weekly recap

Much has happened in the last week. First was the dessert that I would love to forget - Apple Crumble Bars. I don't know what went wrong, but the crust and the base were so flavorless I wouldn't eat them. I thought the apple-cinnamon mixture in the center was tasty, but that was the only redeeming quality about the bars. I fault myself, not the recipe. Perhaps one day in the very distant future I will try them again. Suffice it to say the bars were tasteless and messy enough that I didn't even take a photo of them at any stage. Bless my sweet family who suffered through every bite of those. I swear next time I bring dessert to a family dinner I will make it tasty!

After the apple crumble debacle at dinner, I returned home focused on creating a yummy dessert for Tuesday's dinner with friends. I set my sights on Oreo Cheesecake. I L-O-V-E cheesecake, oreos, and I loved the idea that I could make it on Sunday night and have it ready to go on Tuesday without any further preparation. This was especially important given, sigh, that I had to return to work on Monday morning. Second attempt ever at cheesecake and this is what my setup looked like. Addison fell asleep on the way home and we did not argue given that we all had to be up early the next morning. This, however, significantly cut down on my allowable time in the kitchen. She came out once and complained that the mixer was too loud. I picked up all my ingredients and headed into the only available room with a closeable door - the master bedroom. Unconventional, yes, but did not end up lacking any function. I spread out my ingredients on the dresser and went to work. Robert furiously chopped oreos for the crumb crust and to include in the cheesecake base. Without his help this would never have worked! In the end, the oreo cheesecake was a success. A vast improvement over my previous attempt of the day! Here's how they looked in the end.

Then on Monday all my world changed - I went back to work. How spoiled I had been by two weeks off. If I ever take an entire summer off I may never want to return. I have however decided to combine my new interest in dessert-making with my unavoidable return to work: I will bake/make dessert for each students' birthday. I will have to give them options since my skills are still extremely limited, but I hope it will keep me involved with cooking which I rather enjoy and it will provide an opportunity to connect on a personal level with my kids - let them know that I am not really all those horrible names they call me, there is some good in me. ;-)

This afternoon is Addison's playdate. We are supposed to play in the sprinkler, but rain may force us inside. If so, we are at the ready with craft projects and of course, tons of toys, games, and dress-up outfits. Addison crafted her own dinner menu. She quickly selected mac & cheese, but with some assistance added ham and cheese sandwiches to the menu. For dessert she wanted cupcakes that were - yep! you guessed it - pink. For the adults, I settled on shredded chicken (since I can use my handy-dandy crock-pot and have dinner ready and not be cooking while guests are here) to pair with the mac & cheese. I further encouraged fruit salad (yummy, yummy!) and finished with Oreo Madness Cupcakes. I clearly have obsessed over Oreos this week. I found a recipe online from my new favorite, Annie's Eats, and tweaked it by using boxed mixes (I know, I know...I wanted to do scratch cupcakes and icing, but didn't have baking powder last night, so I had no choice!) and just adding the oreo bits in. We haven't tried them yet, but I will shortly. Addison IMMEDIATELY scarfed down a pink cupcake. And when I say scarfed, I mean she ate the entire thing. She never eats the cake - only licks off the icing. So our Ode to Pinkalicious cupcakes must've been good. Wish us luck during the playdate and cross your fingers that the rain holds off!

Last but not least, as I walked through the nearly-defunct Blockbuster store that I frequented in my college years, I perused the overwhelming remaining selection, when suddenly out of the sea of black and white labels for case-less DVDs pops what my family has come to call "The Doodah Movie". It is, however, more commonly known as "Surviving Christmas" with James Gandolfini and Ben Affleck. This is the very movie that I watched when I was pregnant with Addison and fell in love with the name "Doodah" for a grandpa. I knew immediately that was the name for my dad - my parents told me they didn't want to be Grandma & Grandpa, but rather have a more unique name. Dad initially resisted, but over time has come to love his nickname. What better way to say goodbye to a store where I spent so much time - and money! - then to purchase a funny move with special meaning to me! It was meant to be.

