Resolutions

I’ve never been much on making New Year’s Resolutions.  To be honest, I mentally mock all those people who vow that THIS year they will exercise more/drink less/quit smoking/blah blah blah.  If you haven’t had the motivation to do it until now, you probably won’t be doing it just because it was your “resolution”.

So, having said that, I thought I would make a list of “resolutions” that I will have no problem keeping.

This year, I resolve to:

Drink more coffee

Drink more coffee while visiting more with good friends

Visit Starbucks every time I am in the city, at least once

Eat too many desserts and not enough vegetables

Shop at The Gap at least once instead of Superstore

Play Lego

Read good books

Read good books to the boys

Buy new books often

Run as often as I can, as best as I can

Stay in pyjamas as long as possible in the morning

 

I figure, I’m already doing these things, so it shouldn’t be too hard to maintain them into the new year…

Welcome, 2009.

The Plan

ok, so I found my glasses (phew).  I had hunted for them high and low and was really really sickeningly sure that they were sitting on the desk in our last hotel room (groan)…but after completely dumping out the contents of my diaper bag, there they were (happy dance *here*).  This, incidentally, was not the first time on this trip that I was convinced that I had left my glasses behind.  What I did leave behind, at my brother’s house, was my really great Starbucks Stainless Steel Thermal Press Mug *sob*.  I may get it back in a year or so…with the way my family is so quick to mail stuff…my sister usually sends their Christmas card and family picture sometime in summer or late fall…from the previous Christmas…

So anyway, I am brimming with excitement today, even though it is barely an hour since I dragged my sorry carcass out of bed and even though I am only half-way through my first cup of coffee and even though I can smell Berry Baby from 2 feet away…

I REGISTERED FOR THE HALF MARATHON TODAY.

(sorry Suzy, not the Vancouver…I’m gonna have to run closer to home)

I’m so psyched.  When we were at my brother’s house for Christmas, his wife (my sister-in-law/personal-trainer-via-email) set me up with The Plan that will surely whip my sad body into Personal Best shape.  Or at least Not Dismally Slow shape.  Her last Plan for me helped me run a great 10k last Fall on a super hilly course that killed me the last time I ran it.  This time, I killed it.  So I’m hoping for more of the same.

That is, if I can get my poor self in gear and actually start The Plan.  I’m excited enough, just lacking energy right now fighting Berry Boy’s cold and the post-travel slump.  I’m gonna give it a day or two, and then hit The Plan like there’s no tomorrow.

In the meantime, I’d better do something about The Smell coming from Berry Baby before it rashes or something….

Mushy Mondays

will have to be postponed until next week as Berry Girl’s head is a little foggy and all she wants to do is sip her Christmas Blend coffee out of her new Christmas mug and read her new Christmas novel but she still has to unpack suitcases and do laundry and tidy the house and make a dinner for Berry Guy’s brother and his new *friend* and hunt down her glasses and case which she is fairly certain she left in a hotel in Hinton…

and somewhere in there she has to find time to take Berry Boy to the doctor to diagnose his ear infection and to pick up some necessary groceries in town because there is NO WAY she is driving all the way to the city after being trapped in the car for two days straight…

I’ll talk to you all tomorrow…maybe…

18-hr Road Trips…

…are really, really really….really…long.

Thank the Dear Lord for friends with portable DVD players.

Back on the Treadmill again….

Yep. Laced up my Adidas Supernovas tonight. My brand new Adidas Supernovas. That I bought in September. They’re still brand new. Because I have run a total of, oh, 13km in them. In the last 2 months. So, so sad.

I don’t really know if I’m quite well enough to run yet as I’m still hacking up *stuff*. However, I have eaten far too much fudge. And Cutout cookies. And shortbread cookies. And shortbread cookies with Toblerone in them. And pretty little cookies with buttercream icing in them.

And I’m starting to feel a bit like this again:

Remember her? Mmhmmm. Feeling a little less "*firm* and a little more *less firm*. But a one-and-a-half month hiatus from the treadmill and an overabundance of Christmas goodies will do that to a girl.

Unfortunately.

So anyway, I laced up the runners tonight. And I decided that if I could just run for 20 minutes, then that would be golden. So I ran. And I ran for 20 minutes (with one pee break – thank you so much childbearing). But let me tell you, that was a long 20 minutes. At 13 minutes I was thinking - “ok. just a couple more minutes. that’s it”. And then I realized I was only at 13 minutes. And 20 does not come after 13. Yeah. Longest 7 minutes EVER. But I made it. And I think I feel better for it.

