Three Favorite Cupcakes

You know me and food! Here are a few things I'm nibbling on lately:

1. My newest nephew, Colin Joseph F.
This sweet little cupcake was born early in the AM of June 16th. He is just perfect and beautiful and tiny and so fresh from heaven.Don't you just want to eat him up? His mom, dad, and big brother are so happy to have him here and his aunt is also quite pleased. The only thing that matches the birth of your own babies is the birth of your SISTER'S babies. My only regret is that I can't be there at the house with them 24/7, but both grandmas are staying there and my kids and I would probably not be the best addition to that tiny house. Sigh.

2. Icing on the Cupcake
This little cupcake bakery nearby-ish is irresistible. I'm just grateful that they aren't around the corner or the temptation would be greater. Here's their menu--each day they have some featured flavors as well as their daily goodness. I've already fallen head over heels for their Chocolate Peanut Butter and Chocolate Macaroon. I think when I head back in this week, I'll ask them if they will offer a discount, promotion, or giveaway for my local readers. Anyone interested? Yummy yum yummy!

3. Conversations with a Cupcake
I discovered this blog via Nienie's. She created a special chocolate cake in honor of Nienie (which will be my birthday cake next week, I promise you.) Her blog is both beautiful and choc full of delicious-looking recipes. I'll admit that I haven't made any of them yet, but just reading this blog makes me happy. So go check it out!

What makes you happy today?

Must-Haves

In each of my pregnancies, there have been Must-Haves. When I was expecting Kimball, I wanted carne asada tacos and Jamba Juice. With Henry it was carne asada and ice cream. (I generally have a thing for red meat in pregnancy--it must be anemia!)

Poor Ian--as a third pregnancy, I can't remember what I wanted, except for sleep. It was neither as unforgettable as my first two experiences nor recent enough for me to recall. Stinks to be the middle child, doesn't it?

While I was pregnant with Bronwen, I couldn't eat enough mangoes. I bought them by the case at Costco and glowered at my children if they asked for one. They were mine, all mine!

With this baby, although I did go through a hamburgers stint, I have mostly been craving sugar and then chasing it down with Tums. Not since my first pregnancy have I consumed so many antacids. Actually, with babies 2-4 I was able to control most of my heartburn by getting regular adjustments from my darling chiropractor husband. But this time I'm either not getting in to see him often enough or my body is returning to it's old ways too quickly, for the respite from heartburn lasts only a day or so after an adjustment before I am back to popping my Tums. Or maybe it's because of all the sugar!

Here's what I'm having with my Tums today.

Click here for the recipe.

I'm looking forward to giving up my Tums addiction in 27 days, although by the time they starve me at the hospital for two days I'll probably embrace the idea of a little heartburn. Did you know that not only do you have to come in for a C-section fasting, but after that they only give you ice chips, then liquids, then garbage like jell-o???? And this to a woman whose milk supply is supposed to be coming in. I'll admit that last time I lied about my bodily functions a wee bit (since they use those as milestones to determine when you get real food.) A girl can only live on liquids for so long.

What can't you live without when you're pregnant?

Blueberry Muffin Love

I am not a fan of the blueberry. I know it's really good for you and as Kimball observed, can stop time in its tracks, but I just don't love it in my salads or cereal or by the handful. But put a fresh blueberry into a muffin and I'm all in. Monday morning we were having a lazy morning and the kids weren't clamoring for breakfast at 7:00 am, so I pulled some berries out of the fridge and cracked open my Williams-Sonoma Muffins and Quick Breads cookbook. This is a great go-to recipe for blueberry muffins. One batch makes about 16 average sized muffins or 12 muffins with very tall muffin tops, which is my preference.

Blueberry Muffins

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 2 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/4 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• 1 cup milk (use whole if you have it)
• 1/2 cup melted butter
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Butter or spray standard muffin tins.

In a medium bowl stir and toss together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. Set aside. In another medium bowl, whisk together the milk, melted butter, and eggs until smooth. Add liquid to the dry ingredients and stir until just blended. Add the blueberries and stir just until evenly incorporated. Spoon into prepared muffin tins. Bake until a toothpick comes out clean, about 15-20 minutes. Eat the moment they won't burn your tongue, with or without butter.

Sweet Things

Would someone in my town PLEASE open a bakery like this one? I discovered it via Nienie's blog and am drooling with envy (and just because everything looks so amazing). Every town needs a great bakery, and I love the look of this one. If my sister and I lived in an alternate universe (in which we weren't married and raising kids) I can see the two of us doing something like this. But having worked in a bakery for years, I know how much work and time it requires to own one, and thus I would not consider such an endeavor as there are other high priorities in my life who might suffer from neglect. These little people would miss me, and I'd miss them. But oh, can't someone else live this little dream for me? I promise to drop in for a cupcake on a weekly basis, even when I'm trying to drop baby pounds!

In other sweet thoughts, is there anything more inviting in spring than strawberry shortcake? I seriously doubt it; (although anything with lemon curd might come in at a close second). I was taking dinner to some friends the other night--the perfect excuse to make a real dessert in the middle of the week--and as I drove past our roadside strawberry stand, I knew what it had to be. Get your berries at the grocery store if you must, but if you can manage to get them on the same day they were picked, this dish will be elevated from delicious to divine.

