Little T is my youngest. Is it time to panic? Will we be out of diapers for good? We've been in diapers consistently for the past almost seven years. I'm not sure what to do - laugh? cry? have another baby? (Ma, breathe. I'm kidding). I think for right now, I'll just have another celebratory chocolate.
So get this - we were featured on a blog called Mod Podge Rocks the other day. Amy, the master mod podger highlighted our DIY Tea Party Table. I don't know how many subscribers Amy has, but she has over 20,000 (that's twenty thousand) followers on Facebook, so I'm guessing it's quite a few. But here's the real kicker - since then, we've been getting over 300 unique visitors a day! Not bad for a blog written mostly to amuse my mom and my friend Alissa. And if that wasn't enough fun around here, we have more good news. My newly two year decided, all by herself, to sit in the potty, in front of the TV, for a full half hour, not moving, just watching Caillou. But unlike all my other kids who would do that, she actually made in the potty! I'm not sure who was more surprised, me or her. But either way, we celebrated with chocolate. Go Little T!
Little T is my youngest. Is it time to panic? Will we be out of diapers for good? We've been in diapers consistently for the past almost seven years. I'm not sure what to do - laugh? cry? have another baby? (Ma, breathe. I'm kidding). I think for right now, I'll just have another celebratory chocolate.
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In the spirit of this awesome weather we've been having, here's a yummy rainbow salad that feeds a crowd - at least 20. And I know this because that's the number of guests I served it to the other Shabbos. It was delicious and it was all gone. You can use any salad vegetables that you like, as long as they fit into the rainbow.
Here's what I used: - 1 bag of shredded purple cabbage - 1 bag of frozen peas (not defrosted) - 2 cucumbers, sliced - 1 container of mushrooms, sliced - 2 cans of corn, drained and rinsed - 1 can of chickpeas, drained and rinsed - 1 bag of shredded carrots - 2 orange peppers, diced - 2 containers of grape tomatoes, halved Here are some other things you can use, I just didn't have them on hand - red peppers, green lettuce, diced yellow squash, avocado, mandarin oranges, or even any color beans, as long as they are rinsed and drained. Layer the vegetables in a big trifle bowl. Or you can use a plain glass bowl, it will be just as pretty. In fact, it's so pretty that you just might eat it by accident. Don't do that. It's not nearly as impressive when there's a whole section missing. Pour your favorite salad dressing over the top, allowing it to flow down the (in)sides of the bowl. Chill and serve. Oh, and this is a total make ahead. I made this Friday morning for the next day's lunch. While National Disaster Preparedness Month isn't until September*, I thought it might be
a good time to brush up on our survival skills. Today we will be focusing on small scale disasters, namely - What to do When Your Two-Year-Old Throws-Up in the Supermarket. Let's set the scene: Baby has a bad phlegmy type cold, you need some stuff because the fridge is almost empty, but you're not looking to do a big shop. In and out, hopefully in the express lane. You are pushing the cart (with a bad wheel, damn those shopping carts!) up the produce aisle and she starts coughing, but it's okay, you're prepared because you have tissues in your bag. You wipe her nose and she seems fine. Up and down a few more aisles, and then somewhere in the middle of the store, she starts hacking away and you start saying things like, you're okaaay. You're okaaayyy. It's okaaay. Here's another tissue. You're okay, right? We're almost done, you're okaaay. But as we all know, mommies start saying you're okaaay over and over when really, not much is okay. It's almost like we're saying it as much (or more) for our own benefit than the kid's, kind of pushing the panic down, because you just know that this kid is going to hurl everywhere and there is nothing you can do about it. And of course, she does. All over her coat. And now is that excellent time to brush up on those survival skills. If you are not yet a parent, you probably are not aware of the fact that you can open up anything you want/need in the supermarket and no one will say a word to you, as long as you remember to pay. And I don't mean like the little old ladies who walk around the store eating a bag of (unwashed) grapes and then just don't pay at the checkout line. I'm talking about having a picnic; laying out a blanket and making