More than cooking in the kitchen

Lately I have realized that my kitchen is the engine of my home.  It is the epicenter of everything that happens in our family.  With Christmas behind us and the New Year right around the corner I spent several hours in the kitchen cooking and baking, which only makes sense because that is what one would assume I have been doing in the kitchen.  However, it has occurred to me in the past few days that my kitchen is much more than a place to cook and eat.  My kitchen doubles as a hair and nail salon (especially when the Princess is home).  It sometimes resembles an explosion of a Gander Mountain or Cabelas store when Byron comes in and decides to drape every last dining table chair with camo clothing!  The kitchen is sometimes used as a therapy office where advice that is appreciated and sometimes not appreciated is given freely while sitting at the table.  It is a nurturing place where both of my girls have learned many life lessons while standing at the kitchen sink washing dishes.  When we bought the house it had a dishwasher but after a few years it stopped working, it was right about the time that the girls were big enough to help wash dishes so we opted not to replace the unit.  Believe me there have been many times that I have wished for a dishwasher, but I wouldn't trade the conversations that the girls and I have had while gathered at the sink for anything,  Some of those conversations have been very serious.  Conversations about life and love, and conversations about what kind of prom dress and shoes they wanted.  Whatever the topic, I am fairly certain that we would not have enjoyed them so much had we not been standing there with a sink full of hot water and suds!  Indeed, the kitchen is used for so many other things besides cooking.  Just tonight it was used as a dance floor while Lena sang the Little Drummer Boy to me over and over and over.   There is usually music playing in the kitchen so sometimes the dancing just happens.  Yes, the kitchen is for so much more than cooking.  It is the place in my home that I feel very safe.  The place where I want my children to remember learning those life lessons and a place that I will always want to spend my days.  Even as I am typing this blog, I am doing so at the kitchen table.  Another use....a home office....hummm with tax time right around the corner I am wondering if I can claim that?  Home is truly the place where memories are created and I say most of our memories were created right here in the kitchen!

Christmas 2010

Another one is in the books and I will say it was one of the best.  Christmas 2010 found Lena home early from school and Ashley and Tony came in on Christmas night and will be here for a few days.  This time of year my kitchen seems to be so small and I have a terrible lack of counter space but I am so happy to have a house full of family.  This year I had both MY family and Byron's family here for dinner.  Instead of cooking ahead and trying to keep it warm, I thought it would be a great idea to cook everything and time it so it was ready by our 7:00 dinner time.  Lets just say that worked but it was way stressful for this hostess.  At 3:00 yesterday as I was beginning the preparations for the meal I found everything in my spare fridge (in the garage) FROZEN.  The cream cheese was like bricks and the spare gallon milk resembled a block of ice.  Thankfully, I found it with time to spare so a disaster was averted.  Cooking went really well and I was spared having to go outside to help with chores because Tony and Ashley arrived.  Tony rescued me from walking dogs and that was like a Christmas miracle!  I do love my soon to be son in law!!!  My mother in law arrived early and it was good to have time to visit with her.  Jacob was here with Lena and we are enjoying getting to know him.  He seems like a wonderful young man and it is always fun to watch a new relationship as it develops.  Byron's brother and sister in law, Keenan and Luann were here as well and that was a special treat for us.  Their kids are not coming home until New Years so they were able to spend the evening with us.  Aunt Patty graced the table as well and she is always a joy!  I love to hear her stories and just generally love having her around.  My sister Kathy, nephew Kurt, niece Caitlyn  and her boyfriend Will were here too.    My table was way too small and the kitchen was way too crowded but it was so good to have everyone here.  This year instead of the usual snowman dishes I used my Grandmothers china which, when set, made for a beautiful table.  I knew that I wanted to use the dishes so weeks ago I started looking for table linens that would complement them.  I had no success in finding the right linens, so I made my own.  I sewed napkins, table runners and a tablecloth..  I had so many complements on them and I will say that having the table set with Ti-Ti's dishes brought back some wonderful memories for me.  Memories that while I washed each piece before we used them and washed each piece before I put them back in the china cabinet flooded my heart with joy.  This time of year I miss those family members that have gone to be in heaven.  My Momma and Daddy most, Byron's dad, Grandpa Cade and my brother and grandparents.  Family is so important and is what truly makes the holidays "the holidays."  We have many traditions, some big, some not so big, some silly and others serious.  I hope that we have taught the girls well and that those family traditions continue on.  Lena said to me last night, "I hope that Ashley's children and my children are close."  I assured her that they would be but stressed to her that it won't just happen, both she and her sister will have to work to make sure that their children become close friends. 
Family, that is what this holiday is all about.  Let us not forget why we are able to celebrate such a joyful occasion...IT ALL STARTED WITH A BABY BORN IN A MANGER.  Happy Birthday Baby Jesus!

