Sunday, December 2, 2012

Nana's Cinnamon Bun Recipe



Esther Schantz’s Cinnamon Buns
This recipe makes 10 loaf pans of cinnamon buns, enough to share the love!
Heat:     3 cups milk
                1 cup crisco
                1/8 cup butter
Add:      1 cup mashed potatoes (just the potatoes, don’t add butter or milk)
                1 ¼ cup potato water
                                -- It’s best to mix together while warm so it doesn’t get lumpy 
Dissolve:  2 packages dry yeast in ½ cup warm water
                   Add 1 tbs sugar and 1tsp salt
** Use oven for proofing.  Take racks out of oven and turn on the lowest setting.  Put racks back in when mixture is ready to rise. Turn off oven.   

1.       Pour milk mixture in large boiler
Add: potato mixture, 3 heaping cups sugar, 3 large eggs (well beaten)
2.       When lukewarm add yeast mixture.
3.       Start dumping a 5 lb bag of flour into boiler
Don’t add all of it, just enough to make a thin batter. (As Nana called it, “sloopy.”)
4.       Put cover on boiler and set into over to rise until double in volume
5.       Add the rest of the 5 lb bag of flour and knead well, approx. 20 minutes
6.       Put back into boiler with the cover on and let rise again until double in volume
7.       Loosen all around boiler and using just a bit of flour for dusting, dump on table and divide into 4 equal parts.  Knead each part a big more.
8.       Roll out 1 part at a time, spread with butter and brown sugar, and sprinkle with cinnamon.
9.       Roll and cut each roll into 15 pieces.
10.   Put brown sugar and butter into the bottom of each pan (10 pans).                                                         Use ¼ lb of butter to each 3 1/3 pans and some nuts.
11.   Put 6 pieces of dough per pan
12.   Let rise again until almost double
13.   Bake at 350 for 25 minutes.
14.   As soon as they come out of the oven slide a knife around the edges of pan and turn out onto foil or wax paper.

My brother and I kneading the dough.


17 and 18 weeks: Traditions

I have been so neglectful and I'm sorry, life has been pretty busy around here for the last two weeks!  :)  Since the last time I blogged, we ventured down to VA to celebrate Thanksgiving, what a blast.  Millie did really good in the car (slept the whole way down and most of the way back) and actually did pretty good while we were there, considering her routine was all thrown off.  Aunt Bethy (my co-worker from VA) enjoyed the time to play and spoil baby Millie!  (Of course, who doesn't!) 

I'm just amazed at how much she is growing.  Officially 4 months old now, she just amazes me.  She interacts so much with you when you talk to her, always smiling and cooing (or yelling in Millie's case).  She plays with her toys, looks at things on the tv, enjoys all the Christmas lights, and can even reach the floor in her bouncy chair now.  It's amazing how quickly this time has gone by and just how much I love her more and more each day.  I took some 4 month pictures of her and some Christmas ones that I will attach to this blog.  She is such a cutie for the camera!  As my cousin Maria would call her, a gem!  (My cousin, who by the way, has moved to CA to be an executive chef!!!  Whoot Whoot! Go Ria!)

Millie and I made a trip up to see Grammy Schantz this week and we discussed the topic of baking.  With Christmas coming up of course we covered cookies, which Millie and my nephew Callen are going to bake with Grammy later this month!  While we were talking my Grammy dug out an old cook book that she got as a wedding gift, published in 1950, talk about a treasure.  She showed me some of the recipes in there that she uses and was telling me how she changes them to make them her own.  We also spent about an hour reading through my Great-Grandmother's (Esther Schantz) recipe for Sticky/Cinnamon Buns.  Nana made them this time of the year every year and wasn't the type to follow a written recipe.  She had done it for so long that she just knew you put about this much of this in and this much of that, etc.  Well that doesn't work when you go to pass the tradition on to the next generation.  So somewhere along the line my Grandmother (Mildred) sat down with Nana (Esther) and scribed out the recipe so that the next generation could take on making the buns.  Well my grammy said that she has had the pans to do them for many years and has never used them... so I guess we are going to skip on to the next generation.  I know my Step-Mom (Ann) spent time with my great-grandmother (Esther) trying to learn the tricks of the bun trade.  I never tested the fruits of her labors but she said they just didn't compare to Nana's.  Needless to say, she doesn't make buns every Christmas.  On to the next generation, ME!  Well I'm not sure if my buns compare to Nana's but they are pretty darn yummy!  :)  I spent a good portion of the day yesterday decoding the recipe, mixing, kneading, rolling, sprinkling, cutting, and letting it rise.  It really is an all day affair!  I'm glad I did it and I'm sure I will try it again, if not before, then definitely next year at Christmas.  I might make it a new tradition, the day we go get our tree, I make sticky buns in the afternoon.  :)  (I will put up her recipe in a post once I type it up.)

