This and That

-My brother and future sister in law ordered us dinner tonight, all the way from MN (the order, not the food).  We had our favorite sushi, which Hadley described as "Mmm... It's really tasty!"  The only downside?  They put the salad in these styrofoam takeout containers and they remind me of my childhood.  Good memories, but a bad association for dinner time...

Superb asian slaw

Leeches

If you grew up in a fishing family, you knew better than to eat out of the styrofoam cups in the fridge, as they probably contained leeches, minnows or worms.  Are we all grossed out yet?  

(Did I eat the salad?  Yes, and the leech flavor was a nice compliment to the cabbage.)

-Speaking of eating, have you heard of knorks?  Say it, knork! knork! knork!  Isn't that a fun word?  They are a fork that cuts food like a knife, and no, they won't cut your tongue off (I googled it).  I think these would be great for some of my patients that only have use of one hand.  The metal ones are apparently a bit heavy, but they do have a plastic version, 4 knorks for $3.  Interested?  Here's a link for for $25 off $50 worth of Knork products. 

-When we were driving tonight, Hadley saw some geese on the side of the road.  She said, "Silly goose, geese don't eat snow, they eat broccoli!"  I wonder of Knork makes a version for webbed feet.  Or wings.  How would a goose hold a fork?  The world may never know. 

- I always spell broccoli incorrectly, and the Mac asks me if I'd like to "learn spelling."  This makes me feel like the computer is mocking me and I get angry.  Then I think of this video, and I'm happy again.

The first time I heard this lovely song, it was not performed by Dana Carvey, but instead by my Aunt Monica.  She had just moved from Alaska and we didn't know her very well.  I remember my brother and I looking at each other mid performance, smiling and thinking that this woman was wonderfully wacky.  Thinking back, I'm pretty sure that we thought she was making up the song as she went along.

-A friend posted a Mitch Hedberg quote on facebook tonight, which prompted me to watch a few YouTube videos.  If you haven't heard of him, then watch, learn and love.  Mitch was from MN and performed often in Grand Forks, although I (unfortunately) never went.

-On a more serious note, please take a minute to consider donating to the National Multiple Sclerosis Society.  My friend has formed a fundraising team for the MS Walk, and while you may not know her, you probably know somebody that has or will be affected by MS.  Here is the link.  

-The kids were getting along exceptionally, unusually well tonight.  Here is some photographic proof. 

It's hard to tell, but Blake was leaning against Hadley while sucking his thumb.  That is his ultimate sign of affection, saying "I love you, please cuddle with me."

A Hug in a Bowl

image via allrecipes

One of our favorite breakfast treats is Butterscotch Oatmeal.  I could just as easily eat this for dessert; it's that good.  In fact, I've been known to cook up a batch at night, eat a bowl before bed and save the rest to reheat for breakfast the next morning.  I discovered this recipe when Blake was first born and I was so tired of eating bowl after bowl of plain oatmeal (it's a galactagogue).  It is so creamy, thick and sweet, with an almost custardy taste and texture.  I reduce the sugar and the butter for myself and reduce or eliminate the sugar for the kids, while using all of the butter.  Here is the recipe, with my adaptations.

INGREDIENTS:

1 egg, beaten 2 cups milk 1 TBSP-1/4 cup packed brown sugar

1 cup organic rolled oats 2 tsp to 2 tablespoons butter

DIRECTIONS:

1.	In a saucepan over medium heat, whisk together the egg, milk and brown sugar. Mix in the oats. When the oatmeal begins to boil, cook and stir until thick. Remove from the heat, and stir in butter until melted. Serve immediately.

All Aboard!

The View From Here

This is the view out of my bedroom window.  Pretty nice, eh?

The living room has a pretty good view, too.  

Inside and out.

Blake decided to check out the depot. 

And boy, was he amazed!

Do you see that, Mom!?!

Fast forward to the hotel living room, floaty swimsuit, dance party. 

(Don't try to tell me you haven't attended one of these.)

The still shot doesn't do this kid justice.  He was grooving!

C'mon Dad, dance with us!

*Want to know more about the Boise Depot?  

*How about the view from Switzerland?  Holy Moly!

He's A Keeper

 I took these a couple of weeks ago.

He was being such a ham.

I truly can't get over how cute this kid is.

Wouldn't you agree?

