VACATION!

We are going on a "healing vacation" with Rosie this next week and we are soooooooo excited! We are headed to Disney World, and going on a Disney Cruise!!!!!!!! So excited!
I just wanted you all to know that I did cook my meals this past week but it has been crazy, so I will post about my meals, and our trip when I get back!

Thick Porridge with Cream and Treacle

Harry ate his thick, sticky porridge while talking with Ron about his class schedule (Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, ch. 8). Also, Professor Umbridge eats some porridge in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, ch. 25, while glaring at the teachers as they discuss the mass outbreak from Azkaban.
I actually woke up at 6 a.m. this morning for no particular reason. I just laid in bed for about ten minutes and then got up. I was able to take a slow morning and by 7 a.m Rose still wasn't awake so I decided to make some Porridge the Harry Potter way for breakfast. I have never made hot oatmeal this way and wasn't quite sure how it would turn out. You boil water, then then add your oats and then let it simmer for about a 1/2 hour, until all the water is boiled out of it. Then, we actually had heavy cream in our fridge so I poured a bit of that on my porridge and the recipe called for a Golden syrup to be poured on top of that. So I pulled out my corn syrup and squeezed it from the bottle to my bowl. I took my first bite and am very happy with it! I have never, in my life put syrup on top of oatmeal so this was somewhat of a nerve racking idea, but I do believe I will be pulling out the golden syrup from know on. It turns out that its not only delicious on pancakes! I also really like the flavor that the cream gives the oat meal too. Very delicious! I give this a 5. When Rose wakes up I will get to see what she thinks about it:)
In case you were wondering Treacle is a golden syrup, which can be substituted by molasses or light or dark corn syrup.
English History: "Often when we hear the word "porridge," we think of "Goldilocksw and the Three Bears," but its actually a real food that real people in the United Kingdom eat, especially the Scots, who've been eating porridge since before the arrival of the Anglo-Saxons in the fifth and sixth centuries" ("The unofficial Harry Potter Cookbook," Bucholz, pg. 110).
Grief and Healing: It's interesting how time makes you forget faces and dates, but the heart won't let you forget the experience or the emotions. I had to break down yesterday and watch the beautiful video's of Ruby's short life. Just as to verify to my brain that my heart isn't making things up. Ruby was beautiful! I still sometimes can feel the sensation of brushing my fingers against her soft little cheeks, and how her tiny hands would wrap themselves around my finger. Sometimes I just want to wrap my arms around my chest and think for a split second that I am hugging my little girl. These are all the desires and memories of my heart and when those moments hit my brain kicks in to bring me back to reality, and thats when I hug Rose, and I see Ruby in Rose, and they both are beautiful!

The Menu for the week of 2/19/12

Cinnamon Pull Apart Breakfast Rolls, pg. 114
Scotch Collops, pg. 141
Thick Porridge with Cream and Treacle, pg. 111
Bon Apetit!

