Hapy New Years!

Happy New Years to all my bloggy friends!

May 2009 be better than 2009 in all of the important ways - happiness, health and financial stability!

I hope to meet some, of not all, of you in 2009 and be as good of a "blog friend" as I can be.

I'm going to a friends house tonight with the kids and will post pictures, and maybe recipes, tomorrow.

Crazy woman

I was at home with 4 1st graders - what was I thinking??

They were actually OK, for the most part, but jeez! they can not agree on ANYTHING! From which movie to watch to who goes first in a bowling game, these kids will argue about everything!

I picked them all up at their respective houses and brought them home. I made pancakes for breakfast. They were actually surprised that I was making them from scratch (which is just as easy as from a mix, actually).

For lunch I decided to make risotto, asparagus and shrimp. Luckily, the kids are pretty easy. None had ever had risotto, but since I didn't put anything in it, including cheese, they tried it and ate it (it really just looks like creamy rice). They all loved the steamed asparagus (although some love the tips and some hate the tips) and went coo coo over the shrimp.

I took a picture with my camera phone.


In the afternoon my baby sitter took over and I ran errands and got my hair cut (more like I ran out of the house after dealing with the kids ;) ).

Now I'm about to wrap presents to put under the tree (we celebrate New Years). I'm tired!

It's funny - my girls friends that are single take the day off and relax. Moms get a day off and have to run about 50 errands. I'm going back to work tomorrow to relax :)

Who do these kids think they are?!

When did my monkey's start thinking they could tell me what to do?

My 6 year old demanded that I apologize to her for being flippant (she told me that I was not being nice).

I am THE MOMMA!!! I do not have to apologize for anything!

Since when did children start telling parents what to do? I DO NOT remember ever telling my mom or dad that they HAD to do something! My dad would have stopped me dead in my tracks with one look!

I need to take control back. One problem - I have no idea where I lost it!!!!

I am a pretty strict mom - or so I thought.

Take Sunday - we went to Rubys for the big monkey's friends birthdays (a set of twins turning 7). I told them to behave and be good and the monkeys said that they would be. My first problem was believing them.

For most of the dinner they were really behaving. That was especially surprising because there were four 6 year olds, a 4 year old, and three preteens at one table. In fact, I thought to myself "Wow! All the kids are doing so well!!"

Of course, I jinxed myself!

The big monkey started yelling over to me and asking if she could get a salad, sit on her friends older sisters nap, trade places with the little monkey, etc...

The little monkey, now that one is going to be trouble!! She decided to be the center of attention by being funny. The more the other kids laughed, the "funnier" she became, in only the way a 4 year old can (ugh).

She kept standing up in the booth, staring at the next table, picking her boogers and eating them (I am absolutely mortified at this) AND at one point asked the man in the next booth for the lemon from his water (she has a weird obsession with sucking on lemons). Yes, she asked a complete stranger for his food, and he gave it to her!!! She also was eating food off the other kids plates with out asking. She was cracking herself up!

Ugh (yes, I know I said that already)! So, I am did what any good mother would do - I made DAD talk to her about it. Then tonight I tried to guilt her - I told her that I was very sad she did those things yesterday and that she made me cry ;)

All is fair in love, war and raising children (which is like love and war mixed in to one)!

So I was watching the Girls Next Door

There is nothing but re-runs on TV. And I have run out of things on my TIVO!

So, I'm watching the Girls Next Door, which is a guilty pleasure of mine, and the commercials come on.

E! commercials are pretty hilarious.

Take this one:




This item is pretty freaking funny! Um, isn't this just a jacket worn the other way around? And really, how much difficulty do people really have with blankets?!?!?!?!

I love my parents

but MAN do they drive me crazy!

To be fair to my parents who are in their late 60s, my dad is legally blind (it just came on over night about 2 years ago) and my mom will probably need a hip replacement in the next couple of years.

The little monkey had a major melt down, at Legoland, at 5pm tonight. She wanted a stuffed animal (which my mom bought her), then candy (which she didn't get) and then she wanted a bagel as we were walking to the car (the big monkey wanted one as we were buying everyone hot chocolate but the little monkey hadn't wanted one). So, I told her that she could share.

