Holiday Hangovers

The Keatley Kids and Ruby the Dog at
Lincoln City during our Holiday Trip!

    Well, the holidays are finally over at the Keatley home. As the boys both flew back Sunday to their respective schools~ Thomas More in NH and Christendom in VA, the house is getting back to its' quiet(er) state with just Brian, Mary and I at home, and, of course, Cari visiting on Sundays for weekly family dinner and free laundry day.We were blessed that Joshua and David got to be here for 4 weeks, and we were able to do many fun things and make some great family memories. As I was removing the last of the holiday vestiges around the house yesterday morning, I realized that having college kids who come home for a month means my "Christmas break" lasts for more than a few weeks ~ at least in our family. Having just the three of us at home has left me with a sort of "Holiday Hangover".

    It was in September that Mary and I decided to finally move stuff around upstairs thus starting to make a craft/sewing room that I have always wanted, painting the hallway a beautiful buttery yellow and turning David's room into the "boys' room". Josh is used to living in what he calls, his "cell" at school which is a small single dorm room, so I was concerned what he would think of coming home and sharing a room with his brother. David has two roommates at school, so I knew it wouldn't be a huge deal for him. They ended up enjoying sharing, and I know they had some good conversations that might not have happened if they had their own rooms.
    The second part of preparing for the boys being here had to do with all the extra baking/cooking I did. I had tried to fill the freezer with muffins, bread, cookies and other goodies along with some soups and easy breakfast items. This was partially to help our busy schedule as well as to satisfy their seemingly never-full appetites.
    With all of these projects, I was happy to have Pinterest to help with ideas. Most of my baking/cooking ideas were from there as were many of the homemade Christmas gifts I ended up sewing or making for not only our kids but friends and other family members as well.
If you don't follow me on Pinterest, here are some links to some of the recipes & craft projects I did:

Goodies
Tastespotting's Turkish Semolina Cake
Alaska From Scratch's Peppermint Marshmallows
Proud Italian Cook's Limoncello Tart
A Cozy Kitchen's Coffee Marshmallows
Creative Juice's Sugared Pecans
Peppermint Bark Fudge from Lemons for Lulu
Turkish Delight from Tastes Really Good

Breakfast/Lunch/Dinner
Garlic Mashed Potato Knishes from What Jew Wanna Eat
Mongolian Beef from Just a Taste
Borrowed Heaven's Balsamic Pot Roast
Food.com's Rici E Bisi
Oh So Yummy's Oatmeal Raisin Breakfast Cookies
Brats and Beer Cheddar Chowder from Recipe.com

Gifts
Ear Warmers from Delia Creates
DIY Handwarmers from Armommy
Cat Toys from Catster
Christmas in a Jar from Dandee Designs

    I also made Alton Brown's Orange Marmalade for gifts as well as having extra for us. It has pretty much become our favorite spread of choice. I also realized how terrific it is to make jam & pickles throughout the summer because they also make wonderful (and easy) gifts! I made and gave plum jam from Gezellig-Girl, spicy tomato jam from Easyfoodsmith and bread & butter pickles from 52 Ways to Cook. The girls and I were talking last week, and we realized that we only bought a couple of gifts this year. Between the canning, baking, cooking and crafting, we gave homemade gifts to everyone on our list!
    I've also started a This Month's Menu board on Pinterest. It's been great to be able to put recipes on it that I make, or want to try making, during the month. Once I make something, I try to give it a rating then pop it over to my Got It Made, Recipes board. Even with the boys being back at school, we're pretty busy around here. I figured anything that can help us be a bit more organized is a good thing!
I know Christmas isn't for another 338 days, but I am going to try to do a little preparing every month so as not to overload my schedule come this fall. I'd love to hear what you might be planning on doing in the way of DIY gifts and goodies for this year!!

Happy Anniversary, Doctor

Okay, I admit it. I am a Doctor Who fan. Not, mind you, as much as most of my kids, but still, the good Doctor does hold a place in my heart. Tonight marks the 50th anniversary of the show with an anniversary special sure to be amazing- not even counting the fact that the 10th, 11th and the new Doctor will be in it along with Rose and other characters we've come to know (and either love or 

despise depending on if they are good guys or bad).

