This made me smile-enjoy!
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Monday, December 15, 2008
Moving words
Everette and I just returned from a Memorial Service for the little baby I posted about earlier. The service was incredibly moving as one would imagine. But I was particularly struck by two things.
1. The letter that our pastor read written by the father. He actually posted it to his blog, which I appreciated because I am going to link it here and because I was so moved I wanted to read it again.
2. our pediatrician was there. I knew from talking to Justin and Kristen that they took Kara to Dr. Miller too, but I was so impressed by the fact that she came to this 2 1/2 mo old baby's funeral. She only could have seen her a handful of times but she came-not just for the viewing, but for the service. This only served to confirm why I love my son's Dr. If any of you live in Lafayette and are looking for a pediatrician, I highly recommend Dr. Johari Miller.
1. The letter that our pastor read written by the father. He actually posted it to his blog, which I appreciated because I am going to link it here and because I was so moved I wanted to read it again.
2. our pediatrician was there. I knew from talking to Justin and Kristen that they took Kara to Dr. Miller too, but I was so impressed by the fact that she came to this 2 1/2 mo old baby's funeral. She only could have seen her a handful of times but she came-not just for the viewing, but for the service. This only served to confirm why I love my son's Dr. If any of you live in Lafayette and are looking for a pediatrician, I highly recommend Dr. Johari Miller.
Thursday, December 11, 2008
Grieving
Some friends of ours lost their three month old baby girl today. They knew this day was coming but it doesn't make the pain any less. Everette and I have been so touched and burdened by their situation and the way they have carried themselves with such honesty and grace. I know they would covet any prayers you would say for them.
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
Bunches and bunches of stuff
Before we get too much further into the Christmas season, I thought I should catch you all up on Thanksgiving.
As usual we spent the holiday in Selma Alabama visiting Everette's two grandmothers and his aunt. I must say that this was one of the best trips ever. We have been blessed with one of the most easy going babies on the planet. The total trip is ten to ten and a half hours (that is if you don't stop for long periods of time) each way. The total number of minutes Jonathan spent crying were less than 20. He literally sat in his car seat and looked out the window for an hour. It was incredible. We are so thankful.
One of Everette's grandmothers is for all intensive purposes confined to a wheelchair and living in an assisted living facility. His other grandma can still travel somewhat and joins us every year for Christmas in Lafayette. So our trip to Selma is pretty focused on letting Grammy see Jonathan as much as possible. Of course he charmed everyone in the assisted living facility. We took a bunch of pictures and video.
Any of you who have spent any amount of time with Jonathan know he is absolutely fascinated with wheels. It did not take long (a few minutes) before he was trying to drive Grammy's GIANT-wheeled wheel chair.
One of the sweetest moments was on Friday when we took Jonathan over to see Grammy again. Like any grandmother she wants to hold Jonathan, and like and 14 month-old he does not like to sit still. Grammy has no shoulder movement and no arm strength (literally I think Jonathan is stronger than she is). This makes holding him difficult. However, Jonathan will sit still for a long time if you feed him Gerber puffs (a.k.a. Baby Crack). So we sat him next to Grammy and fed him puffs. What happened next was completely spontaneous on his part (well the first time anyway, we coaxed him to do it again for the camera).
In this clip it is neat to see how Jonathan "figures things out".
And finally, just because he is so darn cute, another video of Jonathan as he plays with his truck in Grammy's room. It is fun to hear all the noises he makes, more on those later.
As usual we spent the holiday in Selma Alabama visiting Everette's two grandmothers and his aunt. I must say that this was one of the best trips ever. We have been blessed with one of the most easy going babies on the planet. The total trip is ten to ten and a half hours (that is if you don't stop for long periods of time) each way. The total number of minutes Jonathan spent crying were less than 20. He literally sat in his car seat and looked out the window for an hour. It was incredible. We are so thankful.
One of Everette's grandmothers is for all intensive purposes confined to a wheelchair and living in an assisted living facility. His other grandma can still travel somewhat and joins us every year for Christmas in Lafayette. So our trip to Selma is pretty focused on letting Grammy see Jonathan as much as possible. Of course he charmed everyone in the assisted living facility. We took a bunch of pictures and video.
