Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Entries from October 1, 2009 - November 1, 2009

Entries from October 1, 2009 - November 1, 2009

Sunday
Nov012009

Aging with Adventure: The Vanilla Bean Quest: A Second Cup Recipe Suggestion

When we returned from the beach this summer, (my family rented a beach house for the week in honor of my 50th birthday) (I have an amazing group of siblings. They are married to wonderful people. There was 22 people in one house and we all liked each other by the end of the week. That was not the whole of my family.)

Once again....when we returned from the beach this summer, there was a 750ml bottle of vodka in with our stuff. We do not drink vodka but we do use a lot of vanilla.
It is easy to make your own vanilla. One vanilla bean, split open in 4 ounces of vodka. Store in a closed bottle for a month... tada...vanilla. You can refill the bottle at least 2 more times. The vanilla gets a little weaker each time you refill the bottle so add a little more if needed.

750ml of vodka is a little more than 4 cups; I need to find 8 vanilla beans to turn that bottle of vodka into a lifetime or a year long supply depending on how much baking I feel like doing.

Beans are expensive. Our local big box discount store selling them for $6 a bean!!!

Anyone have a source of less expensive vanilla beans? Even at $48 dollars to make the vanilla, it is still a bargain with real vanilla extract at $2 to $3 an ounce. But there is no way I can explain to my husband spending $48 on vanilla beans.

Friday
Oct302009

Parenting in the Real World: The Little Red Hen and the Pumpkin Seeds

Every year at this time the children carve their pumpkins and I make pumpkin seeds. Not this year......I know how the Little Red Hen felt

Who will go pick out a pumpkin with me? "Not I" said Ichabod. "Not I" said Tech Princess." Not I" said DH (Dear Husband). For they were all too busy.

So I did myself.

Who will carve the pumpkin with me? "Not I" said Ichabod. "Not I" said Tech Princess." Not I" said DH (Dear Husband). For they were all too busy.

So I did myself.

Who will scoop out all the yuchy goop and separate the seeds from the goop? "Not I" said Ichabod. "Not I" said Tech Princess." Not I" said DH (Dear Husband). For they were all too busy.

So I did myself.

Who will help me roast the pumpkin seeds? "Not I" said Ichabod. "Not I" said Tech Princess." Not I" said DH (Dear Husband). For they were all too busy.

So I did myself.

Who will help me clean the kitchen? "Not I" said Ichabod. "Not I" said Tech Princess." Not I" said DH (Dear Husband). For they were all too busy.

So I did myself.

Who will help me eat these deliciously roasted pumpkins seeds? "I will!" shouted Ichabod. "I will" exclaimed Tech Princess. "I will" delighted DH. For they all suddenly has some free time.

So I ate some myself.

And shared the rest. THE END

Can you identify with The Little Red Hen?

Wednesday
Oct282009

Aging with Adventure: Rules for Living with A Unwell Husband

Rule 1) Any coffee in the pot after 12pm is mine.

Rule 2) We can do most thing your way, except rule one.

Anyone else have a rule for living in a challenging sitution they like to share?

Monday
Oct262009

Aging With Adventure: He IS Always Home....

One of the upsides of having a sick husband is he is always home. He can haul things up 3 flights of stairs and be a dad taxi for short runs for kids. He can’t do the long ones.

The downside is he is always home! His life is a little out of control so there are other lives available to oversee.

Good thing for both of us one of us has a sense of the absurd (at least 29 days out of a 31 day month. The other two days, no sense at all.)

Saturday
Oct242009

Parenting Semi-Adults: Perhaps You Won't Have To Wait Till They Have Kids

Princess sent me a journal entry for one of her classes. This is posted with her permission.

Childhood

I will never forget sitting around the dinner table at one of our customary family dinners and remising childhood with my teenage and preteen brothers, in the company of my parents and still child sister. Our conversation consisted of practically everything that went wrong in our early years collectively, which impressively could be summed up in a ten-minute discussion. However this exchange drove my mother from the table in tears. In my egocentric world of age twelve, I could not understand why my mother did not find this conversation amusing. In fact my lifelong goal (established at age three) was to point out what my mother did wrong as a parent, and by age ten I had skimmed through three of her many parenting books and decided that I would just have to show her with my own children how child rearing was done. However as the years have gone by I have come to realize what an incredible childhood I did have, something my parents worked very hard for. I have nothing but fond memories when I think about those years of my youth. My mother is a very wise women and an incredible parent. She already knows this, but I begin to realize it a little more each year.

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