Small (Very Small) Successes, Vol. 5

I had three teensy-weensy successes today:

1. It's always hard for Curly to get up in the morning, and often he's wolfing down a cereal bar while I'm pushing him out the door to catch his carpool ride to school. This morning he was more tired than usual after staying up until past 11 pm finishing a homework assignment. He was quite cranky, needless to say. First he couldn't find his tie, then I made him change his shirt because it was dirty (he sure didn't like me for that), and then he couldn't find his shoes and ended up wearing his old ones that were too small. His brothers had already left and my nagging him to get moving so he wouldn't make everyone late wasn't working. Finally I calmly told him I was going upstairs to finish getting myself ready for work, and if he was still at home when I came down I would my neighbor to tell her to leave without him, and he'd be in HUGE trouble. Thankfully God gave me the grace to stay even-tempered throughout his moring drama. I don't always handle it that well.

2. I finally sent our Christmas gifts to our sponsored child in Haiti. I know he won't get it until spring, maybe later (for which I apologized in the letter I wrote to him), but that mailer full of stuff--a paint-by-number set, two balsa wood gliders (I'm not too sure how well those will hold up between here and Haiti), some silly bandz, and photos of the kids--is finally off my desk and in the mail.

3. My trip to the post office took longer than expected, and I was a little late arriving at the boys' school for afternoon pick-up. I ended up in the very back of the line, and was sure we would be late to Curly's guitar lesson. Traffic must have been light, because we arrived there right on time.

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Today at church there was a funeral for a thirteen-year-old girl killed in a car accident over the Thanksgiving holiday. Please pray for her family. I can't imagine how it must feel as a mother to lose your child like that.



I expect my blogging activity here will be light between now and New Year's. (I noticed I had 13 posts for the month of November--I think that's my all-time high for the number of posts in one month.) Tomorrow I hope to post "7 Quick Takes"--I'm not making any promises, though--and I need to update my other blog, Cooking Nick's Books: A Sparks Fan's Food Blog, in the next few days as well. If you don't see me here much after that you'll know I'm celebrating Advent and preparing for Christmas, and I'm probably catching up on laundry and housework too. Not to mention working on lessons for my job at the preschool and driving my children hither and yon.

Small Successes, Vol. 4: Shots, salmon, and sports

1. We finally all got our flu shots for the year, even Joe. Usually Larry, Curly and I get them, but not Moe since he has an egg allergy and the flu vaccine is made from egg. He can't get the Flu Mist either because of his asthma, so we try to create a cushion of protection around him and so far (Knock on wood, but not really since that's being superstitious) it's worked. Maybe if I do a 7 Quick Takes post this week I'll tell you about how last year I decided to talk to the allergist about giving Moe the flu shot anyway--like everyone else, we were wary of H1N1--and why he didn't get one this year, and how I hope that doesn't make me a bad mother.

2. I can't seem to share my small successes without one involving food. We had some salmon in our freezer that Joe's brother had caught recently when he took a fishing trip to Alaska, and since the weather was gorgeous this weekend, we decided to cook it on the grill. I found this recipe for grilled salmon with lime-butter sauce, and my oh my it was heaven. I don't know if it was the quality of the salmon, or the sauce or what, but it was just the best you ever tasted. Melt-in-your-mouth good. We were so anxious to eat it that I forgot to take a photo.

I found a couple of great ways to use the leftover lime-butter sauce too. I'll tell you about those in my 7 Quick Takes post--guess I'm committed to one now, aren't I?

3. Curly decided he wanted to be on the school basketball team. We explained to him that we would be delighted to let him play, but since practices are twice a week plus Sundays, not to mention games practically every weekend for the next three months, he'd have to quit Tae Kwon Do. He wasn't too thrilled with this idea, and I thought for sure he would change his mind about basketball. He decided to play anyway, even though that meant giving up a sport he's enjoyed for a long time; plus even if he picked it up again after basketball season, he'd fall behind in his quest for the black belt. (His brothers were told NOT to pull any "nyah, nyah, we've got black belts and you don't" business.) When I broke the news to the lady who runs the martial arts center, she says, "Well, ya know, your contract is up for renewal and you've been here so long you're getting quite a good deal since you've been paying the same rates all along even though our prices have gone up. If we renew your contract as-is, you'll pay less per month than you would if you took Curly off the contract and only signed up the other two." In other words, we'd pay more for two kids than for three. So Curly is still signed up for Tae Kwon Do, and he'll be taking the classes on a more limited schedule than his brothers--like one day a week instead of two. This way he doesn't have to completely give it up, and he can still work on the skills he'll need to advance his belt rank. I'd say that's a win-win situation, wouldn't you?