Almost A Hero

A few weeks ago, at 11:00 on a Monday morning, I drove past a truck that was parked a few blocks from my house.  There was a woman sitting in the passenger seat, looking straight at me and smiling pleasantly.  The truck had a logo on the side, which I recognized to belong to our neighbor's business.  I don't know this family well, but they've always seemed very nice; young, hip, two kids and a dog, cool patio furniture (the important things in life).  Oh, and they put up a silver aluminum tree last Christmas, so they must be awesome.  Anyway, the thing that struck me was that this woman was completely bald.  I instantly felt sorry for her, assuming she must have cancer or some other serious disease.  At the same time, I was so impressed with how completely calm and content she seemed.

The following Thursday, at 11:00 AM, I drove past this same truck.  To my surprise, the woman was again sitting inside, and again smiled at me as I drove past.  I started to wonder why she was sitting in this truck at the same time everyday.  Why did she not go in the house?  Was she too weak?  Maybe her husband was stopping at home to get her medications, or make her lunch following a special diet to nurse her back to health.  They would then return to his office, where he could care for her while keeping up the business.  I felt suddenly felt so sad for this woman and wondered if I should reach out to these neighbors to see if I could help.  But how weird would that sound?  Hi, you don't know me, but I've made the assumption that your wife is ill...can I cook you dinner?

Fast forward to the following Monday.  I was driving towards the house at 9:15 AM, when I noticed the truck was parked on the road.  As I neared, I slowed down to look over my shoulder and check for the mystery woman.  Can you guess where this is going?   She was in the truck!  My heart started pounding as my theory changed from sick wife to kidnapped woman.  She really didn't look like the guy's wife anyway, and come to think of it, I hadn't seen the wife or kids in the yard for quite some time.  What if the wife sensed that he was unstable, she divorced him and moved out, and he's since kidnapped a woman.  He shaved her head to disguise her.  Stockholm syndrome was keeping her stay in the truck, even when he was out of sight.  Surely that's why she wasn't running.  My mind raced as I drove down the street.  Should I go back?  Should I call the cops?  We watch/read the news everyday and I hadn't heard of any missing woman lately, but what if she's not from here?

I soon got to my exercise class, where I spent the next hour distracted, trying to come up with my plan.  I had to do something, because it's the right thing to do and because I'd feel horrible if I didn't.  Imagine hearing 6 months later that a kidnap woman was saved, as she reports that she was allowed out in public but nobody stopped to help her.  I decided that on my way home, I would drive past very slowly, waving as I went by.  I'd pause the car to wait for a signal from her, a look of distress, anything.

As I turned the corner, approaching the truck, my heart was pounding.  I got closer and could see that sure enough, there she was, smiling at me as usual.  Brainwashed, for sure.  I slowed down, and Hadley asked why were stopping.  "Shhh... Hadley, mommy will tell you in a minute, this is really important."  My cell phone was in my shaking hand, ready to call 911.  I waved, then waited.  Nothing.  I drove a little closer, stopped the car, then burst out in a fit of laughter/tears.  It was an emotional moment, I tell you.

So, what did I see?  Well, I tried to show Tyler later, as we took our evening walk.  Would you know, the truck was no longer there?  As we were standing in "the spot," reliving my almost heroic actions, I saw something out the corner of my eye that made me jump.












There she was.

Okay neighbors, you're off the hook this time.  In fact, you're kind of hilarious; can we be friends?

(In case you can't tell, it's a mannequin.  And no, I couldn't see that she was topless when she was in the truck.)

Ode to a Toilet Seat

With home repairs on my mind, I'm realizing that one of the easiest and best home improvements we've made involves the toilet.  Specifically, the installation of quiet/slow closing toilet seats.  They are a cheap way to improve quality of life, because toilet seat slamming = kids wake up after 10 minutes of napping = crabby mommy.  This particular seat from Kohller includes a separate, smaller seat for young kids.  We don't have this one, but I think it is a pretty good idea.  Another positive, you can choose your color based on what you're craving.  Almonds or biscuits, anyone?  I understand that those are common names for shades of off-white, but really, food related names for a toilet seat?  I do however, like the fact that for $39.95 you can sit your butt down on some "Mexican Sand;" no passport needed.  

Row, Row, Row Your Boat...

We came home from dinner last night to find our house under water.  Definitely not a positive experience, but there have been some very positive moments.

1.  It's all just "stuff."  Nobody got hurt, we still have a house and we've been assured that it will be restored completely.

2.  I know some awesome people.  Friends have offered up meals and childcare, and one even offered up her entire home for whole weekend.  I feel kind of silly to even be offered/accept these things since we just have some water in our house.  So many people are going through so much more right now.