Here's my favorite recipe (at the moment) for the cake part of this baby. It's a pound cake with a cake mix as the base, so it whips up quickly and perfectly every time. You can put it in mini-bundts like I did, in one big bundt, or even in a couple of 8 inch layers. It calls for sherry (the alcohol cooks out); as we don't drink and I don't really like to keep liquor in the house, even for cooking, I buy cooking sherry in the vinegar section of the supermarket. That way I don't have to worry about a babysitter trying her first alcohol while she's here:). You could probably also use white wine if you have that around instead (which I don't), and if you want a non-alcoholic substitution, you might try orange juice. It would change the flavor, but I'm sure the outcome would be delicious.

Sherry Pound Cake

• 1 yellow cake mix
• 1 package instant vanilla pudding
• 4 eggs
• 3/4 cup sherry (or substitute)
• 3/4 cup vegetable or canola oil
• 1 tsp. vanilla

Butter and flour your pan, or use Pam with Flour to spray them well. Mix all the ingredients well and bake in a 350 oven. How long depends on what kind of pan you use-- a full-sized bundt will take about 50-60 minutes; the minis will take more like 25-30. Let it cool on a rack. In the meantime, slice up those berries and put just a touch of sugar on them and a little lemon zest if you so desire. Put them in the fridge to get soft and juicy. If you take the time to whip the cream yourself, you won't be sorry, but if you must you can buy the can--just don't use "whipped topping", please. That's not real food, you know!

Now, go track down these ingredients and enjoy some with the people you love most. And please think about opening that bakery soon.

Buffet Faux Pas and Tom Hanks

Do you remember the scene from You've Got Mail when Joe Fox (Tom Hanks) scrapes the caviar off the sides of the brie? Kathleen (Meg Ryan) indignantly scolds him, "That caviar is a GARNISH!" (I couldn't find a clip that showed the entire scene, but this trailer has part of it--but I warn you that it will make you want to drop everything and watch the movie again.)





Well, I have been wondering lately if I am doing my children a disservice with our family's buffet rule: the kids wait while the parents fill a plate for them. Now, I fear that they may never learn proper buffet etiquette, for I have observed some disturbing behavior in grown adults that makes me wonder how they can possibly not know better.

We have this strict policy because it grosses us both out to see little kids with hands and fingers in the food in buffet lines at weddings, parties, and other events. If I go down a buffet line after a child, there is a very good chance that I'll opt to skip eating rather than choose among the rolls that have been touched repeatedly as the child finds just the right one. Is anyone else like this? Am I crazy? Don't answer that.

Recently I watched a woman pull a Joe Fox. Along with a multitude of desserts and other foods, there was a smallish tray filled with See's Candies. They were clearly meant to be just a little something, not an entire course. And yet, she literally filled her plate--her DINNER plate-- with Sees Candies. I was flabbergasted! I know it may be hard to choose when all of your favorite chocolates are before you, but honestly, she walked out with nearly a pound of candy and didn't act remotely embarrassed--in fact, she announced on the way out that "they had all my favorites!" Maybe her mom never let her go through the buffet and thus, she never learned the rules of self-restraint?

Another common buffet faux pas that gets to me is the person who says, "I'm not hungry; I'm not going to eat," and then proceeds to stand over the food, munching away, instead of taking a plate. Don't they know that they are leaving their crumbs (or worse) behind on everyone else's food?

Of course, there is always someone who decides to use their fork to take half portions 0f pre-portioned items, leaving behind a forlorn half piece that looks like it has been mangled by who-knows-what. I understand that you may not want the entire piece of cheesecake, but what makes you think that a stranger who happens along 10 minutes later might want the remains of yours? Just take the whole peice and eat half of it!

Last but not least is the person who, after eating themselves sick at said buffet, fills another plate to take home for later. I am not talking about food they paid for, folks. I'm talking about food at a party or other event where they have been the guests. I guess the thought is, "If getting a free lunch is good, taking home extras for dinner is better!" And I shake my head and think, "if my kid ever does that . . . "

So, I guess we need to add a new course of study at our little homeschool. My kids may be teenagers before they are allowed to go through a buffet line unattended, but it's never too early to ingrain in them appropriate behavior when faced with free food all laid out on a table before them. How To Eat At a Buffet Without Embarrassing Your Mother 101 must be added to our curriculum post haste, or they'll be the next one scraping the caviar garnish from the cheese platter.

Overheard At Our House

Kimball: Mom, I just read in this book that if you want to live to be 100 years old, you'd better stop eating blueberries!

Me: Really? I thought they were supposed to be so good for you! (In fact, I only eat them for that reason. I don't love a blueberry unless it involves a muffin or scone.)

Kimball: Yes, it says that blueberries prevent the aging process-- so you'll never get to 100 if you eat them, I guess!

This photo was found on a great blog about growing your own blueberries--just in case you don't want to see 100!

