The boys and I do this one every year, usually right at the start of Lent so I can enjoy the color as I drive up to the house. Birds don't eat them, neither do I. Since I was slower this year putting it together, instead I am going to take it to the office for a couple of days to brighten the space.
Since I have also embarked on the world of Pinterest, here are the directions.
Start with a 12" straw wreath.
Leave the plastic on and you can reuse it every year.
Poke toothpicks just over half way through.
Cluster together the Peeps.
Leave them to dry/harden over night before hanging.
Add a ribbon.
Ta Da!
I use about 7 boxes of peeps, multiple colors, the closer together the better.
Sometimes I wrap a ribbon around the wreath before adding the Peeps, especially if someone has gotten to them before I have and there are fewer then expected.
I tell the kids all the time that when they are naughty or I am angry I love them the most/more then ever.
That being said, there are times like this morning where I have to meet with a teacher before school/work and all I want to do is cry my eyes out and tell them to stop picking on my kid; while at the same time telling my kid to knock it off and stop picking on their teacher.
I love being a mom and it is an amazing experience that makes my heart full to bursting. It is a wild ride sometimes too, and if I was honest, I want to get off today.
This has become an
Olympic Sport in our house. Trained as I was in the art of second
guessing, door mat and self-loathing. I would make a good Catholic I
think, if I could manage the kneeling.
As a mom I found it
could be ratcheted up to a whole new level that I couldn't even envision in my
inexperience and days of sleeping in. I have been keenly aware of my
guilt and talk often with moms from all walks of life about this shared
experience. This last month though, I must say my elitist view of guilt
came into sharp focus when Phillip was deciding on taking a new job. He
had moments of sheer panic that he wasn't going to be the kind of dad he wants
to be with this great unknown work schedule. He was not comforted by my
insistence that the boys and I could manage and he would still be very involved. I saw in his eyes and on his face the pain and debilitating
grip that guilt holds me hostage to so often. I knew that nothing I could
say would assuage his feelings or ease the burden of this decision. We
spent the rest of the evening doing all the funky math that is required to
determine your vacation hours earned per month in time for summer camp to
ensure that he would still be able to go with both boys. Guilt, you have
taken my love, curse you!
Parent guilt. I
don't care if you work for a paycheck out of the house, work for a paycheck
from the house, volunteer at levels that are debilitating or volunteer to cut
things out at home. I don't care if you spend all day with your children
and are consumed by their every waking moment or are frantic to cram in quality
time in what little quantity time you have. We ALL are motivated by
parent guilt.
Is this enough?
Is it too much? Do I need to do more? Do I need to do less?
Did I say the right thing? How do I recover from saying the wrong
thing? Did I hug them enough today? Is it wrong that I can't stand
one more person using me as a jungle gym? Is it okay to want a break that
doesn't involve a lock on the bathroom door? I just can't get enough of
my kids, is that okay too?
If I am honest with
myself I feel guilt regardless. Prime example is the dinner I put on the table. If it is
home cooked, all their favorites and meets all their
nutritional/allergy/preferences I worry that I spent so much time not 'fully'
engaged. You know, the time where they no longer want to help cook, have
homework, have been plugged in too long, need me to sign something about
volunteering for something but I really DON'T want to burn things. When I
cheat at cooking and instead play a board game, read a silly book or just sit
beside them while they are plugged in, I worry that I'm not feeding them
well. Really? Really?
So this common thread
through parenting can eat us up. Maybe spit us out, but probably
not. It drives us to do these crazy things, like compete with other
parents. We begin to judge others against the nonsense we have going on
inside our minds, which remember are being held hostage. This of course,
if you have truly honed your skills at guilt, just adds another, deeper level
of self loathing.
I don't know what the answer is, but I am actively talking about this 'shared' journey with other parents, well mostly other moms. Guess what? There is less guilt when you hear that no one else cleans the shower as often as you would like and there are shortcuts to a decent dinner and yes, while we all like a break outside of the bathroom, we are all grateful when we can even close the door so a lock is nothing to be ashamed of.
And now? Well, for all my progress, now I need to compete with Phillip? Well crap! Who's going to make dinner?
NO way has it been a year!
Okay, so Jess, here is my first post and it is lame because I am at work and my camera is at home charging and I have nothing witty to say. Yet.
I haven't done any more biscuits but I have kept at cooking. To mixed results. There were the pork chops that were burned on one side, raw on the other and one was cooked okay in the middle. RJ doesn't even make eye contact with me on dinners like that. He just uses a lot of sauce and hides his meat in the puddle.
I have mastered chili this year. Evidenced by the empty pot from a scouting event. Although I have been informed that teenage boys eat anything, I still count that as a mastered dish.
Ooh, I did make meatloaf this last week and it was edible!
