Wednesday Wisconsin Cheese Review

Cheese of the week: Sweet Cranberry Cinnamon
Rated (from 1-10): 7
Quote of the Week: "It has a hint of holiday"

After last week's disappointment, this week's cheese was amazing. It has been our favorite so far. We really enjoyed it. It is the perfect thing to eat during the holiday season as the marbled cranberry looks elegant and "Christmas-sy" and the cinnamon flavor is reminiscent of holiday treats. Success. We decided tonight that we are ready to go even further out on a limb and actually try some of the different kinds of cheeses, not just flavored cheddar.

Farmer Style Cheese-Cauliflower Soup

We had amazing success with this week's Wisconsin recipe as well. I LOVED it. I know trying another soup might be boring, but after thoroughly enjoying the creamy cauliflower soup I had with Shonna at a delightful restaurant in Columbus, I HAD to try this one. Brielle helped me with every step, but she still wouldn't eat it. Oh well. I would totally recommend giving this recipe a try. You will be glad you did!

2/3 cup thinly sliced white parts of green onions

1 garlic clove, minced

2 tablespoons butter

3 cups cauliflower flowerets

3 cups canned chicken broth

1 teaspoon paprika

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

2 cups small curd cottage cheese

Salt and white pepper to taste

4 Tablespoons thinly sliced green onion tops for garnish

In a Dutch oven, cook the white parts of the green onions and minced garlic in the butter over moderately low heat, stirring, until softened. Add the cauliflower and broth; bring to a boil and simmer, covered for about 15 minutes, or until cauliflower is tender. Add the seasonings and cottage cheese. Cook, stirring, until the cheese is melted. Add salt and pepper to taste. Puree the mixture in batches in a blender or food processor (once again I just mashed it with a potato masher because we like having chunks of veggies). Return soup to the pan, heat through, and garnish with green onion tops. Serves 4.

Pacifiers and Polywogs

Today marks one week since we cut the tip off of Nathan's beloved pacifier. When we gave it back to him that night he sucked once, pulled it out, and handed it to us. "Broke," he said. He hasn't used it since. He wanted to hold it while he went to sleep those first couple of nights and we have had more tears than usual, but all in all, it hasn't been too bad. The worst part has been sacrament meeting. During the last few months our goal has been to only let Nathan have his pacifier while sleeping, except during sacrament meeting. When he started to get restless during the meeting, we would pop it in his mouth and he was truly pacified. It was then easy to hold him on my lap and keep him entertained with a toy. This last Sunday we didn't even make it past the opening prayer before Jared was in the hall with him. We'll have to figure something else out.

"Broke"

Four days ago we got our first family pet...polywogs. One of my most treasured memories is going down to the Virgin River with my dad, Shonna, and Michelle. The sky was grey when we started our hike to the river, but we didn't think anything of it. After the excitement of catching several polywogs (tadpoles, guppies, whatever you happen to call them), large raindrops started to fall and the thunder began to clap. I clearly remember racing home as lightning struck all around us (or so it seemed). It was so much fun. Hmm. I wonder if that is where my love of crazy weather began. Anyway, we got to watch the polywogs grow and slowly morph into frogs...then our pets disappeared as soon as they got strong enough to hop away (Don't worry we kept them outside in a bucket. We didn't have stray frogs hiding in our beds). It was such an exciting learning experience for me. I am grateful for a father who took the time to do that with us. Well, last week Jared found some frogs sitting next to the pond outside. On Friday he took the kids out to try and find them. He came home ecstatic because instead of frogs they had found frog eggs. He insisted that we go and get a bowl for them that night, so we did. I thought he was a little overexcited and there was no need to rush to get one, but I was wrong. By the next morning half of them had hatched and by that afternoon they all had. We have been amazed at how quickly they have grown. We are drawing pictures of each stage in hopes it will help Brielle remember the whole process.

