On Friday, Momo, Five, Brother S, Brother Z and I are heading to Haiti on a little humanitarian trip. We'll be visiting orphanages, scoping out sites for safe houses, dropping off a generator and delivering some essentials (candy, yo yo's, coloring books). We're all uber excited about the adventure, but packing has been quite a trial....for all of us...but mostly me. We'll spend a week in the Haitian heat and then fly straight to bone chilling DC. Because of the bunch of bags--filled with toys and the like--that will have to be checked, Momo has challenged each of us to try to pack all personal items in our carry-on luggage. Now, I've always viewed myself as something of a packing aficionado, but this takes things to a whole new level. Obviously, this will require an extra dose of creativity.
There has been talk of serious layering (we're talking seven shirts + a wool coat), bringing just one shirt and a pair of pants (I've asked Z to explore alternative options...He's a fourteen year old boy and I don't think anyone is tolerant enough to live with him in a tropical climate for a day--let alone a week--without a change of clothes), and mutiny.
We'll see how many shirts Z ends up wearing, but for now, I need to figure out if I can meet the challenge.
There has been talk of serious layering (we're talking seven shirts + a wool coat), bringing just one shirt and a pair of pants (I've asked Z to explore alternative options...He's a fourteen year old boy and I don't think anyone is tolerant enough to live with him in a tropical climate for a day--let alone a week--without a change of clothes), and mutiny.
We'll see how many shirts Z ends up wearing, but for now, I need to figure out if I can meet the challenge.
(my) Top 5 things to consider when packing for disparate climates
1. Haiti is HOT! (90+ degrees)
2. DC is cold
3. We have to attend three formal events
4. I really like boots
5. A carry-on can only fit so much
5. A carry-on can only fit so much
Well, wish me luck...Actually, wish my suitcase luck. I'm not sure it will survive this.
I am a firm believer in an individual's right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. So it was with these God given privileges in mind that Dr. P and I escaped the city with our friend Sweet C. Together we make up a team of LLPoH specialists with Dr. P as our Life expert, Sweet C. heading up the Pursuit of Happiness team, and me, well heck. There's nothing I love more than Liberty (it's practically my middle name ;)
So here are my top 5 LLPoH moments of the weekend
5) the right to make stupid faces in pictures
4) The right to eat cinnamon rolls for breakfast, ridiculous hot cocoa for lunch, and s'mores for dinner
3) The right say no to this (kinda creepy) store's tobacco, while saying YES to their awesome decor!
2)The right to build fires the hard way
1) the right to admit defeat and take the easy road instead
So here are my top 5 LLPoH moments of the weekend
5) the right to make stupid faces in pictures
4) The right to eat cinnamon rolls for breakfast, ridiculous hot cocoa for lunch, and s'mores for dinner
3) The right say no to this (kinda creepy) store's tobacco, while saying YES to their awesome decor!
2)The right to build fires the hard way
1) the right to admit defeat and take the easy road instead
Recently, I visited some of my dearest friends. We celebrated with a little dinner party in a pumkin. There is a formal recipe, but we didn't really use it. What we came up with was a spicy, savory, nummy pumpkin full of yum. Here are some pictures!
PUMPKINS!!!
J Scootus and the persimmon after scolding me for opening the oven, yet again to check on my little squash
"This can't be right" Mrs. S. and brioche dough
Monogrammednapkins
Nauseatingly adorable and sweet newly weds Mr. and Mrs. S.
Geniuses J&J
"I just don't know, Mrs. S..."
Pumkin conference -- is the rice cooked or isn't it?
Strawberry, snow pea and chevre on fresh greens with candied almonds and persimmon dressing
gingered yams and roasted pumpkin seeds
Dining table and minted lemonaid
Recipe for Dinner in a Pumpkin
Recipe for Dinner in a Pumpkin
- 1 medium sugar pumpkin
- 1 1/2 pounds Griller's Veggie crumbles or lean ground beef
- 1 onion, chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
- 1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 2 cups beef or veggie broth
- Whatever veggies you have in the fridge that will be happy when sauteed
- We used about 2 cups of left over home-made pasta sauce with peppers, tomatoes, onions, garlic, crushed pepper and Italian sausage. You can also use any creamy canned soup or canned tomatoes with the liquid
- 1 cup uncooked white rice*
Preheat the oven to 375. Wash and cut diagonal hole out of the top of the pumpkin, cleaning out the seeds from inside. Save top for later. Saute crumbles or beef. Chop and saute veggies and Garlic. Mix with other ingredients. Put mixture into pumkin. Place in oven in a shallow pan. Replace top. Cook for 2-3 hours.
*If you want dinner faster, pre-cook the rice til it's aldente and cook inside the pumkin until pumpkin is tender -- usually an hour to and hour and a half.
Saturday afternoon, I kind of had a breakdown. In Baby Gap. For those of you as-yet-uninitiated into the Baby Industrial Complex, consider yourself warned: It is an emotional minefield. My search for a Royal Birthday Dress led me to this little number. It seemed both smart and exuberant. Just like the Princess. To my dismay, her size appeared to be out of stock. I was about to ask the sales clerk to check in back, when it struck me. This is a baby dress. Baby dresses don't come in a 2T.
And that's when I ran full-speed into that brick wall of trite parental clichés: They grow up so fast. And let me tell ya, hitting something that hard hurts.
I have two perfect babies children. They are sweet and trusting and radiantly happy. Princess H is kind to most everybody and excited about most everything. She holds my hand in public and tells me I'm her "verybestfriendinthewholewideworld" and makes me happy in a way that feels at once giddy and sacred.
And the world is very kind to her. Really, there isn't anything she wants that she can't have, provided she asks nicely and remembers to say please. But someday she's going to want something a little more elusive than string cheese. And inevitably the future holds some skinned knees. And some poor choices. Someday, her heart will probably be broken. And someday, she might break mine a little, too. And just thinking about it left me utterly bereft, choking back tears as I clutched an 18-24 month shift dress in the mall.
Princess H had a Very Happy Birthday. The people who love her most showered her most extravagantly with gifts and kisses. And she wore a pink dress and I held it together and it was lovely. But amidst all that love and sugar and merriment, in the back of my motherly mind, I couldn't quite forget that this was really about time's ruthless march across my perfect little girl. And I couldn't help but wonder at the genius who first concocted all the razzle-dazzle-dog-and-pony-cake-and-ice-cream hoopla to distract us from the trauma of watching our children grow up.
Which is not to say that I am not excited to see my beautiful little girl grow into a beautiful young woman. Because I am. But I treasure this moment, This Day. When my little girl is perfect.
Edit: I just reread this post and it made me cry. So I watched this. I'm feeling much better now....
Hats off to the esteemed Dr. Sanjay and his team at CNN for this great piece on Two! I think it's my favorite yet. Thanks for a beautiful story well told.
Anyhoo, utilizing every single ounce of my problem-solving abilities, I was able to formulate a super complicated, chemistry-ee composition which withstands absolutely any amount of milk-dipping, dunking, or drowning (to a point), while remaining moist and delicious without a post-oven liquid aid. The recipe is complex, but perhaps, after much failure and disappointment, you too will be able to savor a baked good with Oreos integrated into its crumb.
I give to you -
BROWNIEOS:
Put Oreos in the bottom of muffin cups; fill those same muffin cups with brownie batter; bake at 350F for about 30 minutes; cool; dunk; marvel.
