Dinner & A Show

Yup, it’s another night at the Moll home. Ok, so I gave Cameron a Mexican cookbook for Christmas (among other things of course). Why, one may wonder. He lived and served among the Mexican people for two years. He grew to love some of the dishes they served down there. Any time we go to a Mexican restaurant (which is often) he tries the Chile relleno. He tells me how authentic the place is from the way they make their refried beans ,guac and their chips and salsa. I’ve always had a liken’ for Mexican food myself so naturally it became my quest to learn their ways of cooking it. I’ve already mastered the guacamole. A recipe Cameron brought back from Mexico himself and taught me. I will be honest I never touched guacamole until Cameron made it and it’s the only guacamole I will eat.

Today I braved it. It was grocery day and I bought for the first time ever an aneheim chile. Ok, two of them. The recipe called for six, but I know we wouldn’t eat six and I’ve never really eaten one. So, I bought two. It felt pretty cool. Especially since those peppers are always sitting high on their shelf in the produce section taunting me. Laughing at my tried and true dishes that I can make blindfolded with my arms tied behind my back.

In case you didn’t know dinner making time at our home is a bit chaotic to begin with. My oldest is just home from school and all that energy that he’s had to keep pent up all day well you guessed, it’s being unleashed in monumental proportions. Everyone is looking for pre-dinner snacks and has the late afternoon fidgets. My youngest times it so that everyday at this time he reeeeally needs me to carry him and hold him and right now. So trying to make dinner is like trying to win the Olympic’s triathlon with one arm tied behind my back, a cement block secured to one of my legs, a 25 lb octopus clinging to my side and don’t forget to spin me in circles until I can’t see straight let alone think straight. Needless to say trying something new, something I’d actually have to follow a recipe to, that doesn’t happen very often. And that’s what I dared to attempt today.

So, the boys are creating their own recipe of fun, Hudson is clinging on to my pant leg pulling me down to sea level and I have ingredients all over the counters, floor and me. Now where did I put that cookbook, it was just right here? I haven’t used a cookbook in who knows how long. Come to think of it, it was kind a fun. Now, that’s not to say I can’t cook, I just stick with what I know it’s easier and safer that way, under the circumstances. Ok, so there is a fruit salad being made to the left of me, guacamole directly in front, ingredients for taco salad to the right, a homemade chile relleno sauce bubbling behind me and the big chiles in my grip. First I learned that you really do need to char the whole pepper pretty good to be able to peel the tough outer skin off. You live and learn and now we’re down to one chile. Good thing we’re having taco salad stuff to go with it. I continue juggling Hudson from my hip to the floor, to the counter and back around while finishing up the other items on the menu. I stuff the chile, batter and swing it goes into the hot popping oil for a quick golden brown fry and into the oven. I hate popping hot oil and that’s what I was doing to avoid getting splattered by it’s sting. Ah, what a relief the chile relleno was in the oven and I had ten minutes to finish getting everything on the table when I realize I forgot the refried beans. A close call, but I slid them in too.

Sitting down to eat in a very un-orderly fashion I think I let out a sigh and we began our meal. Cameron loved the Chile Relleno. It was a homerun! I scored big time. He said it tasted just like the ones he had in Mexico, along with the beans (I used my secret method of preparing for an authentic flavor), double whammy! Not to mention the authentic guac and homemade lime aid. It was a pretty darn good meal, for him at least. The boys managed to pick at what ever appealed to their taste and doused the rest with ketchup. Cameron enjoyed it so much that he complimented, “we don’t need to go out for good Mexican food when we can get it right here.” Well, maybe. It was no easy task all for ONE chile relleno.
So not only did I dare to attempt, I conquered with loud roars of approval.

Ok, so you thought that was the show, not quite. During dinner our oldest was picking through his dinner plate taking bites only a flea could see while whencing and seizuring with every ‘bite’ while at the other end of the table his brother had his pant leg pulled up to his thigh making the cut on his knee (which was in the shape of an angry face) talk in a grouchy voice and say, “look, I’m angry”. We’re not done yet, on the other side of the table yet another brother was rolling around doing summersaults in, under and around his chair and on the very far end in the highchair the very youngest who is the next greatest magician managed to somehow get his shoe off and in his salsa, get out of his seat and was hunkered over like an old man doing some strange little dance humming some strange little tune with his diaper and pants down around his knees.

And there you have a dinner and a show at the Moll home. And for those of you wondering what’s on the menu for the next showing, it’s best if you just show up unannounced to enjoy talent in it’s greatest and rawest form.

Home for the Holidays?

“A Happy HO HO HO to You!” was a welcomed sight and sound this Christmas season as our Isaac slid across the floor while singing out the lyrics to one of his favorite Christmas songs. As this year was everything we hoped for and no where near what we expected. The year brought change after change after change. So much so that we gave up on unpacking our bags. Thankfully we landed before the holidays did, barely. And what a whirlwind it has been. Not just this Christmas season but the entire year. More like a tornado. You can read all about that in Mom’s blog journal.

