A clarification....

Regarding my post below (and thank you for the comments/advice so far! Keep em coming I really need some major help with this!)

FG has completely taken over the business as in his name is the only one on the business license, he has control over the bank account, pays the phone, rent, internet etc. for the office, buys the office equipment and supplies... all of it. His dad did that prior to handing the business over to him last January. FG had a separate business that was the same product, different city, as the original one. Since we are tied to real estate he saw the downfall coming and cancelled the other product in the other city knowing that his dad was ready to retire. They talked about it for a long time about how FG would just take over. Then FIL & his wife got that wild hair to start another one that was mainly out of the freaking country.

As for the whole communicate with FG, FIL and his wife. I'm on my own with this. FG wants nothing to do with it. He doesn't like controversy and tells me that I get to handle this one on my own. He doesn't want to even start a conversation about anything that isn't "necessary." So I'm on my own and my gut tells me to just tell FIL and his wife how it's going to be. You read how reasonable she was when I suggested a fair division. So I'm thinking that I just have to say, "They'll be coming to our house now and you can keep your time slot if you want it but you'll be paying for it. I'll call {insert client name} and let them know."

It literally bugs the crap out of her when FG & I have anything she thinks she should have. The woman went as far as to tell me all sorts of nasty stuff one day including that I should be thanking her for everything I have and for my house because FIL helped us out with some extra cash when we purchased our house. I laughed in her face and told her I owe her NOTHING of the sort because they weren't married when we bought our house and she would never get a thank you from me for my home! Like I said, I could go on & on about her. Bubba, I'll let you do the face punching. I would LOVE to see that!!!!

Thanks again everyone for reading my rambling. I am aware it is trivial and silly because it's just house cleaning. But dammit, I'm working hard and so is FG. I want us to reap the rewards because right now, they are very few and far between.

I need some advice

This has been rolling around in my head for a long long time. I need some advice on how to handle this situation. I am too close to it and have too strong of feelings to be objective and the most fair. I want to be fair but I'm not sure I completely have it in me. So if you all could give me some reinforcement, I would really really appreciate it.

Let's start with a little background so you can understand fully what I am dealing with. Warning, this may get a little long but I really want you to have the full picture before you give me your advice.
FG and his dad are in business together. The business started 14 years ago, shortly after FG and I got married and his father's previous business partners screwed him over and left him and FG without employment. FG found other jobs because we were young and had to support ourselves. But FG has been a major part of the business since it's inception. It was also a business that FIL's father started a long long time ago, though in a different city and wasn't still running when they started this one up. It also happened to be a business that I got my degree in so I was somewhat involved from the beginning too. Though only as a sideline person. FIL and MIL were still married at the time and she was involved as well. It was and still is a whole family business.
Fast forward several years and FG is finally able to not have another job and focus fully on the business with his father. Soon, FG is taking it in new directions and advancing it technically by leaps and bounds. These leaps and bounds are far beyond FIL's technical understanding. It has become very clear to me that without FG, this business in it's state would not survive without FG. Fast forward even more and the foundation of the business really changes. This was a year ago. FG shut down a portion of it in another city. FIL "officially" stopped doing work on the current and longest standing portion of the business to go start a new venture of the same style & name & basis as the original (that FG now runs completely). FG tells his dad that he doesn't want to be involved in his new venture. He doesn't foresee it working out very well and it would involve FG working out of the country quite a bit. Well things just don't work out the way we want them to do they? FG is the only one who really understands the technical workings and the only one who can produce a final product. So what happens, FG ends up working quite a bit on this new product, ends up being out of town a lot, ends up frustrated and stressed and works on the business he told his dad he didn't want a part of. The original business is hit hard by the economy. FG does everything he can to get it profitable and he finds solutions and uses his business smarts to keep the product going and viable. (We're struggling, I've made no secret of that but we'll survive).
For the past several years I've become more & more involved as well. I am now doing even more than I ever have. It's still not a full time job but I do handle some tasks weekly, others monthly and I pick up slack where I need to. Recently FG was stuck out of the country working with his dad and the client changed things on them. We produce a product weekly and we had deadlines. Guess who was the one to fill in and make sure all of it happened? Yep. Me. I didn't have a problem with it. It made me nervous but now I'm ok. If it happens again, I'm ready and able. But I also have the task of figuring out what to do with the kids when it does happen.

