Christmas Season 2012

Happy, Happy Christmas 2012!

Being our first year away from Oregon, family and winter weather, this year didn't feel very "Christmas-y" until about the week before the 25th. Now, those of you who know me well know that I begin to listen to Christmas music in September, and in late October it is my main genre of music. Alex loves it too! We are really a couple of Christmas elf's, but even for us, Christmas just doesn't feel quite like Christmas when it's 80 degrees outside.
 The day after Thanksgiving we purchased our Christmas wreath, poinsettias and tree from Lowes (gasp!) but it was real, and the only place that we found that was selling them. It felt a little odd going to a lot and not a Christmas tree farm, and the tree lost half it's needles on the way home, but it was a real American Christmas tree. (I am a firm believer that fake trees are unAmerican and stick up my nose to people who have them, ESPECIALLY in Oregon where there is an abundance of beautiful, fresh trees for CHEAP!) We decorated our little house together and the next day while I was away at a cookie baking party with some of the wives, Alex and a friend put up Christmas lights on our house! Thanks to Rob and Nancy for sending us left over twinkle lights from our wedding!



On December 15th we had a Christmas Party at our house! We have met so many great people, and wanted to share some Holiday cheer with them before everyone left for Exodus (what the Army refers to for Christmas break) There was plenty of scrumptious food and drinks and we had a White Elephant gift exchange, which people from the South call "Dirty Yankee Swap" or "Dirty Santa" and many other names. I think each State calls it something different. It was a lot of fun, and there were some crazy gifts! A lawn gnome, the hose that grows, a machete, sea monkeys, Nerf guns, Tiger shirts, toilet seat covers, just to name a few.  The party was a success and the couples that stayed late got to partake in a Nerf War (husbands against wives) Want to take a guess who won? :-)

Alex and I weren't sure we would be able to fly to Oregon for Christmas this year, but Alex was able to take leave and we booked our tickets the day he found out!  We drove to Atlanta, Georgia on the 19th late at night along with our friend Phil Schwoob (it's about a 31/2 hour drive) and flew out early in the morning, with a layover in Denver, CO and met Mushu and Shawn at PDX. I couldn't stop squealing when I saw Mushu and we got a lot of bewildered faces (even from Alex and Shawn) We got to take a couple hours nap when we got to my parent's since we had been up over 30 hours, and then In the evening our families had a potluck style dinner so we could see everyone!

The next day Mom and I got to bake together while Alex went to finish Christmas shopping with Shawn. Together we made fudge, truffles, toffee, snicker doodles, and sugar cookies (Mom doing most of that!) Everything turned out sweet! Wish I would have remembered to take pictures! My dear friend Ginny and her two sweet kiddos came to visit for a little bit too! I was so happy to see them!

Later that evening, Alex and I went to David and Aurora's Christmas Party! It was so nice to get most of the siblings plus some other great friends together! Aurora had set up a "photo booth" with props and everything this year and we were able to get some really cute pictures! I love the reindeer antlers!

We love our siblings!

Saturday we had the Wales Family Christmas since Kendra and Ben had to be back to work on Christmas Eve! Oh how I had missed that sweet family! It was so much fun getting to see them again! Emmerson showed me how to turn a "cutie" (the tiny oranges) into a "grosie" by showing me the cutie, chewing it up and then showing me the "cutie-turned-grosie" and Peyton made Alex and I the best Christmas card we have ever received! Alex and Hunter built a Lego helicopter and had a nerf war together!

The next morning we were taken to breakfast by my Mom and Dad before we made our way to Florence to get together with the Perry side of the family, with only a few members missing.

Monday was Christmas Eve at the Wallaerts, and again, there were some family members missing, but we still had a good time with all who could make it! The "Night Before Christmas" was read, poppers were popped and we had a gift exchange. Something else to note was that I tried, for the very first time, blackberry cordial! I have only read about it in "Anne of Green Gables" where Diana drinks 3 tumbler fulls and gets drunk. It was good, and I could easily see where you could drink too much because you really don't taste much of the alcohol in it!

