Every 15 Minutes

Every few years the high schools in our city take turns hosting an "Every 15 Minutes" event. When I was in high school the SADD (Students Against Drunk Driving) group had a day where volunteers wore "victim" shirts or ribbons and they couldn't talk all day to simulate the school without them. On a side note, I was one of the silent students my junior year, Jerry recalls it with fond memories...as that was probably the only day in the last 18+ years that I didn't speak to him! :)

Well, Every 15 Minutes puts our little silent students to shame! They go all out. This production takes two days. The whole community works together to really simulate a drunk driving accident and the aftermath. They close down a road by the high school, a wrecked car is brought in, the fire department attempts a rescue, the victims are taken to the hospital...the REAL hospital. Someone is arrested for drunk driving by the police. Parents are visited at home or work and notified by a police officier their children have been killed or arrested. A local funeral home assists and the next day there are funeral services. The drunk driver is booked by the real District Attorney and they have a mock trial with a real judge.

In addition to the "main" characters, they pull a student out of class every 15 minutes as well. They become the "walking dead" during the school day. Their parents are notified of their death as well. The walking dead along with all the other victims go to a hotel and spend the night so everyone thinks of them as "gone".

It really is amazing! It takes so much time to put together, and costs so much, that they only do it every 4 years at Roz's school. If you want to read more about the program click here. There are some pictures at the site and an explantion of what they do.

Ham & Cheese Braid

Last night I made a family favorite for dinner. We call it Ham & Cheese Braid and you'll see why. As I was putting it together I told Roz to grab the camera and take a few shots for you. So thanks to Roz for her contribution to this post! I don't really have a recipe to type out. Just make your favorite bread dough (by hand, in the bread machine on the dough cycle, or in your mixer). I made mine using half whole wheat flour and half white flour in my Bosch mixer. I made four loaves worth of dough so I could make two braids plus some cinnamon swirl bread for breakfast.

This is my wheat grinder. It's a K-tec Kitchen Mill (actually they renamed it a couple years ago and it's now called the Blend Tec Kitchen Mill). I love mine and highly recommend it! I buy wheat in large bags from a little country store up by my mom's. I used to get it from a food co-op but, sadly, the company went out of business. I store my wheat in five gallon buckets that I got from the bakery. A fifty pound bag lasts me a long time since I don't make bread as often as I should (according to Jer anyway). If you have never tried 100% whole wheat bread from fresh ground wheat you are missing out!

Once the dough is made, roll it out into a large rectangle, I didn't measure but this is about the size of a cookie sheet. And put diced (or sliced) ham down the center. I like diced better so the whole slice doesn't slide out when you bite into it. Top the ham with a cheese of your choice. I used mild cheddar, but swiss would be good too!

Then slice the sides into little strips and start braiding. I fold the end in first so I can cover it up as I go.

One all braided. And then two, ready to go into the oven. You don't have to let them rise, they'll puff up just fine in the oven. I bake them at 350 degrees. They come out about 45 minutes later golden brown. Trust me on this...let them cook until they are really golden. Check the bottom to make sure it's done before you take it out. If it's not done put them back in on the bottom rack for a few minutes. If you don't cook it long enough the center will be doughy. The gooey cheese doesn't help with that!

Now it took me about twice as long to type up this post as it did to actually make the braids so don't be discouraged. It really is very easy. I promise your family will love you!

*Note: I had a lot of pictures to include so I made them small, click on any picture to enlarge.

Twenty Months Going On Two

When you're the youngest of six you learn...fast! JD is no exception.

You have to pull your weight so you learn how to do chores...

Missed a spot...right here!

There are plenty of people to play with so you learn how to play games...

There are fun things to around the holidays so you learn how to color eggs...

Oops! Maybe not!
And you have to say something clever to get yourself noticed, so you learn to say important things like catch phrases from your brother's favorite TV show:

He's Done It Again

Jerry always has an interesting spin on things. Head over to his blog to read about what happens when we leave our house. It will get you laughing! Don't worry...it has nothing to do with economics!

Here's a little bit of what he wrote:

When I came out from behind the car I could read his lips as he gasped to the other person in the car, "there's another one." I am pretty sure this guy has been less surprised by the number of clowns exiting a VW beetle during a circus performance at some point in his life.

I have been thinking about writing a post about some of the questions we get as a larger than normal family. In his post, Jerry mentions THE most common question, asked of big families: "Are they all yours?"

My Own Ty Pennington

A few days before I cut his hair, I snapped this shot of Justus. He hadn't combed his hair yet and with that flannel shirt he just looked like a mini Ty to me. If only he was as handy!

Sunday Best

Here are the boys before church this morning. Grandma Joddy got them all matching shirts so we saved them for Easter. They looked so handsome and we got several compliments at church.