More background.... A few years into our marriage. FIL and MIL played a game of chicken with the word "divorce" and they both lost. FIL ended up dating a woman many years his junior. She had two young children in elementary school. FG and I really don't care for her on many levels. She doesn't care for us much either. It's such that it's specifically stated in FG & my Will that she is not to raise our kids. Apparently she is also not big on cleaning. When FIL was dating her, he didn't like going to her home because it wasn't very clean. So FIL used his business and created a trade account with a cleaning company. For the past 10 years, that cleaning company has cleaned first her house and then their house weekly on trade with the original business. When FIL was the one doing the majority of the work and had the responsibility of the original business it wasn't a big deal. Sure, I wanted the same for us but I have stayed home so I could handle it.
When FIL decided to let FG take over the original business and begin the new venture, his wife quit her very very lucrative job (we're talking 6 figures and then some) and began the venture with him. Once I realized that FG was taking over the original business AND would be sent out of town on his father's new venture AND be spending lots of time here working on his father's new venture and I would be starting to do more with the original business as well, I proposed something to FIL's wife. Last spring I told her I was going to have the cleaning company come here every other week and go to their house every other week. Her kids had moved out and it only seemed fair that since there were two adults living there and four people in our house (two of which only make a mess, don't clean it) we could divide it up. I didn't want to completely take it away from FIL (her, I don't give a rats ass about any filth she decides to live in) but I wanted to have a little extra help for me as well. Her response was typical. "No. I enjoy having them come every week and have enjoyed it for 10 years. I'm not willing to compromise that." I think my jaw hit the floor. Where did she get off? I reminded her that FG now took over the business AND was working for them on theirs. She said, "He was supposed to be paying us a few thousand dollars a month and he's not." Um, ohhhhkkkkaaay. So now we get to the real root of it. Her greed. I let it go. I was pissed beyond belief at her selfishness. But I let it go.
Now this is where we are.... FG's taken over the business. His dad does a bit of work for him as the "face" of it weekly. That will end shortly when there is a technical upgrade that allows FG to do it all on his own. His dad is no spring chicken and frankly, as mean as it sounds but I really do like my FIL, the "face" is not working anymore. We need FG's youth and FG simply does a better job at it. So soon, FIL will have very very little involvement with the original business.
FG is still working as much on his dad's new venture as ever. In fact, FIL's wife decided she didn't like the look of the website FG built for them (and I'm talking hours upon hours here) and she deleted it and had someone else take it over. It looked like complete crap and 6 months later they asked FG to take the website back over. So guess what he's been working on for hours and hours? Rebuilding what he originally did! That chaps my ass big time.
If we get into finances.... FG put LOTS of charges on our CC for travel, equipment etc. for FIL & his wife's new venture. This has been going on a year and we haven't seen one cent from them. Granted, they aren't getting paid either. It was so bad for them that FIL's wife went back to work. She stepped right into another six figure job. Guaranteed for a year. She's now making more money than all of us and I guarantee you she's not making her kids eat hot dogs once a week to make ends meet. I guarantee you she spent more on a piece of jewelry for her DD for Christmas than we did for our entire family. She had the nerve to get all up FG's ass about basketball tickets which WE have paid for for years and is now pissed because we no longer wish to squeeze 6 of us into 4 seats. Our kids are just too big to sit on our laps anymore! I could really go on & on about how much I don't like her and how selfish and crappy she can be. I'm sure she could do the same about me since we have never really liked her at all.

Now, after all that background... here's my dilemma. I told FG a couple of months ago that come January, I'm taking over the house cleaning trade. Screw her. I tried to come up with a fair solution and she wanted nothing of it. So now I'm going to be ruthless and cut it away. BUT I feel guilty about cutting it away from FIL. He's going to be 68 soon and as he says, "I'm 67 years old. I don't want to have to worry about cleaning my house." I get that. I really do and I get that the business for all of us is sucky at best right now. We are ALL struggling. However, I also think that she of any of us can afford to pay for it now. She also doesn't have two little ones at home making a mess. They are adults who can clean up after themselves!
So what do I do? I've cleaned FG's toilets and scrubbed his shower every week since 1992. I'm sick of it. Granted, I will keep doing it but there's that trade account dangling in front of my face. The fact it goes along with the business that WE are now 100% responsible for. The fact that I want us to get every benefit from our business so FG doesn't feel like throwing in the towel as often as he does.
But how do I go about this? Should I wait until FIL is no longer the face of the business and really not involved much? Should I just do it the 1st of the year (hello, that's this week!). And when I do, HOW do I approach this? FIL will get annoyed. His wife will just be pissed off (I don't really care about her reaction other than FIL has to live with her and listen to her bitch.) I need some rational and reasonable ideas, thoughts. This has come up for years too. I've been bugging FIL to get them to clean the house for me for a long time. He used to pay me $100/mo to do his invoices for him. It wasn't worth it. It was a nightmare until FG took over. When he asked me what compensation I wanted, I told him I wanted the cleaning company to come just once a month. Nope. Never did it. So this won't be a shock when it does come up. I'm just worried about hurt feelings and problems. Then there's a nagging thought in my head that says that the cleaning company may just cancel altogether once we make the switch. I don't want to jeopardize the business and lose a sponsor! But then again maybe we could get another cleaning company to do trade and it wouldn't be any issue. But I can just see FG sitting on that one and giving me the line of "we need to have paying clients before we do trade!". This whole thing may come bite me in the ass and I'll be back to scrubbing before I know it. But if that is the outcome, I will have small satisfaction that it won't be something FIL's wife is getting for free anymore :)

Help please. Like I said, I need some advice on what to do and how to do it from someone not close to the situation. From the background, what do you recommend? HELP!

