14 1/2 years ago my darling husband proposed to me over a decadent chocolate soufflé at a local French restaurant. For our annivesary yesterday I intended to try my hand at the classic dessert for the first time! However, as I researched recipes and considered my options, I worried that converting a classic souffle to dairy free would leave me wanting. We aren’t always dairy free, but for special desserts, we don’t want to leave out our youngest son, who has multiple food allergies.
So, I found this mouth watering recipe from Paula Deen, and converted it a bit. Even though I’m no professional chef, I would venture to say that my recipe was amazing. My kids loved, I loved it, and my husband loved it. Each individual serving is rich, smooth and satisfying. Though we about polished off our own servings, we could have easily shared one!
Now, I know this isn’t 100% in-line with our new real food way of eating — I didn’t quite have the nerve to substitute honey for the powdered sugar, but otherwise the recipe is real! I have substituted honey in other sweet desserts with no difference, and as soon as we use up what little powdered sugar we have left in the house, I will only use honey. I would guess that this would have been just as delicious, so now that I think about it, I’m not sure why I didn’t try!
My modified recipe, with my changes highlighted in red.
INGREDIENTS: 4 (1-ounce) squares unsweetened chocolate 4 (1-ounce) squares semisweet chocolate 10 tablespoons coconut oil 1/2 cup whole wheat flour (I use King Arthur’s White Whole Wheat)
1 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar
3 large eggs
3 egg yolks
1 teaspoon vanilla extract 1 teaspoon orange extract
DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.Grease 6 small ramekins with olive oil spray and dust with cocoa. Melt the chocolates and butter in the microwave. Add the flour and sugar to chocolate mixture. Stir in the eggs and yolks until smooth. Stir in the vanilla and orange extract. Divide the batter evenly among the ramekins. Place on a cookie sheet in the oven and bake for 14 minutes. The edges should be firm but the center will be runny. Run a knife around the edges to loosen and invert onto dessert plates. Dust with powdered sugar.
Happy Anniversary to us! Today my husband Prithvi and I are celebrating 14 years of marriage (and almost 20 years together!)
October 10, 1999 — Indian Wedding
Not only did I get to marry my soul mate, I got to marry him twice in one day! Like today, it was a wet day — requiring some last minute changes to our wedding plans, but it was a fabulous day nonetheless! Its hard to believe that 14 years have gone by, seeing as we haven’t aged a bit from these photos 😉
Spending the last twenty years with Prithvi has been so much fun. The countless trips together, the stupid tv watching together, raising babies, creating a home, the late nights with good wine (the late nights with bad wine!), amazing dinners out and homemade, terrible take out and burnt attempts to cook, parent-teacher conferences together and errands — I enjoy every day that we get to spend together! I am lucky!
October 10, 1999 — Jewish Wedding
I’m not a marriage or relationship expert, but I am confident in saying that being each other’s best friend is a key ingredient to our being so happy together. I’m not saying that living with someone doesn’t pose challenges, but having a strong friendship makes it easier to work through life’s struggles.
Being such good friends means that we go out of our way to spend time together. We prefer to run errands together — even when it means we won’t get as much accomplished. We make the other wake up so we can sneak a quiet coffee together before the chaos of the day. And we value and protect our alone time after the kids go to bed — even keeping each other company if one has to work after hours.
I feel absurdly lucky that I got to marry my best friend. That he got to be the father to my kids. That he picked me and that he let me pick him. Happy Anniversary, Prithvi! I love you, and I look forward to many more years ahead!
This is the best summer I’ve had in many years. Its not hard to beat last summer, with my dad very ill and then passing away in July. But even the previous years, I don’t think I was as immersed in all the glory that summer has to offer. My job, though part-time, was structured; my kids were in a ton of camps; and I had a little toddler who sapped me of all my energy.
Summer 2012 rocks! By building my own company, I am also ensuring a lot of free time this summer. I’m busy with work, but have been able to schedule it around our needs as a family and our goals for having fun.
So why is this summer so good? Perhaps these make good tips for anybody looking to maximize their experience in the hot months!
