Month: December 2008

Not The Day It Was Supposed To Be

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So we ended up not going to Sinterklaas at all yesterday. No one ever said that parenting is easy, and unfortunately this was one of those circumstances where it ended up sucking for everyone. I really, really wanted to go and often when it’s an event either Drew or I want to attend, we’ll go anyway. But we felt we had to put our collective feet down yesterday. All week I had been struggling with the boys not picking up (even after me repeatedly asking them to do so… I’m talking three or four times here). We’ve also had some lovely 6-year-old attitude (something I am sure some of you can relate to) and I was sick of it.

We’d had a great visit with friends on Friday night and I explained to the boys that if they wanted to go to yesterday’s festival, they would have to finish cleaning their room in the morning. There wasn’t even all that much to clean up. It would have taken me 10 minutes, so it should have taken them about 20 minutes. Three hours and about 20 scoldings later it was finally done. The entire morning had been wasted because of their stubborness. I felt that I had to keep my word, and we did. No one was happy, but I’m hoping they learned a lesson.

So instead of having a fun afternoon, the boys were sequestered inside with no TV and Drew and I froze our buns off cleaning the leaves out of the gutters. (It was freezing and honestly I am not sure how long the kids would have lasted at the event anyway). At least we were able to turn the day around a little bit. They had picked up the toys they played with while we were outside, so we took them to shop for each other’s stocking stuffers. (Jake picks for Noah and Noah picks for Jake.) After that we ended up at Friendly’s for dinner and ended up having an OK night. Jake realized there are consequences for his actions, so hopefully he’ll remember that. I’m sure some people will think I’m the mean, strict mommy but such is life. Both my parents and Drew’s parents were strict with us (I would venture to say stricter than we are with our children), and I think because of that we turned out to be pretty focussed, disciplined individuals who clean up after ourselves!

There is always next year for the festival and I hope to do some fun Christmas activities with the boys today. I’m about to take Jake to Sunday school and I am going to do some grocery shopping while he is in class. I’m thinking about maybe renting a Christmas movie from the Redbox for this afternoon. It snowed lightly last night so it has that Christmas feeling. We might also put the lights up outside today. Hopefully today will be a bit better than yesterday.

Sinterklaas Celebration

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So, the plan today was to attend some of the events going on at the Rhinebeck Sinterklaas Festival. Last spring, there were mentions of it in the school newsletter. They were starting to collect all kinds of baubles from glitter and feathers to buttons. This is for the children to make crowns and wands and things to carry in tonight’s parade. In addition to that, there’s all kinds of storytelling, puppet shows, events, and of course Santa and the town tree lighting.

I was starting to get excited about going and the “Grumpuses” even visited the elementary school and danced for the kids, which got Jake super excited about it. Of course, this morning he has been nothing less than a grinch, so now I am not so sure about going. It’s not going to be any fun if he’s full of bad attitude. Sigh… I hate to have the whole day ruined. Hopefully he can turn it around, because it’s a really special event that I think everyone will enjoy. But at the same time, I’m not going to reward bad behavior. We’ll see.

In the meantime, I have stacks of laundry and dishes to deal with, so I might as well get that done.

Italian Anise Cookies

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Italian anise cookies

These are, without a doubt, one of my top three favorite cookies. They’re easy to make, they are not overly sweet, and they just about melt in your mouth. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do!

Italian Anise Cookies
3/4 cup sugar
1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, melted
2 large eggs
1/4 cup milk
1 tsp. anise extract
2-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
2-1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt

Glaze (recipe follows)
Decoration: multicolored nonpareils (optional(

1. Heat oven to 325 degrees F. Coat baking sheets with nonstick spray (or use a silicone liner).
2. DOUGH – Beat first 5 ingredients in a large bowl with mixer until blended. On low speed, beat in the next 3 ingredients until blended.
3. Drop rounded measuring teaspoons of dough 2 inches apart onto the prepared sheets.
4. Bake 8 to 10 minutes until bottoms are light golden. Remove cookies to a wire rack to cool.
5. Dip tops of cookies in glaze and, while wet, sprinkle with nonpareils. Let set. Store airtight at room temp. up to 2 weeks or freeze up to 1 month.

Glaze * Whisk 1 cup confectioners’ sugar, 4-5 tsp. milk, and 1 tsp. ansie extract in a small bowl until smooth.

