Tasty Tuesday!

We're in the midst of Lent, and some people in this family who remind me of that more than ever. It's possible those people happen to be six year old little boys who go to Catholic school where they teach you not to eat meat in Lent on Fridays.

I will not be the one to disillusion him in his quest, and I like the reminders to follow the traditions I grew up with (as we're now Episcopal, they aren't to hard and fast with the giving things up or avoiding meat).

I don't really want to be stuck with spaghetti each week or plain tuna fish or grilled salmon. This is the perfect time to do some other things that we don't cook or eat too often. I think I fell upon the perfect solution (thank you, Sampling People at Costco!).

Salmon Patties

Ingredients:
2 6oz cans of salmon
1 egg, beaten
3/4 c bread crumbs (save those heels of the crusty loaves you buy and don't quite finish!)
1 T parsely, chopped
black pepper

olive oil

Directions:
Place the cans of salmon (and their liquid) into a bowl. Gently flake, but do your best to keep nice chunks in there. Add the beaten egg, parsley, and pepper. Gently combine. Add 1/3 c bread crumbs and stir again.

Form the salmon into approximately 10 patties. Roll them in the remaining bread crumbs.

In a heavy skillet, heat on medium low enough oil to cover the bottom. Fry the patties on one side, add a little more oil and flip to fry the second side.

Yum!  (ok, so my husband made them this time and minced the salmon, used flour in place of bread crumbs and then reheated them when I got home... they don't look as good as they usually do, but they tasted great!)

As you can see, we served them with rice and corn. It was a great combo, and the wee ones loved them. Be grateful I have a picture, as there were no leftovers and I almost forgot until I was halfway through eating.

For more recipes, check out Tempt My Tummy Tuesday with Blessed with Grace!

Good Deeds Gone Wild

This year, we put Mister Man into a parochial school instead of our (admittedly, very good) local public school for a variety of reasons. It was something that I agonized over before finally making the decision - and of course afterwards.

I feel pretty confident that it was the right decision now. We love this school for so many reasons, from the truly differentiated education for students starting in kindergarten to the specials (art, music, gym, Spanish) that also start in kindgarten to the truly caring teachers there.

They've come up with some projects and activities for the kindergarteners that have really been winners. One that we're working on right now is focused on Lent. Each child was sent home with green strips of paper. Whenever the child does a good deed, we write it down on the paper and send it back to school. The good deeds will all be woven together to make one giant chain of good deeds showing how these little people can together make a big difference in the world.



I BIG puffy heart this idea. I love the concept, the explanation, and the execution.

And you know who else does? Mister Man thinks it rocks.



He is now walking around all day looking for good deeds that he can do from cleaning up the nursery at church to putting away groceries with Daddy to clearing all the plates at dinner (instead of just his own). And he isn't satisfied with just that; he wants to find more things he can do.

It feels kind of wrong, but I had to tell him today that he'd done enough good deeds for now and didn't need to look for any more right then. He had a long time yet to do more good deeds and didn't have to do them all right away. That still feels wrong just typing it - telling a child not to do any more good deeds?

This has been such a huge success with him that we may continue it once Lent is over. While he won't send it into school to make a chain with his classmates, we can do it at home. And this will also allow Little Miss to get involved (who of course wants to do anything her big brother does).

I'll be really interested to see if and how this changes his behavior at all in terms of some of the (typically) selfish six year old behavior he sometimes exhibits. Regardless, it sets him on a great path.

What do (or did) you do at home to help build a strong character?

That's A Lot Of Love

Little Miss loves me. A lot. And she tells me frequently. I'm still trying to figure out if this is something that she does because she's that demonstrative, because she's really insecure and needs to be reaffirmed all the time (ummm unlikely knowing her), or whether she just thinks it's funny. Regardless, we had what I thought was a rather entertaining conversation yesterday.

Little Miss: Mommy, I love you.
Me: Yes, my little peanut, I know.
Little Miss: And you love me, too!
Me: I do. And how do you know that? (Here I'm expecting some four year old version of because I show her on a daily basis.)
Little Miss: Because you've told me like a thousand times.
Me: Oh, I think I've told you more often than that.
Little Miss: Ok, you've told me you love me a hundred times!
Me: Ummm, definitely more than a hundred times.
Little Miss: Fine. You've told me one hundred forty-nine times then.

Apparently I haven't been doing such a good job teaching her to count.

Everything Pudding

Ok, so how many of you read the Betsy, Tacy and Tibb books growing up? (And how many of you plan to find the books for your daughters to read?) They were some of my favorite books in late elementary school. And yes, the inspired me.

