11/11/11 Silliness and Stevie has a new hobby
Feast your eyes on this tasty morsel! Believe it or not, this is the final, cooked, product of Stevie’s new hobby: Baking.
This really has nothing to do with 11/11/11 but I thought it was a good way to work in a post about it AND talk about my daughters new love of baking things. We can use this date as the starting point of a new, potential career choice or as the date we can tell the ER that we first started having the symptoms of food poisoning. Either way it’s a memory immortalized on a historic date in time that I will never live to see again.
The way she starts a project is by looking up something she wants to make on the internet. Then she gathers ingredients, measures, stirs, mixes, combines and then cooks. This particular recipe is her 6th attempt at it. First off, let me clarify that this was supposed to be a cupcake recipe. That’s what she looked up but this is what she created: The brown lump you see above.
It was only at the very end, after the batter was in the liners, in the muffin tray, that she realized something was not right. The batter was way too thick and sitting in the cups like dough balls. Like, cookie dough balls. Then she looked back at the internet and saw that her recipe was NOT for cupcakes, but actually for chocolate chip cake cookies. Not chocolate chip cup cakes. See, it’s those words that can be confusing! You see cake, you automatically think cupcake! Her only other fleeting clue was that there was only enough “batter” to fill 4 cupcake liners. She even had her brother in the kitchen wondering what the heck they were looking at. I can just imagine both of them staring at those lumpy “cupcakes” and trying to figure out what went wrong. Then they scraped all the dough out of the liners and put them on a baking tray to cook. Her finished recipe made this many cookies, plus two, that we ate for quality control purposes:
They are not pretty. They are not really good either. They kind of taste like brownie bites with lots of edge. They do have chocolate chips in them though! The problem, besides following the wrong recipe all together, is that when she does find a recipe, she reads it off the internet and doesn’t follow the order of ingredients. She tends to measure and mix things out of order and then loses track of what’s in the bowl already and what is not. Her last cookie attempt, deliberate cookies, may have had salt as an ingredient at least 3 or 4 times. Her motto is: “If you can’t remember, add it again! Then double the recipe!” What you end up with is twice as many salty, chewy cookies to feed to the big, fat squirrels we have growing outside. I swear they gather near the backdoor like they’re having a company meeting when we turn our oven on.
Since I was actually at a job fair for most of this, (2 fairly good interviews I think!! Cross your fingers please!! I really need a job. If anything, just to be able to afford more butter and flour and sugar) I walked in on the turds just coming out of the oven. And heard the story while she was already preparing her next assault on my kitchen and baking supplies. Before she got too deep, I suggested she might consider printing the recipe and then using a pen to check off each item as she used it. She did. She carefully checked to be sure it was really a cupcake recipe. It was. And then she put them together. Obviously baking is a skill that takes time and practice. I was mostly in the room when she mixed and measured, but for some reason, something goes wrong somewhere in the process and the finished product ends up just slightly “off.” These are her vanilla cupcakes with chocolate frosting:
They are not the worst cupcakes you have ever eaten by any means. They look pretty good. Mostly “risen”. A lot are flat, but that’s ok. The chocolate frosting is good. The problem is that they taste like corn bread muffins and not vanilla cupcakes. We can’t figure out why. It’s a basic recipe. The only difference is that it asked for egg whites instead of whole eggs. It’s weird. Either she is completely missing something or reading the teaspoon/tablespoon/½ and ¾ type measurements wrong. So they can just sit there for a few days and I’ll throw them at the squirrels on Monday. Keep them off my bird feeders for a few minutes. Totally off subject…but I have a red-headed woodpecker that I have been trying to take a picture of for the last few weeks. He was here today so I have to think he’ll be back regularly if I keep the bird seed out and full. I don’t know why it’s exciting to see new and different birds eating in my backyard but it is!! Yay winter!
Anyway, she is done for the night now and I will wrap this up and clean the kitchen. Again. Despite this posting, which she fully read and can appreciate the humor behind (because my kids are cool like that!), she will try again soon, and I will let her. How else is she going to learn?? Send her some love and encouragement so she doesn’t give up because, heads up!, she’s planning on baking ALL the Christmas cookies this year. And unless you want to break a tooth or outright lie, and shatter the holiday dreams of an overly ambitious teenage girl, you all better hope she gets really good at this super FAST! Later!
So, kids have a way of getting right to the heart of the thing
My lovely daughter just told me that she saw the, “younger, skinnier, more beautiful version of me” on the beach in Michigan. She was wearing a black bathing suit and had clear skin and the skinny body with the same kind of black hair that I had, when I used to get my hair colored black. My daughter said she saw this woman, and was so surprised because it looked so much like me, that she just stared at her until the woman started looking back at her like she might be crazy.
So I guess that’s nice. (?).