Phiadelphia Cheese Steaks - Wisconsin Style

On our first trip to the dairy I found a "Wisconsin Cheese Recipe Book" for about $3 and decided that we should try a new recipe each week as well. (It gives me something fun to plan and is a way to make this experience more fun!) The Creamy Cabbage was NOT a hit, (I actually threw it away after the dinner. Yes, it is true. I didn't put it in the fridge until it started to go bad. It was bad from the beginning.) but we did enjoy the Wiconsin-style Steak Sandwiches.

1 1/2 T Olive Oil

3 Medium Onions

1 garlic clove, minced

4 small Italian hero rolls split in half legthwise

4 small beef steaks

Worcestershire sauce

3/4 cup cheddar cheese, shredded

Heat oil in skillet over medium heat. Add onions and cook slowly, cover, for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until soft and golden. Add garlic and cook 1 minute longer. Remove onions and set aside. Place rolls open-faced on a baking sheet and brown under broiler for about 3 minutes or until lightly toasted. In skillet, cook steaks several minutes each side to desired doneness. Sprinkle a few drops of Worcestershire sauce over steaks. Place steaks on bottom halves of rolls. Arrange one-fourth of onion mixture on each steak. Top with shredded cheese. Place under the broiler 4 inches from the heat for several minutes until cheese begins to bubble and melt. Top with other half of roll. Serves 4.

The First Week

The first week of Jared’s internship with Kimberly Clark working on the Depend Brand, has gone very well. He came home after his first day absolutely thrilled with his assigned project and with his team. We feel very blessed to be where we hoped we would be. I admit, I had some anxious days last weekend wondering how things would be once “normal life” returned in such new environment, but it has gone remarkably well. Granted, we are still adjusting and not everything is perfect, but we are happy and are so glad that we are here.
Yesterday I took the kids to the “famed” Memorial Park that several people have told me about. It had a huge playground that was perfect for the kids and they had an absolute blast. I neglected to take pictures of them playing, but here is one of them exploring a “BUS!!!” Whenever there is a bus anywhere in sight, little Nathan ensures that everyone within the sound of his voice knows about it. Due to his usual excitement, I asked one of the bus drivers of the many kids that had come to the park as part of their field trip, if Brielle and Nathan could actually get on a bus. They weren’t as thrilled as I expected, but I snapped a couple of pictures nonetheless.

Wednesday Wisconsin Cheese Review

Cheese of the week: Bacon Cheese

Rated (from 1-10): -10

Quote of the Week: "Yuck!"
This week, it was Jared's turn to choose. After narrowing the HUGE selection down to just 5, he decided to go with a "manly" selection and chose "bacon cheese." Now, had we paid more attention we would have realized before buying it that that was an unwise decision, but I guess this is all part of the learning process. Most of the specialty cheeses list the addition (i.e. blueberry) and then list the type of cheese (i.e. white cheddar cheese). This one did not. It was simply Bacon Cheese. As soon as Jared opened the package, he began lamenting his decision. It was a very processed, spongy cheese that not even Brielle (the cheese queen) would eat. Yes it tasted like bacon, but it didn't taste like cheese. Yuck. So, since I struggle wasting anything (Jared teases me because I have been known to put something that we don't really like and no one wants to finish in the back of the fridge until it starts to spoil and then throw it away), I am trying to think of something I can do to use that relatively pricey cheese that is sitting in our fridge. Maybe some type of breakfast dish that calls for cheese and bacon...What do you think?

Wisconsin Potato Cheese Soup

To celebrate our arrival this week we made a delicious Wisconsin Potato Cheese Soup...Thanks to my friend Heather for the recipe. It is inexpensive, quick, easy and delicious. That is my kind of recipe!

1/3 cup chopped celery

1/3 cup chopped onion

(I added 1/3 sliced carrots - the soup is orange, so it is easy to "hide" orange veggies in it so that certain members of my family don't know that they are eating it!)

