in the common hours

1 Day to Delivery

That image about sums it up right now (a maternity tee from Babydayz).

A million thoughts racing through my head. There are several items still on my to-do list, so I'm blogging instead of dealing with those.

All will be well by Friday, when we will all be home again together under the same roof. Yesterday Angie made the good point to enjoy the time with just the new baby in the hospital, as time alone with him will be rare and precious. I just wish I had less anxiety about being away from our boys---I'm sure it would be different if they were at least in the same town.

I couldn't ask for better moms to be taking care of them, and they will be with some of their best buddies (and Sean's girlfriend), so I know they'll be fine. I just hope the next time Brian and I leave them for more than 24 hours, it's because we're heading to a beach somewhere!

Thanks so much to everyone who sent good wishes via email or calls this week. It does mean so much to know others are thinking of you and your little one. When I was pregnant with Aidan, a friend compared the stage between expecting your child and holding your child to that moment when a trapeze artist must let go of one bar before grabbing hold of the new one. Daneen Parry uses that same image to discuss fear of transformation in general :

"... in my knowing place I know that I must totally release my grasp on my old bar, and for some moment in time hurtle across space before I can grab onto the new bar. Each time I am filled with terror. It doesn't matter that in all my previous hurtles across the void of unknowing, I have always made it. Each time I am afraid I will miss, that I will be crushed on the unseen rocks in the bottomless chasm between the bars. But I do it anyway. Perhaps this is the essence of what the mystics call the faith experience. No guarantees, no net, no insurance policy, but you do it anyway because somehow, to keep hanging onto that old bar is no longer on the list of alternatives. And so for an eternity that can last a microsecond or a thousand lifetimes, I soar across the dark void of "the past is gone, the future is not yet here." It's called transition. I have come to believe that it is the only place that real change occurs."

On a much lighter note...

This weekend we made the world's best blueberry muffins. So good. The recipe is originally from The Best Recipes cookbook, but adapted by my favorite recipe source, Simply Recipes.

        (anyone know a PSE action to get rid of tablecloth wrinkles? Because I refuse to iron.)

Ingredients:

3 cups of all-purpose flour
1 Tbsp baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt

10 Tbsp unsalted butter (1 1/4 stick), softened
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1 1/2 cup plain yogurt
1 teaspoon grated lemon peel

1 1/2 cups blueberries
1 Tbsp flour (if using defrosted frozen berries)

1. Adjust the oven rack to the middle-lower part of the oven. Preheat oven to 375°F.
2. Whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt and set aside.
3. In a large mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar together, beating until fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beating until incorporated after each one. Beat in the grated lemon peel.
4. Beat in one half of the dry ingredients until just incorporated. Beat in one third of the yogurt. Beat in half of the remaining dry ingredients. Beat in a second third of the yogurt. Beat in the remaining dry ingredients and then the remaining yogurt. Again be careful to beat until just incorporated. Do not over beat. Fold in the berries. If you are using frozen berries, defrost them first, drain the excess liquid, and then coat them in a light dusting of flour.
5. Use a standard 12-muffin muffin pan. Coat each muffin cup lightly with olive oil or grapeseed oil using a pastry brush, or with a little butter. Or use one of those convenient vegetable oil sprays. Distribute the muffin dough equally among the cups. Bake until muffins are golden brown, about 25 to 30 minutes. Test with a long toothpick (we use a thin bamboo skewer) to make sure the center of the muffins are done. Set on wire rack to cool for 5 minutes. Remove muffins from the tin and serve slightly warm.

That little bit of lemon is key. And not over-mixing. The only negative---they're so light, I find them difficult to remove from our mini-muffin tin without destroying them. Go with the regular size. Luckily the little guys don't care how they look, as long as they have lots of blueberries in them!

...And since I won't be posting for a bit, check out these links for a laugh. Much better way to deal with transition than contemplating every worst-case scenario...

Tina Fey on Clinton

Garfield minus Garfield (A hat tip to Dzhon. Never a fan of the cat, but this made me laugh out loud)

The "Blog" of "Unnecessary" Quotation Marks

Jim Gaffigan (this bit used to be on YouTube, not sure about this new site...)

