Saturday, April 26, 2014
First Communion Cake
I got to do something very special last night in preparation for Ira's First Communion tomorrow. I got to decorate his cake with my mama! She is who taught me everything I know about cake decorating. We haven't done a cake together since Ira was a baby, so it was pretty special to me that we got to do this one together. Since we moved away from the big city five years ago, we don't get to spend near as much time together as I would like, but last night we spent from 5:30pm to 2:00am working on this beautiful cake (and then she had to make the 35 minute trek home! God bless her!) I will cherish last night forever. And, I couldn't be more thrilled with how the cake turned out!! I wanted something fancy and extraordinary to celebrate the most awesome sacrament of receiving God Himself. I think we achieved that! Many thanks to my mom for making the sacrifices she did to help me last night and also a big thanks to my Aunt Rosie for artistic advice! Happy (almost) First Communion Day Ira!!
Friday, April 11, 2014
Grandma Sakis' Bierrocks
For those who keep up with me on Facebook, you know that I spent my day Tuesday making Bierrocks.
Making bierrocks is a labor of love for me with a lot of memories wrapped up in them. Growing up in a staunchly German town (and family) bierrocks were well-known and always well-made! The schools even served them for lunch! Around here, just about everyone knows what a bierrock is, but in case you've stumbled upon my blog from a decisively less German upbringing, a bierrock is a soft roll filled with meat and cabbage and onions. The person I most associate with bierrocks is my Grandma Sakis who would've been 98 today.
Grandma Sakis was THE epitome of a what a grandma should be. I can remember spending the night at her house once when I was seven or eight and for whatever reason, she and I were doing the dishes together. I remember talking and talking (and TALKING) to her about everything going on in my class: the other girls, cartwheels, recess. I can vividly remember standing on the moss green chair in the corner of her kitchen showing her some kind of gymnastics move that my friend Adrienne had taught me. She just listened, seeming to fully enjoy the conversation (which was rather one-sided I'm afraid.) One Sunday morning after Mass (after spending the night) my siblings and I raced up Grandma and Grandpa's front sidewalk to their porch. When we turned around, Grandma had just gotten to the picket fence (about 25 feet from the front door.) She had the (skeleton) key to the front door and I think we yelled "Come on Grandma!" and she RAN - IN HER CHURCH SHOES - to the front door!! I'll never forget it!!!
I don't think I ever had the privilege of making bierrocks with Grandma, but I remember eating them at her house regularly. Thanks to my cousin, I have a copy of her recipe in her beautiful cursive handwriting. Written no doubt with her favorite pen.
Dough: 4 cups warm water, 2 Tbsp. sugar, 1 Tbsp. salt, 2 Tbsp. melted butter 1 pkg. yeast, enough flour to make a soft dough (12 cups give or take.)
Filling: 3 lbs. hamburger, 2 medium onions, 1 head cabbage, salt and pepper, 1/2 c. water, 1 T. flour
Dissolve yeast and sugar in warm water and let proof for 5 minutes. Add yeast mixture to a large bowl, then add the salt and melted butter. Gradually add flour, first whisking, then stirring with a spatula, and finally kneading it in by hand until you have a soft dough. Put dough ball in an oiled bowl, turning to coat the top, cover, and let rise about 1 hour, knead down and let rise again until doubled in size.
In a large pot, brown hamburger, seasoning with salt and pepper to taste.
Add the onions and cabbage and adjust the salt and pepper until it's flavorful - it should taste good - not bland! Add the water and flour and steam with the lid on for about 10 minutes.
Divide the dough into 8 balls, leaving the ones you aren't working with in the oiled bowl, covered.
Working with one ball at a time, roll the dough as thin as pie dough and about 12 inches square.
Cut into 4 pieces.
Place a generous 1/3 cup of filling on each square.
Bring corners together and pinch, then seal the seams.
Again bring the corners to the middle, pinch, and press.
