First Snow Storm and Christmas Cookies: Nailed It!

Saturday was our first "real" snow of the season. Thank goodness it happened on a weekend when we could enjoy it and not worry about trying to get to work or how we'd manage to pick up big kids at school in the snow with two toddlers in tow.



Ellie fulfilled a lifelong dream of finally ice skating.

Sort of.


This is so often how it goes. Ellie, Leo and Lucy plotting something (in this case a rousing snow ball fight) while Harry says "You know what? I'm gonna just go over here and play with my helicopter thankyouverymuch."


A yard full of snow to play with, half a dozen kid vehicles and she has to stand On Top of Him. This really sums it up (don't worry, the second I managed to snap this, I rescued Harry from her clutches).

Regarding the snow: Let's file this one under "Reason 979 why Big Kids Rock." Can I just say how fabulous it is to have older kids who can put on their own snow boots (mostly) and gloves and hats and coats? I really had forgotten how maddening it is to try and put miniature gloves on tiny, uncooperative fingers. And then they look at you all cold and pink and furious when they take their gloves off and they can't figure out why it feels like their fingers are going to snap off.


See? No gloves on this one. Seconds after this shot was taken she would announce that her hands were cold and "Where are my mittens?" (over there in the snow where you pulled them off in a moment of fury, Lou).

At some point in the middle of Saturday's snow storm I found myself saying, Let's make Christmas cookies! Because, clearly I've lost my mind.


Harry gave the unbaked cookies a good poke and promptly sampled some raw dough. Whoops!

I grew up making these cookies for the big Christmas Eve celebration with my step mom's family. This is the first time I was able to pull it off. It's not like it's so hard, it just takes planning, as does pretty much everything in our life. I had a minor freak out in the beginning when the dough was very sticky and none of the cutters were working but then something clicked toward the middle/end, sort of like how the first few pancakes in a batch are always terrible? Maybe it had to do with the dough temperature or something. Regardless, we rallied and they came as close to perfect as something in our house can come.

My stepmom sent me the recipe, which is from The Joy of Cooking (by the way, you can reduce the sugar to 1/2 cup--they are still plenty sweet and if you frost them like we did, they are definitely sweet enough).



These cookies actually taste really good (I know, just what we all need this time of year, more cookies that taste good). But so often Christmas cookies look good but end up tasting...not so much. Anyway, fair warning: Delicious buttery cookies.



At one point, all four were doing the same activity, which always warms my heart. Now that the twins are getting a little older, that's happening more and more and it makes me soooo happy.



OK, so Harry might have also been watching "Star Wars" and eating all of the cookies he was supposed to be decorating.

No matter.

About That Rainbow Saturn Cake

About a week before Leo's birthday, I asked him what kind of a cake he wanted.

And then I immediately regretted it. What was I thinking? When was I going to have time to bake some fancy birthday cake? Who could predict what complicated masterpiece Leo was going to request? Better to do what I did last year, which was to rely on our local grocery store bakery to provide a perfectly respectable (albeit slightly disgusting and a little terrifying) cake.

"Rainbow Saturn cake!" Leo announced, as if he'd been waiting his whole life to answer that question.

Because, of course!

Sigh.

Two years ago I somehow managed to pull off these little "beauties."


(Yes, I'm still basking in the glory of the Dora cupcakes I made for Leo's seventh birthday.) Stop laughing. It was all Leo asked for that birthday. Rocked with guilt at having just burdened him with not one but two newborn (often screaming!) infant siblings, I made it my mission to fulfill his birthday request.

And I'm not going to lie. I like a challenge (which, by the looks of my life these days, probably won't surprise you). So I figured, oh why not. What was the worst that could happen?

"You can do this. Game on!" my friend Amy said, when I told her about Leo's request.

I immediately began looking online, purposely avoiding Pinterest because, well, it totally freaks me out. Some friends sent me some recipes and ideas. Good old Martha had a recipe for the rainbow part which was of course gorgeous but also...kind of complicated looking (there was a video to accompany the recipe, so...you do the math). My idea of complicated might not be the same as others'--keep in mind you are dealing with someone whose baking and assembling window is approximately as long as the nap time of twin two year olds. I sometimes look at recipes or projects longingly and think Yes, but how could I possibly complete that? Surely I would be interrupted. That's just the way life is right now. Someday I will cook or bake grand, intricate recipes, someday I will organize drawers and shelves and bins. But that day is not today. (Believe me, I am not always this gracefully philosophical about my "limitations.")