Yes, we also got our tree yesterday.  We went to a local tree farm to pick it out!  It was a U-pick, We-cut kind of place.  So we walked around the whole farm looking for the perfect tree for our new house!  We have vaulted ceilings in our living room so we were going big, and big we did!  10 FEET!!!  :)  We are still in the process of decorating it and if I wasn't writing right now that is probably what I would be doing.  I will make sure to get some pictures on here once it is all decorated, but I did attached some from the farm and when we first got it in the house!  :)

Well I guess I better run, my kitchen and the rest of my house is a mess and in need of some TLC!  :)  I hope that you are getting in the Christmas spirit, we sure are!
My Santa Baby!

Giggles

Walking around the tree farm!

Loading it on the car!

Mulberry Hill Christmas Tree Farm

In the house

A Millie size tree!

Saturday, November 17, 2012

16 Weeks: And We're Off...

Ok, I don't think there has been a time that I have been ahead of schedule when blogging.  I guess that's what motherhood is all about: being too busy to worry about the little things. 

Well Millie and I are off tomorrow... hitting the road for our week in Virginia!  Home Sweet Home.  Or maybe just Home Away from Home now...  :/  Millie and I are going to spend the whole week there and Daddy is going to be joining us on Thursday to celebrate Thanksgiving together!  I'm super excited to spend some quality time with Beth!  I'm also anxious to see and visit with other friends from College, Grade School, and work.  :)  Going back to VA is always bittersweet for me: being close to family is wonderful, but I miss the life I had in VA.  I hope Millie grows to love her trips to Virginia to visit her "extended family." 

We are planning to do family pictures while we are down there, so everyone say a prayer on Friday that Millie is agreeable and we have nice weather!  I can't wait to start my Christmas decorating when we come back from VA!  Hopefully Daddy will want to go chop a tree down soon!  I'm looking forward to celebrating the season with my little girl and starting new traditions as a family!  :) 

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!  I hope to take the time to enjoy those that are around you and to remember all that you have to be thankful for! 

Tuesday, November 13, 2012

15 Weeks: Reminder

Sorry I'm a little late this week, I have no valid excuse other than I have been enjoying my time with baby!

I was interviewed today by a woman that is writing a story about my grandparents: their lives and the business.  It was so much fun to tell her all the stories I have of growing up spending my weekends with them.  As she asked me questions about the stories I was forced to reflect deeply about how they have touched and changed my life.  I think the overarching theme was based on faith and how they supported and encouraged me as I grew to know and understand God's plan for my life.  When we got to the part of my life that involved me being a mother and my grammy being a great-grandmother, I got a little choked up.  I told her the story about when I was little and when Grammy would take me up to my room at their house and sing me to sleep.  I'm pretty sure she made up the melody that she sang but it always soothed me to bed.  It went something like this: "By oh By oh By oh my baby, by oh by oh by oh baby by."  It went on and on repeating itself until I was fast asleep and she would sneak out of the room leaving me to a restful nights sleep.  I thought that was just a little jingle she made up at the time because once I was old enough to go to bed on my own, I never heard her sing it again...until the night before her open heart surgery when I was visiting her with Millie.  She was holding Millie and she started to fuss a little, so Grammy patted her bottom and starting singing the oh so familiar melody that she sang to me as a young girl.  I teared up then, and I teared up again today telling the writer about this.  It is just a simple reminder about how important family really is!  I'm so thankful for all of my grandparents and the relationships I have with them.