Melt Down Commenced!!!

"Candy", "bagel", "don't want to go home!", "I don't want to share a bagel, I want my own bagel!"

My mother always, believes the best in me, right?? Her helpful commentary:

1. I knew she was too young to go to theme parks two days in a row!
2. She's so tired, we should have left earlier!
3. I can't believe you didn't want to buy her a bagel!
4. I have never seen her cry so hard, ever!

Now I ask you, was that at all helpful? How could she believe that I wouldn't want to buy her a bagel? The little monkey hadn't asked for one, and at the point when she started asking for her own bagel, and we were close to the car, I KNEW that she wouldn't be happy with anything. And yes, she was tired, but she had done REALLY WELL up until that point.

When I pointed these things out to my mother, she said "I didn't thing that sounded like you so I was surprised you would do that." Yeah, it's better to be shocked at my being a horrible mother than to believe I had a method to the madness!

On the other hand, my dad was awesome to have around. Both at Legoland, and at SeaWorld, I was able to use my dads blindness to sit in reserved sections and to not have to wait in line to see a show twice ;) Yes, I'm a horrible person in circumventing the system, but hey, we have to use the bad thing for some good, right?

I’m a planner, apparently

It turns out I’m a TOTAL planner, which my friends have been telling me for years.

I had our schedule planned out to the hour at Sea World. We saw show after show all morning and afternoon. It was super cold and windy outside so I decided we would go back to the hotel from 3:30pm-5:15pm and be back in time for the evening Shamu Show at 5:30pm.



I didn’t count on MY MOTHER! Doesn't she LOOK sweet and innocent!



I was going to take a 30 minute nap and asked her to wake me at 5:15pm. Of course like any mother, she saw how soundly I was sleeping and didn’t wake me. I woke up at 5:25pm and FREAKED OUT! My plans! They were ruined.

Why yes, I am a bit of a drama queen, why do you ask??

So we decided to do dinner before the 7:30pm show. We went to this REALLY FUN PLACE called Corvette Café. It’s this 50s style diner where the waitresses have bouffant hair-do’s and Elvis roams around. The waitresses throw straws at you and sing too!



I usually don’t get milk shakes, but the friend that recommended this place said they were amazing. She was right. My peanut butter-banana milk shake was phenomenal!! The monkeys’ favorite thing – the bazooka bubble gum they give out at the end.

Thanks to the popularity of the place, and the wait, we missed the 7:30pm Shamu show too!

Oh well! We’ll be back to Sea World soon. We bought the one day passes which turn in to 2009 season passes. We’ll definitely see Shamu then.

As much as I LOVE to plan, apparently, I guess the saying is true:

“Humans plan and G-d laughs”

Stories should teach a lesson ;)

I’m in San Diego and had to go to the lobby to log on to blogger and post this. I now TRULY understand the blogging addiction.

Hi! My name is Julia and I am a blogging addict! I must really like the sound/read of my own voice ;)

Anyways, I said that I would tell the story of how I almost got in to a fight at the big monkey’s Russian School recital.

The recital was being held in a big recreation type room. There were probably 100 parents sitting in chairs around a make-shift stage. Since we got there about 5 minutes before the start of the show, there were no more chairs. So, we stood in back.

Every 15 minutes or so, the noise level would increase and the director of the school would tell everyone to quiet down. About 30 minutes after the show started, the big monkey’s group got up to perform. At the same time, I became aware of these punk-ass kids (3 boys around 19 years old) standing behind me and laughing and chatting pretty darn loudly. I was already in a pissy mood from having to stand for so long so I turn to them and, nicely, say “Excuse me. Will you please shut up?” I turn back to watch my beautiful child perform. They stop and call me rude to my back, and continue talking loudly. So, I turn to them and, with a smile, say “OK. Either shut the fuck up, or leave”.

At about that time, my husband, who was standing about 10 feet away, heard the guys talking smack to me, didn't hear what transpired up until that point, and walked up to them. “Do you have a problem? Do you want to step outside?” he says. Now my husband is 6’3”, 200 lbs, hair buzzed short, a look that could kill. The “boys” looked up at him and started hemming and hawing and backed off.

