Cuddles and Me

Tuesday, March 24, 2015

Vanity of Vanities

Having a little girl by the name of Juliet around the house is a guarantee that I will never be lacking in humility. This was our conversation last night before she climbed into her bed (all said in a serious, earnest voice).
Jules - "Mom, PLEASE, please, could you not wear your robe tomorrow morning?"
Me - "Why not?"
Jules - "Mom, really, you look so awful in it. Please, mom! When you get up in the morning, just brush your hair, and put normal clothes on. I mean, your hair looks so awful down, and your robe..."
By this time I was slightly miffed, ha ha! I have been told that the first thing a person ought to do when they get out of bed is to dress themselves (in "normal" clothes)! In theory that sounds great but the reality for me is that that rarely happens. Most mornings you will find me in my beloved whitish grey robe getting Jules ready for school, making breakfast, etc. Then I finally become so disgusted with myself, it's off to our bedroom to get some normal clothes on... How about you?

Friday, January 16, 2015

Lemonade Stands

Jules must be in the kitchen for I hear the sound of kitchen cupboard doors being slammed and I wonder, "What is she up to now?" Do I really want to know?" Probably not! I am often amazed at the creative juices this little girl of ours possesses. When things get a little stale, she'll come up with some idea to liven things up. The other day she watched an episode of Curious George and there must have been a scene in it where George has a lemonade stand for lo and behold, after completing the episode, she was all set to have a lemonade stand set up. I caught her man-handling the little white table she has in her playroom. There was a heroic attempt to get the thing out the playroom, through the kitchen to the front door.
"Jules, what are you doing?"
"It's a lemonade stand."
"Jules, it's the middle of winter. No one will buy lemonade in the middle of winter. In fact, I don't have lemonade in the house."
"Well, can't I sell something???"
This was a problem. Did I really want Jules selling "something/anything" at the end of our driveway in the middle of winter? No, not really. So I got busy selling her on the idea of having a little stand in our own house. She could "sell" stuff to her mom and dad. That settled it. A sign had to be made, the table set up along with a chair, a tea towel to cover the table, and the last little detail of what to sell. After some thought, it became "Juliet's Coffee Stand". Later she made a new sign to switch at night for when Mike came home from work..."Get your free, juicy, tasty beer here!!!" (Jules's idea, not mine!). Don't you just love what kids come up with?
p.s. she was a little offended that I pretended to pay her for the cookies I "bought" from her stand - cookies I had baked the day before! "What, no real money, Mom?!!!

Tuesday, January 13, 2015

Christmas Cards

Here are a two family pictures we had done this past autumn. One of them made it to my Christmas card this year, but just in case you missed it, here's the picture. I think I make the same mistake every year of not printing enough Christmas cards. Then as we get closer and closer to Christmas and I keep receiving cards in the mail, ACK! I realize I've only one card left!!! Then it's off to dig around in my card box to look for some blank Christmas cards. Come on, I'm not the only one who does that, right? All I know is, next year I have to print more than 55 cards!

Tuesday, January 6, 2015

New Year's Resolutions

New Year's Resolutions? Yep, I make them every year and this year is no exception. Of course, my resolution usually revolves around losing weight and this year is no difference (at least I am consistent, right?). Anyway, one of my goals this year is to cook a vegetarian meal once a week. This has nothing to do with the conversation I had with a young man who began talking to me last week while I was putting my groceries into the trunk. He was a dedicated vegetarian who was trying to convince me that animals had a soul. Don't worry, I didn't fall for it, and we had a nice conversation about the purpose of life, what our beliefs were, etc. Anyway, I did get a free book from him on vegetarian living, and needless to say, Mike was a little worried when he saw me reading it! (I think he saw his steak dinners flying out the window!!!). Though the book hasn't convinced me that it is wrong to eat animals, I do think a vegetarian meal once a week would be healthy, don't you? So this week I made a delicious asparagus soup that Mike and Jules enjoyed (my sister Lora also makes this somewhat regularly, I think). This recipe came from the NRCS cookbook -a worthwhile investment, if you are looking for good recipes. If you like asparagus, make this soup some night and serve it with a crusty piece of bread and garnish it with a crumble of bacon and a dollop of sour cream. Bon Appetit!

CREAM OF ASPARAGUS SOUP
1 lb. of fresh asparagus 1 yellow onion, finely chopped
2 T. butter 2 T. flour
4 C. chicken broth 1/2 C. whipping cream (I used half and half)
Salt and pepper, to taste

Wash asparagus carefully to remove sand. Remove bottom "woody"part of asparagus stems. Cut asparagus into 2" lengths. Saute onion in hot butter for 3 minutes until softened. Stir in flour and add chicken broth. Add asparagus. Cover and simmer 20 minutes. Put soup in blender and puree until smooth. Strain soup into a clean saucepan, add whipping cream and heat until hot. Taste soup and add salt and pepper, to taste.