Think Henry has a future in architecture? He built this wall himself and was SO PROUD that he did it. We took his picture in front of it over and over and then David took this little video on his iphone. Peekaboo! Henry kept saying, "This is HENRY'S wall!"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gmKmWbLylSw
Saturday, September 12, 2009
Monday, September 7, 2009
Daily Bread
Since Henry turned about 6 months old, I've been playing with baking my own whole wheat bread. I really try to do this every week, but realistically it ends up every other week. I'd really like to get to the point where we don't *have* to buy any store-baked bread at all, but we eat a LOT of bread, and since I'm working part time it's hard to be around the house long enough for the long rising sessions. So, thanks to my mother, this recipe for refrigerator bread is my absolute favorite. After you mix all the ingredients together and knead it (which I do in my mixer), you let it rest a mere 20 minutes, punch it down, and pop it in the fridge until you're ready to bake it, which could be the next day. The taste is not crumbly - it's soft and chewy and perfectly what whole wheat bread should taste like! It's not the only bread I make, but I think it's the easiest! I always bake it at 350 for about 35 minutes, but I think that's because my oven runs a little hot.
Refrigerator Bread
1. Mix together:
2 cups ww flour
2 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp salt
2/3 cup dry milk
2 pkg yeast
and add:
2 ½ cups very warm water
¼ cup softened butter
2. Mix for 2 minutes on medium, scraping sides of bowl.
3. Add 2 cups flour. Mix high speed 1 minute.
4. Stir in 2 cups flour with wooden spoon until dough leaves sides of bowl.
5. Knead in additional flour to make a stiff dough. Knead for 10 min., until dough is smooth and very elastic.
6. Cover with bowl for 20 min.
7. Punch down, cut dough in half with sharp knife.
8. Form loaves and place in well-greased pans.
9. Cover pans loosely with plastic and put in refrigerator 2-24 hours.
10. Remove from fridge and let stand 10 minutes. Bake at 400 degrees for 50 minutes to 1 hour.
Refrigerator Bread
1. Mix together:
2 cups ww flour
2 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp salt
2/3 cup dry milk
2 pkg yeast
and add:
2 ½ cups very warm water
¼ cup softened butter
2. Mix for 2 minutes on medium, scraping sides of bowl.
3. Add 2 cups flour. Mix high speed 1 minute.
4. Stir in 2 cups flour with wooden spoon until dough leaves sides of bowl.
5. Knead in additional flour to make a stiff dough. Knead for 10 min., until dough is smooth and very elastic.
6. Cover with bowl for 20 min.
7. Punch down, cut dough in half with sharp knife.
8. Form loaves and place in well-greased pans.
9. Cover pans loosely with plastic and put in refrigerator 2-24 hours.
10. Remove from fridge and let stand 10 minutes. Bake at 400 degrees for 50 minutes to 1 hour.
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
What's new?
1. Every time we paint a room in our house (and the whole house, currently a very dingy white, is desperately in need of new paint in all rooms, including all trim!), we agree to paint the next room immediately. The change is so dramatic for us. So this past weekend we painted our bedroom a really pretty dark gray-blue. This month we had found a dresser, mirror, and rocking chair on sale at Weirs (love it!) and they arrived Saturday afternoon. It looks amazing in there. Finally we have a real bedroom, and more importantly, when people come over I don't have to say, "oh, yeah we got all this cheap-o furniture for free twelve years ago when we were in college." Why oh why didn't we plunk a little money down earlier? It's worth every penny.
2. This morning Henry was sitting on his potty seat....this one.
...and as he was sitting, he was grunting (it's not what you think)...and counting! Uh! One! Uuuuuhhh! Two! Uuuuuuuhhhh! Three! Each time he said a number, he lifted the potty steps up and down with his legs. I remembered that the last time we visited my parents, my dad had shown him his weight machine!
Speaking of pottying, he's doing really well. He hasn't pooped his pants in a couple of weeks, I think. Unless we're at home on the hardwood floors, I have him in training pants with a little prefold doubler sewn in, and it's just enough to catch a pee. I even tie dyed a few for fun. Henry calls them his underwear (he used to call them panties!) and I usually have some wool shorts over them just in case, like a diaper cover. It's a pretty good transition for us. This way I really coudln't care less if he has an accident inside or out, and he seems to be basically training himself.
