Category: Family (Page 4 of 13)

Art With Santa @ The Powerhouse

12/02/2008 / Blake

So I’m sitting in my living room listening to the carrots boil on the stove. Everything else in here is quiet. But I can hear the pandemonium that is coming from the back of the house. My brave wife decided to take all three kids to try to get cleaned off at once. Even she got a bath out of the time back there. But it’s been loud and crazy. I’m sure there’s a lot of water on the floor too. And the carrots continue to roll around in the boiling water (we’re going to mash them up to feed to Rowan… not eat our selves).

Last night was Art With Santa for our church. It’s our 2nd annual event that happens right before the Oxford Christmas parade. Kids come in and make Christmas art projects and get to sit on Santa’s lap if they’d like to. I don’t know exactly how many showed up. But it was pretty full in The Powerhouse for about two hours. And Pat said it was at least three or four times as many people who came last year. [a few pice below].

Then afterward we walked the parade route handing out signs for kids to hold up that said “SANTA, I’VE BEEN GOOD THIS YEAR!!!” The cool thing was that on the back side was our church name and info. So hopefully we’ll have a few more people hearing of us and maybe coming by.

We’re about to eat a little supper, and then decorate the tree. We were afraid it might not fit in our house because the house in Clinton had higher ceilings. The tree is a 9 footer. But it made it barely.

Now for some ART WITH SANTA PICS:

Kidd Kraddick & The Brown Bag Turkey

11/22/2008 / Blake

A few years back Bev and I decided to invite all the family over to our house for Thanksgiving. I wondered if I should cook a turkey. I’d never cooked one before. So the pressure was on. ?

But then I was listening to Kidd Kraddick, and he spoke of his perfect, but obscenely simple, recipe for turkeys. I told Bev about it. She wondered if it was legit or would really work. I decided to give it a go with a backup plan of running to KFC for chicken.

But it turned out wonderfully! And now in our new home in Oxford, we have a lot of family coming over for Thanksgiving again. So I’m dusting off the [sorta] Famous Kidd Kraddick Brown Bag Turkey Recipe for everyone.

You can check it out here for yourself. You’ll amaze your family.

No, this turkey recipe won’t burn your house down because you’re using a brown paper bag … but it will taste great!

First, take everything out of the inside of the turkey. There will be a giblet bag and some other stuff. You don’t want to leave that in there.

Next, add vegetables to the inside of the turkey. This is easy because the veggies are just for flavor … you’re going to throw them away later.

You don’t even have to peel anything. Take an onion and cut it into quarters. Roughly chop a nice long carrot. Do the same to a couple of stalks of celery. Add several cloves of garlic that you mash between a broad kitchen knife and the counter.

Throw it all inside the turkey.

Then rub the turkey all over with olive oil. . . not butter because butter usually has salt in it and that will dry out the turkey.

Salt is the enemy of a moist turkey! Make sure the whole bird is covered!

Put the turkey in a roasting pan and cover it all with a large brown paper bag.

Staple shut. If you have a huge turkey, use two bags, sliding one end of the turkey into one bag and the other end of the turkey into the second bag. It won’t stick to the bird because of the olive oil. Sprinkle the bag all over with water. Place into pre-heated 375 F oven, ON THE MIDDLE RACK.

The bag won’t burn because paper burns at 451 degrees (remember the book?) and we’re at 375 degrees. The advantage of the brown paper bag over the Reynolds’s cooking bag is that the paper breathes so the turkey roasts. In the Reynolds bag the turkey steams, giving it a different taste. Also the brown paper bag retains the same advantage of the plastic cooking bag … no splatters all over the oven.

Roast for 13-15 minutes per pound. When you think it’s ready, shove a meat thermometer through the bag and into the turkey and give it a minute to register. Make sure it doesn’t touch the bone. The thermometer should register between 163-170 degrees.

Remove from oven, cut away the bag and remove from basting pan. Don’t throw out the drippings! To make the gravy, strain the pan juices into a really big pot. Any juices that accumulate on the turkey platter get poured into the pot.

Add six oz. of boiling chicken broth and 1/8 cup of cornstarch to the gravy to thicken it up. Cook at low heat and stir and cook and stir. If it seems like it isn’t going to be thick enough, add a little more corn starch.

Question: Can I use one of those disposable foil basting pans?
Kidd: Yes. It doesn’t matter.

Question: What about the talk that brown paper bags are unsafe for cooking?
Kidd: If you mean unsafe because of fire, it is important that the bag doesn’t make contact with the heating element of the oven. If you mean because of the recycled paper bag releasing toxins into the turkey, all we can say is that this recipe has been around for over thirty years. We’ve been posting this recipe for over ten years and never had a single complaint that anyone got sick. We’ve had hundreds and hundreds of emails that it’s the best turkey they’ve ever tasted and the perfect recipe for first-time chefs!

Enjoy!
-Kidd

Pat brought the heat

11/18/2008 / Blake

This past weekend was quite full for the family. Friday was an adventure, then we left to go back to Clinton for a couple of days for Ella’s birthday. We even got to go to the morning service of our old church. But was glad to be back home Sunday night for church here at The Orchard. [More on the weekend to come.]

And Pat brought it. He’s been going through a series called Enough. This past weekend’s sermon was on Beauty. It’s probably the “toughest” sermon he’s preached in a long while ever. So if you have a spare 37 minutes during a commute or waiting in the car line or while you take your morning 4 mile jog…give it a listen. You can find it here or on iTunes here.

