Stupid iPad ate my post

I tried writing a short post from the iPad last night, only to find that it disappeared.

Oh, well, it was mostly my annual ode to fall, and how much I prefer it to summer - especially the hottest summer on record in Dallas - and what I made for dinner on Sunday (finally!)

So here I am, at the main Mac, and now I have to get used to a new user interface for Blogger (although I *think* I might like it, despite being a change resisting Luddite where my applications are concerned).

OK, gotta feed the cats and get the boy to bed, but hopefully I'm get back to posting every once in a while again.

We're not just cookin', we're baaakin'!

This coming week, the upper elementary students at my son's Montessori will hold their annual bake-sale to help fund "The Great Field Trip" (out-of-town, sleep-away trip each spring). This year it will only be for a couple of days, because there are more younger upper elementary kids than usual (including our kiddo).


I'm actually not sure how much 'funding' comes of it, but each of the upper elementary kids gets involved in real-life lessons that require reading, math, cooking, etc.

• Supply a dozen homemade baked items per day
• Price everything
• Take shifts running the bake sale table in the mornings and afternoons as the parents come and go -- and their kids beg them to buy yummy things

Juj and I discussed it last week, and I suggested we make a batch of refrigerator cookie dough that we could slice, bake and decorate a different way each night. He wanted to make lily-pads (green icing and marzipan flowers), as well as mini "pizzas" with berry jam for sauce and shaved white chocolate for "cheese."


Off to Google I went, and ended up with Martha... Stewart, of course.  We did find One Dough, 30 Ways (and conveniently I still have my actual Dec 2010 MSL magazine to reference in the kitchen), and we're going to go for it, but I also had been considering cupcake cones, and found a great recipe for Chocolate Cupcake Cones. We made the cupcakes (pretty easy - almost more of a brownie) and the frostings tonight (went for the chocolate ganache-type that was with the recipe, as well as a cream cheese frosting as suggested - I can use them with cookies later in the week, right?)


I'm going to let J decide which one we go with tomorrow, but we did make three extras for Los G's 3 to taste test, so I prototyped a 'scoop of chocolate ice cream' as well as 'vanilla soft serve' and a less successful 'dipped cone' (yes, tried cream cheese frosting with ganache over it... which I was forced to eat since it didn't really work so well, although it tasted dee-licious!)


Anyway, I'll try to get pictures to share as we go.


Also made a good easy dinner tonight:

• La Boucherie Jambalaya Stuffed Chicken (a favorit fall-back form Costco, since it can go from freezer to table in less than 4 hours)
• My own take on this Roasted Beet Salad (cubed the beets, added a bit of dried thyme and a heaping teaspoon of pesto to the lemon vinaigrette)
• Blanched Broccoli (with a bit more of that pesto-lemon vinaigrette drizzled on it)

And speaking of dinner, I just have to mention last night. J went to a sleepover birthday for one of the boys in his class, so the G-man and I had a lovely 'date night' and ended up at Mignon, which we hadn't been to in ages (maybe even pre-parenthood). We had a great time people-watching because apparently there was a private party out on the deck (and *oh my* skirts are short this year!), and ate & drank:

• Cocktails: Audrey Hepburn for me (raspberry vodka, raspberry liqueur, and housemade sweet & sour) and a Sazerac for my Southern dahrlin' (which the waiter had to Google to tell the bartender how to make it, but it came out well done)
• Sautéed Mussels Fresh Herbs & Toasted Baguette
• Fig & Prosciutto Salad with Manchego cheese
• a happy half bottle of Steele Pinot Noir Carneros
• Cochon braised pork shank, wine reduction, sweet potato gnocchi, and bacon-wrapped figs (oh, blissful, crispy / salty outside, sweet / soft inside)
• Triple Layer Lemon Cake Almond Mousse, Raspberries & Lemon Curd

It was a really good night, followed by a morning of enjoying the Sunday New York Times because we decided to go back to taking the Fri-Sun in hard copy.

Reduce Resolutions, Increase Consciousness

I know that to be effective, you are supposed to make SMART (Specific-Measurable-Achievable/Actionable-Realistic-Timebound) resolutions / goals, and then monitor and chart your progress, celebrate your successes, forgive/overcome your setbacks, etc.

But seeing things in black and white is actually one of the traits I'd like to reduce in myself, so I've decided to just write up some guideposts that I can use instead - and if I can be more conscious (mindful) of my actions and reactions, then I can use the guideposts to assess my next re\action.

(Although I might still chart my weight / exercise progress - you can't control what you don't measure, whatever it was that they always attribute to Demming.)

will this Increase:

• Health
• Life balance
• Physical activity / exercise
• Joy - mine or someone else's
• Quality time with Gil or Julian
• Meditation / reflection / prayer / quiet time to know myself
• Productivity - good enough, not perfect!
• Punctuality
• Number of *small* healthful meals I eat today
• Fruit & veggie consumption
• Hydration (water on the inside, moisturizer on the outside!)
• Time blogging / writing

will this Reduce:

• Weight
• Stress
• Financial (and/or karmic) debt
• Clutter
• Being late
• Mental over-activity / mental exhaustion / monkey mind / pointless wheel spinning / worry
• Amount of sugar or over-processed food I consume today
• How much I eat at this time
• My spot in the food chain (less meat!)
• Time wasted pointlessly online (yes, that Twitter / FB / Angry Birds time!)

Might add to this later, but it's a good start.

Dinners, Old and New

Last night, we sat around watching pay-per-view with Uncle Ron, celebrated when it got to be 2011 in Argentina, and generally had a mellow time. Earlier in the day, Juj and I had been watching Food TV and, although I'm not really a big fan of the Neely's (too perky!), we were too lazy to change the channel when they came on (and that's pretty darn lazy, given that we have a remote). Then J decided that what they were cooking looked so good that he wanted it for diner.  I didn't make the whole menu but we did have:

• Get Yo' Man Chicken (*wince* see what I mean?)
• Southern Creamed Corn
• Steamed Broccoli
• Whole Foods Angel Food Cake with Berries, Whipped Cream, and Chocolate Ganache (had talked about making chocolate fondue but wasn't in the mood to deal with it after the movie)

This evening, the dinner plan is:

• Pork Chops (preparation  TBD, perhaps Smothered)
• Black Eyed Peas (in a sort of super simple Hoppin' John treatment, with bacon but no ham hock)
• Braised Greens with Bacon
• K & Paul's Corn Bread (close to this but slightly different in The Prudhomme Family Cookbook; I make a half recipe in a preheated cast iron skillet)
• Butter Lettuce with Oranges, Avocado & Shallot Vinaigrette (a Zuni Cafe Cookbook craving based on tasting the Cara Cara oranges now in season at the grocery store, but perhaps an odd note in this menu - may need to save it for Sunday - also neglected to buy any shallots - oops!)
• Leftover Angel Food Cake, or maybe Immaculate Baking Co. Gingerbread Cookies

So the new year will be off to a comforting (and porky) start...