3. Right now I'm making whole wheat tortillas for tonight's veggie fajitas. I love whole wheat pastry flour!
4. The other day at Whole Foods one of the workers was offering samples right behind me. David poked my arm and said, "Try one of those - they're great!" and I turned around and carefully picked up the little sample, not even thinking twice about it. It was bread and cheese, I think. The server guy gasped as my fingers touched the little morsel of food. "No, no, noooo, ma'am, I'll grab it FOR you," he sputtered...but my fingers had already touched sample. He hung his head and shook it slowly. His shoulders slumped in defeat. He wouldn't meet my eyes. Seriously. Not joking. I muttered an apology, and I'm certain I turned bright red. Then I started thinking. I had just sampled about 15 different kinds of food around the store - including oranges, salmon salad (which you spread on yourself, cookies, and bread (no tongs provided). The whole store is a germfest. It's probably the reason why I got this rotten cold. By the way, I still don't care enough not to sample - it's one of the perks of shopping at Whole Foods. So my point is, WHY was that such a bad thing to do? Probably the guy's manager told him that his job was to serve the cheese and bread slices and to always serve the customer so he wouldn't just stand there like an idiot with nothing to do. And probably that gives him the opportunity to tell the customer about why it's such great cheese or something. I really hope someone tells that guy to lighten up because it must be a sad life to be so depressed over someone taking a sample off your sample tray.
5. Rotten cold aside, this is Henry's first week at school in the toddler class for this year, and mine, too! He is still in my class, but this year he really is old enough for it, and he's having a blast! He keeps talking about all his new friends and singing the songs we've been singing at our circle time. I'm glad he's having fun.
6. Tortillas are done. They smell amazing.
7. Right now Henry is driving around his scooter and crashing it into furniture. And I just heard a tamborine fly across the room and hit the floor. Back to mommyhood!
2. This morning Henry was sitting on his potty seat....this one.
...and as he was sitting, he was grunting (it's not what you think)...and counting! Uh! One! Uuuuuhhh! Two! Uuuuuuuhhhh! Three! Each time he said a number, he lifted the potty steps up and down with his legs. I remembered that the last time we visited my parents, my dad had shown him his weight machine!
Speaking of pottying, he's doing really well. He hasn't pooped his pants in a couple of weeks, I think. Unless we're at home on the hardwood floors, I have him in training pants with a little prefold doubler sewn in, and it's just enough to catch a pee. I even tie dyed a few for fun. Henry calls them his underwear (he used to call them panties!) and I usually have some wool shorts over them just in case, like a diaper cover. It's a pretty good transition for us. This way I really coudln't care less if he has an accident inside or out, and he seems to be basically training himself.
3. Right now I'm making whole wheat tortillas for tonight's veggie fajitas. I love whole wheat pastry flour!
4. The other day at Whole Foods one of the workers was offering samples right behind me. David poked my arm and said, "Try one of those - they're great!" and I turned around and carefully picked up the little sample, not even thinking twice about it. It was bread and cheese, I think. The server guy gasped as my fingers touched the little morsel of food. "No, no, noooo, ma'am, I'll grab it FOR you," he sputtered...but my fingers had already touched sample. He hung his head and shook it slowly. His shoulders slumped in defeat. He wouldn't meet my eyes. Seriously. Not joking. I muttered an apology, and I'm certain I turned bright red. Then I started thinking. I had just sampled about 15 different kinds of food around the store - including oranges, salmon salad (which you spread on yourself, cookies, and bread (no tongs provided). The whole store is a germfest. It's probably the reason why I got this rotten cold. By the way, I still don't care enough not to sample - it's one of the perks of shopping at Whole Foods. So my point is, WHY was that such a bad thing to do? Probably the guy's manager told him that his job was to serve the cheese and bread slices and to always serve the customer so he wouldn't just stand there like an idiot with nothing to do. And probably that gives him the opportunity to tell the customer about why it's such great cheese or something. I really hope someone tells that guy to lighten up because it must be a sad life to be so depressed over someone taking a sample off your sample tray.
5. Rotten cold aside, this is Henry's first week at school in the toddler class for this year, and mine, too! He is still in my class, but this year he really is old enough for it, and he's having a blast! He keeps talking about all his new friends and singing the songs we've been singing at our circle time. I'm glad he's having fun.
6. Tortillas are done. They smell amazing.
7. Right now Henry is driving around his scooter and crashing it into furniture. And I just heard a tamborine fly across the room and hit the floor. Back to mommyhood!
Sunday, August 9, 2009
Henry in the sky with...
