Since I'm now wide awake, I might as well discuss the procedure for tonight's midnight Yeti feeding.
1. Yeti cries, I wake up.
2. Realization that at some point I had fallen asleep on the couch. The Office is blaring on TV. Worst. Show. Ever.
3. Go to kitchen to make a bottle
4. Realize that the apple butter that I had started making in the crock pot at 11:00 am, that was still in the crock pot, was burnt to a crisp (not apple crisp, yucky, stuck to the crock, will have to soak for days crisp).
5. Go into cupboard for a Hersheys Mini dark chocolate bar.
6. Get consumed by full on Tupperware avalanche from top shelf. Visualization of cat running into the kitchen heroically to dig me out and provide me with sweet warming brandy. Realization that the cat is no saint bernard and will probably not come rescue me.
7. Curse and kick one container across the room. Vow to reorganize Tupperwear in the morning. Maybe put it in a floor level cabinet.
8. Open chocolate, my savior, with one hand while walking down the hallway. Watch in slow motion as said confection flies from the wrapper and bounces onto the bathroom floor, where five short hours ago, I heard Red singing a song about pooping while doing just that. No five second rule in the bathroom.
9. Curse more. Consider calling the police to report chocolate abuse.
10. Obtain one Yeti, change, and feed with out incident.
11. Burp Yeti.
12. Pyrotechnical display of baby vomit, on me, on the couch, on the Yeti.
14. Give up on cursing, just hang head in frustration.
15. Look at Yeti, face covered in recycled formula. Huge smile on adorable little face. Huge smile on my face.
16. Realization: how could I possibly hate my night when I gaze upon that adorable smiling baby and sparkling blue eyes? Salvation.
Thursday, January 5, 2012
Tuesday, January 3, 2012
I hereby dub Wednesdays 'Wacky Wednesday'. Here, you may find tales of the weird, strange, unusual, but hopefully humorous.
Since it is the season for the temperature to drop (although we don't have any snow), I've noticed that the cold air seems to creep into our apartments around the old windows. Our 1800's era farm house could use a few new windows or at least a parka. This weekend, in an effort to cut down on the chill, we went around and hung curtains for a little extra insulation, however, we realized that thefine workmanship crappy engineering that went into installing our dryer hose ventilation was a huge source of heat loss (note: this was done before we moved in). Imagine a very old window, opened, with pink foam insulation stuffed in it around the dryer hose. Quality, I know.
So, in a half assed effort to seal it up a little, temporarily until we do a redesign, we stuffed some towels around said window. Since there is no door on the laundry room, but there was a 1" diameter wooden dowel hung over the door, the Insomniac Mom/former engineer got the bright idea to fold a sheet and hang it from the dowel to keep some of that cold in that room.
We folded up one of our old sheets, and wrapped it around the dowel a few times. For some reason, I felt the need to give the sheet a little 'tensile stress test' for endurance and cat purposes and tugged on it a little. The data obtained from said test is that the dowel was not properly affixed to the door jamb, and was apparantly constructed in a way that it would fall on the person performing quality testing on it. Square in the nose.
Tears. Nose faucet. Instant pain. Laughter coming from the other side of the sheet.
This is one of those incidents that was NOT hysterical at the time, but in hindsight, maybe it is a little comical. Like dad always said "It's all fun and games till someone loses an eye. Then it's hysterical."
Since it is the season for the temperature to drop (although we don't have any snow), I've noticed that the cold air seems to creep into our apartments around the old windows. Our 1800's era farm house could use a few new windows or at least a parka. This weekend, in an effort to cut down on the chill, we went around and hung curtains for a little extra insulation, however, we realized that the
So, in a half assed effort to seal it up a little, temporarily until we do a redesign, we stuffed some towels around said window. Since there is no door on the laundry room, but there was a 1" diameter wooden dowel hung over the door, the Insomniac Mom/former engineer got the bright idea to fold a sheet and hang it from the dowel to keep some of that cold in that room.
