Bone Density Scan

On Friday after class, we made our way to downtown Kansas City to Children's Mercy. It actually took us longer to drive to KC than it did for us to drive to Overland Park, KS the previous week! Beside wicked traffic, there was a great deal of construction on Highway 71.

Despite these obstacles, we arrived on time (the required thirty minutes early), we were seen on time, and out of the hospital by 3:30.

Orion was a hoot. Here's a ten year old in his AC/DC tee shirt and Elephant (Yes, the one my cousin Sarah sent when he was about three months old!)- Orion's done blood work, Orion's had endoscopies and colonoscopies- All he had to do for the density test was lay on the table. He was scared to death. After getting his wiggles out he was finally able to lay still. We should hear the results some time this week. I'll keep you posted!

65-84-85

Thursday's bowling scores were an improvement over the previous week's. But I have many more pins to go! Perhaps this week!

Blood Work

Orion's blood work came back from Friday. He looks good! Everything is within normal parameters. Friday we return to the city for the bone density test. I'll keep you posted.

Tree

(Tree- circa 1972)

I have a sister. Her name is Tree. It's actually Theresa. But then my name's not really Kat. Tree lives far away. But not as far as she used to. Tree has two babies, a husband, and two twenty-somethings living in her house. Did I mention she's working on her dissertation too? Well, for Christmas, Tree asked for some things, two of which were "a completed dissertation" (yeah!) and "quick recipes." Well hell! I cannot seem to write my own dissertation, but I sure can help with the quick recipes. I hope you've been enjoying these recipes, Tree! I hope you're able to feed the masses AND have time left over for a bubble bath once in a while.

Potatoes Potatoes

Wal*Mart in the 'Burg sells potatoes like this: 5 lb bag of russet potatoes for $2.59 and a 10 lb bag of russet potatoes for $2.69. It's hard not to spend the extra dime for twice as many taters. But then, what do you do with them?

Well, my favorite way to eat potatoes are FRIED- with a bit of onion. But I'll save that for another post. This is an easy and delicious recipe for scalloped potatoes. Tree, it takes less than 30 minutes to prepare (but three times that long to bake). I plan to make two dishes the next time to see how freezing goes.

Tasty Scalloped Taters

What you need:
4-6 russet potatoes
1 medium onion
3-5 T of butter
3-5 T of flour (wheat flour or potato starch)
1.5 cups milk (give or take)
Garlic
Salt & Pepper
Optional cheese and/or ham slices

What you do:
1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Peel the potatoes. Slice the onion- super thin.
2. In a small sauce pan melt the butter, add garlic and flour. Stir till you get a nice, smooth roux. Add milk, continue stirring. If you used 3 T butter/3 T flour use about 1.25 cups of milk. If you used 5 T butter/ 5 T flour, add about 2 cups milk. Stir white sauce till bubbly and smooth. Set aside.
3. Spray Pam or butter the bottom of a baking dish or casserole. Layer half of the potatoes, onion, and ham. Cover with half of the roux. Repeat layer. Cover with rest of the roux.
4. Cover and bake for approximately 50 minutes. Remove cover and bake another 20-30 minutes. If desired, sprinkle top with the cheese of your choice.

I just made this last night and added the left over baked ham. While it's not treyf it sure is good. I've also thought of adding bacon! Mmmm mmmm, but I've yet to try that. Give it a try and let me know what you think.

Orion Update

Friday we ventured into Overland Park, KS for Orion's pediatric GI appointment. It was only our second time to visit the great state of Kansas, and I think we were a mere 3 or 4 miles across the state line! Orion's visit to the GI Clinic at Children's Mercy South went very well. We were impressed by the staff and by his new doctor, Dr. Roberts. Essentially we discussed Orion's recent flare, getting him off the steroids, switching to Rowasa (an medicinal enema of sorts) when the next flare occurs, and his upcoming bone density test. One of the side effects of long term steroid use is having brittle bones. So this coming Friday we will journey to downtown KC for a bone density scan. Monday, we will be all having RAST tests to determine if we have an intolerance to gluten, milk, or other assorted items. I'll keep you posted.

p.s. This picture of Orion was taken when he was just over a year old (1998). Bath time is still one of his favorite pastimes.

