Before and After

Katie's Salad

My friend Katie passed this salad idea along to me and I eat it often. Cut up a tomato (sometimes I use sun dried toms alone or with fresh toms), add a can of chickpeas (rinsed) and an entire avocado. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. This time I added feta because feta makes everything better. You can also consider some lemon juice but I don't think that's necessary. Without the feta I think this salad is really good for you-- even though you are eating an entire avocado! This recipe is so simple and quick. I like to put it in a big bowl. Enjoy.

Find a Comfy Spot and Read

If there was only one thing I could pass on to my children it would be a love of reading. Most reading in our house is done at night, before bed. I'm a big reader myself but my kids probably don't even really know it! We should spend more time reading during the day too. I put some bins of books in the fairy tent. So far Alex has enjoyed spending time in there. This year in school the kids in Talia's class spend a lot of time looking at books themselves. It is the skill she learned in school this year that I'm most happy with-- she will now sit and look through a book even if no one is reading it to her. She is definitely learning how to read but it seems to take a ton of energy. She is so exhausted after concentrating so hard for just a few minutes. This morning she actually read a book to Alex for the first time. It was very cute.

Spring

I know, everyone in the world is posting about spring. I definitely never appreciated the onset of spring more than I do now; with two young kids in Wisconsin. We survived the winter! Even if winter returns and we get a bunch of snow between now and the end of April, the light at the end of the tunnel has made its appearance. The kids have enjoyed being outside and playing with neighbors who, despite living literally across the street from us, we have not seen since October. Today and yesterday when I drove Talia to school I kept having the sensation that I had forgotten something at home... of course! It was the snowsuit, the boots, the hat and mittens!

These pictures are from the spring flower show at Olbrich Gardens. Such a tiny room of flowers on display but just enough to dazzle Talia who wanted to find each different kind. It smelled heavenly and there was a little vegetable garden displayed which put me into a slight panic as I haven't done any planning for mine yet.

Enjoy enjoy enjoy before the weather turns again.

I made that skirt!

Talia's 5th birthday outfit. The skirt is the Bo Peep skirt from Anna Maria Horner's book, "Seams to Me". The pattern is pretty involved for me, I must say. I mistakenly cut two of the panels an inch short and then decided that the whole thing wasn't going to be long enough so I added the bottom hem (and to the top also, and added a drawstring bow). She LOVES it and I LOVE it and we received many compliments. I have to see how it held up after the wash. I hope it doesn't need ironing.

Homemade Gnocchi

Recently I took a cookbook out of the library (Urban Italian). It was mostly filled with meat dishes and other things I won't cook (which is why it's good to take cookbooks out at the library!). I wanted to cook at least one recipe from it so I decided to try my hand at homemade gnocchi. The recipe in the book was simple but it was four pages long with step by step pictures. I bought a potato ricer and got to business. While the dish was quite good, I doubt I'll be making too much homemade gnocchi. It was messy and stressful. Time is really a factor-- you want everything done as calmly but quickly as possible and with my kids fighting over playmobils, well, I was pretty stressed out. It might not be that bad second time around. I know what to expect so perhaps I won't be as stressed. Ron said they tasted like "little pillows of pasta goodness." The tomato sauce was from the book also and was quite good although I think I would put in about half the oil next time...

Five

Today is the day! We made cupcakes together (from scratch with buttercream frosting) and brought them into school. Talia made the cupcake toppers herself. The teachers and classmates really went out of their way to make Talia feel special. I read a story (Pinkalicious) and Alex was so happy to be part of the class for once. Ron had to go into work early today so T will open her gifts tonight with the whole family together.

My baby is turning 5 tomorrow

Quilt for Baby Kaiya

There's a story behind this fabric- I bought it about 3-4 years ago and made a wrap skirt. I didn't prewash the fabric and it shrank. I've been saving it because I just love this fabric combination. Originally I had a different quilt in mind for baby Kaiya but it just didn't feel right. I went back and forth on the idea of using the skirt and I finally took it apart stitch by stitch. The problem was that I didn't have very much of the fabric. I came up with a design that used every inch. Literally. I added the red stripe with the baby's name and appliqued the flowers to make it look more cohesive. I love how this project forced me to be more creative.

The quilt design just about killed me. It's hard to come up with a design when you have two very different motifs in the quilt top. I wanted something angular, like concentric squares but how would that translate to the name stripe, which is not angular at all? I ended up using a meandering design that crossed the borders of the squares and then did some free form boxes in the name stripe. I marked the quilt top with a washable crayola marker again and it washed out fine. That makes me so nervous! Near Kaiya's name I embroidered a little "love, nikki" in red. If you don't know what it is it would be hard to see it. But I know it's there.