We folded up one of our old sheets, and wrapped it around the dowel a few times. For some reason, I felt the need to give the sheet a little 'tensile stress test' for endurance and cat purposes and tugged on it a little. The data obtained from said test is that the dowel was not properly affixed to the door jamb, and was apparantly constructed in a way that it would fall on the person performing quality testing on it. Square in the nose.
Tears. Nose faucet. Instant pain. Laughter coming from the other side of the sheet.
This is one of those incidents that was NOT hysterical at the time, but in hindsight, maybe it is a little comical. Like dad always said "It's all fun and games till someone loses an eye. Then it's hysterical."
Public Apology
It was recently brought to my attention that I sometimes address "Ladies" when writing my blog. A male reader pointed out to me that I should not only address female readers, but also any men who are following. As I truly appreciate my supporters, I would like to apologize and say,
Suck it up, buttercup - it's my blog.
Thank you, that is all.
Suck it up, buttercup - it's my blog.
Thank you, that is all.
Test Kitchen Tuesdays
Dark
Chocolate Cranberry Cookies
The
inspiration for these cookies was the left over bag of fresh cranberries from
my Christmas baking and doing something for Test Kitchen Tuesday. I searched the internet for a fresh cranberry
recipe and came upon a similar recipe to this.
I doctored it to accommodate the ingredients I had in my pantry and
added the chocolate drizzle. I added the
dark chocolate chunks and drizzle because I think it goes great with both the
cranberries and orange flavor. I had
plenty of dark chocolate on hand after my post holiday trip to Walmart, I found
bags of Hershey’s Minis for $1.24 each.
I cleared the shelf. Hey, it’s
cheaper than buying bags of chocolate chips!
I thought that giving the dark chocolate bars a rustic chop was visually
appropriate for these cookies. For my
learning experience for Test Kitchen Tuesday, I decided to melt chocolate in a
double boiler and drizzle it on the finished product. It may sound simple, but I had never done it!
Dough:
Dough:
1 cup
butter, softened
1/2 cup
brown sugar, packed
1 cup splenda
1 egg
Zest of
one orange
2
tablespoons orange juice
1
teaspoon vanilla
2 1/2
cups all-purpose flour
1/2
teaspoon baking soda
1/2
teaspoon salt
1 cup
chopped cranberries
1 cup
dark chocolate piece
Orange Frosting:
Orange Frosting:
Zest of ½
an orange
2-3 tablespoons
orange juice
1 1/2
cups confectioners' sugar, sifted
Chocolate
Drizzle
1 cup
dark chocolate
2
tablespoons shortenting
Directions
Directions
1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees
2. Combine the flour, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl.
3. In a large bowl, cream the butter, splenda and brown sugar. Beat in the egg until blended. Mix in 1 teaspoon orange zest, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract and 2 tablespoons orange juice (I used fresh squeezed right out of the orange I just zested)
4. Stir the flour from above into the butter/sugar mixture. Gently fold in cranberries and chocolate. Drop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets. Note: Chopped cranberries? How the hell do you accomplish that? It’s like eating soup with a fork. I do not own a food processor so I tossed the cranberries in the blender. I pulsed a few times until most of the cranberries were broken up. Do not make cranberry mush. I was concerned that the few berries that did not get broken up would not bake fully, but they did.
5. Bake for 12 minutes, until the edges start to turn golden brown. Remove from the oven and let sit for 5 minutes on the cookie sheets. Transfer the cookies to wire racks to cool.
6. In a small bowl, mix together 1/2 teaspoon orange zest, 2-3 tablespoons orange juice and confectioners' sugar until smooth. Spread on top of the cookies when they are completely cool.
2. Combine the flour, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl.
3. In a large bowl, cream the butter, splenda and brown sugar. Beat in the egg until blended. Mix in 1 teaspoon orange zest, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract and 2 tablespoons orange juice (I used fresh squeezed right out of the orange I just zested)
4. Stir the flour from above into the butter/sugar mixture. Gently fold in cranberries and chocolate. Drop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets. Note: Chopped cranberries? How the hell do you accomplish that? It’s like eating soup with a fork. I do not own a food processor so I tossed the cranberries in the blender. I pulsed a few times until most of the cranberries were broken up. Do not make cranberry mush. I was concerned that the few berries that did not get broken up would not bake fully, but they did.
