December 31, 2007 @ 19:25

Back on the old blog, I used to post what I’d done towards being healthier every Monday.  It kept me honest.  When I started writing here, I slacked off from those posts, the timing coindiding with Puppy’s diagnosis and my previously mentioned falling off the fitness wagon.  So, starting today, the Monday’s Stats are back.  Each Monday I’ll post the previous week’s mileage, number of crunches (debate on the value of crunches still ongoing, but hey, it’s what I’ve got), hours of other fitness pursuits and the biggie: pounds lost. 

Monday, December 31st 2007

Mileage:  6

Number of Crunches: 200

Hours of Other Fitness Activities: 1

Pounds Lost: 3

Judging by the top numbers, I may not have deserved those 3 lost pounds, but pretty good for the week of Christmas.  Next week promises to be better.  In the meantime, I’m going to finish preparing the lowfat munchies for the New Year’s Eve gathering at my house.  Y’all be safe and have a Happy New Year! 

December 28, 2007 @ 19:56

This weekend, between the much needed break I’ve been gifted with by Puppy’s Daddy and Stepmommy, I plan to pack all the Christmas away.  I recently read that it’s bad luck to have the tree still up on New Year’s Day.  If only I’d known, all those years of wasted good luck.  This year Trixie and I have agreed to make sure that we have black eyed peas and greens and ham hock on New Year’s Day, to further ensure the fortunes of 2008.  I’m in the beginning of my five day grown up stretch and am getting the house squared away with no little feet under foot.  It’s quiet and contemplative around here.  Uh oh . . . 

I make jokes alot about how different my family is, one from another.  One of my favorite stories is the Christmas with square ham and no presents.  It’s a good one.  But this year was even better.  I wasn’t expecting much from Christmas this year.  My family is in transition.  You know those years where some generations are passing on and others are reaching adulthood, new babies, new jobs, new lives.  In the last handful of years we lost all of our grandparents.  It’s sometimes hard to really comprehend that they are all gone now.  And sometimes not just hard, but hurtful.  That big round ache that makes it hard to breathe.  I’m going to turn 39 in just a few weeks, on the same day that my Meemaw passed away.  My birthday has never been the same for me since that one.  That year it was as if I didn’t have a birthday at all.  And the years since are colored by that experience.  I was during my pregnancy with Puppy and I had not yet told her.  I regret that now.  That day, I didn’t sit in the hospital waiting room that day thinking about how it was my birthday.  Just the opposite, it didn’t occur to me at all, until my mother pointed it out as we were leaving.  We were gathering our coats.  I had just watched my mother make the hardest decision anyone can have to make and was just doing my best to be there for her, when she remembered it.  It was one of those moments in your life when all your perspectives shift, just a bit.  I remember looking at her as she realized and said something apologetic about it being my birthday and thinking how absolutely unimportant my birthday was in comparison to the moment.  But it is in a very sad way, special to me that it mattered to her.  Similar to the moment when Bear was born.  I remember, finally, after waiting for him to be brought to me, and then waiting until the room had cleared before I would unwrap him from his little bundle and count his fingers and toes.  I didn’t want to share the moment.  Partly because I was terrified, suddenly becoming the most important person in the world to someone is daunting, and also because I was giddy at the thought of this perfect little person in my arms who belonged to me and loved me, just because I was me.  Suddenly, I had a new piece of perfect perspective, perfect wisdom for knowing what was important. 

This Christmas, my brother gathered up all of the old 8mm home movies and had a DVD made for my father.  We were almost all of us together to watch.  It was almost two hours of silent perfect moments.  My uncle, who has now passed, dancing with his mother.  My mother, with her arm tucked into my father’s, they’ve been divorced more than thirty years now.  My cousins, who we almost never called cousin, but as a whole called one another brother and sister.  My father so young it makes your heart ache.  Just before Vietnam.  Dawna with her golden hair and sweet little ears.  All the boys in succession swinging baseball bats and running up and down basketball courts.  And every one dancing.  Always dancing.  My family.  Over the years we’ve had some ugly moments.  Not one of them matters.  This year, my brother gave me the gift of one more perfect moment, where my perspective shifted just a bit more, with more wisdom and more clarity of what is important.  And it is to always remember moments like this are the ones that matter. 

And to let them override the moments that don’t matter.  Thanks Jason, for a very special gift. 

December 28, 2007 @ 18:46

If, and of course I am not suggesting that you EVER would, but IF, you happen to be goofing off, here’s an interesting place to do so.  And of course we all get a lunch break, too. 

FreeRice.com

As you play the vocab game, you earn actual grains of rice which are donated to the United Nations to help end world hunger.  Nice . . . 

Paula would be so proud of me . . . 

A friend called me over the weekend as I was baking Christmas cookies.  I scrambled around and found a pen but the only thing I could find to write her number on? 

Yep, that’s a box of butter . . .  we do live in the land of plenty.  And I’m beyond thankful for it. 