2T butter or margarine

4 cups diced, peeled potatoes

3 cups chicken broth

2 cups milk

1 1/2 t salt

1/4 pepper

Dash paprika

2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

Chopped fresh parsley

Croutons

In a large saucepan, saute celery and onion in butter until tender. Add potatoes and broth. Cover and simmer until potatoes are tender, 12-15 minutes. Allow mixture to cool. In batches, puree potato mixture in blender or food processor. (That is where I strayed from the recipe a bit. We like to have chunks of potato in our soup, so I just mashed it all by hand with a potato masher leaving some chunks. That way you don't have to wait for it to cool either.) Return to pan. Stir in milk and seasonings. Add the cheese and heat just until melted. Garnish with croutons and parsley.

Weekly Wednesday Wisconsin Cheese

Did you know that Wisconsin is the dairyland of America? This state ranks "first in the United States in milk production supplying nearly 15% of the nation's milk, 30% of the cheese and 25% of the butter." When we told people we were moving to Wisconsin the most common response was something about the cheese. We were told about chocolate cheese, fried cheese curd, cheese in the shape of Wisconsin etc. etc. It got us excited to try all of this fun cheese and we decided we would share those adventures with you. Every week we will carefully select a new type of cheese to try and we will give you the report. This week's lucky winner was Blueberry White Cheddar Cheese. It was interesting. Cheddar cheese is a staple in our home, so we thought we would start with something that wasn't too far from what we know. It was more firm and a little sharper than the mild cheese we usually have. There was a hint of blueberry, but we were surprised that there wasn't more blueberry taste. We preferred it with a cracker rather than just plain as the taste was pretty strong. There you have it. Our ameteur cheese review.

We love it here!

We love the people: People here are so nice! It has amazed both of us. Everyone we have encountered has been so friendly and willing to help. Brielle has even found a little playmate. Lauren came running out of her apartment a couple buildings down when Jared and the kids were trying to find our mailbox yesterday. Both Brielle and Lauren were very excited to have found a friend. Jared said Lauren's mother was very nice too, so maybe I will have a new friend as well!
We love our apartment: We are very pleased with our new apartment. It looks quite different from what we expected after the research we had done online, but we are going to love it anyway. The layout is spacious and ideal. The kitchen, dining room, living room and study nook are all connected in one big open space...perfect for me to do all of the things I need to do and still watch the kids while they play. A deck opens from the living room (we are on the second floor) and the kids are enjoying the freedom to "go outside" whenever they want. They spent a lot of time out there yesterday as Jared and I cleaned and unpacked. Down the hall are 2 large bedrooms, 2 large bathrooms (one with washer and dryer closet in it) and we have a large walk-in closet that may become Nathan's room if the sharing thing doesn't work out so well.

Kitchen. The entry door is just to the left of the kitchen.Kitchen, LR, Dining Room Study nook, coat closet, and dining table
We love the location: We are 1 minute away from Walmart Supercenter (our receipt only came to $300 something yesterday as we bought all the stuff to get set up...gulp), the mall, Olive Garden, Red Lobster, 2 Redboxes, Joann's, Hobby Lobby, Micheals, Walgreens (and several other stores and restaurants), yet we have 2 ponds just outside our apartment. In fact, Jared and Brielle are fishing at one of them right now...no fishing license needed because it is private property. Yay!
We love the activities: We went on our first Wisconsin outing today. Where did we go? A cheese store and dairy, of course:
Ever wondered why they are called cheeseheads?...Well, now we know.Nathan finds a "moo".

Yummy fresh ice cream!

We made two other special purchases, but that will be a blogging surprise for another day!

Welcome to Wisconsin

We made it!!

Brielle Celebrates...we FINALLY made it to our long-anticipated Wisconsin house.

The 9.5 hours went off without a hitch, well, besides the hour it took to get through Chicaco downtown freeway traffic. I didn't mind so much though. I loved watching the skyline get closer and closer. We were amazed at the incredible number of cars and very grateful that these country bumpkins get to live in the country for at least another year!

Cousin Good-byes

Andrew and the kids saw us off on our last 9.5 hour leg of the journey to Wisconsin after we attended sacrament meeting with them. I loved these sweet cousin pictures.

