Tomorrow morning...

Tomorrow morning around the United States, children will go to school.  Tomorrow morning, teachers and staff will go to work.       
 It will NOT, however,  be just any Monday.               
 Tomorrow, parents will cling a little longer, hug a little harder, give many more kisses.   I work in an elementary school and I know it will be different.  I know my fellow staff will survey their classrooms and the building a little differently. We will look at each child in a different light.  We will look at each other  differently.  It's because we all know that no matter how many crisis plans we have in place,  it could happen to us.  No matter how many drills we practice, no one is ever prepared. But I also know that no matter what, my fellow staff would do whatever it takes to protect our "babies".  That's the unwritten part of what we sign on to do.  It's not in our contracts, but each child in our building we covet as a gift to help nurture and keep safe.  That is what every staff member attempted Friday in Connecticut. My heart hurts for the great loss, as an educator and a parent.   It is heart wrenching  to think of those innocents  who were lost, because they should still be here.  And  I can't help thinking, It could have been any school.  It could've been us.  

How do we take this tragedy and learn from it?  
What can we do to stop it from happening again? 

Not your old Olympics!

As you are well aware, the 2012 Olympics are underway. Wait, what? You want to see a particular event? You might not be able to, sadly. Yeah, you see apparently for some reason. Well,that's a lie. Money is the reason! NBC is choosing what to air live and what to air previously recorded. Take for instance, yesterday's 400 IM in which the much hyped rivalry between Michael Phelps and Ryan Lochte were to swim head to head for the first time in these Olympics. I knew it would've been around 2:30 our time. So I turned on the tv and tuned in to NBC. But no swim race. Oh, it took place and Lochte blew Phelps out of the water, but NBC chose to air it during the prime time later that evening. More money there, I guess. Well...what fun is that? The results were all over the Internet ! Who wants to watch a race that you know the results of? That takes the intensity out of it. And yet, NBC promotes the prime time coverage as if it were live and we don't know the results. Even their primetime news coverage shows the results of key events. They do warn you of spoilers and to look away if you don't want to know the results. Come on this is 2012! Social media and instant information is a way of life! How lame can you be NBC? Oh wait now, I have to admit that NBC has an Olympic App where you can watch everything live. However, you must have cable or a satellite account. You're probably thinking...who doesn't ? You'd be surprised who doesn't? Yes, the app is available for ipad/phone, android, and kindle. And, yes every event is available. So that's kinda cool. Maybe our social media, instant access society is to blame. In olympics past, you didnt know the results. So, you were at the mercy of network television. But come on....I cannot envision a family huddling around those devices to see the live action. How lame! There was something about watching the Olympics together! I have vivid memories watching the USA defeat Russia in Hockey with my family. Kerri Strug and that beautiful vault with a broken ankle! Michael Phelps and all his gold medals! Those days are gone I believe and I'm not sure I like it!

My Culinary Experiment

I like to challenge myself during vacations at home.  I like to try something new.  The kitchen always seems to be the perfect laboratory for that.  So this Spring Break, I decided to make Matzo ball soup from scratch.  My daughter loves Matzo balls and Matzo ball soup.  I happened across some of the soup in a store one day.  Which I found odd.   It's kinda like finding fried okra in New York.  In other words, it's not so common.  Well, she fell in love with it.  I came across a recipe from my Cooking Light magazine and decided to pull out my Dutch Oven I got for VD from the hubby(Yes, it was a great gift!) and give it a shot. 

Step 1:  Roasting the chicken wings and aromatic veggies.....

Cut up some carrots, celery and onion and put them on a tray with chicken wings  in the oven for 40 minutes.  Piece of cake.


Step 2: Scrape all of that into a Dutch Oven ( BTW, could not attempt this before VD, Thanks Hubby!) add 3 cups of water and seasonings and let it simmer for 2 1/2 hours.

The next few steps kinda ticked me off.....

