Monthly Archives: April 2012

I’m Done

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I finally lost my LAST BABY TOOTH.   Well I didn’t loose it exactly, I went to the dentist for a check up and my dentist said that she would take it out it was so wiggly.  I could have taken it out myself  but it was in a funny spot and the adult tooth was coming out on top of it, and would eventually be over the baby tooth.   It really hurt when they took my tooth our they some numbing spray on it, but I do not think the spray helped.   Landon and I both did not have any cavities.   Hip Hip Hooray. 

Maria    

Pretzels

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I made Pretzels for the first time last Saturday and they turned out ok.  I had to throw out the first batch because I added the butter in late and thought that 16 oz was a lb.  So I had way too much flour.   The second batch was good but I still had too much flour.  And, I don’t think I will be making them again unless I really know what I am doing.  Landon helped me shape them.  Even the messed up batch tasted like a pretzel.       

                                                                                         

My Flowers

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These are my flowers that I planted last fall.

 

  I have 12 out of 14 that bloomed, and next year I might have 24 tulips.  Two buds you cannot see.  One is behind the red tulip on the far left this one will be purple.  The other is to the side of the pinkish white one, this one will also be purple, next to the red one I just tolled you about.  It is really short.

So I will have five purple ones, three pinkish white ones, and four red ones.

 

  I am adding this on about five day later the white and yellow daffodil is still picture perfect.

 The daffodils lasted a week longer then I thought they would.                                                                                          

  Sarah even made me dig my own hole.   It was quite difficult because I was  gigging about 2 inches from her flowers.  And the entire time Sarah stood over me.  But, every time I thought that the hole was deep enough    

 

Which one is your favorite?

 

Trip to the zoo

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                                            Our grandma took us to the zoo for a valentines present.  And the zoo added a dinosaur exhibit.   All the statutes of the dinosaurs could move.                                                                                                                                                                                                                        In the bird area all the birds were yelling at us, I even had a conversation with one.                                              This peacock was walking right by me. They must be aloud to walk around the zoo.                                                                                                                                This is the dinosaur exhibit.   He even smiled for me. This picture was difficult for me to get because it was moving.                                                                                                                                            The eggs were so cute they moved there heads like a real baby chick would.   There was a dying, and other dinosaurs on top of it,                                                                                                                       and it was very realistic.                                                                                              The ducks were fun, Daniel for the first time fed the ducks.  If you look closely you can see (above) the Geese’s  beak sticking out for the food.

                                                                                     Just look a at this poor bird.  It is a plucker!  He did that to himself.    The baby monkey was teasing us.  He’s got a carrot.   The last time we were here he was more than half the size he is now.                                                                                                      That’s his mom.  Look at those arms.  She was feeding the baby when we got there.  The entire time were there the dad just sat in a corner.  But we got to see two of them  fight                        

 

   Dominic was out by the time we were at the duck.  The ducks are on the way out.                                                                                                                      

 

          

The birthday bowl

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Poor Alex was sick on his birthday. We tried to cheer him up. He hardly ate His birthday cake. And now he is 8.  And 8= kitchen chores, now he is table duty and John helps with the dishes.   

 

Truffles

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I made some homemade truffle and they turned out great.  I will give you the recipe.I made like 57 of these.                

Rum Balls:

1 1/2 cups (150 grams) toasted pecans, finely chopped (hazelnuts, walnuts, or almonds can be used)

1 1/4 cups (125 grams) finely crushed vanilla wafer cookies

1/2 cup (60 grams) confectioners sugar(powdered or icing)

2 tablespoons (15 grams) cocoa powder(Dutch processed or regular unsweetened)

2 tablespoons light corn syrup (or liquid glucose syrup, golden syrup, or honey)

1/4 cup (60 ml) rum

Toppings:

Confectioners (powdered or icing) Sugar

Finely chopped nuts (pecans, walnuts, hazelnuts, almonds or pistachios)

Unsweetened Cocoa Powder

Melted Chocolate (Dark or White)

 

Rum Balls: To toast nuts: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (177 degrees C) and place the oven rack in the center of the oven. Put the pecans on a baking sheet and bake for about 8 minutes, or until lightly browned and fragrant. Let cool completely and then chop the nuts finely with a knife or place the nuts in your food processor and pulse until finely chopped. Transfer to a large bowl.

Process the vanilla wafer cookies in the food processor until finely ground. Add the crumbs to the finely chopped pecans. To this mixture add the confectioners sugar and cocoa powder and stir until combined. Add the corn syrup and rum and mix well. Add more rum if necessary. Chill the batter and then shape into 1 inch (2.5 cm) balls.

Then roll the rum balls in confectioners sugar, finely chopped nuts, or cocoa powder. If dipping in chocolate, put about 4 ounces (120 grams) of chopped dark chocolate and 1 teaspoon of shortening   (YOU MUST USE SHORTENING I, MARIA FOUND OUT THE HARD WAY.)   in a heatproof bowl placed over a saucepan of simmering water. Once melted, remove from heat and dip the balls, one at a time, in the melted chocolate, making sure the entire ball is coated with chocolate. Then, with two spoons or a dipping fork, remove the rum balls from the melted chocolate, allowing any excess chocolate to drip back into the bowl. Place the chocolate covered balls on a baking sheet. When all the balls have been dipped in the chocolate, place in the refrigerator until the chocolate has set. Once the chocolate has hardened you can drizzle the rum balls with 1 ounce (30 grams) melted white chocolate.

Can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for several weeks.

Makes about 40 rum balls. Preparation time 30 minutes.

Reference:

Maria’s tips: I used honey. Add 1 more squirt of honey.  And I left the balls in the fridge over night, and put them in the freezer 30 min before rolling in to balls.  Dipping them in dark chocolate I think is the best.

You can watch the video if you click the link below.



Read more:http://www.joyofbaking.com/RumBalls.html#ixzz1rqS5qb7C

Ballbaby

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This is one of  Dominic’s favorite chew  toy.  And I caught him at just the right time.                                                                       I’m not in trouble am I?

  It just won’t fit.

 

 

 

 

Quiz Bowl

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I went to my first quiz bowl ever and had fun. My group was full of rare and unusually named girls: Maria, Marie, Marie and Marissa. (ha, ha.) Marie McLaughlin was our captain and she was a good one.  I was surprised  how many questions I answered.  There was a question about the name of the feathers that keep birds warm.  And I answered downy feathers!  And that was correct.  Marie McLaughlin said that she knew I would know that one.  We got third out of 14 teams!!  I was so  surprised.