Dinner Dilemma-- Solved

If you've been reading my blog for a while (or are a mother to less-than-perfect children), you know how frustrating dinner time can be for me. Take this post or this one as examples of what I go through regularly. Every night we have to coax, beg, and threaten to get at least one if not all of our boys to eat their dinner. The exception is when I get Little Caesar's, which I obviously can't do more often without lots of guilt, and yet it feels so nice to just have everyone eat.

Last night after dinner, I decided that instead of turning into Hot n Ready junkies, we are going to pretend that we live in Mexico every. Single. Night. And I don't mean eating-in-a-Mexican- restaurant kind of food. If we have enchiladas, chilis rellenos, tamales, or anything remotely exciting, we have the same ordeal as usual.

But if I serve pinto beans, rice, corn tortillas, salsa, cheese, some fruit, and a vegetable, there is almost complete silence at the table (once everyone's food has been plated, that is.) Sheer bliss. I wonder how long it would take for Jared and me to get tired of that every night, what with the silence and all. I think I could eat beans and rice for a long, long time. At least it's more nutritious than pepperoni pizza!

What would your family eat every night?

Confessional

Here is all of the food I ate yesterday (to the best of my memory):

• 3 pieces of french bread with butter
• 3/4 of a Sees Bourdeaux Heart (roughly the size of 3 normal pieces)
• A handful of grapes
• 2 handfuls of Valentine Peanut MnMs
• 1 triangle of the quesadillas I made for my kids' lunch
  
• 1/3 bag of Pop Secret Homestyle Microwaved Popcorn
• 1 baked potato with butter and cheese (I fully intended to put sour cream on it and forgot because I was eating in front of the computer.)
• about 6 Sees Candy Red Hot Hearts (they are smallish)
  
• 10 blackberries
• 2 1/2 frosted heart sugar cookies (large)
  

At this point, I suddenly realized that I felt VERY SICK. I had planned for my family to eat leftovers last night. I forced myself to also eat:

• 1 bowl of chicken and dumplings

I still feel terrible this morning. Cream of Wheat, anyone?

HFCS=Mercury Poisoning

Get ready for a rant.

Most of you know that our oldest son, Kimball, is on the autistic spectrum. He has an autistic spectrum disorder called Asperger's Syndrome, which is similar to High-Functioning Autism. After coming to grips with the reality that our son was different and making peace with his diagnosis, we began to educated ourselves as much as possible about autism.

Much about what causes autism is a mystery, but many researchers have found links between autism and mercury poisoning--one big reason for the debate over vaccinations and autism. (We choose not to vaccinate our children, but that is a post for another day.) It is theorized that some people don't process mercury as well (although mercury is toxic to everyone), and that people on the autistic spectrum have weakened immune systems, which further complicates matters.

Until now, if we wanted to avoid mercury, we knew that the big risks were some seafood, the old amalgam used by dentists, and in some vaccinations. Because Jared & I also believe firmly that diet has an effect on behavior and overall health, we have really tried to eliminate processed foods from our family's diet. This is one reason that I make my own bread (including grinding my own wheat,) why I rarely buy cookies (although my food snobbery does play into that,) and try to make as much as possible from scratch. We, like the rest of you, have heard about the evils of High Fructose Corn Syrup--that it leads to obesity and diabetes, and have been reading labels madly to eliminate that as well.

But we haven't eliminated it completely. If you haven't read labels looking for it, you might not realize that HFCS is found as a main ingredient in lots of everyday items, like jam and preserves, yogurt, breakfast cereal (and not just the kind you think of as "sugary"), maple-flavored syrup (like Log Cabin), and even in nectars and sweetened juices. I have been gradually replacing the strawberry preserves in our food storage with organic preserves, in spite of the cost difference, but have been feeding my family the HFCS stuff until we wipe it out. And I have yet to bring myself to spend upwards of $20 on a bottle of real maple syrup for this family of 6, who goes through a lot of syrup in a year.

Imagine my shock, concern, and even outrage, when I read about two new studies that were published this week. It turns out that much of the HFCS out there has measurable amounts of mercury in it! Even worse, one of these studies was conducted by someone who left the FDA and became a whistle-blower over this issue--because the FDA knew about it over 3 years ago. But did the FDA insist that this type of HFCS be pulled from the shelves? Did they recall all the Kellogg's Raisin Bran and Nesquik? They did not.

Now I look at the Log Cabin in my cupboard and see poison. My poor little children, at least one of whom is even more sensitive to mercury poisoning than I am, and my unborn child, have been consuming mercury with their pancakes, waffles, and french toast. Yes, I knew the HFCS was not good for you, and we cut back dramatically, but I see no reason to give my children ANY mercury at all, thank you very much.

The second study, which tested 55 top food brands for mercury (and found significant amounts of mercury in 1 out of 3 foods tested), points out that HFCS does not require mercury. It is simply a less expensive way to produce it, and as the industry is unregulated, they have gone with the bottom line. It's disgusting, really, how irresponsible that is. Lots of kids out there practically live on processed foods (not that I support that), and think of what kind of exposure they have had now to this toxin.

So, I'm writing to get the word out. Parents need to know about this. And we need to stand up to these companies who are poisoning our children to save a few bucks. I plan to write to several companies, sharing my shock and concern. I will also be returning all my unused HFCS products to Costco (as long as that's where they came from), rather than using up those last few jars of strawberry jam before we go clean.