Step 3: I then have to strain it through a mesh sieve and discard the solids ( What?? I have to throw 3 lbs. of chicken away?)  Then cook until it reduces to 6 cups.. Ok, I'm really bad at math, but how the hell do 3 cups of water and some chicken and veggies turn into an amount of liquid that can be reduced to 6 cups!?  I'm pretty sure that I did not have more than 6 cups when I discarded (Really?!?) the solids.

Step 4:  Next I have to combine the chicken stock and 3 chicken leg quarters to cook.  Wait!  WTF?  Didn't I just throw out 3 lbs of chicken wings?  Now I have to add more chicken for the actual soup?  That is messed up!

Step 5: Make the Matzo Balls... ok, this was fun.  This recipe calls for club soda.  I hear that there is a huge debate about whether to use good ole' H2O vs. club soda.  I'm just following this recipe and I reserve to weigh in on that debate until I try it the other way.    So while I'm making these I'm looking at the 5 bottles of club soda I have left because around here the only way you can buy club soda is in 6 packs of 8 oz glass bottles.  An epiphany hits me... hey those MIO liquid water enhancers would turn those into sodas.  Need to share that.

But I digress...

Last step:  Take out the cooked chicken legs and shred chicken to add back to soup...(Ummm, I could have done that with the chicken wing meat you told me to throw out.)  Add Matzo balls, onion,  carrots and celery..... No,  not the onion, carrots and celery that was used to make the stock, new onion, carrots and celery.

So in the end  the soup was very yummy.  However, I should have followed the shortcut  tip ....For a shortcut version, use store bought, unsalted chicken stock instead of making your own.  

To me,  the amount of work and waste involved in making chicken stock was not worth it, but I CAN say that I have made my own chicken stock..

Disclaimer:  I know that there are many recipes for chicken stock and that this is just one of them.  

When should she know?

So my kid has an imagination like you would not believe! She has an innocence that I think every child her age should have.  And yet, she is an anomaly.  You see my kid is 10 years old.  She still believes in Mermaids,  Santa,  the Tooth Fairy and The Easter Bunny.  She doesn't have a cell phone or a Facebook page. She hasn't seen the Twilight movies nor is she allowed to read or see the Hunger Games.  SHE IS 10 YEARS OLD!!!  I want her to keep her innocence as long as she can. I love her innocence and wish I could keep it for years.... to a point. 

But alas, my kid is 10 and  she is pretty smart.  So, I figured that when the "bubble" was going to break it would be with the Easter Bunny.  You see,  I can rationalize Santa...." Santa only brings some of the gifts.  Your parents bring the rest."  and the Tooth Fairy..." I think that there is more than one Tooth Fairy.  And who you get depends on what she leaves you."  and she defends Mermaids..." No one has ever proven that they don't exist."  But the Easter Bunny?  Kind of hard to rationalize why the stores are filled with Easter candy.  And I was so ready to have the conversation with her had she asked, but NOOOOOO! She has to write a note to the Easter Bunny asking of proof that he is real. Nothing like the unexpected!! 

The hubby and I went back and forth as to what to do.  We turned to the Internet and read blog postings as to what to do.  We sent texts to friends.  We both became tearful reading the responses.  Why? Because when it all comes down to it.  Our little girl is growing up.  And that happened so fast!  How did that happen so fast?  We don't want that to happen!  And yet we know it has too. 

So, in the end what we did is write her a note from the Easter Bunny stating ....." I'm as real as you want me to be, and as long as you still believe, I will still visit you!"  and if she asks tomorrow if the Easter Bunny is real... We will respond, "Only if you want him to be."   But in my heart I will feel a tinge of sadness to know that that part of her childhood is gone. 
Growing up is hard!

Ready for 45?

So, lately I've been realizing that it isn't long until I'm 45!  And I have to admit that there are days when I'm not really comfortable with that.  Ya see, I continuously see myself as not old me.  And thinking that I am a certain age, well, that blows my mind.  ' Cause I never saw myself in the future.  Not that I didn't expect to live this long (although there were times).   I never have been one to say, 'When I'm 45, I will be..."  Except this statement, " If I live to be 80, bring me a carton of cigarettes and  'stuff I can't mention here because I'm an educator'... and I will LOVE the rest of my life!"  but I have close friends assigned to that....

So anyway, there are things that remind me of my age daily.....

1.  The eyesight.  It's bad enough that I haven't been able to see the alarm clock when I wake up in the middle of the night since I was 10, but now I can't thread a needle,  have to hold books four ft away and enlarge the text messages on my phone to 72 font? WTF!?

2.  Gray hair which peaks itself out between colorings.  Colorings which I did not start to cover gray, but to try something new.  If you know me, I have played with hair color for a long time.  Anyone remember the pink hair?? 

3.  I can't eat whatever the hell I want!   Now it's all about reading labels and avoiding the food that's bad food.    If I only knew to appreciate those days when it didn't matter what I ate.  Or when all I had to do is to think about  losing weight and it happened. 

4. Former students recognizing you and they have kids of their own.  This wouldn't be so bad if I hadn't worked at the elementary (oldest age 12) level for 20 years. Yes, I have former students that are 32 and older.  YIKES! 

Even so, I can't complain because I still get carded.  And yes it's because they have to card everyone.  But what makes me smile is the comment after looking at my ID, like.....  "Oh, wow!"

and at the grocery store.."You're 21 right?" Yes, ma'am, I'm almost 45."  " How old did you did you say you are?"  " 44 almost 45."  " You don't look even close to that!"

or at the Drs. office checking out,  " Are you Marguerite?"  " Yes, that's me. "  " Really? You don't look even close to 44!" 

Screw the other stuff, I'm as young as I feel which is what people perceive me to be apparently!

"Soup"er dilemma

It's no secret that I love to cook.  Notice I said cook, not bake.  Although, the girl and I made a chocolate cake from scratch today which was fun and amazingly yummy!  So baking may be on my resume soon.  I have high standards to consider someone a Cook or Baker.  In my mind, you not only need to be able to replicate a recipe, but you need to be able to create your own creations without a recipe.  I can basically pull this off as a cook, but not a baker.  I know what flavors and foods go together to create a great meal.  Baking a cake or cookies without a recipe... I just don't seem to have that knack, yet. 

One of my favorite things to make is homemade soup.  I love soup.  Love it soooo much that I could eat it daily.   I can tell in a restaurant if it's made from scratch or a can has been opened.  And to me if you are serving canned soup in a restaurant then, "why bother?"  I have a few favorite soups I make, and really they take no more effort than it does to drive to the closest diner and order food.

Am I always successful?  No.  Take tonight, I tried to create chicken corn chowder using a recipe from a friend.  I changed it up to make it in the crockpot. And it is good, but not too appealing to the eye. And you say, as long as it's tasty, who cares?  Yeah, to me it looks like vomit, and has a strange texture.  I'd say like vomit, too, but I have never stopped to contemplate the texture of vomit.   I can't eat more than a spoonful.  The girl liked it. She ate 2 bowls and Hubby had a bowl, too..

I made a few key mistakes.  When using chicken in a soup, you should always cook it separately.  Because when you don't, the longer you cook it in liquid the more likely you are to get this cottage cheesy chicken residue.  So I thought I would fix that by running it through the food processor.  Epic mistake!  Thus, the result...

So, why the big deal?  A good friend of ours is having a soup party in a few weeks.  I want to impress this friend because he is like a culinary expert.  He is always bringing amazing food to gatherings.  I'm indecisive as to what soup to make, but I can tell you which soup I will NOT bring!  Hubby says,  "You got to have bad ones every once in a while to appreciate the good ones."  Although, he says that in reference to puns, which to me there are very few good ones of those. (Sorry, Dad!) 
 I kind of want to try something new... just looking for the courage to take the leap.   Because I found this one recipe that could be phenomenal..... or not!