Collecting Hats

Don't Bagel a Model, Too Many Carbs!

2011-07-19T19:51:00.003-06:00

I had an interesting encounter the other day. A jogger with a doggie passed by while I was walking with the children. We exchanged the usual neighborly hellos that makes me proud to live OOT (Out of Town). The kids started jabbering about the dog and she turned back and asked if we wanted to pet him.

Then came the bagel:

"I love how you look so stylish for a frum (observant) person, that's not usually the case," she tells me.

I could definitely name several things about my appearance that morning I was unhappy with, but I still appreciated the compliment.

Even better than unexpected compliments are unexpected compliments that lead to a whole conversation about orthodoxy, women in Judaism, women of other religions, oppression of women in the world.

I mentioned how even my loudmouthed, attention-seeking self isn't bothered by not being able to lead prayers, read from the torah, or any other public synagogue position. Even more I'm glad no one interrupts my prayer in synagogue to ask if I want an honor during the services. How do you men deal with that? It's so annoying!

We heard each other. Looking presentable or (even better) good can be a kiddush Hashem (elevation of G-d's name). A woman can be frum, well dressed, out going, normal and balanced and fit into a regular religious community. And observant or not, we are lucky to have the freedoms we have to be ourselves. Ok, so I try to be myself only better since there is always room for improvement.

Fun in an Elevator: NY state of mind

2011-07-06T15:30:00.002-06:00

The elevator doors closed. The silence lasted only one brief moment.

"Well Mommy, what would happen?" my four year old persisted.

The small space was jam packed with a mix of professionals, vacationers, and our family, complete with two curious preschoolers. I was put on the spot.

I knew there was no avoiding answering her, the best I could do was mitigate the confusion I was about to unleash with as much information as I felt I could share.

"Um, I guess if the Statue of Liberty got into a knife fight with another statue, a bad one, she should probably win."

The exchanged glances around the elevator were amused and knowing Looks like I was blessed with fellow parents, or at least easy going folk.

Miraculously, this ended the several hour debate we'd had ever since we'd seen Lady Liberty from the ferry. Something about the Statue had spoken to my headstrong little one. She represented majesty, imagination, and wicked street fighting skills.

I think I'll have to share this post and a clip from Ghostbusters with this one when she's older.

Driving Me Sane

2011-05-19T13:51:00.002-06:00

As my husband continually reminds me, my thirtieth birthday is on the horizon. Given my "advanced" age many people are surprised to hear that I only recently got a driver's license. Almost thirteen years after my post driver's ed hiatus, I finally achieved what others my age take for granted.

I am very independent by nature so my pedestrian years were only hindered by how far public transportation or my cute shoes would take me. Once I had two kids in tow, that distance was considerably shortened. The heady freedom that comes from needing to go somewhere, leaving when it suits me, and getting there quickly is incredible!

When I think about the most exciting place I've taken myself there are several top contenders:

Running out to the grocery for a time sensitive needed item. No more relying on hubsters' manly instincts, which sometimes end with him returning empty handed.
The mikvah, nuf said.
Getting the kids to school on time.

But today was the best of all. I took the kids to a park in the next neighborhood. One we'd gotten to with a good friend who shares her extra car seating and masochistic desire to travel out numbers 2:1 in favor of the rugrats. But the pleasure of taking them myself today was sweet. I was providing a simple, pleasurable treat to my children. Were they lacking before? Not with a park and library walking distance from home. Not for love, crafts, food, caring, and fun. Who doesn't love a little extra though? And I was able to do it myself. Even the rain on my parade couldn't rain on my parade.

I'm already hoping for a sunny day next week so we can hit all the hottest preschool fun spots more than 15 mins from home.

First I'm celebrating with a mommy's night out. I'll drive!

Dogs Don't Fly: Death Defying Dog Gets 2nd Chance

2011-05-18T14:00:00.000-06:00

I come across amazing news articles all the time thanks to friends on Twitter and Facebook and more on Google Reader. This article blew me away: Hungry eagle inadvertently swoops toy poodle away to better life

How many times have you thought to yourself "Life couldn't get any worse!" but then it does. How many times have you said "It'll never get better" but it does.

This poor little doggie lived in poor conditions as a stray. Couldn't get worse for a poor, defenseless creature, right? Hungry, tooth decay, foot problems. Then she's captured by an eagle then dropped from the sky. Broken ribs, scratches, petrified. Why do bad things happen to good doggies you ask? Well, the story has a happy ending. Her parachute-less skydiving drops her at a nursing home where nurses got her medical attention. She wouldn't have survived much longer on the streets and now she has a chance to be adopted, mended, loved.

Hashem takes care of his creatures great and small. We're supposed to pray for his help even as the sword (or eagle's talons) is at our neck because salvation can come in an instant.

This little doggie's life is a parable for human suffering. Sometimes the bad things that happen bring about the best. Sometimes things get worse before they get better. Sometimes when you think things will never change, they do. Yes it stinks in the mean time, it's scary, it hurts, it may be all you know. But in the blink of an eye it can all change.

The linked article includes ways to donate to help May (what staff named the miracle pooch) with medical expenses and adoption.

Plagued during Passover

2011-04-28T08:21:00.003-06:00

This year's celebration was much less eventful than the last. I cut 1/5 less fingers. All of our wall fixtures remained in place. And no one was poisoned. That I know of.

We had our flops to be sure. Note for next year: 1) resist hubster's persuasive tactics and do not attempt to make his mother's chocolate cake recipe. 2) Especially when missing some of the ingredients. 3) In case #1 is disregarded, do not attempt to remedy #2 with ill-conceived substitutions.

Some winners included the frozen meatloaf I revitalized with brisket juice. I figured, what couldn't be made better with brisket juice? The answer: NOTHING! It was the best meatloaf I've ever had. Ever.

The other winner was so cool, it will warrant it's own Droolworthy Doodads post. It was fantabulous! Stay tuned!

Pesach Cleaning thanks to Heloise

2011-04-14T13:52:00.000-06:00

I don't know if anyone else remembers reading the "Hints from Heloise" column in the newspaper. As a voracious reader, practical thinker, and short-cut lover, I loved reading her tidbits starting from a young age.

I was so excited to see a copy of Heloise's Kitchen Hints at a thrift store and snapped it up without hesitating. It was more as a keepsake and was promptly tucked in with my cookbooks. I haven't taken a chance to really read through it.

Fastforward a few years and I find myself knee deep in Passover prep. My oven is a disaster thanks to hubsters' speciality "Chicken ala geyser." I tried my usual combo: baking soda paste, salt scrub, and a generous dash of elbow grease. I even tried using hubsters' elbow grease. I was so tempted to buy some Easy Off and well, get it off easy. But toxically. Then I remembered this little gem on the bookshelf. Of course she has a whole section on oven cleaning. The oven was covered in a paste of baking soda and left over night. The racks were plunked into the bathtub with soap and hot water to soak over night. I got some sleep.

Today, after more elbow grease, hubsters added vinegar to the oven mix. The man has seen me in action enough to know I mix them, but not enough to know it makes a volcano, but when I went into the kitchen it was all done! No steel wool, no easy off!

And the racks? Mostly everything wiped off easy peasey.Course for Passover "mostly" won't cut it so I did re-submerge and gave em a good scrubbing with a microfiber sponge. Viola!! They are even nicer than when we moved into this place! The tub does have a heinous ring around the tub, but my calculations show it'll be easier to remove than steel-wooling the racks would have been.

Hopefully there are enough people who have yet to tackle oven who can try these Hints from Heloise. If you are in the group that is partway through your Passover cooking in a spotless kitchen, I don't want to hear it unless there is a gift of chocolate to accompany your cleaner-than-thou proclamations.

If you want your very own Hints from Heloise book, a quick Google will show you where to buy one, whether vintage or new printing. Or you can hope for a blessed thrifting like I did!

Now, does Heloise have tips for dealing with suspicious noises coming from bored, Passover ignored children? If you see my kids covered with baking soda, you'll know why!

Vegetables are what Food eats

2011-03-31T14:00:00.007-06:00

I'm working with a nutritionist to revamp my diet. Today was day one. The rules are pretty simple. No sugar, no carbs, no dairy. As many vegetables, eggs, beans, chicken, fish, and Ezekiel bread I can manage. As a Texan I was raised with the belief that vegetables were fabulous . . . for feeding up the animals we would later barbecue. My mom always made the requisite side green, and often a meal had a side salad, or as an appetizer. But never the whole meal. Until now.

So today is Day 1. I headed to Whole Foods and loaded up on organic fixings. I piled up an enormous salad for lunch. Arugala, butter lettuce, carrots, green beans, clover sprouts, tomatoes, broccoli slaw, half a chicken breast. After the preschoolers swarmed I still ate enough to feed all of Watership Down. And afterwards it was as if I had eaten nothing at all. Arg!

Pic from the Flickr stream of Carly Lesser & Art Drauglis

"You'll be hungry because you aren't filling up on empty calories," he said. "You can eat more salad, or a piece of fruit to mix things up."

So now I am envisioning a future where I'm splitting my time between washing and checking vegetables (for bugs) and grazing. Moo.

No more quick quesadillas or rice and beans for lunch. No oatmeal or cottage cheese for breakfast. No lattes, homemade or Starbucks. No snacking on cheese or grabbing a few pretzels. Can I do it? I'm not sure.

It reminds me of the first Pesach I tried to keep. My friend and I were aflame with the fervor only a newly minted Baal Teshuva (new returner to Judaism) can manage. We knew that we couldn't eat bread and grain products for the week. In the university dining service that left us with only the salad bar for nutrition. For three meals a day. After three days I called my rabbi and between bawling, sniffling, and tummy rumbling I announced that we were dying. It was unnatural to only eat salad 3 meals a day. I felt weak, hungry, and my fire was dimming with each leafy bite. I didn't know if I could continue. The rabbi and his wife came to the rescue within the hour with platters of chicken, potato kugel, and other real food. Our Pesach was saved, our flame simmered on.