For more info on this, read:

USA Today
The Huffington Post (this one has links to the studies as well)
Washington Post


Now please, go through your cupboards and get rid of that stuff!

It's Turkey Time!

Are you ready for this week? Thanksgiving for a foodie means that I usually spend most of the week preparing for the big day. This year, my sister and mom are in town, so we'll be working together, which makes it much more fun and less work.

My favorite day of our preparation is Wednesday--Pie day. My mother-in-law makes her delectable pumpkin pies and then we Johnson women go to town on the others. The photo to the right is the fruits of our labors last year: an apple, french apple, apple-berry sour cream, toasted pecan, pumpkin cream cheese, and lemon and toasted coconut meringue. My Johnson family (the family I was raised in) are also HUGE boysenberry pie fans. We almost always buy ours at Marie Callendars, but the past couple of years I have been less-than-impressed with the quality. This year, I have bought the berries and we'll be making a couple of berry pies, all the apples that we did last year, and a banana cream. Although the pecan pie is delicious, it is so rich that you can't try several kinds, which means that it gets neglected, so I'll wait and make it at Christmas or next year.

The Johnsons are also traditionalists when it comes to the Thanksgiving meal (as are my in-laws,) so we don't fiddle much with the recipes, except to perhaps add a new side dish here and there or toss in an extra pie. But there absolutely must be a roasted turkey (and most years Jared also deep fries a turkey--mostly so he can have a good excuse to fry everything in the house the next day when they're watching football.) Alli is doing the turkey this year, so Thanksgiving morning will feel downright leisurely around here. We also make a traditional onion-celery-sage stuffing, mashed potatoes and gravy, candied yams, a raspberry jello-sour cream salad, and these rolls:
One of the crowning dishes is the citrus-cranberry relish. Sure, it's just a side dish and you generally only eat 1/4 cup or so, but it is so beautiful on the plate, and the sweet and tart of it pairs so well with the turkey. There is nothing better than a leftover turkey sandwich on homemade whole wheat bread with cranberry relish smeared all over it. Yum.


What dish or dishes can you not go without on Thanksgiving?

If you are interested in trying a new recipe at your Thanksgiving table this year, this is a great one. And it can be made on Tuesday or Wednesday, which is always nice. Bon Appetit!

Johnson's Cranberry Relish

• 1 bag fresh cranberries
• 2 red apples
• 2 large oranges
• 1 lemon
• 1-1 1/2 cups sugar
  

Core apples. Zest the citrus and reserve zest for later. Peel oranges and lemon, removing as much of the white pith as possible. Grind cranberries and other fruit together, using an old fashioned CLEAN meat grinder. Or use your food processor, but keep it chunky, not pureed. Add sugar to taste (my mom likes it tart, but my in-laws prefer it sweet). Add citrus zest. Best if made a couple of days ahead, which you want anyway when you’re making Thanksgiving dinner!

Question of the Day

So I'm going to try something and see how it works. I'm posting a question for you, my readers. And I want you to leave a comment with your answer. So here goes:

• If you could have anything for dinner tonight, what would it be? Would you make it, would someone you love make it, or would you be ordering it in a restaurant?
  

Here's my answer:

I'm in the mood for something that someone else made tonight, perhaps because I have spent the last 2 1/2 days making food for Jared's Patient Appreciation Day. If I could have anything I wanted for dinner tonight, I'd have Mexican food at Erin's house. Although I'd be thrilled to eat anything at Erin's house. We'd eat until we were too full and then lounge by the pool while the kids played, talking about our college days, homeschooling, recipes, and blogging. It's quite a drive to get there, but the more I think about it, the more I want to hop in the car.

Leave the light on for me, Erin! I'll be in sometime in the middle of the night.

(This picture was taken the last time we had Mexican food at Erin's, in July.)

Now, what do you want to eat?

In Mourning

Yesterday, I witnessed a true and loyal friend call it quits. It had lived a full and rich life, providing baked goodness for my family and loved ones for the last few years. I am referring to my Bosch Compact Mixer.

I will confess that I shed real tears when it was apparent to me that there would be no resurrection for this mixer. You see, I have been making all of our family's bread for 10 months now. Not only did I use this mixer for bread, but also for rolls, cookies, frostings, cakes, and pretty much anything I make that requires more power than a wooden spoon. And deep down, I knew that I hadn't been fair in what I asked of it. My projects were mostly fit for it's bigger sibling, the one whose price made me cringe. Now I know that it is probably better to just save your pennies for the one that really meets your needs.

My sister came over about an hour later and I broke the news to her. Ever practical, she suggested that since it clearly wasn't going to start again by jiggling the handle or reinserting the dough hook, we should give it an autopsy. Perhaps we could bring it back to life? I looked for the proper surgical tools and she began.

We first discovered an extra layer of fat around the internal organs. A layer of old, crusty bread dough clung to the lining of the mixer. It must have crept in, a tablespoon at a time, through the small opening where the attachments go. We never knew that it was in there at all. (I will confess that it made me wonder what my insides look like.) Once we cleaned it out, it looked to us like a gear was broken, but we couldn't find the broken pieces anywhere. Could they have been somehow consumed by the evil bread dough? It's a mystery we will never be able to solve.


