Best Mother's Day... Ever!

I've been a mom for 16 years now, which means a rollercoaster of Mother's Day experiences. One forgotten, one horribly over the top to make up for the forgotten, a few obviously almost forgotten, and many spent taking care of someone else's mother.

This year goes down as my idea of the perfect Mother's Day.

I was shooed out of the house late morning with my bicycle, after presentation of kid-made cards & art projects. Came home to a basket of folded laundry, two freshly scrubbed dogs, and dinner being pulled off the grill.

It was a beautiful sunny day. A bit windy on the way out, but that just made for a good workout for the first half of the ride, and a super speedy return trip.

Just me, audiobook version of "The Restaurant At The End Of The Universe", and miles of lovely trail.

Happy Heart Day!

We didn't exactly boycott Valentine's Day here, but we skipped the hubub, for the most part. Cards were homemade, even those which went with kids to school. Instead of big meals out and gifts, we ran a local race. We all rolled out of bed before 6:00 this morning, and headed off to parts northeast. The gang cheered for me as I headed out on the Half Marathon at 8:00. I was finished and waiting to cheer for them when they crossed the finish line of the 5k.

The little pink blur starts a line of three of my racers.
B1 was hanging out next to me at this point, having finished the 5k twenty minutes earlier.

We came home for cleanup and refueling. There's been napping, and much sharing of loving thoughts, as the kids try to blow each other up in a free-for-all game of Halo. We'll be watching last night's Monk & Psych episodes in a little bit, over sandwiches and big mugs of cocoa. A hand or three of Munchkin is also on tap.

It still cost money - $4 for construction paper, glitter & a new bottle of glue, and $145 for five entries in the Run the Reagan Half/10k/5k/1 Mile. Two or three gallons of gas for the trip. But, on the "life energy" scale of value - the number of hours you have to work to earn the money to buy the thing, from Your Money or Your Life - this was a bargain of a Valentine's Day.

Run the Reagan Half & 5k, Unofficial Results

B1 - 5k; 30:21 (new PR for him!)
B2, DD & Dad - 5k; 54:33
Me - Half - 2:07:52 (watch time)
Official race time is 2:09:41 - due to portaloo break around mile 5 or so - Curse the combo of my thimble sized bladder and need for hydration during long runs!

And, a helpful tip I'll share:
If you are ever asked the question "Can you fix apple strudel for dessert?" by a camera-holding relative, don't reply "Really? Apple Strudel?" It is an attempt to snap the photo at the exact moment of the "oodle" in strudel, in order to win a goofiest picture wager with teen. (Note that my daughter looks great, as always. So glad she didn't take after me in the goofy looks dept.)

Unfortunately, this will be the best photo of the day. The rain and drizzle had mostly ended by time the half started, but it was quite misty much of the way. I'm sure the finish line photos will have all of us looking like half-drowned cats.

Off to a good start

All three kids managed to stay awake past midnight this year. (Usually, my daughter falls asleep.) We slept in a little, had breakfast together. A little bit of housework and chores, followed by video games. After lunch, headed out for a couple hours of semi active sport:Then back home for construction. Legos, modeling clay and a build your own pizza supper. Italian sausage, sauce & cheese(s), on flatbread crust. There wasn't time to make the dough from scratch after bowling.

I had helpers, though only one who was willing to be photographed. That's only partly true. The boys were willing to be photographed, but only if I'd accept shots of them imitating alien monsters - or was it zombie alien monsters?

Tossed out my plan for shakshuka for two, and chopped up leftover Adobo Chicken to make pizza, along with sweet onion, shallot, scallions, thin sliced garlic and red bell pepper (see cutting board). My official cheese grater helped build two samples of our Adobo Pizza:

1. with smoked applewood and mozzarella cheese
2. with smoked mozzarella, mozzarella, parmesan and asagio

Both were good; the second version was my favorite.

Watched The Mummy Returns with our supper, and followed it with mugs of hot cocoa. Not too much fighting on a not-to-late bedtime, which left quiet time for reading Neverwhere with a cup of herbal tea before bed.