3.  The kids think that staying at hotel is pretty neat, or "so exciting!" as Hadley would say.  As I was driving to the hotel last night, jeans still rolled up to my knees and mascara smeared all over my face, I heard Hadley say this:  "I'm sad for Daddy, because I just miss him...but the hotel makes me really happy!"

4.  While we were waiting for the disaster crews last night, the kids were standing on the bottom step, safely contained by the baby gate.  In unison, they both stood up, leaned over the gate and broke into a chorus of "Row, row, row your boat."  Wise guys, eh?

5. Hadley could tell that I was frustrated, trying to get the kids corralled and ready for bed at the hotel last night.  She said, "Mom, watch me crack you up,"  then begin doing this dance that could best be described as a sumo wrestler stomp with a little butt wiggle.  It totally worked.

6.  My husband has been amazing, making multiple trips back to the house to move our things, get more toys for the kids, etc.  He just got done doing three loads of laundry at the hotel.  I'm sure he's easily been on 50 fifty phone calls today, between the demo company and the insurance company.  He does, however, need my assistance to put the smack down on these guys.  Tyler is just too nice.

7.  Hadley was looking out the window while eating breakfast this morning, when she spotted a UPS truck.  Very loudly, she yelled, "That's a truck like my hairy Grandpa drives!"  Not only did she make me smile, but I could hear laughter from several tables away.  Why does she call my dad "Hairy Grandpa?"  My mom showed her a picture from their wedding, and my dad looked something like this:

Avocado, Chocolate and Sweet Potato Pudding

Remember the sweet potato and cocoa powder teaser yesterday?  Did anybody guess that it would be mixed with sweet potatoes and turned into pudding?  Well, here's the proof:

Doesn't that look appetizing?  No?  Well, let's try again. 

Um, yeah, I know exactly what that looks like.  

But, they loved it!

To make up for the not so pretty photographs, here are a few clean photos that I think are pretty cute. 

You can find the pudding recipe here.  Google "chocomole" to find many more variations.  Enjoy!  (or don't)

Can you feel the love?

This is what I would have given Tyler, had I given him a valentine.

Hadley and I made a fun Valentine's Day treat last night: pie in a jar.  I found the idea at Our Best Bites, using a different recipe for a butter/crisco crust, and used Betty Crocker's recipe for the apple filling.  I made the dough the night before and let it chill in the fridge.  Hadley was still sleeping when I got home from work on Sunday, so I had time to prep the apple filling.  After dinner, Hadley helped me fill the jars with the dough and then she scooped the apple filling in.  

I decided to top them with crumb topping because I was running out of pie dough (one recipe filled 8 jars) and because I think it tastes better than a double crust.  

The jars were frozen overnight and delivered to Hadley's friends this morning.  After dinner, we decided that a taste test was in order, so we baked one. 

 It took exactly 60 minutes, and was enough for the four of use to each have a few bites.  The pie got eight thumbs up.

We ate it picnic style on the kitchen floor; what a perfect Valentine's date!  I'd include a picture, but Hadley was eating in her birthday suit.  For reference, this is what Blake looks like when he is happily eating:

Dinner tonight

I'm just realizing that we had chocolate's for an appetizer (thanks Ty!), cake for dinner and pie for dessert.  Oy vey!  Okay, so the "cake" was actually this awesome cauliflower parmesan cake that we love.  Here is the recipe, from Smitten Kitchen.   We've made this a few times, forgetting or changing something each time, and it always turns out great.  Three constants: it always takes longer to bake (60-75'), we've always subbed poppy seeds for the black sesame seeds, and everybody always loves it.  The kids scarf this one down every time.  It's a nutritious meal; who knew the onions had so many health benefits?  Oh, and cauliflower certainly isn't junk food either.  

  

The recipe does involve a fair amount of prep work, but I'd imagine a lot could be done the night before (chop/boil the cauliflower, chop and cook the onions, shred the parmesan, etc).  I tend to make this when organic cauliflower is on sale, so I've always used fresh, but I'd assume frozen would work fine.  One more note, Tyler doesn't like cauliflower, but he likes this meal.  

Well, Valentine's Day is almost over, so I should wrap this up.  I have two videos to leave you with.  One will make you laugh, the other will make your heart race.  

We laughed so hard when we saw this in person, as it was totally unexpected.  As it turns out, they dance every night.  Watch some of the other youtube videos if you need a laugh. 

This makes me nervous, but WOW!  

Come back tomorrow to see how I combine this:

with this:

Happy Valentine's Day, I hope it was lovely!