sandwiches. The store will not care, just clean up after yourself and remember to hand over your credit card before leaving. The beauty of a supermarket is that they have pretty much everything you could possibly need while shopping with a child. They have diapers, milk, (weird) clothes), baby wipes, paper towels, cookies, whatever you need. Today we needed three things after we threw up. And I say we because if you know me at all, you will know that when one of my kids gags, I do too. I didn't throw up in Shoprite, but Josh - who was not with us - would not have been at all surprised if I did. Anyway, back to those three items - tissues**, a drink and straws. First we headed over to the paper aisle to grab the first box of tissues I saw. It was also the most expensive brand, but whatever. This was an emergency, hence the need for our review of disaster protocol even though it's not currently National Disaster Preparedness Month. All cleaned up, we needed a drink. But she was still coughing, there was no way to make it three aisles over to the water. The closest drinks were in the back of the store, which unfortunately, was the milk section. I hate milk***. No really, I hate milk, with a passion. But my baby needed a drink, so I grabbed a small bottle of chocolate milk (yes, I know, not the best choice for someone who just threw up, but remember, this was a small scale disaster, so any liquid would have had to do). I opened the cap and offered some to the baby. She just looked at me - and then I realized that there was no way she could drink from a bottle like that, she didn't know what to do with it. So back to the paper aisle for straws. Opened a box of straws and we were in business. I passed a garbage can on the way to checkout line (I don't think I ever realized before that there were in-use garbage cans in supermarkets), chucked all the dirty tissues and got onto the express lane. When our turn came, I put all the stuff on the conveyor belt and the cashier started scanning things. And because she is a mother too, she said, "Oh no, did the baby throw up?!" I couldn't stop laughing while I asked her how she knew. And she said - and I quote here - "Honey, I have five kids. An open box of tissues, an open straws and a baby clutching a drink with a frazzled looking mama, either she's having some tummy issues or her diaper exploded." I laughed all the way to the car. Once we were back in the safety of the mess that is our van, I said a silent thank you prayer - an exploding diaper in the middle of Shoprite would have been way worse. A disaster is a disaster, but remember to be thankful for the mini-disaster you were given because there always a grosser mini-disaster that you avoided. Got that? Good, 'cause that's a life lesson. *Who knew? Not me. But two seconds of googling and look what I learned. What did we do before google? How did we live? ** It wasn't that huge of a mess and we really have a huge case of paper towels at home, so I could not really justify opening up a 15 pack of paper towels. ***Wanna know why? I'll tell you. I have never liked the taste/smell/texture of milk. Even just writing that senetence made me gag. Milk just made me naseous, even as a really little kid. But it was never a problem because I never drank any. And then one day, in first grade, my teacher, Morah Mandelbaum, whom I loved to pieces, gave me a cup of milk during lunch on a friday, which, if you have attended a yeshiva day school, you will know that it was probably tuna fish and corn day. Do you see where this is going? I had already eaten my tuna and corn when the milk was set before me. I declined. She told me to drink, I needed a drink. I declined again. She persisiteed. I told her I would throw up if I drank milk, she told me I wouldn't. As I recall, there was some more back and forth. Then I drank the milk (I was a very good kid in school, I NEVER got in trouble.) Can you guess what happened next? Yup, I threw up. But I didn't just throw up like a normal person, I pushed my chair back from the table, told my beloved morah that I didn't feel good, turned towards her and threw up the whole cup of milk, plus all the tuna and corn that I had eaten and apparently not chewed, all over Morah Mandelbaum's surprisngly nice, low heeled pumps. And all over her stockings too. I don't remember much after that, but I do know that my father came to get me from school and that I never had a teacher offer me a cup of milk again. I guess news travels fast in the teacher's room. Without prefacing this with a whole long story, here are our mishloach manot for Purim this year.