Uh-oh...pants are riding up, JD's not too sure about all this, and Eli looks mad. Better try again...

That's a little better. See their pants do fit! But Justus forgot to tuck in his shirt, JD still isn't convinced this picture taking thing is a good idea, and Eli...well, he's being Eli...but at least he's smiling!

And here's what happens when you allow a "silly face" picture:

In case you are counting...yes, we are missing a child. Not that she would wear a matching shirt though. Roz is off enjoying some spring break fun with friends in Alabama. Alabama? Yes, that's right! When dividing up the states down south someone must have felt bad about land locking Alabama so Roz is on the little tiny piece of Alabama that actually touches the Gulf of Mexico...enjoying warm weather and waves. Hopefully she'll have a few pictures to share when she returns.

Easter Tradition

A few years ago we started a new tradition: an Easter Lamb cake. I am not sure, really, the history of the lamb cake. I don't think it is a Wisconsin thing...I think it is a Polish (Catholic?) thing. Just another, albeit strange way, to remind us Jesus was the Lamb of God. Also popular around here are butter molds in the shape of a lamb. My family (and a lot of others here) always have lamb, not ham, on Easter...with mint jelly. Yum!

For us though, it started when Wesley was born. The neighbor, Millie, across the street at the old house brought us over a lamb cake as a little gift when he was born. I think Easter was the next Sunday after he was born that year. Anyway, Jerry LOVED that cake and I asked Millie for the recipe. She was embarrassed to admit that the cake was actually a Betty Crocker mix (!) but she did share her frosting recipe with me. It's delicious and everyone's favorite! Millie has had her lamb cake pan for MANY years (like 50!). She made my Uncle Mark a lamb cake when he broke his leg at age 8 or so. [Funny side note: She asked me if I remembered that!?! Ummm...no, Millie, I wasn't even born yet!]

Lamb cake isn't really a new tradition. Here you can see proof that this same pan has been around a long time.Actually, it's not that new of a tradition, even for our family. Here is a picture of my great grandma with a lamb cake she made. They were so excited when the photographer was in town they made a cake to celebrate and snapped this photo.Just kidding. I have absolutely no idea who this lady is, but I thought this was great picture and it's sure to be somebody's great grandma!

Back to the story....a few Easters ago, Jerry asked if I could make a lamb cake. He thought it would be a good Easter tradition to make memories for the boys. So I borrowed the pan from Millie. Guess I would rather have a lamb cake than a "Welcome Back Jesus" cake. [My mom always had a "Happy Birthday Jesus" cake at Christmas. Jerry always thought that was funny, so one year he got my mom an Easter "Welcome Back Jesus" cake. I wonder what the lady working in the bakery at Basha's thought about that!]

Welcome Back Cake (1997?)

After some internet searching (what did people do before Google?), I was surprised to see that the same company* still makes Millie's pan! I was joking when I told Jerry I'd put it on his Christmas list, but he thought that was a good idea. So for Christmas 2007, Jerry got (among other things, thankfully) a lamb cake pan. We didn't use it last year because we were moving in the midst of Easter celebrations and our pan was in a box somewhere.

Easter Lamb Cake 2009

This year we're all settled in and I knew right where the pan was so I pulled it out and made a lamb cake for Easter dinner dessert. Cute as it was, it was not as tasty as I had hoped. I have found the cake mix cake to be a little too weak to support the weight of the little lamb's head so I thought I'd make a cake from scratch to give it a little more substance. It was a little too much substance, it was basically a brick with frosting, only Jerry liked it. If anyone has a recipe for a fluffy (but not too fluffy) white cake let me know. Because unless I come up with something else, next year we'll be back to lamb cake a la Betty Crocker.

*You can get your very own lamb cake pan here (or search Nordicware lamb cake pan on Google).

It's Friday But Sunday is Coming

I thought of this song this morning and thought it would be a good post today. It's called Sunday! and it's by the Christian band Tree63.



Nothing’s sacred, the days are cheap
Truth is thin on the ground
Still our prophets are crucified
Nobody believes we’re stumbling
It’s Friday, but Sunday is coming

Someone’s saying a prayer tonight
For hungry mouths to be filled
Someone kneels in the dark somewhere
And darkness is already crumbling
It’s Friday, but Sunday comes

Sunday – Hallelujah – it’s not so far, it’s not so far away
Sunday – Hallelujah – it’s not so far, it’s not so far away

Broken promises, weary hearts
But one promise remains:
Crucified, he will come again
It’s Friday, but Sunday is coming
It’s Friday, but Sunday is coming

Sunday...

~Sunday! by Tree63

Take a Walk

I have been walking several times a week and found this site helpful in calculating how far I walk on each "route". I tried to use a pedometer but it was...well, to put it politely...less than accurate. I know you AZ folks are heading towards summer hibernation, but here it is just now getting nice enough to head outside! Yay!!

