I've been in a bit of a reading slump lately. I'm not really sure why. I have all kinds of new books around my house that friends have lent to me. I just really haven't been in the mood, I guess.
I did reread Franny and Zooey in January after hearing the news of JD Salinger's death. I really love that book. Zooey is one of the greatest characters ever written. If you haven't read it, I strongly suggest it.
Anyway - I finally broke out the pile of unread books that are sitting in my house, ordered a couple of new ones off of eBay (I LOVE eBay. I got two new books for $4 - including the shipping), read some reviews and finally I have compiled a reading list for 2010.
A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini
Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins
The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath
The Gathering by Anne Enright
Catch 22 by Joseph Heller
Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
The Knitting Circle by Anne Hood
When The Whistle Blows by Fran Cannon Slayton
The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
The Satanic Verses by Salman Rishdie - I actually started and read about 1/3 of this book. It was really good, but it was really hard for me to read because I couldn't keep track of all the characters. All the names are middle eastern, and I just couldn't keep them straight. On top of that, I started the book in the summer when I have anywhere from six - eight kids running around everyday. I decided I would come back to it later when I could really just focus on the book, but never got to it.
I also have the book, The Christmas Sweater, sitting at my house. I've heard it's good. Two different people have recommended it to me. I probably would like it. But it is by Glenn Beck. I hate Glenn Beck beyond description. He is an idiot. I know the book has nothing to do with his lunatic, extremist, right wing views. But I just don't think I can lower myself to the level of associating myself with anything Glenn Beck. I just have to draw the line. So that is twelve - which is my goal. But I am always open to suggestions.
Oh - and here is the final list of what I read in 2009:
1. The Host - Stephenie Meyer - C
2. The Stand (uncut version) - Stephen King (although I think this should count as three books since it is almost 1200 pages long!) - A
3. Harris and Me (reread) - Gary Paulsen - A
4. About a Boy - Nick Hornby - B
5. To Kill a Mocking Bird (reread) - Harper Lee - A
6. Interview with the Vampire - Anne Rice - C
7. Stolen Innocence - Elissa Wall - B
8. Angels and Demons - Dan Brown - B
9. Oryx and Crake - Margaret Atwood - B
10. My Sister's Keeper - Jodi Picoult - B
11. Never Let Me Go - Kazuo Ishiguro - A
12. Franny and Zooey - J.D. Salinger - A
13. Night - Elie Wiesel - A
14. Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov - A
15. Wintergirls - Laurie Halse Anderson - B
16. Playing With the Enemy - Gary Moore - A
17. The Hunger Games - Suzanne Collins- A
18. Fish - T.J. Parsell - B
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Thursday, February 11, 2010
The Best Chocolate Cookie Recipe Ever
So, a weird fact about me: I like to make cookies, but I don't like to eat them. And no, not just because of the calories. I just don't really like them. So this usually means that a lot of the cookies that I make end up being given away. Lately, I have had a few people ask me for my chocolate chip cookie recipe. This makes me laugh, because I basically use the recipe on the back of the Toll House chocolate chip bag. But, I have tweaked it a little bit, to make my cookies taste and look better (there is nothing worse than those flat, greasy looking cookies). Anyway - here is my super gourmet Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe:
2 1/4 cups all purpose flour*
1 tsp baking powder *
1 tsp salt
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened *
1 cup granulated white sugar
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
3 tsp. vanilla extract *
2 eggs
1/2 package of Milk chocolate chips *
Combine flour, baking soda and salt in a small bowl.
Cream butter, sugars, and vanilla in a large mixer bowl. Add eggs one at a time beating well after each addition. Gradually beat in the flour mixture.
Stir in chocolate chips. Drop by rounded tablespoon onto an ungreased baking sheet.*
Bake in a preheated 375 degree oven for 9 - 11 minutes or until golden brown. Let stand for 2 minutes.
Okay - now the secrets to make sure they turn out super yummy:
* If your dough is too dry add a Tablespoon or two of milk - NEVER water.
* Always use baking powder. NEVER baking soda. Most recipes call for baking soda. It is a trick. The cookies will raise better and be more "cake like" (not mushy) if you use baking powder. It makes a HUGE difference. I almost always substitute baking soda for baking powder in all cookie recipes.
* REAL salted butter only. Do not be tempted to use margarine or butter flavored spread. It will make a very noticeable difference in the taste. Margarine is nasty, nasty, nasty. In my opinion, they should not even sell the stuff.
* Also - you need super soft butter - but not completely melted. I like to soften it in the microwave until it just starting to melt, so there is only a little melted butter from the middle of the stick. Cream your sugars with the butter while it is still warm this melts the sugar a little and it less grainy. This gives the cookies a better texture.
