Confessions of an Olympics addict

I don't really care what sport it is, I want to watch it (except maybe basketball...Olympic basketball is a joke). Obscure sport? Even better. Tell me all about the intricacies of rowing. Hooray for NBC, who is reportedly providing 3600 hours of Olympic coverage among its 8 stations. Couch, here I come. Actually, here I am. Here's what I think so far.

HOW did all those Chinese Tai Chi masters perform not only in unison, but creating those enormous intricate patterns for the opening ceremonies?

I could never play beach volleyball. I could never focus while standing in sand. And then I would lose it if I was all sweaty and had to dive for a save and got sand all over me.

Dara Torres has one heck of a bod.

Michael Phelps is a swimming machine.

Two women's gymnasts are from Indiana...go Bridget and Samantha.

Gingersnap Ice Cream...and Cookies

J is generally the ice cream maker of the family, but I gave it a try this week and was very pleased with the end product. I'm already scheming my next batch of ice cream.

This is a recipe we initially tried in Bloomington a few years ago, and thanks to the enthusiastic approval of the Christensens, we put it on our list of successes. It's been awhile since we made it, but I think it will have to become a regular flavor.

We'll start with the gingersnap cookies.

INGREDIENTS:
2 1/4 c flour
2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp cloves
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 c butter, softened
1 c brown sugar
1 medium egg
1/3 c molasses

Mix dry ingredients, set aside. Beat butter and brown sugar, when creamy beat in egg and molasses. Stir in flour mixture, 1/4 cup at a time, mixing well after each addition. Cover and chill until firm, an hour or longer. Bake in 375 degree oven for 8-10 minutes (8 1/2 minutes is perfect for my oven) until just dry on top by slightly soft in the middle.

Note: You can dip the tops in white sugar before baking, but if you're using them for ice cream,it's best if they're not dipped in sugar.

Another Note: These gingersnaps are more molasses-ey than ginger-ey, so depending on how you like your gingersnaps, adjust the molasses and ginger accordingly.

THE ICE CREAM:
This is a great french vanilla base that I use for most of my ice creams, and just use add-ins according to what I'm making.

Ingredients:
4 c half and half
3 capfuls of vanilla
8 large egg yolks
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
ginger
molasses
gingersnaps

Instructions:
1. In a medium bowl, beat together the yolks and half of the sugar. You can beat by hand using a whisk or using a hand mixer or egg beater. Beat until thoroughly smooth and creamy. (A couple of minutes by hand.)

2. Put 3 1/2 cups of half and half, the remaining half of the sugar, and the salt into a medium saucepan over medium heat. Heat the mixture until just before it starts to simmer (do not let it simmer). Remove mixture from heat and let stand 10 minutes.

3. While the mixture is standing, prepare an ice water bath in a bowl large enough to set another bowl easily inside of it. Set aside.

4. Whisk in 1 cup of the half and half mixture in a slow stream into the yolk mixture to temper it. Add another cup of the half and half mixture; continue to whisk. Transfer the egg yolk mixture back to the saucepan with the remaining half and half mixture. Add vanilla. Cook over medium-high heat, stirring constantly, until it is thick enough to coat the back of a wooden spoon and an instant-read thermometer registers 180°, 5 to 7 minutes. (You can run your finger in a line over the back of the coated spoon. If the mixture doesn't run, but stays in place on the spoon, it should be thick enough.) I usually start at medium-high heat, then lower the heat as I go as it gets thick fast at the end and I don't want it overcooked. Remove from heat and mix in the remaining 1/2 cup of milk to stop the mixture from overcooking.

5. Pour custard through a medium-mesh sieve into a stainless steel bowl set in the ice-water bath. Add 2 tsp (or less) of ground ginger. Let cool completely, stirring until completely chilled. OR, pop it in the fridge for an hour or two, or til the next day.

6. Freeze custard in an ice cream maker. When it has finished churning, drizzle in some molasses and crumble in 5-6 gingersnaps. If you don't mix it too much, you get a great marbled effect with the molasses. It needs to harden in the freezer for a bit after it comes out of the ice cream maker. Make sure you put it in an airtight container in the freezer. Makes 1 1/2 quarts.

Seriously good ice cream.

Belated Sparklers

Since I think Independence Day should be more like Christmas and celebrated for an entire month, here are some pictures of Boo and friends having fun with sparklers. I had Boo's hair up in sponge curlers earlier in the day, but the nap and humidity took its toll and reduced the cute curls to squiggleys.

And one more of that cute face...

Hey, isn't that Michael Johns?

Why yes. that IS Michael Johns in a picture taken by ME.

I went to the American Idol Live Concert last week with some great friends. I'm a recent convert to AI...this was just the second season I have watched. And I know what you're thinking. American Idol? Didn't most of those kids have to leave the show because America didn't like them so well? But seriously. It. Was. AWESOME. Elizabeth and I both agreed that about 8 of the contestants were significantly better performers than when they were on the show. Sorry Ramiele and Syesha. You still get voted off the island.
The show actually got off to a rocky start. A giant Pop-Tarts mascot came traipsing down the aisle and knocked the girl in front of me to the ground. Nice. But then...

