and drained
2 C cooked chicken, cut into bite sized pieces
1/2 can black olives
1 C grape or cherry tomatoes

Combine all ingredients with a 1/4 C of your favorite dressing (we use Ken's Italian dressing) to keep torellini from sticking. Serve with additional dressing. Top each serving with a sprinkle of parmesean cheese.

Homemade Flour Tortillas

We are a family that loves Mexican food. I could eat it for breakfast, lunch and dinner. I found a recipe for flour tortillas a while back that looked like it would be easy enough to make. They were, especially since I used my breadmaker to mix up the dough.

Flour Tortillas Makes 12

2 C all purpose flour
1/4 C lard or vegetable shortening (I used lard, or Manteca as it's called in Spanish)
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
3/4 C warm milk or water (I used milk)

Combine the dry ingredients in a bowl. Transfer to the bowl of a stand mixer.
Add the lard and mix until it is well combined and the mixture looks grainy.
Add the warm milk and mix until a smooth ball of dough forms, about 5 minutes.
Divide the dough into 12 equal pieces and roll the pieces into balls.
Cover and let rest 30 minutes.
Roll the dough into thin circles, approximately 6 inches wide
Cook over medium heat until done.

it's been such a LONG time...

Clearly there hasn't been much wit or wisdom meandering through my brain since my last post, but really that isn't true. It's amazing how one's life can change on a dime. The only thing that we can be sure of (other than our God) is that change is a comin'.

My 16 year old son and I were discussing this as I drove him to his Student Leadership meeting with his youth pastor. He was telling me that he wanted to go a few minutes early to speak to the pastor and when I carefully asked him why, he told me that he had seen a facebook entry by a young man who attends our Jr. High Youth group and that he was very concerned that this young man might try to hurt himself.

My heart dropped and then soared all in the same instant. "Well," I told him, "sometimes things happen in kids' lives that are really hard for them to deal with. I'm really proud of you for doing something about this. Really proud." My heart again squeezed in my chest - for the pain the young man must be feeling and for my son who has his own bumps along the road to teenageville.

I reminded him that life has it's ups and downs, that our world is not perfect - this is not our permanent home - and those who can live life knowing that there will be hard days and easy days, good times and bad times, happiness and sadness - those are the people that don't easily fall in the dark pit of helplessness.

I really had to lighten up the mood a bit and if you have teens you know what I'm talking about. "Son, you just gotta be the seaweed on top of the ocean sometimes...go with the flow". He looked at me sideways with "that look". It's ok, he knew what I meant. I told him how proud I was of him again - very proud.

Later on he was geting ready for bed, I came into his room and asked him what the youth pastor had said when he told him his concerns. I smiled at him and reached out to fistbump him. He looked at me and said, "nahh, how 'bout a hug?" I kid you not. I hugged him hard and turned away so he would not see my eyes filling up with tears.

Tears of happiness.

Pray for Grammy

Michelle over at Our Little Monkeys is asking for prayer for her Mom. I've jumped on the prayer wagon and hope you will too.

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