Brunch

Last Sunday we had our dear friends Dan and Cat over for lunch. I had so much fun planning the menu!! I haven't made brunch in forever. We had:

1. Orange juice
2. Bacon Roll-ups
3. Zesty Compote
4. Very Moist Banana Nut Bread
5. The Ultimate Quiche
6. Spinach, Pear and Walnut Salad

The Bacon Roll-Ups and Zesty Compote were in one of our Colorado B&B cookbooks. So yummy! The banana bread recipe was from Recipezaar. It was very moist and tasty. Ralph had been craving banana bread and was quite excited to have it. The quiche was from my Causing a Stir cookbook. The salad was just what it sounds like with an olive oil and balsamic vinegar dressing. I had so much fun planning the menu and putting it all together! It was neat putting my mind to creating a different kind of meal than usual. Dinner menus have gotten a little routine. I think it would be fun to start entertaining at different times of day so that I can work on other types of menus (e.g. lunch, tea, dessert, etc). What is your favorite way/meal to entertain?


These are some pics of Nugget from this weekend. We were supposed to go meet our new nephew, Auggie, but the flu had struck their household. Since we were all dressed with a packed diaper bag in the car, Nugget's MN grandparents suggested we take her to see her OH grandparents. Looks like the visit was enjoyed by all!

Precious

Check out our Flickr photostream on a regular basis for new pics. I upload to there whenever I download the cameras. Enjoy!

Yummy Meal

I tried a new recipe the other day. It was, of course, a Rachael Ray recipe. We loved it! Creamed corn is not a favorite of either of us but this corn is fantastic! I want to share it with you. I hope you guys enjoy this as much as we did!

Cumin and Lime Roasted Pork Tenderloin with Spicy Creamed Corn
from Rachael Ray: 365: No Repeats pg.150

2 1/4 pounds pork tenderloin
Juice of 2 limes
4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons ground cumin
1 tablespoon ground coriander
Salt and freshly ground pepper
6 garlic cloves (4 cloves cracked and 2 cloves chopped)
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 large yellow onion, chopped
2 jalapeno peppers, seeded and chopped
1 small red bell pepper, cored, seeded, and finely chopped
2 10-ounce boxes frozen corn kernels, or kernels cut from 5 ears of fresh corn
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups chicken stock or broth
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves, chopped
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro leaves




Preheat the oven to 500 degrees.

Trim the silver skin or connective tissue off the tenderloins with a very sharp, thin knife.

Place the tenderloins on a rimmed nonstick cookie sheet and coat them with the lime juice, rubbing the juice into the meat. Drizzle EVOO over the tenderloins, just enough to coat, about 2 tablespoons. Season the meat with the cumin, coriander, salt, and pepper. Cut small slits into the meat and disperse chunks of the cracked garlic cloves into the slits. Roast for 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and let rest for a few minutes, tented loosely with foil.

While the pork is cooking, preheat a skillet over medium-high heat with 2 tablespoons of the EVOO (twice around the pan) and the butter. Add the onions, jalapenos, bell peppers, chopped garlic, corn kernels, salt and pepper. Cook for 4 to 5 minutes, or until the onions are tender. Sprinkle with the flour, and continue to cook for 1 minute. Whisk in the chicken stock and heavy cream. Bring the corn up to a simmer and then lower the heat to medium low and cook until it is thick and creamy, about 5 minutes. Finish the spicy creamed corn with the parsley and cilantro. Taste and adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper.

Slice the rested roasted pork and serve alongside the spicy creamed corn.

4 servings

Our Beautiful Girl

I must admit I think our daughter is beautiful! I love every little thing about her! I love her hands.
I love how she crooks her neck when she sleeps.
I love her smiles.
We have entered that fun phase where she recognizes us when we come into her field of vision and gives us a HUGE smile. She loves to laugh. She is attempting to "talk." Noises no longer mean she needs us, she is starting to express herself. It is so much fun!

Missions Statement

We finally have a family mission statement! Ralph and I sat down tonight and reflected on 2008 and our vision for 2009. Simple Mom has a great list of questions for both (here and here). One of the Vision Questions for 2009 was "Have you ever created a family mission statement with your spouse? If so, why not do one for this year?" We decided to do just that. This is the result:

The Helms are an eclectic and creative trio of God-fearing misfits who love to laugh and seek out adventure wherever it may be. We strive daily to serve the Lord and know Him better and desire to create an environment in our home that is comfortable and welcoming to all. We value honesty, respect and transparency and seek to love others as the Lord loves us. We are passionate about growing in knowledge through our love of books, joy of traveling and exploration of new technology. We seek to cultivate deep and meaningful relationships with the people God has placed in our path.

What do you think? We are pretty happy with it. Does your family have a mission statement? If so, would you share it with us? It was such a fun exercise for us! We really enjoyed stopping and thinking about who we are and what makes us as a family tick. What fun discussions have been happening in your home lately?

Fun Etsy Shop

I just found the cutest Etsy shop thanks to a giveaway on The Crafty Crow , Starbugaloo Designs. Too cute--go check it out! She also just introduced me to this new book store, Uborne Books at Home. You know how we love our books!

Family time

Saturday Ralph and I decided to have some laid back family time. It was so nice! We received a puzzle from Ralph's bro and SIL for Christmas. We decided to work on that puzzle while listening to the book The Shack. It was such a relaxing afternoon! So fun! We got about halfway through the book and are really enjoying it. It's tough to read/hear as it's about a child being hurt--we're not handling hearing about hurting kids very well right now. We plan on repeating this afternoon sometime soon. How is your family spending time together this winter?

Christmas

We had a very unique Christmas this year. Nugget was not the only reason. It started out mostly normal. We celebrated with Ralph's family at his brother's home before we left for MN. Nugget got to meet her great grandmother on Ralph's side. So precious! I grew up with two sets of great grandparents that were such a blessing to me. I am so glad that Nugget has them as well. I am looking forward to her getting to meet the ones on my side. Tom, Ralph's brother, gave Ralph and I a crash course in coffee roasting. Yumm! The smell was heavenly and such good coffee! It was a precious time culminating with Uncle Ralph and Mo playing Rock Band. :) We almost had Tom joining them but couldn't quite figure out how to add the vocal part. Oh, well.
We headed up to MN the day after Christmas. Nugget got her first plane ride. She did so well! She slept the whole time. When we got to Mom and Dad's we found out Mom was down with the flu, Dad had just got over it and Chad and Nikki's family was just recovering. Bobby and Tiffany's family had not succumbed and we all started wondering about our planned trek to Todd and Kim's. Then Ralph came down with it and I developed a cold. The family finally made the call we couldn't risk the new twins getting sick so we stayed at Mom and Dad's. We celebrated Christmas without the Erickson clan. It was the first year we've never been able to celebrate as a whole family. It was sad but necessary. It was a blessing to be able to see those we did and we kept in close touch via phone with those we could not.