Baking: Palmiers (Elephant Ears)

I love to bake and since there are five of us in the house I bake a lot.  A batch of homemade cookies does not last long at all so I try to bake two to three times a week.  I have been experimenting with French desserts and this morning I made Palmiers or Elephant Ears as they are often called because of their shape.  Palmiers are light, flaky and delicious plus they are super easy to make!  They would be great with coffee or tea, or with ice cream or berries.  They are so light and yummy they are addicting.  My husband also pointed out that as an added bonus they make the house smell nice!  Which is great because at times I feel like making the house smell nice can be a chore all on its own.

Here is the recipe: Palmiers
2 cups sugar
1/8 tsp salt
2 sheets puff pastry, defrosted (I used Pepperidge Farm)

Preheat oven to 450 degrees and line two large baking sheets with parchment paper or non-stick aluminum foil.

Combine sugar and salt in a bowl.  Pour 1 cup sugar mixture on a large flat surface. (I used a large wooden cutting board). Unfold one sheet of pastry and pour 1/2 cup sugar mixture all over pastry spreading evenly.  Gently roll pastry to measure 13 x 13 making sure sugar mixture is pressed into top and bottom of pastry.  Next fold sides of pastry so they go half way to the middle, fold again meeting in the middle, then fold in half like a book.  You will have 6 layers of pastry to cut through.  I cut mine in half, in half again and did that until I had 16 cookies. Line cookie sheet placing cut side up.

Place second sheet of pastry in sugar mixture left on flat surface and pour remaining 1/2 cup sugar mixture on top and spread evenly.  Repeat steps above.

Bake cookies for 6 minutes or until caramelize and brown on bottom, flip them with a spatula and bake for another 3 to 5 minutes, until golden brown on other side. Transfer to backing rack to cool.  Makes 32 cookies.

Helpful tips:
Defrost puff pastry overnight in refrigerator.  You want the dough pliable yet still very cold before you bake it.
Store Palmiers in airtight container, if you have any left. :)

"Life is uncertain.  Eat dessert first."  ~Ernestine Ulmer

I Told You So

I don't know about you but one thing that really peeves me off is when my husband gives me some helpful advice that I choose NOT to follow and then he ends up being right.  Sometimes I just like to do things a certain way and I'm going to do them my way because I'm stubborn and then I end up kicking myself later because HE was right!

For instance the other day we were expecting company and like most of us we clean our homes better for company than we do for ourselves.  I knew I had to clean the kitchen floor which is my least favorite chore.  I will sweep and mop and scrub and five minutes later it will be dirty again.  I have three kids and a husband and they can make for a very messy crew.  Since I hate cleaning the kitchen floor I decided to get it done first then do some other chores.  My husband, knowing our kids, suggested I wait and clean the floor last.  I didn't want to clean the floor last, I hate cleaning that floor and I wanted it cleaned and over with!

So in my stubbornness I cleaned the floor first, then did the dishes, the laundry, the bathrooms etc.  My boys had been playing outside in the timber and came into the house via the kitchen and even though they had taken their shoes off they had bits of leaves and dirt on their pants which tracked through my kitchen.  I sighed and swept up the mess.  Then my four year old ate a cookie and made a mess of crumbs.  I too cleaned that up, then when I left to use the restroom I came back into the kitchen to see that my four year old decided to help himself to some Kool-Aid and spilled an entire two quart pitcher all over my CLEAN floor!!!

So what did I do?  I quickly sopped up the Kool-Aid, cleaned the sticky spot with soap and water, dried the floor and and got rid of all the evidence before my husband realized that I actually had to clean that darn floor several times that day.  He was right, I should've just waited to do that floor right before our guests arrived.  Man, I hate it when he's right!

"I am glad that I paid so little attention to good advice; had I abided by it I might have been saved from some of my most valuable mistakes. "

- Edna St. Vincent Millay

The Ultimate Blog Party 2011!! Please come & join the fun!

The Dreaded Gynecological Exam

My title for today's post is a mouth full.  Try saying it three times really fast, or for that matter try just saying one time really fast! :)

Even though most of us have given birth a time or two and have been poked and prodded and laid out on display for several to see I'd venture to guess that most of you, like me, dread your annual exam.  I feel most comfortable with female doctors so I see one of three each year.  One of them delivered my oldest child and one of them delivered my youngest. I started going to them almost 12 years ago and on my first appointment the doctor brought in an intern named Helga.  I was nervous but it was just another female in the room.  Then when I was in labor with my first child and ready to push they brought in three interns to observe her delivery.  I had just turned 22 and the interns were two males and one female all of which were my age.  The whole time I was pushing, one of the male interns kept clapping and cheering for me and in the midst of pushing I actual found that quite humorous because a complete stranger was cheering for me as if I was running a marathon or something.

Years went by and I never had another intern, at least not until my last annual exam which was last November.  Even though I've had three children I still hate the dreaded gynecological exam.  I make sure I'm physically prepared to be viewed in such a manner and head off to my appointment.  The nurse took me back to the examining room and asked me the usual questions, then she gave be a gown and an over sized napkin and said, "Please undress and tie the gown in the front."  They used to have me tie the gown in the back but I suppose tying it in the front gave better access for the breast exam.  I put on my gown and tried to wrap the smaller than I remembered napkin around my lower half.  I chalked the decrease in napkin size up to budget cuts.

I sat and waited patiently and in walked the doctor.  She was the one who delivered my oldest child and I was happy to see her.  She shook my hand and asked how I was doing and then, gasp, in walked a man!  "This is Todd and he's a student intern, I hope you don't mind if he observes today," she said.  I thought, student intern are you kidding me?  He was at least in his early forties, he had salt and pepper hair and he was very good looking.  It was just my luck that this man would decide to better himself and now I have to bare my nether regions to him.

After a few more pleasantries came the dreaded words, "Please scoot forward and put your legs up."  She moved the hot lamp closer to me and sat down.  I can't believe how warm those lamps are and how close they get them to you. If you ever smell burning hair I guarantee your lamp is too close!  The whole time she's examining me she's asking about my weekend or if we took the kids on a summer vacation.  I politely tried to converse with her but the whole time I was thinking, I can't believe she brought George Clooney into observe me!  I was mortified but in a few minutes the exam was over and I sat up.  She asked if I had any concerns or questions and I did not so I shook both of their hands and they left the room.  I breathed a sigh of relief that THAT was over for yet another year!

No matter how much I dread it I just keep telling myself that it is the responsible thing to do as an adult and as a mother.  It's preventative medicine and it's worth the terribly uncomfortable few minutes out of my life to be examined.  I will say though, I hope I can go another ten years without an intern, specifically a male one!

"Too many OB/GYN’s aren’t able to practice their love with women all across the country."
— George W. Bush

Potty Mouth

Oh the joys of raising children.  Now I'm by no means a perfect mother, a perfect wife or a perfect person.  I use the occasional curse word and occasionally it might be in front of my kids.  We've taught our children that cursing is wrong however when you stub a toe, or someone spills an entire pitcher of lemonade on your freshly cleaned kitchen floor or someone tracks mud onto the carpet these curse words just seem to spill out at times like these and some of us don't realize what we are saying until after we've said it.

We've never had a swearing problem with our oldest.  By nature she wouldn't dare say a curse word because that is her personality.  When our middle child was younger he'd be punished for the occasional curse word that would slip out at home but now that he's older he knows it is wrong.  Now onto our youngest.  He is the child that the occasional curse word will slip out in public and in front of other people.  The strange part is that the curse words that slip from his mouth are NOT the curse words he hears us saying at home!  So then that leads me to believe he's heard it either from one of his siblings or perhaps out with his dad?  At three years old he was with his siblings, cousins and his aunt when they walked through a Wal-Mart parking lot and my son said, "Look at all the f*&#ing people."  Ouch!  Highly inappropriate!!!  He said it so nonchalantly as if it's an everyday vocabulary word.  He got in trouble for that and fortunately has not said THAT word again.  Unfortunately though he's said a few others.

A few months ago my husband told our son that it was time for his nap and our son's reply was, "That's ass."  And just two days ago he was playing in the yard with his sister and two other kids when he walked up to them all and said, "What's up b*tches?"  I was shocked!!  I had to have a good long talk with him about the words he chooses to use and the privileges he will loose because of his behavior.  This child HATES being in trouble and he HATES loosing things so he immediately started saying, "I'm so sorry mommy, I won't swear again!  I promise!"  Now he is so worried about saying a bad word he'll say, "Mom, is 'knife' a bad word?"

I have to think that even a three year old knows which words are bad words and which ones aren't.  It's not like I'm going to give him a list to hang in his room that says...The following words are bad words and should not ever be used. ... Then list all swear words in alphabetical order for him to learn NOT to say!  That would be like saying to your child "Don't watch x-rated movies, here let me show you one so you know what they look like."

Kids grow and parents learn and someday our kids are going to curse all they want and we can't do anything about it and then they'll have their own children to deal with!

There ought to be a room in every house to swear in. It's dangerous to have to repress an emotion like that.
        — Mark Twain

Living the Dream

I know we all love our children dearly and they are our life but have you ever thought about what you will do when they are all grown and out of the house?  I know a lot of us put our dreams on hold because we know that we will have all the time in the world to make our dreams come true when our children are grown. 

I have always had a little bit of an obsession of France.  Don't ask me why because I've never been there.  Looking back I wish I would've taken four years of French in high school instead of two and I wish I would've taken four years of French in college instead of one.  I would've made French my minor and I would've taken advantage of the French abroad program at my university.  But I didn't.  I'm refreshing the French I did learn with French for Dummies and learning about French food through cookbooks.  The older I get the more obsessed I have become with food as well.  I would love to go to Paris and go to a pastry school as sweets are my favorite!  My older kids found my French for Dummies book and asked if i could teach them some this summer.  I am so excited because once baseball and softball is over in mid-June and we get back from vacation the first part of July I am always looking for things for them to do.  So this summer we are going to learn French and cook French food.  Well see how long it lasts but right now in my mind it will be a wonderful summer!  I'd love to be able to take them to France when they are all older and can speak some of it.  In the scheme of things I'd love an apartment in France to stay in whenever we want.  A girl can dream can't she? 

I think a lot of people dream at times of the things they'd love to do.  Why does it have to be a dream?  Why can't we plan and save and work our way towards our goals even if it takes several years.  Or why can't we use our kids in our plan to learn a new language, learn to cook new foods, save for vacations, start a new business?? Ha!  You know as well as I do that moms need to get creative and in the end perhaps everyone's dreams will come true.

"The best way to make your dreams come true is to wake up."  Paul Valery French poet

Personal Hygiene

As I was in the shower this morning I was thinking about the personal hygiene of children.  Now that my children are getting older and more in charge of their own hygiene I find it interesting which child is super hygienic and which one lacks in that department.  My eleven year old daughter showers daily, brushes her teeth, combs her hair, washes her own clothes and her own bed sheets.  My nine year old son on the other hand is a different story.  We practically have to beg him to shower, we constantly have to remind him to brush his teeth, comb his hair and at least get his dirty clothes to the laundry room.  It is exhausting to keep on him.  I'm half tempted to tell him that he is in charge of his own hygiene, washing his own clothes and sheets and that we aren't going to say anything to him again.  I wonder if he'd go weeks and weeks and weeks without showering or wearing dirty clothes or if he'd start doing everything himself because HE is in charge and we aren't nagging him all the time.

The issue with my third child has become wiping. My four year old, like most four year olds, is not a good wiper.  You can tell when he comes home from preschool if he pooped there or not.  I still try to help him now and then and he does bathe regularly because of that!  All little kids tend to do is make a huge mess.  He'll get it all over the place and it's so gross! 

My own personal hygiene has improved since my kids have gotten older.  I now have the luxury of showering daily!  One never thinks that would be an accomplishment but for all of you with small children you know how easy it is for you to go a whole day without a shower!  Now my showering issue has been my lack of focus while I'm in the shower.  I need to get in, wash up and get out but instead I am thinking of so many other things that I've got to do and I forget whether or not I've washed my hair.  Yes, I have forgotten whether or not I've washed my hair!  I'll be so deep in thought that I don't remember what I did in the shower. I'll look around for evidence of shampoo suds on the shower curtain or walls and if I don't see any I'll just shampoo my hair again just to make sure.  One time after I got out of the shower I realized I had shaved one leg and not the other!  I must have really been deep in thought that day. 

I rarely ever forget to brush my teeth but I know I have on a rare occassion or two left the house without deoderant and I HATE that!  I need to put a travel deoderant in my purse because even if I didn't get a shower that day I can at least put on a fresh layer of deoderant.

Ya know what I do almost every day? I wash. Personal hygiene is part of the package with me.
Jim Carrey