The TOOTH FAIRY

Not sure why I started thinking about this particular tradition but happened to as I was laying in bed last night listening to my husband snore!  I really have been focused on tradition, rituals, and family and I happened to remember one that I thought you might find interesting.  The TOOTH FAIRY! 

Having girls has always allowed me the privilege of doing things just a little more feminine than what some people do things.  The Tiede girls grew up knowing how to work hard, respect people and be the best friend that they could be to the people who loved them.  I remember well telling them to be pretty inside before worrying about being pretty outside because if you took care of the inner beauty the rest would follow.  That being said I was all about making them girly girls.  Ashley learned the girly girl lesson later in life and has learned to balance it well with being her daddy's "boy".  She can hunt and shoot with the best of them but very much loves her purses, clothes and jewelry.  Lena is well...a princess.  She has been since she was big enough to get into my makeup basket and paint her face.  Now, I am sure you are all wondering what this has to do with the tooth fairy.  Well, as most people know the tooth fairy comes while you are sleeping and takes the tooth that you lost (or had pulled) from your head and replaces it with some type of monatery reward.  When I was a kid that usually meant a quarter or maybe a dollar if the Fairy was feeling really generous!  The tooth fairy always visited the Tiede girls and took their teeth to....where ever teeth go when they fall out of your head.  To keep the girls asleep, I asked the fairy not to put money under the girls pillows but instead we put the tooth in a glass of water and this is when the magic happened! The tooth fairy (and we all know that fairies are female), she would gently reach into the glass of water, take out the tooth and drop in a quarter.  But the magic came  when she reached into the water, it would magically turn the color of the dress she was wearing.  The girls were always more excited to see the color of the water than they were to recieve the quarter that had been placed there.  Red, blue, green, yellow orange and yes, purple were just some of the dress colors.  I know that this will be something that the girls carry on with their own daughters, when and if they bless me with a granddaughter.  And if that doesn't happen, we may have to request a special male tooth fairy with a different color baseball cap!

The most important ingredient....LOVE

It is that time of year whenI seem to spend more time in the kitchen than I do in any other part of the home.  In past blogs I have stated that my mother was a FABULOUS cook and that sadly I learned very little from her.  I think I was just too young when she passed away that I took her skills for granted and thought that someday, when I was old and she was really old, I would take the time to learn from her.  I am old now and she is gone so now I will say to you, Do Not Wait, because every day is a gift from God and he makes no promise directly to you about tomorrow.  Sadly, it has taken me 40 years to learn this and only through a series of losing people that I love so very much.  Live for today like there will be no tomorrow because that could just be reality.  With that in mind, I will continue to talk about family traditions, holiday traditions and loving all that comes with those.  The past few days, I have been consumed by baking.  There is just something so therapeutic about it.  Cookies have been high on the list and my sister reminded me about those little pineapple cookies that my mother used to make.  They were WONDERFUL!  I just may have to try to make some of those today.  Outside the baking there have been many other treats, rice krispie treats, carmel corn, and homemade veggie soup which have warmed my kitchen.  The smells are nearly as warm as the heat generated by cooking and the smells seem to take me back home.  Home to that place where my mother was the one in the kitchen and I was the one laying on the floor with my feet propped up on the hearth of the fireplace.  I wish now that I had been in the kitchen with her.  
A dear friend of mine just told me yesterday that you cannot change yesterday so don't let it screw up today! His words, not mine, but they really hit home.  Soon my house will be full again.  The girls will be home and things will just be right!  If you have holiday traditions make sure you continue, if you have none that readily come to mind, start some new ones this year.  It could be as simple as baking a cookie or making a favorite holiday treat .  Whatever you cook, remember the most important ingredient is LOVE! 