Place on a baking sheet with sealed edges down. Bake at 375 degrees for 20-25 minutes. (If you are going to freeze them, just bake them for 20 minutes.) Remove from oven and butter the tops.
Transfer from baking sheet to cooling rack and enjoy!
Bierrocks:
Yield 32 bierrocks
Ingredients
Dough:
4 cups warm water
2 Tbsp. sugar
1 Tbsp. salt
2 Tbsp. melted butter
1 pkg (or 2 1/4 tsp.) yeast
*Enough flour to make a soft dough (12 cups give or take)
Filling:
3 lbs. hamburger
2 medium onions, chopped
1 head cabbage, chopped
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 cup water
1 Tbsp. flour
Method
Dough
Dissolve yeast and sugar in warm water and let proof for 5 minutes. Add yeast mixture to a large bowl then add the salt and melted butter. Gradually add flour, first whisking, then stirring with a spatula, and finally kneading it in by hand until you have a soft dough. Put dough ball in an oiled bowl, turning to coat the top, cover, and let rise about 1 hour, knead down and let rise again until doubled in size.
Filling
In a large pot, brown hamburger, seasoning with salt and pepper to taste. Add the onions and cabbage and adjust the salt and pepper until it's flavorful. Add the water and flour and steam with the lid on for about 10 minutes.
Assembly
Divide dough into 8 balls, leaving the ones you aren't working with in the oiled bowl, covered. Working with one ball at a time, roll the dough as thin as pie dough and about 12 inches square. Cut into 4 pieces. Place a generous 1/3 cup of filling on each square. Bring corners together and pinch, then seal the seams. Again, bring the corners to the middle, pinch, and press. Place on a baking sheet with sealed edges down. Bake at 375 degrees for 20-25 minutes. (If you are going to freeze them, just bake them for 20 minutes.) Remove from oven and butter the tops. Transfer from baking sheet to cooling rack and enjoy!
*I used a whole wheat flour/whole wheat pastry flour combination. Proportionally, probably twice as much whole wheat flour as the pastry flour. I didn't measure!
Making bierrocks is a labor of love for me with a lot of memories wrapped up in them. Growing up in a staunchly German town (and family) bierrocks were well-known and always well-made! The schools even served them for lunch! Around here, just about everyone knows what a bierrock is, but in case you've stumbled upon my blog from a decisively less German upbringing, a bierrock is a soft roll filled with meat and cabbage and onions. The person I most associate with bierrocks is my Grandma Sakis who would've been 98 today.
Grandma Sakis was THE epitome of a what a grandma should be. I can remember spending the night at her house once when I was seven or eight and for whatever reason, she and I were doing the dishes together. I remember talking and talking (and TALKING) to her about everything going on in my class: the other girls, cartwheels, recess. I can vividly remember standing on the moss green chair in the corner of her kitchen showing her some kind of gymnastics move that my friend Adrienne had taught me. She just listened, seeming to fully enjoy the conversation (which was rather one-sided I'm afraid.) One Sunday morning after Mass (after spending the night) my siblings and I raced up Grandma and Grandpa's front sidewalk to their porch. When we turned around, Grandma had just gotten to the picket fence (about 25 feet from the front door.) She had the (skeleton) key to the front door and I think we yelled "Come on Grandma!" and she RAN - IN HER CHURCH SHOES - to the front door!! I'll never forget it!!!
 |
| Grandma and I, twenty-five years ago today. |
Dough: 4 cups warm water, 2 Tbsp. sugar, 1 Tbsp. salt, 2 Tbsp. melted butter 1 pkg. yeast, enough flour to make a soft dough (12 cups give or take.)
 |
| If you're a math/science nerd like me, the warm water should be between 110-115 degrees for optimal yeast action. |
Dissolve yeast and sugar in warm water and let proof for 5 minutes. Add yeast mixture to a large bowl, then add the salt and melted butter. Gradually add flour, first whisking, then stirring with a spatula, and finally kneading it in by hand until you have a soft dough. Put dough ball in an oiled bowl, turning to coat the top, cover, and let rise about 1 hour, knead down and let rise again until doubled in size.
