Thursday's Favorites.

Well, I really need to blog but just have been to busy to be inspired to do so the last couple of days. Anyway, since this blog is based around my life as a mom, I thought I would document some of the kids' favorites today. I imagine next year or even next week things may be different.

Taylor's Current Favorites
Favorite Color Pink no doubt
Favorite Show/Character-Pokemon/Pikachu
Favorite Outfit Pink Lands End Dress with peter pan collar (note: she wore this two days in a row this week! She loves twirling in it and asks everyone to watch her dress as she twirls. She also always picks a dress to wear to preshcool never shorts I may have to stock up on lots of tights for the winter!)
Favorite Toy/Gadget -new Cereal Dispenser so she can cook herself!
Favorite Craft-Painting with water colors.

Jamie's Current Favorites
Favorite Color-Still Undetermined (maybe Carolina Blue!)
Favorite Show-Sesame Street/Elmo (Yes my children watch tv. He is memsmorized by the little red fellow. It could be worse.)
Mommy's Favorite Outfit for him- Laura Ashley Shortall with the building theme (Thanks grandmama and papa don for picking this up)
Favorite Toy/Gadget-This week he loves the match box cars two in each hand!
Favorite Craft-Making dots and scribbling with crayons

Recipe of the Week # 8

In honor of the fall and Halloween season coming up I will post the "Halloween Snack Mix" that me and the children made over the weekend.(See Candy Corn post.)

Halloween Snack Mix

4 Cups Salted Peanuts
4 Cups Candy Corn

Place in ziplock bag or air tight container and shake well to mix.

Variations may be to throw in some M&M's in fall colors and/or some raisins. The original recipe tastes remarkably like a Payday candy bar.

Candy Corn

Well, it is that time of year for the sweetest corn you can eat...Candy Corn! Although, it is hot and humid today and does not seem much like fall, we has some "pre" Halloween fun and brought out the candy corn. First, Taylor made a candy corn person with paper and glue stick. She is holding him up in the photo. Then we made a snack mix with candy corn and peanuts to get our taste buds ready for trick or treating. Jamie enjoyed this part the most and he mixed his own batch mixing the candy corn and peanuts with back and forth. Then we all enjoyed a tasty snack. Well, actually Taylor enjoyed most of hers while she was making it. Surprisingly, I had heard this snack mix tastes like a payday candy bar. In fact, if you toss a handful in your mouth and eat both nuts and candy in the same bite it does!

My Name....

So as you can see I have an unusual first name. This is something I have come to turns with over the course of growing up. When I was a child, I longed for a simple name. But I am not a simple girl so that would just not work, now would it? My given name was "Thalia Marguerite Adelina" translated that means "Luxuriant Pearl of Noble Birth". In mythology, Thalia was also one of Zeus' daughters. She was the muse of comedy and pastoral (rural) poetry. Now I don't know if it was supposed to be a joke to name me that or what! Can you believe dear Mama gave her girl such a name? The other thing is no one pronounces my name like I do. I have a thick NC/TN mountain accent (so I am told I don't think it is that bad). My dear husband does not even say it the same way.

So, you can imagine having this first name I always got questions. When I was young and single at the bar, party, parrot head scene and out and about meeting people, the guys always asked my name and say that is so different what does that mean? As my friend Trent(luv ya!)from college reminded me recently that after a few drinks, I would just blab my whole name and the translation behind it to everyone whether or not hey cared to hear it. I should have kept a nickname or a fake name when I was out socially that might have been fun! Now I dropped the two middle names when I married. So now I guess I am just "luxuriant".

I also share my moniker with a famous and beautiful Latino singer Thalia. She stole my gig of just going with one name! Now with her popularity, people of often ask my nationality which by the way is SOUTHERN by the grace of god! Some people get the Greek reference and also ask if I am Greek. I have even had several people on different occasions when I introduced myself start speaking Greek to me. I have dark eyes and hair so maybe I could have appeared to be either Mediterranean or Latino but I don't think I look like either.

Recipe of the Week #7

Well, this week's recipe is a lucky #7. Well, luck may not have much to do with it but sometimes in cooking you need a lot of luck!

