It Was a Dark and Stormy...

...cocktail.

When I was in Sevilla, Spain back in the summer of 2002, there was a "drink of the summer," which apparently, there is every year, along with a "dance of the summer," to go with a "song of the summer."  I don't fully remember the dance, and if I heard the song, I would know it (and probably remember more of the dance), but I do remember the drink.  Tinto de verano.  Red wine and Lemon Fanta over ice.  Delish!

This summer, hubby and I did not travel to Spain (alas), but we have been enjoying our own "drink of the summer."  The Dark and Stormy.  We first tried it during happy hour at the local tiki bar (a way cool place), and fell in love.

It is easy to make.  Just pour ginger brew (non-alcoholic) over ice, add a shot of dark rum and a wedge or two of lime, and there you go!  You can vary the amounts of the ingredients to your, ahem, taste, or follow a recipe (see note with link below).  Also, there are many kinds or ginger brew and rum to choose from.  We have tried various, and so far we prefer Reed's Extra Ginger Brew and Meyers's Original Dark Rum.  Plus organic limes.

Now, it's not like we are sitting out on the swing drinking these every evening as the mosquitoes appear, but we did do that once.  And yesterday, Andrew suggested we (as a family) go out and drink beer on the swing.  He meant "ginger beer."  Which is ginger brew, which is basically ginger ale. Just so you know.

That said, I have been keeping the ingredients on hand, and we have been partaking every other week, or so.

Do you have a "drink of the summer"?

(Note:  Image is from the recipe at this site.)

Me and My Mojito

I'm not a big drinker.  Sometimes on the weekend I like to have a glass of wine (mostly reds, sometimes white).  Or a mojito.  It's kind of funny, but I might never have tried this minty cocktail had it not been for Burn Notice.  Bruce Campbell's character, Sam Axe, often orders a mojito, so that's where I got the idea to try one.

Minty and sweet with a shot of rum.  Delish.  The first sip always takes me back to my grandma's backyard where she had a big mint plant growing.  Then, if I keep sipping on an empty stomach...well.  I try to eat a little something first.

I'm going on a bit of a summer blog break.  See you in a couple of weeks!  

Come into My Parlour

Come into my parlour...

I'll by you a coffee or tea.

We'll zip around at high speeds

and view the scenery.

Come into my parlour...

Where things are pretty clean,

besides just a bit of dust and clutter

and toys on the back seat.

Come into my parlour...

We can listen to what we please--

whatever comes up on Pandora,

Neil Finn and Crowded House on CD.

Come into my parlour...

More relaxing than home for me.

No dishes or laundry to attend to,

just one boy in a booster seat.

Come into my parlour...

This is where I flee.

We can chat if you'd like and hang out a while,

wherever your destination may be.

As my home is my workplace, I find that the only time I can really sit and enjoy a cup of coffee or tea (without it going cold) is in the car.  The work is never done at home.  But I can have the car decluttered in a matter of minutes.  And when it gets too filthy, we take a drive to the car wash.  I know it is not very environmentally friendly to just go for a drive, but it seems to help keep me sane.  

P.S.  Please forgive my bad poetry.  As I started writing this post, it just came out that way.  No The Spider and The Fly reference intended.

Spring-a-ling-a-ling

I have so many thoughtful blog posts winging around in my head and, it seems, no time to actually write them out.  So, rather than continue along in overwhelmed inaction, I will share with you one of those lists us bloggers like to post now and again.  Here goes!

