Chrismas time is here....

Once again we have passed the Christmas season. We had a unique time this year at the Gourley home on Oregon Ave. On Christmas Eve we picked up Bryn-Erinn's mother, Terri. She is staying with us for the week. Before coming, she had been coaching Bryn-Erinn, over the phone, on the Christmas day feast. After arriving in Minneapolis, she got right into the kitchen and was working on pie crust, seasoning the turkey (Bryn-Erinn didn't want to touch it), and helping in other chores around the house. I was ban from assisting from the kitchen, as Bryn-Erinn wanted this to be all her. So I had my "honey do" list which I worked on in the days before Terri's arrival and during the morning of Christmas.
On Christmas morning we woke up at a leisure time (Bryn-Erinn was the last up) and we talked and read Luke chapter 2. Reading the scriptures on Christmas morning has been a long tradition that I grew up with. After which we opened our modest gifts to each other. This year since money has been so tight we put a twenty dollar limit for each person. Bryn-Erinn recieved a framed picture of me on our wedding day to match the one of her that we have in our bedroom, she also received some thermal underwear to battle the cold. Terri received a 1-hour massage from Bryn-Erinn's friend April (Bryn-Erinn has been trading pilaties with her for massages), and a new deck of cards (we wanted some on a previous visit). I received a subscription to "Popular Photography".
At 9:30 I picked up both sets of our Elders. They were excited for the "day-off", and were dressed in P-day clothes. I brought them to our home and we had fresh cinnamon rolls ready. They all had one or two and then we sent a couple of them off to talk to their family's. At noon, before Elder Denny had a chance to make his call, I took the young men to the Oak Park ice field and we played some boot hockey. We were joined by one of the brothers on my home teaching route, Chris. We played for a couple of hours, and no one got hurt. I was glad for this, as I would have had to call a mother to report that I broke her special young man. We returned to the house, greeted by a fresh batch of cider. We warmed up, played games, talked, napped, and Elder Denny called his family and apparently his girl-friend was present as well (he has only been out for 2 months).
At 3:30 or so we had a fabulous dinner. Bryn-Erinn and Terri had prepared a turkey, yams, mashed potatoes, rolls, stuffing, peas and cranberry sauce. Everyone ate until they were full. Surprisingly enough there was still left overs. We spent the remainder of the day watching church Christmas movies. We had some gifts for the young men, retro (70's) ties and some hand warmers. I called my family to wish them a Merry Christmas, and here about their Christmas adventured. It took the missionaries home just before 9:30. After my return we finished cleaning the house, and went to bed.
On the day after Christmas, we decided to brave the mall for some hopes of an after Christmas deal. We not only chose a mall, but we went to the Mall of America. There were masses of crowds. The deals weren't a good as I had hoped, and I didn't buy anything. However Bryn-Erinn and Terri found Alpaca sweaters for a great price. They also found some other odds and ends, including chocolate and some finds at the Nordstrom Rack. We walked all the floors and saw all the shops that everyone wanted to see. All in all it took us 5-6 hours.
On the day after the day after. The girls woke up early and went to Bryn-Erinn's studio, Core, to do a pilates work out. While they were gone I took the opportunity to hit the ice and do some hockey drills. I broke my stick taking some slap shots so at some point I will need to replace the blade. After wards we all got back together and went to one of Bryn-Erinn and mine favorites, "A taste of India" for a big lunch. We ate great curries and I had some of the best chicken vindaloo that I have ever had. After our feast, I decided that I would like to graduate from the hand-me-down kitchen table that I have been using as a computer desk to a real desk. This took us on another shopping adventure. I first looked at Target. I then took the group to Costco. We then traveled to Office Max, followed by Ikea. After looking at all the options, I decided to go with the one desk that they had at Costco. It took me about two hours to clear off my old desk, to clean the area, and to put together my new desk. I think that it turned out great. Thanks Mom and Dad. And now it is a joy to type on, it is the right height, and I can put my legs under the table. We finished off the night by watching "Hairspray", and going to bed very tired.

Hot Cocoa...

So it is wintertime, and almost Christmas (four more days). We had a great church service today, with talks about our savior Jesus Christ and great musical numbers. Bryn-Erinn performed a great arrangement of "Silent Night". She was a little nervous, but did a great job. She was going to play an arrangement of "What Child is This", but someone else had planned to do the same number so Bryn-Erinn changed at the last minute. We got home and started cooking, as we are going to have a crowd of seven in our house on Christmas day. Our house smells like homemade rolls and mashed potatoes.
Since it is a chilly -10 right now, I decided to make some homemade Hot Cocoa. The idea came to me after I had a discussion about Hot Cocoa vs Hot Chocolate with a fellow church member (one is made from cocoa powder and the other from melted chocolate, Swiss Miss would technically be a Hot Cocoa mix). Before I go further, I consider meself a great lover of Hot Chocolate, although my palate isn't particularly refined. I like it in all its forms from the church cannery mix to Swiss Miss and all the others. Over all it is like pizza to me (I'll eat and enjoy it all). Also, because of the quantity I consume, I have a "special" cup. Only the picture can do it justice (the cups' centers are in the same place). Bryn-Erinn got it for me so I would stop using a bowl. It holds about a 400 cc (almost half a liter) of liquid. I found this great recipe on-line. It is very simple and tasty, and now I'm passing it on to you.

