Fancy Shmancy

Before I got married, I remember asking my Aunt Mary-Anne how to cook.  She simply told me to cook what I like, and that I'd get good at it.  I believe she was right.  I also remember hearing from my mom and numerous others that the way to a man's heart is through his stomach.  I believe they were right, too!

I love to cook.  I love being able to make exactly what I am craving and being able to determine just how much salt, butter, etc., that your own taste buds or waistline desires.  I love getting recipes from friends and family who are far away, cooking those recipes, and then it feeling like they're here!  I also love how food brings people together and how eating from handmade pottery makes it even more special.  It's a snapshot of normalcy in a hectic day when people are still and focused on food and togetherness.  I especially love to cook with my husband.  His new job as a dentist in the Army is keeping him pretty busy, so we don't get to cook together as often as we used to.  I still like surprising him every now and then with what we call a "fancy shmancy" dinner, though.  I love to see the look on his face when he comes home for fancy shmancy night.

One of our favorite "fancy shmancy" meals to cook together is Pork Dumplings with Ginger Dipping Sauce.  This is one of the many recipes I have loved from my favorite cookbook, the ultimate Southern Living Cookbook.  I got this cookbook from my stepmother, Mary Alice, as a wedding gift.  After four years of use, you can really tell what are the favorite recipes by which pages are the most stained and tattered.  Matthew and I first made this recipe when living in Memphis, TN, on an off-day from work, complete with a walk along the Mississippi River and watching Julie & Julia in our little apartment... a date night to remember!  The latter photos are from when we cooked it again this week in our new Colorado kitchen.

Hubby getting dumplings ready in our Memphis kitchen

Somehow we made that small kitchen work!

Garlic mashed taters and balsamic baby carrots on the stove

Basalmic Baby Carrots - yum!

Preparing the dumplings in our Colorado kitchen

Kinda yucky-lookin at first

These bamboo steamers are the bomb for steaming a lot at once!

Steam for 20-25 minutes, and voila!

We are in love with this ginger dipping sauce.  I think it'd be good on just about anything except desserts!

First time I made the dumplings, I couldn't find these easy breezy wonton wrappers in the Arkansas Kroger.  So naturally I decided to make the dough myself.  Bad idea.  These are much better and less gummy!

Dinner is served.  Please, come over and eat with us!!

From Southern Living~
This makes a bunch.  We typically make half and freeze the other half for later.  Prep takes about 1.5 hours.  Cook only takes 25 minutes.

Make-Ahead Pork Dumplings

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 pounds lean boneless pork loin chops, cut into chunks
• 1 (12-ounce) package 50%-less-fat ground pork sausage
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 15 water chestnuts, finely chopped
• 1 to 2 tablespoons minced fresh ginger
• 1/2 cup cornstarch
• 2 teaspoons lite soy sauce
• 1/2 cup fat-free reduced-sodium chicken broth
• 4 tablespoons sugar
• 1 teaspoon teriyaki sauce
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
• 4 green onions, diced
• 2 (16-ounce) packages wonton skins
• Oyster sauce (optional)
• Thai chili sauce (optional)
• Ginger Dipping Sauce (optional)

Preparation

1. Process pork loin in a food processor until finely chopped.
2. Combine pork loin, pork sausage, and next 11 ingredients.
3. Cut corners from wonton skins to form circles. Drop 1 teaspoon mixture onto middle of each skin. Gather up skin sides, letting dough pleat naturally. Lightly squeeze the middle while tapping the bottom on a flat surface so it will stand upright.
4. Arrange dumplings in a bamboo steam basket over boiling water. Cover and steam 20 to 25 minutes. Serve with sauces, if desired.
5. Note: To freeze, arrange dumplings on a baking sheet; freeze for 2 hours. Place in zip-top freezer bags; label and freeze for up to 3 mounths. To cook dumplings from frozen state, steam for 22 to 25 minutes.  Serve with sauces, if desired.  Yield: 116 dumplings.

Nutrition

Per dumpling: Calories 40, Fat 0.8g, Protein 2.5g, Carb 6g, Fiber 0.2g, Chol 6mg, Iron 0.4mg, Sodium 101mg, Calc 7mg

 

Ginger Dipping Sauce

Ingredients

• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger
• 1 teaspoon dark sesame oil
• 2 tablespoons lite soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
• 2 teaspoons teriyaki sauce
• 1 green onion, minced

Preparation

1. Sauté garlic and ginger in hot oil 1 minute; remove from heat. Whisk in remaining ingredients.

Recent Artworks

Here is an update of the most recent artworks created at the Hillis household.  Some were commissioned Christmas gifts while others are waiting to be given as gifts or posted to my Etsy page.

The drawing of my niece is not part of Pottery for the Parentless, per se, but was a Christmas gift for my brother and sis in law.  The goal is to get them drawings of their other two children before my own little one arrives in April!  It's fun to work on something so precise and technical to mix things up after playing in the dirt on my potter's wheel.  I was able to take some really great classes here in Colorado Springs at the Bemis School of Art including colored pencil drawing.  My teacher, Gayle Higgins, taught me a lot about sequencing of colors and, basically, how to be more precise and careful about my work.  At first I didn't think there would be much of a difference in, say, keeping your pencil sharpened at all times.  But I quickly learned that there are big differences, and I'm grateful for her instruction.

