What's for Dinner?

I tried out some new recipes from two of my favorite Food Network shows:

Balsamic Strawberry Salad. (OK, this isn't new, we have this a lot. This was a special request from Ben. Usually it has goat cheese on it. I tried to find the link to the recipe, but the server died before I could find it. It's an Ellie Kreiger recipe.)

Penne with Four Cheeses - Really, really good.

And for dessert, Peach Crumble - it calls for frozen peaches. Should have waited a few months and used fresh.


All in all, a solid meal. No one complained.

Day at the Barter Theater

Daniel is on spring break this week, and for a special treat, I took him out to lunch and to a matinee performance of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat at the Barter Theatre in Abingdon.

I offered to take him to lunch anywhere he wanted to go. "Pizza Hut." Anywhere you want to go. Any old place. "Pizza Hut." Sky's the limit. Olive Garden? Ruby Tuesday's? Chili's? "Pizza Hut." Ok, fine.

The show started at 2:00. We got there early, thinking we could walk around Abingdon some, but it was cold and drizzly when we got there. It actually sleeted some. So we just hung out in the lobby. I pointed out the picture of Newman (one of the alumni players). DP found this intriguing.

The show was really good. I have seen it twice before, and it amazes me how differently such a show can be staged for very different effects. The lead was really good, although he looked a lot like Alannis Morrisette, and he was shirtless for most of the show, which I found strangely disturbing. The East TN Children's Choir was part of the show, and much to our surprise, two girls we know from school were in the choir!

Daniel enjoyed the show - especially Pharoah's performance (he was really, really good.) One thing freaked him out, though (in addition to Joseph's shirtlessness). The brothers were all dressed very oddly. White coveralls, with solid shirts underneath (at least, solid colors on one sleeve) and matching hoods (think Oompa Loompas in the scene in the TV room). They also wore really weird face make-up - Joseph/Alannis wore blue lines across his eyes, one guy had green lines all over his face, one had polka dots. Just really weird looking, especially if you aren't used to it. Well, before the show started, people are just milling around talking, and then we started noticing these guys are wandering around the audience. Climbing over chairs, miming, sitting in people's seats. Really creepy stuff, until you realize it's part of the show. (Imagine the scene from the first Batman movie when the mimes start wandering through the crowd - it was creepy like that.)

None of them spoke - they just wandered around in their crazy face-painted costumes and slapped palms, mimed, and generally creeped everyone out. The lights didn't dim - it didn't feel like part of the show at all - it just felt like a bunch a weirdos had shown up to watch a play. One guy gave DP a knuckle tap. They were back for the beginning of the second act as well.

When it was over, Daniel said "Let's get out of here before those guys come back."

Good times.

Guess What I Did Today?

Yep. Whole Wheat Oatmeal Bread. Think I'll have some while it's still warm....

Superkid

I have to do a little bragging on the Benster. We all have busy weekends, but Ben just blew through perhaps the busiest weekend of his life, and carried most of his determination into the week.

We start on Friday night. Ben went to baseball practice right after school. Then he went to a lock-in at the church, where all the kids in the youth wrote letters to people they know asking for donations to fund their summer mission trip.

On Saturday morning, Ben came home, rested a bit, then headed back out with the youth group to volunteer at the Kitchen of Hope - our youth is on a ten-week rotation where they prepare and serve a meal at a food pantry, and this was our week. Immediately following the afternoon at the food pantry, Ben went to a two-hour baseball practice. Right after that, we went to DP's soccer game (we had the late game that night - 9:15) and Ben finally got home and in bed about 11:00.

On Sunday, we headed out to church, where the youth was hosting a soup lunch to (again) raise money for the mission trip. Ben set up, served, and cleaned up, and we got back home about 1:45. He then went to yet another baseball practice, followed by Sunday Night youth group, followed by homework for Monday morning.

When I picked Ben up from school Monday, he asked if I thought he should try to qualify for the "200% AR club", which means you have to reach double your reading goal for the semester. He was really close, but it would mean reading two whole books before Wednesday morning, and passing a test on them. We talked about what he would have to do to get it done, and even though he had Scouts Monday night, he decided to go for it. He started reading as soon as he got home from Scouts, and read all night last night. He is most likely taking his tests even as I type this post.

And here's the best part of all of this: he has not complained once! He's been tired, but has been cheerful and upbeat since Friday night when the whirlwind started. And I don't even care if he passes the tests and gets in the 200% club. He's passed a whole different kind of test in my mind.

Ben - Mom is extremely proud of you. You are truly a Superkid!!

UPDATE: He passed both tests!!

What I'm Reading Now

Swapping Lives, by Jane Green.

Although, I'm somewhat ashamed to admit it. Jane Green is my favorite "fluff" writer. She writes chick-lit, and her books are easy to read, entertaining, but not the the least bit substantial. But sometimes that is exactly what you need. I remember my advisor at PC, Dr. Prater, telling my Literary Criticism class that not everyone wrote earth-shattering books that brimmed over with literary genius, and that everyone needed a light read every now and then. His favorite indulgence was to read an Agatha Christie novel at the end of every semester.