Menu Plan Monday

Nothing too exciting this week. I'm looking forward to getting back to "normal". We packed away all the Christmas decorations yesterday (I have an over-abundance and it literally took FG and I all day). We are all beat and all ready for some down time. We don't have grand plans for NYE, the kids will be with us. We are going to a basketball game and were also invited to a party. I told the hostess that we would see how the kids are and stop by to say hello. We definitely won't make it until midnight!

I'm having fun playing with my new ipod touch. Now I have the daunting task to getting all my contacts imported and my calendar. I've been using a Palm for so many years and they don't "talk" to each other. So there's a lot of data entry and transferring in my near future.

Here's our menu this week. Boring and normal, just what we are all ready for in this house! Plus, I promised the kids lots of playdates this week so the easier and low key I can keep it, the better for my own sanity!

• Sunday - Spaghetti, bread
• Monday - Balsamic pork chops, mashed potatoes, cauliflower
• Tuesday - BBQ Roasted chicken, noodles, corn (FG is working Tue instead of Thur this week so this will go over well with the kids).
• Wednesday - out to a favorite pizza place prior to the basketball game
• Thursday - Beef tips* & gravy over mashed potatoes (I usually do this over noodles but I need to use the potatoes this week)
• Friday - Chicken alfredo over noodles, veggies
• Saturday - ?? another basketball game.

* Exported from MasterCook *
Beef Tips and Noodles in the crockpot

1 lbs. stew meat -- (1 to 2)

1 med. onion -- sliced

1 tbs. oil

1 can beef broth

1/3 cup flour

1 cup water
Saute onion slices in oil until tender and browned.Remove from skillet and put into crock.Brown stew meat in same skillet in onion/oil drippings.Remove from skillet into crock.Pour broth over meat and onions - season if desired (we like things more seasoned so I added some seasonings to ours. I also salt & peppered the meat as I browned it.)Cook in crock pot on low for 6-8 hours.I hour before serving, mix flour and water until smooth. Pour into crock pot and stir to combine. Continue cooking until thickened.
Serve over egg noodles

Christmas "Didn't"

We had a wonderful holiday! I hope you did as well, my little imaginary friends in the box! It was all I could have asked for. White with lots of crazy snow, good food, good family, happiness, my dad resolved to not complain about his aches & pains for a day which was very refreshing! (I'm not sure if he realizes how hard it is for all of us to hear continually. It brings us down along with him. I know he's in pain and things can look grim but I also know that outlook is important. A break from the downers was very welcome for us all!)

This year I made some changes which I think helped me enjoy the holiday.

I didn't send cards. I didn't stress over getting a good picture, addressing them, paying for them, paying for postage... blah blah blah. I never had the time and I just let it slide right off the to do list. Maybe next year I'll send them again but this year it wasn't happening without some serious stress.

I didn't worry about gifts as much. We told our families that we couldn't afford gifts this year. We had our party which is expensive and a lot of work. I also put a lot of effort into making special stamped notecards for some family members. Those were my limit. I put effort and time and care into what we did do. I let it go that that was enough. I knew that the kids and I put our hearts into things and if the recipients didn't fully appreciate it, then they were the ones missing out.

I didn't go shopping on Black Friday. I had to work. I kept things in perspective that money is very very tight and if I wanted to get my family some gifts then I had to exercise a lot of self control. There was not one bit of online shopping either. We haven't used a credit card in months so we don't get trapped in a debt nightmare (any worse than we already are but that's mostly business bills we're under). All the "best deal of the season" emails went unread and were deleted immediately. No deal was good enough for me to jeopardize my family. No "thing" that anyone would just love to have was worth it.

I didn't feel guilty. I accepted the gifts that were given to me graciously. The only one I feel slightly guilty about is from SMA. He spoils me. I know he can't afford the lengths he goes to for me and my family. But he does it every damn year and makes me feel bad. He spent on me what I spent on my own husband. And he's so freaking hard to buy for that I feel bad we don't reciprocate equally. I think he knows that our efforts are how we do though. We picked him up (too snowy for him to drive his little car) so he didn't spend the day alone and he spent the entire day and evening with our family. He called his mom & sent a text to his girlfriend. But other than that, I didn't feel guilty when others made the choices they did. We told everyone, no gifts this year, just for the kids. If they chose to do more, then that was their choice!

I also let go of some of my control with the kids. If they wanted something open that has 10,000 tiny pieces, whatever. We'll deal with it later. Can I add that I am not a fan of Pixos? Yeah, 10,000+ tiny pieces. Save me and my vacuum.