Christmas Day and evening was spent with the Brecht family where we shared dinner, exchanged gifts and the guys got right to playing their Risk game! The stats for the previous 6 years are as follows:

Dad: 1st Place 2 Years

Justin: 1st Place 2 years

Alex: 1st Place 2 Years

Jerod: 2nd Place 1 Year (1 year played)



The competition was fierce, but in the end, there could only be one winner. One champion to rule them all. The game was over 3 hours long and in the end, there was only one first place winner...

Looks like the trophy will be back in Alabama for another year!!!



The day after Christmas we were able to go on a double date with Mushu and Jerod and went ice skating! It was so much fun and I was also happy to get to go into the city! I didn't realize how much I would miss visiting a big city, the closest one to us is over 3 hours away! 

Later in the evening, we were able to go out to dinner with the Wales, Stanbros, Justin and Katie and Jerod in Wilsonville. I never like goodbye's and just try to think how blessed we are to have such nice people to say goodbye to. The next time I am home, I will have a sister graduated from High School, a new nephew and who knows what other surprises will bring in our next trip home! It was a PACKED few days, and we wish we could have seen more people, and spent more time with every family member. We love you all so much and are so happy we were able to spend Christmas with the ones we love most!
Here is a new family recipe for Toffee I received from one of my Meals on Wales customer's Aunt. I'm not very good at making candy, and the fist attempt at this recipe was a complete failure, but the second time turned out superb! This toffee tastes just like Almond Roca. Unfortunately I didn't get any pictures of the toffee I made, it was all gobbled up by a certain someone, which must have meant it was good and I should save this recipe and make it for that certain someone again and again. Maybe a new Christmas tradition? :-) Love you Dad!

Toffee

From Aunt Sheri

1 pound good quality BUTTER

2 ¼ Cups sugar

2 cups chopped almonds (unsalted raw almonds)

12 oz. pkg of semi-sweet chocolate chips

Melt butter over low heat, add sugar and stir into butter well (I used a whisk for this part) so that the butter doesn’t separate from the sugar (if it does, just keep stirring).  Stir constantly over low heat until sugar starts to dissolve.  Bring to boil over medium high, stirring constantly for five minutes.  Then, add chopped almonds (keep some of the almond crumbs in the cup for sprinkling on top of chocolate at the end).  Stir constantly to 300 degrees (now I switch to a spoon to stir—wooden is best, but sometimes they will burn, so I do use stainless steel too) and/or until you start to smell burned sugar smell (but don’t let it burn) and it looks like translucent caramel color. *** Pour onto a cookie sheet—it’s very hot, be sure to protect your counter.  Sprinkle chocolate chips on top and when they melt, spread smoothly over the candy and sprinkle with reserved chopped almond crumbs on top.  Cool completely (I usually wait about 12 hours) and break into bite-sized pieces.

Our First Christmas and New Years as a Married Couple

Being uncertain as to whether Alex would be able to come home for Christmas or not made all of us just a little anxious! We were told we would receive a phone call from our soldiers, letting us know their itinerary. Alex’s company was the last group that was able to purchase tickets, and I had been seeing all the other family members from other companies mentioning that they had heard back from their soldiers (on the facebook page). The day we were supposed to hear came and went, and the week Alex was supposed to be coming home came and went, without any money coming out of our account for the tickets and without hearing any word.  I got the information to call the travel agency they were going through and all they told me is he was coming home on Delta and his plane would arrive in PDX at 12:00.  Then she hung up.  I was relieved to know he was able to come home, but then I didn’t know if it was 12:00am or 12:00pm, so I emailed them and they sent me his itinerary! (It was pm) I was so thankful my sister, Katie, covered my shift for me at work that day so I could be there!

Alex arrived on time and even a little early! Both sets of parents and I were there to greet him! Best Christmas present EVER!

The very next day we ventured out and got our first Christmas tree! We had the best time picking it out, taking it home, snacking on hot cocoa and listening to Christmas music while we decorated together! Alex’s first requested meal was lasagna, so that is what we had for dinner!

We spent time with family, went to the Grotto’s Christmas festival of lights, finished last minute Christmas shopping, played Kinect, did A LOT of cooking and baking, watched "White Collar" and basically got to spend a lot of time relaxing. It was the best!

