Wine-In-a-Box!

I have a certain image...let's say, a reputation. My friends know me to be a bit of a wine enthusiast. When I told people about donating a kidney, more than a few of them asked whether I would still be able to drink wine. (I'm not going to lie... that was one of the first questions I asked the transplant doctor too.) When I go out to eat with friends, they often assume that I have some special oenophilic skills that allow me to order a superb bottle, and insist that I choose.

Well, the truth is, I just like wine a lot. I know what I like (red wine, sparkling wine, most whites) and what I don't like (Riesling). But if you were to subject me to a blind taste test, I probably wouldn't be able to distinguish the 87 point bottle versus the 95 point bottle, or pick up every note of currant and lingonberry, or quantify the oakiness. I would just be able to say "Yup, that's a Pinot Noir, and I like it. Got any more?"

So while cruising the aisles of Bevmo this afternoon, I came across a $5 off coupon. (I noticed the coupon first, before I even saw what it was for.) The coupon was for a line of wines from the Black Box company. The box claims to keep wines fresh for up to four weeks (as if this box is going to last four weeks in my house) and hold the equivalent of 4 standard wine bottles! After the coupon, this worked out to about $3/bottle! I decided to try their Chardonnay. (They have reds as well, but since the box wouldn't fit in our wine fridge, I thought it would be difficult to get the red to the proper temperature.)

I have to admit that I was very impressed! The wine is delicious and the box is very convenient. It's just like getting lemonade out of an Igloo cooler! It's nice to be able to pour a glass in the evening and not feel like I have to finish the whole bottle before it spoils. I could even dump the box into a pretty decanter and serve it to company without hesitation. In fact, it's much better than the typical swill that passes for house wine in many restaurants.

I give two thumbs up to this wine-in-a-box. Cheers!

Mission: Thanksgiving

(Photo from Better Homes and Gardens, not my dining room table...)

November tiptoed quietly around and snuck up rather quickly this year! Now one of my favorite holidays is almost here, and I’m in full planning mode. I usually host thanksgiving, but we took the year off in 2008 to take the kids to Disneyland. As fun as that was, I’m looking forward to resuming the helm in my kitchen and hosting a fabulous dinner. That means it’s time to start preparing! I’ve been jotting down some ideas and timelines, and thought I’d post them for easy reference. (I've had such phenomenal luck with several of Pioneer Woman's recipes lately, so I'll be giving a few of her dishes a try this year.)

Three Weeks Before:

• Determine the preliminary guest list. I’ll only have around 17-ish guests this year. But if we’re friends, you’re reading this, and you don’t have a better offer, consider yourself invited!
• Start scanning and hoarding coupons for things I know I’ll need to stock up on…chicken stock, spices, baking staples, butter, aluminum foil, etc.
• Make a list of any items I may need to borrow, such as a coffee pot, extra serving dishes, crock pots, roasting pan, folding chairs, banquet table, etc.
• Take inventory of wine stock and replenish if necessary. Bevmo’s 5-cent wine sale ends Monday!

Two Weeks Before:

• Coordinate with guests on what they will bring. My MIL and SIL usually bring some sides and veggies.
• Compile all of my recipes.
• Clean my oven. There’s something down there that gets a little stinky when I turn it on.
• Think about pulling together some decorations. This is one area where I’m sorely lacking. I hang up my wreath on the front door, but I think it might be fun to do a pretty centerpiece or table scape this year.

One Week Before:

• Make the master shopping list. I usually like to do my shopping the weekend before Thanksgiving.
• Dig out table clothes from linen closet. Wash and iron. (I know…I don’t iron my work clothes, but I iron the table clothes I use once a year.)
• Freshen up the house so it is guest-ready: Give the guest bath rooms a good cleaning, hose off the front patio, and commence the slow-moving exodus of toys from the living room to the second story of the house.
• Clean out the fridge and freezer to make room for thanksgiving goodness.

A Few Days Before:

• Take turkey out of freezer to thaw.
• Make the pie crusts, wrap, and freeze.
• Make Butternut Squash Puree and freeze.
• Make a couple loaves of breakfast bread and freeze. My mom and dad always come over early in the morning so my mom can help me. It’s nice to have some pumpkin bread, banana bread, and OJ on hand to feed my morning helpers.