Thrifted, $3.99

This bowl is quite big-- definitely enough to serve a small salad for 4. I'm in love with it. My purpose in going to the thrift store was to buy some serving dishes I could bring when we have dinner with friends and then leave them as a hostess gift. The problem is that I have bought three or four new dishes and I've fallen in love with all of them. This one just makes me smile.

Peasant Bread

I made my second batch from the cookbook Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day. We ate three loaves from my first batch (it's supposed to be 4 loaves so I'm not sure what happened...) and they were delicious. For my second batch I tried the recipe for European Peasant Bread, which has some rye and whole wheat flour in it. I may have undercooked it slightly, as the crust was a little soft and the inside a little bit gummy. So far we haven't let any of the loaves cool before we ate them, which can also result in a slightly undercooked taste and consistency. It is *really* hard to wait! I have enough dough for two or three more loaves so I'll have a chance to play around with the baking time. Doesn't it look fantastic though? I thoroughly recommend this book!

Talia's New Haircut!

Have I mentioned she also lost her second tooth? With Kindergarten registration coming up and her 5th birthday next week I feel shell-shocked by how quickly this is all happening.

Organized Art Closet

Ahh, the art closet. This is where all the magic happens. We are in this closet at least 5 times a day. It was a mess. I can't believe I let it get so bad. This is a complete makeover. Let's just say I got to know my labelmaker. Very well. I sort of wish I had a "before" picture but I'm kind of glad I don't. I probably wouldn't even show it. I'm taking bets to see how long this can last. I'm guessing less than a month. It took me about 5 hours to organize (and I needed a babysitter to watch the kids).

I've been really sidelined by illness this past week. I have a bilateral ear infection and sinus infection. I can not hear out of my left ear. Well, I hear a ringing sound. Constantly. It also feels like I just stepped off an airplane and my ear is completely stuffed. The rest of me is getting better. I finally broke down and started taking antibiotics, which I don't really believe in for what is really just a bad cold. But whatever. Luckily Ron has been around quite a bit and I haven't been the only child care provider in the house. The kids haven't been sleeping well either but that's another story. I expect to be better by my next post and I'll reveal pictures of Talia's new haircut and our spectacular 5th birthday plans.

Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes

Made this loaf of fresh bread last night. It really is the first bread I've made that didn't involve a bread machine (which I highly recommend if you don't have one-- they are so simple to use and fabulous!). It was delicious. I used the recipe from the book Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes. I think the 5 minutes part is how long the bread lasts before it gets eaten. Seriously. It was gone that fast-- Alex, Ron AND Talia chowed it down.

The whole concept of the book is that the authors have figured out a recipe and method for making a large batch of dough (enough for four 1-pound loaves) and storing it in the fridge for up to 2 weeks. When you need some fresh bread you cut off a chunk of dough, do a little magic (cloak it, let it rise for 40 minutes and then bake it for 30 minutes) and you have fresh bread. A one pound loaf is pretty small but I think that's the whole point of the book. It's only supposed to last one meal. Tomorrow I can bake another batch. It's that simple. I'm really excited to try out a more rustic loaf and a rye loaf and some other shapes. This was a boule but I might shape the next loaf as two small baguettes. The possibilities seem endless. Once again I'm rethinking this notion I have of myself as a cook- not a baker. So I don't like desserts. So what. Bread is the ultimate in baking.

On a Roll

We have entered birthday season in Talia's class. She attended two parties this past weekend and no doubt has a few more coming up in the spring. This 5 set came out really well. I had to piece the bottom trim together from a fat quarter I had and didn't have enough to add it to the top so I altered the twirly skirt pattern. I added two inches of length to the top of the skirt and folded the top down to make a casing. It worked beautifully and I think I will continue to do it that way. Most kids wear their shirts out so the top trim will rarely be seen and it was a little too much work for me. I had trouble turning it on the Care Bears skirt and it came out a little wonky. I also made the same skirt for Talia in the ugly heart fabric she picked out herself. I coerced her into letting me add a more contrasting fabric for the trim-- she had picked a black fabric with pink and red heart as the main fabric and then a black fabric with red lips on it for the trim. Luckily I was able to use a bright pink fabric with multicolored heart lollipops on it instead. I did promise a shirt with the red lips though. Wonder how I'll get out of that one. The fabric is so ugly...

The reason I'm making so many skirts is that I'm procrastinating on three baby quilts (all three babies have been born already!). I think I finally settled on a quilt design for the first one. I was completely stumped. The quilt is already basted so it should be quick from here on. Hopefully I can even finish it this week. Wish me luck.

Where have all the Care Bears gone?

