Bursting with Pride

Easter was a really busy weekend this year. Our worship leader at church worked with the kids on an Easter pageant which was performed on Saturday afternoon. It was a very cute show. My favorite part was my six-year-old's little solo in one of the songs. She did such a great job.

Then on Sunday, she was one of 12 children who was asked to sing in a children's choir up on stage during the regular service. I would have terrified of being up on stage when I was six. But she was so confident. (I don't have a picture - just a video of the song which a) is kinda long and b) I have no clue how to post. But if I figure it out, I'll let you know.)

Sap that I am, I cried through both of these performances. Next time, I must remember to bring kleenex.

All three of my girls were sweet little beauties in their Easter finery. The big girls got to go shopping and pick out their own dresses, shoes and accessories this year. I would never have picked these dresses for them but these girls know what they want. And they were right - they chose the best dresses. (Lest you think otherwise, we know that Easter isn't just about dresses....or candy. My big girls asked for Bibles for Easter and they got them. Elaine spent the afternoon reading Genesis.)

Our family Easter 2012.

Five Years

That's how long I've had this blog....5 years, 1 month and 3 days. I started looking back through old posts today and it's amazing how life has changed. I had one daughter at the time. She was 16 months old when I started this blog. Today I have three daughters and my youngest is 16 months old. I have completely forgotten about most the recipes that I had posted on here. That's kinda sad. But I HAVE found a great salsa recipe. Guess I ought to post that one!

All this reminiscing made me want to go back and look at my girls at this age. Can't you just see their personalities already?!

Here's Elaine at about 16 months.

Here's Natalie at about 16 months.

And here's Katherine at about 16 months.

All beauties....in my opinion.

I wonder what my life will be like in another 5 years, 1 month and 3 days.

Ketchup Attempt #1

Well, it suddenly turned cold and rainy here so I think it's the perfect day to try out my first ketchup recipe.

This is one that I found online after eating at Salt (see previous post). I realize that it calls for canned tomatoes but since I don't have several pounds of tomatoes sitting around, I think this is a good place to start. At least to see the seasonings are right, etc.

The recipe calls for onion, garlic, vinegar, brown sugar, salt, spices and of course tomatoes and tomato paste.

This is what happens when you send your husband to the store with a list containing "onions." You don't get onion...you get ONION! So I am chopping the whole thing, using half and freezing the other half for a future recipe. (Actually a great tip: when you have to chop an onion for a recipe, chop up 2, 3, 4 at the same time and throw the rest in the freezer. Next time, you just have to pull out some pre-chopped onion. Saves time later on and it much cheaper than buying frozen chopped onion).

By the way, do you know the best way to get the onion/garlic smell out of your hands? Wash them with salt (just your regular table salt) and then wash with salt. And while we're at it, don't waste your money on the onion goggles and all those things. The best way to keep from crying when chopping your onion is to freeze it first for at least 15-30 minutes. Trust me - I've tried all the techniques and gadgets out there.

But I digress. Back to the ketchup experiment.

I like to prep my remaining ingredients while boring things are happening...like heating oil. So I measured out the other ingredients that I would need.

I never said I did it neatly.

Once the sauteing was done, I threw everything else in and let it simmer. Sure smells like ketchup already!

After about 45 minutes of simmering, it was thick. I used my immersion blender because I knew my regular blender would never get it done. Turns out the immersion one didn't do a perfect job either. Which made the next step of pushing it all through a fine mesh sieve even more difficult.

Now to taste it. I'm calling in my expert ketchup eater.

It definitely needed salt so we added a bit more. Still was missing something though and we couldn't quite tell what. It was spicier than it ought to have been. Elaine added a bit of smoked paprika (her favorite spice at the moment) and she seemed to like it a little better. But overall we agreed that Heinz is still better. This tastes like it came from canned tomatoes (which I expected - can't taste fresh if it isn't) and I think adding the tomato paste (even though it was only 1 Tbsp) was a mistake.

