Archives for August 2007

I Do Hope You’ll Play Along

Veronica tagged me for an Alumni Newsletter Meme that she found at Stacie’s. Here’s how Veronica explained it:

The idea is to write two blurbs for the alumni newsletter, updating your life. The first should be the perky, show-offy kind that everyone writes. The second should be the darker side of honest.

Really, I had no choice but to accept this challenge. I love reading the updates in our alumni magazine, but I’ve never actually written one. Until, of course, now.

And just FYI: you’re all tagged for this meme. Because it’s fun.

Version 1:

S. has been happily married to fellow MSU graduate D. for ten years. They have been blessed with an outgoing four year-old little boy who delights them on a daily basis. D.’s career enables him to work from home, and as a result S., D. and Alex enjoy an extraordinary amount of time together. S. does some part-time work that puts her English degree to the test, but her favorite job is being Alex’s mama. Their family lives in Alabama, and they’d love for you to stop by if you’re ever passing through their area! Until then, you can catch up on their lives by visiting S.’s blog, BooMama.

Version 2:

S. and D. have been happily married for ten years, though every once in awhile it feels like it’s been much, much longer. They have a delightful four year-old son whose name is Alex, but lately he’s also answering to Howard. Honestly, it doesn’t matter what you call him because he will talk to a fence post. For hours. And when he has finished talking to the fence post, he will try to dismantle it using only his bare hands, some mad kah-rah-tay kicks and a weathered Superman action figure.

Since D.’s career enables him to work from home, there are some days when S. will look at him and say, ever-so-sweetly, “I REALLY NEED SOME TIME ALONE. BY MYSELF. WITH NO ONE HERE.” She does some part-time work in her degree field, but she still doesn’t think of herself as a legitimate writer. Therefore, she calls herself a “writer.” She believes that her lack of wri-confidence stems from being pegged as a bowhead in grad school, where her classmates would often look at her (and her large, chiffon hairbow) with bemused detachment when she spoke up in class. Even though she was totally deep. And stuff. Y’all.

But she’s not bitter.

S. thinks that being Alex / Howard’s mama is the greatest job in the world, though there are definitely days when she requires a Special Touch From The Lord in order to keep her cool, what with all the jumping and screaming and daredeviling. Their family loves living in Alabama, and they hope you’ll stop by if you’re ever in their area. Or you just can hop over to S.’s blog, BooMama, where she “writes” and overuses capital letters ON A DAILY BASIS.

But if you happen to read the blog, be aware that most references to the blog in the course of real-life casual conversation will cause S. to twitch with unmitigated fury and then seek the comfort of a dark, isolated corner where she will sit cross-legged and rock back and forth until she feels invisible.

But aside from that, she’s still completely normal.

In Which My Nerves Have Proven Themselves To Be Surprisingly Resilient

An incomplete list of objects that were nearly destroyed by the four year-old yesterday:

– a window pane in the dining room
– the glass top of the living room coffee table
– a leg on the breakfast room table
– two remote controls
– the big toe on his left foot
– an arm of one of the living room chairs
– his bed frame
– a glass storm door
– a plastic pirate ship
– several wooden closet doors
– Superman’s cape

And then, at Office Max:

– a display of copier paper
– a faucet in the restroom
– a rack of computer games
– a metal shelving unit
– an upholstered desk chair

Last night on the phone I told Mama that I really don’t think it’ll be any time at all before he starts putting holes in the floors.

Using only the force of his ever-stomping feet.

And If You Wanted To Dip Them In Homemade Ranch Dressing, I Would Totally Support That Decision

Moriah emailed me to ask if I’d post the recipe for my homemade croutons (as seen in my random picture post a couple of days ago).

And so, to answer her: why yes, Moriah – I’d be delighted.

As a brief aside (oh, who am I kidding? I have never been acquainted with “brief” in my life, just as I have never been acquainted with “dainty”), I started making these croutons when I was doing a white flour / white sugar detox back in the spring. The homemade croutons have gotten me through some difficult, must-eat-something-crunchy-right-this-second moments. And I like to make them in smaller batches because I think they’re better fresh.

Come to think of it, I don’t really care for any food when it’s NOT fresh. Because as a general rule I tend to avoid, you know, OLD FOOD. On pure principle, really.

Anyway. The croutons.

8 slices stone ground whole wheat bread
1/2 stick melted butter
garlic powder
dried basil
dried oregano
dried dill weed
paprika
lite salt (just because that’s what we use at our house)
freshly ground black pepper
shredded Parmesan cheese

Cube bread slices and place in a large mixing bowl. Pour melted butter over bread and toss with your hands. If you think it looks like you need more butter, add it.

I will never, ever discourage you from additional butter usage.