Check out Danielle's latest Small Successes post at Faith & Family Live!

Small Successes, vol. 3: Food Flashback, Morning Muffins, and an epic fail

This week I was hit with a most unpleasant stomach bug, and even though it only lasted for 24 hours, it put me behind in chores and errands and such, so my week wasn't as productive as I would have liked. I almost skipped Small Successes for this week, but I figured, hey, I'm sure I can come up with something.

1. As I was browsing through some recent photos on my computer, I came across this one:

For a minute or so I couldn't remember why in the world I took a photo of an ordinary-looking weeknight meal, but then it hit me: This was to be my FIRST Small Successes post, but I didn't get around to it that week and it slipped from my memory.

I had some leftover roasted sweet potatoes and "regular" potatoes in my refrigerator waiting for me to figure out how in the heck we would ever eat all of them. Meanwhile about a week before, I had picked up some of the last fresh green beans of the season at the farmers' market, and if I didn't cook them soon they would be thrown out. I scoured the Internet for ideas, and found an obscure recipe for green beans and sweet potatoes cooked with Canadian bacon, and after looking it over I remembered some local free-range meat I had in my freezer. I honestly couldn't tell you where I got the recipe from, because I didn't save it and I didn't really make that particular dish, but at least it helped me with my dilemma.

I ended up putting some butter and margarine and a teensy bit of milk (not too much, since Moe is allergic) in the potatoes, as well as some cinnamon and honey, and creaming it up with the electric mixer. I fried the Canadian bacon in a skillet, steamed the green beans slightly in the microwave, and sauteed them in the drippings.

Want to know the "Success" part? Moe, my pickiest eater, liked it and even asked me to cook green beans for him on his birthday.

2. Monday was a particularly successful day--after dropping the kids off at school I stopped at Target for some miscellaneous clothing I had been meaning to get for a while, gave the dog a long-overdue bath (a small success in itself), and after doing some light housework and working at the parish preschool, I had a great session with my Religious Education class in which the kids learned about the mysteries of the Rosary. Afterward was one of the last activities that Larry's confirmation team needed to attend before receiving the Sacrament (another success--just some homework and a retreat to the National Shrine in Washington is all that he needs to do),which was a beautiful and moving ecumenical service in the Church full of beautiful singing and prayer.

It was after the service, as everyone was leaving, when the bug hit. On the way back to the car I ended up leaving Father R. a present on the grass in front of the parish hall--epic fail. Talk about a lesson in suffering AND humility.

3. For Veteran's day, the boys' school hosted their annual "Donuts with Dads" party, when fathers come with their children for some morning donuts before the kids start their day. Since Moe is allergic to most donuts, and the only sweet confection we had in the house was Halloween candy (WHY OH WHY did I buy the gi-normous bag of assorted candy from Costco??) I decided to make him some banana muffins. This morning I got up early and resisted the temptation to sit at my computer with my coffee for a half hour like I usually do to make them. I have a wonderful recipe that was given to me years ago by my friend Renee', which I've adapted only slightly:

4 very ripe bananas

1 cup of sugar

1 stick of margarine

1 1/2 tsp Ener-G Egg Replacer mixed with 2 tablespoons water

1 1/2 cups flour

1 tsp baking soda

pinch of salt

I mash the banana first, then cream together the margarine, sugar, and "egg." Today just for fun (and because my bananas weren't quite ripe enough) I replaced half the margarine with butter. After I mix all of these ingredients together I add the flour, baking soda, and salt. I fill a dozen or so greased muffin cups about 2/3 full, and bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes.

When Renee' first gave me this recipe, we were trying to go gluten-free for Moe because his tests were showing an allergy to wheat. (When his reactions got worse after using various gluten-free flours and products, we gave that up. Turns out he's not allergic to wheat.) The recipe called for Bob's Red Mill gluten free All Purpose Baking Mix, and I tried it; they were surprisingly good even without regular flour. They are much tastier with real flour though; I wonder how amazing they would be using all butter and real egg?

Go on over to Faith & Family Live for Danielle's latest Small Successes post. She hasn't been feeling well either this week; it looks like I'm in good company.

Small Successes, Vol. 2: Books & Clutter & Blogging

1. Way back in June, I showed you this photo of my disorganized bookshelf.

It's been looking like that for months. I've finally managed to get it semi-organized; just don't open the cabinets underneath or look at the junk piled on TOP of the shelf. One thing at a time.