Of course, being the good person I am, I couldn’t let the opportunity to teach and mold the young minds of tomorrow escape me. I walked back up to the “lads” and said, “You know, you shouldn’t talk smack to a woman when you don’t know who her husband is.”

I could have taken care of myself, especially in a verbal scuffle, but it was oh so nice to see them go from acting all cocky to a 5’2” petite mom, to almost peeing themselves when facing off against a 6’3” pissed off dad.

Merry Chrismakah!

Here are some pictures from Candy Cane Lane, one of the monkeys' FAVORITE holiday activities:

I took the kids this year and all I heard for 30 minutes was "ooh" and "aah"! If you're in the LA area, it truly is a sight not to be missed!

I am leaving tomorrow for San Diego with the kids until Saturday night. I'm going to try my best to post. If not, Have a Very Merry Christmas/Chanukah/Kwanza!

Pictures from Sunday

I wanted to post 2 pictures from Sunday. Next time I really need someone to take pictures of the food ;)

My two monkeys:


The big monkey and her best friends:



By the way, I have enabled another friend to go to Hannah Andersson. I met her there tonight and she is now a convert. I swear I should get a commission.

Channeling her inner Joe Pesci

After this weekends' marathon cooking session, I am exhausted.

Here's the first picture - the one that captures the spirit of Hanukkah the best in my opinion:



Work was crazy today. And to top it off I had to leave early to take the kids the the Menorah lighting in the mall (OK, I didn't have to, I wanted to).

So that meant tonight I got to work on my 2008 Accomplishments and 2009 Goals. Thanks to my bosses insistence on monthly accomplishment documents (which are a pain while doing them), the first was easy (but of course still took an hour). Now I'm left with 2009 goals to do. Did I mention that these were due on Friday??

Oh well. It's 11:20pm, I'm tired, and I still haven't written my blog post.

So, I will leave you with something that happened on Saturday:

I was in the car with the little monkey and she put on her plastic yellow star sun glasses. She turns to me and says, "Mommy, I'm funny! Like a clown!"

Yes, my little monkey is channeling her inner Joe Pesci from Goodfellas!! Where does she get this stuff??? It's definitely not from me. It must be her fathers doing.

Happy Chanukah!

One of my closest friends just sent me a virtual card.

Happy Chanukah everyone!

This pictures also really epitomizes the party I had today - the Jew"ish" Chanukah celebration.

From 10am-10pm I sat down for 30 minutes in total. I have no idea if my kids ate. Thanks to all the squeals of laughter I know the kids had a great time. All the adults told me they had a great time. The part started at 4pm with people coming in in waves. The last family left at 9:15pm.

The matzoh ball soup was the big winner of the night. I made about 30 matzoh balls and they were going in like 10 minutes! I should have quadrupled the batch. Three separate people told me that they were the best that they had ever had. The balls were light and fluffy and had almost an air-like quality to them.

My favorite part of the evening was when all of the kids lit about 15 menorahs in unison and said the prayers all together. My friend read the prayer and had everyone follow along. Not all the kids were Jewish but everyone lit the candles and said the words. It was a magical sight to see. I was so busy I didn't take ANY pictures, but others did and as soon as they email me I will post them here. All in all a very fun night.

A couple of high lights:

*My friends daughter got her hair singed by the candles. My friend took it in stride and was happy she didn't have to go to the ER.

*The same friends daughters (they are Asian) were the ones who wanted to play dreidel the most.

*One of the moms commented to me, "Wow! You're cooking the latkes now, while we're here. If it was me, I would have made them in the morning so that I could enjoy this time with my guests". To which I replied, "Um, they are better fresh and hot". And no I didn't add "BEYATCH" to the end of that even though I REALLY wanted to! There always has to be one, right????

I was going to take pictures of all the food but again I had no time. But trust me, it looked amazing. And tasted really good!

Here are the recipes:

Oprah's Pomegranate Martini
Recipe courtesy of Oprah Winfrey

Ingredients:
Serves 2
1 1/2 cups pomegranate juice
2 ounces Absolute Citron vodka or white tequila
1 ounce Cointreau liquor
Cup of ice
Splash of sparkling water (optional)
Squeeze of lemon (optional)
Shake ingredients in a shaker and put in chilled martini glasses. Put pomegranate fruit into glass as garnish.