Or at least, I will feel better for it. Someone tell me I will feel better for it.

Because right now I have jelly legs. And I’m sore.

I'm going to go take two Advil and a sugar cookie and call it a day.

oh help.

I think I have invited the devil in to my house.

(don’t panic)

It looks like this:

It wasn’t enough to have a GIGANTIC 750g Toblerone bar in my cupboard.

Oh no.

I had to go add butter and sugar and evaporated milk to it and make it into fudge.

Really really smooth, wonderful fudge.

Really really smooth wonderful fudge that I am unable to stop eating.

Like I haven’t already been making a regular breakfast of coffee and sugar cookies.

oh help.

Thankful Thursday

I wasn’t going to post a thankful list today – mostly because I couldn’t decide what to be more thankful for: Berry Baby’s incessant crying/whining due to his immunizations the other day, or Berry Boy’s incessant crying/whining due to his bad attitude and overtiredness.

Then I thought it was perhaps a very good day to reflect on what I’m really thankful for.  So as to dispel my own lousy attitude.

So today, I am thankful…

For Starbucks Christmas Blend coffee, freshly ground, made in a press, and shared with my co-workers who are regularly deprived of really good coffee

For Berry Boys, who when they’re not incessantly whiney, play really well together and are hilarious to watch.

For Berry Guy, who always has a million great ideas and schemes going on in his handsome head

For work, because it allows me to escape the crying, just for a few hours, and feel like a contributing adult (not that being at home is not contributing – it’s just nice to say “there – I completed *this* today”, and they won’t get messy or dirty or otherwise wrecked 5 minutes after I finish them.  They’re just done.)

For curling up on freezing days and evenings in front (and I mean directly in front) of the blazing wood stove with a book, a coffee, and a cookie

For friends, who encourage, and admonish, and love me.

 

What are YOU thankful for today?

 

"I will bless the Lord at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth...Oh, magnify the Lord with me, And let us exalt His name together" (Ps. 34:1 & 3)

Mushy Mondays

Berry Boy

I think my heart failed…

when you came downstairs where I was watching TV after I was sure you were asleep – you wanted to go to your own bed (you were laying down in ours) – and you scared me so bad that I both jumped and yelled, which in turn startled you and made you cry

I thought it was so sweet…

when you had finally gotten back to (your own) bed, and over the monitor I could hear Berry Baby start to cry in his sleep, and you hushing him with a soft “shhh shhh shhh” just like you hear us do (this is much cuter than when you knock Berry Baby over and make him cry, and then frantically say “shh shh shh” to get him to stop crying before I can come and find out what happened and give you trouble for it)

I then started to laugh…

when you were done shushing Berry Baby and instead decided to sing…a very quiet jazzy version of the ABC song, which turned into a very quiet jazzy version of “Twinkle Twinkle” – all over the baby monitor.

 

Berry Baby

You are hilarious…

in your enthusiasm for the Christmas tree decorations.  The bottom 2 ft of the tree is now bare of hanging things because you have pulled them off and either broken them or had them replaced higher up.

when you stand on the desk seat, point in the air, and *talk* about something very important (to you – I have no idea what you’re talking about, but you are very emphatic about it)

I laughed (in dismay)…

when I left you eating your meatball and rice, and came back to find you like this:

goofy expression and all…

sticky sweet and sour rice in your hair…

but really, who could be mad at that face?

Ridiculously Good Recipes

This is my last and best recipe for our little holiday edition of RGR.  These are kind of time consuming , but they are JUST. SO. GOOD.  I look forward to Christmas baking every year JUST for these little babies.

I will warn you, if you think Sugar Cookies are too picky to make, then you’ll hate making these and should probably instead just come over for coffee and eat mine.  HOWEVER, should you try these, you will NOT regret the time you put into them.  Not only are they beautiful to look at but they are DIVINE to eat.

So without further ado, I present to you:

Pastel Cream Wafers (sound trumpets *here*)

you will need:

- 1/2 C Cold Butter (no substitutes)

- 1 C All Purpose Flour

- 3-4 Tbsp half-&-half cream

- Sanding Sugar or Granulated Sugar (sanding sugar is apparently a little coarser than regular granulated sugar and should be available where cake decorating supplies are sold.  I have always used plain granulated sugar – this year I actually looked for some sanding sugar at Michaels but couldn’t find any.  So just use normal sugar)

Preheat your oven to 375.

Cut the butter into the flour until the butter is the size of small peas.  Sprinkle 1 Tbsp of cream into the mixture and toss with a fork.  Repeat until all is moistened, then form into a ball.  Don’t use more than 4 Tbsp of cream.  If it seems like it’s not moistened enough, form the ball with your hands and it will all come together.

