Rock The Reception

Thanks to BooMama for this link. This is a new TLC show where a couple surprises their wedding guests with a professionally choreographed first dance. Honey, you'd better thank your lucky stars this show wasn't around when we got married.

my warrior poet

yesterday jonas and betty were playing at the park. there was a little boy there whom we don't know. he was being a bit aggressive and i wasn't sure how to handle it. for example, he would push past betty on the slide or ladder if she was going too slow. that's pretty common behavior for kids that age (probably around 4), but he was just a little rougher than most. he hit jonas a few times, tried to push him out of his way, that sort of thing. my question is this: when should boys be allowed or encouraged to fight back?

here's what i came up with: if that boy is being mean to sissy or to someone else smaller, you can tell him to stop. but if he's just being mean to you, then walk away and don't play with him anymore.

once after the mean boy (that's what i've started calling him; i don't know his real name) had roughly pushed past betty and made her cry, jonas marched up to him with his hands on his hips and said "You, sir, STAY AWAY FROM MY SISTER!" i was so proud. but later, if the boy was hitting jonas, jonas hit right back, and i was less enthusiastic about that. i just told jonas to stop hitting and leave that boy alone and go play somewhere else. but jonas didn't get a spanking or anything, because i saw everything, and the other boy instigated every time. of course his parents are like 50 yards away eating lunch and talking on the phone, completely oblivious.

here's a funny story about theodore roosevelt:

Theodore taught Sunday School at Christ Church, but he was so muscular a Christian that the decorous vestrymen thought him an unwise guide in piety. For one day a boy came to class with a black eye which he had got in fighting a larger boy for pinching his sister. Theodore told him that he did perfectly right—that every boy ought to defend any girl from insult—and he gave him a dollar as a reward. The vestrymen decided that this was too flagrant approval of fisticuffs; so the young teacher soon found a welcome in the Sunday School of a different denomination.

what do you think? what would you have done?

...

sissy hearts yogurt

he's gonna make some lucky girl very happy

mom's chicken enchiladas

(Don't worry, you don't have to make that many. That's a quadruple recipe. Yes, I'm a crazy person.)

Chicken Enchiladas

2T oil
1 onion, chopped
1 lb cooked chicken, diced
2t chili powder
1/2 t cumin
1 can rotel
salt & pepper
2 cans cream of chicken soup
(or cream of whatever. in a pinch i've used cream of celery or cream of cheddar)
1 cup sour cream
1 4 oz can diced green chiles
12 oz grated cheddar
14-16 flour tortillas


1. This time I tried chopping the chicken (gently poached, or buy a rotisserie chicken at the deli) in the food processor. I used the regular 4mm slicing disc and it turned out great! A timesaver, since I was quadrupling the recipe this time. Chop the onion first with the chopping blade and dump it into the skillet, then put on the slicing disk and do the chicken while the onion cooks.


2. Cook the onion in the oil until tender.
3. Add chicken, chili powder, cumin, rotel, and salt and pepper. Simmer 10 minutes.
4. Mix soup, sour cream, green chiles, and 2/3 of the cheese.
5. Put a little bit of soup mixture into 9x13 baking dish (or a bigger lasagna pan, like 10x15, if you have it). Just enough to cover the bottom. This keeps the enchiladas from coming out too dry.


6. Make an assembly line. I don't recommend doing this part at the stove, as in the picture, unless you happen to enjoy cleaning your stove. Do as I say, not as I do.


7. Spoon 1T of soup mixture onto a tortilla. (If you want to use corn tortillas, you need to heat them to soften.) Don't use too much soup mix or you won't have enough left to go on top. Top with chicken mixture.


8. Roll 'em up. Don't cram too many in a pan or they won't get any sauce. 12 in a 9x13 works well.
9. Top with rest of soup mixture and rest of cheese.
10. Cover with foil. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes or until warm, or refrigerate and bake later.

i may never march in the infantry....

....but I can sure FEED the Lord's army!

look how domestic i am

homemade peach jam, folks. cue the "applause" signs.

mom brought me a ton of peaches from fairfield and helped me with my first canning project. i had helped her do this a thousand times, but hadn't paid enough attention to do it myself. it wasn't hard at all. i meant to document the process for an online tutorial, but i forgot. here's the short version:

buy this:



and follow the directions in the box.

here's the shortcut my mom taught me:

we didn't need to boil the jars to seal them. mom got the jars hot by running them through the dishwasher, and soaked the lids in hot water. then we poured in the hot jam and turned the jars upside down. that was enough heat to seal them.

so thanks, mom, for teaching me. and in the interest of Titus 2 (when did i become the OLDER woman in that verse????), i would love to teach anyone else who wants to know. just show up with a bunch of peaches (or whatever) and some empty jars.