Latkes
Serving Size : 8

Ingredients:
3 pounds Yukon gold potatoes
1 medium onion
1/3 cup matzah meal -- or unbleached white flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
2 eggs
kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
olive oil spray (or 2 tablespoons olive oil)

Serve with: non-fat or low-fat sour cream and applesauce

Peel the potatoes and onion and coarsely grate in a food processor fitted with a shredding disk or on a box grater.
Grab handfuls of the grated vegetables and squeeze tightly between your fingers to wring out as much liquid as possible.
Transfer the grated vegetables to a mixing bowl and stir in the matzah meal, baking powder, eggs, and plenty of salt and pepper. (The latkes should be highly seasoned.)
Spray the frying pan with oil (or drizzle the oil on it and spread with a wooden spoon).
Spoon small mounds of potato mixture onto the pan to form 2-1/2 inch pancakes, leaving 1 inch between each.
Fry the latkes in the oven until golden brown, 6 to 8 minutes per side, turning once with a spatula. (When you turn the latkes, try to flip them onto spots on the baking sheet that still have oil.)
Transfer to plates or a platter and serve immediately with sour cream and/or applesauce.


MATZO BALLS
Ingredients:
4 large eggs, separated
1/4 cup chicken fat (reserved from broth, if available) or pareve kosher-for-Passover margarine, melted, cooled
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
1/2 teaspoon coarse kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
2/3 cup unsalted matzo meal

Stir egg yolks and next 4 ingredients in medium bowl to blend. Beat egg whites in another medium bowl until stiff but not dry. Fold whites into yolk mixture alternately with matzo meal in 3 additions each. Cover and chill until cold and firm, at least 1 hour and up to 1 day.
Bring large pot of salted water to boil. Drop cold matzo mixture by generous tablespoonfuls onto sheet of plastic. Using moistened hands, shape into balls (each about 1 1/4 inches in diameter). Drop matzo balls into boiling water. Reduce heat to medium-low; simmer uncovered until cooked through, turning matzo balls over after 15 minutes, about 35 minutes total. Using slotted spoon, transfer matzo balls to dish, arranging in single layer. (Can be made ahead. Let stand up to 2 hours or cover and refrigerate up to 1 day. Simmer in salted water until heated through, about 10 minutes, and drain before serving.)

Jugged Chicken
Ingredients:
1 3-1/2 pound chicken (use thighs and drumsticks)
2 T unsalted butter
1 jar pearl onions (in canned vegetable aisle)
4 medium tomatoes, coarsely chopped
8 oz prosciutto, chopped
2/3 cup dry white wine
1/2 cup golden raisins
1/3 cup Port
1/3 cup brandy
4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
1 T Dijon mustard
1/4 tsp ground pepper

Preheat oven to 400. Rub chicken with butter and season inside and out with salt and pepper. Transfer chicken to large, heavy, deep casserole. Combine onions and all remaining ingredients in large bowl. Pour over chicken. Cover and bake until chicken is done, about 55 minutes. Serve in bowls with crusty bread.

**I don't always have Brandy on hand, and in cases like that, I just add extra of the other alcohol, and it still tastes great.

Makes 16.

Arugula Salad with Beets
Source: Light Basics Cookbook by Martha Rose Shulman
Makes 4 Servings

For the Salad:
4 small to medium-size or 2 large beets, red, yellow or a combination
6 ounces arugula, washed and dried
1 ounce Parmesan cheese, slivered, or goat cheese or blue cheese, crumbled (about ¼ cup) (optional)

For the Dressing:
2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice or sherry vinegar
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
1 small garlic clove, peeled and minced or pressed
½ teaspoon Dijon mustard (optional)
¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil, or 2 tablespoons olive oil and 2 tablespoons plain nonfat yogurt or low-fat buttermilk

