It's February and that means school vacation for the girls. To them it feels like it takes forever to get here. To me it always gets here too quickly. I struggle with "I can't take time off" and "being home with the kids is the right thing to do." They just can't wait to have nothing to do but relax.
Once we get everything figured out and I get to stay home a couple days. Granny and Pops always help and take the girls for a couple days too. These are the days when it is just us at home that we get to make the best memories. You know those memories, when Mom would say "clean your room." "Did you pick up that mess you just made?" These are all great memories. It reminds us of the other memories like when Mom would make hot chocolate after we came in from the snow. Or she would play board games with us or treat us to McDonald's for lunch. Oh, remember when we would get to help bake, or decorate the Christmas tree. Not all of you had my mom, but I bet you all have memories like this or things that are special to just you and your family.
So yesterday after I finished my 12 hours at work. I tredged home in the dark and the snow. I started wondering what the girls and I would do today. I thought about going places or giving them things to do, then I thought about baking. Hanging out in the kitchen is a great way to make memories.
So at 6:30 this morning when Lexi climbed into bed to tell me it was time to get up...immediately followed by "what are we going to do today, Mom?" I quickly responded with let's watch a movie, play a game, and bake. Of course, to her that mean getting up right then and either playing the game or watching the movie NOW. All the while in my mind I was thinking...I'll sleep til 7:30 or so. Have a leisurely coffee, check on work, relax for a bit, then around noon get started on their stuff. So because it was our one special day this week I dragged myself downstairs and begged Joe for a dunkins.
After he delivered my coffee the girls quickly put on the movie. I got to drink my coffee, log into work to be sure I hadn't missed anything drastic, and be there with the girls while we watched the movie High School Musical 3.
Once that was done they jumped at the chance to play Chutes and Ladders. Julia won....and for a change Lexi didn't mind that she didn't win. Once the game was done it was off to the showers and then into the kitchen.
The kitchen, that
is my favorite time with the girls. Time to be together, just us, we get to laugh and learn. I always get to talk about cooking memories of days gone by. Special times I got to cook with my family. Like when Shirley's beautiful cherry pie was crushed by an orange Tupperware canister. Or when we lived in Boston and Susan cracked the egg open that had the dead bird in it. I also talk about how I first learned to make scrambled eggs when I was a little older than Juls and my mom teaching me. Learning to make cheese cake with my mom and watching her make Black Forest cake which was just delicious! I remember my parents eating the Eggs Benedict that I made when I was about 12. I thought it was fabulous, but when I think back now the eggs were runny and the sauce was a strange color.
The girls are always interested in baking. They can't wait to dig in and get busy. They measure the flour and sugar on their own now. Julia does a lot more than that too. Lex has mastered greasing the cake pan and she is so proud when she is done. "Look mom I didn't miss a spot!" Today Julia's pride was in making the caramel sauce by herself. She did a great job, too!
A lot of our baking is from new recipes that we like to try, but their favorite recipes are those that I have acquired from other members of our family. Today we baked Aunt Laura's Apple Cake and BOY did it taste delicious. Some of their other favorites are Nana Morgan's Brownies, Nana Mitchell's Sticky Buns, and Aunt Shirley's lasagna. I'm hoping to get hold of Aunt Susan's lemon bars so they can learn to love lemon as much as I do.
Every time we bake they learn a little more. We talk about little tricks to make things easier or ways to stretch what you have. Today I got to show the girls a little trick my mom taught me LONG ago. We took out the brown sugar for the caramel topping and it was rock hard. Luckily I had an orange peel. I told the story of how I was making cookies once and the brown sugar was hard. My mom showed me how putting the peel of an orange in with the sugar and being patient will soften the sugar. Julia was amazed that Nana knew this and even MORE amazed that it worked. She kept checking the sugar until it was soft.
It is great to have days like today where we can just hang around and have a good time being together. At the end of these days I am always reminded how much I like our kids and enjoy spending time with them. We got to be together talk about memories of the past so they could learn more about me and my family. And most importantly, today we got to make our own new memories. Maybe one day Julia will get to tell her daughter about the day Nana saved the caramel sauce with an orange peel and Julia got to make the caramel sauce all on her own.