But no one will be riding to my rescue now. I won't have religious conviction to keep me from cheating or quitting. I'm not sure if the monetary loss invested in the nutritionist & the specialty foods will be enough. Please G-d there will be some results. If I'm gonna be eating rabbit food, I'd better see a little more bounce in my step!

Losing sleep over 2nd Hand Worries

2011-03-30T16:33:00.004-06:00

Have you ever had an enormous "Duh!?" moment when you figure out the cause of a problem was something obvious or at least fixable while you rushed around trying complicated solutions?

I just had a moment like that this week. After months of seeing doctors for pain and being diagnosed with arthritis while still comfortably on the foot of that big hill called "the late 20s," I've found a culprit to pin it on. Now there is more than one reason, take 15 years of dance damage, years of high heels to boost my 5'1'' height, slouching (sorry mom!), two births, and not enough lifting with the legs and anyone would be hurting at least a little. But for the amount of pain I've been in, there was more.

Four doctors and 6 months didn't bring an answer. I had a flash of brilliance one morning sitting in my bed. My bed which is really a mattress and box spring on the floor. A mattress and box spring we were given 2 years ago. Two years ago when my parents friends were redoing their bedroom furniture. Every piece of furniture in my bedroom is a hand-me-down. And apparently my back could handle a used dresser, but the used mattress had sprung it's last spring.

I don't think I've had a new mattress since I was a toddler and got my first bed (which is currently in the kiddos room). I don't know what a new mattress feels like! The definitive test came when I slept last night on the newest mattress in the house. A year old Ikea special. I woke up with a bit more bounce, and considering I'm not a morning person, that's not bad.

I buy second hand everything apart from undergarments & kitchen utensils. I think I'm going to be adding mattresses to that small list. The fact that something free, that didn't seem so bad had been causing so much trouble is disturbing. Wouldn't a bad mattress feel bad? I thought it would, how wrong I was! How can you gauge the life a second hand find has left in it? How can you be sure a bargain will be all it's cracked up to be? Unlike the salvation army finds languishing in my closet in the "seemed like a good idea at the time" section, this "treasure" was every man's trash.

Even scarier, I read an article (never Google while under duress) about obesity and poor sleep. I'm resisting the urge to throw out all the mattresses in the house and get new ones. This seems like overreacting, but when I tell you that the oldest mattress is at least 20 years old, and the others are of indeterminant age, you'll forgive my fervor.

First the bed bug scare, now back pain. I won't be discouraged from foraging, thrifting, or curb hunting, but I've definitely learned the hard way that sometimes you do have to look that gift horse in the mouth.

Being Prepared: Less Girl Scout, more MacGuyver

2011-03-13T21:05:00.002-06:00

So I've generally learned from the fable of the grasshopper and the ant. I pack lunches the night before. I make lists AND check them twice. I have contingency plans coming out of my wazoo, plus plans for what to do in case of catastrophic wazoo failure, cuz you never know!

But this weekend has seen me unprepared and floundering not once, not twice, but three glorious bouts of "Why did I get myself into this situation!?"

The first was a common scenario in my kitchen. I am halfway through a recipe before I realize I don't have enough of a key ingredient. Well, lets just say I now know that my healthy chocolate muffins can be delicious even without full quantities of flax seed (oops), cocoa powder (doh!), and orange juice (for pete's sake!). I scrounged up substitutes and by the end was just flinging stuff in since they were so far from the recipe, why not? Thank G-d, it's apparently a forgiving recipe!

Next was this morning while dressing my children in their Purim costumes for the local carnival. Yes it's a week before Purim, but I was PREPARED! My mother had bought the kids costumes from the after-Halloween sales. See where I learn my preparedness? I didn't have to worry about looking for costumes, scrounging up bits and bobs. Until this morning when I realized RE had grown in the past 4mos and couldn't squeeze into his costume no matter how much squishing, praying, or cajoling I tried. Great. A well stocked dress up chest came to the rescue and he was more than happy with the results. The small costume will be donated to a smaller friend.

Then I grab my "costume." I don't really dress up for modesty reasons. I could go on a tangent about this, but I'm posting about my incompetence, something even modesty can't save me from. I had been saving a vintage jacket my mom handed down for just such an occasion. It's flashy enough for Purim without screaming "look at me I'm dressed up as a character." I tried it on, and it fit. Phew! Except . . . . that it was missing 2 buttons, in high profile places. So while my children were waiting in their coats & shoes (no small accomplishment as other mothers know), removed the remaining buttons and sewed all new buttons down the ~~blasted~~ beautiful thing.

Obviously my wailing "How did I get myself into this?" is easily answered with "By not preparing, duh!" but how much more prepared can I afford to be? Considering it's a week before Purim, a little unpreparedness now means we're already set for next week barring any unforseen accidents, emergencies, or mixups. Of course being the mother of preschoolers is all about the accidents, emergencies and mixups, so being able to tuck and roll or MacGuyver my way out is the answer. And I do love me some MacGuyver!

Job hunting for Moms, Facing the Illegal Question

2011-02-25T15:12:00.000-07:00

I just finished reading Answering the Illegal Question - Manage Your Career in The Chronicle of Higher Education and it made me think of the time I was interviewing and was asked the looming question every mother fears: "How can you handle working when you have kids to raise?"

Like the author I was taken aback and my answer was a blur. I also wish I had called the interviewer on the illegality of such a question as well as the ridiculousness of the assumption.

In college I worked 3 jobs, took 21 credits a semester, competed nationally on the ballroom dance team, maintained the 3.0 necessary for my scholarship, helped run the campus Hillel, was an officer in the residence hall government, had an active social life and was a member of various student organizations. No one during that time questioned my abilities to balance my workload besides my advisor who had to sign off on the 21 credits since the limit was technically 18. No one asked how I'd juggle, how I'd find time for me, if my relationships would suffer.

Am I more busy now? I doubt it. Busy keeps me busy. Idle hands and all that. I'm my most competent with a looming deadline, get all my peripheral tasks done during the prerequisite procrastination time. Whether that's homework, powerpoint presentations,memos to the boss, school lunches, laundry, grocery shopping, or bill paying shouldn't matter.

Motherhood has slowed me down in some ways. My purse is enormous and huge and I can't do as much long division in my head. Does this make me less valuable as an employee? Thankfully not in most of the fields I'm qualified for!

Perhaps this is where the supermom syndrome stems from. We feel like we have to prove we can do it all because, by golly, they are asking.

Have you ever been questioned as a mother in the workplace? How did you handle it?

Great-tasting Healthy Chocolate Muffins

2011-02-25T14:06:00.002-07:00

My kids love muffins. It doesn't really matter what they are made of, I think it's the portable size and makes them think of cupcakes.

If you thought my veggie muffins weren't dessert-y enough, have no fear. Take 2 of the sneaky baking genius! (cue evil laughter). I'd like to present: Irresistible Double Chocolate Muffins Recipe - Allrecipes.com

Here is the recipe with the modifications I made & notes

I doubled the original.

2 cups white flour

1.5 cups ground flax seed

1 cup quick oats

2 tsp baking soda

3 tsp baking powder

1 cup cocoa powder

chocolate chips (don't skimp, it makes sweetness & chocolaty-ness)

2 cups orange juice (to keep it dairy free, didn't really taste)

1 can (1.5 cups) pumpkin puree

2 cups brown sugar

2 eggs

2 tsps vanilla extract.

We did the dump and stir, I can see how it would have been easier to follow the directions and mix the dry and wet separately and then combine, but I was cooking with little helpers, and couldn't be bothered to use more than one bowl. :)

Fill the cupcake pans, liners, at least 3/4 full as they don't rise so much, but will get a nice little dome on top.

Bake 350 degrees F for 25mins.

Made 42 muffins. (small-medium sized)

They will definitely be made again!! Now I'll be serving these to guests tonight and will not mention their healthy alter egos.

UPDATE: These should have been refrigerated or frozen right away as I found the remaining half dozen with spots of mold this afternoon. They've been wrapped in foil for 4 days. Next time I'll plan ahead better.

More Wheat less white: Oatmeal bread

2011-02-16T13:58:00.001-07:00

I've fallen in love with the Oatmeal Bread from the More with less cookbook. It's a delight to knead once you get over the pale pasty color. It tastes delicious!

Here is how I make it:

In a large bowl combine:

1 cup quick oats (regular work fine in a pinch)

1/2 cup whole wheat flour

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 Tbsp salt

2 T Smart Balance margarine

Stir in:

2 cups boiling water

Dissolve:

3 T yeast into

1/2 cup warm water

When the batter has cooled and is just warm, add the yeast/water mix and stir.

Add

4 cups whole wheat flour

1-2 cups white flour until dough is no longer sticky

Knead 10 mins.

Set to rise in covered, oiled bowl.

Punch down and shape into 4-5 loaves, braids, twists, what have you. Brush with egg & top with oatmeal & flaxseed. Bake at 350F for 25-30 mins.

Foodie Flops: When things go wrong

2011-02-16T13:41:00.002-07:00

I just finished reading this article over at The Kitchn:

Unexpected Results: 5 Reasons Why A Recipe Might Fail | Apartment Therapy The Kitchn

I can definitely think of many mismeasured, half doubled, forgotten burnt, substitution errors, missing ingredients, and faulty equipment errors in all my years of cooking. But something I can't figure out is my homemade bread.

As long as I've been married I've been baking bread. When we lived over seas and I had to content with foreign ingredients, measurements and equipment in a rented apartment, I found a recipe that worked and stuck to it. Bubbie Irma's challah recipe came out wonderful every time. Occasionally I'd by from the delicious, cheap bakery in the local market, but more often I'd bake.

We had three and a half years of wedded, doughy bliss. Then we moved back to America. We lived with my parents while hubsters did the job hunt and I got to make use of my mother's superior kitchen and American grocery stores to show off my culinary prowess. Except not. Each batch was a flop. Didn't rise, didn't taste good, didn't cook through, or burnt. I gave up and switched back to store bought, blaming the water, the inferiority of American ingredients, whatever. Rhodes Dough was cheap, tasty, and easy, It tasted good even if it didn't rise.

