Holiday Pounds

Holy Cow! It has been almost a month since I have last posted!!! YiKeS! Is it the holidays or what?!

Speaking of holidays and weight gain - I thought I should report that AVH has put on another pound and a half this last month! That brings him up to 21 pounds 13 ounces. And that is good news since he has seemed to enjoy drinking milk more than eating recently. I say that, and yet he couldn't get enough of the rice that I made tonight for dinner. He even reached over and swiped AAH's plate and dumped it on his own tray and started chowing down. We are crossing our fingers that one day he will actually eat a steak - that may not be 'til he's 30 but we're still hopeful.

We've had a whirlwind of a Thanksgiving - complete with a trip to the North Pole on the Polar Express, a baptism, a hockey game, lots of wonderful family, shopping, and a visit from Santa himself right in the comfort of our own living room! Whew! Here are some highlights from our last few wonderful weeks:


Here's us ready to get on the train in our pajamas with Ma and Papa. I have never seen so many grown men, head-to-toe, in fleece pj's! What a fun trip.

Here is Santa on our train after we reached the North Pole.


Here is my Bro with some other very excited hockey fans!

CMH's baptism day.

CMH in his sweet little suit enjoying refreshments after the baptism.

My Lil Bro striking his usual pose.

Family Foto - thank you all who came to be with us on this great day!

CMH listening to the naughty and nice things about him on Santa's list!

AAH with Santa and his list.

We had a full house for Santa's visit. He had a naughty and nice list for everyone!


Christmas is really here but back to Thanksgiving . . . We had a delicious Thanksgiving dinner - it really helps when your mom is visiting and she teaches culinary arts classes at a university! We have thoroughly enjoyed eating all of the leftovers and I have enjoyed not having to cook much but tonight we had a cranberry chicken recipe that is one that I make all year long. So, if you have leftover cranberry sauce or you want to pick up a can from the store, give this recipe a try.

Cranberry Chicken

1/2 C whole cranberry sauce
(I used our homemade stuff. See next recipe)
1/2 C chili sauce (YUM-O! find it in the ketchup aisle)
1/8 tsp. allspice
zest from 1/2 an orange
4 chicken breasts

Combine the cranberries, chili sauce, allspice, and orange zest. Set aside. Salt and pepper your chicken (I also cut my chicken in half lengthwise. )In a hot skillet brown the chicken on all sides. Turn the heat down and pour the cranberry mixture over the chicken. Cover and simmer until cooked through. Uncover towards the end to reduce the sauce.

Apricot Cranberry sauce (from our RS bulletin last year - this is SO yummy!)
1 Tbsp. butter
2 Tbsp. finely grated ginger
16 oz. bag fresh or frozen cranberries (I used a 12 oz. bag of fresh)
2/3 C sugar
1 C orange juice
1/2 C apricot preserves

In a saucepan over med. heat, melt the butter. Add the ginger and cook stirring for 2 minutes. Stir in the cranberries, sugar, orange juice, and apricot preserves. Cook stirring occasionally, until the cranberries burst and the sauce thickens, about 20 minutes. Transfer to a bowl and serve warm.

Note: We made our the day ahead and served it cold and it was delish.


Easy Rice Pilaf (the rice AVH stole)
1 C med. grain rice
1 C angel hair pasta broken into 1" lengths
1/4 C butter
3 C water
3 tsp. or cubes bouillon (beef or chicken)

In a large skillet melt the butter and brown the rice and pasta together. Reduce heat and pour in the water. Add the bouillon and cover. Simmer 20 minutes.