the ladder of success

This little boy of mine is a regular sweetheart

He has had to work harder than most kids to do things that most people find and do naturally.

Like climbing a ladder for instance--

Not a big deal for most 8 year olds

but he is not like most 8 year olds--
but LIKE most 8 year olds he ignored me,
as i told him to get down.
I guess he figured if i had a camera in my hand and if i was taking pictures it was OK for him to continue UP on his ladder of success.
He got close to the top and gave me this look--

Since he cannot verbalize what he was thinking,
I am free for my own interpretation as to what he had on his mind.
I am thinking it went something like this
"What is your problem old lady?
See, I knew I could do it"

"I don't know what the big deal is.
Infact if i raise my arms I can almost touch the roof"

Or maybe that was in celebration of the fact that he has crossed another milestone off of his list of being a "normal" kid--the list of things to do to drive your momma crazy--one of those lists that usually involves blood and trips to the ER, or if it is not too serious just Urgent Care.

I guess i should be glad he is working so hard at being normal and driving me crazy and ignoring me like a normal kid would do--who knows what kind of opportunities he has now opened up with his ladder climbing? I mean the possibilities are endless--like using this new found skill to climb up on the roof and jump off onto the trampoline---YIKES--i need to remember to keep him away from his brothers and their "normal/evil" influence over this sweet boy.....

international eats week

It is not a secret that i DO enjoy food--
food is more than just a necessity of life,
it is more than something just to keep me alive.

It is a pleasure,
something to be savored,
ENJOYED!-
and i do ENJOY it.

Maybe it was the fact that i grew up with a mother who ran a cooking school and we were her test kitchen for various recipes--depending on the new lesson plan being written up determined what we would be eating. In my foggy food memory i remember tasting a variety of cold cherry soup? Dinner time was always fun with all gathered around the table and when she was testing a new recipe we were allowed to give constructive criticism--it helped us learn to distinguish the food that was placed on our palate--the varying spices and the way something was put together. I love the fact that i was exposed to so many different flavors at such an early age and that i was given the opportunity to experience different cultures through food. I think it also helped that I was raised in a home where picky eaters really were not allowed. Now that doesn't mean that we ate everything and that we liked everything. We lived by the two bite rule--you had to take two bites and then you could be finished with it. I have continued on with that rule in my life and i have found that some of my earlier dislikes are now tolerable or even likable. I have found that tastes do change as you get older....most significant example of that is my husband and his great disdain for asparagus--now he is the one picking it up and cooking it, when not to long ago he was snubbing his nose and making gagging noises when he would be confronted with it. We have tried to incorporate that same attitude toward food with our kids and for the most part they are adventurous when it comes to new flavors.


Now i will go on the record saying that while i know how to cook i am not the one that takes the role of chef--that would be my husband and my middle son is quickly following in his footsteps. Often you will find these two together in the kitchen

usually my son plays the role of sous chef--
(yes that is a micro planner he is using)

he will make some girl really happy one day.
He has been caught on occasions bragging to the "chicks" about his (to quote him) "mad cooking skills" He loves being in the kitchen--loves whipping up stuff--he is working on his knife skills--and i don't mean whittling--

even his dad wanted in on the mincing, dicing and slicing action.
They sorta had a knife off

in reviewing the pictures i couldn't help but notice my daughters face in this one

not sure if that is a look of disgust for what they were chopping up (shrimp) or maybe the way it smelled--or perhaps she was noting the competiveness of the male cooks in her household, whatever the case she didn't want a part of it until the poststickers were finished.....

to be continued......

secret ingredient

Tonight i found out i was channeling top chef
Not their cooking skills but the secret ingredient.
CAULIFLOWER--is that spelled correct?
or is it
CALIFLOUR-or perhaps
CAWLIFLEUR--well which ever way you say it,
or spell it,
it tends to be an underrated, underused vegetable.
Maybe it is because it is lacking in vibrance--
after all it is just a shade of white-
doesn't exactly scream at you--
and it tends to be one of those vegetables that sits well with others showing off their colors, like broccoli or carrots.
Usually it is cooked pretty much the same way--steamed
and i am not a lover of it in the RAW--

I found myself looking a various blogs and recipe sites in search of a recipe for a stuffed flank steak. We got a real good deal on some the other day and i figured we could do something like that. In my search i came across a recipe for a mashed cauliflower--it intrigued me and i wanted to try it out, but i assumed that we probably did not have the main ingredient--Cauliflower--It really has not been a vegetable that we have kept in our fridge on a regular basis--but low and behold there was a head of cauliflower waiting for me to mash it up.

And mash it I did.

It was down right tasty--enjoyed by the majority of my kids--although one did say it was OK and that she preferred it just steamed with the other bright vegetables.
Bottom line is--anytime you add cheese and butter and garlic to anything it has got to taste good--I am thinking this one will be a keeper--anything that can disguise a vegetable has got to be good

Brown Butter Cauliflower Mash

This recipe is a low-carb, healthy alternative to mashed potatoes. The consistency is so creamy and delicious, you won’t believe it’s cauliflower. The flavors are cheesy and delicious!

