Recipes Passed Down

Today I made one of my favorite meals for dinner, Hawaiian Chicken. My Oma used to make this for my dad and my dad used to make it for us. I will most likely make it for my children who will make it for theirs. I love that. I love that I have this hand written recipe from my Oma to share with my family. A lot of my kids, if not all, will probably never meet my Oma. She has one foot out the door and the other foot will soon join the first one. I will tell great stories about my Oma. I'll let them know about this awesome family tree she had. It was a burnt orange and brown. Each person was represented by an owl. All the grandkids were smaller owls. I loved it. I will also tell them about my awesome experiences I had at her house. Like how every time we were there my Opa would drive us down to the swimming pool on his electric golf cart to meet my Oma after her water exercising so we could swim. Oh the memories. Anyway, I will tell my kids all of these great things and on top of that I will be able to share with them some of her cooking. It will be almost as if she is there with us enjoying a delicious meal.

All of this got me thinking of how great family is. Each generation of family changes. The time changes, the fads, the music, the way we live life. With that comes stories from the past. I have never personally been to a Sock Hop but it's great to hear about them. I could pretend I was at one and let my imagination run wild. Also, with each generation comes challenges. With these challenges comes opportunity to grow and learn. I learned so much from my mom. She taught me how to fight against peer pressure and how to do what I thought was right instead of what the world thought was right. I learned from her stories and I love that. I feel like the best things in the world we learn from our family. I also think that they are the most important things.

I will never be able to express how grateful I am for families. Not only for their unconditional love and sweet acts of service, but for their stories and recipes. I hope you take the time to scavenge through your families lives so you can make sure to pass the best stuff down to your kids, like my Oma's Hawaiian Chicken.

Hawaiian Chicken

Ingredients:
7-8 Chicken pieces, with or without skin
Flour
Oil
Salt and Pepper
Sauce:
1lb 4oz can Sliced Pineapple
1 C Sugar
2 T Corn Starch
3/4 C Vinegar
1 T Soy Sauce
1/4 tsp. Ground Ginger
1 Chicken Bouillon Cube
1 Green Pepper sliced into rings

Coat chicken with flour and brown in oil. Arrange pieces in shallow roasting pan and season with salt and pepper.
Preheat oven to 350.
Drain pineapple syrup into a 2 cup measure adding water to make 1 1/4 cups.
In a medium sauce pan, combine sugar, cornstarch, pineapple syrup, vinegar, soy sauce, ginger, and bouillon cube. Bring to boil, stirring constantly. Boil 2 minutes and pour over chicken.
Bake uncovered, 30 minutes. Add pineapple slices and green pepper rings. Bake 30 minutes more. Serve with white rice.

So I was thinking

If I miss strawberry cupcakes then why not bring them back into my life? So, today I made strawberry cupcakes. This wasn't easy.

I had to...

1-Drive through the pouring rain to get to Target.

2-Run through the pouring rain to get inside.

*At this time I would like to tell you that there is no possible way for me to exaggerate how hard the rain was coming down.

3-Walk through Target with blinders on so I didn't buy everything in the whole store. What is it about Target that makes you want to do that?

4-Forgive myself when I bought something I really didn't need.

5-Take a nap because the dog was sleeping. You know what they say, if they are sleeping then you should be too.

6-Attempt to make the batter in between the dog ringing her boom boom bell. She was really afraid to go out in the rain but really had to go. So what she would do is ring the bell then sit and stair at the rain after I opened the door, just to decide it wasn't worth it. After closing the door she would realize just how bad she needed to go and we would start all over again.

7-Go online to look at oven knobs. My oven knob had all the numbers worn off so it's just black. I had to look and see, on average, where 350 was.

8-I then had to put them in and hold my breath. They came out perfect.

9-I then had to frost them. I chose to go with buttercream over strawberry frosting.

10-I then had to refrain from eating all 16 cupcakes (17 if you count the batter that I licked out of the bowl.)

