Greyhounds in the snow

It's been bitter cold here lately, lots of wind and quite a bit of snow...but greyhounds were born to run and they do get cabin fever when they're cooped up inside too long. Here are a few shots of Fletch and our newest grey, Nellie Bly, getting their exercise. I know, the action shots are blurry...but they are retired racers, after all. Nellie loves to run in any weather...and Fletch loves to chase Nellie...













but after 5 or 10 minutes, it's time for a long nap. Can you say couch potato?

Turkey croquettes

In my last post, I mentioned these little gems of deliciousness that have been a New Year's dinner tradition in the Risley family since before I was born...but since my mom died, it’s much more than a traditional holiday meal to me. Every time I make croquettes, I can feel Mom’s presence. I hear her voice as I grind, mix, form, and fry each one. I feel her watching (and gently correcting) my technique just as she did when she taught me to make these long ago. Making croquettes is the definition of comfort food, an act of love that continues to connect me to my mom, dad, and brothers even though they’re all gone. It’s an act of love that I can pass on to my own kids in hopes that they will have as many fond family memories as I do. In order to become keepers of the croquette flame, they’ll need both the history and the process…because that’s what traditions are all about. This post is for our family, both near and far...for my kids here at home, our family in Florida, and all over the US, be they Schoelles or Risley...and especially for my two great-nephews, Owen and Ethan. This is your great-grandmother Risley's recipe, boys..ask your Mom and Dad to make these for you!

My mom always said that she started making croquettes out of necessity when my brothers were little; one year after Christmas, my folks had very little money and lots of turkey leftovers. Mom was bemoaning the fact that she couldn't afford to make a fancy New Year's dinner to an elderly neighbor lady. The neighbor gave her this recipe which efficiently combines leftover turkey, stuffing, and gravy into a whole new meal...and a tradition was established. We never let Mom off the hook after that…every Christmas, we had to have a really big turkey so that there were a lot of leftovers for croquettes for New Year’s dinner. The tradition continues in our house today…when Kate heard we were having prime rib for Christmas dinner, her first question was (in a panicky, shrill voice)"But what about turkey croquettes?" I can hear my mother laughing….


Turkey Croquettes
Umm, sorry, Mom didn’t measure…ever…good luck with amounts!

Dark and white turkey, trimmed of fat and gristle
Leftover stuffing
Turkey gravy (reserve some for dinner)
Plain bread crumbs
Canola oil (Mom used Crisco but I like my arteries the way they are)

Use a meat grinder to grind the trimmed meat and stuffing together. Mix well, then pour warm gravy over the ground stuff and mix again. The mixture should be moist but no soupy, just enough so that it will stick together when formed into a small oval that looks like a small football. (Mom always cautioned me to seal up any cracks in the croquettes so they wouldn’t disintegrate in the hot oil.) Once you have a sealed little football, roll it gently in bread crumbs and place it on a wax paper covered cookie sheet. Repeat the process….over and over. Lots of leftovers mean lots of croquettes…and they freeze well for future meals. Once you’ve formed the croquettes, put them in the fridge to chill for a while (at least an hour). Fill a frying pan with enough oil to cover the croquettes (or you can use a deep fryer if you have one). The oil has to be really hot in order to get the croquettes crispy on the outside but still creamy and moist on the inside. Drop the chilled croquettes into the hot oil, frying them in batches until golden brown. Remove fried croquettes and place them on paper towels to drain off excess oil. Croquettes can be kept warm in the oven while you clean up the mess from frying and make the rest of dinner. They can also be cooked in advance and then reheated at dinnertime, 250 degree oven for about 20 minutes, longer if they’re frozen.

Serve with gravy, mashed potatoes, leftover cranberry-orange relish and a veggie (or ask us for Craig’s fabulous recipe for Hoppin’ John, our newest New Year’s dinner tradition.) Enjoy…take a bow…thanks, Mom.

New year, new decade!

The end of 2009 and the first week of 2010 have been hectic (but that's pretty normal around here). Let me recap the highlights.

Just as 2009 was winding down, we were surprised with the delivery of a lovely flower arrangement which fancied up our table for New Year's...thanks, Dale and Laura! We miss you guys.


We celebrated Craig's birthday on Dec. 30. The kids and I spent the day wrapping Dad's gifts, decorating the dining room with streamers, and baking a red velvet cake. I ordered a sushi platter for Mom and Dad and Chinese takeout for the kids who are sushi-challenged. After dinner, Dad blew out the candles on his cake and opened his presents. After a full year of birthdays celebrated, Aniyar and Madiyar can now sing "Happy Birthday" in English...and also the Risley family birthday song that goes like this:

Blow out the candles on your cake and make a wish
We'll have everybody's favorite dish...Fish!
Happy birthday, happy happy birthday!
It's your party but we'll have all the fun, HEY!!!