Enjoy...and check back in next week to meet the newest member of our family!

Star Wars Birthday Bash

What a difference a few days can make. We didn't make it to the library until the next day, but our librarian had put Not a Stick on hold for Sean without my even asking. Last week, after I explained that someone else had already checked it out, he went up to every kid there, with his chest puffed out, asking, "You take my book Not a Stick?"  Usually I can predict a book that will be a big hit, and then there are surprises like this one that they get attached to. We eventually made it to the book fair as well and Aidan has set aside James and the Giant Peach to finish Lunch Walks Among Us, his first Franny K. Stein, Mad Scientist book. Definitely not the last.

Friday was probably our last dinner out as a family for a long while. I am so easily influenced by the power of suggestion that I ordered a pesto pizza with sliced meatballs at Pasta Jay's after hearing Amy describe her delight in it...ignoring my usual lack of enthusiasm for pesto and dislike for meatballs in general. But---Amy---you were right! Yum:-)  Angie emailed that Meg made the World's Best Chocolate Cake, an old recipe of mine, and now I'm going to have to make that for Aidan's real birthday next Sunday. The frosting is my favorite---recipe at the end of this post.

I'm normally a stickler for not celebrating birthdays early, but Brian is running in a half-marathon next Saturday. In retrospect, having the party a week early was brilliant---such a relief!

1. Alex, 2. Bubble attack, 3. David, 4. Destroy the DeathStar, 5. Aidan checking out frosting lips, 6. Extra Trans Fat with Toxic blue frosting, 7. Joey, 8. Balloon game, 9. Kayden, 10. Robin aka Sean, 11. Rocket balloon, 12. Pinata, 13. presents, 14. Inflatable light sabers, 15. On guard2

Aidan's favorite game (which he has been reenacting all morning) was freezing his Han Solo action figure in bowl of water, Jabba-the-Hut style, and then freeing him by pouring warm water on the ice block several times. The boys did this outside in a kind of relay race from a bucket of warm water to the ice block---so simple but fun. If they ran too fast or overfilled their bowl, they spilled. We didn't have any teams or winner; they just loved doing it. I'm pretty sure Superman is having a turn in our freezer at this moment.

The #1 key to a great party is that the friends your child chooses to invite be kind and enthusiastic, a winning combination at any age and something all these boys had in common. Seriously makes me feel good about the future.

And the #1 key to staying sane while preparing for a six-year-old party is having a real partner. Brian did so much before, during, and after the party.  Our good friend Kathy stayed and helped throughout as well. What a difference that makes!

Cocoa Cream Frosting: (enough for ONE layer cake)

1/3 cup light cream or evaporated milk

¼ cup soft butter

¼ tsp salt

½ cup unsweetened cocoa (sifted)

1 tsp vanilla or rum extract

3 cups sifted powdered sugar.

Heat cream until bubbles form around edge in a small saucepan. Let cool a little.

In a medium bowl, combine butter, salt, cocoa, vanilla, ¼ cup cream, and 1 ½ cups sugar---mix until smooth.

Gradually add remaining sugar. Beat until smooth and fluffy. If too thick to spread, add a little more hot cream. If too thin, set in a bowl of ice water and beat until thick.

Six Days

Clementines (or Cuties as we call them) are a sure sign of Christmas to me.  Growing up our stockings always had an orange or tangerine filling the toe.

It doesn't seem possible that there are only six more days. In trading "to do" lists with Angie this week (which is much more fun than actually tackling the list), we talked about the discrepancy between what we want to do and what we want to have done. I wish I had keen insights I could record here that would help me be more selective next year. But I may be too sleep deprived to think that clearly...

I want to remember:

-the best things happen spontaneously, and often need to be kid-initiated. I was in full baking mode yesterday, for Brian's coworkers and a friend's party, when Aidan came to the kitchen table with scissors and two white pieces of paper, asking to make snowflakes. Somehow it wouldn't have been the same if that had been the note in today's advent stocking and I had made it happen.

