Boo Meringues!

When you’ve got three kids in school, you’ve got three kids  heading to school Halloween parties and three sign-up sheets for three goodies to send in with them.  This year I lucked out with Jack and just got carrots and juice boxes, Ben’s class requires finger jello (aka Jello Jigglers), and I’ll be making one of our favorites for Maddie’s class:  Meringue Cookies made into ghost shapes. 
Jack was the one who came up with the name Boo Meringues—quite by accident.  He was calling them boomerangs, I guess because he had never heard of plain old meringues…and he thought we were leaving off a syllable.  I think Boo Meringues is a perfect name for a ghostly snack you keep coming back to…get it???
Look at this meringue!  Heavenly!

I scoop the meringue into a gallon ziploc bag and snip a hole in the corner, then squirt the meringue into ghost shapes.  They can be placed pretty close together as they expand only the tiniest bit on baking. 

Add some eyes before you bake.  Mini-chocolate chips, mini-M&M’s, and large sprinkles are good choices.  Here I’ve used pumpkin sprinkles.

Boo Meringues

• 3 large egg whites
• 1/2 t. cream of tartar
• 3/4 c. sugar
• 1/2 t. flavor extract (vanilla, almond, coconut, mint, etc.)
• sprinkles, mini chocolate chips, or mini M&M’s for eyes

-Mix together (at high speed) egg whites and cream of tartar to a thick foam.  Continue to beat adding sugar 1 T every 30 seconds, then whip until meringue holds very stiff peaks.  Beat in flavor extract.
-Spoon meringue into a gallon ziploc bag and cut one corner.  Pipe meringue onto parchment paper-covered baking sheet.  Press in eyes.
-Bake in 200 degree oven for 1 1/4 hours, then turn off heat and leave meringues in closed oven for another hour.
-Make up to one week ahead, store in airtight container.  Ghosts are very fragile!

Pumpkin Carving Time

Tonight we transformed our plain old pumpkin into a dazzling Jack O’Lantern.

Here’s the BEFORE picture:

Maddie designed his face.  She drew a fairly traditional triangle style face, with a few Maddie-riffic features thrown in such as freckles and cheek circles.

First, Dave cut off his lid:

         

Next Maddie and Jack did some digging.  We had a bowl for seeds (for roasting later) and a bowl for yucky pumpkin guts.  Ben, by the way, has never liked pumpkin carving, and opted out of this portion of tonight’s entertainment.

              

Once the pumpkin was all cleaned out, Maddie and Dave started cleaning these…

…into this…they then boiled the seeds in salt water and then roasted them in the oven:

              

Meanwhile, I carved Mr. O’Lantern as Jack looked on longingly.  I have used an electric pumpkin knife for a few years now and LOOOOOVE  it!  Much easier and safer than ramming a kitchen knife in and out!

Ben joined us for our final pictures, the first in natural outdoor light so you can see the pumpkin’s light, the second with the flash. 

                              Happy Halloween!

As if the tower wasn’t phallic enough…

A few weekends ago the weather was perfect.  Sunny, in the sixties, no humidity…fall had arrived, and we got outside and really enjoyed it.

We hiked to Governor Dick in Mt. Gretna on Saturday.  Governor Dick is a tower on the top of a small mountain in the middle of the woods.    And if I was a teenage boy I’d think the name is strangely apt and a little perverted.  But since I’m a grown woman, I’m sure it’s actually named for a popular, former governor of our esteemed state.

Tee hee hee.

The hike begins…

      

After about a 40 minute hike we arrived at the tower.

The climb to the top (up a ladder to a platform, up a ladder to a platform, etc.) was fine, but the higher we got the more bugs we found congregating in the tower:  ladybugs, stinkbugs, and wasps, mostly.  Ben did NOT like this, and getting down was difficult, because he did not want to get back in the tower!  Here is Maddie enjoying the view:

Time to hike back…

We also hiked over to Dinosaur Rock:

The next day we headed to a local orchard for some apple picking:

 

He’s the apple of my eye!

Sprinkles Anonymous

I have a confession to make.

I like sprinkles. I like them a lot.

I like colored sugar and jimmies and tiny nonpareils and mini M&M’s and sugar crystals and silver balls and chocolate chips and those tiny flat little sprinkles that look like something-- like tiny bats or flowers or stars.

