Good Morning!
It's my favorite time of year. Spring and Summer always lift my spirits. There is so much fresh fruit and veggies at farmers markets. I feel like spring and summer are for fruit and fall and winter are for veggies. Strawberries and peaches are coming back and amazing tomatoes. Grills are lighting up wherever you look. It's the time of year I crave light clean food.
I never really thought about food and what I ate while I was growing up. It was whatever was on hand and was quick and easy to eat. Now that I've started paying more attention I find that I like to eat with the seasons. When I'm cooking in the winter I have no problem standing by the stove making soup or roasting veggies. But once the weather warms up I don't want soup I want something cool. I want vanilla pound cake with fresh fruit and whipped cream. In the fall and winter I want things hot not luke warm. In spring and summer I don't mind. I want cold rice noodles with peanut sauce. I want to add citrus to everything. I no longer want to sit making pasta for hours I would rather have a piece of bread with fresh tomatoes. We are lucky in LA to have a few farmers markets that are open year round but they are truly amazing once spring comes in.
My life also changes with the seasons. This summer big changes are coming. For one I am loosing my current job. The family is moving up north in July. This will change a lot for me. While I know I will be able to find another job without too much worry I will have to change around a lot. I am so used to my long hours and endless weeks that I will have to adjust to not having them. Hopefully I will be able to find another job that pays better and has better hours. I hope I will be able to once again start school at least part time. I will be able to balance my life better. But it will be a big change. I have been working at least part time for the same family for 3 years. It will be an adventure to start all over. I am looking forward to it since there is no point in looking back.
hope you all have some fun in the sun today!
hugs+kisses
mce
Wednesday, May 16, 2012
Friday, May 11, 2012
working with kids
Good Morning!
In case you missed it, today is Friday! It did not elude me at all. I feel that this comes with working with kids.
Now don't get me wrong. I love the kids dearly. I love working with them and would rather do what I do then sit in a cubical. For example I took the picture above at the Getty center when we went last week. You don't get to do that sitting in an office. But when you work the hours I do it's harder. You aren't dealing with just your emotions but with four other sets that are all doing there own thing. You can't waver or blink. If they think they can get something past you they will. Being on your toes and staying sharp for 12+ hours is not the easiest thing. I've been doing this so much though that at this point I feel like I can do anything with the kids. I do my workouts with the twins and keep track of my budget and pay bills while they play in the living room. Next week I have to take them with me to the doctor. But the mental and emotional strain is immense at times. When I learn I am working longer then 12 1/2 hours I feel like crying. It would be amazing if I ever worked less then 55 hours a week. This makes the weekends even more special.
I plan my weekend all week. I plan what I'm going to cook and what I'm going to do. My time away from the kids is amazing for me. Friday marks Movie Day with the kids and date night with Jono. It is the last day of a long week. This weekend we are going to the ren faire on Saturday and visiting the Kecks on Sunday. Fun will be had by all.
I hope you all have fun plans for this weekend and have some time to relax.
hugs+kisses
mattie
In case you missed it, today is Friday! It did not elude me at all. I feel that this comes with working with kids.
Now don't get me wrong. I love the kids dearly. I love working with them and would rather do what I do then sit in a cubical. For example I took the picture above at the Getty center when we went last week. You don't get to do that sitting in an office. But when you work the hours I do it's harder. You aren't dealing with just your emotions but with four other sets that are all doing there own thing. You can't waver or blink. If they think they can get something past you they will. Being on your toes and staying sharp for 12+ hours is not the easiest thing. I've been doing this so much though that at this point I feel like I can do anything with the kids. I do my workouts with the twins and keep track of my budget and pay bills while they play in the living room. Next week I have to take them with me to the doctor. But the mental and emotional strain is immense at times. When I learn I am working longer then 12 1/2 hours I feel like crying. It would be amazing if I ever worked less then 55 hours a week. This makes the weekends even more special.
I plan my weekend all week. I plan what I'm going to cook and what I'm going to do. My time away from the kids is amazing for me. Friday marks Movie Day with the kids and date night with Jono. It is the last day of a long week. This weekend we are going to the ren faire on Saturday and visiting the Kecks on Sunday. Fun will be had by all.
I hope you all have fun plans for this weekend and have some time to relax.
hugs+kisses
mattie
Wednesday, May 9, 2012
Mother's day is on the way
hello. I hope all of you are doing well. This past week has been a bit of a craze fest. For one we (Jono and I) got a new (to us) car. This means that I am now driving a car that works a lot better and Jono is getting the gas mileage he needs. Even though the process was overly painful (mainly due to his mother being involved) the end result is pretty awesome. I am much happier with this arrangement then the one we had before. It was stressful and maddening but it's done now and all is well.
I have never been more grateful for the mothers in my life. For those of you who may not know this I have 3 mothers. How? Well I have my birth mom, Ana, I have my blood mother-in-law to be, Carolyn, and my adopted mother-in-law to be, Marlyn Keck. The first and the last help me deal with the middle one. It's not easy at all. While I am overjoyed to know I will spend the rest of my life with Jono his mother drives me up the wall. It has gotten to the point where any conversation I have with her that's longer then 2 minutes leaves me shaking with anger and the need to leave the house. Thankfully neither of my other mothers live far away. Marlyn actually lives only across the street and 3 houses down. When things get hard I can run over there and know I will be loved and listened to and fed. I know I can always go to my mom's house for a nice glass of wine and a relaxing chat on the balcony. These two women are who I am celebrating on mother's day. These women who are always doing something always engaged and always there with a smile and a hug. These women are never idle. They always have something going on be it craft or an adventure. They inspire me more then I will ever be able to express to them in words. I try all year long to show them though. Most of the things I bake? they end up in the hands of these two women. I rarely keep more then a few cookies or a few slices of cake for myself. When I have my craft stuff out I am always trying to think of what to make them. I am grateful every day to have them in my life. They show me that there is no excuse to be idle. There are so many things you can be doing with your time so don't sit around wasting it. They remind me to create. Anything really as long as it's something. I can never see these women retiring. Not the leisurely retirement some people take. Maybe retiring from one thing and doing something else. But never just sitting around. There have been time when I've thought about wanting to quit working and just relax and the thought of the look on their faces if I did that gets me out of bed and back to work. I feel the mother's day is not enough. How can it be? So while I plan on doing something small on mothers day for these women, I also plan on spreading it out over the whole year. Because really, how can you say everything in a day?
hugs+kisses
mce
I have never been more grateful for the mothers in my life. For those of you who may not know this I have 3 mothers. How? Well I have my birth mom, Ana, I have my blood mother-in-law to be, Carolyn, and my adopted mother-in-law to be, Marlyn Keck. The first and the last help me deal with the middle one. It's not easy at all. While I am overjoyed to know I will spend the rest of my life with Jono his mother drives me up the wall. It has gotten to the point where any conversation I have with her that's longer then 2 minutes leaves me shaking with anger and the need to leave the house. Thankfully neither of my other mothers live far away. Marlyn actually lives only across the street and 3 houses down. When things get hard I can run over there and know I will be loved and listened to and fed. I know I can always go to my mom's house for a nice glass of wine and a relaxing chat on the balcony. These two women are who I am celebrating on mother's day. These women who are always doing something always engaged and always there with a smile and a hug. These women are never idle. They always have something going on be it craft or an adventure. They inspire me more then I will ever be able to express to them in words. I try all year long to show them though. Most of the things I bake? they end up in the hands of these two women. I rarely keep more then a few cookies or a few slices of cake for myself. When I have my craft stuff out I am always trying to think of what to make them. I am grateful every day to have them in my life. They show me that there is no excuse to be idle. There are so many things you can be doing with your time so don't sit around wasting it. They remind me to create. Anything really as long as it's something. I can never see these women retiring. Not the leisurely retirement some people take. Maybe retiring from one thing and doing something else. But never just sitting around. There have been time when I've thought about wanting to quit working and just relax and the thought of the look on their faces if I did that gets me out of bed and back to work. I feel the mother's day is not enough. How can it be? So while I plan on doing something small on mothers day for these women, I also plan on spreading it out over the whole year. Because really, how can you say everything in a day?
hugs+kisses
mce
Friday, May 4, 2012
Bread Pudding
Good Morning!
So yesterday I made an amazing discovery. Savory bread pudding. Sounds odd? I know. I thought since it was the first recipe that's all me in a while I should give you guys the recipe.
Savory Bread Pudding
6 cups Stale bread cubes (I had the butt ends of about 3 loafs)
6 eggs
2 1/2 cups cream or milk
about 2 tablespoons Italian seasoning (less if it's not your favorite)
1 tablespoon salt
2/3 cups goat cheese
3/4 cups sauteed onions
6-7 roasted garlic cloves (or garlic confit if you have it on hand)
3 tomatoes (farmers market ones if you can get them)
Pre-heat oven to 350
Mix the bread with milk and eggs. Make sure the bread is well coated. Add the seasonings, salt, and cheese. mix till well combined. Smash the garlic into the bread mixture and add the onions. When everything is mixed completely. Pour into a 9x13in greased pan. Cut the tomatoes into slices and cover the top of the pudding with them. sprinkle olive oil over the whole thing and bake for an hour.
Next time I might add some sauteed mushrooms. Doesn't it sound hard? It turned out really well for something I threw together to avoid throwing out some bread I had laying around.
I hope you all have a relaxing weekend!
hugs+kisses
mce
So yesterday I made an amazing discovery. Savory bread pudding. Sounds odd? I know. I thought since it was the first recipe that's all me in a while I should give you guys the recipe.
Savory Bread Pudding
6 cups Stale bread cubes (I had the butt ends of about 3 loafs)
6 eggs
2 1/2 cups cream or milk
about 2 tablespoons Italian seasoning (less if it's not your favorite)
1 tablespoon salt
2/3 cups goat cheese
3/4 cups sauteed onions
6-7 roasted garlic cloves (or garlic confit if you have it on hand)
3 tomatoes (farmers market ones if you can get them)
Pre-heat oven to 350
Mix the bread with milk and eggs. Make sure the bread is well coated. Add the seasonings, salt, and cheese. mix till well combined. Smash the garlic into the bread mixture and add the onions. When everything is mixed completely. Pour into a 9x13in greased pan. Cut the tomatoes into slices and cover the top of the pudding with them. sprinkle olive oil over the whole thing and bake for an hour.
Next time I might add some sauteed mushrooms. Doesn't it sound hard? It turned out really well for something I threw together to avoid throwing out some bread I had laying around.
I hope you all have a relaxing weekend!
hugs+kisses
mce
Tuesday, May 1, 2012
I'm Back!
Hello!
I know it's been a while. There is a reason for this. I didn't have a working computer. The twins spilled a good half cup of coffee on my computer and killed it. Well mostly killed it. I have a friend who works on computers and he was able to fix it for a much smaller fee then it would have been to get a new one. Yay!
So to catch everyone up here we go!
Palm Desert:
Amazing trip. We have never stayed the full week before so it was awesome to have a full week. We also had our own place which was really nice for a change. I cooked some and ate a lot. I did not take a lot of pictures. Actually I think I only have one of some sushi and another of a rabbit. I meant of course to take tons and to update a few times from the desert but it was the friday before we left that my computer died so that all didn't happen.
Once we got home it was right back to the grind stone. I worked 12.5 hours the sunday after we got home and worked a full 5 day work week after that. I ended up working 72 hours by friday. Yea I was dead. I spent a nice quiet weekend.
I have been working off my phone for 2 weeks and it was not fun. Thankfully I have an Iphone so I could still do everything I needed to do. But recipes didn't happen. I am back to cookbooks.
I hope you all had a good 2 weeks. I am finally ready again for work. Last week was a mess but now I'm back on track.
I am also going to be making a garden. Any ideas on plants are welcome.
hugs+kisses
mce
p.s. 10 points to the person(s) who remember the movie with the same title as this post.
I know it's been a while. There is a reason for this. I didn't have a working computer. The twins spilled a good half cup of coffee on my computer and killed it. Well mostly killed it. I have a friend who works on computers and he was able to fix it for a much smaller fee then it would have been to get a new one. Yay!
So to catch everyone up here we go!
Palm Desert:
Amazing trip. We have never stayed the full week before so it was awesome to have a full week. We also had our own place which was really nice for a change. I cooked some and ate a lot. I did not take a lot of pictures. Actually I think I only have one of some sushi and another of a rabbit. I meant of course to take tons and to update a few times from the desert but it was the friday before we left that my computer died so that all didn't happen.
Once we got home it was right back to the grind stone. I worked 12.5 hours the sunday after we got home and worked a full 5 day work week after that. I ended up working 72 hours by friday. Yea I was dead. I spent a nice quiet weekend.
I have been working off my phone for 2 weeks and it was not fun. Thankfully I have an Iphone so I could still do everything I needed to do. But recipes didn't happen. I am back to cookbooks.
I hope you all had a good 2 weeks. I am finally ready again for work. Last week was a mess but now I'm back on track.
I am also going to be making a garden. Any ideas on plants are welcome.
hugs+kisses
mce
p.s. 10 points to the person(s) who remember the movie with the same title as this post.
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