Potato Soup and Spicy Burgers.

That's what we had for dinner tonight. It was pretty good! If you would like to try it, here are my "recipes" below. If you can call them that. Also including my pot roast recipe, adapted from Ina Garten's. She uses red wine and beef stock, that's really the only difference.

Potato Soup
You need:
half bag new potatoes (about 5 small ones)
1 leek
1 celery stalk
unsalted butter
flour
paprika
kosher salt
black pepper
chalula
2% milk
Stock
Sour cream
Chives

Make a roux in a large soup pot. (Put 2 pats butter on med-high heat, after it browns add a couple tbs flour, wisk until golden. Easy peasy.) Add app 3 cups milk, turn down heat so it doesn't curdle. Season liberally with paprika, salt, pepper, chalula. Chop potatoes, leek, celery and add to pot. Add a cup of whatever stock you have on hand. Cook on med-low 10 minutes uncovered, 20-30 minutes simmer covered. Before serving, mash all soup ingredients with potato masher and add 3/4 cup sour cream. Top with chives.


Spicy burgers
Cook burgers as normal with salt/pepper and Worcestershire if desired. Serve on hollowed out ciabatta rolls with spicy sweet mustard, mayo, lettuce, and pepper jack cheese.


Pot Roast
You need:
1lb chuck roast
5-6 new potatoes
4 celery stalks
4 carrots
1 whole onion
5 cloves garlic
1 can (small) tom. paste
veg stock
Worcestershire sauce
2 bay leaves
salt/pepper
butter

Brown 3 tabs butter in bottom of large roasting pot on med-high. Preheat oven to 350. Coat all sides of roast very liberally (don't be scared) with kosher slat and black pepper. Kosher salt will change your life. Just use it. Brown each side (a lot) of roast. Add whole garlic cloves, and rough chopped large chunks of vegs. Add a small amount of stock, to coat bottom. Add tomato paste and 2 cans water. Mix well and add two bay leaves along with a cup or so more stock. Bake covered at least 1 hr, up to 2. Serve roast and vegs on platter, and the sauce on the side.


Sorry no pictures. Julia Child didn't need pictures. Neither did Irma Redenour. Not that I'm them....just trying to justify my lack of photography.

These are a few of my favorite things...

Thanksgiving/late autumn faves. Top ten. Not in order of importance.
1) Warm buttery toast.
2) Cold floors.
3) Family fun.
4) Sweet potatoes.
5) Time for reflection.
6) Rest.
7) Macy's parade!
8) My birthday, which produced very sweet gifts like this and this.
9) Reading books.
10) Watching the news and hearing about people spazzing over black friday.

More importantly, this year I am giving thanks to God for my sweet husband, my great family, my church, the ability to serve the Lord, constant provision, and the new believers in my life. What are you thankful for?

I know, I know...

...I'm a bad blogger. Forgive me, and take this small offering of recent pictures.

1) Every birthday weekend (mine) needs a happy picture.

2) It also needs a fun outing.

3) Brand new Christmas trees from Target are always recommended.

4) Ones with decorations are even better.

5) Although not a need for my own love life, mistletoe over the bed is always cute....right? I know it brightened my birthday. Haha. Just kidding.

Success!

Although I am sad that I am on my couch and not at the Oak Crest DNOW, I feel an almost unexplainable peace that can only be attripbuted to God's caring for me this week and tonight. My choir from school preformed for the first time, and I conducted for the first time publicly. What a glory it is to God, that after so much supplication and prayer to Him he brought me for such a great performance! I'm not bragging, because my conducting is extremely lackluster. Truly, God was so gracious to me. After these many weeks of work, I am beginning to see the fruits of my labor as God allows, and because of that I'm filled with such joy and peace.


Because of my exhilerated state, I think a sharing of tonight's hilarity is in order.

1) After briefly setting my music down on a nearby bleacher while speaking to my students, I turned around and saw a strange man holding my music while sitting down. I asked for it back, slash, grabbed it out of his hands. Smiling all the while of course. He didn't speak any English. It was awkward.

2) Honestly, I really don't enjoy the hand/body motions that elementary choirs sometimes do. I find them distracting and lame. But, after seeing another choir do lame hand motions, my kids are begging me to teach them these "cool moves." They're SO STRANGE.

3) When my students went on stage to sing with the middle school kids for the second number, I went to sit back down seeing as I was not directing. They had taken up two rows, and I was gone maybe 5 minutes. I turned around and BAM! Amidst all the little kid backpacks, at least 20 non-English speaking peeps were sitting on said bleachers. Smiling at me. So I stared at them. In awe.

4) I am not racist. This is truth. This is my life. Yo no habla espanol.

Currently.

My brain is stuck on fast-forward today, rushing through all of my motions and my words. I'm feeling a little sloppy. It was a good day, but when I'm mentally tired like this I worry over what I've said, whether it's been kind, filled with the fruit of the Spirit. I forget what I've said and what I've only thought of saying. This Friday evening is my kid's first choir concert. I'm so excited for them-mostly because they're so excited for themselves! It makes for a hard week though, because everything is hustle bustle until Thanksgiving it seems. Monday is my PDAS evaluation. If you don't know what that is, just know it's not very fun. I'm am hoping the lesson plans I've made will go over well with the students and make for a good class period.

Even in all this busyness though, something made me stop today. Max, in third grade, made me stop; to be more specific. Because I had so many pouty faces at the end of class, I reminded them that prizes are exciting because not everyone gets one; maybe next week would be their chance! I thought I was extra clever when I told them, "after all, if everyone has one it's no where near as fun! You wouldn't be excited about getting toilet paper. Because everyone has toilet paper."

Max then replied, ever so gently, "not everyone has toilet paper."

No joke, not being fresh, just stating. Everyone doesn't have toilet paper, Mrs. Clardy.

I need to pay attention. I need to understand them. To respect them. To hear them. But when I am absorbed in my world, I see nothing of what they see. And truly, I don't understand.

I look forward to the break, not to necessarily get away from the kids, or escape my job...but to recharge. To be able to really think about what has happened in my life since July. I've been married. I've gone on a honeymoon. Started a new job. Bought a car. So many things. But no time to think, and rest. And just to keep it real, I really want to watch the food network, drink diet coke, and do nothing. Just sayin.

Manage thine classroom.

Today was quiet. Yesterday was not. Dear unnamed teacher: I might strangle all of your first grade class. I might. In other news, I like these pictures: