Summer Conflicts

I sat on the couch sifting through websites with bulk recipes and Pinterest ideas for breakfasts for a crowd. Some much needed planning for a possible activity this summer. How crazy am I? It's only February and already I have conflicting summer camps. I'm in another pickle. It seems to happen semi-frequently, this fight to decide which activity and sibling to support. Or do I pick the one that seems most fun for me... The dilemma of choosing - I don't get to wait and choose closer to the time, no, they want responses now.

I'm torn. Between being the director of food services in a field kitchen for a week or being a training officer. I've done both. One's close to home, the other's not. Both are physically taxing and I'm guaranteed to get very little sleep and have sore feet but a lot of satisfaction.  Ah, the next few days will be lists of pros vs. cons for both activities as I try to decide which one to support. I find it irksome that these two camps hosted by the same program are in the same week. Had they been back to back, I would have been exhausted, but participated in both.

A Freezing Weekend

Weekend, freakend, weakend, freezend, pleasend. Those where my thoughts on this past weekend.

Thursday proved to be ridiculously busy with back to back scheduling that went something like this:

7:45- Wake up
8:15- Drive Ev to School
8:50- Breakfast and make dinner (we had crockpot fajitas)
9:00- Grocery lists
9:30- Tidy house
9:45- Groom
10:00- Shop (Winco, Walmart, Dollar Store and Cash and Carry)
1:00- Put food away
2:15- Jane to Choir
4:00- Prep for CAP
4:45- CAP
9:30- Home (we ended up staying an hour late to run through ceremony processes for next week)

I kept perfectly with my schedule, fitting in a three minute shower and getting a 45 minute break in the afternoon... It was a crazy day, but kinda fun.

Friday: we cooked all day for the weekend. I got signed up to cook for Field Emergency Services Training (FEST) at CAP. The "kitchen" was a stove (partially working), oven (only got to 160-170 degrees) and a microwave (which we didn't use). There was no running water, no flushing toilets and the building was a balmy 45 degrees. Colder inside than outside.

I was super thankful for my brand new Cambro, which Mom and Dad got me for a gift over a year ago and I just now got to use it. It basically keeps food whatever temperature is it when you put it in. I made breakfasts from home and transported them in the Cambro. It kept it hot until service which was key since the building was practically the temperature of a fridge.

Anyway, Saturday was freezing cold, but all the food cooking went well. Sunday I switched out siblings. Jane came with me to help and Ian and Ev stayed behind to work on homework with the agreement to help me get all the dishes washed when I got home.

Hours later (and a good long nap) and I'm still trying to get my hands and feet to warm up all the way. It was so cold that for part of the day I was wearing two hoodies, with hand warmers (which I kept calling hot pockets, which is funny cause I've never had one before) in the pockets of the inner one.

I won't be doing that kind of thing anytime soon...

Outting Adventures

Yesterday, we headed to Opry Mills Mall in Nashville. It's like quite literally next door to the Grand Ol' Opry and Opryland. We had dinner at The Rainforest Cafe, which was an interestingly fun experience. Elsa loved all the fake moving animals and the jungle feel. 

We watched Storks that night in theater. After The Secret Life of Pets, I had little to no hope for it being a good movie. I was pleasantly surprised, it was a super cute movie, all made better because I got to snuggle with Elsa almost the entire time. 

So, I had my first time in a Disney store. SO. MANY. SPARKLES. Lisa got Elsa an adorable pair of pajamas. They're adorable on her. 

Anyways, ended up staying up wwwwwaaaaaaaayyyyyy too late and fell asleep on the floor of my room for a few minutes.

It was a good day. 

A Package Arrived

I have always wanted a Kitchen Aid. Like, seriously, forever. Not just any Kitchen Aid, a big professional one. I was tired of making small batches of things in our Bosch mixer, tired or having to make single recipes on repeat for three or four batches, or mixing in chocolate chips or chunks of anything by hand. When I say by hand, I mean, quite literally, by hand, as in with my hands in the dough. I was tired of the not-quite-soft-enough butter that would make the plastic part of the beaters snap off and I'd have to throw away butter...

