Well...why not?!

I look out my big picture window...and there they stand. Bright and glowing in the sunlight, taunting me. "Ha ha! I got into your flower beds and there's nothing you can do about it!" Until a light bulb switched on. Oh yeah? Watch me.

So today I took my trusty bowls out into the wild blue yonder and harvested...dandelions. "Huh?" you say? Well...why not?! Dandelion greens are high in Vitamins A and B, Potassium and Iron...and the flowers taste darn good when you fry them up. Of course T-Daddy said, "We're eating weeds??" and proceeded to tell CiBaby that her Mama is silly.

I fried up a little bit of bacon with a clove of minced garlic then added the dandelion greens (just the leaves, mind you) and stir-fried them up like you would any southern style greens. The flowers were dipped in a little batter and fried to a golden brown and topped with a little kosher salt. Those were gobbled up instantly.

So in the end I guess I'm not so silly after all.

Please note...if you are going to do this make sure that the dandelions you harvest are clean of all herbicides and pesticides. I picked mine out of my organic gardens which do not see any of the forementioned "cides" and are fairly protected from passing dogs.

Potato Gnocchi

For years I have been searching for a gnocchi to rival a restaurant's in the North End of Boston. Everything came up short. And tough. So when I picked a special Fine Cooking - Real Italian magazine I was delighted to see that they had not only a recipe, but also the technique of making these little pillows of happiness. I read through the recipe, tips and instructions and thought..."This is lemon squeezy!"

So tonight I whipped up a batch and I'll tell you the truth it was a little bit of heaven in a bowl...smothered in homemade sauce. Absolutely divine.

Potato Gnocchi - Fine Cooking Recipes, Techniques and Tips

Posted using ShareThis

Note: The one crucial part they left out of the recipe was the actual boiling of the gnocchi. For those who don't want to search the web and don't already intuitively know...Bring a large pot of water to boil. Once boiling add (I had to do it in two batches) the gnocchi; gently stir so they don't stick to the bottom. The gnocchi will rise to the surface of the water when almost done. Let them cook a minute more. I removed them with a slotted spoon into the serving bowl and covered with sauce. So delicious!See More

Happy...

2010!

We rang in a very frigid new year with our good friends, the Kippsters. There was lots good, semi-clean fun...along with, of course, the annual watching of Christmas Vacation. And the kicker is that CiBaby was actually awake to ring in the new year! Yikes but yay!

After that fun night of too much to eat and drink and too little sleep, I creaked my way out of bed and into the kitchen. Our morning entailed celebrating a good friend's birthday with a New Year's Day brunch...and I had signed up to bring the cheesy potatoes. One, never have I made cheesy potatoes and two...well, there's CiBaby...who loves her cheese but her cheese doesn't love her (at least the inexpensive stuff). So I set out on a mission to make a great tasting lactose-free cheesy potatoes...sounds like an oxymoron, right? But holy crykies they were GOOD!*


CzaMama's CheeZ Potatoes for CiBaby


Thick white sauce with mushroom (recipe follows)

1 cup goat's milk yogurt

2 tsp corn starch

2 lbs frozen diced hash brown potatoes, thawed
1/2 cup goat's milk butter, melted
1 1/2 cups shredded aged cheddar cheese, divided
1 1/2 Tbsp dried onion flakes
salt and pepper, to taste
4 oz chevre, cut/broken into small chunks

In a large bowl, mix yogurt and corn starch. Slowly add warm thick white sauce, stirring constantly until incorporated. Add in thawed potatoes, melted butter, 1 cup aged cheddar cheese and onion flakes. Mix; add salt and pepper, to taste.

Put potato mixture into a 9x13 baking dish and dot with chevre. Top with remaining shredded cheddar cheese.


Bake in a 350F degrees, preheated oven for 1 hour.

