Fly on the Wall: February 2015

Hey there!  Welcome to the February Fly on the Wall Group Challenge. This month, 13 amazing bloggers and I are describing what it would be like if you were to take a peek inside our homes....

Have a "look" around mine, and then go visit the other blogger's pages. There's always something fun, sentimental, or better yet, embarrassing going on. It's like your house, only we're admitting to the craziness. You have our permission. Buzz on over!
Cast:
Me
The man
Alex, the eldest (daughter, 21) 
C., The middle (son, 16)
J., The youngest (son, 10)

Hot Pockets:
The man, C., and I were watching a TV show. Something really "saucy" came on and I was uncomfortable. That doesn't happen too often, but still. A few awkward sexual innuendos, an elbow shove from the man, and I blurted out "Hot Pockets." I didn't just say, "Hot Pockets." I sang the words. Like the comedian, Jim Gaffigan. C. and the man started laughing and rolling and none of us could look each other in the eye. It's become our thing. Any topic that's a little inappropriate? Someone sings "Hot Pockets." That's how we deal with the hard stuff, folks.

From the kids:
Alex: "Mom, now I understand why you love puzzles. I know you told me not to touch yours, but I couldn't stop! When I put together the border, I felt empowered. There should be background music for that kind of glory."

***

J.: (eyes closed, he holds his finger up to stop me mid-sentence) "Wait...Okay, go ahead. I was singing 'Don't stop Believing' in my head and I had to wait to finish the song."

School:
I was helping C. study vocabulary for his Anatomy class. I'd say the word and he would tell me the definition.
Me: Pre...Pres..(looking closely) pres-by-opia?
C.: "It's 'Presbyopia'. That's poor vision caused by aging, mom. Go get your glasses."

***

Alex: "I'm graduating from college!! On May 1st! Feel free to tell everyone you know, including any person you pass on the street, see at Target, meet at Costco or happen to friend on FB."

Um, Yeah.
In my fight to "Use up the paper goods", I've vowed to not buy any paper cups/plastic forks/napkins until we've used up our old ones. That means Thanksgiving napkins for last Sunday's dinner or Gold graduation napkins for Superbowl Sunday. The best came this weekend. I reached in the closet for napkins to use on Valentines day and found these:

Only two of my three children had Elmo-themed 1st birthdays, which means: These napkins are either ten years old or twenty. Wow.

What weather?

First off, let me say "Thank you" to the big man above for blessing my little part of the world with unusually mild weather. There is no bragging here. After 25 years of living in Michigan and almost twenty years living in Utah, I know snow and cold. And grey and wet. Wind chills, dreariness, and snow days... all of it. Somehow, we've dodged major storms and I couldn't be happier. After I publish this, we will probably have a blizzard of epic proportions. But for now, I'm smiling. Current weather: Sunny and 55. Practically balmy. 

Love Day:

Alexandra texts me about an elaborate Valentine's Day plan for her husband:

Michele:

It's a cute idea :)

Alexandra:

        Haha I tried to make a treasure hunt around the house but it's too small to divert him so I could make breakfast haha

Michele:

Nah. Just buy donuts. 

Alexandra:

Hahaha mom... It's our first Valentine's as married people.. I need to at least try this year. I figure I have the next 95 years to buy donuts. Plus, deep in my heart I hope one day he will catch on to these romantic gestures and he'll realize that he should be doing them, not me ;) LOL

Michele:

I get it. I hope dad brings donuts.

Finally:

Superbowl Sunday. Commercials and food galore. One commercial is for the "Little Blue Pill". Great commercial; not kid friendly.

J.: "Mom! You need one of those blue pills for your Fiat!"

Me: "Nope. I like my car just the way it is."

J.: "Come on! It would be so cool. Where can we buy those pills?"

The man: "Ask your Grandpa."

C. and me: (in unison) "Hot Pockets."

Happy Friday, Friends!
-Michele
Fly on over and check out all of this month's participants:
Disneyland in Kentucky                        

Baking in a Tornado                          

Spatulas on Parade                          

Follow Me Home                          

Menopausal Mother                          

Stacy Sews and Schools                        

Dinosaur Superhero Mommy                                 

Juicebox Confession                    

Battered Hope                              

Eileen's Perpetually Busy          

Go Mama O                                  

Someone Else's Genius                       

Just a Little Nutty                             

The Momisodes                                       

How I spent my winter break 2014

Hello, friends!
A lot of kids went back to school this week.  I'm sure more than a few of them had to answer this question:
How did you spend your winter break?

Some children might have described their fabulous vacations. Some probably wrote about spending time with their families. Others still, could have written about being glued to their TV/computers/video games for a full fourteen days.

I was wondering how I could possibly describe my own Winter/Christmas break. Then it came to me. I'd use Potato Heads. Why, you ask? Well, on one hand it could be the after-effects of a NyQuil-induced coma. On the other hand... no, it's probably just that.

How I Spent My Winter Break by Shellybean

Dec 21. The kids had school on the Monday and Tuesday before Christmas. The youngest started getting sick on Sunday afternoon. Here is a pic of me rolling my eyes, thinking he was just trying to get out of his short school week.

December 21-23. The youngest was not exaggerating. He quickly came down with a fever, started coughing and complained of aching all over. I don't care how old your kids get. When they're in pain and crying, you don't leave their side. The flu had hit and it hit with a vengeance. It took no longer than a day before I felt exactly the same symptoms.

December 24-26 We had to cancel our family Christmas party. I was supposed to host at the house. There was no way that could possibly happen. The youngest was still feeling horrible and I just wanted to die. Notice the man keeping his space. I think he was hugging a can of Lysol the whole time. BTW, the man with the steel immune system was only sick one day out of vacation: Christmas Day.

December 26-28 While the man held tight to his anti-bacterial wipes, I held on to this. Kleenex tissues with Vicks and NyQuil. You see, NyQuil doesn't care if you cough up a lung. It doesn't make you feel guilty if you're unable to answer the phone or check your computer. NyQuil doesn't judge.

December 29-31. The 29th was my eldest's birthday. I made her a cake and we went to lunch. I don't clearly remember any of these events, but she assures me it was all good. I spent that night and the next trying to stay away from the light. The 31st was the man's birthday. We had made plans with our best friends to go a New Year's Eve party in the neighboring state.

January 1. I made it until 7:30 p.m. I swear people, I may or may not have used a potato for this picture. That is exactly how I felt. 

After a day or two, I was feeling more like myself. I could eat real food again and could stand up with out the world turning upside down. After some rest and a few hot showers I'm as good as new.

Yes, that's me up there, still in need of a good waxing. Okay, so I'm ALMOST as good as new...

Happy Healthy New Year, friends!

-Michele

Always late to the party...

Man, friends. I know I'm a procrastinator, but this is a bit ridunkulous. Before the holidays, two of my blogger buddies invited me to play in their reindeer games. I was as excited as Rudolph, but truly, I do belong in the land of misfits, because…well, it's freaking January 8th and I'm just now getting around to playing. It's dark. There's an echo. I hear crickets in the distance. I'm the hare who fell asleep during the race.

Let's see. First of all, I was tagged by my friend Karen@ Baking in a Tornado. By now you should know, she really does exist and keeps kicking me in the butt to blog. She even made it easy by giving me ten questions to answer. Annnnnd yep. They're about Christmas.

Take a second to imagine, if you will, a magic snow globe that takes us back to October/November/December when people actually celebrated Christmas. I do realize that I am asking a lot since I can usually be found taking ornaments off the tree at 6:00 on Christmas night. But…keep reading, will you? Here we go…(jazz hands) Falling snow. Swirling snow. Backwards we travel…The Halloween candy has just been pulled off of the store shelves…and there we are. Christmas Season in full effect.

1. What do you love about Christmas time?
I could write forever about my family and celebrating the true meaning of Christmas. It's all a beautiful, holy time. I love that, but if I'm to answer the question honestly, it's easy. Christmas cookies. Any shape, most kinds. I pull on the elastic pants, happily accept plates from my neighbors, hide in my closet and go to town.

2. Do you celebrate the holiday in style or "bah humbug" your way through it?
Christmas cookies in the closet, people. If that doesn't scream panache, I don't know what does.

3. Are you leaving anything out for Santa this year in the hopes that he'll leave presents?
Milk. Carrots. Christmas cookies.

4. What is the one present you're excited to give?
I waited for months to surprise my husband with an old NES system from the eighties. My son helped me find gamers who had old games. The man was pretty happy. My favorite part was watching/helping  him make fun of the kids when Super Mario died or when they failed (miserably) at Tetris. I know, our parenting rocks.

5. What is your all-time favorite Christmas movie?
White Christmas. When else can you break into song on a train, fall in love after a modern dance AND support your Army General? And its all on a stage in a farmhouse in Vermont. So much better than shooting your eye out with a Red Ryder BB gun.

6. What's your favorite Christmas song?
When I taught Kindergarten, our song was always, "I want a Hippopotamus for Christmas". It still makes me smile when I hear it. My favorite Christmas carol is "Still, Still, Still" by ANY choir. I just love that song.

7. Would you participate in an Ugly Sweater Party? If yes, what would you wear?
There is a fine line between ugly Christmas sweaters and all of the holiday sweaters worn by elementary school teachers everywhere. I donated mine a few years ago. Snowman sweaters. Sweaters with trees that lit up. Jingle bells that jangled. Heck yes, I'd go to an Ugly sweater party, but only if I could hit up one of my teacher-friend's closets.

8. Any new traditions this year?
Because we have a lot of family to visit and because our children are growing and have places of their own to go to, we decided that anyone could go anywhere on any day to visit, but Christmas Day was ours. We spend the day in our pajamas, playing with our new gadgets, napping, snacking and just being together.

9. It's Christmas morning. What does it look like outside of your house?

Cold!

10. You find yourself under the mistletoe. Who comes up to give you a first kiss?

Okay. You KNOW I'm going to say the dogs. And then my kids. But I have this cheesy picture of the man and me sitting on my Instagram, so let's go with that. Even though it was taken on New Year's Eve. We're time travelers, remember?

One wants a kiss, the other is mortified :)

Thanks for the tag, Karen!

I've been "Jingled," y'all!

The second tag was from the lovely Cassandra @ Dates 2 Diapers. Cassandra picked a few bloggers and mentioned two nice things about them. That really is a sweet idea. I'm also supposed to list 4 things about myself and jingle a few others. Now. We know I'm too late for that. But I invite anyone to borrow this idea and get "Jangled". I love what Karen says. These tags are compliments. Participation is voluntary. (Whew!!)

Four things about me:

*I put on 4 pounds over the holidays from eating cookies. I have no idea why. 

*My daughter and I open windows and knock down icicles with NERF swords because we have zero installation rock like that.

*With my soul, I love crossing out words and phrases stuff.

* Cherry Coke. Why can't I quit you?

I couldn't list all of my favorite bloggers. Some are on my sidewall, some are on Twitter, FB or in my head ;)  This is such a fun community, the blogging world. I laugh and cry, relate and communicate with many talented people. That's a Christmas gift all by itself.

Karen@ Baking in a Tornado. 

If it wasn't for Karen, I wouldn't have written anything in the last six months. She's kept me chugging along on the blog and in the real world. She emails me to see if I still have a pulse. She bakes. Sweets. And gives the recipes. She writes and makes me laugh. Need I say more?

Slu @ Slu's World… Slu is a wonderful man who is in love with his wife and his family. He writes about that and all of his journeys. He always leaves his readers with a smile, an idea for a good meal or libation and the latest FB stock changes. Slu, you had me at , "I'm not a Cowboy's fan…"

Marcia @Menopausal Mother.  Marcia's stories usually make me laugh until I have tears in my eyes. As a fairly new, ahem, member of meno-land, Marcia writes relatable stories about "the best years of her life" :) Check out her blog on an empty bladder. She's a gem.

Ashley@ Sorry Kid, Your Mom Doesn't Play Well With Others. First of all, how wondrous is that blog name? I've read Ashley's blog for as long as I can remember. She is raw, honest and tells the stories of life at home with her 6 kids. (God bless her.) I always try to leave Ashley funny comments because she deserves them. If you don't like potty language (literally!), don't visit. If you are awesome and love the gut-busting side of motherhood, grab a diet coke and run to her site.

Sarah @ The Momisodes- Sarah is my twin blogger. She loves her coffee and her episodes of Friends. She sets her snooze at nine minute intervals and takes full advantage of using them. That right there demands my respect. She has differing opinions on certain topics and isn't afraid to talk about them. She is simply wonderful. 

Thanks for thinking of me, Cassandra!

There isn't enough space to talk about all of the spectacular blogs/bloggers out there. I'm going to do what I can to share others with you in the future.

Is it Easter yet?

Happy Thursday, friends.

Fly on the Wall Dec. 2013

Hey there!  Welcome to the December Fly on the Wall Group Challenge. This month, 15 awesome bloggers and I are describing what it would be like if you were to take a peek inside our homes....

Have a "look" around mine, and then go visit the other blogger's pages. There's always something fun, sentimental, or better yet, embarrassing going on. It's like your house, only we're admitting to the craziness. You have our permission. Buzz on over!

Cast:
The man
A., the eldest (daughter, 20)
C., The middle (son, 15)
J., The youngest (son, 9)

Since it's the end of the year, I decided to poll the family on a few holiday topics. Take a look at their responses. A few flies were probably swatted in the making of this post. No one takes much seriously around here, remember? Here are the highlights. 12 of them.  I left the low-lights for another post :)

1. What is your favorite thing about December?
A.:  "Being able to eat triple the amount of calories and still be socially acceptable."
C. : "Non-stop party food during the last 6 days of the month."
J. : "The animals come down the mountains to eat." :(

A family of deer eating left-overs from the neighbors' garden.

2. What is something that happened this month you'd rather forget about?
The man:  "Shoveling the heavy wet snow. Or listening to the neighbors shoveling their heavy, wet snow. At 5 am."
A.: "Getting my very deep wisdom teeth pulled. Actually, cut in, sliced open and chopped my teeth into bits. THEN getting them pulled."
C.: "The first 24 days…"

3. I've been redecorating the house to keep my sanity. What is your favorite improvement around the house?

The man: "Cookies everywhere!" (Not those kinds of changes, man.)
A. : "We finally turned the heat on." (Not that kind, either!)
C. : "We now have a drawer dedicated solely to paper plates and napkins." (My family hates me…)
J. :  "The color-coded library?" (Now you're talking! Even if it was created in an in-sane moment.)

OCD over Dewey Decimal, any day.

4. What is your biggest wish for 2014?
The man: "Getting healthier...Hey! Who ate the Chili-Cheese Fritos?"
A. : "To rock through school and have an awesome, stress-free wedding." (Yeah, more on that later.)
C. : "Infinite wishes and No More Nickelback. If I can only choose one, I say, 'No more Nickelback."
J. : "I already get an extra week off for Winter break. A. and C. have to go back before me. That's a good wish I didn't even ask for."

5. What advice would you give to yourself if you hadn't yet lived in the year 2013?

The man: "Don't ask what 'Twerking' is…"
A.: " Keep your wisdom teeth. All four of them. And get snow tires…"
C. : "The lottery numbers for the December Powerball are…"
J. : "Read the WHOLE book, especially if your mom already read it."

6. What has been your favorite food this month?

The man: "Steak from our Christmas party." (What?)
A. : "The sharp cheddar cheese you bought from Costco. (Really?)
C. : "Leftovers from Thanksgiving. We really need to clean out the fridge." (Wow.)
J. : "Grandma took me to the mall and I had a really good soft pretzel." (Everyone nods in agreement that the mall's pretzels are indeed, delicious.)

Fine, then. My favorite food was what my friend calls "Manna from Heaven." Homemade cinnamon tortillas over vanilla bean ice-cream. It's all drenched in a vanilla custard. It's made at one of our favorite restaurants. When I finish this post, I'm going to have one. So there, family. Enjoy your Ramen.

7. What is your favorite thing to wear in winter? aka What am I always nagging you to pick up?
The man: "My wet winter boots. Where am I supposed to put them? They can't dry in the closet!"
A. : "Ten layers of food fat for hibernation".
C. : "A smile." ( help me)
J. : "My wet winter boots. Where am I supposed to put them?" (Yeah, he has no alternatives.)

8. When did I last yell at you?
The man and J. : "Um, wet boots. Remember?"
A. : "Cleaning up the living room when I've just had my wisdom teeth pulled."
C. : (Waiting for a hand-out) "You've never yelled at me, Dear Mummy." (Ack.)

9. So far, we've watched a lot of holiday movies. Which one has been your favorite?
The man AND J. : "Elf. We are going to keep watching until we can burp that long."
A. "The Grinch Who Stole Christmas. It gives me hope that my brother's heart might grow three sizes one day."
C. : "The Grinch cartoon; mostly for the horrifying faces."

10. You are baking cookies with me. What song is playing in the background?
The man: "On the radio? Anything by Mannheim Steamroller; just to watch you cringe."
A. :" Jingle Bell Rock. I WILL teach you that dance from Mean Girls."
C. : "Total Eclipse of the Heart. The one with the musical styling of Santa." (Does not exist. I looked)
J.: "Little Drummer Boy. That kid has a good beat." (Rum pa pa pummm)

11. If there WAS a fly on your bedroom wall, what would it see?
The Man: "Me, trying to get out of bed without waking up an insomniac or her two snoring dogs…"
A. : "It would hear the nonsense I was speaking after the wisdom teeth debacle. It would see partially eaten meals, and unmade bed, remnants of anxiety from finals week and a few clothes on the floor." (Cue the tumble weed rolling in her closets with hangers blowing in the wind…)
C. : "A fly on the wall would hear the soft weeping that comes after I jump from my loft bed on to J.'s LEGOs.  BTW, Can we talk about me getting my own room?"
J. "It would see all of my LEGOs. Mom, they are out for a reason. Each pile is a project I'm working on. Is there any way we could get a wall between our beds?" (Nice try.)

12.  Finally, here are a few funny comments I heard this month:

Me: Are we going to put up lights this year? It's a beautiful day.
The man: I'm not sure. It's getting late…
Me: But all of the neighbors have lights. We will look like we don't belong.
(His head turns sideways at me.)
Me: Ok, so we don't belong. Can we still put up the lights? I'll help…
The man: (In a parental voice) If the neighbors jumped off their roofs, would you?
Me: He** yes I would, If I had the right sled and…
The man: …if we had lights?
My first husband rocks, people.

***

The man: "Can we park your car in the shed? I bet it will fit. How about the back patio?" (Whodawhattahowda?)
A. : "Mom moved all the dishes and food around. Again. I can't find anything, I'm hungry and I feel like a tourist from another country. Is it too much to ask where the peanut butter is?"
C. : "Are you going downstairs or to the down-down stairs? I need to print my paper. Will you get it for me? I have to go upstairs to get my music book. If you go down-down stairs, will you grab it? Text me if you grab the paper."
J.: (talking to the soon to be son-in-law) "Let me smell your hand. Ooh, it smells like lotion." J. lifts his arm to show his bare armpit. "Here, smell me. You know what that is? THAT is the smell of a man."(Welcome to the family Mr. S. You're finally one of us.)

Thanks once again for stopping by, and to the Fly's AMAZING creator, Karen @ Baking In a Tornado, aka "The Blogging Original", for hosting this challenge! Would you like to join in the next FLY challenge? Click on the FLY button on my side bar. Karen will more than take care of you.

Take a look at what the other bloggers have going on inside their homes. Go on! Leave them a comment. You know you want to...

Baking in a Tornado                                     

Just a Little Nutty                                

Follow Me Home                          

The Sadder but Wiser Girl                              

Menopausal Mother                                 

The Momisodes                            

Spatulas on Parade                      

The Rowdy Baker                                  

Sorry Kid, Your Mom Doesn't Play Well With Others                       

Juicebox Confession                            

Writer B is Me                                

Dates to Diapers                        

Kiss My List                                             

Moms Don't Say That                                        

Adventure in Domesticland    

                       

Happy Holidays, my friends. Whether you're celebrating with a huge group, a small family, or just trying to find happy memories from years past, I wish for you a beautiful new year. I hope its filled with light that blinds your eyes from the bad in the world. I hope your heart is so full of love and extras, that you will want to share it with strangers. For myself, I hope to get back to this blog so that I too, can share in these things with some of my very favorite bloggers. Any way you celebrate this year, smile for all of the knowledge we've gained from each other and share it with someone new. I love each and every one of the people that take the time to read my very silly blog. Peace, happiness and Dark Chocolate to you and yours,

Love Michele 

Day Nine of Forty- In like a lion..

March came in like a lion for sure... A big ol' grouchy lion who brought a morning full of snow, hail, and winds; a mix of everything....except for sun. I know that this winter has been mild, but man, I am SO ready for Spring. I think I may have already mentioned that a few times, but that is only because I really mean it.

By Spring I mean sunshine and warmth. I want it. Lots and Lots of it. Not unlike Veruca Salt from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, I want it all and I want it now. Things growing out of the ground, open windows, soft breezes, billowy skirts, flip flops.....baby, PLEASE!

I don't think I'm the only one. Winter is hard, people. The cold is hard, too. But the gloomy, grey skies, they seem to be the hardest for me to take. I would think that my declining attitude about the lack of sun could be attributed as depression...but many say, "NO" to that idea. It was even somewhat addressed in an episode "The Office" just this week:

Toby: (sadly) "Well, it HAS been a long, lonely winter..."
Dwight: (sarcastically) Wow, Seasonal Affective Disorder, aka 'SAD'. It sounds like a very 'real' thing, Toby.."
Andy: (sarcastically) "Yeah, Wow. It's like we're not ALL experiencing the same winter???"

I don't know. Do you enjoy winter? Does it NOT feel like it is the longest season of the year? Should I just move south and quit complaining? Ha! Me? Quit complaining? Now, what fun is that?

I'm counting 10 days until we "Spring forward." That is very good news.

19 days until the official start of Spring. Even better!

30 days until March goes out like a lamb. That's right. A soft, baby lamb basking in the bright, blinding sun. Yeah, we'll see.

Until then, I will be sitting by the heater in my feet pajamas, drinking something warm, and "basking" in this:

Uh huh, fake sun. Take what you can, when you can. :)

Stay cozy, friends :)

Spring is coming!!

I am so excited for Spring this year.

I wasn't ready for the snow this winter, yet it kept falling. The cold wind kept blowing and the grey skies seemed to hang lower than usual. It has been a long couple of months.

I love the Spring forward time change. It agrees well with me. I'll happily give up an hour of sleep for longer days. It has been depressing to see the man both go to work and come home in the dark. Now, the mornings aren't too bad and I can actually make dinner and feel like I'm not going to need to go to bed right after. It's fantastic.

I've got some beautiful new Spring fabric to work with. It's been a long time since we had a give-away. I decided to make an Allie-bean bag out of one of the fabrics and give it to one of you. If you're not familiar with the Allie-bean bag, click over on my shellybean store to see the shape and size. 

The problem is, I can't decide which one to use. I thought it might be fun to have a contest where you get to choose the fabric for the bag. Now. If you don't like any of these choices, this contest is not for you. If you think someone you love might like one, enter for them or feel free to tell them about it. Pretty simple, eh?

Enter in the comment section. If you're entering as anonymous, please don't forget to leave your name. Anyone is welcome to play :)

Here are the questions you need to answer to be eligible for the drawing:

1. What do you love about spring?

2. What will you miss about winter?

3. Which of the fabrics is your favorite?

I'll leave the first comment as an example. The drawing will be Sunday night, the first day of Spring, at 7 o'clock. (mountain time)

Fabric choices below-

A. Grey/Black/Aqua flowers and swirls

B. White background with lime/black flowers

C. Yellow and peach trees

D. Bright yellow with red ladybugs

E. Pink background with red, orange, yellow and white circles

Good luck, friends :)

Oui Oui!!

Today was a beautiful day. A little sun, a light wind and people beginning to walk a little slower through the neighborhood. Ah, Spring is coming, I just know it. As I type this I'm remembering back to this past Saturday...when we were gifted with a foot of new snow. Ugh. The eldest went sledding with her friends, and our two boys decided to help their dad dig out the driveway. The youngest is sick of shoveling and he's only six. Unless he plans a move to somewhere near the equator, the boy might as well learn how to de-ice the steps and shovel around his sister's car.

While they stayed busy with the cold activities, I stayed in and made hot cocoa and soup. Who doesn't love soup on a cold day? I decided on French Onion Soup. It is one of my favorite kinds of soups to make and eat. It also happens to be one of the only things with the word "french" in it that I know how to cook.

You want "french" fries? Map quest yourself to the nearest McDonald's. Want "french toast?" Give my grandma in Michigan a call. She not only makes the best french toast, she can cut it up like a samurai warrior; faster than you can ask for syrup. You want "french vanilla bean ice cream? I can give you the number of our Schwan's man. Their ice cream is to die for. ....but until then, give this a try. It is a wonderful, comfort food. I hope you like it.

Ingredients for French Onion Soup (feeds 5)

1 medium onion (white)

2-3 purple onions. I'm not sure why I use different onions, I just always have.

1-2 boxes of beef broth or stock- this depends on whether you like your soup more liquid-y (add two boxes) I like mine more dense, so I use one.

3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

1/2 to 1 cup of a red wine. Sherry is often used as well as a port. I used what I had-This was a deep red zinfandel. 1/2-1 cup in the pot, however much is left can be used for a glass...

1/2 stick of butter, salted

pinch of sugar

A stiff loaf of french or Italian bread

Parmesan cheese

Gruyere or provolone cheese 

1. Skin and chop onion in to small slices. Put all onion pieces and butter into a pan and let them sweat at medium heat. The purple color of the onions will fade. At this time,  I add a pinch of sugar to the onions and let caramelize at the bottom of the pan.  You can flip the onions until reduced.

15-20 minutes

2. Slice up your bread and lay flat on a cookie sheet. You can butter the tops and spread about a tablespoon of Parmesan cheese on each one. Set oven at 350 degrees.

3. When onions are reduced/soft (not burned), add 1/2 to 1 cup of the wine to the onions and stir in the pan, making sure to pick up the caramelization from the bottom. I do this with a side of a fork. If you do not like or have wine, feel free to use condensed beef broth in its place. If using wine, remember, you need to simmer the liquid between 45-60 minutes to completely burn of the alcohol. (I'm feeding kids..) Of course, we are also broiling the soup- but keep that in mind. Many people are under the impression that the alcohol automatically burns off.

4. Put the bread in the oven for 5-7 minutes or until the cheese is melted...

5. Add broth and Worcestershire sauce to the onion soup pan. If your pan is not big enough to hold soup, transfer to a bigger pot. The man loves mushrooms soaked in the wine/onion mixture, so they are sharing the stove top for a bit.. When the soup starts to boil, reduce heat and simmer for as long as you'd like. I usually start assembling the soup after 45-60 minutes of simmering. Add salt and pepper to taste.

6. After sixty minutes,  pour the soup into oven-safe bowls. On top of that,  set one of the cheese breads you made earlier. Now, you can lay the last piece of cheese on top of the bowl, covering the soup. As you can see, none of my bowls are the same. Someone in the family doesn't like wet bread. Another person doesn't like melted cheese (WHAT?) Another likes double bread...You'd think I run a Denney's...
Anyway, set these bowls on a cookie sheet and broil for about 5 minutes. Keep a close eye on the cheese and don't let it burn. When nice and brown, take out of the oven and cool just a bit. Warn kids that the bowls are HOT!!! Serve with extra bread and crackers. As picky as the family is, they at least agree that the onion soup is yummy and fun to dip the extra bread in. Oh, they kind of like that I fed them at all.. For now....

Do you make onion soup? Do you have an idea on how to improve the recipe? Are you ready for barbecues and picnics yet? Uh huh. Me too.....

Happy Thursday, friends :)

Dump Cake

Yeah, it's still cold outside. And yeah. I'm still inside and making ridiculously unhealthy things to eat. I look forward to the days when it will be too hot to bake. Until then, yeah. I'm also still eating all the  things I'm making. Circle of life...

Have you ever made Dump Cake? My college roommate introduced it to me one weekend. I'm sure it was during one of my many "Woe-is-me-I-can't-eat-one-more-cup-of-ramen" days. Me. Pouting about food. (shocking, I know) Anyway,  I've made it sporadically through the years ever since.

It's ridiculously easy and may already be something you make. If not, here's the recipe. Even though I'm complaining about the cold, this is definitely a dessert that deserves to be served over ice cream. If even the thought of ice cream makes you shiver, go put on a pair of warm socks and suck it up.

Stay warm, my friends. Or satisfied. Either/or; it doesn't matter.  It's a tricky tightrope that I don't mind balancing on every now and then :)

Enjoy!

Ingredients-

Cake Pan
Can of Pineapple
Can of Cherry Pie Filling (or other flavor)
Box of cake mix. I used yellow cake, but chocolate is even better :) Isn't it always?
Stick of butter (obviously not a diet dessert..but hey, there's fruit!)
Pam

1. Spray sides of cake pan.
 Okay. This is where Dump Cake gets its name....

2. Dump in pineapple chunks. Use the juice too.

 3. Dump on the pie filling. If you're the youngest, you'll carefully divide the pie filling so every piece of cake gets its fair share...

4. Sprinkle the cake mix on top of the fruity mixture. Again, the little man wants it to be evenly distributed. Whose child is this? Also, after looking at these pictures, I don't think that is my cake pan.....Hmmm.. Anyone want to claim it?

5. Cut the butter into pats and spread them out on the cake. I have also cut the butter into the mix. It works either way...

 6. Put in 350 degree oven for 45 minutes or until fruit bubbles throughout the cake.

 All done! We have to eat it warm because, well I don't remember. It's just always been that way! I know it doesn't look like a cake. It doesn't really taste like one, either. It tastes instead, a lot like a cobbler or a buckle, topped with butter cookies. (perhaps due to it's insane amount of...butter!) Any way you describe it, it's delicious. Just ask the little man below...

Happy Monday!

Mitten Love...

That's what my brother sends me from my home state of Michigan every time we speak..In return, I send him love from the mountains...Aw, sift through the cheese if you must..

I wanted to share a ridiculously easy way to make yourself a pair of mittens. If you've been reading the blog long enough, you know that I can hardly match up a pair of socks, let alone mittens. We are infamous for losing anything that comes in a pair. If you're ever in the need of an orphan anything, I probably have its match.

Anyway, if I had to choose between mittens and gloves, I would choose mittens every time. I think they're adorable. You can still drive, shovel and hold hands with them. You can give a cute open and close wave with them as well as NOT get shot by showing certain fingers to people who cut you off on the highway. Again, it looks like a cute wave instead of a bad gesture and isn't that safer for everyone?

The husband had an old sweater that had a huge snag-turned-hole in the front. I loved the color and like I said, I am always in need of new (matching) mittens...

Do you want some? Grab an old sweater!

You'll need
Sweater, paper, scissors, pins, sewing machine or thread and needle and buttons or ribbon for decorations, if desired.

1. Lay sweater flat on the floor, inside out.

 2. Trace a really cute mitten around your hand on a piece of paper. If you're smart, you'll make two. If you're like me, you'll lay the pattern and realize you actually have two hands and have to search somewhere for another piece of paper, finally getting mad and using an ad from the newspaper.... Since you're using the wrist part of the sleeves of the sweater for the sleeves of your mittens, you can set the pattern just above those...

3. Pin the pattern and cut around it. I have to make a straight cut first because I'm a lefty and it's easier that way. I use any crutch possible....and lefties are also AWESOME, so I'm throwing it out there for pure rockstar purposes :)

4. You will automatically have a back and front for each mitten. I then take them to the sewing machine and zigzag stitch twice around the edge of the whole thing (obviously not the sleeve opening)..The zigzag lets the mitten stretch without ripping. Flip them right side out. What?? They're so cute!!

5. Now, they're not as beautiful as crocheted/knitted/bought-at-a-boutique mittens, but they are functional, warm and for now, a matching set.
What do you think? If you'd like, for extra warmth, you can also line them with fleece. They're also fun to decorate, if that's your thing...
I can make them cute....

or I can demand spring...

Truthfully, I like them plain. What I really need is one of those strings tied to both mittens and stuck through the sleeves of my coat. Hey, I'm not above that!

So there it is. A cute little mitten project to try out since there doesn't seem to be any end of winter in sight. Whether you live in the mountains OR the mitten state or somewhere else that requires covering of the hands/body/feet/face...stay warm and cozy, friends.

Oh, and for those of you who ask where I lived in Michigan? That's easy....

Happy Monday, friends :)

In the winter we can build a snowman....

Hello, Friends :)

A lot of my very favorite memories of elementary school (both as a student and as a teacher) involve the arts. I miss the singing and dancing, painting and coloring, interpreting and acting out plays... All of it. I especially miss the silly, sometimes gaudy/sometimes beautiful/sometimes unrecognizable, gravity-defying craft projects. Mobiles, stockings, clay pots, crayon resists, lanterns, soup can pencil holders...etc.. You name it, I wanted to make it.

As a student, I couldn't wait for the day the traveling art teacher would make her way down the hall to visit our classroom. She would roll her cart-full of construction paper and other magnificent art supplies right to the front of the room. I remember gazing at whatever media she decided to bring that day, full of anticipation of which kind of magic she'd be showing us. I'd listen to her instructions and do everything I could to soak in all the colors and textures and techniques. Along with the others, I'd also hope that we'd complete our projects that day. A familiar question always was, "Do we get to take it home?", and then, "Can we take it home TODAY?"

As a teacher, I looked forward to any time I could share Arts/Crafts projects with the kids. I reveled in the satisfaction each child showed in their completed works. Smiles were wide, hands were filthy and the room was abuzz with sharing each little masterpiece. 

In reflection, I think what I love(d) most about art, is that it is so subjective. I remember asking the teachers (as my students asked me), "Is this right? Does this look good? Mine looks different than yours, what did I do wrong?" The answer was always the same. "You didn't do anything wrong.", or ,"How do YOU like it?" "How does it make you feel when you look at it?" "Projects are not suppose to be carbon copies of one another." The pieces were about individuality. Creativity. Confidence. Art in whatever form can give each of us that. 

Unfortunately, school is getting increasingly difficult for young children. The lack of play and time for the arts is being replaced with standardized tests and cookie cutter-minded behavior. There is hardly any time for children to express themselves creatively; individually or socially. I find this to be one of the most tragic mistakes in education today. Yep, I'm a bit passionate about it. Sorry. The point is, as a student or a teacher, I've come to know that the Arts give us wonderful opportunities to express ourselves. 

So, the next time your child brings home something wrapped in yarn or glitter, beans or pipe-cleaners; (or all of the above),  the next time something comes home strung on a necklace or dripping with glue or wet paint, take just a second to look for their little name at the bottom and know that what you hold in your hands is a one of a kind piece of art; made for you from the perfect, individual spirit of an amazing, artistic child. 

I thought I'd share an easy winter craft you could make with your kids. Or your friends. Or just you. No matter. My youngest was bored out of his mind on Friday night, so I taught him how to make some cute snowmen out of socks. If you're a normal human who has ever done laundry, you know you have at least ONE orphan sock lying around the house. (I have a whole basket of them.) Really, where in the world could 30-some mismatched socks go? 

 As with anything I show you on this blog, feel free to add or take away anything to make this project yours. I've taught lots of kids how to make these over the years, and i can bet you, that like all snowflakes, no two are the same.  Celebrate that individuality people- every chance you get :)

Ingredients for Sock Snowmen-

-One sock. Preferably plain white. Any size. I know I told you to use your individuality, and by all means, please do. But I must ask you at this time to NOT use yellow socks. (No one likes yellow snow, ladies. )

-Any kind of shredded fabric(thin strips), ribbon or string. You'll probably need about a foot of any of it.  Mix and match..

-Rice. About 3 cups per large snowman, 1 cup for kid's socks.I use whatever I can find in a big bag. Yes, I craft AND I am Japanese. I Loves me the rice :)

-Craft Glue-Rubber bands

-Various buttons, beads, markers

-Pipe Cleaners. Preferably Brown for the stick arms, but the youngest bedazzled his out with gold :)

1. Fill the sock with the rice. I wrap my sock around a glass to make it easier to help the little guy.

2. Pull up on the sock and pat down on the table to settle. Tie a knot at the top of the sock.

3. Bend over the top of the sock to cover the knot and create a "Hat".

4. Wrap the rubber band around where you want the neck of the snowman to be. Make sure it's fairly tight.

5. Use any of your fabric or ribbons to secure the hat in place (Not terribly tight) and to tie a scarf around his neck. Use thicker ribbon or fabric here so you can cover the rubber band.

6. Choose buttons, beads or extra fabric to decorate your snowman. Use glue directly on the snowman and then add buttons...

7. This may be easier if you lay the little guy on his back...

8. Wrap a piece of pipe cleaner  through the back of the snowman's scarf and then towards the side.

9. Add a mouth or a nose with a Sharpie to look like a smile. (My little guy's snowman is riddled with a loose tooth)

And there you have it. A cute snow family. I'm glad there was a little glare because I made the baby snowman out of the most dingy sock known to man.

I said I was artistic, not proud, people! :)

Have fun, my friends :)