One of my favorite characters is K-9, a lovable robot dog, originally airing with the 4th Doctor (Tom Baker) and Sarah Jane Smith. The original episodes which "starred" K-9 were super fun to watch, but my favorite was "The School Reunion". This was with Sarah Jane, Rose, Mickey and Doctor #10 (David Tennant). It was the first Doctor Who episode where I cried~ there have been a few more, I admit. 

It's a whole lot easier to choose K-9 as a favorite character than choosing which Doctor I like the best. I have a fondness for #11 (Matt Smith) because a) he's the first Doctor I watched and b) he's just so adorably fun and alien-like. Then, of course, there's #10 (David Tennant). He's just gorgeous to watch in anything he appears (not just as the Doctor, but try watching him in the film, The Decoy Bride or Shakepeare's Much Ado About Nothing, and you'll see what I mean). If we talk about the earlier Doctors, then I have to add Tom Baker to the list. As you can see, it's not an easy choice!

Well, I am looking forward to seeing what the creators of this long-running British television show have come up with for this next season. As always, it should be quite a trip! Happy Anniversary and thanks for letting us be your companions, Doctor, for all of the places you take us to and all the adventures awaiting us there.

Mangia Mamma's Five Favorites, vol. 6 The Upstairs Edition

The upstairs of our 1912 farmhouse has been, for me in the last 10 or so years, a "no-mom's land". This is because it has been the domain of our four children and their stuff. Don't get me wrong, I've always been welcomed to the vast wilderness of kid-dom, but unless someone was ill or I needed to talk to one of my four youngsters, I pretty much steered clear of the upper floor. 

With the departure of #1 son to his last year at Thomas More and #2 son to Christendom Collegethis has all changed. As Mary is the last one at home, attending Chemeketa while figuring out what she wants to do with the gifts God has given her, we have been able to start making a long wished for craft/sewing room a reality. We've moved the boys both into David's room, making it dorm-style (except without the mini fridge). I think they'll like the changes when they come home for the Christmas Holidays!

I hope you enjoy looking at my five favorites this week are as they are all from the "Land of Upstairs". 

1. Ombré Dresser

                                        

I've seen a lot of ombré stuff on Pinterest, from nails to wall hangings to furniture. I decided to put my own twist on it and redo a dresser that had previously lived in David's room. It was super easy. I started by painting the base of the dresser white. I then found a fairly dark green that we had and painted one set of drawers. I added a bit of white and painted the next set then added a bit more and did the third and so on. The result is what you see here. It's going to hold fabric and patterns and craft goodies. I can't wait to get stuff out of the Rubbermaid storage totes and into the pretty ombré dresser!

2. Cheerful Butter-Yellow Paint

                                                

When Cari lived at home, she had picked out some yellow paint for her room. She then moved out before we had the chance to paint. I've thought about painting the hallway for a long time but never did it since I wasn't sure what color to paint it (plus, remember this was "no-moms land" for quite a while). Since I am now going to be traversing the stairs to the craft/sewing room, I decided to use up the paint we had. I must admit, I love it! Not only is it bright and cheerful, it makes the whole area seem more put together. That may sound silly, but it's true- now I am enjoying going upstairs!

3. Inexpensive and Beautiful Art

                         

Over the summer, the kids and I hit a few yard sales. One of them was at Willamette University. They had a bunch of different booths with a few interesting things, but the best booth was from their art department (or art archives, I don't remember exactly). Anyway, they were selling old prints and photos for hardly anything. Joshua ended up finding this and buying it for just a couple of dollars. I've been looking for a frame for it, and then it will end up hanging in the boys' room. Then when Joshua finishes seminary and gets placed in a parish, he'll have a beautiful piece of artwork ready to hang in his office.

