The only thing better than cake? FREE cake! And a Blizzard icecream cake, at that.
After Ardan's (disastrous) Christmas concert on December 8th, I took the kids out for a DQ sundae. Its kind of our new 'after-concert' thing now. There happened to be a box on the counter for contest entries, and I had Gunnar fill out the last two contest forms and slip them in the box. A couple of weeks later, I got a call from DQ and here, we'd won a free DQ Blizzard cake! I think the manager was a little taken aback at how excited I was on the phone, haha. So we went in that night to pick up our free icecream cake, the kids picked a Skor one, and after dinner that night (which they ate in record time so they could have "CAKE!!!") they gorged like the little animals they are.
I was moved by the Christmas spirit today and thought I'd send out some heart-felt thanks...
TO GRANDMA DEA For never hesitating to say yes when I ask if you can watch the kids for me, or for rearranging your work schedule so you can say yes; they adore you and love to spend time at your house (as evidenced by Ryder's obsession with "DD!").
TO LEVI AND AMBER For making time in your lives and schedules to do fun activities with my kids, like taking them all swimming or to the movies; and for taking an interest in the boys' hockey games, finding out their schedules so you can attend games, even if the game is not in Sylvan (and bringing the little ones timbits!).
TO TRAPPER For being interested in me, in my life, what I'm doing, how I'm doing; for the hours-long phone conversations we've had; for the quick little visits just to chitchat and catch up.
TO GRAMMA HAG For calling me whenever I am on your mind, even if its just to torment me with a ZZ Top song blaring in my ear.
TO CHRISTINE For not holding it over my head that I didn't see baby Carleigh until she was over four months old; for giving honest, thoughtful advice when I need it; for being my BFF for twenty years.
TO KELLY For keeping in touch with me from half the world away, for always being the one to call; for accepting and encouraging my inner freak, because we are soul-mates that way (LOL).
Thank you, everyone, for being who you are. I love you!
No crying, no fussing, no refusing to sit on his lap. Looks like that second visit a couple weeks ago, just to "chat" with Santa, really paid off. Plus, this is the real Santa. That other guy, he's just Santa's brother Fred, don't you know.
(Lena put me on the spot and asked how there can be two Santas, one at each mall, so I frantically improvised and explained that sometimes Santa's little brother Fred helps him out. Lord please don't let this be a Roy Orbison thing when she's older.)
So here we have Adam Lambert's video for his song "For Your Entertainment" from his new CD (which I will be getting for Christmas, right Amber? Right?!) and as you probably guessed, yes, I am completely obsessed with it. OB-SESSED.
I couldn't stand to wait until Christmas so I got the song from iTunes and its on about 24/7. My poor kids complained that they were "being tortured every day because of this obsession" but I just turned the song up louder, put my hand to my ear and mouthed, "Huh? What?" When Ardan dared to say he hated Adam Lambert, I let out this huge loud theatrical gasp, clutched my chest and exclaimed, "How dare you talk about your next father that way?!" You should have seen the eyes rolling from that one, haha.
So what do you think about the song and video? Do you have a dirty devious mind like I do and immediately understood the meaning behind the lyrics? I always knew, I just knew!, that Adam would be like this, that he would be into this. There was just a vibe I got, that dark powerful sexy goth vibe, that gave me a clue as to what he'd be like, shall we say?, behind closed doors. Still don't know what I'm talking about? All right, here's the lyrics from "For Your Entertainment"...
"So hot out the box, can we pick up the pace? Turn it up, heat it up, I need to be entertained. Push the limit, are you with it? Baby, don’t be afraid. I’m a hurt ‘ya real good, baby. Let’s go, it’s my show, baby, do what I say. Don’t trip off the glitz that I’m gonna display. I told ya I’m a hold ya down until you’re amazed, give it to you ’til your screaming my name.
No escaping when I start, once I’m in I own your heart. There’s no way you’ll ring the alarm. So hold on until it’s over.
Oooh, do you know what you got into? Can you handle what I’m 'bout to do? ‘Cause it’s about to get rough for you. I’m here for your entertainment. Oooh, I bet you thought that I was soft and sweet, a fallen angel swept ya off ya feet. Well I’m about to turn up the heat. I’m here for your entertainment.
It’s alright, you’ll be fine, baby, I’m in control.Take the pain, take the pleasure, I’m the master of both. Close your eyes, not your mind. Let me into your soul. I’m a work ya ’til your totally blown. No escaping when I start, once I’m in I own your heart. There’s no way you ring the alarm, so hold on until it’s over."
