Jungle Party

I had fun with the girls today. We had a jungle party. All of our stuffed animals that could live in the jungle (Elephant, zebra, monkey, frog, lion, bear etc) were lined up on the couch and we sat in and among them. We made jungle juice and jungle corn (apple juice & popcorn) and we watched the Jungle Book for the first time. My mom got them the DVD for Christmas. They thought it was super fun at first, then got bored and wanted to jump around and make monkey noises and dance. So we did. I do a mean impression of a monkey.

Teddy For Grandma Bea

My Grandma Bea just had knee replacement surgery. She's in a rehabilitation center recovering. A rehabilitation center translates into nursing home. The girls have visited her there 3 times now. They LOVE going. They say hi to all the nurses and workers and they love to see all the elderly ladies in wheel chairs lining the halls because they smile at them and the girls love the attention. Plus they love seeing their Grammie Bea. So...I told them if they took a great nap today we would go see Grammie Bea at the hospital and visit with her. That's all it took. There was no noise, playing or talking after lights out. Only the joyous sound of nothing. So they got up, we got dressed and I was gathering all our stuff to take along with us. They came walking out of their playroom with two teddy bears. I said "girls, we can't take those with us in the car, you can bring your babies but that's all". (Their babies are the thing that goes with them at all times) They then said "no mama, this bear for Gammie Bea. It make her boo boo on her leg feel all bettuh and will keep her nice and toasty warm". I stopped in my tracks and said "do you mean you want to give your teddy bears to Grammie Bea?" They just jumped up and down and hollered Yeah Yeah Yeah. So off we went and they were so excited and proud to give their teddy bears to Grammie Bea when we got to her room and they told her exactly what they were for...to make your boo boo all bettuh and keep you nice and warm. Seriously, I had nothing to do with it. No subliminal suggestions, I brought no gift, nothing. This is something they came up with all on their own. I LOVE those kids man. It's ridiculous how much I dig them.

Mike Meeker Actually Licked The Plate!

When we were in Hawaii, we ate at Roy's of Hawaii. We ordered an appetizer that the hostess recommended called miso butterfish. We split this appetizer and it is one of the deepest regrets of our lives. We should not have split it. And we should have ordered this dish for each and every course. Then, we should have gone back each day and had it again until our vacation ended. Imagine my utter glee to find the recipe on The Today Show's website demonstrated by Roy himself when he visited the show and prepared it. I have now prepared it myself and Mike really does lick the plate when he is done. We cannot get Hawaiian butterfish so Roy recommends substituting Chilean sea bass (best choice), salmon (2nd best choice) or halibut (3rd best choice). Please try this. You will not be sorry. It is beautiful (as you can see above), healthy and the best entree of any kind (beef, chicken, pork, fish - including lobster) I have ever had in my life.

Hawaiian Style Misoyaki Butterfish (Sea Bass) With Kimchee Lime Butter

INGREDIENTS

For the butterfish
• 7oz. butterfish (also known as black cod). Sea bass, salmon or halibut can be used instead. (This is enough fish for one person. Double fish amount but no need to double marinade amt)

For the miso marinade
• 1 cup sake (Japanese wine found in any wine aisle)

• 1 cup mirin, a sweet Japanese cooking wine (You can find this at ANY grocery store in the Asian aisle. It looks like rice vinegar and is sometimes called Aji-Marin. It does NOT taste like rice vinegar so don't try to substitute )

• 1/2 lb sugar

• 1/2 lb miso paste(this is a refrigerated product found in produce aisle or health food section of any grocery store)

For the kimchee lime butter sauce
• 3 tablespoons. olive oil

• 1 small sweet onion, chopped (like vidalia or white onion)

• 1 tablespoon shallots, chopped

• 1 clove garlic

• 1/3 cup white wine (to avoid buying an entire bottle, they sell individual bottles with screw top caps so you can keep the extra bottles for future recipes)

• 2 teaspoons fish Sauce (Again, Asian aisle of any grocery store)

• 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice

• 2 tablespoons cream

• 2 tablespoons fresh cilantro, chopped

• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter

• 1 tablespoons. kimchee sauce (Again, refrigerated item found in produce - need to just the red sauce - not the cabbage part.)

• 3 tablespoons chili sauce (He uses the Asian chili sauce, again in any grocery store in the Asian section)

DIRECTIONS
Combine marinade ingredients in small saucepan and simmer until it becomes a dark, caramel color. Sake, mirin and miso can all be found at any grocery store or market specializing in Far East foods. After marinade has cooled, submerse fish completely and refrigerate for 24 hours.

