Inspired by the ravelry group of the same name, I have decided to take myself in hand and think about what I want to be accomplishing, now and in the future. In a particularly (pms-inspired) blue mood the other day I told David that I wasn't excelling at anything besides sitting on my behind, watching too much TV and eating too much junk. While this is obviously an exaggeration, it's not as much of one as I could wish, so I've sat down and tried to figure out some goals, tasks and aspirations for the next couple of years. If the 1001 days begins today, I think my ending date is October 28, 2010.
So here we go!
EDITED
It's harder than I thought to come up with 101 things! More to come! Perhaps most central to the success of this project, however, is #33: review this at least once a week!
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
"Up, up, up" and away!
Words, words, words! Finally Little Mister has decided to use some language! He's had the occasional sounds that resemble "hi", "Daddy" and "uh 0h", but he has finally, undeniably added a word to his repertoire! The other morning in the crib he looked at me and said "UP" and it pretty much hasn't stopped saying it since, since he's having his first example of the power of language ("hey, I say this, and people do what I want! Cool!").
And in other news, Miss G has ceased to be a three year old girl! The big day was Sunday, and since it ended up being her first real day in Primary, it was doubly exciting since they sing to the birthday kids. We had a family birthday party that night, then a daytime "pj party" with a couple of friends Monday afternoon.
Ah, a moment of tenderness as big brother reads little sis' birthday card to her!
Here are Miss G's new pjs for her pajama party! Grampy, these are part of your birthday gift! The new "leo-tired" as she calls it, will be photographed at gymnastics tomorrow! The next post will be more Big Guy-centric... we've got pictures of the 4th grade wax museum and the lower school art show to post, but since our high speed internet is out of commision, it takes FOREVER to download photos right now!
And in other news, Miss G has ceased to be a three year old girl! The big day was Sunday, and since it ended up being her first real day in Primary, it was doubly exciting since they sing to the birthday kids. We had a family birthday party that night, then a daytime "pj party" with a couple of friends Monday afternoon.
Ah, a moment of tenderness as big brother reads little sis' birthday card to her!
Here are Miss G's new pjs for her pajama party! Grampy, these are part of your birthday gift! The new "leo-tired" as she calls it, will be photographed at gymnastics tomorrow! The next post will be more Big Guy-centric... we've got pictures of the 4th grade wax museum and the lower school art show to post, but since our high speed internet is out of commision, it takes FOREVER to download photos right now!
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
My teeny yoginis
I got a Yogakids dvd for Miss G at Christmas and she really likes to do it, so this evening as I was feeding Little Mister an early dinner, I let her put it on. When he got through with his dinner, he decided to get in on the action:
Shall this lead to a more mellow evening? Details to follow...
In book news, after a bit of a dry spell, I've read quite a lot over the last few days. A couple of novels (Atonement, by Ian McEwan, and a teen book by Ellen Emerson White which is a continuation of a series that I really loved when I was a teenager. Honestly, I can't remember the name of the newest book, but it's about the fictional daughter of the first female President. Goofy, but fun to revisit the characters I so liked as a teen (though I don't think she swore this much when she was writing in the 80s!). Also, just started In Defense of Food, by Michael Pollan, and actually I'm still in the last quarter of The Omnivore's Dilemma, by the same author. I'm loving these books (and Animal, Vegetable, Miracle and others I've been reading) and really trying to incorporate things I'm learning into my habits. It's harder than it seems like it should be.
And for any knitters out there, I've finally gotten my ravelry account up and running, and my username is BethK. It's tons of fun, but a total time eater.
Okay, the kids want a little attention now (the yoga pics were so cute I had to sit right down and blog them before I forgot!), so I'm saying buh bye!
Wednesday, January 2, 2008
Squash rolls
I'm obsessed with the rolls I made for Thanksgiving, making them again for Christmas, then twice more in the week afterwards! Thought I'd share the recipe, for anyone interested. (Boy, has anyone else noticed that every recipe I've posted on this blog so far has been bread? One track mind, anyone?)
Squash rolls (recipe comes from a little recipe easel book called New Recipes from Moosewood Restaurant*)
1 tablespoon dry yeast (if regular active dry, bloom it in the water first, if it's instant yeast, add directly to the dry ingredients and add the water to the wet ingredients)
1/4 cup water
2/3 cup scalded milk
1 cup cooked and pureed winter squash, pumpkin, carrot or sweet potato
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup melted butter
2 cups whole wheat flour (I used white whole wheat)
2-3 cups all purpose white flour (I usually use a lot closer to 2 cups here)
Combine scalded milk, squash, salt, sugar, and melted butter (and water if instant yeast is being used. If active dry yeast is being used, when the mixture is at warm room temperature add the water and yeast mixture).
In kitchenaid or large bowl, put 2 cups of whole wheat flour and 2 cups of all-purpose flour. Reserve the rest of the flour for after the liquid is added. If using instant yeast, add to the flour now.
