I'd like some nostalgia, please...

Ahhh, Barbie.  Source of so much nostalgia for women all over the world, and yet also a source of controversy amongst the feminist crowd.  I loved Barbies when I was a little girl - LOVED them.  My little sister Adria and I spent hours dressing them, styling their hair, making little Barbie "houses" all over our house and making up dramatic scenarios for our Barbies to act out.

My first Barbie ever was the Great Shape Barbie.  Looking back, I find it hilariously appropriate that this was my first Barbie doll.  Anyone who knows me knows how much I love to work out (always have).  I do still have the doll, but not much is left from her groovy workout clothes.  I have one leg warmer left.  Yes, I kept ONE leg warmer for nostlagia purpose.  Pack rat, I know.

Watch the original commercial for a great laugh:
http://www.youtube.com/embed/buwwEYewQtU

My second Barbie was one of my very favorites - Peaches n' Cream Barbie.  Loved that doll - but the best part was her fabulous dress and matching stoll.  And you gotta love the color - how 80's is that?  I think I still have the doll (but I might be thinking of one of my other ones), but neither the dress nor the stoll survived.  I'm not exactly sure what happened to them... (fess up, Adria - you stole them!  Just kidding.)

Here is the 1985 commerical:

http://www.youtube.com/embed/4MUMk7PwjLs

Dream Glow Barbie was my third.  the Stars on her dress glowed in the dark, as you can see on the box (that is, if you held her under a lamp for a few minutes first).  I have the doll and dress left from this one, although the dress is a little worse for wear (I wonder if it still glows?)

Another fun commercial:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SdZc9cl9fMg&feature=related

And what daughter of the 80's could be without the Barbie and the Rockers doll?  Rock stars were such a huge part of the 80's entertainment culture, they couldn't help but come out with a Barbie to reflect that.  I'm not sure which I loved better - the Barbie with her awesomely 80's duds or the super cool cassette tape that came with the doll, with it's totally awesome Barbie rock songs that my sisters and I jammed out to on a regular basis.  I still have the doll and all of her original clothing, but alas, the tape is long gone - how sad.

Okay, last commerical (hey, they are only like 30 seconds long):
http://www.youtube.com/embed/GbxPlKY_hmY

When Maria was a three year old, someone brought the subject up of giving her her first Barbie.  And me, the lover of all things Barbie as a child, found myself suddenly unsure of how I felt about that.  I mean, as a grown, well-educated adult, I knew all the controversy surrounding the dolls amongst the feminist crowd, all the arguments against it's play value.  The doll was too sexual, it objectified women, encouraged vanity and frivolity, and focused on all the wrong attributes when it came to beauty (um 42DDs, anyone?).  And as the mother of a brunette, I wondered, did I want to send the message via Barbie that blonde is beautiful? (I know there are brunette versions, but let's face it, most of them are blonde).  Would I be a bad mother if I let her play with Barbies?  Would I be scarring her for life?  Or would I be an overreactive equally bad mother if I refused to let her own any?  And what would I do if someone else gave her one, like a friend at a birthday party - take it away and tell her it was for her own good?  Did I feel damaged from playing with them?  Is that where some of my body issues came from?  Or was I just overthinking the whole thing?  Sigh.  I just couldn't figure it out, and at the end of the day thought - "aw, just let her play with the dang things".  And I have.  I decided it was not a battle that I wanted to engage in (there would be plenty of others that were more important to me - like overuse of video games, and really offensive dolls like the Bratz series).  And it's a good thing, because she was given about 3 of them over the next six months, and then 3-4 more over the next few years.  I felt like it was okay for her to play with them, and she doesn't seemed obsessed at all with being blonde as a result. :)

Fast forward a couple of years.  I was in Walmart with Maria at Christmastime this past December, when I saw this vintage doll sitting amongst all of the new Barbies on the shelves:

"Oh my gosh, Peaches and Cream Barbie!!!", I screamed out loud (okay, not really screamed, but more exclaimed in disbelief).  For a moment, I was six years old again - staring at a doll with a huge smile across my face.  I showed it to Maria, and told her about the one that I had when I was little.  "She's so pretty", said Maria.  "Yeah, I know", I said, and I felt for a moment like we were both two young girls, staring at the pretty Barbie.  I happened to glance down at the price tag, just cuz I was curious... "50 DOLLARS?!!!", I yelled out.  "Hmph - not that prettty."  And we moved on.

Maria told Lou about the doll as soon as we got home, and I later heard her begging him to buy it for "me" (I'm sure that she wasn't thinking of herself at all - haha).  When she told Lou the price he laughed out loud and said "yeah, right".  I came into the living room and assured Maria that I did not need a Barbie for Christmas.  I had received all the Barbies that I would ever need when I was a kid, had enjoyed them plenty, and that was enough.  I mean, what would I do with a doll at 31 years old?