Begin sauce by slicing the garlic thinly and slow roasting it in the oven for 40 minutes, at 250F. Using a small amount of the olive oil, sauté the onion, shallot and roasted garlic, until they become translucent. Deglaze the pan with white wine and fish sauce, and then reduce by half. Add cream, lime juice and a pinch of cilantro. Reduce the mixture until it thickens and slowly blend in the kimchee sauce and butter. (Kimchee sauce, which originates from Korea, is hot and spicy.) Strain sauce through a mesh strainer or cheese cloth and then mix in 1 tablespoon of cilantro and the chili sauce.
Take the marinated fish and place it into a sauté pan on medium heat with a small amount of oil. Cook for 2 to 4 minutes on each side. Place fish on the center of the plate on top of your starch of choice. (recommend steamed jasmine rice) Ladle the Kimchee Lime Butter Sauce around the fish and top with chopped cilantro.

TIPS
$26.00 per person for this dinner at Roy's, accompanied with either panko breaded deep fried tofu or rice and a vegetable. Cost to make at home, $8.55.Note: Marinade quantity is sufficient for several pieces of fish.

Jane Austen Series

Masterpiece Theater used to be a stuffy boring series on PBS that did low budget adaptation of Edith Wharton which were poorly acted and just ugh. They have redone this series and have updated it to give it much more class and polish. For the next few months, they are doing the major works of Jane Austen. Last week they did Persuasion. This week it's Northhanger Abbey (great). Mansfield Park, Pride & Prejudice, Sense & Sensibility, Miss Austen Regrets, Emma, A Room With a View and My Boy Jack (starring Daniel Radcliffe a.k.a. Harry Potter). The two movies I've seen so far have been excellent and I am looking forward to the entire schedule. Check your local listings for show times.

Great Appetizer for Meatballs (Easy)

I bought one of those huge bags of meatballs from Costco and had no clue how to get rid of it. I made up a GREAT appetizer recipe yesterday. You could also use this dish alongside steamed jasmine rice and an Asian inspired salad or vegetable.

36 Meatballs
2 teaspoons vegetable or canola oil
4 Tablespoons Apricot Jam or Sweet Thai Chili Sauce* (from Asian food aisle)
1 jar Thai peanut satay sauce (the best is from Trader Joe's)

Cook meatballs over medium high heat in a skillet in the vegetable oil until they are heated through and have a dark crust on all sides. Add apricot jam or sweet chili sauce to meatballs and continue to cook until syrup thickens and starts to really stick and glaze each meatball. Take off the heat and transfer to a serving platter. Serve alongside Thai peanut satay sauce for dipping. Put toothpick in each meatball for easy eating.

*Thai Chili Sauce will make these sweet and spicy so if you don't like spice, use the jam.

Zip Zap

I never grew up with a sibling. One of my favorite things the girls do right now is make up games to play and play and play and play. These games have fascinating names. Zip Zap, Pink, Boo, Tap Tap, jump, newange or puhsh can be observed being played at various times during the day. They think it's the best thing ever. Who needs gymboree and the zoo when you have your best friend around to play Tap Tap with you? These games involve jumping, stacking toys in the configuration of a boat and sailing off to ebber lan (never land) or standing at the very end of the hallway and hurling tennis balls at the closed door at the end of the hall. (this is their very favorite) I used to envy sisters who had each other as best friends and who always had someone to play with. When you are an only child, you clock a lot of time playing school with your stuffed animals, drawing and playing imaginary games. But now that I have twins, it's like all that has gone away and I wouldn't change a thing because I appreciate their relationship and the fact that they have each other so much more than I think I would have if I would have had siblings close to my age. So I guess my point is everything comes full circle. Call your sister or brother today and tell them relive a fun game like zip zap that you used to play together. You are SO LUCKY to have them.

Good-bye to Grandpa Huntsman

Mike's Grandfather Merlin Huntsman passed away today at the age of 95. Grandpa Huntsman was very special to us. He served as Stake Patriarch in the LDS church. He was a great example to our family. When I joined the LDS church, Grandpa became my friend and wrote letters to me often while I was at BYU and before I married Mike. He was very interested in me as an individual and I loved him way before I became a member of his family. We are thankful he is no longer in pain and we are glad he will join Grandma and his daughter Auntie Annette which we feel will give him great joy.

