Try It, You'll Like It

If you've never read Dooce, you've got to try it. Today's post is short, hilarious and typically Dooce, a perfect-sized appetizer portion of reality. Just click here.

I Can Bring Home The Tofu, Fry It Up In A Pan

My new friend Lori recently spent six months living in China. Her stories are fascinating, especially the ones about taking cooking classes while there.

Today she generously shared her skills with us in a class she hosted in her home. The food was delicious and learning to cook it in person, rather than from a book, was even better. Thank you, Lori.


For a better view click here.

P.S. The company and conversation was great too!

Where Have I Been Lately?

If you've been wondering, the answer can be found here and here and here. I've been busy finding my CafePress mojo. But I will blog again. I promise. Maybe even tonight.

Lessons I have learned from my travels:

1. You should not try to draw with a mouse, unless you are a glutton for punishment. Surfer girl at Surf School Designs was drawn entirely with a mouse from scratch. Oh gluttony, thou art my favorite sin. Luckily for me, Santa (read Wacom) was delayed and will be bringing me a graphics tablet, either that or wrist splints . . . and a shoulder brace.

2. In the battle of mouse v. human, it's really a draw. While the human eventually manages to force the mouse to do said human's bidding, mouse has also encouraged human to remain tethered to it during time that in all logic should be spent sleeping.

This Toddler Moment Brought To You By Life In Preschool

When the girls began preschool part-time I wasn't sure what to expect. Runny noses? Check. New friends? Check. Learning to eat playground mulch? Check.

But what really surprised me was the explosion in their vocabulary. Chatting with fellow two-to-three-year-olds must be inspirational.

"No, mine!" quickly became a staple.

"Hey, wait a minute," was added too.

"No, way!" in response to "Would you like more macaroni and cheese?" resulted in a brief lesson on manners.

I was most befuddled though when Baby Z began bursting out with, "Psych!" and then laughing hysterically. She's two. Is my baby really using that irreverent teen slang my friends and I wore out in high school?

"Psych!" she would yell, smiling, and then run off laughing.

I was still trying to decide how I felt about this new addition to her repertoire when I sat down with her one day to put on her shoes. As I reached for her sock, she pointed to it, yelling "Psych!" and laughing hysterically. To her, "Psych!" is clearly that brightly colored, cozy little thing that goes on your foot just before your shoe.

Now when she yells, "Psych!" I just smile and laugh to myself.

Tostones Recipe

Or go here for a better view.

For New Year's Eve, A Special Treat -- Tostones

Sliced and twice fried, this delicious plantain treat is well-worth the effort. A recipe I learned from my ex-fiance's mother, it's one of my favorites and something I'm very picky about. The plantains should not be too ripe. They shouldn't be sliced too thick or too thin and they should be fried to golden-crisp perfection. These are unlike potato chips, thicker, meatier and with more flavor. Tune in tomorrow evening for this tasty Puerto Rican Tostone recipe complete with photo review.

Dear Santa,

Might you be able to drop by and help assemble some toddler toys, say around 12ish? And maybe bring me a gift certificate for some classes in mechanics with a focus on Big Wheel assembly?

Many thanks,
S

Carnation Famous Fudge Kit, A One Mom Review

Or, to get a better view click here.

Happy Elfin' Holidays

Click on the photo above to witness our smooth elfin dance moves. You can create your own animation at www.elfyourself.com thanks to OfficeMax.

A Green Diva Top Ten

An excerpt from a recent writing assignment, because it's ten days 'til Christmas and I should be industriously wrapping gifts.



From lights left on all night to rainbow-colored argyle sweaters two sizes too small, the holidays bring the inevitable environmental offenses. Here are ten of the worst:

1. Leaving lights on all night: Unless you're on the strip in Vegas, turn them off at midnight.

2. Doing nothing: Even small changes help. If lights must be on all night, make sure they are solar.

3. Rainbow colored argyle sweaters two sizes too small: Sometimes a gift card is better than the real thing.

4. Failing to properly recycle the tree: No matter how beautiful it once was, no one wants to see it along the roadside.

5. Overbuying: Avoid buying extra gifts and letting them sit until they eventually find their way into an overcrowded landfill.

6. Failing to RSVP: Sending regrets can help hosts avoid purchasing food and drink to feed an army when only a platoon will actually be attending.

7. Ridiculous amounts of wrapping: A gift inside layers of tissue paper, sealed with a decal, in a box, sealed with tape, wrapped in holiday paper, sealed with tape, tied with ribbon, topped with a bow, with a gift card attached is just too much.

8. Too many trips to the store: Make a list. Check it twice.

9. Paper plates and cups: Use real dishes. Rinse, repeat, reuse.

10. Everything new is old again: Holiday decorations don't need to be replaced every year, except maybe those cookie ornaments from last year. Those might make excellent bird feed.

