Tag Archives: holiday

List of lists 

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Michael, Andrew, and I will be embarking on a trip from our home in Illinois to Flagstaff, Arizona Labor Day weekend. Of course, this means I have been in planning mode for the last few weeks.

I have started my lists. Also, means I found a good use for the fluorescent graph paper I picked up while buying school supplies for Andrew. (Told you I would need this paper for something, Zakary!)

Lists that are currently in play:

  • Master list
  • Travel timeline
  • Travel binder – me/Michael
  •  Road trip binder – Andrew
  • Packing lists
    • main luggage – will be shared
    • car bag – Andrew
    • pit stop bag
  • Snacks
  • Shopping list
  • What to see on the road
  • blog/social media posts

One of the questions I often get asked about my lists: “does this help?”

Answer: “It helps me.”

I can’t vouch for everyone. I know that the thought of putting this much time and effort into all of this would drive some people crazy.

Lists help me attempt to control the chaos. Yes, I said it. I can be a little bit of a control freak.

But lists also help me when I am not surprised when something goes wrong. For example, I know that I need to pack a “puke bucket” in the car, because 3.78% of the time we have taken a road trip, Andrew has gotten sick. Not even close to every time, BUT if I don’t pack it, he’ll need it. (also the container of Dramamine with all the pills split in half is already in a pouch for a car bag.)

 

My Favorite Easter Tradition

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I don’t even remember how it started. I am sure I read it in a magazine or saw it on television (this was in the pre-Pinterest/Google era).

Every year before Easter, I receive a magic jelly bean from the Easter Bunny. On the Saturday before Easter, you plant the magic jelly bean. When the Easter Bunny stops by, the magic jelly bean grows into a lollipop. I have done this with my little brother (now almost 28), Zakary (almost 17), and now Andrew (age 5).

Last night while we were out running errands, the Easter Bunny gave Michael and I a red magic jelly bean to give to Andrew. *wink* When we returned home, Andrew was excited to “plant” his bean. We decided to put the jelly bean under a rock behind the van.

The Easter Bunny I decided that behind the van might not be the best place to have the lollipop grow. There are quite a few people that walk their dogs in the mornings, and not knowing how early Andrew would be up, the “Easter Bunny” decided at 4 AM to go outside, move the jelly bean (which should read, “I threw the jelly bean across the street”), and bring the Easter treats in the house from the van. I, I mean the Easter Bunny, “planted” Andrew’s lollipop in the potted plant on the table, and left this note:

Maybe notes shouldn't be written at 4am

Maybe notes shouldn’t be written at 4am

I have tried to scale back my over-buying of candy for the holidays. I bought just a few Reece’s eggs, a marshmallow Spongebob lollipop, and a stuffed sting ray for Andrew. The unit of focus this month at preschool is the ocean. Ray the Ray was the perfect addition to our family! I didn’t get a pic of Andrew and Ray, but this is the wonderful photo of the Spongebob lollipop.

Imaaaagggginnnnnaaatiion!

Interestingly enough, Spongebob tasted like coconut.

Cappuccino Cups

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This past Friday (the 8th of November) was Cappuccino Day!  I had planned to make some coffee flavored cupcakes.  As I started gathering the ingredients, then it hit me…why limit myself to coffee flavored cupcakes?

I spent some time working as a barista at Starbucks.  One of my favorite drinks to prepare is a cappuccino.  Real cappuccinos are mostly foam…sweet, delicious, fluffy foam.  Ok, I have been accused of being a bit of a coffee snob, but I think that is a part of the barista training.  And a public service announcement: the drink that comes out of the machine at the gas station is not really cappuccino.  But I digress…

To appeal to a larger audience, I decided I wanted to make a cupcake that wasn’t coffee flavored.  I know some of my co-workers that I would be sharing these treats with were not fans of coffee, neither is my oldest son.  Then the idea was born!

Because a cappuccino is mostly deliciously foamy milk, I decided to bake one small cookie scoop of brownie mix in a foil cupcake wrapper then top with a fluffy white frosting.

Just a start

I decided to try a new frosting.  I had never prepared a frosting that included egg whites or cooked sugars!  It was definitely a positive experiment.  No major injuries (always a plus!)

So fluffy!

The frosting was this fluffy marshmallow-y dollup of amazingness.  I have already been asked to use the frosting on a chocolate sheet cake soon!

one of my better experiments

The final product was definitely a hit.  I am grateful to have such an amazing group of people around me that are patient and willing to be the guinea pigs for my culinary experimentation!

Recipe details:

Brownie: Tastefully Simple Truffle Fudge Brownie mix

Frosting: http://www.food.com/recipe/fluffy-white-frosting-55965

Happy Boston Cream Pie Day

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As I sit here preparing this post, I realized that some people might think this food holiday has something to do with the World Series.  Game 1 will be played in Boston on Boston Cream Pie Day … coincidence?  Totally!

This post was supposed to be about cupcakes, but I really think I want to write about baseball.  And since it’s my blog, I’m going to do just that.

I played softball for eight years.  I have brothers who played baseball, and the youngest is the only son to have not played (he’s almost 4, so there’s still time!).  We’ve celebrated birthdays at Victory Field in Indianapolis.  Our youngest wears a Cubs hat almost every day.  Although he just calls it his “blue hat with the red C on it.”

Z's 10th

We lived across the street from the Ball State’s baseball field.  I loved to hear the ping of the bat hitting the ball.  I love going to the Indianapolis Indians games or a Cubs/Reds game in Cincinnati and hearing the crack of the bat.  I have to say that I am partial to the sound of a wooden bat.

I hope that one day we can take the boys to Wrigley to see a game.  There is some thing about old ballparks that I love.  New parks are beautiful, but the depth of history in old ballparks will win out every time!

Honestly, I haven’t been to a ballgame in years, and we don’t have regular tv to watch a game.  I take that back.  I watched some of the Little League World Series in a pizza place in Indy after a day at the zoo.

I just looked into getting World Series tickets for the Saturday game in St. Louis. The cheapest tickets were $312.00 … each.  Oh My Ganache!  I guess that will be a dream for another day!

I will post the recipe for the cupcakes that I made later.  But for now, here is a photo …

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