We go to the pool as much as possible.
We planted a vegetable garden. This has been so much fun! Its my first time, and we’ve made a lot of mistakes, but the kids and I love checking it daily, and while I can’t keep them from eating all the grape tomatoes right off the vine, hey, they are eating grape tomatoes (my kids are kinda picky!) The single watermelon that is growing now increases in size a lot every day, so the habit is to run out and check it first thing every morning.
Watermelon yesterday
Watermelon today
The kids are only doing 2 weeks of camp! This is a huge change from previous years, and had much to do with my work schedule changing. Also, I was tired in previous years from driving three kids to 2 or 3 different places every day, and we never got to let go of the school-time routine of packed lunches and early wake ups. And even though camps are fun, the structure didn’t allow enough down time. I want the kids good a bored at the end of summer, I want them to want to go back to school!
We made a summer “to do” list on the first night of summer break! I am not certain that we’ll get to everything on the list, but it has made it easy to fill our days with all of the must dos. I am sure that had ‘roller coaster’ not been on the list, we never would have gone to the amusement park in Ocean City after a camping trip to Assateaque Island!
Our Summer To Do List
We camped at Assateaque Island; we had wild horses in our campsite both mornings!
Wild Horses at Assateaque Island
We went to the zoo.
We visited grandma, and the other grandma & dadda (what the kids call their grandfather)!
We are eating homegrown or farmers market tomatoes every day.
The kids donated the revenue from their lemonade stand for the Animal Welfare League, $86! Just when we worry that the kids were too self-focused and obsessive about their own ‘stuff’, they were so motivated to do this for charity!
The kids play with sprinklers, a baby pool and water guns a lot. I also “let” them wash my car!
Nothing here is extraordinary or unique, but I find it is the sum total of all of it that makes this summer awesome. (Is there any meaning to the fact that ‘sum’ is part of the word ‘summer’?) I hope you are also having a wonderful summer, no matter how you are filling your days.
In the past few weeks I’ve advised more than one client to blog more often; both to keep up the habit and help their SEO! And yet, I find I have fallen out of the practice myself. I am exhausted, exhilarated and just plain busy. My business is going great. The logo is done, the website is almost ready, and the client work is fun and engaging. And I am having the most fun I’ve had in ages. But I am so busy that some things that were normal are becoming hard to get to, like blogging, laundry and socializing with my mommy friends.
I realized today that this is the sort of fall-out I experienced after the birth of each of my kids. Survival mode (but this time I’m getting adequate sleep at least!) There is never a moment of being “done” — my business to-do list is equal or longer than my personal list, and the business is getting more attention than the personal. Like a dirty diaper can’t go unchanged, a client email or prospect inquiry gets my full attention.
I am NOT complaining. I chose this. I love this. I am giddy that, for the moment, things are hopping. But I do look forward to the point where my pace can normalize, when the routine will emerge from the chaos. With a newborn, its somewhere between 6-12 weeks (mine were always at least 12 weeks.) But with a new business, when does the chaos subside? I know some business owners who claim it never normalizes, and others that proclaim victory with running their own gig and the rest of their life. I’m aiming to be the latter. To schedule clients in such a way that my personal life get its fair due.
So if I fail to blog as often (or family, if your meals are boring and your house a tad upside down), please understand that I am in survival mode. Drop off made meals welcome, invite the kids for play dates, and somebody, please, offer to help me with my laundry.
Though I manage to nourish three growing boys, I’ve killed most plants I have ever owned. However, that history didn’t get in my way this year, because, the thing is, everyone is doing it. Even the First Lady has one! I’m talking about having a vegetable garden. Backyard gardening seems to be the new rage, and since I have tried and failed to produce the kind of homegrown tomatoes that my mom always used to have using just pots, I made the plunge to a larger (albeit small still) garden bed. This house has ideal land, meaning our yard is in FULL sun, and with a nice sized yard, allocating space to a garden isn’t depriving the kids from ample play space.