The children and I spent New Year's Eve day at Coco Key, an indoor waterpark. It was a blast and a nice break from the winter weather here (inside the park, it's summer at 82 degrees...outside 25 degrees and lots of snow) After about 4 hours of waterslide, tubing, and playing water basketball, the kids were worn out.

Our 5 were content to eat an early dinner (steakburgers and homemade turkey soup)and then watch movies while Mom and Dad had a nice grown-up dinner (this means we ate entirely too many vegetables for our kids' tastes) with our friends, Rick and Deb.

We told the kids they could stay up to greet the New Year and 4 of the 5 of them made it to midnight...Aniyar tried his best but finally passed out cold and was deposited into his bed around 10pm.

At about 11:30, the 4 crazy grown-ups put on our swimsuits and climbed into our backyard spa pool in spite of the temperature hovering around 20 degrees. (Sitting in the spa in the winter is actually delightful...it's the getting in and out that takes your breath away.)


When the ball dropped, the kids came outside, throwing streamers and blowing their party horns. We toasted in the New Year with champagne for those of us over 21 and sparkling juices for the rest of the crowd.



We all slept in on New Year's Day, then basically lounged around in our PJ's most of the day. I made my mother's famous turkey croquettes, our traditional New Year's Day dinner.

Over the weekend, we tried out our new snowshoes as we got about 5 inches of fluffy white stuff on Saturday. It was quite an operation getting all of us outfitted with our equipment, into the van and over to the park where we could practice walking in the deeper snow. We had lots of whining from the kids who were a)cold, b)damp, c)mad that they weren't playing videogames, d)hungry, e)needing to use the bathroom. In spite of all protests and some teenage surliness, Craig and I managed to retain our sense of humor and we all ended up having fun for a couple of hours. Just about all protests evaporated when we headed to Wendy's for lunch after our outdoor adventure.

This week, the kids are back to school and as much as we love the holidays, I think we were all ready to return to our normal routine. Max and Aniyar went back to school on Monday while the older kids didn't start until Tuesday. Stuck at home with just us girls and no brothers to play Wii or GameCube with him, Madiyar declared the last day of vacation "...the most boring day ever!" As for me, I still have to take down all the holiday decorations and pack them away. It's funny, I never find time to be bored....

Tanya is on her school’s basketball team and she played her first game on Tuesday. She made a basket, had fun, and her team won. She’s not bored either…grin.

Shh, don't tell the kids!!

After a week of waaaay too much screen time, very little exercise, too much overstimulation and not enough structure for our precious children, Mom has decided it's time for a little change of scenery. Don't get me wrong, we've had a blast with all the holiday festivities, lots of great food, and a wonderful visit from Craig's brother and sister-in-law. We've even taken in a movie, gone to a museum, and celebrated Dad's birthday yesterday...but now that Uncle Dale and Aunt Laura have gone home and Dad has gone back to work, the natives are bored and whining. New Year's Eve in the US isn't much fun for kids (in Kazakhstan, it's a big deal, much more like Christmas here). We will be staying home, having lots of appetizers and a late dinner with our good friends. For our brood, that plan is tres dull so I've planned a surprise for today that should delight and exhaust them.

Even though the temperatures are in the 20's today and we're expecting snow this evening, we're putting on our swimsuits and grabbing our beach towels. We're headed to Coco Key, an indoor water park where my bored darlings can hurtle down water slides, ride the lazy river in a tube, negotiate the water obstacle course, and get wet with wild abandon. If all goes well, we've play most of the day and return home with children too tired to whine throughout the loong evening...as Craig said, if they fall asleep before midnight, that's fine. Now the question is...who is going to keep Mom awake 'til midnight?

Merry Christmas to all!

Well, the stockings have been raided and all the packages unwrapped...and Santa was good to us again this year. He left a note telling our kids that he was so proud of them for how hard they've worked to become a family and he left them all gifts that they could play with/use together now that they've gotten so good at sharing. There's a race car track and a magic set, along with some practical items which everyone will enjoy. Then there are the usual gifts of clothes, books, toys, etc. as well as a special dreamed of item for each kid (Madiyar wanted ice skates, Kate wanted a leather jacket, Aniyar and Max got Halo Wars megablock sets, and Tanya got her very own clock radio.) Mom and Dad gave the whole family snowshoes which we'll use in New Hampshire next month, part of our resolution to establish a family winter fitness routine. Dad got a new expresso machine and Mom got a new Kitchen Aid mixer, practical gifts again that reflect where our priorities are...a couple of good lattes and cooking with the kids are among our greatest pleasures.