Any of you who have spent any amount of time with Jonathan know he is absolutely fascinated with wheels. It did not take long (a few minutes) before he was trying to drive Grammy's GIANT-wheeled wheel chair.
One of the sweetest moments was on Friday when we took Jonathan over to see Grammy again. Like any grandmother she wants to hold Jonathan, and like and 14 month-old he does not like to sit still. Grammy has no shoulder movement and no arm strength (literally I think Jonathan is stronger than she is). This makes holding him difficult. However, Jonathan will sit still for a long time if you feed him Gerber puffs (a.k.a. Baby Crack). So we sat him next to Grammy and fed him puffs. What happened next was completely spontaneous on his part (well the first time anyway, we coaxed him to do it again for the camera).
In this clip it is neat to see how Jonathan "figures things out".
And finally, just because he is so darn cute, another video of Jonathan as he plays with his truck in Grammy's room. It is fun to hear all the noises he makes, more on those later.
Sunday, November 23, 2008
Financial Accountability
The idea makes my stomach turn and my spirit rebel. I know that I am not alone here but I HATE budgets. I hate talking about money.
I heard a podcast from NPR on why other people recoil at the idea... it basically came down to the fact that they are afraid of math. They don't understand it so they think they can't do it so they just don't try.
That pretty much summed me up in a nutshell. I think on top of things, I am married to a money genius. Everette is incredibly bright on a lot of different levels, but he is particularly brilliant when it comes to money. Making, spending, and saving. He likes to talk about it, he likes to read about it, and he likes to think about it.
It would be one thing if I was in a marriage with someone equally or at least more equally ignorant about money. Then we could keep things simple and struggle our way through things together. We would both make big mistakes and we would both learn. Instead, our partnership is incredibly lopsided in this area. This makes me all the more aware of my ignorance and all the more fearful of being exposed. No one likes to look like an idiot in front of their spouse.
My strategy was to take the ostrich approach. Bury my head and pretend that no one could see me. Everette and I would talk about it and even make a budget for a while, but it would get hairy, I would get scared and overwhelmed and then we would have a fight and I would bury my head again.
Everette has two big things. First he is worried if something happens to him, I won't know what to do or how anything works and drown just trying to maintain the status quo (sp?). These fears are not unfounded as far as our investments and house goes. I have never dealt with these.
His other deal is, he believes that money is a tool. A tool to help you do other things... some very noble--to serve God, to love others, and others not so--clothes, gadgets and other commercial items. This view of money leads to a more cautious, but purposeful approach to how you spend your money.
I am a fritterer. Large purchases scare me, I tend to spend money on small frivolous things. I was focused just on "staying out of debt". But that was it. No goals or plan on what to do with the money, nothing to work toward.
About a month ago we had a "Come to Jesus Meeting" It was actually good. Everette made me look over our past expenses and see where our money was going. Then we sat down and had a calm, fruitful, productive, non-yelling discussion about it. We looked at where we could cut back. We made a plan. We assigned responsibilities. I told Everette some of my fears, and things that I felt were too hard for me to take responsibility for right now.
And here is what I discovered. As it turns out, I kind of like the accountability. I feel a great sense of accomplishment when I come in under budget. I like finding ways to save money. I feel in control and aware of our financial situation. I like having a goal to work toward. I was much more prepared to have dinner at home everynight. And I actually chose to eat at home other times we could have eaten out because I knew we could save the money for something else.
I should put a disclaimer-- it has only been a month (not even) and I am only responsible for the tiniest part of our finances, but my hope is that I can start small and build. Who would have thought.
I heard a podcast from NPR on why other people recoil at the idea... it basically came down to the fact that they are afraid of math. They don't understand it so they think they can't do it so they just don't try.
That pretty much summed me up in a nutshell. I think on top of things, I am married to a money genius. Everette is incredibly bright on a lot of different levels, but he is particularly brilliant when it comes to money. Making, spending, and saving. He likes to talk about it, he likes to read about it, and he likes to think about it.
It would be one thing if I was in a marriage with someone equally or at least more equally ignorant about money. Then we could keep things simple and struggle our way through things together. We would both make big mistakes and we would both learn. Instead, our partnership is incredibly lopsided in this area. This makes me all the more aware of my ignorance and all the more fearful of being exposed. No one likes to look like an idiot in front of their spouse.