Gradually add the liquid to the dry ingredients, adding some of the extra cup of white flour as necessary to keep the dough from being too sticky. This should be a nice soft, elastic dough and very nice to work with. Knead well.
Put the dough in a covered, greased bowl and let rise until doubled, about 1 hour. Punch down and shape into rolls. I have made cloverleaf style rolls (putting three small balls in a greased muffin cup to make one roll) or just put 16 equal balls into a greased 8x8 pan. Let rise until doubled again, about 30-45 minutes.
Bake in preheated 4oo degree oven for 20 minutes if the rolls are cloverleaf style or some other kind that doesn't touch the other rolls while baking.
*If making the rolls all together squished up in the 8x8 pan, lower heat to 375 and bake for 40-45 minutes.
These are so yummy that we managed to eat three batches in less than a week (leading to a New Years' reintroduction of Weight Watchers!!). I've made them with baked, mashed butternut squash, pumpkin and sweet potato. All were very yummy. The sweet potato has a little less liquid in it, I think, so I used less flour than with the the squash or pumpkin.
Sorry I don't have a picture! Didn't think to take one before they were all eaten up with a big pot of ham and bean soup after Christmas!!
*I think I really surprised Daddyman (to say the least!) when he asked me what restaurant I would like to go to someday, expecting something world famous and haute cuisine in a major metropolis. The answer? Moosewood Restaurant in Syracuse. (Okay, okay, I also said Chez Panisse in Berkeley, but I think it's funnier if the answer is just Moosewood!)
Obligatory kid cuteness:
Squash rolls (recipe comes from a little recipe easel book called New Recipes from Moosewood Restaurant*)
1 tablespoon dry yeast (if regular active dry, bloom it in the water first, if it's instant yeast, add directly to the dry ingredients and add the water to the wet ingredients)
1/4 cup water
2/3 cup scalded milk
1 cup cooked and pureed winter squash, pumpkin, carrot or sweet potato
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup melted butter
2 cups whole wheat flour (I used white whole wheat)
2-3 cups all purpose white flour (I usually use a lot closer to 2 cups here)
Combine scalded milk, squash, salt, sugar, and melted butter (and water if instant yeast is being used. If active dry yeast is being used, when the mixture is at warm room temperature add the water and yeast mixture).
In kitchenaid or large bowl, put 2 cups of whole wheat flour and 2 cups of all-purpose flour. Reserve the rest of the flour for after the liquid is added. If using instant yeast, add to the flour now.
Gradually add the liquid to the dry ingredients, adding some of the extra cup of white flour as necessary to keep the dough from being too sticky. This should be a nice soft, elastic dough and very nice to work with. Knead well.
Put the dough in a covered, greased bowl and let rise until doubled, about 1 hour. Punch down and shape into rolls. I have made cloverleaf style rolls (putting three small balls in a greased muffin cup to make one roll) or just put 16 equal balls into a greased 8x8 pan. Let rise until doubled again, about 30-45 minutes.
Bake in preheated 4oo degree oven for 20 minutes if the rolls are cloverleaf style or some other kind that doesn't touch the other rolls while baking.
*If making the rolls all together squished up in the 8x8 pan, lower heat to 375 and bake for 40-45 minutes.
These are so yummy that we managed to eat three batches in less than a week (leading to a New Years' reintroduction of Weight Watchers!!). I've made them with baked, mashed butternut squash, pumpkin and sweet potato. All were very yummy. The sweet potato has a little less liquid in it, I think, so I used less flour than with the the squash or pumpkin.
Sorry I don't have a picture! Didn't think to take one before they were all eaten up with a big pot of ham and bean soup after Christmas!!
*I think I really surprised Daddyman (to say the least!) when he asked me what restaurant I would like to go to someday, expecting something world famous and haute cuisine in a major metropolis. The answer? Moosewood Restaurant in Syracuse. (Okay, okay, I also said Chez Panisse in Berkeley, but I think it's funnier if the answer is just Moosewood!)
Obligatory kid cuteness:
Tuesday, January 1, 2008
We still exist!!
Boxing Day breakfast, surrounded by Christmas goodies: wandmaking kit and juggling balls(Big Guy's), stacking blocks (Little Mister's, but appropriated by Miss G) and art caddy (Miss G's)
If they only got along so well the rest of the time! And if only I could sleep with not one but two squirmy kids in my bed! (Big Guy wasn't amazingly happy to have me publish this, but much happier than the one of him being a bubble monster in the bathtub with the siblings!)
I do believe that the last post I made I said something silly, like, "I'm going to blog every day in November!" Yes, it's now the first of January. Excuses are too numerous, including two different sicknesses that swept our household, a misplaced camera, broken high speed internet service, oh, and the dog ate my blogwork.
Here's to a more bloggy 2008! That's not a resolution, just a hope!
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