To start I pulled out some unidentified plants and a couple of poor performing azaleas (the weeds had overtaken that spot and the azaleas were stunted.) Well, maybe not. I know next to nothing about gardening. But I know that what was in this patch was ugly, wild and seemed to keep the azaleas from thriving. I bought a few yards of topsoil, and using a garden weasel that I found in the back of the garage (how we acquired that I have no idea) I “tilled” the soil for a while. Basically, I stopped when I was tired and the topsoil seemed to be mixed in with the existing dirt.
Next I bought a few small plants: three tomato varieties, a thai chili pepper plan, a blueberry bush and a strawberry plant. Remembering the beautiful blueberry bush I bought from Whole Foods last year, and how the birds loved all those blueberries, I also bought the bird netting to install over the strawberry and blueberry plants. I also went crazy and bought seed packets for many other things: cucumber, snap peas, cilantro, dill, watermelon, basil and more. I started some in seed starter pods, and the rest were sowed directly into the fresh garden bed.
Mistake #1: I forgot to mark what got planted where. So now I don’t know if I should thin some rows to 12″ or just 3″. And not knowing what is where, I have no idea what is successful and what is flopping.
Mistake #2: The tall tomato plants (which are THRIVING) are throwing shade on much of what is around them. Its too soon to know how this will impact our yield this summer, but I have a feeling this isn’t great.
Mistake #3: I packed too much into too small of a space. I was excited, and didn’t want to give up any potential garden delights. But I know in my heart of hearts that it is too crowded. Like the shade, I don’t know the impact yet, but I suspect I’m stunting much of the potential growth.
Tall Tomatoes
Mistake #4: The tomato cages are too short. When I bought them and the choice was 36″ or 48″ I thought for sure the 36″ cage would be sufficient! Now I have regrets. I do hope that the size of these plants foretell a good bounty of tomatoes, as they are after all, the sole motivation for me to try this garden thing!
Mistake #5: For all the organic eating that I adhere to, I didn’t pay attention to my seeds or plants and ended up with almost all conventional. Not a huge problem, as I’m not raising the garden with chemicals, but it would have been nice to be truly organic.
Those mistakes aside, I’m pretty pleased with how the garden is going. Aside from a couple of days, I have let mother nature take care of the watering, and I have tended to the weeds as best I can (I don’t totally know which are weeds vs. new plantings emerging from the seeds.) I have tried to thin some plants, and I see I need to add a trellis to support the snap peas.
It is fun watching the kids watch the garden. The youngest is most invested in it, helping me till and weed and plant. The 7yo did the initial shop with me, and he likes tomatoes so he’s excited about those. The 9 year old just likes how fast things are growing, and hopes for a watermelon.
Of course it is way too early to say that this will be a yearly habit, but a month into this experiment I am happy to have made the plunge into the backyard gardening thing. Now, if only I can learn the difference between weeds and vegetables, I’ll be on my way.
SUPERPOWER: su·per·pow·er noun \ˈsü-pər-ˌpau(-ə)r\ 1: excessive or superior power 2 a: an extremely powerful nation; specifically: one of a very few dominant states in an era when the world is divided politically into these states and their satellites b: an international governing body able to enforce its will upon the most powerful states
The other night as I cuddled with my 7 year old, out of the blue he announced “if I had a superpower, it would be teleportation.” Yes, my 7 year old said “teleportation.” He went on to explain how useful that power would be playing a game of tag, and then we discussed how handy it would be getting to a faraway destination. The more we talked, the more excited he got. He wasn’t just talking, he was truly imagining what it would be like, what it would feel like to have a superpower!
So I got to thinking, what would my superpower be, if I could choose one? It took mere moments before I knew what I needed — in a purely selfish manner — I need more energy. I want a superpower of endless energy. E-N-D-L-E-S-S ENERGY! Imagine, the ability to get the tedious chores of life done and still have capacity to be cheerful while playing with my active kids and then still have enough left over to work and even more there to be an attentive friend and wife…. Doesn’t it sound dreamy?