Not too long ago, I went looking for further information on Paula Deen and her position with Smithfield and the controversy that’s going on there.  Now, I’m not going into that here.  No way.  But, I was curious and did a bit of reading and now have my opinion settled to my own satisfaction.  However, while I was out there looking, I stumbled over some very seriously angry people.  For her accent alone, please!  Are you serious?  And Rachel Ray has got some vicious haters out there, too.  Now anybody who knows me know I don’t watch her, don’t enjoy her, could totally be happy if she wasn’t everywhere on the aisles of my grocer and my favorite network.  But my god, there are sites out there that stalk her like she’s a child predator living next door.  Seriously, people, if you have enough time and energy to devote hours a day to hating something and making the world aware of all the wrongs you think are being inflicted on the world by that someone or something, is Rachel Ray really the best you could do?  As a favor to you, here’s a list of ten things, just as a sort of starter set for you, that you might want to check out.  These are actual problems in our world: 

These are the 10th Annual Top Ten Underreported Humanitarian Stories of 2007 from Doctors Without Borders.  

If your life can be consumed by the worst problem you have, and that problem is not liking what’s on TV, it’s time to turn your eyes outward and redirect your energies.  Otherwise what have you become, but a drain on the world’s resources with little value returned . . . My point is not that every waking moment of your life must be devoted to the suffering of others, although, hey, that’d be great.  I know we cannot all be saints all the time.  But I do believe we should all be very careful about what we put out into the world.  It matters.  Not liking Rachel, well, I’m pretty sure that does not . . . 

Walking ’round the room singing
Stormy Weather
at 57 Mt. Pleasant St.
Well it’s the same room but everything’s different
You can fight the sleep but not the dream
Things ain’t cooking in my kitchen
Strange affliction wash over me
Julius Caesar and the Roman Empire
Couldn’t conquer the blue sky
Well there’s a small boat made of china
Is going nowhere on the mantlepiece
Well do I lie like a loungeroom lizard
Or do I sing like a bird released

CHORUS
Everywhere you go you always take the weather with you (repeat)

Weather With You
Crowded House
Written By N. Finn & T. Finn

December 21, 2007 @ 06:58

We are having a whale of a Christmas so far.  It’s been more craziness at our house than you can shake a stick at.  I’m trying very hard to maintain my sense of humor about it all, as proof . . . 

I was in the kitchen when Puppy’s voice called out from his room “Help me, Mommy”.  I’d have run for it, but it was in his “this is so funny you’re gonna love this” voice, so I grabbed the camera instead.  There he was, standing on THE DOOR KNOB!  He laughingly asked for help down, I took this picture and then “helped”.  Welcome to my crazy world.  We should really call him monkey, instead.  But for now, our feet are all on the ground and we are knee deep in these. 

So all is right with our little world.  I hope that all of you are finding yourselves safe and sound this season.  Travel safely, treat yourself to the cookies without too much fretting over tomorrow, and love your kids.  For an even more profound take on those feelings, go read the words of the wisest woman I know in real life and her best friend . . . 

 Merry Christmas! 

December 19, 2007 @ 19:52 

Simple vanilla cake with cream cheese frosting. 

December 17, 2007 @ 18:26

7:00 a.m.  Wake up late, body has, in direct rebellion against the pace I have been maintaining, perfected the skill of hitting the snooze button without ever actually achieving consciousness. 

7:30 a.m.  Bear’s dad usually takes him to school on the Monday after dad weekend, but instead, he comes walking in the back door and scares the bejeezus outta me.  

7:35 a.m.  Begin the process of talking Puppy down from a full blown bad morning.  I don’t get out of the house until 8:30.  It was the best I could manage, because you can’t yell at him or lose your temper; you just gotta deal, right?  So we have a very lengthy conversation about what can and cannot be for today.  We finally emerge from the house with two toys and one hat.  Yes, that really took an hour. 

8:30 a.m.  Finally walk out the backdoor and the back water spigot has frozen and busted and is spraying water all over the back patio and has created our own personal luge shoot.  Which could be loads of fun, but we live in the South, nobody I know owns a sled . . .  dang it! 

9:00 a.m.  Finally get Puppy to school (yes, with a juice and Christmas cookie breakfast . . .  again . . .  it was low sugar gingerbread at least) and me to work.  Call my Daddy and he is wonderful and says he’ll come today to try and fix the spigot. 

10:30 a.m.  Manage to work until just before time to meet Daddy at the house.  Open my wallet to go online and see how much money I’ve got to go buy new spigot, debit card is missing.  Call the bank.  No, I didn’t leave it in the ATM Friday, that’d be too easy.  Cancel the card and order a new one.  Will it be here before Christmas?  Maybe . . .  grrr . . . 

10:45 a.m.  Go to the house to meet Daddy, who owns some of most gigantic and scary tools I’ve ever seen.  I swear the pipe wrench was taller than Puppy.  He fixes the spigot like it wasn’t any big deal.  So I get to have a nice long talk with my Daddy and don’t have to pay a plumber.  Awesome!  But, I relax too soon.  I’ve locked my keys in the house. 

