Mormon Bloggers

Our Christmas was wonderful and I am still excited about the meal I made for my parents on Christmas Eve.  I’m also grateful they were willing to cram themselves into our apartment for the event.  My good friend also came over and let me borrow her electric roasting pan.  Those are so great because it frees up your oven to cook other things.  I wish I had the space to have one of my own.  Hopefully when we get a house, that will be possible.

Cooking a holiday meal can be rather intimidating, especially when it comes to timing everything right.  Sometimes things don’t get started until the turkey is out of the oven and then you’re dealing with cold turkey.  This is how I maintain a degree of sanity.

1.  Figure out what I can make the night before.  For example:  cranberry sauce.  Or maybe you just want the canned stuff.  I love to make homemade cranberry sauce.  It will taste just as delicious the next day.

2.  Instead of peeling potatoes, use some like red or Yukon gold.  The skins are so thin, you can just mash it up.  Wash them, quarter them, and boil them with some garlic if you like, but keep in mind what seasonings you want to put in the gravy.  It was so much easier not taking the time to peel potatoes!  Also, you can keep them warm in a crock pot instead of worrying about them being ready at the exact moment the turkey is.

3.  If you can’t make it ahead of time, at least do some preparation ahead of time – chopping onions and that sort of thing.

As a child, I would hardly touch white meat.  No matter how long I chewed it for, I couldn’t seem to swallow it because it was so dry.  I was convinced I just hated white meat.  Years later I watched a chef make a turkey.  He cut a slit in the skin and rubbed some herbed butter underneath the skin, all over the turkey breast.  “That could be good.” I thought.  It just wasn’t likely that I would host a gathering anytime soon.

My brother-in-law went to chef school years ago and he said the key to moist white meat was cooking it breast side down so the juices run into it.  Then the last 30 minutes or so, flip it over and let it brown.  Considering it doesn’t really brown in the electric roaster, we put it in the oven under the broiler for a bit.

Cooking the turkey upside down with the herbed butter under the skin created the ultimate turkey.  I couldn’t believe it when even the leftover white meat was moist and full of flavor.  I let the butter soften (one cube) and mixed in a little garlic powder, thyme, oregano, rosemary, and basil.  You don’t have to worry too much about how much you put in.  Just have a little taste and ask yourself, “Would I spread this on bread?”  If the answer is yes, it will taste good in your turkey.  Also, rub butter on the outside of the turkey and add a little salt and pepper.

Being a long time hater of stuffing, I was shocked to discover a recipe I liked.  No, [block]0[/block].  My friend brought it over and I begged her for the recipe.  First of all, I can’t stand mushy bread, so I was delighted that I could make it as dry as I wanted it.  You fry up some sweet Italian sausage, chop up some celery, Italian parsley, and mushrooms.  Mix that all together with the breading, one can of cream of mushroom soup, and some thyme, then add as much moisture as you want.  You can use water or turkey drippings.  (Of course, I think you all know what I chose.)

I also did a pretty decent job recalling how my brother makes gravy.  I decided to thicken it with a mixture of cold water and cornstarch.  I added the turkey drippings to a pot with a baster, turned it on medium high, added the cornstarch mixture, and whisked it until it was thickened.  I removed it from the heat, added a little garlic powder, pepper, just a smidge of nutmeg, and cream.  Add a little bit at a time and taste it.  I also added a bit of dried parsley flakes.

My parents loved it and I was thrilled to treat my mom without her being tired from cooking or having a huge mess in her kitchen.  We also read the Christmas story from The Bible.  The next day, we went to my parents’ house on Christmas Day for a simple ham dinner that was also delicious.

What did you do for Christmas?

Once again, it’s Christmas and we’re worried about money.  At times our bishop will give us a gift card from anonymous members from our ward (congregation), but I want so much to do things on our own.  I want to give to others.  Things got worse than I expected this month.  A week before Thanksgiving, we were given notice that our rent is going up and that they are going to start charging us for utilities.  This will cost us at least another $100 a month.  My husband needed an oil change which ended up being $70 for his huge truck.  He was also told that they can’t work overtime anymore, our health insurance is going up, he needs new tires, and we are still trying to climb our way out of debt.

I’m gradually finding more students to teach, but it’s not quite enough.  Pay day was yesterday and after figuring out all of the bills, I was really upset to see that we were already going to be left with $100 or less for groceries and gas until our next pay day on the 5th.  That’s impossible.  So I prayed for a miracle, but this time I said, “Heavenly Father, I don’t know what to do.  I am grateful for people who have given to us, but I am tired of hand outs.  Please inspire someone to help us.”  I thought maybe it might come in the form of a new student and I had faith that it would happen somehow.

Last night I had a friend over for hot chocolate and my kids handed me another plate of treats with a card.  “Strange.”  I thought.  “The card just says my name on it.”  I opened it and there was a $250 check from a family I had helped during a time of need for them.  They were going through some major trials and I helped train their daughter for a solo competition and audition at her school for a couple months, plus I came to accompany her.  They said they had hoped she would end up doing some babysitting for me, but since it didn’t happen, they hoped this check would help. 

I was blown away.  Not only did Heavenly Father send help, it didn’t feel like a hand out!  I had worked with her twice a week at times for up to an hour, so I felt like it was something I earned. 