So finally, after a long time, I finally bought the Kitchen Aid I wanted. A Professional 600 Steel Blue Kitchen Aid. It is beautiful. From the second I opened the box to every time I walk into the kitchen and see it sitting on the counter, I knew it was perfect.

Of course I had to make a batch of cookies to christen it. Or maybe I'm just weird. Ian does approve because it "doesn't have flames", but seems to still eat what is produced from it. Already it's made a batch of cookies and a double recipe of vanilla biscotti. I'd say it's a keeper!

Kentucky and the Amish Bakery

Today, I decided we'd visit Schlabach's Bakery. It was warm and sunny when we started the half hour drive into the countryside of Kentucky. The fields were amazingly beautiful, some dark green others light, short and tall, hay rolls... The homes out there were also pretty awesome, each one different and interesting looking.

The Amish bakery was smaller then I thought, but had one of the most amazing smells ever. Have you ever walked into a doughnut shop or a bakery and all you can smell is the oil, flours, spices and yeast? It was the best smelling place I've ever been in. The bakery itself had little product there. I guess the earlier you get there the better. Homemade breads, pies, cakes and other bakery items were joined by honey, granola and jams. We got apple cinnamon rolls. I tried a bit, but can't wait to eat them once Lisa gets home tonight.

We also stopped by an Amish store. It had a whole bunch of awesome products and had great prices. I'm super excited because I got apple butter and rhubarb jam to bring home. I got Elsa some jelly beans they had there and she was one happy girl for the drive back! 

The look you give when you have jellybeans! 

We swung by the thrift store on the way back and I got a couple shirts for really inexpensive. Once home, Elsa went almost immediately down for a nap. During the nap, I had started doing the dishes when one of the loudest thunderstorms I have ever experienced happened. It still is happening like an hour later. The lights have flickered, the rain has pounded down, lightening and thunder and it got really dark. Anyways, just hanging out, the dishes can wait. I've got a blanket and I'm about to get tea, so I think it'll be a cozy afternoon. 

CAP News

I just learned that the position I've worked really hard to learn and serve as for the past five years for Civil Air Patrol's Cascade Falcon summer encampment has changed. I no longer will be cooking food for around 200 people.

My first reaction was happiness. It means less stress, no planning, no forgetting ingredients and having to run to the store, no super late nights and really early morning, no inspectors, no flopped recipes or hungry cadets, no tears.... No cleaning, scrubbing, no dishes....

Then my thoughts changed to sadness. I won't have a team of cadets working for me, the satisfaction of running a kitchen and making meals for so many people. I will no longer be able to short order cook, have cadets come for evening meals or to steal chocolate milk.

I'm going to miss cooking for Cascade Falcon. I know things could change. We could move to a different facility another year, so for now, I apply for a different position and do my best to learn something new. Something challenging.

Thanks to everyone out there who I've gotten to work with in the kitchen. The adults who mentored me and let me make mistakes, the teens who put up with my leadership as I learned how to lead. The cadets who gave honest feedback and the ones who threw everything into doing the best possible job for me. You guys are my inspiration to learn something new.

I've made innumerable memories in those kitchens and made tons of friends in the process. It won't be the last activity I cook for, but for me, Cascade Falcon will not be the same.

Butter and Flour Creations

Last weekend, Lisa found something she has told me about for months now, but hasn't been able to find. Turkey and Swiss cheese sandwiches made on pretzel croissants and served with a honey mustard dipping sauce. Since she told me how delicious they were, I've been planning on making pretzel croissants for her.

I researched this pretty extensively, only two bakeries in the US (at least online, that I could find at the time) make pretzel croissants on a regular basis. One is in New York and the other is in California. So making them was pretty much our only option. I have heard that Trader Joe's carries them, but we weren't able to find them there in Nashville... 

The first batch of dough I made was for a pretzel croissant recipe. The yeast I used for 1 week expired and even that little of time, it totally didn't work. I didn't particularly like the recipe I had found, so I looked for a basic one that I could turn into the pretzel version. Turns out there are millions of recipes all slightly different. I called home and got one from my culinary textbook. 