Oh a lighter note I have started on the endeavor of making homemade baby food.  I am borrowing a Vitamix from my Gram and am experimenting with what is out there in the world of baby food.  So far I have made bananas, pears, apples, broccoli, sweat potatoes, and squash.  I still have green beans, peas, and zucchini that I want to make this week.  I'm pureeing it and then putting it in ice cube trays to freeze.  Once it is solid I pop them out and put them in gallon sized freezer bags and put them in the deep freezer.  I'm getting a head start since Millie will be 4 months at the end of November.  I hope to keep up with it when she starts eating solids.  :)  Any tips would be greatly appreciated.  She is doing pretty good with the cereal but it's a battle to keep it in her mouth, her face usually ends up looking like this:
I love her so much!  :)

Monday, November 5, 2012

14 Weeks: changes

There was a lot going on in the Schieck household this week.  With the storm leaving most of our family without power, you can guess it, we have had a lot of visitors!  My cousin Maria was here for one night and then my Mom, Step-dad, Brother, and their dog were here for 2 nights.  Hotel Schieck.  :)  It was nice to have everyone around, but it sure made the week go quick and left little time for all my pinterest addictive crafts!  :)  Did I mention that everyone was getting something from the diy section of pinterest for Christmas this year!??!?  :)  Well it's true! 

Millie Milestones:
I gave Millie some cereal for the first time at lunch yesterday and she did pretty good with it.  It was funny to watch her reaction as she experienced the new texture and the new taste.She continues to be a good eater and tries really hard to hold her own bottle.  She is grabbing and batting at things more, which makes it a lot of fun to play with her and watch her interact with her toys.  She is taking her nuk out of her mouth and sucking on her fingers and thumb instead (choking herself everyone now and then.) She loves looking at her puppies and watches them as they move around the room.  I'm so surprised at how much  she follows them.  She is making a lot more noises now, although most of them sound like "ahhhhhhh".  I got a coupon in the mail for a free large printed picture at Sears, so we took her to have some pictures taken.  Of course I was nervous that she would throw up, scream, be sleeping, and just plain not be into it, but she did great and the pictures were adorable.  I will share them once we get them. I'm just amazed at how much she changes everyday, not so much with how she looks but what she is doing and how she is interacting with me.  What an amazing little blessing.

Trying to hold my bottle.

After my cereal.

Watching my puppy.

Just laying around being silly!

Wednesday, October 31, 2012

3 Month Photo Book!


Shutterfly baby photo books are the perfect way to preserve your baby's precious moments.

13 weeks, 3 months, and 1 Hurricane!

Well this post is a little late and it's not because we didn't have electricity, it's solely because we had a lot going on the past few days!  Not only did my baby girl turn 13 weeks on Sunday, she turned 3 weeks on Monday and survived her first hurricane on Monday as well!  Yup that's right... hurricane Sandy ripped through the East Coast on Monday leaving a lot of destruction in her path.  It's crazy as you still see the images flash across the TV at how much so many people have lost. 

We hunkered down here at home around noon on Monday when the winds really started to pick up.  We had periods of heavy rain and some really crazy wind.  I was sure my house was going to be picked up and twirled around and land in Oz and I was going to have to click my heels to get back home.  We were very fortunate to have power during the whole storm so that our house could stay warm for baby girl.  We are the only ones in the family that had power and some still don't.  My cousin Maria who lives/works in Atlantic City had to evacuate so it was nice to spend some quality time with her while she was home.  Millie loves all her crazy faces, songs, and dance moves.  (I'm pretty sure Maria is the most entertaining adult Millie has ever been around.  Even more so than my dancing in the kitchen.) 

Other than weathering the storm, life goes on as usual.  Joe only worked until noon on Monday and didn't work on Tuesday due to the job site not having electricity.  It was nice to have him at home, with no where to go.  I feel like we have been so busy the last few weeks, so it was nice to just lounge around the house and enjoy the time together. 

It is unbelievable that Millie is already 3 months old.  Some days it seems like it was just last night that we were on our way to the hospital, unsure of what the night would hold.  We are so blessed with such a sweet and good baby.  Here are a few shots from our 3 month photo shoot.  Enjoy!
Starting to fill in those PJ's but lots of room to go yet!
Edison is always curious about what is going on!

Happy Girl!

Such a cutie!


