Sunday, March 24, 2013

Thinking Spring

We've all been getting a little antsy for spring to come.  Layers of bulky coats and boots are getting old and we're ready for bare feet and t-shirts.  It is looking like a long wait still.  We have snowbanks about 8 feet high all along the edges of our driveway/parking area with paths to bird feeders and the critter houses.  The rest of the yard is pretty much inaccessible.  

But, we're being positive.  We're thinking Spring.  We're sorting seeds and making plans.  Last weekend Natalie and I started some seeds.  
I just love these little yellow pots.

We've never had very good luck with starting our own plants, but this is going to be my year.  By the way, I say that every year.  I just know this is really going to be the year that my seeds turn into healthy little plants by the time all this ever loving snow goes away.  
Natalie watering the seeds

After we had the seeds all planted and watered, I was talking to my father-in-law on the phone and he advised that I cover the pots loosely with plastic wrap and set them on top of the fridge until they sprout.  The top of the fridge is always a little above room temperature and will help the soil warm up.  The plastic wrap keeps things from drying out.  That way, I only had to water them when they were first planted, then not again until after they come up.  He was right as he always is about these things. Unbelievably within a few days we already had zinnias, bachelor's buttons, pansies and cucumbers sprouting. Now we're starting to move seedlings to the windowsills during the day (putting them on top of the fridge at night since it gets cold still.).
My tomatoes and Natalie's flowers all lined up in the sun.
Keeping my fingers crossed that spring will indeed come.  Soon.

Happy Birthday, Daddy!


Heroes in a half shell. Turtle Power!

The Daddy of the house had a birthday last week.  He generally prefers this to be a non-event.  However, when your kids are at the age where birthdays cannot exist without cake and parties, you get a party whether you want it or not.

This was the case for Matt.  The kids heard us talking about his upcoming birthday and decided that they needed to take action.  Natalie is positive that her dad just absolutely loves Hello Kitty, so it was only fitting that he had a Hello Kitty cake.  Joey has recently discovered the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and really thought that we needed party hats.  He and I went shopping the day before the party and he put quite a lot of thought into picking out paper products and favors  We ended up with Ninja Turtle plates, cups and masks, Toy Story napkins, rubber bugs and party blowers for everyone. 

Party blowers and rubber bugs.  It doesn't get any better than that!

The event itself was small and brief.  The guest list consisted of Matt's parents and my dad and the whole party took about an hour and a half.  It was the best party I can remember.  Simple, laid back and fun.  Even the grandparents got in on the masks and everyone enjoyed a nice piece of kitty cake from a local bakery.  





Who is that masked man?
Big Ron as Leonardo

Mayno & Dennis as Raphael & Michelangelo

Happy Birthday, Daddy!

Chocolate Cinnamon Bread

Most Saturdays I meet my Bestie for chai at our local Starbuck's.  We often get a bite to eat and a beverage then wander around the store (our Starbuck's is conveniently located in Target).  

Lately one of their snack offerings has been Chocolate Cinnamon Bread.  This stuff is heavenly.  It should be for $2.25 a slice.  Naturally, I felt challenged to see if I could make this stuff at home.  By the power of the internet, I found a copycat recipe that another blogger had so kindly shared and Joey and I got to work.

We did make one change, and that is that we used regular cocoa powder because I couldn't find Dutch process cocoa at any of the stores I shop at.  It worked fine.

chocolate coma
Joey thought this was a good project.

"Mom, take a picture of my silly face!"

Here's what the pans look like when they go in the oven.  The recipe calls for coarse or sanding sugar in the topping, but I didn't have any of that either, so I omitted it as there was plenty of regular sugar involved.
                        

They rise up beautifully in the oven and if I had a longer attention span, I would have made sure to get a picture of the finished product.  If you click on the link at the top, it takes you to the cute blog where I found the recipe and she has really good pictures.

This stuff is guaranteed to fix even the mightiest of chocolate cravings. :)



Wednesday, March 20, 2013

Making a Spectacle of Myself



Hello blog!  I have missed you, but have been away for good reason.  Turns out the massive headaches  I've  my been getting are due to my need for reading glasses.   This is relatively good news (you know that I don't have a brain tumor or anything).  I feel like I've been keeping Walgreen's in business with my ibuprofen consumption.


Me in my fancy new glasses.

It took just over a week and now my new specs are here!  I'm so excited to have them, and grateful that Dion took the time to come help me pick them out!  During the time between finding the source of my headaches and actually receiving the remedy, I avoided computer use and reading outside of work.

I never knew I'd go through withdrawals.  I missed reading, and blogging, and surfing Pinterest in the evenings.  So, I have been cleaning. And organizing. And baking.  Now, my house is clean, I dropped off a bag each for Goodwill and library donations. And my pants are tight.

I'm so glad that I get to go home tonight and READ before bed!  I started reading Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier about a month ago and am only on about page 50.  Hopefully, that will be a much higher number by the end of the day.




Stay tuned for the recipe for Chocolate Cinnamon Bread (Starbuck's copycat recipe) in an upcoming post...