Internet Tag: Seven Things Meme

Here in the blogosphere, there's a fun little game we play called meme. It's like tag combined with truth or dare. A meme is a viral writing challenge in which one person writes on a particular subject, then, tags others to write on the same topic and keep the game going by tagging others.

Suzy of Pris Place kindly tagged me for a meme called Seven Things. The challenge is to list seven things most people don't know about you.

I'll try to make it exciting:

1. A female friend once invited me to a private party in Hollywood. When we were almost there, she revealed the party was being hosted by H*u*s*t*l*e*r. I screamed. And sucked it up and went to the party. Two guys in over-the-top suits, with thick Russian accents, invited us to an afterparty, without our male friend. Uhm, yeah, no thanks.

2. Smart is hot. Abs of steel, yes. Brain of butter, no.

3. My grandfather taught me to drive a motorcycle. He showed me how to open the throttle and shift gears. The first thing I did was run into a fence. He didn't show me the brakes.

4. I once thought I was going to die. I had surgery without adequate anesthesia and lost a lot of blood. The thing that sticks with me since is the importance of friends and family.

5. During the Internet boom, I worked for a company where there was an air hockey table and free food in the break room and people brought their dogs to work. I loved it.

6. I used to be a lifeguard. The only person I ever had to rescue was the pool owner's son who stepped on a bee.

7. I've taken one surf lesson. I want to take many more.

For more meme, I'm reaching out to seven new bloggers from the National Blog Posting Month blogroll:

Zay MoMo -- She paints cookies and admits to playing with PhotoShop when she should be sleeping. I already like her.

Weasel of Doom -- Who could pass up this tag line? "Eagles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines."

Yum Yum Cafe -- Brimming over with gorgeous graphics and international flavor.

Adventures in Baby Fat -- The name was so catchy I had to check out the blog. Great fun.

Watch Me! No, Watch Me! -- Excellent photos and the line above her profile sums up this meme perfectly.

Rissa Dee -- A witty girl from California writing and having fun. Oh, and, she's taken a surf lesson too. See number 7 above.

ZQuilts -- A beautiful blog from the Pacific Northwest.

Tag you're it. Hope you don't mind.

Peppermint Roses

All dressed up with some place to go, these peppermint roses accompanied me to my first party of the holiday season. Tenderly crisp outside and melt-in-your mouth yummy on the inside, these easy-to-make meringues are likely to become a yuletide standard in our home. Prep time is short, and the resulting treats are like pretty little puffs of minty heaven.

The recipe is adapted from the Meringue Candy Canes recipe in this year's "Pillsbury Holiday Cookies" booklet. While whipping up the meringue was simple, piping out delicate candy canes from a decorating bag, as directed, proved to be exceedingly delicate work. Roses seemed a refreshing idea, and they were much easier to create.

To make these roses, simply dip the tip of the decorating bag in red food color rather than painting stripes on the inside of the bag. Then, beginning at the center of the rose, spiral outward, allowing meringue to overlap here and there, to imitate the natural imperfections of the flower.

Fresh Holiday Art, Get It While It's Hot

Nature's holiday is captured in clean lines in these idyllic Charley Harper prints featured at Kitsune Noire. A sparrow, a cardinal and at least five raccoons join in the fun.

Read about the artist, Charley Harper, here.

Does Santa Fly With An All Girl Crew?

Could it be all Santa's reindeer are girls? Male reindeer usually drop their antlers before Christmas. Some pictures that have been captured, featuring antlers on each reindeer, could indicate it's an all gal sled crew. It's another Santa mystery to be solved.

Get the rest of the story on reindeer here.

Just When You Think It's Safe To Go Back In The Water, There's Another Rainbow

Following last night's Dora and Diego marathon, bath time with my two two-year-olds was inspirational. There was much singing and dancing and imitating.

Baby Z chanted, "Sube! Sube!" (Spanish for climb) as she climbed out of the tub and up to the top of Mommy Mountain.

Swaddling her in a big yellow duck towel, I coached, "Amarillo. Yellow. Amarillo is yellow in Spanish."

"Yellow!" said Baby Z.

Her sister, Baby K, stood still in the tub and smiled, enthralled.

"Amarillo, yellow," I repeated.

Still, she stood and smiled.

I thought I must be doing such a good job to hold a toddler's attention so well.

Then, proudly she turned and pointed near the drain, "Rainbow!"

There it floated, curved like a rainbow, a little brown stinky rainbow. Ah yes, the world looks so different through a child's eyes.

Holiday Forecast

The blog holiday forecast -- fewer posts and a moratorium on political punditry this holiday season, possibly increased silliness.

Coming Soon

New for December, a focus on the holidays, recipes and fun.

National Blog Posting Month Ends Today

(T-shirt by Emotional Armor)

Let It Snow!