Deep Dish Pizza

We had this for dinner Friday night and it was so GOOD! We have homemade pizza quite a bit. If that kind of thing scares you, rest assured it really isn't that hard to make. Last week I was hungry for the deep dish style that Pizza Hut makes. You know with the thicker, greasier crust... so I came across this recipe and it was exactly what I was looking for! I even made the sauce which was quite good except next time I'm decreasing the oregano to 1/2 teaspoon.

The recipe says it makes 3 "personal size" pizzas, but the three I made was plenty for my family of 8...we even had some leftovers. I made one cheese, one pepperoni/beef, and one "supreme" minus the green peppers. I had the "supreme" and it tasted just like Pizza Hut to me!

I am too lazy to figure out the math but I'm sure the cost savings of making these myself was significant, especially with dairy prices down so low! How much are you paying for milk and cheese these days? Here in America's dairyland we are getting milk for as low as $1.49 and cheese for $2 a pound on sale! While we were eating two of our neighbors had Pizza Hut delivered so we were in sync with the rest of Trotter Court...we are just a bit more frugal!

We topped it off with this dessert pizza. Jerry didn't want a piece at first but later told me how good it was! A few notes on this recipe: I just made a regular crust, I didn't let it sit for 24 hours. Pre-baking the crust at 550 was WAY too hot, try 450 instead. I left off the fruit and just did the crumb topping and it was almost too much topping, there is no way all that crumb topping would fit on a pizza in addition to fruit. The topping here is almost enough for two pizzas! And last, this serves way more than 5 people!

If you try one of these recipes let me know how it turns out!

April Menu

A bit late...but the April menu is available for viewing by clicking the "Monthly Menu" tab above.

No Good Deed

Jerry always jokes that "no good deed goes unpunished"...and I am going to have to agree! Last week I decided to send a friend a card using a Hallmark.com free trial. It sounds like a good service. You choose a card, add a personal greeting, and they take care of the rest. It costs about the same as buying a card in the store and you don't even have to leave the comfort of your computer chair. I thought I'd give it a try. It was supposed to be an encouraging card to let her know that I was thinking of and praying for her. Inside the envelope addressed to her with a return address from me was an Easter card that said:

Kayla & Dillon
Happy Easter with Lots and Lots of bunny hugs!
I love you and miss you both tons!
I will be sending you some Easter surprises soon!
Be good!
Love, Aunt Jenna

I must have a strange sense of humor because this cracked me up. After I stopped laughing, I straightened it out with my friend who had to do a little thinking to figure out why Aunt Jenna would have sent her an Easter card intended for Kayla and Dillon. Then I emailed Hallmark and told them thanks but no thanks to their service! I haven't heard back from them yet. Of course, they could have replied but just sent it to the wrong email address! I sure hope Kayla and Dillon aren't too disappointed! I don't know if they will get the card I sent or the whole assembly line was off. I'll never know. We don't really do the Easter Bunny...but bunny hugs to you all anyway...from me and Aunt Jenna!

Fool's Dessert

Pizza and a drink...NOT!

I mentioned earlier in the week that I had some April Fool recipes that I wanted to try out. So this morning I made both the "pizza cake" and jello "drinks". If they ever prove that red dye #40 is bad for you we are in BIG trouble! The boys saw me make the cake so they weren't really tricked by that one but I made the jello "drinks" on the sly.

Eli spotted them in the fridge and word spread there would be a special drink at dinner. I plopped a little whipped topping on each serving before setting them on the table. Everyone was under strict orders NOT to drink until we said okay. The go ahead was given and cries could be heard up and down our street! Wesley figured it out fast and thought it was funny, but the twins were MAD! Eli cried, really cried, and Justus folded is little arms and glared. Their reactions were funnier than the trick by far. Hayden, oblivious to his brothers, was still sucking on his straw and then finally declared there was "something wrong" with his drink.

The twins got over the initial disappointment (of not getting Kool-Aid to drink) and we finished our dinner. I thought the cake turned out great, despite the fact I couldn't get the "sauce" to a true red. I must have put in half a container of food coloring and it was still only deep pink. I used the good stuff too! I wonder what Taste of Home used to get theirs so red?

All day the boys would tell me something and then say: "Fools Day!" Late in the day we decided to play a couple tricks on Daddy. So we switched two of his drawers around and colored a few funny clown faces and hid them where he would see them (toilet lid, bathroom drawer, and in a pair of pants). Please don't tell my kids if you are planning a surprise party...Jerry wasn't even in the door before Hayden told him there was a clown by his toothbrush!

So I'm on the lookout for fun things to do next year. The boys already requested the same treats but I have a whole year to come up with something better!