Just For Today

I've been away from my blog for months now, working through some transitions at work and spending time on the house and yard.  Being a mom, a daughter, a sister, and an aunt.  Trying to find a few spare minutes just to get dinner made, let alone blog about it.  But just for today I need to find the time to tell my sister "Happy Birthday", and thank her for being my very best friend since the day I was born.

If you visit our friend's site, you will see an amazing tribute to her there as well.  I see the pictures of Kristi with Tracy's daughters and I vividly remember feeling like I was the luckiest little girl in the world, when I was a little girl like them.  She took me to the beach and for walks in the woods.  She taught me how to make things with my own two hands, and gave me things she had made that no one else in the world could have come up with.  She encouraged me to be creative and strong and kind. 

When she got pregnant with my nephew it was the happiest day of many of our lives, but also sad because we knew that meant she wouldn't be able to attend my wedding.  She still made every effort to send her love my way, and was with me every step down the aisle.  When I got pregnant a year later it was simply amazing, because we knew our kids would get to grow up together, and they are truly like brothers.  Being 11 years apart it was wild that we would have kids just two years apart.  Things like that just seem to work out somehow.

Through every hardship I have had in life, ending that marriage, moving back in with our parents while building a new home, struggling for custody of my son, thinking that my life was truly over, she has been my world.  No doctor, counselor, parent or friend could have helped me heal quite the same way she did.

No matter the miles between us, I still feel her next to me every day.  We've claimed to have some witchy powers between us; we email each other at exactly the same minute, end up buying the same things at Target even though our stores are 200 miles apart.  But really, it's just love.  A rare love between sisters that not everyone gets to experience.  I wouldn't be the person I am today without that love.

How lucky this world has been to have you in it for these last 50 years.  And how much we all look forward to spending 50 more with you by our side.

I love you, dear sister.  Happy Birthday.

Chicken Alfredo Lasagna

One of our favorite places to eat pizza in Bemidji is at Giovanni's, and one of their best pizzas is the Garlic Chicken Alfredo.  They start with a hand tossed crust which is thicker than their regular crust, then top it with Alfredo sauce, chicken, red peppers, and lots of cheese.  I'm sure there must be some other magic ingredient they sprinkle over it that they don't tell you about, because it tastes SOOOOOO good.

Being on a budget, eating out is only for special occasions, or when Mom has had a really busy day at work and the only thing she wants to do is give Riley some money for the delivery guy at the door.  So I decided to come up with a version of our favorite pizza, only without having to take the time to make a crust.  You see, I only like homemade crust; none of the mixes or refrigerated premade crusts have quite cut it around here.  And homemade crust takes a while, the mixing, the rising of the dough, etc., etc.   Around here it's usually a weekend thing.

So to get the same taste, I decided to make Chicken Alfredo Lasagna.  Riley used to hate lasagna.  I tried to explain to him that since he loved spaghetti that lasagna was the very same thing, only with different noodles and in layers.  For years he refused to eat it, which made me very sad, as it's one of Mom's favorite things, and if we both don't like something I usually don't make it very often.  As he is getting older he's coming around to more food choices.  Thank Heavens.

As the noodles boiled I mixed together the filling ingredients.  Some people would spread out some sauce, then some meat, then some cheese, but I like to just mix it all together and layer away.  It's all going to end up melted together anyway, right?  If my method is too "hotdishy" for you, go ahead and layer it all individually.  Knock yourself out.

I mixed together a jar of Alfredo sauce, mozzarella, Parmesan, parsley, and chicken (I always make up a big batch of boiled chicken breasts to have on hand throughout the week and store in a plastic container in the fridge).  I used about two whole chicken breasts for this dish, but you can use more if you like.

Then I diced up a red pepper and added it to the bowl.  This is the point where you tell yourself you should have used a bigger bowl.  But we can make it work.

The way I dice peppers may be different from all the pros, but it works.  First cut off the top and scoop out the innards, then rinse out the inside to get rid of all the seeds. 

Cut around the stem so you don't waste any...

then quarter the rest of the pepper and remove any of the white membrane remaining. 

I'm picky 'bout my peppers. 

Slice and dice.  Done.

When the noodles are done drain them in a colander in the sink and let them cool slightly so you don't burn your fingers while layering them in the pan.  Coat a glass baking dish with cooking spray, then add some of the sauce mixture to the bottom, just enough to keep the noodles from sticking to the bottom of the pan. 

Layer on three noodles and more of the sauce mixture. 

Repeat twice until you have three layers, ending with sauce. 

Sprinkle with more mozzarella and Parmesan.

Pull off a sheet of aluminum foil and lay it on your counter.  Spray with cooking spray; this will keep the top layer of cheese from sticking to it. 

Cover the baking dish and pop it in a 350 degree oven for 45 minutes.  Carefully remove the foil and bake an additional 10 minutes or so to brown the cheese a bit. 

Remove from the oven and cool on a rack for at least 15 minutes to allow it to set up so it's easier to cut.  After cutting a big piece I like to sprinkle it with a bit more Parmesan.  Because really, at this point, my fat grams are a bust.

I love you Giovanni's, but I think this lasagna might have your pizza beat.  Until I'm too pooped to cook, that is.

Chicken Alfredo Lasagna

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Pumpkin Carvin'

Every year before Halloween my dad asks if I've gotten a pumpkin to carve yet.  If not, he will get one for me.  It needs to be just the right size, with one side perfectly ready to be cut into.  Nowadays I need to get one for me and Riley, and this year we found some awesome ones.  And last night we commenced to carvin'.

The fillet knives and newspaper were brought out to the kitchen table, as well as Sharpies for marking faces and such.  Grandma pulled out all her October magazines that featured ideas for carving, but none of them seemed quite right.  The Hanson family likes to do things on our own when it comes to being creative.

I chose to make a statement this year, rather than cutting the traditional triangle shaped eyes and crooked tooth-filled mouth.  Riley frittered away on paper with ideas until he came up with the perfect compliment to what I was doing.  And after completely freehanding the design onto his pumpkin,

we were ready to take out the guts and get to work.

My pumpkin says "BOO!",

and Riley's is a scaredy cat. 

He spent much time on the details, knicking in little whiskers atop it's ears, trying to make it look like his own cat, Lewi.  I tried not to have a heart attack as he wielded Grandpa's extra sharp knife, having his hand way too close to the blade for my liking. 

But there was no blood, and no trip to the emergency room.  Whew.  Grandpa guided him on how to wiggle the knife through the tough flesh, make the corners, and be careful when he got to the points where he could completely destroy his design if he wasn't extra careful. 

Next year I'm going to find us one of those cool carving kits that all the professionals use.  For a family project that we enjoy doing every year it will be worth every penny.  And it will allow us to get even more carried away with our ideas.

Since we don't get any trick-or-treaters at our house, we will head back over to Grandma and Grandpa's tonight for a cozy dinner of chili and cornbread with honey, followed by a round of Rummy and way too many Kit Kats and M&M's, I imagine.  I suggested staying home in our dark house and watching the "Poltergeist" trilogy, but I couldn't quite convince Riley that it was a good idea.  Scaredy cat.