Monday, October 22, 2012

12 Weeks: Butterfly

This little girl is the life of the party.  My little social butterfly kept very busy this week.  We spent a lot of time together at home cleaning, dancing, singing, playing the piano, playing with toys, and of course watching Mickey!  Life as a stay at home mom is great for now, but is not something I hope to pursue a career in!  I love being around my little girl all day long and watching her learn new things and grow, but I miss my job and my friends and the community you form with teaching.  I have signed up to take my PA Praxis, after a long application process, on December 18th.  I'm not sure how long scores will take to process and then my teaching license to be processed but I hope to start subbing in January.  Getting out into some of the school districts to see where I would like to apply next year.  That's the plan for now.  :)

Millie had lots of first this week, of course!

First time carving a pumpkin.


First time at the Emmaus Halloween Parade.


First time at Jake's Flea Market. 


 A little side note, earlier this week I was reading through some older blogs so that I could update Millie's baby book. (I always check on here to make sure I didn't miss anything)  And I began reading a post that I made in July and was amazed and how I was feeling about my pregnancy. I was entertained by my words and emotions as my pregnancy was lagging on.  When I was done reading I went back to the top to take a closer look at the date of the post and it was July 28th.  Little did I know that when I was writing that post that I would be going into labor that night and meeting my precious little girl early the next morning.  It's just so wonderful to be able to go back and know how I was feeling that morning.  :)  Here is a link to that day if you want to reread it yourself.  July 28th Post

Monday, October 15, 2012

11 Weeks: Performance

Baby Girl continues to grow and experience more of the world around her each week.  She continues to follow her routine and is still sleeping through the night and actually most of the day this week.  From what I read, when some babies go through a growth spurt, they sleep a lot.  So I'm guessing that is what is going on this week.

I'm really glad that I am the only one around during the day with Millie because it would be really embarrassing for anyone else to see just what I do to entertain her during the day.  I certainly would not classify myself as the "entertainer of the year,"  but to an 11 week old baby my dancing and singing are exceptionally hilarious!  Millie absolutely loves sitting in her highchair listening to Mickey Mouse Clubhouse channel on pandora and watching Mommy dance around the kitchen.  She opens her mouth so wide and has such a big smile and then lifts her arms up in the air with really tight fists.  I can tell she is trying to hard to laugh out loud and it will come any day I'm sure!  :)  She loves Alvin and the Chipmunks, The Wheels on the Bus, Head Shoulders Knees and Toes, and just about anything that I can dance around to.  That station on pandora is like a baby charmer.  While Mom and I were out shopping this week, she was getting a little fussy.  All I had to to was turn it on my phone and put it in her car seat with her and BAM silent baby!

Our Sunday this weekend was pretty busy!  It started with the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention 5K.  Most of you know my Uncle Bruce took his own life last December leaving the family with so many unanswered questions and no closure. I don't think there was a time that I was around my Uncle Bruce that I wasn't laughing so hard that my stomach and cheeks hurt.  The last memories I have of him where during our trip to Florida last Thanksgiving!  We had so much fun and laughed all the time.  Whether it was him pretending to be a NASA employee at the Kennedy Space Center or him, Dad and Joe arguing over which GPS to follow in the car, we were always cracking up!  Uncle Bruce was also one of the first to know that Baby Schieck was on the way.  We shared the news with Dad and Ann while in Florida so Uncle Bruce got to celebrate with us.  :)  I wish Millie could have grown up knowing the fun loving Uncle that I knew.  So we walked this week to honor Uncle Bruce.  We had a great time and an awesome team.

New NASA Employee

Bruce's Babes and Buds

    
Youngest Babe for Bruce!


































 After our walk on Sunday we took Millie to the pumpkin patch with my mom and brother.  She was awake for all of it and was really looking at all the stuff.  She put her feet in the corn kernels, looked at the cow, chickens, turkey and goats, went down the big slide, and then rode the wagon over to the pumpkin patch to pick out a pumpkin.  I'm really surprised at how alert she was.  I would consider the first pumpkin patch trip a success.  We even got some cute pictures.  :)






