Greetings from Salem!

Wow!  Who knew that moving would take so much out of me that I would need to take an 8-month hiatus from blogging?  Well, to celebrate making it back to blogging, I have changed the look of the blog.

Our lives have been very eventful in the last eight months.  Here are a few high lights, month-by-month:

September - We arrived to fairly hot weather and were able to get some awesome family time in before Todd started his job and AJ started his new school.  Gordon and Scott (the FIL and BIL) helped us move and stayed one extra day.  The day they left my parents arrived to visit.  Two days after they left Chad and Jamie (BIL and SIL) arrived to visit.  What a wonderful time!

October - Todd started work, AJ started school, Gordy and I decided to "get lost" a lot in order to find our way around town without depending on GPS.  It only took us two weeks to stop using it.  Halloween was fun (the boys were Mario and Luigi) and we were able to sneak a trip down to Eureka to celebrate Ti Aula's birthday.

November - More adventures around town.  The leaves turned, so we were able to have some fun in the leaves.  Rain toward the end of the month provided Todd with his first challenge as a carrier: delivering mail in a flood.  Was able to host Thanksgiving with most of Todd's family (missed MIL).

December - Busiest month of the year!  I decided to bake goodies for Todd's co-workers 2-3 times a week, and apparently they liked them.  My parents surprised me by visiting the weekend before my birthday.  I cried like a baby (we are talking huge sobs) when I opened the door and saw them standing there.  The in-laws were here for Christmas and then a week later we traveled to Eureka to celebrate with my family.

January - The New Year was rung in while visiting family in Eureka.  After returning home the rest of the month was spent settling in to a routine and enjoying life.  Mommy and Gordy spent a lot of time at the YMCA and the biggest excitement of the month was the "new" bunk bed Daddy found while at work for $25.

February - Being a short month, it flew by very fast.  Uncle Scott and Mike and Justin all sneaked in visits at the beginning of the month, and the boys got to spend a bit of time at the Discovery Village.

March - This month was packed VERY full.  Between a quick trip to California for my niece's birthday, Easter, another visit from Mike and Justin, and AJ being invited to TWO birthday parties we were busy every weekend.

April - Finally, last month opened with a BANG!  AJ turned 6 and my parents surprised him with a special visit.  We celebrated all weekend by doing some of his favorite things and ended it with a party at his favorite pizza restaurant.  The rest of the month zoomed by.  As the temperatures started to rise we spent more time out of doors.  It culminated with a visit from our cousins, a trip to the Ag Fair, and a case of pneumonia for AJ.  Not the ending we would have chosen, but he is doing much better now.

Cranberry Sauce

Aside from pumpkins, few other fruits and vegetables can claim as much prominence during the Holiday Season in America as cranberries.  Cranberries are one of three fruits native to America that are grown commercially (the blueberry and the Concord grape being the other two).  The name is derived from "craneberry" which is what the Pilgrims dubbed these wild berries because of their springtime blossom, which resembles a Sandhill crane.

Native Americans used the cranberry for not only food, but also clothing dye and a healing agent.  The Pilgrims and settlers to follow quickly adopted them as a staple in their diet and found them to be a useful bartering tool.*

Today cranberries are one of the most popular fruits the world over.  Unless you've been living under a rock since the 1990's you'll have noticed that cranberries are in everything.  Juices, trail mixes, salads, cookies, marinades, etc.  Their versatility is made greater by their shelf-life.  Fresh cranberries can be kept sealed and chilled for up to 3 months!  That's nothing to how long they will last frozen (18-24 months).  And, just in case you aren't convinced about cranberries as the ultimate super fruit, their health benefits have been lauded for years.  Cranberries contain bacteria-blocking compounds that are believed to be helpful in preventing urinary tract infections, and scientists now think this same function may be useful in blocking the bacteria responsible for ulcers and certain oral bacteria that can lead to gum disease.**

Now let's get down to some really important business.  Cranberry sauce.  While some people are fine with buying cranberry sauce in a can, more and more people are turning to the do it yourself approach.  A couple years ago I made some homemade cranberry sauce, but was disappointed with the result.  The sauce contained too many other flavors that over powered the desired tang that cranberries provide.  I found myself asking why I couldn't make a sauce that tasted just like the stuff in a can.  Well this year the recipe practically slapped me in the face.

Yup, that's right.  Three ingredients.  Water, Sugar, Cranberries.  DUH!

After feeling foolish for bit I went out and bought the cranberries, came home and started the process of making what would turn out to be the perfect cranberry sauce.

