We aren't blog stars. We only publicly shame ourselves this way to keep in touch with all the people we love. We recently moved to Eagle, Idaho (near Boise) where Kimball took his first "real" job. Our kids, Leif (8 yrs) and Magnus (6 yrs) and Paia (4 yrs), are keeping us busy.
We did the usual traditional stuff this year -- cutting up the Jack-o-lantern (no idea where Gus left his shirt during this event), going to our church trunk or treat, trick or treating, and trying to make ourselves sick on pumpkin-flavored treats before we've even hit November. Our neighborhood elected to have our Halloween festivities on Saturday, and it was perfect weather. Ia and Gus decided to wear different costumes than they had the night before at the church trunk or treat. They have before and after pictures. At the trunk or treat, I even got a couple of shots of my husband and his twin brother in the same place at the same time! That's not so uncommon nowadays, but it used to be that since they both do radiology for Duke, if one was off, the other was on. Sorry the pictures are all out of order. Clearly I don't understand this first in, last posted concept.
After 10 years of medical training, Kim is finally accepting his first job (and hopefully his last) in Boise, Idaho. He'll be working for a group called Gem State Radiology. Although we've felt led there and really good about it, it was a very hard decision because the other places where we had offers were either gorgeous, in our home state, or had really nice and wonderful people in the radiology group. We also have very close friends in two of the cities. All said and done, we felt supremely grateful that Kim has a job in this hard market, and that we feel very excited about our final decision. It's going to break my heart to leave the Triangle area of North Carolina, but I'll deal with that when I have to.
So I just wanted to say that if you're not familiar, Boise isn't what you're thinking. It's not a desolate place in the middle of Idaho where everyone is a cowboy. Not to knock cowboys because my grandpa falls into that category, and I loved me a cowboy or two as a young 'un. We'll be living in Eagle, ID, which is basically a suburb of Boise (sorry Eagle peeps!) of around 11,000 people. Kimball covers the western part of Idaho so that will lessen his commute each way a good 20 minutes. But back to Boise. It's really clean, even right in the downtown and it's also very safe. We compared crime rates of all the cities we were considering and Boise was the lowest, even lower than Salt Lake City, which wasn't that low. hee. We stayed in a hotel downtown for the interviewing process, and I have to say it felt Twilight Zonish to go outside in the middle of a downtown where everyone was friendly and we could walk around at 9:00 p.m. and things were still beautifully tidy and safe.
I know you're going to need proof, hence the pictures. Some of the other great things about the Boise area -- it's super affordable. The homes are not expensive, and the taxes aren't bad. Milk is not $5 a gallon, which is what it was when we were living in Denver. The schools are great. The high schools in almost every area are rated really well, which can't be said for all cities. In fact, one gorgeous and charming city we considered, had a 50% drop out rate for its high school. Other areas, you had to be careful where you lived to get into the good high school, which is pretty much par for the course in every city. The city is progressive and has wonderful farmer's markets, a big local eating movement, and other green developments that I really appreciated. Although the big mountains aren't in view, from the city, they have some really striking foothills in Boise. At certain times of the year, they are covered with yellowish-bronze grasses that make them look a shimmery gold color. The sunrises and sunsets bounce off of the foothill angles more dramatically than they do mountains with large slopes. Do I wish I had larger mountains? Yeah, that would be the one thing that I'd change. But, there are beautiful rivers, trees, and grass doesn't struggle to grow. Did I mention there are lots of mountains in ID within driving distance?
They have a nice zoo that we visited, and lots of family activities. We went to an "Art in the Park" in the downtown and it was amazing how easy it was to navigate around the people. The population isn't huge so we felt like the airport was our personal jetpad, and parking wasn't an issue anywhere. I know the Boiseans complain about their traffic, but after living in Denver and in the East for most of my married life, it just wasn't "traffic" to me. To top things off, we're only five or so hours from where are parents live, and we loved that we have a good-sized community of our religious faith, without being the majority. So, everyone move to Boise! Or at least come visit us -- we're close to Sun Valley and the Tetons, not to mention countless other little resort areas. :)
I cut my hair shorter for the first time in 15 years. Man, it's so nice how easy it is to fix. For some strange reason, I really love long hair though. Do I love the versatility of being able to pull it back into a really greasy looking ponytail? I don't know, but that's what I was doing every day. I like a change every decade and a half or so, and this qualifies. It will be long again in half a year. In the end, it's like my mom told me when I was 11, "Olivia, it's vain to act like everyone else in the world cares about your hair." ha, ha.
