A Few Things

There is much to be done before June 28th. My living room is currently covered in ACUs. That's army talk for the new "modern" camo. So as we're getting Johnny packed to go to Army (as Buster on "Arrested Development" says), I'm starting to make sure that I get some new pictures of him. Here's us at a lacrosse tournament last weekend. What a man.

Another thing that I'm making sure I do is cook meals that Johnny really likes. There are these great french fries from Trader Joe's (my fav) that have a garlic sauce that you put on them. I was heating these up for Johnny the other day, and would you believe it, those French Fries had the nerve to catch on fire while I was in the middle of doing something else! Luckily our smoke alarms apparently don't work very well, and we have a door in the kitchen, so my brave army man threw them outside. It only took a few fans and a few hours to completely clear out all of the smoke from our 400 sq. ft. apartment.

I have also finally finished Katie's quilt! Sorry to ruin the surprise with the pics, Katie. It turned out really nicely. I'm wanting to start a little business with them, so if you ever have the need for a quilt or for a nice gift for a new baby, shoot me an email, and we can chat. rhutson@gmail.com



Katie's quilt is a log pattern style in pinks and teal. I've done all pink for Sydney Adams and pink, orange, and purple for Meriahna Adams.

Here's one I made for my sister for Christmas. (Notice Tess looking enviously in the background.) Jessie's getting ready to move her artsy self to Brooklyn for Pratt's design school. I'm looking forward to having more reasons to visit NYC. So, let me know if you feel the need for a fabulous quilt, and I'll get you all the info!

**I've changed my settings so that anyone can comment. Feel free!

Essays, Adams, & Mitch in a onesie

My last stack of essays to grade. Most of them actually turned out really well. It's been really exciting to review this week and have all the kids pretty much know all the answers. At the beginning of the year, they could have never done that. It's kind of nice to step back and say, wow I think I might have actually taught them something.

17 days until Johnny leaves which breaks my heart, but the thought of hanging out with these little babies puts it back together. The day after Johnny leaves, I'm heading out on a 7am flight to Kansas City to be with my family and the Adams for the summer. After spending so much time with them over the years, I kind of thought that all kids were just funny. But I've babysat some new families this year, and honestly, there are no kids funnier than Sydney, Meriahna, and Austin. I can't wait!

I will also get to hang out with this lovely pair, Tess and Mitchell. I basically just wanted this picture to be out for all the world to see. No reason other than that for putting it up. Finals and half days all next week. Hershey Park field trip a week from Tuesday. Last day of a school a week from Thursday. Johnny peaces out in two Mondays, followed by me on Tuesday. Never a dull moment.

Two Pies and a Skirt

And the countdown begins. 32 days until summer break! It's a bitter sweet countdown because as I quickly approach my summer break, I am also quickly approaching Johnny's four month departure for Georgia. So, with him leaving soon, I'm subconsciously doing special things for him.



One of those things is baking blackberry pie. Here's a great recipe for pie crust that I found online.



Beautiful blackberries from Trader Joe's.

And the finished product. I got the recipe from the fabulous Joy of Cooking cookbook. Here it is for you.

1. Line a 9in pie pan with the above crust recipe and bake through
2. Wash 6 cups of fresh blackberries
3. Puree 2 cups of the berries in a blender
4. Whisk together in a medium sauce pan: 1 cup of sugar, 1/4 cup of cornstarch, 1/8 tsp of salt
5. Stir in the pureed berries along with 2 T of lemon juice
6. Bring to a simmer over medium-high heat, stirring constantly, and cook for one minute (really let it bubble up and thicken)
7. Add mixture to the remaining berries, pour into the crust, and refrigerate for at least 4 hours to set

With the second pie crust I had left over, I made a healthy chicken pot pie. Here's the recipe from Real Simple. It's a staple in our house.

Johnny has also been wanting me to make my own clothes now that he bought me a sewing machine. I thought I'd humor him and make myself a skirt. It turned out pretty well.

We went to a friend's wedding this weekend, and it reminded me of how lucky I am to have Johnny. Keep him in your prayers as we quickly approach his fourth months of training.

Sunday Meals

During the week, I don't have a lot of time to cook meals because I get home from work pretty late. So on Sundays, I try my best to churn out a few meals that we can reheat for dinners or pack up for lunches. Above is a picture of one of the Shepherd's Pies that I made. Here's the recipe:

1lb of ground beef
Frozen veggies (corn, carrots, peas)
Worchestshire Sauce
Salt and Pepper
Garlic
3 potatoes
Skim Milk
Parmesean Cheese

1. Brown the ground beef in a pan. While doing that, cube the potatoes and cook them in boiling water until they're tender enough to stick a fork into.
2. Once the beef is brown, add about 2 T of Worchestshire Sauce, 1-2 smashed garlic cloves, about 1 C of frozen veggies, and some salt and pepper. Continue to cook on medium heat for 2-3 minutes.
3. Once the potatoes are done, drain the water and add about 1/4 C of skim milk to the pan. Mash the potatoes, adding a little bit of garlic, salt and pepper, and parmesean cheese (I just eyeball all of those).
4. Once everything is done on the stove, transfer the meat into four ramikans or one ceramic baking dish. Plop the mashed potatoes on top and cook at 350 for about 15 minutes until the mashed potatoes become golden and crispy on the top. Enjoy!