* Only use REAL vanilla. The imitation vanilla is crap. Yes, the imitation stuff is much cheaper but it tastes horrible. I stock up on the real stuff when we go to Mexico (which is not often) because it is super cheap there, and very high quality. Also, I know that the original recipe says 1 tsp. Use 3. Trust me.
* I always use milk chocolate chips because I think that the semi-sweet ones are just gross. I guess you could always use the semi-sweet - some people think that the milk chocolate chips are too rich.
* Put your cookie dough in the fridge until you are ready to stick it in the oven. And NEVER put cookie dough on a warm pan - make sure the pan is completely cooled. This helps the cookies bake evenly. If you leave your dough sitting out, or put it on a warm pan the dough starts to melt a little, and will make your cookies have crisp edges and too-soft centers.
Anyway, yes... it sounds like I am making something really easy a lot more complicated than it needs to be. But I promise, that these few little things make a huge difference.
And there you have it... Now, you too, can be a gourmet cookie chef! lol!
2 1/4 cups all purpose flour*
1 tsp baking powder *
1 tsp salt
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened *
1 cup granulated white sugar
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
3 tsp. vanilla extract *
2 eggs
1/2 package of Milk chocolate chips *
Combine flour, baking soda and salt in a small bowl.
Cream butter, sugars, and vanilla in a large mixer bowl. Add eggs one at a time beating well after each addition. Gradually beat in the flour mixture.
Stir in chocolate chips. Drop by rounded tablespoon onto an ungreased baking sheet.*
Bake in a preheated 375 degree oven for 9 - 11 minutes or until golden brown. Let stand for 2 minutes.
Okay - now the secrets to make sure they turn out super yummy:
* If your dough is too dry add a Tablespoon or two of milk - NEVER water.
* Always use baking powder. NEVER baking soda. Most recipes call for baking soda. It is a trick. The cookies will raise better and be more "cake like" (not mushy) if you use baking powder. It makes a HUGE difference. I almost always substitute baking soda for baking powder in all cookie recipes.
* REAL salted butter only. Do not be tempted to use margarine or butter flavored spread. It will make a very noticeable difference in the taste. Margarine is nasty, nasty, nasty. In my opinion, they should not even sell the stuff.
* Also - you need super soft butter - but not completely melted. I like to soften it in the microwave until it just starting to melt, so there is only a little melted butter from the middle of the stick. Cream your sugars with the butter while it is still warm this melts the sugar a little and it less grainy. This gives the cookies a better texture.
* Only use REAL vanilla. The imitation vanilla is crap. Yes, the imitation stuff is much cheaper but it tastes horrible. I stock up on the real stuff when we go to Mexico (which is not often) because it is super cheap there, and very high quality. Also, I know that the original recipe says 1 tsp. Use 3. Trust me.
* I always use milk chocolate chips because I think that the semi-sweet ones are just gross. I guess you could always use the semi-sweet - some people think that the milk chocolate chips are too rich.
* Put your cookie dough in the fridge until you are ready to stick it in the oven. And NEVER put cookie dough on a warm pan - make sure the pan is completely cooled. This helps the cookies bake evenly. If you leave your dough sitting out, or put it on a warm pan the dough starts to melt a little, and will make your cookies have crisp edges and too-soft centers.
Anyway, yes... it sounds like I am making something really easy a lot more complicated than it needs to be. But I promise, that these few little things make a huge difference.
And there you have it... Now, you too, can be a gourmet cookie chef! lol!
Thursday, February 4, 2010
Introductions
Meet the newest members of our crazy family:
Sgt. Pepper is the adorable white boy on the left and Princess is the champagne colored beauty of the right.
Yes... apparently our house was not crazy enough so we decided that we needed to add a couple of ferrets to the chaos. We have had them for about three weeks now and we absolutely love our little additions! They sleep most of the time (about 18 hours a day) and so they are the perfect pet for the kids, as they don't demand constant attention. However, when they are up, they are UP and all over the place! And they have very distinct personalities!
Sgt. Pepper is our naughty boy. He is good with the kids but does not like to be held for very long. He likes to explore!!! We found out on the second day, that he is an escape artist. If no one is around to let him out of his cage, he just lets himself out. We fixed that problem pretty fast. He and Eddie (our dog) became BFF's almost immediately. They love to chase each other and wrestle. Sgt. Pepper is also master of the Ferret Joy Dance, and has a lovely "dooking" voice. I will have to try and catch it on video - it is pretty hilarious. And for those of you that didn't catch on - I am a Beatles fan - Sgt. Pepper is named after one of their songs.
