Super Bowl? Not so Much. Super treats? YUP!

I love football. I also love the Super Bowl, the culmination of the NFL season. This year I really wasn't all that excited about the game. Honestly I would have been thrilled if both the Patriots and Giants could have lost. Not having my Steelers in the big game made it somewhat less compelling but that being said, I was still excited for getting together with company and most especially the food.

A couple years ago, my wife had to make a presentation for a class that she had done through work. She decided talk about how to throw a Super Bowl Party. That really started things for us and she went all out. A sheet cake that looked like the football field, sugar cookies that were shaped and frosted like the two
teams' football helmets and a variety of other yummy treats. It became tradition.
Here is last year's cake.

This year was no exception despite our somewhat lessened interest in the game. First the cake.

My wife is pretty amazing. I think she did a great job. She actually used a brownie recipe this year instead of a cake. The cake was super delicious.

Next was the strawberries. They were dipped in chocolate and then she used butterscotch chips (melted) to draw lines on them so that they looked like footballs.

We got the idea off Pinterest. Worked out great.

We tried another idea off Pinterest. Mini Corn Dog Muffins. They turned out really well. Kids really loved them. They were from a blog called iowagirleats.com. Super easy to make and really tasty.

We had a couple other items like a queso dip, mini smokies, a 7 layer bean dip, mini pizza bites (that I will post a recipe for some other time) and another dip that had cream cheese and peppers and some other things. I will be getting the recipe soon. Guaranteed.

One of the other things that we tried for the first time was this Buffalo Chicken Dip. I didn't take a picture but here is the recipe.

4 c. boiled shredded chicken breast (boil in chicken broth)
1/2 - 3/4 c. Franks Hot Sauce (has to be Franks)

Mix these together and spread in the bottom of a baking dish (9x13 or slightly smaller dish)

8 oz. cream cheese
1/2 c. Ranch dressing (could also use blue cheese dressing)

Mix together and spread on top of chicken

Shredded cheddar or Colby jack cheese

Sprinkle on top and bake at 350 for about 15 min. Long enough to be slightly bubbly - but not too long - the dressing can get a little weird

All in all it was a good night. Way too much food but so yummy. And we managed to try a few new recipes. Super treats. Oh and there was a game on at the same time.

My family tree

I have always been fascinated by the comparison of a family to a tree. I guess it is a sensible comparison because a family starts out small and then steadily grows and branches out. The desire of a family is to set down roots and continue to grow as it weathers the winds of life. Pretty neat.

A few years ago, while I was still teaching in Canada, I decided to make a special present for Heidi. I have made her homemade gifts in the past and it usually drives her nuts because I spend so much time on them, I run out of time to get her something practical or that she really needed or wanted. That is not to say that she hasn't appreciated my efforts but still. It i s probably a desire to have me listen to what she wants.

But I digress....

I decided that it would be great to have a family picture that could be updated frequently. I struck on the idea of a family tree. I envisioned a magical and elderly oak, beautiful and majestic and strong.

I got a large piece of mat board (36x24) and asked Michelle, a student of mine who was a very talented artist, to draw me one. I had her draw an ancient looking tree that had one set of roots and one main trunk but then had it branch out into two trees. One for my family and one for Heidi's family. To say that it turned out amazingly would be the understatement of the year. IT WAS AWESOME.

To make it pop a bit more, I used embossing powder and embossed it. It was pretty neat.

I then cut holes in the tree for a full family photo of each side of the family and then a smaller spot for each individual family member and their own families. It was my hope to continually update these photos. To help do this, I put photo corners on the backside of the mat, so that photos could easily be interchanged.

The one part that I really loved about this was our family photo in the middle of the trunk and then the kids' photos in the roots.

I have a really nice ornate frame that this is meant to be in (although it is really heavy and needs new wire so I can actually hang it on the wall again). I am hoping to update it again in the near future and also get it back up on the wall. I will be replacing the now broken glass with plexiglass soon as well.

