ABCDessert

I generally do not look forward to summer in Texas. I do really love homemade ice cream. We've already had some triple digit temperatures this year, so this week was a perfect time to pull out the ice cream maker. We decided to try to make a s'more flavor starting with a standard vanilla base. We broiled (and sampled) some marshmallows and blended them in with the base. I thought it was cute that Spencer insisted on using the thermometer to make sure the marshmallows got hot enough in the oven. While we were making the base, I asked Spencer if he wanted to stir the cream while I separated the eggs. He said "No Mom. I'm good at separating eggs. You stir the cream and I'll do the eggs." It took him 7 eggs to get 5 egg yolks, but he did it by himself. We added some graham cracker crumbs and fudge sauce while freezing the ice cream. The end result was really good, but tasted nothing like s'mores. I think we needed more marshmallows and less vanilla. We ...

When I asked Spencer to quickly put his laundry away so we could get started baking he said "Mom, can we stop doing the alphabet. I don't like it." I asked him what he like to do instead and he said "I want to do the kind of desserts where I don't have to do any work first." After I told him that he would have to put this laundry away before making any dessert, he was cheerfully back on board with the alphabet idea. We waited until the older kids got home from school so that they could make some cookies too. With the assistance of reading siblings, the kids were able to figure everything out with almost no help from me. It was fun to see how proud they were when they figured out how many tablespoons it takes to get half a cup of shortening. The recipe made more than 3 dozen cookies, most of which did not last long enough to be photographed. Julie now can say both hallongrotta and delicious. -L Hallongrotta Ingredients : ½ cup...

During my first years as a public school teacher I became a firm believer in the powers of the full moon. I have not converted to the full complement of astrology, but I do believe that the phases of the moon are extremely relevant to children's behavior.  One colleague suggested to me that perhaps we were trying to educate werewolves. The students always display their most ridiculous, defiant, and disruptive behavior during the full moon. I checked lunar calendars twice last week to see if it was a full moon. It wasn't. I take little comfort in the fact that my children are not werewolves. This is not the place to recite all of Spencer's escapades over the last week, but he was in a lot of trouble for most of the time. We tried to make our dessert on Wednesday like we usually do. Then we tried to make it on Thursday. Then I gave up on having Spencer do it with us, and Julie and I started the Galette Friday morning. Then Spencer was left home with a babysitter to prese...