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Popovers

I have to say, I really love popovers. They require no leavening agent and rely, rather, on high-heat generated steam for their towering height. They have a nice, slightly custardy flavor and are incredibly easy to make.

I think this was the second time I’ve made popovers. It seems to me there was a go before this, perhaps while we were in Vail, but it’s a bit foggy up there so I can’t say for sure. I was reminded of them near the end of last week and I thought they sounded like a good thing to make with the yummy loaded potato soup we had on Friday. Every time (whether it was once or twice), they came together quickly and easily and turned out perfectly. As an added bonus, I almost always have the ingredients around. Popover connoisseurs insist that these must be baked in popover-specific pans, but I make mine in muffin tins and do not succumb to the dreaded unitasker. I am sure they taste just as good.

Ingredients

  • 2 eggs
  • 1 C all-purpose flour (I think it helps if you sift, but it’s not strictly necessary)
  • 1 C milk
  • 1/2 tsp salt

Directions
[flickr size=”small” float=”right”]http://www.flickr.com/photos/jesser80/5484034383/[/flickr]Heat oven to 450. Grease a 12-cup muffin tin with butter or non-stick spray. Beat eggs gently in a medium-sized bowl. Whisk in remaining ingredients until just smooth. Do not over-mix. Pour batter into prepared muffin tins until they are about 2/3 full or a bit less. Bake for 20 minutes then reduce oven temp to 350 and bake another 10-20 minutes or until popovers puffed up nicely and golden brown on top. Enjoy as you see fit … I suggest butter and strawberry jam.

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Freezing Fog

We had a very cool weather phenomenon occur on Friday … freezing fog. We had beautiful fog in the morning and it sort of iced all the trees so that they came out looking subtly white and perfect. It was really beautiful. I have no idea what it did to all of our plants, but it was pretty enough I’m not sure I care. We had had temps in the 50s all week and unfortunately, the freezing fog ended our beautiful weather. But I hear tomorrow it will be back.

We had a fab weekend. Friday was chill and easy. We went to the gym, had a playdate, had naps and got to hang at home. I got to make loaded potato soup and popovers (more on those tomorrow). Saturday was similarly chill … gym time, a trip to the frozen yogurt shoppe, some errands, NAPS (again) and then dinner with my parents and grandma. The kids stayed over at my parents house and Matt and I met up with a friend in the AM and made it 6 miles at a good clip. Then we grabbed the kids and met up with a bunch of friends for a long trip to the zoo followed by a super chaotic (and fun) dinner at Wynkoop Brewery. Tabby made fast friends with our friend’s little girl who unfortunately lives on the other side of the country. And Mommy, who hadn’t eaten all day allowed herself a fairly rare and incredibly yummy BURGER, with fries. I think it’s fair to say that everyone enjoyed the day.

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Childcare Dilemma

Yesterday I found out we will be facing a childcare dilemma. Since Tabby was about 2 months old and I started back to work on a part-time basis, we’ve had one sitter who we adore. She came recommended by a coworker and we’ve loved sending our kids to her house for nearly four years now. My kids have a second home there and she treats them like members of her family. It has been pretty much an ideal situation. But yesterday I got confirmation on something that we knew was probably coming. Our beloved sitter is retiring. Continue reading “Childcare Dilemma”

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From the Mouths of Babes

A conversation between my babes a few weeks ago while riding in the car:

Ben: babble babble
Tabby: That’s a house, Ben. A  house.
Ben: babble babble
Tabby: Say house, Ben! Say house! You need to use your words.
Ben: *screams loudy*
Tabby: He doesn’t seem very interested.
Ben: House! House!

Tabby and I laughed the rest of the way home.

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The Haps

It’s been a busy busy week. And it’s only Tuesday.

  • We are ALMOST all over our colds (flu??) I’m still a bit hazy around the edges.
  • We’re planning a send-off for Uncle Buck (Matt’s brother who’s been living with us this month) as he heads back to TN and eventually to the army. We’re going to go play trivia at DNote on Thursday. Yay!
  • We’re going to see Gigi tonight because it’s been way too long.
  • I went to a very unsatisfying sports conditioning class last night. I’m pretty sure she was conditioning me to sleep … or maybe do yoga.
  • We are planning our LAST ski weekend of the season (how is this possible??).
  • We are planning Tabby’s 4th b’day festivities – TEN days people … TEN days!!!
  • Speaking of which, I have no idea what to get Tabby for her b’day … I was going to get her  a Leapster Explorer, but the bad reviews scared me off. I don’t want a ton more junky plastic. Maybe we’ll go shopping for an outfit and visit the paint-your-own pottery store. The girl loves her art.
  • The house is a semi-wreck from busyness/sickness.
  • My Visa has suddenly decided not to work, so I cannot pay my library fines. Now I have to spend time on the phone figuring out WHY.
  • The above is only ONE of about 100 phone calls I need to make … during business hours.
  • I am supposed to run a half marathon in less than 7 weeks and I have not run more than 4.5 miles since … December? That’s a problem.
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Ch-ch-ch Changes

After years and years of lovingly crafting my own blogging engine, I have finally defected to a pre-produced one. I am a bit sad about this, but I simply no longer have the time to maintain the code … so WordPress it is. It’s a good engine with lots of room for extension and excellent themes. Moving the data from my old blog was no mean feat and I spent lots of time creating scripts to convert the posts, comments, categories and recipes (converted to posts!). And then I had got to craft a new theme as well.