* When I made these last night, I only make half of the glaze recipe and found I had just enough.

TGIF :-)

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It’s twenty-five degrees out this morning! Brr! But the sun is shining and that always makes such a big difference. I’m also in a great mood because my friend Jenn from back home is visiting this afternoon. We so rarely get to see each other; it will be nice to relax and visit. She also has two little boys around the same ages as Jake & Noah so they should all have fun playing together. I’m keeping it simple for dinner tonight and just ordering a pizza (though I’ll probably make a salad beforehand, so I just need to take it out of the fridge – gotta get some veggies in, right?).

Yesterday afternoon I went on a baking spree. Jake had a half-day from school, so I wanted to do some fun activities. We baked s’mores brownies (unfortunately I didn’t have any graham crackers, though), and then I made a batch of Italian anise cookies. They came out wonderfully! I will post the recipe later. Everyone enjoyed munching on the treats afterwards.

Also, Drew came home last night after a few days in Chesapeake, Va. for work. At least it was a quick trip and he didn’t need to take any luggage. With how expensive it is to check bags, he was sure to travel light! His company’s headquarters are down there and it seems like he might be heading south for business trips more often. He enjoys it though. It’s cool to actually see and talk to the people he usually only converses with via phone and e-mail. And who knows — maybe if he needs to go down there in the summer we could somehow work in a vacation to Virginia Beach! I’ve never been down there so it would be neat to see. Plus, it’s a reasonable drive. We shall see.

Well, I need to get ready for the day and return my library books this morning. Look for the cookie post later on!

Sweet 100

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With the name of my blog being “Pure Sugar” how could I resist this delicious meme that I found at Foodie Chickie?

How the Sweet 100 Works:

1) Copy this list into your blog or journal, including these instructions.
2) Bold all the items you’ve eaten.
3) Cross out any items that you would never consider eating.

1. Red Velvet Cake
2. Princess Torte
3. Whoopie Pie
4. Apple Pie either topped or baked with sharp cheddar
5. Beignet
6. Baklava
7. Black and White Cookie
8. Seven Layer Bar (also known as the Magic Bar or Hello Dolly bars)
9. Fried Fruit pie (sometimes called hand pies)
10. Kringle
11. Just-fried (still hot) doughnut
12. Scone with clotted cream
13. Betty, Grunt, Slump, Buckle or Pandowdy
14. Halvah
15. Macarons
16. Banana Pudding with nilla wafers
17. Bubble tea (with tapioca “pearls”)
18. Dixie Cup – Though we always called them Hoodsie Cups.
19. Rice Krispie treats
20. Alfajores
21. Blondies
22. Croquembouche
23. Girl Scout cookies
24. Moon cake
25. Candy Apple
26. Baked Alaska
27. Brooklyn Egg Cream
28. Nanaimo bar
29. Baba au rhum
30. King Cake
31. Sachertorte
32. Pavolva
33. Tres Leches Cake
34. Trifle
35. Shoofly Pie
36. Key Lime Pie (made with real key lime)
37. Panna Cotta
38. New York Cheesecake
39. Napoleon/mille-fueille
40. Russian Tea Cake/Mexican Wedding Cake
41. Anzac Biscuits
42. Pizzelle
43. Kolache
44. Buckeyes
45. Malasadas
46. Moon Pie
47. Dutch Baby
48. Boston Cream Pie
49. Homemade chocolate chip cookies
50. Pralines
51. Gooey butter cake
52. Rusks (same thing as zwieback)
53. Daifuku
54. Green tea cake or cookies
55. Cupcakes from a cupcake shop
56. Creme Brulee
57. Some sort of deep fried fair food (twinkie, candy bar, cupcake)
58. Yellow cake with chocolate frosting
59. Jelly Roll
60. Pop Tarts
61. Charlotte Russe
62. An “upside down” dessert (Pineapple upside down cake or Tarte Tatin)
63. Hummingbird Cake
64. Jell-O from a mold
65. Black forest cake
66. Mock Apple Pie (Ritz Cracker Pie)
67. Kulfi
68. Linzer torte
69. Churro
70. Stollen
71. Angel Food Cake
72. Mincemeat pie
73. Concha
74. Opera Cake
75. Sfogliatelle / Lobster tail
76. Pain au chocolat
77. A piece of Gingerbread House
78. Cassata
79. Cannoli
80. Rainbow cookies
81. Religieuse
82. Petits fours
83. Chocolate Souffle
84. Bienenstich (Bee Sting Cake)
85. Rugelach
86. Hamenstashen
87. Homemade marshmallows
88. Rigo Janci
89. Pie or cake made with candy bar flavors (Snickers pie, Reeses pie, etc)
90. Divinity
91. Coke or Cola cake
92. Gateau Basque
93. S’mores
94. Figgy Pudding
95. Bananas foster or other flaming dessert
96. Joe Froggers
97. Sables
98. Millionaire’s Shortbread
99. Animal crackers
100. Basbousa