 |
| Grandma always said Maggie Becker was the very best at knowing when to stop kneading to have a soft loaf. My mom always told me to check for when it springs back when you poke it with your finger. I figure that less is more with kneading, so once it springs back and "looks right" I form it into a ball and call it good. |
Add the onions and cabbage and adjust the salt and pepper until it's flavorful - it should taste good - not bland! Add the water and flour and steam with the lid on for about 10 minutes.
 |
| Yes, I switched pots. I was making a double batch. It was SO MUCH! |
Divide the dough into 8 balls, leaving the ones you aren't working with in the oiled bowl, covered.
Working with one ball at a time, roll the dough as thin as pie dough and about 12 inches square.
Cut into 4 pieces.
Place a generous 1/3 cup of filling on each square.
Bring corners together and pinch, then seal the seams.
Again bring the corners to the middle, pinch, and press.
 |
| It doesn't have to be pretty... seriously... have you ever even seen the bottom of a bierrock that you were eating? I didn't think so. |
Transfer from baking sheet to cooling rack and enjoy!
 |
| We like to dip ours in mustard or barbecue sauce! |
Yield 32 bierrocks
Ingredients
Dough:
4 cups warm water
2 Tbsp. sugar
1 Tbsp. salt
2 Tbsp. melted butter
1 pkg (or 2 1/4 tsp.) yeast
*Enough flour to make a soft dough (12 cups give or take)
Filling:
3 lbs. hamburger
2 medium onions, chopped
1 head cabbage, chopped
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 cup water
1 Tbsp. flour
Method
Dough
Dissolve yeast and sugar in warm water and let proof for 5 minutes. Add yeast mixture to a large bowl then add the salt and melted butter. Gradually add flour, first whisking, then stirring with a spatula, and finally kneading it in by hand until you have a soft dough. Put dough ball in an oiled bowl, turning to coat the top, cover, and let rise about 1 hour, knead down and let rise again until doubled in size.
Filling
In a large pot, brown hamburger, seasoning with salt and pepper to taste. Add the onions and cabbage and adjust the salt and pepper until it's flavorful. Add the water and flour and steam with the lid on for about 10 minutes.
Assembly
Divide dough into 8 balls, leaving the ones you aren't working with in the oiled bowl, covered. Working with one ball at a time, roll the dough as thin as pie dough and about 12 inches square. Cut into 4 pieces. Place a generous 1/3 cup of filling on each square. Bring corners together and pinch, then seal the seams. Again, bring the corners to the middle, pinch, and press. Place on a baking sheet with sealed edges down. Bake at 375 degrees for 20-25 minutes. (If you are going to freeze them, just bake them for 20 minutes.) Remove from oven and butter the tops. Transfer from baking sheet to cooling rack and enjoy!
*I used a whole wheat flour/whole wheat pastry flour combination. Proportionally, probably twice as much whole wheat flour as the pastry flour. I didn't measure!
Sunday, April 6, 2014
7 Quick Takes: Birthdays, Remodels, and Meltdowns
I've never linked up with anyone before, but I'm in a blogging rut, and 7 Quick Takes sounds really easy! Off we go!
1. Ira's 8th Birthday is tomorrow. We celebrated on Saturday with a party with family. Ira wanted a Nacho Bar for his meal and a "New Super Mario Brothers" Cake. I found some awesome real food recipes to help the nacho bar not be such a gut bomb: carnitas, nacho cheese, pico de gallo. The food was a hit and Ira was thrilled with his cake. It's probably one of the best cakes I've ever decorated. It took about 4 hours to decorate it, but the look on his face when he saw it was TOTALLY worth it!