As I contemplated life without my little friend, I began to desperately call all of my friends who bake enough to have a stand mixer but not often enough to miss it if I borrowed it for a week. Thankfully, I was able to locate one (thanks, Teresa!)--a nice big 800 watt Bosch that will not shrink at my four-loaf batches, with which I intend to load the freezer. I hope my little mixer understands and forgives me for moving on so quickly.

Funeral services will be held today, as I remove the remains from my kitchen. Anyone interested may attend, but don't expect cookies at the event!

In lieu of flowers, condolences may be sent in the form of cookies, bread, and icing. Tip-offs to yard sale mixers (full size) would also be appreciated.

Eight Tag

I have a few post ideas cooking right now, but I haven't had the time I need to spend on such weighty topics as the economy, teaching our children modesty, and saving traditional marriage. I hope to do these posts next week when we're taking a week off of school, but as I am putting lots of things off until next week, it may be just as busy as all the others!

Anyhow, Rebecca tagged me for a game where we can tell any 8 random facts about ourselves. I've tweaked it a little, and I won't tag anyone, so just read and leave me a comment! And stay tuned--my next post is #200 and I have a giveaway planned.

Eight Things I Wish I Had More Time For:

1. Reading--I have been reading Wives and Daughters for 2 months now--pathetic
   
2. Blogging--this twice a week posting is driving me crazy
3. Calling friends on the phone--this is a rare treat anymore, but used to be my daily staple
4. Studying the scriptures--I do get in 30 minutes most days, but I'd love to spend more
5. Traveling--although money is also to blame here
6. Spending time with extended family
7. Cleaning and Household Projects--sad, but true
   
8. Developing New Talents--I really want to learn to sew, practice the piano, and so much more.

Eight Books I'm So Glad That I've Read:

1. The Book of Mormon--I couldn't navigate my life without this one, hand in hand with number 2. I spend time reading it every day and it never gets old or fails to fill my cup.
2. The Holy Bible--see number 1.
3. Covenant Hearts--click to read my review. The best book on marriage I've ever read.
4. The Well-Trained Mind--although I am still working through this one, I use it as a reference. It helped me develop my philosophy and hopes for homeschool into real plans.
5. Anna Karenina--this powerful novel so beautifully depicts the Russian consciousness of the time and illustrates the tragedy that comes from selfishness and adultery. Possibly my favorite novel of all time.
6. The Out-of-Sync Child--excellent resource on Sensory Integration Dysfunction/Sensory Processing Disorder.
   
7. On Becoming Babywise--this book is considered to be quite controversial. And yet, most of the criticisms on it seem to be based on "hearing about the book"-- I did not find it's method of helping babies sleep through the night to be rigid or cruel at all. What I took away from this book was a philosophy to feed my baby when they first wake rather than right before it's time to sleep again. I tried to keep them on a 3 hour schedule, although I think you can tell if your baby is truly hungry and I certainly would bend in such situations. I always made sure to change their diaper before putting them down so that they would fall asleep in their cribs. My outcome (with babies 3 and 4--the babies I had after reading this book)? I did not have babies crying themselves to sleep. If they cried, I picked them up. What I had was babies who knew how to fall asleep without me suckling them, rocking them, or sleeping next to them. They were both sleeping 12 hours straight at night before they were 8 weeks old. Twelve hours. This method worked much better for us than what he had done previously, which was get the baby to sleep, put him down, and hope he stayed asleep. Those babies eventually had to be trained to put themselves to sleep when they were much older--and that's when the real "crying it out" took place!
8. Pride and Prejudice--How could I not name this one? It's not that it has made me a better person or anything, but it is so well written, so delightfully funny, so very Jane Austen. This book is here for all of those great books that I couldn't fit on this list of eight.

Eight Foods I Can and Will Eat Any Time of Day (all are homemade unless otherwise noted):

1. Macaroni and Cheese
2. Apple Boysenberry German Chocolate Lemon Meringue Pie (German Chocolate from Marie Callendar's)
3. Fresh Bread
4. Granola (Homemade or Trader Joe's Vanilla Almond)
5. Cheesecake
6. Anything Chocolate
7. Fresh Salsa
8. Cookies

(Notice a trend there? It's almost all sweet.)

Eight Things I Love About Being A Mom:

1. Kissing a squishy, chubby cheek
2. Saying "I Love You" after family prayers
3. One-on-one tender moments with my kids
4. Sharing books I love with my kids
5. Hugging, holding, and rocking
6. Singing
   
7. Trying to interpret a one-year-old's language
8. Watching them sleep
   

Wordfull Wednesday: This is Me

Cocoa over at Chocolate on My Cranium sponsors a twice monthly bloggy writing series called "Wordfull Wednesdays". Cruise on over and check it out!

