The Devil is in the Details

The message of the week in class today was "Pay attention to the details." I was inspired. When I got home, I noticed the following little things that might otherwise have escaped me:

The dog is overdue for a bath.
The clock in my car is running about 2 minutes fast.
The baseboards need dusting.
My daughter is missing.

I decided to pay attention to the recipe for peanut butter cookies instead.

Peanut Butter Cookies
Recipe adapted from the Magnolia Bakery Cookbook

1/2 c. (1 stick) of butter, softened
1 c. chunky supermarket peanut butter*
3/4 c. sugar, plus some extra for sprinkling
1/2 c. brown sugar, packed
1 large egg, room temperature
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. almond extract
1 Tbs. milk
1 1/4 c. flour
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 c. peanut butter chips, optional

Heat oven to 350. With an electric mixer, cream the butter and peanut butter together until fluffy, then add the sugars and blend until smooth. Add the egg, mix well. Then add the milk and the extracts. Whisk the dry ingredients together in a separate bowl, and then blend into the butter/sugar/egg/vanilla part. If using, now's the time to stir in the peanut butter chips. The dough will be soft. Drop by rounded teasponfuls onto parchment or Silpat covered baking sheets, leaving plenty of room for them to spread during baking. Using a fork (dip into a glass of cold water if it sticks as you're doing this), form criss-cross patterns on cookies, but don't flatten too much. Sprinkle cookies with a little sugar. Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until the edges are just beginning to turn brown. Do not over bake! Cookies might look underdone, but they are not. Cool on the cookie sheets for a bit, then finish cooling on wire racks.

* Don't use the goopy all-natural organic stuff. It's OK for the lunchbox at your granola school, but it just won't cut it in these cookies.

Tough day at the office

My son has his first "job" this summer. He's a Counselor-In-Training for the day camp at our local park. I was dying to know how his first day went.

Me: So? How'd it go?
Him: OK.
[Typical]
Me: (Restating the question): What did you do all day?
Him: I was with the five and six year olds. I watched them make bead art, and then, since it was water day, I just sort of squirted them a lot. But you're not going to believe this, Mom. There were these two kids in my group. The whole day all they did was complain about the other one!
[He gestures and makes faces to demonstrate as he quotes.]
"He pinched me!" "He hit me!" Like all day they did this. Seriously!
I'm not kidding! And then, when they had to pair up...
[here he is practically sputtering with incredulity]
...THEY PICKED EACH OTHER! What's up with that?
[I struggle to look appropriately mystified by this bizarre behavior.]
Me: Hmm. That is strange.
Him: I know, right? Kids. They're just nuts.

Mother's intuition?

My mom was spot on, yet again. Sadly. RIP Michael Jackson.

My faith is a tiny bit tested

I received the following e-mail from my daughter's camp:

"The buses rolled in just after dinner and campers and counselors headed off for their first campfire. Summertime must be here as we hear singing, reading and laughing echoing across the meadows.

We and our staff are excited to greet campers for another great summer at [not your house*].

Thank you for entrusting us with your children...we look forward to offering them a summer of friendship, learning and new experiences.

Warmly,

[The strangers who have your child*]"

I know this is supposed to be reassuring, but I am very worried about this claim that they can hear the children reading. Not physically possible. So is all the rest a big lie, too?

Must now make oatmeal cookies and calm down.

* Names and location have been changed to be more realistic.

Having faith

There's a wonderful quote at the end of Miracle on 34th Street: "Faith is believing in things when common sense tells you not to." It's hard to remember when you are caught up in the day to day mania of driving around in circles to the endless cycle of practices, games, practices, games, and more practices, adjudicating territorial disputes, cajoling reluctant flossers, enforcing homework completion, or wresting control of the remote from warm sweaty hands when dinner's on the table, but at its heart, parenting is all about faith.

For instance:

Believing that when you put your daughter on a bus full of strangers and wave goodbye that it's going to be the experience of a lifetime for her, when common sense tells you it's way too soon to let her go.

I cried as I walked away. But I have faith.

Luckily, I also have snickerdoodles* to tide me over until she's back.

Consolation Snickerdoodle Cookies

This recipe is the result of years of collaborative testing by my sister, my niece, my daughter, and me. Turns out we've had a few other moments between us where faith and snickerdoodles came in handy.

1/4 c. cream cheese, softened
1/4 c. shortening
1/2 c. (1 stick) butter, softened
1 1/2 c. sugar
2 eggs
1/2 tsp. almond extract
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
2 2/3 c. flour
2 tsp. cream of tartar
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt

3 Tbs. sugar
3 tsp. cinnamon

Heat oven to 375. In a large mixing bowl, cream together the butter, cream cheese, shortening, and sugar until fluffy. Blend in the eggs and the extracts. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, cream of tartar, baking soda and salt. Add dry ingredients to the large bowl, and mix well. In a shallow bowl, mix the sugar and cinnamon together. Form the dough into 1 1/2 inch balls, and then roll each ball in the cinnamon sugar until completely coated. Place about 2 inches apart on a cookie sheet covered with parchment paper or a Silpat. Gently flatten each ball with your fingers or the bottom of a glass. They will puff up during baking, and then flatten when they cool. Bake for 8-10 minutes, or until just beginning to turn golden brown on the edges.

Eat by the handful. You'll feel a little better. Or just watch Miracle on 34th Street. It turns out that having faith works out all right in the end.



*These are my daughter's favorite cookies. She likes them even when everything's going great.

A force for fro yo

Whenever I pick up my mom to bring her over to our house, the ride home usually comes complete with Useful Advice For My Life*. Now, my mother would never presume to directly interfere herself (Eckhardt Tolle told her not to.) However, it turns out that there are numerous Higher Powers at work who have important messages for me, and Mom is just helping out.

To date, I have been the beneficiary of thoughts from:

All of the ladies on The View, except Elizabeth, although even she might be onto something with this gluten thing
The guest speaker from Hour of Power
Donald Trump and the celebrity apprentices
The Toluca Times movie and restaurant review staff**

And of course, Oprah. The Highest Power of all.

Here's an example of how Oprah is truly a force for good.

The Scene: Me, kids, mom, and dog, seated outside at Menchie's.

My son: Mom, did you bring the punch card?
Mom: (Lighting up) Oh! Yesterday, Oprah was talking about how to make money in today's economy. And you know what? She talked about these cards! It's one of her top things that everyone should do. It's free stuff, so you are making money every time you buy something. It's just amazing how easy it is.

[I begin frantically searching through my bag, because not only do I agree with this, but I can demonstrate that I was on it BEFORE Oprah even said anything. I triumphantly whip out my punch card, not only for Menchie's, but also for the car wash!***]

Mom: (beaming with pride) Good for you!
My son: Grandma, do you want anything?
Mom: No, thanks.
Me: Are you sure? It's really good.
Mom: No, no. I'm fine. Honestly.
My son: But Grandma, Oprah would want you to have one. It gets us an extra punch.
[Long pause]
Mom: You're right. I'll have vanilla with strawberries on top.

Image from Menchies website.

* Double bonus! When we actually get to my house, there are coupons.
** These last are not exactly Higher Powers, but they do tend to share her views on new releases and early bird dinner specials.
*** I have about 6 of these car wash cards, because I always forget to bring the old one when I go. Probably should not have taken credit for this.

What was he thinking? Update!

One good thing about having an extra-large dog. He apparently has an extra large gastro-intestinal system that is holding its own. No surgery!