This recipe is a brand new one that I tried last night and it was a winner. It truly was quick and easy. I saw this on a recent episode of "Everyday Italian" with Giada De Laurentiis of Food Network. I really like Giada as she is so beautiful and seems genuine. This episode was called "Quick and Easy". Often, when the professional chefs say something is "so easy", I am skeptical. This one really was. It was my best attempt at chicken Parmesan so far.

I did make some changes as usual. I used regular chicken breasts and cut them in half width wise to make them thinner like the cutlets that are called for. I also used purchased Prego marinara sauce and dried herbs as I was unable to get the fresh ones in time. I will include the original sauce recipe as well.


Chicken Parmesan
Recipe courtesy Giada De Laurentiis
Show: Everyday Italian
Episode: Quick Italian Dishes

Difficulty: Easy
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour 27 minutes ( for the homemade suace)
Yield: 4 servings

Ratings and Reviews
User Rating: 5 Stars

3 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary leaves
1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme leaves
1 teaspoon chopped fresh Italian parsley leaves
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
8 (3-ounces each) chicken cutlets
1 1/2 cups Simple Tomato Sauce, recipe follows or purchased marinara sauce
1/2 cup shredded mozzarella
16 teaspoons grated Parmesan
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into pieces

Preheat the oven to 500 degrees F.

Stir the oil and herbs in a small bowl to blend. Season with salt and pepper. Brush both sides of the cutlets with the herb oil. Heat a heavy large oven-proof skillet over high heat. Add the cutlets and cook just until brown, about 2 minutes per side. Remove the skillet from the heat.

Spoon the marinara sauce over and around the cutlets. Sprinkle 1 teaspoon of mozzarella over each cutlet, then sprinkle 2 teaspoons of Parmesan over each. Sprinkle the butter pieces atop the cutlets. Bake until the cheese melts and the chicken is cooked through, about 3 to 5 minutes.

Simple Tomato Sauce:
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 small onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 stalk celery, chopped
1 carrot, chopped
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 (32-ounce) cans crushed tomatoes
4 to 6 basil leaves
2 dried bay leaves
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, optional

In a large casserole pot, heat oil over medium high heat. Add onion and garlic and saute until soft and translucent, about 2 minutes. Add celery and carrots and season with salt and pepper. Saute until all the vegetables are soft, about 5 minutes. Add tomatoes, basil, and bay leaves and simmer covered on low heat for 1 hour or until thick. Remove bay leaves and check for seasoning. If sauce still tastes acidic, add unsalted butter, 1 tablespoon at a time to round out the flavors.

Add half the tomato sauce into the bowl of a food processor. Process until smooth. Continue with remaining tomato sauce.

If not using all the sauce, allow it to cool completely and pour 1 to 2 cup portions into freezer plastic bags. This will freeze up to 6 months.

Yield: 6 cups

SK8.

Well, who would have ever thought that my first “boyfriend would have something in common with my husband! They were both Skaters. When I was growing up skateboardng was just starting to become popular across all walks of life including the ‘tweens and teens of the NC mountains. I never wanted to learn how to skateboard as I am not a totally tomboy but I loved the boys who did.

Anyway, when James was growing up, he used to spend many hours skateboarding. He even has a full page photo in one of his high school year books of him in a skating pose. He recently renewed his interest in the sport again. Sunday, we took a family trip to downtown Raleigh, so James and Taylor could hit the skating shop. They both got new boards this weekend! Now this could be a mother's worst nightmare, but until there are any broken bones [we have by the way already had a scraped knee (Daddy) and skate rash (Jamie)], I am enjoying that my guys have something fun to do together. Now it looks like I am going to have to get in shape to keep up with these guys on my roller blades!

After hitting the skate shop and grabbing some lunch, we went over to the NCSU campus to walk around and enjoy the day. While Jamie and Taylor were not too impressed with the engineering marvels of the wolf pack, they had a lot of fun in different ways. Taylor found lots of new plants with berries of all sorts so she started "hunting" nature items for her collection. She is my little scientist! Jamie on the other hand took to the skateboard and had so much fun sitting on the board scooting backwards around and around. We could not get him off! That is when he got the skate rash. James got to ride his new board on some of the slopes and inclines of the campus. The weather was great and we just had a great time being a family and being carefree.