My strategy was to take the ostrich approach. Bury my head and pretend that no one could see me. Everette and I would talk about it and even make a budget for a while, but it would get hairy, I would get scared and overwhelmed and then we would have a fight and I would bury my head again.
Everette has two big things. First he is worried if something happens to him, I won't know what to do or how anything works and drown just trying to maintain the status quo (sp?). These fears are not unfounded as far as our investments and house goes. I have never dealt with these.
His other deal is, he believes that money is a tool. A tool to help you do other things... some very noble--to serve God, to love others, and others not so--clothes, gadgets and other commercial items. This view of money leads to a more cautious, but purposeful approach to how you spend your money.
I am a fritterer. Large purchases scare me, I tend to spend money on small frivolous things. I was focused just on "staying out of debt". But that was it. No goals or plan on what to do with the money, nothing to work toward.
About a month ago we had a "Come to Jesus Meeting" It was actually good. Everette made me look over our past expenses and see where our money was going. Then we sat down and had a calm, fruitful, productive, non-yelling discussion about it. We looked at where we could cut back. We made a plan. We assigned responsibilities. I told Everette some of my fears, and things that I felt were too hard for me to take responsibility for right now.
And here is what I discovered. As it turns out, I kind of like the accountability. I feel a great sense of accomplishment when I come in under budget. I like finding ways to save money. I feel in control and aware of our financial situation. I like having a goal to work toward. I was much more prepared to have dinner at home everynight. And I actually chose to eat at home other times we could have eaten out because I knew we could save the money for something else.
I should put a disclaimer-- it has only been a month (not even) and I am only responsible for the tiniest part of our finances, but my hope is that I can start small and build. Who would have thought.
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Spread the love
It has happened three times now and the feeling is incredible. God has been using other people to encourage me. Before I begin I have to put a disclaimer, well two actually.
1. The following may sound like I think I am the greatest thing since sliced bread. This is not true. I am WELL aware of my faults. Sometimes too aware, I think.
2. I am not at ALL fishing for compliments. Please do not feel obligated to do so.
I am just happy and I want to spread the love, like peanut butter on white bread.
So it began a few weeks ago when I called my friend to tease her about her debateably hot ex-boyfriend starring (for five minutes, ok maybe 10) on CSI NY (he was the dead archeologist). After several rounds of good-natured ribbing (her husband is our pastor and she could have married a superstar-you can't let that stuff go unnoticed), she interrupted me and told me all sorts of nice things about me. I hung up feeling stunned, humbled, encouraged, and flattered as her sentiments were more than doubly reciprocated on my end.
A few weeks later, I was reading some blogs (as I most often do-really like 10-12 times a day), I came across a post that a friend of mine wrote on someone else's blog explaining his political views on this most recent presidential election. As you can imagine, hot debates ensued. While I agreed with a lot of the opposing view points I couldn't help but see the faults in both arguments. Knowing my friend as I do I could see how his comments were being serioulsy misconstrued. I also saw a few other people trying to make a few lighthearted comments being ripped to shreads by emotionally charged responses.
So I felt compelled to leave a comment. My comment was mainly shaped by the article I posted here on election day. I come to the conclusion that our multiparty system is a blessing from God. Either party if left unchecked to rule would quickly and enthusiastically drive us over a cliff. And a few other points. I certainly did not feel like I was doing anything noble. I was simply spouting my opinion. Something I generally like to do.. it runs in my family.
Later that day I received a voicemail from my friend. Thanking me for my comment. While he may have called everyone that posted, it sure made me feel pretty good.
And finally, this is the badge I wear with the most honor.
There is a guy at my church-who does EVERYTHING!!!!! I mean everything. If you want something or need something. He will get it for you.. or point you in the direction of someone who can. He is at every event. He sets up the chairs every sunday. He does everything. He is an incredibly hard worker. He spends much of his life outside of work at the church. He single handedly headed up the total building overhaul when we moved in. He installed light fixtures, laid flooring, built offices, sets up the tables for EVERY single church event-including women's bible study and is currently heading up the installation of our kitchen (all of this is at our church). The man is incredible, fearless and invincible.
He called me today to tell me that they needed to move the fridge downstairs so they could start working on the... something whatever, not important. He remembered that we were having a church dinner on Monday (that I am coordinating) and wanted to know if that would be a problem. I honestly didn't see how it was a problem. I knew people were dropping stuff off early, but I didn't see why they couldn't walk it downstairs and put it in the fridge down there. I hardly gave it a second thought. I mean, like I was going to tell THIS guy what to do with the fridge.
I called him later tonight about something else, and he said he needed to tell me something. (I was thinking a million things-and none of it was what came next).
He told me he was feeling really down, like ready-to-leave-the-church down, because he was tired of people complaining (it's too hot, too cold, too many chairs, not enough chairs etc.) and when he called me about the fridge he had his walls up and was ready to hear my complaints. He told me he was taken aback at my attitude and I quote "felt like I was walking on air, like Superman" I was completely shocked. You never know (and most often never will find out) where people have been when you come in contact with them. I told him to tell people that the complaint department has moved to Megan Mills and I would tell them where they could shove their complaints.
Honestly, there is so much ugliness in me that comes out at times, that it feels great when you do something great and kind and you don't even realize it. I think I will take this one to my grave. And I hope that I can remember how much a kind word makes a difference. I hope I can remember it when I am tired at the grocery store and the checkout lady is going incredibly slow. I hope I can remember it when it is early in the morning and Everette and I are grouching over who has to get up and get our crying kid.
I hope that I can be kind. Here's to spreading the love!
1. The following may sound like I think I am the greatest thing since sliced bread. This is not true. I am WELL aware of my faults. Sometimes too aware, I think.
2. I am not at ALL fishing for compliments. Please do not feel obligated to do so.
I am just happy and I want to spread the love, like peanut butter on white bread.
So it began a few weeks ago when I called my friend to tease her about her debateably hot ex-boyfriend starring (for five minutes, ok maybe 10) on CSI NY (he was the dead archeologist). After several rounds of good-natured ribbing (her husband is our pastor and she could have married a superstar-you can't let that stuff go unnoticed), she interrupted me and told me all sorts of nice things about me. I hung up feeling stunned, humbled, encouraged, and flattered as her sentiments were more than doubly reciprocated on my end.
A few weeks later, I was reading some blogs (as I most often do-really like 10-12 times a day), I came across a post that a friend of mine wrote on someone else's blog explaining his political views on this most recent presidential election. As you can imagine, hot debates ensued. While I agreed with a lot of the opposing view points I couldn't help but see the faults in both arguments. Knowing my friend as I do I could see how his comments were being serioulsy misconstrued. I also saw a few other people trying to make a few lighthearted comments being ripped to shreads by emotionally charged responses.
So I felt compelled to leave a comment. My comment was mainly shaped by the article I posted here on election day. I come to the conclusion that our multiparty system is a blessing from God. Either party if left unchecked to rule would quickly and enthusiastically drive us over a cliff. And a few other points. I certainly did not feel like I was doing anything noble. I was simply spouting my opinion. Something I generally like to do.. it runs in my family.
Later that day I received a voicemail from my friend. Thanking me for my comment. While he may have called everyone that posted, it sure made me feel pretty good.
And finally, this is the badge I wear with the most honor.
There is a guy at my church-who does EVERYTHING!!!!! I mean everything. If you want something or need something. He will get it for you.. or point you in the direction of someone who can. He is at every event. He sets up the chairs every sunday. He does everything. He is an incredibly hard worker. He spends much of his life outside of work at the church. He single handedly headed up the total building overhaul when we moved in. He installed light fixtures, laid flooring, built offices, sets up the tables for EVERY single church event-including women's bible study and is currently heading up the installation of our kitchen (all of this is at our church). The man is incredible, fearless and invincible.
He called me today to tell me that they needed to move the fridge downstairs so they could start working on the... something whatever, not important. He remembered that we were having a church dinner on Monday (that I am coordinating) and wanted to know if that would be a problem. I honestly didn't see how it was a problem. I knew people were dropping stuff off early, but I didn't see why they couldn't walk it downstairs and put it in the fridge down there. I hardly gave it a second thought. I mean, like I was going to tell THIS guy what to do with the fridge.