Robert C. O'Brien

I've recently rediscovered Robert C. O'Brien. O'Brien, it seems, wrote for National Geographic decades ago. I know him best for his children's books. I first read Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH in Children's Literature during my undergraduate days. It was highly recommended by my friend, Inge. I later read A Report from Group 17.

I recently had dinner with a new friend of mine, Chad. He was remembering his "first book." You know, the one you didn't have to read? The one that you couldn't put down? The one that "made you a reader." Z for Zachariah was that book. This discussion with Chad sent me to the library. One interlibrary loan, and a week later, the book arrived. It was indeed a page turner. Dark at times- an excellent book about survival. It reminded me of Green Angel by Alice Hoffman. Although O'Brien's ending might not be as promising or as uplifting.

After reading Z for Zachariah I had to know more about Robert C. O'Brien. I read that he also wrote The Silver Crown! I swear my sister and I had that book as children. But what I discovered about O'Brien that intrigued me the most was his birth name: Robert Leslie Conly. I think we would be hard pressed to deny any relation to this man. What do you think My Bob?

87-55-56

It would be best if we all forgot last night's bowling fiasco! While 87 was fairly normal for me at the beginning of LAST season... I have NEVER ever ever bowled less than a 67! What was I doing? Well, I have several good excuses. All of them too bloody to share here.

Hoosier Cornbread Revisited

Okay, so I got to thinking why it was that John would describe my friend's cornbread as "Hoosier." I know that a "Hoosier" is somebody that is a native of Indiana. And according to one of my favorite online resources, Urban Dictionary, Hoosier is defined " as "white trash of the worst kind. Also used as an adjective to describe anything several notches below your own perceived sophistication. Dates back to a strike that occurred in St. Louis in the 30's. During this strike, scab workers from Indiana were brought in to fill in for strikers." While I am fairly certain we didn't consider my good friend white trash, the definition explained to me why "Hoosier" was considered derogatory by St. Louisans and why my friend's feelings were a bit hurt.

I continued my research. Just what is "Hoosier Cornbread." And I have found a recipe (or two) for "Hoosier Cornbread." It seems that Hoosier Cornbread recipes share something in common and that is "a rich, cake-like cornbread." Perhaps that is what he was thinking.

And here's the recipe: Hoosier Cornbread, II

What you need:

1 cup white flour
1 cup yellow cornmeal
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
3 tablespoons firmly packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
3 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt 1 cup yogurt OR 1 cup sour cream
1/4 cup milk
2 eggs -- well beaten
4 tablespoons butter -- melted

What you do:

1) Heat oven to 425 degrees F. Grease baking dish. Combine all dry ingredients and mix well. Stir yogurt or sour cream, milk, eggs, and butter into dry ingredients only enough to mix.

2)Pour batter immediately into baking pan and bake until top is springy and sides are beginning to pull away: about 20 minutes. Cool a little and serve warm with butter or honey whipped butter.

Hoosier Cornbread

I am not entirely sure why we call this Hoosier Cornbread. A good friend of mine made this for me when I came to her house for chili one frosty fall evening. I loved it! If you don't like cornbread, you'll love this. If you like cornbread, you'll find this oddly addicting. The floury sweetness of the yellow cake mix lends a depth of flavor and subtle textural changes to 'regular cornbread.' Try it. You just might like it. It's quite easy to whip up and goes great with vegetable beef soup, red beans and rice, ham and beans, or just about anything else your heart desires. Let me know what you think!

