here in the arctic

Yesterday I went to a cross country meet in Cumberland to see some Cameron students race. It was really cold and rainy, but still fun. As I was there I questioned why I'm not doing cc this year. I miss it, but I realized if I was doing cc now I wouldn't be able to spend two weeks up here at the Kiffmeyers!

Today we went to the pumpkin patch with the homeschool group. It was also very cold outside. No rain today, but cloudy and a little chillier [I think] than yesterday was.

updates for you

The Chosen - Chaim Potok
God Spoke Tibetan - Allan Maberly
It's Not About Me - Max Lucado
My Antonia - Willa Cather
A Place of Quiet Rest - Nancy Leigh DeMoss
The Pursuit of God - A. W. Tozer
The Story of the Trapp Family Singers - Maria Augusta Trapp
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn - Betty Smith

Three down, five to go. I just started God Spoke Tibetan, and plan on reading The Chosen next. Oh happy day. I like completing a reading list.
In other news, I will be going up to Minnesota this weekend and then from there to Rice Lake to spend the next two weeks at a friends house. I will blog of my adventures there.

WORD OF THE DAY:
hem·i·dem·i·sem·i·qua·ver
(hm-dm-sm-kwvr)

n.

A sixty-fourth note.

Milwaukee TEA Party

I had the opportunity to go down town this afternoon and experience a Tea Party.

There was about 10,000 people there.


Lots of WTMJ radio show hosts and others, [I don't know names, I think Scott Walker was there, and some author of some book, and this one lady, and a scientist, and a pastor], spoke out against taxation and how the people in our government need to learn the simple rules of spending within their means and keeping promises and that our government is BY THE PEOPLE and FOR THE PEOPLE and if we, the people, aren't speaking up, we won't be heard.


My favorite: J. T.


Joe the Plumber was there preachin' to us.


"As long as we keep laying our hopes and dreams before the throne of God above, we will succeed." -James T. Harris


One man, challenging 10,000? Hm, not a good idea.


WE HOLD THESE TRUTHS TO BE SELF-EVIDENT, THAT ALL MEN ARE CREATED EQUAL...


...THAT THEY ARE ENDOWED BY THEIR CREATOR WITH CERTAIN UNALIENABLE RIGHTS, THAT AMONG THESE ARE LIFE, LIBERTY AND THE PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS.


Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke

Pizza, pizza!

Tonight I made homemade pizza. I don't think ingredients or directions are necessary. But I can tell you what I did... or what I didn't do. I didn't make my own crust, but next time I'm going to. Instead, I just used a Pillsbury pizza dough. I covered it in sauce and then parmesan, sharp cheddar, mozzarella, and swiss cheese, and I topped it off with green peppers, onions, tomatoes, broccoli, and some pizza seasoning. 'Twas pleasant indeed.

I realized that I really enjoy cooking. Especially new recipes with exciting flavors. It makes sense to like cooking; you gotta eat food, so just have fun making food too.

Winter Greens Pasta

1 pound spaghetti noodles
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
5 to 6 large garlic cloves, minced
5 to 6 anchovy fillets
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
2 heads of escarole, leaves separated from the core, chopped
1 pound spinach, leaves coarsely chopped
freshly grated nutmeg
3 tablespoons drained capers
zest and juice of 1 lemon
3 cups arugula leaves

Bring a large pot of water to a boil over high heat to cook the pasta. Once the water is boiling, season with salt, add the pasta, and cook. Heads up: you'll need to reserve about 1 cup of pasta cooking water before draining the pasta.
Once the pasta water is almost to a boil, start the greens. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the garlic, anchovies, and red pepper flakes and cook, stirring every now and then, until the anchovies have completely melted, 3 to 4 minutes. Turn the heat up to medium-high and add the escarole and spinach. Season the wilted greens with black pepper and nutmeg.
When the pasta is drained, add the reserved cup of pasta water, the capers, lemon zest and juice, arugula, and the drained pasta to the pot you used to cook the pasta. Add the wilted greens. Toss over medium-high heat for 1 minute to combine.

NOTE: I couldn't find escarole or arugula leaves, so I only used spinach. And, I completely forgot the nutmeg, but it was still good. P.S. I love pasta.