Monday, October 8, 2012

10 Weeks: Double Digits!


Happy that the Steeler's beat the Eagles!  :)
Well my little girl has officially reached double digits in age and weight!  She turned 10 weeks on Sunday and I can't believe it!  She is becoming more and more alert each day and is interacting more with me.  It makes me fall even more in love with her.  We had our 2 month check up on Monday this week and she is growing like a weed.  She weighed 10 lbs 9 oz and was 22.5 inches long.  That means she gained 2 lbs and grew 2 inches since her 1 month visit!  It's crazy, I knew she was getting bigger but when you put numbers to it, it makes it seem like so much more!  She had to get 2 shots and one vaccine administered orally.  I was dreading it because I was sure she was going to scream her lungs out for minutes on end, but actually the scream wasn't that bad and only lasted for about 3 seconds!  She is such a brave little girl.  :)  I was nervous that she would have a reaction to the vaccines, but she did great.  No fever and not really cranky either.   Such a trooper!  Check out her two month picture and then look at her 1 month, so many changes!  :)

This week was pretty uneventful.  I'm finished painting pumpkins so it was my first real week at home with just Millie and Mommy.  It's amazing the routine that baby girl fell into.  She gets up around 8, has morning bottle, plays a little, sleeps until 12ish, has a bottle, plays a little, sleeps until about 4, has a bottle and is up until about 7 and then sleeps until about 8 or 9 has another bottle, and then goes to bed.  She has been doing a lot of sleeping this week and weekend, not sure if that's a sign of a growth spurt or what?!?!?  We have really made an emotional connection this week, being just the two of us during the day.  She smiles and laughs at me all the time and it really makes you want to "play" with her more.  I feel a little guilty that it has taken me until 10 weeks to feel like a real mom (not that I didn't love and adore her for the past 10 weeks), but this week it really hit me just how much I love her and love being a Mom. I just found out that friends of mine are expecting next spring and it is such exciting news.  They are going to make wonderful parents and I'm so glad that they get to have this experience.  She is going to be an amazing Mom and I'm so happy that she was blessed with this pregnancy.  :) 
Watching the game!


Cousin Callen had his 2nd birthday party this weekend so Millie got to hang out with family and friends there.  I have a feeling she is going to be like a turtle when we go places.  It seems that when there is a lot going on, she just closes her eyes and falls asleep!  We also went up to my Mom's to watch the Steeler's beat the Eagles.  She was all decked out in her Steeler's garb and fit in great with Pop-Z!  :)

With Cousin Callen and Uncle B!

Tuesday, October 2, 2012

9 Weeks: Traveler!

So my baby girl isn't a world traveler yet, however she did make her first trip to Virginia this past weekend and it was so much fun!  She was great in the car, of course we had to stop for a few diaper changes and to eat, but she did great.  We were heading South because a friend of mine was getting married and I was a bridesmaid in the wedding.  I was beyond excited both for the trip and the wedding! 

We stay with my best friend Beth and her family and spent a lot of time there catching up.  Aunt Bethy just loves playing with Millie and Millie was all smiles of course.  Being back in Virginia made me miss it even more!!!  We stopped by Stone Spring so I could visit with all of my old co-workers and show of Millie of course.  Everyone loved her and it was like being back home again.  We were greeted with tons of smiles and hugs, and it was as if I had never left at all.  I miss working with such an amazing group of people and hope that when I find a teaching job up here, I have that kind of community to work in.  I know it will be hard to match SSES. 

Millie also turned two months old on Saturday and it just amazes me at how much and how quickly she is growing.  She is focusing more when you are talking to her and playing with her and is even cooing more each day.  It is like she is actually having a conversation with you.  She still loves to cuddle and nap with Mommy and Daddy (thank goodness).  She continues to sleep through the night, even when we were away.  I took a few 2 month pictures but I haven't had time to edit them yet, so I will be sure to get those up here by next week.  :)  It is amazing to see her 1 month shots and 2 month shots next to each other to see how much she has changed. 



Here are a few pictures from the weekend....

Of course we had to stop for a picture with the Welcome to VA sign!

Checking out CJ's bike!

Can't wait to come see you again!

Hanging with Aunt Bethy.

Josiah and I at the wedding.

Wednesday, September 26, 2012

8 Weeks: Routine

Ok, I am a few days late on posting for week 8 of baby Millie's life, but nonetheless here it goes.

This week we found routine!  It was glorious!  I worked at the family farm painting pumpkins Monday-Thursday so it forced us to get a morning routine in place.  While it worked great, I found that on my day off Millie wanted to be up at the same time as the days I was working, hmmm.... 