What you need:
Box of Jiffy Cornbread
Box of Jiffy Yellow Cake Mix
And the items they list on the box to make each:
---Eggs
---Milk
---Water

What you do:
1) Dump the contents of both the Cornbread Mix and the Yellow Cake Mix into a large mixing bowl. Look on the Cornbread Mix box and add necessary ingredients. Look on the Yellow Cake Mix box and add necessary ingredients. Mix using approximately fifty strokes with a flat whisk or rubber spatula.
2) Line muffin tins with cupcake papers or spray a 9”x 9” cake pan with cooking spray. Pour up the batter. Bake in a 350 degree oven. Cooking times will depend on type of pan used. Cook till golden brown on top and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
3) Serve warm with softened butter.

Haroseth Jew

Lord, I miss bagels. After attempting to survive on Lender’s Bagels from the frozen food section of the grocery store for the past year, we had to try our hand at home-made bagels. Orion did most of the work on these. While I didn’t work very hard to make these bagels, I did work very hard to make them disappear. These are Real Honest Jewish Purist Bagels.

Well, in missing bagels, I began to think about Judaism. I believe this September boasts three holidays: Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, and Sukkot. Well, my thoughts on Judaism led from Holidays back to food! And from there I was left to contemplate my Jewish roots.

What kind of Jew are you? After completing a twenty question quiz at Beliefnet I discovered what I already knew- I’m a Haroseth Jew! Using Jewish food as an analogy this quick quiz will help you to define your Jewish identity, or lack there of. From “blueberry bagel” to “lukshen kugel” (Personally, I prefer a nice potato kugel!), discover your Jewish identity. This is what they said about me:

“Like this Passover fruit and nut mixture, your Jewish identity can take any number of forms, each blending tradition and innovation. Your cultural and ethnic ties to Judaism are stronger than your religious ones.”

If you still have time on your hands, test your understanding of Yiddish. Visit Bubby and take her Yiddish Quiz! This is a tough one. It'll kick your tuchas (or tokhes)! I only scored a 70% and I think that had more to do with my test taking skills. There were words I’d never heard or read before; I wasn’t even going to try to pronounce them! Give it a try!

Tell me! What kind of Jew are you and how’s your Yiddish?

Corn Chowder!

Here's another tasty treat for Tree. John says it's a waste of good potato soup; he doesn't like corn. If you like corn- follow the recipe. If you don't, omit the corn for bacony, potato soup! This recipe took less than 30 minutes, start to finish, and that included chopping frozen bacon, peeling taters, and copping the onion! Enjoy and let me know what you think!

Corn Chowder

What you need:
4 oz bacon (ends and pieces work well!)
2 onions, chopped
3-5 T. flour
32 oz Chicken Broth (1 box)
2-3 potatoes, peeled and diced
Sack of frozen corn or two cans, drained
1 c heavy cream (half n half will work in a pinch)
Salt and Pepper to taste
Cilantro & Parsley
Green Onion – Chopped
Green & Red Peppers (optional)

What you do:
1. In a heavy stockpot fry up the bacon over medium to medium-high heat. Keep frying, even past the time you think it’s crispy crisp (Bacon tends to wilt when you add the broth and cream, so make sure it's super crispy without being charred.). When it’s crispy, toss in the onions and cook till translucent.
2. If it looks like there’s too much bacon grease in the pan, skim some off. If not, just add your flour to the onion/bacon mixture, stir with a whisk, till roux matures. This could be about five to seven minutes- stir constantly. Slowly add chicken broth. Add a little, stir to heat, add a little more. Continue till all chicken broth has been added and is bubbly. Add taters and let cook for about ten minutes or so, till taters are tender.
3. Once taters are tender turn heat to medium low. Add heavy cream (or half n half, if you must) and stir gently to heat, but do not boil! Salt and pepper to taste; add parsley and cilantro. Garnish with chopped green onions. You may want to float some thinly sliced green or red peppers.
4. Once heated, serve up in mugs or heavy bowls. This makes enough to feed 6-8 really hungry adults. It refrigerates well. Remember not to boil when reheating or cream will break. If you freeze to serve at a later date, use extra care when reheating.