Our pets.

Well technically we don't "own" any pets. Well, I am not sure if anyone can own a pet so to speak and the pets may very well choose to own us. In the bigger sense of things, I like to think that God has given all of us to each other to enjoy. So, I often tell Taylor the animals can be our friends instead of the term pets.

Anyway, Taylor and I have been talking about pets lately, as a three year old is curious about these things. Yesterday when we were out in the back yard, we found some of our "pets" while we were playing. First, when Taylor opened up the sand box, a tiny sand covered frog was jumping around. Poor thing was covered in sand and Probably could not see a thing, Taylor said "Look, Mommy my pet froggie is in the sand box!" I went over and said "What a funny thing. A frog jumping inside a turtle!" The sand box is a big old plastic turtle.

Next, we see two "Grandaddy Long Legs" as I call them which are also known as Phalangium opilio and "harvestmen". These amazing creatures look almost alien like. While I do not care for spiders I grew up these guys and have never been afraid of them. We had one inside our screen door and one on the patio wall. Taylor said we have a "granddaddy and grandmama set."

A short time later, I had to take Jamie inside for a minute. Taylor was still kicking the ball where I could see her. Suddenly, she came running inside crying and screaming "Mommy!". Finally, she settled down and told me she saw a spider by the ball a "creepy spider." This was the first time she had ever been scared of anything like that that I can remember. She usually refers to spiders or animals as "my friend ...fill in the blank animal." I wonder if this fear was due to the snake "friend" we saw last week.

Mama, look what I brought home from school....

Germs! Well Miss Taylor had her first absence from preschool today. This is her second illness since she started preschool almost exactly one month ago. The first one was a cold and she had that bout over the weekend so she was fine to go back to school on Tuesday. This time it's a stomach virus or bug the doctor is not sure. Now Jamie is getting a little fever and sluggish so it looks like he's picked up the germs too.

I hate to see them sick. I knew this type of thing would happen when she started school but I thought she would not get it until the winter. Good grief! I guess no matter when she started school it was inescapable even if we waited until kindergarten. I am just so glad they are not in day care especially when they were such younger. Wee ones who could not fight off all the germs.

Recipe of the Week #6.

Now that Taylor is in pre-school it is getting a little busier for us during the week. We do have some additional chores twice a week. These include homework, picking out the right outfit for school (always a dress so far), picking her snack and packing her backpack. While my schedule is hardly as hectic as many working mammas with multiple kids in school and activities, I still need some time savers in the kitchen. I have recently started trying several crockpot recipes to have something that is easy to cook and hearty to eat for our fall dinners. While these take hours to cook, crockpot dishes really are time savers as they are almost "fix it and forget it". I have minimum interaction with the dish once I get it started. Some dishes are in fact a whole meal which is even easier!

Of the the three new crock recipes that I have tried so far, the one from last week was the favorite I think. This came from wishingstar who posted it on the Southern Living Message Board. I have added my tweaks below.

Swedish Meatballs in Sauce
1 1-lb package frozen plain meatballs (not the Italian kind)

1 can cream of mushroom soup

1 can French onion bouillon (or 1 cup beef bouillon)

1 cup sour cream

1 t. Worcestershire sauce

1 dash Tabasco sauce

1/4 cup milk

Cracked black pepper

Mix sauce ingredients together and mix in meatballs. (I did this on the stove to get it almost to a boil then I transferred it to the crock pot.) Cook on low until heated through. (I cooked on low for 4 hours) Serve with noodles or rice.

*If not thick enough add a small amount of cornstarch with cold water and heat on high until desired thickness.

I did the almost boil on the stove method then transferred to crockpot and cooked on low for 4 hours I added the milk and cream in the last hour. I also added canned mushrooms at the beginning. Instead of just using milk I used 1/8 cup cream and 1/8 cup milk to make it a little richer.

I remember.

