Monthly Archives: October 2011

Rookie mom mistake: Make sure the costume fits

Posted in Friends, I'm Still Learning, Monkey, Parenting by

Back in September, I ordered my son’s Halloween costume. I even ordered it a size bigger than what he was wearing at the time. When it arrived, he tried it on and it was just a bit baggy. Perfect.

Fast forward to tonight, thirty minutes before we’re about to leave for trick or treating, and my husband is trying in vain to dress our 15-month old into an 18-24 month costume. It was not unlike stuffing a sausage. Thanks, random growth spurt.

The kid was a good sport about it and didn’t seem to mind the wedgie/melvin combination he had going on.

We headed out to beg for candy with some friends of ours a couple of towns over, where Monkey and his betrothed hung out in the wagon while the rest of us hoofed it from cul de sac to cul de sac.

We ended up at a fun Halloween block party where a makeup artist expertly painted faces to go with the costumes. They handed out glow necklaces, candy and drinks, and I even got to judge a costume contest.

Of course we had to disqualify the gnome.

But! Our neighbor who came along with us and one of our friends’ kids won. I swear it wasn’t rigged.

Despite his snug costume, my kiddo remained in a good mood throughout the festivities and charmed the entire neighborhood. When we got to one house, the sweet lady who answered the door exclaimed, “Oh, the gnome! I heard about him!”

Yeah, he’s kind of a big deal. Don’t tell him though.

Monday Meals: Italian Wedding Soup

Posted in Noms by

I’ll be honest, I’d never heard of this until I found a recipe while FoodGawking one day. When I expressed my utter joy in having discovered such a fantastic food, everyone laughed at me like I’d just discovered Google or something.

Perhaps your mom/grandma/Aunt Gus makes this, or maybe that café on the corner serves it for Tuesday lunch and you’ve already been there, done that.

But if you haven’t! Oh my. Give this a try. The key here is to layer the flavors, so be sure and take enough time between each step for the tastes to meld. I’ve simplified the recipe quite a bit, so if you’d like to make it more authentic, use your favorite meatball recipe.

Italian Wedding Soup

16 oz frozen Italian-style meatballs
2 tablespoons EVOO
1 cup minced onion
1 cup diced carrots
1 cup diced celery
8 cups chicken stock (can use Better than Bouillon to make this)
1 cup orzo
10 oz ounces baby spinach, washed and trimmed
salt and pepper, to taste

In a large Dutch oven or soup pot over medium heat, heat the olive oil. Sauté the onion, carrots and celery until the onion is transparent.

Add the chicken stock and bring to a boil. Add the pasta and meatballs, return to a boil, and cook until the pasta is soft, about ten minutes. Taste the broth and adjust the seasoning to your liking with salt and pepper. Add the spinach and simmer for a couple of minutes more.

Serve with Parmesan, if desired.

Rookie mom mistake: Sending mixed signals

Posted in I'm Still Learning, Monkey, Parenting by

When football season began, my husband and I taught our son to throw up his arms and yell “touchdown.”

It didn’t really come in handy for the first few games because the Chiefs forgot how to actually score one.

Lately things have been looking up for our home team and so, each Sunday afternoon, our little guy runs around the house yelling, “Tadow, tadow,” and waving his arms about.

He’s also begun doing it when someone says, “YAY!”

It’s cute and we all clap. Of course we do.

All this adorable monkey business has coincided with the beginning of potty training. It wasn’t something we set out to do this early, but we noticed that every time our son needed to take the Browns to the Superbowl he would go over to the Bumbo, squat in it, and do his business.

Several people suggested that maybe he was ready to try the potty and we mentioned that to my grandfather, who made this:

How awesome is that thing? It has a magazine rack and a toilet paper holder. I’d sit on it if my butt would fit!

Anyway, today my son went over to it and began to grunt. Before I could get to him though, he already dropped a deuce in his pants.

I wanted to praise him for at least going over to the potty, so I said, “YAY, you pooped!”

He was very proud.

So proud, in fact, that he threw his hands up and said, “Tadow! TADOW!”

My husband was less than thrilled at this.

“Our kid is going to be the only player on his football team who, when the officials signal touchdown, goes over into the corner and takes a shit,” he lamented.

“I can just see it now,” he continued. “Unsportsmanlike conduct, excessive celebration, fifteen yard penalty and we’re gonna need a pooper scooper out here.”


Sweet smoky rack of pork and $25 Costco cash giveaway

Posted in Noms, Product Reviews & Giveaways by

On Monday I shared with you my desire to dethrone my uncle as the head of the family smokehouse, and gave you a sneak peak into my plan. With the help of a gorgeous rack of pork from Costco and a little advice from my friends, I think I might have a chance.

I also promised an opportunity to win some Costco cash, and we’ll get to that in a bit. But first, let’s talk turkey about pork.

For everyday dinners, a pork tenderloin is a great idea. When you’re looking for an impressive presentation though, a rack of pork is hard to beat. Even better, if you can find one large enough to “crown,” you’ve got even more options.

The rack I purchased was right at five pounds and a little too short to crown, so I decided to focus on a sweet flavor and smoke it instead of roast it.

First, we brined it.

Brine:
1 cup apple cider vinegar
1/3 cup kosher salt
1/3 cup brown sugar
2 tbsp black peppercorns

Warm over medium heat until salt and sugar are dissolved. Cool. Soak pork for 12-24 hours. Rinse, pat dry.

Then we gave it a rub.

Rub:
2 cups brown sugar
½ cup white sugar
1 tbsp cinnamon
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp white pepper
1 tsp ginger
1 tsp nutmeg

Combine ingredients, making sure there are no clumps. Press into meat, completely covering it.

Then we smoked it!

Smoke:
We used an upright Brinkman smoker. After creating a hot ring of coals at the bottom, we placed well-soaked chips of applewood inside the ring. We smoked the rack at 250 for five hours, occasionally basting with a mixture of apple juice and melted butter, then finished it in the oven at 265 for one hour. Be sure to let your meat rest for 15-20 minutes.

We ended up with a seriously juicy cut of meat that was quite tender. Served with mashed potatoes, asparagus and a spinach salad, it was a beautiful meal that would have been perfect for a holiday dinner party.

It was suggested by a semi-professional carnivore (our friend Todd, who is well-versed in the art of smoked meats) that some extra time and heavier smoke would be appreciated. If you’re a smoke newbie, you’ll probably be ok with an hour per pound. If you’re a little more experienced, you’ll most likely appreciate a little darker end result. Increase your time to 90 minutes per pound to start, and play it by ear.

Remember, the USDA reduced the temperature guideline for pork loins, chops and roasts from 160 to 145 degrees F, with a three-minute rest. This will yield a juicy, flavorful product that may be pinker in color than most of us home cooks are used to. Ground pork, like all ground meat, should still be cooked to 160 degrees.

As far as party ideas for the season – since I went with a sweet, apple-based flavor for this rack, I would choose an apple stuffing and a harvest décor, and maybe even tuck nametags into cinnamon sticks for place holders.

For a warmer season, I might go with a spicy mustard rub and serve potato salad and beans on a checkered tablecloth.

Pork is a great template for all kinds of flavor themes, and I encourage you to be adventurous once in awhile and see where your imagination takes you. It’s always a fun surprise when something new turns out to be a family favorite.

To bolster your confidence in the kitchen (or on the patio) a bit, I’d like to offer you a chance to win $25 in Costco cash in the form of a Costco gift card. To enter, please leave a comment telling me something new you’d like to try in the kitchen for the holidays.

Please be sure your email address is entered in the correct box before you comment.

Entries will be accepted until Thursday, November third at noon CST. The randomly chosen winner will be contacted by email.

UPDATE: The winner of the $25 Costco cash card is…

#19, Kimberly!

Thank you all for your participation!

I was selected by The National Pork Board and Costco to participate in this sponsored recipe program through The Motherhood. While I have been compensated for my time and expenses, all opinions are my own. As if you doubted that.

I’m riding a carousel and a roller coaster at the same time

Posted in I'm Still Learning by

Sometimes it seems like my entire life is one repeated cycle.

Things are good. Things get bad. Things get crazy. HUGE UPHEAVAL AND MASSIVE CHANGE. Things are better than ever.

And over again.

For instance? In 2003, I graduated college and got married! Good!

Then my husband was suddenly sent to Iraq. Bad.

Then there was a hurricane. Crazy.

Then my husband returned, we got divorced, and I left the journalism field to become a math teacher. HUGE UPHEAVAL AND MASSIVE CHANGE.

And I figured out I was meant to be a teacher. And I met and married my best friend, future baby daddy and nightly foot-cuddler. Better than ever.

Guess what happened next?

We got pregnant. Good.

We had a miscarriage. Bad.

We had another hurricane. Crazy.

We lost everything to that hurricane and had to start over from scratch, so we moved 739 miles away to Kansas City. HUGE UPHEAVAL AND MASSIVE CHANGE.

And we ended up creating a pretty cool mini-version of ourselves with big dimples and sparkly blue eyes, began attending church again, became involved in our called areas of service, made lots of great friends and I started blogging. Better than ever.

So began the cycle again, and I’m a little nervous because I know what’s coming. We’ve experienced some more good – a nice calm year with nothing huge. We’ve dealt with some bad – ending a relationship with someone who was a negative force in our lives. Then things threatened to get crazy, but we managed to put the kibosh on that nonsense and took a different path.

And now? Now we’re looking at HUGE UPHEAVAL AND MASSIVE CHANGE. And I think I’m ready for it, because I know it’s followed by Better than ever. Also, I have a bit of time to adjust to the change because I know it’s coming, and I know we’re facing it together, which always lessens the stress.

Anyway, I’m asking for your thoughts and prayers, blog friends. We’re fine, there’s nothing wrong, but I know I’m looking at a few months of deep breaths and possibly Xanax until everything settles back down.

I’m glad you’re here with me.

Monday Meals: Be inspired!

Posted in Noms, Product Reviews & Giveaways by

One of the best things about visiting my family is the food. There’s some serious culinary talent in my genes, from my uncle’s gift in the smokehouse to my aunt’s fancy ways with dessert. My mama can cook a mean gumbo, my grandmother makes a shrimp and rice dish that is always requested at parties and my sister does this thing with black eyed peas that often sends me to the fridge late at night hoping for leftovers.

But my favorite meal – the one I have to eat every time I head down south – is pork roast, rice and gravy. Just about every woman in my family (and even some of the men) can make a mean pork roast. Juicy, flavorful and always tender, it’s easy to get from fridge to table and a perpetual pleaser.

Sometimes, though, we’d like to clean up and set a fancier table. You know, push the paper plates to the back of the cabinet and break out the good Chinet. Maybe all sit around the table instead of running by it at mach speed in an effort to snag the good chair in the living room.

At previous family holiday parties, we’ve roasted some lamb, braised some beef and grilled some shrimp. Usually it’s an older family member who expertly prepares the main course, and it’s all been fantastic, but this year?

This year I’m going to brine and smoke a gorgeous rack of pork.

That’s right. I’m gonna soak it overnight in a sweet and salty brine, smoke it all morning over applewood chips and look for the glint of jealousy in my uncle’s eye.

You’re not the only Brown progeny that can smoke a chunk of meat sir. Oh no. Baby girl has paid attention. See my brisket breakthrough. Be ready.

But of course I’m going to need a practice run before I go for the gold, and thanks to the folks at Costco, I’ve got a gorgeous rack of pork sitting in the fridge.

All month long, in honor of National Pork Month, Costco has offered deals of different cuts of pork to customers who want to be inspired. This week, October 24 through October 31, you can get $2.50 off a rack of pork.

I spent some time researching here about what I could do with this particular cut of meat, and I also learned that the USDA reduced the temperature guideline for pork loins, chops and roasts from 160 to 145 degrees F, with a three-minute rest. (Ground pork, like all ground meat, should be cooked to 160 degrees.)

I think I’m ready for my trial run and later this week I’ll share my recipe with you as well as offer you a chance to win $25 in Costco cash!

If you’re inspired and want to learn more in the meantime, check out the Pork Be Inspired site or search the hashtag #CostcoPork on Twitter for great ideas and tips.

This compensated post was written as part of a blogger campaign with Costco, the National Pork Board and The Motherhood. All opinions expressed are my own. Like you doubted that.

Back to life, back to reality

Posted in Monkey, Really long posts by

Hey, did you miss me?

Anyone?

Hello?

Well, just in case you did notice I was gone for this whole last week (and even if you didn’t, it’s ok – just lie to me) I figured it was time to get back to posting and fill you in on our little vacation.

Originally, I was going to fly to Texas by myself for one day to attend a baby shower for one of my oldest, nearest and dearest pals, maybe stop in at the annual Lions Club Carnival and then fly right on back.

Somehow, that turned into hauling the whole fam damily plus the wiener dog 14 hours down the road through the night to arrive in Texas on Friday morning just in time for eggs and bacon at my grandmother’s house.

It’s easier to do it that way because the kiddo sleeps the whole way, but when we arrived he was awake and we were done for.

My husband immediately passed out in the den, and I tried to keep one eye open for the next three hours until I could talk the toddler into a nap.

After 26 hours of consciousness, that three-hour nap was a most spectacularly welcome slumber and I awoke ready to get my carnival grub on.

Hubs claimed to never have been to a small-town carnival before, muttering things about carnies, small hands and cabbage odors, but we won him over with funnel cakes, pork kabobs and the assurance that this particular carnival actually contained no carnies, as it was run by the Lions Club members.

(Shout out to the Orange Lions Club – you guys always do such a great job! Also, kudos to the Orange Police Department who had teams stationed every few feet and kept everything family friendly. I was very impressed.)

Aside from the unwelcome advances of the overly aggressive and apparently famished swarms of mosquitoes, we had a fantastic time at the carnival. I enjoyed watching my older nephews shriek with delight at the same rides I rode some fifteen years ago.

It was also sweet to see my husband and sister chatting each other up. They’re great at ganging up on me too, so that’s fun. My sister is definitely a handful, but her brother in law thinks she’s a riot, and he sure adores her kids.

My son and my sister’s youngest are six weeks apart, and this was the first carnival and the first cotton candy for both of them. While my baby nephew scarfed it right up, my kid was less than thrilled at the sticky stuff. He was, however, pissed that we only saved him a few bites of pork kabob.

The differences between the two boys were also abundantly made clear when we put them on the carousel. My nephew was cool with it, but of course my kid freaked out. He’s got his mama’s distaste for thrill rides I guess. Assuming you can call a trip in a circle at 2 miles an hour a thrill ride.

The next day I hauled out to the country to my girl Kaycie’s house for the baby shower. Kaycie has a gorgeous piece of land and a spectacular home, so it’s always a great place for parties.

But sometimes I wonder if Kaycie and The Bloggess are friends, because they both have way too many dead animals as decorations.

Anyway, dead things aside, it’s also a great place to shoot some belly pics!

Look. At. That. BELLY.

I introduced the soon-to-be parents a few years ago – tricked them into meeting, actually. It’s awesome to see them so happy and…productive.

The shower was actually a lot of fun, which is strange because I normally dislike them. Seeing all my girls again in one place, all loud and silly, well – it made me wonder if I was still ok with living so far away. I miss these women all the time, and who wouldn’t? They are clearly fabulous.

My mom got an opportunity to show off her amazing genealogy scrapbooks while we were there, and Monkey enjoyed eight seconds on a fairly docile pony.

Oh, and I made these mini won ton lasagnas for the shower, which I found on Pinterest and just love. The next time you need a finger food, try this. There were zero leftovers.

They’re super easy to make – just brown a pound of ground beef, stir in half a jar of your favorite pasta sauce, a palmful of Italian seasoning and 8 ounces of ricotta. Spray a mini muffin tin with cooking spray and line each cup with a won ton wrapper. Spoon in the meat, cover with a little bit more sauce from the jar, some mozzarella, perhaps a dash of parsley, and bake at 350 for 12 minutes.

After the shower, we got together that evening with a few friends of ours for a fun, adults-only kind of evening, spent that Sunday and Monday cooking, eating and hanging with family, and then?

Then the puking started.

Monkey and I caught a terrible, awful, no-good, very bad stomach bug. One that made up in ferocity what it lacked in stamina. One that went away as soon as you yacked up the entire contents of your stomach, which was great for the kid who has always been an easy gagger, but awful for me who hates to throw up more than anything in the whole world and spent the entire day doing everything in my power not to.

I was delirious most of the time and in and out of consciousness but I do remember some talk about Phenergan, and I got all excited until it was presented to me in suppository form.

Did I? Oh you betcha. Remember, there’s nothing I hate more than puking. Not even slippery, refrigerated butt capsules.

Finally around 4 that afternoon nothing else was working so I conceded defeat and gave the ole’ heave ho, so to speak.

You know the worst thing about being an adult? Cleaning up your own puke.

Out of a shower.

With small drain holes.

Since the kiddo and I were feeling pretty good the next morning, we all packed back into the car to head home. Somewhere along the way, my husband came down with what we assume was the same bug with a slightly different…plan of exit.

He was a total trooper though, and made it all the way back to Kansas City with minimal moaning and gut clutching. Given the tendency of most men to fall useless when afflicted with a common cold, I was pretty darn proud of him.

Anyway, now it’s back to business as usual and I look forward to catching up with all I’ve missed around the neighborhood as well as around the interwebs.

It’s good to be home.

Let’s go visiting!

Posted in Friends by

Hey y’all! I’m on my way to Texas this evening. Fourteen hours in a car with a husband, a kid and a wiener dog.

You’re so jealous, right?

Well, I have a way you can go visit a few interesting people too without spending an entire day squished together in a small car.

Go visit some of these folks and tell them howdy! (Or hi, you know, if howdy just isn’t your thing.) Tell ‘em Mamamash sent ya.

Rach @ Life With Baby Donut 

Jen @ Jen Has A Pen

Jaime @ Chosen Chaos

Leigh Ann @ Genie in a Blog

Alison @ Life, Simply Lived

Denae @ New Mom Survival Adventure

Kristi @ The Robot Mommy

Dianna @ Life is Too Short To Blend In

Desi @ The Valentine 4

Sarah @ The Fence

Also, if you want, leave a comment telling us about a blog buddy you think deserves a visit this weekend.

My least favorite first

Posted in I'm Still Learning, Monkey by

There was a moment during my 32-week ultrasound, after the tech had finished scaring the crap out of me by telling me my son’s entire body was measuring 39 weeks and she expected me to birth a 12-pound behemoth, where we all sat around and marveled at the amount of hair he already had.

It waved around in the amniotic fluid like seaweed, and she estimated it to be an inch long at the time.

When my large-but-normal-sized baby was born seven weeks and five days later, he was indeed sporting some long locks. They were a gorgeous, fiery red and we spent hours teasing them into mohawks and such.

When he was three months old, most of that lovely hair fell out. I was a little sad.

But he was still cute.

Through that brief period of baldness, the red mohawk transformed into strawberry-blonde highlights and wispy curls on a head full of cowlicks.

My bald husband decided we wouldn’t cut it until the baby was old enough to ask us to. Citing cultural traditions (of cultures to which we do not belong) he railed at me any time I threatened to snip our son’s bangs so he could see.

Then one day, the cable guy told me I had a beautiful daughter.

I gleefully mentioned this to my husband and then waited for our toddler’s first haircut to be Daddy’s idea.

Last week, it finally happened.

We strolled into a kids’ salon, decked out in chairs that looked like luxury vehicles where the stylists referred to themselves as “Miss So and So” and chirped pleasantly.

As Aunt Jan and Dad looked on, I tried to distract my little boy while the stylist darted in and out with sharp, deadly objects in an attempt to shape his wooly mane into something that didn’t resemble a ratted-out merkin.

I failed and then the tears began. His, not mine, although I felt like a monster, subjecting my kid to a feature-altering experience all in the name of style.

We put Yo Gabba Gabba on the television. He’d never seen it, and stared curiously for about a minute before resuming his attempts to flee the little yellow Hummer in which he was strapped.

Then the genius angel goddess named Miss Amber who was inflicting the snippy torture came up with a brilliant idea and gave my baby a sucker.
His first candy and his first haircut, all in the same moment. This was just all moving entirely too fast. He looked – oh, I don’t know – seven or eight sitting there sucking away at his blue raspberry Dum Dum, checking out the cute girl across the room who was getting her bangs trimmed.

Miss Amber finished up and took a few more photos for the memory book, gave us several bags of hair as keepsakes and sent us on our way.

Later, watching my boy run around the park, I began to miss my mop head. His bangs are entirely too short now, and every time I run my hand through his hair it feels so foreign and grown up I almost want to cry.

It doesn’t stop though, does it? From here on out it’s nothing but changes as my baby turns into a man.

And I’m happy about that, because I have huge hopes for him. But I’m still probably going to take out my little plastic bag of baby hair from time to time and mourn how short babyhood is.