Kindergarten Eve

It is the eve of Abby's first day of Kindergarten and I am worrying. I don't feel like I'm worrying about what "normal" people worry about--I really liked school as a kid and it has lots of good memories--I don't think that I'll feel sad about her going. Abby is also very outgoing, so she will be fine and I don't think that she'll be sad about leaving us. I am worrying about her lunch, specifically if we packed enough*. For a girl of her size, she can really eat a lot. I also worry that I haven't explained things well enough, like the concept of the cafeteria and how to open her applesauce or not to squeeze her juice box.

I don't really remember the first day of kindergarten. I remember kindergarten well, just not the first day. I know I wore a red dress with smocking and white puffed sleeves, but that's from seeing pictures. I remember the first day of first grade better. My mom put a note** in my lunchbox and also a plastic Monchichi toy. Does anyone but me remember the Monchichi? I can still remember their little song...

I made Abby's Schultüte yesterday and It worked out very well. Here's a picture of everything that I put inside. The Milka bar is a nod to the German origin***. I'm really excited to give it to her tomorrow morning and I think that it might be as big as the traditional German ones. You can't fit that much stuff in a cone shaped vessel, so you do need to make them big.

I'm making sausage, egg and cheese breakfast biscuits for tomorrow morning and I want to cook the sausage tonight.

I wish a good first day to any of you who are started back to school soon.

*If your wondering about her lunch, she's bringing a ham & cheese sandwich (yes, this is the same girl that I said didn't like sandwiches--I don't know what's up with that), applesauce, a pickle, two tiny chocolate donuts and orange juice in a box.

**I did put a note in Abby's lunchbox, after verifying that she could read "I love you," but omitted anything like the Monchichi, as I can see that causing problems.

***As a total side note, when I lived in Berlin, I had an American friend who earned the nickname "Milka," as he was just a little too fond of the candy bars.

Cat Pancakes?

This morning I decided to make pancakes, as my freezer stash was totally depleted. I like to make a big batch of pancakes and then freeze them for school mornings (or mornings when I don't feel like making pancakes). I asked Abby if she wanted big pancakes or little pancakes and she responded by saying that she wanted cat pancakes, so this is my attempt at a cat pancake. I was pleased with it, considering that it was a first attempt. I didn't end up with as many freezer pancakes as I had planned, I think that Abby ate half the batch.

Perhaps you guessed this from the cat pancakes, but my cooking funk seems to have ended. I made several new recipes this week and enjoyed making all of them. I made a really good fritatta over the weekend and tried a crock pot Coq au Vin tonight. That was an experiment. I was able to channel my inner Julia Child and cut up a raw chicken for the first time, however I've made better Coq au Vins in the past and the crock pot one wasn't really any less work. I'm hoping that the cooking funk stays away for a long time now.

I'm getting ready to start a new sewing project--it's small, but I haven't done any sewing since I went back to work. My sister's birthday is coming up soon and she has declared this to be THE MONTH OF LISA. I am making this for her as part of her present. Lisa is a fan of pigs, especially pigs that fly. I'm going to try and put some wings on this little guy. You can get the pattern to make your own little pig at the Nosey Nest: http://noseynest.blogspot.com/2008/05/piggy-bank-freebie.html I'm not sure how often my sister reads this--I guess we'll find out now.

Abby's first day of kindergarten is on Monday. I really liked school, so I'm not feeling too sad about it. I am planning to carry on a tradition from my German heritage and I'm going to make her a Schultüte, which sort of translates to School Cone. It is tradition in Germany to give Schultüte to children when they start school--they are filled with treats and school supplies and all sorts of good stuff. When I lived in Berlin, it seemed like Schultüte were usually the same size as the kids going off to school--Abby's will not be that big. We didn't do any "German" things in our house going up, but I've tried to start some traditions for Abby. She is still talking about St. Nicholas Day from last year.* I have plans in my head for how I'm going to make my Schultüte. Hopefully they will translate. Wish me luck and I'll post pictures when I get it done.

*Granted, getting candy in your shoes is pretty exciting.