Playing

We had a very nice time at one of the four lakes that is within 5 minutes from Andy and KaraLynne's house on Saturday. The kids and Andrew went fishing and we took turns going out on their boat on the lake. Despite the dreary weather forecast, it ended up being a lovely day. Thanks for the memories.

Andrew and Corilynn

Nathan LOVES "shishing."

The boat...FUN!

Cool Bre showing off her scooter skills.

Kirtland and Hiram, Ohio

Andy and KaraLynne live only 1 hour way from Kirtland and Hiram, Ohio, the location of more fabulous church history sites. We got up early this morning, all climbed into their van, and headed off for a day of fun. Both the John Johnson Farm in Hiram and the Kirtland sights have changed quite a bit since I went on the church history tour with my family 10-15 years ago. It was fun to see them again and to feel the spirit there. We were blessed to visit 3 places where both God and Christ appeared (the John Johson Farm/Section 76, The Newel K. Whitney Story/School of the Prophets, and The Kirtland Temple) and there was a sacred feeling at each place.Nathan, Lyman and Brielle in the back. Lyman was so nice to share things with both of his cousins while in the car.Corilynn and I had fun in the two captain seats. The brothers were up front.The back of the John Johnson Farm

The Johnson's summer kitchen. They were such wonderful people. I was so impressed with the sacrifices they made to help the Smiths and to assist in the growth of the church.

Room where the Prophet Joseph did the translation of the Bible. It was here that the revelation recorded in section 76 was received.After viewing a wonderful video at the Kirtland Visitor Center, we went to the Newel K. Whitney store. Newel and his wife were also amazing people who gave so much to build up the church. Their dedication and enduring faithfulness are inspiring. Both they and the Johnsons dedicated large portions of their home or store for Joseph and Emma to live and to be the headquarters of the church. The School of the Prophets was held in an upstairs room of the Whitney store for 4 months. This is that room.The Kirtland Temple"Stinky Socks!!!" I can testify that this gets smiles from kids better than saying "cheese" does.

The 3 of them attack the camera. That is much more fun than standing still while mom tries to get the perfect shot.

Lyman...handsome kid.

Corilynn...love her smile.

Fun with the Ohio Mackrorys

Yesterday we arrived in Green, Ohio where we were greeted by two exuberant cousins and their wonderful mother. SO fun! Brielle had been talking about seeing Lyman and Corilynn for quite a while and was excited that the time had come. Lyman immediately took us to his swing set in the back yard and we all thoroughly enjoyed it. The kids loved being able to climb, play, and squeal freely and loved that they had other kids to play with. Jared and I enjoyed talking with KaraLynne and admiring their AMAZING backyard. They live "out in the country" a bit and it feels like a little piece of heaven out here. Their property backs onto the woods where deer, cardinals etc live. It feels like you are out at the cabin, but this is where they get to spend everyday. LUCKY! They have a large deck with a swing where Jared and I enjoyed some time later that afternoon. After letting the kids climb a bit, we took them inside so that we could get a tour of their darling home. Lyman took the kids downstairs where they were met by tons of toys, lots of space, two fun friends, and freedom...heaven. After our tour, we chatted with KaraLynne and enjoyed getting caught up on their life until she needed to leave to catch her plane (I enjoyed driving her van after dropping her off. I don't think I will have a hard time adjusting to being a "van mom" when the time comes). We are missing her, but are glad that she is enjoying being the bridesmaid at her friend's wedding in Colorado. We hung out the rest of the afternoon, enjoying the beautiful setting of their home and looking forward to the time when we will live in a house again. When Andrew got home from work, we had a great time talking with him, eating a delicious dinner, and letting the kids play. We are so grateful for this chance to get caught up with them. We have missed them since they moved from Provo last year.So fun! Lyman and BrielleHere comes Corilynn! Cousins are the best!Playing on the slide

Finger painting with water on the table. (Nathan was napping by the time I pulled out the camera)