As much as I love having our advent calendar hold ideas and activities rather than more candy or "stuff", I want to make it simpler next year. A gum drop would be just as exciting to find on some mornings.

-Every few years I go a bit overboard on the baking. Our kitchen currently holds containers of rum balls (yes, I'm channeling 1977 this year), seven-layer bars (there would be riots if my mom didn't make these every year), oatmeal bars, pretzel turtles (easy one the kids can do themselves), gingerbread cookies, and peppermint chocolate wafers (thanks for the recipe, Stephanie!).

I gave away little Chinese take-out boxes filled with these treats, and some of Laura's peanut brittle, to our local friends yesterday. Hopefully the rest will be gone by tomorrow. Next year I'm thinking the kid-oriented ones are enough. We all have enough sugar this time of year. Gingerbread and decorated sugar cookies next year---that's it.

About 20 minutes before we had to leave for a friend's party last night, I decided to make paper ornaments for the families that would be there. Because it always helps to add a little edge to getting your family out the door, doesn't it? Yes, in case you didn't already know it, Brian is a saint.

Aidan helped make ours a week ago (last night I wasn't in a kid-help mode at all), and they really are the simplest thing---instructions can be found here. Loved putting my patterned paper to use, since I haven't touched it in months.

There are still 2/3 of our Christmas cards to write and address, and while all the packages have been mailed, still lots more wrapping. Aidan's school celebration on Friday, caroling with kid friends on Saturday, a rather-impromptu nativity play for church on Sunday. And then---ready or not, it's Christmas Eve.

But today I just want to breathe, gather our blankets and pillows in the living room and dive into our basket of winter books with the boys.

The Tradition Continues. Left to Right: Brian and his brother Pat, me and my sister Eileen, Aidan and Sean.

Good Times & Blurry Photos

Our boys' buddies, Alex & Joey, joined us in watching Mary Alice's "The Very First Noel" on Saturday night. Even if MA hadn't been involved in its production, it would be our favorite Christmas DVD. The nativity story, told with gentle humor and sweet animation. Just perfect.

A fun night with friends. Brian made dinner (yay!), using a recipe for Chicken Bruschetta I found on Becky Higgins' web site, where I also got the peppermint fudge recipe we had for dessert.

I teased my good friend Kathy that half my reason for inviting them over was to make myself clean the house. Not my favorite thing. I once asked my sister Erin whether, if given the option, she would choose having someone clean her house or cook for her. She said the cook, no question. I still can't quite comprehend that.

I've been debating between this or this as part of my birthday/Christmas gift from Brian (he's giving me a digital SLR, a dream come true). And looking at my point-n-shoots inability to focus indoors without the flash (see above and below), I can't wait!

(Edited to add: I just noticed Sean's wearing his Buzz costume on the couch, and by the time we took the tree photo that night, he's back into Superman's).

Fall Recipes

I love getting an email from someone who has just read the blog. It motivates me to keep updating. I'm sure the novelty of the website will wear off in a month, but I hope to keep it going for at least a year. Thanks so much to all of you for being so kind. I'm sure the minutia of our lives isn't very compelling reading but your interest and response mean so much.

A friend just pointed out I hadn't posted a Friday Favorite this week or last. I was so excited about surprising some children in the Republic of Georgia with little bags of goodies, that I completely forgot. If you haven't read that post, please scroll down or click on "A Time To Give" under recent posts. I hope a lot of people will participate, because that means a lot of kids will receive a much needed surprise.

I'm just giving links to recipes today. I love a good recipe, especially when a friend offers it so I know it works. These are three fall favorites:

Photo: Dylan Nieman

No Knead Bread, adapted from Jim Lahey, appeared in the NYT's last year, and since then, has popped up everywhere. For good reasons--it's yummy and very easy.  One note: you need to start it the day before you want to serve it. While it doesn't take much time to make, it does take time to rise. The dough is very sticky, which shouldn't be a problem since you don't knead it, but you will have some very messy dishtowels. Lastly, if you don't want a flat bread, be sure the pot you cook it in is small enough. Oh, and I have burned myself (and my sister Elizabeth I think) while making this---which says more about me than the recipe, but watch out when pre-heating the pot.

