Foodmomiac

Sick Day

So... I emerge from the cloud of vomit surrounding my house. YUCK!

Max started barfing Wednesday night, all over himself, his bed and me. I woke up yesterday morning and promptly started throwing up myself. Michael left work early to get Dylan from school and take her to dance. She threw up outside the dance school, came home and developed at 101.7 degree fever.

This morning, Max woke up covered in vomit and diarrhea. I felt fine, but it took me hours to get the house to stop reeking, and his hair still smells. I've washed it four times. Any ideas? I'm tempted to try tomato juice, like with skunks.

Michael left for Columbus this afternoon, for the big game (Go Blue, and R.I.P. Bo), so we were on our own for dinner. Dylan and I finally had an appetite, but I couldn't deal with cooking. She wanted to order in Thai, but that seemed unwise. Instead, we ventured out of the house and walked over to Whole Foods for a rotisserie chicken. It was quite tasty. I also bought some yummy gingered sweet potatoes and a garlic bread (I'm a sucker for their garlic bread.) Oh, and I opened a can of cranberry sauce that I had for some reason. I don't remember why I bought it. I love homemade so much more. More details on that in this weekend's Thanksgiving preview post.

On a completely random note (which fits in with this scattered post), anyone have any good recommendations for a chapter book for Dylie? I tried Super Fudge, but she was irritated by the lack of pictures. Then, I saw on LoobyLu that her four year old is enjoying Moominvalley in November. I showed Dylan pictures of it on Amazon, and she explained to me that it wouldn't work, because it was in black and white. "I like color, Mom."

Speaking of comments from Dylan, she watched WAYYYYY too much TV today, and consequently now has a list a mile long for Christmas and Hanukkah. She is campaigning for Bratz dolls, and can NOT understand my objection. She has even resorted to bribing me. She wrapped a coaster in a giant fleece blanket and brought it over to me. "Mom, if you will let me get Bratz, you can open this birthday present. If not, you can't have it. Just think about it, Mom. I'll leave it right here, OK?" She came and checked a few times. I didn't open it.

She also wants the My Little Pony castle extravaganza. Apparently, "THAT will REALLY keep me entertained, Mom. The ponies are sold separately. You'll need to buy all of them, OK?"

I think I need this.

More on cakes...

...because I have a migraine and can't think of anything else to write. Thank you all for your supportive comments re: Dylie's birthday cake! I figured I might as well clarify some things. I am a strong believer in making the cake myself, but the problem is that I am too much of a perfectionist. I can't bring myself to use cake mix or even canned frosting, so making it myself is a huge production.

When Dylie had her third birthday, our Toledo oven was too small to fit the half sheet pan I needed to use. So, I made the cake, filled the pan, and put it in her red wagon. My mom and I then carefully wheeled the wagon around the block to my friend Jeff's house, and used his oven to bake it.

Last year, her party was right around the time Michael and I were separating, so I ordered a princess cake from the bakery. This year, I'm just busy. And, she really wants that Barbie cake. And it's so frickin' cute. I'd love to try to make it myself, but that will have to wait until next year. Anyway, I like supporting Dinkel's. Dinkel's rocks.

I've become THAT KIND of mother

Behold the cake I just ordered for Dylan's birthday party. This earned me a lecture on starving kids who don't get fancy birthday cakes.

Photo courtesy of Dinkel's, home of the best donuts in Chicago.

Halloween Candy

I haven't purchased any of our Halloween candy yet. Michael is going to be out of town, so I don't even know if I will be handing anything out. I'm sure I'll be traipsing around the neighborhood with the kids, and then I'll probably just call it a night.

BUT, if I were buying candy, I would certainly only be buying candy that I like. Namely, 3 Musketeers and Kit Kats. Those are my favorites. Never mind that it's not for me (though I do eat a damn lot of it). Do you guys only buy what you like? And, do you buy the mini sizes? Michael's Aunt hands out full size candy bars. I've always thought that was awesome. Crazy, but awesome. If I were a kid, I would have multiple costumes available and go to her door over and over. She must be the most popular house in her neighborhood.

Our weekend is chock full of Halloween activities. I don't know if it's a Chicago thing or just the fact that Halloween has become a much bigger deal, but there are events and parties everywhere, starting this afternoon and extending through Halloween proper. How are you all celebrating?

