Family Food

I have always taken an interest in traditional cultural food and what it means to families. My husband has a Greek/Macedonian heritage so I love attempting to make ethnic food for him (although I think I like it better than he does). My mother's side of the family is German/Hungarian. Everything Great Grandma made consisted of chicken, potatoes, and noodles or dumplings of some sort. Some of our favorites are Chicken Paprikash and (I have no idea how to spell this next one) Katoffelnokel. For dessert, we made nutroll, strudel, and Magdaline Kiefel (Kiefle?) (which I think translates into "Moon-shaped Cookie"). I got the itch to make Keifels last night for my mother's birthday. Some of the in-laws don't like this dessert but I'm a true "Hunky." Here's a picture (half with nuts, half without) and the recipe:

Magdaline Keifel
1/2 lb. sweet (unsalted) butter
1 1/4 C sugar
4 eggs
2 C flour
chopped nuts

Beat butter and sugar. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each egg. Add flour and beat well. Spread into a greased 15"x10" baking pan. Sprinkle with chopped nuts. Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes. Let cool. Using a biscuit cutter, cut into a moon shape.

Serenity

The Binky War is over. I am the victor!

Sleep was good and peaceful last night!

#2...continued

Naptimme of day #2 wasn't much better, but I'm claiming the victory. Since Baby Girl woke up before 7:00 AM this morning, I opted to start naptime early today. It was the same routine as last night but no Daddy to come to the rescue. I put Baby Girl in her bed and took my seat in front of the door. For 40 minutes, she screamed, banged, played, and sang. At one point, there was even a sweet song about "Mommy, opie! Opie dar, Mommy!" And then there was a bout of "Toppit, Mommy!" (Stop it.) But then I heard a dreaded sound...the sound of diaper tabs unfastening. I was in her room like a bolt of lightning to catch her removing her diaper through the leg of her onesie. I firmly told her no, zipped her back up, and put her back in bed. When she climbed out, I put her back in. This happened a few times until, at last, she didn't climb back out. It was a long process, but still a victory.

Baby Girl- 1
Mama- 1

Day #2 sans Binky

Well, day #2 was not good. Since she only took a 40 minute nap yesterday, I decided it was best to put her to bed early. Ha, yeah right. She decided it was best to not sleep at all. For the first time ever, she climbed out of her crib in protest of bedtime. I put her back in. She climbed out again. To save time, I'll just say that this happened many times. So I decided to sit in the hallway and lean against her door to prevent her from escaping her room. 50 minutes later, I realized this was a mistake. She continued to bang on the door and scream, "Opie dar (open door), Mommy!" Finally, sleep-deprived Hubby stormed out of bed and informed me that this was not working. Oh really? He freed Baby Girl from her nighttime prison and put her in our bed (not the best idea in my opinion). Moments later, they were both sound asleep.

The Score:
Baby Girl- 1
Mama- 0

Free at Last, Free at Last...

We are finally a pacifier free home! But I can't say this decision was made by choice. We have gradually lost all of Baby Girl's "binkies" and I've refused to buy more. She's 2 now and I think this is a good age to stop. I hate seeing kids going to middle school with a pacifier in tow. I'm obviously kidding but I can't stand trying to decipher what an older toddler is saying while they keep their pacifier clamped in their teeth. I vowed that I would never allow my child to do this.

Our first step was to only allow the pacifier to be used for sleeping, church, and restaurants - times when I wanted her to be quiet. Then we went down to bedtime and naps only. This is where we had a problem. We were down to only one binky so we treated it like gold. I didn't want to lose it before I was totally ready. Yesterday during nap, Baby Girl decided to remove her clothes and her diaper. Then she proceeded to take a dump right in her bed. I will spare you the disturbing details so we don't have any vomiting on keyboards and laptops. So I decided to throw the VERY LAST BINKY in the trash. And no, I'm not replacing it. So Baby Girl was forced into quitting cold turkey. I wish they made a patch for this.

Tea is a Cup of Life

Nancy Reagan said, "A woman is like a tea bag, you can not tell how strong she is until you put her in hot water." Yesterday was not a good day for me. This warm, comforting mug of hot tea was something that helped me better deal with the day. One of my favorite things about autumn is mugs of warm, sometimes spicy, sometimes sweet hot tea.

Dirty Dishes

How clean have your dishes been looking lately? Are you mad at your dishwasher because its performance is not up to par? Maybe it's not your dishwasher that isn't doing its job. Many of my friends have been complaining that their dishes have come out of the dishwasher dirty or covered in a white film. And that's exactly the experience I've had recently. My plastics (baby bottles, cups, and plastic utensils) have suffered the most noticeable change. Then I read in the newspaper that the government created a law that reduces phosphates in dishwasher detergent. Phosphates, which help your dishes come out clean has been reduced to 0.5 percent from as high as 8.7 percent. So that's why your dishes are coming out dirty. Read this article to better understand the issue.

I'm not a tree-hugger but I try to do my part to eliminate waste for the environment. I take quick showers, I don't let the water run while brushing my teeth, I unplug my cell phone charger when not in use, and I turn off lights when I leave a room. But I have to draw a line somewhere. What is the point of having an expensive dishwasher and buying costly detergent when it's not doing the job properly? As the head of a household of six people, I really don't want to resort to washing dishes by hand. I'll never get out of the kitchen! Thoughts?

Still Shutterflyin'!

Yes, you might say I'm addicted. I just received my fifth digital scrapbook from Shutterfly.com! This album is a collection of Christmas pictures from 2004 to 2009. Santa Claus visits my Grandma's house every Christmas Eve. So I have one album that shows how the kids have grown from being scared to death of the bearded man, to loving and hugging him, to looking too big to be sitting on his lap. It also makes me very anxious for Christmas to arrive again.

And while I'm at it, I must admit that I've already started working on my next album. It will be a review of 2010. I've started uploading pictures but still have dozens left to add. 2010 has been very good to us so this will be my fattest book yet. Who knows what the album after that will hold...

My Favorite "Bow-tique"

In a home with two little girls, we have our share of hair bows lying around the house! This photo only represents a portion of our hair bow stock! I must have a bow to match every outfit the girls wear. And if they have matching outfits, they must have matching bows. Big Sis wears big, fluffy bows while Baby Girl usually sports headband bows (she's still a little hair-challenged).

Most boutiques charge a fortune for custom handmade bows. But I finally found a website that has beautiful bows of all colors and styles at an affordable price - BrynnBella.com! We've been shopping there for about 5 years, ever since Big Sis had hair! The bows hold up extremely well; some of these are several years old. I've even washed them when they've gotten covered in hairspray and gunk. I highly recommend checking this site out. If you have little heads of hair running around your house, you won't be sorry!

Another Lizard Sighting

This was the early morning sight we beheld today. The Lizard Lady is at it again! Maybe I'll try to sneak it into her lunchbox without her realizing.