Carrying on and starting new family traditions...puffy rice.

Just as I predicted in yesterdays post, Ashley has officially decorated her first "grown up" Christmas tree and there is not a hint of blue to be seen!  It is truly so exciting for me to see how our childrens tastes and traditions form as they grow into adults.  Ashley will be 23 in just about a month and she is such a beautiful young lady.  Last month she attempted a family tradition that even I have never taken on.  Byron's grandmother and mother have always made this rice dish at the holidays that the kids lovingly call "puffy rice".  It is this strange mixture of rice, milk and sugar that gets baked until it is well, puffy.  Being a Tiede only in name and not by blood (I truly believe you have to have the genes to eat that stuff) it is not something that I ever ate (outside the one spoonful back in 1987!) nor have I ever attempted to bake it.  Well, Miss Ashley decided that in keeping with the holiday tradition she would have to make her own puffy rice since her work schedule would not let her come home for the holiday.  She baked a trial batch which she used her fiance' Tony and her little sister as taste testers.  Tony absolutely enjoyed it which causes me concern (not a Tiede) and Lena gave it two thumbs up but insisted that it had a little too much sugar in it.  I am just proud that Ashley took it upon herself to carry on the tradition.  I understand that her second attempt was successful as well because that is what she contributed to Tony's families holiday dinner.  Suprisingly enough, it was a hit and I will say that I am greatful that the pan of sticky, gooieness made such an impression on Tony's family because it will surely be a tradition that will continue to be carried on for many holidays to come. 

Oh Christmas Tree

Well here I am again attempting to catch up with this blog.  I am not sure why I struggle so with keeping it updated but for whatever reason I just seem to be so bad at it! 

My last post was August 25 and now I am fast approaching December 25th, where does the time go?  Christmas is right around the corner and that means that I am in the kitchen baking like a crazy woman.  I love to bake, it is my therapy.  I do believe that my husband enjoys my "therapy sessions" as much as I do.  Christmas cookies are one of the things that bring back many happy memories for me.  It is not just eating them that brings back memories it is the actual baking.  Is there anything better than the aroma of fresh baked cookies and brownies when it fills the house?  Not to mention the added benefit of warming up the house with the non stop usage of the oven.  My momma was a baker and as I have said in past posts she could always seem to make SOMETHING out of NOTHING.  I remember well those fabulous little pineapple cookies that she would bake and while I have often tried to imitate them I have never figured out exactly how to keep them soft in the middle and crunchy on the edges.  I think she must have sprinkled them with a little "magic" to get them to come out so perfectly.   Smell is something that always triggers those special memories for me.
The Christmas season has already taken us to the Christmas tree farm where Byron and I found the perfect 10 foot tall Frasier fir tree to bring home to stand tall and beautiful in our family room.   It was a little different this year as it was just the two of us choosing a tree.  Ashley and Tony were not able to be here for Thanksgiving and Lena had to go back to school so the selection process was left entirely up to us.  I think we chose wisely.  In honor of my dad the tree is decorated in blue and silver.  Dad LOVED a blue and silver tree and for years those have been my color choices.  For years the girls have said they can't wait to decorate their own trees and for Ashley the time has come.  I carefully boxed up all the ornaments that her Grandma Tiede had purchased over the years and sent them to her.  She was excited to go through them and I know she is excited to put up her very own Christmas tree.  It is with some certainty that I say, I doubt she chooses blue and silver as the colors!