I tried again when we moved to the East coast with similar results. Back to the Rhodes frozen Dough. Then we learned about high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) and made a point to cut it out wherever we could. I spoke about both the ease of Rhodes dough and our healthy diet to anyone with a modicum of interest until one day a friend sheepishly told me that Rhodes dough had HFCS in it! I was flabbergasted, why the heck would frozen dough need it?? I went cold turkey, leaving the last few frozen loaves to languish in prime freezer real estate and went back to baking.

And the loaves were good.

What had changed? Only my determination to bake from scratch! Here we are two years after surrendering to fresh bread-less America, I have triumphed! I've even branched out to a new favorite recipe, the Oatmeal bread from the cookbook More with Less. It's delicious and I've even been brave enough to tinker with it successfully, increasing the ratio of white to whole wheat.

Why does a recipe flop? Sometimes for the same reason a recipe works, regardless of our best (or worst) efforts!

Mad for Matbucha: A dip recipe

2011-02-10T15:01:00.002-07:00

Other possible titles included: I dip, you dip, we dip.

Also called Turkish salad, Moroccan salsa (I made that one up), or tomato chutney, this stewed dish is great for topping fish, bread, pita, and spoons. Yum! It's also a great way to use up wilty, pathetic looking tomatoes and peppers!

As with all my cooking, I started by searching Google "matbucha recipe," looked at a few for ideas, then winged it (wung it?). I have tried to estimate measurements where possible, but live dangerously and ignore them!

MATBUCHA

dash of oil

1/2 onion, diced

2 cloves garlic

1 pint grape tomatoes

1 red pepper diced

1/4 cup Sofrito

1 cup tomato sauce, optional (I used Trader Joes Marinara)

Heat oil in a non-copper pot. Sauté onions until soft, add garlic. When both are translucent add the remaining ingredients. Simmer, stirring occasionally until tomatoes burst from skins, probably close to 30mins. Serve warm or cold.

I now double the recipe because it's so delicious it disappears!

Ima, Tell me all about . . . the recipe for water

2011-02-08T16:56:00.004-07:00

My 4yo is a Chatty Cathy to the extreme. Her recent "Tell me all about" was for the recipe for water.

I explained briefly, then as any good listener does, she repeated the highlights back to me:

"Hashem (G-d) takes two hydrans, one oxidigen, mixes it up. Makes water, puts it into a bottle, puts on the lid so, so tight so you need a mommy or a daddy to open it. Unless you are big enough and can open it yourself."

Yep, that's basically how it goes!

Baking Soda Hack: My miracle Cleaner

2011-02-08T13:44:00.003-07:00

My 4yo is proudly giving me a tour of all the marker spots that freckle her dollie's plastic head. What does this make me think besides "I really have to keep those markers up higher"? I give a little thanks that I bought a 5lb bag of baking soda from the warehouse store.

I've used baking soda to remove permanent marker from:

aforementioned dollie
floor tiles
fingers and fingernails
plastic table

I also use it for scrubbing the bathroom sink, washing stubborn dishes, freshening unwashed hair, the grease fire in the oven (oops), and as a cheap facial exfoliator.

The 5lb bag is used to fill empty spice shakers in the kitchen and bathroom, high baking soda use areas. I'm probably barely halfway through after a year of heavy use!

Product review: Google Notebook Chrome OS - The First Week

2011-02-05T18:32:00.009-07:00

It's officially been one week since I opened the box and let a Chrome Notebook (CR-48) into my life. Overall, it's my sense of duty as a tester that's keeping me using it.

UPDATED

Here's what I love:
* It's light
It may be too big to shove into my purse, but I could throw it into a bigger purse or backpack and shlep without throwing out my back.

* The battery life is great!

(full disclosure, my other laptop has a batterylife of 18mins, I could use it to time a matzah factory)
I ran a test of it, running 2-3 tabs plus streaming Pandora and I went from 100% to 50% in 4hrs.

* It's so fast!

From sleep to awake in 5-10secs, from shut down to start up in a scant few minutes. Compared to my 2 year old dinosaur, it's a cheetah. Websites load quickly.Hulu videos load quickly. No frustrations in that arena.

* It's Chrome

As a Chrome user I know where everything is and feel comfortable using all the usual Chrome features like search from the address bar and other navigation. The addons work the same, the settings are in the same place, it's home.

* 2 year contract for Verizon 3G, 100MB/mos for free!
Great for using on the go. 100MB is not much at all, but there is an option to pay for unlimited if I want (which I don't thanks to the problems listed in the bottom of this post).

And it would only be fair for full disclosure that I include the things that make me want to tear my hair out. Now I love Google, I know this is a beta, but I sure wish it was all roses and smooches!

Here's why I can't use it day to day:

* I can't install the programs I use for work, so I can't use the laptop for work.
I understand the power and pull of the move to cloud computing, but this only works when everyone is on board. I use Salesforce for work as a database admin, as far as I know there is no way to take data from a Google doc and run through ID matching or upload into the SF database.

* As of yet there is no way to watch Netflix Watch Instantly videos, so I can't use the laptop for play
Hulu works and Amazon video works, but Netflix is a big chunk of my video streaming usage. It's a known problem since Netflix uses MS Silverlight and Chrome depends on HTML5. Will there be a fix, workaround, or change? Who knows.

* More bad Buzz: The speakers work 50% percent of the time
There is no hardware branding to be seen on the machine. This means I have no where to go for hardware trouble shooting. Could I fix it if my Linux skills were dusted off? Maybe. I've looked around and there are many communities for Chrome OS users that have popped up with forums, but this isn't an official fix. I found the Linux terminal by hitting ctl+atl+t, but it has limited functionality.

* The minimalist touchpad makes right clicking the bane of my existence. Again less than 50% success rate

Thanks to the anonymous poster my right clicking woes are over! Instead of trying to finagle the two fingered click I can now hit alt+touchpad! Thanks!

I'm used to the 2 button touchpad. The CR-48 has just one big touchpad with click enabled, minimal scrolling, and a tricky 2 finger right click. I am either a spaz, impatient, or just your normal user, but I can't get the blasted thing to work. This comes up a bazillion times a day while I try to open a link in a new tab, spell check, etc. I'm hoping this will resolve the same way the touchscreen newness did, with time and practice.

* the SD card reader doesn't work.
As in, if you put an SD card in, it does NOTHING! I'm not alone in this, as my surfing has shown, but why is it there? A place holder or a test to see what I do when confronted with a problem as a beta tester. No idea.

* Missing buttons

I don't mind that they replaced the capslock button with a search button. Like Google mentions in their manual, only commenters on YouTube NEED CAPSLOCK TO MAKE THEIR POINT. The rest of us can caps shift. But the Home, End, and Page Up and Down buttons, just make navigating lots of text easier. There is a bit of alt+touchpad action and there are scrollbars on the pages, but still something I miss.

I can imagine that there will be software updates and fixes for some of the problems, but what about the hardware issues? If this is a laptop I get to keep, and the 2yr Verizon contract implies long term use, will it keep pace with what's out there? What will the CR-48 look like when it goes on sale for general consumption? I"m guessing pretty different than what I'm typing on now.

2 Little Kittens have lost their mittens

2011-01-31T19:50:00.007-07:00

How know if you are both overly lazy and overly crafty? When you find yourself halfway through winter with 3 mismatched kids' gloves and you can't be bothered to shop to replace them, so you sit down to make some new ones.

I can't bear to face the hunt for winter accessories in a retail world that is already unloading swimsuits. It's painful to think about.

Here is the pattern I was given by the local Crochet Guild just picked bits of mystery yarn that vaguely match the kids' coats. One red pair and one variegated pink pair. Well, by pair I mean balls of yarn, one of which is attached to a partial cuff already.

*** Updated to add pics of the finished products:

Product review: Google Notebook Chrome OS - First impressions

2011-01-31T14:21:00.012-07:00

I've been meaning to blog about the many samples that come my way for only the cost of spam. I've signed up for everything from oatmeal, to makeup, to dog food, and more. Each package is a a mini surprise as the 4-6wks delivery time ensures I've completely forgotten clicking on the "try for free" button.

The box that was waiting on my doorstep this past Friday was bigger even than the 3.5lbs of free Purina (thanks Purina!) and seemed more like an Amazon.com purchase.

"What did you buy?" My fiscally minded hubsters asked, not amused.

"Nothing! Really!" I said, trying to wrack my brain just in case. "Probably only something we needed in any case." The perfect defense for shopping.

"You bought more mouse traps??" Hubsters gestured to the inner box that showed an elaborate diagram of a mouse and a disassembled rocketship.

Puzzled we stared for a bit longer, until we saw the packing slip. It was a Google Chrome OS notebook, and I was a lucky tester. The screaming, jumping, dancing, and whooping baffled the children and sent my downstairs neighbor running up to make sure we weren't seriously injured.

I was busy cooking for shabbos, so like any good wife, I let hubsters have the pleasure of the first test drive. Good thing too, since my perusing of other reviews says that one must connect to a secure network connection from the guest account and then set up the user account, which hubsters did by default as he was the guest, and I was the triumphant user/Googler.

The notebook is sleek, black matte, and minimalist.

It's light, as it should be. There is only one USB port, one video out, one headphone jack, an SD card reader and the power jack.

Well it was sleek, black, matte and minimalist until I tricked it out using the included decal kit. Now it looks a bit like something a middle schooler would use, but my excitement at my new toy overrode any sense of style and restraint my inner decorator would have tried to establish.

There is no software loaded into the system beyond the Chrome OS. It is built around cloud computing. Want to make a document? Use Google Docs. Want to play music? Stream some. There is an option to download apps from the Chrome Web Store. Some are addons to Chrome similar to the ones that work with the Chrome Browser, some are web apps like Tweetdeck, and others are basically bookmarks to webpages, while handy are not the same as an app. There is everything from browser games that pop down from the toolbar, to photo editing, basically anything you'd expect in an app store.