I hope everyone felt as good about this year as I did. I really did feel much free-er this year with letting go of some of the pressure. I also realized even more the value of a true gift.

Happy Holidays!!!

Holiday Menu Plan Monday!

Oddly, I am feeling relaxed today. I still have plenty of things to get done but the "big" stuff is done. If the floors don't get a thorough mopping, oh well. If the rugs don't get all shaken out or every last bit of clothing laundered, oh well! I was happy to wake up whenever I woke up today and know that there was no timetable today. No deadlines, no bus to catch, no homework looming.... The kids are still in their jammies. DD is fighting off a cold. They played then they ate. Now they are indulging in cartoons and toys in the playroom. I have a basket of dirty laundry behind me waiting to be sorted and I may even start a few loads today (I generally try to do the laundry all in one day). We are going to make our notecards this afternoon with the stamp supplies I brought home from my parent's last night. It's going to be an easy-going day where we still get things done, just without the hectic rush. I have my menu planned for the week. Since I've been doing Christmas brunch for so many years now, it's not a big deal anymore. No one wants me to change anything. They all want the same things every year. That's ok. I can handle the no-pressure, no-frills meal on a day that I like to relax and enjoy as well. Though this year I opted to make a coffee cake (an easy one!) rather than the refrigerated cinnamon rolls.

• Sunday - Bacon wrapped stuffed chicken breasts, Stove-Top stuffing, glazed carrots


• Monday - Shrimp scampi w/ garlic pasta, steamed broccoli


• Tuesday - FG is taping the TV show instead of Thursday (duh!). Polish sausage dogs, french fries, corn


• Wednesday - Ham dinner at MIL's


• Thursday - Brunch here - sausage-egg casserole, cheesy potatoes, berry coffee cake, shrimp dip & chips, maybe cream cheese bacon crescents


• Thursday - Prime Rib dinner at my parent's


• Friday - Spaghetti or homemade pizza


• Saturday - an "after the holiday" open house party

* Exported from MasterCook *

Breakfast Casserole

6 slices white bread -- cubed

4 Tablespoons butter -- melted

1 pound bulk sausage -- cooked and drained

2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

2 cups milk

3 egg

1/4 teaspoon dry mustard

salt and pepper
Place cubed bread into 9 x 13 glass dish. Drizzle with melted butter and toss to coat.Sprinkle cooked and crumbed sausage over the top.Top with shredded cheese.
Mix milk, eggs, mustard powder and salt and pepper. Pour over the top of the bread mixture.
Cover and refridgerate overnight.
Bake 375 degrees for 3- 40 min. until puffed up and lightly browned.

* Exported from MasterCook *
Cheesy Hash Browns
30 ounces hash browns, frozen

1 pint milk

1/2 cup margarine -- melted

2 cups Velveeta -- cubed

1 cup cheddar cheese -- shredded
Place hashbrowns in greased 9 x 13" casserole dish.
Combine other ingredients and microwave until cheese is melted, stirring as needed until smooth.
Pour mixture over hash browns and bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour.

* Exported from MasterCook *
Shrimp Dip
1 cup mayonnaise

1 can small shrimp

1 tablespoon ketchup

8 ounces cream cheese -- softened

garlic -- to taste

onion salt -- to taste
Mix all ingredients in bowl. Refridgerate for at least 1 hour. Serve with potato chips or crackers.

Shopping & wrapping - DONE!

I finished today. Yahoo!!!!
Tomorrow - the kids and I are going to tackle making the notecards I planned to make & give to MIL, SIL & FIL's wife. Send me patience vibes.

I'm sooo thankful I get to sleep in.

DD is being a mean little shit. I had to hear all about it from my parents about how awful she is. Great. Thanks. I can't do much more than I am doing now. I tell her how words hurt, she needs to think about how others feel and how she would feel if someone said things to her like she does to others, remind her to be nice... blah blah blah. Fact is, she's four, she's opinionated and she's excited for the holiday approaching. Everyone but me has forgotten that DS went through this SAME thing at roughly the same age. Why am I the only one to remember how awful he could be?

The weather foiled my plans

The snow and bitter cold caused preschool to be cancelled. Normally, they cancel if the county school district cancels and/or has a delayed start. Neither of those happened yesterday but I think the preschool just had it in their heads that they would have a day off on Monday. So they called and cancelled preschool shortly after I sent my son off on his bus. That caused they to also cancel the preschool Christmas Program scheduled for the evening. That one I'm ok with because the roads were icy and I hate ice. Snow, whatever. Ice, ick.