I called him later tonight about something else, and he said he needed to tell me something. (I was thinking a million things-and none of it was what came next).
He told me he was feeling really down, like ready-to-leave-the-church down, because he was tired of people complaining (it's too hot, too cold, too many chairs, not enough chairs etc.) and when he called me about the fridge he had his walls up and was ready to hear my complaints. He told me he was taken aback at my attitude and I quote "felt like I was walking on air, like Superman" I was completely shocked. You never know (and most often never will find out) where people have been when you come in contact with them. I told him to tell people that the complaint department has moved to Megan Mills and I would tell them where they could shove their complaints.
Honestly, there is so much ugliness in me that comes out at times, that it feels great when you do something great and kind and you don't even realize it. I think I will take this one to my grave. And I hope that I can remember how much a kind word makes a difference. I hope I can remember it when I am tired at the grocery store and the checkout lady is going incredibly slow. I hope I can remember it when it is early in the morning and Everette and I are grouching over who has to get up and get our crying kid.
I hope that I can be kind. Here's to spreading the love!
Monday, November 10, 2008
Finally! Oy!
Get ready for one long post-Lots of pictures I promise!!!
I can't believe it has been over a month since I have posted a real post. So much has happened. In early october Everette's brother Brad was visiting from New York. We had a great time. Plus Everette's mom made her famous fried chicken! Delicious. The following are our attempts to get some semblance of a family photo. The first one is the best one.
Max of course always wants to be where the action.
there are so few pictures of Everette smiling,and even fewer of him throwing his head back and laughing.
This little picture happened when Jonathan pushed his truck up to the rocking chair, and then proceeded to climb up the rocking chair all by himself. Sorry for not rotating it... I forgot to, and now I am too lazy.
Jonathan at one of our playgroup swimming days. Faith Baptist has a pretty fun indoor pool-if you think it is fun to stand in ankle deep water in your swimsuit while a bajillion people from the community center stare at you-we were there the day of the Hoosier Heartland Corridor Extravaganza--yes.. the governer was there along with a ton of photographers and vidoeographers and important-looking people running around in suits.
On Tuesday evening we go have dinner with Great-Gramma Betty. Jonathan has his own little drawer with lots of things that make loud noises!
And finally Halloween! We had our parents over for dinner while we passed out candy. We didn't have any plans to dress Jonathan up, but Everette's mom bought him a sweatsuit with teddy bear ears so we decided that would be perfect to wear. I must say he was quite adorable.
Uncle Grant even brought over a jack o lantern.
My other genius idea was to put the baby gate up on the OUTSIDE of the door-thus containing our overly excitable dog and our runaway rugrat. It also made for some cute pictures!
Stay tuned for more exciting updates-I promise!
I can't believe it has been over a month since I have posted a real post. So much has happened. In early october Everette's brother Brad was visiting from New York. We had a great time. Plus Everette's mom made her famous fried chicken! Delicious. The following are our attempts to get some semblance of a family photo. The first one is the best one.
Max of course always wants to be where the action.
there are so few pictures of Everette smiling,and even fewer of him throwing his head back and laughing.
This little picture happened when Jonathan pushed his truck up to the rocking chair, and then proceeded to climb up the rocking chair all by himself. Sorry for not rotating it... I forgot to, and now I am too lazy.
Jonathan at one of our playgroup swimming days. Faith Baptist has a pretty fun indoor pool-if you think it is fun to stand in ankle deep water in your swimsuit while a bajillion people from the community center stare at you-we were there the day of the Hoosier Heartland Corridor Extravaganza--yes.. the governer was there along with a ton of photographers and vidoeographers and important-looking people running around in suits.
On Tuesday evening we go have dinner with Great-Gramma Betty. Jonathan has his own little drawer with lots of things that make loud noises!
And finally Halloween! We had our parents over for dinner while we passed out candy. We didn't have any plans to dress Jonathan up, but Everette's mom bought him a sweatsuit with teddy bear ears so we decided that would be perfect to wear. I must say he was quite adorable.
Uncle Grant even brought over a jack o lantern.
