Cupcakes and Commentary

I might be an obsessive blog reader . I have been checking Erin Cobb’s photography blog every couple days to see if she had made a new Mama with a Camera post. I was especially interested in this post as it discussed taking pictures inside without using the flash, something I constantly struggle with.

I decided to tackle this post yesterday morning. I am not sure what I was thinking considering it was pouring down rain, aka incredibly cloudy. However, I followed Erin’s advice, pulled up all the curtains turned on all the lights, and hoped for the best.  In addition my subject (Super A, who else?) was not interested in having his photograph taken, and he instead tried to dive and hide into his tent: See below:

After many failed attempts (and moving around the room to find some good light), I finally found success:

Despite the no smile, I was pleased that the picture turned out so well (especially within the corridors of a red tent).

My basil would have to say a resounding….

No. Maybe next year.

On our huge tomato plant that is growing by leaps and bounds we have a solitary….

tomato

However, we could feed the whole neighborhood with our cherry tomato plant…

I’m still waiting for our pepper plant to actually get more peppers than it came with. The huge amount of rain we got today might help!

Just writing the title makes me laugh. This dish is very similar to one my Mom used to make when we were growing up and I swore up and down I would never make anything like it. However, here I am. It combines meat, cheese, and noodles, and basically I make it because Super A and my husband love it. And I don’t mind it either. Amazing how things change over time!

Ingredients:

1 package wide egg noodles

1 lb ground hamburger

1/2 diced onion

10 slices American cheese

1 cup grated cheese

1 tsp Lawry’s Seasoning

1/2 tsp paprika

1 cup milk

2 tbs butter

2 tbs flour

Directions:

In a large soup pot bring water to a boil and cook egg noodles according to package directions. Meanwhile, in a large skillet brown hamburger meat and onion until cooked through. In a separate medium sauce pot melt butter on medium heat. Once melted whisk in flour and cook for two minutes. Then whisk in milk and let thicken. Slowly whisk in cheeses and let melt. Stir in Lawry’s Seasoning and paprika. Combine drained egg noodles, hamburger meat, and cheese sauce in a large pan.

Hints:

* You can make this ahead, refrigerate it, and cook it later at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes.

* I occasionally cook all of the meat and onions then freeze half of it. Then I half the rest of the recipe. Half of the recipe is plenty for three of us!

* I also occasionally add a half cup of quartered cherry tomatoes and some fresh parsley to the top of the dish.

Tags: hamburger and cheese casserole

Jumping on the bed! This is currently one of Super A’s favorite games. He counts down 3,2,1 and then one of us “jumps” him around the bed. I had to capture a few pictures of his pure joy in this game. And also his love of his Daddy .

Jumping

Laughing hysterically!

One of Super A’s other favorite games is trying to “wake” us up. We pretend to sleep and he then wakes us up (usually by poking you in the eye…watch out!).

Pressing his head on Daddy’s to make sure he’s really “asleep”

Wake up Daddy!

I almost completely forgot to do this! Here is Super A’s transition from August 2009 to August 2010:

August 2009…

August 2010…

“I’m fine, Mommy”- When he falls and I ask him if he’s okay.

“No fine, no fine” – When he doesn’t want what you are offering.

“Daddy’s so silly!”

“Peanut butter jelly and a bag of chips!” – Yes he can say that whole phrase.

“Oooh look at that…wow.” – His phrase for anything astonishing…such as Daddy’s shoelaces flying through the air.

“fold, shake, lay down, flip, fold, shake shake!” -A correctly mimicked imitation of what I say when I’m folding shirts.

I have tried several pizza dough recipes and so far Ina Garten’s Pizza Dough recipe is my favorite. Last night I put together her pizza dough recipe along with my own sauce and cooked two pizzas on the grill and one in the oven for Super A. If you are wary of cooking pizza dough on the grill, I highly recommend it. It is easier than I expected and so good! It gets a little too crispy for Super A’s taste and so I usually cook his in the oven on a pizza stone. So go get the pizza dough recipe and then combine it with the sauce and your own favorite toppings and cook your favorite way!

Pizza Sauce Ingredients:

1 15oz can diced tomatoes

5 cherry tomatoes

1 finely diced shallot

1 finely diced garlic clove

1/4 teaspoon dried basil, oregano, rosemary, and kosher salt

freshly ground black pepper

Olive Oil

Directions for Pizza Sauce:

Drizzle a few tablespoons of olive oil in a medium size sauce pan. Heat the oil on medium heat and saute shallots and garlic for about 3-4 minutes. Add cherry tomatoes and saute until they begin to burst (about 5-10 minutes). Then add in the diced tomatoes, herbs, salt and pepper. Cook over low heat until ready to use.

Pizza Dough:

Prepare pizza dough according to recipe. Here’s an idea of what your pizza dough should look like before and after it rises:

Before Rise

Two hours later!

If you are cooking on a grill:

Heat grill to medium heat. Place dough on grill for two minutes on one side, then flip. Add toppings and close grill for another two to three minutes.

If you are cooking in an oven:

Heat oven to 450 degrees. Place dough in oven for about 5 minutes. When dough starts to look crisp add toppings and cook for another 5-10 minutes.

As the school year is about to begin my sister and I brought the boys to my Mom’s school for a few hours. They loved running around in Granna’s classroom and seeing all of the cool things that third graders get to use as learning tools!

They loved the desks and each wanted to sit in them.

The best picture you can expect if you want all three boys to look in your direction!

They loved the counting blocks!

Practicing Naptime

More practicing naptime.

Thanks for letting us visit Granna!

Super A loves airplanes. We spend a lot of time looking outside for airplanes, he turns his Daddy’s running shoes into airplanes and rocket ships, and he will stand for hours with his nose pressed up against the window at the airports watching the planes.

Explaining how to spin the propeller

Needless to say Super A was very excited when his Daddy brought out a little balsa wood plane that he had put together the other day. One of the things that I love right now about Super A’s development is his intense desire to figure out exactly how to do things and follow them to a t. He carefully watched and listened to each step of how to make the plane fly (line it up, balance, twist the propeller, make it fly, go get it, bring it back). Each time Super A repeated these exact phrases and then gleefully brought the plane. It flew and flew, until it crashed into our window one too many times and sadly broke. Until the next balsa plane flies.

By the way, you must be this soaking wet to be outside right now.

“I want to” (with serious exaggeration/whine, depending on whether he wants to, or he doesn’t want to)

“Twinkle Twinkle, Little Star, Ready? I sing. And…” (then he sings the WHOLE song in a bit of a dirge/monotone chant)

“ABC Sing with Me!” (From his favorite show Super Why)

Sometimes it’s best to not try to understand what the three musketeers (Super A and his cousins) are doing. For example…

Happy Wednesday!