Roll out on a lightly floured surface to slightly less than 1/8” thick.  You don’t want these too thick as they will puff up to about double after they bake.

Cut into rounds with a 1 3/4” scalloped cookie cutter (I bought a set of cutters specifically for this recipe – although I’ve found them useful for other things as well).  Dip one side of each round in the sugar.  Place sugar side up on parchment lined cookie sheet.  With a fork, prick 3-4 parallel rows in each cutout.

Bake for 8-10 min or till edges just begin to brown.  **In my oven I don’t bake them for longer than 7 min, so keep an eye on the first batch or two and don’t over-brown them.  Transfer to a cooling rack and let cool completely.

 

Now, you will look at all the lovely cutouts on your cooling racks, pat yourself on the back and think “man, I’ve made a ton of cookies”.  Actually, you have only made half that many, because you will be making them into sandwiches.  Feel discouraged *here*.  Take heart – it will all be worth it shortly.

You will now need to make Powdered Sugar Frosting:

Stir together 1 Cup sifted powdered sugar, 1 Tbsp softened butter (no substitutes), 1/2 tsp vanilla, 1 drop of food coloring, and enough half-&-half (about 1 Tbsp) to make a spreadable frosting.  I mash the butter into the powdered sugar first using a fork, and then add the rest, mashing as I go.  It works beautifully.  Trust me.

Spread a scant 1 tsp of frosting on the flat (non-sugared) side of a cookie.  Top with another cookie, flat sides together.  I doubled this recipe and made 54 sandwiches (108 single cookies) – so a single recipe will probably make about 27. 

This may seem like a lot, until you eat one, and then you will realize that 54 won’t be nearly enough.  Especially if you have to share.

Now, this all probably sounds time consuming and like too much work.  However, start to photo finish (icing and all), I made a double recipe of these babies in an hour and a half.  So that’s not too bad is it?

Berry Boys

Mom. Mommy. Mom. 

Watch this.

No wait. That wasn’t it. watch Mom.

Mom. Watch.

No, that wasn’t it.

Mom. Watch this.

Mom. Mommy. Watch.

no wait, that wasn’t it.

Mom. Watch. Watch this Mom.

(repeat this sequence at least 2 more times)

Wasn’t that awesome Mom? Mom? Wasn’t that? Awesome?

Mushy Mondays

 Berry Boy

You made me laugh…

when you were getting ready for church, and you said that Berry Baby’s new plaid shirt was “gorgeous”, and then you added “but I look way more gorgeouser even” (I won’t count how many grammar violations were in that sentence)

when you were starving hungry before supper and you told me that I was the “most bestest cooker” ever (I was only making chili, which you actually don’t like that much…amazing how hunger changes a boy’s perspective on food…)

 

Berry Baby

I really love it…

when you wake up at 4am but go promptly back to sleep with just a little pat on the back and a recovering with the blanket

when you wake up at 4am but refuse to go back to sleep, and Berry Guy has the next day off so I can throw you into bed with him and send myself to the couch to sleep

I laughed…

when I went to get you up from your nap and you were sleeping so hard that your hair looked like this:

and this:

You’re too cute.

Ridiculously Good Recipes

Has it become obvious yet that I really really really love Christmas baking?

I’m going to throw out an easy cookie recipe now as a reprieve from the Cutout Cookie recipe I posted last time.  And because the next recipe that I post will be the major time consumer (but OH, so so so worth the effort).

So here you go:

Chocolate Candy-Cane Cookies

1 pkg. (250 g) Brick Cream Cheese, softened

3/4 cup  butter, softened

1 cup sugar

2 tsp.  vanilla

2-1/2 cups flour

1/2 tsp.  baking soda

4 squares Semi-Sweet Chocolate, melted

1 pkg.  (6 squares) White Chocolate

12 hard peppermint candies, crushed

Beat cream cheese, butter, sugar and vanilla in large bowl with mixer until well blended. Add flour and baking soda; mix well. Blend in semi-sweet chocolate.

Shape scant tablespoonfuls of dough into balls; roll each into 3-inch-long rope. Place, 2 inches apart, on baking sheets, bending top of each slightly to resemble a candy cane.

Bake @350 10 to 12 min. or until lightly browned; cool 5 min. on baking sheets. Transfer to wire racks; cool completely.

