Dancing In The Kitchen

Whistle while you work, crank the music while you clean house, dance in the kitchen.  Things that make work more enjoyable, right?  Definitely something I know I should work on.  I have days where I don't even want to step in the kitchen.  Forget cooking or cleaning.  And dancing?  yeah, right.

I remember stories of my grandparents dancing in the kitchen.  Of course that was partly because they had no electricity and the 'good light' was kept in the kitchen.  But they were happy and cheerful and loving and they really did often dance around the kitchen. Such warm memories to hold.

A week or so ago, I was just in the last few minutes of dinner preparation, shuffling back and forth through the whole kitchen doing my own little 'dance' (though not a pleasant one).  Dear Trucker came into the kitchen  following close behind the "angel baby". This toddling monster was determined to find a snack before dinner.

So here's the picture.... a busy and FAST toddler trying desperately to get into something. If not a fridge then a cupboard... Daddy trying to keep her out from under mommy's feet at the same time as blocking her access to the fridge and cupboards.... Mommy spinning around, draining the pasta, stirring the sauces, turning the meat, etc.... All three of us twirling around the kitchen to an unheard rhythm.

Grandma had a ride home that particular night and for some reason, they chose to drop her off at the back of the house. They had a clear view of our kitchen window.  Her friend paused and smiled and commented to my mom...

"That's so nice, your family is dancing together in the kitchen!"

Mission - April Fools.

I know I have a fair bit of time left in March, but the kids had so much fun the last time I messed with their food on April Fools.... I have to be even better!  Thanks to Gretchen Rubin and the Happiness Project Book, I have a great idea for breakfast.  Now I just need to hammer down the rest of the day.

For breakfast two years ago, I made burgers and fries.  Well, I made regular pancakes and cocoa pancakes and skinny strip pancakes, and we put them together as burgers and fries.  A little raspberry sauce made perfect ketchup, too.  The boys thought this was AWESOME.  And I love it when they like the silly things I do for them.

I don't really remember lunch, oddly.  But we had cupcakes for supper.  I know that.  Mini meatloaves made in a muffin pan and topped with colored mashed potatoes.  It was really fun, and the kids ate a lot.  AND they don't even LIKE meatloaf!

So, I'm on a mission now, to find some great ideas for this year. I want something that they'll remember for a long time.  The last week of this month is Spring Break, so they will be home and I'm not going to be able to work on this with them underfoot. This leaves me 3 weeks to figure it all out.  I have a few other tricks up my sleeve, but I'm not telling!  Every now and then, my curious kid will ACTUALLY read this blog.  So, sorry to anyone who wants a sneak peak, you'll have to reach me another way :)

I'm calling on anyone with a sense of mischief to send me their ideas too!  Doesn't have to be just food related either. The advantage of Spring Break is that I have the WHOLE DAY to mess with these boys.  You see, I've been a bit on the cranky side lately, and I want them to know that I'm back with a vengeance!!  I was forgetting to have fun, but now I remember......muahahahahaha

What is the best April Fools joke you've ever seen?  

(Family Friendly of course...)

I Might Not Be A Good Cook, But I Can Bake Like No Other!

I love to bake.  I find it relaxing and a great way to relieve stress. And if the act of baking something delicious doesn't work, or the smell of something delicious baking in the oven doesn't help.... 

There is ALWAYS the eating part...

Most of my life, my mom gave us a special shape for our birthday cakes.  It was always a surprise to us, what it would be, and I remember getting excited thinking about the different cakes we'd had, what could she come up with next???

As I got older and more involved in the kitchen, I discovered her secret.  A pair of great cookbooks specifically for these special shape cakes.   

Now with my kids, I do the same thing.  We rarely have a 'normal' cake. Many times the kids have the family birthday and a 'friends' birthday, so we have a layer cake for family night and a shape cake for the party with friends.  I have sometimes allowed them the choice of what cake they want, but sometimes the surprise is the best part.  

I have been known to build the boys a great theme party, and try to find a cake that fits the theme. A big favorite was our Lego Cake. This was pretty easy to make and has been requested more than once. (not my picture. I normally use whip cream, not frosting on my cakes). 

There is much to be said about building a bit of magic in the kitchen.  I love to surprise the kids with special treats.  

For Halloween last year, I sent Chocolate chip cookies to school with the boys.  Half of them were piped with spiderwebs in white icing and the other half had chocolate icing spiders.  It took a fair amount of time, but the kids (both classes) and most of the teachers now look for my cookies and treats on special occasions.  It's worth the effort!  

For Valentines Day this year, we had our special family dinner a few days early. Just making sure that we were all here to enjoy it together.  So on February 14th, there was not much excitement around the house.  I needed to fix that!

I have made a heart shaped cake too many times to count and I wanted something a little different. And since this was a treat more for the kids than anyone else, I wanted something they would like but not a ton of leftovers.  So I found a tiny little secret to making heart shaped cupcakes in a regular muffin pan.  

30 seconds of extra effort making the cupcakes.... TOTALLY worth it in the end.  Added frosting and a cinnamon heart to the tops and it was a valentine treat for everyone.

I have heard a few times that it would be so nice to be so creative... but really I am not.  I may put out a bit more energy to make these things, but I rarely come up with the idea on my own.  So, if you haven't followed my links above yet...