1. Roast the beets if they are uncooked. Preheat the oven to 425 F. Cut away the leaves by slicing across the top end, just below the stems (save the leaves for another purpose). Trim away the root and scrub the beets under warm water with a vegetable brush. Place in a baking dish and add about ¼ inch of water. Cover with a lid or foil and bake for 30 minutes to an hour, depending on the size of the beets. Test for doneness by sticking a knife into the beet; it should slide right through. Remove from the oven and allow to cool.
2. When the beets are cool, it will be easy to slip their skins off. Skin and cut in half lengthwise, then slice the beets very thin or cut into small wedges. Transfer to a salad bowl with the arugula.
3. Stir together the balsamic vinegar, lemon juice or sherry vinegar, salt, pepper, garlic, and optional mustard. Whisk in the olive oil or olive oil and yogurt or buttermilk. Thin out the dressing if desired with about a tablespoon of water.
4. Just before serving, toss the arugula and beets with the dressing and the optional cheese.

Per serving: 13.9 gm total fat; 1.8 gm sat fat; 156 calories; 7.6 gm carbohydrates; 2.0 gm protein

BRISKET

4 LBS BRISKET (WITH FAT ON TOP) OR I BUY THIS MEAT AT COSTCO (SUBSTITUTE FOR
BRISKET).
CUT A POCKET IN THE BRISKET (HORIZONTALLY)
RUB THE MEET WITH GARLIC (FRESHLY SQUEEZED), SALT, PEPPER
POUR A BOTTLE OF BEER OVER IT
COVER WITH FOIL
BAKE AT 300 DEGREES FOR 6 HOURS

TAKE OUT OF THE OVEN AND CUT UP INTO CHUNKS. SPRINKLE WITH GINGER, CINNAMON
AND POUR B-BQUE SAUCE OVER IT (ABOUT 3/4 OF A BOTTLE). BAKE ANOTHER 2
HOURS.

TAKE OUT OF THE OVEN AND CUT INTO SMALL PIECES. POUR 1/2 OF A SMALL BOTTLE
OF HONEY OVER. BAKE 1 MORE HOUR.

Cranberry Broccoli Salad
Posted by Cate
Ingredients:
1-1/4 cups fresh cranberries, chopped
1/4 cup sugar
4 cups broccoli florets
4 cups coleslaw mix (shredded cabbage with carrots)
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1/2 cup raisins
1/3 cup finely chopped onion
6 slices of bacon, crisp-cooked, drained and crumbled (I double the amount of bacon)
Dressing:
1 cup light mayonnaise
1/4 cup sugar
1 tablespoon white wine vinegar

In a small bowl, combine the fresh cranberries and sugar; cover and chill in fridge until serving time (berries will juice out). In a large bowl, combine broccoli, shredded cabbage, walnuts, raisins and onion. To make dressing, combine all ingredients in a small bowl. Pour over the salad and mix. Chill covered at least 1 hour or up to 24 hours. Just before serving, gently fold in bacon and cranberry mixture.

I also had a bunch of different hummus, pate, cold cuts, cheeses, brie, pickled vegetables, etc...

I had hot chocolate going in the crockpot for the kids, with baileys on the side for the adults.

Friends brought/bought desserts.

If I forgot something I will post tomorrow. OK - I am brain dead! I will go to work tomorrow morning to recover. Can I wear slippers to work?

Work in progress

A number of fellow bloggers are re-capping their weeks in their last posts. I am going to take that idea and re-cap my day, so far:

9:00am - Get on the road to drop big monkey off at Russian School. Little monkey comes on errand with me.
9:30am - Farmers market for regular fruits and vegetables and food for the party.
11:00am - Drop off Asian pears and apples for good friend (and grab coffee and hard boiled egg while there).
12:00pm - Get home, shower and transform in to presentable human being
1:15pm - Get back to Russian school for New Years concert (Russians celebrate New Years with Santa, not Christmas, and it's not a religious holiday. I will blog about this next week).
2:00pm - Almost make the husband get in to a fist fight with some punk-ass 18 year old kids (I may have told them to shut the fuck up and husband only heard them tell me I was rude).
3:00pm - Leave kids at Russian School with in-laws and pick up friend. Go to Costco and Russian store for food stuffs for the party tomorrow. Eat my way through Costco and Russian store samples.
6:00pm - Get mani/pedi.
8:00pm - Start cooking items that can be prepped ahead of time.
10:00pm - Other friend picks me up for quick Bed, Bath and Beyond run.
10:45pm - Blogging
11:00pm - Am about to wrap Hanukkah gifts for tomorrow's party. Am about to throw mail in some random drawer and put out dishes to be used tomorrow.

