One more Moore

Chugging right along...

Wow a whole week already. Thanksgiving was so great. Mom was in town so it was just the 4 of us. Turkey for days... which turned into turkey/croissant sandwiches and then turkey soup. That's why you buy a 17 lb turkey for 4 people...eek! It's the gift that keeps on giving!  We decided that "Christmastime" officially starts as soon as the Thanksgiving fork gets put down. So bring on the festivities! The tree was meant to go up last weekend, but it just so happened that it was also the last weekend we had before we had to get everything out of our old apartment. A day spent hauling everything into a storage unit, another day (okay 2) cleaning, painting, spackling the garage where Chris had previously cut out a huge hole out of the drywall so our car would fit. It's such a relief to finally have everything out, but now- eighyeiyei- there are boxes and stuff. Everywhere. I can't even think about getting the Christmas stuff out until this place gets cleaned up. I did manage to get my paperwhite bulbs forced (if you will)/planted today. I just love the smell of paperwhites at Christmastime. I'm a week or so late planting them, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed they bloom in time. I was reading in this months Martha that you can 'stunt their growth' (it sounds so cruel, no?) so I did a little research and found this. All ya need to do is give 'em a little booz. I'm actually going to try it. The only part about paperwhites that is a little frustrating is once they start blooming they tend to get so top-heavy and fall over, so I'll let you know how this works out.

Thanks for all the well wishes for the pregnancy. I can't believe this is my 3rd pregnancy in the last year. 3? Really? Who would've thought. I actually miscarried a few days before Thanksgiving last year and it seems so surreal to be here again. Has it really been a year? Miscarrying twice in a row makes for a very cautious mama & papa if you know what I mean. It's sad to say, but Chris and I have hardly talked about it until just recently. It feels kind of taboo,  you don't want to get excited, because well, you've been there before. But we get to find out what we are having in the next week or two, so we are excited to see another ultrasound just to confirm that the little 'computer' is growing and what not. (By the way, Henry is obsessed with watching his 'turkey-head movie' as he calls it.)  I'm due the beginning of May, which means another May baby for us,  which we are thrilled about. I actually broke out ye olde maternity pants for the first time on Monday. I'm sure it had absolutely nothing to do with the aforementioned 17lb turkey extravaganza.

Oh a great day of thrifting today means I'll be whipping up some  super cool aprons for the shop next week (boxes, Christmas stuff, sewing...what??? earth to Morgan...) I've just added a handful of baby bibs now, you can check them out here.

Happy Wednesday!!

Thanksgiving Message from my little Turkey...

(Just give it a minute to load and then the video won't be choppy.)

Happy Thanksgiving!

Spaghetti Bolognese & Spinach Salad

Let it be known: I love Spaghetti Bolognese. I think it's one of my top 5 favorite foods of all time. I've made spaghetti with a regular sauce before, but I've never searched out a bolognese recipe, until now. Richard & Betsey were over for one last hurrah on Friday before that baby of theirs decides to come and we decided to make said 'Spag Bol' (as the Aussies call it, according to Em.) What's the difference between bolognese & meat sauce you ask? From what I understand (and correct me if I'm wrong) is that Bolognese simmers for several hours and is typically made with wine. Also, Italian sauces are composed of little or no tomato sauce.  I love this dish so much, I really didn't care how long it would take. I just wanted to find an authentic recipe. So I searched & searched & searched and finally found one that looked pretty delish (I had to convert it from grams to ounces- I took that as a good sign. LOL!) and so we gave it a whirl. I made some changes (like omitting chicken livers-egads!) as well as a few other items, but this recipe was really good. While this isn't a difficult recipe by any means, it really should simmer for a few hours. You could probably put it in a crock pot on low once you get to that point in the directions. Anyway, it's delish- give it a try next time you've got a hankering for some Spag Bol! It's a great recipe to prepare ahead of time.

Spaghetti Bolognese
4 oz lean ground pork
12 oz lean ground beef
2 onions, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1/4 C chopped carrot
1/2 C chopped celery
4 Tbsp butter
2 Tbsp olive oil
1/2 C red or white wine (we used a dry sherry)
2 C beef stock
1 3/4 lb of peeled tomato's, quartered*
2 Tbsp tomato paste**
3 Tbsp. cream (optional)
2 bay leaves
Salt & Pepper to taste
1 pkg cooked spaghetti

Directions:
Sauté the onion, carrot and celery over low heat in oil (or oil and butter); sweat the vegetables until they colour slightly; add the garlic, stiring well with a wooden spoon. Add the ground meat and cook over low heat, breaking the meat up with a fork. Season with salt and pepper; deglaze with the white or red wine; increase the heat and cook until the wine has evaporated. Add the quartered tomatoes and the tomato paste, thinned with a little tomato juice, water or broth. Season with the bay leaves and combine well. Increase the heat to medium so that the sauce boils gently; cover the pot and let simmer for two to three hours, adding more broth as necessary. If you are using cream, add it an hour before the end of the cooking time; remove the bay leaves before serving. The cream will tend to cut some of the tomato's acidity.

*To peel the tomato's, we boiled them for about 3-5 minutes and then put them in cold water. The skins will peel off easily this way.

**I was going to omit the tomato paste since I didn't have any and it only called for 2 Tbsp, but since there isn't any tomato sauce being added to this recipe, you really should add it (it resulted in a last minute trip to the store, thanks, Chris!)