The idea, as laid out in the intro page, is that if your current laptop were hit with a steam roller, you'd lose everything. If a google machine gets hit with a steam roller, no biggie, just log into another google machine and it's like the steam roller was one bad dream, all your setting exist in the cloud and nothing is lost.

I quickly tricked out with some basic necessities. Web Of Trust to vet the links as I surf and protect my machine, bookmarks to my usual places, an add on for blogger, one for sharing across my social networks, and Tweetdeck. Now I've been using the desktop app for a long time now and the web based one took a lot of tweaking and fiddling to approximate the settings and features I'd been enjoying thus far. I wish it had just "poof" imported my settings, but such is life.

I will be posting more about my experiences in a series to keep the length down to just below War and Peace and "too long didn't read," I know ya'll appreciate it!

Tea for two, and two for tea . . . alone!

2011-01-26T16:37:00.006-07:00

I know there are plenty of opportunities for a Jewish person to have a culture clash with secular or non-Jewish people. Fodder could come from a variety of lingo (oy vey!), food (gefilte fish), cultural (matchmakers!), geographical (you're from ___ you must know Sara Cohen!), physical (the shnoz), emotional (if you called more often you'd understand).

This week I had one I'd never experienced before. The Baffled Barista. See, the poor guy was just making me some tea (Grande non-fat please!) when there was a hub-bub from the break room. We'd been joking about something funny that had happened in line while I was ordering, so in an atmosphere of joviality he shared that a coworker was celebrating the news that she was expecting.

<<>>

What was he expecting me to say? I have no idea :) Something between indifference to polite smiling. Instead he got the Jewish mother treatment. Poor barista didn't know what hit him.

"Wow! Congratulations!" I beamed. I had known enough not to say mazal tov, my usual reaction to hearing news like this.

He looked shocked. "It's not mine, it's a coworkers."

"We all celebrate news like that. It's part of the Starbucks family celebration, right?" I fumbled.

He gave me his most strategic "you're a crazy lady but I'm in food service so I'm used to dealing with loonies" smile. Oy vey indeed.

See, every celebration in the Jewish people is something we share. If my mom's hair stylist's third cousin's half sister's dog had puppies, I'd say "Mazal tov!" and my excitement would only increase as the proximity of the celebration approached me personally. So my best friend's future engagement would require an ear shattering squeal, lots of jumping, and at least 3 more laugh lines to every person who informed me of the news, from the future-bride herself to any one of the 252 facebook friends we have in common.

We share simchas (celebrations) because we all have a piece of it. We've prayed for the blessing for ourselves and those we know, and at the end of the prayer is usually "and all of the people of Israel." So any time someone has something good, we've prayed for it at one time or another. We've put in the effort, the shared excitement is the reward. At a wedding, bris, engagement, we wish Mazal tov to everyone attending, not just the immediate participants. It's the sense of community we all feel for each other.

I feel bad for putting the poor guy on the spot when he was just trying to slog through his caffeinated shift. Maybe it was mostly because he was male, and a female would have reacted differently safe in the knowledge that I couldn't be mistaking paternity.

I also feel a little bad that there is such detachment from one another that the congratulations can't spill over. In hindsight I remembered the appropriate response "She must be so happy." The singular over the plural.

Cute boots, Unfortunate name

2010-12-15T09:32:00.002-07:00

Minding my own business, browsing the Aerosole website looking at the cute sale boots for my tiny feet and athletic calves and I come across these beauts: The Sota Water. Cute brown or black leather with a wide cuff, and named after the litmus test to determine if an accused woman was in fact an adulteress.

Unfortunate mistake? Random pairing of words? Willful use of a misunderstood phrase?

As cute as they are I just can't bring myself to buy them with a name like that!

WWYD? Borrowed toy is broken

2010-12-06T11:05:00.002-07:00

Our apartment building has a shared courtyard where everyone keeps their riding toys: bikes, cozy coups, scooters. We have our toys in the corner near our front door and we always return them there when we are finished. The neighbors generally have a pretty open sharing policy,

Today our hand-me-down scooter was there in the corner, or at least most of it. I found part of it in the grass about 200ft away. This means someone borrowed it, broke it, then put it back without saying anything, leaving a note, anything. We aren't in a position to replace it at the moment and I'm part sad and part angry about the whole situation.

My first impulse is to hang a note near our things asking they be returned in the same condition they are borrowed and then with an addendum that whoever broke the scooter please leave $20 in the attached envelope towards a replacement. But I doubt anything would come out of it.

I'd hate to bike lock our belongings since we use other people's toys and not having ours available doesn't seem right. Bringing the toys inside isn't practical.

Anyone have advice? Should I lock the remaining toys? What else can I do besides shake my fist at the failure of communal sharing?

Conversations with a Toddler: Intro to Toddler logic

2010-10-19T17:12:00.002-06:00

Awa is a 4yo chatterbox. It's genetic, definitely from my side of the family. She can create a lengthy conversation out of thin air, changing topics mid-sentence, firing away like a pinball racing around it's machine. I understand this, I am also like this, it still drives me crazy. It's definitely always good for a laugh.

Lately she has been asking "Tell me all about _____." My boo boo, the dinner, where I went shopping, bugs, pocket lint, lather rinse repeat.

Tonight's conversation began about the days events, meandered into learning about dinner and kosher. Then she hit me with:

"Ima, tell me about the whole world." She says, leaning forward with interest like any good interviewer would.

My response was naturally lots of eye blinking. "That's a big topic with lots to talk about. Where should I start?"

I patted myself on the back for keeping the lines of communication open while simultaneously directing the conversation to a narrower scope.

"Start from the beginning. Tell me everything" Of course, that's logical . . . .

And this is why dinner conversation over sweet and sour hot dogs and rice was about the creation of the world and G-d's plan.

Droolworthy Doodads: Tea charms

2010-10-18T18:38:00.003-06:00

As we cough and sputter our way into cold and flu season, I've had reason to unpack another gadget gifted by my mom. Most of the tea bags we have in the house are staple & string free. Great for the environment, not so much for the tea bag retrieval process. Enter the tea charm:

I love jewelry and accessories. It's an obsession. And isn't this just the cutest thing? Picture it hanging out of a dainty Ikea teacup, or more likely: my enormous Walmart tankard. I need more of them, not just so I can accessorize my mug, that would be lame, right? It's for when I'm hosting, really! A quick google turns up awfully few purchasing options, but mom found one by cruising TJMaxx/Marshalls/Ross, she can do it again!

What would my British in-laws think if they found this gracing the side of a cuppa? Hubsters has seen me stir tea with a knife, at this point nothing would shock them.

Loving lentils: Vegan Couscous & Lentil Curry Soup

2010-10-14T17:10:00.003-06:00

My obsession with lentils began after the birth of my first child. The pulses in my diet had been confined to gandules (pigeon peas) and I was surprised how much I loved the red lentil side dish I received from a friend with an after birth meal.

Now lentils are my go to meat substitute, and add-in every time I make rice or soup.

This recipe was born of reverse engineering a delicious instant cup of soup I bought at Whole Foods. It was tasty, spicy, and most importantly kept me full for hours.

In Israel I could find red or green lentils, but here in the US so far I've really mainly seen green. I find them mostly interchangeable, although red tend to dissolve more when cooking where green keep their shape.

Here's what we had for dinner tonight:

1/8 cup organic split pea mix

3/4 cup green lentils

2 Tblsp crushed garlic

1 carrot sliced

1 cup sliced mushrooms

1 Tblsp crushed tomatoes

2 Tblsp cumin powder

3 Tblsp curry powder

Water - at least twice the level of the previous ingredients (could use veggie broth)

Combine all in a pot, and simmer until the carrots & peas are tender, about 40mins. Check the broth level, if the soup has thickened too much add more water or broth at this point.

Before serving add 1/4-1/2 cup of couscous, stir, and cover for 5 mins. The couscous really reduces the amount of water in the soup giving it a thicker consistency.

I find soup to be very forgiving and throw any combination of vegetables I have on hand in, sometimes it's nice to have a simple, filling soup though.

What are basic skills needed in the kitchen?

2010-10-05T10:57:00.003-06:00

I read and interesting article over at theKitchn.com by Emma Christensen about what basic skills all cooks should have, with Anthony Bourdain's POV from his book Medium Raw. Personally I can do all of the tasks with varying degrees of success, apart from cleaning a fish, something I've never learned to do. Here's his list (from theKitchn.com) :

• Chopping an onion
• Making an omelet
• Roasting a chicken
• The correct way to grill and rest a steak
• Cooking vegetables to desired doneness
• Making a vinaigrette
• Shop for fresh produce
• Buying a fish, cleaning it, and making it
• Roasting meat
• Roasting and mashing potatoes
• Braising meats and vegetables
• What to do with bones (a.k.a. How to make stock)

Emma adds baking cookies, bread, and a birthday cake, which I heartily agree should be basic. It's quite often I hear people claim the can cook but not bake. Some things are just basic skills, just like English Majors need some small proficiency in math to graduate. Other commentators mentioned adjusting the list for regional and dietary needs. This made me think more about what the basic skills I use day to day as a mother in a kosher kitchen. Living in Israel taught me some things I hadn't done in America, and I know my "basics" are more complicated for it. I'd add:

make homemade pasta sauce
eyeball portion size before and after cooking
Read a recipe
keep laws of Kashrus (Jewish dietary laws)
cook in a crockpot
make at least one vegetarian main dish
make a balanced, nutritious menu
fry an egg, over easy
cook dried grains or beans (from the comments at theKitchn.com)
use common cooking & spice substitutions

My grandmother would lament my inability to cut a whole chicken up, something considered basic in her day, while my mother-in-law is appalled that I can't make a good cuppa (tea that is) or kasher my own meat by salting.