It still needs purging, but it's a start.

2. In our garage we have an old cabinet leftover from when we remodeled our kitchen several years back. Over time, it has accumulated clutter on top--old towels, muddy worn-out shoes, seashells collected around 2007, plastic bags. I finally got that cleaned off today. The rest of the garage, on the other hand (including the storage space upstairs--containing, among other things, boxes of books I've removed from our bookshelf) still needs work. Another day.

3. I've managed to post a blog every day since Monday, including one to my other site, Cooking Nick's Books: A Sparks Fan's Food Blog. But that doesn't count, because when I'm blogging, something useful isn't getting done. Like laundry or exercise or sleep. (But, I did manage today's post in less than 30 minutes. YESSSSS!!!!)

Small Successes Vol. 1: Cakes and Pumpkins

I've seen the Small Successes button on a lot of blogs, and I enjoy reading the posts. The idea is to list three things you've accomplished this week that you feel good about, and share them on your blog. I'm jumping in this week, partly because I wanted to show you the results of my creative juices (however mediocre they are--I am not very good at artistic endeavors, and I'm always a little jealous of my fellow bloggers who post pictures of the fabulous knitting, sewing, and crafting projects you've done. I don't do any of those things. But I'm not a bad cook and as you'll see, I can be pretty savvy with a kitchen knife.) And thanks to Danielle Bean for hosting this fun meme on Faith and Family Live! (I think this is supposed to be a Thursday meme, but I'm posting a day early, mainly because I'm not quite awake yet and I don't feel like starting on my chores. If I can finish this in 30 minutes that will be a small success to add to the list. I've only got 20 minutes left, so I better hurry so I can get something done before I have to go to work.) Okay, here goes:


1. Moe celebrated his birthday recenlty and since it's getting close to Halloween, he decided he wanted a tombstone birthday cake. Yep, you read that right. When I asked him what he wanted written on the tombstone, he said, "R.I.P." "What about if I write '2000-2110' so it looks like you've lived for 110 years?" I asked. Nope. "What about Happy Birthday Moe?" suggested his father. "Um, NO, Dad. I'ts a TOMBSTONE." Because of his food allergies I made this dairy-free, egg-free cake, and improvised the design.

I doubled the recipe to make one square cake and one round one.

The dirt mound and the zombie hand were Moe's idea.

Even though we already had plenty of colorful birthday candles on hand, when I saw these black-and-white ones I thought they'd be fun for this cake. The boys were impressed and said they were "Goth."

2. Of course when it's your birthday, you HAVE to bring cupcakes to school to share with your class. Every year for Moe, I bake chocolate cupcakes using a recipe I found years ago on the back of a Hershey's Cocoa box:

QUICK CHOCOLATE CUPCAKES

1- 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup Hershey's Cocoa
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup water
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 T white vinegar
1 tsp vanilla extract

Heat oven to 375 degrees. Line muffin cups (2 1/2 in diameter) with paper bake cups. Mix flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, and salt. Add water, oil, vinegar, and vanilla; beat with whisk or spoon until batter is well blended. Fill muffin cups 2/3 full. Bake 16 to 18 minutes. Remove from pan to wire rack. Cool completely. Frost with "PERFECTLY CHOCOLATE" CHOCOLATE FROSTING. 16 cupcakes.

They are delicious, and Moe says that the kids in his class had been asking him all week if he was going to bring them. I was surprised they remembered them from last year, but that's how yummy they are!

Last years cupcakes...


...and this year's.

3. I picked up a beautiful pumpkin at the Farmer's Market on Saturday; not too big, but just right for carving. Instead of my usual method of cutting out eyes, nose, and mouth without any real planning (i.e. making it up as I go along), the kids wanted to find a pattern online and carve a REALLY COOL one. After vetoing several choices--the Darth Vader and Yoda ones were just too complex, and I'm NOT carving a puking pumpkin again this year--...

(Last year's pumpkins. The kids designed them both; I thought the one on the right was particularly clever. The one on the left--not so much.)

...Curly found a cute Sonic the Hedgehog pattern that seemed reasonably simple to carve, and one that everyone liked.

Definitely NOT professional quality, but we had fun making it and it does look a little like Sonic the Hedgehog.

(One other success: Last week I managed to complete almost everything on my to-do lists every day. Quite a feat if I may say so myself. This week I'm not getting nearly as much done, but I haven't made any to-do lists either. And this post took way longer than 30 minutes; I ended up taking two blogging sessions to complete it.)