Shepherds Pie

I know this was last weeks Valentine Main Course, but I have been a bit of a slacker. I'll blame it on life, sometimes it just gets busy! Harry ate his Shepherds Pie at dinner without much appetite. He would be spending the afternoon in detention with Professor Lockhart signing fan mail, and then finish it off by hearing a freaky voice that no one else heard. I love how Ron tells Harry in the book that it doesn't matter if your a wizard or a muggle, hearing voices is never a good thing! (Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, ch. 7).
Side Note: Mr. B and I finished reading the second Harry Potter book last week and are now reading HP and the Prisoner of Azkaban. We are doing really well with getting our books read! Not to mention we both are really enjoying it!
I am not a big Shepherds Pie person, but I made this for Mr. B for our Valentine dinner kind of as a joke. His Grandpa is ALWAYS making shepherds pie. Mr. B goes to his grandparents house every week for lunch and most the time ends up with all the left overs whipped up into something with Potatoes on top. Maybe next year I will make up for the Pie and do ribs...But the pie was good! It was very easy to make and once again is a recipe where I had everything in my cupboard to make, which is always fabulous! I give this pie a 4.
English History: "Victorian housewives were delighted with the invention of the mincing machine because it helped them mince leftover roast lamb from Sunday to be used during the week in dishes such as shepherd's pie," ("The Unofficial Harry Potter Cookbook," Bucholz, pg. 136.
Grief and Healing: There were two babies in my church that were born one week after Ruby. One was a girl the other a boy. It has been so heart wrenching to me and Mr. B seeing their sweet babies, and how happy they are, and watching their babies grow, while ours didn't even make it to her 1 month Birthday. I have had to avoid looking at their babies because of my fear of just breaking down in tears knowing in my heart that my Ruby should be at the same milestones their babies are at. Yesterday at church one of the babies was blessed, the little girl and she was beautiful in a fluffy off white dress. This time I couldn't help but stare at her. I was ready for the unspoken awkwardness to end between me and my friends. So after church I happened to be where that family was while they took pictures with their baby. At first I couldn't look and then as they were getting ready to go, with out thinking I just stood up, went up to the Daddy and said can I hold her. I think I took him and his Wife off guard. He handed her to me and I of course did exactly what I knew I would do. I cried. That sweet baby girl looked up at me and smiled and I hurt, and yet it was sweet all at the same time. I did a little small talk with her Mommy and then put her in her car seat, and then walked away. It was a HUGE milestone for me. I have been able to hold babies since Ruby has passed away, all babies except for this one, and I finally did it and I think that Ruby was smiling at me from up in Heaven.

Hot Chocolate

The last night Harry enjoyed a delicious dinner made by Mrs. Weasley before stealing the Weasley car and driving himself to Hogwarts, Harry enjoyed a homemade desert and Hot chocolate (Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Ch. 5). This was very yummy and very easy to make. I was freezing all day the other day and this chocolate was very warm and yummy! I give it a 4.
English History: Bucholz says, "Before Coenraad van Houten was born, people enjoyed hot chocolate with pools of grease floating on top. But then along came the Dutch chemist, who figured out how to press out the cocoa butter from the cocoa beans in the early 1800's. Plus, he invented Dutch cocoa, which is leaps and bounds better than natural cocoa. We modern folk owe him a big debt of gratitude: every city should have a statue of this man, and every village and hamlet should have a Coenraad van Houten Street (The Unofficial Harry Potter Cookbook" pg. 74.)
Side note: through cooking these meals I am finding that the author Dinah Bucholz is a very funny, creative, witty, inspiring woman! I was thinking the other day as I was cooking one of these meals about how I would just love to meet her! I'm not sure what she would think about me. I don't know if people who write cookbooks ever think that someone is actually going to cook all their meals and then critic them. Maybe I am the one person she was hoping this book wouldn't fall into the hands of, but alas, she has no other choices now. I am absolutely loving her book and Love reading her little notes and tales!
Grief and Healing: We received an unexpected fed ex delivery the other day. I excitedly opened it up and found wind chimes inside. A local group had sent us a sympathy gift. I'm not a chime person and at first was a bit hesitant. I looked a little closer at the chimes and found that written on the bottom of the tab that makes the chimes chime was "Ruby." I was touched then. I was so excited to hang them on our front porch so that everyone who comes to my house can hear our beautiful Ruby in the wind. I have chuckled a few times when the wind picks up and the chimes are playing their music like crazy knowing that I probably have a few neighbors cursing us for our wind chimes, but to us the music is beautiful. Just today Rose and I were sitting at the table eating lunch and we heard the chimes. Rose looked at me and said "Ruby's talking!" I told her yes, isn't it beautiful. Some people say that when you loose a loved one they are everywhere around you, a butterfly a chirping bird, a balloon floating away and in the wind. Last night I was having a hard time, missing my little Ruby. I laid in bed and listened to my Ruby chimes and smiled. The music she was making for me last night was beautiful and somehow whispered to me that she was very near, and she loved me. I needed that last night!