Just Like Mommy!

I knew I chose the wrong occupation! What was I thinking?

Warning!

This Blog has been rated PG for mentioning Death twice and Poop once. Find out what your Blog is rated by clicking on the picture above!

I Got My Red Beans Cookin'

Here's a recipe for Tree! I think you'll find you can feed a small army for less than $10 with this recipe. Try it and let me know what you think! It took less than 30 minutes, start to finish, to prepare! My tummy is full and I am ready for a nap.

Red Beans n Rice for Treesaw*

What you need:
Bacon Grease or 1/8 lb of Bacon
1 Onion
Some garlic
3-5 T of Flour
1/2 of a box of Chicken Broth
1 lb of Polish Sausage
1 can Bush’s Red Beans (I prefer light red beans!)
Optional: red pepper, Tabasco sauce, or the spice(s) of your choice
Cooked rice

What you do:
Gentleman, start your rice cookers!
1. If using the bacon, chop and place in large skillet over medium head. Cook till almost crisp. Add chopped onion and garlic (as much as you like). Cook till onion is almost transparent. Add flour. Stir with flat whisk till roux is medium brown.
2. Slowly add broth and stir. Toss in chopped sausage. Slop in red beans. (*I am still learning to eat beans. So I mash my beans gently with a potato masher.) Heat through.
3. Add more chicken broth if mixture gets too thick. Cook a bit longer if mixture gets to thin. Season to taste. I don’t salt as it is pretty salt from the pork products included. Serve with rice! Yum-Yum!

Beer Option: Substitute your favorite beer (or the crap in the fridge you’re trying to get rid of) for the broth (or go 50-50). The beer lends an earthy flavor to the beans.

This recipe as prepared above will make enough for 5-6 hungry adults. If you wish to stretch it to feed 6-8, all you need to do is add a little celery with your onion and another can of beans! Adjust broth/roux ratio accordingly. Party on! *This recipe is an adaptation of Red Beans and Rice that Greg Thompson, Doug Whitner, and I used to make - Back in the Salad Days! Note: Original recipe contained only: two cans of beans, one onion, one beer, and Polish sausage! Of course, served over rice! Those were the days!

Bowl-it!

When Orion was wee, Mocha Mike and Aunt Robin would take him "bowl-it" at the Ozark Lanes in Fayetteville. He loved it. Well, who would have thought I would find myself, year two, playing for an actual league. I am whooped. These Thursdays will either make me stronger or just plain kill me!

Up at 5:30. Out the door by 7:00. Class, office hours, & meetings till 4:30. NSTA from 5:00 - 6:00. Bowling from 6:15 till 9:00. And yes, I did eat a taco from Taco Hell this evening. I had to have something. Despite all this AND the fact that my underpants keep falling down inside of my pants, I bowled pretty well tonight: My new average is 102 (Last year it was about an 84!). Tonight's games were: 102, 119, and 91. It's all fun. For those of you who don't bowl- a 300 is a perfect game (Strike every time! Ha!); 220 is considered a "high game;" and most of my peers bowl 160-180 with a few in the 200s. Now you'll know where I fall along that continuum.

Tomorrow starts early! So as soon as Orion is done in the shower, we'll read a few more chapters of our book, and it's off to bed for him. I'll shower and crawl upstairs myself! Sweet dream!

My pants don't fit!