And yet, isn’t it kind of sad that my gut instinct wasn’t something wistful like being able to fly, or something fun like teleportation? Why not something giving like the power to cure illness or prevent tragedy.
Being a mom is so demanding that it requires not normal energy that non-moms require, but superpower energy. Energy that allows us to be and do everything our little people require, energy to be a productive member of our community, energy to be a good partner and friend, and energy to take care of ourselves.
The problem is, we don’t have superpower energy. We have normal energy. Or low energy. Or, no energy. And yet somehow, we get through the day, wake up and get through the next, and the next…. so maybe we moms do have superpowers. Maybe being a mom is a superpower.
I have a superpower. I am a mom. I doubt my son will be impressed that while he only wishes for a superpower that I have one, but at least I am impressed.
Happy Mother’s Day to all my fellow superpower people 🙂
Relief and joy, that is what I feel, the morning after my son passed an in-office food challenge. Over the course of 90 minutes, my son ate increasing amounts of cupcake made with REAL EGGS. Not only loving the homemade chocolate cupcakes, my son ate them without any reactions! He was happy, but didn’t seem to fully understand the significance of the event. At not quite four years old, that isn’t shocking. But he did register MY excitement, and had fun telling his brothers and dad and teachers and friends the news “I am not allergic to baked eggs anymore!”
Sent home from John’s Hopkins with instructions to feed him baked egg products no less than four times a week, I am now facing the need to bake and bake and bake. Good thing I love to bake 🙂 I also need to find recipes that call for more than 2 eggs, unless I want my son to be eating 4 cupcakes at a clip, we need to pack more egg into our baked goods.
If all goes well, after 2 or 3 months, we’ll progress to cooked egg – like pancakes or french toast or battered chicken. Then, maybe 9-12 months from now, we can introduce direct egg.
The other amazing news from our appointment yesterday, Dr. Wood said that he will “certainly outgrow his milk allergy.” That is HUGE. More HUGE than eggs to me, since milk has been the source of his worst reactions! In fact, his IGE levels came down on almost every food that he is allergic to. Unlike last year’s pronouncement that his nut and peanut allergies were certain to be lifelong, Dr. Wood reversed that yesterday saying that although the odds are not in our favor, he won’t rule out the possibility of growing out of those allergies as well.
It is difficult to express the kind of relief that this news brings. We have been in full swing allergy management mode for 3 years. Not a meal goes by that prevention isn’t at the forefront of our thoughts and actions. Though we have hit a stride with managing allergies, there are times when the worry is overwhelming. Food allergies are limiting, and dealing with them is all consuming, so the thought of moving past them is amazing.
Even moving past ONE allergy is amazing. One less thing to read for on labels, one less item to overwhelm caregivers, and one less food that limits his being able to eat what others are eating.
Baking with eggs is going to take some getting used to, having only been vegan baking (and loving what I made!) Now I sign off to begin researching egg heavy recipes, and to get baking.
I have a dreamy vision of myself as being a runner. The kind with lean leg muscles, moving gracefully down the path with a smile that says she is pushing herself and feeling great. But the reality is that I am NOT a “runner.” I have short stocky legs, and despite yoga and running making me strong, I am not lean. And I am not a graceful runner. In fact, no matter how often I run, or how much distance I work up to, its a crap shoot if I will be able to go a block without becoming completely winded.
I have exercise induced asthma (EIA). Diagnosed in 7th grade, when I complained of not being able to do anything in PE. I started treatment then, which allowed me to be a very active person. Even now, I take a breathing treatment before I run. If I don’t take it, I can’t get off my block. But even with the treatment, there are many days that it isn’t fully effective and I can’t get more than a block or two without symptoms.
Exercise induced asthma symptoms are the same as any asthma. Tightening of the chest, wheezing, difficulty catching one’s breath, and even a burning sensation in my lungs. It sucks. And when exercising, if the symptoms come on, it very well may mean the end of the work out. Even if it has only been 5 minutes. Sometimes I can slow waaaaaaaay down and regain my breath and then just walk.