My other genius idea was to put the baby gate up on the OUTSIDE of the door-thus containing our overly excitable dog and our runaway rugrat. It also made for some cute pictures!
Stay tuned for more exciting updates-I promise!
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Election Day
SO I personally try to stay away from posting anything political. Not that I am opposed to it, it just isn't my thing. However....Since today is election day I am making an acception. Everette and I have had many conversations about this election and every time we come up empty handed. We both had strong reasons NOT to vote for either presidential candidates. But being good American citizens we were plagued by a guilty conscience and kept trying to pick a side.
To us it was choosing the lesser of two evils. Yesterday we received an email from Derek Webb (no not a personal one), a singer/songwriter we both really love. I ignored it assuming it was advertising junk. Everette read it and made me sit down and read it before I went to vote. I wish I had read it weeks ago! I just returned from voting having fulfilled my civic duty without violating my conscience. If any of you read this before you vote, and are not sure who to vote for, I encourage you to check out this article. Or even if you have already voted read it to remember for the next election. I PROMISE it is not an article about which candidate is better or worse. It is the most liberating thing I have read in a long time! Plus if you read the article you can probably figure out how I voted.
And as for updates on Jonathan which is why I know you all read this blog. I promise they are coming. I have uuber cute pictures!
To us it was choosing the lesser of two evils. Yesterday we received an email from Derek Webb (no not a personal one), a singer/songwriter we both really love. I ignored it assuming it was advertising junk. Everette read it and made me sit down and read it before I went to vote. I wish I had read it weeks ago! I just returned from voting having fulfilled my civic duty without violating my conscience. If any of you read this before you vote, and are not sure who to vote for, I encourage you to check out this article. Or even if you have already voted read it to remember for the next election. I PROMISE it is not an article about which candidate is better or worse. It is the most liberating thing I have read in a long time! Plus if you read the article you can probably figure out how I voted.
And as for updates on Jonathan which is why I know you all read this blog. I promise they are coming. I have uuber cute pictures!
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Cookies!
I generally enjoy cooking, but in the past I have been pretty anti-baking. I think I know why.
When Everette and I were first married, and I was in charge of bringing snack to small group. Seemed simple enough. I thought I would make homemade from scratch chocolate chip cookies. I busted out my brand spanking new air-bake cookie sheets and my wicked awesome Kitchen-aid mixer. Ready to show the world (or more accurately the ladies in my small group) my housewife/baking prowess. There were several things about this endeavor that in hindsight weren't too smart. First I think this was probably the first time I made cookies unsupervised by a more experienced chef. Secondly, I decided that the prospect of arriving with warm cookies fresh from the oven trumped my inexperience so I waited until that afternoon to make them.
Needless to say disaster ensued. The cookies spread out flat on the pan and were basically a flat mushy chocolatey burned disaster. Of course it was too late to do anything about it so... we arrived with gross cookies. Both Everette and I were grumpy and mortified.
That pretty much ended my baking stint-as further solidified by the fact that our bread maker is sitting in the pantry untouched (except for one time I think). I parked the Kitchen-Aid in the garage (literally-we have one of those appliance garages in our kitchen :)) except for once a year mocha ball extravaganza. Another tragedy of this event was the fact that my sister-in-law bought me (for Christmas, I think) a giant (and I mean giant) book of cookie recipes. They had all sorts of gourmet cookies that I was so excited to try. I frequently take the book out and look through it hoping to find something delicious and simple. I never have. I was too intimidated and quickly put the book away. I never made one cookie from that book in the five years I have owned it, convinced I would have to live off the kindness of others (cookie making that is).
Until recently. Everette loves loves loves peanut butter cookies. And I have made them a few times over the years but they always turn out hard and crunchy (once again leading me to believe I was unable to make even the simplest cookies). Good flavor, bad texture.
So I set out on a cookie quest. I was searching for the perfect peanut butter cookie and chocolate chip cookie recipe and the technique to make those chewy (but not gooey nor crunchy) cookies.
I tried shortening vs butter, cutting the butter in with a fork verses the Kitchen aid.
Here is what I have learned...