I just want to have the reminder of a strong family tree to look at. I am proud of my family and what we are. I look forward to our tree continuing to branch out.

And as a preview of things to come soon, I have decided to write about my roots that I have been expanding in my family tree. I'll be talking about a different ancestor each week (hopefully). Stay tuned.

Working out

So with the new year comes a desire for renewal and for making changes. Change is always a challenge and I guess that is why people don't. It is always helpful to have someone else to push you along or inspire you.
In my case, I am lucky to have my wife. She is, quite frankly, amazing. At some point in the last 4 months or so, she decided to make changes. She started eating better and most noticeably, she started working out. It started with early morning walks which quickly morphed into walks/runs to the local Rec Center and even more. She was soon doing strength and toning classes as well as Boot Camp. We aren't talking a couple times a week. We are talking 6 days a week for 2 hours a day. M W F she goes on the elliptical machine for 30 minutes. She then heads to a strength and toning class for 30 minutes of work with dumbbells, resistance bands, exercise balls mixed with aerobic exercises. She then follows that up with another 30-45 minutes of elliptical work. Then on T TH Sat, she goes for an hour of elliptical and then an hour of Boot Camp.
It is truly amazing. I am super proud of her. She has lost weight and inches and more importantly, she inspires me. She says she has a long way to go. Maybe. I don't know.
All I know if that I am all in. Or at least that is what I am trying to do. I am getting up at 4:40 AM with her and going to the gym. I am not ready enough for Boot Camp or brave enough. I did try the strength and toning class but that was not good. Felt like I was going to throw up and had to stop and compose myself so that I didn't heave in front of a bunch of ladies.
But I will go back soon. Right now I am trying to increase my endurance and strength. I am counting my calories with the goal of getting down to the weight I was at almost 16 years ago when Heidi and I got married.
Is it out of my mind to think it can be done? Not at all. It feels great to set a goal and to continue to work at it. I have felt miserable for quite some time and want to feel better. Physically and in terms of how I feel about myself.
So working out is where it begins. Actually, it began because my wife took a step in the right direction. All I have to do is follow her.

Pie

Some years back, my family started a tradition. Not sure exactly when and it seems like the reasons were varied. But New Years Day became a pie fest. I think we were mostly done eating Christmas related leftovers and so it was a snacky type of day. Pie seemed to make its way onto the menu and so it was college football bowl games and pie.
On top of this "tradition", I like making pie. My mom and dad both were pretty good at making pie as was my maternal grandmother. There was something strangely artistic about a pie. Grandma Binnie's Blushing Peach pie is still by far, my favorite looking, smelling and tasting pie. It was truly a thing of beauty. It is also one that I have continued to make the most frequently when I am in the mood to make a pie. It is pretty simple to make. I used to make it for people in France my mission to give to people. Most people were blown away that I could make pie and it was something that they didn't commonly have.



Like i said it is pretty easy to make. Here is the recipe and some more images of the process along the way.

GRANDMA BINNIE'S BLUSHING PEACH PIE

Sugar Crumble Topping

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup flour

1/4 cup butter

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1/2 cup water

2 cups sliced peaches

one pie shell

Cut butter into flour, sugar and nutmeg until it's crumbly. Sprinkle half the mixture on the bottom of the pie shell. Arrange peaches over the top. Sprinkle with the 1/4 cup of water. Top with the remaining crumbs. Bake at 425 degrees for 40-45 minutes.

NOTE : If my butter isn't terribly soft, and the crumbly mixture is being difficult, I will add in the water then and you end up with a paste rather than a crumble mixture. It still works.

I made a few other pies this year. I made a traditional French Canadian meat pie called Tourtiere (pronounced Tort-yair). It is basically a very rich meat pie made with ground pork and ground beef.

I also made a Cherry Crumble Pie (mostly because I didn't have any more pie crust.


I also made a couple of quiche. To make things interesting, I used cheddar and gouda cheeses Yum!


Ahhhh pies. One of my favorite things to make.