Oooooo baby, he can entertain me anyday. Too bad I'm lacking a vital appendage and a Y-chromosome. Although there was a definite bi vibe in the video, am I right? He probably had to do that to keep from offending some people (there was a male butt-grab in there though).
I was scrolling through the comments from the original youtube vid (that I embedded) and found this, its quite insightful and really makes you think:
"Lambert said "sexy is sexy." Feel the pleasure; feel the pain. Orientation does not change human response. Everyone feels the heat. He pushes many sexual buttons, thus becoming society's sexual Rorschach test. People are surprised by the fisson of their responses. Fixed ideas of sexuality are expressed as fear, outrage, even hate. More fluid notions of sexuality prompt confusion, attraction and infatuation. His performances are honest explorations for us to react to and react we do."
What do you think about this?
Anyway, this is taking way too long and I'm going through withdrawal. Need to listen to the song again, need to watch his sexy face.
PS. Did anyone see a Britney influence in the vid? The snake, the cane, the dancers' group-grope with him in the middle. Imagine a duet between those two?
Bdsm to the max, even his fingers are into bondage, ha.
Aren't they so cute and adorable? They bring back so many memories of my childhood Christmases. I'm hoping they'll do the same for my little ones.
Grandma DD bought these cute little Santa mugs for us three kids back in the early 80s. I can't even remember how old I was. Was Levi even born yet? It became a Christmas tradition for us kids to drink our hot chocolate out of these tiny mugs (seriously, they hold maybe like half a cup, so cute and little!). When Christmas was over, Mom would wrap them up ever so carefully in tissue paper and box them up, putting them away with all the Christmas stuff until next year. And it wouldn't truly feel like Christmas for us Simcoe kids until we saw these mugs being unwrapped from the tissue. And, of course, until we had that first mug of hot chocolate! It just seemed to taste so much better.
A few years ago, Mom unearthed the mugs and passed them along to me, figuring that I would take better care of them, and appreciate them more, than my two bachelor brothers. And so I've carried on that tradition with my own kids, of making a big spectacle of bringing them out and unwrapping them from the tissue while the kids ooh and aah. And I tell the story of how Grandma DD bought them for the three little Simcoe kids many, many years ago. Lena wanted to know how old the mugs are. I looked on the bottom and here it said '1982'. "Whooooaaahhhh," the kids were awed, "they're almost as old as YOU, Mom!" Gee thanks.
But it does kind of boggle the mind, that these little mugs are 27 years old. Still in mint condition, still bringing joy and cheer to the little ones. And who knows, in 15-20 years time it might be my grandkids drinking hot chocolate from these little Santas!
Of course, because there are only the three original mini-mugs, poor Ryder got this one (sucks to be #4, I guess!). A much bigger, less breakable, more toddler-friendly mug, you could say.
Quite possibly the only thing more delicious than these guys.
Cheesecake Brownie Bars
Makes 16
4 oz unsweetened chocolate, cut up
1/2 cup butter or margarine
1 1/3 cups sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla
3 eggs
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 8-oz pkg cream cheese, softened
1/3 cup sugar
1 egg
4 tsps all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp vanilla
non-stick spray coating
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips
For chocolate batter, melt unsweetened chocolate and butter or margarine in a medium saucepan over low heat. Remove from heat. Stir in the 1 1/3 cups sugar and 1/2 tsp vanilla. Cool 15 minutes. Beat in the 3 eggs and 3/4 cup flour.
For cheesecake filling, combine cream cheese, the 1/3 cup sugar, 1 egg, 4 tsps flour, and 1/4 tsp vanilla in a medium bowl. Beat until creamy and well blended.
Spray an 8x8x2-inch baking pan with nonstick coating. Spread two-thirds of chocolate batter in the pan. Spoon cheesecake filling over batter. Dollop with remaining chocolate batter.
Bake in 350 oven for 20 minutes. Sprinkle with chocolate chips, and bake for 12 minutes more. Cool in pan on wire rack. Cut into squares. Cover and store in the refrigerator. Let stand at room temperature for 30 minutes before serving.
These layered bars are dense and very rich (you'll want a tall glass of cold milk at hand!). Because of the cheesecake filling, they need to be stored in the fridge. I lined the pan with tinfoil before adding batter, I would suggest doing this.*
The last time I made these I used a rectangular baking pan, rather than a square one. So this time I followed the recipe, used the 8x8x2 square pan, BUT I discovered, to my horror, that the cooking time was not near long enough. The batter at the centre of the pan was still raw! So my suggestion would be to leave it in the oven for an extra 10-20 minutes or so, or else use the rectangular pan and follow the original baking time.