5. Bake for 12 minutes, until the edges start to turn golden brown. Remove from the oven and let sit for 5 minutes on the cookie sheets. Transfer the cookies to wire racks to cool.
6. In a small bowl, mix together 1/2 teaspoon orange zest, 2-3 tablespoons orange juice and confectioners' sugar until smooth. Spread on top of the cookies when they are completely cool.
7. In a double boiler, melt dark chocolate and
shortening together. When completely
melted drizzle over frosted cookies. Do
not burn chocolate and absolutely make sure that the top pan in the double
boiler is COMPLETELY dry. Introducing water into melting chocolate can
make it seize.
These cookies came out great! My very picky Red thought they were great and ate quite a few! I made 1/2 0f the batch with orange frosting and 1/2 with out. He preferred the frosted ones, I thought they were too sweet. They were one of the cakey-est cookies I've ever eaten.
I hope you all enjoy, I think these will certainly become a part of my recipe box.
Monday, January 2, 2012
101 Goals in 1,001 Days
I have been inspired by Lil Mys Ninja to
take the 101 goals in 1001 days. So
here, I will publicly post my list in addition to my New Year’s Resolutions. I know there aren't 101 goals on here, but I'm still working on the list. It's not as easy as it seems to come up with 101 goals!
Household:
Scrub out the fridge
Grow my own garden
Can my own veggies
Get a Kitchenaid Stand Mixer
Try one new recipe a week
Hang some art in our apartment
Get my back room organized
Keep paperwork filed
Make a soufflé
Obtain at least one local food item per
week
Make hard cider
Financial:
Improve my credit score. Remember to pay my bills on time
Build our savings to 6 months worth of
bills
Only use credit cards for emergencies
Keep my grocery bill under $200/month
Save money for a down payment on a house
Travel:
Disney
Mystic Seaport
Pennsylvania Dutch Country
Climb Mount Monadnock
Go camping
Go deep sea fishing
Go back to NYC
Take Red to a Yankees game
Go to a Bruins game
Go to a Patriots game
Blog:
Write in my blog at least 5 days a week
Get 500 followers on my blog
Find 2 new blogs a week to follow &
support
Personal:
Get married
Start Sewing Again
Recycle more
Get a motorcycle
Parachute
Bungee jump
Dress to impress at least one day a
week. Look fabulous
Get an industrial piercing
Get the Yeti’s name tattooed on me
Educational:
Take a credit course
from a college
Learn to knit
Learn to bake bread
Read one book per month
Learn to play an
instrument, either pick up the piano again or learn the gee-tar
Learn more
constellations
Learn a new vocabulary word every week
Complete 1 New York Times crossword
puzzle
Relearn French
Professional
Life:
Get a job that I love waking up for
every day
Start my own small catering/baking
company
Write a column for a newspaper
Create my own line of kitchen wear
Body/Fitness:
Run a 5k
Run a 10K
Jog at least 6 days a week
Lose 50 lbs
Brush & Floss every day, day and
night
Complete 25 push ups
Complete a mud run or adventure race
Wash my face every day
Moisturize every day
Sunscreen every day
Hike on the Appalachian Trial
Drink 64 oz of water a day
Philanthropy:
Say thank you more often
Donate $100/year to a good cause
Donate all old clothes to charity
Donate 1 bag of groceries to Feed the
Thousands
Donate Blood
Volunteer at least one hour per month
Family:
Read to my son every day
Have a date night with Red once a month,
Yeti free
House train the Yeti
Sunday, January 1, 2012
Venison Chili Failure
I feel that it is my culinary responsibility to post when I have been a kitchen failure. Hey, we're all humans, right? Except my son, he's a yeti.