Talia went to a neighbor's birthday party last week. I had seen the girl a few days before and asked her what she liked. She said she liked Care Bears. Great! Done! How easy is that? She told me the two she had already and I thought it would be simple to find her another. Wrong. Apparently, Care Bears must be sooooooo last year. I know I bought small ones for the kids in April last year. I also know I saw them at Christmastime. For the life of me I could not find one now, anywhere! I checked Target, Toy R Us, Kohl's, Walmart and Party City. When I couldn't find a doll I thought maybe I could get a shirt, or pj's, a puzzle or a book. NOTHING. I know it wouldn't have made any difference if I got the girl a Polly Pocket, some books or the game Hullabaloo. I easily become obsessed with finding the right item and get caught up sometimes. I had promised this girl (in my head anyway) that I would get her a Care Bear. Walmart was the last store I checked and luckily they had Care Bear fabric. I thought maybe I would make her a pillowcase or something. In the end I went with a twirly skirt and matching shirt. I used the tutorial from "house on hill road." It's a pretty easy skirt and I have since made another one (for another birthday). Talia picked out fabric (ugly fabric, in my opinion) for one of her own. In the end I did add a Care Bear stuffed animal to this package. I went to a thrift store and they had tons of them. I found the one that looked new and added it to the gift. It was on sale. For $2.

Pee Time

Apparently Alex wants to use the potty. Who am I to discourage him? I'm sure it's just a phase-- I mean, the kid barely speaks. Let me rephrase that-- he speaks all day long; I just don't know what language it is. I'll indulge this new interest for a while. Problem is he wanted to sit on the potty all day (with no result) and I had many things to do this morning. Funny story-- I brought out Talia's princess potty for him to sit on. Apparently the princess potty is NOT for boys! It is not properly made to accomodate his anatomy. He had no room to point his little thing down. He would've peed right on the floor. At least in Philadelphia when I trained Talia the floors were all wooden. Here there is a lot of carpet. What do I do about that?

Serve Immediately

I have always wanted a griddle but never knew what I would do with one. I don't much like sweet food for breakfast and certainly don't cook for a crowd. Recently I ordered Alex some pancakes at a restaurant (The Prairie Cafe, if you're interested) and they were fantastic. A total waste on Alex who seems to like frozen as much as fresh, which is to say, according to his own schedule. Yesterday pancakes = yes; today, not so much. Today was my first foray into making pancakes from scratch and cooking them on the griddle. Certainly they were easy enough (but a little messy) and tasted great (although not as good as the ones at the Prairie Cafe-- how can I get that recipe?). It's fun to make them from scratch and they look great, don't they? I'm just loving my griddle. It was a Valentine's gift to myself, since I knew my husband wasn't going to get my anything. He doesn't *believe* in Valentine's Day (neither do I, really).

In another related story, I also made fresh biscuits last night. I made some Tibetan lentil soup (from the Moosewood Daily Special Cookbook) and I wanted to make some sort of bread to go with it. I'm starting to get into breads that don't have a long rising time because I can't have that much forethought. A few weeks ago I made roti, which was delicious. Last night I chose biscuits because they seemed easy. They didn't exactly go with the lentil soup but they were definitely yummy. I always say I'm not a baker. Maybe I'll have to amend that.

Happy Valentine's Day!

I felt really rushed to get Talia's valentines done for school. I wanted to have Talia help me with everything but there just wasn't time after our vacation. Plus, there wasn't really any moment I had with just Talia and not Alex, who would not have done well with a big package of birdseed or the oven. I baked up little heart shaped birdseed feeders using the recipe from Family Fun magazine (3/4 c birdseed, 2 tbl flour, 2 tbl water mixed and pressed into cookie cutters or muffin tins and baked at 175 degrees for an hour. Insert a straw for the hole and leave it in during baking). I found these cute bird valentines online and printed them. Talia is still working on signing each one-- she can only do about 8 before going bonkers. There are 22 kids in the class plus 3 teachers. I packaged them up into ziploc bags that have hearts printed on them. They are quite cute but were definitely a pain in the ass to make. Plus I'm afraid the kids will think they are cookies or granola bars. I'm sure someone will try to eat them.

100 days of school

Of course, considering that Talia only goes to school 3 days a week it's really the 70th day of school, minus about 10 days of vacation and sickness so it's really the 60th day of school but... who's counting? And seriously, why do we need a "holiday" that falls *literally* the day before the Valentine's Day party? To celebrate this wonderful holiday the children are asked to bring in 100 of something. In order to represent who Talia is we thought maybe 100 crayons or markers or stickers. To make it a little more creative and waste more of my time we decided to make 100 heart crayons, reminiscent of our valentines from last year. Talia was able to help more this time around-- she was an expert at getting the papers off the crayons that had been soaked in water. This project took too much of my time, as usual, but the payoff is nice. I'm sure her class will enjoy using them for a long time. On a side note, I had to count them about 8 times to make sure I have exactly 100. I'm still not sure I have exactly 100. And if I couldn't count them, how are the kids going to count them?