Author: Audrey

The Snowman and Me

I like this snowman. I find him at church. This year, I looked and looked for him, but I could not find him. Last Sunday, my friends and I were looking at all the pretty decorations. We went down the first and second grade hallway and I saw him!

I went to Momma and told her, “I found my favorite snowman!” So she took a picture. Momma has taken a picture of me by him since I was three! If you want to see how much I have grown, look at this picture 🙂

We were trying to take a picture of Megan by it, but she was scared.

 

 

 

 

Exciting Experience, Day at the “Emergency Room”

One day, Auntie went out with Little Princess. They went to the park for a walk. One the way home, a terrible, terrible, terrible accident happened! They were almost to the front door when Little Princess was trying to do the splits and zoop! she tore all the way up!  Auntie felt so terribly scared! Auntie  came and told me that Little Princes was hurt and we needed to go the Emergency Room now now!

We ran to the Emergency room. The nurse was scared too, because she had never seen anything that bad ever. They had to give Little Princess shots and she cried and cried and cried. Then the doctor gave her 202 stitches in about two hours! She only wanted Momma and for the last two stitches she woke  up. She cried! She sure did! She rested and felt better. After a day or two, she was feeling a tons better. The nurse said “she’s as good as new!”.

I was so happy that Little Princess was all better, that I hugged her really tight. Soon after the nurse gave me the bill. A $200 bill! It is worth it to have my baby all better.

Istanbul Pilavi

Rice with Chicken, Almonds and saffron

We are learning about Turkey in school.  We were looking for good recipes that sounded good. We found this one in The Turkish Cookbook: Regional Recipes and Stories by Nur Ilkin and Sheilah Kaufman, and it tastes very good!  The roasted almonds taste GOOD, so make a lot extra and keep some off to the side for eating later 🙂

This serves a lot! We had enough plus leftovers for lunch.

  • 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breast cut into cubes
  • Salt and pepper to taste
  • 1/3 cup olive oil
  • 1/2 cup blanched almonds (we peeled them ourselves!)
  • 2 cups extra long grain white rice
  • 4 tablespoons butter
  • 1/4 tsp saffron threads (you can use 1 tsp powdered turmeric instead)
  • 4 cups chicken broth (We will use 3.5 cups next time)
  • 3 tablespoons finely chopped fresh dill (we used dried)

Soak rice in warm, lightly salted water for about 20 minutes.  Soak saffron threads in 1/3 cup warm water

Season chicken to taste, and saute in 2 tablespoons oil until golden brown.  Set aside.

Heat 1/3 cup oil and almonds and fry a few minutes until light brown. Remove to drain on paper towel to remove extra oil.

Drain rice.  Heat butter in large pot and saute rice a few minutes. Stir in soaked saffron and soaking water and chicken stock.  Mix well and season to taste if desired. Add cooked chicken and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes, liquid will be absorbed.  Put a towel around lid and recover until ready to serve.

Arrange nuts on the bottom of shallow bowl then spoon rice over nuts, pressing gently with spoon to mold. Turn upside down on serving platter, sprinkle with dill and serve as main course.

Eat and enjoy!

 

Pole Sitting

While in Colorado, I went Pole Sitting! I sat on a 7 1/2 foot pole for an hour. It was really, really fun. I did it because I thought it would be fun, and it was!

Momma said that a long time ago pole sitting was a popular pastime. People would sit on the poles for hours! The only problem with pole sitting for hours, is that I would have to run to the bathroom a lot! My hour was good enough.

Vacation

We went on vacation. We went to Colorado. I had fun. Traveling was long. We went to Subway and to the John Deere Pavilion. The tractors were big.

I will write more soon.

Roasting Pumpkin Seeds

Yesterday was Nature Nuts for Adrian. Miss Krista said that we could come because it is a day she usually can use extra help.

The little kids at Nature Nuts carved pumpkins. I helped them carve pumpkins. I enjoyed doing it. Most people did not take their pumpkin seeds home, so we got them all. We had about 8 cups worth! We also got to bring home the cut pumpkin pieces which Momma cooked and used in bread. We still have more for a pie.

We roasted the pumpkin seeds. We made them all different kinds. We were going to have a taste test.  Here is the recipe Adrian made from Miss Krista’s recipe and the variations.

  • 2 Tbl butter
  • 2 cups pumpkin seeds.  We took the strings off, but did not wash
  • 1/2 tsp garlic powder
  • 1/2 tsp seasoning salt

Preheat oven to 300 degrees Fahrenheit

Melt butter and add seeds and spices, mix well. We did this on a large cookie sheet.

Spread seeds well.

Bake 40-50 minutes, stirring often, until seeds are browned and crisp.

Experimental Variations:

  • I followed the recipe except I baked it 10 minutes on parchment paper before adding the spice mix.  It needed to bake 60 minutes.
  • Andrea boiled the seeds for 10 minutes then drained them. She followed Miss Krista’s recipe exept added 3/4 Tbl Worcestershire Sauce.
  • Mark tried to pan fry them with 2 Tbl coconut oil and the same spices. The spices stuck to the bottom of the pan, so he moved them to the oven to finish baking them.

They were all really good.  I liked them all the best for different reasons.

Here is a poem that I like:

Pumpkin Poop

I started to carve a pumpkin
With my carving knife and scoop
But the little pumpkin got so scared
He took a little poop!

It looked to cute and funny
Just like a candy treat
So I’m sharing it with you now
Because you are so sweet!