On the other side, I've met people who subsist on instant food of all types and was recently in line at Target between two different families with carts piled high with microwave dinners.

What cooking skills do you think are necessary in general, or for your lifestyle?

Inspired by Parent Hacks & Amazon!

2010-08-30T13:39:00.003-06:00

I've found some amazing tips at ParentHacks.com and some amazingly helpful products at Amazon.com (yay free shipping!) but never before has shopping at Amazon collided with Parent hacking!

My kids are between sizes at the moment. Too skinny for their size, and too tall for the next size down. I had safety pins and belts in my Amazon shopping cart when I came across Smartie Pants cinch belt for adjusting kids' pants/skirts whether there are belt loops or not. Brilliant! And cute colors, I was almost sold until I remembered a little something I had stored away in their sock drawer. Extra mitten clips to the rescue! My mother is forever buying hats, gloves, and mitten clips at a rate exceeding our number of heads, hands, or sleeves.

Isn't a mitten clip the same idea as the cinch belt? So I did a test run.

From iTookThisOnMyPhone

Success!

Here are some of my fave Parent Hacks from ParentHacks.com:

What to do with onesie snaps during diaper change or potty time?
What to do with extra wipes containers?
How to make slippery finger foods easier to hold

Hack away!

If Amelia Bedelia had shabbos guests

2010-06-06T23:23:00.004-06:00

This shabbos proved that when British English meets toddler logic, hilarity ensues. A friend is coming for a meal with his girlfriend. We're meant to meet, greet, impress, provide a comfortable table. This is what happened instead:

Hubsters: "Our friend is coming with his bird." (British slang for girlfriend or woman)

Later during dinner:

3yo asks puzzled: "But he did not bring a bird."

Me: Pause. "No, no he didn't, but thank you Amelia Bedelia" unrestrained laughter.

3yo: polite giggle. Sigh. "You thought he was going to bring a bird." Headshake.

Me: tears.

The best part was her mature "silly grownups" patronizing reaction. From a 3yo still funny. I'm hoping it stops while she's ahead.

Kids and Guests

2010-05-09T19:41:00.003-06:00

We love having guests. We don't have the most spacious accommodations, but we don't mind sharing what we have. My kids have occasionally heard me lament any Shabbos we weren't able to drum up guests. We're lucky enough to have several regulars who make sure this doesn't happen often.

This past shabbos we were invited out to lunch, fun for all, but that means no guests. On the way home the kids saw some people out for a walk.

"Are those our guests?" They asked pointing excitedly. The disappointment when I said no made me very glad I'd thought to invite a family to join us in the late afternoon! Awa and Hubsters sped home while RE and I plodded along together slowly.

Then RE saw a dog. "Can the dog come to my house?" He asked at least five times before I could answer. Seeing that we couldn't catch up with the dog I decided to use the opportunity to coax some conversation out of my strong n silent little guy.

"What would you say if the dog came to our house?" I asked, proud that I thought of a non yes-or-no question.

"YES!" RE nodded. So much for avoiding yes-or-no. "I'd say, Yes you can come to my house doggie."

"What would the doggie do at your house," I continued the interview.

"Um, I'd give him strawberries and melon." RE spoke with certainty.

"Where would the doggie sleep?" I was on a roll.

" . . . " Confused look.

"Ok, who else should come to our house?" I asked desperate to keep him talking during his rare moment in the spotlight without his older sister piping in.

"A dog, and a cat, and Nana & Papa (my parents), and Saba & Safta (hubster's parents), and a dog. . . . and a cat" RE listed.

Phew! He was still willing to talk, and boy did he have plans!

"And where will they all sleep?"

". . . " Again confused look.

I guess he'll do the inviting and I'll do the worrying about who will sleep where and what to serve outside of the fruit course.

Happy Mother's day!

2010-05-09T19:33:00.003-06:00

This year was my first real Mother's Day. The kids learned about it in school a little and made gifts for me.

RE made a little bowl that said "Ima" (mother) in Hebrew stickers. Inside was a little cupcake and a cookie. Which he at Shabbos morning when he woke up early! Little scamp! "Happy Mother's Day Ima! I got you a bowl of crumbs and an empty cupcake wrapper!" Urp!

Awa's gift survived until today. It is a painted box filled with: A heart with her name in it, 2 muffins, a button key chain, and "Ima there's coffee!" A little sleeve of french vanilla instant coffee. I like to think her maturity and love kept her from scarfing it, but I think she just forgot all about it.

Happy Mother's Day to all the Moms out there! May the crumbs always frame smiles of love!

Weirdo wakeup call!

2010-05-09T08:45:00.003-06:00

I have two brothers, a dog, several years of college, and motherhood under my belt. I thought I'd been woken up by it all. But last night took the cake . . . or more accurately, the chocolate.

Hubsters had gone to a movie with the guys and I tried to stay up to greet him when he returned. I gave up just after 1am and collapsed exhausted. Somewhere around 2am I had a dream that my hand was covered in some brown goo. Then I realized that my eyes were open, my hand was outstretched in front of me, and it was indeed covered in brown goo. I sleep on my stomach with my hand under my pillow, so I immediately jumped up, sure enough, there were brown smudges next to my pillow, and underneath my pillow? A body-heat melted bar of Cadbury's chocolate that hubsters and I had shared as a Shabbos snack.

Then I noticed that hubsters wasn't in the room. Ok. Double panic. Covered in chocolate. Missing husband. Wanting to keep the chocolate devastation confined to my bed linens I went the bathroom to wash up and discovered hubsters brushing his teeth.

Although disoriented, I still appreciated hubsters reaction to seeing me stumble in bed creased, dazed, and covered in chocolate, yet relieved to see him.

"On rough days don't you say you wish you could swim in chocolate?" He asks. A sleepy squint and a grunt are my only answer as I lick chocolate from my fingers.

After helping me change my sheets and bagging the imported bedwrecker, hubsters adds "You've gotta tweet about this." Thank G-d he's well trained :)

Shabbos toilet paper made easy

2010-04-08T20:13:00.003-06:00

I don't know why it took me so many years to finally think of it. I either bought pre-torn paper or spent a good chunk of time tearing pieces one by one. But no more! Now I grab my big kitchen scissors and cut through the roll and Voilà! Long strips in a fraction of the time. Generally works best when down the the last 1/3 of the roll. Now if I had gardening shears . . .

Toddler Bedelia

2010-04-08T10:43:00.004-06:00

Conversations with toddlers often leave both sides rather confused. A confused look from a toddler however shouldn't be mistaken for a lack of understanding or slowness. I'm still boggled at the cleverness my two and a half year old showed this morning once I caught up with him.

I was helping him get dressed.

Me, holding socks: Do you want to wear socks today or have bare feet?

RE: Bare feet.

Me: Ok. (puts away socks)

RE, grabs favorite teddy, throws to the ground, stands upon its back & yells: Bear feet!

Me: wha?

RE, points to bear: Bear feet!

Me: oh, ok . . . wait . . . lol!

Apparently he inherited my side of the family's curly hair, olive skin, wide short nose, cleft chin, AND love of bad puns.

Of course that's assuming he meant to be funny and wasn't just pulling an Amelia Bedelia.

Visitors' Center

2010-02-23T20:43:00.002-07:00

Thanks to Hannah's (of cookingmanager.com) post interviewing yours truly, there are probably more heads & hats checking out my little blog over here.

In the beginning I had planned on a modicum of anonymity, but frankly that takes more effort in planning and execution than I can drum up these days.

So welcome, enjoy the peeks into the boxes that clutter my attic. Don't look in that one over there, that's where I'm keeping my crazier ideas, like using sofrito in my shepherd's pie. My grandmother would be so proud and hubsters would be horrified!

Shepherd's pie: a Non-recipe

2010-02-19T12:39:00.004-07:00

I don't really follow recipes anymore. I either decide what I want to make and look around to see how I can approximate it with what I have, or I look at what I have and decide from there what to make. This recipe has so many variations, pretty much everything is optional (which may make it a misnomer since authentic Shepherd's pie is the standard chopped lamb & potato casserole).

This is a sneaky chef recipe as you can hide several kitchen sinks worth of vegetables without anyone being the wiser!

You can choose one or more from each category:

ground beef, lamb, turkey, chicken, cooked lentils

shredded carrot, onion, zucchinni

mushrooms

corn

peas

tomato sauce/paste/diced

garlic

1 egg for every pound of meat/ meat substitute

paprika

pepper

Mix until everything is well coated and press into the baking dish. I've used a pan, roaster, or crockpot with success. Just be aware that there will be a lot of grease in the crockpot unless you brown the meat first.

Top with mashed or shredded potatoes. Optional: drizzle with olive oil and more spices.

Bake uncovered at 350 for an hour or until bubbly. You can cover partway through if the potatoes get crispier than your liking.

If in the crockpot it'll need 6-10hrs on high or 3-5 hrs on low depending on whether you brown the meat first or not.

Freezes very well.

Mommy feats that will wow any Toddler

2010-02-18T21:06:00.005-07:00

Getting around to sharpening all the colored pencil stubs in the house
serving lots of ketchup
Flip them upside down & pretend not to notice
Warm milk with a splash of chocolate
this:

(photo courtesy of thewind 's flickr stream)
Knowing the noise any animal makes, even if you have to make up a few
Teaching a new song or game (little bunny foo foo again??
Piggy back rides
Letting them (try to) spit into the sink while brushing their teeth
Getting around without the help of the gee-pee-ess (Mommy turn left!)

Conversations with a Toddler: The one that proves 3yo is FFB*

2009-12-28T16:31:00.004-07:00

*FFB = frum from birth, ortho-lingo for raised religious.

I wasn't raised with religion. I know that sounds hard to believe, but since my parents wanted me to make my own decisions about religion we didn't discuss or participate in religion until I was in high school and my dad worried we'd fall prey to some cult if we didn't have some kind of background in something to pull from.