1. Land O Lakes has THE best tasting chocolate chip cookie recipe ever!!! (it is inside the box-WARNING: it takes 3 sticks of butter)
2. Air bake pans super duper suck (the cookie book even says so)! The cheapy cheap pans from Wal-mart work just fine.
3. Do NOT (I repeat) DO NOT put more unbaked cookies on a warm pan. Wait until the pan cools. (this was one of the fatal errors in the Cookie Fiasco of 2003-another revelation from the cookie book)
4. Which won't be a problem because the MOST IMPORTANT secret in cookie making is................
LET THE COOKIES COOL ON THE PAN! That's right.. do not remove the cookies until the are cooled completely. Place the entire cookie sheet on your cooling rack (to speed up the cooling) but do not remove the cookies until they are cooled. This is the trick to chewy delicious cookies.
Now that I feel that I can successfully make cookies, I tried my hand at not one, but four recipes from the cookie book. I only slightly over-cooked one.
When Everette and I were first married, and I was in charge of bringing snack to small group. Seemed simple enough. I thought I would make homemade from scratch chocolate chip cookies. I busted out my brand spanking new air-bake cookie sheets and my wicked awesome Kitchen-aid mixer. Ready to show the world (or more accurately the ladies in my small group) my housewife/baking prowess. There were several things about this endeavor that in hindsight weren't too smart. First I think this was probably the first time I made cookies unsupervised by a more experienced chef. Secondly, I decided that the prospect of arriving with warm cookies fresh from the oven trumped my inexperience so I waited until that afternoon to make them.
Needless to say disaster ensued. The cookies spread out flat on the pan and were basically a flat mushy chocolatey burned disaster. Of course it was too late to do anything about it so... we arrived with gross cookies. Both Everette and I were grumpy and mortified.
That pretty much ended my baking stint-as further solidified by the fact that our bread maker is sitting in the pantry untouched (except for one time I think). I parked the Kitchen-Aid in the garage (literally-we have one of those appliance garages in our kitchen :)) except for once a year mocha ball extravaganza. Another tragedy of this event was the fact that my sister-in-law bought me (for Christmas, I think) a giant (and I mean giant) book of cookie recipes. They had all sorts of gourmet cookies that I was so excited to try. I frequently take the book out and look through it hoping to find something delicious and simple. I never have. I was too intimidated and quickly put the book away. I never made one cookie from that book in the five years I have owned it, convinced I would have to live off the kindness of others (cookie making that is).
Until recently. Everette loves loves loves peanut butter cookies. And I have made them a few times over the years but they always turn out hard and crunchy (once again leading me to believe I was unable to make even the simplest cookies). Good flavor, bad texture.
So I set out on a cookie quest. I was searching for the perfect peanut butter cookie and chocolate chip cookie recipe and the technique to make those chewy (but not gooey nor crunchy) cookies.
I tried shortening vs butter, cutting the butter in with a fork verses the Kitchen aid.
Here is what I have learned...
1. Land O Lakes has THE best tasting chocolate chip cookie recipe ever!!! (it is inside the box-WARNING: it takes 3 sticks of butter)
2. Air bake pans super duper suck (the cookie book even says so)! The cheapy cheap pans from Wal-mart work just fine.
3. Do NOT (I repeat) DO NOT put more unbaked cookies on a warm pan. Wait until the pan cools. (this was one of the fatal errors in the Cookie Fiasco of 2003-another revelation from the cookie book)
4. Which won't be a problem because the MOST IMPORTANT secret in cookie making is................
LET THE COOKIES COOL ON THE PAN! That's right.. do not remove the cookies until the are cooled completely. Place the entire cookie sheet on your cooling rack (to speed up the cooling) but do not remove the cookies until they are cooled. This is the trick to chewy delicious cookies.
Now that I feel that I can successfully make cookies, I tried my hand at not one, but four recipes from the cookie book. I only slightly over-cooked one.
Monday, October 6, 2008
Pump it up!
So once again I find my blog void of recent posts. These past few weeks have been incredibly full not only of time consuming activities but emotionally consuming as well. This has left me with little to say and little desire to say it. It is late Sunday night (technically Monday morning), and I finally have a spare moment, breath and thought.
