Almond, Maple and Raspberry Bars

I love cookbooks! Daniel recently got a cookbook for athletes called "The Feed Zone" and everything I've made from it has been delicious and healthy. Daniel is a cyclist and his long rides require some nourishment. Gel packs are popular, but kind of ew. This cookbook has a whole chapter on making portable, homemade food for cycling. Portable food items also work for moms!

Today I took one of my most favorite recipes in the world from "My Father's Daughter" and made a bar out of it instead of a thumbprint cookie. These are healthy and easy and honestly delicious. There is no sugar or white flour. As long as you stay within the ingredient ratios, I think they are very customizable. For example, today I was out of barley flour and vegetable oil so I used whole wheat flour and coconut oil.  I could imagine adding peanut butter or coconut or raisins or maybe trying a different nut. Here is the original recipe:

4 cups barley flour 

3 cups raw whole almonds crushed in a food processor (about ten 2-second pulses)

1 tsp salt

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1 cup canola oil

1 cup maple syrup

Jam (raspberry, apricot, blueberry, etc.)

Preheat the oven to 350°F.

Combine all of the ingredients, except the jam, in a large bowl with a wooden spoon. Form into rounded tablespoon-sized balls and space them evenly on baking sheets lined with parchment. Use your index finger or the end of a wooden spoon to make an indentation and fill each cookie with a small amount of jam. Bake until cookies are evenly browned, about 20 minutes.

*The finer you grind the almonds, the easier the dough is to work with. I did 20 seconds with my first batch and Penn said they were too "nutty."

First Day of School: 3rd Grade

Penn couldn't sleep last night. He laid in bed with his flashlight and his yearbook, staring at his new teacher's picture and fantasizing about the seating arrangement.  Penn. Loves. School. He loves school so much that he hates summer. This morning he woke up early. He woke me up. He got dressed, made his bed and made his cereal for breakfast. He dropped that bowl of cereal while taking it back to the sink so the first thing I got to do this morning was mop up the biggest mess a bowl of cereal could possibly make. But nothing could dampen anyone's spirits on the first day of school.

Penn really needs an in into a relationship. A starting point.  So I like for him to give a small token to the teacher on the first day of school. It is a guaranteed smile between them which is the perfect kind of starting point.

This year we gave apples. I crocheted little apple jackets for them. They are cute. Honestly, ridiculously cute.  I used this pattern, some spare yarn and old buttons. I love them!

Lucy and the Giraffe

Lucy loves her Giraffe.  I think they are cute together because they are the same beautiful cream and orange colors and dark shiny eyes.

Evil Mosquito

This guy was buzzing around Lucy's closet. Mosquitos are everywhere, despite the planes buzzing our houses spraying pesticide to combat the high amount of West Nile cases in Texas. There has been a noticeable drop in other bugs, but I'm happy to say this morning I spotted lots of activity from the small colony of Mason Bees that took up residence on our back porch. 

The Dallas area has spent about $3 million – virtually all from the federal government – on aerial spraying to kill mosquitoes, the Texas health commissioner, Dr. David Lakey, said in the phone conference. He said that as of noon Wednesday, the state had 25 deaths attributed to the disease that he knew of. --NPR's Eyder Peralta 

I am truly distressed over those who caught West Nile.

But for the sake of a good tangent, remember the education crisis we just went through where schools were closed, teachers lost their jobs and programs were cut? Or remember recently when the governor cut the library budget by 88%? Where did we get 3 million dollars to spend on something nobody wanted? Huh. 

Keilwasser

I had a WONDERFUL blast from the past shoot with Amie! I haven't seen her since 1994 (?) when we were both in high school together. Amie was always at the tip top of my list of Nicest, Smartest and Most Beautiful People. Despite all the years and living in different states, she hasn't lost her place there. Lucky for humanity, she and her amazing hubby made three awesome kiddos. I can't get enough of them!

Dogs

Ringo


Pavlov

In the future

Lucy: Penn, do you see what Mom is doing? Why is she doing that? What's wrong with her?
Penn: Nothing, she's old. Just be cool and pretend that everything is normal.


Lucy: HA HA PENN, YOU'RE SO FUNNY!

Inspired by my a visit from my grandmother.

Also there is this. 

Oklahoma Summer 2012

This summer we piled the household, including dogs, plus Daniel's sister and her boys (by way of Atlanta, Georgia) into a Suburban and hauled ourselves to Oklahoma to visit his family. We stayed at "The Farm," which is a beautiful piece of property in their family, tucked away in the country. There is a pond, a burr grinder, a big screened tv, a stocked pantry and a Ranger ATV and there is no wifi.

Children can be children. They can wander and fish and swim with a great deal of freedom. Dogs can be dogs. I absolutely adore our dogs in the country. They are sweet and loyal and close and maybe even smell better than the city-kept beasts on leashes. They swam for the first time.

There is a funny story to go with the picture of the fish. Cody kept fishing after the other two boys came to the house. He caught one and ran all the way up to the door, with the fish still dangling and flopping at the end of his pole, to show everyone. Penn jumped into action because it is a catch and release pond and a fish out of water too long does not release well. YouknowwhatImsaying. He drug Cody by the fish end of his pole roly poly, pell mell, tumble bumble all the way down to the bottom of the hill and back to the water.

We celebrated a 95th birthday and we ate delicious food in welcoming houses. Grandpa made pancakes in the morning. Waking up to pancakes in a house full of happy people and kids on a day that nobody has to go to work is pretty much it, as far as I'm concerned.

I don't have a very big family. There are no blood relative cousins for Penn to play with. I am ridiculously fortunate to enjoy the love and warmth and striking personal examples that are rampant among Daniel's family. Penn sees all of them as his very own. He is also rather welcoming, maybe. There are so many memories we have made that will start with, "Remember that time we went to Oklahoma ..."

Lucy: Eight Months

Lucy is eight months old. She is cute.  She likes to point and wave hello and goodbye to people and this is indicative of how close she will tolerate your presence. Over there. Where she can wave to you.

She is mommy's girl. If I step out of the room she begins an escalating whine until I come back and pick her up. Which, of course, I promptly do. She gives me kisses. She grabs either side of my head and pulls me close and presses her drooly little lips against my cheek and holds it a beat too long. It is messy. And amazing.

She does not use a pacifier or her fingers, but she LOVES to suck on her toes. I can't blame her. She has the sweetest feet.

She still loves to play peek a boo. (Seven pictures down.) Nobody is going to get tired of this any time soon.

She says "Da da da" and has connected that with Daniel. Sometimes she wakes up at 6 a.m. I pull her into the bed with us from her co-sleeper. When her sleepy eyes spy his sleeping face she pings awake and becomes the best da-da-da-smile alarm clock. Lucky for her that sort of thing works on him.

Lucy and Penn are a dynamite duo. They are future sibling super heroes. They will save the world.