Fresh Strawberry Muffins

These Strawberry Muffins are soul-satisfying, and are a perfect breakfast or snack.  I imagine they would also be good as the base for strawberry shortcake! 

Fresh Strawberry Muffins

(makes 1 dozen)

1/2 cup butter, softened

3/4 cup sugar

1 egg

2 cups flour

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup milk

1/2 tsp vanilla

1 1/2 cups chopped strawberries

cinnamon sugar

-Put paper liners in muffin cups, and preheat the oven to 400.

-Cream butter and sugar.  Add the egg and beat well.

-In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt.

-Add flour mixture and milk alternately to butter mixture.  Mix well.

-Stir in vanilla and strawberries.

-Scoop/spoon batter into muffin cups - they'll be full.  Sprinkle with plenty of cinnamon sugar.

-Bake at 400 for 20-25 minutes, until golden.

Making Smoothies with Daddy

Sorry - no pictures of the finished product, as we were all too busy enjoying it!

Roasted Carrots

These can serve as a healthy alternative to french fries when you're having burgers or sandwiches. 

Roasted Carrots
(prepared the way we prepare all roasted veggies)

carrots (I used baby carrots - faster than chopping full-sized ones)
olive oil
kosher salt
pepper

-Preheat the oven to 400-425ish.
-Spread the carrots out on a foil-lined baking sheet.
-Drizzle carrots with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
-Roast 10 minutes; stir; roast an additional 10-12 minutes.
-Enjoy!

Ouch

I'm not always graceful - I manage to injure myself all the time.  Bruises show up on my body with no warning, and I often have no idea where they came from. There are also plenty of times I know when I'm hurting myself - the other day, I got home from work, and within an hour had run into two walls, hit my hand on the corner wall in the hallway, banged my shin into the coffee table, run my hip (twice) into the counter, and run into the doorjamb by the bedroom.  (sigh)

*This post was prompted by the discovery this morning of yet another bruise of unknown origin.

Getting Her Hands Dirty

A Fantastic Surprise

The picture was taken with my cell phone, but you can still see how gorgeous these flowers are!  And guess who sent them? 

Thank you, whoever you are, for doing something so sweet, thoughtful, and completely unexpected.  You have completely and utterly brightened my day.
 

The Best Oven Fries

These are wonderful.  Crave-worthy!  There's a bit of effort involved, but the results are worth it!

Oven Fries

about 4 potatos
olive oil
kosher salt
pepper

-Peel the potatoes, and cut them into wedges.  Put them in a bowl, cover them with hot tap water, and let them sit for 10 minutes.
-Preheat the oven to 475.
-Coat a cookie sheet (with edges) with about 4 Tbsp olive oil and some salt and pepper.
-Drain the potatoes and spread on 3 layers of paper towels to dry.  Pat dry with more paper towels, then toss with 1 Tbsp oil.
-Spread the potatoes in a single layer on the cookie sheet, cover with foil, and bake 5 minutes.
-Remove the foil and bake 15-20 minutes or until spotted golden brown.  (Rotate the sheet in the oven after 10 minutes.)
-Turn all of the potatoes over, then bake until crisp, another 10 minutes or so.
-Transfer to a paper-towel lined baking sheet to drain, and season with salt and pepper.

Starting Antibiotics Today

I know it's a blurry picture (taken with Jamie's phone and sent to me here at work this morning), but you can see just how cute my little boy is!

We took Miles to the doctor yesterday - he has his first ear infection, and it's a double!  woohoo!  We also learned he's 19 lbs 5 oz, at not quite 7 months old.

That's all - now back to your regularly scheduled programming.

More Gisèleisms

When she tastes something she likes:  "Yummy!!  Alicious!!"

At her parent-teacher conference, we got her progress sheet.  She got "fully mastered" on "Uses vocabulary appropriate to age level" with a note that she's above her level.  She also got "fully mastered" on "Shows interest in new vocabulary" with a note that says "always!"  The teacher told Jamie that Gisèle is her best student and her favorite.  :)

"O-tay!"  (Okay)

"Two-later"  (Meaning: "later."  I think she may have gotten it from "tomorrow.")

Her teacher told us recently that Gisèle leads all of the girls in her class - they follow her around all day and do whatever she does.  If she stops for tea, they stop for tea.

Whenever it's time to do something (get ready for bed, get ready for school), Gisèle will pop up to her feet, put her hands on her hips, tilt her head to the side, click her tongue, and say "What we do next?"  We'll answer ("Put pyjamas on!"), and she'll happily exclaim "That's right!"  Sometime she'll add "You get a stamp!" and she'll pretend to stamp the back of our hands.

I always know exactly which picture is the one Gisèle has colored at church.  It's always the one with the most color, the most stickers, etc.  Always.

Baby Dedication

**UPDATE - For those that can't be there, if you're interested in watching, you can go to riverpointe.tv to watch the service.  The Baby Dedication part will probably be after the first few songs, and the service starts at 5pm on Saturday 5/8/10.

We're doing Miles's baby dedication at church on Saturday!  (There's a Saturday night service in addition to the normal two Sunday services for Mother's Day weekend.  We'll go on Saturday night to make room for visitors to the church on Sunday.)  For the family and friends who can't be there, these are the two pictures that will be shown on screen.  Isn't he just perfect? 

"My Miles"

"My Miles."  That what Gisèle calls him.  Or "My baby," "My buddy," "Buddy," "Baby," "Baby brudder;" the list goes on.  She adores him, and he is completely smitten with her.  When Gisèle walks into his view or he hears her voice, Miles completely lights up.  He watches her like she's the toy he's always wanted - the thing his heart most desires in this world.  When she talks to him or touches his arm, he lets out an excited gasp-croak-laugh sound that gets me giggling every time.  His dimples deepen by 2 inches when she's anywhere near.  Gisèle takes such good care of him.  She brings him toys and makes sure he get a play-by-play of everything going on.  She tells him "It's okay, buddy!" even when he's not crying, and she makes sure to tell us whenever he needs a bottle or a blanket.  She talks to him as if he understands every word she says, and makes sure to include him on any exciting news - "You hear dat, Miles?  I'm eatin' cheese!"

I wonder how long that love relationship will last?

Rhubarb Pie

This is Jamie's favorite - his mom's recipe.

Rhubarb Pie

filling:
1 egg, beaten
1 cup sugar
3 cups chopped rhubarb
1 Tbsp flour
1 tsp vanilla

topping:
3/4 cup flour
1/3 cup butter
1/2 cup brown sugar

-Preheat the oven to 450, and arrange an unbaked pie crust in a pie plate.
-Combine the filling ingredients, and pour into the unbaked crust.
-Combine the topping ingredients; mix until crumbly, then sprinkle over the filling.
-Bake at 450 for 10 minutes, then reduce the heat to 350 and bake for an additional 40 minutes.