Petunia's Pudding (English Strawberry Trifle)

Lets start with desert today:) We had the Missionaries from our church over for our Valentine's dinner (lets face it, they need love too. They get a whole lot of doors slammed in their faces!) They are holding the beautiful pudding creation! This recipe comes from Harry Potter and The chamber of Secrets, Ch. 1. You know this story i'm sure...its when Dobby shows up and destroys it by dropping it on the floor all in the hopes of keeping Harry from going back to Hogwarts. It of course did not keep Harry out of Hogwarts, but got him locked in his room with food slipped under the door to him, until the Weasley's showed up to rescue Harry. I love Trifles and was so excited to make this. It is also a very elegant looking desert. I love that you put it in a glass bowl so that everyone can see the layers. This whole desert was made from scratch! I made the yellow loaf cake (very yummy) then the custard. I was very nervous about the custard as the last time I attempted custard making I ended with scrambled eggs in cream, very nasty, but fortunately the cupid's arrow of good fortune hit me and the custard turned out very beautifully! You put strawberry jam on the slices of the yellow cake then cube it. Then put the custard over the top, and the strawberry's on top of that. I also added a think layer of chocolate, because lets be honest, you can have valentines celebrations without just a little bit of chocolate. Then the whipped cream went on top. This desert is supposed to sit over night to let the flavors all meld together, but this desert only got a few hours because I did not plan ahead. It was yummy, but truly was better the next day! I give this recipe a 5 and look forward to making it again!
English History: "English trifle started out as a simple custard made of cream and egg yolks, sweetened, and then flavored with ginger and rosewater. It grew into its more elegant form in the 1800's: cake layered with fruit and custard in a clear glass dish and topped with whipped cream" Bucholz, "The Unofficial Harry Potter Cookbook," pg. 12.
Grief and Healing: I am realizing more and more how every person's grief is dealt with differently. Every grieving person writes their own book on how life goes on. The wonderful thing about those books is they all are correct. One person may heal a little quicker or sooner than the next, but everyone learns that they have to be patient with themselves and listen to what their heart needs. I sometimes wish that I could just be healed and get on with life, the way it was before Ruby touched my heart, but that is not the way grief works. Working through my grief I am learning that I don't need everything I thought I needed before. Life can be much, much less complicated. I realize know that I had way too much on my to do list and way too much perfection to reach. Today I am just me, and I am okay with that. I love a poem I heard once written by an unknown author. It reads "I walked a mile with pleasure, she chatted all the way, but left me none the wiser for all she had to say. I walked a mile with sorrow and ne'er a word said she, but oh the things I learned from her when sorrow walked with me.

Happy Valentines Day!!!

I hope you all have had a wonderful day! My sweet husband got me a beautiful Ruby Angel/Heart necklace. Its so beautiful! We went to give Ruby 3 roses tonight, and then came home and had a beautiful Harry Potter themed meal (I will post them the next couple of days.) I wanted to give all of you a Valentine gift and thought I would share one of my favorite recipes! It is my "Ruby's Sugar Cookie recipe", and trust me they are AMAZING! I actually found out that I won second place these cookies from a contest I entered. I found out I won this contest the day after Ruby was born, so that is why I renamed them my "Ruby" cookies. Enjoy:)

RUBY'S SUGAR COOKIES
1 1/4 c soft butter
2 c Sugar
2 Eggs
5 c flour
2 tsp Salt
4 tsp Baking Powder
1 tsp Pumpkin Pie Spice
1/2 c Milk

-Cream butter and sugar. Add eggs and beat until fluffy.
-Sift together dry ingredients and add alternately with milk to creamed mixture. If dough is sticky add flour to handle. (there is no need to chill this recipe, although I usually do unless it's an emergency.)
-Roll 1/4" thick on well-floured surface; cut.
Bake on ungreased baking sheet @ 375 degree's for 8 min., until edges just bein to brown. Cool on racks.
-Frost

Butter Cream Frosting
1 2 lb. bag powdered sugar
1 square butter (softened)
2 pinches salt
1 1/2 tsp. pure vanilla
1/2 (or slightly less) cup warmed (in microwave) milk
-Dump all ingredients in mixer bowl.
-Add milk gradually until desired thickness.
-Color and decorate as desired:)