Goodbye, Sabrina

As long as we've lived here, this Sabrina poster has hung on the wall. When we moved in, we weren't sure how to decorate the kitchen/dining area, so we just hung a couple vintage posters Bracken had since college on the wall and called it good enough. At least they were vintage. Three plus years later, nothing had changed. Here are Addie and Chloe dyeing Easter eggs this last year.

Here's another shot of Addie and the Sabrina poster.
Here's the real winner, though. While hunting for a good "before" shot of the wall, I found this shot of Addie with the Sabrina poster 2 years ago.It's AWESOME! But not awesome enough for me to not update my dining room.

Since we really don't have the budget for anything major, I've been collecting at yard sales and using coupons (Thank you Kohl's and JCPenny for those $10 off your $10 purchase deals). I got a shelf for free, which I repainted with paint we had in the cupboard. I wanted a real apple-ey green, but didn't have enough yellow, so I'm fine with what I did for free. I picked up some cute milk glass dishes, a vintage plate and some little birds (which I decided not to paint black for Halloween) at yard sales, added a couple pieces of memorabilia from my life and some herbs from my garden, and . . . .

Voila! One excited Chloe!I'm excited, too.

I'm really quite pleased with myself.
Now I just have to keep my fingers crossed that I'll win that set of Fiesta Ware.

It's the tooth

A little over a month ago, Chloe's tooth started wiggling. She told me it was loose, and I didn't believe her, mainly because I just wasn't prepared to have a child old enough to lose a tooth. But I stuck my finger in there, felt that it was indeed rocking a bit, and immediately welled up with tears.

And then got stressed because I was in the middle of all sorts of craziness preparing for my brother's wedding, and knew I needed to get a tooth fairy pillow made now also. I know, a special pillow is unnecessary for the whole process, but I have that special kind of crazy that dictates that I must have it done for the first one or I won't be able to do it for the next one. I had seen this darling thing before, and got right on making one for the Mannions. I got it done, then had Bracken pick up a roll of gold dollar coins so we would be ready. No scrambling for cash in the middle of the night here. And then the tooth didn't fall out.

We wiggled and wiggled and prodded and pulled and bribed Chloe to let us stick our fingers in her mouth again and again. No go. Then this week I looked in there and saw that not only had Chloe grown in her first big girl molars, she also had a new tooth growing in behind the wiggly one. That would not stand. We doubled our efforts to try and get that tooth out before she started looking too much like a shark. One night ended with Chloe sobbing because there was blood in her mouth, and the tooth still firmly in place. At that point we decided we needed to just let nature take its course and back off, full size permanent tooth in place or not.

A couple days later, after a couple bribed attempts at the tooth, it was still there, but so loose that every time she opened her mouth it was pointing a different direction and making me hear banjos when she smiled. And then she brushed her teeth Wednesday morning.

As they brushed their teeth that day, Chloe and Addie bickered as usual. But this bickering elevated into shoving and ended with a full cup of water splashing all over the bathroom. I sent them both to time out, and as they went, noticed Chloe didn't seem to have a loose tooth anymore.

Please disregard my child's yellow teeth. I swear we brush.

I went to check on Chloe. The tooth was indeed gone. We rushed back to the bathroom to check the sink, but no tooth. I unscrewed the drain cap, still no tooth. I realized that after all the trouble we'd gone through to get this sucker out, it had painlessly exited Chloe's mouth and slid down the drain. And I was going to have to go after it. I waffled for a few minutes, trying to decide if it was really worth it. But then I remembered my crazy (see above), and thought about the pillow that had been waiting for a tooth in its mouth for a month, and decided to go for it. I took that sink apart, praying that the trap had done its job.

And it had! In a slush of nasty water, I poured that tiny little tooth into my hand. That tiny little tooth that had arrived 5 years ago with 3 of its friends all in the same month. A month in which I had a lovely battle with pneumonia. This was a significant tooth. We cleaned it off and put it in a bag to show Dad when he came home.