The Wordfull Wednesday topic this week is "This is Me." As I mused over the many different directions I could go with such a theme, I finally decided to share with you a few foods that are much like me. If you know me well, you know that food and I are close pals; we go way back. And I just can't seem to break up with food no matter how many times I think it might be good for me. So here goes:

Who am I? I am a piping hot dish of homemade mac n cheese. (Never, never the kind made with powdered cheese--how dare you!) I am the one you can come to when you need comfort. I have always been the shoulder to cry on, the friend who hears your ranting and venting, the one you tell all of your secrets. I love to help people feel better about themselves, about their lives, and to assure them that everything will be okay. I'm not usually the one who will kick you when you're down by listing all the things you did to get yourself into this predicament--I'm there to catch you and to pick you up and dust you off.

Who am I? I am the big pot of soup on the stove, always ready to stretch to feed a few more. If you stop by my house hungry, you can be sure that you won't leave that way. My husband (and a couple of my kids who overload easily) would surely function just fine if there were fewer people around, but I love having friends and family in our home, eating and laughing and talking.

Who am I? I am the chocolate fountain just begging for a party to begin. Beckoning to everyone, tempting you from across the room to come on over. My family knows that I will always try to convince them to come to our house for any holiday or visit; I lure them with food, with grandkids or nephews, with promises of great weather or an afternoon at the pool, with anything that might tempt them to come. And if I had my way, I'd throw a party every month or so. I love parties, (although I haven't learned yet how to have a party without anxiety, which is one big reason why I don' t have them more often!)

Who am I? I am a bowl of Rice Krispys. Snap, Crackle, Pop! I rarely stop talking, unless it's to hear what you have to say (and I have a terrible habit of interrupting.) Always going a mile a minute, you are unlikely to have quiet when I'm in the room.

Who am I? I am a cold glass of limeade. Not content with being plain old lemonade, always the overachiever. Or at least the wannabe overachiever. And I try not to let on how much work it was to pick those limes and squeeze them all, then make the syrup . . . somehow appearing effortless is part of being an overachiever. And yet, limeade is unpretentious and old-fashioned, which I hope I am. For all of my perfectionism, I don't expect you to be perfect and I know deep down that I won't be, either.

And lest this makes you believe that I'm closer to perfect than the average girl . . .

Who am I? Most of the time, I am soft, pillowy, white marshmallow. I wish it wasn't true, but it is! I may be a regular at the gym, but I am generally soft and squishy. Especially my belly. Sigh.

Who am I? Sometimes I am a brittle egg, ready to crack at any moment and make a mess of things in the process! Those days, I feel sorry for my poor children and their fragile, tense mother.

Who am I? Occasionally I am the frenetic popcorn, popping away, running in every direction without taking the time to think, to breathe, to plan. Those days, I feel sorry for my cooler headed husband, who never seems to do anything without planning to do it first and who is rarely stressed out. (I feel sorry for him because he has to deal with me, not because he doesn't stress!)

Who am I? Some days I am the limp, over-cooked piece of lasagne, feeling worn out and unwilling to perk up much. I just want to be left alone and any little demand on me feels like enough to finish me off. Luckily, those days don't come around very often.

Who am I? I am a daughter of God. I know this first and foremost, and I know that on those days when I am struggling with the egg, the popcorn, the lasagne, or even the limeade, I can turn to Him and He will give me peace. Knowing that I am His daughter, knowing that He knows me personally and cares about my little life is what makes me who I am. It allows me to look outside of myself, to stretch myself (and allow myself to be stretched), to find peace in the midst of turmoil. I can put my trust in Him and He will lead me by the hand. He will love me with my faults. He will make of me a precious diamond if I will allow Him to. And I know that the same is true for you. He loves you. He knows you by name. And he wants to help you become the Ultimate You. Your Best You.

Last Days of Summer

I'm feeling torn in two directions this week. Or more than two. Part of me wants to play, visit with friends, and take the kids to do fun summer things because school is starting next week. The other part of me wants to lock the kids in the backyard, have everyone live on cold cereal and go without clean laundry while I whip my house into shape and get my lesson plans done through Christmas. This is because I feel like life is going to change next week. It's a lot like the way I feel when I'm about to have a baby--I'm in a frenzy to get everything ready and wish that I could just have one more week, no two more weeks until everything changes and I don't have any time for myself.

The rational side of me can remember that when school starts we will continue to have fun, I will still have time to read, see friends (not often enough), blog, and clean the house--I will just have to be a lot more organized to accomplish this than I have been during the past six weeks when we have mostly stopped doing schoolwork and just lazed around without a routine. (Could this possibly be the reason that my boys are at each other's throats?:)

Anyway, the boys asked me on Tuesday if they could have a "club" party this week. A couple of weeks ago I encouraged them to go outside and play (my usual schtick when I'm trying to get housework done and they are no longer being helpful) and suggested that they turn the "playhouse" that they never use into a "clubhouse." A new club was born which keeps them very busy. When I pay close attention, it does bother me a little bit that it resembles a communist nation with Kimball as the dictator (they say pledges about obey the president and keep lots of secrets), but I try to push that to the back of my mind because they are so happy out there and I have a few minutes to myself to clean blog.

