Winter Break and Ginger Cookies

I never knew that Santa rode camels... but apparently here in Cairo he does!  I guess a sled would be worthless in all this sand.

Today was the last day of school before our winter break.  I made cookies for the PreK class using a recipe my daughter brought home from her cookie baking class at school. They were delicious.

3/4 C butter
1 C sugar
1/4 C. molasses
1 egg
2 C. flour
2 t. baking soda
1/4 t. salt
1 t. each cinnamon, cloves, and ginger

Mix butter and sugar together.  add Molasses.  Beat in egg.  Add the rest of the ingredients and mix well.  Roll in small balls and bake on greased cookie sheet for 10-15 minutes in a 375 degree oven. 

Check out the teacher's gifts I made on my Worth a Knit Blog.

Cheers,
Jenn

Mother's Day

Yesterday was Egyptian Mother's Day. My older daughter surprised me with two lovely cards: One was a very glittery card that promised massages and house cleaning services and the other was written in Arabic (she wrote it herself in Arabic class). My husband bought me a lovely alabaster candle holder.  Then the whole family went out for Korean food at my favorite restaurant. It was a lovely evening.

This best part is that this year I get to celebrate my awesomeness as a mother twice!  Actually if I play my cards right and travel around a bit I could celebrate Mother's Day up to 31 days of the year. I guess my next stop is Slovenia which celebrates Mother's Day on March 25th.  You can find a calendar of Mother's Day celebrations on Wikipedia if like me you want to milk this holiday for all it is worth.

Cheers,
Jenn

52 weeks of Happiness: Thanksgiving Weekend and an Update.

For Thanksgiving this year we had a lovely time. We had family and friends over for a potluck Thanksgiving. We had tons of food and a lot of fun together.

After Thanksgiving we were invited on a camp out with some good friends.  We had a great time walking through the woods, making s'mores, and spending time together at Buescher State Park.

After long weeks of going back and forth about the big move we are really getting things moving. We were worried last week when unrest began in Cairo... but now that the elections are moving along as planned we have begun moving forward again. I will probably not be posting much during this busy time... but I'm sure once we are settled in I will have tons of photos and news to share.

Cheers,
Jenn

Little Creature Promotion

Just in time for HALLOWEEN!

Buy one Little Creature Pattern and get one free right now on Ravelry.

Just select two of the above patterns and when you check out you'll get them for the price of one!

Happy National Strawberry Month

Here is a holiday that needs no recipe... just sit down with a bowl of strawberries and start eating.



From Mother Goose:

Curly Locks, Curly Locks,Will you be mine?
Thou shalt not wash dishes,Nor yet feed the swine,
Yet sit on a cushion, And sew a fine seam,
And feed upon strawberries, sugar, and cream.


Strawberry Shortcake (A jump rope rhymes)
Strawberry Shortcake, Blueberry PieI got the name of the cutest guyAnd his name begins with A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J ...


Here is one from the days before MTV...


Do you know any songs or rhymes about strawberries? Please leave a comment and share.

And check out my other strawberry post HERE if you'd like to hear a funny story...

Makeover Monday.... Mother's Day Pampering

I had a fabulous Mother's Day weekend and part of the fun was a little bit of pampering.

Saturday we had an exciting day of geocaching and exploring the Texas hill country (find out more tomorrow). My day of fun left me in need of some serious relaxation, however, so that evening I mixed up a lemon rosemary hair rinse and a baking soda body scrub and rinsed off the weariness of the day. After that my hair felt clean and smelled delicious and my skin felt revitalized. After that chilling with the family and watching a movie was the perfect ending to a perfect day.

Lemon Rosemary Rinse

1 T. finely chopped rosemary
Juice of one lemon
Water
Heat herb in enough water to cover and bring to a boil. Simmer for 5 minutes. Cool and strain. Add to the juice of one lemon. Pour over freshly shampooed and conditioned hair. Rinse after a few minutes.

You can also use Chamomile (good for light hair) or parsley (excellent for a deep clean) instead of the rosemary.