There’s an Amish store near me and they buy sprinkles by the bulk then sell it to their customers in handy small containers very cheap. I am a good customer there. Sometimes I also buy the expensive ones in the Wilton section of the craft store. I just can’t pass by sprinkles without adding to my collection.

Now what would any normal non-professional-baker-person need with all those sprinkles, you may ask. Well, I mostly use them for cupcakes and cookies for school parties. I have found that kids like sprinkles as much as I do (maybe even more) and I usually dip my iced cupcake directly into the sprinkles to completely cover it with sprinkly goodness. They are by no means works of art...just colorful and yummy.

Here’s a sign of a good sprinkly cupcake:

Now this one is cheating because there are no actual sprinkles on these, but they’re so darn cute I’m including them anyway.

I wish I had taken pictures of all the cupcakes I’ve decorated over the years. I’ve made plenty, thanks to Ben’s milk allergy, and the fact that I always wanted him to be able to eat the cupcake or cookie at the school party.

So… my addiction could be worse. But if any of my good friends feel the need to stage an intervention anyway…please let me know ahead of time.

I’ll bring the cupcakes.

Hey! They’re Not So Bad!

Oh, we don’t like flu shots around here.

About two weeks ago, when we changed the calendar from September to October, Maddie noticed “flu shots 7:15” written on October 14.  She spread the word.  Jack declared that he would not be getting in the car that day.  Ben was fine with it.  And Miss Drama stewed about it.

In the two weeks between flu shot awareness and flu shot destiny, the subject came up a lot.  Questions like Why do we have to have a flu shot? Is it going to hurt? Can we have a special treat because of it? and Whyyyyyyyy do we have to have a flu shot??? came up and were answered.  Many, many times.

D-Day arrived.  Maddie was sad over breakfast.  “Why the long face?” I asked her.  “You know why,” she replied,  “Flu shots today.” 

Jack reminded me he wouldn’t be getting in the car.

Ben said, “I don’t mind flu shots.  I laugh at flu shots.”

In the afternoon, Maddie got off the school bus sadly.  “How much longer?”  she asked.  I begged her to keep quiet about it…no need to remind her blissfully forgetful baby brother.

7:00 rolled around.  Time to get in the car.  Surprisingly, Jack got in the car with only a small bit of effort from Dave (who wisely decided to join us—Family Fun Time!) and me.

We arrived and were taken back to get our shots.  Ben hopped up on the counter, got his flu shot, and became the hero of the day.  Maddie was next since Jack, who was being consoled by Dave, had yet to come in the room.  But Maddie, who was sobbing, told us she was sick!  She might have to throw up!  We raced to the bathroom, but the vomit did not make its untimely appearance.  Her short reprieve over, we headed back, and found that Jack had already gotten his flu shot, and after some scuttling and fussing said, “Oh, that wasn’t bad,” when it was over.

But Maddie was a mess.  Patti, the nurse was great with her, told her she was just cleaning her arm, told her she wouldn’t even pick up the needle until she was ready, and waited patiently for Miss Drama to relax.  The needle went in.  And back out.  Maddie said, “Oh! That wasn’t bad!” and Patti said, “Do me a favor, remember that for next year, okay?!”

On the way home, Miss Drama mentioned how her arm was throbbing.  Jack said, “My arm hurts too!”

Dave reminded him that he had gotten the shot in his leg. 

                                      ************

I took this picture of them so next year I can do Patti a favor and visually remind them that  it really wasn’t that bad.

Yeah, that’ll work.

     

                 Pictured here:  Phantom Pain, Miss Drama, and Benjamin the Brave

Simon Says, “Have Fun on Your birthday!”

On Saturday we had a double birthday party for Jack, who turned five last week:  3:00-4:30 was his friend party, and 5:00 onward was for family.

The family part went fine, although the birthday boy, who had requested all family members dress in costume for this party, decided that he did not want to wear a costume.  A small tussle ensued.  I won.

But the friend party?  Did not go so fine.

This low-key party was for Jack and five friends from school (and Maddie and Ben).  My plan was to begin with traditional kid games (Duck, Duck, Goose; Simon Says, Hokey Pokey; etc.) in the basement.    Jack enjoyed Duck, Duck, Goose, but decided halfway through Simon Says that Simon was an idiot and he wasn’t doing what he says, and he crossed his arms and refused to do anymore. 