My dear friend, whom I will here after refer to as the Deer Slayer, gave us a huge supply of venison (deer meat to all of you city folk). Unfortunately, due to being pregnant and having a newborn during deer season, I was unable to obtain my own supply. I excitedly began my search for a delicious venison chili recipe and decided on one from The Food Network by Emeril. His recipe called for solid meat, cut up, but I wasn't going to waste my steaks and back straps on chili, I was planning on using ground meat.
For those of you who don't know, venison is EXTREMELY lean. It is imperative not to over cook it or it becomes dry, tough, and tallowy.
Soooo, other than the substitution of ground meat, I followed the recipe exactly. I was salivating at the thought of eating my first serving of delicious side hill beef in about a year. Venison was actually the first meal my dear Red cooked for me (which we later found out was moose, not venison, but hey, its all good). The verdict? It sucked. First of all, it was so spicy, it masked any flavor of the meat, wine, or anything else for that matter. A tablespoon of chili powder is overkill. That is a few too many Bams for me. I love spicy food. I haven't found anything too spicy for me to conquer. Always a few popsicles in the freezer to, uh, wipe with the next day. However, I still like food to have flavor. Also, the recipe was very dry, I like a chili that is saucier.
I have made some of Emeril's recipes in the past and thought they were great, but this one is definitely not going in the box. Hormel would have been a better substitution. Wish me luck in my next venison endeavor. I have posted the link to the recipe below, if anyone is curious.
Venison Chili
My dear friend, whom I will here after refer to as the Deer Slayer, gave us a huge supply of venison (deer meat to all of you city folk). Unfortunately, due to being pregnant and having a newborn during deer season, I was unable to obtain my own supply. I excitedly began my search for a delicious venison chili recipe and decided on one from The Food Network by Emeril. His recipe called for solid meat, cut up, but I wasn't going to waste my steaks and back straps on chili, I was planning on using ground meat.
For those of you who don't know, venison is EXTREMELY lean. It is imperative not to over cook it or it becomes dry, tough, and tallowy.
Soooo, other than the substitution of ground meat, I followed the recipe exactly. I was salivating at the thought of eating my first serving of delicious side hill beef in about a year. Venison was actually the first meal my dear Red cooked for me (which we later found out was moose, not venison, but hey, its all good). The verdict? It sucked. First of all, it was so spicy, it masked any flavor of the meat, wine, or anything else for that matter. A tablespoon of chili powder is overkill. That is a few too many Bams for me. I love spicy food. I haven't found anything too spicy for me to conquer. Always a few popsicles in the freezer to, uh, wipe with the next day. However, I still like food to have flavor. Also, the recipe was very dry, I like a chili that is saucier.
I have made some of Emeril's recipes in the past and thought they were great, but this one is definitely not going in the box. Hormel would have been a better substitution. Wish me luck in my next venison endeavor. I have posted the link to the recipe below, if anyone is curious.
Venison Chili
Happy New Years to all!
Happy New Years to all! Ok, it's a few hours late.
Red and I enjoyed a very romantic evening last night I listened to Red snore all night long as he got called in to go make those highways safe for the travelling public at 11:00 pm the night before, so he was a little sleepy.
I personally went to sleep at 7:30 for the first time in...oh about 9 weeks and slept 6 whole hours. That's one quarter of an entire day. Must be Red's snoring lulled the yeti into deep sleep.
So...I've already participated in the cliche New Year's Resolution posting but, being inspired by my fellow blogger Lil Mys Ninja and have decided to start my 101 Goals in 1,001 Days project. By the end of this week, I will have my 101 goals outlined and posted and I will update y'all often on my progress.
Welcome to 2012! Don't forget when writing those checks!
I personally went to sleep at 7:30 for the first time in...oh about 9 weeks and slept 6 whole hours. That's one quarter of an entire day. Must be Red's snoring lulled the yeti into deep sleep.
So...I've already participated in the cliche New Year's Resolution posting but, being inspired by my fellow blogger Lil Mys Ninja and have decided to start my 101 Goals in 1,001 Days project. By the end of this week, I will have my 101 goals outlined and posted and I will update y'all often on my progress.
Welcome to 2012! Don't forget when writing those checks!
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