12:00 p.m.  Arrive back at work to finish the day.  No, you really don’t want to know how I got back into my house . . .  really . . .  God bless Jenn for buying me lunch.  And holy crap, I’m tired . . . 

You will need . . . 

Cupcakes, chocolate frosting, red M&Ms or red hots, pretzels, two squeezey bottles, one with melted chocolate and one with melted white chocolate (or candy eyes, some crafty/foody stores will have them ready made) and a piping bag with a large round tip and leaf tip. 

You will end up with these . . . 

 Step One, frost the cupcakes, see down below there?  Nothing fancy, then place a large circle-ish blob of chocolate frosting on one side.  Now I could have said pipe a large oval with the large round tip on your piping bag, but that would have made half of my friends say, no way, forget it.  But this is no pressure, easy enough for the kids to get right up to their elbows with you.  And hey, if they end up looking like cheery holiday chocolate blobs?  You still had the fun of it, right?  So, now, where were we . . . 

Step One, frost the cupcakes . . .  Step Two, place a large circle-ish blob of chocolate frosting on one side . . . 

Step Three, add a candy nose . . .  Step Four, add pretzel antlers . . . 

Step Five, with the leaf tip, squish on some chocolate frosting ears, practice on your kids outstretched hand til you get the shape just right, Puppy loves to help with steps like that . . .  Step Six, squeeze on the white chocolate dots for the eyes . . . 

Step Seven, squeeze on the chocolate dots to complete his eyes . . . 

And then, marvel at the cuteness.  And make sure you take pictures of the kids all covered in chocolate frosty. 

December 11, 2007 @ 17:31

Last night we learned about fruitcake as it should be . . . and just before that, flour as Puppy thinks it should be . . .

Note to self, do not measure out the flour and walk away from the kitchen for any length of time long enough for Puppy to get ideas. This is what you get . . .

“No, Mommy, that’s not flowers, that’s snow! Thomas is stuck in the snow! He’s a very cheeky engine!” Hmmm, you don’t say . . .

But after sweeping the floor and dusting off the boy, I did manage to make a new version of my Meemaw’s Fresh Apple Cake especially for Bear to try. It usually has pecans, but with braces, he can’t have nuts. This version replaces the nuts with fragrant orange zest, chopped dates, and an extra dose of vanilla. The scent is heavenly! I think it’s a perfect substitution for the dreaded fruitcakes you generally see for the season, although I have to admit it here, I sincerely like fruitcake. My mother makes one that is fantastic. And judging by the reactions the leftovers had at my office today, this one will be liked by anyone you should decide to gift with it, as well . . .

Fragrant Orange Fresh Apple Cake

3 cups cored and cut up, unpeeled apples
1 1/4 cups sugar
zest of one orange
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 large egg
1/2 cup chopped dates
1 cup shredded coconut
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 3/4 cups flour
greased (or pammed) tube pan, a loaf pan will do, but we like the ring . . .

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Tumble together the apples and sugar and orange zest until apples are completely coated in sugar. Let apple mixture sit for at least 30 minutes. Add the vanilla, egg, oil, coconut, and dates and set aside. In another bowl mix the remaining ingredients. Pour the wet ingredients over the dry and mix just until combined, do not over work this batter. Spoon into a greased tube pan and bake at 350 degrees for 30 to 40 minutes. This is especially good while still warm from the oven, but moist and wonderful for several days. Because it is so moist, if you are going to keep it for more than a day, keep it in the refrigerator. 

Oh, you might be wondering if Bear liked it?  I’ve been informed that he doesn’t like coconut . . .  *sigh*  Nevermind that he ate coconut cake at Thanksgiving.  We’ll just chalk that one up to the fickleness of tweens. It couldn’t have anything to do with my Thanksgiving dessert disaster . . . 

December 09, 2007 @ 11:19

This is the easiest way turn a simple cupcake to an impressive sweet to take to a party . . . 

Looks simple enough, and I’d truly reccomend that you just use a mix, don’t stress yourself out, there’s enough of that with the holidays anyway.  Just follow the package directions for cupcakes and go forth.  I used my favorite cream cheese frosting here, but I totally approve of what we refer to as store-boughten.  I’ve piped the frosting on with a large star tipped pastry bag, but a butter knife and some of the store-boughten frosting will work just fine.  Because the surprise is what you’ve added to each.  Before filling and baking your cupcake cups, add a layer of sugary or fruity goodness. 

Try one tabelspoon each of chopped pecans, brown sugar, butter and maple syrup. 

Or my favorite . . . 

Cranberry filling made by simmering a bag of fresh cranberries with 1 cup of sugar and 1/2 cup of orange juice until syrupy.  Tart and with the cream cheese frosting that is so very sweet?  It’s heaven. 

Drop them into a second cupcake cup after you’ve taken them from the oven to prevent the bottom fillings from escaping through the original liner.