Perfect

Everybody has their own favorite way to eat eggs. Personally I could eat the Salmon Eggs Benedict from Zell's Cafe in Portland everyday of my life. But it's a little to far of a drive these days just for a simple, if amazing, breakfast. We eat a lot of eggs in our house, at least a dozen and a half per week. Spaghetti Carbonara, French Toast, Bacon Egg and Cheese Sandwiches, Souffle, Quiche, not to mention all the eggs we consume in desserts and sauces. We're just an egg kind of family.

But today was not your average egg kind of day. Today was the first time we were eating eggs from our own chickens. Yes, the hens have been laying off and on for more than a week, but since it's not quite regular yet, none had cropped up on our feeding days till today. But this morning, there it was, a little bitty (they will get bigger as the hens mature, right now they are considered "pullet eggs") perfect brown egg. And on top of today's egg, we had an egg from yesterday that Elvira had brought over from the coop in honor of Will's birthday.

Will and I debated egg cooking methods this afternoon, trying to decide the best way to enjoy a very fresh and very local egg. Fried? Hard Boiled? Scrambled? Poached? In the end, the kids decided for us.

"We want egg soldiers!"

Perfect. Briton saves the day.

Egg soldiers, which is, I believe, really called Eggs with Toast Soldiers, is a favorite afternoon meal in our house. And it's so simple that I sometimes forget all about it when I'm trying to decide what I'll feed the kids to tide them over till dinner*. Soft boiled eggs with their tops whacked off to reveal the runny yolks inside which is fished out by strips of buttered toast. If you've never tried it, you should. It's eggyness at it's very best. Salty and satisfying and with some fruit or vegetable, a great little meal. I'll even admit that I sometimes make three Egg Soldiers so that I can have one for myself. So, yeah, it was the perfect way to try out our first eggs.

I had to guess at the timing, usually I buy large eggs and pop them in boiling water for as long as it takes our toaster to brown a slice of bread. Since these eggs were pretty small (I actually looked it up and they would be classified as "pee-wee" sized eggs if they were sold in the stores) I halved my time and boiled them for 2 minutes and 30 seconds which turned out to be just right for the smaller of the two and just a tad short for the ever so slightly larger one. But when it comes to Egg Soldiers, runnier is far preferable to hard boiled.

So how were they? Well, they were perfect. Briton commented that they tasted different. Very eggy. I told him that was what real eggs tasted like to which he replied "So we've been eating fake eggs all this time?" Smart-Ass. I don't know where he gets it from.




*In our house the kids eat "tea" at 4:30ish and then have dinner with us at 6:30 or so. That way I know they have gotten a full meal but I can cook things they may or may not like for Will and I. The name "tea" comes courtesy of our Ireland days when my friends would have us over for an afternoon meal for the kids and some play time and the name and the tradition stuck.

Not French Fry Days, French Fridays

If I could change one thing about my life, it would be my lack of knowledge, and I mean a real fluent knowledge, of a foreign language. I so envy people who were raised bilingual, who are raising their children in bilingual households. I have a very limited grasp of French and as I've said, Briton knows more Spanish than I do. But I can dream.

I have this plan, when Will is done with his tests, when we move, when the house is done, when we have more time, of having French Fridays at our house. I've been around language enough to know that immersion is really the way to go, but as I can't see us moving to France anytime so (hold on a moment while I fantasize about that. Ahhhhh... Ok, I'm back) anyway, since I don't think living in France is in the plan at the moment, I would love to set up a little mini-immersion environment in our house. One of these days I'll do it. I'll institute French Friday's where we only watch videos in French, speak to each other in French, eat in French, or at least, French foods.

For now I'll have to settle for French braids though. I tried these out on Evie for the first time for her party. and much to my surprise, every morning since then when I've told her it was time to brush her hair and put in her piggies (as she calls her pigtails) she says "I want braids!" That my just barley three year old is content to sit and have her hair braided each morning is kind of odd. But I guess by now nothing shocks me about her. And besides, they're just so darn cute!

So I'll take the braids for now, and I'll keep using my Rosetta Stone while I wait for enough time in my life to get my French Fridays rolling. And maybe by then France, at least as a vacation, will be more attainable and I'll have something more than the little voice inside me demanding a second language to drive my family into at least a passable ability to speak another language. (Umm, I think I need another fantasy moment.....)