I did speak with my doctor about this; she put me on Singulair — but I took myself off after experiencing negative side effects. So I am resigned to dealing with my EIA, and I hate it. It is very tempting to give up this running nonsense altogether, especially on days like today where I had such a bad reaction. But I happen to love running. See, a real love/hate thing can exist!
I try to feel lucky that I can predict the onset of my asthma. Many asthma sufferers have attacks with no clear (or controllable) trigger, and that has to suck even more than knowing that exercise is a trigger.
Today will go down as a hateful attempt to run. Hopefully tomorrow I will have the nerve to try again, because the trails are beautiful now, the weather perfect, and bathing suit season is approaching fast!
We are leaving in 3 hours. I need to pack, clean and load the car. I am still in my pajamas, and just finished up a batch of banana muffins. You might wonder if we’re heading to a pot-luck, or a baking contest. We’re not. Aside from the fact that the poor black bananas would have been tossed had I not made muffins, I didn’t NEED to bake today.
Diversion? Shiny object?
Yes!
I HATE packing. Will do anything to avoid it. I LOVE baking. And, I like that it makes me happy on a day that would otherwise be stressful. And by baking, I will have LESS time to pack; and the less time I spend packing, the better off I am. I find packing to be one of those chores that will last as long as the time frame allotted to it. So I am allotting less time today.
Though a ping of panic is starting to creep in as I write this. Hubby is coming home early so we can pull the kids from school early, in order to miss the heinous traffic that exists on I-95 between DC and Richmond. So if I cause a delay and we end up in stuck for an extra hour, in what is already a long trip, it will be held against me.
I know the idea of “performance under pressure” is common, and it relates to writing papers, proposals, filing taxes and holiday shopping. I just never thought about packing as something that falls into that category, until today.
Signing off, to face the inevitable. And eat a muffin.
I think Pinterest may be causing some women performance anxiety. Be she a mom, wife, homemaker or cook, no matter what she prides herself on accomplishing every day — on Pinterest there is visual proof that it can all be done so much prettier!
Logging on is like opening all of the pages of Martha Stewart, Home & Garden, luxury travel, parenting, craft and cooking magazines. While the images delight the eyes, and I get lost in the beauty of a private island, a cake that looks like Candyland and beautifully applied eye make-up, I start to feel overwhelmed.
I love the visual appeal of bug-shaped snacks made from veggies and piped cream cheese, but I just don’t have time to make them. And while the craft ideas to mark every holiday are creative and fun and even look doable, I know that I nor my kids will have the energy or attention span to make them happen.
Pinterest must be thrilling to new parents! I see friends with little ones creating boards with the most spectacular assortment of crafts, activities, foods, and traditions to do with their children. But I’m hardened a bit by the reality of having a few kids, a job, a home and a ton of laundry.
Some of the milestone ideas on Pinterest are adorable. But in my experience, one day at 11pm you will be arguing with your spouse about who needs to get out of bed to put the note from the tooth fairy under the kid’s pillow, and you’ll debate if its ok to skip the note just this once, and if it has to be on the same adorable tooth shaped note paper… and you’ll kick yourself that you started this tradition and you still have TWO MORE KIDS who will expect this. And it will make you tired.
For me, Pinterest is a visual affair with the unattainable. Pipe dreams in color, if you will. As Vogue is to my real life fashion, Pinterest is to my crafts, kids snacks, and home organization.
I will still spend too much time on Pinterest. I like seeking inspiration for decorating our home. I love finding interesting color combinations and wall decor for the kids’ rooms. And I enjoy browsing my friends pipe dreams in color, and pinning them onto my own.
I’m on Pinterest, and am happy to share my pipe dreams with you.
14 1/2 years ago my darling husband proposed to me over a decadent chocolate soufflé at a local French restaurant. For our annivesary yesterday I intended to try my hand at the classic dessert for the first time! However, as I researched recipes and considered my options, I worried that converting a classic souffle to dairy free would leave me wanting. We aren’t always dairy free, but for special desserts, we don’t want to leave out our youngest son, who has multiple food allergies.
Snowflakes In January 