Hot Cocoa

4 cups of milk
1/3 cup of sugar
1/4 cup of cocoa

Heat in a sauce pan until smooth, but do not boil. Stir often, so as not to burn the bottom (I have done this many times). If you want it richer, add cream. You may also add whipped cream to the top. I prefer mine topless.

The Christmas Cake...

In Japan they have a unique tradition of having a cake on Christmas day. This is also something that is done in Europe and it is likely that the missionaries in the 1600's brought the idea of Christmas as they were teaching about Christ in Japan (this was before Japan closed it boarders to all foreigners or gaijin). Now a days, it is strange that they would do this as they are primarily a Buddhist country. However the history is quite interesting and a nice way to get friends together. You can link into a brief history about the Christmas cake here. So now it is the Christmas season. For our ward Christmas party they asked those who had lived abroad to help out and bring a treat and a tradition to the party. So I made two Japanese Christmas cakes. They turned out well so I though that I would post the recipe.

Ingredients:

• For sponge cake:
• 3/4 cup all purpose flour
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 1 tbsp milk
• 3 eggs
• 1 1/2 tbsp butter
• For topping:
• 1 1/2 cups heavy cream
• 4 tbsps sugar
• Various fruits (strawberries, peaches, cherries, and so on)

Preparation:

Whisk eggs in a bowl (for a long time) you want them to at least double in size. The more you whip the fluffier your cake will be. Place the bowl over warm water in another large bowl and whisk further. Add sugar little by little. When the egg mixture becomes light yellow, sift flour and add to the bowl. Mix the flour lightly in the egg mixture. Mix butter in warm milk. Add mixture of melted butter and milk in the batter and stir gently. Preheat the oven in 350-degree. Place baking wax papers inside of a round cake pan (18cm) or use a fat (i.e. butter or crisco) to line the pan. Split the batter between two 9 inch round pans and in the preheated oven for 20-25 min or until a knife can be placed and removed with out any batter sticking. Remove the cake from oven. I let the cake cool in the pan and then remove it to further cool on the rack. Mix heavy cream and sugar in a bowl. Whip the cream well. Take the half of the whipped cream and mix with chopped fruits. Place the cream on top of a round cake slice. Place another cake slice on top of the cream. Spread the rest of the whipped cream on top and around the cake. Decorate the cake with colorful fruits and Christmas decorations. Enjoy.

2008 Year End with more of the details....

To our friends and family:

2008. As with many us this year, a lot has happened in our family. But if we had to use one word to describe the year it would be "change".
At the start of the year, Brett left for a hurricane round of interviews. He visited ten internal medicine programs in 20 days. Most of the programs were in the Northeast United States (e.g. Brown, UMass, U of Albany) and the Midwest (e.g. U of Minnesota, U of Wisconsin). It was an exhaustive schedule with almost one interview each working day for two weeks straight. Brett missed his wife very much during this time, however he did get to visit some areas that he had never seen like Palmyra, New York. After his return from interviews he left, again, to Atlanta, Georgia to visit his brother Paul Ray and to take and pass the clinic skills portion of his licensing exam (USMLE CS). He almost didn't make it to the test, as he took a bump in Denver to get free airline tickets. Through a round of cancellations he was stranded in the middle of "nowhere" Lincoln Nebraska. Out of desperation he drove a rental car, to Omaha, and barely made a flight to Texas to connect with a flight that would finally get him to Atlanta. After his return to Portland, we carefully crafted our ranked match list of programs and submitted it to the mysteriously infamous "Residency Match Computer".
In the meantime Bryn-Erinn kept very busy, almost to the point of not even noticing Brett’s absence. She was engaged fully in her studies at Portland State University (PSU) to finish up her degree in English literature. Like most of us who have been through a University education, she experienced some very frustrating classes, but she also had classes that exposed her to all kinds of literature that she would never have found otherwise. Among her favorites was Native American literature. Her French classes were her least favorite. As if she wasn't busy enough, during the evenings and nights she continued her full teaching schedule at Pacific Northwest Pilates. She single-handedly kept the family finances afloat during this time.
In March, it was time for the "Match". Brett had just finished a rigorous rotation in the Portland VA ICU (little did he know how easy he had it at that time), and was in the throws of Anesthesiology at OHSU. On March 20th there was a table of letters with the names of the fourth year medical students. With in the letter was the assignment by the "Match Computer" of where Brett's residency assignment would be. Bryn-Erinn accompanied him and we found that we were going to the University of Minnesota, a competitive program that we had ranked below Brown University and University of Wisconsin. After this time our focus changed to the move.
Time passed quickly after the "Match". There were many friends who wanted to meet, go out, hike, and we did our best to spend time with all of you. Brett's studies took him to Emergency medicine where he completed his last rotation of medical school. Bryn continued her studies and tried to visit the ocean as often as her schedule would permit with or without Brett.
Brett alone packed the entire house during the month of May. In the middle of May he flew to Washington D.C. for an all-expense-paid trip, after he was selected to present a poster case presentation at the national American College of Physicians meeting, regarding a patient that he performed an autopsy on during his pathology student fellowship year. On his return he stopped in Salt Lake to visit family, and then continued on to the Twin Cities (Minneapolis and St. Paul) to nervously execute a house hunt for our new home. Not long after Brett returned to Portland, our parents also came to visit for a few days of fun (e.g. visiting the ocean, Portland temple, etc...) and for Brett's medical school graduation. At graduation, he received an award for being an educator through his multiple presentations at meetings, redesigning the pathology curriculum for the first year medical students, and teaching medical students though his years at the medical school. It was a fun-filled day, and everyone (especially Bryn-Erinn) was proud of Brett and his accomplishments.
The following day, Brett, with some help of our friends, packed the moving truck and Brett drove across the country to settle in to our new home.
Bryn-Erinn, on the other hand, stayed in Portland for another month, sleeping on a pad, keeping a few clothes in a suitcase and doing her school work on her laptop computer, so she could finish out her last semester at PSU for her B.A. After completed her schooling, she cleaned our apartment, packed up her belongings and drove to Spokane, Washington to visit her mother. After her mother finished the school year they drove to Minnesota to join Brett, who was very nervous about how Bryn-Erinn would like the home he had selected for them, and that she had never seen.
By the time Bryn-Erinn and her mother arrived in Minnesota, Brett was already in orientation for his program, and the following Tuesday he was thrown headfirst into being a doctor at Regions hospital on the medicine ward service. Bryn-Erinn and her mom, on the other hand, plunged headfirst into getting the yard into good shape. They spent hours upon hours pulling dandelions, creeping charlie, planting flowers and putting down bark. They made great improvements on the appearance of the yard. Bryn-Erinn's mom returned to Spokane, and Bryn-Erinn started putting together the inside of the house, looking for Pilates studios to teach at and finishing three on-line courses to complete her degree. To the shock of Brett and those who know her, Bryn-Erinn decided to change her last name to Gourley, which to this day makes Brett smile on the inside.
Brett went from Region's to the University of Minnesota medicine service, and then to the VA cardiology service. Bryn-Erinn, feeling slightly abandoned and frustrated with her job prospects/situation, (she had found employment at Align Pilates) stated that a camping vacation was needed. It was decided that during Brett's next rotation, infectious disease consults, we would take a week off (Brett only gets 3 weeks off total and he doesn't decide when they will happen) and go see the Grand Canyon using the tickets that Brett had earned form being bumped. Surprisingly enough, even though we had both lived very close to the Grand Canyon we had never visited it. Bryn-Erinn planned a great trip where we visited Brett's parents in Alpine, and then drove south to the Grand Canyon. We spent six days hiking around and seeing all kinds of great wilderness. Brett even got to use his doctoring skills at the bottom of the canyon when a stranger collapsed with heat syncope. Brett treated him for several hours (mostly standing there looking concerned), and as a sign of appreciation the ranger allowed us to stay in the bottom of the canyon without a permit. The next day Brett's "patient" bought us a fancy dinner at the lodge on the rim. After this great rest and vacation, Brett returned to his duties at the hospital and Bryn-Erinn visited her mom in Spokane for a few days.
As time always does, another couple of months have passed by. Brett went from infectious disease to solid tumor oncology at the university. Bryn-Erinn found another studio, Core, to augment her hours. We gave candy to the neighborhood children on Halloween. Brett went to Region's to work in the MICU (medical intensive care unit) and had a very busy day while he worked all through Thanksgiving. Now we find ourselves at the end of another year in the contemplation of the Birth and Life of our Savior Jesus Christ. Currently it is cold in the Twin Cities where it rarely gets above 20 on a given day and the temperature continues to head south. Brett is itching for the lakes to be ready to skate on (just this week people have started to do so). Bryn is wearing long underwear trying to keep her feet and hands at a human temperature (they can get quite cold).
We hope and pray that this letter finds you in good circumstances. We know that it has been a rough year for many in our county and world. Please remember, as we try to do, the wonderful blessing in each of our lives. And try to do good to and for those around you.

Our fondest wishes,

Brett and Bryn-Erinn Gourley