She has been starting her bedtime routine around 8:30 which includes bath, bottle, and books.  Let me tell you my little girl loves to take a bath, must get that from her Mommy!  She could be screaming for no apparent reason and plop her in a tub of nice warm water and it is like magic!  :)  The bottle of course is also one of her most enjoyed past times, my little girl loves to eat!  There is no doubt about that!  :)  And books, now of course I read to my baby girl every night it's the teacher in me, but she actually pays attention and looks at the pages! Now no I'm not starting her on any kind of reading program yet, but I am amazed and how alert she is while I read to her.  Back to the routine.... after the 3B's (bath, bottle, and books)  we talk about everything she did for the day and Daddy comes up to say goodnight and he puts her in her crib (still awake).  Then in about 5 or 10 minutes we hear the deep breathing of a sleeping baby over the monitor in our room!  :)  We usually don't hear another peep until about 6:30 or 7 the next morning!  I'm very thankful for such a good baby and I'm enjoying it while it lasts.  :)

Millie spent a lot of time with her Ba and cousin Callen this week and I'm so proud at how they are both adjusting to having a little baby in their routine.  Ba is like the champion babysitter, handling almost 2-year old Callen and almost 2-month old Millie.  :)  Even on her cranky days, I know Millie is well taken care of and I'm so thankful that she is able to spend the time with her family and not in organized child care.  Callen is also growing fond of his cousin Millie.  Each morning he is happy to see her there and in the afternoon, after I have picked her up, he wonders where she went.  He is Ann's helper throughout the day, often carrying Millie's things and even helping to burp her.  I'm sure Millie will learn all about trucks, playing in the sand, and Jake and the Neverland Pirates, as she continues to spend time with her cousin.  It puts a big smile on my face to know that they have this time together, even though Millie is so young, I hope that her and Callen will be close and become good friends as they grow up.  I cherished my time with my cousin Maria when I was growing up, and still do!  :)




Millie also had another first this week!  We went to Bloomsburg to see Aunt Lauren and to go to the Bloomsburg fair!  She was such a trooper and slept through most of the fair.  We had a good time and it was fun to spend the day with family.  When she was awake she was very alert and was looking around at all the rides, games, and animals.  I'm sure she was overly stimulated!!!  :)

Sunday, September 16, 2012

7 Weeks: Mother's Mind

My brain has slowly come around to normal again, meaning I no longer try to put the milk in the pantry and the cereal in the frig!  I no longer put my turning signal on while pulling out the driveway and don't check the mailbox on a Sunday.  I guess this return of common sense is due to the fact that my baby sleeps through the night and I have begun to find a routine for her during the day.  However, my mind now thinks about other things, some might consider more important things, but they have become my new normal.  For example: getting excited about poop, cheering over burps, worrying about too much spit up, stressing about not being in bed by nine, and wincing over fireworks after baby is asleep. I guess this is all part of being a mom and developing a Mother's Mind.

Took some fall pictures this week:





This week was pretty busy, I continued to paint pumpkins and Josiah picked up a few night shifts at the greenhouse to help out.  We didn't see much of each other this week which was contrasted to the last 6 weeks where we were both home everyday!  Great news and answered prayers, Josiah got the job that I blogged about last week and he is starting tomorrow!  He will be working as a project manager for a local builder that happened to go to high school with Josiah's mom! What a blessing, again as I have said before, everything happens for a reason, we just need to have patience and trust that God will show us those reasons. :)

Other great news this week is that Grammy is out of the hospital and in Good Shepard rehab facility.  Last weekend she went into the hospital because her knee was really bothering her.  Keep in mind she has had this knee replaced 2 or 3 times.  In the ER they treated her for a knee infection and she was taken into surgery the next day.  They were able to flush the infection out but she was still in a lot of pain.  She remained the hospital for the rest of the week so they could treat her for the pain and some kidney issues she was having.  She was released yesterday to go the inpatient rehab center.  She still has some pain in her knee but as it continues to heal it should get better. Keep her in your prayers.


We had family over last night for dinner and let me tell you it was exhausting.  Hosting when you have a baby is a lot harder then when you are pregnant! We started the afternoon off with a trip to the local corn maze.  We a had a lot of fun and enjoyed getting lost in the corn.  Millie rode in front the whole time.