Baking Soda Scrub

2 T. baking soda
2 T. ground rice (use coffee grinder)
1 t. grated lemon peel
Mix all ingredients and place in a container with a tight fitting lid. Due to the preserving nature of baking soda you can store this for a long time.

After the kids were in bed my husband gave me a pedicure. First he filled a tub with warm water and used a lemon grass/mint tea to infuse the water with a pleasant smell and soothing herbs.


After that he scrubbed my feet with the baking soda scrub I had mixed up earlier. All he did was add some olive oil to moisturize. It was pure heaven. I just sat back with a glass of wine, listened to some Bob Dylan on the stereo, and enjoyed the pampering.

After my feet had been soaked, scrubbed, and then massaged with cream he applied some polish and then finally the fun touch a neat design done with henna.

Here are my feet all done up the next day for our Mother's Day get together at the house.... complete with the cool dolphin toe ring that my kids and husband gave me for mother's day.

My mother's day henna tattoo was so popular that everyone got in on the fun.

Here is my mother getting her foot adorned with a dragon fly.

And the kids enjoyed a post party soak in the "pool" (it's really just a large storage bin that I fill with water) and showed off their new body art as well.

It was a terrific day and a wonderful way to spend Mother's Day weekend. What did you do for Mother's Day?

Post a comment, link up, and be sure to visit the Zany Housewife. The winner of last weeks drawing is Michelle at Evil City Woman. I will send the Monday Monster scrubbie her way.

Happy Easter

Candy filled eggs


Chocolate bunnies and morning sugar highs.






Homemade bunnies and and crocheted eggs.






Finding eggs that the Easter bunny hides.



AA seasoned pro who finds them all in no time.

Silly games played with family.

An unexpected find.

An Easter dinner of ham, mixed veggies, baked beans, salad and this lovely bread... and I didn't have to cook any of it. Now that is happiness!

The first Makeover Monday yesterday went very well... I hope more people will stop by next week... and if you have a makeover post or a beauty secret please use the linking tool and share it!

Exorcising Dust Bunnies for the Easter Bunny

I was planning on posting about Crepes today... But now for something completely different.


I haven't been a practicing Christian for a long time. In fact I haven't seen the inside of a church since I lived in Mexico and that was just for sight seeing purposes. My kids have never been church goers and until this past year my older daughter thought that Christmas was Santa's birthday and that the angle on top of the tree was a fairy. This year we decided that it was time to start sharing the stories and holidays of our Christian background... and after last nights discussion about lent and Easter she is a bit confused about the old Easter Bunnies connection with the crucifixion of Christ. I assured her that he had nothing to do with it, but she still thinks it's all a little strange and certainly WON'T be giving up her favorite food (spaghetti and meatballs) for lent. This is why I've sheltered my kids from religion for so long... Look at how things turn out when I try to have the BIG talks with the kids. Suddenly Santa is being ushered into heaven by a chorus of Tinkerbells, and the Easter bunny is putting 30 pieces of silver in pastel colored baskets.

But just because I don't go to church doesn't mean that I'm without a moral code. I don't consider myself an atheist. My facebook profile says I'm Druid, but I've always been with Jed Clampet on this one, and I consider myself a golden ruler. I also haven't given up giving stuff up for lent. I've always loved holidays like New Year's and Lent. I love making resolutions and contracts with myself to make changes. Mental and spiritual makeovers rock! In fact I am one of the few people I know who makes New Year's resolutions that I stick to. One year I decided to acquire a green thumb... I've been growing a garden ever since... I learned to knit as a New Year's resolution... and this year I have already cleaned a fish, started researching bread baking, and signed up for a hunting class for my resolution to get closer to the source of my food. I've also been writing songs and preparing myself for my musical resolution. I plan to preform a set of my original music sometime this year. I hope to see you there.

But enough about New Years... let's get on to lent. I've decided that I'm going to give up negativity for lent. And that means that I can't give up anything for lent. Instead I have to do something positive... So let's rephrase... instead of giving up negativity I plan on embracing my positive side. I'm not going to shed extra pounds before summer... I'm going to sculpt a leaner body, eat healthier foods and start doing yoga again. I'm not going to get rid of dust bunnies... I'm going to open up the windows and create a cleaner environment in my home. In essence I plan on looking at the bright side of life.