How, you might ask?

Wellll if you haven't noticed, I sorta like to cook. And I may or may not have mentioned that my mom's idea of cooking meant boiling to death an entire box of pasta then putting it in the fridge in a Ziploc for us to pick at as we were hungry. (No, I'm not joking).

I certainly didn't get my enjoyment of food from her (cottage cheese with canned peaches is her standard breakfast because it's easy but ewwww!), nor my love of cooking. She still dosn't get it, but she will at least eat some of the food, generally whateve is left that no one else wants to eat.

So back to Betsy, Tacy, and Tibb. In one of the books, Betsy comes up with a great idea to cook. They decided to learn how to cook by making "everything pudding" which essentially consisted of everything but the kitchen sink.

I thought that was a pretty cool idea, but my mom pretty quickly laid down the law that if I made it, I ate it. Or maybe it was my friend's mom, and my mom simply copied.

Regardless, we made everything... cookies and cakes and muffins and bread and pancakes. And using no recipes, putting in some sometimes odd ingredients, we occasionally came up with some pretty good stuff.

We also quickly learned to make very small batches of things to avoid having to eat a whole lot of something nasty.

I look back on that now, and oh the fun we had! It was a great way to spend a sleepover, and generally a pretty inexpensive proposition. We were always safe, and it was a great way to exert some independence safely. I only wish that we'd taken photos of our work and written down some of our better recipes.

In fact, I think I might have to try this with the wee ones one of these day wen we have some free time. I have a feeling they might enjoy continuing this little tradition.

So what did you love to do as a child that was - maybe - a little more unique?

I Need Some Ideas Here

Today is one of my favorite days. Living where I live, the day before Ash Wednesday has special meaning. Granted, I'm not in New Orleans where this is the culmination of a wonderful celebration of Mardi Gras (ahhh to be in college again where I can drive down on a moment's notice and spend a day and a night there, sleeping under a tree). Nope, here we have something totally different.

It's Packzi Day (pronounced essentially "poohnch-key").

Mmmm, packzis.

They're a Polish delicacy - thus the name I have a hard time reconciling pronounciation with spelling - that is traditionally made on the day before Ash Wednesday when all the fats and sweets had to be used up. We have an awesome bakery near me that makes them. In fact, they're awesome enough that I woke up early this morning so I could drive twenty minutes out of my way before work to pick up a couple. For my family. Ahem.

Ok, so I got my six packzis, the owner was taping up the box, and I shouted "no no no -- wait, don't tape it!" He looked up with a question on his face. I explained that it was for my breakfast.

And looking back now, I understand why he laughed. To clarify, I only ate one packzi today. Single.

Needless to say, he laughed and untaped the box. And adding insult to injury, he grabbed a plastic fork and stuck it into the box for me. Apparently I do something memorable to him every year I buy packzis.

So what is a packzi?

It's essentially a lovely donut stuffed with fruit. Traditionally (from what I understand being Irish and Scottish and German but not Polish), they were cut in half with sliced fruit and whipped cream being placed inside and powdered sugar atop. Prune filling was also another traditional flavor.

While the bakery I patronize has those options, it also goes for the big flavor. They have raspberry filled glazed packzis. They have custard filled chocolate frosting packzis. They have apricot filled packzis. Pretty much pick a (good) flavor, and they have them.

Mister Man chooses blueberry and pineapple packzis - to be doled out over a several day period - for his, while I got nontraditional with my chocolate frosting filled covered in powdered sugar.



Yum.

And the other tradition here? That would be Shrove Tuesday where the British essentially do the same thing - celebrating the last of the fun before the start of Lent.

Thus, my church has a Shrove Tuesday party with English crepes served with both lemon and sugar (traditional) and nutella, ice cream, whipped cream, cherries, and more.

Did I mention that a friend of mine took me out for lunch today for Mexican? Yikes.

So Mister Man and I headed over to the church where we indulged in some traditional yummies before playing their version of bunco. My partner and I were terrible at Beetle Drive, unable to roll a six (which you have to do to start the game) most of the time. Mister Man managed to win most of them, however, and I have a feeling we're going to be playing a lot of that game around here.

It's been thoroughly drummed into me that Lent is fast upon us (no pun intended, I swear). But I'm stuck. I can't come up with anything good to give up this year.

I don't drink pop or caffeine. I don't drink alcohol enough to remember that I'm trying to give it up. I don't swear; I rarely chew gum. Chocolate is done so often. So what do I do for Lent this year? I've got three hours before I need to figure it out, and I'm not there yet?