CHEKEZIE. Totally love him. Great performances.

Ramiele. Blah.

MICHAEL JOHNS. Seriously, how did he leave the show at #8? What a shame. This was my favorite performance, yes, even edging out my favorite David Cook. He rocked onto the stage with "We Will Rock You", drifted into "We are the Champions" and ended with "Dream On". If you can imagine it sounding better than when he performed it on the show (I know, it seems impossible), but it did.

KRISTI LEE COOK. A good performance. I thought she did much better than she ever did on the show.

CARLY SMITHSON. One of the standout performances of the night for me. Didn't like her that much on the show, but she rocked out to Evanescence "Wake Me Up Inside" and I loved it.

BROOKE WHITE. Three great performances by her. She and her piano came up on the stage from below playing "Let It Be" which was, of course, brilliant.

JASON CASTRO. Oh, my cute Jason. No Bob Marley, thank you producers. He did sing "Somewhere Over The Rainbow" with his ukulele which made me very happy as that was one of my favorite moments from the show.

SYESHA. I have nothing good to say about her three songs. Or her outfit. Or her Diana Ross hair.

DAVID ARCHULETA. What is there to say about dear David. "He could sing the phone book and we would love it." Absolutely incredible performances. And still as cute as he was on the show. More than a little disappointed that he didn't sing "Imagine" though.

DAVID COOK. Rocked out. I'm afraid most of my energy was spent by the time he came out, but he delivered fabulous performances and was sweet and gracious. After his first number, a strip of fabric had ripped off of his pants, so he announced that he would sit down and fix it now. And he did. He brought out his little video camera and videoed the crowd with the preface, "I have to record this so I have proof in 10 years when no one believes me that I did this." His encore was "Billie Jean" which I enjoyed a million times more than I did when I saw it on the show. I'm still glad he won.
You can see ALL the pictures I took from the concert by clicking to this blog post and then following the link to the pictures (thanks Adam!).

Happy Birthday Pie

We recently celebrated J's birthday, and what says 'happy birthday' better than a banana cream pie?? Isn't it beautiful? I love the toasty meringue peaks. Check here for the recipe.

I had a bit of cream and bananas that wouldn't fit in the crust, so I made some banana cream cups that turned out pretty well. Boo enjoyed them.
I have to admit I'm a little disappointed that my family isn't into the traditional birthday cake thing. I have been looking forward to using my creative genius to make some great birthday cakes. But J opted for the pie rather than the cake. I spent days searching for the perfect puppy cake for Brookie's birthday, but after finally finding it, it occurred to me that she doesn't even like cake. As fun as it is to make cakes, it's a little disappointing if no one wants to eat it. So I think I'll do a layered ice cream cake for Boo instead of the brilliant puppy cake.

I wonder if my mom felt the same way - once I got to be 12 or so, I never wanted a birthday cake either.

Swimming

Boo has been absent from my blog for far too long, so here are some pictures from this weekend.

Modeling the new swimsuit (thank you Isabel).

She Got Up Off The Couch

A few months ago I read "A Girl Named Zippy" by Haven Kimmel on the recommendation of a friend, and loved it. I just finished the sequel, "She Got Up Off The Couch, And Other Heroic Acts from Mooreland, Indiana." I loved it even more than "Zippy." One of those books that I enjoyed so much I almost wanted to ration it out to make it last longer. It's a fun ramble through her childhood in small town Indiana. The author has a great, quirky sense of humor about herself, her past, and her friends and family. And, a bit of inspiration, as the title indicates.

The Nine: Inside the Secret World of the Supreme Court

I really enjoyed this walk through the past few decades of major Supreme Court decisions. It was fascinating to learn more about the individual justices - their personalities, their political and philosophical views, and the way they interact with each other and their clerks. It was a great crash course of the cases that have come through the courts since Rehnquist became Chief Justice. The author clearly is a huge fan of Sandra Day O'Connor and the book does have liberal slant. But a great,...more I really enjoyed this walk through the past few decades of major Supreme Court decisions. It was fascinating to learn more about the individual justices (their personalities, their political and philosophical views, and the way they interact with each other and their clerks) and how the Supreme Court actually functions. It was also a great look at some of the major cases that have come through the courts since Rehnquist became Chief Justice, for instance Casey v. Planned Parenthood and Bush v. Gore. The author clearly is a huge fan of Sandra Day O'Connor and he talks about some justices more than others. But I heard somewhere that only some of the justices spoke to him while he was researching for this book, so that could explain it - he just had more material for some than others.

CDO

I have CDO. It's like OCD but with the letters in alphabetical order, like they're supposed to be.

-Reader's Digest

Hot, but potty trained

We've had a mild summer so far, but this week we hit the 90's with plenty of humidity to go around. Perfect time for a two year old air conditioning to break, no? We spent three days with no AC, and while it wasn't as bad as I imagined, it wasn't that fun either. There was a lot of celebrating when the repairman came with our new new fan motor this evening.



But we beat the heat, and Boo beat the diaper game. Wahoo! That girl has been accident-free during the day since Wednesday. Who knew dark chocolate M&M's were so motivating. Maybe a little too motivating...she asks to sit on the potty at least twice as often as she needs to, peeks in the empty potty, claps and says 'yay' and demands her treat.

Potty Potty

I cleared our schedule this week so we could stay home and potty train. We started yesterday morning. Initially I was inspired by the thought of saying good-bye to buying and changing diapers. But then I started to wonder if having a potty-trained child is actually harder than having one in diapers. Take the zoo for instance. Or long-ish car rides. Or even the park. Mixed with my phobia of public bathrooms. I guess we'll see.

So while I am having second thoughts, Boo is doing great. She's only had one accident, and that happened outside, so cleanup was a breeze. The hard part comes with letting it out once she's sitting on the pot. But by late this morning she is even getting the hang of that. We'll see how the rest of the week progresses.

The Pink Teapot

My cousin recently started an etiquette blog called THE PINK TEAPOT. It's a delightful blog. Check it out and leave her a comment. Thanks for all the helpful hints Janine!

Flag Cake

The link to the Flag Cake is a limited link, so here is the actual recipe. I can't say enough great things about this cake. I can't wait to make it. The recipe is from The Barefoot Contessa from the Food Network site.

FLAG CAKE

18 tablespoons (2 1/4 sticks) unsalted butter at room temperature
3 cups sugar
6 extra-large eggs at room temperature
1 cup sour cream at room temperature
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
3 cups flour
1/3 cup cornstarch
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
For the icing:
1 pound (4 sticks) unsalted butter at room temperature
1 1/2 pounds cream cheese at room temperature
1 pound confectioners' sugar, sifted
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
To assemble:
2 half-pints blueberries
3 half-pints raspberriesHeat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Butter and flour an 18 by 13 by 1 1/2-inch sheet pan.

Cream the butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment on high speed, until light and fluffy. On medium speed, add the eggs, 2 at a time, then add the sour cream and vanilla. Scrape down the sides and stir until smooth.

Sift together the flour, cornstarch, salt, and baking soda in a bowl. With the mixer on low speed, add the flour mixture to the butter mixture until just combined. Pour into the prepared pan. Smooth the top with a spatula. Bake in the center of the oven for 20 to 30 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool to room temperature.

For the icing, combine the butter, cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, mixing just until smooth.

Spread three-fourths of the icing on the top of the cooled sheet cake. Outline the flag on the top of the cake with a toothpick. Fill the upper left corner with blueberries. Place 2 rows of raspberries across the top of the cake like a red stripe. Put the remaining icing in a pastry bag fitted with a star tip and pipe two rows of white stripes below the raspberries. Alternate rows of raspberries and icing until the flag is completed. Pipe stars on top of the blueberries.

I serve this cake right in the pan. If you want to turn it out onto a board before frosting, use parchment paper when you grease and flour the pan.

Flag Cake Recipe

Here is the much requested recipe for the flag cake seen below. I absolutely recommend it.

Fourth on the Second

We went to a great Fourth of July celebration last night. We need more Fourth of July parties. I think the Fourth of July should be more like Christmas, where there are parties for at least two weeks before the holiday actually arrives.

Last year the Fourth was miserably humid, but last night was perfect weather. My friend made this fabulous cake - it's a dense white cake with cream cheese frosting with raspberries and blueberries lined up to make an American flag. Beautiful and oh, so good.


Unfortunately, this is the only picture I got, with my camera phone. I remembered to bring the camera, just not the memory card.

After dinner and cake, we walked to the pond behind the house to set off fireworks. By this point, it was way past Boo 's bedtime, but she was hanging in there. There were about 12 older kids there (older than Boo), and when we got to the pond, all the kids huddled over the pond looking at the fish. For a really long time. Who needs fireworks when there are fish swimming around in a pond? Eventually the fireworks got going, and I wished I had brought my video camera. All 12 kids would gather around the firework as it was about to be lit, and then they stampeded back to the blanket to see it go off.

Boo was not as unaffected by the fireworks as she was last year. The first one went off and she about crawled inside my shirt. I think it was a combination of too tired, and unfamiliar. She and I walked back to the car to get her blanket, and it helped to have that around. I told her that the fireworks go "pop", and that made a huge difference in how she felt about them. She LOVES to say "POP"! By the end she was clapping and saying "yay, yay" after each firework. A friend asked me if we were going to see any more fireworks shows, and Boo popped her head up and shook it and said, "No! No! No! NO!"

While I had my arms full of Boo, J had his arms full of boys. Two little guys toddled over to him and sat on his lap for the fireworks show.

We're looking forward to the real fireworks show tomorrow night.