• I have figured out it is not actually the arrival of spring that seems to get me down.  I think it may actually be the abrupt transition from winter to spring brought on by the beginning of Daylight Savings Time.  I truly have been loving spring these past few weeks!
• Would it be motivating or depressing to go from room to room making a list of all the little projects around the house that need tackling?
• How can I tackle anything extra when I can't even keep up with dishes and laundry?
• Enough whining already!  My new mantra:  We just have a messy house.
• "Orderliness is the sign of an untidy mind."
• I just remembered that from a plaque I read as a kid.  What?!
• I suddenly realized today why my childhood home always seemed cluttered.  Many of my friends' parents had housekeepers!  Plus that one who was an obsessive neat freak...
• We (And I mean that loosely.  It was mostly Hubby and the kids.  I was doing dishes.  Which is fine with me.) finally made the most delicious lemon bars with a recipe shared with me by a friend.  This is not an intentional plug for the recipe's author, but geez, these are the best lemon bars ever!
• We are so lucky to have this huge mutant lemon tree in the front yard.  The landlord's gardeners never prune it.  I know nothing about this kind of stuff, should it be pruned?
• Why doesn't Andrew just fess up when it is so obvious he has to go potty?  WHY?!
• I'm SO enjoying running.  I'm still at the walk/run/walk/run/walk phase.  But I run for longer periods all the time.  My goal is to go five miles in an hour and fifteen minutes, walk/run/walk.  That should help me drop the last twenty pounds and fit back into all the cute clothes I bought after being on "the nursing diet," right?  Oh, and I'm getting healthier and stronger, too.  I plan on being a runner into my old age. 
• We have been getting a bit of rain and it has been positively lovely.
• Hubby and I have been watching MI-5 lately, starting with the first season in 2002.  We're getting to what looks like will be one of the last episodes with Matthew Macfadyen.  I am going to miss him.
• Mad Men.  Been watching?  Also, The Big Bang Theory.  Extra funny because Hubby is an engineer.
• I still need to watch my April films this year.
• The kitties (whose names are now "Belly" and "Get Down!").  We are getting on quite well these days.  We all love our cats.  After we install doors to the kitchen and successfully go on vacation for two weeks, kitties in tow, everything should be truly peachy. 
• Crochet.  I'm always working on something.  Right now it is a baby blanket, a bit overdue, for a dear friend.  I started it a few months ago.  Only a few more rounds to go!

Boy, what a list.  Man, it feels good to get that all out.  Though, I could probably, no, definitely write an entire post about each point.  Please feel free to provide answers to any of the above questions in the comments section.

Thank you.

Happy E.B.

Happy E.B. (E.B. = Easter Bunny.) My grandmother has always written that on the boxes of See's eggs she gives us at Easter. See's and Easter go hand-in-hand in our family. I hope you get a little See's this year from the E.B.!

I'll be on a little break from blogging for a while. See you back here in a week or so...

(Vintage clip art, courtesy of Microsoft.)

Feliz Dia de Amor y Amistad

I have always loved the way Valentine's Day is named in Spanish best of all:

El Dia de Amor y Amistad, or The Day of Love and Friendship.

In my opinion, this holiday isn't just for romantic love, but love for family and friends as well. I hope you have a wonderful one. (This recipe I just happened upon may help...because Valentine's Day is also about chocolate, wouldn't you agree?)

P.S. I took the photo above while walking on the trail last week. Did you notice the heart cut-outs at the bottom of the fence? I think it is so sweet that someone took the time to make them.

Super Easy Pumpkin Soup

As you may know, cooking is not one of my favorite pastimes. I think this has a lot to do with the fact that I'm the only one in my family who seems to like the things I cook. So there.

But, we had some pumpkin puree left over from the pie Hubby made on Sunday (we have always used the Fanny Farmer recipe, and lately, Trader Joe's frozen pie crusts, and for the record, before the kids were born, I was the one who made all the pies), and I got it into my head that I would make soup. So I did.

I found this recipe, and modified it. Here's my version:

Super Easy Pumpkin Soup

1 T. butter
1/2 half onion, diced
1 1/2 cups pumpkin puree
3 cups whole milk
sugar, nutmeg, salt, pepper to taste

Cook onions in pan until clear. Add the other ingredients. Stir over medium heat until just boiling. Serve with a dollop of sour cream and french bread.

Was I the only one who liked it, you want to know? Pretty much. The kids ate it as a dip for their bread. Hubby humored me. So, now you know.


Note: Image is Microsoft clipart.

