Pancakes and French Fries

The Lowly Bean and Other Food-Based Adventures

Jules — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 20:38:12 +0000

Not to be out done by his older brother, Nicholas made his own sunflower seed-butter and jelly sandwich yesterday. (Nut allergy, remember?)

Cooking with children being what it is, a certain Beagle named Buster waited patiently for disaster to ensue. Unfortunately for Buster, nothing happened. Fortunately for Buster, Nicholas fed him the sandwich when I wasn’t looking. Nicholas is not a fan of sandwiches.

Video games are very good for hand eye coordination. (So they say.) You know what else is good and twice as cheap? Lima beans. Take a bag of cheap beans, two bowls, and a spoon. Present it to your 2.5 year old, and prepare to catapult into the Cool Mom Hall of Fame.

They will take their task (moving the beans from one bowl to the other) very seriously.

You can expect a few “bean overboard” moments, but they resolve themselves quickly by hand or by Beagle. Try your hardest to resolve it by hand instead of by Beagle.

Once one bowl is empty, they can repeat the process. Or, you can try to pour the beans back in the bowl if that sounds more exciting. However, your 2.5 year old may notice that every time he approaches the target bowl his pudgy fingers inadvertently pushes it away from him. Troubling.

He has no choice but to put down the bowl and recruit your help as the official target bowl holder. Things move smoothly after that stroke of genius.

I wish my double chin was half as cute.

Success.

Hand-Eye Coordination Games: Available at a supermarket and kitchen near you.

The Chef

Jules — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 22:08:35 +0000

Yesterday Mikey announced he had created a recipe in his head that he would like to make for dinner and “I want you to take pictures of it and put it on your website, okay, mom? Then I want you to tell me what the people say.”

So that’s exactly what we did. This isn’t the first recipe Mikey’s come up with and not the first time he has expressed an interest in cooking. Last week he developed a tomato and carrot salad that he instructed me to roast for exactly one minute. I have to say, it tasted great! (But I did roast it for longer than one minute.)

Last night we ate pasta tossed with olive oil, sauteed mushrooms, roasted butternut squash, spinach, and carrots. We added many seasonings and decided as a team to leave out the dried mustard and garlic chili powder. It needed a little more flavor, so we ended up drizzling it all with balsamic vinegar.

It wasn’t until he was looking at the pictures I took (he printed one out for show and tell today) that it occurred to him you would be reviewing his work in the kitchen. I could tell that he suddenly wasn’t so sure of his idea to share with everyone his creation.

“Are the people going to give me a grade, mama?”

“I’m sure they will just tell you that your recipe looks delicious.”

And it was. I had the leftovers for lunch.

What We Did Today

Jules — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 04:37:19 +0000

Mikey didn’t have school today, so I was determined to make it fun for him. Unfortunately, all the museums were closed. We improvised. We baked the Versunkener Apfelkuchen (German Apple Cake) from The Joy of Vegan Baking.

{The way Nico closed his eyes as he took a drag of warm cake aroma cracked me up!}

The we went to the library. It’s one of their favorite places to go.

And when that library didn’t have the books we wanted, we went to another one.

First we ate lunch in the parking lot. I harassed them from the front seat. No, I’m not wearing makeup. Thanks for noticing.

Then we went inside. They played while I looked at old movies and picked up some books I had on hold.

Then we came home, read books, napped (Nico) and started on dinner. Wait until I tell you about dinner. I’ll do it tomorrow when the chef is in school.

It was a really nice day.

Shared Bedrooms

Jules — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 16:27:06 +0000

We are debating having the boys share a room. It isn’t necessary, but The Mister always enjoyed sharing a room with his older brother and has this idea it will “be good for Mikey and Nico.” I like the idea because it opens up a room in our house for guests, crafts, and other nice sounding things that will probably never happen. The room, being in a mid-century home, is plenty big for two twin beds. In fact, I’m sure its size reflects the assumption that siblings would be sharing the space. Nicholas’s room is much smaller by comparison.

What are your thoughts on siblings sharing a bedroom?

{The above photo is from the talented Jenny of Little Green Notebook. Her daughters share a room that she recently redecorated.}

Awkward Bathroom Moments

Jules — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 07:00:51 +0000

It certainly wasn’t the first time Jules walked in on someone in the bathroom. She did live in the dorms during college, after all. But it was definitely the first time in recent memory she happened upon two knights in full armor, ready to fight to the death before a backdrop of original grandma wallpaper. On a toilet.

The Link Girl

Jules — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 16:26:52 +0000

Among my friends, I am known as the one who will send an email with just a link attached. I can’t help it–when I see something online that I think someone will like, I almost always pass it on. There are a few things I have seen online that I think some of my readers will like. Since I don’t have your emails, here ya’ go!

Summer and Jessica: Today on The Bright Side Project Tristan and I are giving away some goodies from Knock Knock. Summer, there are some great list-making tools to be had. Jessica, the library kit reminded me of you. :) Oh, and because someone just sent me an email last week having just put two and two together: YES, I AM MISS K.! The Bright Side Project is my other blog, but that one I share with Tristan, who has her own personal blog and is my business partner on Besotted Brand, too. I know, totally confusing.

Hannah: How is your adventure in vegan-land going? Here are some recipe sources for Thanksgiving I thought you might like. Kathy (I love her blog) has scheduled a slew of Thanksgiving posts. Nava Atlas (I have one of her books) just put up a Vegan Thanksgiving ebook. I bought it, and it’s great. I heard about it through Susan at Fat Free Vegan.

This one is for Ginger, who works with The Mister. Summer just posted about this lovely CD of hymns, and I have to agree with Summer–they are top notch.

I had a few more links in my mind, but for the life of me I can’t remember what they were! It’s too bad I can’t enter my own Knock Knock giveaway on The Bright Side Project. Mama needs some organizational tools…

Antique Drop Leaf Table

Jules — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 19:33:23 +0000

You know what this means. I am one step closer to making my kitchen look like this inspiration picture. I haven’t yet convinced The Mister that a Polo Green kitchen is the way to go, but he also didn’t like this table when we saw it weeks ago in a local antique mall.

He’s modern, I’m traditional; with it’s turned, slender legs and apron front, this mahogany table said a whole lotta Jules and not much The Mister. I bought it Sunday using my super negotiation powers (on both the vendors and The Mister.)

But, The Mister is nothing if not a noble gentleman, and he admitted (without me asking him to) that it looks mighty fine underneath our kitchen window. It will look even better with a Polo Green backdrop, fully opened and drooping under the weight of a pile of yummy food for Christmas. I promise.

Halloween: Not My Favorite.

Jules — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 08:39:16 +0000

In keeping with tradition, we continue with our series of WORST HALLOWEEN PICTURES EVER. The Mister and I love the peacock costume and when Mikey wore it, he loved it, too. But Nicholas? You would have thought I was poking his testicles with hot pokers the way he was protesting–and if you ask my brother in law, putting a boy in this costume isn’t much different.

Lucky for Captain Testosterone, I had Mikey’s old puppy dog costume shoved in the back of the closet underneath a pile of swim suits and beach towels. After I shook the dust off, I crammed Nico’s near-three years of toddler into a costume sized for an 18 month old. Have you ever seen a terrier wear capris? You have now.

In other news, if you are old enough to, I don’t know, claim dependents on your taxes, don’t trick-or-treat at our house because The Mister and I will call you out on your douche-baggery. Just ask the twenty something year old guy who strolled up wearing jeans and a sweater.

“Trick or Treat,” he claimed as he held open a bulging pillow case. The Mister was not impressed.

“Dude. What are you even supposed to be?”

Twenty something year old guy delicately extended a foot in The Mister’s direction to show him his worn Vans. “I’m a skater dude.”