Today Henry was playing with his blocks in the den. Suddenly, he leapt up and shouted, "Diamonds! I some diamonds!" and he ran out of the room. David and I looked at each other, a bit concerned and a lot confused. We could hear Henry yelling "Diamonds! Here it is! Here it is! Diamonds!" from the other side of the house. He barreled back into the den, and triumphantly held up his hands, which contained two tiny, glinting objects.
I grabbed David's arm, fearing something dangerous. He was closer to Henry than I was, so I said frantically, "Go find out what those diamonds are!"
David carefully inspected each little open palm and grinned. "They're not diamonds, but they are DIMES!" We burst out laughing! I was relieved very much! Not earrings or safety pins, but coins.
Henry laughed, too. "Diamonds!" he said, "Star!" He held the dimes up into the air as high as he could get them. "Twinkle, Twinkle!" he said.
All this time, my baby has been looking up in the sky at night and wondering what was twinkling up there as we sang the song. I guess he finally thought he had figured it out! Who knew? Kind of a nice idea, isn't it?
I grabbed David's arm, fearing something dangerous. He was closer to Henry than I was, so I said frantically, "Go find out what those diamonds are!"
David carefully inspected each little open palm and grinned. "They're not diamonds, but they are DIMES!" We burst out laughing! I was relieved very much! Not earrings or safety pins, but coins.
Henry laughed, too. "Diamonds!" he said, "Star!" He held the dimes up into the air as high as he could get them. "Twinkle, Twinkle!" he said.
All this time, my baby has been looking up in the sky at night and wondering what was twinkling up there as we sang the song. I guess he finally thought he had figured it out! Who knew? Kind of a nice idea, isn't it?
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
Henwee take a bath in the ocean, too!
We took a vacation to Key West, and Henry absolutely loved the ocean! The beaches there are perfect for a baby - clear blue-green water and very few waves. He ran down the beach and back playing chicken with the little crashing waves.
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Artist
Mostly he's commanding me to do the painting..."How 'bout a cat, Mommy? Paint a circle. Dot dot, Mommy!" But he's getting there! So serious, though!
Friday, July 10, 2009
and it came with a toaster, too
It all started with my husband. Both of us, once avid coffee drinkers, had toned down our addiction over the years. I still drink mostly tea. When David started working in a cubicle (ah, horrors!), the "coffee break" apparently became an essential part of existence. I can't really blame him. At the time, coffee had faded into the background for me, something that you might have with dessert - decaf, of course, so you wouldn't be kept up all night. Our coffee maker didn't really work that amazingly, anyway. Then one day we went shopping and found the most lovely looking stainless steel cuisinart coffee bean grinder. A new coffee maker, shiny red with mesmorizing flashing lights appeared in our kitchen as well. We had fallen in love again, and...so had Henry!
For the past several weeks, he's been making coffee all over the house. In the bathtub. With his legos. On the couch. With his plastic cups. In the sandbox. In the car. You name the place and coffee has been "made" there by Henry and offered to anyone within a five foot radius. So today, when I happened to be browsing with a friend in Constructive Playthings, I saw Henry freeze and sigh dramatically. Almost inaudibly, an "ooooooooh" escaped his lips. I turned to find what he was looking at. My friend, having been offered coffee by Henry many times, giggled and covered her mouth.
There in front of us on the shelf was the object of Henry's dreams. Smooth. Flashy. Shiny. Double AA taking. I'm not usually a fan of plastic, but I couldn't help myself. Henry's eyes got big as I reached for the box. My friend sealed the deal. "It's on sale," she spoke softly.
The doubt was erased from my mind today for the future. I will want to buy him that Ferrari.
For the past several weeks, he's been making coffee all over the house. In the bathtub. With his legos. On the couch. With his plastic cups. In the sandbox. In the car. You name the place and coffee has been "made" there by Henry and offered to anyone within a five foot radius. So today, when I happened to be browsing with a friend in Constructive Playthings, I saw Henry freeze and sigh dramatically. Almost inaudibly, an "ooooooooh" escaped his lips. I turned to find what he was looking at. My friend, having been offered coffee by Henry many times, giggled and covered her mouth.
There in front of us on the shelf was the object of Henry's dreams. Smooth. Flashy. Shiny. Double AA taking. I'm not usually a fan of plastic, but I couldn't help myself. Henry's eyes got big as I reached for the box. My friend sealed the deal. "It's on sale," she spoke softly.
The doubt was erased from my mind today for the future. I will want to buy him that Ferrari.
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