1 medium head cauliflower
4 tablespoon cream cheese, softened
1/3 cup sour cream
1/4 cup grated Parmesan
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon chopped chives or green onion
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 cup asiago cheese (i didn't have this and it was great without it)
4 tablespoons basil pesto (optional)
Set a stockpot of water to boil over high heat.
Clean and cut the cauliflower into small pieces. Cook in boiling water for about 6 minutes, or until well done. Meanwhile, melt the butter in a small saucepan and cook the garlic until fragrant, about 1 minute.
Drain the cauliflower well; do not let cool and pat it very dry between several layers of paper towels.
In the bowl, mash the hot cauliflower with the cream cheese, sour cream, Parmesan, asiago, butter, garlic, salt, and pepper until almost smooth.
Mix in chives and pesto, if desired, and serve

another milestone

There are things that you take for granted when you have "NORMAL" kids
(actually i would like to know what "normal" is?)
All my kids are "special" but my baby has what some refer to as "special needs"
So with that being said he continues to amaze me as his does "normal" things.
Things that are just your everyday "normal" milestones--
but for a kid that has to work hard to find "normal" they are moments of celebration
TODAY was one of those days.

This kid has always enjoyed puzzles--
not actually putting the pieces in them,
more like dumping them out
and watching me put them together.
I have gotten pretty good at his puzzles--
and i have been waiting for the day when he could do them--
and
TODAY was the day!

I sat in awe as i watched my little buddy match up the colors
and not only attempt to place them but SUCCEED

now if we could only find the pieces of the puzzle that he has already lost--
that will be the next major accomplishment...
one step at a time

Minor things can become moments of great revelation
when encountered for the first time--

Margot Fonteyn

Census meltdown

I have a short fuse--
sometimes it doesn't take much for it to go off and when it does
WATCH OUT!
Stupid things really set me off
and don't even get me started on stupid people....

Tonight I have been enjoying a lovely evening at home
Kids running around, dinner in the belly
and curled up on the couch reading a book--
such peace and tranquility filled my heart....

and then the phone rang
and all calm and peace left me
and the blood pressure went up--
it is stupid that i let it bug me
that i got worked up over it
but...I did....

So what is it that set off my buttons you might ask?
A phone call that was redundant and stupid
even the person on the other line agreed that the questions were redundant
and yet she continued to ask them because she had to...
WHATEVER??!!

It was a phone call from the census
Now i want to go on the record
i think the census is important,
i was actually employed by the census 10 years ago
and that I did fill out this current census before it was due this time around
and i mailed it back in--
before it was due,
and yet i still got this phone call, questioning my answers.

I sorta tried to be patient (was not succeeding at it) as she read the long paragraph off her computer screen--OK i get it--you have to ask me some questions, get on with it. It was the repeating of what i had filled out that irked me--asking me the same question poised different ways that really set me off. LOOK LADY, I FILLED IT OUT LIKE YOU ASKED BEFORE THE DATE AND MAILED IT BACK--IT IS ACCURATE--YES ALL THE PEOPLE LIVED IN MY HOUSE BEFORE THAT DATE, ON THAT DATE, AND SINCE THAT DATE. NO ONE ELSE LIVED HERE--IF THEY HAD I WOULD HAVE PUT THEM DOWN--
UGH!!!! (just a taste of the convo that took place)

why bother to have me fill it out if you are just going to call me and go over EVERY question all over again--i am not an idiot--the census is not rocket science--but apparently they think we are not capable of doing it without their help--BARF--more government waste--all i saw as i was talking with this woman was my tax dollars going down the toilet--all on a day when we went to vote for a sales tax increase because my local and state government wants to spend more of my hard earned money--actually spend is not the right word--WASTE is more appropriate--just dang frustrated with the governments inability to stay on a budget and their solution is to take take take...more more more.

OK i am done--well sorta--i am sure i will have a melt down on some future date as i watch my hard earned money wasted on stupid things
things like phone calls that interrupt my quiet tranquil evening at home.

i am getting too old for this

It has happened.
Somewhere along the line i have gotten old--
not OLDER....just OLD.

I remember those days when the party was just starting at 9pm
and staying up after midnight was no big deal--
but those days are gone--
LONG GONE i say!
Somewhere along the way 9pm became my wind down time
(FYI i had to look up the word wind down because i thought it was spelled wrong--after all that is also wind--as in it will blow you away--but yep it is spelled right)
and midnight was something i only saw when i was forced to work late.

The kid in me who refuses to get old thought i could pull a late nighter--
it didn't matter that i was waking up at 5am--
I thought i could stay up late when i wanted to--
so with that thought i was off to the movies with my oldest daughter and son
at MIDNIGHT.
Tonight found us waiting in line for the debut of Ironman 2

On different occasions we have been those die hard people who are off to see the new release of a movie at midnight--me a person who doesn't care for crowds or waiting in line has been one of those people that can't wait 12 more hours to see the movie at a reasonable hour. One thing that seeing a movie at midnight has going for it is that it is an EXPERIENCE. If you are a people watcher (which i am) it is like winning the lottery of wierdness. Only in the dark of night do some of these people venture out--only because they are too strange fit into normal society--fantasy movies really bring them out in all costumed garb--this movie however did not have much by way of wierdo's--atleast none that i saw (what a disappointment)

Bottom line--i was awake until the movie started--once the previews were over and the lights really went down...so did my eyes. People ask me how it was--and i honestly repond.."the parts i saw were good"--the only thing that kept me awake toward the end was all the soda i had drank earlier--my poor bladder was so full--but i refused to leave the movie and go to the bathroom--I mean i didn't want to miss it??? Actually i figured if i was uncomfortable enough it would have to keep me awake--and it did.


I came home thinking i would crash until i had to get up in 3 hours--NOPE--i slept like crap. I was so worried that i was going to oversleep for work that i kept waking up--until it was finally time to really get up--dragging myself all the way. Was it worth it--Probably not--but somewher along the way i still want to hang out with my kids--and sometimes they ask you to be there friend at odd times of the night
--and i will continue to do it--
nextime,
just let me take a nap first