One of the things that is taking a great deal of time and energy, I am in the process of learning to use an insulin pump. For those of you who don't know I have JO Diabetes. In July when our new insurance (from Everette's new job)kicked in, we found out we may be able to get an insulin pump at little out of pocket cost. After many phone calls it turns out... I can actually get one at 100% coverage. They also cover the supplies that go with it completely as well. Trust me this took several "are you sure?" calls. We assumed like most health care issues that this would take several weeks if not months to get everything in place. Turns out it took a week (maybe two). So this week I have been learning how to use it. I am excited about it... and the potential for making my life easier. Currently it is pretty time consuming and difficult, as I have to record EVERYthing I eat (this I have decided is a great weight loss program-for two reasons... 1. It is just plain annoying to write down everything you put into your mouth. 2. It is also makes you think twice about what you eat... knowing that someone is going to read it) take my blood sugar multiple times (10-12) a day.. use the pump (for pretend.. it is filled with saline) and take my regular injections. Not to mention that most of the time I am eating with a 1-year-old. It also brings with it a plethora of psychological and emotional issues, not only for me but for Everette too. It is not natural to be hooked up to a machine all the time. Even if the machine is small and relatively non invasive.
On a much happier note.. My sister-in-law turns 30 on Tuesday. We had a big bash this Saturday at Happy Hollow park. It was a perfect fall day (assuming you wore long sleeves and long pants). There were gobs of people and some we hadn't seen in a while. Everette's brother Brad was also in town this weekend. He is doing some interviewing for the hotel he works at in NYC at Purdue. So far he does this about two times a year and they are usually at the beginning or end of the week so he comes for the weekend and spends some time with us. Everette went with Brad and his dad to the Purdue game. While the game itself wasn't any thing spectacular to see, they all had a good time, reminiscent of younger days. Everette is already talking about taking Jonathan to a game... I think he will wait at least a year... considering you have to purchase a ticket for him. Monday Everette is off to DC for meeting then he will spend the rest of the week in New Jersey at his main office, I will be in Cleveland spending some time with my aunt. Of course Jonathan will be with me too.
I think that is all I have for now. I am sure there will be more later.
One of the things that is taking a great deal of time and energy, I am in the process of learning to use an insulin pump. For those of you who don't know I have JO Diabetes. In July when our new insurance (from Everette's new job)kicked in, we found out we may be able to get an insulin pump at little out of pocket cost. After many phone calls it turns out... I can actually get one at 100% coverage. They also cover the supplies that go with it completely as well. Trust me this took several "are you sure?" calls. We assumed like most health care issues that this would take several weeks if not months to get everything in place. Turns out it took a week (maybe two). So this week I have been learning how to use it. I am excited about it... and the potential for making my life easier. Currently it is pretty time consuming and difficult, as I have to record EVERYthing I eat (this I have decided is a great weight loss program-for two reasons... 1. It is just plain annoying to write down everything you put into your mouth. 2. It is also makes you think twice about what you eat... knowing that someone is going to read it) take my blood sugar multiple times (10-12) a day.. use the pump (for pretend.. it is filled with saline) and take my regular injections. Not to mention that most of the time I am eating with a 1-year-old. It also brings with it a plethora of psychological and emotional issues, not only for me but for Everette too. It is not natural to be hooked up to a machine all the time. Even if the machine is small and relatively non invasive.
On a much happier note.. My sister-in-law turns 30 on Tuesday. We had a big bash this Saturday at Happy Hollow park. It was a perfect fall day (assuming you wore long sleeves and long pants). There were gobs of people and some we hadn't seen in a while. Everette's brother Brad was also in town this weekend. He is doing some interviewing for the hotel he works at in NYC at Purdue. So far he does this about two times a year and they are usually at the beginning or end of the week so he comes for the weekend and spends some time with us. Everette went with Brad and his dad to the Purdue game. While the game itself wasn't any thing spectacular to see, they all had a good time, reminiscent of younger days. Everette is already talking about taking Jonathan to a game... I think he will wait at least a year... considering you have to purchase a ticket for him. Monday Everette is off to DC for meeting then he will spend the rest of the week in New Jersey at his main office, I will be in Cleveland spending some time with my aunt. Of course Jonathan will be with me too.
I think that is all I have for now. I am sure there will be more later.
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