FRENCH ONION-GRUYERE CUPS

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for greasing

One 7.5-ounce can refrigerated biscuits

1 1/2 pounds onions, thinly sliced (about 8 cups)

Salt and pepper

2 tablespoons butter

1 1/2 tablespoons flour

3/4 cup heavy cream

1 packed cup grated gruyère cheese (about 4 ounces)

1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme

Preheat oven to 400°. Invert a muffin pan and lightly grease the back side of ten muffin cups with olive oil. Pat a biscuit flat, place over a greased muffin cup and stretch the dough to cover the cup. Repeat with the remaining nine biscuits. Bake until golden-brown, 7 minutes. Let cool slightly, then remove the biscuit cups from the pan and invert onto a baking sheet to cool completely.

Meanwhile, heat a medium cast-iron skillet over medium heat. Add the 2 tablespoons olive oil, the onions and 1/4 teaspoon each salt and pepper. Cook, stirring every 3 minutes or so, until the onions are softened and browned, about 15 minutes. Divide the onion mixture among the biscuit cups.

In a small saucepan, melt the butter over medium-low heat. Whisk in the flour until smooth. Pouring slowly, whisk in the heavy cream and cook, stirring, until thickened, about 3 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in half of the cheese; season with salt and pepper. Spoon the cheese sauce over the onions; sprinkle the thyme and remaining cheese on top and bake until the cheese is melted and the biscuit edges are golden, 5 to 7 minutes.

NOTE: When I baked the biscuits, they didn't actually stay in the form of a little bowl like they were supposed to, so I put them in little dishes and then piled the onions and cheese sauce on top. I used swiss cheese instead of gruyère because there was no gruyère at Pick 'n' Save, [we did find it at Trader Joe's today, but it was really expensive]. These were really good though.

Austin Mac & Cheese Suizas

1 pound cavatappi noodles
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
12 tomatillos
1 medium onion, chopped
2 to 3 garlic gloves, minced
2 jalapenos, finely chopped
1 teaspoon ground cumin
2 teaspoons honey
a handful of fresh cilantro, finely chopped
juice of 1 lime
3 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 cup vegetable stock
2 cups milk
1 cup shredded swiss cheese
1 cup shredded monterey jack cheese
2 cups crushed tortilla chips
1 cup shredded pepper jack cheese
sour cream

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add the pasta and cook.
Heat the oil over medium-high heat in sauce pot. Place the tomatillos in a food processor and process into course salsa. Add the onion, garlic, and jalapeno to the pot and cook for 5 minutes; stir in tomatillos, season with salt and cumin, and stir in the honey. Simmer over low heat for 10 minutes. Stir in the cilantro and lime juice.
Preheat the broiler.
Melt the butter over medium heat in a saucepan. Whisk in the flour and cook for 1 minute. Whisk in the vegetable stock and milk, season with salt and pepper, and cook for 5 minutes to thicken. Stir in the swiss and monterey jack cheeses.
Drain the pasta and toss with the cheese sauce. Place half the mac 'n' cheese in a 9 x 13-inch baking dish and top with half the tomatillo salsa. Spoon the remaining mac 'n' cheese and top with the remaining salsa, and crushed chips, and the pepper jack cheese. Brown the top under the broiler. Pass the sour cream at the table.

NOTE: Again, I used corn starch to thicken the cheese sauce instead of flour so it's gluten-free. My mom said this was her favorite recipe I made so far. Personally, it wasn't mine. It was pretty good though. The smell of the tomatillos when I was cutting them up made me feel sick. I didn't add cilantro either, because I'm not a fan, but if you like it, I'm sure it would be good.

Pomegranate Chicken with Walnuts

2 cups rice
5 skinless, boneless chicken thighs, cut into quarters
salt and pepper
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 large onion, halved and sliced
1 clove garlic, minced
3/4 cup walnuts, coarsely chopped
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 1/2 cups cranberry-pomegranate juice
2 tablespoons chopped flat-leaf parsley

1. In a medium saucepan, bring the rice and 2 1/2 cups water to a simmer. Cover and cook over medium-low heat until the water has evaporated and the rice is tender, about 20 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, season the chicken with salt and pepper. In a large skillet, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add the chicken and cook, turning once, until browned, about 7 minutes; transfer to a plate. Add the onion, garlic and walnuts to the skillet and cook, stirring often, until the onion is softened. Stir in the cinnamon. Return the chicken and any juices to the pan, add the cranberry-pomegranate juice and simmer until the chicken is cooked through, 3 to 4 minutes; transfer the chicken to a serving platter.
3. Cook the sauce, stirring occasionally, until thickened slightly; stir in the parsley and pour over chicken. Serve on top of rice.

NOTE: I cut up the chicken into strips instead. Also, it would be really good if you threw some cranberries or craisins in the sauce. The consensus from my brothers was: "This is really good Natalie." (My mom picked some green beans from our garden and we made those too; so yummy!)