Rooooaaaaarrrrr!

I am B, hear me roar! Happy Halloween!

GC Wins In the Dome!

Last night, B and I watched/listened as the GC Panthers beat Northwestern (26-20) in the final game of "Dome Day" in St. Paul, MN. Only 2 more games (both home) to the regular season.

Art...With Wings!

This afternoon, B and I met up with some friends at the College's art building to view a traveling exhibit. I had heard many good things about the exhibit and so I mentioned it to Beth to see if she and the boys would be interested in going this week. I thought that the boys might think it was cool because it was made entirely of bugs. Artist, Jennifer Angus , pins large insects to the walls in various patterns to create an amazing display. You can check out the whats and the hows in this video interview by the St. Louis Post Dispatch. It is very interesting.

Picture courtesy of: Jennifer Angus, A Terrible Beauty (detail of installation), 2005.

B's Half B'day!

At exactly 5:02 pm yesterday, B turned 6 months old. When I look back at all of his pictures from when he was born until now, I'm amazed at the difference between each picture. I also think about his life that is in front of him and I pray for the man that he will become. Hopefully, Jeff and I will be given the right words and actions when we need them.

6 month stats:
23 lb 4 oz
28 1/2 in

(still off the charts, but hey at least he is proportionate)

Awwwww....Nuts!

My last cookie of the week for October is a store-bought favorite of Jeff and mine, the white chocolate macadamia nut. You may recognize it as the Sausalito by Pepperidge Farm. I used Aunt Betty's recipe and melted and cooled the butter (like I learned last week). These made a nice and soft cookie but did not match up with the Sausalito. I guess I will continue on my search for a better recipe...



Ingredients

1 c packed brown sugar
1/2 c granulated sugar
1/2 c butter softened
1/2 c shortening
1 tsp vanilla
1 large egg
Beat all above ingredients on medium speed until light and fluffy, or mix with spoon.
2 1/4 c all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
Stir in above ingredients (dough will be stiff).
1 pkg (6 oz) white baking bars, cut into 1/4 to 1/2 inch chunks
1 jar (3.5 oz) macadamia nuts, coarsely chopped
Stir in above ingredients.

Heat oven to 350.
Drop dough by rounded Tablespoonfuls about 2 in apart onto ungreased cookie sheet.
Bake 10-12 min or until light brown. Cool 1-2 min; remove from cookie sheet to wire rack.

Ummmm....I'd like a burger and a shake please.

I'm sure that soon enough he will be uttering those words (probably more like "give me nuggets!"). B had his first taste of "food" tonight. I guess that is what you call it. It was awful runny but that is how they say to fix it for the first time. I think that we agreed that he could probably take it a little thicker the next time. He did really well. It was like he has been eating from a spoon for a while. He knew exactly what to do. He even helped the spoon get in his mouth sometimes. :-) The sippy is going well too. He is starting to tip it up sometimes by himself and I think that some is actually finding its way down to his tummy and not just down his front.

My Latest Project

Lately, I've been working on O's birthday present. I wanted to make something special for her that hopefully she will keep for a long time. I saw several versions of this set online and decided to put my own spin on it. I used this book , by Lauren Child, as the foundation of my project (we got her the book too). I made a little princess doll (still working on some princess accessories) and the mattresses. My friend Beth (an avid crocheter) made the pea - and a spare pea too!






I do realize that she is only 1, so I doubt it will get a whole lot of action right now. But, hopefully she will like it in the future.

Baby O Turns 1

This weekend B and I made the trek down to Ky with my parents for baby O's first birthday party. She actually turned 1 on the 16th but had to be so patient until her party a week later. :-) Here are some pics from the party. It started me thinking of what we are going to do for B's party in the spring. I've got plenty of time right? ;-)

Puppy Dog Tails

Doesn't B look like such a big boy in this pic?

Christmas in October

Recently I have found a new love...fabric. There are so many cool fabrics out there that are so fun and inspire so many ideas its hard to just choose one. I recently received an order from Hancocks of Paducah (great web specials) and i can't wait to start a new project with the fabric. Keep an eye out for the finished product!

Fall and Summer Combined

I made the most yummy dessert last night. My friend Beth, posted this recipe for Apple Blackberry Crisp and boy was it good. I went ahead and added in the blackberries like she did and I think that it really livened things up. After I peeled the apples, I decided to try something that I had read on a blog somewhere. I put all of the peelings and cores in a big pot of water with some cinnamon and boiled it for a while. It doesn't really serve any other purpose than to make your home smell wonderful.



Mmmmmmmm...

Delayed Cookie Post

I bet some of you thought that it couldn't be done and that I finally succombed to the "busyness" and couldn't follow through on my one new cookie a week pledge. Well...I'm here to say nope! You're wrong...at least partially. I had every intention of making a new cookie but then I realized I didn't have enough of one of my ingredients and didn't want to go to the store so then I settled on a different new cookie that I had all of the ingredients for. But...then I realized, when it was time to make the cookies, that what I thought was a cookie press was just a decorating tool and only a decorating tool. Aghhhh, foiled again! So then I figured, time was of the essence so I would settle on making the foundation all cookies are built on, the chocolate chip cookie. But, at least I tried it a new way. I used the recipe for big and chewy chocolate chip cookies out of The America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook which calls for melted and then cooled butter instead of softened. This led to the perfect chocolate chip cookie. It was crispy on the outside and soft and chewy on the inside. I was impressed. There were some other little tricks and tidbits that they added in there that also added to its yummyness, like adding two egg yolks and removing the cookies from the oven before they look comletely baked and letting them finish baking on the hot baking sheets for 10 minutes.

Pay No Attention To The Woman Behind The Curtain...

Wow! A picture of B and me! We don't have very many of these for some reason...

Rolling, Rolling, Rolling...

B is now rolling over from belly to back and back to belly. There is no stopping him, he is mad about rolling. :-)

From Rolling Over

He rolls around in his crib now and is in all kinds of positions in the morning when we go in to get him. This morning he had his arm threaded through the crib slats and then while I was putting his clothes away a little later, he got his foot stuck in the slats and started screaming his head off.

Sippy Time!

Last night we had two firsts. B tried water for the first time and he used one of his new sippies for the first time. I was surprised that he grabbed it by both handles like an old pro...except the fact that he didn't ever tip it up to drink on his own. But, I wasn't really expecting a whole lot this first time. He liked the rubbery spout (I went with the Nuby no spill to try first). He made some good faces as I tipped it up and he got a little water. We'll continue to give it to him every couple of days and then we will start cereal at the end of the month. Our little boy is growing up so fast!

Question Of The Day

Do you use more or less syrup if it's warm?

Evidence Living in the "Hood" Has Changed Me

I have noticed some small and some large changes in myself since becoming a parent, some 5 1/2 months ago. Maybe you can relate...

These really aren't in any order even though they are numbered.

1) I go to work with deep (and I mean deep) bed sheet wrinkles on half my face and it doesn't really faze me...and yes some of my coworkers noticed them and pointed them out to me.

2) I will never get to sleep in again...ever. (Sigh)

3) I am so entertained by someone who can't even talk or crack a joke.

4) I do silly things just to make someone laugh...oh wait, that hasn't changed.

5) I sing, even where people can hear me, and I don't care. If you know me, you know I can't sing and only do in it in church.

6) I leave the house and don't even match or make much sense in what I wear. But, I do try to not smell like sour milk.

7) My heart has never been so full.

8) I no longer have free time...where did it all go? Ahhhh nursing....maybe one day it will return.

9) My backup career of swimsuit model is out the window. Maybe they need swimsuit cover-up models?

10) I appreciate my parents and Jeff's parents way more since we are now going through what they went through with us (multiplied several times for both sets).

Our Little Pickle Jar

Have you ever asked your spouse to open a jar of pickles for you? Only to have them not be able to open it and return it to you with a, "Jeez, is that thing glued on?" Then you decide to have one more crack at it and you hear that wonderful "pop", as the seal is easily broken and the lid comes off. Well B is our pickle jar. Jeff (bless his heart) can spend an hour walking him around at night and nothing, he is just as awake as can be. Then, he hands him off to Mommy, and I walk him two rounds around the house and a little in his room and bam, he is down for the count. Speaking of, here is a recent pic of our little pickle jar.

Sandwich Cookies

Since I started this month-long cookie celebration, I've been trying to think of types of cookies that I have never made before. You know, to expand my cookie horizons. I've looked through cook books, cruised the Internet, asked random people, etc. I hadn't realized that I've made as many different kinds of cookies as I have. So that makes this more of a challenge. Which I like. This week I went with a simple sandwich cookie. I don't know if you would really call it a type of cookie or more of a cookie technique. I used this recipe off of Bakerella. Her recipe called for Red Velvet Cake mix but said that any cake mix would do. So I went for an Oreo Cakester look and used a box of Devil's Food cake mix. I was debating on using a carrot cake mix because of the cream cheese in the frosting. I just think that those are a great combination. Also, I used my PC cookie scoop and got more cookies than the recipe said I would and I used the same scoop (1) for the filling. I found that this makes way more filling than there are cookies. You could problably half the filling for the number/size of cookies this makes. Here is the finished product.



Both my taste tester and I really like these and they were super easy to make. But, they are rich so have a glass of milk and pace yourself. One is definitely enough.

Enjoy!

Cheap, Cheesy, and Mmmmm So Good

No, this post isn't the new title of my blog (probably sums it up though, ha!). Last night I made a recipe that one of my friends/coworkers gave me. It is so delicious and cheap to boot! I had all of the ingredients available (you can find them all at Aldi) and it probably only took about 20 minutes to put together, since I had to cook the chicken breasts frozen (just boiled them).

Chicken Noodle Casserole

1 1/2 c cooked chopped chicken (probably works great with leftovers)
3 c med. egg noodles - cook according to package (al dente)

Cheese sauce:
3 tsp butter
3 Tbsp flour
1 c milk
1 c chicken broth
1/2 lb velveeta cheese (Aldi brand tastes just as good)

Topping: mix together
1 tube Ritz crackers crumbled (I just smashed them all right in the packaging)
1 stick melted butter

Preheat oven to 350.
1) Cook chicken and noodles and place in bottom of lightly greased 9x13 pan/casserole.
2) Meanwhile melt butter in skillet, add flour and stir. Add milk and stir constantly until thickened. Salt and pepper to taste. Once thick, add chicken broth, and stir until combined. Add chopped up cheese. Stir until smooth.
3) Pour over chicken and noodles. I stirred just a little to make sure the cheese sauce got to all of the parts of the pan.
4) Bake 20 min.
5) While baking, combine crackers and butter.
6) Remove casserole and sprinkle topping across top. Then bake for another 10 min.

Enjoy!

I'm baaaaaack!

I'm back in business now that my computer has been fixed. But until I can get the time to download and organize some pics and posts here are some random happenings from around the DiSandro house.

1) The mystery mum that we left in front of the house (when we cleaned out the flowerbed weeds) has started to bloom and its a marooney kind of color.

2) B rolled over like 6 times tonight from his belly to his back.

3) It has been cold, rainy, and dreary here the past couple of days.

4) I'm way behind on my sewing projects for Christmas. I'm looking to capitalize on the father-son time this weekend to tackle some of that.

5) I'm a little nervous about the whole H1N1 thing and B getting it.

6) B finally "got" the jumperoo and has been jumping like crazy in it.

7) I've started watching season 1 of Prison Break.

Snickerdoodles!

What a fun name for a cookie, huh? I'm not really sure how they got that name though, maybe I'll look it up sometime... Anyways, I'm writing this on my dear husband's computer since there was a little mishap with mine yesterday that may or may not have involved a certain 5 month old. I'm afraid she may have bit the dust. So, sorry no pic with this post.
Yesterday I made a cookie that I've loved for quite some time but have never gotten up the gumption to make. The dough was pretty easy, I just needed one ingredient that I've never had in my cupboard (don't know if I've ever used that word before or not, does it make me sound old?), cream of tartar. And wouldn't you know I went to every other store in town to try to find the cheapest, but alas I had to buy it at the grocery store. At least the spices were on sale this week. The actual baking was a little (and I mean little) more labor intensive than normal drop cookies but in the end I was pretty happy with the results. There are thousands of Snickerdoodle recipes out there so I looked at a couple of different versions both online and in cookbooks that I own. I took the old school route and chose one out of the cookbook that my sister and BIL gave me this past Christmas, The America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook.
I only altered the recipe in how big I made the dough balls, I used a medium sized Pampered Chef cookie scoop for the size and baking stones to bake. I felt that the recipe was right on with the baking time and when it said to leave the cookies on the baking sheet/stone for 10 after removing from the oven. These were excellent and the recipe also said that you could freeze the dough (batch or balls) or freeze the cookies after baked. Yummers for later!

SNICKERDOODLES

Makes about 2 doz cookies
Prep time: 5 Min
Total time: 35 Min plus cooling time

1 3/4 C sugar
1 T cinnamon
2 1/2 C all-purpose flour
2 tsp cream of tartar
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
8 T (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
1/2 C vegetable shortening
2 large eggs

1. Adjust an oven rack to the middle position and heat the oven to 375 degrees. Combine 1/4 C of the sugar and the cinnamon in a shallow dish for coating and set aside. Whisk the flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, and salt together in a large bowl and set aside.
2. Beat the butter, shortening, and remaining 1 1/2 C sugar together in a large bowl using an electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy, 3 to 6 min. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, until incorporated, about 30 sec, scraping down the bowl and beaters as needed.
3. Reduce the mixer speed to low and slowly mix in the flour mixture until combined, about 30 sec. Give the dough a final stir with a rubber spatula to make sure it is combined.
4. Using wet hands, roll 2 T of dough at a time into balls, then roll in the cinnamon sugar to coat and lay on two parchment-lined baking sheets, spaced about 2 1/2 in apart. Bake the cookies, one sheet at at a time, until the edges are set and just beginning to brown but the centers are still soft and puffy, 10 to 12 min, rotating the baking sheet halfway through baking.
5. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for 10 min, then serve warm or transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely.