Now while this blog is mostly devoted to my life as a wife and mother, this post is about a time five years ago before I was either. Five years ago today was the September 11. I can remember that day like it was last week. I was at work in the lab and the radio was playing like usual and they announced the first plane hitting the world trade center and my co-worker and I just looked at each other across the bench stunned. Then my company began broadcasting the news in the conference rooms. I walked in just as the footage of the second plane hit. It was trully surreal. Every one was confused. We were sent home and I remember being in a traffic jam at 10:30 in the morning. People were just stunned driving in their cars. You would look over at someone in their car and see their blank faces. The weather was beautiful but noone noticed. I got home and was packing up my apartment as I was getting ready to move into my first home with my fiancee now husband. I just sat there crying and wrapping things in newspaper. For me that was the first time I experienced a "do you remember where you were day".

Downtown...

Saturday was a great day for getting out and about. So first at daddy’s suggestion we lunched at his favorite cafe in downtown Cary, Serendipity. The kids split Taylor's favorite "The Hero" sandwich while I indulged James and we both had his fave-the peanut butter/honey/banana pita pocket. After lunch, we kissed daddy goodbye and sent him off to work. We first we headed to our weekly trip to the library, usually a Friday afternoon event but we were a day late. Miss Taylor had colored on one her library books, and she took responsibility for it by taking it up to the librarian's desk and apologizing. While I expected to pay $20 or something for the newly decorated "Creepy Riddles", the librarian told her they could "fix it" so we went and checked out some more books.

After we checked out this week's selections, we started our walking tour of the statues and art work in downtown Cary. Two statues are in front of the library which we had already seen but this time; we followed a map from a brochure about the artwork and read something about each piece. It is really neat that they have designed it this way for one to walk along the downtown and see the different murals, sculptures, and statues. Most of the art is whimsical and eclectic with a little historic feel thrown in.

As we walked down to the next set of statues we dropped the books off at the car. Taylor really enjoyed our tour and had some good 3 year old observations of the pieces. Jamie was sleeping half the time but woke up in time for the fun part of going to the soda fountain at Ashworth Drug Store. Taylor got a big ole chocolate milk shake, while Jamie got a scoop of vanilla, and Mommy got an old favorite Cherry Smash. It was so much fun. The kids got to look at the toys and Taylor picked a pair of goo goo eye glasses and her brother got a plastic car. After our refreshment break, we saw the last two sculptures and headed back to the care. We got home and had a little rest and a healthy snack of carrot sticks and ranch to get our energy back!

I really loved this day as again I got to relive some of my childhood memories which at first I did not even realize it. When I was a young girl, mama used to take me to the library at least every other Saturday to the library for new books. Then if I was lucky, she had to run an errand downtown Franklin and for me that meant a Coca Cola, orangeade or cherry smash. It we were on the side of the road for Angel's drug store I got a cherry smash or Coca-Cola. If we were on the other side I got an orangeade from Perry's drug store. I always wanted to go downtown when ever anyone needed to go whether it was Granddaddy, Mama or Aunt Mary Lou. It was often the only time I was away from home except for church until I went to school later. I did not realize it until we sat down at the soda counter at Ashworth this weekend, that it was could have been easily Perry's or Angel's Drug Store back in 1978 when I was three years old.

DNA Sequencing II

There is a second edition of the text book that I contributed a chapter to a few years ago. This edition is not a revision of the first book DNA sequencing but rather a book devoted to the methods of extraction, clean-up, quantification, and analysis of DNA related to sequencing experiments. I did not contribute to this edition but it is interesting to see that a "line" of Sequencing textbooks are available. I would say I wish I had this in school, but the techniques one uses in academia are often very different and cheaper than the techniques used in industry.

Both DNA Sequencing and DNA Sequencing II are available at Amazon.com.

Fall is in the air...

As much as I love summertime fun, I also enjoy the fall. It really is a great time with the kids as we can get out and about and do things with out worrying about the heat so much. Since the storm of Ernesto passed through last week, we have had much cooler temps these days. Eighties that feel quite comfortable.