I said yes to a club party, but limited the invitations to one family, since I wanted this to be small scale (translate: practically free and not stressful). They delightedly got busy making invitations for their friends Hayden and Brycen, planning party games and decorations, and telling me all of the food they wanted at the party. (They suggested a fondant cake shaped like a clubhouse-- they have obviously spent too much time around their talented aunt. We compromised on zebra brownies--recipe below-- which take 15 minutes for me to make and included only ingredients I had on hand.) They also served pretzels, grapes, hot dogs, and pink lemonade.

They scurried around this morning when I reminded them that a house needs to be clean when you're going to host a party. They got their bedrooms cleaned in record time and then got busy with crepe paper streamers outside. Here's how it looked when they were finished:


Lucky for me, Mandy (the guest's mom) came along, so we got to chat and catch up while the party kids played trampoline soccer (I'm very safety conscious like that), sidewalk chalk tic-tac-toe, and rode their bikes out in the cul-de-sac.

When the "party" ended, my little hosts were hot and tired and ready for some down time--but before we turned on Annie to relax they learned an important lesson about hosting parties: cleaning up.

If you are in need of some last days of summer treat (or a first days of the school year treat) and are willing to crank up the oven in spite of the heat, try out this recipe for "Zebra Brownies." My boys loved the name, but I love the taste. (Sorry that there's no picture. Mandy and I were so busy chatting that I forgot to take photos. Make them yourself to see what they look like!:)

Zebra Brownies

• Your favorite brownie recipe or your favorite boxed mix
• 8 oz. marscapone, cream cheese, or reduced fat cream cheese, at room temperature (but know that the marscapone is the most heavenly of the three.)
• 1 egg
• 1/3 cup granulated poison sugar
• 1 tsp. vanilla

Make the brownies according to the directions in the recipe or on the box. Pour the mixture into the greased pan. If you want, wash out the bowl. Or just scrape the brownie batter out fairly well and use the bowl again. They are all going to be together in a few minutes anyway.

Mix the marscapone, egg, sugar, and vanilla together until smooth and creamy. Spoon large dollops onto the top of the brownie batter. Using a butter knife, swirl the chocolate and cream cheese until it is lovely and stripy or swirly as desired. Bake in 325 oven until a toothpick comes out clean (time depends on your brownie recipe.) Cool completely, then refrigerate for best flavor.

You Know You Want To

It's not too late to join us in our Healthy Habits Exercise Challenge! Leave me a comment or send me an email and I'll add your name to our roster. Click on the picture at the left to see our website. You know you want to join us. As of writing this, we have 11 people signed up (my sister is the only one under duress,) and I would really like to see 20-30 of us. Not only can we all get healthy together, but that will increase the amount in the Victory Pool. So COME ON! You know you want to. Think about how strong and lean you will feel when Thanksgiving rolls around, tempting you to fill up on dinner rolls and pumpkin pie.

I need this so badly because I have been rolling over and going back to sleep way too often lately. Far too often. And eating too much ice cream, cobbler, chips with garden-fresh salsa, and bundt cakes. Bundt cakes because I have been feverishly concocting recipes for the Nordic Ware Bundts Across America contest. You may remember that it is one of my 40 before 40 goals to win a recipe contest. As far as I'm concerned, being chosen as a finalist and winning a prize of any sort would qualify. If not this one, there will be plenty of other opportunities. (Too bad another 40 before 40 goal is to weigh significantly less than I do when entering baking contests. Do I sense a paradox?)

For this particular contest, you must submit a photo of your cake with a slice taken out of it and the Nordic Ware pan next to it. Which means that you have to make the cake and not just submit a recipe. And since I am a procrastinator, and since I entered three recipes, we've got a lot of cake around here today. (The deadline was today, naturally.) So tomorrow morning I'm taking a Christmas breakfast coffeecake to a shower brunch. Hope they are feeling Christmasy! Sure, fresh strawberries and lemon pound cake would have been a better choice in August, but I'm not about to make another cake tonight. Forget about it.

As you may have figured out if you've been reading my blog for very long, sugar is my downfall. I have a major sweet tooth and find homemade treats and quality chocolates and premium ice cream to be irresistible. I can pass up a Chips Ahoy, but not a See's Candy Walnut Square Bar. I can skip a cupcake from the store but hardly ever a homemade one, especially if it has thick, buttery frosting. And never if it's this one. Possibly the best cupcakes I have ever made. But I digress. I am sure that if I ever conquer this whole sweet tooth thing, my weight management issues will be much more manageable. :)

What about you? What food is irresistible to you? What is easy to pass up, at least when you are trying to eat well? Let's discuss amongst ourselves.

Torturing My Kids

I'm the meanest mom on the planet. Just ask my kids.

You've heard me complain before about how frustrating it is to feed picky eaters. I know that I'm not alone in this. I really make an effort to serve healthy foods-- almost every meal has a salad, at least one vegetable, and some fruit. We eat more whole grains than not. My downfall, which cannot help but be translated to theirs as well, is my sweet tooth combined with my passion for baking. Plus, I guess I have catered to their picky ways, even though I have tried to avoid it. They each have the things that they like to eat and manage to just fill up on those, which mostly involves one pet vegetable, most fruits, pinto beans, and breads in any variety as long as nothing in them appears to be a seed. Some of my boys will eat chicken and meat, others will not.