Bye Bye Disney. Hello Wiccan Rock Star

Last year, Dylan was Sleeping Beauty. This year, she had every intention of being Barbie Mermaidia. This weekend, though, Dylan suddenly decided that she wanted to be a Hex Girl. Are you familiar with the Hex Girls?

According to Rocklopedia Fakebandia:

Hex Girls, The - From the film Scooby-Doo and the Witch's Ghost (1999). Gothy girl trio featuring the voice of Jane Wiedlin of 80s girl group The Go-Gos as band member Dusk. The band first appeared in this 1999 straight-to-video movie, and then appeared again in the 2003 straight-to-video movie, Scooby-Doo and the Legend of the Vampire. They also appeared in "The Vampire Strikes Back" episode (10/18/03) of the latest version of the series, What's New Scooby-Doo. See also The Bad Omens, Matt Marvelous, The Meddling Kids, Two Skinny Dudes, Wildwind. Thanks to BonnieB21 for this one.

Dylie wants to be Thorn, the Hex Girl in the middle of the above picture. Thorn, along with the other two Hex Girls, is a Wiccan. Though part of me thinks it is a LITTLE strange that Dylan wants to be a goth, Wiccan rock star, I am so excited about this costume. It is WAY more fun than a mermaid. We went to the costume store tonight and got her a black wig and a funky dress. The dress was part of a Monster's Bride costume. We did a little trimming and a little hot glue gunning (thank you Project Runway), and we have a pretty cute dress. I am going to decorate her white tights with some fabric paint, and we need to get her some face makeup. She wants her face to be white and she wants black lipstick and lots of eye shadow. I think we will cover her pink cowboy boots with black legwarmers and she will be good to go.

Image courtesy of The Hex Girls Coven.

Love Thursday

  Drowsy Doll - All Tucked In 
  Originally uploaded by Foodmomiac.

I am not the best at remembering the words to songs. However, I kick ass when it comes to making up new words. And something I've realized is that when you make up words to songs that you sing to your kids, those made-up words can suddenly become the real deal.

The song I sing to Dylie and Max every night is one example of this. Sung to the tune "Lullaby and Goodnight"

Lullaby and Goodnight
Go to sleep little baby
Lullaby and Goodnight
Go to sleep little girl (boy)
It's late and you're tired
And it's time to go to bed
You'll have lots of dreams
Dancing around in your head

This is a picture of Dylan's Drowsy doll. She put her to bed this morning just the way I put Dylan to bed every night.

She lay with her for awhile.
She sang to her.
She tucked her in in the far right corner of the bed.
And she gave her a kiss and a hug.

This Love Thursday, love is all about routines.

Weeknight Roast Chicken

  Weeknight Roast Chicken 
  Originally uploaded by Foodmomiac.

If there was ever a night I needed comfort food, tonight was it. Max is still pretty sick (Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease). He won't eat much because the blisters in his throat and on his tongue make swallowing too uncomfortable. He is drooling so much that we have to keep changing his shirt. The kid is just miserable. He is hungry, he is in pain, and he doesn't understand any of it. Oh yes, he is also popping two teeth on the bottom. Good timing universe.

Last night was horrid. Just horrid. He woke up at 3am and would not go back to sleep. I tried EVERYTHING. I offered him a bottle of milk. He hit it out of my hand and starting crying. I changed his diaper. He continued crying. I changed his pajamas. He continued crying. I rocked him. He started screaming. This went on for nearly an hour and a half. Finally, the motrin I gave him kicked in, and he fell asleep in his crib. Did I mention that I had to get in there with him? I finally got back to bed at 4:40. Michael woke me up at 5:15 to ask me where his headphones were. And then Max was up for the day at 6:30. I am wiped out.

Dylan had dance class after school, and when we got home, I decided that I really needed some roast chicken. Roast chicken with canned corn. Canned corn is one of my guilty pleasures. My Grandma Lilly always served it to me when I visited, and the taste just brings me back. Canned corn makes me smile.

This four pound chicken was done in an hour and a half (leaving me enough time to feed Max a popsicle, bathe him, and get him to bed). I stuffed it with half a lemon and rubbed it with extra virgin olive oil, garlic powder, paprika, kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper. I cooked it, breast side up, at 400 degrees for 30 minutes and then 350 degrees for another hour. It was incredibly moist and tender. Dylan and I ate all of the dark meat, leaving us a nice amount of white meat for chicken salad tomorrow.