I've also been holding on to a bunch of lemons for awhile, so I decided to make Lemonade. I follow the Joy of Cooking Recipe.

Boil 8 cups of water on the stove with 1 1/2 - 2 cups of sugar (brown sugar works too but it makes the lemonade kind of brownish, duh I guess). Add 1 cup of lemon juice to the mixture once all the sugar has dissolved. I like to add 1 sliced lemon. Put the lemonade in the fridge until it's cold and enjoy!

Tip for juicing lemons: Roll them on the counter before you cut them in half. This helps you get more juice out of them.

What the week ahead holds: Girls LAX game tomorrow against our first private school (yikes), parent/teacher conferences (yikes), work on Katie's quilt, start Antigone with my kids, watch Arrested Development with Johnny. That'll do.

A week in the life...

We have finally moved in! Internet is working and all boxes are unpacked. I thought I'd sum up my days being away with a few pictures and recipes.




Sixth and ninth periods finally earned their cupcakes. I have a points system in my room that they surprisingly follow. I start counting down from five, and the response is, "She's counting!!!" and then silence. Usually it works. (Reminder, they are sixteen years old). They earn points every day and one reward is...cupcakes.

Cupcake of the day is Banana Walnut from the Martha Stewart Cupcake Cookbook. Here's the recipe. I used brown sugar cream cheese frosting instead, which is just cream cheese, smart balance, a cup of brown sugar and a cup of powdered sugar. Yum!

The real question, though, is how to get to school on the subway with 48 cupcakes. I present to you, my pride and joy, the cupcake carrier! It's amazing. Go get one. Bed, Bath, and Beyond.

In other news, my girls' lacrosse team is 2-0. Our last game we won 15-0. Little did you all know that hiding down inside of me was a beastly coach. Some of my specialties are the "Boom Dynamite!" cheer and singing "I'm a Single Lady" on the sidelines. I really don't know how we win.

And finally, pictures of our new house! The bedroom and the kitchen are the rooms that are the closest to being finished. I love the fact that I can fit more than half a person in this kitchen.

Notice the framed page from Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs.

Bedroom. The brown walls were inspired by the photographer that I babysit for. She has a living room like this, and it looks really nice. Ours is coming together well.


The beginnings of my craft area. Johnny spent about an hour drilling into a brick wall to hang my shelf. Love him!

For those of you wanting to widen your vocabulary, here's a new phrase I learned yesterday: "Outta pocket" = "Out of line"
Use it in a sentence: "You outta pocket!"

And the week goes on.

Baby Mitchell

Somehow my brother got huge. Mitchell and my parents came to visit us in Philly, and every time I see him, he gets bigger and bigger. He is now taller than I am. I remember holding all ten pounds of him when he was first born...Jessie and I were slightly more delicate as babies. I guess we should have known he'd be huge.



Mitchell and me in Reading Terminal Market where I do most of my grocery shopping. They have a bunch of Amish people selling things; it's very fun.

City Hall. Classic shot. Giant man-child.

Rittenhouse Square. Right by the new house. Eating sweet ending...s. Daddy-o popped in for the shot.

Inside of Barnes and Noble. Notice we are in the games and funny picture books section. Sigh, I always knew he'd love literature.

Mitchell William, never forget who named you. I own you.

Ikea

If you know me, you have to know that I LOVE Ikea. I mean I really love it. I would go there every weekend if I had the choice. I frequently talk to one of my students about how amazed we are with the $0.99 breakfast. So of course, while on spring break, I decided to make the trek out to Ikea in order make the final decisions on furniture for our new house. I knew that I wanted a certain bookshelf for my new craft area that I'm super pumped about (you can ask my students about that too). Luckily, while looking through the "as is" section, I found the exact bookshelf I wanted, 30% off! Only one problem, this shelf would clearly not fit in the Camry. So I decided to take it apart and then put it in the car. After running around Ikea for ten minutes in my yellow rain boots and pink hoodie, I finally found one of those curvy metal things that are apparently called an "Allen Wrench" or something. For the next thirty minutes, I proceeded to take apart that bookshelf in the middle of Ikea, after purchasing it of course. I am pleased to say that it is now sitting in the car...Johnny won't take it out until we move.