Microwave white chocolate until melted and smooth – I go 1min on high, stir, then another 30seconds until it’s all melted.  I then spoon the melted chocolate into a ziploc freezer bag and seal it.  Then I cut a small (really small) corner off the bottom of the bag, and drizzle the chocolate over cookies. Sprinkle with crushed candies. Let stand until chocolate is firm.

Now.  I never have hard peppermint candies on hand.  I do, however, have candy canes that Berry Boy made me buy back when he was 3, because he thought he really really liked them (he didn’t).  So what I do with these is crush up 2 candy canes in a ziploc bag (I give it a few good whacks with my rolling pin) and I garnish the cookies with that.

And you will have these:

They look great, and they’re easy.  Plus, if you’re less of a kitchen nazi than me, your kids will love helping with these – they can roll out the candy canes in their hands and you can shape them on the cookie sheet.

If these don’t sound easy, then consider this: I started these cookies at 5pm, and it is now 6:30.  They are the easiest thing to decorate as all you have to do is squeeze melted chocolate all over them, and not with any great precision.

Plus, they have cream cheese.

Need I say more.

Ode to Treadmill

 

I think about you often

The runs I used to do

But now you just sit lonely

Because I neglect you.

  

I’m eating too many cookies

And chunks of Toblerone

And if I could just run on you

I’d get back in the zone.

  

I hope it won’t be long

Before we’re reunited

It’s just that I’m so tired

And can’t-quit-hacking-up-gross-stuff-from-my-chest-or-get-back-any-energy-and-who-can-think-about-running-when-you-could-be-sleeping.

  

Love, Berry Girl.

Ridiculously Good Recipes

Of all the Christmas cookies, sugar cookies have got to be the classic.  They also have to be the most picky and time consuming.  All that rolling, and cutting out, and rolling again, and cutting out, and then when you think you’re done, you have to decorate them.  Every year I tell myself that I WILL NOT BE MAKING THESE EVER AGAIN, and every year I make them anyway.  Because they’re yummy.  And pretty.  And fun.

This has become my favorite recipe for sugar cookies, mostly because it involves Cream Cheese (I love Cream Cheese).

So roll up your sleeves and grit your teeth, because this will be fun.  Or else.

 

Heavenly Cutout Cookies

1/2 C Butter

1/3 of a brick of Cream Cheese

1 3/4 C Flour

1 1/2 C Powdered Sugar

1 Egg

1/2 tsp Baking Powder

1/2 tsp Vanilla

 

Beat the butter and cream cheese on medium speed until blended.

Add half the flour, the powdered sugar, the egg, baking powder and vanilla.  Beat on low until combined, then beat 1min on medium.

Beat in the remaining flour on low.

You will now have quite a soft dough.  Refrigerate it for at least an hour.

Roll out half the dough at a time.  You will need to flour your counter and your rolling pin liberally as the dough is still going to be quite soft.  Don’t worry though – it’s not that hard to work with.  Roll it out to 1/8” thickness (whatever that looks like) and cut out into your Christmasy shapes (I always do angels, trees, stars, and sometimes gingerbread men, but they’re really big).

Bake on cookie sheet lined with parchment paper @375 for 8-9 min.

Later, when you’ve had a cup of coffee and a break, you can start to decorate.  I’ve tried lots of kinds of icing, from plain old icing sugar and milk to Royal icing…I have no idea what’s best.  I find that the Royal icing is too stiff and hard, so I am back to using just plain old icing:

icing sugar

bit of vanilla

bit of milk or cream

You can make it whatever consistency you like, color it any different way, and you’re good to go.  If you want to outline the cookies before “flooding” them with icing, then make the icing fairly thick and either use a piping bag, or take a Ziploc bag, fill it with the icing, seal it, and cut a very small corner off of one bottom corner, and voila, you have a piping bag.  This works for decorating after smearing the icing all over the cookies too.

I’m no Martha Stewart when it comes to cookie decorating.  I have the idea in my head but it never quite turns out the way I think it will…and I’m cursed with two males in the house who eat the iced cookies as quickly as I can ice them….*sigh*

Mega-Cranky Monday

Argh. 

That should sum up my day. 

After losing my temper numerous times, spilling Berry Boy’s juice for him at lunch, and having zero tolerance for questions being asked repeatedly approximately 20 times in a row, I mandated Quiet Time after lunch and locked Berry Boy in my room (not literally) while Berry Baby slept in their room and I sat on the couch in the now quiet living room and dove into  a bowl of chocolate ice cream covered in chocolate cookie crumbs covered in chocolate syrup.

Overkill?

I think not.

Although it does lend some insight into the crabbiness…

Mushy Mondays

*sigh*

I just think this is worth showing again.