Lexical Light

Coffee Cup Koozie

A few weeks ago I was trying to figure out how to make a Koozie for my coffee (tea) cup. Today, I found that Starbucks has one, but it comes with the mug.

From Cheez Its to Buckwheat?

I "jumped on my blog to do a quick post" and ended up researching Cheez Its and Buckwheat. How? It started out as a way to settle a disagreement with my 10 yr. old daughter.

Yesterday, on the way home from school, we somehow ended up talking about school snacks. She said the bags of small Cheez It crackers are called Gritz. I said they are Gripz. (Apparently she has no confidence in my knowledge of snack food and marketing.) We were at an impasse that could only be settled by physical evidence. Being the grown up, and actually acting like it, I diffused the situation saying, "Well have to wait to settle this." 

"Go to the store and buy me some Gritz to prove me wrong, " she said. 

"Ok, I'll buy you some grits," I countered, smiling at the thought of giving her this:

Since I made it to the computer before the store I figured I'd just look it up online. 

The Cheez It snacks are called Gripz. (The z makes them cool.) Sweet, sweet victory! However, being the conscientious person I am, I googled Gritz just to be sure. No snacks showed up in the results. (Hmmm...is there a market for portable grits? Grits bars?)

Thinking of grits called to mind other hot cereal names, some of which also happened to be Little Rascals characters. I had to check the Rascals Wikipedia page for more cereal themed characters. (There are none.)

That lead to reading about Buckwheat. 

So, here I am basking in the glow of being right, smiling at the memories of the Little Rascals and laughing about Buhwheat from SNL. I even got some writing done, and the blogosphere got this fabulous post. 

Berrylicious Oatmeal

You won't find many recipes on my blog. (Insert your own joke here.) All the more reason for me to share my favorites.  This year's addition: Berrylicious Oatmeal.  Yum. Basically it's Quaker Old Fashioned oats w/frozen fruit added. It's a bit like eating cobbler - kind of. It's close enough that it makes me happy each morning.

This is what I do most mornings:

1/2 c. dry Quaker Oatmeal (Old fashioned - not the nasty one-minute version. Sorry, Sandy.)

1 c. water

4 packs Splenda

a bit o'butter or spray butter

cinnamon to taste (I cover the surface of the water)

frozen fruit - your choice of kind and amount  (I like a berry mix, just raspberries, or cranberries. I found frozen, unsweetened cranberries that are fabulous.)

Throw everything but the berries in a small saucepan. Cook over medium heat until it starts to boil, reduce heat a bit. Set timer (love the timer) for five minutes. At the three minute mark, add the fruit.

A few fruit notes:
*Sometimes the fruit doesn't warm all the way, you may want to zap it for 30 second in the microwave before adding it to the oatmeal.
*If using raspberries, don't stir it too much or they dissolve.

Keep an eye on it. Stir when needed. If it starts to look a bit dry, reduce the heat and add a little milk or water. Remove from heat after timer goes off. Serve in a big happy face bowl and enjoy.

Whole Wheat Pancakes

Though you won't find my blog if you google "recipe blogs" or "food blogs", I wanted to share this recipe.

We've had Cooking with Mickey & Friends (RRPL call number JNF 641.5 DIS) since May. It's due next week (hooray for online renewals)and we have to make something from it before we return it. Since Songbird has been clamoring to make Mickey's Whole Wheat Honey Pancakes, we finally did it this morning.

The recipe uses some unbleached flour, but it also uses whole wheat flour and wheat germ. Since we've tried completelly whole wheat flour pancakes before and the kids balked big time, I wondered if they'd like these. The verdict: Fifi, Songbird & our two guests liked them. Gameboy tolerated them. Bellaboo missed out due to her beauty sleep. Overall, it's a hit. (Hence, blogging the recipe for posterity.) Here it is:

Mickey's Whole Wheat Honey Pancakes

• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/4 cup toasted wheat germ
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 egg
• 1 cup low-fat milk
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 2 tablespoons honey

Combine the dry ingredients in a medium bowl. Combine the wet ingredients in a small bowl. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry. Stir gently until smooth. Pour almost 1/4 cup batter onto pre-heated 350 degree griddle. I flip them when the bubbles cover most of the top. I actually set a timer for 1 minute to cook the second side because I can't judge when to flip them otherwise. (Surprise.)

Though they aren't entirely whole wheat, they're a step in the right direction and since they're made at from scratch, there's no preservatives, additives or icky hydrogenated oil.  As an added learning bonus, Songbird read the recipe to me, practicing her math and reading skills in an oh, so Charlotte Mason/Maria Montessori way.  (Of course, ideally Songbird would have her doing the mixing & cooking, but it worked for us differently this morning.)

Someone's in the Kitchen

Alert the media, or EMS - I've been in the kitchen a few hours this afternoon. It's not unusual for me to be in the kitchen cleaning, schooling, or eating, but I was actually cooking. Well, I was baking.

Songbird has her 6th bday party this Saturday and wants my Granny's chocolate cake baked in our new Betty Crocker Bake n' Fill pan. Between my track record w/Granny's cake and the new baking utensils, I had an excuse for a test cake.

So test, I did. I tried to substitute baby prunes for the butter. That works fine in commerical cake mixes, but no so in Granny's yummy recipe. My Granny will laugh hysterically when she hears what I've done this time. It was really flat, and kind of crsipy around the edges.  Here's Fifi modeling the results:

Lovely, eh? (Fifi, the infomerical queen, said if I would've had Smartware that wouldn't have happened.)

You see, we have a history - Granny, her cake recipe & me. Not only do I have delicious childhood memories of eating her chocolate cake, I have hilarious, at my expense, memories of trying to bake it. A few years ago I decided it was time to try the recipe myself. Perched at the computer, ready to document the recipe for posterity I eagerly listened as Granny dictated to me. I was trying to get meticulous instructions, probably wearing her out with all my questions. It wasn't long until we were both in tears - from laughing so hard.

She was trying to explain to me how to melt the chocolate squares w/a double boiler. She said to turn it upside down. I thought she was talking about the double boiler & was wondering how on earth that was supposed to work.

I was showing my prowess in the kitchen before I even attempted the recipe.

Then last September I wanted to give the recipe an intial try for a friend that likes cakes. It took me 3 tries to get it right. I was on the phone to me Granny a few times, knowing that my follies would make her laugh. Then she happened to talk to my mom. By the time I had produced a presentable cake, I had three generations quite amused at my attempts in the kitchen. 

So, today I got back in the saddle. I knew the prunes were a risk, but wanted to see how they would do. I'll stick to the butter.

The second cake was much better. We filled it with chocolate pudding & chocolate chips. That sounded like too much chocolate, even for me. Amazingly, the kids and a couple of friends loved it. I forgot to take a picture & it was gone quite quickly. I'll try to post a picture of the finished party product.

Last week I let Mom & Granny know I'd be making another cake this week. Granny reminded me that she took naps during the day (i.e., schedule the phone calls for help around the naps) and Mom asked something along the lines of how many tries I thought it would take this time. I don't mind the jokes becauase I know my gifts are in other areas ---way outside the kitchen. Thankfully, my dh is gifted in the kitchen and he knew that was part of the deal when he married me. It's a good thing there are more ways to a man's heart than through his stomach.

Now if you'll excuse me, I have some cake to eat.

 

Sophistication

You might be a redneck if....eating with utensils is considered sophisticated.

Overhead minutes ago at our breakfast table....

DH:  "I let you kids eat with your hands and Fifi has to go get sophisticated on us and use a fork and knife." 

In his defense, he had just made pancakes for the kids. DH likes to use his hands to roll and dip his pancakes. When we first got married I warned him that was only acceptable in private....he was not allowed to do that in public. Heavens, we might get kicked out of IHOP. Not to say that I'm the epitome of sophistication by any means, but I have to draw the line somewhere.