While I was doing missionary service with my church in Louisiana, I discovered Crawfish Etouffee. It's one of those wonderful Cajun dishes that every family in Louisiana seems to have their own recipe for. You have to serve it over rice or you'll be considered a heretic. I sometimes substitute shrimp for the crawfish, but I've been surprised at how easy it is to find crawfish -- Walmart and Harris Teeter carry it, for example. And please, serve this with Tabasco. Here's my recipe: Etouffee Ingredients 4 tablespoons olive oil 4 tablespoons butter 1 to 1-1/2 cups chopped onion 1 cup chopped bell pepper (mix colors if you like) 1 cup chopped celery 4 to 6 cloves garlic, chopped 1 pound shrimp or crawfish tail meat cayenne pepper to taste 4 tablespoons flour 1 medium tomato, chopped 2 cups chicken stock About 3/4 cup chopped green onion tops About 3/4 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley 1 to 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
We had a pretty great Easter, minus the urgent care visit for a case of pink eye. Kimball's mom, Helen, was at our house on Saturday so that's when we decorated eggs and had an egg hunt. I was really glad that I was relieved from managing this because I'm not one for all the mess that comes with egg decorating, but I'm all for tradition and fun for the kids.
One of the most meaningful traditions we have at Easter is a lesson that involves opening different eggs, each with a symbol related to the last week of the Savior's life. The best part is taking out individual pictures of family members (on egg # 5) when we talk about who the atonement was for. I also love opening the last egg, which is empty, and asking the kids what that means. I'm so grateful for the Savior's all-encompassing atonement, especially because it provides me with strength to get through hard times, allows me to be clean from sin, and will enable me to be with the people I love someday. I don't have any doubt of these things because of the experiences I have with the Spirit every day. They are as real as touch, sight, sound or any of the physical senses and more profound and lasting.
EASTER EGG LESSON
One (a leaf or very small branch): When Jesus entered Jerusalem, the people waved branches because that's what people used to do when a king walked by. And many spread their garments in the way: and others cut down branches off the trees, and strawed them in the way. And they that went before, and they that followed, cried, saying, Hosanna; Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord: (Mark 11:8-9)
Two (scrap of cloth sprayed with perfume): Later, Jesus was at dinner with his friends. A woman came and poured perfume on his head. This showed that she knew that he was the Christ and she knew that he would die soon. And being in Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, as [Jesus] sat at meat, there came a woman having an alabaster box of ointment of spikenard very precious; and she brake the box, and poured it on his head. (Mark 14:3)
Three (piece of tortilla or bread): The next day, Jesus had another special meal with his disciples. We call this The Last Supper. This is when the sacrament began, because Jesus said that people who followed Him should have bread and drink to help them remember Him. And as they did eat, Jesus took bread, and blessed, and brake it, and gave to them, and said, Take, eat: this is my body. (Mark 14:22)
Four (bandaid and pictures of family members –explain how much suffering in Gethsemane hurt the Savior, but he did it for each one of us – this was touching for us as we asked who the Savior did it for and pulled out each family member's picture): Jesus went to a garden to pray. Here, he suffered for our sins. Because He did this for us, we can repent and live in heaven again. For behold, I, God, have suffered these things for all, that they might not suffer if they would repent; but if they would not repent they must suffer even as I; which suffering caused myself, even God, the greatest of all, to tremble because of pain, and to bleed at every pore, and to suffer both body and spirit”and would that I might not drink the bitter cup, and shrink”nevertheless, glory be to the Father, and I partook and finished my preparations unto the children of men. (D&C 19:16-19)
Five (silver coins – dimes): Judas was supposed to be one of Jesus special helpers, but instead he helped other men arrest Jesus. He did this because those men paid him money. And Judas Iscariot, one of the twelve, went unto the chief priests, to betray him unto them. And when they heard it, they were glad, and promised to give him money. And he sought how he might conveniently betray him. (Mark 14:10-11)
Six (piece of purple cloth or paper): After Jesus was arrested, the soldiers were really mean to Him and made fun of Him. One thing that they did was to put a purple robe on Him. Only kings wore purple robes. They didn't realize that He really was a King”they were just teasing Him because people thought He was a king! And the soldiers led him away into the hall, called Praetorium; and they call together the whole band. And they clothed him with purple, and platted a crown of thorns, and put it about his head, and began to salute him, Hail, King of the Jews! (Mark 15:16-18)