The Day Before:

• Order pizza for dinner. It’s going to be a busy night, and I won’t have time for a ‘regular’ meal.
• Take pie crusts out of freezer to thaw.
• Take butternut squash puree out of freezer to thaw.
• Make the mashed potatoes. Place into a large casserole covered with foil and refrigerate overnight.
• Prepare turkey brine.
• Chop bread for stuffing and let it dry out a bit.
• Prepare stuffing and place in crock pots overnight.
• Prepare dinner roll dough. Allow it to rise for a couple of hours, then refrigerate in a large bowl.
• Remove the bag of innards from the turkey cavity, rinse it thoroughly, place it in brining bag, and add water and brining solution. I usually store my turkey in an ice chest, because my fridge is pretty full at this point.
• Prepare pies (apple and pecan). My dad is contributing a pumpkin cheesecake this year, in lieu of pumpkin pie!
• Set the table(s). I’ll have 2-3 tables set up for eating, and one long banquet table set up in the kitchen to place all of the food on, buffet style. Prepare butter dishes and salt and pepper shakers for each table.

Thanksgiving Morning:

• Remove the turkey from the brining bag, rinse thoroughly, place on a roasting pan and cover tightly with foil. If using a meat thermometer, don’t forget to insert it before placing in the oven.
• Remove mashed potatoes from fridge in the morning so they’ll be room temperature by afternoon.
• Remove dinner roll dough from fridge and allow it to come to room temperature before baking.
• My obsession with the Outlander series and Claire’s daily life in Colonial America has led me to consider not wasting a single part of the turkey this year. I just might attempt giblet gravy, and I’ll definitely have a recipe on hand for turkey carcass soup.
• Have some munchies out to tide over the company while dinner is wrapped up. Maybe a veggie tray and some Chex Mix.
• Prepare a big jug of iced tea and set up a drink station in the laundry room with glasses, an ice bucket, bottled water, sodas, wine, and a corkscrew so guests can help themselves to drinks without getting in the way of kitchen proceedings.

That’s about all I have so far. Feel free to share any tips or suggestions you have to make the day go smoothly. I’m trying to think of ideas to get the kids involved and provide fun activities, without them getting in the way and making things more difficult. Ideas?

Happy Fall!

Whew! What a weekend! I think one of my favorite things about the fall is all of the enjoyable outdoor family activities. We’re all thrilled to be outside, and there seems to be no shortage of fun things to do.

On Friday, I took the afternoon off work and volunteered for Elliot’s Fall Festival at school. I manned a booth with another mom, and we were in charge of helping the kids fill gloves with candy corns and popcorn to make “witches hands”. I had a blast with the kids, and I especially loved watching Elliot in her element. It is very gratifying to see how she is positively thriving in school!

We got an early start on Saturday for Elliot’s first official soccer game. (I’m proud to report that our Comets earned a 3-1 victory!) Joel actually stepped up to play the roll of coach for their game, so I got to watch both of them hustling up and down the field. She may not be the star of the team, but she puts her heart into the game and tries her hardest. I just don’t think I could be any prouder of her! After the soccer game, it was the event we’d all been waiting for: The great SPAM Cook-off of 2009. This is sure to become an annual tradition for both of our families! While neither of us took home the grand prize, I will concede that Bill’s maple and habanero SPAM Puppies were pretty tasty. Our SPAM Breakfast Cups were good fresh from the oven, but after a few hours in the ice chest, they just didn’t hold up too well. We certainly had the highest score in presentation, though. Just look at those baskets! (On a side note, did you know that SPAM is over $4/can? Why on earth do people buy processed, canned meat that is more expensive than just about any fresh meat? I don’t really get it, but the contest was certainly fun!)

Of course the kids got to enjoy some of the fair amusements after the SPAM-off. The girls enjoyed a few rides, and my little Ethan rocked the basketball shoot! He wanted to play SO badly, and I figured he had no chance of sinking a basket (those things are all rigged, right?) Well, we head up to the booth and the carnie (that’s probably not PC, huh?) hands him the ball and tells him he can stand a little bit closer to the hoop. He probably thought my 3-year old had no chance….but it was nothing but net! Ethan made his “basick” and earned a new Batman ball.
After all of this, the kids barely had enough energy to trick-or-treat, but they managed to put on their adorable costumes and hit the streets for some candy. My mom made their costumes again, and, of course, did an amazing job. For the first time, Ethan actually got to pick out his own costume (I’ve always ‘encouraged’ him to pick something I wanted.) So he decided he would be Batman for Halloween and Spiderman for Christmas. I guess we’d better get started on making the Spiderman costume now…
Elliot was a HSM cheerleader. She’s pretty obsessed with that movie, and I fear she’s developing unreasonable expectations of what high school is actually like.
Naturally, Sunday was pretty relaxed. We just tried to recover from our busy Saturday (and from eating SPAM, of course…) Happy Fall!