First you mix 1 cup of water and 1 cup of sugar in a medium sauce pan.  I doubled the recipe because I made this batch for a pot luck.  Stir until the sugar is dissolved.  Bring to a boil.

Add a 12 oz package of fresh cranberries to the pan, bring to a boil, reduce heat and lightly boil for 10 minutes.

Remove from heat.  As you notice there is a film on top of the sauce.  Skim this immediately.  Trust me, the longer you wait, the harder it will be to skim the film.

Once the film has been skimmed, let the sauce sit until it is room temperature.  This process takes about 4-6 hours (longer if you made a double batch like I did).

Now that the sauce is room temperature, transfer to a serving dish, cover with plastic wrap and chill overnight.  Wow!  That was easy!

Hope you guys enjoy making (and eating) this sauce as much as I did!

*Cape Cod Cranberry Growers' Association (http://www.cranberries.org/cranberries/history.html)
**Cape Cod Cranberry Growers' Association (http://www.cranberries.org/cranberries/health.html)

Bread Machine Dinner Rolls

If your family is anything like mine, bread rolls aren't just a nice thing to have at the Thanksgiving Table, they are a necessity.  Every year we always got the exact same rolls from a popular bakery in town.  But one year that bakery didn't carry those rolls anymore.  The ones we got instead were good, but they just weren't the same.

That just happened to be the year my oldest son was born and the first year my FIL and BIL came down for Thanksgiving.  With them they brought my FIL's old Bread Machine.

I spent the next year investigating recipes for the bread machine.  Through my research I discovered a likely recipe and modified it slightly.  The following Thanksgiving most of my family went to Las Vegas to celebrate with my Uncle and his family.  So, for the first time ever, I was in charge of all of the food for Thanksgiving Dinner.  I took a chance and made these rolls for the dinner.  My FIL loved them so much I even made him an extra batch for the drive home.  

The next year I made them for Thanksgiving again, and have done so every year ever since.  Over the years I have added cheese and/or Jalapenos to the recipe to add a bit of a twist, but the original is still a favorite request.

This year I wasn't going to make the rolls, as I am still recovering from surgery, but a couple days ago I started to feel guilty.  This is MY thing.  I HAVE to do this, otherwise I'll never get back to "normal".  So I improvised.

I have always been a fan of making pre-mixes.  I make them for everything you can think of:  cookies, biscuits, pancakes, waffles, muffins...the list goes on and on.  So a few days ago I put together several bags of pre-mixes for the bread rolls.  I just put all of the dry ingredients (save the yeast) in gallon Ziploc bags.

Next, when I was ready to make a batch of rolls, I dumped the bag in to the bread machine pan, added the rest of the ingredients and set the machine for the dough cycle.  This cycle is 90 minutes long, so you have a bit of time to get things done before you are needed again.

After the dough cycle is done you'll need to take the pan out of the machine, punch down the dough and turn in out onto a lightly floured surface.  Excessive kneading is not necessary.

At this point, let the dough sit for a minute.  While this is happening take out a baking sheet and grease it.

Yes, I use Pam.  I love Pam.  Pam is awesome.  Now that that is off my chest...  Once the dough has set for that minute, using a kitchen knife, cut the dough into twelve equal portions.

Roll each of the pieces into round balls and place them on the greased pan.

Cover with a damp towel and let rise for 30-60 minutes in a warm place.

I have a neat little corner on my kitchen counter where I keep a space heater and that I use to rise all of my bread.

While the rolls are rising, mix together egg white and water for the glaze.  Also, this would be a good time to preheat the oven.

Bake the rolls for 10-12 minutes.  At this point you can serve them warm, or if you are like me, making them ahead of time, let them cool completely before placing them in a Ziploc bag and freezing them.

When you are ready to bake them for dinner, place the frozen rolls on a baking sheet.  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and bake them for 10 minutes.

Ingredients:

3 cups flour

3 Tbsp white sugar

1 tsp salt

1/4 cup dry milk

1 cup warm water

2 Tbsp butter, softened

1 pkg (2 1/4 tsp) dry yeast

1 egg white

2 Tbsp water

Directions:

1. Place first 7 ingredients in Bread Machine.  Set on Dough Cycle.

2. Remove risen dough from machine, deflate, and turn onto floured surface.  

3. Divide into 12 equal pieces.  Form into rounds.  Place rounds onto greased baking sheets.  Cover with a damp cloth and let rise until doubled.

4. Preheat oven to 350 degrees (F).

5. Glaze risen rolls with mixture of egg white and water.  Bake for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown.