March10
I had big plans of going outside and doing an awesome jump with a flowering fruit tree and the sun. Turns out we are having another bout of winter, and it is too cold out there to do anything, especially something that takes multiple retakes.
I settled for jumping indoors until I can get back outside when the sun has returned to warm beautiful Oregon.
Oh and Cyprus was screaming nonstop when I took the photo, so I didn’t notice the nice stomach showing (stretch marks and all) until after I decided I was done. This is reality folks.
March10
Cyprus is into exploring anything and everything that he possibly can.
Unluckily, Daphne seems to be an expert at making the world as dangerous for him as possible. Here, she has turned her stool upside down for him to check out. Of course this means that there are 4 pointy feet to bonk his black eye on! Great!
He has discovered the caps on the wax bolts on the toilet. Who would have known that they could be such amazing baby crack. Nothing in the house is as interesting as those disgusting wax things. They are a chocking hazard also, double bonus!
March10
I made some Italian sodas for dinner. Rather than use syrup in the bottom, we put pureed strawberries.
Daphne never has a problem to help in the kitchen as long as it involves licking up the tasty treats at the end.
March10
Yeah, a little bit lame on the alphabet skills. While I was doing planning, I seriously thought that eye would work for the I letter. I must have mama brain because it just didn’t not make sense for me.
I did a shot similar to this of my daughter recently. I love the eye. I experimented with making the eye completely black in the pupil, but it turns out that the tiny details in the eye are what makes us look human.
My eyes look green here, which is odd because I definitely have grey eyes.
March10
We had a pretty full day. Tuesdays are kind of crazy because we have to be in town to pick up vegetable in the afternoon and then race home and make dinner before I head back to the pool to work out and do a water aerobics class.
By the time I made it home, everyone was sleeping peacefully!
March10
Cyprus got a hold of a piece of bread during breakfast. He seems to pulverize bread and leave crumbs everywhere, it is quite the messy affair.
I eventually moved him down from the table with his bread and let him sit on the carpet. At least the dog can come up and clean up after him when he has pulverized the bread into nothingness.
I love this stripped shirt, too bad it was too dirty after breakfast to wear for the rest of the day.
March10
I had the pleasure of making potato Gnocchi at my sister’s house with her help. As always, we made a delicious meal that made both of us happy. Our dad even came over to share a rare meal with us as a family. I am going to post only the recipe for the dumpling part of the gnocchi because there are SO many things you can do with it. So many tasty possibilities.
4 medium potatoes, peeled
1 egg, beaten
3 teaspoons salt
1 3/4 to 2 cups flour (depending on the day)
1.) Put the potatoes in a saucepan and cover with water. Bring to a boil. Cook about 15 minutes or until the potatoes are tender. Drain the water off.
2.) Put the potatoes through a ricer into a medium sized bowl. Stir in the egg and 2 teaspoons of salt. Gradually mix in the flour until you have a firm, elastic and manageable dough.
3.) Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 15 minutes. Roll the dough out into ropes about 1/2 inch wide and cut into pieces that are 1 inch long. Roll the pieces off a gnocchi board or press them gently with a fork.
4.) Bring 1 gallon of water to boil. Add the remaining salt. Cook the gnocchi in small batches of boiling water for 5 minutes or until they float on the top of the water. Remove immediately and serve with your choice of sauce.
March10
2 cups flour
2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
5 tablespoons butter, chilled and cut into 1/4 inch cubes
1 cup frozen blueberries
1 cup heavy cream
1.) Turn the oven to 425 and move a rack to the center position.
2.) Put the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt into a food processor and pulse until combined 6-10 pulses. Place the butter on top of the mixture and pulse several more times until the mixture looks like cornmeal with some butter bits in it.
3.) Transfer mixture to a mixing bowl and mix in the cream, stirring until the dough is mixed together (there will be little floury bits still). Do not stir too long, just until dough comes together and is manageable.
4.) Transfer the dough to a work surface and knead until it had come together fully come together and is a rough, sticky ball.
5.) Flour a pastry board and put the dough out on it. Roll it into a 12 inch square. Sprinkle the frozen blueberries on top of the bowl and then fold into thirds. You will have a 12 by 4 inch rectangle. Cut the dough into 8 triangular pieces.
6.) Make a wash of 1 tbsp of heavy crem and 1 tbsp of sugar. Brush it on top of the scones.
7.) Bake until the scone tops are light brown, 12 to 15 minutes.
March10
I go to the health food store with the kids, and I am ALWAYS hungry. At some point, I got addicted to these simple coconut bars that they have. I looked at the ingredients one day and realized that they are very simple to make. I tried making some for myself, and they were a big success.
2 cups dried, shredded coconut (unsweetened)
1/4 cup brown rice syrup
Preheat the oven to 350.
Pour the coconut into a bowl that has been lined with spray oil. Add 2 tbsp of the rice syrup and mix until combined. Add the remaining 2 tbsp of rice syrup and mix well. The mixture should start to stick together. When it holds together, you have succeeded! It might take more or less syrup depending on the day, humidity, etc.
Press the mixture into a loaf pan (I prefer my cast iron one). Place in the oven until it starts to become golden on top. Remove from oven and let cool. Cut into bars and enjoy when you get the munchies!