Thick white sauce (bechamel) with mushrooms:
2 dried mushrooms (I used shitaki), rehydrated (reserving soaking water), squeezed of extra moisture and finely chopped
3 Tbsp goat milk butter, divided
4 1/2 Tbsp all-purpose flour (or Bob's Red Mill all-purpose gluten-free flour)
1 1/2 cups hot lactose-free milk (I use 2%)
3/4 tsp salt
1/8-1/4 tsp freshly ground pepper

Melt butter in heavy saucepan. Add flour; cook, stirring constantly, for 2 minutes, or until mixture (known as a roux) is smooth and begins to bubble.

Remove saucepan from heat. Add milk all at once. Return saucepan to heat; stir vigorously with a whisk or wooden spoon. Sauce will be thickened and smooth in about 1 minute.

Add salt and pepper; cook over low heat for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

As if we hadn't cheered enough, the clan came over to our abode to continue our annual New Year's Day fire and hot dog roast...with a twist. This year it was so incredibly cold none of us wanted to be outside, so instead everyone roasted their dog and marshmallows by our cozy living room fireplace!

Cheers!

*I make no claim that they are healthy or low in fat/calories...just without lactose.

Where did it go?

Christmas, that is. You prep and prep until utter exhaustion, and then what? Poof, it's gone! And once you notice it's months later.

This Christmas was no different...well, maybe a little different. I worked retail. (gasp. silence.) It was quite an experience. I hardly got any baking done (not that I do much to begin with), the presents got wrapped at the last minute (like usual) but the worst...I didn't get any crafting done! sigh.* But besides those minor blips, it was a HUGE success.

CiBaby was into Christmas like nobody's business!!! She sang Christmas songs all season,** she baked cookies with G-Mama, visited Santa (by her request, not mine) and dressed in the holiday spirit...okay, so she's a little confused sometimes.

She had a blast. And it was a blast to see her having so much fun. And what could add to the delights of Christmas with a 3 year-old? SNOW and lots of it on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Lots and lots of it. So much so that we had over-night guests and some that missed out.

Besides the delights on a little girl's face we found there is still kindness among strangers. What a great Christmas gift. With all of the snow wouldn't you know, our snow blower would not start...and the plows came by...twice! So T-Daddy was out there with his trusty shovel digging the driveway out on Christmas Eve when a truck drove by with a plow on the front. The driver asked if he could move that pile of snow for T-Daddy. Ummm...YES! How wonderful. And if blessing come in twos, ours did this Christmas Day. While I was busy in the kitchen getting breakfast ready a man drove by on a two-wheeler...again with a plow on the front (Huh? You'd think we live on the Tundra or something!) and said, "Hey, I'll move it for you!" He proceeded to dig out the end of our driveway and within a couple of minutes he was boogieing his way down the street...which got T-Daddy inside quicker so we could get down to business!



After a couple days of celebrating with my family we had a day's respite (oh yeah, and I worked that day) and then came the T-Daddy clan. The last time they came over for a holiday it was one of our first years in our house and very few places to sit. This year was much different. We had a fully finished basement, lots of room in the living room and a full dining room...which helped a lot when there are over 20 people. The only thing that will make it better is when the kitchen remodel is complete.

But again, where did it go? I dunno...but I need a break!

*Oh well, whatever, right? I'm always up for new experiences. It's walking on my wild side! lol
**Shhh. So what if she does it all year. It adds to the story.

Merry Christmas!

Wishing you a little Elfin Magic this Christmas! Go nuts!!!

Being imperfect in a "perfect" society

Yes, I have strayed from some of my deeper posts lately...but let's chalk it up to the time factor, which leads me to this thought...

How does an imperfect person make their way in a "perfect" society?

Society is so focus on perfection. The perfect house, the perfect car, a put-together look and outward appearance, and most of all...perfect children.