Just Another Mommy Clique?

I am always willing to lend a hand and volunteer.

A bake sale at the office? No problem…cookies are in the oven now.

Someone needs to work the booth for the fall festival? Sounds great… I’ll take the afternoon off of work and be there.

Teacher appreciation dinner? Of course I’ll contribute something…what do you need?

Perhaps I’ve inherited this trait. When I was growing up, my mom was very active in our elementary school PTA, so I’ve always just assumed that the PTA (it’s actually a PTSA at our school) was just something that moms did. I’ve been looking forward to joining the PTSA since before preschool. And when I went to the first meeting of the year and saw that out of the entire school, there were only around a dozen parents attending, I figured they should be glad to have me!

Well, last week I lent my crock-pot for the aforementioned teacher appreciation dinner. Then on Monday, I sent a very polite e-mail to the organizer asking her where and when I might be able to pick up my trusty crock-pot. (I rely on that baby on an almost daily basis…it’s been a rough week without it.) Well, I thought Attitudy-Judy’s reply was just a tad rude! What the heck?!? Why on earth can’t people just be nice anymore?

So now I’m all worried about this PTSA thing, and wondering if everyone is going to be all snooty? I am so sick and tired of trying to infiltrate Mommy Cliques! Kindermusik… moms’ groups at church… and now possibly my most excitedly anticipated PTSA? No! They will be nice to me and accept me, dang it.

Hopefully I’ll get my crock-pot back before Elliot graduates. Hopefully my cookies for tomorrow's bake sale turned out okay. Hopefully Attitudy-Judy was just having a bad day. And hopefully PTSA isn’t the clique I fear it might be.

In The Name of Love

My fourth U2 experience just rocked my socks off last night. It took awesomeness to a new level, and then wrapped it up in a cool leather jacket with some wrap around Bono glasses. That, my friends, is awesome.

Joel and I rode the bike out to the stadium, because October is the perfect time for riding, and we don't often have the chance to ride together...in great weather...to a U2 concert!
We thought we had left with plenty of time to spare, but as we were sitting on the 101 with a mile to go before our exit, watching the minutes tick by, I was starting to get panicked. We were stuck for so long that Joel finally had to turn the bike off because the idling was burning his leg. Was the City of Glendale surprised that 50,000+ people beseiged their town last night? Really? I mean, really? It was beyond frustrating. We FINALLY made it into the parking lot and had to run about 3/4 mile. This would not normally be a big deal, but I was just over two weeks post surgery, and wearing motorcycle boots. I was pretty wiped out by the time we got to our seats. Having the bike was a huge advantage when we were leaving, though. Joel was able to weave and maneuver through the parking lot and get us out ahead of the masses. Score!

Here is our view of the stage. It was just staggering. The lights, the smoke, the expando-screen, the sound... Amazing! Can you tell I enjoyed the show?
It would be impossible to pick my favorite part. But I did get pretty teary during Desmond Tutu's introduction to One. And I loved Larry working his bongo during I Think I'll Go Crazy... and Bono and Edge singing an acoustic version of Stuck in a Moment together... and Adam just standing up and oozing cool for the entire show. Too many great moments to choose from!

It's U2 Time!!!

I’ve been a U2 fan since my junior year of high school, and my passion hasn’t wavered since. So as I sit here, eagerly anticipating tonight’s rocking concert, I’m cranking the U2 and thinking about some of my favorites….

(And let me offer a disclaimer here…sometimes picking a favorite U2 song is like picking your favorite dessert. They are all fabulous, and each one holds an important place. Sometimes the craving for a certain treat is just stronger than others!)

Favorite Album: Achtung Baby
Why?: Maybe because it was my first? Or maybe just because it is solid and consistently rocks every single song.

Favorite Video: Even Better Than the Real Thing


Why?: Because, seriously, how did they DO that?





Favorite Line: As you enter this world, I pray you depart, With a wrinkled face, and a brand new heart
Why?: It rhymes, it’s clever, and it summarizes conversion in just a few words!

