Birthday Broccoli Casserole

Making dinner for a large group of people use to stress me out, but I have learned the secret to keeping my cool and having fun at the same time...  It is preparation (clean the house, prep the flowers, etc. the day before), attitude (it's about time spent with loved ones, not perfectionism) and casseroles (or anything that can be made ahead or does not require being served immediately).

Now I am not a big fan of casseroles, but I had just finished a Thanksgiving where I was not hosting and was only preparing the side dishes (all casseroles).  Wow, that was an eye-opener because I was done in a couple of hours and had time to spare!  So I vowed to cook up more casseroles- especially whenever I'm hosting a dinner party.

Last night we celebrated my father's birthday and I decided to make a broccoli casserole.  I was initially nervous because my father is very picky.  But I decided to forge ahead and the result was awesome!  Everyone had seconds (or thirds) and I had one less vegetable dish to fuss over as I enjoyed the party!

Birthday Broccoli Casserole

(ingredients)

2 heads of broccoli
1.5 sticks of butter
2 containers of sliced mushrooms
1 onion, diced finely
1 cup of all-purpose flour
2 cups of half&half
2 eggs
1 cup of mayonnaise
12 buttery crackers, crumbled
salt & pepper
parika
garlic powder
onion powder
italian seasoning

Heat up the steamer.  Preheat the oven to 350.

Cut up broccoli florets into smaller pieces (about 1 inch pieces).  Discard stems or save for another dish.  Steam broccoli until tender but still bright green (about 8-10 minutes).

Melt 1 stick of butter in a chef's pan (or any large frying pan).  Add sliced mushrooms, garlic powder (or fresh minced, if available) and onion powder.  After the mushrooms have browned properly, sprinkle the flour on top and cook for another 5 minutes.  Add half & half, eggs, minced onions, italian seasoning, paprika and salt & pepper.

Combine broccoli with mushroom mixture in casserole dish.  Spread crumbled crackers on top.  Slice remaining butter and place on top.  Bake casserole for about 45-55 minutes.

I served the casserole with grilled ribeye steaks, poached trout, freshly-baked bread, buttered corn, green beans and an Italian salad.  My sister made a delectable rum cake to finish off our meal.  All was good :)

Beef Roast

My beef pot roast tonight was a great success.  So much, in fact, that I had promised HM that I would write down the recipe.  Here it is:

(ingredients)

1- A nice marbled piece of Angus beef roast

2- garlic powder

3- onion powder

4- paprika

5- mustard powder

6- sugar

7- garlic cloves

8- onions
9- olive oil
10- carrots
11- celery
12- salt & pepper
13- soy sauce
14- butter

First, make a dry rub of #2-6 and rub all over the roast.  Make slits in the roast and insert garlic cloves.  Allow time (about 15 minutes) for rub to marinate and for roast to reach room temperature.

Heat dutch oven (or any oven-proof pot with lid) until it is VERY hot.  Add oil and brown the roast on both sides (about 10 minutes).  Meanwhile, preheat oven to 325 degrees.  Add onions, half of the (whole) carrots and half of the celery stalks to the pot.  Cover and place in oven for 4-5 hours.

Take out the roast.  Discard carrots and celery.  Add in remaining (sliced) carrots and (sliced) celery, salt & pepper, soy sauce and butter.  Place on cooktop and cook over medium-high heat until vegetables are cooked, but not too soft.  Season again with salt & pepper, if needed.

I served this pot roast with oven-roasted dill potatoes, brown rice and caesar salad.  

Loss

Someone close to me passed away recently...  It was unexpected and tragic.  Those of us who love her are still trying to come to terms with our loss.  We deny, we get angry, and, finally, we mourn.  We mourn for all the things that will never be, memories that will never be made with her in it...  We mourn for the person who have shaped our lives and have given us so much to miss...  But we also find peace in knowing that she will always be with us because she leaves behind her mark on her hearts.

Sacrifices

I cried after reading the story tonight about Brian Wood, the video game designer who sacrifice himself to save his pregnant wife while being struck by a drunk driver.  It is a sad story, but ultimately uplifting because of his love for his family.

There are so many cruel, senseless and violent stories in the news (especially local news!) that I have been somewhat depressed lately just keeping up with current events...  It doesn't help that we are about to have elections, are in the middle of a recession caused by greed and corruption, and cannot seem to tolerate each others' differences as a nation...  Lately, I have also seen a huge spike in Facebook postings of narrow-mindedness and hateful comments about the state of our world.  This is very worrisome for me as a "friend" and as a member of this world...  I am still debating about stopping all cable and canceling FB altogether. 

It's been a long hot summer.

Politics, finger pointing and ranting Facebook postings aside, I believe that we would all be in a better place if we could just sacrifice a little of ourselves when it is necessary and have a little more empathy for each other.  Perhaps this is why I still read the paper (sometimes it's online- sad but true), watch the news and keep up with Facebook- because I know there are also stories of love, grace and fortitude...

Great Big Sky

Now that we are back in Texas, I cannot stop taking pictures of this big beautiful sky...  I had forgotten about this expansive and grand stretch of blue that presides over my Lone Star state.  I grew up, went to college and fell in love not just on this land, but under these skies...

There is a certain ruggedness and sense of possibility in seeing the horizon for miles around.  The trees in Texas are short and very considerate because they do not interfere with the horizon at all.  In West Texas where I grew up, the trees are even better- they just remain as shrubs that eventually travel as tumbleweeds.  

This is one thing I really miss about Texas, and maybe the West in general: the sense of adventure and things undiscovered.   

Was it just a dream?

This weekend marks an important milestone in my life because it is the ending of my first week back at work! The weird thing is that I felt as if I had never left. This was running through my mind while I was driving to work in my suit on that first day back. Has it really been two years? It really seemed like just a long weekend, or a dream perhaps...

I had chosen this job because it is flex-time and for a totally different company (same industry though), but it is so similar. After much analysis and deep-searching, I realize that it feels the same because it is just a job. Being home and being able to fully appreciate the joys of my family, I am returning to work with a different perspective. Instead of questioning whether this job will give me what I am looking for in life, I am just happy that I have a job that allows me to keep my priorities in order- because I now realize that I have what I have been searching for all along.

Embracing Change

It has been exactly two years today that I have resigned from my former career and became a full time stay-at-home mom. That was a huge decision that came directly from the heart, and I have been loving this new life (after a period of transition/mourning... sounds ridiculous, since it was my decision but it was difficult nonetheless). I can say that I have treasured every minute that I have spent with Mady and Aly. I have become a better mom and a better person for taking this time away from the corporate world to be present and loving. Growing up, I never saw myself having children or staying home to raise them. Now I see the joy in all the little things that make up our home life- such as smiles in the morning when I'm no longer rushing off to work, walking the girls to school when the weather's nice, seeing their excited faces when I volunteer at their school (even though it has only been a couple of hours since I dropped them off), lunch with my husband who comes home almost daily so we can have our little lunch "date"... So many moments I am grateful for. The only thing is, now when I do go back to work, I will know exactly what I will be missing.