order from chaos- challah bread

I am always amazed when I take a few random ingredients and turn them into something beautiful. I have remembered to take pictures of more things that I make and am regularly shocked at the food I make. Not because it is so incredible but because these meals started from 5-20 ingredients and then they morphed into a finished product that we can all eat and enjoy.

When I heard about the earthquake in Haiti, I was making Challah bread. I instantly had visions of working around the clock to send hundreds of Challah loaves to Haiti! Of course, the need is too great for my little loaves of Challah bread to make a difference (and it would have taken weeks!) Then I realized every little bit counts. I didn't make Challah bread for Haiti but I did hurry to make my donation. I was reminded at that moment of the interconnectedness of the human family. The spirit that drives us to be concerned for strangers. I am not usually into being all philosophical but in case we have an earthquake tonight and the hill of houses above me falls down on my home- I want you to know that I love you. My family and friends, you are the pieces of my life that make it rich.


Here is Adrick- one of our guests for Greek Night (see post below)And here is Adrick and the girls. Go do something ALL GOOD! HAHAHAHAHA!!

Greek Night!

We celebrated Greece last night in our kitchen with some good friends of ours from Mexico and another friend from Orem. England, Scotland, Mexico and Orem-Mexico were all represented at our dinner table. We had some Souvlakis with homemade Naan and then we finished off our party for the taste buds with some Baklava. I don't think Baklava comes from Greece but it's in the same region (Europe/middle east) so we counted it. I am still recovering. I will post the recipes below my ten for the week...

1. Souvlakis
2. A husband who helps with the dishes
3. Kids who go to bed at 7:30
4. Teething crackers
5. Presidente Torres y su familia
6. Granite countertops
7. Family scripture "study" in the morning
8. Inexpensive kids clothes
9. Kid's paintings
10. Rapid-Rise Yeast- it's magic!

Naan-

• 1 (.25 ounce) package active dry yeast
• 1 cup warm water
• 1/4 cup white sugar
• 3 tablespoons milk
• 1 egg, beaten
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 4 1/2 cups bread flour
• 1/4 cup butter, melted -
• DIRECTIONS
  
• In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Let stand about 10 minutes, until frothy. Stir in sugar, milk, egg, salt, and enough flour to make a soft dough. Knead for 6 to 8 minutes on a lightly floured surface, or until smooth. Place dough in a well oiled bowl, cover with a damp cloth, and set aside to rise. Let it rise 1 hour, until the dough has doubled in volume.
• Punch down dough, and knead in garlic. Pinch off small handfuls of dough about the size of a baseball (not a softball). Roll into balls, and place on a tray. Cover with a towel, and allow to rise until doubled in size, about 30 minutes.
• During the second rising, preheat grill to medium heat (We used the George Foreman grill)
• At grill side, roll one ball of dough out into a thin circle. Lightly oil grill. Place dough on grill, and cook for 2 to 3 minutes, or until puffy and lightly browned. Brush uncooked side with butter or cooking spray, and turn over- cook until browned, another 2 to 4 minutes. Remove from grill, and continue the process until all the naan has been prepared.

Souvlakis with Tsasiki and Cucumber Salsa-

• 2 Kirby cucumbers, divided
• 1 1/2 cups Greek yogurt (3/4 pounds)
• 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice, divided
• 5 garlic cloves, minced, divided
• 1 pint grape tomatoes, quartered
• 1 small red onion, halved and thinly sliced
• 1/3 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley
• 1/4 cup chopped mint
• 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 rounded teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 rounded teaspoon dried rosemary, crumbled
• 14 Naan (homemade or you can use packaged pita)
• 1/2 roast chicken, skin discarded, meat shredded- we cooked ours in the crockpot on high for 4.5 hours with garlic salt and pepper. Then, we took it out and shredded it.
• 1/2 head iceberg lettuce, thinly sliced
• DIRECTONS

• Peel and grate 1 cucumber, then squeeze it with your hands to remove excess water. Stir together with yogurt, 1/2 teaspoon lemon juice, one third of garlic, and 1/4 teaspoon each of salt and pepper to make tsatsiki.

  Cut remaining cucumber into 1/4-inch pieces and stir together with tomatoes, onion, parsley, mint, remaining 1/2 teaspoon lemon juice, and 1/4 teaspoon each of salt and pepper to make salsa.

  Gently simmer oil, oregano, rosemary, remaining garlic, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/8 teaspoon pepper in a small heavy saucepan, stirring constantly, until garlic is fragrant but not browned, 1 to 2 minutes. Toss chicken with 3 tablespoons garlic oil prior to serving your meal. -Preheat grill to medium (we used the George Foreman generously sprayed with cooking spray between each naan) Grill the Naan for 2 minutes on each side.

• Assemble by taking Naan, spreading with Tsasiki, chicken and cucumber salsa. More great toppings we used were sauteed bell peppers and onions, and feta cheese. YUM!