Princess, on the other hand, is our shy, quiet girl. She is petite - about half the size of Sgt. Pepper. She is really mellow and perfectly content letting the kids pack her around the house. She also LOVES to give kisses. But, she is our little thief. While both ferrets love to steal any stuffed animals they can find - Princess definitely has the bigger stash. I guess Sgt. Pepper is just too busy dancing, or attacking something, or exploring. I wanted to continue the Beatles theme and name her Sexy Sadie. But the girls had a fit. Obviously, they won that argument.
Friday, January 29, 2010
Obsessions
Alysa
Every Friday Brian stops at the gas station and picks up a copy of the Las Vegas Weekly - a free publication for locals highlighting community politics, events, concerts, etc. Of course, the magazine is also loaded with advertisements for all the Vegas night clubs, most of which feature a picture of a hot girl in a bikini. Every time Brian brings one of these home, we get to hear a weekend long rant from Alysa telling us how those girls in bikinis are disrespecting their bodies. While all three of my girls are overly conscientious about modesty, Alysa is borderline obsessive about it. Tonight, however, I got a really good laugh when I walked down stairs and saw her intently coloring at the table. I went over to see what it was she was so absorbed in, because Alysa is rarely able to focus on one thing for more than ten seconds. She had the Las Vegas Weekly open in front of her, and was coloring clothes on all the bikini girls because she "just couldn't stand to look at these half naked girls all weekend". I don't know if I have ever laughed so hard in my life! Way to go Captain Modesty! Here's to hoping she has that same attitude when she is a teenager!!!
Adalyn
At the beginning of the school year, Ady's GATE (gifted and talented) class learned about Ivy League Colleges. And so, began her obsession with Harvard. She has decided that Harvard is the ONLY college for her. I explained to her that Harvard is an incredibly hard school to get into, and that it is incredibly expensive. I explained that she would not get accepted with anything less than straight A's. Then I added that if she REALLY wanted to go there, I would do whatever I had to to make it possible but, she would have to save her money and help out as much as she could. I really was expecting the whole thing to blow over in a few days. No, it hasn't. Five months later, she has saved up $25 from her Birthday and Christmas money (she did allow herself a little "fun" money) to go toward her Harvard education fund and spends at least 45 minutes a night studying so that she can be sure to get straight A's - even if she doesn't have any homework. What can I say? The girl is extremely motivated. Knowing her, she will take my promise to the extreme, pursue a double doctorate degree, and put me $200,000 in debt. But, I'm not complaining. I could be dealing with much bigger issues than her getting annoyed with me for interrupting her study time.
Brylee
Every Friday Brian stops at the gas station and picks up a copy of the Las Vegas Weekly - a free publication for locals highlighting community politics, events, concerts, etc. Of course, the magazine is also loaded with advertisements for all the Vegas night clubs, most of which feature a picture of a hot girl in a bikini. Every time Brian brings one of these home, we get to hear a weekend long rant from Alysa telling us how those girls in bikinis are disrespecting their bodies. While all three of my girls are overly conscientious about modesty, Alysa is borderline obsessive about it. Tonight, however, I got a really good laugh when I walked down stairs and saw her intently coloring at the table. I went over to see what it was she was so absorbed in, because Alysa is rarely able to focus on one thing for more than ten seconds. She had the Las Vegas Weekly open in front of her, and was coloring clothes on all the bikini girls because she "just couldn't stand to look at these half naked girls all weekend". I don't know if I have ever laughed so hard in my life! Way to go Captain Modesty! Here's to hoping she has that same attitude when she is a teenager!!!
Adalyn
At the beginning of the school year, Ady's GATE (gifted and talented) class learned about Ivy League Colleges. And so, began her obsession with Harvard. She has decided that Harvard is the ONLY college for her. I explained to her that Harvard is an incredibly hard school to get into, and that it is incredibly expensive. I explained that she would not get accepted with anything less than straight A's. Then I added that if she REALLY wanted to go there, I would do whatever I had to to make it possible but, she would have to save her money and help out as much as she could. I really was expecting the whole thing to blow over in a few days. No, it hasn't. Five months later, she has saved up $25 from her Birthday and Christmas money (she did allow herself a little "fun" money) to go toward her Harvard education fund and spends at least 45 minutes a night studying so that she can be sure to get straight A's - even if she doesn't have any homework. What can I say? The girl is extremely motivated. Knowing her, she will take my promise to the extreme, pursue a double doctorate degree, and put me $200,000 in debt. But, I'm not complaining. I could be dealing with much bigger issues than her getting annoyed with me for interrupting her study time.