Au revoir! Mes Amis!

Ummm...Pasties

Last night, while Will was working late and the kids were up in bed (well, in their rooms at least) I realized that, although I had fed the kids, I had neglected to feed myself, and with Will bound to come home starving after a marathon call to clients in Australia, I did what any wife would do on a Virginia June evening. I made Cornish Pasties. Ok, so no one else in Virginia was probably making pasties at eight thirty at night in the middle of June. But the truth is, it has poured down rain all day and was actually a little cold, or maybe my AC was just on too high, either way, pasties sounded just the thing for a late night dinner with an even later night meal for Will.

The last time I had Cornish pasties I was, well, I was in Cornwall, and I wasn't even old enough for a driving permit much less my own stove, so this was my first go round with the recipe. And I can't really claim that they were authentic since I used sweet potato instead of regular potato, but whose counting?

For the dough I turned to my new best friend Joe's Pastry (really, really great place for anything pastry related) where I had noticed on one of my earlier visits that he had not one but two different versions of dough for these little darlings. I chose this one, which I'm not going to repeat here since he does such a great job of explaining.

After pulling together the dough, which was surprisingly fast, I shredded some cabbage, thinly sliced a sweet potato and chopped half an onion and four slices of breakfast steak, a relatively cheap cut that we buy regularly from our butcher since it cooks quickly and is pretty versatile.

Seasoning each layer, I piled the fillings in and sealed them closed. And as a side note, after my first two I realized that I could use a plate to cut perfect circles for a more attractive finished product. Of course that mean slightly less yummy buttery crust to nibble when they were fresh from the oven. The dough recipe is supposed to make five pasties but I chose to make four generous ones, two for dinner, two for the freezer.

The end result was delicious, light but filling and just right for a late night dinner. The crust, which is really very close to a pie crust, was flaky without being crumbly and I think I've realized that my aversion to using shortening is the reason I never like my own pie crusts. Since I had shortening on hand, which I normally don't, I went with the half butter, half shortening proportion the recipe called for and now I may have to try the pasty dough as a pie crust next time I make quiche. Or maybe I'll just be normal and use shortening in pie crust at last.

I do think that next time I'll experiment with the crust. Much as I liked it, I remember pasties having a dense and slightly chewy crust to them. That may have just been the pasties I ate, or my faulty memory, but even if that's the case, I like the idea of a chewy versus flaky hand pie, so we'll see how that goes.

I had planned to have another for lunch but since today is crazy humid and hot, it didn't seem quite as appealing as a big glass of iced tea and a cold sandwich. Ah well, it'll be there for another day...

A Place for Everything...Right, I Wish

As the move/redecorate date draws near, I'm hoping to get as many of the things I will need to make finished before we are swamped with painting, floor refinishing, counter top replacing etc. I haven't made much progress in that department over the last few weeks but today, I inched a little closer to my goal by ordering a pillow that I want for Evelyn's bed and getting the first of two book holders done for the kids room. Tonight I'm hoping to get Evie's done as well as make a start on a pillow for Briton's bed, but as it's laundry folding night, I might not get very far. However, since the first one is finished, at least I feel like I'm making some progress.

A few weeks ago I was sent this book called Pretty Little Cozies. The idea behind is is that you can make a cozy, or cover, for just about anything. And I mean anything; ipods, french presses, paper coffee cups...anything. It's cute, and if I had a more quilty styled house I'd probably make more of these. I still plan to make one for my laptop, but the one that jumped out at me as a "now that is cool" was a book cozy to hang off the side of a bed.

Briton and Evie are constantly sleeping with books piled around them. No surprise, I did the same thing, I still would except for the total darkness policy at bedtime that my spouse employs. And while I doubt any amount of book cozies could stop the book co-sleeping from happening, at least they will have the option of putting their books in a handy dandy little pocket before going to sleep.

The original pattern called for a small patch pocket on the front but I opted for another full width pocket across the front since I wanted more room for the books. I'm also thinking of stitching a slit on one pocket to hold a flashlight (because my children love nothing more than a simple flashlight, I'm sure I'm not alone here) but since I didn't have the kind I wanted handy to measure, I'll have to do that part later.

