Happy New Year 2005!

What a week! To wrap up Post Christmas… We had a great time at the Portland Sass Ranch as there was much eating, sleeping (yes, Zoey took a two and a half hour nap on the living room floor), gifting, and music. Evan and I played at his parents’ church, which was my first gig with my sweetie. That was fun! And it is always a delight to play with their pianist, Cindy Pick. She is the greatest pianist ever!!! Cindy, you need to move to Seattle and play with me all the time!

The drive back up was uneventful, but long. Again, no traffic, just lots of rest stops. We headed straight to the party at my Dad and Barb’s house. There was a headcount of 24 (I think I heard) people. These people are the wonderful family of Barb’s. We finally got to see Zoey’s cousin Katie, who is about 5 months younger. They will have a blast together next year! We also saw our doggy Murph, who was hanging out in the back yard playing ball with whomever would be lulled by her puppy dog eyes. Thanks again for taking care of her over the weekend Barb and Dad!

After a few hours and a wonderful dinner, we took Murph and her stuff and Zoey and her stuff and headed back to our home. Home, sweet, home. We came back to our frantic packing and mid-move of the office into the living room. Oh yeah, we forgot about all that.

Over the next couple days, we finished moving the desk and the tv/entertainment center and the computers and the file cabinet into their final (for now) resting places. It seems to work out so far. Now, we just have to finish up cleaning out the room for Zoey and then move her crib into it and decorate!

On New Year’s Eve, after I got home from another gig (a wedding) the baby was lulled to sleep and my sweetie and I watched The Bourne Supremacy and toasted the new year with hot fudge sundaes. Yummy! We headed to bed just before midnight and heard the fireworks in the streets at midnight. With a smile and a kiss, we said, “happy new year!” and fell asleep.

Due to many requests, I am posting a couple recipes. The first is for Pumpkin Fudge. The second is for what we are having for dinner tonight and it smells incredible! It is from our crockpot book Crock-it by Barbara Murray. It is called “Great Chicken”.

Pumpkin Fudge

3 cups sugar
¾ cup butter
1 – 5 oz can evaporated milk
½ cup canned pumpkin
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground ginger
¼ teaspoon ground cloves
1 – 10 oz bag butterscotch flavor pieces
1 – 7 oz jar marshmallow crème
1 teaspoon vanilla
½ cup toasted pecan pieces (opt.)

Line a 13 x 9 x 2 inch baking pan with foil, extending foil over the edges of the pan. Butter foil; set pan aside.

In a heavy 2-quart saucepan combine sugar, butter, evaporated milk, pumpkin, cinnamon, ginger and cloves. Cook and stir over medium-high heat until mixture boils. Clip candy thermometer to side of pan. Reduce heat to medium-low; continue to boil at a moderate, steady rate, stirring constantly, until thermometer registers 234 degrees or mixture reaches soft-ball stage (20-25 minutes).
Remove pan from heat. Stir in butterscotch pieces until melted. Stir in marshmallow crème and vanilla until well combined. Pour mixture in prepared pan, spreading evenly. Sprinkle with pecans (optional). Score into 1 inch pieces while warm. When fudge is firm, use foil to lift out of pan. Cut fudge into pieces. Makes 3 pounds.

To Store: Place candy in layers separated by waxed paper in an airtight container; cover. Store in the refrigerator for up to one week. (Rona’s note: I store it in the freezer, too – it works really well!) Yummy!

Great Chicken

1/2 cup tomato juice (we used a v-8 instead)
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup olive oil
3 cloves garlic minced (umm, we used more, yummy!)
1 whole chicken or favorite parts in serving pieces

Combine all ingredients, except chicken in a bowl. Dip each piece of chicken in the sauce. Place in crockery. Pour the remaining sauce over the top.

Cook on Low 6-8 hours or High 3-4 hours.

Serves 6.

Hmmm, should I have put that in reverse order?

So, next week is a big week for us. It is Zoey’s birthday!!!!! She will be One Year Old! January 12. Wow. Today, we went shopping for party decorations. They have such cute stuff out there for kids’ parties! We will be updating Zoey’s wish list for presents if you are interested. Otherwise, she is always up for a good book. Her favorite pasttime is taking all the books out of the bookcase. Now, we get to learn how to put them away. Yay!