We did show Dad, then took some pictures and put that little tooth into the mouth of the tooth fairy pillow and tucked it into bed with Chloe. She went to bed, and instead of the silence we were expecting, we heard tears. Bracken went in to check on her and found her sobbing over how much she was going to miss her tooth. (Anyone else thinking future Hoarder here?) He told me later that he had consoled her by telling her how it was the tooth fairy's job to collect teeth and if she couldn't get Chloe's tooth, she would be out of a job and she would die. Lovely. Somehow, though, it did the trick. She went to sleep, we snuck in and made the trade, and the next morning, a very excited little girl found a nice shiny gold coin the the tooth pillow's pocket.

She was so excited, in fact, that I'm concerned that she's going to help other teeth leave her mouth a little ahead of schedule. In the meantime, I'll just enjoy listening to her cute little, tongue in the empty space lisp.

I'm not sure why she's holding everything over her right eye, but we'll just go with that theme.

Tuesdays at Lunch with Addie

We pulled into the garage after dropping off Chloe at school. I unbuckled the kids and set to work rearranging the carseats in order to provide Addie with her very own row where she can not in any way molester anyone else.

I was almost done when she informed me she needed to go to the bathroom. I helped her out of the front seat of the car, and noticed there were drops of liquid all over the console. I assumed they were from the bottle of water in the console. Until I found Addie in the bathroom with soaking wet pants. I changed her out of them and asked her to get some new panties. The fact that she chose plastic lined training pants doesn't bode well for the rest of the day.

We then sat down for lunch. Here are some snippets.

"Addie, please don't talk with food in your mouth."

"Mom, Luke Skywalker's dad talks with food in his mouth. And Aunt Veru is his mother."

"Mom, I have a brother."

"No, honey, you have two sisters."

Becoming very agitated and bouncing in her seat, "NO! I HAVE A BRO-THER!"

"Really? Who is it?"

"It's someone else I don't know."

"Mom, I want more macaroni."

"We don't have anymore right now."

"Mom, I want toast."

"Do you want brown bread or white bread?"

"I want . . . Brown!"

I get out the brown bread.

"No, I want white."

I put back the brown bread, pick up the white, and--

"No, I want brown."

I put the brown bread in the toaster.

"Mom, I want a sandwich."

"No, I already put the bread in the toaster, you're having toast."

"NO! I want A SANDWICH."

"No, you're having toast."

"I want a toast sandwich."

"Okay. What kind of jam do you want?"

"Um, pear."

She then polishes off the sandwich before I can blink and says, "Mom, strawberry jam is my favorite."

Fine.

Lately Addie has been very whiny and prone to tantrums which appear out of nowhere leaving me wondering how the conversation went so wrong. I finally figured it out. Addie never stops talking. Ever. So, what happens is, she starts talking, telling you something very important to her, and perhaps even asking a question about it, but doesn't ever pause for you to answer her or respond conversationally in any way. Then, still without slowing the stream of words pouring from her mouth, she starts to wind up and whine and soon she's yelling and frustrated because you haven't responded to her, BECAUSE SHE NEVER GAVE YOU A CHANCE TO! This realization has actually made me feel much better about myself because I was really starting to think I wasn't paying enough attention to her.

But for now, we're both going to take naps, so that we can start another round this afternoon, and hopefully I can get some insight into how to limit Addie's influence over this one.

I'm having a love affair with this potato salad

I really can't get enough of it. It is so delicious to me, and so light and tasty, especially when compared with traditional potato salad. I've only ever made it with dill pickles instead of cornichons, I substituted a shallot for the onion last time, and I love using this seedy dijon mustard I got at Trader Joe's. And, I think I may have left the oil out, and it was still super tasty, and even better for me. And of course, I must credit America's Test Kitchen for the recipe.

Austrian-Style Potato Salad

Serves 4 to 6

The finished salad should be creamy and loose, with chunks of potato that keep their shape but are very tender. If you can’t find cornichons, chopped kosher dill pickles can be used in their place. To maintain its consistency, don’t refrigerate the salad; it should be served within 4 hours of preparation.

