Ruth and Fear

Ruth and I run at night after dark because that is when I can go. We did a two mile run tonight. Ruth did fairly well. We had to slow down near the end, but she ran the whole way. The first three fences that we ran past with dogs, Ruth got really scared and barked back at the dogs. I thought that was pretty funny. It reminded me of when she was a baby. Ruth was scared of the vacuum and instead of running away from it she would crawl up to it and hit it.

Lego Conversation

Johnny while showing me his two lego ships: Mom, which ship do you think will win the battle?
Me: probably the bigger one. It depends on how many guns.
Johnny: Oh. The bigger ships has lots of guns.

note: the bigger ship had lego Luke Skywalker on it with a lego light saber in hand.

A Murmur and a Chastisement

January has been a rather hard month. We have had at least one child sick almost every day, I have felt more tired than I think I ever have in my entire life because of this pregnancy, and John has been away from home a lot because of work and church stuff. We have also had a hard time trying to help Rachel to be happier and less whiney and needy. It seems like we have been at war with Rachel most of the month. I was feeling rather complainy last night as we put three of our kids to bed with fevers. I thought I would write a blog this morning about how some times are just hard. I thought maybe an appropriate start would be, "Sighed Mayzie a lazy bird hatching an egg..." Then I read this section from the Joseph Smith priesthood/ relief society manual in chapter 24:

As the members of Zion’s Camp marched from Kirtland, Ohio, to Missouri, they learned many leadership principles from their association with Joseph Smith. George A. Smith, a member of Zion’s Camp, recalled: “The Prophet Joseph took a full share of the fatigues of the entire journey. In addition to the care of providing for the Camp and presiding over it, he walked most of the time and had a full proportion of blistered, bloody, and sore feet, which was the natural result of walking from 25 to 40 miles a day in a hot season of the year. But during the entire trip he never uttered a murmur or complaint, while most of the men in the Camp complained to him of sore toes, blistered feet, long drives, scanty supply of provisions, poor quality of bread, bad corn dodger [corn bread], frowsy [spoiled] butter, strong honey, maggoty bacon and cheese, etc. Even a dog could not bark at some men without their murmuring at Joseph. If they had to camp with bad water, it would nearly cause rebellion. Yet we were the Camp of Zion, and many of us were prayerless, thoughtless, careless, heedless, foolish, or devilish, and yet we did not know it. Joseph had to bear with us and tutor us like children. There were many, however, in the Camp who never murmured and who were always ready and willing to do as our leader desired.”

I suddenly felt rather like the men that complained, and I knew that I have not been good enough. I have many many blessings. I know that by just choosing, and I tell this to my kids all of the time, that I can be happy and not murmur even when things are very hard. January has been just a little bit hard. I am grateful for the books, and prophets, and scriptures that I have to chastise me when I need it for the good of my life, my soul, and my family. I am sure this passage was in answer to my daily prayer of, "help me to do better, and to be more patient." I would like to be like the men who despite blistery feet, rotten food, and bad water were always ready and willing to do what was required of them.

Shrimp Etouffee

I decided that in 2009, I was going to make one new fancy dish for dinner once a month. For January, I chose to make a Cajun dish, Shrimp Etouffee. We are familiar with this, because we have eaten it at a good Cajun restaurant here in Wichita. I chose a random recipe from the web and bought all of the ingredients when I did my monthly shopping. Tonight, I decided that was what I wanted for dinner. The recipe said that it takes two hours to make. I started at 5:15 thinking that it would be just a little late for family home evening night. But apparently the recipe assumes you have previously made the shrimp stock. So it actually took nearly 3 hours. But we just had our family home evening lesson and game while the etouffee was simmering for 45 minutes. So it all worked out pretty well.

The shrimp etouffe was absolutely divine. I don't think I have ever made anything that has tasted so good. John said that it was as good as the best thing in our favorite Cajun restaurant. I just loved it, and I cannot wait to have more. The kids liked it, but it was way too spicy for children. Johnny actually ate his. He hardly eats anything that is not bread, cereal, or candy. But he ate all of his etouffee.