And since I've been in quite a bit of a reading rut here lately, I thought something light might just do the trick. I had a $30 credit at Mr K's and decided to cash it in. I actually found two of Jane Green's books that I haven't read, as well as some "heavier" fiction, so hopefully I'll be back in the reading swing sooner rather than later.

So far, Swapping Lives gives us two heroines: Vicky is a big-shot editor at a London magazine who wants to settle down with a husband and kids, but has been a swinging single for so long that she thinks she might have missed her chance; Amber is a Connecticut stay-at-home mom who is obsessed with keeping up with the Joneses and spends money hand-over-fist to do so. I have a hunch (something in the title seems to imply, at least) that these women will get a taste of each other's lives and ultimately decide they are truly happy after all. Or something like that.

I have guiltily enjoyed all the other Jane Green books I have read - Jemima J, Mr. Maybe, Bookends, Babyville -so this one should be no exception. It's good to have a favorite fallback writer for those times when you want to read something, but you don't want to really read something, if you follow me. These books practically read themselves!

Internet Theories

So, as you all know well, I'm a HUGE Lost fan. This season is the best so far, although it doesn't have any of the character development that Season One had, which is what sold me on the show in the first place. But I digress.

If you don't watch Lost, what's wrong with you!?!?? No, sorry. I meant to say, if you don't watch Lost, you won't have any idea what I'm posting about. But if you do......you are probably more than aware of all the theories out there. The survivors are in heaven/hell/purgatory. The survivors only exist in Hurley's mind. There are TONS of theories, which usually change every week as new information is provided.

But here's a new one, and this one has nothing to do with what's actually been happening on the show. This one has to do with some tom-foolery from the show's producers. It was recently brought to my attention, via the Internet theorists, that the cast photo for Season Five (coincidentally, posted here just a few weeks back) is missing a little something. A little something called Daniel Faraday's left foot. See below:

So, I saw this photo, and then went back to the ABC web site on the suspicion that this photo had been shopped, if you know what I mean. And sure enough, in the original cast photo, Daniel is missing the foot. You wouldn't notice unless you were looking for it - at a glance, it looks like his foot is hidden in the vines. But on closer inspection, it's gone.

So what does this mean? Probably nothing. But there's a very interesting theory out there. A theory that some suspect the show's producers are hinting at by whacking off Faraday's foot.

Arthur C. Clarke once opined that any technology viewed by a primitive people would be seen as magic. If Daniel were to stop the babbling and travel back in time to an ancient civilization, with his knowledge and his technological advances, he would be viewed by said civilization as a magician, or possibly a god. A god that they might be persuaded to erect a statue to honor. See where this is going? I thought so. Daniel's left foot is gone, but all that remains of that crazy statue is the left foot. We know that Daniel's time travel caused the hatch to be built, so what if his time travel took him back to the ancient world, where he used his advanced knowledge to help them become an advanced people? What if Daniel created the very island race that he is trapped by today?

But again, it's just a theory. And probably wrong. But it sure is fun to speculate. Now if only we could get a gander at Daniel's toes....

And by the way, I don't think Ben actually killed Locke. But that's another post.

Introducing.....

...the newly-elected Patrol Leader of the Manly Moose Patrol for Troop 37: (drumroll) Ben!! Ben was elected last night. He will be writing up a hundred-day plan, and has scheduled a press conference to introduce his economic policy later in the week.

Congratulations Ben!!

Happy Birthday, Daniel

If I had a spell of magic

I would make this enchantment for you

A Burgundy Heart-Shaped Medallion

With a window that you could look through

So that when all the mirrors are angry

With your faults, and all you must do

You could peek through that Heart-Shaped Medallion

And see you from my point-of-view

- David Wilcox

Two Cakes for Brother Daniel

Daniel's tenth birthday is Monday. Since he is just starting a three-week spring break, he had a classroom party on Friday, and we had our "Day of Daniel" on Saturday.

For the classroom party, I asked our local Food City to make some cupcakes with soccerballs on them. This is what they did instead:


I thought the "cupcake cake" looked awesome!


This is what I baked:

Not nearly as cool looking, but it tasted better! It's actually a brownie with white frosting. And no one is really sure what "B-Davy" means.

The Greatest Moment in His Young Life

Big game tonight at the indoor soccer arena - D's team took on an undefeated powerhouse - and we won!! It was a nail-biter, but with less than a minute left to play, Daniel scored his first goal of the season to win it!! He was PUMPED!!

I didn't actually get the goal on screen when he scored - I tend to get excited and forget to pay attention to where the camera is pointing - but you can clearly here me yelling in a very redneck sort of way when the ball goes in. Enjoy! Daniel is #13 in the blue jersey.

Bebop with Aesop

The Fourth Grade classes put on a musical program called "Bebop with Aesop"at tonight's PTA meeting. It was really, really well done. The chorus wore togas and green laurels, and different kids got to be characters in five different fables. Everyone knew their lines, and everyone was really animated and into it.