Colored pencil drawing of my niece, Lily Kate Mills

Celadon green and periwinkle blue dinnerware set (plates, chip & dip, cups)

Detail

White and teal dinnerware set, dots and circles design

Place setting with his and her mugs

Detail

Wax tart holder

Pair of mugs with funky line designs

Set of cups with blossom drawings

Gallon pitcher with blossoms (didn't show up as well on the blue)

Six Months and Counting...

Right now I am about 25 weeks along (27 according to my doctors, but that's another story :)) and feeling great.  At 25 weeks, the baby weighs just over a pound and a half and is around 13.5" long.  It's hard to believe that can fit inside of a person... much less be able to come out of a person!

Here's an update to my last pregnancy posting.

Week 22 - Feeling more huge than ever and developing quite the complex about it.  Breaking out all over, which also causes a girl to dwell too much on her physical appearance.  Begin praying about my pridefulness in looking too much at outward appearance and not enough at the heart. 

Week 23 - Baby kicking lots and lots, especially at nighttime.  We read that baby can definitely hear us and see light through his eyelids.  He also has more tastebuds than he will at birth, so I'm eating a variety of good foods hoping that he won't be a picky eater :).  Appetite seems to be stabilizing.  Rashes that came with pregnancy have finally ceased, praise the Lord!

Weeks 24-25 - Baby started kicking when Matthew came home from work and was talking on the phone in his deep voice.  Belly making it more difficult to turn over in bed or get out of bed, much less bend over.  Nesting mode has kicked in at full steam!  Registering and nursery planning like a madwoman.  Hair is more full than ever before.  Matthew calls it my movie star hair.  I'm told my extra locks will fall out promptly after delivery...

Weeks 26-27 - William is 2 lbs 10 oz at checkup...whoa!  So thankful he is growing and healthy.  Also, he has turned upside-down now with head in birthing position... double whoa.  Let's hope he stays that way!  I thought I felt some pretty high kicks this week.  Almost couldn't get the gross glucose drink down at my appointment, but glad to know I don't have gestational diabetes.  Was a little nervous about that after licking a bowl of icing the night before the test when making cookies...

11 weeks

16 weeks

24 weeks

Rocky Mountain National Park

Matthew and I decided to take a babymoon to see Rocky Mountain National Park in Estes Park, Colorado.  Colorado has so many beautiful places to see and explore, and we heard that this park was not one to miss.  I love being with my husband and us exploring new sights together, even when his idea of adventure is a little more hardcore than mine!  He's been very accommodating to this 25 wk pregnant woman.

This is where we stayed at the Sage Inn Motel in Estes Park, CO.  It was so clean, cozy, and affordable!

Pizza dinner date in Boulder the night before.  We truly believe this is the best pizza we have ever had!

Downtown Boulder, CO

Herd of elk in the road the next morning

It was very windy and cold at first, but the sun came out later for an absolutely beautiful day.

Some of the beautiful scenery in RMNP

Matthew and me as we embark on our 4 mile hike from Bear Lake to Bierstadt Lake and back

We decided to bring baby Will along for the hike.  He did great!  He was probably much warmer than we were.

Thanks for the heads up!

The beautiful scenery made enduring the morning winds all worthwhile.

My handsome adventurer

We were quickly made aware of our still-southern naivete when we thought we would bring our fishing poles along for the weekend adventure.  Apparently you also need an ice pick!

Love the shadows and mountain backdrop

This was a lake at one point.  Guess we're not fishing today!

Matthew's car shot

Frozen lake on drive back into Boulder

Leaving the mountains on the way back to Colorado Springs

Colorado Adventures with the Hillises

Matthew's mom, dad and sister, Becky, flew into Colorado with us after our Christmas stay in Georgia.  We had a really great time exploring this beautiful state.  Our activities included lots of day hikes and exploring around Colorado Springs and up towards Denver, riding the Cog train up Pike's Peak, seeing Manitou Springs and Garden of the Gods, Mrs. Carla and I watching the Dawgs lose the bowl game while the boys and Becky hiked a good part of Pike's Peak, and dining at some local restaurants. 

Matthew's parents, Carla and Kelly, on our Cog Train ride up Pike's Peak

View from the train, about 12,000 ft

Matthew's sweet parents

Hubby and me outside the train about to play in the snow

Next adventure - hiking near Denver at a state park

My sis-n-law, Becky, and me before the journey begins!

Walking on ice is a challenge especially without the right footwear.  Becky was doing an impressive job of balancing considering her leather boots!  Better than her brother in his army boots anyway.  She got more of the coordination in the fam.

The beautiful scenery

Coming up on a herd of deer

The Hillis crew

It was so windy that you could lean into it and still be standing.  Or if you didn't lean into it, you might get blown over!

Man shot

Father and son shot.  There are many pictures of Matthew hiking with his dad from when he was a kid until now.  Sweet memories for him.

Adventure #3 - hiking at Cheyenne Mountain park in Colorado Springs

Becky playing in the snow

The beautiful scenery as we got closer to the top.  It got pretty cold in the shadows.

Matthew's dad on the ledge

Happy family

Matthew, me and Becky after surviving the journey to the lookout

My face was cold.

Becky using her slippery shoes to her advantage

Neat pinecone in the snow