*FOUR REASONS TO LINE BAKING PANS FOR BAR COOKIES WITH FOIL*
It makes it easy to remove the baked cookie from the pan -- just lift it out along with the foil.
The cookie is easier to cut when removed from the pan.
To freeze the cookie, simply overwrap it with another piece of foil.
Cleanup couldn't be easier -- just throw away the foil.
To line the pan, tear off a piece of foil large enough to extend over the edges of the pan. Invert the pan (put it upside down) and shape the foil to fit. Then turn the pan rightside up and place the foil inside, smoothing to fit. If the recipe calls for a greased pan, grease the foil instead, then continue with the recipe.
Cookies 2/3 cup sugar 1 cup butter, softened 1/2 tsp almond extract 2 cups all-purpose flour 1/2 cup raspberry jam
Glaze 1 cup powdered sugar 1 1/2 tsp almond extract 2-3 tsp water
Heat oven to 350. In large bowl combine sugar, butter and almond extract. Beat at medium speed until creamy (2-3 minutes). Reduce speed to low; add flour. Beat until well mixed (2-3 minutes). Cover and chill dough at least one hour.
Shape dough into 1-inch balls (or use scooper). Place 2 inches apart on cookie sheets. With thumb, make indentation in center of each cookie (edges may crack slightly). Fill each indentation with about 1/4 tsp jam.
Bake for 14-18 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. Let stand 1 minute; remove from cookie sheet. Cool completely.
Meanwhile, in small bowl with wire whisk, stir together all glaze ingredients until smooth. Drizzle over cookies.
Makes 3 1/2 dozen cookies.
TIP: Fill a ziploc sandwich bag with the jam, then snip a small-ish size hole in the bottom corner of the bag. Do the same for the glaze. Makes clean-up a breeze, and you're able to control the amount of jam/glaze you're using much better than with just a spoon.
Christmas is upon us, time for holiday baking! Here is the first of about six cookie recipes I'll be posting. Its three drop cookie recipes blended into one and it is fantastic, we make these all the time, but especially at Christmas. One batch yields 6-8 dozen cookies, great for giving out as gifts to teachers, bus drivers, neighbors, etc.
Oatmeal, Peanut Butter, and Chocolate Chip Cookies Makes 60-72 cookies
3/4 cup butter or margarine 3/4 cup peanut butter 1 1/4 cups granulated sugar 1 1/4 cups packed brown sugar 1 1/2 tsps baking powder 1/2 tsp baking soda 3 eggs 1 1/2 tsps vanilla 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour 2 2/3 cups rolled oats 1 cup chocolate chips
Beat butter or margarine and peanut butter in a large mixing bowl with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds. Add granulated sugar, brown sugar, baking powder, and baking soda; beat till combined, scraping sides of bowl occasionally. Beat in eggs and vanilla till combined. Beat in flour. Stir in rolled oats with a wooden spoon. Stir in chocolate chips.
Drop dough from a tablespoon, or #50 or #60 scoop, 3 inches apart onto an ungreased cookie sheet. Slightly flatten dough with your hand, if desired. Bake in a 375 oven about 8-10 minutes or till edges are lightly browned. Transfer to wire racks and cool. Store in an airtight container or plastic bag at room temperature up to 3 days.
I like to use parchment paper on the cookie sheets, makes clean-up a breeze. And I have one of those little scoops, it looks like a tiny icecream scoop, that is the only thing I use for shaping drop cookies. Whether you use a scoop or a spoon, cookies that are rounded and of the same size bake more evenly and yield cookies that are uniform in size and shape.
You know who I'm talking about. Its a good thing he's adorable is all I'm sayin'...
There we were in the Parkland Mall bathroom. Due to an unexpected feminine emergency that made itself known as the children and I visited with Mall Santa, I'd rushed us all into the bathroom immediately afterwards. Into the handicap stall so Lena and Ryder wouldn't be all crammed in next to me. I (stupidly, I realize now) instructed them to stand by the far wall and for Lena to keep Ryder occupied. (This was done so they both wouldn't just stand there and stare at me!)
Ryder decided to occupy himself by walking over to the door and investigate the handle by turning it back and forth. It was like it all happened in slow motion...