So, let’s start with Thanksgiving…Or maybe Halloween since it was on the road. For that matter we might as well start with the Fourth of July, which was on the road as well. The morning of the 4th we were celebrating at my parents’ annual church pancake breakfast. When the wild idea of, ‘hey, let’s go down to FL and check things out’, crossed our minds and the next thing we knew we were on the road and headed south. We watched the fire works from the interstate, or at least what we could since we were also passing through torrential rains that night as well. We drove straight through only stopping for four hours so the adults could get some rest. We crashed at family’s that night and dove into a home hunt marathon first thing in the morning and left for AR by 4pm that afternoon. Another long hull back the way we came. We did manage to shoot off some fire works at my brother’s home while there. A real treat, since we were used to big 4th of July bashes at our home. Everyone would come, family, friends, neighbors even strangers would join the fun on our lawn as we had tables of treats to eat, chairs to lounge and fireworks to entertain. Though we missed the big bash, the excitement of running for cover on multiple occasions as well as a poor bat’s near miss as he spun dizzily off into the night more than made up for it. I hadn’t laughed that hard in who knows how long. Even the men were doubled over and had tears of laughter rolling down their cheeks.

Skipping forward to Halloween, well we made it to FL and were ready to buy but for reasons unforeseen we were headed back to UT. So on the road we were for this fun filled holiday as well. I had goody bags with treats and prizes and Halloween coloring books all lined up for the days drive. We decorated the car with homemade bats and ghosts and headed for grandma and grandad’s, home which was half way to UT. We arrived just in time to carve a pumpkin, eat dinner, put on our costumes and race from house to house in search of treats. Everest, Edison and Isaac were motorcycle racers while Hudson was Dash from the Incredibles which was perfect because he doesn't walk he darts. Unfortunately I didn’t make the costumes this year, too much going on. After the mad dash we sat on grandma’s kitchen floor and sorted through our loot, trying out as much as we could of course. We had a heavenly nights sleep, piled into the suv, and were headed down the highway again.

Fast forwarding to Thanksgiving. We made it to SLC, Cameron started his new job and we were staying in a Marriott Residence Inn for a couple weeks. Cameron’s parents were going to be out of town for the holiday so we moved into their home until our rental was ready only to wake up Thanksgiving morning with the flu and strep. Needless to say no one was talking turkey. It took about a week for us all to cycle through it, making trips to the pediatrician, walk-in clinic and even the ER. After all what would a holiday be with out a trip to the ER? ;)

And now for The Moll Christmas 2006 version…
Finally after some delays our rental was ready a mere 17 days before Christmas. Moving in we had an early Christmas. The moving truck brought all of our belongings from storage to us. We hadn’t seen these things for six months. It really was like Christmas the boys ripping open the boxes with their names on it and waiting eagerly for their bikes and skateboards to be unloaded. Everyone was dancing and prancing around with glee. The next week was packed full of unpacking and setting up house in preparation for the holidays. We wanted it to look and feel like home. The decorations were up and the gifts were ready, all seemed calm. Christmas weekend came and it was filled with family gatherings and excitement. One such gathering on Christmas eve we had read and acted out the Nativity story. Everest, Edison and Isaac were wise men, we had spent the day before making cool crowns to wear upon their heads and searching through our closets for something to double as fine looking robes to clothe themselves as wise men and of course we had to wrap gifts to take to the baby Jesus. Hudson was Joseph and Mary was his arch enemy and cousin Elle. He was determined to keep her out of his comfort zone and she was determined to get in it. In awe-some wonder they reconciled (even if for just the moment) and brought the spirit to our humble version of that wonderous night. We spent our down time in between, snowboarding, sledding and playing with Christmas gifts. Christmas had come and almost gone without a glitch this year. It was on the way home from his parents’ home that we were all cheerfully and snuggly settled into our Expedition our tummies full and thoughts of sugar cookies dancing through our heads. I was turned around in my seat helping one of the boys when Cameron let out an exclamation of some enormous proportion. I whisked around in time to see in our headlights a deer flying through the air. And I wish I could say it was a reindeer. We were in the center lane and there weren’t any other cars on either side of the road nor street lights, making it impossible to spot. It darted in front of us so fast Cameron didn’t even have time to apply the breaks before hitting it. I’m surprised our air bags didn’t go off. However they were thinking about it, the light was blinking. We pulled over and called the police so they could take care of the poor deer, which was still in the middle of the road and write up a report for insurance purposes. We got out to assess the damage. The entire front was missing. The entire grill was gone, obliterated all over the road, I’m glad it was the grill because I had thought it had been deer parts that were flying all over. The headlights were busted out, the bumper cracked in two and smashed inward, the radiator damaged severely. I can’t imagine what would have happened if we had been in anything lighter or smaller than our Expedition. I don’t even want to go there. It would have come through the windshield for sure. But, I’m not going there. So we got everything taken care of, calmed our nerves, explained everything to the boys and headed home. Limping down the street in our poor decrepit suv. Once again the normal pace resumed, I turned around in my seat helping one of the boys when Cameron lets out another exclamation of enormous proportion. I again whisk around thinking, ‘not again!’. However, I was shocked to be faced with sheer and utter void. It was solid black, apparently we had driven off into an abyss or black hole. Ok, so it was just the hood of the car that had nothing to latch down on and it had flung up covering the entire windshield! Cameron safely pulled over and rigged it shut and again we began limping home, this time I didn’t turn around in my seat to help anyone.