With bread flour, fresh yeast and a good recipe, I was off. After a full 24 hours, I had completed my very first batch of croissants. They were/are delicious! I made some pretzel by dipping the risen and formed dough into a baked baking soda and water mixture and sprinkling with sea salt... 

If you're up for a challenge, I now have a fine, simple recipe for croissants over on my other blog, Gracie's Tasties

A Procrastinated Task

So I've been meaning to write a blog post on my other blog, Gracie's Tasties, for literally six months. Since August, when I finished my last summer camp for the summer. Cascade Falcon. The memories of Cascade Falcon are mixed, fond memories of feeding 200 people, memories of sore feet and burned hands, friends, family, food... All mixed feelings. It is a hard week, but very satisfying.

If you want to read what I wrote about it, check it out here. It was a lot more fun to write now that I can actually think about it, the first few months after I had thought about it so much, from like April on, that I just wanted a break.

And so a couple weeks before I leave Tennessee, I am getting some of the tasks I had as goals done.... Hopefully I can continue picking away at these things!

Adventures with Mom

Thursday:

Elsa and I spent the majority of the day cleaning and tidying up the house. Not just for Mom's visit, but because an appraiser was supposed to come the next day. I did three loads of laundry and dishes as well as watching Elsa. Mom came in the evening and we talked for several hours on the floor of between our two bedrooms. It was awesome. 

Friday: 

More cleaning. The appraiser came and then we had lunch and a game of Carcassonne. We pretty much just hung out around home. In the evening, Samuel and Lisa went to a concert, so Mom, Elsa and I hung out at home and watched a rather disappointing Gary Cooper movie. We talked and read stories. It was great for Mom to get to hang out with Elsa.

Saturday:
Mom and I went to Franklin, TN for the day. It's an old historic town, much like Old Snohomish, but bigger and more cool historic houses around. It is also within ten minutes of a gigantic shopping mall. We had a blast shopping together and finding some gift type things and mostly drooling over things we could never justify spending money on. It was awesome. We also talked... A lot...

We walked several blocks more to get to antique shops. I found a lovely old Mrs. Southworth book. They actually had quite a few, which is awesome, because I usually have a hard time finding them. For those of you who have never read one of her books, they are super sappy, but fun stories.
I love the name and the picture and the inscription inside. The color green is my favorite too!

We also got a new book for Elsa. She has one called Little Panda, which we got from the San Diego Zoo during our road trip last summer. It is one of her favorite books. I could literally type out the entire thing because I have it completely memorized. So I figured it would be the perfect thing to get her.

We went to the spice shop and got colored peppercorns and peach habanero pepper jelly. It's one of my favorite shops, so if you ever get the chance to go, do so! 

We really enjoyed looking at all the historic houses outside the main shopping street. Every historic house had a black sign in front and it saying what year it was made in.

Perhaps the best part of the day I got no pictures of. We went out to dinner in Nashville. A restaurant I had been to before and fell in love with the place. If you go to Nashville and want a place to get REALLY good food, go to Urban Grub. They cure their own meats and everything tastes super fresh. All the waitstaff were super efficient and friendly and answered every question about the menu we asked.

Mom and I had the best dining experience ever there. She got rotisserie chicken with coleslaw, fries and white bbq sauce. The chicken was super tender and full of flavor,  The coleslaw was light and fresh and made out homemade stuff just not work anymore. The best part of her meal was by far the white bbq sauce. For everyone who doesn't know what that is, it is a mayonnaise based dipping sauce. I'm working on finding a recipe, so I'm not exactly sure what else is in it.

My meal was Club Carbonara. Homemade pasta with chicken, tomatoes, spinach, onions, bacon and a cream sauce. It was amazing! The pasta was cooked just right so when the hot sauce was poured over and it was brought to the table, it had continued to cook to the perfect al dente texture. It was unbelievably flavorful and was even good the next day cold. We got dessert and it was also delicious. Each bite of food we had there was amazing from the biscuits to the last bite of dessert we could fit.

All in all, it was a wonderful weekend with Mom. We had really good food because we made Superbowl food and played games on Sunday as well as touring a couple new houses in a neighboring neighborhood.