Did You Know?

The Mayor’s Christmas Tree, located in downtown Kansas City’s Crown Center, is shipped to KC as a trunk that’s been completely separated from its branches?  Shocking, right?!

Let’s back up a little…I’ve lived in KC on and off since January 2006 and didn’t pay much attention to the Mayor’s Christmas Tree the previous 5 Christmases. I started a new job with Children’s Mercy Hospitals & Clinics in February of this year…the hospital has grown so much that a good majority of non-patient care associates (including me) work in the office buildings surrounding Crown Center which is just across the street from the downtown hospital.

For you non-KC folks, here’s the low-down on Crown Center from www.crowncenter.com. “Located in the heart of downtown Kansas City, Crown Center is often called a city within a city. Three levels of great shopping and dining complement two of the city’s most luxurious hotels, exquisite office buildings, a residential community and several entertainment attractions. It all surrounds the worldwide headquarters of Hallmark Cards, Inc.”

Sometime in November, just beyond the windows of our floor, the Mayor’s Christmas Tree started taking shape…literally. First the trunk, which is nearly 100 feet tall, was anchored to the plaza floor. Next, a couple of guys with cherry pickers would take individual branches and somehow affix them to the trunk. A few weeks later, the tree was finally finished.

I have so many things to say about this process...

1. Do other major metro areas (NYC’s Rockefeller Christmas Tree, DC’s White House Christmas Tree) put their trees together in this same fashion? Maybe I’m totally ignorant regarding the ways of Christmas tree delivery but I thought a tree was cut down, carted across the country and set-up…branches virtually unscathed. Unfortunately, my hypothesis is likely wrong…
2. Wouldn’t children be somewhat horrified to see a major symbol of the holiday season hacked down, taken apart and put back together like Frankenstein? Good thing kids are resilient… 
3. The guys who put the tree back together…is that their “normal” job?! Or…are they power company employees who go rouge for a few weeks in November?! 
4. HOW THE HECK do they do it?! Our local news reporters report on all sorts of investigative topics…please, please, please report on this next year because the process is very intriguing (in my humble opinion).

I had a few pictures of the process but they didn’t turn out so you’ll just have to believe me on this one. The tree, as it stands in its completed state, looks nice…a little barren on the branch-front but nice. I’m sorry if I’ve crushed the perfect picture of a metro-area Christmas tree delivery and set-up in your mind; I’ll try not to give away and more dirty little secrets until after the first of the year.

Unexpected Hiccup in a Regular Routine

The past few months, I’ve been getting out of bed in the middle of the night to use the bathroom…I think it’s a small sign that I’m getting older or maybe I just need to drink less water in the hours before bed.  Either way, I wake up…do my business…crawl back into bed and fall back asleep.

Last night was no exception.  I felt like I had been sleeping forever and figured it must be close to alarm time.  I checked my phone and discovered that it was only 3:30am…YES...2 ½ more hours of sleeping bliss!  I jumped up to do my business, made sure I didn’t step on the dogs on the way and entered the bathroom.  From there, it’s a regular routine…pants down, sit down, go.  Except this morning wasn’t regular…there was a major hiccup between the pants down and sit down.  

The new few seconds transpired as follows…pants down, sit down…wait…oh no…I’m sitting much deeper than usual (2 or so inches is “much” deeper when 1/1,000 sits is a longer journey).  PHEW…I didn’t miss the toilet completely but the seat seems very narrow.  Oh s*!t…JPug, you forgot to put the toilet seat down (I thought to myself).  By this time, my body had already moved on to the 3^rd step and I couldn’t stop it…go, go, go.  There I was, trying to finish my business, hoping not to fall in and slightly annoyed with JPug.

I’ll admit…this sort of slip is rare for JPug which in my mind almost makes the situation worse.  If I knew he was a serial seat leaver-upper, I’d check for it before doing my middle of the night business.  You may be thinking why I didn’t notice the seat was up in the first place and my answer is because I don’t turn on the bathroom light in the middle of the night…does anyone?  This sort of thing is a once every couple of months occurrence so it’s like a sneak attack that comes out of nowhere.

In the grand scheme of things, this event is totally inconsequential but I just had to share.  Ladies, if this has happened to you, you’re not alone!  And guys, please don’t forget to put that seat down in the future!

Quick & Delish: Mushroom Soup

A few years ago, I made a conscious decision to begin cooking meals from scratch, using fresh ingredients whenever possible. Besides tomatoes for sauces (when I’ve run out of our fresh/frozen pureed garden tomatoes) and beans for chili, I can honestly say that I don’t remember the last time I bought a canned vegetable. Two years ago, I was on the hunt to find a made-from-scratch green bean casserole recipe for Thanksgiving and this one from Food Network’s Alton Brown doesn’t disappoint. The homemade mushroom soup baked with blanched, fresh green beans and topped with French’s onions (yes canned…but I can never get the fresh ones just right) is a total hit.

This little back story brings me to today’s recipe. With Thanksgiving over, omit the green beans and French’s onions and enjoy a delicious pot of mushroom soup as winter rages on.

Ingredients

• 4T unsalted butter
• 16 - 24oz. mushrooms, trimmed and cut into ½ inch pieces (depending on how mushroom-y you like your soup)
• Suggest chopping about 1/3 and leaving the remaining 2/3 as slices
• 1t freshly ground black pepper
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• ½t freshly ground nutmeg
• Who has freshly ground nutmeg in their kitchen? Just use the stuff from your spice rack.
• ¼c all-purpose flour
• 2c chicken broth
• 2c half & half

Directions

1. Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat.
2. Add the mushrooms, 1t salt & pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, until the mushrooms begin to give up some of their liquid, approximately 4 to 5 minutes. Don’t be afraid to let the mushrooms cook a little longer if you feel they need to.
3. Add the garlic and nutmeg and continue to cook for another 1 to 2 minutes.
4. Sprinkle four over the mixture and stir to combine…cook for 1 minute.
5. Add the broth and simmer for 1 minute.
6. Decrease the heat to medium-low and add the half & half.
7. Cook until the mixture thickens, stirring occasionally, approximately 6 to 8 minutes. My soup never seems to thicken in 6 to 8 minutes. If you’ve stirred for a while beyond the recipe directions with no thickening in sight, make a roux of chicken stock and corn starch (2 - 3 parts stock to 1 part starch in a small dish) and add a little at a time until the soup thickens to desired consistency.
• A couple notes regarding the use of corn starch...
• It usually thickens better if your soup is simmering. Be careful if you raise the heat with this recipe as the half and half could scorch…just keep stirring constantly.
• Make sure you add the starch in as a roux…if you just dump it in, your soup will be lumpy.
• Corn starch can over-thicken in the blink of an eye. Like I said earlier, add a little at a time and mix thoroughly before adding more. It’s better for your soup to be on the thin side rather than over-thickened.
• If you do over-thicken, add some chicken broth to the mixture until the soup reaches desired consistency.
8. I didn’t say this recipe was healthy but it’s definitely delicious…serve with crusty bread and enjoy!