BUT that ruined my entire Plan For The Day. I had to work from 10 - 2. I had it all worked out that my dad would pick up my DD from preschool at 1 when class was finished and bring her home until I got off work. Then I would bathe her and get her ready to go be an angel (ha ha! SUCH bad casting!!!) in her program. Then we would pick up take out for dinner and everyone would go to bed early. Well, that was not to be.
So her teacher happens to be a friend of mine and we've swapped watching each other's kids lots of times. She told me to just bring my DD over to her house while I worked. Yipee! She was happy to go play with her boys for a few hours. Then she and I had to go to the grocery store where I assume I lost one of my favorite earrings. Wahhhh!
I arrived home, put the few groceries away and got DD set up with cartoons while I went to go tackle the snow with the shovel and wait for DS's bus. I was hoping FG would have shoveled prior to leaving for work but no, he decided to just drive over it and leave some frozen tracks for me to chip away at. He literally arrived home 10 seconds after I put the shovel away. I think he was around the corner watching me.
My plan of take out was ruined. So FG suggests soup and grilled cheese. I had figured on that as an easy meal he could actually make the kids while I worked this week but no he was insistant and even DS told me he wanted soup. Purely to torture my family, I made homemade chicken noodle. The kids prefer the overly salted canned variety and I think FG had a big bowl of Chunky with beef in mind. But it was easy and quick and didn't have carrots (I don't like carrots in my chicken noodle and I have yet to find a canned variety that isn't Campbells that has no carrots!). Here's my loose recipe. It took about 30 minutes and paired great with ooey gooey grilled cheese and a big glass of chocolate milk.

Chicken Noodle Soup

4 cups stock

1 cup water

1 1/2 Tablespoons stock starter concentrate*

1 Tablespoon cornstarch

1/4 cup water

1 cup frozen corn kernels

1 1/2 cups shredded or cubed cooked chicken

small dry egg noodles (whatever amount you like)

Mix the cornstarch and 1/4 cup water in small dish and set aside.

Boil the stock, water and concentrate. Add cornstarch mixture and corn kernels. Return to boil.

Add chicken. Add noodles and cook just under boiling until noodles are done.

*Instead of bouillon I like to keep this stuff on hand. I use it a lot instead of canned broth. When I make white rice, I like to throw a teaspoon into the pan with the water, dissolve it and then add the rice. It gives things a nice flavor and I think it's pretty economical.

Menu Plan Monday

Here's my menu plan for the week!

I'm literally NOT cooking at all during this week!!! Ha ha!!

• Sunday - Whole chicken in the crock pot, yellow rice, corn, gravy
• Monday - take out
• Tuesday - We have a dinner to attend, Grandma's watching the kids
• Wednesday - I'm working, FG and the kids will have leftover spaghetti sauce from the freezer and he can make fresh noodles and toast
• Thursday - FG works, the kids and I will have chicken nuggets/frozen dinner
• Friday - I'm working again. FG can figure out what to make the kids (probably soup or spaghetti-o's)
• Saturday - the kids are going to my parent's for the night, FG and I have a party to attend

So there. No cooking! Yesterday I did the chicken and rice. Big deal though. I put the chicken in the crock pot and made the gravy and the rice. FG cleaned it all up. We were all dead tired from the day before. There was an afternoon basketball game and we got home just before 6. Love that dinner was practically ready!

Now I must go shovel snow.

Party Success

We had a party to attend at our friend's house prior to ours. Our started at 7 pm. Theirs went from 4 until 7. Santa arrived at 5:35. Needless to say, we threw the kids on his lap, had camera issues and then we bundled up and raced home. I'm SO bummed because 1) I obviously wanted pictures of my kids on Santa's lap 2) I was hoping to get a whole family picture on Santa's lap 3) Santa was a friend of mine in college, a football player who fills out his suit without extra padding and Oh I was going to tease him! I wanted to sit on Santa's lap and be a little naughty. FG has known this guy as long as he's known me. He was one of my "big brothers" in college so I warned FG that I was going to have some fun with Santa. Seeing as he is 6'2" and well over 300 lbs, FG just said, "Ok." We were also joking because Santa happened to catch my garter at our wedding reception. The pictures still crack me up, no one stood a chance with him in the crowd. So this is the best I got because a setting got changed on the Rebel and it wouldn't focus. grrrrr. Then we had to leave and I didn't want to throw my kids back on there for a picture when there were a bunch of other kids anxiously waiting. So my niceness won out and we didn't get a decent picture. But it was priceless to see my kids on there, happily telling him what they wish for and how they are being good (Ha!).

Matt was an awesome Santa. I was very impressed. I hope everyone will do it again next year.

Now onto what I've been so busy working on....

My spread. I made at total of 17 different things and I included the chocolate because I had to chop it and melt it!

It was a good party. I never know what to make of things though. Some years I am refilling and refilling and other years, hardly anything gets eaten up. It was about in the middle this year. I refilled a few things. People kept telling me how much they loved this or that. Everyone stayed for awhile and actually played in the game room. Again, some years no one goes upstairs and other years, everyone congregates around all the toys. I think that's why not as much got eaten because that meant leaving the pool table, dartboard, Foosball, slot machine (that does NOT pay out but comes with credits) and arcade game to go downstairs and refill their plate.