2. We got new carpet! The carpet that we replaced was original to the house from when it was built in 1984. I don't really want to know what all was living and dead in that carpet, but we are THRILLED to have it gone! It was low on the priority list of "things to redo" when we bought the house though because the old stuff was okay enough. Finally, we are checking off the final boxes of totally flipping this house. Since we bought 5 years ago we have: Replaced: all the flooring, every light fixture, and every faucet; Added ceiling fans to the bedrooms, Remodeled the kitchen, adding an eating bar and a dishwasher; Updated the main bathroom; Replaced the toilet in the half bath; Primed and painted every wall; Finished the basement; Added a perennial flower bed and vegetable garden, and are nearly finished with adding a 3rd bedroom. It's been a lot of work and taken a lot of time, but we wanted to do it on a cash basis, so we are thrilled to be nearly finished!
3. Homeschooling is going so wonderfully for us. I cannot believe how well our first year has gone! We are just weeks away from being finished with all of our curriculum for the year. We are all looking forward to summer and I'm actually excited to start planning next year. We will be basing our curriculum around Mater Amablis' recommendations once again - doing Level 1A, year 2. I have been so pleased with their recommendations and have discovered some real GEMS of books that I'm sure I wouldn't have found otherwise.
4. We switched Ira to Saxon 54 after using ALEKS since the beginning of the school year. ALEKS worked well for us in that we needed to accelerate through some things for Ira to find his learning level (he'd already finished 2nd grade Math in 1st grade at our Catholic School last year). He finished with 3rd grade math in ALEKS in January, and after doing some Olympic-math in February, I assigned him to 4th grade math in ALEKS. Then we started noticed he wasn't retaining some really important topics (like long division and fractions and all that good stuff) To me, it's a twofold problem with ALEKS: first of all, there is no instructional dimension. The child is set straightaway to working on problems, and have to click "Explain" if they don't understand it. Well, that takes maturity first off, but I also felt like the explanations lacked depth. So I supplemented with my own knowledge, which is fine in the younger math grades, but not so once we start getting further. Secondly, the topical nature of ALEKS wasn't working for us. Doing a topic and then being done with it without really any opportunity for review (other than when you log in the next day) just doesn't work for the math basics like multiplication and long division and rounding and fractions and decimals. Or at least it didn't for us. Having learned from Saxon for a number of years myself, and having taught it when I taught 4th grade, I was very familiar with their spiraling concept and felt like it was exactly what we needed. We've been very pleased so far and will just continue with it next year.
5. Ruby had a total meltdown at Ira's birthday party because she offered him a plate when he started going through the nacho bar and he (rudely) told her he didn't need it because he already had one. I took her to our room where we chilled out for probably half an hour. We had a good talk about femininity and emotions. She is such a beautiful girl with a big open heart and I am sure this will not be the last time we have that talk. I am so blessed to have the opportunity to parent both a boy and a girl. So different, both of them, and so wonderful!
6. Ruby and I got to hang out together while Andy and Ira worked at our parish's quilt bingo today. Of course, the first thing she asked to do was paint. It's her fravorite thing to do, so I obliged. She painted a Christmas tree. I painted my favorite bush, a forsythia. It looked really bad until it dried, then I was shocked by how well it turned out. While it was drying we read books and listened to music. Then we played the longest game of Chutes and Ladders like ever. That game can really get on my nerves...
7. I cannot get Jennifer Trapuzanno out of my mind/heart. I don't even know her personally, but on Tuesday morning she posted in our NFP group on Facebook asking for prayers for her husband who had been mugged. He ended up dying, leaving her behind, eight months pregnant with their first child, a daughter. I cannot imagine the loss and heart-wrenching grief she is feeling right now. Please keep her and her daughter in your thoughts and prayers in the days and weeks and months ahead. If you feel moved to donate to their family, you can do so here.
Well that wasn't necessarily quick, but I got a lot of stuff dumped out of my head there. Head on over to Conversion Diary for more Quick Takes!
