Baking Tip

Granny and I were talking the other day about baking and how instantly forgetful we can be.  You know you've done it!  When you get ingredients out and begin tossing them in a bowl and lose count on the sugar.  Was that six-quarter cups full to make one and a half cups of sugar or was that five?  Or a half panic as the decadent Hummingbird Cake goes into the oven... I forgot to put the pecans in the cake mix! 

While I am sure there is some fancy ingredient ap on those fancy phones everyone but Shaun and I own, I obtained my tip from the one and only Julia Child.  I received The French Chef (one and two) DVD series for my birthday and pop them into watch while I am in my kitchen at least twice a week.  A week or two ago she was baking her Queen of Sheba chocolate cake and threw a tip at me.  Place all of your ingredients out on a tray or cookie sheet before you begin baking.  Go ahead and measure out the flour and other dry ingredients in separate bowls.  I know these steps take more time but really it adds to the fun and I know for sure I have everything out and measured before I begin. 

I tried this last weekend when I made a cake for the BBQ place.  And Lord knows I look for any excuse to use my enamel trays I adore so much!  I have mentioned my enamelware fetish haven't I? 
Anyway, I did just as Julia said and guess what... the pecans were in the cake this time.  Just as the recipe calls for.  If you are going to bake, try not to get in a hurry and enjoy the entire process and if you make the proper preparations you shan't forget or mis-measure a thing! 

The next step in this baking tip is to remove the ingredients from the tray and put them away as you use them.  Put the empty bowls in the sink and the vanilla bottle in the cabinet.  That way when you think you are done and you look over at your tray and something is still there..... guess what?  It's not too late to add it because the cake has not entered the baking zone yet.  Brill Julia... brill.

This tray is stained from another place in time before I got it.  But it is old and I love it!  I hadn't exactly premeasured at this point nor does it look like I had the flour out.  But I promise you, it did happen and it took a teeny bit of stress out of the whole process because I knew I wasn't going to forget a thing. 

Current Book Crush

I would like to report that I am the very first person to rent this particular book from the library.  And that just tickles me to death!  I have loved this series by Alan Bradley that began with The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie.  I read this first book in the series in October, then proceeded to read the next three in the line through December.  I found that fifth book was due out in January and my library already had it on order, so I put my name on the request list to read it.  Low and behold, it was in transit last Thursday and when I got it I noticed the date on the outside of 1/31/13.  Meaning.... I am the first one to read this book... not the story itself ... just this one book.  OOhhh I like it!  And I am on the tenth chapter and already have some favorite parts.  One of them is this:

"A seed is a remarkable vessel," he told me.  "Our one true time machine.  Each of them is capable of bringing the past, alive, into the present, Think of that!" 

I just love living normal life and then being lucky enough to have the interest of popping into a story of someone else's life, mostly fictional lives but still, to look around and see their world and meet people related to the story line.  And mostly with this one, I can't wait to see if five hundred year old seeds are collected and successfully germinated to bloom.  If that really happened I would be in awe.

Little Journals

You are never too young or old to begin a journal, in my book anyway.  Whether it is something you write in everyday, an art journal with drawings or a style journal (which I am desperate to begin for myself) a journal is a great way of tracking... well... yourself.  In this case, we are at the day care.  I had the thought a couple of days ago that instead of throwing away old colorings or storing them in a box, wouldn't it be neater to let them begin a journal?  That way when the notebook is good and full of whatever we want to put in it we can see how far they've come with their drawings, colorings and even writing.

I am super excited about this idea.  These books will eventually go home with the kids so that their families can see how far they've come.  And the notebooks are cheap.  I actually bought these around back-to-school time for seventeen cents a piece. 

This morning, we broke out pictures, stickers and glue sticks and decorated the outside cover of the kid's journals.  I made sure to pick a color that each of them would like.  They do have their favorites.  For story time today we read a library book called "All Kinds of Families" by Mary Ann Hoberman.  We talked about what a family is and named people in each of our families.  Then we broke out our journals and filled up the first page with pictures of people in our families.  They did great. 

I am looking forward to filling up these books with the kids and seeing how far they've come by the end of the book. 

The Dirty Dirty - Part Four

I am clearly a person who ignores organization.  Over time a clean and uncluttered room can be completely destroyed by my lack of discipline in simply putting things back where they go.  And also taking the time to find a proper home for incoming traffic.  In the case of The Dirty Dirty - Part Four, the room of great concern is unfortunately at the day care.  It is the smallest room that I call my own.  It is my office slash craft supply room.  A place that has a small gate at the doorway to let everyone know "this is  my space."  Although the more I have used the desk in the center of the room as a landing strip and used the closet and shelves as a disorganized place to store crafts made long ago the more I don't go in there for anything other than to toss new arriving supplies. 

I mentally made the resolution to "put things back" where they go in my life.  If I remove it from a drawer then that's where it goes back when I am finished using it.  This new found form of self control can be a tough one.  Mainly because it involves getting organized in the first place.  So one day during nap time I tore in to this room.  I didn't buy any fancy Martha containers, I simply used what I had.  I threw some things away and have a couple of bags to take to Goodwill.  I also moved my desk out from the center of the room to avoid using it in the wrong way.  The main thing is that it feels better.  When I walk in there I know exactly where the glues are and where all my tissue paper is and fake crafty flowers live.  And I know they are there because the last time I used them I put them back there.  Aha!  There's the key to staying this way.  I have done well in the other rooms involved in this Dirty Dirty adventure.  Unfortunately, the task is not over. 

Before

 oof

And After

Thank you for loving me through my faults of un-organization.