Mostly-Mommy

Yesterday I made Whoopie Pies, no big whoop (oh that was bad, that was really, really bad, sorry).

But seriously, hot dang these were… what’s the word I’m looking for? Oh yes, delicious. Delicious will work just fine.

Whoopie Pies

2 cups flour

1 cup sugar

½ cup cocoa

1 t baking soda

¼ t salt

6 T butter, melted

¾ cup milk

1 egg, beaten

1 t vanilla

6 T butter, softened

1 cup powdered sugar

7 oz. marshmallow crème

1 t vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Cookies: Combine flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, and salt in a bowl. Stir in butter, milk, egg, and vanilla and mix until smooth. Drop spoonfuls onto greased cookie sheets and bake 12-14 minutes. Cool on wire racks.

Filling: Beat butter and powdered sugar until smooth. Add marshmallow and vanilla and mix well.

I *think* the kids enjoyed them.

Did you know that ketchup doesn’t just come in bottles conveniently located on your grocer’s shelf? Turns out you can MAKE it in your very own kitchen! And today folks I have discovered the wonders of fabulous, home made, high fructose corn syrup-free ketchup. I had no idea.

Is it wrong to just eat a spoon full of ketchup? No, no it is not.

Super Quick Ketchup

3 cans tomato paste

1/4 c honey

1/4 c brown sugar

1 tsp salt

1/2 t cinnamon

1/4 t cloves (or more)

pinch of cayenne

pinch allspice

pinch garlic powder

3/4 cup cider vinegar (this recipe turned out pretty bitey, I think next time I’ll only use 1/2 cup)

water as needed to reach the right consistency

Simmer this, stirring, for about five minutes. Remove from heat. Cool. Adjust seasonings. Flavor will improve on standing if you can wait…

(A big shout out to Kaci for the awesome recipe! You rock!)

I have a small fruit tree growing upstairs that I was given for my 30th birthday by my dad and stepmother. It is a Lemon Drop tree, a hybrid of a lemon and a kumquat, and its fruit are delicious. Slightly sweet and mildly tangy it was the perfect choice for the only thing that saved my sanity today. Coctails. Two. Shaken, not stirred.

The Time Out

1 oz. Grey Goose Vodka (sorry Tim, but thanks! I saved you a little for next time.)

2 t sugar muddled with the zest of one lemon drop fruit

juice of 2 lemon drop fruits

enough Blood Orange soda to fill the rest of a martini glass

Remember to drink two. If you feel the way I did after spending the whole day with my little hellions you may even want to consider a third. For me (a lightweight fo sho) I rode the beautiful coattails of two all the way until bedtime which is exactly how long I needed.

Halloween was pretty fun last night. Both kids were surprisingly compliant, polite and relatively easy going. Note when I say this I am mostly referring to Zoey who has turned into a completely opinionated, headstrong, cranky little tyrant. But she sure is cute!

The trick-or-treaters in our neighborhood this year were pretty good as well. We did have one infant in a carseat dreessed as a lion whose dad opened the bag with a big smile, “He likes Reeses.” Also when we were getting our kids into bed, porch light off and curtains drawn, there came a knock on the door. We had a porch full of people with a waiting car in the street. Are people unfamiliar with the rules or just rude? I’m just glad the kids weren’t sleeping yet or I’d have given them dirty diapers instead of Twix bars.

My mom is off on an adventure at the moment so for our Halloween party it was us plus Bob. I made Pumpkin Butterscotch Cookies and Sneaky Slithering Stromboli for dinner.

Unfortunately a good Halloween is closely followed by the dreaded Daylight Savings Time. Curse you DST! Ask ANYONE with children and I’m sure you’ll get the same vehement hatred of it as we do. Just as soon as our little night owl starts sleeping as late as 6 or 6:30am we have to go and set back the clocks. Helloooo 4:50am! Makes me really miss living in Arizona.

In other news I think our house needs to be dipped in sanitizer. Today, between the four of us, we have pooped THIRTEEN TIMES. Mostly what Nick calls “bubbles” which is a term I find far more offensive than its real name. We’ve all been battling some stomach stuff for weeks but poor Nick has had diarrhea all week. If he still does on Monday then we’re off to the pediatrician. I have no adorable pictures to share of this one.

Weekend, oh weekend, where have you gone? Saturday was pretty good with a trip to the farmer’s market, Halloween festivities at Old Navy and having the fam over for a big homemade dinner… But today, the stomach flu for all of us? REALLY? Poor Nick has it the worst and has been barfing all day. It makes me sad.

Since this nastiness hasn’t given me much blog-worthy writing I decided to post a recipe. I made this last night for dessert and it was delish. Always is. It is a recipe that has evolved for me over the last many years and is always one of my favorites. You can use apples, peaches, blueberries, and/or any other fruit you enjoy. You can vary the amounts of almost any ingredient in this recipe and you really won’t mess it up, it turns out fabulously no matter what you do. I always make a double batch of the topping. Yum.

Warm Apple Crisp

8 apples, peeled, cored and sliced

2T lemon juice

1/3 cup water or apple juice

3T sugar

3T flour

1t cinnamon

Pour the lemon juice and water into a 9×13″ baking dish. Add the apple slices and mix. Add the sugar, flour and cinnamon and stir to coat. Press down into pan.

1 cup oats

1/2 cup flour

1/3 cup wheat germ (you can omit this no prob but fiber’s good for ya!)

1/2t salt

2t cinnamon

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup butter, softened

2/3 cup pecan pieces (optional — I don’t put them in)

Mix all the dry ingredients together in a bowl. Rub in the butter until pretty evenly mixed. Sprinkle over the top of the apple mixture. Bake 375 degrees until browned (about 25 minutes). Enjoy with vanilla ice cream or homemade whip cream.