Butternut Harvest Stew

Today I don't have time to put up a picture, but I thought I'd send along this recipe which has won rave reviews in a household where anything with squash in it rarely gets the time of day.

Butternut Harvest Stew
from the Simply in Season Cookbook
page 187
I used butterCUP squash instead of butterNUT because I've had six of these squash hanging around for months!! Chances are they will ALL be used towards this recipe before winter is done with us.

2 T butter
1 1/2 lb boneless pork (cut in 3/4in. cubes)
1 medium onion (chopped)
2 cloves of garlic (minced)
Melt butter in large saucepan. Add pork, onion and garlic and saute until meat is no longer pink; drain off fat.

3 C chicken broth
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon dried rosemary I used fresh, chopped fine
1/4 teaspoon rubbed or ground sage I used two fresh, whole leaves, rubbed dark and then pulled them out before serving.
1 bay leaf
Add, cover and simmer 20 minutes.

1 medium butternut squash (peeled and chopped)
2 medium apples(peeled if desired and chopped)
Add and simmer uncovered until squash and apples are tender, 20 minutes. Discard bay leaf.
If you want to make the peeling of the squash easier, poke a few holes in it and microwave it, but then don't cook it too long in the pot.

Running the Holiday Gauntlet

Setting up the tree, Luke's idea of decorating was layering each branch with tissue paper.

My favorite new addition in our home decor adds a lot of color to the house.
Also, this windowsill hadn't been cleaned EVER. It still had drywall dust on it.
It was about time to get up there.

Luke's sweater vest.

Beth's beautiful apple pie. We got to celebrate American thanksgiving with another expatriate.

We did our share in putting a dent in this beast.

Luke no longer asks for baths, but "SHAWAH!" and does this adorable bath sign.

The cat, who, as yet, does not have a name....look for it in Monday's post!

Tuesday I got all my Christmas shopping done, Wednesday Luke's molars were a royal pain. Thursday my computer died. Thursday we also ate turkey and Luke wore his new "holiday outfit" which is a new set of cords and a sweater vest. Friday my computer died again. And we set up the lights and tree and some new colorful bottles in the south window for light to shine through (we need daytime color AND nighttime color). From Thanksgiving to Christmas in 24 hours! Saturday (today) my computer went on the fritz AGAIN. And I must say, we have had a very relaxing three days without my photo programs, or the internet. Sorry to have missed you for so long, but hopefully this large dose of photos makes up for it.

MOLARS

There will be no post today due to MOLARS.

Run run as fast as you can!

We're just getting in the holiday spirit around here. This is Luke's imitation of a gingerbread man.

He does it most every night before bath time. I find it to be one of his most endearing past times. I only apologize for so much of my own voice in this video, because I'm afraid I cover up much of Luke's hilarious chatter. Oh, my cheeks ache after watching this one. I just had to pass it along. I absolutely love how his legs cross over each other when he runs. Chubby monkey.

I'm posting early because Tuesday I am headed down to Grand Forks with Helene and Jaime to do some shopping. Luke is spending the day with Celeste and the evening with Daddy. How strange it will be to have an entire day without my boy! We'll be back on Wednesday at the same bat time, same bat channel.

Luke's weekend To-Do List

Play Mozart's Symphony No.1 in E-flat major.

check.

Make aunties color with me because I am irresistibly cute.
check.

Voraciously devour donuts.

check.

Get into mischief with cat.
check.

Read to me

I have too many pictures! So you must excuse my film strip style once again, and click on the pictures to enlarge them.

We love reading "gooks". Especially ones that have "oh-jus" (oranges - see the one where his lips are all puckered up?) pictured.

Frigid Playground

CLICK THE PICTURES TO SEE THEM ENLARGED

And oh what fun we can have when our fingers are frozen! This was my attempt to keep the after-nap grumpies away. It was SO FUN...until we had to leave.

Language Learning

Derek and I have begun learning German using Rosetta Stone. I am not very good at the pronunciation. My accent is TERRIBLE, and it can make learning German kind of depressing for me. But since we are doing it together I am encouraged to keep at it. Derek finds my pronunciation humorous, and compared me to the priest in Princess Bride the first time I did a lesson out loud.

But by all accounts, Luke's language learning is much more humorous than mine. These are his latest "words which are not words":

the word he's trying to say = what actually comes out
Frog = Cow
Book = Gook
Apple = Minnow
Truck = Cuck
Chair = Share
Sit = Shit
Block = Gawp
Cameryn = Camera
Roehn = Roro

Playing Dress Up

playing dress up with our saturday visitor (in the dirty laundry! :)

and dress up with Daddy. What a silly Daddy!

tool shirt

I just love this little shirt and wanted to show it to you close up. This picture is from after naptime yesterday, and you can still see the tear-drenched cheeks. I think he's actually teething again (he hasn't gotten a new tooth in months!), as you can see he's chomping on his fingers.

Workin'

Hint: click on the pictures to see them enlarged.