The door slowly started to swing open... Ryder stepped back to watch the door open wide, all the way. Lena stood there and watched. I hunched down on the pot, like that would somehow prevent the room's occupants from seeing me, and literally SQUEALED, "Aaiiiiieeee!! Lena! Close the door!" [I have never in my life heard that high-pitched sound come out of my mouth and I hope to never again.] Someone outside the stall laughed. DAMN YOU! Lena slowly sauntered over and took her sweet time closing and locking the door. In real-time it all probably happened in 20 seconds, but to me it was like an hour. My face was beet red. I didn't want to leave the stall and face those people, especially the jerk that laughed. I quickly finished up and ushered the kids out so we could wash our hands.
I could feel everyone's amused eyes on me, so I took a deep breath, threw back my head and with a breezy smile on my face I exclaimed to the room, "Oh my god, out of all 4 kids he is the FIRST to do that me!"
And we all laughed, shook our heads at little Ryder (who, of course, looked adorably innocent and sweet) and a few even told their own stories of child-induced embarrassments.
So the moral of the story, for all you parents or future-parents of toddlers, is this: keep the kid next to you. Or, much easier, birth control.
While driving around and around the public parking lot at the hospital today, looking in vain for a parking space, I noticed several vehicles parked like, well, assholes. I mean, I realize the ground is covered in snow and you can't see where the yellow lines are but it should be obvious when you are taking up two spaces by parking in the middle or crookedly. Some vehicles were even parked up against the curb, right on the little driving-road. (Did I just make up a new saying? Little driving-road? Do you know what I mean when I say that? Don't mock me, its late, all right? But I digress....)
Eventually I had to give up and leave that area and just find a parking space on the street, then just walk the distance to the hospital.
But it got me thinking, wouldn't it be cool to have like a little card or something you could keep in your glovebox for just such instances, that you could put on a person's windshield letting them know they're a dink?
So I googled it. And found a little website, Wry and Ginger, that sells totally awesome and hilarious cards, for all occasions, but also for bad parking!! I really want to order some but I'm too cheap. Got me to thinking about making my own little cards.
Which led me to this website, http://www.youparklikeanasshole.com/. You can download two different notices that you can then print out and keep in your vehicle. Although, after reading some of the hate mail that website receives, it will make me think twice about the severity of the bad-parking job and whether it really deserves a notice.
I still might make my own little cards though. I like how Wry and Ginger made their cards cute and funny yet still get the point across that the person is a douche.
Little Ryder is no longer so little. He's only 3 pounds lighter than his big sister and he's now tall enough to reach light switches. He can count up to 9, sing songs, and parrots whatever you say ("Fuck sakes!", "Awww crap!", "Who cares 'bout dat?", yikes!!!).
He loves Mickey Mouse, Bugs Bunny, Doodle Bops, Four Square, In The Night Garden, and Yo Gabba Gabba. (If you don't have a toddler in the house, most of that is gibberish to you, haha.)
He's recently developed a love for dinosaurs, "choo-choos", and robots. He wants to be a pirate when he grows up, "Arrrrrr!!". He can sit and make structures with MegaBlocks, really cool ones too.
He invented his own Knock, Knock joke. He doesn't allow anyone to do the joke with him, like ask Who's there, no he has to do it all himself. So here goes: "Knock, knock. Who's there? Buggy. Buggy who? WHO CARES??". (That's his newest saying, Who cares!?, he got that from Lena). Then he laughs hysterically at himself and repeats it again (including the slightly-scary laugh), until someone makes him stop.
And today, I found out he has a love for this song, Fireflies by Owl City. We were driving home from Red Deer and it was so silent in the back that I assumed both kids were sleeping. The song came on and all of a sudden Ryder yells, "Oh, oh! Uh, yeah! OH! Turn up! UP!!!". I looked at him in the rear view mirror and he was waving his hand around frantically. So I turned it up and he just sat back and nodded his head to the beat, so happy.
Dr Marais read my chart aloud and commented that my family doctor had noted that "the patient BEGRUDGINGLY, but faithfully, comes in for a pap every 6 months". He looked at me over the top of his glasses as he stressed that word.
I laughed and said, "Listen Doc, I don't know a woman alive who doesn't BEGRUDGINGLY come in for those, and those that aren't BEGRUDGING are wayyy too lonely."
Okay, I lied, I didn't actually say that, but I totally WOULD HAVE, if I'd thought of it at the time.
Lena: "Cake goes in here."
Someone likes icecream cake.
A LOT!
