Come on in, Baby New Year (and bring some Kleenex)

We've had a lousy week of sickness between Christmas and New Years so I don't have much to report, other than I've learned two things in the last 72 hours:

1) When kids feel bad, they feel BAD.  When they start to feel better, their resilience is AMAZING and inspiring.

2) I have a lot to learn as a mom!!

Happy New Years to you all -- may 2010 be a year of great health, happiness, and wonderful memories for everyone!

Merry Merry

This is my last post before the holiday, so Merry Christmas to all!  

Have a wonderful time with family and friends!

2008

Oh Boy Oreos

I've scoured the Internet for new Christmas treat recipes and have come up with some new favorites (my hips say thank you).  So here's a decadent chocolate dessert that's good for these reasons:

Easy!

Travels well, if you're bringing potluck

Easy!

Great presentation

Easy!

Rich chocolately taste

Did I mention easy?

Oreo Truffles

Ingredients: 1 box of Oreos or similar sandwich cookie (didn't try using the mint filling ones but I bet they'd be good); 8 oz. of cream cheese (softened); 2 bags of semi-sweet chocolate chips/chocolate bars

Directions: Crush all of the Oreos until they're fine.  You can use a rolling pin and 1-2 zip lock bags or a Cuisinart.  I've tried both ways -- the Cuisinart is definitely easier.  Mix 3 cups of the Oreo crumbs and the cream cheese thoroughly.  Using a spoon for this takes a long time; I prefer using my (clean!) hands.  Shape the mixture into 1-inch balls; you'll end up with approximately 40-45.  Put them on a cookie sheet lined with wax paper and then refrigerate for 1 hour so they can harden up a bit.  Melt the semi-sweet chocolate however you like (microwave, stovetop, etc.).  Remove the truffles from the frig and "roll" them in the melted chocolate.  I used 2 forks to get each one covered in chocolate and carefully put them back on the wax paper.  You'll need to work pretty fast so that the melted chocolate doesn't get too thick and that the truffles stay cold (when they warm up, they're harder to coat).  You'll see from the photo that I also coated some in white chocolate -- it didn't melt as smoothly as the dark semi-sweet chocolate but the white chocolate fan in our house (Lee) seemed to like them.  Decorate the truffles as you go along -- sprinkle the remaining Oreo crumbs over the tops or use crushed candy canes.  When done, put them all back in the frig for a couple hours or at least until the chocolate hardens.  If you give them out as gifts, remember to tell the recipients to keep the truffles in the frig -- a cold truffle is a good truffle :)

Ping Pawn

Lee and I have become addicted to a new show on the History Channel.  It's called Pawn Stars and we caught a marathon of it around Thanksgiving and now we're hooked.  The best way to describe it is "Antiques Roadshow meets NASCAR."  Before you say "yuck" let me give you a basic synopsis.  The three guys pictured above (grandfather - father - son) have owned the last independently operated pawn shop in Las Vegas for over 20 years.  Pawn shops used to make me think of dirty, seedy stores that only drug users patronized (yes, I'll admit that was a little judgemental).  But the Gold & Silver Pawn Shop is more of an antique store.  Rick (the guy in the middle) is a giant history buff and knows everything there is to know about Americana, firearms, art, jewelry, you name it.  Plus, he's just really likeable.  The whole family is a little rough around the edges (hence the "meets NASCAR" description) but you overlook the tattoos and cussing when you're getting a 30-minute history lesson.  Lee, of course, is DYING to go visit their shop...I guess I am too just a little.  In the meantime, we'll continue to meet up with our Harley-loving friends every Monday night via the television.  (PS -- Yes, I have mistakenly called the show "Porn Stars."  That was the same day I said "graham crapper" instead of "graham cracker."  Is there such a thing as verbal dyslexia?  Because I have a serious case of it!)

Redneck Solution

What do you do when your napping child is around the corner from your kitchen and you really need to crush Oreos for a dessert you have to take to work tomorrow?  Obviously, you take your noisy, old Cuisinart to your backyard and plug it in behind your garage.

Let There Be Light

I love that our little block is full of Christmas cheer.  Almost every house is decorated with lights or other Christmas paraphernalia.  Sigh.  It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas....

Mine's Lands End; His is Macy's

Note to self:  when you're out shopping for yourself, you REALLY need to remember what is in Lee's closet too, otherwise you'll end up having more moments like this.  And you really don't want to be that couple, do you?!?!?

Sensitive Eyes

I love my Nikon.  It's so nice having a heavy camera that has a great zoom.  What I am missing, however, is a triple-flash so that we can avoid blinky pictures like these....we average about 5-6 a day now.  It's a bummer.

Mooning New Moon

I'm behind in relaying this story -- it happened a couple weeks ago but it's SO worth sharing.

We met some friends for dinner at a wonderful Chinese restaurant called New Moon that we love in Montrose.  It's a little on the classy side and has a beautiful bar area.  Here's a photo I "borrowed" from their website:

Yes, we did take Nathan but we got there at 5pm -- we wanted to avoid having him disturb the more serious Chinese food patrons.  But to our surprise, the restaurant was full at 5pm; I guess it's popular.  I did get a glaring look from one table that said "seriously, why are you bring that little boy in here??" but I ignored it (they didn't know it but I know that this restaurant visit was very rare -- we try to be considerate of other people). 

So, for the most part, during dinner he was a good kid.  When he started to get a little noisy I took him outside and we walked around the block 1-2 times.  When we came back inside, he stood next to my chair and played with the strap on his highchair.  I was able to re-join our friends in conversation and keep an eye on Nate.  Or so I thought.  I looked down at one point to see Nate moving his legs weird and then I realized HE HAD TAKEN HIS PANTS OFF.  He didn't use his hands at all -- his shoes had tugged at the pants cuffs and he somehow managed to pull them down without using his hands.   Amazing.  Lee says my face was akin to this at this moment:

Maybe I'm exaggerating a little but I've never been so surprised.  I tried to avoid looking at that disapproving table because I can only imagine what they were thinking.  Actually, we all had a good laugh about it.  But mark my words -- next time we go out to eat, Nate will be wearing a jumpsuit or something else that's one-piece.