Wednesday, we were able to go on our first nature walk of the season. While the leaves have only a tinge of color change we did see several that have "FALLen" so we talked about "Fall" and Taylor added that after the leaves fall off the trees-then it's time for Christmas Trees! I just loved that observation of the seasons by her. It makes sense.

On the walk, we also saw butterflies, birds and mushrooms. We gathered some goodies for our bucket to talk about when we got home. The bucket consisted of pebbles, a rock, pine needles, a tiny leaf courtesy of Jamie, s red colored plant, some flowers and a few gnarled pine cones. The biggest "find" of the day was by far a new friend we did not expect to see. A small but long black snake crossed out path! Taylor was not scared one bit as she wanted to seek the snake out of his hiding spot in the woods. We waited until we knew he was out of harm's way and then as we passed, I looked over and saw him sitting some tall weeds with his tongue out. I guess he was getting a "sniff" of us.

I am so looking forward to even a little cooler weather and the traditional fall activities we have coming up.

"Taylor Ware"

Here are some of the plates in the "Taylor" line at Pottery Barn kids. I just love them We have some plates like this of a cheaper brand that I use almost every day. Taylor does have her own PBK mug that she picked. It is a bright orange one. It really freezes well and keeps the drinks cool. It is not spill proof though. Taylor used to really enjoy having her food in the different sections and would said "Mommy, you forgot something." if I left one section empty, so I would throw in a pickle or sometimes her cup to fill all the compartments.

Recipe of the Week # 5

Tuesday means time to cook, well everyday these days is time to cook! Today's recipe is actually a recipe that I am going to make today for supper tonight. This week's recipe is a copy cat one so I can't take credit for it. We love the Italian Grill Carrabba's and used to go there on our Friday night date nights quite often (before kids). They serve a yummy house salad and this is what is their house dressing. They also serve it with a pepperonchini on top of the salad. Yum! This is James' favorite salad dressing next to ranch and the recipe is one that I sought out several years ago.

Carrabba's Parmesan Dressing
1/4 cup milk
1/2 cup Mayonnaise
1 tsp white wine vinegar
1/4 tsp Worcestershire Sauce
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese (finely grated works best)
Gradually blend milk into Mayo. Mix in cheese, vinegar and Worcestershire. Chill. Makes 3/4 cup.
Note-I used Duke's Mayo for this recipe.

Cooking double!

Ever heard of seeing double, well I am talking about cooking double! That means cooking two or more different meals for the family to eat at one sitting. For example, You cook a pork tenderloin for you and your husband, mac and cheese for one child and a hot dog for the other child to eat when you all sit down for dinner.

I do not normally do this. The exception is hot/spicy foods.

I read in Parents magazine that most mamas do cook more than one meal for their family while a large percentage admitted to cooking three or more different meals!

Cooking double!

Ever heard of seeing double, well I am talking about cooking double! That means cooking tow or more different meals for the family to eat at one sitting. For example, You cook a pork tenderloin for you and your husband, mac and cheese for one child and a hot dog for the other child to eat when you all sit down for dinner.

I do not normally do this. The exception is hot/spicy foods.

I read in Parents magazine that most mamas do cook more than one meal for their family while a large percentage admitted to cooking three or more different meals!

Puddles Photo 2

Blogger was giving me some trouble yesterday. Here is the second photo from our rainy day fun.

Puddles, Puddles Everywhere...

We had a little fun today in Ernesto's left overs...

Ernie has left the building.

Well, it is the first of September which seems to be NC's favorite month for hurricanes. Wouldn't you know it that we have one passing through. Ernesto has dumped some rain on us and the wind blew my umbrella inside out on the way to the car this morning. Luckily, nothing too bad certainly nothing in comparison to Katrina or even reminiscent of another early September storm I went through named Fran. I think Fran was ten years ago, it is so hard to believe. Sometimes, it seems like 20. The big thing about Fran was it was right after Uncle Jim's passing. We really were not prepared for the power outage for so long, luckily we were able to walk and eat at good old "6-12" conveneince store.

After Alberto's visit this summer and the raging river in our back yard, I have a new worry about hurricanes-flash floods.

Between Alberto and Ernesto, I must say I have had my fill of Latino gentleman!