However…since I was eating at the time of this news flash, and I caught a completely unintentional glimpse into my fattiness, I proceeded to go ahead and finish all the crap in the house that I like (that would be White Castle’s, Kettle Cooked Potato Chips and Oreo’s–luckily there was only a little of each). And now I will finish the bottle of wine I opened 2 days ago. Because tomorrow, in addition to my RUN (National Running Day! Click it or check the next post and get in on the fun!), I have to re-boot my dietary intake. And by re-boot, I mean drink only water and starve myself for 3 weeks or so. I have 18 days to become the younger, skinnier, more beautiful version of myself!
That’s healthy right?
I’m not really going to starve myself. That would actually be impossible. I really like food. And I get really hungry and pretty crabby when I’m trying to be “good”. So I’ll just make better choices in the next 18 days. (I picked 18 because of the Warrior Dash. It’s in 18 days so I’m going to use that). It’s a short, attainable amount of time. And if I want to eat a bunch of crap I can do it after the race!
First side note: I also want to clarify, that even though I suggested that my daughter was calling me fat by using some kind of psychologic, mind-bend to passively indicate beauty is equated with thinness and youth, she DID NOT intentionally mean to make me feel bad. She was just telling a funny story and I added all the rest! She even said, “I guess that lady couldn’t have been more beautiful than you, because she looked just like you.” And that’s a direct quote.
Healthy. Unhealthy. Exercise. Sloth. Water. Alcohol. This site is all over the place. I can’t decide to be good or bad. Everything in moderation and add some activity! That’s probably good enough.
**On a second, side note: I had to have lost a few pounds today just from pure sweat and suffering. That rainstorm never did pan out for us and it’s been sweltering here all day. It’s good and hot in the house now. Everyone looks droopy, like water starved weeds. Still not turning it on though. That’s probably going to be a fight later when the BF gets home. Hopefully once he gets going on the topic, the heat will press down on him, crushing his urge to argue and squashing his ability to fight back. He will collapse in a heap of wilty protestation, and me and the kids can drag him to the bedroom and let him sleep it off. It’s always cooler at about 3 am so I don’t know what everyone is complaining about! All that whining about winter and how cold it is…blah blah blah…well, it’s HOT now!! Enjoy!
Alright I better go. I have to call in a take out order for dinner. So healthy!
Spring Break for the weary!
Finally!! It has been a long–fast 9 weeks! I tried to post…wasn’t going to happen. After BOMBING my very first test back (literally. failed. less than passing.) I am back up and over the minimum required to graduate in May. And of course I am going for the A again. I got to. It’s close. It’s within reach! And since I seriously do not do ANYTHING else now…(that includes: exercise, cooking, laundry, cleaning, sleeping….) I should be able to manage it. Its a boost for the class and a boost for my grade point average. Its all about the resumé now!
Anyway I won’t go on and on about boring school stuff (even though I have gotten to do LOTS of skills and get experiences these last few weeks that no one really wants to hear about!) because I want to catch up on LIFE! And laundry!
My BF, the BEST!! in the land, made a valiant attempt over the weekend….cleaned and dried and folded AND put away! Thank you thank you thank you…and I love you….and I am truly sorry about what a sucky GF I have been…I promise it will get better!!! Please hang in there!! XO
But, now 4 days go by and wtf?? a pile of clothes again! What a rip! So in between posts and making a half dinner (from a box, but with some ingredients!) and driving my mother to the doctor, exercising, and the inevitable homework (tests when we get back and some other stuff) I will try and do this here housework! It may not happen all today! But I think I can fix it up by tomorrow afternoon! Then I can have a whole week to slack off!! Maintenance, people!! It’s all about maintaining!
So I need to update my Ipod. It’s not as crammed up with junk anymore so it works alot better now. After my epic meltdown last summer with the maximum capacity overload, I wiped it out and just put on the music I use for running or driving. Much smarter. 30,ooo songs is nice but it’s really not realistic for anything except maybe a radio station and even then, they only play what someone wants to hear. Over and over and over again! And I need some new music!
And I need to hit the road! With my feet. Me and my sissy are doing another crazy running adventure…for charity of course. But that won’t make it any easier. 6 miles and a cart following us, breathing down our backs, putting on the pressure, just waiting for us to fall below the minimum time to complete, and ready to scoop us up off the road and drive us to the finish line! HA! She says it won’t happen! I hope she is right! That ground hits hard though on my out of shape feet (and body!) I haven’t gained any weight—mostly because I don’t have time to eat! but I haven’t gained any muscle either or tone or shape….then there is the Warrior Dash! It’s that time again! So be prepared to hear ALL about that! I need Tony Horton to bring it! To my house and get me off my fat a**! P90WTF??? It only works if you actually do it!
Anyway…That’s it for now! I will go look for something good to post as a picture for the top. Something that is NOT snow. It’s gorgeous today in the midwest! Chicago is teasing us for spring!
Happy St. Pat’s Day to all who celebrate.
Please give a quick thought to the folks out there in Japan trying to keep it together for another day, and wish them the best before you have that drink!
And here’s a little shout out to my new, number one fan! Stevie! Hi baby! Love you! Now get back to school stuff please!!