Well, today I had a conversation with my 3year-old that I couldn't have participated in until after I was 20 years old.

dd: How can Aba (daddy) be the king?

me: Because he's the Aba of the house, that makes him king.

dd: But how can there be two kings?

Already a deep concept.

me: There aren't two kings, Aba is the king and Ima (me, mommy) is the queen. That's it.

dd: But Hashem (G-d) is the King.

Stunned silence.

me: That's true, Hashem is the King of the whole world and Aba is king of this house.

Wow. So exciting and validating to know my children are getting a head start on all the questioning I navigated in college. Course I hope I always know the right thing to say even when I don't have the answers!

Judging favorably: The toddler edition

2009-12-10T09:50:00.007-07:00

We have no shortage of night wakenings here even though my "baby" is two years old. Generally it's my three year old with a night terror once or twice and while startling, they don't require any act on my part besides a comforting "shush shush." Last night it was the lil man, screaming with blood curdling effectiveness that a child works to perfect just to keep mommy on her toes and her hair on end. I went in and the poor thing was thrashing about moaning "the butterfly, the butterfly" the same way a horror movie actor would repeat the zombies, the butler, the horror, etc. The idea gave me a chuckle and a pretty funny mental image of Attack of the Killer Butterflies. I calmed him down with a little tummy rubbing and a few good patronizing "Mommy won't let the butterflies hurt you" thrown in for good measure. What an imagination! I thought.

I returned to my comfy spot on the couch still smiling at the idea that the poor babe was scared of butterflies. Twenty minutes later I was attacked by the butterfly, which was in fact a low flying stink bug! It buzzed aggressively, dived bombed me a few times before settling in the nearby light fixture only venturing out when I thought I was safe to give a few more buzzes before landing in a different location. Definitely startled any smugness or patronizing mommy knows best feelings right outta my noggin!

Butterfly. Nope.

Dangerous. Nope.

Buzzing, winged creature that would scare the pants off someone sleeping or relaxing in the dark. YOU BETCHA!

Advice needed: Restless Sleeper Toddler Syndrome

2009-11-19T09:45:00.002-07:00

My 3yo spend the first year of her life swaddled. She was a restless sleeper even then and being swaddled helped keep her asleep. Now she is a big 3yo who sleeps on a mattress on the floor. Actually she starts out on a mattress on the floor but can be found almost anywhere in her room as she rolls, scoots, crawls, spins, wiggles, shakes, inchworms in her sleep. She wakes up when she bumps something we haven't figured out how to pad or cushion. She talks, cries, yells, babbles, whimpers, whispers, all with her little baby face screwed up in sleepy confusion. Often when passing by her room after 10pm I see her awake, peering around her door watching and listening to what's going on in the house, the lure of the lights and sounds of her parents partying while she sleeps too much to resist.

But now she won't nap during the day. So she's even more tired. Earlier bedtimes just mean earlier wakeup times. I've tried reasoning, consequences like no playdates or library time for tired kids. Elmo watching is also reserved for kids who sleep. I'm not as good at swaddling as hubsters is, so that doesn't work if he's not home. Pause for a minute to imagine a 3yo swaddled in a comforter, it's pretty funny! Of course she screams if I try it, so the funny moment is fleeting.

We've tried running around like nutters so she'll collapse in exhaustion, she can outlast her baby brother and her mommy at that! We have a bedtime routine, going to bed isn't the problem, it's having peaceful sleep the whole night that's the problem. She doesn't wake me up, so that's not my motivation either. I'm out of ideas, can I borrow one?

101 things to feed a toddler

2009-11-16T10:54:00.005-07:00

Step one: Find something the toddler eats

Step two: Feed it to them

Step three: repeat 100 times

Today my two toddlers are home sick (more about that later I'm sure). They are pretty consistent in their breakfasting habits. They choose from:

yogurt drunk through a straw or eaten with cheerios/corn flakes mixed in and a spoon
peanut butter sandwiches (with or without the crust depending on the direction of the wind, the phase of the moon, and the current adjusted for inflation price of tea in China)
oatmeal - plain oatmeal with raisins, a dash of cinnamon, a dash of honey, and occasionally a handful of cheerios or cornflakes. There is no accounting for taste when it comes to a toddler.

Well, lunch time just rolled around and I offered the usual. They both wanted oatmeal. The same thing they ate for breakfast. We haven't left the house and the whole thing is giving me a Groundhog Day feeling. They must get it from their father who had egg sandwiches for breakfast and dinner last night.

When technology fails us, do we fail?

2009-11-07T20:30:00.003-07:00

We are only human. We need technology to accomplish many things that are beyond our grasp. When that technology fails, we feel powerless, full of the knowledge that there are just some things we cannot do, cannot control, no matter how many buttons we have our fingers on.

What brought about this feeling of powerlessness I felt today wasn't anything earth shattering, but that didn't soften the blow any. The fact that even something mundane as lunch could be ruined by a technological malfunction just made me feel even more frustrated. Cars break down, computers blue screen, things fail. But the powerstrip that my slowcooker, loaded with what should have been lunch, was plugged into? When even something as small as that is out of my control, it is definitely a reminder that we are only human, and even the machines we build, the fires we kindle, anything we create from a paper airplane to a jumbo jet are guided by another force.

When I discovered my slowcooker off, my chicken still raw, I said to myself "how did people do this before electricity? I should have had the soup on the fire instead, stupid technology." And then I remembered that fires can go out, my ancestors probably also had their share of thrown together cold lunches after something happened out of their control. Thank G-d we had some salad, canned beans, soup in a carton. It was a veritable vegetarian feast in the end.

Our power as humans is to take the materials G-d gives us and create something from it. Not the same as creating something out of nothing, we are just human after all, but to take the situation we have and the materials and resources and talents we are given, and produce. Yes, as a mother I felt the pressure to feed my family, as a perfectionist I felt the stress and disappointment of my planned meal falling to pieces, as a Texan meat-eater I was less than thrilled not to have "real" food and settle for what food eats. But we had a beautiful Shabbos meal with lovely flavors, great conversation, and even a little ice cream for dessert. I'm going to keep telling myself that and hopefully I'll eventually drown out the other voices that keep harping on how I failed.

Sourdough starter

2009-11-05T07:37:00.002-07:00

I am so excited to try again with making my own sourdough starter. I learned about if from Hannah over at CookingManager. com and I was doing ok until someone accidentally threw it away :( But this time will be different! There are less people in the house (last time we were temporarily living with my parents) and again I will have Hannah's help remembering to stir and eventually feed my little starter.

If you want to follow along first head over to cookingmanager and get the instructions. Then you can jump over to Facebook to sign up for the page and get the reminders. And away we go!

Double agent veggie muffins

2009-11-03T11:37:00.004-07:00

I love this recipe. It can be made with a variety of fruits and veggies, can be baked into muffins or cake, frosted or unfrosted, whole wheat or white, and still taste amazing! My toddlers especially love them, and that alone would make this a winner.

As sent by my friend Tehilla:

Preheat oven to 325.

Mix all these in one bowl:
3 eggs, 1 cup oil, 2 cups sugar, 2 cups hand-grated zucchini (grates very easily), and 2 tsp vanilla.

In another bowl:
3 cups sifted flour, 3 tsp cinnamon, 1 tsp baking soda, 1/4 tsp of baking powder, 1/4 tsp salt.

Combine into one bowl and put into greased and lightly floured pan. Bake at 325 for 60-70 minutes or until done. (I think mine always bakes less)

I always use a 9 x 13. Hand mixed.

You can use carrot, zucchini, pumpkin, squash, yam/sweet potato, banana, apples, pears. You can add nuts, chocolate chips, raisins, other dried fruit. You could sub apple sauce for part or all of the oil.

If you blend the zucchini rather than shred it, the green color will be easier to hide if you have eagle-eyed skeptics like my hubsters.

Toddler approved packed lunch ideas

2009-11-03T11:31:00.006-07:00

I know I am blessed in many ways, one of which is that no matter how annoying & fickle my toddlers can be at meal time, they are still considered amazingly good eaters when measured on the toddler scale from "lives on air" to "eats everything in sight as long as it isn't broken in half or touching anything else."

We are further limited by the school's rules which include no nut products and no meat.

It's still a struggle to find things that are consistently finished when I go to empty the lunch boxes at the end of the day. I only do easy peasey recipes. Here are a few vegetarian, nut free ideas:

Always eaten:

tuna & cream cheese filled puffs. The puffs are sold By Athens are come precooked & frozen.
Zucchini muffins (link to my recipe)
pasta tossed with olive oil, frozen corn, cherry tomatoes, & avocado (Awa doesn't like tomatoes, so she eats around or I leave out) and possibly cheese
whole wheat tortillas filled with cream cheese & spinach
Morningstar Farms Chik patties
leftover pizza
pizza sandwich (Awa takes off the cheese)
cream cheese & jelly sandwich
pancakes
raisins
string cheese
boiled eggs
cubed melon
oranges
jello cups

Sometimes eaten:

apples
bananas
plain cream cheese sandwiches
rice cakes
baggie of dry cereal
salmon patties

NOT eaten:

tomato sauce sandwich (surprising since it's the same as the pizza one without the cheese and that's what Awa eats when she removes the cheese)
chummus sandwich, unexpected since they both love to dip into chummus.

10 tips for Travelling with Toddlers: Part 1 Packing

2009-11-03T09:18:00.005-07:00

I know the title of this blog (even with it's nifty alliteration) might seem like it could easily lend itself to a horror novel, I know it gives me the heebie jeebies just thinking about it! Yet I managed to survive moving cities, moving countries, moving states (by myself no less!), and visiting family overseas, plus frequent bus rides where it's just me, my two toddlers, a stroller, a diaperbag and a small scrap of sanity.

I don't always remember to do the things on this list, but when I do it sure does make everything go a bit more smoothly! One trick is to always have a little more of everything than you'll think you'll need, cuz something will happen and you will need it!