4. The Kids' Artwork

                        

My kids are all pretty artistic. They definitely do not get it from me. I admit I am creative, but artistic is not something I have ever seen myself as being. I have lots of family members as does Brian, who have been or are artists. The girls have enjoyed using their artistic abilities in decorating Mary's room. The top photo has two pieces Mary put together while the bottom is a painting by Cari with the G. K. Chesterton quote done by Mary. I'm really excited because the other day when Mary and I were shopping at Target, she got some ideas of artwork to do for the hallway! I'll be sure to share when it's all done.

5. The Boys' Room

                                       

One would think moving two boys into one room- especially as one has been in college for 3 1/2 years- would not be that hard of a thing. Plus, the shared room is the bigger one. Well, this might work unless one of the boys has a massive library of books and the other is pretty much a pack rat. Hence, the creativity combining all of their stuff in a room that doesn't feel like a storage space with beds. One thing I did was to take a little bookshelf we had, paint it white and set it on top of the desk they will be sharing. I tried to place the books they will use the most along with a few special things on the desk and shelves to take away the "dorm room" feel and help them to enjoy their shared room!

Be sure to head over to Moxie Wife and check out everybody's five favs for this week!

A "French" Toast to Honey Boo-Boo

Honey Boo Boo as a little girl

A preview of
Honey Boo Boo at 18!

So Halloween was a few weeks ago, but since I am getting caught up as it were, I thought I'd share a couple of photos and a delicious family recipe standby. Ever since one of our fencers started telling me about Honey Boo Boo and her family, I have been fascinated with the whole thing. Not having cable- or television for that matter- helped me not to start a Honey Boo Boo addiction which was probably a good thing. This all changed when Mary and I were in our hotel in Baltimore during our taking David to school trip. We not only had cable television, but I ended up not feeling good one day and staying in our room for most of it. This gave me the opportunity to watch not one, but three episodes of "Here Comes Honey Boo-Boo". I believe Mary watched a few minutes with me then turned to her book and spent the next few hours reading instead. What does this have to do with Halloween you may ask? Knowing we were attending a Halloween Open House, I wanted to have a costume that no one else would have (or, as the girls said, even think about having). This led me to the Honey Boo Boo costume. Of course, I looked like Honey Boo Booed-or-Honey Boo Boo the Later Years. Cari did snap a photo, but instead of sharing subjecting it upon you, I thought I'd share what Honey Boo Boo might look like as a teenager(courtesy of Mary, who decided to try on Mom's costume when we got back home). I've gotten over my Honey Boo Boo phase (pretty much), but I now have quite a likin' for pink!!

If you were havin' a hard time stomaching that, the second thing to share is easier to swallow! It's a recipe for our family favorite, French Toast Casserole. I used to make it when the kids were little then hadn't in a long time mostly due to not having many of them at home anymore. I ended up making it a few weeks ago after David shared with me about how much he is appreciating one of the cooks at school for her homemade-tasting desserts. He said one of them tasted like my French Toast Casserole which ended up being a basic bread pudding. I decided to try it and see how well the leftovers would reheat, if I made a whole pan. It was delicious both the morning I made it as well as the next couple of days. I am pretty sure it would freeze well too, if it lasts that long.

Here's the recipe, adapted from Taste of Home

• FRENCH TOAST CASSEROLE Ingredients 1 loaf bread, cut into 1-inch cubes (I've used French, Wheat, even leftover hamburger buns- whatever you have on hand should work well) 8 eggs, lightly beaten 2 cups milk 4 teaspoons sugar 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 3/4 teaspoon salt TOPPING: 2 tablespoons butter 3 tablespoons sugar 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon Maple syrup, optional Directions Place bread cubes in a greased 13-in. x 9-in. baking dish. In a large bowl, whisk the eggs, milk, sugar, vanilla and salt. Pour over bread. Dot with butter. Combine sugar and cinnamon; sprinkle over the top. Cover and bake at 350° for 30-35 minutes or until a knife inserted near the center comes out clean. Let stand for 5 minutes. Serve with maple syrup if desired. Yield: 12 servings.

• You can also cover and refrigerate for 8 hours or overnight. Remove from refrigerator 30 minutes before baking.