Updates and life

Things here have boiled down to a sort of dull roar. Man signed back into work today and is wearing his sling for a while so people remember to not touch the shoulder or expect a salute or ask him to run for anything. His follow up with the surgeon was positive, with Dr C saying that he expects Man to make a full recovery, including the ability to once again do pushups. We're still very cautiously optimistic. He still hurts quite a bit, but it sure is nice to not have to dress his shoulder any more, especially the two layers of plastic we put on it for showers for two weeks. Man, that took a lot of time and silk tape.

The kids are back in school but Tag has to have a burst of steroids (5 days of orapred) because of illness + too much time at a friends' house with outside dogs + weather + us trying to keep him on as little meds as possible. Which totally backfired. -sigh- He's back on his dailies for another quite a while. Good news: he isn't reacting to the prednisone the way he did before. He's actually behaving pretty normally. Which is just staggering to me and I'm grateful.

I finally remembered that it's December, which means that it's time to get the mailable Christmas presents sent, which means I need to a) think of gifts, b) obtain or create them and c) get them mailed by early next week. Any ideas? We're talking grandparents.

But, with December comes the advent calendar my mom made for us (which survived the move with all ornaments intact!), chocolate advent calendars from the commissary, and a sort of stumbling avalanche of busy work until some time in February when my head clears and I realize that not only has the New year gone by, but three children's birthdays. Tag's lucky, in a way, to be that far behind the pack.

Girl scout cookie season is coming up beginning Jan 21st! Let me know if you need a GS cookie fix and we'll talk. :)

We found a really cool gadget hanging up in the cereal aisle at WalMart: dinosaur sandwich cutter. Tag adores this thing. He loves the sandwiches it makes and even eats up the crusts while he watches me plate his two new friends who he will shortly devour. Last night it even got Tag and Princess to eat lasagna. Yes, we had dinosaur lasagna. It worked surprisingly well and, despite talk of biting things heads off, dinner was peaceful and bellies ended up full.

Ward Christmas party is coming up this Friday. It's a luau. Here are the recipes I signed up to make for it:

Hawaiian Coleslaw
4 cups of shredded cabbage
1 (11 ounce) can mandarin oranges (drained, liquid preserved)
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp white pepper
1 cup crushed pineapple (drained)
1/3 cup mayo

1. Put cabbage into a large bowl. Combine cabbage, 1 T reserved mandarin orange juice, salt, ginger, nutmeg, and pepper.
2. Toss the oranges and pineapples into the mixture. Stir in mayo until everything is coated. Chill well before serving.
3. Serving suggestion - cut a pineapple down the middle lengthwise. Cute the insides to make a pineapple boat. Fill two halves with coleslaw.

Annie's note: that's a really expensive serving suggestion. I guess you could use the pineapple you scoop out for your recipe, though. Make sure you use real mayo, too, since it'll need that slight tang to help out the sweet.

Waikiki Meatballs

1 1/2 pounds ground beef
2/3 cup cracker crumbs
1/3 cup minced onion
1 egg
1 1/2 tsp ginger
1/4 cup milk
1 T shortening
2 T cornstarch
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 can (13 1/2 ounce) pineapple tidbits, drained - reserve syrup
1/3 cup vinegar
1 T soy sauce
1/3 cup chopped green pepper

Mix thoroughly beef, crumbs, onion, egg, salt, ginger, and milk. Shape mixture in rounded tablespoonfuls into balls. Melt shortening in large skillet. Brown and cook meatballs, remove balls. Keep warm. Pour fat from skillet. Mix cornstarch and sugar. Stir in reserved pineapple syrup, vinegar, and soy sauce until smooth. Pour until skillet and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture thickens and boils. Boil and stir 1 minute. Add meatballs, pineapple and green pepper.
Note: [modification proposed by the person who issued the recipe] I cook my meatballs on a cookie sheet for about a half hour. I then put them in a crock pot and pour the pineapple syrup mixture over the meatballs. Add the green pepper. Cook on low.

Annie's note: This recipe sounds pretty good, and I certainly agree with baking rather than frying in shortening. It seems to be missing some garlic and ground pepper, and maybe just a slight bit of chipotle seasoning. Definitely cook the pepper until tender-crisp. I'd serve this with steamed rice and pulled pork sandwiches. Apparently our bishop will be providing the pit-roasted pig.