Back to something

The phone did ring yesterday morning and I went back to work. It feels like I've been back for longer than two days. It also feels like I've managed to forget most things. Being back is good...different, but good. It feels kind of like "Back to School" used to feel, but more weird.

Today's big excitement was getting my new phone system thing installed. My new phone arrived via the big brown truck this morning and it was supposed to be pre-programed, so all I would need to do was plug it into the back of my computer and then people could buzz me and it would be like I was just down the hall, even though I'm 111 miles away*. Two calls to our IT guy and one trip to Office Max the phone was actually working. (I'm quite proud of my phone installation skills as it was a lot more involved than plugging it in.) I'm even getting used to it. Thankfully, I can't really be buzzed--people can just dial my extension and it rings.**

So, now I'm back to work and my Martha Craft Room is sharing space with my actual office. I'm not sure when I'll be able to work sewing into my schedule. I am going to keep it up. I have many plans. I am thinking that it will need to wait until Abby starts school*** and then I'll be able to sew one day a week, clean one day a week and work three days a week. I'm pretty lucky with my schedule.

I just thought that you all should know that the phone did ring yesterday.****

*Yes, that is the exact distance from my garage to the parking garage I use and yes being buzzed is one of my worst nightmares.
**Don't ask me to explain exactly why this is so much better--it just is. I don't like being interrupted when I'm in the middle of a task.
***Which is August 24th, so that hardly feels like waiting at all
****I think that I only got about 10 minutes of laying down on the couch time too.

Waiting

Right now I am waiting for the phone to ring. I feel a little like a teenage girl* because I am carrying my cell phone around with me everywhere so I won't miss the call.

I've been on an unplanned sabbatical from work this summer and today is the day that I'm supposed to come back to work. I'm ready to be back, but coming back from something that was unplanned is harder than coming back from a week's vacation. I think that everything is all set, but I won't know until the phone rings. Which leads us back to my carrying around the phone.

I didn't make a menu for this week, as I am still in a cooking funk. I really wish that I could get out of that. It's going to be "clean out the freezer week" as far as food is concerned. All I know is that tonight I'm making Chinese Chicken in a Pot. Sometimes it's nice to fly by the seat of your pants and not have to stick to a really scheduled menu.

I finished Olivia's Quiet Book--here is how it ended up looking when it was all bound.

I've also gotten some really nice feedback from people that have purchased items from my Etsy store. Here's what they had to say:

The Kitty Goes to Paris Dress

"I just wanted to let you know that my niece LOVED the Kitty Goes to Paris dress -- it was even her outfit of choice for her birthday party!"

The Take Along Farm Playset

"Beautiful farm playset! So durable and I love all of the details! Hope you create some more take along felt toys!"

It is always nice when people like the things that you make.

My phone is still sitting here silent. I'm having visions of the person that needs to call me sitting at his favorite cafe and having an extra cup of coffee*.

My waiting continues. I hope that you all have nice (wait free) days!

*no offence to teenage girls--I was one and it was really hard
*or tea, as I think that he has quit caffeine, although I can't understand why you would want to do that.

What's for Dinner

Right now I am resting with my chicken. Roast chicken is probably my favorite food and we are having it tonight. I think that I have over a dozen different variations on roasting a chicken, but tonight is the most basic: I rubbed the chicken with a little olive oil and seasoned it with salt and pepper. Now I'm letting it come close to room temperature so it will roast reasonably quickly.

I'm also making Pad Thai this week. Pad Thai is probably my favorite ethnic food. The summer before my senior year of high school I spent 4 weeks at Northwestern University in Evanston, IL. There was (and maybe still is) this wonderful Thai restaurant that we used to go to. That was my first time having Thai food and also the restaurant where I finally mastered the use of chop sticks. That summer was one of the best ever, so maybe that's why I like Pad Thai so much. I doubt that my recipe is very authentic--I don't think that a lot of Thai people are using peanut butter in the recipe. I'm not sure where the original recipe came from, but I've made a few adaptations and I call it "White Girl Pad Thai," as a nod to the lack of authenticity.