In spite of the number of good reviews this recipe has gotten on various websites, I didn't like it. Maybe I did something drastically wrong but I don't think so. (Update - Since I wrote this morning, the ketchup has cool and had a chance to sit for a few hours in the fridge. Just ate some with a hot dog and it wasn't bad...but still no match to the commercial brands.)

So now, I will try the recipe in my canning book - but I'm going to cut the recipe down to 1/4 so I can test it. If it's good, then I'll do the whole thing. Or maybe I should email the chef at Salt and ask for the recipe. Worst case, he says no....best case, I don't have to experiment with yucky ketchups anymore!

Ketchup, Catsup

Does anyone remember an episode of The Simpsons where Mr. Burns becomes bankrupt and has to fend for himself? In one scene, he is at the grocery store in the condiment aisle looking back and forth at the bottles. "Ketchup? Catsup? Ketchup? Catsup?" It made me giggle. But I am not here to shed light on the different spellings - though now I am feeling slightly compelled to do some research on it. No my friends, I am here to begin my ketchup-making journey.

"What? Make ketchup?" you may ask. "Why you would do that when you can easily buy tasty ketchup in the grocery store?" Because, my friends, I had a life-changing experience this weekend.

Friday was our 11th wedding anniversary. We couldn't get a sitter for the evening so my mother-in-law came to babysit during the day and my hubby and I went to lunch. We drove up to Boulder at ate at Salt (now my second favorite restaurant). Salt is a trendy little place on the Pearl Street Mall. Its philosophy is "farm-to-table" so everything is made from fresh, local ingredients; vegetables to meat to alcohol and everything in between. I had the most amazing burger and beer. BUT the thing that I cannot get off my mind was the freshly made ketchup. I tell you it was incredible. It's more than 48 hours later and I am still talking/thinking about it.

Source: seriouseats.com via Carol on Pinterest

(not actually a photo from the restaurant because I didn't take my camera....but a recipe I found online and pinned)

So now I am out to find a homemade ketchup recipe. I can't face Heinz again - ever. I have found two recipes to try so far though one is in my canning book and I don't want to make that much if I don't like the taste of it. But I will be updating - with photos - soon. I can't wait much longer to have that fresh ketchup....catsup....again.

Menu Planning

I don't know about you but menu planning is hard for me. It shouldn't be. I like to cook and I love to read recipes. The problem is that I can't seem to find the time and then I always want to try a new recipe instead of the tried and true.

So as a part of my effort to be more organized (more on that later), I have decided to try a few things.
1) Large batch cooking and freezing. I found two great cookbooks: Don't Panic - Dinner's in the Freezer and of course Don't Panic - More Dinner's in the Freezer. So far everything I have made out of these books has been a hit with the family. One of the things I like about these books is that they give 3-4 ingredient amounts starting with enough for one meal (4-6 servings usually) and then increase x3, x6 and sometimes x9 so you can put the rest in the freezer. I think (don't quote me on this because I don't have the books in front of me to double-check) but I think that the authors are all pastors' wives here in the Denver area.

Source: amazon.com via Carol on Pinterest

Of course, finding the time to do the large batch cooking is another challenge of it's own.
2) Get out my slow cooker. I love my slow cooker but I generally only use it for chili or applesauce. My kids love homemade applesauce and making it the slow cooker means I don't have to stand at the stove at all and my house smells really, really good. I seem to have more time and energy early in the morning that I could prep the ingredients so why not throw it all in the slow cooker and be done? Now to find recipes that my kids will eat.
 

3) A menu board. A friend of mine found a menu board idea on Pinterest and made one herself. I absolutely love hers and it looks like something I could not only make but would actually use.

Source: Uploaded by user via Carol on Pinterest

So I am trying to compile a list of meals that my family actually likes so I can get started. I plan to include things like ordering out/eating out and "Try New Recipe." But I just need to get the plan in place.

I will post about how it's going. Wish me luck! I'm excited to do this so that everyone knows what to expect for dinner and so I can do better grocery shopping.