Thank You, Neighbors

We are so lucky to have some of the nicest neighbors. Not only are they friendly and kind, but they have done several small favors for us since we moved here over five years ago. (Including helping Hubby trap a lizard that had gotten into the house!)

The photo is of the view out of our guest bedroom window. I love to see the neighbors' tomatoes growing big this time of year and beginning to ripen. Last year, we were given several dozen of these most delicious fruits (which I sliced and ate on toast with cream cheese. Yum.) I hope they have a surplus this year, too.

If you look closely, you'll also see the Sweet peas growing this year. Sweet peas are one of my favorite flowers. What a wonderful surprise it was when I saw their familiar vines starting to grow up the fence! And then the blossoms: pink, lavender, magenta. And then the fragrance: sweet, wafting into the window on a gentle breeze.

Thank you, dear neighbors. Double thanks!

Today's Good Things

Today we wrap up our first week of summer break. I am loving not having to get anywhere on time.

Here are some other good things from today:

• Valerie's one-girl dance party at Trader Joe's
  
• one TJ's trip with two kids down, only nine to go!
• first prizes earned from the library's summer reading program (photo above)
• a few precious minutes worth of happy chat on the phone with my grandma
• watering Girl Scout planted geraniums at the community center
• finally, an incentive (TJ's Chocolate Ice Cream Bon Bons) that works to get Andrew to use the potty (so far...maybe)
• good-bye to the TV box that has been a fun toy (and huge eyesore) in the living room since November
• Valerie and Andrew riding bikes!!

I hope your day was filled with good things, too!

Nice Day

Here are ten things making today a nice day....

• cafe mocha with whipped cream
• spending the morning at a special place with Andrew
• picking Valerie up early from school (minimum day)
• sharing a chocolate chip brownie with the kids
• finding a darling $118.00 sweater at Anthropologie on sale for $29.99
• today's high was 58 degrees F
• first afternoon heater use of the season
  
• the November/December issue of Victoria magazine
• Trader Joe's Chicken Pot Pies for dinner (yummy and easy)
  
• looking forward to Friday night out

What's making your day nice?

Fruit!

The haul from Farmer's Market this afternoon looked so good, I had to share. The little yellow gems are pluots. The lady rinsed one, then handed it to me saying, "Here you go, mom...." Valerie ate it up, sharing little bites with Andrew. I bought five. How could I not?

.:Seasonal Sundries:. Fall X

Mixing colors on a palette--frosting for cookies.

They're Back!!

Back in July I wrote a post about my favorite off-the-shelf cookies (which, sadly, have been discontinued). I mentioned that their fabulous cousins become available at the holidays. Well, the holidays have arrived, baby!


May I please introduce (unless you've already met them, that is) you to Trader Joe's Dark Chocolate Covered Peppermint Joe-Joe's. Heavenly and sinful, both at the same time. Yesterday, I bought two boxes (ten cookies each.) These little sweeties tend to sell out week to week, so stock up now. Then test your will power while they lurk in your pantry at 15o calories each!

The Maple Cookies were back in stock, so I bought a box of those, too.

And I'm keeping my eye out for these stars.

And I'm stepping up my exercise routine.

Maple Cookies

Let me preface this post by stating that I am not on the payroll of Trader Joe's or Trader Joe's Fan. I just love shopping there. My grandpa used to shop at TJ's back in the day when it was just a funky little hole-in-the-wall kind of place full of dried fruits and wine. Now I shop there every week, buying almost all our staple items at this delightful emporium. Have you read the Fearless Flyer? I used to toss it in the recycle bag. Now I check things off the list that I want to try...

My latest find is the Maple Leaf Cookies. But even as I write this, they may already be sold out. I haven't been able to find them for the past two weeks. That's how yummy they are.

I just started veering away from chocolate, slightly. Brushing up against maple. Maybe it is a fall-time-of-year thing. My dad always liked maple bars from the doughnut shop, when I was a kid. My mom would just say, "yuck," in disgust. I think that's why I didn't even try one 'til I worked at that same doughnut shop later on as a teenager (but that's another story). Still, I was not convinced.