Moving on. After Googling "Easy Rainbow Cake," this is the recipe I chose. I mean, Betty Crocker! How can you go wrong?



This is what a six layer cake looks like before it becomes a six layered cake (note the extra large ice coffee that fueled the making of this cake).

I have to say, this new gel food coloring (well, new to me, but remember, I don't get out much)? AWESOME. No more of those wimpy, pastely colors when you really want to make Red! and Orange! and Yellow! I think we've all been there--put a bright blue cake in the oven only to open the oven and find...pale, too light blue.



And I'm sure it's completely all natural, right?


Assembling. Frosting.

I made a few critical mistakes that are now embarrassing to admit, but I was rushed! By this point the twins were awake and tugging at my shorts and Lucy was probably rifling in the refrigerator for string cheese. I completely forgot to trim the layers down to make them sit flat. This caused the cakes to sliiiiiide. I also used to much frosting so the cake became too high (too much frosting? How is that even possible?!). At one point things were going, um, south (literally!) very quickly.



I basically went into full scale Are You Kidding Me Mode, but thankfully, Erin has the cool head in the family and she had the quick thinking to reshuffle the layers to make them sit more steadily. She was also the brains behind the "rings" of Saturn (trimmed from pieces of paper plate and colored with marker: genius!).



But this is also why the cake is not in "rainbow" order, which is very hard for me to be at peace with, being all Type A/OCD. But you know what?



Nobody seemed to notice or complain. In fact, I think the birthday boy was pretty pleased.

Now, for my next challenge?

The New Normal: Crafts and Baking Edition

In addition to having a relatively relaxed weekend (notice I didn't use the word "relaxing" because there is just nothing relaxing about our house!), I was uncharacteristically domestic. Behold, the pride of our weekend: Egg Carton Spiders:

Ellie enjoyed sticking the pipe cleaners into the holes I made for the legs. She grew tired of the decorating part: we used pens and in hindsight I realized we should have painted them but that would have tripled the amount of time it took to complete this project. For now, brevity is our friend. (When I told Ellie that next time we'd paint the spider bodies, she replied: "Oh yes Mommy! That would be my dream!") That girl.

Before the babies came, one of my favorite things about the fall and winter season was doing little projects and crafts with the kids (art projects, seasonal collages, gingerbread houses around Christmas, holiday themed baked goods). Once the babies arrived, things got a bit hectic (understatement of the year) and just keeping everyone alive felt like a Herculean task. Collages and baking fell supremely by the wayside.

I'll be honest: I mourned the loss of that time with the big kids. I knew we'd get back to it someday. But when you are sleep deprived and in the midst of marathon breastfeeding stints, "Someday" can feel a little...discouraging.

Believe me, I've tried (who can forget last year's turkeys?). But it hasn't been quite the same and certainly not with the same frequency. I've missed making candy corn topped cupcakes or heart shaped cookies with pink frosting and red sprinkles or gluing leaves and acorns to orange and brown cardboard (Voila! Fall Themed Collage!).

We also decorated the house for Halloween. Lucy was fascinated with the hanging of the purple and orange lights in the mudroom.

With two little babies who rarely napped for a long time or at the same time, it was difficult to fully commit to something because it felt like we would just get started and then we'd hear the faint and then insistent wail on the monitor. And then the project would sort of disintegrate, the kids would lose interest and scatter without me steering the ship as I was suddenly forced to switch gears and be on Babies Duty.

Gingerbread house, December 2010, made in the midst of some of the worst morning sickness of my pregnancy (even then the babies made their presence known). Thankfully, did you know candy corn is great for nausea?

Last year I specifically remember nursing two fussy babies while Grandma Nayla (visiting from Oregon) supervised Gingerbread Houses 2011. Notice, how I don't even have photographic evidence?

But, now that Lucy and Harry are getting older and are on more of a schedule, dare I say, we are dipping our toes into a return to "normalcy?" Well, what's normal for us, anyway. Don't get me wrong: there is still a bit of urgency involved in most everything I do (have to get this done before the babies wake up, have to get that finished before they finish their bottles...you get the picture). But I can feel myself relaxing, easing up, just a little. And somewhere down the road I imagine four little people at the kitchen table, elbow deep in candy corn and marshmallows or pipe cleaners and egg cartons,  immersed in one of our little "Projects" and yes, I swoon just a little. OK, a lot.