Yum, guinea pig.

My dear friend Cindy just had a baby last week. I wanted to bring her dinner so here is our text conversation...

Me: "I am making Moroccan Chicken for dinner tomorrow. Have you heard of B'stillas? If not, I won't make you the guinea pig- I have had them before but never made them."

Cindy: "I am so excited for your dinner. I have never had guinea pig but did see it in Ecuador and was a little freaked out. I'm glad you are coming over tomorrow."

She seriously spent 24 hours thinking I was bringing her guinea pig for dinner. The best part about Cindy though is that she would have eaten it to make me feel good. Thanks Cindy!

Here is what he really looks like and my ten for the week!

1. Banana Bread
2. Snowshoeing (I went yesterday and felt great this morning but can't walk tonight)
3. Christmas Cards- we still need to send ours out!!
4. Digital Cameras
5. Dan Brown- for writing entertaining AND educational books.
6. Costco
7. Cute dresses
8. Stretch Island brand fruit leathers
9. Scrabble
10. Peapod is sitting up!

Not private yet

Now that I have announced privacy- I have heard from several people that I had no idea read my blog but it means a lot to me that they do. So, I am postponing privacy for another couple of weeks (to give the rest of the masses a chance to respond ;-). You will receive an invite when I do so have no fear, I did not forget you. I did also want to post a few photos from the last month that I have been slacking on. In no particular order...

Dee- right before she lost her third tooth- (1st on top) Can you see it sticking out?
After the loss- MJ is looking on with a tinge of jealousy
Whoa there Peapod!!
Neighbor, teacher, employee, and busdriver gifts
The girls in their new outfits enjoying the Arizona sun!
My three and my sister's two
Yes, the genes on my side of the family are dominant in all but one of my kids- here's to the Buchanan's!
Isn't he SO photogenic?
Here is what we handed out to the neighbors. We made 3 batches of appx. 80 cookies.
Oh and some families got this- the most delish granola known to man (and woman)
Here is our ridiculously little Christmas tree but the girls LOVED it and cried when we took it down.
After opening Reb's birthday presents- Dee is a great photographer!
Here is a container filled with Andes Mint cookies for Jared's employees.
Here Rebs looking so very adorable when her hair is done!
Not sure what inspired her to make this face- awesome.
The calmest she has been for the last 3 years.
Papa and Peapod- long lost twins. Reunited at last!

The Ten

Before the blog goes private- which was supposed to be today but I got busy...I wanted to post the ten things I am grateful for. Here goes...

1. Food, Inc. (It has made me afraid to eat EVERYTHING but it was a really interesting documentary)
2. Homemade coconut cupcakes- forget the diet, these are amazing
3. Fun dates where we read ridiculous "humor" books while drinking Starbucks Vanilla Steamer and Strawberries n Cream
4. REI- Even though hiking is about as crazy as I get, REI is a happy, happy place.
5. Conversations with the girls where they really get it.
6. Dee lost her top tooth and she looks awesome (picture tomorrow)
7. Church- I really enjoy it- all 3 hours!
8. Heidi's successful surgery! Get well soon sis!
9. Nice shoes- I don't really own any but I love looking at them. It makes me think, "ahhhh....someday!"
10. When you meet a couple that you and your husband get along with and then you see that your kids get along great too!

gotta go private

So, my friend Amber had someone look at her blog, click on all her pictures of her kids in swimsuits and then clicked on her entire friend list and looked at all of their blogs. Well, I am on her friend list and that totally creeps me out. So, you have until January 10th to let me know if you want an invite. Or you can send me an email anytime, kimallgood@gmail.com- make sure I know who you are! Love, Kim

grateful everyday in 2010

My friend Anna gave me a great idea- she is writing 3 things she is grateful for everyday. Isn't that a nice New Years resolution? I don't think I have the mind juice to write on the blog everyday but will commit to a weekly list of 10 (or more). So here are my twelve from the last week.

In no particular order...
1. The Hoover Dam- A site to behold.

2. JMA- love you man.

3. My kid's eyelashes- the one thing ALL of them got from Jared.
4. My family- Thanks for staying with me all these years, for being my people.
5. My in-laws- Just plain thanks!
6. allrecipes.com- nuf said.
7. nieniedialogues.blogspot.com- for the weekly tear ritual, I think you are amazing.
8. The Hunger Games books- I'm rootin' for ya Peeta! (new book September 2010- can't wait!)
9. Pajama days with the kids- few things beat that.
10. Dark, rainy days. I love dark rainy days so very much.
11. My kids- Peapods baby laugh, Rebs triple chin smile, MJ likes to debate just to prove she is right (though she never is, I love it!) Dee is every parents dream, she is near perfect in every way.
12. A clean house- it happens so rarely but it is a thing of beauty. I am sitting in one right now.

What are some of yours?
HAPPY 2010!