My new addiction

Hi my name is Awesome Mom and I am addicted to making jam. My addiction started when I had a ton of strawberries that were going bad quicker than I had expected. I had a box of pectin in my cupboard (I am not sure why) and I decided to make some jam. Then Evan's physical therapist gave me some apricots which were begging to be made into jam, it turned out heavenly. I wish I could hide the few precious jars and keep them all to myself.

One of the reasons I was so excited to make the visit to my inlaws was that they have a large orchard with tons of fruit trees. We barely missed cherry season when we were there for the reunion but now we have peaches, plums, raspberries and blackberries in season. I did not manage to find enough raspberries for jam but got a nice raspberry and peach jam recipe. I can't wait to taste it on some toast. I am hoping to bring home a bunch of peaches for some more jam. I think that I need a twelve step program before I go nuts and fill the garage with jam jars.

Mmmmmm

There is nothing more refreshing after a long walk while pushing 60+ pounds of children in a double stroller than some grasshopper cookies (the Keebler version of thin mints) right out of the freezer.

Everybody loves a parade

Every year a neighboring town has a parade to help celebrate the town's founding. Instead of the usual parade they made it into a kid's parade. Every other year we have been here we have not gone for one reason or another, but this year we were finally able to bring Evan and Harry to their first parade.

I love small town parades and this one was the perfect small town parade. The route was short, the crowds were not overwhelming and the parade was fun. We parked pretty far away but were able to snag a great spot in the shade at the end of the parade route. That was especially lucky because by then most of the candy throwing people were out of candy. The boys got just enough that it was fun for them but it was not too much for mommy and daddy to carry home. One boy even gave Harry some beads that he has missed out on getting because of his small size and slower little legs.

There was also booths and several bounce houses in the park. Evan and Harry got a huge kick out of mauling the very friendly and tolerant police dog. The local animal shelter had a game where you were supposed to toss dog treats in to the mouth of a picture of a dog to get a treat. Evan went right up to the picture of the dog and put them in, instead of standing back and tossing them in like all the other kids. I didn't let Harry do it because I knew he would try eat the dog treats rather than tossing them.

We finished off the fun day by eating lunch at a fish and chips place that I had been wanting to try for some time now. It was heaven and everyone enjoyed the deep fried food. It was fun and refreshing to do something different than the normal cleaning up the house on Saturday routine. It was also fun to explore the town some. I hope you had a fun Saturday.

Tags: parade, kids, children, dog

Evilness

I baked an apple pie just now and my husband is whining. Apparently I am a horrible temptress who is aiming to torture him. He has been trying to watch his weight so that he does not get put on the fat boy program and to top that all off tomorrow is fast Sunday (we skip two meals once a month as part of our religious observances). I think the whole ideal that the military would put my rather skinny husband into the fat boy program is silly but the way the program is written he has apparently been on the edge so he had to slim down a bit to make weight.

The pie I made is incredible. I think that if you died it would be served in heaven. It is just sooooooooooo good. Last time I made it I ate most of it. I was nice and let my husband have a few pieces and I even let Harry and Evan split one which they promptly gobbled up. I highly recommend you baking one or two up for the holidays. Your family will love you for it.

P.S. Don't feel too bad about my husband. I mentioned to him that my hand hurt because I had burned it on the oven while baking the pie. He wondered why I would burn myself (like I did on purpose or something) and asked when I had done the burning of said hand. He admitted that he had not hear my swearing when I asked and then told me to put it under water. No kidding, really? I should put my hand under cold water to help with the burn? Who knew? He also apparently, along with not hearing the swearing in the kitchen, he missed me leaving the water running for a really long time.

Mmmmm pie!

Yum!

Instead of making the blueberry cheesecake I make some blueberry cobbler. It was a lower fat option and took less time but still tasty. I must say that I love summer fruit. It is great to have an explosion of different fruits in season ready for you to try.

Cherries have long been a favorite of mine. We had a cherry tree in our yard when we first moved to Washington. It was heaven climbing up the tall tree and eating ripe cherries until we were full. The first year that we lived there there were worms in the cherries that were not noticed until my mother saw some in one of my sister's diapers. They learned quickly that they needed to spray for pests.

Strawberries are another favorite of mine. We have a nice patch of strawberries growing in our back patio. They are a bit heat stressed so they are not producing very well at the moment. I have a killer recipe for strawberry pie and I love making it often.

Peaches are my all time favorite. I love a nice and juicy peach on a warm summer day. My parents have a peach tree in their back yard and when they come and visit often they will bring some frozen peaches down with them. I think peach crisp is one of the best non-chocolate dessert ever.

My love of blueberries has only recently happened. I never really cared for them fresh but they are amazing when they are baked into things. Blueberry pancakes are a nice Saturday morning treat. What are some of your favorite summer fruits?

Gah!

I was going to make a blueberry cheese cake this evening. Instead I frittered away my time blogging and chatting with some of my online friends. Sigh.