deliciousness discovered

Heaven on earth. Today I discovered it. S'mores Cheesecake Bars, courtesy of Annie's Eats. The most scrumdiddillyumptious delight I've ever created. I'm no food photographer, nor am I an accomplished baker, but I satisfied am I with my first sincere effort tonight. Next time, I will drizzle a thinner line of chocolate across the top, but otherwise I have no complaints about the dessert. I am most impressed with the cheesecake center. I had reservation about my ability to successfully bake a cheesecake, but I pulled it off. The consistency is ideal, very rich and thick. I'm also pleased with browning of the marshmallows on top. The recipe called for a kitchen torch, which I have not, so I used the low broiler setting and watched for two and a half minutes straight. The mallows ended up with just the right amount of crisping if you ask me. Having written about these delicious treats, I'm off now to eat another one.

Today's food challenge is meatballs for meatball subs tonight. I've done meatballs in the past, but today I'm attempting a new recipe. Wish me luck!

happy times

Thankfully, the last few weeks of school have been better, but not stellar. I blame any negativity at school on the fact that this "9 weeks" is actually 57 days long. For those of you who can't/don't like to do math in your free time, that adds up to an 11.5 week "9 weeks". 9 weeks my foot. Anyway, the extra weeks leading up to spring break have been trying on everyone at my school. We are now only 5 days away. Wish us luck.

HUGE yard sale at Betty & Phill's tomorrow. They sell their house in early April, so we're clearing out the clutter tomorrow from 8 - 1. Come say goodbye to the house that we all know & loved...and buy some stuff while you're there.

You will never believe this but, TWICE in the last seven days, I have voluntarily eaten broccoli! That has never, ever happened before in my lifetime. Robert is on this whole, "I'm going to eat vegetables now" kick, and I certainly can't let him best me there. Though so far he's ahead due to his eating zucchini and squash last week. Addison still can't handle broccoli, but she tries, bless her little heart.

Some of you may notice that I am posting this at 3am. Why, you ask? Because I had a gallon and a half (ish) of soda at Sonny's tonight (you know how humongous their glasses are!). Problem was that we ate dinner at about 8pm...so the caffeine continues to surge through me and gives me so much excess energy that I can't sleep. I got about two hours and have been awake since. Being ready for the yard sale may not be too much trouble for me, if I don't get to sleep soon.

Happy weekend everyone!

music and more

The last two days at work have been rough. Yesterday I lost my cool during one class. I'm disappointed that I let the kids get the best of me, but every once ina while I need to use my teacher voice - just so the kids know that I have it.

Today my intern was out (she needed to finish her Master's Thesis which is due next week), so I got to teach again. It worked out well that today was a day off for Miriam, because it fell in line with my favorite lesson of the year: Poetry as Music, Music as Poetry. I illustrate how lyrical poetry is by sharing musical selections that vary by genre. My students always love it. This year's big hit was for a selection that Robert suggested: "Heartless" by Kanye West compared to "Heartless" by Kris Allen. Much to my surprise, most of the kids loved both versions! They were able to see how meaningful each version can be. The whole experience today was pretty powerful and exciting. Tomorrow I return to my role as observer in class. It's been a challenge, but has afforded me time to reflect on my own teaching practices and contemplate changes I want to make once I take my classes back over.

I attempted to gather suggestions for my above-described Music/Poetry lesson on Facebook and Google Buzz, but didn't get a lot of bites from people. Therefore, In preparation for next year's lesson, I ask you, my three loyal readers: What songs are meaningful/lyrical/poetic to you? Either from you youth or currently. I'll be waiting for your input...I know who you are!

We've done a lot of experimenting with crock-pot cooking lately. Tonight was made Maple Glazed Turkey breast with mashed potatoes and green beans. It was yummy. Patrick came to join us and also to watch this week's "Lost" episode. Addison loves it when Uncle Pat comes over. She dragged him to her playroom and they worked on a sticker book for what seemed like EVER. Pat is a great uncle!