I quietly made my way to the shower. The house a brisk 63 degrees, windows open. Mmmmm. The steam of the shower enveloped me, the scent of my shampoo greeted me. Peace. Quiet. Steamy warmth. Eventually I turned off the tap and began to dry off when- Blam! The bathroom door bounced open and a frustrated, angry 10 year old stood at the door- four pairs of jeans tossed to the bathroom floor. "None of my god dammed jeans fit!" he wailed. My peace shattered. "Can you wait a few minutes? Pick up your jeans so I don't soak them getting out. I'll meet you in your bedroom!" I sighed as I continued to dry off. Dressed and slightly damp I made my way to O's bedroom to find that his pants indeed no longer fit. Damn those steroids, I thought to myself. Together we dug through his dresser- to no avail. Finally I found a nice pair of fleece sweat pants (Note: For five years I've forbidden O from wearing sweats to school!) and offered them to him. He refused. WTF? "Here's your chance to wear sweats!" "Nope, I'm not gonna!" "Well, I don't know what to tell you," I sighed. We dug a bit deeper and found a pair of dress pants, that fit- snugly. Off he went to school. In his "Sunday clothes."

I found my way to Wal*Mart later that day- I picked up four pairs of 14 Husky jeans. One pair fit. Later last night- back to Wal*Mart- We picked up two pairs of 16 Husky Jeans. Neither of them fit. WTF? So I am headed back later today, in hopes of finding something that will be comfortable for him. Wish me luck.

Of course, as soon as I find a few pairs that fit, he'll start dropping weight and I'll have to find another belt!

Wish us luck!

What's that Smell?

Good lord, the smell struck me when I hit the door. Was it the litter box? Decomp? Ewww! & Ugh! It couldn't be the litter boxes! Orion and I cleaned those just yesterday in time for garbage pick-up. So if that's not it, what in the hell died? Finally I isolated the smell to the kitchen. Was it the stack of dirty dishes? Many of them Orion's icky, sticky scrambled egg bowls he's been consuming at an alarming rate! Or something more nefarious? My Tuesdays are particularly exhausting. I had no desire to go on safari-- in search of Death. But after only a few moments in the house, I had to do something. Into the kitchen I went. The mail got sorted (finally); things that needed to find their way to the trash can got a little help; a couple of rounds of dishes were washed; and vanilla candles lit. Upon closer inspection I discovered that the dishes did indeed lend a funk to the kitchen, but they were not responsible for the smell of Death. That I deduced was the trash can. Or rather the "left over broccoli" that never found its way to the garbage disposal or the compost pile, but instead - spent two warm days in the trash can. "Out damn broccoli, out!"

This kitchen is clean.

Farewell

Madeleine L'Engle died Thursday at 88. (Thanks to my sister Tree who shared the CNN report with me just after midnight.) L'Engle was well known for writing The Time Quartet. The first book in the quartet series, A Wrinkle in Time, was published in 1962. Some folks classify L'Engle as a children's book author, however I like to think of her as a theologian. She's written over sixty books! My favorites include: A Wrinkle in Time, A Ring of Endless Light, An Acceptable Time, and A Live Coal in the Sea. An Acceptable Time may be one of my all time favorites, written about Polly (short for Polyhymnia a Greek muse), the daughter of Meg from a Wrinkle in Time (So much a favorite I considered naming a daughter Polyhymnia!). In honor of L'Engle's life as a writer and her impact on me as a teacher/parent/wannabewriter - Orion and I will read aloud a Wrinkle this weekend. Perhaps it's a good time for us to begin the series. He might connect with Meg's little brother Charles!

You will be missed Madeleine L'Engle!

92-103-113

Ooof! I'm beat. Tonight was our first night bowling for the new season! And I am feeling every ball and every pin! It has been over three months since I've bowled! But it was sooo good to see everyone! My goal for the first few weeks was to bowl around 85-90 per game. Hopefully showing steady improvement throughout the year so I can earn a patch or two for high games or most improved player. In hopes of not over doing it, I didn't even warm up tonight. But that didn't stop me. My scores were pretty good (for me!). My first game was a 92 and I ended with a 113. What? Well never mind, it will be a few weeks before our averages are calculated. But I have some goals for this season: 1) To purchase a pair of bowling shoes; rental shoes are icky! 2) To increase my average by 15 points. That may take some serious work! 3) To earn three patches (At least one for a 130 game!) And 4) To buy a bowling ball. Wish me luck!