Creative Baking

Elisabeth discovered the cookbook series, Hello Cupcake, and has since purchased three of the cookbooks. Her age is a plus because her creations pretty much require me to purchase cake mixes, frosting (from a can no less, gasp!) and various and sundry sprinkles and candies for completing the creations. And we get dessert, win win in my book.
Tonight the girls worked on Christmas light cupcakes.  They didn't have all the "ingredients" but proceeded as they had most.  It is nice to hear the girls laughing and chatting as they create since that is not always the sounds these two sisters create.

Keep it Simple, Sweetie

I have arrived at a place in my life that I have learned or am learning to keep it simple. So many times I have failed to do things I wanted to do with my crew of Blessings because I did not have everything needed to do the project, activity or baking just right. The beginning of this journey came about 5-6 years ago when Mrs. L gave is a basket of refrigerator cookie dough and ready to squeeze frosting.  Guess what, we made cookies and we had a blast. We probably wouldn't have made cookies that year if we hadn't had that gift of easy.  And easy was just perfect. I find it rather funny that it goes that way.
So, without further ado, I present our tree, and it is finished. The family is happy and so I am. I usually spend too much time with ribbons or garlands that it becomes not so fun for my Blessings.  They really just want a tree with ornaments and lights. I am attempting to embrace simple and, Sweetie, so far I like it!

And We Are Cold

At one point in my outing this morning the temperature read -30. But by the time I was safely on my little gravel road the temperature read -27.

The Processing of a Moose

The knee bones connected to the ….

Here is the knee of the moose, Benjamin called these eyes.

Elisabeth is cutting up meat for grinding into burger.

Benjamin and the eyes.

Benjamin’s “work” zone

Grinding

Benjamin loved putting the moose on the grinder for Judith.

The sausage stuffer that we use to put the ground moose into the black and white packages in the foreground of the photo.

The machine for taping the bags of ground moose shut.

One last grinding photo

Scenes From Thanksgiving

I didn’t get pictures of all the food but here are a few of the foods we had on Thanksgiving.

Cheeseball

Chocolate Meringue Pie

Pumpkin Roll

Me with my hair pulled up after getting overheated while prepping the food.

Hope you had a very Thankful Thanksgiving!

Getting Ready For Thanksgiving

 

I try to break down the baking and cooking and do as much ahead of time as I can.

On Monday evening, Elisabeth and I made pie crust.

On Tuesday, Judith, Elisabeth and I made pumpkin roll, or at least the cake part. They made the filling on Wednesday.

Happy Thanksgiving!! Here I am emptying the dishwasher for the second or third time of the day? Not sure.

The Moose

There has been a cow moose around our neighborhood. A couple of weeks ago she walked through our yard. Today, she was in the field next to our house.
This was as close as I could get but you can see her pretty good.

 

 

The Moose That Came Home

I mentioned that my husband came home with moose meat. They only got one so we have half a moose, not bad since this is how large the moose is.

 

 

Yes, it is frozen. It was about -25 to -30 when they "got" this moose so it will hang in the garage until it is ready to process.

Health updates: I took my husband to the Doctor on Sunday morning and he was given an antibiotic and is improving daily. Later on Sunday I took Levi in to the same Doctor and as he has followed right behind Dad in getting one sickness after another for a couple of months. He is now being treated for pertussis but the Doctor is not sure Levi has said pertussis but since he was overdue for his DTP immunization he was treated and tested for pertussis. If he has pertussis, we will find out in about two weeks, the entire family will need to be treated. I agree with the Doctor that he does not have pertussis. Mom things the immune system was zapped last winter and has yet to recover. Immune system boosting will begin.

Home From the Hunt

The man is home from the hunt,  one moose between the two hunters. The hunting was hard. Wind, blowing snow and cold temperatures made for a less than enjoyable hunt add to this the fact that the man is sick and has been sick all week and I am just thankful he is home safely.
Tomorrow morning I take the sick man to the clinic, we shall see what they can do. I will make sure he rests until he is well.

My Husband's Mini-Me and My Really Neat Measuring Spoon

Benjamin put on my husband's football jersey from high school today. I got him to stand still long enough to snap this picture.
I also received this cool measuring spoon in the mail this week. I.love.it!!!! The size is great, all measuring spoons should be this long. You'd think so if you tried one this size.

Dinner Last Night

Last night I made Philly Cheesesteak sandwiches with ground moose. I greatly enjoyed these tasty concoctions!! I used cheddar in the cheese sauce because I hadn't been to the store for provolone. Yummy!!!

Walkie Talkie

Judith took her school work into her room along with a walkie talkie. Wow,  she kept communicating little tidbits of what she was reading and learning. Whether she learned any more than normal I have no clue but she used many learning modalities during science today.

Empty Freezer?

Yes, the man is moose hunting so the freezer got defrosted and cleaned and is getting its freeze back on. Never fear, our freezer goods are outside staying frozen in our zero to below zero temperatures.
One of the pluses to Alaskan winters!

Piano Day

Today was piano day. Our teacher has two little ones so I kept Benjamin in the van and brought the laptop and a movie. He is much better today. Less congestive matter moving about, breathing better, no fever since Sunday night, coughing less and his energy level is pretty much right back to normal.

Not a Normal Site For This Family

Car schooling? Car schooling is not a term that I have ever embraced and I still don't. But Elisabeth did bring some school work along to work on during Levi's computer class today. We were stuck there because Benjamin had a fever Friday-Sunday and even though his fever has subsided he is still sick.
And I am the hat wearing woman today. It was easier than doing my hair.

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Benjamin Draws His First People

 

Benjamin isn’t too crazy over drawing, writing and the like. He is an action guy. But the other day he was drawing on his dry erase board and announces that he drew a people.

So, here you have Benjamin’s people drawing. Not too shabby for a three year old boy.

Friday

Whew, I feel much better. I still have a sore throat but the congestion is almost gone. I had already scheduled an appointment for a physical on Monday so we will see if this still lingers on then.
The older Blessings took off with Dad this morning for a dump run. Levi came home with a baseball catchers hat face mask thingie. Yes, we shop at the dump,  there is a recycle area so no dumpster diving for this family.  This is a blessing to him, he wanted catchers gear and we found shin guards this summer used so all he needs is the chest protector. Daddy brought him a catchers glove from one of his lower 48 trips this summer. He is almost set for catching practice this spring.
I stayed home and knitted and did laundry and kept an eye on Benjamin because he wanted to stay home today.
Daddy and the big kids went out in the snow machines for a while and Benjamin did go out for a while before they came in. I made pizza braids for dinner and the girls made a salad. Elisabeth and Benjamin made brownies this afternoon. So we all had full tummies.
I learned to knit cables today. A couple of youtube videos and some trial and error I got it!!
I gave Daddy and Levi haircuts this evening and the crew and I played Yahtzee. I greatly enjoy a game of Yahtzee. It is my one weakness.

The View from my Chair

Sorry for the phone pic posts but that is as much as I can put into this clogging thing though.
No, my Blessings are not doing school work this evening. They are watercolor painting.  I guess this is school because it came with our curriculum. Anyhow, it is quieter in this house than it has been all day, except for when I drove the crew to their meeting this afternoon.