Clearly the girl likes her desserts 😉 And now I have a list of many that I can’t wait to try!

The One Where I Talk About Food

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Although I wouldn’t quite say I’ve hit that second-trimester energy surge (I’m usually asleep by 8 o’clock still), I am finding that I’m feeling much more “normal” during the day. And thankfully that also means I’m getting my cooking mojo back. For the past couple months, my poor family has suffered, but made the best of it.

Last night I decided to try this chicken curry recipe at Hooked on Heat. I did not have any garlic-ginger paste so I minced two cloves of garlic and shredded a one-inch piece of fresh ginger. I added them at the same time I added the onions and chile peppers. Oh my goodness, it was soooo goood. I really wish I had made a double batch to have leftovers for tomorrow’s lunch. I also made some kheer, which is a soupy rice pudding flavored with coconut milk, a bit of sugar, golden raisins, and cardamom. I had no cardamom, so I substituted a blend of coconut, nutmeg, and ground ginger. It also turned out really well and was very comforting! I’ve had the dessert in an Indian restaurant, but apparently it is a Pakistani dish. Either way, it is super yummy warm or cold. With the spice blend I think it would make a nice holiday dessert if you’re looking for something different.

This morning I put together beef stew in the Crock Pot. Drew’s mom and aunt will be watching the boys while we are at Jake’s parent-teacher conference this afternon. I’m not sure if they plan on staying for dinner, but I wanted to have something just in case. If not, I will just send them home with some. Not quite sure why I made it. Honestly it is not sounding too good to me right now, but I guess I just had all the ingredients so… Sadly, it will not be the delicious chicken curry that’s for sure.

I’m also trying to figure out what to serve on Christmas Day. We’re having a very small gathering this year, so I don’t want a ton of food (which will just mean a ton of leftovers). Spiral ham would be easiest but they are so freaking big, and I’m not that crazy about ham in general (except deli ham on a sandwich). Brunch-type items would be easy but I feel like everyone is bored with that since I do it every year. Maybe a roast beef? That requires minimal work and is a lot smaller than the ham. I need to get this figured out!

Just Call Me “Oscar”

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I’ve been grouchy since the moment I woke up this morning, and things just aren’t looking up. Jake has had a sore throat all weekend so we decided to keep him home from school today and I took him to the doctor. They ruled out strep and mono and ultimately came to the conclusion that’s it’s just a viral infection (a.k.a., your typical sore throat). Yes I’m glad there’s nothing wrong with him, but unless you have experienced the joy of being trapped for over an hour in a little room in the pediatrician’s office with two loud, fidgety, unruly children… Well, let’s just say it was stressful (I know many of you can relate) and it sucked to leave there without anything to make him feel better, other than the advice to give him Tylenol and get him to gargle with salt water (both of which I’ve already been doing). Of course now that he knows he’s not really sick, he thinks it’s fine to run around like crazy. Sigh…

Then, I was making chicken soup for Mr. Sore Throat and when I cut into a seemingly fine onion, I was aghast and grossed out to see that it was rotting from the inside out. Oh yeah, that is just what a pregnant lady who still flirts with nausea needs. Awesome.

Then, the other thing that really annoys me is that I forgot to buy plain yogurt at the store when I was there this morning. I figured, if I’m having a crappy day, at least I’ll make something fun for dinner. I was really, really looking forward to my chicken curry. I guess I’ll substitute sour cream. I don’t need a lot, anyway. I just like a little on the side. But still, it’s like I had this whole, wonderful vision of dinner that just won’t be the same. Days like today make me want to pack up my things and run away and go to truck driving school and buy a CB radio and start talking in trucker lingo.What’s your 20?

Alas, that’s not going to happen. I don’t really like driving anyway. Instead, maybe I’ll just scarf down that last piece of cheesecake in the fridge.