Lost is on now, so I'm off. Happy week to you all!

vacation, part 1

We left early on Saturday morning, only to have our flight delayed by more than an hour. The flight from Tally to Atlanta was smooth and uneventful. Addison did an outstanding job, especially considering she was awakened at 4:30am. The lady behind us go up to leave the plane and said, "Oh! I didn't know there was a little girl in front of me. You, little girl, did a great job on that plane ride." We then told the lady that was Addy's first ever flight, and she clarified her statement with, "You, little girl, did an EXCELLENT job on that plane ride!". Addison loved the landings, laughing & giggling through it all. The ride from ATL to Vegas was my longest ever flight, and boy did it seem endless, though in reality it was only about 4 hours long. We had a few bumps on the landing, and something called "clear air turbulence" which startled Addy a little bit. She thought the snacks were fun. When we ordered juice for Addison, the stewardess informed us that until children are about 3 years old, they should not drink juice on airplanes due to the high amount of acid in the juice. Evidently, it causes stomach upset as the body cannot process the acids when at such a high altitude. Who knew?

So, we landed in Vegas, found all our luggage pretty quickly, and rode the shuttle bus over to the rental car terminal. We had quite a wait for our cars, but in the end got two good ones: a Pontiac Torrent and a Saturn Vue. Addison even rented a carseat that didn't gross me out...you know I was worried about renting a car seat! The only problem with her seat is that it's black, so in this extreme heat, it tends to be pretty hot when we first get in the car. We had lunch at a great restaurant near the rental car terminal, Wenchell's and headed over to Hoover Dam. We arrived there to find construction on a new bridge, tons of other sightseers and 118 degrees on the thermometer. We got out to at the visitor's center, but mom, Addison & I didn't make it. We stayed in the gift shop, rather than crossing the street. That was a heat unlike any other I've experienced before. We were all red-faced and sweating profusly, draining water bottles faster than I ever thought possible. Robert called Hoover Dam the civil engineer's "Mecca"...he really enjoyed the quick tour, in spite of the heat. My highlight of the trip there was purchasing a copper bio-medical bracelet that is not only pretty, but could potentially have healing properties. I'll keep you posted on whether or not it heals any ailments.

From Hoover Dam, we drove back to Vegas and wound our way to The Flamingo, on the strip. On our way in, we saw enormous lightning and rain - very cool to watch rain across the desert, watching it's every drop fall in huge sheets. The check-in line at the Flamingo was never-ending, and once up at the desk, we found our rooms were not ready. On the plus side, we got upgraded to rooms with two queen beds. Addison got up on the bed and immediately stated, "This bed is nice and comfy!". She started asking to go home about 10 minutes after that. By this point, we've all been awake for about 18 hours, and still haven't eaten dinner, eventhough it's now about 9pm EST. Robert suggested we check out Serendipity because it was "right across the street" from the Flamingo. This statement, I later learned, is relative in Vegas. You can't just hop across the street. Oh no. There are a seriers of stairs leading to crosswalks that you must manuever around and through in order to cross the street. Serendipity had a 20 minute wait for outside seating (they offered misters for outside seating, which made it almost bearable to eat outside), which turned into a 40 minute wait. We were hot, exhausted, and starving by the time we were seated in a section that had been empty the entire time we waited...Dad suggested that they were short-staffed. I don't know what to think about it, I just found it frustrating & a tad annoying. Meeting my expectations set by the extended wait for seating was the service - extremely slow, didn't get the orders correct. However, the food was delicious, especially their cheesecake. OMG. I would go back just for dessert next time. Poor Addison fell asleep while waiting for her dinner to be delievered...so we boxed it up and she ate it the next day in the car. We all crashed super-early for having been in Vegas. My bros and sister-in-law caught a Blue Man Group show and said it was fantastic.

I'm tired of writing now and need to get Addison ready for bed...I'll write more tomorrow provided I have free WiFi in Solvang. If not, it'll be a week before anymore updates.

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