Well, Tuesday night, after going through way too much effort to get my kids to eat their beef and broccoli stir fry with brown rice, I announced that we were having a day of fruits and vegetables tomorrow. I did let them choose one serving of whole grains this morning, but the rest of the day their options were veggies and fruits. They seemed to do okay until dinner time (let's face it--by then they were starving) when I served roasted sweet potato discs, parmesan and panko-crusted broccoli with a cheesy sauce (I took some liberties with the recipe), zucchini oven chips (breaded in milk and panko and baked), and a big green salad. I'll admit that I would have loved a slab of crusty bread with it, but it was all quite good and I was proud of myself for coming up with a meal of multiple veggies, each of them distinct and delicious, and all in about 45 minutes.

The boys were less impressed. They couldn't believe that there was "nothing we like" for dinner. Bronwen gobbled it down with glee. Henry and Ian discovered that the sweet potatoes were better than they looked and the overdone ones were kinda like chips. Henry actually ate his entire green salad, complete with kidney beans, olives, cucumbers, and tomatoes--and asked for more. Kimball licked the broccoli (I had him pegged as the one who would gobble it down. I was wrong), nibbled at his Romaine, and whimpered in spite of warnings from his dad against whining. At one point, he insisted the the taste of broccoli had blinded him in one eye, leading me to do an impression from A Christmas Story "It was . . . broccoli poisoning!" (in the movie it's soap poisoning, but the melodramatics were the same.)

Later, as I was sitting in their room, nursing their wounds as they dressed for bed, Henry asked, "Mom, how long we going to have nothing but fruits and vegetables?" To which I responded, "From now on!" He looked at me slyly and said, "Nah, you'll forget before that."

Drat. He knows me too well.

"Well," I said, "I guess we'll have to keep doing it until we can be enthusiastic about having broccoli for dinner. When you are as excited about broccoli as you are about bread, we'll have succeeded."

"You see," I added, "I've realized that I've been a bad mom." I was about to tell them how I had failed them by not teaching them to like vegetables more, let alone a wider variety of whole grains, or foods that are mixed together, actually touching each other on the plate.

"Oh, Mom, you were doing perfectly well until today!" Kimball said passionately. "Why won't you reform?"

"Yeah, Mom. Go back to your old ways!" said Henry.

I couldn't help it. I burst out laughing. Which only made them feel all the more persecuted.

We'll see. Henry is probably right. I may tire of this experiment before they have learned what I want them to learn. But I haven't given up yet. Tomorrow I'm thinking I'll go soft on them and prepare pizza--with caramelized onions and portabella mushrooms on it. Doesn't that sound great with a tossed salad? I can't wait for their reactions. Never a dull moment around here.

Introducing . . .

Ladies and Gentlemen (are there at least two of you boys out there?), I am pleased to introduce Prudence Pennywise, the alter ego and blog of one of my dearest friends, former roommates, and cooking mentors. She just launched this amazing blog featuring delicious food for a great price. I will vouch for each and every recipe, even if I haven't tried them yet. But I will be getting busy to make some of the Nantucket Cranberry White Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies as soon as I locate the ingredients (I'm at my mom's, whose pantry is not as prepared for spur-of-the-moment cookie baking.)
You simply must check out Prudy, leave her a comment telling her I sent you (so she knows who loves her best,) and try a recipe today.

St. Patty's Day Treats

I decided to post a day ahead of St. Patrick's Day, just in case anyone wants to use these ideas. I'm going to be making a few festive foods for my kids. Since I'm not a corned-beef-and-cabbage fan, I am mostly doing green foods. Here are some of our planned foods for tomorrow:

We are starting the day off with Diane's Green Smoothie. I have been meaning to try this on my kids for some time, and I figure that if I make it on St. Patty's Day, they might not question the origin of the green color. Then, once they already love it, it will be easier to serve more often. I have tons of fresh spinach, mixed berries, and a frozen banana ready. I'm also going to use some organic grape juice instead of soy milk. More antioxidants and natural sweetness.

I'm also going to make some Irish Soda Bread. I'm hoping to approximate the first Irish Soda Bread that I tasted, back when I worked at Mason's Bakery. I plan on using this recipe, but omitting the caraway seeds and substituting raisins for currants (because that's what I have in my pantry.) We'll probably have some of this with our smoothies and some more in the evening with our soup.

For dinner, I'll probably make Barefoot Contessa's Fresh Pea Soup, although I may be using a dollop of nonfat yogurt instead of creme fraiche. Because I need to save on calories somewhere, right?:) With it, we'll have spinach salad with Granny Smith apples, toasted nuts, dried cherries, and feta.

For lunch, Christine and I are taking Mandy out for her birthday, so my kids are having PB&J sammies with a babysitter, but I may leave some lime jello for a sweet treat. We, on the other hand, will have carrot-pineapple cupcakes with cream cheese icing. I have them baking right now. It's Mandy's birthday and she should have to eat green cake if she doesn't want it! I'll post the recipe later, or let Christine do it, since her blog is all about cupcakes.

What are your St. Patty's Day traditions? Does anyone have a tradition I can add that doesn't involve food!:) I have a real problem that way! So share your ideas with me.