FG and I didn't get to bed until well after 1. I am a bit too old for that now! I'm really tired today. The kids were up until 11!! DS loves a party. DD could live without them. She hid for most of it, then decided she wasn't shy anymore and flitted from guest to guest. There was no way I was getting them into bed any earlier. 11 is when they finally decided they were done and ready for their pillows.

Now I have two small vents. One about guests and first about my neighbors. I just gotta get this off my chest because people never cease to amaze me. Our kids play together a lot. Either here or there. I'd say it's about even how much they are one place or another. This is just since this past summer that they've played together. I invited them to the party. Yes, it's adults only because that many goodies and little kids DO not mix. Besides, I just like it adults only. Good excuse for our friends to get out alone around the holidays. I handed the invite right to the mom. I never heard from them if they were coming or not. Then the kids show up to play here yesterday in the early afternoon! I about died. She sent them over on Thanksgiving day too. We turned them away. No way could I have functioned with them here. The girl, older than mine, whines a lot and then is sort of mean to my DD. I keep saying it's just a 9 year old girl thing but I'm not so sure. I had way too much to get done without everyone under foot. And really? Seriously? You get invited to a party that you don't RSVP for then you send your kids over to play? ARGH!

Second, and this may sound really snobbish but I don't care. Word of advice. If you get invited to a dinner or a party, spend a bit more than $2 for a bottle of wine that you bring to the hostess. Up it to $5 or $7 at least. I know who brought it, I know they can pay a lot more than $2 and I thought they had a bit more class than that. If you want to bring something for the hostess and you want to spend $2, pick up an ornament, a candle, a little trinket etc. But don't embarrass yourself with the cheap-o wine. (No it wasn't Two Buck Chuck). When ever FG and I get a bottle that we aren't familiar with, we look it up. I know we aren't the only ones. My friends all know I work in a wine store!

Holiday Baking #9 - Cookie Tarts

* Exported from MasterCook *

Cookie Tarts

1/2 cup butter -- softened

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 1/2 cups flour

4 tablespoons milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 tablespoons jam

2 tablespoons sugar
Cream butter and sugar. Then add the flour, milk and vanilla. Mix to make a soft but not too sticky dough.
Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
Roll out dough to 1/4" thick. Cut out rounds and place on greased cookie sheet. Spread a little jam on the base. Use small cookie cutter to cut out shape in another round. Place on top of jam & cookie base.
Sprinkle generously with sugar. Bake at 375 degrees for 10-12 minutes until just golden brown.

Holiday Recipe #9 - Sparkling Pineapple Punch

MMMM. I always make a double batch because it goes quick! I put it in a punch bowl with an ice ring with lime slices frozen into it. Sorry, no picture because I make it right before my guests arrive.

* Exported from MasterCook *

Sparkling Pineapple Punch
1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup water

2 3 inch cinnamon sticks

1/4

cup lime juice

1 can (46 ounces) pineapple juice -- chilled

1 liter sparkling water -- chilled

1 bottle champagne -- chilled
Heat sugar, water and cinnamon to boiling, reduce heat. Cover and simmer for 15 minutes. Cover and refrigerate at least 2 hours. Remove cinnamon from syrup. Just before serving, mix syrup and remaining ingredients in large punch bowl.

My son, the star!

A little break from recipes. I'm done baking and taking a little break from cleaning and preparing for this party by uploading some more recipes to Mastercook. I'm creating a Christmas Cookbook so I can find all these recipes in ONE place! Right now they are scattered all over the place.

Last night was DS's performance for his Acting Class. He kept telling me he was nervous. That's odd from him. He SHINES in front of an audience. He has no problem being on stage. He projects his voice well, is animated, remembers his lines... he just feels at home with people watching him perform. The only thing I notice is he chews his tongue too much. (You can clearly see it poking out his cheek in the pic above - ugh.) It's a HORRIBLE, ugly habit that FG and his family have. Oh I hate it! It must be a hereditary thing because I swore I would not let my kids do it. I look at MIL, BIL and FG sitting there when they concentrate on something and they look like a herd of cows. So I have to figure out how to get DS to NOT do that while on stage!

He was Aladdin. He worked hard on learning his lines. He knew them and did them very well. His good friend was Abu and they did great together. I took him, DD and my mom out to dinner after the performance and he had a complete performance rush. He was SO HIGH! He could not settle down. That's ok. He was happy. He was proud. He should be. He worked hard and did so well. This is his ability. He isn't physically blessed, he's pretty uncoordinated and not great at sports (the fact he's barely 40 lbs at almost age 8 doesn't help much either). But he can out-act 95% of the kids in his acting class!