1. Ira's 8th Birthday is tomorrow. We celebrated on Saturday with a party with family. Ira wanted a Nacho Bar for his meal and a "New Super Mario Brothers" Cake. I found some awesome real food recipes to help the nacho bar not be such a gut bomb: carnitas, nacho cheese, pico de gallo. The food was a hit and Ira was thrilled with his cake. It's probably one of the best cakes I've ever decorated. It took about 4 hours to decorate it, but the look on his face when he saw it was TOTALLY worth it!
2. We got new carpet! The carpet that we replaced was original to the house from when it was built in 1984. I don't really want to know what all was living and dead in that carpet, but we are THRILLED to have it gone! It was low on the priority list of "things to redo" when we bought the house though because the old stuff was okay enough. Finally, we are checking off the final boxes of totally flipping this house. Since we bought 5 years ago we have: Replaced: all the flooring, every light fixture, and every faucet; Added ceiling fans to the bedrooms, Remodeled the kitchen, adding an eating bar and a dishwasher; Updated the main bathroom; Replaced the toilet in the half bath; Primed and painted every wall; Finished the basement; Added a perennial flower bed and vegetable garden, and are nearly finished with adding a 3rd bedroom. It's been a lot of work and taken a lot of time, but we wanted to do it on a cash basis, so we are thrilled to be nearly finished!
 |
| Before |
 |
| After |
4. We switched Ira to Saxon 54 after using ALEKS since the beginning of the school year. ALEKS worked well for us in that we needed to accelerate through some things for Ira to find his learning level (he'd already finished 2nd grade Math in 1st grade at our Catholic School last year). He finished with 3rd grade math in ALEKS in January, and after doing some Olympic-math in February, I assigned him to 4th grade math in ALEKS. Then we started noticed he wasn't retaining some really important topics (like long division and fractions and all that good stuff) To me, it's a twofold problem with ALEKS: first of all, there is no instructional dimension. The child is set straightaway to working on problems, and have to click "Explain" if they don't understand it. Well, that takes maturity first off, but I also felt like the explanations lacked depth. So I supplemented with my own knowledge, which is fine in the younger math grades, but not so once we start getting further. Secondly, the topical nature of ALEKS wasn't working for us. Doing a topic and then being done with it without really any opportunity for review (other than when you log in the next day) just doesn't work for the math basics like multiplication and long division and rounding and fractions and decimals. Or at least it didn't for us. Having learned from Saxon for a number of years myself, and having taught it when I taught 4th grade, I was very familiar with their spiraling concept and felt like it was exactly what we needed. We've been very pleased so far and will just continue with it next year.
5. Ruby had a total meltdown at Ira's birthday party because she offered him a plate when he started going through the nacho bar and he (rudely) told her he didn't need it because he already had one. I took her to our room where we chilled out for probably half an hour. We had a good talk about femininity and emotions. She is such a beautiful girl with a big open heart and I am sure this will not be the last time we have that talk. I am so blessed to have the opportunity to parent both a boy and a girl. So different, both of them, and so wonderful!
6. Ruby and I got to hang out together while Andy and Ira worked at our parish's quilt bingo today. Of course, the first thing she asked to do was paint. It's her fravorite thing to do, so I obliged. She painted a Christmas tree. I painted my favorite bush, a forsythia. It looked really bad until it dried, then I was shocked by how well it turned out. While it was drying we read books and listened to music. Then we played the longest game of Chutes and Ladders like ever. That game can really get on my nerves...
7. I cannot get Jennifer Trapuzanno out of my mind/heart. I don't even know her personally, but on Tuesday morning she posted in our NFP group on Facebook asking for prayers for her husband who had been mugged. He ended up dying, leaving her behind, eight months pregnant with their first child, a daughter. I cannot imagine the loss and heart-wrenching grief she is feeling right now. Please keep her and her daughter in your thoughts and prayers in the days and weeks and months ahead. If you feel moved to donate to their family, you can do so here.
Well that wasn't necessarily quick, but I got a lot of stuff dumped out of my head there. Head on over to Conversion Diary for more Quick Takes!
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