Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Entries from July 1, 2009 - August 1, 2009

Entries from July 1, 2009 - August 1, 2009

Saturday
Aug012009

Parenting Semi-Adults: They Have Their Days and Nights Mixed Up

Babies sometimes get their days and nights mixed up. The newborns are ready to party in the dead of night and sleep as the sunlight streams into their rooms.

As an unconscious call to return to a simpler time my children now have their days and nights mixed up once again. They shun the early morning hours sleeping right through the rising of the sun that had them up and going when they were preschoolers. They think eating before 2 PM is unreasonable and a 3 AM dinner is to be expected. The teens are revving into full awake mode some were around 11 PM. It is not unusual for one or the other to be on their cell phones all night long. The phone companies are losing a fortune on free minutes after seven.

Between jobs and summer commitments our paths cross only few hours a day. The kids sort of revel in staying up as late as they want. “I’m a legal adult Mom”. Meanwhile the experienced adults in the house want to be in bed by 11PM. We have to get up in the morning.

Thursday
Jul302009

Baking Products I Love

I enjoy baking. I don’t bake as much because some members of our family shouldn’t be eating wheat and it is too much temptation to have bake treats around.

But when I do get to bake I love using King Arthur flour and SAF yeast.

Anyone have a baking product they love?

Tuesday
Jul282009

Flummery: A Second Cup Recipe Suggestion (and book suggestion!)

Wheat has become a banned food source for some members of my family. This is a challenge for me as the head cook and bottle washer to come up with wheat free meals that everyone can and will eat. Usually I provide gluten free alternatives and lots of extra vegetables for the one not able to digest gluten. This works fine except when it comes to desserts. It is just too much of a temptation for her to have wheat based desserts in the house.

You don’t realize how wheat based our diet is until you are trying to make the switch to a non-wheat centered diet. Now, other than fruit, how many non-wheat based desserts can you think of?

I was reading Susan Wittig Albert’s new book in her China Bayles’ mystery series titled Wormwood. In addition to a great story she includes recipes and herbal lore in all her books. One of the recipes is for a easy to make pudding called a flummery. No wheat, just right!

There is no way I could or would type out the recipe but I found a similar one at yumyum.com.

1/3 c

Sugar

1/4 c

Cornstarch

1/4 ts

Salt

3 c

Milk

1

Egg yolk, beaten

2 ts

Vanilla

2 c

Fresh raspberries


Combine sugar, cornstarch, and salt.
Stir in milk.
Cook and stir until thickened and bubbly.
Stir a small amount into the egg yolk; return all to
saucepan.
Cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened.
Remove from heat; stir in vanilla.
Pour into a serving bowl.
Cover the surface with plastic wrap and cool; then chill.
Remove plastic and garnish with berries before serving.
Serves 6.

Sunday
Jul262009

Blogs Worth A Click: Fun To Read Addition

These are just a few blogs I enjoy......

Like Merchant Ships

The Frugal Duchess

The Herb Gardener

The Idea Room

Thirty Bucks A Week

I am trying to impress you with how eclectic my reading tastes are!

Have a favorite you would like to share?

Friday
Jul242009

Parenting Teens: When Do We Call The Police?

For about 45 minutes I lived a parent’s nightmare: My son disappeared. At about 10:30PM he was taking the garbage to the dumpster of the boarding house next door. We were using the neighbor dumpster because our trash wasn’t pickup last week because ...Ichabod assured me he would “handle it” and I went to sleep. Our neighbor has graciously offered us the use of his dumpster if we need it so we were not being unneighborly using it. The boarding house serves a population that most people would prefer not to live next to but we have never had any serious problems living next door.

Ichabod had to be torn away from the new video game he had purchase and forced against his will to take out the trash. He left the house wearing sandals and white ankle socks on his feet. He was not a happy camper when he left.

10 minutes later he is still gone. 10 minutes after that I begin to panic. I call out his name into the dark night (I can be loud when I need to), no answer. No answer on the cell phone. His sister suggested maybe he had gone for a run. Not in sandals and short socks. He would hide before he let anyone see him dressed like that. Plus there is the new highly addictive video game paused, not saved.

I transfer my worry to my husband. He sees the video game and understands my concern. Where did this child disappear to after the 30 second walk to the dumpster? He walks a few neighborhood streets and then leaves in the car to look for Ichabod.

I walk over to the dumpster and look inside. Our trash bags are there, Ichabod's body is not and there is no sign of a struggle. Panic is fighting with probability. Ichabod is a hulk. He works out and is very strong. There is no sign of a struggle and we have had no violent interactions with the boarding house residents ever. An occasional drunk has wandered over and the residents have “borrowed” small sums of money and things from time to time but no we have never had cause for concern. Panic verses probability, 40 minutes gone, where is this kid?

I ask my husband, “When do we call the police? “ Ichabod is under 18. By law an Amber Alert would go out for him.

5 minutes later there is an Ichabod spotting. He was asked by one of the boarding house residents to help move a refrigerator up 4 flights of stairs. Task accomplished the less than sober resident then wanted to discuss theology.

Ichabod is home once again ensconced with his video game.

The question that lingers is “As a parent of an older teen, if you suspect something is amiss, how long do you wait before calling the police?”

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