Well, we played a few more rounds then I switched to some free play, which the little stinker everyone seemed to enjoy.  I snuck upstairs to get some things ready for the craft to come, when Jack came up and said, “I’m ready for these people to go home now.”

At cupcake and ice cream time, Jack at first refused to join us as guest of honor for “Happy Birthday to You”, and then when he did, he blew out the candles twice before the end of the song, when Dave finally gave up relighting them.  He would not eat any cake and informed me that I gave him too much ice cream.

     

                    “I blew out your stinkin’ candles.  Now what do ya want  from me?”

He perked up for the pinata, took his turn graciously with the other children, and couldn’t wait to open presents.  So basically, the first ten minutes and the last ten minutes of the party were super-duper.  Sandwiched in between was a lot of grumping, brattiness, and sulking.

I just don’t know what happened to my sunny, happy boy.

But I do know that next year I’ll be handing it over to the professionals.  Worth every penny.

 

Chef Maddie

Maddie’s always loved helping me cook. She’s been pouring and mixing since she was two and breaking eggs since she was three. Jack has also picked up on the cooking and baking enthusiasm, and now they fight over who gets to do what job… “I’m measuring the oil!” “I get to add the chocolate chips!”

The pinnacle of any cooking experience, of course, is getting to work the appliance: pushing food processor buttons or the mixer switch is an honor they both “call” at the beginning of a cooking session (“I call the mixer!”)

Recently, though, Maddie has requested independence in the pancake making department. So I posted her next to me, talked her through the recipe, worked on batter pouring and pancake flipping skills, discussed stove safety, and as a bonus, showed her how to make Mickey Mouse and smiley face pancakes.

Then this past Saturday, I handed over my kitchen to her. She assembled ingredients, mixed, poured, flipped, and then did it all again, while I snooped read the paper in the living room.

We both really liked this experience. I am envisioning handing over more to her…Tacos? Quesadillas? Spaghetti? Dishes?

Maybe someday.

The Chef pours her batter.

Smiley Face pancakes just make breakfast happier!

Next week’s lesson…keeping your workspace clean…

Oh, Rats.

I’ve had a few too many brushes with nature this week. Not nice nature, like frolicking fauns and fluttering butterflies.

No. I’m talking spiders, moles, and (gulp) rats.

First of all, I am well aware that spiders do us a favor by eating a bunch of bugs, and I know I am way bigger than they are, and yes, Charlotte was an awfully smart, kind, and loving arachnid.

But I still don’t like ‘em.

There seem to be a lot more spiders invading the house than usual this fall, and I’ve been forced to be the spider-killer as Dave has been in Germany the last two weeks. My friend Angela, soon to be known the world over as Spidergirl, was bitten by a little spider yesterday. She said it really stung, and she got a bad looking mark on her hand as a result, so now I am not only creeped out by them, but scared of them too (although it has been fun waiting for Angela to start shooting webs from her wrists).

Moving on to moles (or maybe voles? I’m not sure but they look like fat mice with short tails). They really seem to like our yard. Maybe it’s the field we border, maybe it’s our lack of cats or dogs, or perhaps we are such charismatic people they just feel drawn to us. Whatever the reason, we are overrun with them. They are making tunnels under our lawn mostly, but all summer I’ve seen them running through grass and mulch when they see us coming, and I don’t like it.

I was mowing the lawn this week, when one particularly dumb mole ran across the grass ahead of me and into a flower bed. He wanted to get back to where he came from, but would time his return poorly. Every time I came back around with my mower, I’d see him running down the bed toward the grass then he’d realize I was coming, and he’d run back again. And again. And again. Eventually I stopped seeing him, which was worse! I pictured him running around my feet in the grass and I got very jumpy and itchy until I moved on to another part of the yard.

So…the rat.

I found one in the pool. Dead. Big. Long tail. Definitely a rat. No husband around to get him out. I did what any responsible, adult woman would do in my situation.

Yeah, I called my dad. He completely understood, drove over, fished him out and threw him into the field for me as I watched from the window.

Included as a bonus, here is a picture of a praying mantis Jack and I found on our doorstep.