I'll give away my secret weapons for free.

well, not ALL of my secrets....

Disney Family Fun is a great website... and for more than just recipes.  It has a ton of great ideas on it.  And another favorite, in fact one of my MOST favorites, is Betty Crocker.  How can anyone not love Betty Crocker?  Really. I think our original cake book is a Betty Crocker book.  This site has so many great ideas, the recipes needed, and of course the right box mix to pick if you are not a bake from scratch kind of person.  AND now... I just noticed today... there are even videos to walk you through some of the really cool ideas!

So there. I shared.  

Now, next time I come by, I'll tell you I'm coming so you'll bake a cake.   

(darn, now I have that song in my head....)  

And it better be a cool shape!

Broccoli Cheese Soup For My Sick Family

Well, we are finally on the mend again... I'm sorry for such a long break between posts.  Everyone one has been sick at least once in the last 6 weeks here. Three adults, three kids all down at varying times with some sort of bug.  I am hopeful that the last of it has now passed.

Today is a snowy and windy kind of day.  Great day to make some home made buns and my favorite broccoli cheese soup.  There are very few things I enjoy more than a good thick bowl of cream of broccoli soup. Given my cooking history I had to search high and low for a good recipe that I could actually manage to make.

The broccoli cheese soup recipe I found first was heavy on onions, so it didn't really taste like broccoli anything.  But the directions were simple enough and, after all, this is soup I'm making... I just used less onions the next time.  It was great when I made it for me, so I attempted to share with the family. 

It's not a favorite for every one, but it is definitely something they will all eat.  And that is a rare occasion here!

Right now, while I write, the veggies are simmering away on the stove in half broth/half water.  Today I've added a small onion and a clove of garlic as well as some celery.  (I'm really big on onions right now, since they do seem to help fight these flu germs!)  

It smells absolutely FANTASTIC in my house right now. 

Once the buns are ready to bake, I will add the cheese and make the soup rich and creamy.

The dough is rising as we speak and the buns will be fresh out of the oven just in time for dinner.  I'm making the pull apart buns (also called clover leaf buns, I guess) as they are a family favorite.  Thank you to my dear mother in law for letting me in on that secret!! I've never known my trucker to eat so much of something home baked!  

Just by changing the way I baked them, I transformed these buns from 'okay' to 'awesome'.

And there is nothing... absolutely nothing better .....than having still warm buns to dip in the broccoli cheese soup that has been slow cooked all day... when the snow is blowing all around the house.

Stay warm!!

I Am The Messiest Cook I Know

Last night, I made spaghetti for dinner.  In selecting the vegetables that were going in the sauce, I found the sweet potato in the drawer that we didn't cook with Christmas dinner.  So, being the

Brilliant 

woman that I am.... I decided to make soup from the remaining vegetables that were hiding in the crisper, wanting desperately to be used before being thrown out....

Of course, at the same time I was browning my beef, starting the sauce for the spaghetti....

My poor husband, who doesn't often eat pasta by choice arrives home to competing 'aroma's' from the kitchen and wonders if he should have grabbed take out on his way home. 

I can see the fear in his eyes as he tries to politely ask whats for dinner... So far the only thing RIGHT in the kitchen is the beef that is browning for my meat sauce.  Now, we normally compromise when I make spaghetti, if I grate cheese for the topping, he eats the sauce without complaint as a topping for buttered bread.

OOPS, Sorry Honey!  I didn't take the bread out of the freezer.... "Do you want toast? Do you want me to run to the store quick?"

Sweet man, he says no....

I puree my veggies for the soup, have it simmering nicely and the sauce for my spaghetti is simmering also. I'm somewhat grateful that I am suffering a stuffy nose as I am sure that the competing smells were not all that pleasing.  Boiled up the pasta and we finally sat down to dinner. It seems that quick spaghetti sauce took FOREVER to cook?!?!?!?

Hubby goes to get his plate. Asks where the noodles are... I've only made enough for the kids and I, purely out of habit... In more than 15 years, I can't honestly remember ever seeing him eat spaghetti sauce WITH noodles.  So I just didn't make him any....

By the end of the evening, I had no energy left and could not force myself to do the dishes.  I finally flopped in bed and vowed to deal with them in the morning.

How in the world did my kitchen get buried?  

It was so full this morning, I could barely find the counter or stove top. 

Factor in a one pot soup adventure, one pot for the spaghetti sauce, and a frying pan for the meat.....

My poor starving man who didn't eat with us, so no dishes from him....

Where did the dishes all come from?  There were no spoons in the drawer!  Spoons?  I have roughly 35 spoons in that drawer! And we ate spaghetti....not the soup.... 

Glasses?  Coffee Mugs?  I think my dishes smelled my cooking and tried to commit suicide by jumping out of the cupboards....

A full, and I mean seriously packed, load through the dishwasher, and still about 45 minutes spent washing dishes.... and I finally had a counter.  Albeit a filthy counter.  I scrubbed the counter top while my coffee was brewing...wiped off the top of the dishwasher. 

And the front

And the sides??  Oh, man...

Stove top next. yuck.

It's a good thing I get distracted easily or I wouldn't have noticed the pretty speckled pattern on the wall from the red spaghetti sauce and the orange soup splatter on the wall beside the stove...

If I take longer cleaning up my kitchen

than I do actually cooking the food...... 

I have a problem, don't I?