Once we get everything figured out and I get to stay home a couple days. Granny and Pops always help and take the girls for a couple days too. These are the days when it is just us at home that we get to make the best memories. You know those memories, when Mom would say "clean your room." "Did you pick up that mess you just made?" These are all great memories. It reminds us of the other memories like when Mom would make hot chocolate after we came in from the snow. Or she would play board games with us or treat us to McDonald's for lunch. Oh, remember when we would get to help bake, or decorate the Christmas tree. Not all of you had my mom, but I bet you all have memories like this or things that are special to just you and your family.
So yesterday after I finished my 12 hours at work. I tredged home in the dark and the snow. I started wondering what the girls and I would do today. I thought about going places or giving them things to do, then I thought about baking. Hanging out in the kitchen is a great way to make memories.
So at 6:30 this morning when Lexi climbed into bed to tell me it was time to get up...immediately followed by "what are we going to do today, Mom?" I quickly responded with let's watch a movie, play a game, and bake. Of course, to her that mean getting up right then and either playing the game or watching the movie NOW. All the while in my mind I was thinking...I'll sleep til 7:30 or so. Have a leisurely coffee, check on work, relax for a bit, then around noon get started on their stuff. So because it was our one special day this week I dragged myself downstairs and begged Joe for a dunkins.
After he delivered my coffee the girls quickly put on the movie. I got to drink my coffee, log into work to be sure I hadn't missed anything drastic, and be there with the girls while we watched the movie High School Musical 3.
Once that was done they jumped at the chance to play Chutes and Ladders. Julia won....and for a change Lexi didn't mind that she didn't win. Once the game was done it was off to the showers and then into the kitchen.The kitchen, that
is my favorite time with the girls. Time to be together, just us, we get to laugh and learn. I always get to talk about cooking memories of days gone by. Special times I got to cook with my family. Like when Shirley's beautiful cherry pie was crushed by an orange Tupperware canister. Or when we lived in Boston and Susan cracked the egg open that had the dead bird in it. I also talk about how I first learned to make scrambled eggs when I was a little older than Juls and my mom teaching me. Learning to make cheese cake with my mom and watching her make Black Forest cake which was just delicious! I remember my parents eating the Eggs Benedict that I made when I was about 12. I thought it was fabulous, but when I think back now the eggs were runny and the sauce was a strange color.
The girls are always interested in baking. They can't wait to dig in and get busy. They measure the flour and sugar on their own now. Julia does a lot more than that too. Lex has mastered greasing the cake pan and she is so proud when she is done. "Look mom I didn't miss a spot!" Today Julia's pride was in making the caramel sauce by herself. She did a great job, too!
A lot of our baking is from new recipes that we like to try, but their favorite recipes are those that I have acquired from other members of our family. Today we baked Aunt Laura's Apple Cake and BOY did it taste delicious. Some of their other favorites are Nana Morgan's Brownies, Nana Mitchell's Sticky Buns, and Aunt Shirley's lasagna. I'm hoping to get hold of Aunt Susan's lemon bars so they can learn to love lemon as much as I do.
Every time we bake they learn a little more. We talk about little tricks to make things easier or ways to stretch what you have. Today I got to show the girls a little trick my mom taught me LONG ago. We took out the brown sugar for the caramel topping and it was rock hard. Luckily I had an orange peel. I told the story of how I was making cookies once and the brown sugar was hard. My mom showed me how putting the peel of an orange in with the sugar and being patient will soften the sugar. Julia was amazed that Nana knew this and even MORE amazed that it worked. She kept checking the sugar until it was soft.
It is great to have days like today where we can just hang around and have a good time being together. At the end of these days I am always reminded how much I like our kids and enjoy spending time with them. We got to be together talk about memories of the past so they could learn more about me and my family. And most importantly, today we got to make our own new memories. Maybe one day Julia will get to tell her daughter about the day Nana saved the caramel sauce with an orange peel and Julia got to make the caramel sauce all on her own.
it was a coffee can that fell on my perfect cherry pie that I made for my boyfriend and the bird thing was me also. No wonder I don't cook!
ReplyDeletebut it sounds like you all had a wonderful time. I wish I was there! :)
ReplyDelete