Seven (a nail): Jesus was crucified. When the soldiers put Jesus on the cross, they pounded nails into His hands and feet. And it was the third hour, and they crucified him. (Mark 15:25) Behold the wounds which pierced my side, and also the prints of the nails in my hands and feet; be faithful, keep my commandments, and ye shall inherit the kingdom of heaven. Amen. (D & C 6:37)
Eight (whole cloves or other spices):After Jesus died, His friends put his body in a tomb. Later, some of the women who followed Him came to the tomb to put spices on His body. That was something they did back then when someone died. And when the sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome, had bought sweet spices, that they might come and anoint him. (Mark 16:1)
Nine (little rock or stone – rounded if you can find it): The tomb had a rock that could roll over the opening to seal it. While the women were walking to the tomb, they wondered how they would get the stone out of the way. And they said among themselves, Who shall roll us away the stone from the door of the sepulchre And when they looked, they saw that the stone was rolled away: for it was very great. (Mark 16:3-4)
Ten: This egg is empty because Jesus tomb was empty. Jesus tomb was empty because He was resurrected! When they got to the tomb, they were amazed to find that the stone had been rolled out of the way”and Jesus body was gone! And he saith unto them, Be not affrighted: Ye seek Jesus of Nazareth, which was crucified: he is risen; he is not here: behold the place where they laid him Mark 16:6).
My title is presumptuous. I don't mean to take away from the amazing craftspeople who create true Artisan loaves; but, after you taste your bread, I think you'll be with me on this one. If you haven't heard of Jim Lahey's No-Knead bread, made popular by the NY Times article by Mark Bittman, it's time you did. In the past, home cooks have had a difficult time making Artisan-style bread. I'm talking about the kind you get at a great bakery, with a crusty exterior and light, chewy interior. The problem was always in the baking. Without an industrial oven, the home cook couldn't get the heat and steam necessary to produce a distinctive loaf. I grew up with soft-crusted rectangular loves of homemade bread, and I love it. But there's a time and a place people... a time and a place.
Enter a genius named Jim Lahey. He figured out that you could produce aforementioned industrial oven cooking environment by preheating a heavy-bottomed pot with a lid. The bread goes into a steam-filled pot and cooks for 25 minutes, then the lid is removed for the last 15. Cast iron works well. I use a Calphalon pot or a Le Creuset. I bet a Lodge would work well. If you do a little web search, there are lots of ideas for different cooking vehicles, just make sure your lid's handle can withstand 450 degree temps (Le Creuset sells stainless replacement lids that can get that hot for about $13). And please, don't forget to use your oven mitts when opening and closing the pot. :)
To add to the beauty of this innovation, the bread recipe he uses is very simple. It requires only salt, flour, yeast and water. You use a small amount of yeast and let it very slowly grow. Reading through the recipe and doing it once always takes a bit of time, but by the second time, you're going to love the ease of this!
No-Knead Bread (adapted from Jim Lahey)
3 cups all-purpose or bread flour, more for dusting ¼ teaspoon instant yeast 2 teaspoons salt Cornmeal, flour, or wheat bran for dusting
1. In a large bowl combine flour, yeast and salt. Add 1 5/8 cups water (I use 11 ounces if you live in a humid area, 12 if you live in a dry), and stir until blended; dough will be shaggy and sticky. Cover bowl with plastic wrap. Let dough rest at least 12 hours, preferably about 18 (go for the 18), at warm room temperature, about 70 degrees.
2. Dough is ready when its surface is dotted with bubbles. Sprinkle dough lightly with flour and fold it over itself in the bowl a few times (I do this with a book wooden spoon). Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rest about 15 minutes.
3. Cut two pieces of parchment paper about 16 inches by 16 inches. This isn't an exact science, but that's how big I like mine. Generously coat the bottom of one with flour at least as big as a 12 inch circle. When the 15 minutes is up, flip your dough out onto the floured parchment, and shape into a round. This doesn't need to be perfect, and almost always I just leave it how it flips. Sprinkle the top of the dough with a generous coating of flour and gently/lightly lay the other parchment on the top, allowing the parchment to curl down around it. Let rise for about 2 hours. When it is ready, dough will be more than double in size and will not readily spring back when poked with a finger.