I am so proud of him for his accomplishment. It's a 10 week class, on hour per week. The rest we have to do at home. It's a commitment on us as well but he really does love it. I wonder if someday I'll go the Academy Awards with him. I hope he would want to take his Mama. Though I don't know if it would make my heart swell anymore than it has for each of his performances so far. I am blessed with such a kid and glad FG and I don't feel the pressure to push him into sports because he's a boy. We realize that his abilities lie elsewhere and are happy to nuture whatever they may be.

Cookie Press

Madreadoptiva - this post is for you! :)

This is the cookie press my mom has. I think I'm the only one who uses it though. She may use it once a year as well. It is easy!

Holiday Baking #8 - Cream Cheese Spritz

These cookies uses a cookie press. They are easy, delicate and light.

Cream Cheese Spritz

1 cup margarine or butter, softened

3 oz. cream cheese, softened

2 cups all purpose flour

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Heat oven to 375 degrees. Mix margarine or butter and cream cheese. Stir in flour, sugar and vanilla. Place dough in cookie press. Press onto ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 8-10 minutes or until set but not brown. Immediately remove from cookie sheet and cool on wire rack.

I have used a "tree" shape in the past as well as the wreath shape. I tint the dough with food coloring to give them a little vibrancy. These are always popular at my party with the chocolate fountain!

Holiday Baking #7 - Chocolate Surprises

Chocolate Surprises

1/2 cup shortening

1 cup sugar

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/4 cup milk

1 1/2 cups flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 cup cocoa powder

large marshmallows, cut in 1/2

Cream shortening & sugar. Add egg and vanilla. Beat well. Mix in other ingredients except marshmallows. Drop by rounded tablespoon onto greased cookie sheet.

Bake 8 minutes at 350 degrees.

Remove from oven and press 1/2 marshmallow, cut side down, on center of each cookie. Return to oven for 2 minutes - no longer.

Cool on wire racks.

Frost with mixture of 2 1/2 cups of powdered sugar, 3 tablespoons butter, 1/2 teaspoon salt and 4 tablespoons cocoa powder, milk until correct consistency.

I baked some of mine too long this time and the marshmallow disintegrated! I also eyeball the frosting. I think those measurements make too much frosting actually. But I do follow the general guidelines, I just don't measure.

Holiday Baking #6 - Bell Cookies

These are my father's favorites. My Grandma, his mother, makes them every year (she's the one who taught me to bake) and I started making them a few years ago. They are by far my most time consuming and difficult cookie. These make whipping up a batch of chocolate chip cookies seem like a walk in the park.

I may have shared them before. I'm not sure if I did last year or not and I'm too lazy and busy to go look. I entered them into our local newspaper's cookie contest and was royally pissed off when I found out the main taster didn't like nuts. Grrrr.

Here they are. If you attempt them, feel free to email me any questions. The dough is super super soft and difficult to work with. Then there's the steps of the filling, cutting the cherries and placing them on. Ugh. These also work best stored in an airtight container with waxed paper between each layer. Because they have to be high maintenance until the end. They are worth it though. YUMMY!

* Exported from MasterCook *
Bell Cookies
3 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon ginger

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup margarine

1/4 cup dark corn syrup

1 tablespoon cream or whole milk

1 1/4 cups brown sugar

1 large egg

1/4 cup brown sugar

3 tablespoons maraschino cherry liquid from jar

1 1/2 cups pecans -- chopped

1 tablespoon margarine -- melted

1/2 cup maraschino cherries -- cut in 1/2

Sift dry ingredients and set aside.
Cream together margarine and sugar. When well combined add corn syrup, cream and egg. Beat until well combined.
Slowly add flour mixture until combined.
Chill dough until easier to handle. It is delicate and sticky.
Combine 1/4 cup brown sugar, cherry juice, chopped pecans and melted margarine.
Roll dough onto floured surface. Cut circles with cookie cutter or top of a glass.Place circles on ungreased cookie sheet. Add 1/2 teaspoon - 1 teaspoon of filling into center and fold over tops at an angle so it looks like a bell. Place 1/2 marachino cheery at the widest part of fold on top of filling.
Bake in a 350 degree oven for 10 - 15 min.
Cookies will be puffed up. Let cool slightly on cookie sheet and remove to cool on wire rack.
Store in tightly covered container with waxed paper in between each layer to keep moist and from sticking to each other.

And just to keep it real like the Pioneer Woman does, here's a portion of my dishes from Sunday. A portion, as in about 1/4 of them from Sunday.

Holiday Baking #5 - "Jolly Pretzels" One for the kids!

My DS came up with the name of these. I have made these the past few years with the kids and it's something they can help with, enjoy and the finished product is addicting. I like to use the Mint Truffle Hershey's Kisses. Oh my......