There is much to catch up on so I will get my act together and do a sorta xmas card. Good start Jess?
There was a long moment when I was making this set of biscuits when I thought, "Can you decide to throw them away before they go in the oven?" Well, stubborn as I am, I didn't. Surprisingly they were the best batch so far. Okay, the best of two but still. Looks are deceiving. I was in a state of panic the whole time so I am just glad they aren't burnt. So here's the skinny....
This is a recipe for Cream Biscuits I got from the Fannie Farmer Cookbook. The cook/chef who created the recipe hosted cooking classes in Seaside, Oregon. Sweet! The recipe had some interesting quirks and caused me to pause and panic.
-Dough can feel tender? I thought that was just meat.
-Dough can be shaggy? What does shaggy dough look like? Shaggy like a hair cut?
-Is that too much milk?
-F! That is too much milk!
-Me: 'RJ! Can you throw some flour on the counter please?'
RJ: 'Why is this such a mess mom? Is it supposed to look like that? Why can't you do it?'
Me: 'Cooking can be messy with me.'
RJ: 'Right.'
-Can I just throw this away?
-Why don't they tell you to roll this out?
-Really need to find a better way to measure how thick the dough is. Didn't I say that the last time?
-Well, biscuit sticks are okay, right?
-Really, I have to drudge it through melted butter?
-Seriously, melted butter?
-Maybe they will taste good.
Well, don't judge my food based on how it looks. They were great! I must say that the melted butter was a huge help! This is a keeper of a recipe. Now I just need to work on it a bit so that they look better. Hmmm, cooking with mama can be messy. I did have to scrape the counters down before washing them.
Yes, I have been cooking. Some dishes I have cooked well. There were some enchiladas in there somewhere. Today was very enlightening though. I made some pork chops that were cooked well, tasted well and the boys thought they were great. They were however done before the rest of the side dishes so they were a few minutes overcooked. Not dry per say but not tender. I mastered the art of standing facing the fridge and using the 'last of' a couple of things. Seared in a cast iron skillet, turned down the heat, added garlic and poured in the last of the orange juice. turned down the heat, covered and simmered. My challenge was with the Alfredo sauce that covered the pasta. Wasn't getting cooked fast enough so I turned it on high and whisked it until it was thick and bubbly. When pouring it over the pasta I found I had burned the bottom of the pan. UGH! Stove you VEX ME! Thoughts during the experience:-Pickled ginger goes bad? -Note to self, check the pickles in the garage fridge-Is that too much oil?-Turn the heat down so they don't dry out-Shoot the chops are done but the sauce isn't-They wouldn't put 10 as an option if it wasn't necessary right?-Whisk constantly-WHY is there a HIGH feature if you aren't supposed to use it!!!!Best result? RJ, 'This dinner is great mom.' Yes, he will be a great husband someday.
Like pickles this is a commitment for Phillip. He loves them. I started with the basic recipe found in the Better Homes & Gardens cook book. The red and white checked one. This is my go to book. It's the one that my grandmother, Muzzy got for me when I got married. All the women in my family have one and we even compare the changes that have happened over the years. Yes the original one still has the best pie filling recipes. So biscuits. These were my thoughts while reading the recipe and attempting to follow them to the letter(ish).
10,10,10
Is the baking powder expired?
Alum & cream of tartar shouldn't be on the same shelf.
10 isn't very many
Don't answer the phone!
Is microwaving butter bad?
Does cream of tartar expire? 2 5/8 is closer to 2 1/2 then 2 1/4 They don't all fit! There are more then 10
Measuring the thickness of the dough is KEY
What do you do about leftover dough?
Using an oven light is rather deceptive
How much time do you add after opening the door?
YEAH, Success! Here are the pics. They were edible. Bland but edible.
I learned that I need a better way of gauging how thick something is besides my finger (the space from knuckle to knuckle on my pointer finger is one inch). Fresh ingredients are important, so is checking in advance that you have everything you need. You can microwave butter from frozen but only just a little bit. And I will move the alum to another shelf.
Also, biscuits are in my opinion, a vehicle for spreads AND should be served warm. Thankfully I have an abundance of spread choices from my preserves this summer. Including the softened butter and honey from the farm we were set. I was successful in getting flaky layers on the ones that were cooked all the way through (note the comments about opening the oven door).
What I really learned was that you really need to have uninterrupted time to cook. Phone calls, children's needs, TV shows, FB; really are a bit of a distraction. But given good planning I think that cooking is do-able. It became abundantly clear that I need to plan for cooking; recipes, ingredients, time etc. This is where the kicker is. I like to plan many things in my life, not as much as the other members in my family prefer and obviously not nearly enough for cooking either. So here we are week one and the growth that I realize I need in order to be successful cooking is not what I thought at all.
This is going to be harder than I thought.