They were delicious.

There are some things I really miss...

There are a lot of things I don't miss. Like...

My noisy upstairs AND downstairs neighbors.
Living off of a student's income.
Living in the snow.
Worrying about dating.
The stress that being a manager at Panera Bread brings.
Waking up at 4:00AM to go to work.
My job at Convergys. Yuck.
Working fast food.
Living paycheck to paycheck.
Having more than one car payment. (I would like a second vehicle though)
Worrying about the way I talk, walk, dress, and look just because of some boy or girl from school.
Being in school. I love that I will never have to write another paper.
Being a server.
Having a real a-hole as a boss.
Living in Vallejo. That was just scary.
And I'm sure there are many more things that I'm just not thinking of right now.

I DO miss a lot of things as well. Like...

Being able to eat whatever I want whenever I want without having to check my blood sugar and take insulin. If someone could hurry up and cure type 1 diabetes, that would be awesome.
Having only 1 pet.
Not saying every fourth sentence, "Need to go boom boom Roxy?"
My friends from high school.
The care free attitude I had in high school.
Being as thin as I was in high school. I still can't believe I ever thought I was fat. I should be shot for that.
My wedding day. I loved that day.
My family.
Snuggle time with my cat. She is a lot more distant now that we have the dog.
My Equinox. Dang you for not being fuel efficient.
Living close to my mom.
Friday nights with all of the Hardy family.
Going to the movies. I really want to go to the movies.
Cupcakes. It's been forever since I've eaten one and I really want one. A strawberry one with strawberry frosting.
My Opa. I know I already said family but when I went to my Oma's 90th birthday party it made me really miss him. I'm glad I believe that I will see him again someday. It brings me comfort.

So, these are all really nice things that I miss. But you know what I really miss? I mean REALLY miss?
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HAVING A DISHWASHER.

When we moved into our new house I knew we would not have a dishwasher and I was semi ok with it. We got these really cool things from Ikea that made hand washing look more appealing but it still sucks. I just want a dishwasher. I'm ok with a portable one. I would just have it sit next to my stove and role it over to the sink when I'm ready for it. I promise to feed it and clean up after it. I will pet it and let it know it's loved. *sigh* Maybe I'll get one for my birthday.

You know you have a good husband when...

Just in case you weren't sure... You know you have a good husband when:

Your already exhausted husband gets up in the middle of the night to add on two blankets and a hat to you because you can't get warm.

Then, one hour later he gets up again to bring you your gluclometer while you're throwing up.

After a night of having to wake up with not only the dog but you he still wakes up early to make sure the dog will be all worn out so you can sleep that day. He will also give you a priesthood blessing because you can't walk and feel like you're going to die.

He drives to the grocery store BEFORE work to pick you up saltines, chicken noodle soup, applesauce, and a diet 7-up.

He happens to be a "tight hold on the wallet" husband and is willing to pay $10 (several days in a row) in parking so that you don't have to drive him to work.

He comes home after a long day and cleans up after the dog even though you were home all day. he knows that you are too sick to look after her.

After another long night of caring for you and the dog will do whatever he can to make sure you are ok before he leaves.

After another long day at work and walking back upstairs for what he thinks is the final time will go back downstairs one more time to make you some soup. Oh and get you the Nyquil. Oh and wash out the little cup for you.

He gets suddenly woken up by a once moaning you who has passed out on the bathroom floor. He will then wait for you to be done throwing up so he can help you up the stairs.

Even though he has done it two days he still continues to wait on you hand and foot. He also gives you another blessing so you can finally sleep.

He made the decision to do nothing over the weekend but ends up spending the whole time taking you to the doctor, getting your prescription, and buying you soup and Jamba Juices because you are finally hungry. He also cleans the whole house and does the laundry while trying to train the dog.

He spends the whole week that you are sick doing everything he can to make you better.

I must have a good husband.