I'm not a terribly superstitious person. I don't collard greens and black eyed peas on New Year's Day. My trash does go out, and I do not hesitate to do a load of laundry, in light of the mountain created by three children. (New Year's superstitions at Snopes). I do think you can set the tone for, if not the rest of the year, at least the immediate future, with what you do during the day of fresh starts.

Given our New Year's Day, I think 2009 is looking pretty good.

Supper Wars

Most days, if my children are asked what they want for dinner, the answer(s) will be some combination of:

• Spaghetti
• Pizza
• Macaroni & cheese.

It's odd, because not one of them considers any of those three things to be their favorite food. (With the possible exception of the 14 y.o. - I think pizza worship arrived with puberty.) Those seem to be the autopilot responses. I'm short circuiting the autopilot this week. Since I'm home with them all day, every day, I'm taking the opportunity to serve the kid foods for lunch. Hopefully, this will leave the way clear for new foods, or twists on familiar meals, at supper.

I had the luxury of extra time to plan this weekend. We'll be alternating meals between the strange and the familiar, as well as combining something old and something new in the same meal. Really hoping this keeps the whining to a manageable level. The plan, so far:

Pan Fried Deviled Eggs, on Mixed Greens (New!)
Delicious! Kids did NOT appreciate at all, unfortunately.

Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup
w/Rustic Bread (Old favorite)
Easy win; used up roasted chicken leftovers from Christmas dinner

Adobo Chicken w/ Rice & Salad (Variation)
Attempting to make one of my favorites more acceptable to them. No one but me is a fan of dark meat, so I'm trying a couple of skin-on split chicken breasts, in addition to the thighs. 24 hours of marinating, so this is an advance planning only meal.

Baked Tofu w/ Drunken Noodles (Old favorite),
Edamame Succotash w/ Roasted Red Pepper (Variation)
Figure if I keep putting bell peppers in dishes, I will eventually stumble upon a method of cooking and presentation they like.

Turkey Burgers (Old favorite), Couscous Salad (Variation)
I'm upping the parsley, mint, and vegetable content of the salad. So far, shifting the ratio gradually is going smoothly.

If all goes well, New Year's Day will be kid food heaven. Peanut butter & honey sandwiches for lunch, and they'll get to make their own pizzas for supper. I'll be having shakshuka*, extra spicy. Like hot curry dishes, it's an acquired taste, one which I'm not going to push them into... yet.

*Shakshuka is an amazing dish. It's an excellent brunch, or as comfort food on a cold rainy evening. I use a combo of fresh and canned tomatoes, instead of just canned, but other than that, this video seems to be dead-on.

More Vegetarian Recipes videos at 5min.com

Speak & Spell Magic

When tucking my daughter in on Christmas Eve, she asked me for a story. Not just any story, but the story of my favorite Christmas present. I told her of the year of the Speak & Spell.

It was a year of clothing and "girl stuff". (Barbies were never my thing.) Then, at my grandmother's house, after the big family dinner, we opened presents. My present was... a Speak & Spell. I'd seen them, and secretly hoped for one of my own, but figured the closest I'd get would be playing with it at one of my friends - you know, that one friend every kid has whose parents made sure to get the IT toy each year. But I received one of my very own! I was thrilled. Convinced it would make me the greatest spelling bee champion in the world, I played it constantly.

That's where I ended my Christmas tale. What I didn't tell her was that I already knew all the words which were tossed my way, and after a week or so, I knew all the mystery words by 1-2 letters in. It gathered dust, only to be played when I was supposed to be cleaning my room.

Imagine my surprise this morning, to find a link to an Flash Speak & Spell during my morning news & blog reading. (Thanks, Agitator!) Opened the link, played for a few minutes, and then turned it over to my little girl. You see, her Christmas toys are a few days old now, and...

Happy Baking!