However, our greatest gift this year arrived yesterday in the person of Craig's brother and sister-in-law. It has been such a delight for us to have family here to share our holiday, something that happens very rarely. Laura was a huge help with gift wrapping, both for our kids and for us and Dale kept the kids very entertained...not to mention that they're feeding us as well. Dale roasted a smoked brisket last night that made all of us barbecue lovers swoon but Christmas dinner promises to exceed even that. Chef Dale has been cooking all day...prime rib, rosemary bread, a mile-high apple pie, Yukon gold potatoes, and roasted asparagus are just an hour away...and I'm blogging instead of cooking. This is the life!! I wonder if Dale and Laura would be willing to adopt me...

This is Aniyar's and Madiyar's first Christmas in America and I'd say it's been a hit with them. As for me, I must be the luckiest woman on the planet...blessed with a wonderful husband and fortunate enough to have great friends and family. Best of all, our 5 kids are healthy, happy and home at last.



P.S. Christmas dinner was as delicious as it looks...and the leftovers were pretty darn awesome, too. My favorite was the incredible beef vegetable soup Dale made with the rest of the prime rib ...and he baked fresh bread to go with it. I didn't cook hardly a thing all week...Dale and Laura, you guys can come visit anytime!

Christmas eve eve

Tonight we began our holiday celebrations in earnest, starting with cooking major traditional favorites...at least for our family. We stuffed and roasted a turkey, baked pumpkin pies, and made a big pot of borscht. (I have 4 kids from Kazakhstan so borscht is pretty much a given as we blend cultures and traditions.) It was also the last day of school for Aniyar and Max, our youngest kids, so we sent homemade cinnamon rolls out the door as teacher gifts. I love being able to cook and bake at the holidays...it fills our home with good smells and a warm feeling all day long.

Tomorrow, we will welcome Craig's brother and sister-in-law who are flying in for the holidays. Since Craig's brother Dale is a food scientist and a great cook, we're looking forward to some stellar food. Dale sent ahead some wonderful treats...barbecued ribs and brisket, prime rib for Christmas dinner, yummy appetizers and my favorite veggie..asparagus. The best part is that I don't have to get up at 5:00am to stuff a turkey on Christmas morning. Have I mentioned that I love this plan?



Why the heck did I roast a turkey, you ask? Well, traditions are funny things and in my family, we have turkey croquettes for New Year's day dinner...but that means you have to have a turkey and all its trimmings. Kate wasn't willing to give up the croquettes...so we now have the key ingredients for New Year's dinner while also anticipating prime rib for Christmas Day. Life is good.

Kate says we should join the circus...or the zoo

OK, we're not your average family most days...but lately, we've been even wackier than usual. Take tonight, for example. No, I'm not talking about holiday stress. I'm just talking about life in the looney bin...like this evening when somewhere between Tanya's basketball practice and a late dinner, our psycho dog, Nellie, ate 3 Christmas ornaments right under our noses. After that, we celebrated our dog Fletch’s 5th birthday with a peanut butter and bread cake for the dogs to share only to have Nellie get the peanut butter and bread stuck to the roof of her mouth so that we almost needed the jaws of life to unglue her. Then Craig and I suddenly heard Kate screaming as if being murdered. Don't worry, she's fine...but her glasses aren't. They fell victim to a rather violent pillow fight and are irreparably shattered...the other party to this pillow fight, Madiyar, retreated to his room and hid under his comforter after we delivered our standard lecture. (You know the one, "It's all fun and games until someone gets poked in the eye!") A chastened Kate slunk away to the shower and Craig and I settled down for all of 10 seconds before we heard Max yelling that he had gotten a Lego stuck in his ear...Huh? Yes, a Lego...he claimed he rolled over on it in bed and now it was lodged in his ear canal. Now you have to understand that I defer all things remotely medical to Craig since his father and ex-wife were both doctors...therefore, I called in my quasi-medical expert for the Lego removal. I was pressed into service as hand holder while the tweezer extraction took place and I was amazed when Craig withdrew a 2 inch long Lego from Max's ear canal. A brief but heartfelt lecture about punctured eardrums, hearing loss, and sign language followed...then Aniyar helpfully ratted his brother out, debunking the accidental nature of the episode and explaining that Max was digging wax out of his ear with said Lego light saber and Mom felt compelled to further comment on the real dangers of hearing loss. In the middle of all of this, Tanya wanted to know if she could go the movies with her friend Tyler...a boy. Gulp...hyperventilating...breathe, Mom...OK, Tyler's mom will chaperone so it's a go for Saturday. We'll squeeze it into the schedule right after Max and Aniyar's appointment with the doctor tomorrow...and Kate's appointment to get new glasses.

Now it's almost 11:00 and all the kids are finally settled in bed...for a while, anyway, it's quiet. I think I'll go sit by the Christmas tree for a while, maybe listen to a Christmas CD and wrap a gift or two. Tomorrow will be here before I know it...and it'll probably be even loonier than today…and did I mention the snowstorm that’s headed our way?