winter is here

 After receiving our first snow on Tuesday, it feels like Christmas is right around the corner. I met the kids at the door after school with fancy hot chocolate...

 This evening the house is cozy and we have a fire warming up the family room. I spent the day going down to Central Market, studying anatomy (glands and membranes), and doing a few sketches for a logo... very diverse activities but very productive! I even called the UK for the first time. This is maybe only the second time I've ever called someone in Europe. I am still amazed at how connected we are.

Now it's time for relaxing in front of the fire and enjoying the weekend! (Ellie thinks so too.)

Hmm... wonder what this is going to be? ;)

day's gone to the dogs

One thing most people don't know about me is that I love dog shows! Let me clarify: I love watching them on tv, not participating in them. During Thanksgiving, NBC broadcasted the National Dog Show out of Philadelphia. I get a kick out of seeing all the different breeds. They seem like characters in a story to me-- I especially loved the wire-haired dachshund. He looked like he should have a pipe in his mouth, kind of like Sherlock Holmes:

I wish I had a better photo of him! And then there was the record-setting Wire Fox Terrier who won the whole thing for the second year in a row!:

I think maybe it's their faces, which look like they have groomed beards, that I love so much! I didn't get to see the whole show because there was football to watch, and that meant I missed the herding dogs which is where the collies were. I think they will always be my favorite because of Ellie! Check out the website link to see all of the dogs that were entered.

Happy Thanksgiving (again)

Spread, photo taken by Caroline

3 Days of cooking... 9 dishes and 3 different pies plus gravy (yes, I learned how to cook gravy this year, finally)... and now we're stuffed, sleepy and watching football!

We saw the Macy's Day Parade this morning. We all went on a late afternoon walk. Craig's parents came in to join us for our little feast. And it all turned out really good! I managed to make a gluten-free crust that tasted as good as any good pastry crust. And everything else was from scratch. Bon Appetit magazine was really great this year (if you can find a November copy, then buy it!  I just linked to the recipes because it's not on the newstands anymore!) because I used several recipes from it: Roasted Sweet Potatoes with a Maple-Bourbon Sauce, Homemade gravy (with real turkey stock that I did the night before), baked mashed potatoes with a secret ingredient (horseradish....yummy!) and a delicious dressing with sourdough bread. I used Rachel Ray's cranberry-orange sauce recipe. I followed Jenny's recipe for roasting the turkey (all 17 pounds!) and it turned out perfectly. I started it at 11pm the night before and pulled it out to rest at 12:30 pm today. Ina Garten has a new book out called "Foolproof" which I got the green bean recipe from-- it had garlic, lemon zest, parmesan cheese and pine nuts sprinkled on them. Cook's Illustrated put out a holiday magazine and it had a really good cranberry salad dressing in it that I made to put on a salad of three greens with apples and pecans and goat cheese. The November magazine "Food and Wine" had an excellent article about making the perfect pie crust, and I substituted gluten-free flour for that... and it worked! I made a pumpkin pie, of course. I also made an apple-sour cream pie and a chocolate meringue pie from recipes by Sarah Foster. We also had a Pinot Noir which is perfect paired with turkey. I was literally on my feet yesterday from the time I woke up until midnight. But I love cooking and I love Thanksgiving dinner.

Now my feet are propped up. I have spent some time catching up with blogs and relaxing. I am really thankful for all my friends and family. I guess next on the list is what to do about Christmas cards this year! We'll start decorating the house for Christmas this weekend and maybe go see the tree-lighting downtown tomorrow night. My school work is going great and thanks to a little Cantharsis 30C  last night when I burnt my finger, I was able to avoid a horrible blister and could keep cooking! I think when football is over, we might just watch "Christmas Vacation"... someday maybe I'll be "great aunt Bethany!" ha ha!

words to live by

Happy Thanksgiving!