2008 Presidential Election - Where do You Stand?

There's a quiz on USA Today where you can answer how you feel about certain issues facing the world/our country. Then it matches your positions with the official positions of the candidates and shows who agree with on most issues. You can even rank how important issues are to you. (Like is global warming less important to you than the Iraq war?) It's really eye opening because the candidates are all side by side with their positions very concise and easy to differentiate. Apparently Mike will be supporting Huckabee or Obama and I will be supporting Obama. Maybe for the first time ever we will not cancel each other out at the polls! Here's the link if you want to take the quiz...

http://www.usatoday.com/news/politics/election2008/candidate-match-game.htm

We believe that as citizens we have a responsibility to learn about the issues facing our world and to support leaders who are the closest aligned with our beliefs. It's a fun family project to study the candidates together and have lively debates over dinner while driving in the car. We don't believe (like some do) that this world is corrupt and won't ever get any better so why try? We believe that we have to fight apathy and negative thinking that we can't make the world a better place. It's ironic that today is MLK day in which we honor the life of a man who taught passive resistance, civil disobedience to rallied the country to change the way we think, believe and most of all....dream.

Balsamic Roasted Chicken

I just tried this recipe for the first time. It is FANTASTIC. My mom and dad came over for dinner and everyone on the table loved it. After I list the ingredients and directions, I am listing the side dishes I served with it. This is healthy, but doesn't taste it. Enjoy...

1 Whole Chicken (4 to 5 pounds)
1/3 Cup Balsamic Vinegar
1/3 Cup Olive Oil
2 teaspoons Kosher or Grey Salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
3 Tablespoons Herbes de Provence or French Herbs (can find in ANY supermarket or target)
Rosemary
3 Onions cut into chunks
5 Yukon Gold or other potatoes cut into bite sized chunks

Clean and pat chicken dry with paper towels. Cut up two onions. Lay onions down in roaster pan or baking dish and place chicken on top of onions. In a bowl, mix vinegar, oil, salt, pepper and herbes de provence. Drizzle inside and all over chicken until every part is covered and excess drizzles over onion at the bottom. Stuff with other onion (cut up) and rosemary. Place in a 400 degree oven for 20 minutes. Reduce temperature to 350. Add cut up potatoes to bottom of roasting pan and roast until internal temperature of chicken is 160. Take chicken only out of oven and let rest on platter loosely tented with foil. Turn oven back up to 450 and finish roasted potatoes and onions for about 20 minutes. Spread roasted potatoes and onions around base of chicken on serving platter.

I served with the following side dishes (along w/roasted potatoes) and they blended really well:

Couscous with dried chopped apricots and raisins.
Carrot and raisin salad with a sweet vinaigrette w/fresh parsley
Steamed broccoli
Blood orange segments, pomegranate seeds and pure maple syrup (for dessert)

*makes great cold chicken leftovers

Potty Training 1st Night - Help Needed

Potty training twins has been a growing sense of dread and fear deep in my gutt. We gave a half hearted attempt when we moved here this past Summer. However, neither Katie or Jessica were ready. So...we waited until the craziness of the holidays was over and presented the girls with two brand new shiny hot pink ergonomic designer European potties. (Bjorn) We made a huge deal of big girl potties, big girl panties, big girl plastic panties etc etc etc. We got the video camera out and videoed the whole thing. Both girls wanted to sit on them right away. So they did. We got some books and sang songs while we waited around for what we were sure was going to be nothing. All of a sudden Jessica looks up at us and gasps and in total glee she exclaims..."It's WORKING!" In the days of every toy having a battery or an on/off switch, she thought the potty was turned on and working because she was going pee pee. It was cute. Soon after Katie followed suit and there was much success and rejoicing.

In the spirit of college football, we decided that rather than giving candy or little toys, we would give the girls a small sticker with their name on it to place on their potty every time they have a success. You know how football players get to put a sticker on their helmets every time they make a great tackle, run or touchdown? Same principle. So we are off and running (to the potty). Jessica is doing great, Katie not so much. I'm taking my friend Caitlin's advice not to focus on both of them at the same time but to potty train the one who is ready and the other one will follow. Any advice out there in cyber space? Please share your comments.

Here is the most recent pictures of Katie and Jessica Rose

Welcome To Our Bloggie Thing

We must be crazy and as narcissistic as the rest of the world to start a blog. I remember when I was little, people used to carry around autograph books and snap shots in their wallets. Now Mike shows pictures of the chicks to his patients on his palm or cell phone and my dad surfs u-tube with the girls for cookie monster and little Einstein songs. I guess we'll use this blog for all sorts of stuff. I'll share recipes and fun finds around town. I'll make Mike contribute his thoughts from time to time or have him share new medical info that can help family & friends. I'll definitely keep you posted on our adventures in raising our two chicas. Today was the first official day of big girl panties and big girl potty. Jessica had zero accidents and Katie....well...she isn't sure if she's ready. I'm not sure what a blog is supposed to be. The word isn't very attractive...BLOG. Hmmm...well I'll try to make it worth your time to visit every once in awhile.