I have no idea how much of each seasoning I use – we call it the “shaky shake” method around here because I typically let Alex shake the bottles until I say “WHOA.” But my best guess is that it’s about a teaspoon of all the seasonings and then 1/4 cup of the Parmesan.

Once you’ve added all the ingredients, toss the croutons again with your hands, and put them on a cookie sheet.

Bake at 450 for about 10 minutes or until the croutons are crispy.

Taste the end result and then say, “OH, HOLLA!”

Or not. It’s completely up to you.

Emma Kate Has Loved Them Deeply Since 1997

Now admittedly I have a bit of a weakness for music that involves someone banging the ever-livin’ fire out of a piano.

(Please see: Ben Folds.)

And I love me some acoustic flava, to boot.

(Please see: John Mayer. Monk & Neagle. James Taylor. Etc.)

Which brings me to my point.

I have the most wonderful, filled-with-piano-banging-and-acoustic-flava CD to tell you about. A CD written and performed by musicians who are SO STINKIN’ TALENTED. A CD I probably wouldn’t have even known about if our friend Todd hadn’t told us about it last week.

But based on Todd’s recommendation, I decided to give it a listen, and oh my mercy I am enjoying it.

And you’re not going to believe who it is.

It’s Hanson. The “Mmmm Bop” boys are all grown up, y’all.

And their new CD – “The Walk” – is FANTASTIC.

Seriously.

Your whole family will heart it so much.

It’s FANTASTIC.

You can check it out here.

Bloggity Goodness

My sweet friend JMom over at Lots of Scotts has written a post that speaks straight to a tired mama’s heart.

You can check it out here. And you will be encouraged.

Obviously There Is Something Terribly Wrong With Me

Earlier tonight I decided to go through all our summer pictures that I have stored on the computer. I knew there were pictures of Offspring With Disney Characters, Offspring With Cousins, Offspring With Friends, Offspring With Dogs, Offspring In Water, etc., and so on, etc. And since I’ve felt a little crazed the last couple of days, I thought gazing at photographs of some of the people I love would be ever-so-relaxing.

But apparently, if my iPhoto is any indication, one of the people I love the very most is named, well, Food.

Y’all. We’re talking about an embarrassing number of food-related photos.

Now granted, some of the pictures were for blog posts that never came to pass. For example, I took an elaborate series of photos when I made a Hummingbird Cake earlier this summer, but the end result paled in comparison to the Coconut Cake Of Beauty I had made the week before. So I never mentioned it.

But in the interest of tying up loose photographic ends, here’s a picture of all the cake ingredients:

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And, of course, the icing:

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Which, added together, produced this:

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For continuity’s sake, I should point out that I left the pecans out of the icing because they were somewhat mealy and bitter.

And while there are many qualities I look for in cakes, “mealy bitterness” is almost never one of them.

Oddly enough.

I also found a picture of a Southern spread Mama cooked back in June.

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Now you would be completely justified in thinking that such an array of food was supper for at least twelve people, but it was LUNCH. For SIX. And one of those six people is only four years old. So really it was lunch for 5 1/2.

I feel it’s significant that I couldn’t even fit all the food in the frame.

Yet I wonder why I have food issues.

Moving on.

I have absolutely no explanation for this next photo. I guess I fixed a salad for lunch and thought it was pretty? Or something? Maybe?

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You must feel like your life is infinitely richer for having seen that.

And just in case you don’t?

Hold on to your seats, internets – WE HAVE CANNED GOODS!

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Now if memory serves, and we’re all sort of kidding ourselves if we think it does, I took the first Canned Good Still Life when the bug man was coming and I had to clean out my pantry. I have a vague recollection of thinking I would transform the whole sugar ant invasion / pantry-emptying debacle into some sort of blog post. But, you know, I didn’t.

However, now that I look at the picture, I totally should have issued some sort of Recipe Challenge and offered a prize to the person who could come up with the best dish consisting of evaporated milk, artichoke hearts, black olives, beans, pickle relish and a fruit cup.

Oh, it DO sound tasty, don’t it?

As for the second Canned Good Still Life – I really think I took that picture because those foods make me happy.

I mean, peanut butter, black beans, whole wheat noodles, chocolate chip cookies, bread and Ranch dressing – WHAT’S NOT TO LOVE?

And finally, just like the lovely Ms. Vanessa Williams, I’ve saved the best for last.

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I call this one “Blackeyed Peas Coming To A Rolling Boil.”

Because, well, it’s blackeyed peas coming to a rolling boil.

WITH STEAM AND EVERYTHING.

Yeah. I know.

But don’t worry. My crazy really isn’t contagious.

It’s just increasingly difficult to contain.