Last week in bullets

11/03/2008 / Blake

Here is a recap of last week in bullets:

All three kids had croup. I don’t know why it’s called the croup. But whatever you call it, it usually means not a lot of sleep for the parents.
Halloween happened. For the night we went to the courthouse lawn where there were lots and lots of booths and games set up for the kids to play and get candy. I was impressed. The candy wasn’t excellent, but it was a great community event.
There was a lady there who was at least 11 months pregnant there who had on a halter top and then painted her belly to look like a HUGE jack-o-lantern. It was impressive and gross at the same time.
Afterward we went to UM to the physics department. They had Spooky Demonstrations. And I got to dip my hand in liquid nitrogen. Interesting. And we ate ice cream made with liquid nitrogen.
Went to Barnes & Noble with Ella. She played with the trainset while I read books on photography. It was good to be alone with her for a while. Watching her play and interact with other kids was nice.
I think we had our biggest Sunday yet at The Orchard yesterday. 180 folks and then a handful of kids.

Change change change

10/27/2008 / Blake

So after a week of not writing anything, lots has happened.

On Tuesday I get a call from what I think are middle eastern guys about my Tahoe. They want to drive 3 hours from Gasden, AL to see it. So they make it the next morning to Oxford. I meet them at the Office Depot parking lot. Turns out they’re not middle eastern but latino. I should recognize that. I’ve gone to Coasta Rica three times and Mexico once. None the less, they want it and buy it.

So we’re a one car family for a few days.

Then we enter into a whole new realm. As of Friday afternoon we are now a MINIVAN FAMILY. I never thought I’d be saying that. But we are. Now we can spread the kids out all over the place. And no one gets mad if they’re touching someone else. There’s even a small dvd monitor. I might let my wife drive and I’ll watch a movie with the kids.

Flu Shots for the Thompsons

10/14/2008 / Blake

First pic is the lineup of shots.
Second is Mom taking the first shot to show how it’s done. No tears!
Third is my oldest. I expected her to cry. But her face screwed up tightly, but no tears came. Big Girl!
Fourth is the after-shot of my middle one. I couldn’t take an action shot because she had to sit in my lap while I held her arms/hands/legs still. She DID NOT want a shot. She made sure the people in the waiting room heard her.
And fifth is my baby boy. He didn’t cry when he was stuck. I thought he was going to take it like a man (or a big sister), but when the lady pressed the plunger he let us know quickly that he didn’t appreciate that pain in his leg at all.

And where was I? I don’t take flu shots. I’ve never had the flu. Actually I did take a shot last year because someone from the church came by to give the staff free flu shots, so I figured why not. But didn’t want to pay $25 for this one.
[click the photos for a larger view]

Are you going to get a flu shot this year?

Parenting

09/30/2008 / Blake

It’s so weird being a parent. I mean really. I remember thinking as a young kid I’d never get married adn never have kids. But then I grew up and began wanting those things. And now I’m married and have THREE kids.

But I look at my kids and realize that sometimes parenting seems easy, but sometimes it is really difficult. Not necessarily difficult in making it through the day. But in honestly shaping and growing my kids into eventual adults that wish to honor God with their lives. That takes relying on God so heavily. I mean, not just relying on Him, but giving it all to Him.

What piece of parenting advice that you have learned [or heard that made a lot of sense] would you give to someone else?

A few new pics from my 40D

09/17/2008 / Blake

Yesterday I finally got all the pics out of the camera onto the hard drive. Some wifi issues kept me from getting a lot uploaded, but here are a few. All straight out of the camera with no post processing. I’ll clean them up a little later.

Labor Day Weekend

09/02/2008 / Blake

This year, not much happened. MSU lost a football game, church happened. Fantasy Football drafts. And my wife getting attacked by some dogs [she’s okay though]. Lots of new folks in town too because of Gustav down south.

But last year this time I was on a plane. I was flying home from Washington D.C. after a great little get away to the nation’s capital. It was almost an impromptu vacation. But after having tasted and seen how much I liked being there, I want to go back for sure. Was able to connect w/ David Russell while there, but beating myself up that I forgot that a good friend from back home now works there too as an architect.

Anyway, if you ever get the chance to visit The District…do it! It is steeped in US History. Lots of cool things to experience. Most of it free. And you can walk pretty much everywhere. After spending four days there last year, I consider myself an expert.

Here are a few pics from last year. I have many more I’ll try to upload later.

First day we were there. A quick shot.

Nice shot of Abe.

Outside of la Casa Blanca.

A shot from the WWII Memorial. Washington Monument in the background.

There’s a longer story that goes with this, but George W. Bush is in that limo. I can post a larger picture if someone wants to try to see in there. But there were TONS of security cars before and after him. The limo is about to turn right into a back entrance to the White House. That lady biker cop you see was funny.

Random street shot.

Some artistic garden.

Lots of folks around. Taken from the porch of the Lincoln Memorial.

Day Three of the School Experiment

08/11/2008 / Blake

So I told you that my oldest daughter has been homeschooled for her first two years of school (K and 1st grade). On Thursday I walked her into her 2nd grade classroom for her first ever day of public school. We’ve had two more since then. She’s had a great experience so far I believe. She likes her teacher. She’s FULL of both questions and details. And is thirsty to know more.

It’s still a “test run” at this time. We’re not sure if she’ll stay in school or go back to home schooling. There are a lot of factors being weighed and considered. And on top of all that a lot of prayers for wisdom being sent up.