Reading and mashed potatoes

I love to read.  I have always been a reader.  I remember riding my bike to the library as a child and coming home with a pile of books.  Nancy Drew, Cherry Ames, biographies of famous people.  I think I read just about every book in the juvenile fiction section.
I raised 2 children who like to read.  Now I am working on another generation.

This is Hayley and Marley reading together.  Marley is in kindergarten this year and reading at 1st grade level right now.  It seems the "light bulb" went off and she is trying to read everything.

I take Hayley to the library toddler storytime every Tuesday morning. She loves to play with the toys in the children's corner and we always bring home a stack of books.  It can be a challenge to get her to leave though.  The very first time we went I finally had to pick her up and carry her out of the library.....with her yelling "help me!" all the way out!  I was mortified but they have allowed us to come back, thankfully.

In my last post I mentioned making crockpot mashed potatoes for Easter. I didn't include the recipe so here it is.

CROCKPOT MASHED POTATOES

5 lb. Russet or Yukon Gold potatoes 

1 stick of butter, divided in half

3 cups water

Salt and pepper to taste

1 8oz. block of cream cheese, softened

Milk, amount needed for desired consistency

Peel potatoes and cut into 1 inch chunks, then rinse with cold water

Lightly grease inside of crockpot with cooking spray

Place potatoes in crockpot and pour in water

Add salt and pepper to taste.

Slice half of the butter into small slices and dot on top of potatoes

Cook on high for 4 to 5 hours, until fork tender

Drain off all the water

Add cream cheese and rest of butter and mash with potato masher.

Add small amounts of milk until you get desired consistency.

You can keep potatoes warm in crockpot until ready to serve.

This made enough potatoes to feed 14 with some leftover.

You could also add garlic or sour cream....whatever your favorite mashed potato recipe.

It is a rainy day here....a perfect day to curl up with a good book.  I recently finished the Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon and I feel like I need to find another big saga type series to read.  Any suggestions?

'Til next time,

Peace

Easter Recap

I hope you all had a nice weekend.  We celebrated Easter with my husband's family.

My MIL was sick and didn't make it and middle granddaughter, Marley is fighting strep throat.  She had been on antibiotics long enough to not be contagious but she wasn't at her best.  I started coughing on Saturday and felt not so great on Sunday either.

I did manage to put together a nice ham dinner for 14 though.

I debated whether to serve potato salad or mashed potatoes.  The last 2 holidays with mashed potatoes have led to boil overs while cooking the potatoes. Ugh.  What a mess.  Since the granddaughters don't like potato salad, mashed potatoes won.  I had seen some Pinterest pins of crock pot mashed potatoes and decided to give them a try.  Believe me, they are life changing!  Well, maybe not quite that dramatic, but close.  I had them mashed and ready at least an hour ahead of time staying warm in the crockpot.  They were perfect!  It seemed much easier to get the rest of the meal ready with the potatoes out of the way.
The weather cooperated and the rain and snow went north of us.  We had a nice sunny day in the 50's (F).  We had an Easter egg hunt for the girls.  Hubby neglected to count the eggs before he put them out so we may find an Easter surprise in a few months.

This is my favorite picture from the weekend:

Hayley (2 1/2) and Bapa having a stroller race

He is such a good grandpa to the girls.  He will do just about anything for them...pushing strollers, tea parties, even letting them polish his nails.  I enjoy watching him because he wasn't like that with our kids.

Great niece Taryn (5), Amber (10), Marley (5), and Hayley (2 1/2)

Marley looks a little sick and Amber was in a funk all day.  At 10 1/2 she is getting quite moody.  I am not looking forward to those teen years.  Right now she is in that awkward age....acting like a kid one minute and all grown up the next.
They have fun together and it is amazing how much noise 4 little girls can make.

At the end of the day, when everyone left.....ahhh, peace and quiet.

'Til next time,
Peace