"Freedom from Want" 1943 by Norman Rockwell

 I thought I'd post this now before I am too busy on Thursday! I'm cooking this year and baking (three pies!) so it's a busy week. Tomorrow I pick up our turkey from the Farmer's Market. This has always been my favorite holiday, probably because it is the beginning of the holiday season and because I used to love to go to my Grandma and Grandpa's house to see all of my relatives. As time went on, everyone seemed to move to different places, including myself, so new family traditions have replaced the old.

I'm particularly thankful this year for our history in the United States. For the bravery of the pilgrims to find a home where they could live without oppressive government controlling the decisions for what was best for their families. And to practice their religion without the government telling how to live out their faith. They valued family because they knew it was the only way to continue to prosper in this new land and to carry on the valuable traditions of their faith. They were the first immigrants and many, many more have followed in their footsteps. Just one generation before me, my family immigrated here. My Dad's family wanted to seize the opportunities that America held for their family and for a chance at their own businesses. My Mom's family had been here since possibly the signing of the Declaration of Independence (there is a Middleton on that document), and so they must have saw the potential here as opposed to their motherland of England.

Since the 1960's it has been considered progressive and hip to buck tradition and morality, and this has even seeped into our churches with notions that keeping traditions is somehow bad. Any Christian could tell you that Paul states without question that we should keep to our traditions. Why? Because that's the only way we teach the next generation all the valuable wisdom that we have accumulated. No one knows this more than the family because they are the only ones who love their offspring more than any government agency or public schoolhouse. Morality doesn't exist inside of selfishness and greed, which is why the Pilgrims were trying to loosen their ties with England. We are a wonderful nation that was built by the People, for the People to pursue happiness without the oppression of large government. We set up moral rules to maintain civility and to protect each other from harm. And we defend the rights of citizens to do this. I hope that this will continue because there is no other country that believes in low taxation and inspires individual prosperity like in the United States of America. It is unfortunate that our President doesn't share the vision that America was founded on. We also are a nation that gives billions of dollars in aid to nations all over the world because we are prosperous to do so. We defend the weak and help the poor. We expect individual responsibility because that is the American way of life. Again, our current President forgets these virtues. I hope that the United States remembers it's traditions especially at this time of year.

"The First Thanksgiving" 1915 by Jean Louis Gerome Ferris

I hope that you and your family have a wonderful Thanksgiving this week!

intentions

Song of the Angels by Bouguereau

Prayers...
Of Comfort for my friend who just lost her good friend to cancer all too suddenly.
Of Thanksgiving that there is a new family here.
Of Mercy for our country's secularism.
For Israel.

Add to the list.

Weston A. Price Wise Traditions Conference

Wise Traditions Conference 2012 from Ann Marie Michaels on Vimeo.

Good people. Good food. Good health.

I, Pencil

freedom

Dear Mary

Thank you for your birthday letter!!! First of all, what were you doing up at 12:01~ ish and why are you texting that late?! You need your sleep.  Secondly, I am posting a drawing so that my blog isn't too "plain looking". It is a picture for the remedy Rhus Tox:  

I want to read your research paper when you're done! I'm interested in what you found out.  I also want to talk to you about Caroline's birthday-- she's not making it easy to plan any sort of celebration but I want to do something and since you know all of her friends, you need to help me! ;P
Thanks again for making my birthday special!
Mama Hissong
p.s. I will remember to vote! Ha!

it's that time of year again!

They're singing Happy Birthday to me!

I was surprised with gluten free cupcakes from a cute little shop nearby for my birthday today! And a private guitar concert by Nathaniel. And lots and lots of love from my family! I have good friends and a wonderful family. What more can anyone ask for? (I even got an extra hour of sleep this morning thanks to the time change last night!). It's a nice quiet day today-- Mass, a great lunch, a leisurely walk in the cold, lots of phone calls, dinner by my hubbie, and lots of hugs. Did I tell you already that I'm counting backwards this year? So, that's 44... right?! ha!

Happy November!...

Not so much for me right now... am trying to do a couple drawings for my homework and I seem to have forgotten how to draw!!! ARRGGGHHH. This was supposed to be the easy part. This is why I don't think I can handle drawing every day because the frustration level is too high.

On a happier note... I love November. Welcome my favorite month.