Hershey Pretzel Treats 1
Bite-size -- waffle-shaped pretzels

Hershey's Kiss or Hershey's Hug

M&M's candy

1. Heat the oven to 170º. Set a number of bite-size, waffle-shaped pretzels (one for each treat) in a single layer on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper, then top each pretzel with an unwrapped Hershey's Kiss or Hershey's Hug.
2. Bake for 4 to 6 minutes (the white chocolate will melt more quickly), until the chocolates feel soft when touched with a wooden spoon. Remove the cookie sheet from the oven and quickly press an M&M's candy into the center of each Kiss.
3. Allow the treats to cool for a few minutes, then place them in the refrigerator to set, about 10 minutes. Place handfuls of the candies in clear plastic bags and tie on colorful ribbons

Holiday Baking #4 - Butter Nut Balls

These cookies have lots of different names. Mexican Wedding Cookies, Honey Sand Balls among many others. We've always called them Butter Nut Balls. Which is really funny when you are 7 and your mom mixes up the name and calls them Nutter Butt Balls. (That would be me and my mom who mixed them up but I can guarantee my little ones would find it as hilarious as I did).

Butter Nut Balls

1 cup butter (NOT margarine), softened

1/2 cup sifted powdered sugar

2 tablespoons honey

2 cups all purpose flour

3/4 cup chopped pecans (my original recipe calls for walnuts but my dad is allergic - use whatever nuts you want)

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/4 teaspoon salt

Sifted powdered sugar

Beat butter, 1/2 cup powdered sugar and honey on medium speed until combined. Beat or stir in flour, nuts, vanilla and salt. Mix thoroughly, use your hands if necessary.

Shape dough into 1" balls. Place 1 1/2" apart on greased cookies sheets.

Bake at 325 degrees for 14 - 16 minutes, until very lightly browned.

While warm, roll in powdered sugar. Cool on wire racks. After they cool, roll again in powdered sugar.

Holiday Baking #3 - Brittle

I started making this several years ago but I have never made it with peanuts. Instead I use roasted, unsalted macadamia nuts. My parents usually go to Hawaii every year around Thanksgiving so I have them bring me back a pound. This is a bit time consuming but it's worth it! Very yummy!

Nut Brittle

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon water

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 cup water

1 cup light corn syrup

3 tablespoons margarine or butter

1 pound (I use slightly less) shelled, unroasted peanuts (again, I use macadamia nuts)

Butter 2 cookie sheets 15 1/2x 12" (I use my jelly roll pan only). Keep warm in a 200 degree oven.

Mix baking soda, 1 teaspoon water and vanilla. Set aside.

Mix sugar, 1 cup water and the corn syrup in a 3-quart saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, to 240 degree on a candy thermometer. (This takes quite awhile. At least 1/2 hour or more)

Stir in margarine and nuts. Cook, stirring constantly to 300 degrees. Watch carefully so mixture does not burn. Immediately remove pan from heat and quickly stir in baking soda mixture until light and foamy.

Pour half the candy mixture onto each warm cookie sheet, quickly spread to about 1/4" thick. Cool. Break into pieces.

Just for kicks, here's a picture of me asleep on the couch with the cat. I've been working hard lately and am pretty darn tired by the time I get the kids to bed. It's hard not to drift off when you have a little motor running next to you.

~Menu Plan~

Yeah, I know, it's Tuesday!

• Sunday - Enchiladas made with leftover shredded turkey, rice, salad
• Monday - Shrimp in homemade alfredo sauce over penne, corn.
• Tuesday - Chicken picatta, parmesean cous cous, steamed broccoli
• Wednesday - Was planning on meat loaf but now I have to work so FG and the kids will either have chicken nuggets or a frozen pizza or soup - Daddy's turn to figure out what to feed these kids!
• Thursday - FG works so we'll be doing one of the options from Wednesday that FG didn't choose.
• Friday - Meatloaf, noodles, glazed carrots
• Saturday - Basketball game so I'm hoping we can go out for pizza beforehand

The homemade alfredo sauce is easy and yummy and full of fat!

1-2 Tablespoons olive oil

1-2 cloves minced garlic

2 Tablespoons flour

1 cup chicken stock (I used turkey stock since I made it last week from our bird)

1 cup heavy cream

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

a couple of handfuls of grated parmesean cheese (probably about 2/3 cup total? I eyeball it)

salt & pepper to taste

heat olive oil, saute garlic briefly and sprinkle flour all over pan. Whisk in chicken broth until lumps are gone and it starts to thicken. (This is where I added the raw shrimp). Whisk in heavy cream and nutmeg. Stir to thicken and cook on medium heat for a few minutes. Add grated cheese and salt and pepper to taste. Let thicken over low heat and serve over pasta.

* Exported from MasterCook *
Parmesan Couscous
1 can chicken broth

3/4 cup couscous

2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese

2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

Bring chicken broth to a boil in a saucepan; stir in couscous. Cover and let stand 5 minutes. Fluff with a fork. Stir in cheese and parsley.