...

Email glitch

It seems that I've missed emails from a couple of people. I don't know what the problem is, but I'll try to sort it out. If you've sent me an email and haven't heard back, post a comment here and let me know. I could be neglectful, but I may not have gotten it! Sorry for any confusion.

...

oh no you didn't

Yes, that's a mouse hole.


I don't know what else to say.

...

Calorie watch

So, the answer is 1880 calories. In Chili's Chicken Crispers. That's three Big Macs, people.

I'm not a big calorie counter. Anyone who's had my chicken fried steak with gravy and mashed potatoes and fried okra can attest to that. We were curious so I looked it up, and I was stunned.

So now you know.

THIS JUST IN

We just heard from the BGCT, and our funding for the new building was approved. We're set to close July 6, if not sooner.

Praise God!

Can anybody watch the news without crying???

Did anybody else see this case? A 78 year old man was struck by a car while crossing the street. He laid there in the street, conscious and bleeding, while ten cars passed and a crowd of pedestrians gawked. While 4 people did call 911, no one approached him to offer help. I'm sure you've heard of the bystander effect, and this case isn't really that surprising, but it's still sad. The effect was first described to explain the murder of Kitty Genovese, who was raped and murdered in an alleyway by her apartment with 38 witnesses. None of the witnesses intervened or even called police. In a psychological experiment,

Latané and Darley sat a series of college students in a cubicle amongst a number of other cubicles in which there were tapes of other students playing (the student thought they were real people). One of the voices cries for help and makes sounds of severe choking. When the student thought they were the only person there, 85% rushed to help. When they thought there was one other person, this dropped to 65%. And when they thought there were four other people, this dropped again to 31%.

It seems that "diffusion of responsibility" occurs, where everyone assumes someone else will do something. Also, you sort of look around to see how everyone else responds. If no one else is freaking out or doing anything, you probably won't either. But of course they're all doing the same thing.

So apparently, if you get hit by a car, or mugged, or worse, you're better off if only one person sees it happen. If you have the misfortune of being in a crowded area, single out one person to help. "You! Call an ambulance!" Then they feel some personal responsibility. Or if you are a witness who can manage to act, other people are more likely to follow your lead and pitch in as well. Andy and Gabrielle, your comments are eagerly anticipated.

What else is on the news this morning?

Let's see. So far I've seen dead bodies floating and children begging in Burma. What do you think; should we just roll some tanks in there and deliver aid whether the junta likes it or not? We've done that before. Probably not likely, though, since Western nations don't have a financial stake in the region. But isn't that the ostensible reason we're in Iraq? Delivery from an oppressive regime? I'm not a political junkie, or even terribly knowledgeable about foreign policy. I'm just venting here.

What else? Oh, the nine year old boy who dropped dead on the baseball field. His mom is campaigning for defibrillators on little league fields. Great idea. I support it fully. They're not hard to use at all. Nothing like on TV. (Sorry to disappoint.) Well, the ones in the hospital are like that. But not the little ones for public areas.

In Hyde family news:
Betty had been showing some interest in the potty, so I thought I'd give her a chance in pullups and see what happened. So now, she takes off her pullup, runs to the potty, and poops on the floor next to the potty. She's done this everyday since Monday. (I have pictures; you can thank me now for not putting them up.)

:::sigh:::

Don't worry, I'll keep you posted. Can you stand the anticipation?

...

Calorie count

Please vote in the poll to your right. No cheating!

French Dip

Yes, sometimes I photograph my food. Don't you?

Slow Cooker French Dip

makes 4-6 sandwiches

2 lb chuck roast
1 can beef broth
1 packet onion dip mix
1 bottle beer (the darker the better)
6 french rolls
butter

1. Trim some of the fat off the roast. Not too much.
2. Put roast in slow cooker with broth, dip, and beer.
3. Cook on low 8 hours.
4. Pull out meat and shred with forks.
5. Remove cooking liquid to saucepan. Boil to reduce, 10-20 minutes.
6. Return meat to cooker with a bit of cooking liquid to reheat while the dipping sauce reduces.
7. Slice rolls, brush with butter and toast.
8. Serve with small bowls of dipping sauce on the side.

Reducing the sauce is optional. It just makes it a little thicker, not so watery. Feel free to skip that step. Also, I don't strain my sauce, but it would probably look prettier if you did.

This goes well with roast potatoes. They like the sauce too.

...

Kitty in my pocket

yes, that's a bathrobe. don't judge me.