We bought these (admittedly crappy) flashlights at the dollar store and filled them with long shaped candy - licorice, laffy taffies, granola bars, lollypops - because anything wider than like an inch just didn't fit inside. Printed up some labels that say "L'yehudim hatya ORAH*... - Wishing you a Purim filled with (a flash)light and happiness!" and we were done. So fast, so simple. And so not what we usually do. I usually spend weeks baking and baking and then baking some more. So even though it wasn't easy filling those flashlights (I even got a blister on my finger!), it was like a vacation. We filled those flashlights in front of the tv! And I wasn't covered in flour! Do you see how easy it is to make me happy? But there's more to the flashlights. For the past many months, we have been ardent followers of a little girl named Ayelet Galena and her parents' journey with her through her illness and subsequent passing. As we listened to her father speak at her funeral, we heard him say that one of Ayelet's namesakes was the Ayelet HaShachar, the morning star, the first ray of light. Ayelet was a light not only to her family but to her whole Ayelet Nation. And if you read through their blog, you will see that her parents, Hindy and Seth Galena, are themselves not only a light to their family and fellow Jews throughout the world, but a light unto the nations as well - as we should all strive to be while living our lives. I am having a hard time recalling a bigger kiddush Hashem than Ayelet's story in a very long time. And not only that, but Hindy and Seth are also an ohr layehudim, a light for the Jewish nation, because the miztvot that has been performed on Ayelet's behalf are more numerous than anyone can ever know. So we added a sentence to our flashlight labels: "Our mitzvah of mishloach manot is being fulfilled in memory of Ayelet Galena, Ayelet Yakira bat Shais Luria, a light to her parents and her 'Ayelet Nation'. May Ayelet's neshama have an aliyah. Wishing you a wonderful Purim - and may it be that we all celebrate Purim next year together in Yerushalayim! *The Hebrew word Ohr or Orah means light, hence the flashlight. Normally, when you see this on my countertop, you know things aren't going well and I can probably be found sitting on the floor of a closet somewhere, with chocolate on my face. But not today. Today we are making hamentashen with Hershey kisses. So file this one under crazy, but I kinda thought that Hershey kisses would melt in a 400 degree oven. Today I learned that they don't. Not only do they retain their shape, but they actually kinda burn a little on the top. I had used chocolate kisses as a filling in my last-ditch-hamentashen attempt this morning and it didn't go well. I had envisioned yummy puddles of melted milk chocolate in the center of my perfectly triangular Purim cookies. But no. What I do have are some vaguely triangular cookies along with some rhombus shaped cookies filled with perfectly shaped chocolate kisses. They didn't even wilt in the oven. How is it that these chocolates will melt if you hold them in your palm for a second too long, but hold their own in a metal box of fire? They're obviously magic hamentashen. At least that's what I'm going to tell the kids later. As for me, I have - about five minutes ago - come to accept the fact and make peace with the real story here: I like hamentashen but hamentashen don't like me. It was time to taste them. How bad could they be?
I know the dough is awesome. It's the filling (and the shaping) that I seem to have a problem with. Acting like Queen Esther, always thinking of you and the greater good of the nation, I forced myself to taste one of these chocolate-kiss filled packets of goodness. That's right, I did it for you. You're welcome. And they are yum, not pretty, but delicious. Isn't that what we try to teach the kids - it's what's inside that counts? Right? I won't be packing these guys into my mishloach manot packages, but I think I will take a few minutes to sit alone, eat a few leftover kisses and repeat my new mantra, I'm okay and my hamentashen are okay. Over the past few days, we've been baking alot - mostly hamentashen. What's a hamentash? Check it out here. Here's what happens when you bake with six kids at once (don't worry, two were only visiting). Not beautiful, but fun for the kids - an activity and a snack in one. You really can't beat that. This is what happens when you decide you know what you're doing and play around with an awesome recipe, trying to replace the margarine with oil. Just so you know, it doesn't work so don't try it at home. The cookies break apart as soon as you pick them up. And this is what happens when you listen to your oldest child and use his favorite strawberry jelly inside hamentashen. They explode. If you're going to use a fruit based filling inside your hamentashen, go with preserves or even some pie filling from a can. Both are thicker and won't run away, screaming, from the hamentashen. Although you might want to when you turn around and see how messy your kitchen is. Sadly, this one was the best of the bunch. These were our attempt at chocolate chip hamentashen, a kiddie favorite. They came our suprisingly well considering all the help I had and have been a favorite lunchbox treat this week. An finally, with Purim only 48 hours away, I'm going to have one last go at the hamentashen. We're sticking with our no-fail recipe and using Hershey kisses as the filling. Sounds yummy to me, but we'll see what happens. Pictures to follow.
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September 2018
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