 Christmas Eve was spent at Alex’s Grandma and Grandpa’s, and I was able to open my present from Alex so I could wear them to Christmas Eve- a beautiful set of necklaces Alex picked out himself! So beautiful and special! Christmas morning Alex opened his gift, a knife! When we went on our honeymoon, Alex had to give his knife away because he had it in his pocket from cutting off the streamers and balloons from our car from the wedding. Thank you to David for picking out the right kind for him!

 On the 27^th we celebrated Rob’s birthday and made eggplant parmesan, even the pickiest eaters and the harshest critics enjoy this version!

For New Years, we went to our friend Jordan Harris’ performance at McMenamins in Wilsonville, it was nice to get to see friends and ring in the New Year with everyone! New Years Day we had waffles in the morning (my Mom’s gift to us was a waffle maker for Christmas) then in the afternoon we headed over to my parents to make the traditional Polish specialty, perogies! They were scrumptious like always! Everyone pitched in to share the work!

Alex had to leave the evening of the 2^nd. I was scheduled to work that day, and so Alex went and said goodbye to his family. Thank you again to my sister Katie, who came in to cover the last couple of hours of my shift for me! We’re still trying to get used to the goodbyes. We drove to the airport and stayed for about 40 minutes, I didn’t walk in with him, but we said our goodbyes in the parking lot.  We are so thankful to have each other and for the wonderful time we got to spend with eachother during our first married Christmas together!

Here is a recipe for one of my most requested meals! I have made it for 4 birthday dinners and counting! It is a lot of work, but the end result is well worth it! It really helps to have 2 people making it, one person breading while the other is frying, but it can be done with just one person as well!

Eggplant Parmesan:

2 eggplants

1 brick of parmesan cheese

6 cups mozarella

panko bread crumbs

Italian seasoned bread crumbs

6-7 eggs,

4 cups flour

oil for frying

For the sauce:

2 large cans of whole canned peeled tomatoes

5-6 garlic cloves

1 1/2 Tbs. Italian seasoning

1 medium yellow onion

1 Tbs olive oil

2 tsp brown sugar

1/2 tsp white sugar

spaghetti noodles cooked until al dente (I like whole wheat!)

Begin by peeling the eggplant, like a carrot.  Slice peeled eggplant to about 3/4 in. thickness. Place on a baking sheet and sprinkle with salt.  Let weep for 3-4 hours.  Eggplants with the most seeds are males, and will not taste as bitter compared to females. For this recipe, it doesn't matter if the eggplant are male or female just so long as they have sufficiently weeped (much water will come out of them!)

Meanwhile, in a large sauce pan, dice onion and crush the garilc and begin to simmer in olive oil. Hand crush the tomatoes into the sauce pan, (be careful, as they will squirt tomato juice all over you but the result in flavor is well worth the extra step of hand crushing them as opposed to buying already diced) Add the Italian seasoning and sugar. I usually add most of the juice from the cans as well as this recipe makes a lot and a lot of the sauce is needed. Let simmer. Salt and pepper to taste.

After the eggplants have sufficiently weeped, dry them with paper towels. Try and get them as dry as you can for the next step! (You will go through A LOT of paper towls doing this) Let me know if you know of a better way to dry eggplant!)

Set up a station. In the first bowl, place the flour and season with salt and pepper. In the next bowl, wisk about 4 eggs with 2 tsp of water.  In the last bowl, combine the Panko and Italian bread crumbs and 1c. of freshly grated parmesan cheese. (grate cheeses while eggplants are weeping) Have a plate ready for the breaded eggplants.

Cover the dried eggplant in the flour, next completely cover the floured eggplant in the egg mixture, then sufficiently cover the eggplant in the bread crumb mixture. Repeat these steps until all useable eggplants are breaded. You will need to replenish each bowl with fresh ingredients a few times as well as wash your finger tips multiple times!

In a large electric skillet, heat oil (canola works well) make sure the entire pan in covered and wait until the oil is very hot before frying the eggplant. Do not overcrowd your pan. Let eggplants fry until golden brown on each side. The key is to always have lots and lots of oil in your pan for frying so the bread does not burn!

In 9x13 pan, spread some of the sauce in bottom of the pan.  Layer sauce, fried eggplant and top with mozarella cheese. Repeat. You should be able to have at least 2 layers.

Bake at 400 for 15-20 minutes or until cheese is bubbly.  Prepare over the top of whole wheat spaghetti. YUM YUM!