Secrets

I went to the grocery store today to pick up a few extra things. I went to one that I don't normally go to because this one is the closest to us that carries the kind of yoghurt that I give to Evan. While there I decided to do a bit of an impulse purchase and pick up some popsicles. While wandering down the aisles I happened to see some Haagen-Dazs bars (dark chocolate with mint ice cream). I just had to get them too.

I get home and put things away. Our freezer is packed full of stuff so the ice cream bars had to come out of the box to fit in the freezer. Some how they ended up behind a bunch of things so that they were not readily seen. I was not trying to hide them honest! Sadly my husband that rarely digs through the freezer had a craving for the vanilla ice cream that had been in the freezer for weeks but was recently consumed by Evan and I. He then proceeds to just browse the contents of the freezer and find the ice cream bars.

Is it bad that I was secretly disappointed that he found them?

Dinner

For our new stove celebration dinner I whipped up a favorite of ours 20-Minute Chicken Parmesan. I only use two chicken breasts because we have a small skillet and we like having extra sauce for dipping the wonderful french bread that we get at a local grocery store. Pounding the chicken flat is actually very theraputic. Tonight I imagined that I was pounding my husband flat instead of the chicken (ha ha just kidding............... NOT!). I bought a meat mallet just for this recipe since we have never really felt the need for flat meat before. If hubbie dosen't shape up soon I may think about using it on him.

We're just crackers about cheese*

This family is filled with cheese enthusiasts. We eat a ton of it every week. The thing that gets me is that even my ultra picky tube fed child will happily consume cheese in any form. Saturday we went to Grocery Outlet, we go there now and ten to see what is there and sometimes get good deals on stuff we already use. We also often pick up a lot of fun stuff that we totally do not need.

While there I picked up a tube of goat cheese. I have been looking for different ways to keep fattening up Evan and I thought I would give some goat cheese on crackers a try since he was tired of cream cheese at the moment. The kid loved it!! The strong flavor did not phase him in the slightest. I can't believe that this kid will turn his nose up at so many things and then gobble down a food that most Americans would not touch with a ten foot pole.

*1,000 points to the person that guesses where I got the title for my post from.

The Condiment King

I think that we have more kinds of condiments than any sane household should. The main user of them? My husband. No matter how well cooked and how delicately flavored a dish could be, he always has to add something to it. I never cook with salt because no matter how salty something is he has to add more. When we have build your own taco night he will put an impressive amount of condiments on to the basic bean and meat. He will add cheese, salsa, and many different kinds of hot sauce (sometimes up to three different ones on one taco), sour cream, ketchup, and mayonnaise. Looking at him do this actually made me physically ill when I was pregnant with Harry, I had to leave the room or I would have lost it.

He is always dissing on his mother's cooking so I think this habit came as a form of self defense. I have eaten her cooking and while she is no five star chef it is edible. I actually have a tendency to cook at least once meal when we are over there just for a nice change. We never let them do the turkey if we are having Thanksgiving with them backaches she will dry the bird into jerky before she deems it done. This woman has no concept of medium rare. In her mind it is either raw and ready to cook of it is tough as shoe leather and ready to eat.

I am a pretty decent cook so it really gets on my nerves sometimes to see my husband dumping stuff on the food that I has taken the time to properly spice. Sadly though I am a bit of an enabler since it is soo easy to use his love as hot sauces as an easy gift idea. I guess I should just shut up and not complain for that very reason.

Bummer

Well poor C.J. had a bad cold so Evan did not get to have him over to play. I feel so bad for his mom. C.J. Was born a micro preemie and has been struggling ever since. He has lung damage from being on a ventilator when he was first born. Since then he had been in and out of the hospital with issues with his lungs. I have the feeling that he may be heading that way yet again but I hope I am wrong.

It really makes me realize that we have had it so lucky. Evan has been very good about not getting sick and needing hospitalizations. The worst thing that he has been sick with was a nasty tummy bug that he showed symptoms of mere days after getting out of the hospital from his stroke. I know that he picked it up from there. He was very nice and shared with mommy and daddy. Nothing is funner than going to Target to pick up a few things for a puking husband only to have to run to the bathroom yourself. A nice lady held Evan for me while I puked my guts out. It really freaked me out though because the last thing that the Cardiologist told me before we left the hospital was to not let him get dehydrated and here he was a few days later puking up a storm.

We did make a trip to Trader Joes today and some ginger snaps made everyone feel much happier. They make the best cookies there which is why I do not go there that often. I actually only went because my parents are addicted to a type of chocolate that they sell there and only there. How do I know this? My obsessed parents looked around for it. They do not have a Trader Joes anywhere near by. They live in Utah which is a very uncool state. They have to go to Las Vegas to find the nearest store (and they have actually done this).

Whenever a birthday pops up or some gift giving holiday I hook them up with a pile of chocolate. I feel like a drug dealer sometimes. Although thinking about it I am pretty poor for a drug dealer. I should jack up the price or something. hmmm off to think..................