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?

Trapeze Artist

One of the major attractions at our resort in the Dominican Republic was a circus school. There was a trampoline, tightrope, juggling and a trapeze. I quietly hoped against hope that Talia would be up for it. After a few days of watching she gave it a try. She now says the scariest part was a long long ladder she had to climb up. In the middle of the ladder she had to climb around to the other side. For someone who cries when Mommy goes to the grocery store and leaves her home I really thought she was going to chicken out. She did a great job, although she looked really scared the whole time. Afterward she said she "liked it a little and hated it a lot." A week later she is speaking of the experience fondly. There was opportunity for adults to try it but we never got around to it-- it was during Alex's nap time when we were all relaxing in the villa.

República Dominicana

Just got back from a trip to Punta Cana, Dominican Republic. It was a much needed break from the Wisconsin winter. We all had a great time and met some new friends. Hopefully I'll have time to post more pictures and thoughts later. Hopefully. Once the bags are unpacked. And the house gets back together. And Talia is back in school. And the kids are back to their normal sleeping patterns. Etc...

How hard is it?

Why can't I get my kitchen floors clean? Hello!??!? I have maple floors that looked fantastic when I moved in. Now they look awful all the time. I've tried every product on the market. The floor company says to use only Bona. This picture was taken just after I finished sweeping, vacuuming, dustbusting, dust mopping and then wet mopping. Perhaps you can't see the awfulness from the small picture. I even tried steam mopping. PLEASE PLEASE anyone, help!

Sesame Street Quilt

A Sesame Street Quilt for my niece's 2nd birthday. There are a lot of special fabrics in there-- some of Talia's clothes, fabrics I used in Talia's princess quilt, fabrics I used in Marley's baby quilt and especially a receiving blanket that was my brother's when he was a baby. I used the 9 patch cut into 4 squares and rotated technique (I'm sure there is a name for it) so it didn't take toooooooooo long. This is for a girl who has everything-- every Elmo thing, anyway. I figure I'm not going to be able to get away with giving her a quilt instead of a toy for too many more years and with a new niece or nephew coming in the summer I suspect Marley won't be getting any more quilts from me for a long long time. While making this quilt, Alex finally figured out who Elmo is and now points to the quilt and says "Melmo!" Sadly, this does not translate into Alex watching Melmo on TV for 5 minutes so I can clean the kitchen. Oh well.

Inching toward the light...

We're just trying to stay sane until the warm weather returns-- only about 10 more weeks. It does seem like life is on hold during the winter. I can't wait to see people peeking their heads out of hibernation. That was probably my most favorite time last year. This is a picture of the kids playing sleepover party. Gotta get creative to make it through the winter! In those next 10 weeks we have two exciting trips planned along with some birthdays, anniversaries and holidays to celebrate. I know we can make it!

a different glimpse

Another quilt I'm working on. Enough friends read my blog that I can't reveal my quilts until they are received. Which sucks because I have three others I'm in the middle of.

New Play Kitchen

Now the kids are fighting over who gets to be at the stove. Now I'm cleaning up play pots and pans and play food all day in addition to the regular pots and pans and food. Oops.

Actually, it's a really nice kitchen. It took a lot of research and time to pick the right one but I really like it. I think the manufacturer is Kidkraft, if you're interested. It took me about 3 1/2 hours to put it together and I'm pretty good at that stuff.

What a ham!

Alex is turning out to be such a ham! I used to think he had no personality but now I see that was just a misinterpretation of his generally easy going nature (less so now that's he almost 2). He's really funny and really cute and will do just about anything to get a laugh. When I take the time to actually pay attention to my kids (see here and here and here...) I find they are truly awesome people to be around. Have to remember that...

Alex just started his first swimming class today. In this class I am supposed to gointo the water with him for a few weeks until he is comfortable with the teacher and then hopefully inch further and further away until I don't have to go in anymore. Alex did great. He smiled the whole time. He has very little fear of the water, which isn't ideal but better than the alternative I suppose. He went with the teacher right away, although he did seem nervous at times and clearly wanted me close by. He loves jumping in and doesn't seem to care if I'm ready to catch him. Note to self: Remember this information when we go on vacation next month! Do not take your eyes off Alex while near the pool! It's so funny to see someone trying to give Alex directions. We just recently realized that Alex does understand us. Hearing the teacher say "kick kick kick" and then seeing Alex follow the direction is enlightening. We're also supposed to try to help Alex learn to jump so he doesn't just "step off the ledge" into the pool. Alex doesn't jump by himself yet. That's a major milestone type of skill. I guess we should start treating him like more of a big boy and less of a baby. He's starting a Little Gym class next week so I'm sure all those skills will present themselves soon.

Full Circle: Inauguration Day 2009

It was barely a year ago that I decided to support Barack Obama. The thoughts I had then are still how I feel now. I feel hopeful and excited and like I want to hug everyone and say, "Can you believe it!?" I feel electrified. I am so proud to be an American today. I cannot remember the last time I felt that way. We will be a great nation once again.

Saying Yes

I say no all the time. All day long. And my yesses all come with qualifiers, as in, "Yes, we can play Wii but only after I clean the kitchen" or "Yes, you can have a snack but only after you eat something healthy" or some bullshit like that. All the while hoping she'll forget about it and find something else to do. I haven't enjoyed playing with my kids that much lately. I know that's a terrible thing to say but it's true. Of course it's due to the cold and the snow and the fact that we're shut-ins most of the time. In addition to all that, I have other things I want to do and I spend my whole day trying to get them involved in something so I can do my own thing. I am rarely successful. Because of this, I decided to start saying yes.