But now I like maple. And lots of it on my pancakes (Tom says, "Have a little pancake with your syrup", which, of course, I also buy at Trader Joe's). I put it in my oatmeal, too. I also like maple bars, and have been choosing them over the chocolate variety lately--sorry, mom. And now there are these yummy cookies. My dad likes them, too.

And they taste really good with a cup of hot chai.

Halloween Past and Present

Another Halloween is just around the corner. I will be walking in a Halloween parade downtown with Valerie and her entire school on Friday. I can't wait. When I was in kindergarten, we did a downtown parade, too. I think I remember it, but I might just be very familiar with the photos. Hard to say...

That's the ballerina costume I wore. My mom made it and the one my sister wore, but hers was red-orange. We also wore Raggity Ann masks. I'm not sure why. Valerie got to wear that very same ballerina dress for Halloween back when she was just 3. It was a little big. Now she can hardly zip it up in the back, and it is short on her. She is quite a bit taller than I was at her age. She is going to tower over me when she's a teen, for sure.

Back when I was in Girl Scouts, we cut jack-o-lantern faces out of tortillas. Then spread butter on them. Then sprinkled them with sugar and cinnamon. Then put them in the oven 'til crispy. I started making them with Valerie when she was just 18 months old. I guess it was more for me when she was just a toddler. This year we each got our own (while Andrew was napping).


Valerie is going to be a black cat for Halloween this year. I made her a jumpsuit with a zipper up the front out of black cotton. I bought headband ears and a tail at Walgreens to complete the costume. Andrew will wear the bat costume I made for Valerie at age 2 1/2. It fits him. Makes clear how much bigger he is than she was at his age. He will be towering over me someday, too.

I'm going to dress as a witch. I have a black hat that I dolled up with black tulle and a crow. I've got this great (hand-me-down) puffy sleeved stretch velvet jacket and a black mini skirt. And I've got the requisite black and white striped socks that I'm going to wear with mary jane heels. Tom, who already towers over me, is still on the fence. But I'm trying to get him to wear black so we can all be matchy-matchy and take a cool family photo all dressed up together. So far we've got him in his graduation robe and black turtle neck...

Here is the link to a blog I like to peek in on called A Fanciful Twist. Vanessa, the artist/blogger, goes all out at Halloween. If you need something to get you in a spooky mood, have a look!

What will you be for Halloween?

Chai

Last week I tried chai for the first time. I know, I am way behind the times. And I just recently started branching out from chocolate. Chai is so delicious, no? Spicy and creamy and sweet, just right for fall.

But then, last weekend, Tom and I watched Slumdog Millionaire. Without posting any spoilers for those of you even more behind the times than I when it comes to seeing this film, I will say that I can never drink chai again without thinking of the central character Jamal, the chai wallah.

So, every time now that I want to enjoy a nice cup of chai, I will be reminded of the plight of the poor in India. This, as I purchase a cup of overpriced beverage from a (local or) corporate-run coffee shop. Oh my.

It is quite the dilemma for me. I often wonder if I really should be off in a third world country, or inner-city or poor-rural America for that matter, helping others less fortunate than I. At least when I was teaching I felt good about giving of myself to my students, some of whom came from struggling families. Now what?

I do go in for the "think globally, act locally" mantra. I do. It comes to mind quite often. Buying organic, buying local, recycling, giving to Salvation Army and Goodwill, donating food and toys at the holidays, being an example to my children of human kindness and compassion towards others. Kind of a ripple effect. All the small yet meaningful, and comfortable ways to help.

But I wonder if I have the capacity to be doing more. Living it, sacrificing, out of my comfort zone. What would that be like? Would I feel fulfilled? Would I be miserable? Would it matter how I felt as long as I was helping others?

Ultimately, since having my own kids, I want to help create a wonderful life for them right now, right where we are. My world view looks outward from them now. And at the same time, since becoming a mother, I feel community with all mothers, everywhere. I see suffering with new eyes, and sometimes it seems too much for me to bear, even though I'm only the observer...