Favorite Story Song: Until The End of the World
Why?: One popular interpretation of this song is the story of Judas’ betrayal of Jesus, from the perspective of Judas. I’ve always found that story fascinating.




Favorite Collaboration(s): U2 & Green Day, The Saints Are Coming
U2 & Willie Nelson, Slow Dancing
U2 and Frank Sinatra: I’ve Got You Under My Skin


Favorite Rock-out-loud song: When Love Comes To Town
Why?: Great guitar from two legends

Favorite Slow and emotional song: 40
Why?: “I waited patiently for the Lord, He inclined and heard my cry
He brought me up out of the pit, out of the miry clay.” Enough Said.

I’m sure I’ve barely scratched the surface, and if I compiled this list tomorrow, I’d very likely have different answers.

Yay U2!!!

The Road To Recovery

First of all, I want to thank my wonderful family that stepped up to help while I was out of commission. My amazing Joel has been running our household, taking care of me and the kids, preparing meals, doing laundry, all while attending to his paying job as well. I’m sure he’s exhausted, but my confidence in him allowed me to relax and recuperate. My mom, aunt and mother-in-law also pitched in with the kids while Joel was visiting me in the hospital. I never could have done it without them.

And many kind thanks to all of you who took a minute to leave a comment here or on my facebook wishing me well. Trust me, when you are all alone at night in a hospital, sweet notes from friends are very uplifting and encouraging. They all made me smile!

I wanted to jot down a few notes about my operation recovery (with plenty of searchable terms) for anyone who is considering this awesome procedure. Paired kidney donation is a great opportunity to transform lives of kidney patients, and I would do it again in a heartbeat. (Well, not literally, since I only have the one kidney left now…but you know what I mean.)

I am almost completely recovered now. I would say I’m at about 80%. I’m not quite ready to hit the gym again, and my incision is still a little sore and oozing, but I’m getting more comfortable each day. In fact, I’m not even taking any pain medication anymore!

When I finally made it out of the recovery area and into my room, I was eager to get up and walk. Moving really promotes the healing process, and I wanted to move it along as quickly as I could! It was a pretty slow and painful trek around the nurses’ station, but I managed. During my hospital stay, much of the incision pain was managed by a handy new device called an On-Q Pump. Basically, it was a thin tube that was sewn in under my skin along the incision, connected to a pump that delivered a constant stream of numbing medicine. It felt pretty weird when they pulled it out, but not painful. Since the kidney removal surgery is performed laparoscopically, they had to inflate my abdominal cavity with air to create room for all of the surgeon’s tools. After the surgery, remaining air basically seeps out the pores of the skin. This part was pretty uncomfortable and made my back and shoulders very sore. Also, when the surgeon is in there looking for that magic kidney, he’s not too gentle with the jostling of all the other internal organs. For the next several days after the surgery, I would feel little spasms, which felt like my innards settling back into their normal position. Between that and the muscles healing, it kind of felt like a 3-day labor contraction. Good times! And while the nursing staff at Good Sam was fantastic, it isn’t exactly fun to have people coming into your room at all hours of the night to draw blood, check vitals, remove catheters, and inquire about the status of your bowels. Honestly, is nothing private at a hospital?

So, I know I haven’t painted the prettiest picture there. But don’t be discouraged or anxious… I’m going to share the good parts now! My dad’s new kidney started functioning immediately. It was producing urine while he was still in the operating room! When I saw him after our surgeries, he had a glow in his eyes and a smile on his face that I will never, ever forget. There is really nothing in the world like having your dad break down in tears, thanking you for your gift. To hear your daddy, the man you’ve looked up to for the last 30 years, call you his hero…there is nothing else like that at all! And he didn’t even get my actual kidney! The recipient of my kidney was a 22-year old college student, who, I was told by the transplant coordinator, was absolutely ecstatic to be receiving a new kidney and ending his dependence on dialysis. Because of the paired kidney donation process, multiple kidney patients are able to receive transplants! Donors have the joy of helping their loved ones, while also helping a complete stranger. (It is a bit strange to think there is a young man walking around out there with a little piece of my body inside him…I wonder if he has an inexplicable taste for dark chocolate and Dolly Parton movies now?)

I will certainly admit that surgery is not very fun. But I’m only a week and a half post-op, and I’m already back to work and feeling pretty good. It’s a short and temporary inconvenience, compared to a life-changing gift.