Pioneer Woman may be the funniest woman on the internet. And her recipes aren't bad, although they are tend to be very butter-happy. These, which she eloquently calls Jalapeno Bacon thingies, are also super simple.

Finally, the greatest fall soup. Seriously, so good. It's called Chililicious, but it is really more like a tortilla soup than chili. Another funny woman, Cathy Z, posted it last spring, and I liked it so much, my family had to eat soup in the summer. If I knew how to link directly to the recipe, you could skip  all the scrapbooking stuff on that post, (though I can't understand why you'd want to), but at the end of the post she has a pdf you can download.

I'm sure it would work just as well with left-over turkey next week. Enjoy!

Recipe: Buffalo Meatloaf

A birthday filled with many favorite things: lots of little boy hugs, Thai food, and a full answering machine. Thanks for all the birthday wishes! The best part was Brian coming home early. All of us but Aidan are sniffling and sneezing, so we all crawled into bed, and Sean decided to tell us a story (about Buzz Lightyear--I mean himself---of course). Aidan followed up with another story, about Superman I think, and then Brian even told one. That is a minor miracle in itself. Major "my cup runneth over" moment.

I'm grateful for each of my 38 (gasp!) years, but I have to admit, I do hear Meg Ryan crying, "And I'm going to be 40----someday!" Only the "someday" part is a lot closer for me than it was for Sally.

This week's Friday Favorite is a recipe.

I ordered Chicago Style Italian Beef for Brian's birthday. One of ways in which Brian is more of a Chicagoan than I am: he loves Italian Beef sandwiches. I'm not really a fan of them, but I do enjoy how much Brian enjoys them. Only problem is they didn't show up. Lou's To Go ships them 2nd day Air, and I had placed the order weeks in advance. But UPS was holding it for whatever reason and it was going to arrive 4 days later. Urrr. That left me with an unplanned birthday dinner to make.

Bri is a true Irish man. He likes his meat and potatoes. He'll eat vegetables, but he's not gonna get excited about it. So I made meatloaf and mashed potatoes. I like meatloaf even less than Italian Beef, but a friend shared this recipe, which is from a local restaurant in town, for Buffalo Meatloaf. Now if you like meatloaf already, you might not like this one. Otherwise you're in for a treat:

Buck’s Grill House Buffalo Meatloaf

Ingredients:

1 cup chopped onion

½ cup chopped carrot

½ cup celery

½ cup chopped red bell pepper

¼ cup vegetable oil

¼ cup Spice Rub (see recipe)

1/3 cup catsup

1/3 cup cream

2 large eggs

2 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce

¾ cup rolled oats

¾ cup dry bread crumbs

1 pound ground buffalo

1 pound ground pork

Saute the onion, carrot, celery, and bell pepper in the oil until the onion is translucent. Add the Spice Rub and cook for 5 minutes longer. Spoon into a large bowl and cool to room temperature.

Add the catsup, cream, eggs, and W. sauce, oats, bread crumbs, buffalo, and pork; mix well by hand. Pack into a lightly oiled loaf pan and strike the bottom of the pan on the counter to release trapped air. Bake at 375 degrees for 1 ¼ hours or to 160 degrees on a meat thermometer.

Cool in the pan for 15 minutes. Remove to a serving plate.

Serves 8.

For Spice Rub: combine 1 tbsp each of sugar, brown sugar, chili powder, cumin, Mexican oregano, kosher salt and pepper. Add 3 tsp of paprika and mix well. Store in airtight container===use ¼ cup of each if you want to prepare a big batch.

The original recipe calls for 2 pounds of Buffalo and 8 ounces of pork, but Buffalo is a very lean (and very expensive) meat so we've gone with the even match. The key is to chop the veggies very finely.

*

The happy ending to the Italian Beef story is that they told us to refuse the UPS package, and sent a fresh order that arrived yesterday, with two free Lou Malnati's pizzas as well to make up for the delay. Now that's more my style. Yum!