The babies were quite impressed with our work when they woke up from their afternoon nap and beheld the Grand Spider Display. 

And if the spiders weren't enough (because truly, they made my weekend--hey it doesn't take much--that's a good thing!), Leo and I made his beloved pumpkin bread (I use half whole wheat flour and he eats this for breakfast most mornings) and I made acorn squash risotto (with brown rice, since I didn't have arborio on hand. The result was...different). But hey, I actually completed a recipe! From beginning to end! That in itself feels kind of huge. And on top of that,  I used the acorn squash, rather than simply buying it with such good, wholesome food intentions and then letting it sit on the counter until it became an unrecognizable lump. So I call that? Success.

Update #2

OK, it's finally snowing.

Come on weather. Bring it.

TV is turned off. Kids playing nicely. I am working. No, really.

I had thought about going to Target. We don't really need anything but I thought it would be good to get out while we had the chance. But now I'm not so sure.

What I really want is coffee.

Stuck in house with two trays of Lard Bars. Not good.

Update

Still no snow.

Lard bars: Done!

Minutes of Sesame Street watched by Leo: Too many.

Tuesday Thoughts

-I woke up to the sound of pouring rain this morning, and of course it was dark. A perfect recipe for wanting to absolutely bolt out of bed with excitement to start the day! I can’t tell you how much I wanted to stay home, pull the covers over my head and go back to sleep. Let the kids wake up naturally (knowing full well it would be three minutes later, but no matter). Then I would spend the day baking some of the estimated seven million baked goods that I need to make in the next week—we are scaling back and doing cookies as gifts to teachers, therapists, co-workers and colleagues this year. In case you are curious I am making:

-Oatmeal Chocolate Chip cookies
-Mexican Wedding Cookies
-Lard Bars (Graham cracker crust, condensed milk, coconut, chocolate chips, walnuts they don’t call them Lard Bars for nothing).
-Lemon Squares

-I’m having holiday card anxiety. Last year at this time I’m pretty sure the cards were not only ordered but also addressed, mailed and received (complete, even, with holiday themed stamps, that’s how much time I had on my hands last year). And of course, the cards were perfect (if I do say so). This year, well, No. A total of four adorable holiday outfits sit in Ellie’s closet. Leo has a new suit and tie as well as three irresistible holiday sweaters. And every attempt at a holiday card has failed miserably. Maybe this year we’ll go for a New Year’s card? Valentine’s Day? It was so much easier to photograph them when one of them was immobile. It never fails now when one is hamming it up for the camera the other is screaming, most likely crying, and definitely running in the opposite direction. Leo has also taken to actually yelling at me when I try to photograph him. Not sure what's going on there. I am about ready to pack it in and use pictures taken earlier this year, perhaps ones even, gasp, that have been previously published on this very blog. Would it kill anyone? Not to mention, would anyone even notice? That’s what I thought.

-I am feeling very smug because I have discovered I can sneak tofu into my children’s scrambled eggs. I know I'm not the first to do this and I know this is riveting (ha) but this kind of information excites me. I am now wondering what else I can sneak. If only spinach wasn’t so green and obvious.

-I’ve decided I would like to move us all to Pocket Hollow. I don’t know where this is located but I like the sound of it. It’s where Toot & Puddle live. We’ve yet to watch this new show but the ads on Noggin are absolutely irresistible and every time I hear them say the words “Pocket Hollow” I think yes, that’s where I need to live. That’s where I will be happy and carefree.

-In spite of the fact that I have no baking done and no gifts purchased, I am in holiday countdown mode. That is because I have almost two weeks off work coming up wherein we can sleep in (well, not set an alarm clock) stay in our pajamas all day if we want to, I don’t have to pack breakfasts, lunches, or snacks, pick out clothes for anyone (including myself) in a hurried fashion. My family is visiting from Oregon for six days. It’s a wonderful life.

Baking with Leo

Leo and I made cranberry pumpkin bread on Sunday while Ellie napped. It was a lot of fun and I was so impressed by his attention span. He really wanted to be involved and stuck through the whole process. He loved counting cups and spoonfuls and pouring the ingredients in the big bowl.

The apron he's wearing belonged to my mom. I didn't plan it, I just grabbed it from the pantry closet and thought it was the perfect size for him (the only other apron I have is big so I wore that one). I thought it was sweet that he wore her apron. And he was almost as excited about that apron as he was about the helping make the bread. He insisted on wearing it for most of the afternoon.