4. At least a half-hour before dough is ready, heat oven to 450 degrees. Put a 6- to 8-quart heavy covered pot (cast iron, enamel, Pyrex or ceramic) with lid on in oven as it heats so that the pot gets very hot. When dough is ready, carefully remove pot from oven. Open pot with a gloved hand and set lid down. Quickly remove oven mitts and pick up bread by sliding your hand under the parchment and turning/flipping dough over into pot, so that the bottom becomes the top of the loaf. It may look like a mess, but that is o.k. With gloved hands, shake pan once or twice if dough is unevenly distributed; it will straighten out as it bakes. Cover pot and if you don't have the gloves on yet, put them on and put covered pot in over. Bake 25 minutes, then remove lid and bake another 10 to 15 minutes, until loaf is beautifully browned. Cool on a rack. Sorry about all the glove/mitt stuff, but you really burn yourself when you touch a 450 degree pot. Ya really do.
We recently got hammered with snow, like a lot of the country. Usually in NC in February it starts getting warm, and I can barely keep myself from starting gardening projects, but it's been a cold year. I'm going to really miss the weather here if/when Kimball's fellowship ends, and he gets a job somewhere else. I'm not a big fan of snow. I like it for about one week, and then I'm done. My kids seem to be made out of the same metal as me. We trekked over to the cousins' house and went sledding down a hill in their backyard. The kids lasted for about 20 minutes before the whining began. At 30 minutes the baby was screaming her head off because snow had gotten in her mittens and she was cold. We went back inside.
During this cold streak of weather, instead of starting a fire (in four years we have not turned on our gas fireplace), we went and got gelato. Besides the anxiety that comes with having children with nut allergies during these kind of excursions, we had a blast. We try not to bring nutty treats into the house, but when we go out, Kimball and I get to carefully indulge in pecan, pistachio, and hazelnut-flavored things. The place we went to was the kind of sleek ultramodern eatery not really made for kids. You feel bad if a drop gets on the floor, and drops did. The kids didn't care that we were running around with wipes and napkins. They also didn't care that the gelato was icey, had too much air whipped into it, and wasn't "tight." This is the kind of thing that Mom doesn't like. I'm a normal person and only like to pay premium prices for premium products. Anyway, the kids had so much fun that they've been talking about it ever since, wanting to know if we can go back to "that ice cream store." And since the total for single scoops for our family came to $25, the answer to that question is "no." It will be extra special if they only have one memory of it. :)
Yes, it is funny that this is the post just following my "lose weight" post, but I promise I haven't made this since Christmas. Kringle, or kringla as it's called in Iceland is a Scandinavian dessert said to have been greatly influenced by Austrian bakers who "filled in" during worker strikes in Sweden. I don't doubt it, Austrians are some of the world's best bakers, pastry-makers, and confection makers, in my opinion. In Sweden you always make kringle in the shape of a pretzel (the symbol for bakery), but my ancestry is Danish and my husband's Icelandic, to say nothing of the fact that we are rogue Americans who do whatever works for us. I think the traditional versions take forever to make, but anyone can make this recipe, and it produces a flaky and impressive filled pastry. The key is to chill the dough because it's almost like a batter, not a dough, at room temperature. Even after it has been chilled, the dough is very sticky and you have to work quickly so you don't warm it up too much. My fool-proof method for this is to flour a piece of foil-paper and roll it out on that -- no stick and easy clean up.
Pastry Ingredients: 2 C flour 2 sticks butter (room temp) 1 (8-oz) tub of sour cream 1/2 cup to 3/4 cup jam or preserve for filling 1 egg white 1 egg yolk beaten w/1 tsp almond extract or water
Almond Buttercream Frosting Ingredients 2 TBS softened butter 2 TBS softened cream cheese 1 cup or so powdered sugar 1/2 tsp almond extract milk as needed
Directions: 1. Mix flour and butter as for pie crust (criss-cross with 2 butter knives or beat on slow with handmixer. 2. Add sour cream; form into ball. It will be very wet. Dust with flour and place in plastic bag. 3. Refrigerate 4 hours or overnight. 4. Roll on floured foil into a large rectangle or if you don't have a large cookie sheet, you can divide this into three rectangles. 5. Brush with egg white and visualize the rectangle as 3 equal parts -- spread preserve down middle avoiding the top and bottom edge by an inch. 6. Fold the two outer sides in one on top of the other. Pinch ends and press in center fold. Transfer to cookie sheet. 7. Brush top with egg yolk mixture. 8. Bake on ungreased cookie sheet at 350 for 40 minutes or golden brown. 9. Beat all buttercream frosting ingredients together to make a thick frosting. 10. Cool (you can have it still slightly warm -- just not hot) and frost with butter cream icing; slice for serving.
