Wednesday, April 16, 2014

Tie Game, Bottom of the Ninth, Full Count, Two Outs, and There's the Pitch...CRACK!

I fixed the washing machine by watching a YouTube video on how to replace the rubber boot. Our leaking machine stopped leaking in a matter of 2 hours; the guy on the video did it in 12 minutes but that is beside the point.  The dryer now that is a different story; our dryer had been squeaking for at least 6 months and finally I went to restart it after adding a few things and it wouldn't go back on.   I assumed this was the poorly neglected belt and rollers but after two evenings of solid dryer-cursing work and an annoyingly sub-par YouTube video my husband and I had it back together only for it not to work again.  It needed a new motor which I, of course, ordered from Amazon.  My father, brother-in-law, and husband spent an few hours putting it all back together after my dad made a part that they lost in the rush to dismantle it.  My husband later told me he just knew it was never going back together when they looked for the part for 30 minutes and couldn't find it and he was shocked when my dad fashioned a new one out of random parts in the garage.  Honestly, I never had a single doubt.  

Friday, April 11, 2014

Smiling Through My Teeth

We were recently watching an episode of Word World on PBS and they were talking about what a sweet tooth was.  I immediately told SH1, "You have a sweet tooth!"  He readily agreed and proceeded to identify the other teeth our family members have.  
"SH2 has a salt tooth, Daddy has a pepper tooth, SH3 has a milk tooth, and Mommy has a..."  
Oh God, I thought, please don't say wine, don't say I have a wine tooth.  
"Mommy has a caffeine tooth!"
I laughed for a minute straight out of relief and his adorable honesty. 
"I said that because you love a mamilla latte." 
Even at 3 years old SH1 appreciates a well decorated cookie
Photo credit: Terah Lake Photography

Tuesday, April 1, 2014

Eating Bald Pan-a-cakes Atop Laundry Mountain

There was a little girl,
Who had a little curl,
Right in the middle of her forehead.
When she was good,
She was very very good,
But when she was bad she was horrid.

       --Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

I wanted to make the post-church Sunday breakfast.  I like my scrambled eggs better than my husbands (this is the only thing that I make that I like better; he is an amazing cook) and I really wanted to see if I could make donuts or some other pastry this happy morning.  Despite the lack of time I have for it, I really like to bake.  It feeds that A+ in organic chemistry lab part of me that likes to measure precisely and see things turn out how they are supposed to when you follow a recipe to the letter.
This book, however, haunts me...

I made them once and they turned out okay at best.  I spent all this money on a stupid pan, an unrealistic book, and lemon curd all which I have used once in 5 years.  The batter requires you to whip egg whites to stiff peaks prior to folding it into the sifted dry ingredients or something like that.  My world with three starving kids under six does not afford me opportunity to whip a multiple step batter into anything other than a frenzy.

I got an idea.

We are a pancake mix family on those weekends when we have the time and energy to make them.  These are just round stuffed pancakes, right?  I read the cooking instructions for the Ebelskivers substituting pancake mix batter for crazy fancy batter.*