The food is a work in progress, as am I. Even though nothing is difficult, it all still takes time. But this is the stuff that gets me going. I love to cook and entertain.

Here's the little monkey and her dad:



Here's the big monkey telling Santa a poem:

Here's the brisket going in to the oven for it's initial 6 hour bake (out of 9 total hours):

Here's the matzoh balls going in to the refrigerator to rest (and yes, these are made from scratch, not from a mix):

I'll be back tomorrow with recipes and the pictures of everything cooked!

Enabler

I tagged QuirkyLoon in the book meme. She said that I inspired her to make up a bloggy award, so I took it :) It's SUCH a cute award. Please check out her blog.

I love this bloggy community!

So, I was a complete enabler tonight. I went to my favorite kids' store tonight on one of my favorite days of the year. Today was the first day of Hannah Andersson's Winter Hannah Sale! I bought out 1/2 of the store (or maybe it just felt that way) and for good measure had them order me some stuff on-line! I called my friend who was in the mall and told her to meet me there ASAP! She did and she ended up doing some damage herself (both in the store and on-line). She's about the 5th person I have enabled to do MAJOR damage in that store. As we were leaving she turns to me and says - "This is all your fault". Yup! I can live with that ;)

By the way, these winter jackets are $32!!!! Such a deal!!!



And their 100% organic cotton PJs are amazingly soft, won't shrink and are perfectly warm and cozy! And they're on sale for $18!!



Have I enabled you yet? And no - I do not work for, or get paid by, in any way, shape or form by Hannah Andersson. But if someone who works there wants to start, I wouldn't say no ;)

Out of no where, inspiration is born

So I had a couple of ideas for a post earlier in the day...and then they just disappeared in to the dark recesses of my brain!

Then I was going to talk about leftovers - and how I love the possibility of making them in to a whole new different meal.

But that will have to wait. Why, you ask? OK, so maybe you didn't ask.

I will tell you anyways.

I was reading TMZ, which I am addicted to, and I came across a post about this, um, interesting item.

I went on this "products" website and what is the first thing I read? For men without hang-ups. Condometric is here.

Without further ado, I give you:

Condometric is the first prophylactic that measures and shows off the penis’ length. Condometric helps us flaunt what we’ve got. It’s about believing we can handle whatever we wish to take on, regardless of size.

Condometric prophylactics are made of natural rubber latex and are electronically tested one by one. Its ink does not contain any ingredients that may cause allergic reactions.

There are even 4 different flavors: Natural Power, Cherry Rider, Katana Lima, Papito Banana . I truly wonder what Natural Power tastes like ;)

I double dog dare you to try these out!!! And then report back!!!

A meme, A Meme

Keri, a new follower of my blog, has a wonderful blog called It Flickers Dimly. She tagged me for a meme. I am honored :)

So, without further ado:

These are the rules: Pass this on to 5 blogging friends. Open the closest book to you, not your favorite or most intellectual book, but the closest book to you at the moment, turn to page 56. Write the fifth sentence, as well as two to five sentences following that.

The book laying right next to me on the bed is The Pagan Stone by Nora Roberts. It's Book Three of the Sign of Seven Trilogy. I LOVE Nora Roberts, and especially her trilogies.

She picked up her own notebook, scribbled in it as she continued. "Undead. We know that it can take the form of someone who's died. What if this isn't, as we thought, a new trick, but an ability it had before Dent imprisoned it, and is only now, as what we're told is the final Seven approaches, able to pull that out of its hat again?"

The 5 bloggy friends I am tagging are the last 5 people who posted on their blogs, of those who I follow on my dashboard (was that clear as mud):



The Grocery Cart Challenge

Moms Without Blogs

Musings of a Quirky Loon

The Norwidians

A Womb at the Inn (sane)



Do the meme or not, it's your choice. Pass it on or not, it's your choice.



Thanks again Keri for tagging me.