Slowing Down

"On a scale of 1 to 10, how bad is the pain?"
"Listen doctor, I've experienced natural child birth; that's a 10.  Don't get me wrong this hurts, a lot.  But in comparison it's probably only a 5."

And with that the doctor recommended alternating Tylenol and Motrin and icing my separated nasal cavity every few hours.

What had started out as an idyllic Saturday morning; laying in bed with the boys and Husband.  Cuddling and snuggling, goofing around a little; had turned into TT crashing the back of his head into my nose and separating the cartilage from the bone.

We spent nearly 4 hours hours in the, normally very quiet, emergency room.  Clearly the ER's advertising on TV was paying off by the number of people they were seeing that morning.

But it could have been worse; and thankfully it wasn't.

We were due at my step-dad's Uncle's house for a family gathering later that afternoon.  Clearly I was in no shape to go.

And then the day got worse.  Details of which I will not go into now... but no one has passed and no one has been injured, no jobs have been lost. There are some things in life you dread, yesterday was one of those days.  But I will fight on.

In the meantime I am taking care of nose, and trying not to over do it (as I have a tendency to do).  I am resting, icing my nose, playing with the boys (although I will admit I am a little nervous when TT is around my face), making banana bread and taking cat naps.

Tomorrow is Monday.  Tomorrow is a new day.  Tomorrow I start aggressively looking for help.  In the meantime... resting up and being thankful for my family.

Cherries on a Cloud

For the longest time Gram used to ask me to make her a coconut cake for her birthday (which is the 4th); but then Husband came along and he's allergic to coconut (so I don't keep any in the house) and she would be happy with most any cake I made her.

I'd like to think she would have enjoyed today's yummy pie I made - Cherries on a Cloud; also known as no bake cheesecake with cherries.

I had to give it a new name because Turkey doesn't like your standard New York style cheesecake; but I knew he'd love this.  It's the perfect hot weather desert.

Beat 2 packages of cream cheese, softened along with 1 tablespoon lemon juice.
Once creamy add 1 pint heavy whipping cream; and whip until soft peaks.  Add 2/3 cup of sugar and 1 tablespoon vanilla; beat until fairly stiff peaks form.  Pour into a (pre-made) graham cracker crust and top with cherries (or what have you).  Refrigerate for at least 6 hours before serving.

When serving to the toddler crowd wear a rain jacket or bring an umbrella.  

Cookies

I was suppose to make Husband chocolate chip cookies for Father's Day.  But then I had the whole fruit basket incident and ended up making banana bread that day.

This weekend I decided to hold true to my promise and made him some cookies.  Normally I turn to my Betty Crocker Big Red Cookbook for recipes, but I wanted something "better" than that. I had tried the recipe in The Joy of Cooking, but I wasn't a fan of that one.  I knew Husband wanted soft and chewy cookies, and I knew the recipe for "the chewy" from Alton Brown had flopped on me over the holidays; so I turned to the internet.  I Googled "Mrs. Field's Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe" (because after all that Mrs. Field's makes some darn good soft and yummy cookies), and after about half a nano-second Google returned some 60,000 matches.

I read over a few and decided on this recipe.

Wow!!!  Are these cookies good.  Husband has dubbed them "the husband pleaser".  I had made a double batch and sent some to a party with Turkey.  My cookies were a huge hit.  I got so many compliments from the other moms.  (Pleasing your husband is one thing, but having other mom's envy your domestic ability is another.)  I don't think I will ever make another chocolate chip cookie recipe again.

Cinnamon Buns

A few months (OK, more like 6 months ago) my aunt gave me a bread maker.  I was all excited for this gift.  I left it out on the counter for a week, then it got stashed into the bottom of my pantry with the rest of my small kitchen appliances.

Then right before Christmas I had the most brilliant idea:  I was going to make homemade cinnamon rolls.  (I think the Man Vs. Food episode with the bun the size of his head got me.)  Normally for holidays we do Pillsbury cinnamon buns as a treat.

So I search and searched and found this recipe for the buns.

After the presents were opened, but before Turkey and I left for church I set about making the dough (which in my maker has a 1:15 minute cycle).  When I got home I rolled out the dough, added the topping, rolled, cut, baked and made the icing.

Before baking.

The icing itself was addicting.  I am lucky, oh who am I kidding my family is lucky, there was icing left to frost them with when I was done sampling.

After baking... I never claimed to be a professional.  

Upon eating these Husband claimed only my homemade cinnamon rolls were to be eaten in our house going forward.  I took that as a compliment.

These are not a diet food.

I was amazed by how easy these were to make.  Honestly, I must have spent a total of 15 minutes actively making these.  Since making the rolls we've tried white bread (not so good) and french bread (super yummy with homemade soup)... and I foresee many other breads in our future.

Monkey enjoying a roll on Christmas morning.

Cookies!!!

Turkey's new hobby is baking.  I think I started myself when I was about his age, maybe a little younger, as I have a vague memory of using 1 cup salt instead of 1 cup of sugar.  But I digress...

Tomorrow is Husband's family re-union and we decided that Turkey should bake cookies for "the sharing table".  He opted to make sugar cookies with frosting and M&Ms (the other kids will thank him).

So he measured, and mixed and kneaded all on his own.  He rolled the dough and cut out the shapes (those um...looking one.... are light-houses).  I put them in the oven (he preheated) and took them out.  Then he frosted and decorated.  

And I've already tried them and they are GOOD!!!!