Why, oh why did I have to try chai and watch Slumdog all in the same week? At least when I make it at home I'm not throwing $4 out the window, because can you imagine how far $4 could go in the slums of India?

::Saturday Sundries:: No. 12

Recipe ~ Sara's 3 O'Clock Mix
I don't really enjoy cooking. I was kind of starting to get interested in it before Valerie was born. But then I had other things to do. I'm mostly a reheat-the-yummy-dish-Tom-made-over-the weekend, or a throw-a-Trader-Joe's-frozen-delight-into-the-oven kind of gal. I have hopes of starting to enjoy cooking again someday, though. I do like to bake, but since I'm not hip on the kids-running-amok-in-the-kitchen kind of chaos, I don't do it very often.

But here's a little recipe--if you can even call it that--for a snack that gets me though the afternoon some days.

Sara's 3 O'Clock Mix
Ingredients:
1 bag Trader Joe's Dry Roasted Unsalted Almonds
1 bag Trader Joe's Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips
Directions:
Toss together in a bag or storage container
Optional:
Add dried blueberries and/or dried cherries*
(*if you add them both it is called Grand Mix, the name Valerie came up with)

I figure the almonds provide protein and good fat. The chocolate, well it tastes good and might just help keep me sane--from about 3PM until Daddy gets home from work.

P.S. Update--Trader Joe's has discontinued my favorite off-the-shelf cookie. Nuts!

::Saturday Sundries:: No.4

Trader Joe's Dark Chocolate Covered Joe-Joe's


Do you remember Mystic Mint cookies? Those used to be my favorite off-the-shelf cookies, until they disappeared. Sigh. I even tried the Milk Chocolate Covered Mint Oreo, but they weren't quite right. Then about a month ago, on my weekly trip to Trader Joe's, I found these little babies. Oh yeah. If you really like chocolate a lot, like I do, you'd better just stop reading now. Continue on at your own risk. Fair warning.

I really feel that these cookies should be called by their full title: Trader Joe's All Natural Dark Chocolate Covered Joe-Joe's With Vanilla Bean Cream. They aren't minty, but that's OK. They are so good and so rich, you could just eat 1 or 2 (or 3 or 4). But there are only 12 in a tub so you have to control yourself if you want them to last all week.

Or you can do what I do. Buy two tubs.

Come December I'll be posting about their fabulous cousin, Trader Joe's Dark Chocolate Covered Peppermint Joe-Joe's.

What's your favorite off-the-shelf cookie?

Sanity in a Cup

Yesterday was one of those days. They don't happen that often. But when they do, there is only one plan of action. Drive thru Starbucks. Whoever got the grand idea of making a Starbucks drive thru has my thanks.

The nearest Starbucks drive thru is about 20 miles from our house. And gas in our neck of the woods is $3.24 per gallon. So, not so good for the environment or the pocketbook. But when my 5-year-old is having a meltdown that nothing at home can cure, and my 16-month-old is taking cues, sometimes it is the only way for mommy to stop yelling and get a grip. And the kids get a nice little restful car ride, strapped into their respective car seats.

I get me a nice Venti Mocha. Decaf. Because I'm already stimulated enough, right? It is purely psychological, and a little scary, but as soon as that first sip of whipped cream/coffee/milk/chocolate passes my lips I feel a little bit of peace. I know it is like 600 calories, but I don't care.

Valerie asks if she can have a treat from 'Bucks. I tell her no, we are only here for something to drink. See? I was smart and grabbed snacks for the kids to munch on the way, and ice water at 'Bucks is free. I know the days are numbered before she figures out that a Mocha is a treat for me. And Andrew, for now, is quite happy with a cracker.

Then we go for a nice long walk (stroller ride for Andrew) on a nice scenic trail, which is the plan that got Valerie into the car in the first place! And suddenly everyone, even me, is smiling, laughing, peaceful.

This is why whenever a relative asks me what I would like for a birthday or Christmas gift, I always reply, Starbucks gift card, please. So thank you, Starbucks gift card givers. And thank you Starbucks, my sanity in a cup.