Tale of Two King's Cakes...

I have always been needlessly confused about King's Cake or Rosca de Reyes. I found myself wondering why King's cake was in the store two time a year... Once right after Christmas... and another time early in the spring. Since information is just a click away these days...

I hopped on over to Wikipedia and then took a trip to the public library and found out all I need to know. The thing is that I live 509 miles from New Orleans and 204 miles away from Mexico... and two cultural celebrations just happen to merge here in the heart of Texas... The Gulf Coast traditions associated with Mardi Gras and the whole pre-lenten blow out that occurs... and the traditions of Mexico and their celebration of the Epiphany.

In Mexico Rosca de Reyes (wreath of the king) is used to celebrate Dia de los Reyes (Day of the kings). On January 6th a wreath of bread that is decorated like a Christmas wreath with dried fruits and candies is served. A small baby is hidden inside and whoever finds it has to host the next party in February 2nd and supply tamales and atole for all the guests. I had the pleasure of attending a small party while I was living in Mexico. I didn't find the baby so I was able to enjoy tamales and atole on someone else's dime... Woo hoo!

In New Orleans and other places in the Southern United States the King's Cake is associated with Mardi Gras. Like the Rosca de Reyes a trinket is hidden in the cake and whoever find it is given the responsibility of hosting a party... the difference being that they must host the next Mardi Gras party. We had a king's cake this weekend with friends... but there was no trinket hidden inside... What do you suppose that means? I'm sure it was simply for liability reasons that the store did not wish to include a choking hazard inside the cake... but seriously... I want to know who is suppose to host the next party?

Now that that mystery is cleared up I'm off to make some pancakes and crepes for Shrove Tuesday... Growing up that is the wholesome way that we fattened ourselves up for lent... I think I'll save the beads and the Mardi Gras style throw down for after the kids go to bed...

Chocolate Covered Strawberries

I'm not really sure where the first chocolate covered strawberry came from... there is much debate on the subject... all I know is that the flavors while excellent on their own somehow gain something in their combination. The first time I tasted this miraculous coupling wasn't until I was in college. I broke my leg right before final exams... and it seemed that everyone was giving me these tasty treats as get well gifts. I think I received 6 dozen in total... and I ended up using them to bribe the hospital nurses to let me sleep a few extra moments between check ups. I still managed to consume a large number of these delicacies myself... and despite the bad memories I've been hooked ever since.
I bought a product called Dolci Frutta on Valentine's day to make chocolate covered strawberries as a special hands on dessert for the girls. It was in the produce section next to the strawberries and it seemed like a fool proof way to make a special treat. The kids were pretty excited about it... but due to a rather hectic schedule we didn't get around to it until the weekend after the holiday. It was certainly fun and the chocolate tasted wonderful... but I think next time I'm going to try a different product. I couldn't find a way to get the chocolate to the perfect dipping consistency... and when I finally gave in it was really difficult to coat the strawberries. It wasn't as kid friendly an activity as I had planned (the chocolate was super hot... and then when it cooled down it was too thick)... But all in all it was a success.

Does anyone have any recipes for a good chocolate fondue??? or have experience with a product that might produce a more kid friendly result? As you can tell by the photo nobody was disappointed... but I'd like to do it again in the future.

Cheers,

Jenn

Mmmmm Sushi....

I went out for sushi last night with my husband to celebrate Valentine's Day (a day late I know). We had some wonderful yellow tail sashimi... we also had sea bass, tuna, mackerel, snapper and eel sushi, and spicy salmon and tuna rolls. I didn't bring my camera... it was a date night after all... but I did find a lovely picture of sushi on Wikipedia. I love going to the sushi bar... I especially love the sashimi. We sometimes get take out sushi at the grocery store (that is what we did for dinner on Valentine's Day-bonus 2 nights of sushi in a row) or eat sushi at a buffet... but it is never the same thing as actually going to the sushi bar.