Luke and I went around this morning taking pictures of churches that WBS has built. We quickly discovered the nursery and Luke played (or visited with church secretaries) while I took photos. Here is Luke standing next to one of the most impressive entries: Winkler Mennonite Church. (You can't see it but he's wearing his construction shirt. It's got little tools sketched all over it.)
Oh, but don't be deceived by it's name! It is not the only Mennonite church in Winkler. The names of the other churches I photographed are: Winkler Evangelical Mennonite, and Winkler Sommerfeld Mennonite Church. And that is just the beginning. Winkler is just thick with the Mennos. The best way to uncover a Mennonite is to ask "anyone who's NOT a mennonite, raise your hand!"

Just for fun, here's the sanctuary of this rather large and beautiful church. And a brochure page I made for WBS from my photos.

Nobody knows the trouble I've seen

Luke has a very grumpy time right after naptime most days. Between nap and dinner is just the worst part of the day. There's often crying and recently the little "melting down" that most kids discover, when they are holding your hand and seem to mysteriously lose the use of their legs.

Yesterday I heard a bubbling in the kitchen and upon investigating discovered Luke blowing bubbles in the cat's water.

This morning we ate banana bread for breakfast and an hour or so after breakfast I looked up to see Luke spitting walnuts into a little pile at his feet which he had apparently been hoarding for his Winter stores.

Luke Thiessen, Fashion Guru

While I was making banana bread this morning, a chair walked up to me and said, "HAT!"


Don't you just love the static?

Beebee

Cat doesn't have a name yet, but Luke calls her "Baby" and tries to pick her up and rock her. It's very cute, but I was worried Luke would hurt the cat until I saw the cat scamper away from him this afternoon and hide on top of the couch. So she can get away if she wants to. I am very thankful that she is such a low-maintenance pet. She is potty trained already, and is very un-demanding. She comes and sits in my lap whenever I sit still long enough. What a sweetie.

Name suggestions so far:
Gertrude
Ada
Scarlet
Butterscotch
Sparkles
Lily
Princess
Juanita
Flower
Star
Flashy
and Mamacita

Oh you people make me laugh out loud. How are we ever going to pick between such marvelous suggestions?!

I said, "ALMOST"

Remember when I said that watching Luke with a cat ALMOST made me want a cat of my own? I said, ALMOST.
God heard, "Cat-lover!"

Yes, we have a cat. Luke loves her to pieces. She's adorable and she does not yet have a name. Suggestions?

She came to us wounded, and when we took her in Saturday she had to have an abcess drained and her ears were full of mites. Poor thing. Ever since her doctor's visit she has been very cheerful and playful. Luke loves tossing things for her to swat at. You can see how that could sometimes get out of hand with a one year old. But for the most part, our newest addition is a joy-bringing one.

Someone's following me.

Multi-tasker

Heads or Tails?

Victim of peer pressure. Luke crawls down the hall with Jack.

I usually take Sundays off from photography work(unless, I must admit, there's a deadline on monday for which I have procrastinated). But these last few weeks, I've pushed a little too hard and Luke and I have both been stressed out because of it. He gets grumpy and whiny and then I start to feel sorry for myself for having to live with Mr. Grumpy, and then he breaks my african violet pot and I cry which makes him cry more, which makes me want to bury my head in my pillow and sleep until tomorrow. So you can see it's a vicious cycle.

Yesterday was the breaking point. First thing in the morning I got Luke out of his crib, went to turn on the computer and when I joined him in the kitchen he had pulled his stool over to the counter, found a fork nearby and was forking mouthfuls of butter into his mouth. Not long after breakfast I heard a horrible crash, ran out to the kitchen (from the computer) and found one of my beautiful african violet pots in shards and Luke standing in his high chair beside the counter. Oh dear oh dear. This child cannot be left to play on his own for three minutes! I was at my wits' end by the time Derek came home for lunch to find his son strapped into the high chair with some sliced banana and me laying on the living room floor with my eyes closed. I was so exhausted that the afternoon nap time when I am supposedly my most productive turned into naptime for two. This idea that working from home lets you have the best of both worlds is totally bunk. If you want to do a good job at home/family stuff, your work will suffer. And vice versa. I need scheduling!

I decided to do something about it. I hired a baby-sitter for Monday afternoons. From now on, Monday after school, Cailyn (don't know how to spell that.) is coming over to play with Luke and let Laura get some quality time at the computer. It means I will have to be more organized and prepared to sit down and work on Monday (and not have to run all over town to get pictures last minute!). But I think I can work inside those restraints. And in the end I think it will be very good for our family. I will have a scheduled work time sans Luke (because as much as I love him, I also enjoy activities without him...with photography being my specially favored work), and Luke will have a distraction so he won't get frustrated with me sitting at the computer. And our evenings can be left free for family diversions and relaxation. I am feeling really good about this decision.

weekend pictures.

Where the fun is at...in the pots and pans drawer.




Roehn was the only kid brave enough to stick his hand in the pumpkin goo. Luke and Cammy were just sort of grossed out by the whole thing, but seemed enamoured enough when the candle inside was lit! What a pumpkin! When I got my turn to cut into it I accidentally cut a tooth off. But James and Derek managed to do some dental surgery and re-attach the broken tooth with some cut-off qtips. What would we do without those silly guys?