Ingredients

• 2 pounds Yukon Gold potatoes (about 4 large), peeled, quartered lengthwise, and cut into 1/2-inch-thick slices
• 1 cup low-sodium chicken broth
• 1 cup water
• Table salt
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
• 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1 small red onion , chopped fine (about 3/4 cup)
• 6 cornichons , minced (about 2 tablespoons) (see note)
• 2 tablespoons minced fresh chives
• Ground black pepper

Instructions

• 1. Bring potatoes, broth, water, 1 teaspoon salt, sugar, and 1 tablespoon vinegar to boil in 12-inch heavy-bottomed skillet over high heat. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and cook until potatoes offer no resistance when pierced with paring knife, 15 to 17 minutes. Remove cover, increase heat to high (so cooking liquid will reduce), and cook 2 minutes.
• 2. Drain potatoes in colander set over large bowl, reserving cooking liquid. Set drained potatoes aside. Pour off and discard all but ½ cup cooking liquid (if ½ cup liquid does not remain, add water to make ½ cup). Whisk remaining tablespoon vinegar, mustard, and oil into cooking liquid.
• 3. Add ½ cup cooked potatoes to bowl with cooking liquid mixture and mash with potato masher or fork until thick sauce forms (mixture will be slightly chunky). Add remaining potatoes, onion, cornichons, and chives, folding gently with rubber spatula to combine. Season to taste with salt and black pepper. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Halloweenie

I do realize that it's still early September, and I'm way behind on blogging all sorts of other important things, but instead I'm starting some Halloween crafting. I wanted to make these last year, when I saw them on some cute crafting blog that I can no longer find (sorry, I can't give you credit), but never got around to it. And it has haunted me ever since. Which means it must be a really awesome idea.

You start out with some small animal statues. I got most of these at the Dollar Tree. I've also been hunting at garage sales, which is why you should get started now if you want to get these made before Halloween.

Now here's the tricky part. You spray paint them glossy black. I used the 98 cent spray paint from Walmart. Then you glue on red rhinestone eyes. Instant spooky little decoration. I know the pictures aren't great, and I haven't fully decorated for Halloween yet (I'm going to add some black painted branches), but I wanted to get the idea out there now.
And all these cute little pumpkins? Totally got them at the Dollar Tree too. I heart the Dollar Tree.

Next I'm going to start working on this.

Butter Cookies

Because a friend recently requested the recipe, and because I've never posted it here, and because they're awesome and I really shouldn't be eating them on my diet, I will now share with you my butter cookie recipe in the hopes that you will indulge for me. They are divine, and sinful, all rolled up into one.

My family got the recipe from a sweet little Danish woman named Katherine Baccigalupe. We must always give her credit for the deliciousness.

Katherine Baccigalupe's Butter Cookies
1 lb. salted butter, softened overnight
2 cups sugar, sifted
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 cups flour, sifted

Beat butter and sugar together well. Beat in egg and vanilla until mixture lightens in color. Gradually sift in salt and flour (sifting is very important for your dry ingredients for both texture, and to ensure that the dough doesn't clog the cookie press). Mix until well combined. Fill cookie press using rectangle disk (it produces long, thin strips of dough. Usually has one flat side and one ridged side). Press out into long strips on cookie sheet. Bake 10 minutes at 375 degrees or until golden and just starting to brown at edges. Remove from oven and immediately cut at an angle into 2" strips with the edge of a spatula while still on tray. Transfer to cooling rack and let cool completely.

Bracken likes to melt chocolate, and dip the cookies into the chocolate and then into chopped nuts. I've tried making them in other shapes, and unfortunately, the dough is so buttery that it's difficult to get them to stay on the tray--they tend to get stuck in the press. Plus, the long thin cookies are crisper and tastier.

The Prize, and the Price

The prize

The price
The prize
The price
The prize
The price--Several months ago as I was rummaging through the spices in the cupboard next to my stove, a glass jar fell out, hit the edge of my glass cooktop, and cracked it. It cracked across the smallest burner that I use the least, and I figured I could make do with only 3 burners on the stove. Then this week, I put a hand on the cooktop as I leaned over to help Chloe with her workbook, and cracked it right across the biggest burner that I use all the time. Suck. So, now I'm down to two working burners on my stove, and no budget to take care of it at the moment. And I need to can, because ripening produce waits for no one. So, I stuck my canner on the burner on the grill outside, which actually kept my kitchen much cooler. So, it ended up being a win. Except that I would prefer to keep my canner outside and yet still have a working stove inside.

But here's your helpful hint for the day. Boiling water takes out fruit juice stains. Just pour it over and they are gone, immediately. I'm amazed every time.