“Well, skate or die, bro. Happy Halloween.”

Want more proof of our hostility? Track down the Suburban filled with twelve families that would stop at each block, walk a few houses, and then drive 20 feet to the next block. I’m sure they will advise you to heed our warning. Hey, we all know I’m the laziest when it comes to exercise but, really? You can’t walk on Halloween? If you’re feeling a bit weak, start gnawing on the Smarties bouncing around in that Santa Claus-sized sack of candy and chase it with a Jolt or whatever it is you have rolling around under the seats of your Halloween Chariot. In other words: YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME.

So, The Mister gives the lazies their candy with a healthy dose of stink eye. I can almost see the slides of power point presentation on juvenile diabetes escaping out of his ears like steam. Even then, there was no need for them to worry until the forty year old matriarch of this band of sedentary travelers moved towards The Mister like a barge heading into the Panama Canal.

“Now, come on! What? Who? What are you?”

“Nah, I’m not trick or treating.”

“You’re not?” At this point The Mister could only look pointedly at her outstretched bag of candy.

“Nope. I’m collecting.”

“Collecting?!” Collecting? Like a bookie? Is this the mob? Was she planning to shake us down for some bite-sized Snickers and some Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups?

“Yeah, for her. She twisted her ankle.”

Her. I see. Just one quick question: WHO IS HER?! Is Her in the Suburban? Is Her a child? A dog? A figment of our imagination? Whoever Her is, we know she has a bum ankle. I can only assume the weight of two hundred pounds of candy collected in 3 hours over 20 city miles crushed Her’s bones like dry twigs. Much like you, you behemoth woman, have crushed our hopes and dreams that there exist people out there who won’t go to any means necessary for some free candy.

Don’t even get me started on the young couple who were trick or treating with the sleeping 6 month old…

Reflections | Three

Jules — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 17:49:59 +0000

I stumbled across the book Breathe: Creating a Space for God in a Hectic Lifewhile browsing PaperBackSwap.com for decor books. It turned out to be a fantastic book and exactly what I needed to read, although I have no idea why it popped up when it did. {Que creepy music.} I’ve compiled a few of my favorite passages from the book that I would like to share–perhaps it will give you something to think about, too?

On packed schedules…

Despite the fact that a doctor is telling us that to hurry will cause us to feel fatiqued or depressed, gain weight, and lose interest in sex, we still find it hard to slow down. Why? I think it is in part because we believe the lie that “if I am busy, I must be important.”

On how we identify ourselves…

It’s as if we believe that our value comes from what we do. [...] Our value comes not from what we do but from who we are.

On rushing through our lives…

There are times we need to prod children to get going, but often we push them even if there is nowhere we have to be and absolutely no reason to hurry.

On clinging to our hectic lives…

We live in a culture focused on doing. That’s one reason so many of us wrestle with being a parent: time with our kids doesn’t seem like we are producing anything. To ruthlessly eliminate hurry would make us feel “unproductive,” which we’re afraid is actually a sin. We’d also have to actually be a parent, to connect with our kids, and we’re not sure we can do that well. We don’t know how to measure our success there, so again, we feel unproductive, which is very uncomfortable.

On material possessions…

Waste lies not in the number of possessions but in the failure to enjoy them. Your success at being frugal is measured not by your penny-pinching but by your degree of enjoyment of the material world.

On humility…

[...] pace yourself so that your family gets your best.

If I am being honest, I would have to say this book dropped in my lap because I have a fair bit to learn from the pages inside.

Ralph Lauren Polo Green

Jules — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 17:30:10 +0000

{not Ralph Lauren Polo Green, but hotness all the same}

I don’t have to tell you I love this picture. Thanks, Jennifer, for providing endless inspiration to those of us with updated/traditional taste and bringing me that much closer to painting my entire kitchen Polo Green.

The Mister, consider yourself warned.