Last week I went to a Coin Star machine with my son to empty our change jar.  Rather than get charged a fee for a cash voucher, I opted for the Amazon gift card so I could buy Christmas presents.  I have a friend who has Amazon Prime and she was more than happy to let me order from her computer so we could do two day shipping.  When we got back from the store, our Secret Santa had left us a jar of change!  I was cracking up.  There was probably another $50 in there and I had more to add from the change holder in my van.  That allowed me to get another Amazon card.  I had never used one of those change machines before, so the coincidence was extra funny to me and something I consider a little miracle.

I feel so loved and appreciated.  I hope you all have a Merry Christmas filled with your own Christmas miracles.

This isn’t a question you hear often, is it?  The doctor told me that I have to wake my son up five hours earlier than he normally gets up because he’s having an EEG to test him for “absence seizures”.  These are easily mistaken as daydreaming and can take years before they are diagnosed.  He usually has a rough time at the beginning of every school year and teachers ask if he has ADD, but then things settle down and he’s fine.  It’s been quite confusing.  If he had ADD, wouldn’t he have it all the time?  We figured it was anxiety, but after he had a pretty good start, there was a sudden change that seemed to be triggered by starting orchestra.  It’s twice a week at 7:30am and he wasn’t used to that, plus he was practicing getting up early before it was even necesssary.  All of a sudden, all of his teachers and leaders were talking about an increase in his staring spells.  “He was having such a great start to this year!” I thought.

I realized he was getting less sleep than he used to and wondered if there was a pattern.  Was it happening more on orchestra days?  He is well behaved at school and is eager to learn, so he’s not tuning out due to boredom.  Even when we are playing games, his brother will start yelling, “Pay attention!!!  It’s your turn!”

I spoke to a nurse practitioner at a neurology clinic last week and to her it seemed like the puzzle pieces were coming together.  Beginning of the year anxiety equals less sleep.  Less sleep brings on absence seizures.  As anxiety improves, it happens less often, but now we throw orchestra into the mix and it brings on increased seizures.  In an attempt to cause one, she had him blow a pinwheel for almost five minutes because hypervenilation can trigger a seizure.  He answered her very promptly at the beginning, but about three minutes into it, he was becoming less responsive.  I was shocked to hear her say that she would be surprised if he isn’t having absence seizures and scheduled an EEG for the following week.

I have mixed feelings about this.  I want an answer and at the same time, I’m worried about how he will handle the medication.  As a child, some side effects were worse than what I was trying to cure.  At times I was so sleepy, I could hardly function at school.  I’m praying we can find the right balance.  It also makes me want to cry thinking about how many times people have gotten after him for not paying attention when it wasn’t his fault.  There is also the fear that people will blow off his diagnosis.

I doubt I will sleep at all before I have to wake him up in the middle of the night, but I’m trying to make this into a positive.  I want my son to remember the night we spent having all sorts of fun – just him and me.  If you were in the same situation, what would you do?

Some of my ideas:

Take a walk in the cold air as needed

Play video games together (movies would probably make us fall asleep)

Do some holiday baking for his teachers

Take funny, dramatic pictures of ourselves during our quest to not sleep

Do a puzzle

Challenge each other to an exercise bike contest – Who can ride the longest without stopping?

Any other ideas would be wonderful.  Out of all of my children, he will have the hardest time staying awake.  My oldest is begging to “help” us stay awake, which of course means he wants to play video games.  Hahahahaha.  No.

Every year we go to this Christmas light display.  It’s been eight years and it still blows me away every time I see them.  The creators continue to come up with new designs, making very convincing flowers, vines, animals, vegetables, fruits, waterfalls, streams, fountains, and more.  Not only does nature testify of God to me, but also the talents that He blesses His children with.  Man-made things can also be so miraculous, but I give that credit to Heavenly Father.

Tonight we had a late dinner after going to see the display.  We knew bed time would be delayed, but it was worth it.  We had hot chocolate with our ice cream of choice (hot chocolate floats) and listened to the First Presidency Christmas Devotional from last night.  The music is beautiful.  I can hardly listen to the way The Mormon Tabernacle Choir sings The First Noel without crying.  Again, I was amazed that someone could create something so inspiring.  We listened to wonderful messages about Christ‘s birth and focused on the reason we celebrate Christmas.

My kids each took the time to thank me for the dinner I made and the hot chocolate.  They were so excited to have the choice between peppermint, egg nog, or “Touchdown Sundae” ice cream.  If you haven’t put ice cream in your hot chocolate, I highly recommend it.  It’s delicious and the perfect way to cool it off.  I have also taken a liking to making my own whipped cream and stirring in crushed candy cane, then topping it with shaved chocolate.  My friends call me an overachiever, but they don’t mind benefiting from my inability to cook mediocre food for them.

I love this season, even with all of the cold, rainy weather.  Christmas provides me the comfort of childhood memories and the enjoyment of giving my kids the best memories I can.  It’s an odd feeling to be a grown woman now, attempting to convince my children that I’m the best mom of all time like I felt about my mom.  It’s strange to think that my kids will be adults someday and I’ll listen to them as they talk about the things that made them feel loved as they grew up.

The topper to this evening was my 12-year-old telling me that when he receives the gift card prizes he won through a fundraiser, he wants to use them to spend the whole day with me.  I struggle hard to be a good mom and have plenty of moments of regret, but at that moment, I realized that not being perfect was OK.  My son loves me anyway. 

I hope this season is filled with magical moments for you.