Things are far from done, but I feel like I’ve made a really good start on things and I’m quite pleased with how things are progressing.

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Inevitably ….

It is weird how these things work. Does anyone else have the experience of only watching a random TV show … say I Love Lucy or Family Ties or Hey Dude … only once in a blue moon; sometimes not for months and years, and yet if you DO catch it one random evening when you’re flipping through the channels it’s the SAME EPISODE you caught that other random time. Maybe it’s just me.

We also “laugh” about how when Matt’s out of town the kids get sick and/or it snows buckets. Maybe not ALL the time, but pretty darn frequently. When I was pregnant with Tabby, we’d had the winter from heck and I dropped him off at the park ‘n’ ride and I could hardly get back to the house because there were cars stuck in the middle of the road all over our neighborhood!

The kids were sick over the weekend and continue to be, so of course Matt left on a business trip this morning. Luckily we have Matt’s brother staying with us so I was able to go to work this AM and get meetings and essentials out of the way and then I could come home at noon and come home to be with my sick kids. We will be doing the same gig tomorrow and possibly Thursday.

They have been good, sweet kids … and of course the upside to them being sick is that they want to snuggle … LOTS … and they like to sleep, except perhaps in the middle of the night. Tabby is mostly on the mend, but Ben is still in the feverish throes of it and he does not appreciate being made to take Tylenol. He does, however, enjoy the Gatorade in his sippy cup. Woot.

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My Funny Valentines

Happy Valentines to all of my favorite people! I know it’s a cheesy greeting card company holiday, but I always like any excuse to tell the special people in your life how much you love them (and of course, involving Hallmark is a personal decision). So to all of my family and friends, near and far … thanks for being in my life and I LOVE YOU!

This year, with all of our recent out-of-town-ness, we didn’t do so well with making Valentines. Tabby and I constructed 18 glittery messes for her classmates and I made these mailboxes for the kids (they are filled with new socks and sunglasses and probably some sort of candy I’ve since forgotten about). I will hand them over to the kids at dinner tonight.

I was happy to see the mailboxes in the Target dollar bin when we were there one day. I still have a little white mailbox with red hearts on it that was given to me one Valentine’s day by my parents. It sits on a shelf in my office and holds my sticky notes. I just decked these out with a little light pink vinyl, cut on my Silhouette.

I hope you all have a Happy Valentine’s day with your special people.

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Blogging Excuses

I Want to Blog, but … (pick your favorite)

• I am in the midst of converting this here blog to Word Press (I just don't have time to keep up with the blogging engine anymore) and it is sucking ALL my time
• my kids are so darn cute and I can't stop staring at their darling little faces.
• we're heading out of town again this weekend and someone needs to pack!
• I'm about half passed out from my tempo run this AM. Long runs, faster pace than normal. Yikes.
• Tabby and I have to make Valentines for her class.
• Ben is drawing himself a bath. *
• it's time to concoct the Pioneer Woman's French Toast Bake so we can eat yummy things tomorrow morning.
• someone has to shovel the walk!
• Big Bang Theory is on and I have to watch it.
• my office is freezing and I've got to rub a couple of highlighters together to start a fire.
• all work and no play makes Jess a dull girl.

*True story – we went to a Superbowl Party on Sunday. The kids were given the run of the upstairs but Matt and I (as well as other parents) were checking on them intermittently. I was downstairs bidding a friend farewell. Ben had been playing near us and just then I noticed he was gone. I mentioned he was not there and my friend said noted that he had been there not 30 seconds ago. I sent Matt off to check on him and a few seconds later the hosting Dad came downstairs holding Ben who was wet from toe to mid-calf. Apparently he'd run upstairs, gotten in the tub and turned it on all in the span of about 90 seconds. Nice job, kiddo.

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Back in Action

I am back – exhausted but back – after a much needed weekend in the mountains with my girls. We didn't get much skiing done (terrible conditions) but we had a great time and I'm (other than the tiredness) very recharged and glad to be home.

We capped off the weekend with a very fun Superbowl Party and I am officially very very behind. It's going to be quite a week – we're heading out of town again on Thursday. So in the meantime, I've got to get laundry done, house cleaned up, everybody packed up and at least one haircut handled.

I think I need a personal assistant.