I changed a few things in the recipe. I left the bay out completely because I did not know that I did not already have some. I used fresh tomatoes that I pureed instead of canned diced tomatoes, and I pureed all of the other vegetables for the sake of my husband and children who cannot stand chunky sauce stuff. Otherwise I followed the recipe fairly carefully. If I make it again, which I think I will but not often, I will cut down on the spices for the sake of my children. I will also double the amount of rice I cooked with it. I will probably also cut the recipe in half. We have a lot of leftovers. John and I will take care of those with out too much trouble, and I may make it for one more dinner. All in all, it was really, really good. So if you like shrimp and spicy, and have three hours to make dinner, try this.

Ingredients

• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 4 cups chopped onions
• 2 cups chopped green bell peppers
• 2 cups chopped celery
• 2 tablespoons minced garlic
• 1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 2 tablespoons Essence, recipe follows
• 1 quart shrimp stock
• 3 pounds medium shrimp (21 to 25 count per pound), peeled and deveined
• 1/4 cup chopped parsley leaves
• Steamed white rice, for serving
• 1/2 cup thinly sliced green onion tops, for garnish

Directions

Melt the butter in a large Dutch oven set over medium heat. Add the flour and stir continuously to make a roux. Stir the roux over medium heat until the color of peanut butter, 5 to 7 minutes. Add the onions, bell peppers, celery, and garlic to the roux, and cook, stirring often, for 10 minutes. Add the tomatoes to the pot and season with the bay leaves, salt, cayenne, and 1 tablespoon of the Essence. Cook the tomatoes for 2 to 3 minutes and then whisk in the shrimp stock.

Bring the mixture to a boil, and reduce to a simmer. Cook the etouffee, stirring occasionally, for 45 minutes. Season the shrimp with the remaining tablespoon of Essence and add them to the pot, stirring to evenly distribute. Cook the shrimp for 5 to 7 minutes, or until they are cooked through. Add the chopped parsley to the pot and stir to combine.

Serve immediately over steamed white rice and garnish with sliced green onion tops.

Emeril's ESSENCE Creole Seasoning (also referred to as Bayou Blast):

2 1/2 tablespoons paprika

2 tablespoons salt

2 tablespoons garlic powder

1 tablespoon black pepper

1 tablespoon onion powder

1 tablespoon cayenne pepper

1 tablespoon dried oregano

1 tablespoon dried thyme

Combine all ingredients thoroughly.

Shrimp Stock:

1 pound (about 1 quart) shrimp shells and heads

1 cup coarsely chopped yellow onions

1/2 cup coarsely chopped celery

1/2 cup coarsely chopped carrots

3 smashed garlic cloves

1 bay leaf

1 teaspoon black peppercorns

1 teaspoon dried thyme

2 teaspoons salt

Place the shrimp shells and heads in a large colander and rinse under cold running water for several minutes.

Combine the shrimp shells and remaining ingredients in a heavy 6-quart stockpot, add 4 quarts water, and bring to a boil over high heat. Skim to remove any foam that rises to the surface. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer, uncovered, for 45 minutes, skimming occasionally.

Remove the stock from the heat and strain through a fine-mesh sieve into a clean container; let cool completely. Refrigerate the stock for up to 3 days or freeze in airtight containers for up to 2 months.

Kate's Manga Drawings

These are Kate's drawings. I should note that they stayed up really late doing these most school nights, and now they use them as paper dolls.

Ruth's Manga Drawings

Ruth and Kate checked a book out of the library on how to draw Manga (Japanese animation). These are some of Ruth's drawings.

Stranger Cat

When I went on the run with Ruth and Kate on Wednesday, Ruth stopped to pet a cat. The cat then followed us all the way back to our house. After I let the girls pet the cat for a few minutes I made them come inside. To our surprise the cat was still at our house the next morning. Adam and I noticed the cat fighting our cat, Boy. The two cats seemed to fight for a couple of hours and then it turned to more play. The next thing we knew the stranger cat was eating out of our cat food, and sleeping in Boy's favorite spot in the garage. We looked at the stranger and and realized that it is an unnuetered boy cat. (I didn't exactly want one of those hanging out in our house or garage.) The cat stayed around completely moved in and comfortable. He even meowed at the door when he wanted us to feed him. The kids wanted to keep this cat, but last night we drove him back to the spot where Ruth first patted him. I might have been willing to neuter the cat and let him stay because he was very friendly and the kids seemed to like him a lot. But we have lost two cats since we have lived here and it has been very sad. So I thought we better bring him back to where his owners most likely lived. John and I thought that we could see our lost cats taking a walk with some one and not knowing how to get back home.