Here is a list of Sushi Etiquette that I found on a site many years ago called sticky rice...I even won a t-shirt from them for a story I wrote about catching eel and making my own unagi... I don't know what happened to it (the web site that is... I still have the eel story and will share it some day when I get the word processor on this computer working)... Stickyrice.com no longer exists (at least not in the same form) as far as I can tell unless it is under another name. The credit for this list, however, goes to them...

Sushi Etiquette


1. Do not pass food directly from your Chopsticks to somebody else's chopsticks. The reason is a bit morbid, but this mimics a Japanese funeral ceremony.

2. Do not spear food with you chopsticks.

3. The proper way to dip your nigirizushi is fish side down. Dipping your sushi rice side down is not only bad manners, but it also makes the nigirizushi fall apart.

4. Tipping at the bar… In most sushi restaurants the wait staff and the chef tip share. If you wish to insure that the chef gets his share then while lying the tip on the bar let the chef know that the tip is for him. When tipping the wait staff let them know that you have already taken care of the chef. 15% for the chef and 10% for the wait staff is customary. (I think most restaurants use tip share, however... so I wouldn't worry too much about it... I ususally just leave 20% and let them work it out)

5. Do not rub chopsticks together if implies to the chef that the chopsticks are cheap.

6. Do not pull a dish towards yourself using your chopsticks. Use your hands for you dish-pulling needs.

7. If you take food from a shared plate use the reverse end of your chopsticks rather than the end that goes in your mouth.

8. Never bite into a piece of sushi and replace the uneaten portion on your plate. Once you pick a piece of sushi up eat all of it.

9. It is impolite to leave food on your plate… especially rice.

10. Sushi is meant to be eaten with your hands (except for sashimi)… it is not impolite to use your chopsticks, but it is unnecessary (If you are inexperienced with chopsticks it is impolite to drop you sushi and splash soy sauce on your companion.).

Say "I love you" this Valenetine's Day with Chicken Piccata

For my mother-in law's birthday yesterday I made chicken picatta with angle hair pasta and a mixed greens salad. I think that this would make a wonder Valentine's Day dinner... so I'm posting it today.

Chicken Piccata

6 chicken breast halves
1 t. olive oil
8 green onions
2 cloves garlic
1/2 C. flour
2-3 T. olive oil
2 T. broth (chicken or veggie)
2 T. lemon juice
2 T. capers
2 T. white wine (optional)
black pepper
lemons and parsley to garnish

Rinse and dry chicken and flatten between sheets of plastic wrap.

Heat skillet with oil. Saute onions and garlic. Remove from pan and reserve. Coat chicken with flour. Shake off excess and brown chicken. Add the onions and garlic along with the broth, juice, capers and wine. Saute over high heat for two minutes. Sprinkle with pepper and garnish with lemons and parsley.

I forgot to take a photo of my creations... so I got this picture from Wikipedia

I hope everyone has a great Valentine's Day... Tonight I'm making shrimp cocktail. I'm picking up a small tray of sushi and we are going to have eggrolls and edamame on the side. Check out my Worth a Knit blog to see the homemade valentine's and toys I made for my kids.






Happy Valentine's Day,


Jenn

Catching Up in the New Year....

It has been one thing after another lately. We had our computer crash over Thanksgiving weekend and it hasn't really worked properly since... that is until now... I'm saying that with fingers crossed hoping that the stars are aligned in my favor.

We spent Christmas down with the flu. The only person who escaped the plague was my husband. He showered us with movies and gatoraide to keep us hydrated and entertained and somehow we made it through. Thankfully we were all recovered by the new year and we were able to spend the holiday with friends at their lake house. I learned how to clean fish (a new year's resolution already taken care of)... and made a nice Italian style fish soup with the fruits of my labor.

I never got around to making cookies for Christmas... instead we put together a gingerbread house over New Year's weekend. The kids really enjoyed the project.

February is already almost half way over... and this is my first blog entry for the new year... but I have a lot of ideas saved up and I am cooking up new stuff everyday. I hope all is well with everyone.

Jenn