It's no secret that I've gained 30 lbs since I got married – you've seen the photographs. My appearance is sort of like my scarlet letter. You can see how healthfully (or not) I'm living. Still, this is the kind of thing you wonder about posting about the day after you make your blog open to the public. In the interest of full disclosure, which I know none of you were looking for, I have lost and gained 20 of it pretty much with each pregnancy. And yet, this time, the weight loss just isn't happening for me. I know what I need to do, and I feel motivated but every day I hit the brick wall. Incidentally, does anybody else feel like they are a dietician and physical fitness consultant after years of gaining and losing? I've read more magazine articles (scholarly, I know) than I could possibly count. Don't worry, I can count to 100. It's just that I have whole magazine subscriptions dedicated to these subjects – "Shape," "Cooking Light," "Fitness," "Eating Well." I like them all by the way, but mostly just for ideas and motivation, I read real books when I want more information. And I've read loads of those too.
I declared a dietetics major for a while at BYU (till I took the science classes), and for a spell it was Health Promotion till I couldn't take the Richards building anymore. I love motivating others to make healthier choices. I know those of you who have been to my house for dinner parties are wondering if you are on the wrong blog. I admit, I do believe in celebrating and sometimes in a most indulgent way, but I don't eat like that on a daily basis. Normally, my family eats a lot of produce and beans and legumes. Typically, I eat 7-9 servings of fruits and vegetables a day. Yeah, cheer for me.
On a positive note, I am glad that I can relate to the people who have said to me, "how do you find the motivation?" If you had asked me this six months ago, I would have thought (not said) something like, "well, if you do what you always do, you'll get what you've always gotten" or "calories in minus calories out" or "excuses don't pay the bills" or some other such rubbish that my head is full of. Today it all seems like fairytales, like I'm struggling to run a marathon underwater. Unimaginably difficult. Hmmm..does that mean difficult to imagine or a difficulty hard to imagine? Whatever. We have a health crisis in America. I've always felt really strongly that each individual doing their very best to live healthfully strengthens the whole country, and maybe even the whole world. We all have different genes, environments and circumstances, but every one of us can do our very best to make smart choices, set good examples, and respect the bodies we have in our own way. For me, that includes dropping 30 lbs by summer. Keep me honest, people.
I'm embarrassed by my "blog." Quotation marks are so that you know that I KNOW this ain't no blog. Sigh. I was reminded that I even had one when I saw a link to it from my sister's blog. I headed over to my blog then exited out of it for a minute. I couldn't remember the URL to get back to it. This, my friends, is the kind of blog I have. I don't know how anyone else keeps up on these things. I think about it all the time. How do other people keep their houses clean, do their civic duties, keep their homes spiritually edifying, bodies healthy and their children developing, all while living within their means? I break this question down into parts, but I'm always asking it. I just don't know how people do it. I'm not discouraged, just confused.
Besides all of my embarrassment and confusion, things are going really well for the Palmer-Christiansons. The kids are all doing great. Leif is growing like a weed and loving kindergarten, Gus is learning to write (and read a bit), and Paia is talking up a storm (at only 19 months)...hmmmm...now who did she get that from?
The big question on our minds these days is: where will we be in a year and a half? I've researched in depth just about every western city with a population of at least 50,000, but of course, they have to need a radiologist. And not just any radiologist, a women's imager or body imager, since Kimball is specializing in mammography and abdominal imaging. We love the East, especially the Southeast, but I'm so tired of getting on planes with these kids. Raleigh Durham Airport doesn't even have a direct flight to Salt Lake, which is where both sets of grandparents are. Kimball will finish his training in a year and a half – he starts his fellowship in July. I'm trying to get the house ready to put on the market and trying to figure out which upgrades will equate to financial returns. Any advice on where to live or what to do to the house is welcome!
