Sunday. Baking Sunday.

Better than bloody Sunday.

We still aren't done with the baking. But we are dangerously close.

I swear I had the best intentions yesterday to be done. I really did. But it just did not happen. We made a lot of goodies. Translation: I made a lot of goodies. The Hub did dishes. The Big Kids helped some, but mostly sat around basking in the glory of the first day of winter break and the Wii. Ella ate. And napped some. That's what she does best. She's a professional eater.

This is what we ended up with (thus far anyway):

Peanut Brittle:

I slaved for HOURS on this. I mean it's CANDY, people. Do you now how hard it is to make candy correctly? It's HARD.

(It took 15 minutes. Including clean up.)

Peppermint Bark:

Three layers of it.

This has ganache. In the middle. Ganache is one of the best things. Ever. It's ridiculous.

Fudge:

Um... Yum. That is all.

Buckeyes:

This is what is in buckeyes.

Butter and peanut butter.

Powdered sugar.

Chocolate.

(By the way, that is my ghetto double broiler. Dutch oven + glass bowl. That's how I roll. Don't judge me. )

Don't ask me what the recipe is. I can't tell you. It's secret. What I can tell you though is that mixed in the right proportions those 4 things make a candy so good you might want to just go ahead and die after you eat it.

(It's not really secret.)

This is what they look like when they are done:

That one doesn't look like that anymore. It slightly more *ahem* pureed? In my stomach.

They look like an actual buckeye. Get it?

Only mine are delicious.

I confess: I was born in Ohio. Even though I moved when I was 10 days old I still like to say I'm from Ohio. I don't know why. Who really wants to be from Ohio anyway? My dad is from Ohio. He moved to California as soon as he could. He says the people who live in Ohio only do so because they haven't figured out how to get out of Ohio yet. No offense to those of you who live in Ohio. (Family: I love you all. Despite you living in Ohio.)

I digress.

Just as an aside... You should always have a wearable helper when baking. She doesn't look very happy but I promise she is. I look like I've been in the kitchen all day because I have and additionally like I don't own a hairbrush. My apologies. I do own a hairbrush. I'm like 98.7% sure.

Note: Don't worry I'm not going to set the Baby on fire. The stove isn't even on. The water was preheated to a boil, then shut off for safety. I haven't caught the sling on fire yet.

Back to business: We are putting the finishing touches on the sugar cookies and g'bread peeps. They aren't done because I am the Mother and I insist that all the children be present for the decorating. Non-negotiable. One of said children just left for a sleepover. Inside I'm secretly glad because I don't feel like making frosting right now. I do eventually run out of energy. Tomorrow is a new day my friends.

My couch and my behind are about to get reacquainted.

Like now.

But only for 15 minutes... then I have to go back into the kitchen and make dinner. I wonder if any mother has ever just put her bed in the kitchen?

Happy Holidays ya'll.

Sincerely,

the lady covered in various powdered ingredients

This just in.

Brace yourselves for a big announcement. Forthcoming.

It's coming.

Wait for it.

No, really.

I'm quitting my Job. The nursey one.

No, really. I am. I haven't yet, but I'm going to. I only haven't because I have to drive to Visalia to do it and I don't have the spare hour and a half today. Really.

So that's today's headline. Not big news for you but the biggest of news for us over here. I could write a nice long post about quitting my Job but I'm not ready for that yet. Maybe later. I'm still feeling a little bit fairytaleoverjoyeddazedandconfuzzled about this decision. Oh, don't get me wrong, there's not a single thing I'd rather do than stay at home and raise this Sweet Pea of a Baby. It's just that even though I've been At Home before, it's been a while. I'm a little nervous about it and all the things that go with not being an Out of Home worker. You know what I'm talking about. Maybe not. Anyway. Next item of business.

Because I am about to quit my Job (just the one where I'm a nurse, not the one where I'm nursing) I'm feeling very suddenly domestically motivated. There is a slight problem with this. Well a couple:

a. My sewing machine is broken. It's tragic. Truly.

b. Also despite the fact that we have a fair sized house, I have no place for "crafty" things. They are in a box in storage (mostly).

c. In light of all of this and in despite of it I am still plotting and planning several crafty ventures. Probably too many. It's a disease I have.

And they are:

1. I'm knitting a scarf for my sisters trip to Philly. My sister is Fan-tas-tic. Truly. She deserves a scarf of epic proportions. This may not be big news to everyone but it is to me because I am literally the worst. Knitter. Ever.

No, really. I'm bad.

This is a similar pattern. Only mine is two-color striped. My sister does not like pink. Or anything in the pink family. So I'm using blue and green. I like it. If it doesn't come out crooked maybe I'll whip up another one.

Here it is in progress:
See how I accidentally made one row that has 3 greens in it. I'm not afraid to admit my error. I lost count. I was nursing the baby. I told you. I'm that bad.

2. I'm crocheting snowflakes for our Christmas tree. Granny used to make these. I'm doing it. Like right now. They're fun, if you know how to crochet. If not, they're miserably difficult. Also, working on other handmade ornaments. Because, well frankly we have none.

In other news: I miss Granny. Like a ton.

3. I'm crocheting hats for the children. I prefer knitted hats (ala my mother in law who is a fantastic knitter) but alas, as previously mentioned, I am the worst. Knitter. Ever. Anyway, per their requests hats are underway. Maybe if the scarf isn't an abysmal failure I'll knit them. They should be done by 2012.

4. I'm cooking.

Cauliflower soup. Don't tell the Hubs. It's what's for dinner tonight. Surprise.

I just met the Pioneer Woman less than a month ago. She's my hero.

Also: Coffee Cake. I feel like I need to make that right. Now.

Did I mention she's my hero. I can't believe I never heard of her before like 3 weeks ago. Where was she all my life?

5. Attempting to make something of our front room.

This isn't really something I'm doing as much as something I need to do.

It's a little bit confused. It's not sure if it's a living room or a music room or a room where people drop their crap. There are drums in there. And guitars. And a huge bean bag. And crap.

That's all.

Here's the drums though. They're really lovely.


Hubs is a drummer. How lucky am I? Drummers are sexy. That is all. Thank you for listening.

(That photo was taken by Myron Yeung. Our wedding photographer. He's amazing.)

6. Working on my etsy store. It's not done yet. Who am I kidding. It's not even started. I'm totally doing it though. I'm not selling anything knitted though. Unless someone is looking for a crooked scarf.


Whilst my mind is preoccupied with the aforementioned items of interest I'm also entertaining the following hobbies:

~gazing at the miracle of Sweetness we've been given. (That's the Baby. In case you didn't know.)

This is her:
I know, right. She's ridiculous.

~ Running after the Big Kids. This takes significantly more time than one would think.

This is them:
I mean look at these kids. If babymaking was a business, I'd go into it. They're that awesome. (In all fairness, I can't take credit for the one holding the Baby. She's my sister. But I'm claiming her anyway. She looks enough like the rest. No one will know.)

~Cooking. Cleaning. Laundry. Shopping. Keeping house in general. Kind of.

~Doing my derndest to support the Hubs in his career and Other Financial Ventures. (This bascially means, trying to keep the kids from talking to him every 10 seconds when he's trying to write code, which is a whole other thing I don't understand.)

That's what I'm up to. Stayed tuned for more news as it develops.

Warmest Regards,

Me

SAHM turned RN turned SAHMRN. Recovering craft addict. Abysmal knitter. Lover of cake.