Don't do laundry too close to your departure. You want their blankets, favorite items, etc to still smell familiar.
If you are shipping things, make sure most of your kids' stuff comes with you, is shipped faster, or is at the front of the truck/container. You want to be able to set them up in the new place with as many familiar items as you possibly can. When we moved countries and had to sell many belongings, I sacrificed a few of my own things (cookbooks, gadgets, etc) to be able to take more kids' stuff. Some beloved items cannot be replaced, but if possibly close substitutes can fill the void.
During travel have accessible (carry-on if possible):

a change of clothes for everyone (including parent as I once discovered, ick)
diapers & wipes, 2 baggies for garbage or soiled clothing
snacks - baggies of cheerios/small cereal, cheese, any non-messy filling food.
toys & books that require imaginative play or discovery so they keep small attentions longer. Our faves are magnadoodles, stickers, pretend cameras, crayons & paper

2009-09-08T10:50:00.007-06:00

Yay! My first meme! Tagged by the lovely Hadassah.

The rules are:

Open the 4th file where you store your photos
Pick the 4th picture
Explain the photo
Pass the challenge on to 4 other bloggers

My picture:

My daughter Awa was livening up havdalah with a little oven mitt fun. The sight of her entire little arm inside the pot holder was too funny! Like a stumpy snowman. Hubsters was of course all business and ignored her.

I tag: Hannah, Reiza, Rivki, & Mommy Moo.

I'm not slow, I'm just American Part 2

2009-08-30T14:53:00.008-06:00

Where do a fish and a bird get married? In Israel of course! Or at least that's a great place for a Texan and a Brit to wed. Both sets of parents flew in, but no siblings or extended family. I met his parents for the first time four days before the wedding. We had a nice meal, a chat, and all went well. Or so I thought until I sat giving the recap to a British girlfriend of mine.

"What did you eat?" She demanded, knowing full well what I ordered every time I visited this particular restaurant.

"The spaghetti." I said haughtily.

"You didn't?!?!?" She exclaimed.

"It's too late, we're getting married. If they don't like the fact that I eat spaghetti with only a fork they have to just lump it." I reasoned, hoping to convince myself as well. I knew perfectly well from the English girls at seminary that eating spaghetti involved the use of a spoon & a lot less slurping than I can manage, even when I am on my best, most polite behavior.

Of course my friend swooned like a proper English girl does, at least as far as reading Jane Austen has lead me to believe.

The wedding did go on, despite my slurping and my husband decided that the next best step was to unleash his loud, uncouth American bride on the community at home. So a mere three weeks after our wedding we were headed to Old Blighty. The local shul had hired him to lead the holiday davening and even marrying out of their culture wouldn't have gotten him out of it. I was duly introduced at shul so I could be inspected by all after services.

"HOW DO YOU LIKE ENGLAND?" A sweet, old-fashioned British gentlemen yelled slowly at me.

"It seems very nice." I lied. The weather had been dismal. "This is my first visit."

A look of shock crossed his face as he realized I could not only understand English, I spoke fairly fluently. He'd apparently made assumptions about what a Hispanic last named, Texan living in Israel could manage.

Of course it had helped that he'd spoken loudly and slowly. Often there was a five-ten second lag in the conversation as I processed, translated, then responded to something that was being said. In America I'm known for my quick responses. In England, for talking too quickly and thinking too slowly.

I was truly confused by the occasional word that I thought I knew until I learned it had a completely different meaning in England.

Chips are now fries. A vest is an undershirt and what I knew as a vest is a waistcoat.

"But if a jumper was a sweater, what is a jumper?" I asked puzzled.

For a man with a mother and a sister, I expected more than a blank look from the hubsters. I repeated my question to my mother-in-law and described the article I meant.

"You know, a sleeveless dress that is worn over a shirt" I explained hopefully. As a lover of words, having a hole in my vocabulary was disconcerting.

"Oh, you could call that a pinafore I suppose" was the best she could offer. Unfortunately they also call aprons pinafores or pinny's so it's not quite as satisfying as I'd hoped.

Later, as the birth of our first approached my in-laws offered to buy us a cot. As touched as I was by their generosity and gesture of love, I asked my husband if they wouldn't want to put that money towards a crib instead since a cot is used for such a short period of time; generally from birth to six months. He told me to bring it up next time I spoke with my MIL (never a good idea). One slightly strained, uncomfortable and confusing conversation later, I realized that in England a cot was a crib and a crib was a cot. I'm pretty sure that the Queen has it out for me!

I should have been given a full translating dictionary with my kesubah (religious marriage certificate).

(to be continued, without end it seems!)

I'm not slow, I'm just American Part 1

2009-08-30T14:22:00.007-06:00

What happens when a Puerto Rican Jew from the American south marries into a family who have a century of British history, the perfect cup of tea, lots of silverware, and impeccably ironed everything? Hilarity!

It all started when we were dating. My only exposure to the British culture came from my father's love of BBC America sitcoms and a few close friends in seminary. My husband knew enough from his family vacations and time at an American summer camp to decide he didn't want to date American girls. Somehow the matchmaker convinced him to give me a shot. On our second date I casually mentioned the word pants only to sputter, blush and gasp "You know I meant trousers!" Pants in the UK are underwear, not my usual conversation topic with a stranger, a stranger I was hoping to impress! Of course knowing to use the word trousers wasn't enough.

"So I need to go to Geula to buy some pantyhose, we could meet after that" I said innocently.

Silence as my date prayed the earth would open and swallow him as he blushed, horrified at my breach of panty etiquette.

I didn't even know of this faux pas until we were engaged. So what if I wanted to buy socks? Not a big deal, right? Oh so wrong!

Later that same date after some playful teasing on my part, future-hubsters had his own cross-cultural foot & mouth disease moment.

"Oh you're such a so-and-so!" He exclaimed.

"Did he just curse at me?" I thought, shocked. My heart stopped and all my conservative, southern indignation & ladylike sense of propriety flared into an inferno of oh-no-he-didn't anger, "So-and-so is a placeholder for a not nice word, right? It must means something different in England. No way would he call me a name, right?" He is very lucky my judging favorably flip switched at the last minute. Ok, I'm also pretty lucky that worked out!

Luckily our mutual love for Elvis, cheesecake, growth, Torah, sarcasm, and eventually each other lead us to be united in marriage, albeit divided by culture and a common language.

(to be continued)

Driving Miss Hatter

2009-08-03T13:33:00.002-06:00

I don't drive. I never have. It's never really been an issue since I've always lived places with great public transportation. Now it's really putting a crimp in my social life, and not for the usual reason.

I have no problem getting most places on my own, even dragging a double stroller and miscellaneous packages. But my friends and neighbors feel an obligation to help me even though I never ask. And no one likes to feel obligated to help a nebach. Even a mistakenly classified nebach.

Now if I run into anyone out, they apologize for not being able to take me home. If I mention in passing a store I visited or something I bought, they apologize for not taking me. I'm contemplating turning down all offers of rides and letting it be known that not only am I happy to continue busing, that it's preferable to being a chauffeured leper. Better to have friends & good leg muscles, than convenience and uncomfortable interactions.

Anyone else find that people are uncomfortable with someone else's lacking something, even if nothing is being solicited? I know that being the receiver is hard, but is there something to the plight of the givers? Or should-be-a-giver guilt?

Is it harder to give or receive?

Learn how Google Maps can help your protest!

2009-07-24T08:39:00.002-06:00

There were protesters outside of the hubsters' office again this week. If you remember from the last time it happened, he works at a bank, but his entire building is just for the credit card portion of the company. They do not foreclose on houses, don't have anything to do with health care let alone it's reform and they don't club baby seals. This does not stop protesters from congregating outside, brandishing signs and chanting. Or from slinking away sheepishly when they are told what company they are protesting in front of. Don't they hand out maps with the picket signs? Does more thought go into catchy slogans than in the choice of target?

Yay for freedom of speech though. Where else can it be so easy to protest that the policemen will give you directions to the correct location?

Tot shabbat recap

2009-07-05T09:14:00.004-06:00

B"H (Thank the L-rd Alm-ghty!!) I survived my first Tot Shabbat. We had no snacks, no handouts, and 10x the number of kids I was expecting thanks to a local bar mitzvah that brought people from all over the country into our little shul. The age range was much different than our usual group as well.

I have no idea how I will survive when my kids hit that "too cool" age where nothing is fun.

"This game is boring"

"I don't want to hear that book"

"This is for babies!"

I tried a bit of hubster's psychology on them and said that when you come to something expecting it to stink, you are rarely disappointed. How much better to come expecting fun! Who said you can't talk to children like adults? The change was slight as they creeped back into the activities and I integrated them into helper roles as a little balm on their mini-egos.

But after a few false starts we had a good time with games and stories. The singing didn't go over so well. I'm not very musical, I'm a BT who doesn't know too many Jewish songs in general, let alone kiddie ones, and I'm better accompanied by anything more than just the chirruping of crickets. And people thing the American Idol judges are harsh critics!

They may take the wind out of my sails, but they'll never take my dignity!

1-2-3-4 You're protesting at the wrong door!

2009-07-05T09:06:00.004-06:00

The hubsters and his coworkers watched in puzzlement while the protesters chant, wave signs, and march in front of their offices. They are protesting bank foreclosures and asking the bank hubsters works at to cease and desist kicking people out of their homes. A powerful argument, except for one thing. This bank doesn't give mortgages.

"I think they are from that ACORN group"one informs hubsters, who as a foreigner has no idea what that means.

"Do you think they are at the wrong address?" one office mate asks.

"Maybe someone should go tell them." says another.

Someone finally goes down and hubsters and the rest watch from their perch above as there is a little gesturing, pointing, then finally a sheepish retreat by the protesters. An unfortunate case of #protestfail

Tot Shabbat ideas?