We all want things to be perfect, I know I do...and I don't even put myself on the Perfectionist scale, at least for most things. Who wouldn't want their house to be spotless and beautifully decorated? A nice car that turns heads (and gets good gas mileage)...come on, don't deny it. A closet full of outfits that make you feel like a million bucks? All wonderful dreams, but they are just that...dreams. But children...we expect perfection out of our children. While I could go on and on about manners, attitudes and behaviors what I'm getting at is deeper.

What is it like to have an child that is seen as "imperfect" to the world?

Long ago, I was going to post a little more information about CiBaby, but hesitated. How would people, either not knowing her at all or just getting to know her react to her...or me? Some already know that CiBaby has been diagnosed with OAV (Oculo-auriculo-vertebral) Spectrum (and possibly Hemifacial Microsomia) which can involve the eyes, ears and spine (and sometimes internal organs). What does that mean for her? Well, she is completely deaf on the left side and missing that outer ear. And that's about it.* She is beautiful, very healthy, observant, basically has sonar in her right ear** and a wit beyond her years. Most people do not even notice that she's missing an ear. But what happens when they do? CiBaby already asks me "Mama, why do I only have one ear?" "Mama, why do you have two ears?" Aaaahhhhh that's a very good question, my darling. And she's only 3-years-old.***


Then today, I happened to catch Dr. Phil...while whipping something up in the kitchen...and the discussion was on girl-bullies. Oh boy. I'll just say it...Girls are mean! I really don't understand it. Is it that our gender is so insecure that we need to lash out at one another and make others feel bad (or worse!) about themselves just to make ourselves feel better. To somehow validate ourselves and our feelings by devaluing others? I will tell it to the world...I was bullied by an older girl when I was 13. Why? I'll never know the real reason. All I know is it scared the living daylights out of me. So much so that I didn't want to go to school in fear that I would get beaten by her. I faked being sick. I tried to never walk alone in the hallways. This is when I found out who my true friends were.


Why do I bring this up? I fear this for my own daughter, who is only 3! Girls are getting meaner and meaner at younger and younger ages! It's so crazy it boggles my mind and sends me in to small panic attacks just thinking about it. But I need to keep my whits about me. How do we shelter our children from the unnecessary slashings to the soul, those cuts that scar the personality...without suffocating them in the process? Letting them learn that this wonderful world does come with some undesirable, but teachable, sides? That everything and everyone has an "imperfection," some external and some internal. Hell, we're all human. Maybe I should have titled this "Being perfect in an imperfect society."

For now this mama bear is keeping watchful eyes and listening ears. Check back in a couple of years to see how we're all fairing.


*To date we need to get another x-ray of her spine, but I'm not terribly worried.
**When the first Audiologist said "I wished she had better hearing in her right ear" we thought..."Good Lord!!! We surely don't!"
***She even noticed the fact that she only had one year around the time she was 2-years-old. It's kind of a cute story, actually.

The Santa Experience

Today was the day...the day that CiBaby decided for herself that she wanted to talk directly to the Big Man himself.

The first year CiBaby was with us, we didn't even consider bringing her to see Santa...we could barely get her to sit on relatives' laps without crying! Last year there were a couple of times that she saw Santa from afar...but that was close enough for her.

But this year was different. This morning we were talking about Santa and all of a sudden she said that she wanted to talk to him. Well...okay! So I did what any good mother would do and found out where Santa was that day, of course! And I was still able to get an appointment, that day, with the man himself.

So we hustled, and we bustled and got ourselves ready to get out the door. Thankfully there was a small line to wait in before talking with Santa. This gave CiBaby some time to fully take in the situation. She studied him. She saw what the other kids were doing. She noticed that Santa had CANDY next to him!*

Not knowing exactly what to expect from her when her turn came I stayed fairly quiet. But once the little boys were done in front of her...you would have had to have had a barricade to stop her. She was on a mission to talk with Santa. She marched right up to the little stool that sat next to his chair and sat down. She was serious. They had a discussion about being good, did lots of givin' fives and even willingly, and with a real smile, got pictures taken.