Enjoy!

Shout Out

I just wanted to give a shout out to two of my favorite gals, Monica and Kristen. Monica, as many of you may know, is my older (and only) sister. After over a year of intense studying through the course of a pregnancy and raising an infant she recently passed the final portion of her CPA exam. Monica Bogle, CPA, I am proud of your accomplishment. Great job!
Kristen was my roommate in college. Well, after school she went and got herself hitched and moved way far away to San Antonio to PT school at UT San Antonio. She recently completed not only her Masters but her Doctorate as well. And she just passed her certification test. Dr. Kristen Kenroy, DPT, I am proud of you too! Congratulations ladies, you deserve it after all of your hard work!

Giddy-Up!

To kick things off for National Cookie Month I went with Cowgirl Cookies from Bakerella. I have made this recipe two different ways in the past couple of weeks. The first time I added the ingredients in the order that you would normally mix up your cookie dough: sugar, butter, egg, etc. The second time I followed the recipe by mixing the dry ingredients and then adding the wet. There was definitely a difference with the final product. My taste tester and I both preferred the first version of the cookies that didn't follow the directions on the recipe. They had a lot better texture and stayed that way. The second batch was crunchier and didn't mix up as well.
I did like using the pink M&Ms to make them cowgirlish and since it is October, which is also Breast Cancer Awareness Month, there are plenty to be found in the stores. This recipe was also adapted to be made into cookie mix gift jars. So check out the site to create a nice little treat for all of your cowgirl friends.

In Honor Of The Cookie

Recently I found out that October is National Cookie Month, and I figured if there was ever a reason to celebrate a whole month, this was it. In honor of the many wonderful and creative cookies out there I have committed myself to try a new cookie recipe every week. So stay tuned and I will be posting my recipes and the reviews from my personal taste tester. But for now, here is a little history on a couple of classic cookies brought to you by InventHelp®.

The culinary delight now known as the chocolate chip cookie began in a small inn owned by a woman named Ruth Wakefield. Formerly a dietitian and lecturer on food, Wakefield decided to open her own business. Together with her husband, they formed the Toll House Inn, which soon gained notoriety for its delectable deserts.

One of her most famous recipes was for Butter Drop Dew cookies, which called for baker's chocolate. One day, Wakefield found herself lacking the needed ingredient, so she substituted a semi-sweet chocolate bar cut up into small pieces. Unlike the baker's chocolate, the semi-sweet chocolate did not melt completely and instead softened into warm, gooey chips.
In an interesting twist, it turns out that the semi-sweet chocolate bar had been a gift from Andrea Nestle of the Nestle Chocolate Company. The explosive popularity of Toll House Chocolate Chip cookies prompted increased sales of Nestle chocolate. Andrew Nestle and Ruth Wakefield struck up a sweet deal: Nestle would print the Toll House cookie recipe on its packaging, and Wakefield would receive a lifetime supply of Nestle chocolate.

While chocolate chip remains one of the most popular varieties of cookies today, it's impossible not to mention another cookie that's famous for a special ingredient: its cream filling. The Nabisco Corporation's Oreo was originally targeted toward tea drinkers in England, which felt that ordinary biscuits were too, well, ordinary. Oreos were first produced in two flavors - lemon meringue and cream. The lemon meringue didn't catch on, and in 1952 the modern design of the Oreo was perfected by inventor William A. Turnier. Two circular chocolate wafers, invented by John D. Unger, were sandwiched between sweet, white filling. Plenty of new varieties of filling have been invented in past years, including Coffee n' Crème, Mint n' Crème, and to the delight of sugar addicts, Double Stuf, which features twice the filling.

The Oreo can be eaten a number of ways - some prefer to eat it whole, some prefer to twist the wafers apart and eat the cream filling first, and still others prefer to dunk it in milk. It's for the latter group of people that an inventor who appeared at INPEX® 2006 developed Mr. Dunk, a device that keeps hands dry as the cookie is submerged.

"Eating cookies and milk is a childhood pastime that never seems to go out of style," said inventor David Friedman. "I have always enjoyed dunking cookies in milk, but I felt there had to be a cleaner way to do it."

Consider that Americans consume about 300 cookies per person, per year. That's quite a lot of fingers to keep clean (and quite a few trips to the gym)!