Thanks for hanging with me for a bit! More later!
Speaking of candy
There seems to be a mad love affair going on with the old fashioned wax bottle candy. You know, the ones shaped like bottles that have the colorful, fruity liquid inside them? You can bite off the top, drink the juice and then chew on the wax until it’s gross. Yes, those.
My daughter discovered them by accident at an old fashion type ice cream shop. Besides the wax bottles, they had candy cigarettes and bottle caps and what not, but she honed right in on those wax bottles. We bought her ten. She “ate” one and she was hooked. So we bought her twenty more. In the week between our first purchase and going back for more, they were all gone! A really big jar, sold out! She was crushed. I don’t know what happened in the south suburbs this summer that spurned the love of wax bottles, but we couldn’t find anymore, anywhere, in the area. Ridiculous right?
But you can always count on the internet. There they were. Cases and cases to be bought. Pound after pound. Store after store. We picked the company that didn’t charge more for the shipping than the actual candies, ordered up four pounds of them and hoped for cool weather on the day they were delivered. (They tend to melt in the box if it’s too hot outside and you’re not home)
But we had no problems. When they came I let Stevie open them. Told her we had a special surprise for her since we had bought Mason a bike the week before. (It’s not exactly even reciprocation, but she doesn’t care because those candies are worth more to her than a bike, which she already has anyway) She was thinking she was getting books (Twilight is the current fav and being read right now)…when she saw the candy she almost cried! It was very exciting. She carried them around for awhile in their separate bags, then took them all out and counted them (216), then put them in one big bag, and then finally transferred them all to a shoe box. She tries not to eat too many at a time even though she wants to eat them all.
Thursday. Friday. Weekend. Monday. And all the other days after that…
Wednesday post had to be at one am, because the real world has spun back into motion.
I’ve been on hold for the last year. Preparing, but not actually doing. And here it is.
Thursday. First day of school for kids. Last day of summer for mom. It was a half day, decent weather except for the morning when it rained at the bus stop. Just enough to soak my son for his first time back on the bus since 2nd grade. Yes, I went to the bus stop with him (Sister came too!) and no, we weren’t the only ones. Seems all the moms come out for the first (and second) day of school. My son didn’t care. He even gave me a kiss goodbye. In front of other people. I feel very fortunate (I truly do) to have such a nice boy. An hour later, we were out again. Stevie and I, walking her to school. She is fifth grade now. Top of the school chain! It’s a quiet walk this year. All the fifth graders from last year are gone now. On the bus. And that is what made up most of the kids on the street. One more year and she’ll join her brother at the Jr. High.
Profitable though, to take them out. Found a lot of loose change and some odd items for the next posts; Street Money and Odd Items.
After school we went to play mini-golf. The very last afternoon of summer and all its ease. Then we came home and waited for morning. Ha. Not really. The kids played outside until dinner and the BF’s friend came back (sunshine and blue skies) and fixed the roof pipe. Ten minutes. Done. It’s nice when there isn’t a typhoon trying to sweep you off the roof to your death! And don’t worry. There’s a picture. Observe:
Then, Friday. Full day. Boy on the bus. Girl walking. More change. Another odd item. This time the rain waited to pour down on Mason when he got off the bus walking home. I managed to get all the laundry done, pay the bills, organize my school papers and start the prep work. The nursing starts immediately. You don’t ease into the pool, you jump straight in. (Not with the people yet, just in the water. No worries.) Anyway, it’s good. I have some reading and vocab and, oh no, here come the kids. Mom on hold. Kids take the front. Papers to sign, homework (they jump in too) and a snack. And back to me. But I want to type. So here it is. I have a few days of catching up to do.
I’ll just end it here and post more pictures! I can’t concentrate on a good conclusion because Stevie turned on Hannah Montana and I swear to God and all things holy or hellish, that damn show makes me laugh out loud and sucks me in faster than a low flying goose in an airplane engine. To borrow a phrase from a hillbilly soliloquy. Those Cyrus folk can sure turn a phrase. Hardy har har.
Cool Word of the Day! Special Edition (!)
It’s a two-for-one day! And it’s dedicated to my daughter, so that she will never again get the two words mixed up!
Cataract: (noun)
Has two separate, distinct definitions. The pathological, that most every one knows, Stevie, ahem, I’m looking at you ; )
and then another, regular one, that I was unaware of. See, learn something new everyday!
Definition: Opacity of the lens or capsule of the eye, causing total or partial blindness.
Definition 2: A huge downpour or waterfall.
Interesting.
And this is the special word that Stevie keeps mistaking for the first:
Chloroplast: (noun)
Definition: An organelle present in algae and plant cells that contains chlorophyll and is involved in photosynthesis.
You probably don’t want one of those in your eye!
I love you, my sweetie-fish, ><Ò)ε
Mom (That’s supposed to look like a fish kissing–it’s a stretch–just roll with it!)
just shy of pretty 