Sinus Headache, Snicker Doodles, and Soup (Potato)

What do you do when you are a stay at home mom with a sinus headache, two rambunctious girls, and a rainy day?  #1. You need to find a way to keep them busy without them arguing, which leads to three year old high pitched temper tantrums!

My solution:  The Kitchen!

Not only do I have nice bar stools to sit at while I supervise and help, but the wonderful smells, (aside from one tray of cookies getting burnt) and warm vapors from the oven and stove top have made my headache less painful.

This time of year always find me craving cinnamon and potatoes!  Especially cinnamon, when I don't feel well or have been stressing out.  The past few weeks have been weary trying to battle the County and Bank.   One of my grandmothers mailed me a classic 1985 Betty Crocker Cookie Book a few weeks ago and today was a good day to use it.  Of course, I tailor and tweak almost all recipes I try to my own taste buds, but today I only added some vanilla extract to this Snicker Doodle Recipe.

 

Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees and Cream together until slightly fluffy:

 

1 1/2 Cups sugar

1 Cup butter (or you can use half butter and shortening)

2 Eggs

2 teaspoons of vanilla extract

 

Mix in:

 

2 3/4 Cup flour

2 teaspoons cream of tarter

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

 

Form 1 inch balls and roll into a bowl with:

 

3 tablespoons sugar

1 tablespoon cinnamon

 

Bake for 8 to 9 minutes, remove from oven and put on a cooling rack after two minutes. ENJOY!

 

Potato soup





 

Picture is before I added the liquids

 

 1. Cut up 1/2 pound of bacon into 1 inch pieces and sauté in soup pot until almost crisp.

2. While the bacon is cooking,  Cut up 1 large carrot into small coin pieces and dice three stalks of celery. Sauté with bacon until soft and bacon is nice and crisp.

3. Cut up 4 medium to large potatoes.  I like to dice one potato smaller than the rest to help with thickening add to pot.

4.  Add one 32 oz. chicken broth and enough water to just cover your other ingredients.  You can use all chicken broth if you want.

5. Add 1 Tablespoon dill  and parsley if you like and salt and pepper to taste. Let simmer on medium -high for approximately 25 minutes and potatoes are well cooked and very soft. I also like to add in two teaspoons of smoked paprika.

6. Add 1 cup of cream (whole milk, half and half or whipping)

7. Now if you want a creamer  soup still,  you can use an immersion blender to thicken it up or add a mixture of cream and flour.

Enjoy

 

 

 

What do we do now?



(River has taken 300 plus feet in just under a year and two heavy rain storms. Orange dots mark current top of bank.)

We received a pretty clear warning from the Sauk River last November.  An approximate 100 plus by 700 feet of land disappeared in the night.  We received  another pretty clear warning from personnel of Snohomish County, “highly erodible soil.” We received more warning from Army Corps of Engineers that our property would continue to erode. 

We could not sleep at night when it was raining. Echoes of hearing, “parts in bag,” from the  scanner during the Oso disaster fresh in our minds. The parents of three, two of whom under the age of 4;  How do we keep our two small girls and teen safe from frigid rushing waters, mud, and current?  We seek safety and go into financial ruin.

That was suppose to be our “raise the family in” home.

What has Snohomish county done for us?  They allowed us to build in a Critical Area they knew a new ordinance would not allow a few months after.  They never sent documents after the fact to warn us we were in a Channel Migrations Zone or that we were on "highly erodible soil.” They got all their building permit fees and taxes paid for 7 plus years.  They have continued to receive tax money from our bank for the current year.

Over the weekend, the first real rain storm since the first event, The Sauk took another approximate 100  by 700 foot piece of land. Looking at about 300 total.  Some more going in during small rains during the year.  The well to the house is now unusable and on the current bank of the river.  The house is now just over 100 feet from the current main Sauk River Channel.

We were smart and sought safety.  We are physically safe, but far from Financially secure.  We feel emotionally abused by the enormity of the mighty County that is too stubborn to help and an un-sympathetic Bank.

 

What is Snohomish county doing for us?  Put us on some “maybe” list for FEMA funding.

What is our bank doing for us?  Seeking the remainder of our mortgage.

What is Pierce County doing in a similar Critical Area Channel Migration Zone.  BUYING A WHOLE NEIGBORHOOD OUT.