2009-06-30T17:44:00.003-06:00

So the hubsters and I are excited to be more involved in our new community. One of the first things is that I am the new Tot Shabbat teacher. I have never led, nor attended a Tot Shabbat, but since I was willing & able that made me qualified enough I guess! Here's what I envision: a little davening by song, talk about the parsha, some games (maybe or maybe not shabbos/parsha related), then some more shabbos songs. I have no idea what ages will be there beyond my two toddlers and a few of the rabbi's kids. Anyone have any ideas? Anything I'm forgetting? Words of wisdom? They'd be much appreciated!

Droolworthy Doodads: The orange peeler

2009-06-22T22:24:00.003-06:00

This is another gadget that I am oh so happy to posses: my orange peeler! I hate peeling oranges, the juice squirting everywhere, the orange/white crud that ends up all over my hands giving them a bitter taste, the sheer effort required to free the fruit from it's cute little packaging. This handy little device scores the peel into neat little rows which are then easily peel-offable. Yay! We have seriously increased our orange consumption since we got this bad boy. Scurvy, begone!

What's mine is mine & what's yours is mine: Struggling with toddler sharing

2009-06-22T08:36:00.004-06:00

I keep telling myself that sharing will get easier and better once Awa and RE are older, but things have gotten only worse and more complicated lately. Awa is usually the culprit. If RE has something she wants it, no matter what it is.

It used to be that RE would wait patiently during the hostage negotiations for his toy and if they were unsuccessful would happily accept a replacement if the toy had to disappear for world peace. A baby can only be pushed so far apparently.

Now it's all screeching and WWF wrestling. I've bought different toys so they can be individuals, didn't work. I've bought identical toys to keep the green eyed monster at bay, they are apparently still different at some molecular toddler level. I try empathy "wouldn't it make you sad if someone took away your toy?" "wouldn't it make RE soooo happy if you gave it back?", hardball (taking the offending object away), timeout, walking away and ignoring. I pick tactics based on situation, my mental state (frazzled or really frazzled), and toddler attention span which ranges from potted plant to goldfish.

One hang up I have is saying "Don't grab from your brother" as I grab the item back for her. Rather than teaching not taking, I feel it's just teaching that you must be the biggest to take. Same as yelling at them not to yell (I try to whisper), or spanking because they hit (hands are not made for hitting no matter what size).

The major downside besides all the yelling, crying, baby WWF, is that my sweet, gentle RE has started hitting and biting in retaliation. :( I'm praying that the good days stretch into good weeks and that I find the right balance of protecting my sweet boy from my aggressive girl while still allowing them to mediate themselves, not enforcing their weaker vs stronger roles creating a victim mentality, and other gobblygook they might need therapy for later. Hmm, when I hit the mall later I should keep an eye out for a black n white striped shirt.

I love toddlers because:

2009-06-17T20:59:00.004-06:00

They will nod along while you are talking to them and when you ask they say they understood, but they really had no idea what you are talking about.
You will talk while they look at you blankly or ignore you, but they heard every word and can repeat it back to you later!
Full diapers make them walk like John Wayne.
Getting the giggles is a common occurrence.
You never know what the next thing to come out of their mouth will be. Belabela = peanut butter, asses = glasses, Blow bubbles = lovable, wheels on the bus go wound & wound
They put so much energy into hugging and kissing they grunt with the effort.
They never, ever get bored of pointing out airplanes, trucks, dogs, cars, leaves, anything they find interesting, even if it's the 100th one that day
The same kid who is digging in the dirt will later come up to you, hands outstretched, horrified that they got dirty
Wearing mommy's shoes & being able to walk around in them is a badge of pride
"Wight, I'm a big giwl?" Wight!
Choosing nursing over a cookie, or with a cookie, or in between bites of a cookie, or while covered in cookie crumbs.
All it takes is a little song to get them in the mood to do something they didn't want to do a second ago.
Mommy is still a superhero!

Spatial deficiency makes for one bad hair day!

2009-06-11T09:35:00.003-06:00

Today two of my personality quirks collided and the results are, well, thank G-d hidden. See, I always excelled in math, physics, statistics, but in spatial visualization, not so good. The other quirk is that occasionally when very stressed I cut off all my hair. Put the two together . . . let's just say someone who can't picture how long and inch is shouldn't wield clippers. Makes me very glad I cover! It should be cool & comfortable at least. Poor dh, that'll teach him to pile too much in my plate then leave clippers around!

Logical packing from an illogical packer

2009-06-08T13:38:00.003-06:00

I am so proud of myself. We are packing for our big move and I'm actually thinking rationally this time! We have a moving van that will arrive 2wks after we do so I'm packing things to be shipped & things for the suitcases. Today I filled a box with sweaters, coats, wool blankets even though a little voice in my head kept asking "What if it gets cold?" In July! It was a persistant little guy too, repeating every time I folded something and paused before piling it in. Phew! That's willpower. Now I think I'll go have a pudding cup. There's only so much willpower I can muster in a given day!

Droolworthy Doodads

2009-06-07T12:35:00.004-06:00

I'm kicking off what will hopefully become a regular series of posts on cool gadgets! First is one I actually own and LOVE! Being that it's after shabbos, it's fresh on my mind. Behold, every balabusta's dream cholent-caddy:

Three different sized carafes so I only need to make as much food as I need, not extra to make sure it doesn't burn! Over Yom Tov I also had several different things going on in different carafes and just swapped them out as I needed them. So far it's been one of my fave kitchen gadgets!

Reasons why I am not really Puerto Rican or Anglo/Jewish

2009-06-07T11:16:00.005-06:00

ot PuertoRican because:

You are 2 generations from the island
Your mother is white
You are so white you probably glow in the dark!
Your Spanish is terrible! And what kind of accent is that I hear, Mexican?
You grew up in Texas, that is so American.
You put weird things in your carne guisado (barley, kiske) and call it cholent
You have relatives with names like Chana, Kevin, Jessica
We can't pronounce either of your first names (Jessica is Yessica and Yocheved is Jocheved)
You don't eat your grandmother's cooking? Not even lechon? (roast pork)
There aren't any Puerto Ricans that are Jewish

I am not Anglo/Jewish because:

You are only 2 generations from the island
Your Father is Puerto Rican
You have such big hips, lips & hair! And you tan!
Your Spanish is great! And what kind of accent is that I hear, authentic?
You grew up in Texas, that is so a different country.
You put weird things in your cholent (cilantro, cumin) and call it carne guisado
You have relatives with names like Jesus, Chewy (like the wookie?), Teotista, Jose
We can't pronounce your last name (Ruiz is Roo-is, Ruse, Ruz, or worse)
You once ate your grandmother's cooking? Even roast pork?
There aren't any Jews that are Puerto Rican

So basically I am a zorse. A little of this, a little of that, but too different to be completely accepted by either. Don't get be started on how I'm also a girly geek, and a just-plain-frummie!

Fat me wants to slap thin me!

2009-05-21T16:07:00.004-06:00

Have you ever wanted to go back in time and slap yourself for something? That's how I feel these days.

See, I grew up thinking I had a positive body image. I have curves and plenty of them and I was ok with that. I never obsessed about dieting like many of my friends. And this was even before JLo made it cool to have a JLo! See, Hispanic women are supposed to be hippy with a side helping of booty. I patted myself on the back for not turning my life upside down to change that.

It's now, 40lbs later that I realize that I didn't diet back then because I didn't need to, not because I accepted my body for what it was! I wasn't fat, I was a pear-shaped 0,2,4, or later 6. My BMI was well within the normal range and that's what really matters, not the size of the indentation on my fave chair.

Now I am dieting. Doing the Slimfast thing, using SparkPeople, exercising to lose weight instead of dancing for fun. Before I scoffed at diets, how annoying I must have sounded. Yes I am hungry and that does make me a bit edgy, yes I'd be a happier not to watch what I eat and care what the scale said, but I need to be healthy. I'll never look like a fashion model, unless looking like JLo or Ugly Betty (don't get me started!) comes into style again and I don't want to, but I do want to tell skinny me to shut up because she isn't comfortable with her body if she thinks there are parts she has to accept.

My rice cooker

2009-05-21T15:12:00.003-06:00

This goes under a growing list of things I lived without until I got one and now I can't live without. I can make great rice without it, provided I don't get distracted halfway through and burn it (sure it was only one time, but it's a source of Hispanic shame to botch rice!). It's just so easy! And it frees up valuable burner space. Mine even has a steamer attachment so I can steam veggies alone, or while the rice is cooking. Fabu!

Today I embarked into a whole new world of rice cookery. Today I made Quinoa and Lentils! Here's the recipe as I made it up, I even measured (something I don't normally do) so I could record it for posterity.

Into rice cooker went:

1 cup quinoa (prerinsed)

1 cup brown lentils

1/4 cup sofrito (frozen)

dash of garlic powder

dash of onion powder

dash of Adobo seasoning (basically pepper, oregano, salt, onion powder, garlic powder & achiote)

4 cups water

After it cooked I served it with 1/4 cup vegetable juice and a little shredded mozzarella added to it. It was delish!

Sofrito

2009-05-21T15:02:00.003-06:00

Since this is a basic ingredient in Puerto Rican cooking, I thought I'd post it so I can just link back to it later.

SOFRITO

1 whole garlic
1 green pepper
1 bunch of cilantro
1 yellow onion

Take each and puree/blend in a blender with a small amount of water. Pour into freezer ziploc bags in small amounts. Use in rice, chicken/rice, stew, beans, corn beef hash, etc.

(my mom's note) I make larger quantities of this (4 of each vegetable) and this makes about 13 ziploc baggies full.

Just what the world needs, another blogger!

2009-05-18T12:47:00.002-06:00

I resisted blogging for a long time. I had nothing to say. Ok, anyone who knows me is rolling their eyes and chuckling. I always have something to say, but is it something people want to hear? Or even worse, is it something people will voluntarily read? I never limit my verbal deluge to one subject, something I thought a blog needed to do, address one subject. Some of my favorite blogs to read are ecclectic and I love it! It's what keeps them interesting, fresh, different. I like to think I have a different combination of ecclectic that will make this blog interesting. If not, then I've heard that journalling is very theraputic so I'll save money on therapy later down the line.