Heavenly Days with the Camerons

We have spent the last 5.5 days with Blake and Shonna (Kristen's sister) in Columbus and it was so wonderful to be with them! This is the first time that we have been able to visit them since they moved there last year so that Blake could attend dental school at OSU. We loved being able to see their beautiful home and get a glimpse into their busy, productive, and selfless lifestyle. They treated us so well...homebaked bread, delicious and healthy meals, delightful games, late-night talks and, fun, daily activities etc. They are such amazing people. Here are some of our adventures:

Picnic and Walk at a Metro Park Aunt Joan, this one was a definite 10!Can you see the caterpillar? I can't, but they must be able to!Nathan's turn to hold the caterpillar. He LOVES bugs!Off we go on a walk through the beautiful scenery!

Nathan and Blake take turns making funny noises--Hilarious!

Family Home EveningOpening song: A wisk makes a great baton and Shonna and Nathan did a great job accompanying us.Jared and Blake singing"Nathan, where is the bee?" As if on cue, a bee buzzes into the room. Where it came from...we don't know.

Blake, the busiest of all of us, got up at 5:30 to prepare our FHE lesson before school. The kids loved his lesson...as did we! He is a great teacher.

Activity: Blake shows us his dental equipment - COOL!Brielle was absolutely glued! I think we may have a budding doctor or dentist on our hands; she is SO interested in anything related to those professions. Blake kindly brought home more tools etc. the next day for another learning session. She was just as glued the next day as well, despite being exhausted.Brielle gets to touch the treasured tooth.Nathan finds treasures as well (a talent he has just recently discovered).

Hanging out at their houseOur new favorite game--Ticket to Ride. We played it with them over Christmas Break at Blake's parents' home and had a blast. After we asked about it on Saturday, cute Blake disappeared for 30-45 minutes. I thought he was studying until we noticed his car was gone. He had gone to a friend's home to borrow the game. We played it five times throughout the weekend (and it isn't a short game!). We LOVED it!Blake and Nathan play the "pots" (piano).While Shonna and Brielle read stories.Ring Around the RosiesGrandpa MachineThey had a bunny in their backyard! We also got to feed the fish in their pond. They ate right out of our hands. Cool!

Shonna and BrielleAre the muffins ready yet?Yep! The two of them cooked together a lot.The piano was a favorite focus for all of us over the weekend.

Girls' Day OutJared offered to take the kids so that Shonna and I could have a "girls' day out" on Wednesday. Shonna had taken the day off of work. We had SO much fun!She took me to the Morgan House: a FUN store. We had a blast browsing through room after room of "way to expensive" decorating items etc. Then we went to lunch at their yummy restaurant. The atmosphere and food was so enjoyable!Creamy Califlower Soup - Delish!

Turkey Cranberry Sandwith with Salad

We also stopped at a couple of other stores and made bracelets together. I so enjoyed having time to just hang out and talk with one of my best friends ever, with no interruptions. Such good memories.

Miniature Golfing Mom tries her hand. Nathan's turn. He got a hole-in-one on this shot. First shot ever! Woo-hoo!

Check out Brielle's form. Isn't she good? :) She started each hole about 1 foot away because the beginning was "too far away." As a result, she got a lot of holes-in-one. The kids lasted about 3 holes and then they just ran around carrying their golf balls while Jared and I played.

Here Jared and the kids are looking at one of the bull frogs we found in a pond by the course. We also saw a nesting duck and when she moved a bit we saw two duckling heads peek out, as well as some unhatched eggs. Cool! The kids also enjoyed the numerous caterpillars.
Columbus ZooFirst stop: the baby elephant.

The chip and Brielle have a heart to heart while Nathan looks on.
Nathan's face in this picture pretty much captures his mood for the day...grumpy. ...grumpy...except when we were in the aquarium. He LOVED the "shish" (fish). He got so excited he couldn't contain himself.Brielle touches a sea star.Jared feeds the birds.Brielle wanted to "ride a horsey."Cute girl

Finally, Nathan had had enough! I enjoyed cuddling him while Jared took Brielle to brush the goats. I got the better end of that deal! :)