I'm still wiped out, but I feel a little bit better about life, and my house smells divine.

Teaching kids: the importance of buying local

  Broccoli 
  Originally uploaded by JunBearcub0120.

I've told this story a couple of times over the past few days, so I figured it was high time I share it here.

As I've mentioned a zillion times, our favorite produce store in Toledo is Rhode's Garden Fresh. One of the (many) things we like about this store is the fact that they have so much locally grown produce. It's pretty easy to tell what's local because they use colored signs. All local produce qualifies for senior nutrition coupons and the colored signs make it easy for the elderly shoppers to figure out what to buy. They also make it easy for parents to teach children about the importance of buying local.

Last weekend, when I took Dylan to Rhode's, I told her that we'd only be buying items with colored signs. I explained that these items were grown in Ohio or Michigan. As we walked through the store, she found all of the signs, and we filled our cart. When she wanted asparagus, I explained that it wasn't in season locally. When she wanted oranges, I told her we'd be better off with locally grown peaches or blueberries. We had a blast, and everything we bought was local.

One of our purchases was broccoli, and that was the basis of tonight's dinner. I heated a pan, added extra virgin olive oil, and sauteed the broccoli until it started to brown. Then, I added two cloves of very thinly sliced garlic. I added a touch more oil to prevent burning, and after the garlic started to smell divine, I poured in a jar of Trader Joe's Pomodoro sauce and a sprinkle of red pepper flakes. And, because it seemed like a good idea, a splash of red wine.

After this cooked for a bit, I added about 1/2 cup of half and half and about two tablespoons of butter. I cooked up a pound of penne, drained it and added it to the pan. Everyone loved this meal.

That's my girl.

Dylan Wiley, sous chef.

Various and sundry

Yesterday, I brought the kids to drop-in day care. Last week I paid for another week, figuring I'd just bite the bullet and assume that our sitter was never to return. Unfortunately, when I arrived at the daycare, it was like Armageddon. There was one teacher. There were about 10-12 kids. A small baby was sitting on the floor, crying hysterically, with snot all over her face. There was a giant chunk of Nutri-Grain bar on the floor, which Max promptly crawled over to and ate. (YUK!!!) Two enormous bags of Cheerios were laying on the table, half opened, with Cheerios spilling out. The box to the Cheerios had become an impromptu costume for a two-year-old. There was screaming, crying, and general mayhem. I eventually left, but after crying for an hour at work, returned to rescue my children. No more drop-in daycare for me.

Today, I brought the kids to my friend's house, because he and his wife graciously agreed to let me share their babysitter. Unfortunately, two hours after I arrived at work, the sitter called to report that Max was running a temperature of 100.6. I'm back home again. Bright side? I'm using my laptop on my porch, because the heat wave has broken and it's a gorgous 78 degrees. Max is napping and my father-in-law is playing horses with Dylan.

I think I'm going to cook dinner tonight (FINALLY! SHEESH!) and will try to snap a picture of it with my camera phone. I still have no real camera. I've resigned myself to getting a new one, but I can't decide if I should get a pocket-sized model again (we had the Nikon S1) or if it's time to upgrade to the Nikon D50. I have heard only raves about that camera, and if I want to improve the quality of my food photography, I really need the digital SLR. My only concerns are that it might be hard to learn how to use, and that it is too big to fit into my pocket. Any input?

I better do some paying work now, but I wanted to share two links with you. These posts are both from blogs on my blogroll up to the right, but they deserve special linkage.

First, Luisa from The Wednesday Chef posted a great peach drink last week. Dylan and I made it yesterday and it was wonderful. Instead of yielding four glasses, we ended up with just two, but we were both thrilled, and with peaches in season right now (at least in our neck of the woods), this is definitely a must-try.

Second, have you clicked yet to David Lebovitz's blog? No? Are you CRAZY??? I love this blog. It is a food blog, but David is so funny, and so honest, that it is much more than that. I've spewed before about how I dislike food blogs with no personality. His has personality up the wazoo. And, I love that he isn't afraid to post about things that aren't food-related. His jeans-buying expedition was one of my favorite posts of all time. I also very much enjoyed his post today about a homemade herb blend. Enjoy.