Tasty food and other news

Tasty food (by Paul)

Whenever I cut calories, I start to obsess about cooking. (I mean if I'm going to spend calories on something...) So, here's what I've been up to:

• Peter Reinhart's cinnamon raisin walnut bread - it makes about the best toast I've ever tasted.
• Cinnamon sour cream coffee cake - it's a bit like the Corner Bakery's sour cream cake.
• King Arthur Flour's Favorite Fudge Cake - Just FYI: Remember to add sugar to frosting. Now when I bake, Jonathan asks, "is this the cake with the bitter frosting?" I told him it wouldn't happen again.
• Val's white bread - Reinhart understands that nothing he can do can replace Mom's bread.
• Fry bread & scones - Clerie made some tasty treats with the remaining dough.
• Peter Reinhart's 100% whole wheat bread - this time I didn't enrich it, but it turned out very good. Gave a frozen loaf to Danny & Melanie. Sorry it was a bit dry guys!
• Butter - we had some leftover cream from the Fudge Cake Ganache, so Jonathan and I churned it into butter! He didn't like it. (He likes margarine and salted butter, though.)
• Almond butter - thanks Vicky for giving me the guts to try it. Yum! Just throw almonds in a blender and blend them till you get butter. If it's not smooth enough, you can put some nut oil or extra virgin coconut oil. I'd suggest putting in some salt and sugar if you want to make it palatable for kids in general. Jonathan's not crazy about mine.
Shortbread cookies - We used Jonathan's less-than-beloved butter to make shortbread cookies. Clerie didn't like the aftertaste of these. Jonathan said "I like it at first but don't like it after." That's 0 for 2 for the aftertaste.
• Chocolate pudding cookies - Since Jonathan and Clerie didn't like the shortbread cookies (I thought they were okay but not the best), we made some chocolate cookies w/ nuts and oatmeal inside and cream cheese frosting on top. Jonathan was of course a big fan.
• Paneer - I made paneer! It's so tasty after it's simmered in...
• Curry! - Clerie made her mouth-watering curry today. We put the paneer in with the chicken and vegetables. We added it late because we weren't sure if it'd melt or not, but it didn't. The longer it was in, the better it got. I'm excited to try some again tomorrow!

And then there's the fat free pancakes, french toast, hot cereals with various additions. But I think I'll ease off the cooking for a bit. Just as soon as tonight's batch of yogurt is done...

In other news (by Clerie),
Addi is now capable of realizing that someone else has something she doesn't have.  This morning at the breakfast table....Jonathan had a piece of toast, and I had already broken Addison's up into her cream of wheat.  She knew that she didn't have toast like her brother and could not be convinced to eat anything else.  So I gave her a corner of my toast...and she was happy to eat her breakfast.

This last Saturday, we had the sister missionaries over for a quick get to know you vistit.  Jonathan was very cute and excited to get to know them better.  We had a nice visit, and then they said it was time for them to leave.  (Let me preface this next part to say...I really think I've taught him better than this!) On the way out the door, Jonathan gave them each a friendly little push....it just happened to be on thier backsides....so yes.  I wrote it in his journal....Jonathan gave the sister missionaries a "good game" pat on thier way out the door.  He'll be really proud of that at 16! :)

(by Paul)

Jonathan and I've been having fun with Legos lately. Jonathan's got a few sets, he gave me a few sets, and he knows I've got some of my favorites to give to my kids, as well as a bunch to put together for Mike's kids. He's always making rockets.

Well we've also been doing a Way-to-go Buck Store each Monday night with family home evening. He has the chance to spend the way-to-go bucks he's earned during the week on a small selection of stuff; little things he can afford, and a couple of big-ticket items he'll have to save up for. I have a small lego set that I put in the store for $35 way-to-go bucks. It would take him a few weeks. Last week he did an okay job saving up. He just bought a jolly rancher and a couple of pennies. This week? He bought a book about alloys, a jolly rancher, and 6 pennies. He spent every...single...buck. So far, I think he's learned one thing about saving money: it stinks. Spending is much more fun.

Addi is gradually learning to speak. She has a leopard beanie baby that she's quite enamored with. She'll see it and whisper with excitement, "kitty!" We also have a guppy (had two, the male died, the female's happy...), and when she sees the fish tank, she says "-ish!"

She also likes to growl when we play. "Rrrrrr."

Addi's hobby these days is pushing her doll stroller around. She uses the stroller like cilia. She'll run into something, and when the stroller hits it, she'll back up a bit, turn a tad, and try again. Bump. Turn. Bump. Turn. Clerie says she's like a Zhu Zhu Pet. Myself...well, I can't help but think of Bill Nye's description of Jelly fish intelligence: "Stimulus!....response...Stimulus!...response."