It worked, somewhat. Talia wanted to play "pin the donkey on the tail." I mean, how long does it really take-- 5 minutes? 10? 15? It turned out to be really fun. I drew a bullseye on some paper and got out a few stickers. When it was my turn I made a big show of going to the complete opposite side of the room and sticking my sitcker on the window. The other time I stuck it in Talia's hair. She laughed her ass off. We let Alex play without a blindfold and he won. Talia wanted to play Uno tonight (she knows better than to ask to play Candyland. That's what I pay Supergirl for). So we played Uno. It's a fast game, she can beat me fair and square (once in a while) and I can easily adjust my play to make the game quick or long. She wanted to read three books. So we read three books. They're books, right? Reading is, of course, a major value of mine. So I still had no time to do anything for myself. I'm slightly worried that she'll think we should read three books tomorrow and I'll have to say no. But she was a really good girl today-- really good. I kept praising her behavior and helpful attitude. It was nice.

Alex, however, is another story. Let's say he's "asserting his independence." For him I really do have to say no-- if I let him play with the Chapstick even once he thinks it's his god-given right to smear it all over his face all day. He's in one of those periods of quick cognitive growth-- acquiring language and learning how to communicate. He's even using his few sing language words more now. He just all of a sudden figured out what communication is. Now that he can tell us what he wants (through words, pointing, gestures, signs, stamping his feet etc.) he *really* wants his desired object. Especially my new Blackberry phone, my ipod, my camera, the computer, etc. See a pattern here? So I'm trying to set limits, at least for the important stuff. Or the messy stuff at least. Or at the very least, the most most most important stuff. I'm trying to correct the mistake I made with Talia (too few- let's be honest- no limits) by being different with Alex. That is, when I have my act together. Which isn't all that often.

Remind me to tell you the story about Alex shitting on the floor today. My fault entirely. But that's another post.

Arizona Trip

We took a trip to Arizona to get away from the freezing cold of Wisconsin. Last year, my first winter in Wisconsin seems like a novelty and sort of a fun challenge. This year there is no novelty and it's just a real fucking challenge. The last couple of days were so cold that school was actually closed. NO JOKE! It wasn't snowing or anything, just TOO COLD TO SEND THE KIDS TO SCHOOL! So it was easy-- keep the kids home. This weekend, the temps are back to normal (20's) so I don't really have an excuse to stay home all day but there really is nothing to do. I mean, I could take them to the children's museum or the mall park or ice skating (indoors) or bowling or something but... who wants to? Ron is working in the mornings this weekend and maybe we'll go out to dinner somewhere. I guess I can take Talia out when Ron gets home but I'd really just like the time to myself! Remember when I was complaining about not having time to myself over winter break? Well, with this weather and our vacation Talia has only been to school THREE TIMES since then. I know.

But back to our trip. The weather was nice-- 70's in the afternoons but much cooler in the morning/evening. The accomodations were fantastic (Thank you Aunt Barbara and Uncle Allen!) and the children were really well behaved. We went to a train park and a fantastic children's museum and a nice park etc. The traveling was a nightmare, as usual. They gave us a 45 minute layover in Chicago each way and both times we landed in Chicago at precisely the time our next plane was supposed to take off. On the way there we booked from the end of terminal G to the opposite end of terminal K (a REALLY LONG distance!) with the kids, the backpacks, the kid's backpacks, the car seat, the diaper bag and a bag of food (who knows when you're going to get stuck somewhere?). The first time we missed our connection and had to wait three more hours for another flight. On the way home we ran again, from terminal K to terminal G and luckily the plane had been delayed by 20 minutes. We got there just in time to board and then sat for another 20 minutes, which you *think* would be enough time for our luggage to get on the plane but... no. And you wonder why I pack so much to carry on the plane? We did get our luggage the next day. So, a nice trip ruined by the travel experience.

Tiny Glimpse

I'm working on a new quilt for someone special. It's a whole cloth quilt and I'm hand quilting it. This is the first time ever that I'm hand quilting. Until now I've only done it for special details. I'm really enjoying it.

almost... made... it... (not quite)

The winter break started out well-- we spent time crafting and decorating, playing with friends, even playing in the snow a little. Hanukkah was nice; we went to the Dells on Christmas and slid down all the waterslides. For New Year's we had friends over and the kids played together so well they just disappeared and we didn't hear from them again.

And then... this last weekend basically sucked. Saturday we went out to breakfast and then spent the rest of the day inside. Sunday we went out to lunch and then spent the rest of the day inside. The snow is disgusting-- all frozen over and old. Alex has a new phrase: "No! Mine!" and he basically uses it all day long-- even when he doesn't mean it. Dinners were early and then we had this weird hour of time that we don't usually have. We played duck duck goose and did a family yoga DVD and it just sucked, in general. Yesterday most of Talia's friends went to school and we were still home. We asked pretty much everyone we knew if they could play and alas, they could not. I was grumpy and pissy. Finally Supergirl came over for two hours and she was a godsend, as usual.

I was still grumpy and pissy though and I still am today-- even though Talia is at school. The kids got up an hour early and it just threw everything off. I'm not complaining (much) about that because I am grateful that they usually sleep until 7:30 anyway, I'm just mad that their schedules are off. Talia will likely take a nap at school and that will ruin my night because she will go to bed at 10:30pm instead of 8:30. I had to put Alex down for a nap at 10:30, when I usually nap him now at 12 or later. He was just impossible today. Alex can now get into my spice bin and wants to spread cumin and paprika and cayenne everywhere and he threw a full blown tantrum when I took the bin out of the pantry and put it up high. Then he bit me and I put him in time out (for like, the third time ever) and he just wept and wept. He's been asleep for almost 2 hours now so hopefully he'll feel better when he wakes up. And hopefully I'll find a place for those spices and put something fun, like a bin of play food in its place.