Daniel was the grasshopper in the story about the grasshopper and the ants, where the ants were all work, work, work, work, work, and the grasshopper was all hop, hop, hop, hop, hop. Then winter rolls around and the grasshopper freezes and starves his caboose off while the mean old ants enjoy the spoils of their labor. Or something like that.


Daniel did a great job! And check out that wicked cool costume - wonder who helped him with that?

Improving on Perfection

Submitted for your approval....The Banana Crunch Muffin:

Long-time readers of this blog are well-acquainted with my love for this muffin. Hailing from The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook, this culinary delight sports walnuts, bananas, and granola. It makes for an extremely hearty breakfast muffin. Some might call it - dare I say it? - the perfect muffin. My apologies to blueberry muffin fans (of which I am one myself), but I do think this muffin achieves perfection. I love to bake a batch on the weekend, and eat them all week for breakfast.

And long-time readers will also recall that I have made one modification to this muffin to make it a healthier breakfast option: I started using white whole wheat flour instead of plain AP flour. It did change the texture and color slightly, but actually made it better in my opinion. A recent kitchen experiment made me wonder if I couldn't improve it even more.

The kitchen experiment to which I refer is homemade granola. Since oatmeal is on my superfood list, I have been trying to get more of it. One of the ways to get oatmeal is to eat granola. Most store-bought granola, however, is loaded with sugar and salt, not to mention unidentifiable chemicals that somehow keep it fresh. So I thought - why not make my own? How hard could it be?

Not hard at all, I discovered. I combined a couple of recipes to land on one that uses oatmeal, almonds, walnuts, (nuts are also on the superfood list), vegetable oil, honey, cinnamon, and a touch of salt. It turned out really, really, good.

So good in fact, that I made another batch just to have enough to put in my banana crunch muffins. The cinnamon in the granola added just a little somethin'-somethin'. And I replaced one stick of melted butter (two total in the recipe) with a half a cup of vegetable oil to cut out some fat. They may have some out slightly drier, but I don't know if I would blame the oil as much as the baking time.

And so it happened that the perfect breakfast muffin just got more perfect. (If our founding fathers can say "more perfect", then so can I.)

I think I'll have another.

The Asheville Meet-Up

Today was the Asheville Meet-Up, postponed from last month due to inclement weather. We met my cousin Kelly and her family (Rob, Meredith, and Christine) at Fuddie's in Ashville, and then went on to the Grove Park Inn to hang out and visit. Paul and Sam were scheduled to make an appearance (Natalie was sick), but Sam woke up with a fever and they cancelled.

But we still had great fun! I hadn't seen Kelly in three years, and it was good to catch up face to face. We' ll be doing this again!

(My Grandmother passed away three years ago tomorrow. I would love for her to see this picture.)

Oh look! Rocks to climb!

It was misty and overcast most of the day, but it cleared in time for us to spend a little time outside at the GPI.

Good times!

Blue and Gold

Tonight was the annual Blue and Gold Banquet:

Daniel earned his Webelos Badge and a Compass Emblem.

He went with the gas stove joke, to much applause. One girl scout threw fruit. Not really.

Mr. McCool.

Look at these handsome guys!

Mark and DP made a cookie cake for the auction. We bought it back for ourselves. We know it would be good.

We are VERY proud of Daniel and his scouting accomplishments! He has worked very hard this year!

Your Assistance Needed

Daniel's Blue and Gold Banquet is this Tuesday night. Each den is to perform a skit. The meeting during which Daniel's den was to plan their skit was canceled due to snow. So...with no skit to perform and no time to prepare one, Daniel's den leader has asked each boy to come prepared to tell a joke.

Joke-telling in front of a large group can be a dicey prospect. Long jokes with lots of details tend to flop, especially when the comedian in question is only nine years old. We're thinking DP needs to focus on something really quick and easy to tell, but also packing a lot of humorous punch.

We spent the breakfast hour this morning telling jokes in hopes that Daniel would fine that perfect joke that he could tell. I personally laughed until I cried. We told some good ones. These are our three finalists:

Joke #1: Guy goes skydiving. When he pulls the ripcord on his parachute, nothing happens. He looks around, frantically, and sees some guy coming toward him, shooting right up off the ground. As they guy flies past, he says "HEY! Do you know anything about parachutes?" The other guy says "No! Do you know anything about gas stoves?"

Joke #2: Guy gets found after spending years alone on a deserted island. A member of the rescue party sees three makeshift tents and asks what they are for. The guy says "Well, this one's where I live, and that one's where I go to church. And that one over there's where I used to go to church."

Joke #3, courtesy of Uncle Paul: A horse walks into a bar. The bartender says "Why the long face?"

Here's where you come in. Please leave a comment and vote for your favorite joke. Or leave a new joke of your own. Anything off-color or profanity-laden will obviously be ineligible for the banquet, but feel free to tell it anyway! It feels good to laugh......