Here's what we're eating this week:

Sunday
Roast Chicken
Roast Potatoes
Brussels Sprouts*

Monday
Meat Loaf from the Slow Cooker (recipe from Healthy Cooking Magazine, Feb-March 2009)
Mashed Potatoes
Green Beans

Tuesday
Cobb Salads with left over roast chicken

Wednesday
Meat Loaf Sandwiches, based loosely on the Meat Loaf Sandwiches at the Cap City Diner in Columbus
Green Salad

Thursday
Tomato and Spinach Quiche
Green Salad

Friday
White Girl Pad Thai
Stir Fried Vegetables

Saturday
Spinach and Black Bean Egg Rolls**
Something that goes with that


*In case anyone thinks that I'm a Mean Mommy for serving Brussels Sprouts, they are actually one of Abby's favorite foods. She requested them for her birthday dinner. I feel like Brussels Sprouts are a very misunderstood vegetable--they are really quite lovely, as long as they aren't boiled and cooked into a bitter mush. I drizzle them with a little olive oil, season with some salt and pepper and roast them along with the potatoes and the chicken. They take about 30 minutes at 400.

**I just discovered that our grocery store carries the egg roll wraps. They've probably carried them for years, I just never knew where they were. Now it's like a whole world of egg roll making has been opened up for me.

Olivia's Quiet Book

My friend Melanie is home schooling her son, who will start kindergarten this year, just like Abby. Melanie also has Olivia, who is 2. Melanie has been looking for things for Olivia to do while she and Mitchell are doing school. Melanie had seen my old Quiet Book (which Abby plays with) and wanted one for Olivia, so I made one for Olivia's 2nd birthday. All of the words are hand embroidered and I did most of that while watching "Law and Order" re-runs in the afternoon.*

I decided to photograph all the pages before I bound the book--I thought that would be easier. There's two pictures of some of the pages, so you can see the "activity"

Imagine that there's a drum roll, as I'm really proud of myself.

OLIVIA'S QUIET BOOK

I have all the pages sewn together** and am working on the cover now. I think that I'll have it done tonight, or at least by tomorrow. I'll post pictures of the cover when it's 100% complete.

I'm planning to offer this as a custom item at my Esty shop and then make one with fewer pages and without any personalization that will also be available. I think that my favorite thing about making these was getting to use all the scraps that I've been collecting.

Abby has invented a new game using the pieces from Cranium Carboo, the people from her doll house and a jump rope, so I need to go and see what that's all about. Perhaps Abby will get an Etsy store too.

*Not relevant, but something fun to know

**Which was a challenge and I really wish that I knew how to use a thimble.

My Fancy Yogurt Maker

My sister called over the weekend to ask me about my yogurt maker. Her birthday is coming up and she said that she wanted a yogurt maker for her birthday, but all the ones that she's found are too expensive, so she was wondering where I got mine.

My yogurt maker consists of the following: two pots put together to make a double-boiler, a candy thermometer, a whisk, a sink full of ice water, an electric blanket and a bath towel.

I made yogurt on Tuesday and here's some pictures of the process so you can see my fancy yogurt maker at work*.

I am heating the milk up to 185 using my two pot double boiler method, with the candy thermometer to check the temperature and the whisk to make sure that there aren't any hot spots.

Now the pot with the milk is in the sink to cool to 110 degrees, so the yogurt cultures can grow.

This is the key to the yogurt-making--the pot is wrapped up in an electric blanket to hold the temperature at 110 degrees. When I read about making yogurt at http://www.makeyourownyogurt.com/ they recommended sitting your pot on a hot plate. I don't have a hot plate, so I decided to try out my first batch with the electric blanket and see if we liked home made yogurt. My intention was to get a hot plate, however the electric blanket works so well that I'll just use this now. My parents, in particular, get a big kick out of the fact that I use a blanket to make yogurt.

And finally, everything gets covered with a towel to hold in the heat for the 7-9 hour process of the cultures growing.

Making yogurt is like having a science experiment in the kitchen and I always enjoyed my science fair projects. My sister is now trying to think up a way to use the heat of Phoenix to make her yogurt, so maybe I'll have pictures of her fancy yogurt maker sometime soon.

*In addition to not having a fancy yogurt maker, I don't have a fancy kitchen. Someday, perhaps...