Do I commit to planning out meals for my family for each day in Lent?

Do I commit to doing a particular (painful) exercise each day?

Do I go for the chocolate route?

Do I clean one room in the house thoroughly each day?

Do I give up the Food Network (that would make my husband happy)?

So after all the fun indulgences I had today reminding me that a solemn time is nearly upon us, what do you suggest? Help a girl out, would you?

Tasty Tuesday!

Well, ok so I'll admit to having been out of town for most of the last week, which means I haven't done much in the kitchen. Yesterday I had sushi for Valentine's Day (mmmm, sushi), and today I worked and got home too late to make a "real" dinner.

So you know what's left? I've gotta go with the blondies I made for the Super Bowl. Honestly, I'm tempted to whip up another batch right now so I can be sure I have pictures. Really, that's the only reason. What, you don't believe me?

Ok, so I just want some more of the treats. They went quickly and were soooo yummy. I had hardly any leftover (two, to be exact).

Double Chocolate Blondies

Ingredients:
2 sticks butter, room temperature
2 c brown sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 t baking powder
2 t vanilla
1/4 t salt
2 1/2 c flour
12 oz semi sweet chocolate chips
1 c milk chocolate chip chunks

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease a 13x9 pan.

Cream the butter and sugar until it comes together and is lightened and creamy. Add the eggs and beat until well mixed. Do the same for the vanilla.

Add the baking powder and salt and beat well again. Add the flour and stir until just combined (some flour will still be showing). Add the chocolate chips and stir until distributed.

Scoop the batter into the pan, spoonful by spoonful. Use the back of a spatula to squish it until it's fairly evenly distributed and flat. Sprinkle the milk chocolate chunks atop the batter, and lightly press them in. If you have any leftover chocolate chips, do the same.

Bake for 25-30 minutes, until a tester comes out clean. Let cool thoroughly, then slice into 24 (or more) bars.

Enjoy! (And hide them from your family.)

Does this sound good to you? Go find more with Tempt My Tummy Tuesday over with Blessed With Grace.

Oh Those Things They Say

Soooo, I know I've been somewhat MIA, but I promise I have a good reason. I'm finally back - at least physically, if not mentally - from Orlando and a conference there, with more to be posted on my other blog in the next couple days.

While on "vacation" with my parents and wee ones, I had several ahhhh memorable moments, shall we say.

Proof that my parents spoil the wee ones:
Upon walking into our hotel room, Mister Man turned around to look at us and asked, "Where's my bedroom?"

Granted, when my parents take us on vacation, we usually stay in a rented condo for a longer period of time, so having a standard hotel room apparently came as a surprise to him.

Upon deciding that she was finished with volunteering, Little Miss declared, "I want to go. I don't like this place. There aren't even any 'lands.' I want to go somewhere that has lands. And rides."

So this is why so many volunteer opportunities don't include four year olds....

Upon seeing yet another character at breakfast, "Grandma, did you order Daisy, too? And did you order and pay for Donald? I see them; I see them!"

And yes, that would be a character breakfast at Chef Mickey's that my parents took the wee ones to, not knowing that they were in for more than a typical breakfast place.

Trying to convince Little Miss that it was ok to ride the teacups, as she is not a fan of "spinny rides," Mister Man tried the logic of: "But I'm the Fear Master. It's ok to ride because I'm the Fear Master, and I take away your fears. Fears: begone!"

Nope, it didn't work, as evidenced by:

"Slow down. Slow dowwwwwn! Slowwwwwww! Dowwwwwwwwn!" from Little Miss the entire teacup ride.

And no, we weren't spinning. At all. Fortunately, Mister Man joined me on the ride immediately afterwards where we spun as fast as we could the whole ride. Now if I could just find someone to ride the roller coasters with me, I'd be set.

Being directed to dinner at the Wide World of Sports, Mister Man insisted, "Mommy, don't follow them. They're going to try to trick us. Look, they have red light sabers; that means they're bad guys."

Uhhhh, no. However, I do think that it's time to take away some of those Star Wars books.

Upon exiting Energy Universe at Epcot, Little Miss explained, "It's important to never fall asleep for a nap while watching television. It gives you nightmares, and you'll dream about dinosaurs coming to get you. Make sure you don't fall asleep with the tv on, Mommy."

Yep, that's all she got out of the educational ride about how energy is created. Needless to say, she was very worried when she saw Grandpa the next day asleep with the television on.

There were so many more, but I can't remember them. Maybe once I catch up on my sleep, they'll come back to me. Even if they don't, I know they will always be creating more.