It's Christmas Eve, and the oven has been cranking out the goodies, with help from my little band of elves. We've rolled gingerbread, roasted pears for tomorrow's bread pudding, and baked egg bread for sandwiches, as well as for the bread pudding.

Even the ordinary breakfast muffins have gone festive. Instead of 1/2 cup of semisweet chocolate chips, I added extra cinnamon to the batter, and used a scoop of the green and red swirled white chocolate chips.

I've spent the last couple months tinkering with the recipe. Milk from the carton. Plain yogurt. Vanilla yogurt. Buttermilk. Evaporated milk. Condensed milk. Sour cream. Since I don't buy prepackaged breakfasts, and the kids get tired of waffles (make extras on weekend & freeze for easy toasting), I make a batch or two each week, so have had plenty of opportunities to use my children as test subjects.

This is the winner, according to them:

1/2 cup Sour Cream
1 cup Milk (evaporated or whole)
1-1/4 cup Rolled Oats (not quick cook)
1 Egg, beaten
4 Tbs Butter, melted
1/2 cup Dark Brown Sugar
1/2 cup Semisweet Chocolate Chips*
1/2 tsp Ground Cinnamon
1/2 cup Whole Wheat Flour
3/4 cup Bread Flour
4 tsp Baking Powder
1 tsp Salt

Mix sour cream, milk and oats in a bowl; let oats soak for 15-20 minutes.
Add beaten egg, melted butter and brown sugar. Let it rest while you mix dry ingredients in separate container, and start oven preheating - 400 degrees.

Mix flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and chocolate chips. Combine with wet ingredients. Let rest for five minutes. Prep muffin tins with butter, cooking spray, or use paper liners.

Scoop batter into muffin tin. Bake at 400 degrees for 18-22 minutes, depending on your oven. Makes 12 muffins.

*I often toss in a 1/4 cup of dried cranberries, raisins or cherries, as well as a handful of chopped walnuts or pecans. The presence of chocolate chips makes everything I do which would be considered "good for you" still yummy. Even my child who has an almost irrational aversion to dried fruit will scarf down a muffin without complaint. After all, it's chocolate for breakfast. (The actually chip count per muffin is pretty low, but I'm not ever going to point that out to him.)

If you use quick rolled oats and plain all-purpose flour, you'll want to reduce the amount of milk by 1/4 cup, to avoid ending up with a chewy cupcake consistency. Also, these are great made with vanilla yogurt in place of the sour cream. I reduce the amount of sugar to keep it from being too sweet, though I have occasionally left them sweet and used them as desserts in lunchboxes.

It's been a marvelous day of family prep today. We're tired, flour coated, and in a post-board-game, cookies-and-eggnog, sugar coma. And tomorrow, we'll be doing it again. With wrapping paper scraps in place of the flour, and extra relatives for the board games. Looking forward to it.

Whatever holiday you're celebrating, enjoy!

Over the river...

...and through the woods, to Grandmother's house we won't go.

Every two or three years, we drive cross country for visits with the midwest and mountain grandparents. Other family members fly in or drive from California. A good time is had by all, and the kids get a chance to play in snow.

This year's big trip has been canceled. A few months ago, when it was just gas prices which were up, I wouldn't have dreamed of canceling. So what changed?

Other family members, especially the older ones who rely on investment income, have seen their net worth plummet. Less money and peace of mind meant adjusting travel plans to get the best prices on airfare. Shorter trips, and either before or after Christmas, to avoid the premium days. One other family member called off her whole trip.

This means the only way we'd be able to see [no longer] everyone, would be for us to be in Nebraska and Colorado for the entire winter break, with a couple of one day trips back and forth between the two.

• Over 3,500 miles of winter driving - alone, with three children and the dog.
• At least six nights of hotel stays during drive, with more needed if weather takes a bad turn.
• Six or more days of eating on the road. Even planning for snacks from grocery stores, this cost will be high.
• Airfare to get the oldest child back to his father's for New Years, since we'd be gone for the entire winter break. (Eek! This would mean the trip back would be the two younger children & dog, without my helpful teen.)
• Three weeks away from work. Planned for up to two weeks, but three weeks off for this freelancer/independent contractor is not an option.