Well Lou, having the sense of humor (and nostalgia) that he does, gave me the ultimate shocker when I opened this on Christmas morning:

My jaw dropped, and I just sat there staring at it for a minute.  For one second, I had that moment of childhood come back - "Peaches and Cream Barbie - she's mine, all mine!!  Look how pretty she is...", and then suddenly my adult self kicked in and thought "he paid 50 bucks for a doll for his wife?  Is this guy off his rocker?  What the heck was he thinking?!!!".  Lou knows me soooo well, and was quick to explain (before I could even say a word) that he had gotten this doll for a great bargain (about half the retail price) from a woman in California, and I suddenly breathed a little easier.

And then I just had to laugh and enjoy the fact that my husband wanted to bring a little bit of my childhood, one slice of a memory of when I was a little girl, back to me.  And that, to me, was priceless.  We both know I'm not going to take her out and do her hair and carry her around the house and fix her up for a date with Ken.  But...there was something really neat about getting that doll for Christmas.  It was Lou acknowledging the girly girl part of me (a VERY big part of me when I was little).  It was my husband doing something crazy and silly and frivolous just for nostalgia's sake - just to give me a shocker and a cheap thrill on Christmas morning.  And then him reassuring me that he got it for a steal?  Well, that was just the icing on the cake.  Wow, that man knows me...and loves me. :) 

And because of that, this was my favorite gift of all. 

And you have to admit, she really does look fabulous... ;)

Happy Thanksgiving! (make sure you read the subtitles on the slideshow - enjoy!)

This digital slideshow generated with Smilebox

I just can't help myself...

I am super excited about this.  I don't care if it makes me a dork.  I don't care if it makes me a cliche Mormon LDS chick (hey, lots of Non-LDS people like it too, right?).  I cannot WAIT to go see it! 

Wanna see how dorky I am?  My good friend Linda bought us matching Twilight shirts as a gag gift a year and a half ago (here we are modeling them).  She meant it as a gag...

...but I WORE mine to go see Eclipse.  Yeah, that's right.  I wore a Twlight shirt to one of the Twilight movies.  I am that girl.  No, I don't have any fan magazines about the movies, I don't own any Twlight dolls (I have to laugh at those things), and I don't have any of that ridiculous "Cullen family crest" paraphanalia that was floating around a couple of years ago.  I think all that stuff is ridiculous.  BUT I do love the series, just the same, and I believe in being silly from time to time to keep myself young.  This t-shirt was the perfect opportunity.  I wore it proudly. ;)

 Wanna see something even funnier?  Our husbands put them on as a joke and let us take pictures.  It was awesome.

 Hee hee...

I love that we both are married to guys who aren't afraid to be silly.  And yes, Lou is a fan of the series, too (even though he said he would NEVER watch those "dumb movies" - haha, Lou, never say never!).

Breaking Dawn comes out in nine days - woo hoo!!!


P.S.  I am an Edward fan - it's really the obvious choice. ;)

A day in the life of a little boy...

Edward is 2! 

His birthday was yesterday.  It was a beautiful fall day (sunny and in the mid-70's!), full of the rich colors of autumn and lots of sunshine.  We took advantage it and had a family BBQ at Clarks Reservation.

Do you see all the cars on the table? It seemed to be the unspoken theme of the day. Everyone in our family knows that Edward is into cars and trucks, big time.

His "cake" was actually a giant chocolate chip cookie. He's not a big cake eater, so I decided to make the giant cookie instead, since cookies are his favorite dessert. It turned out really good!

It was a great day - great party, great food, great company, great gifts. What more can you ask for?

So, in honor of my baby boy's birthday, I thought I would do a line of photos that show you what Edward is all about.  He makes me crazy on a daily basis, but oh, how I love that little boy anyway...

"I'm big - don't believe me? Watch me mow this lawn"

Splashing in puddles is one of his favorite pasttimes.

"It's important to wear at least HALF of your food."

Nothing beats making a big ole' mess for Mom to clean up. This is powdered sugar. When I came in, he was sticking his fingers in it and licking them over and over.

He spent a lot of time this summer playing with this car - not so much riding in it, but pushing it instead. He also loves to push his own stroller around, and our little toy strollers. If it's got wheels, he's pushin' it.

He's a brute - he likes to show how strong he is by picking up big stuff and knocking it over. Show off. :)

He gets himself into a lot of trouble. See the bandage on the arm? That's from a bad run-in with the grill. He burned about a third of the side of his arm.

"Here's a good rule - after you are done pouring orange juice in your cereal bowl and all over the table..."

"...make sure you put the cap back on - that's important."

"Oh, and when you have finished dumping black raspberries all over the kitchen floor (hard to see on the dark floor, but they are EVERYWHERE in front of him), use the container as a hat. It will make Mom laugh and forgive you."

He loves hanging out with Mama...

...and Daddy, too (maybe Daddy a bit more)

"I make these look good. Tom Cruise aint got nothin' on me."

He loves milk - especially chocolate almond milk. 

This face is what we lovingly call the "Eddie Scowl"  He makes this face a lot.

He's secure in his manhood - he has no problem sporting his sister's pink boots.

 

He loves to climb trees, and play with rocks and dirt - yep, he's a boy all right.

He LOVES to walk the dog. Here he is trying to untie her at his birthday party.

...aaaaaand they're off!

Trucks are his passion right now. He like all things with wheels - cars, planes and trains, too, but trucks are his favorite, and the bigger, the better.

 

He cleans up good!

Well, sort of - he's still a 2-year-old, after all. :)

So that's our Edward - rough and tumble, mess-making, outdoor playing, truck lovin' little boy.  He's added a whole new element to our family after two girls, and we love it.

Happy Birthday, Edward!

Cool as a cucumber...sandwich

I had book group earlier this week.  We read Austenland - adorable book, by the way - (thanks, CD for the recommendation!) - and since it takes place mostly in Regency England, I thought it only fitting that the food match the occasion.  So we had tea and cookies - I love themes like this, so I was all excited. A friend of mine suggested adding cucumber sandwiches to the menu (second shout-out, CD!), and I thought this was a terrrific idea.

Up until this occasion, I had only had cucumber sandwiches once in my life (this is shout-out #3 to CD:), and they were really yummy (made on white bread with creme fraiche), but I wondered what an actual authentic English cucumber sandwich was made of - so I googled it.

After some searching, I came upon a blog where a couple of fellows had already been down this road and done all my researching for me - sweet.  The basic recipe is pretty easy - white bread (crusts removed), cucumbers (skins removed), and butter.  But there are a couple of tips to make them a bit more tasty.  If you click here , you will find 2 fabulous recipes for authentic English cucumber sandwiches.  The first recipe was more mild tasting (that's the one my girls liked better), and the second has a bit of a saltier taste (the one that I like a bit better) - they are both very VERY yummy.  I actually kind of fell in love with them - it must be the English in me. :)

Here's the pics of my cute little sandwiches:

This is the more mild of the two.

C'mon, they're cute, right?  Little finger sandwiches - love it.

These are the saltier version, cut into triangles so I could tell which recipe was which.  I served both at the party.  One of my guest said that the triangles were better because all sandwiches cut into triangles are yummier.  I don't know about that, but they were quite delicious, and a big hit at book group.  Not one sandwich was left at the end of the night, and I made quite a few.  I love these sandwiches because they are so light and cool and refreshing.  The perfect little light something to go with tea.  I was so excited to be serving food like this - so many times I had pretend tea parties when I was a little girl - now I was actually doing it!

I do have some tips for making these sandwiches that I learned while making them, but I won't bore you all with the details here - if you ever have the inkling to make these, email or FB me and I'll share the tips I learned along the way.

Anyhow, back to the party.  Of course we had to have cookies, too.  I made three kinds - mini pecan-caramel tarts, pepper-lemon cookies (no, not made from the stuff you put on chicken...), and cinnamon strips.

The pepper lemon cookies have a marvelous crumbly texture, thanks to the cornmeal and pepper, and a big lemon taste, thanks to the 1/4 cup of lemon zest in them.

The cinnamon strips are topped with chopped walnuts, and have a terrific chewy texture to them, a nice contrast to the lemon cookies.

The pecan-caramel tarts are not pictured here because what little were left after the party, my husband and kids finished off the next morning.  They were a huge hit, but I will tell you, I don't see myself making them again - a HUGE pain in the butt, and all of them stuck to the pan and were a nightmare to get out.  They didn't look too pretty when they were out of their tins, but man, were they ever tasty.  Hence why there are none left.

Do you know what this is a picture of?  Tea and crumpets.  That's right - I can officially say that I served tea and crumpets, and I for some reason find that absolutely hilarious. 

The day before the party, Lou asked what I was serving, and I told him herbal tea and cookies and cucumber sandwiches.  He asked, teasingly, "Are you serving crumpets?".  I looked at him, rolled my eyes, and replied that no, we would not be having crumpets.  I didn't even know what the heck a crumpet was.  "No crumpets with your tea?!  This party's gonna suck."  He said this tongue in cheek, of course - we laughed and I blew it off.

Well, lo and behold, I was in the grocery store later that morning, and was perusing the British section of their international isle (gotta love Wegmans), and saw a package of crumpets.  I laughed out loud, and put them in my cart.  It was meant to be. 

As I mentioned earlier, before this occasion, I didn't even know what a crumpet was.  They are quite tasty.  Kind of a cross between an English muffin and a pancake.  Quite nice, really.  You are supposed to toast them, and serve them with honey or jam.  So that's what I did.

And here they are - crumpets.  The one on the left has honey on it, and raspberry jam on the right.  If you ever have a chance to buy them - do it!  They're kind of neat.  And if you have them with tea, then you, too, will be able to say that you've had tea and crumpets.  And then you will be happy, just like me. :)

Here's to cucumber sandwiches and crumpets and all things new!

What do I DO with all these tomatoes?!

We do a garden every year - correction - Lou does a garden every year.  I just pick the fruits of his labors and enjoy them. 

Anyhow, anyone who has ever grown tomatoes has probably experienced having waaaay too many and trying to find ways to use them.  I've sauteed them with garlic and olive oil and basil and put them over pasta (sooo good).  I've made bruschetta with them, I've baked them with roasted chicken, I've used them to make Gazpacho, and I've canned TONS of salsa (as in, 14 quarts worth).  I'm not a big fan of canning tomatoes (don't know why, I just don't like doing it), and I don't eat them raw (yuck - I want to like them raw, I just can't), so I was trying to find a new way to use the many that we have leftover.

I got an idea from an article in the newspaper - roast them.
This, my friends, has changed my life. :)

It is sooooo easy and the results are mouth-watering.  It intensifies the flavor of the tomatoes and make them super yummy.  You need only three ingredients:  tomatoes, olive oil, and basil (fresh or dried - it doesn't matter for this recipe).

1.  Preheat your oven to 350-degrees.

2.  Get out a 9x13 glass baking pan (I wouldn't use metal - I think it might do weird stuff with the tomato acid), or an 11x6 or 8x8 or whatever, depending on how many tomatoes you have.

3.  Get out a whole bunch of tomatoes and wash them.

4.  Core and seed the tomatoes (but leave the skins on!), then cut them in half.  For beefsteak tomatoes, cut the in half horizontally, for plum tomatoes (which is what we grow), cut them in half vertically, so you have two oblong shaped halves.  Place tomatoes in the glass baking dish as you go until it is full.

5.  Drizzle 1/4-1/2 cup olive oil  over the tomatoes (I don't even measure it - I just drizzle it over generously till I think it looks good).

6.  Sprinkle with basil as desired.  (I don't have a measurement for this one - just eyeball it).  Like I said earlier, you can used fresh minced or dried.  I've used both, and honestly, with this recipe, I don't see much of a difference.

7.  Put in the oven for 30 minutes.  Then lower the temperature to 300-degrees and roast for 30-60 more minutes (it depends on the size of the tomatoes), or until the tomatoes start to collapse.

8.  Eat right away, or put them in the fridge (with the oil!), or you can even freeze them for later use (again, keep them in some of their oil to do this).

Here's what they end up looking like:

 

What, you may ask, would I do with roasted tomatoes?  The possibilites are endless, but here are a few suggestions that I've done with them:

1.  Put them on pizza (warmed up, preferably)

2.  Put them on an egg sandwich with some mozzerella (I swear to you, this is good).

3.  Put them on some Italian bread, a toasted english muffin or whole-wheat toast for a snack (simple, but very tasty)

4.  Top grilled or baked chicken with them

5.  Chop up a bunch of these, and toss them with some pasta (I think they would work well with bow-tie), along with the olive oil you roasted them in.  Serve with grated parmesan cheese.

6.  Make a sandwich with them (one of my favorite options)

• Whole wheat toast, roasted tomatoes and slices of mozzerella
•  Whole wheat toast (or untoasted - I just have a thing for toasted sandwiches) with mozzerella melted onto one slice, roasted tomatoes, turkey (roasted OR deli-style) and lettuce.  If you have one of those fancy panini thingys you could make a yummy panini-style sandwich with these ingredients. 

Here's a pic of a sandwich I made with them:

It's kind of hard to see the melted mozzerella, but it's in there, and oh, it is good...

I forgot to put the turkey on before I took the picture, but oh well - just pretend it's there.  Oh, and I burned the toast a little bit - don't do that.

P.S.  The olive oil that these are roasted in should NOT be discarded!!  It becomes infused with tomato flavor as they roast, and becomes tomato-flavored olive oil - delicious!!  Not only should you store the tomatoes in some so they don't dry out, you can use the extra oil to:

1.  Dip Italian or French bread in

2.  Mix with Balsamic Viniagrette for a simple but tasty home-made salad dressing

Here - have one last look if you still need convincing:

Mmmmmm...roasted tomato goodness.  You WANT these in your life - trust me.  It's a quick and easy way to use up all those extra tomatoes from your garden that you don't know what else to do with, and they can be enjoyed in so many ways!  So go, give 'em a try - you won't regret it. :)