After it was over, I didn't have to pull her away, she walked away confidently and told me that she had talked with Santa. We picked our picture** and bought a frame*** and headed out for lunch. As we were looking for the perfect location to have our tidbits to eat we saw Santa having lunch. You would have thought we saw a mega star. She was giddy and Santa was so sweet. He talked with her again, gave her a piece of candy, and I swear she swooned.

Later that afternoon, I framed that picture...which was quickly confiscated and now resides on CiBaby's dresser.

It was a great day in this life.

*There's very little this kid misses.
**Not shown here...must scan for that.
***It was too dang cute to pass up.

The budding artist

Art by CiBaby...


Our Family...from left to right...Big Sister, Big Bruffah (brother), T-Daddy on the roof) Kitcat in the window, CiBaby in the door yelling to our furry buddy "to come in, Bern!" And last...me. Yep, you can't miss me and my crazy hair.


CiBaby's self portrait.

There's no doubt about it...I'm impressed!!!

A Dazzlin' Day

As tradition* would have it, the day after Thanksgiving we all go Downtown to watch the Holidazzle Parade. And every year G-Mama says, "I'd LOVE to be in the parade."

Well this year she and Bopa got their chance!

T-Daddy, CiBaby and I got all bundled up, drove to the light rail station and hopped on the train, which of course is an adventure in and of itself. G-Mama kept calling us to see where we were in transit.We made it just in time for the parade to start...at the other end from where we were!

Finally the parade started, and couple of dashes inside to use the potty, we got our chance to see the dynamic duo!!!

While Bopa will tell you that he did it just for G-Mama, we all know he had a good time too.


*Okay, so it's only the second year with CiBaby, but you

'Tis the season...I guess

This afternoon I wandered down into the office to quickly look something up on the computer. T-Daddy had been looking at the "news"* earlier and had left one of the screens open. This is what it said...



Black Friday crowds eager to spend
Many bargain-hungry shoppers skip Thanksgiving meal to queue up for Black Friday deals on toys, cashmere sweaters and laptops.**


Really? People actually forgo spending quality time with their loved ones to get a deal? Ditch people so you can give a bigger-badder next holiday? Seems kind of ironic to me. Don't get me wrong...I'm all about a good deal (if you need it). All about it. And I love gifts, giving and receiving.


But it's about so much more than a huge pile of expensive gifts (at rock bottom prices). It's about the thought, love and care of giving and receiving. A beautiful card with loving words, a handmade ornament, a warm smile and a hug. If someone puts their heart into a gift it will be the best gift anyone could receive.


What do I want this holiday season? A big, or little...size doesn't matter...box of love.



*Seriously, I can't stand the "news." I put it in quotes as I believe that the vast majority (not all, mind you) of the news is incredibly depressing...but they want it that way! They develop and twist reality so you want to follow and watch it like a car crash...so awful but you can't look away.
**you can read the story here if you really care to.

Shop Girl

Once again I took my annual pilgrimage out west to be a Shop Girl.* True to form we worked our tails off, but as you can see...totally worth it. The store looked beautiful, the company divine, the laughter intoxicating and the sleep much needed. I cannot tell you how much these trips mean to me. I feel rejuvenated...ready to be me again.

*Which comes in handy as I'm now currently working as shop girl!

Happy Hallo-week!

What a great week. Our Hallo-week started with an Adults-Only party. T-Daddy and I were the Time Life couple...aka Kissing Sailor. The week continued with pumpkin carving with Auntie and Great-Gram, trick-or-treating at a nearby senior living apartments, multiple parties at school, a party with friends, quick crafting by Yours Truly and of course...trick-or-treating on All Hallows Eve.

We were lucky enough to have a buddy to collect candy with us this year...of course there were times where we thought we were watching Preschooler Smackdown as they ran to see who could ring the doorbell first.

All-in-all, it was a great week...full of fun and sugar!