The process was pretty simple, with one very tedious part.

The base of the cozy was two yards long and about 15 inches across and you will need two of them. I used a heavy twill but canvas would also work nicely.

Cut two pockets one at 15x15 inches, one at 15x10 inches.

Cute two-three inch by 15 inch strips of contrasting fabric. I ironed double sided fusible webbing onto this, the kind of stuff you use to make iron on's. Actually, I ironed this stuff onto two 1/4 inch pieces of contrasting fabric and then cut the strips, the rest was for the lettering.

And speaking of the lettering, if you want that, (and this is the tedious part) print out the words your looking for (I used Times and 150 for the size) and then use that as a template to cut out each letter from the remaining iron on fabric. After cutting out Briton's Books last night, I would highly recommend a shorter word. Maybe just READ (which is what they had in the book, now I know why)

Alright. first the pockets. bind the top edge of each pocket with the strips of fabric you have prepared. Fold the strips over evenly over the long edge of the pocket so that you have an inch and a half of border along both the inside and the outside, then iron it on. Because of the webbing, you wont need to hem this and it will give the pocket edge a little bit of strength. Once that's done, lay the pockets on the base to get an idea of where you want the lettering to go. When you've figured that out, go ahead and iron the lettering on.

Now make a sandwich with the fabric. First, the front of the base (with lettering) then the pockets where you want them, and finally the other base piece on top. Pin around the edges and then sew the sides and the bottom (where the pockets are), turn right side out, press and your done. You can sew the top edge closed if you want or even make two and sew them together so that you have a pocket hanging from each side. Because of the weight of the books I'm planning on pinning the base to the underside of the mattress, I can just see my kids diligently putting ten books in each pockets and then being woken up in the night when it all crashes to the floor.

A Fabulous Father's Day Card in Under a Minute

Nope, I kid you not, this project will take you less than a minute, and I guarantee you have everything you need in your house RIGHT AT THIS MOMENT.

See, I hadn't done a craft here for a few days (or weeks) and although I am embarking on a little sewing project tonight that will show up in a day or two, I was feeling bad for just yabbering for the past week with pretty much nothing to show for it. And since Father's Day is almost upon us and the kids and I just finished wrapping Will's gift, I thought this might be a good little sit down before dinner and make something kind of project.

I used to do this with my class, back in the days when I taught in Oregon where school doesn't let out for summer till the second week of June so you get to make Father's Day cards with your class. It's one of those projects that looks so cool and takes so little.

So, ready? Set your timers (but don't start till you get your materials because that will take you, oh, at least another minute, maybe two)

First your supplies. You will need
1 sheet of white paper. Really this can be any size and any paper weight. Personally I prefer a half sheet of regular old card stock so the finished card will be a 4 ish by 5 ish, an easy size to find an envelope for. And it could be any color, but I think white looks best.

a scrap of some other paper, about 1 inch by three inches long. Bigger if you are making a bigger card. This could be wrapping paper, construction paper, part of a cereal box or even just white paper that your kids color. If you are a scrapbooker, here's a great place to use up a little bit of left over patterned border or paper. Anything will do.

Tape or glue. Tape works best, but if your six year old has recently taken to making tape sculptures like mine and you are always out, glue will do.

scissors

That's it. See, I told you you had everything you needed!

OK. Onto the card, go ahead, time yourself.

First: fold the paper in half and crease it firmly.

Second: With the folded side on top, estimate about a sixth of the way down the narrower side of the card, cut a slit one third of the way in, repeat on the other side.

Fourth: Fold the little flaps you just made in at an angle as shown. Do you see it? Yep, it's a shirt. Now all you need is the tie, which brings us to step














Five: From the scrap of colored paper cut a tie shape that will go almost, but not all the way, down to the edge of the card.

















Six: Slide a piece of tape in between the two parts of the tabs to hold down the "collar" and then use a little loop of tape to fasten the tie on. And your done!

Seriously, how friggin cute is that? Cute enough that even after seven father's days, my kids dad will still like it. And I'm sure your's will too (or your dad! I've sent them to mine, even daddy's of grown up girls like homemade father's day cards! I promise!)

Now, I've got to go get the kids into the bath and then to bed so I can get some pinning done. Happy card making!

Countdown to House Day

Three weeks from today we will be closing on the house across the street. And a mere 31 days after that we will need to be out of this house entirely. So now that Evie's birthday is over and done with and I only have Will's and mine to contend with between now and the day we need to be moved out, my brain is finally able to focus more on the project ahead.

Over the weekend I started mapping out a schedule of room sorting. I hate moving junk that I just don't need. I've moved enough (six times in the nine years we've been married. This one will make seven) that I know that I will, inevitably, move things I don't need or don't want. Because as time gets shorter I will think less about whether I really need this or that and start stressing about just getting it over there before the deadline.

I know what your thinking, a month to move across the street is a lot. And it is. If all we were doing was moving. But as I've said before this new house needs TONS of work done to it. And since this is the first time we will have some money left over to do at least part of it before we move in, we really want to get as much remodeling crammed into those days as possible. I spent about an hour today calling contractors to see how many I could get over there later this week to give me some bids on painting, demo, roofing and AC installation (have I said that there's no way I'm sanding floors in a house with no AC in Virginia in July? Well, if I haven't, NO WAY!)

Back to the sorting though. I had planned on rifling through Briton's closet today to sort out all the toys he really doesn't play with anymore but by the time I got around to it, I just couldn't face the battle. I'm thinking that might be a good activity for me while he's away for the week at his grandparents house. Tomorrow I WILL tackle Evie's because she is much less aware of what I'm doing and then I'm on to our room. Today I wimped out and settled for the linen closet.

I dream of the perfectly organized linen closet. You know what I mean. The kind you see in movies and commercials and magazine articles about organization, where everything is in shades of creams and grays and maybe some browns and they are all stacked or bundled perfectly. How come those closets never have a motley collection of old baby quilts that are bright colors and far to precious to get rid of? Why does everything match? Do people go out and buy matching sets of extra blankets and sheets and table clothes just to fill up their cupboard? Did I miss out on that?

The truth is that I'll never have that linen closet. But this time I'm determined to better organize things. Quilts in boxes so they don't disintegrate, sheet sets together (even though I cant fold a fitted sheet neatly to save my life) and maybe even labels. Because I love labels.

My friend Kim will tell you, while laughing at my ridiculousness, that I used to have an obsession with my label maker. Before kids I labeled EVERYTHING. Then Will threw out my lovely purple Dynamo, Briton was born, chaos reigned and I have been label free ever since. But with the new house comes all sorts of new possibilities for label making. So today I made a little start. Call it baby steps. After pulling out all the things I done use, need or care about, I folded all my quilts into the neatest shapes I could, gathered sheet sets, napkins and table clothes in nice little be-ribboned piles and stacked it all back in the closet. It isn't beautiful, but it's better. And if I can keep it that way for a month I can transfer it straight across to it's new home, where, if I'm lucky, the IKEA fairy will have brought me some nice boxes for my quilts and the Label elf will have delivered some pretty handmade tags for all my things.

Hey, a girl can dream....

The Great Flower Fairy Tea Party

Ok, maybe Great is overdoing it. It can't really be a Great anything with just six girls, but it was pretty fun. This is really the first "party" we've had for Evelyn and compared with the six going on seven that we've done for Briton, this was, well, kind of a breeze.

Briton's third birthday party took place in a park and involved just about every man, woman and child we knew. We had pop tents and tunnels and horseshoes and lawn games on top of the entire playground. They screamed, they yelled, we drank and yelled. It was fabulous, but it also took me about a week to recover from it.

Today I watched six little girls sit primly at the table in their best princess best, drinking out of my best china and using their nicest manners. They colored and danced and played and generally had a girly time of it. It was also fabulous. And much less tiring.

I had planned to forego the royal icing but Will vetoed saying he loved it. And since Will almost never loves a dessert (there is something seriously wrong with that man) I went ahead with a royal icing take two (even prettier this time actually, and better cupcakes to start with) and also made a Swiss Merengue Buttercream (directions are wonderfully explained here, one of my favorite sites) so we had both.

And other than the merenge shells that defied my best efforts to keep them crisp after a major rainstorm and the inevitable humidity that followed last night and the fact that my daughter felt the need to stick her tounge for half the photos we took, the whole thing went off without a hitch. Now onto the boy party in a month and a half. I'm thinking campout....but we'll see.