Brylee
Brylee has some big plans for her future. The other two girls are dead set on becoming teachers (yes, Ady wants a Harvard degree to be a 3rd grade teacher), but Brylee has a much different goal. She wants to be a ballerina, marry a doctor, and have six babies. She makes it very clear that she wants to marry a doctor because he will be able to take good care of her babies, especially while she is working (as a ballerina). I'm not sure how being a career ballerina after having six kids will work out for her, but I am all for the doctor marriage!
Wrestling
Austin is a Freshman in high school this year. Following the family tradition, he decided to join the wrestling team. He had been doing great at it! He made the Varsity team - as a Freshman, and has won several of his matches.
Two weekends ago, we went to Cedar City to watch him wrestle. It was a two day meet - eight matches over Friday and Saturday. We got up SUPER early Saturday morning to make the three hour drive and be there by 9:00 AM. We were pushing it to make it on time. Once we got the the high school, we practically ran to the gym hoping we didn't miss it - only to find out, Austin was sick and wasn't wrestling.
He felt really bad, because he really wanted us to see him wrestle. The coach gave him permission to go home with Reed and Josie but he wanted to stay and see if he felt better later. We got him some medicine, and had him lay down and by the time his next match came around, he felt better. He ended up wrestling the next three matches!
The girls loved it - especially Brylee! She kept yelling, "Go Austin! You can do it!" or "Take him down Austin!" at the top of her lungs.
We are so proud of Austin and how well he is doing! I can't wait until we get to watch him again! I just wish that we lived closer...
Two weekends ago, we went to Cedar City to watch him wrestle. It was a two day meet - eight matches over Friday and Saturday. We got up SUPER early Saturday morning to make the three hour drive and be there by 9:00 AM. We were pushing it to make it on time. Once we got the the high school, we practically ran to the gym hoping we didn't miss it - only to find out, Austin was sick and wasn't wrestling.
He felt really bad, because he really wanted us to see him wrestle. The coach gave him permission to go home with Reed and Josie but he wanted to stay and see if he felt better later. We got him some medicine, and had him lay down and by the time his next match came around, he felt better. He ended up wrestling the next three matches!
The girls loved it - especially Brylee! She kept yelling, "Go Austin! You can do it!" or "Take him down Austin!" at the top of her lungs.
We are so proud of Austin and how well he is doing! I can't wait until we get to watch him again! I just wish that we lived closer...
Brian's Birthday
Brian's 32nd birthday was on January 14th. He had been wanting this cool new golf driver for a couple of months, and talked about it with his golfing buddies non-stop. I don't golf, so I have no idea what is so cool about it, but I hopped the van and drove across town to get it for him anyway.
It was not a fun journey. First of all, the golf store that carried the driver was all the way across town. I hate driving across town, especially with two little kids in the car. Then, I took the wrong exit, and got lost. Luckily I have a navigation system on my cell phone, so all I had to do is pull over and look up the directions. When I finally found the store, I realized that it would probably take me all day to find the stupid club. But, for the first time ever, luck was with me and the golf club had just went on sale and was in a special display right next to the door. On the way home I almost got into a wreck (not my fault!) and took the wrong exit again. But I made it - with the club!
I was so excited to give Brian his present that I couldn't wait. I gave it to him that night. He was super excited about it! I was quite proud of myself, until Brian asked for the receipt. Apparently, it was a left handed golf club so he had to exchange it. I think I still deserve credit for trying!
Brylee wanted to get Brian a present that was just from her. She thought about it forever and finally decided that she wanted to buy him his own pillow, with his name on it, so that he would stop stealing her new one that she got for Christmas. So we headed to Walmart, and got a pillow, pillowcase, and some iron on transfer computer paper. Brylee was even nice enough to let the pillow be a gift from "all the kids".
Town Square
A few weeks ago, Brian got a service call to fix some drains at a restaurant at the Town Square shopping center in Las Vegas. Brian came home from the job all excited, because they had a cute playground in the center of Town Square and he really wanted to take the girls. So that weekend we loaded up the car and headed across town. The playground is really cute, but it is small and because it was the weekend it was pretty packed - but the girls had fun!
Afterwards, we drove down the strip, to the outlet mall. The girls each had $10 that they got for Christmas from Brian's parents and it was burning a hole in their pocket. They each ended up getting a couple of pairs of sunglasses, which they were super excited about! Brian found some dumb cell phone attachment that he couldn't live without.
It was really nice just to get out, and enjoy the nice warm weather before it got cold again!
Afterwards, we drove down the strip, to the outlet mall. The girls each had $10 that they got for Christmas from Brian's parents and it was burning a hole in their pocket. They each ended up getting a couple of pairs of sunglasses, which they were super excited about! Brian found some dumb cell phone attachment that he couldn't live without.
It was really nice just to get out, and enjoy the nice warm weather before it got cold again!
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