So we finally got him.

Osama Bin Laden. A decade after he unleashed hell on the American people. About time. And now what? Does anything really change?

Food for thought.

Speaking of food.... Made strawberry-banana muffins yesterday. Different. Yummy. Easy enough to make.

The recipe is adapted from Joy of Baking

I doubled the recipe for my jumbo muffin pans and used 5 medium bananas. My friend Krysten suggested covering the top of the muffin with raw sugar before baking to give it a nice caramelized crust. Next time for sure.

Baked them for 30 minutes in my convection oven. I think it might have been a few minutes too long, but they were still good. No one in my Desert Yarnies group complained.

In other news.....

Finished the Evil Mau5 head today. For those of you who followed the Deadmau5 saga, after a week of paper mâché-ing, plastering, spraying, stretching, gluing, cutting, sticky fingers, headaches from glue spray, third degree burns from glue guns, frustration, aggravation and elation, the Evil/Dead Mau5 head is DONE!

My OCD tendencies are making me want to start over or at least attempt to repair some of the flaws, but the teenage boy says NO.

Now what? I suppose I could clean. Bake. Paint. Or start a better Mau5 head. Um no.

Maybe, just maybe, I could start writing my blog more regularly. That would be a good thing. Actually write the blog for all the things I knit, bake, think.

We will see. For now I am going to allow my brain to heal from the glue fumes and my fingers to heal from the glue gun. then we will see what happens.

Mmmmm Mac and Cheese

In addition to baking my heart out (which I've taken a sabbatical from after the holidays,) I have been cooking again.  New stuff, cause I am painfully bored with the staples.

Last night I made macaroni and cheese.  In this house we are on a quest to find something that comes close to Red Robin's Mac and Cheese, because Kyle claims there is nothing better on the planet.  Last month I tried one recipe and it was thumbs down.  The sauce wasn't creamy enough, nor was there enough of it.  So last night I made this one.

Totally thumbs up.  Ron ate one bowl and 20 minutes later was in the leftovers in the fridge.  Kyle said it was awesome.

I made a couple of changes to the recipe.  I used 4 8 ounce blocks of cheese, two sharp cheddar and two extra sharp cheddar, in place of the 3 10 ounce blocks (plus Cracker Barrel is twice the price of the other cheddars, and I did want it super cheesy!)  When making the sauce, be sure to slowly add in the cheese, a handful at a time, whisking until it is completely incorporated, to keep the sauce smooth.  Also, I cooked it in a deep CorningWare dish with the lid on for the first 15 minutes, so the sauce wouldn't dry out so much.  I made two layers and split the 2nd helping of cheese between these two.  It definitely was heavenly.

Now I have a friend coming to visit for one night this week, and haven't a clue what to make.  Stay tuned.

Happy 2011!!

Happy new year everyone!  While 2010 was definitely not my worst year on record, I am looking forward to the start of a fresh, new year and all it will bring.

If you make resolutions, I hope that you have the resolve to stick to them.  If you don't, that's okay too.

I resolve to try to be a better person.  To love more, to laugh more.  To bake and share.  To run with my dogs as much as possible.  To try to finish one knitting project before starting another.  To spend valuable time with friends because I'm lucky to have them.  To enjoy my kid, because he's growing up too fast.  To remember that we need to be thankful for every day we are given, because we never know when there won't be another.

I wish all of you and yours a perfectly spectacular 2011. 

Merry Christmas (and other assorted holidays)

I am so far behind in everything this year.  This is the first year in many that I didn't even contemplate sending out cards.  If you received one from me, count yourself among the lucky.  I only sent out a handful (in response to cards received!)  I did, however, manage to send out ecards!

Baking has been the focus for December.  I have baked many things.

Red velvet cookies.

Ginger Molasses cookies (made with whole wheat flour this year, which wasn't a bad thing.)

Maple Iced Shortbread

Toll House Cookies

Fudge

Cinnamon Rolls


And for Christmas day...  apple pie

and dinner rolls.

I'm wondering if I'm channeling some long dead baker.  Because never have I baked like this before. 

I also found time to knit Ron a hat for a gift - he's started riding his motorcycle again and his ears get cold when he gets a whim to ride at night.  Believe it or not, it's actually a bit chilly in AZ in December at night (too cold for me to ride.)

I knit dishcloths for gifts - an annual staple.  I owe a pair of mitts (sorry Mary!) 

I have been running as many mornings as possible to stave off the inevitable pounds that will be gained from all the baking.  I am losing the battle, but the puppies are happy!

Kyle has had his annual between Halloween and Christmas illness.  Bronchitis this time.  Hopefully he will be fully healed and ready to play hockey on Monday night.  (spoken like a true hockey mom)

Ron is on-call Christmas day, but we are hoping he will at least be here to open gifts. 

We had lots of not so exciting things happen this year.  That post will come later!

Merry Christmas everyone.  Hope you and yours have a blessed holiday together!!!

Hockey begins!!!

In some parts of the country, Labor Day weekend signals the last weekend of summer.  For others it's the last weekend before school resumes (not here, we start school in August and even in some areas, July!)  And for some, it's the start of college football (GO BRUINS!)

In my world, it's the official start to hockey season.  The Labor Day tourney always kicks off the new season.  Tonight at 5:30pm hockey officially begins!  The thrice-weekly practices.  The scrimmages.  The games.  The tournaments.  The travel.  The eating-most-of-our-meals-out cause we're on the road all the time.  The fun.  The friends.  The highs and lows of competitive hockey.  The memories.

Kyle has been insisting that this is it.  This is the end of the road.  He is done playing travel hockey after this season.  He will be a senior in high school next year.  Moving on with his life.  It is another passage.

He says this like it's so easy to give up something that has been a part of our lives now for more than a decade.  He has grown up on the ice.  Laced up his first pair of skates before his 5th birthday.  Played his first game when he was 5.  I remember when he began playing travel hockey and I would look at the midget parents and think, wow, they've been doing this a long time.  Now I am a midget parent and staring down the end of the youth hockey road.  It's hard to believe how quickly it's gone.

But we have one long season ahead.  Trips to Las Vegas, Nashville and D.C. planned.  Trips to the rink 3 times a week and games to be played.  It will be a good season.  One last chance for all of us to be together doing this thing we love.  One last chance to watch our kids go out there and have fun.  One last chance to tuck away the memories for a day in the future.  When our kids go off and have their own kids to haul to hockey practice.

I am sad.  But I am also happy for what this has brought me over the years.  So many friends made.  So many places visited.  So much fun for all of us who have been touched by the youth hockey bug.

I will miss it.