I also wanted to find a new spinach salad recipe and came across this on Allrecipes. I was drawn to it because the dressing sounded like such an interesting mix of flavors: poppy seeds, toasted sesame seeds, paprika, minced onion. You get where I'm going here. It'd be perfect for Thanksgiving dinner, too! I had a wedge of parmesan so I added a few thin slies to the salad and it was yummy!

Spinach Salad
1 Tbsp. butter
3/4 C blanched & slivered
almonds
1 lb spinach, torn into bite sized pieces
1 C dried cranberries
1 Tbsp toasted sesame seeds
1 Tbsp poppy seeds
1/2 C sugar
2 tsp minced onion
1/4 tsp paprika
1/4 C white wine vinegar
1/4 C cider vinegar
1/2 C vegetable oil
Fresh Parmesan (optional)

Directions:
In a medium saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Add almonds and until lightly toasted. Remove and let cool. In a medium bowl, whisk together the sesame seeds, poppy seeds, sugar, onion, paprika, white wine vinegar, cider vinegar, and vegetable oil. In a large bowl, combine the spinach with the toasted almonds and cranberries.Toss dressing with  spinach just before serving.

I keep forgetting to mention the most incredible cookie recipe from my brother Matt's blog. Which, by the way, I never said I wouldn't add you to my blog, YOU TURKEY!! And just so you know, you've officially been added (it sounds like a food blog anyway, LOL!) Matt needs help naming his cookie recipe and if you are the winner, than he'll actually make you a batch of his scrumptious cookies and send them to you (can I throw some names in the hat, too?) So come on people, show a little

My little turkey has a special Thanksgiving message, so be sure to check back before then!

Bon Appetite!

Getting settled

Almost two weeks in the new place. It's beginning to feel like home. I think I've made 4 different soups in the last 10 days (something about soup, just makes a place feel like home.) I'll share some recipes soon! Anyway, there are still some boxes, but we are making progress.  Henry was sick the first week we were here, which made for very slow unpacking, as he laid on the couch like a bump on a log hollering out television demands, for what felt like EVER. I've now caught something miserable and well, now I'm the one shouting out demands. That kid sure is good with the remote.

We wanted to paint before we moved in, but didn't get the chance and now, well, I'm not sure that we want to. The walls are this ecru, eggshelly color, and it's growing on me. I sat on the couch for the first week, just staring at that wall wondering what on earth we were going to put there. There is a rather obnoxious box on the wall smack dab in the center of where the clock is. As a joke, one day Chris hung the clock on it. A little unintended brilliance, don't you think?  The only thing I'm unsure about is how the  lamp, clock and bathing beauties picture are all the same color. I'm debating on painting the clock, and actually, something freaky happened to the lamp in the move (after many light bulb & outlet changes we can't get it to turn on) so we may need to just get a new lamp anyway which may solve my decorating woes. But, speaking of bathing beauties: 
This picture hung in Henry's bathroom for the last 2+ years (he's got a thing for vintage bathing beauties) but we decided to hang it in the living room. The verdict is still out.

One of my biggest headaches, was what to do with all of my stemware/glassware/dishes. I was reading one of Alicia's posts thinking, "Yes! I need something just. like. that!!" Then I remembered, I already had something just. like. that. Remember this brilliant $39 find that I got last Nov? Well up until now, it's been housing my fabric. As much as I adore the armoire, it doesn't work for fabric storage. That thing became so over-stuffed, so completely difficult to find anything you were looking for, that all the fabric just ended up in these huge piles on the floor, which deep, real deep down inside I know the family secretly loved.

Now, I'm channeling my 'inner-Alicia' and have moved the armoire into the kitchen (not far from the bathing beauties)
It makes for a bit of a tight squeeze, as it's only a few feet from the kitchen table, but for now, it's really working out great for storage.

My cake stands seem to be much happier, all spread out, lots of room (unlike in their previous life where they were cruel-y stacked and crammed into the tiniest of spaces.)

All in all, we love our new place. Henry slept in his own room (which I have to say doesn't have anything in it besides the left over boxes that need to be unpacked and a queen size blow up mattress from when Dad stayed the night) for the first time. IN HIS LIFE. He's co-slept with us since birth, but last night, we thought 'hey, lets see if he'll sleep in there.' And he did. Until four this morning, when we heard the muffled sound: "Papa!.....Papa!!Where are you?" Chris went in, and fell back to sleep too,  which gave sick little me the entire bed. All to myself (how long do you think I can bribe Henry to wake up & call for his papa every morning at 4 a.m??) 

Against my better judgment, I took Henry down to Disneyland for a few hours (I think the sickness is affecting my brain cells) to meet up with his Grandma & Grandpa who are in town. All the Christmas stuff is up, and I cannot lie- it's fab.u.lous!
It was all pink and orange and wonderful. I came home and was getting Henry out of the car and gathering all our stuff from the day when I  walked across the street and not 10 seconds later heard a loud crash. I turned my head to discover that a passing car had completely creamed the entire side of our car. Where we were just standing. 15 seconds earlier. Scary. I holler out to Chris "get over there before that guy takes off!" But he couldn't. His car looked worse than ours. Our car is un-drivable and his had to be towed (our tow truck will come in the morning.) I think the guy said he fell asleep at the wheel, which just makes it all the scarier.  I mean, we could have been hit while crossing the street, or while I was getting Henry out. I could care less about the car. Just glad we are all well (cough, cough...well sort of). Happy weekend! Regular blogging has officially been resumed!

xoxo