Switching to air travel could help shave four or five days, by eliminating the bulk of the drive, but the costs would be higher overall. The airfare is a little higher as hotel and gas/auto costs. We'd still need to drive between Colorado and Nebraska, which means a rental vehicle. There would still be a need for a few hotel nights; and the dog would be boarding back here in Atlanta.

There's just no easy way around it. The trip's off this year.

We're far from being the only family making this call.

According to Market Watch, a recent survey found roughly a quarter of people who traveled in the previous few years have canceled all travel for 2008. Almost half of Americans who had been planning larger trips have scaled back to destinations "within driving distance." 53% say it's because of the economic downturn.

Other findings from the research include:

• Key reasons for cancelling holiday travel plans include "general economic uncertainty" (53 percent), "job concerns" (26 percent) and "expected pay cut/no bonus" (13 percent). Other reasons for not traveling this year include "reducing carbon footprint" (7 percent) and "parents will no longer pay for me" (3 percent)
• While travel budgets have dipped significantly, more than half (52 percent) of consumers plan to spend about the same amount of money as last year on gifts, so holiday retail sales may not be as flat as predicted

Our gift budget had been cut this year, to allow more money to go towards the trip. Even with the cancellation, I think the lower shopping budget will stay. A portion of the travel funds will be used for an intown family vacation. We'll stay at home, but spend a few days out and about, doing things together. A day downtown, visiting World of Coca-Cola and the Georgia Aquarium. An evening performance of A Christmas Carol at The Shakespeare Tavern. Ice Skating at Centennial Olympic Park.

Then there's the low cost pleasures of being near home. Taking in one of the Christmas concerts at a local church, where there's a donation basket, instead of tickets. Spending an afternoon seeing if we can string more popcorn on the tree than we can eat. A contest between the boys and girls, to see who can make the longest paper chain, with the winners getting the big mugs for hot cocoa, and first pick off the cookie plate.

The money not spent on the trip will be split between the emergency fund we hope we won't need, and a summer trip to visit the grandparents, when we have two months of flexibility in scheduling, and an extremely low chance of being stranded in Kansas by a blizzard on the way.

Ode to... Me

Ode To Joy from Beaker on Vimeo.

The Christmas season is an "interesting" time of year when you have my name. You never know when you'll be greeted by an enthusiastic, off-key version of Joy to the World. Or when handing a cup of hot coffee, or even just a memo to a co-worker, friend or loved one inspires them to sing thanks for bringing "tidings of comfort and joy, comfort and joy... oh-oh tidings of comfort and joy".

We're entering the height of holiday cheer, now that it's only 1-1/2 weeks to Christmas Day. How do I know? I've been sung to everyday, four days in a row. Different person, each time.

I don't mind it. It's far better than all the "jump for joy" comments during the middle & high school years.

Thanksgiving Dinner...

Thanksgiving = Chaos.

Three days of food prep turned out a fabulous dinner, if I do say so myself. Since everyone was coming in Thursday morning from out of town, the cooking was all mine. (Cue evil laugh.)
Finally, I got to make changes to the typical Turkey dinner menu. No green bean casserole! No burned or slightly overcooked crescent rolls! No cranberry from a can!

Sweet potatoes with maple & pecans. Mashed potatoes & parsnip. Fresh cranberry compote.
Steamed french beans with butter & almonds. Homemade Applesauce (4 types of apples)
Succotash. Corn Muffins. Stuffing w/apples, cranberries, tons of veg & sweet italian sausage
Apple Butter & Pumpkin Pie. (I cheated on the crusts - freezer section)
And, of course, Turkey.

Family visited from out of town, so my tiny little home housed seven adults, two children, three dogs and one very crabby cat. Did I mention it was cold and rainy, so we were a very close knit bunch.

Kept the kidlets busy Thursday morning with this fun tabletopper for the kids table: