Baby Brain: Baby Training

I babysat as a kid, I think every young girl does. My mother taught me the basics and generally I had few issues. There was normally a pizza involved and a movie and I never had to deal with baby babies, the youngest was probably 5. Let’s just say by the time I went to college I had the superficial exposure to young children that any girl does at the age of 20.

I did not actually get training on how to care for infants; the little tiny ones that you feel like you are going to break them, until I got to college. I had a good friend whose mother was a single mom, her husband walked out of the house to go to work one day and never came home.

INSERT RANT: How COULD YOU - you despicable piece of elephant toe jam of a man, leave a young uneducated wife with three boys under the age of 4!
END RANT.

So she did something incredible, she started a daycare in her basement in order to meet the bills and still be home with her three growing boys. Over the years she kept her day care up as her only means of income and without it she would be in dire straights financially. Her day care was thriving and she watched anywhere from 5-10 kids all under the age of 5.

I knew my friend and his mother for three years, three wonderful years of his mother treating me like a lost lamb. Three years of her offering to feed me every time I walked in the door because I was too skinny. She made the best manicottis I have ever had and with my own mother 450 miles away I gobbled up the attention she lavished on me. Three years passed before the cancer hit. She was so ill after her kemotherapy sessions that I started going over to help out so she could go to her appointments and then come home and rest upstairs. That few hours a couple times a week for months left me with ALOT of knowledge about babies and kids. Random insider knowledge that you normally don’t learn until you have had your own small child. Let me tell you THAT this experience is what enabled me to keep my baby biological clock suppressed for all these years, those little buggers TOOK ALOT OF ENERGY and although they were adorable I knew I was not ready.

INSERT SIDE NOTE: I wonder if teen pregnancy would go down if every high school had a daycare center, kinda like home economy, where the teens would have to spend an hour changing diapers, cleaning up vomit, and holding screaming infants until they slept. I think it is BRILLIANT!
END SIDE NOTE

I remember the first few days I helped her, we watched the children together and I was APALLED by how much I did not know. With that many small children I was always wishing for an extra pair of arms or eight and I learned quickly how to prioritize needs vs. wants. That time was difficult and I felt in those first few weeks like I had jumped into the deep end of the pool without taking swimming lessons. I remember wanting to curl up on the floor and scream right along with the four children who were crying for my attention at a particular moment. However, months later I was juggling toddlers and infants, napping schedules and feeding times like a pro. I feel empowered to be able to manage it all. Six months later my friend’s mother was better, her cancer was in remission and we all rejoiced at her recovery. However I was a little sad when I was no longer needed and stopped by often just to nuzzle some glorious babies.

Now I have a few nieces and nephews and soon a host of friends who I am excited to bring back all that stored knowledge. Baby Fruit is already a constant visitor at my house and I am able to help more because of what I know.



I thank that experience in my life. Not only did I help a wonderful woman through a difficult period in her life, I learned how to juggle multiple infants and toddlers. I feel like when I am blessed to become a mother I will have a little easier time transitioning from childless to having a wee one of my own.

A Celebration of Estrogen

Ms. Eden decided that we were all getting together to celebrate, and when that girl decides something, nothing better get in the way. We had dinner to celebrate two years of being all together, new girls come and go but there are a core few that have stayed strong. Getting all of us together at dinner and unleashing us to talk creates a very LOUD table but one that is filled with a lot of advice and love. That is what amazes me the most about this group of S women, we share a common bond of vulnerability and cheering each other on in class each week, peppered in with helping each other through the ups and downs of life in general. It is the first time I have been with a group of women were the energy is positive all the time. I think because S brings out the best in each of us and gives us a common platform to nurture each other with.

Truly I am grateful for this journey with them.



Unfortunately Ms. Dancer is absent from this photo, she got injured in class and had to go home. POOR MS. DANCER! Hope you get better soon.

A Birthday Day in Hollywood

Today was Mrs. Fruit’s birthday and when I asked her how she would like to spend her day she opted to finally visit Hollywood. It was so fun to see her excitement, the views that I had seen 100 times over and over again took on a bit of excitement with her apparent glee.

We of course went to the Mann Grauman’s Chinese Theatre.



We saw the names and handprints of the famous in the cement.



We saw the Hollywood sign.



She bowed down to the stars on the street.



But what she got most excited by were the randomly dressed movie and cartoon characters filling the touristy streets. And it was not like she would be happy with one.



or two



which then was when Baby Fruit joined in the fun.



three was too little



maybe four?



Ahh yes four was just right. Even I got in the fun a little bit when I saw the Mad Hatter, SO COOL!!! I love me some Johnny Depp.



After getting her photo taken with ALL OF THEM and running out of single dollar bills for tips we headed to California Pizza Kitchen for a little bit of yummy sustenance. Every time I hang out with Baby Fruit she does something new to amaze me. Today she got more excited about COLORING than I do about a giant shoe sale. I mean that girls LOVES TO COLOR. Ok Baby Fruit Tita gets the message loud and clear. Color away with all your tiny fiery passion; that zest for life will serve you well later on, and I approve!



After lunch we were off to the wax museum. I had never been and I am not sure the 17 dollar entrance fee was totally worth what we saw. I am glad that we got to go though because it WAS interesting, but it was also creepy and a bit strange. Some of these are really scarily lifelike.



It was odd staring into their unseeing eyes, gave me a bit of the whillies.

The best part was that Mrs. Fruit, a wonderful singer, got to fufill a dream. She got to stand in front of the American Idol Judges panel and thank them for selecting her to be one of the singers on the show.



We ended the day with a mini shopping spree to spend the money I gave her for her birthday. She got the last rocking pair of rockin pumps, tiny pity party because I wanted a pair too, but it was her birthday and she deserves. Happy Birthday Mrs. Fruit! Next time we will wrestle for the last pair of shoes though.

Turkey & White Bean Stuffed Red Peppers

Ahhhh red peppers how do I love thee, let me count the wonderful glorious fantastic ways. At the grocery store today I scored again red peppers on sale. I carried them home close to my heart, wheels in my mind turning on the millions of ways I could use them in a recipe. I decided to make something simple and OH so yummy, something my husband could bring to work for dinner. Stuffed red peppers are a quick pop into the microwave and he has a wonderfully home cooked meal. This is a spin on the traditionally stuffed beef peppers; I replaced the meat with lean ground turkey and added beans for a little more fiber. Filling and sensationally tasty it was wonderful to have for dinner last night and I have enough to have them again tomorrow. YUM!

RECIPE: TURKEY & WHITE BEAN STUFFED RED PEPPERS INGREDIENTS 2.5 cups of pre-soaked white beans 4 red peppers 1 tablespoon olive oil sea salt 12 oz of lean ground turkey 1/2 white onion four cloves of garlic 3 tomatoes 2 basil leaves 2 oz mozzarella cheese DIRECTIONS 1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 2. Cook beans in a pot of water for 40 minutes. 3. Wash the red peppers; chop off the top about 1/4 inch below the top saving the top and removing and discarding the seeds. Rub peppers with olive oil and salt liberally. Place peppers chopped side down in Pam’ed baking dish and bake for 20 minutes. 4. Brown turkey. Add salt and pepper to taste. Set turkey in a bowl to the side. 5. Dice onions and mince garlic. Cook in same pan that you cooked the turkey until onions are translucent. Add to the bowl with the turkey. 6. Dice tomatoes and chiffonade basil leaves. Add to bowl. 7. Shred mozzarella cheese and reserve to the side on a plate. 8. Once beans are done cooking, strain and add to bowl. Stir mixing all ingredients well. 9. Remove peppers from oven, flip them right side up, fill 1/2 of the way with bean meat mixture, sprinkle some cheese, fill the rest of the way to the top of the pepper and sprinkle another bit of cheese. Place the cap on and repeat for each pepper. 9. Bake in oven for 30 minutes and serve immediately.

The LALA 10

Ever thought of visiting or even moving to Los Angeles. Generally most people fall into a love OR a hate relationship with this sprawling city. For me it tends to be more a love thing even though I don’t plan on being here forever. I thought I would put a little travel guide on here for all those dreaming about the big city full of light.

1. You need pure reflexes and agility to be able to handle these roads. The common rule is; my cars bigger than your car OR the laws of chicken may apply depending on who you are “playing against”. If you have a passenger in your seat make sure you have dual airbags please.

2. You think Manhattan and Venice are both beaches.


VENICE BEACH

3. It always takes an hour to get somewhere. The traffic jams really ARE that bad.

4. On Broadway people should pick up a souvenir and try to avoid the crack.

5. You need to learn to tell the difference between crazy-bums and not-so-crazy-bums.

NOT-SO-CRAZY-BUMS a. Their bottom teeth are rotted out because of a tobacco chewing problem b. Their pupils are dilated and rapidly move from object to object c. They smell like body odours and fermented pee d. Generally they are mumbling incoherently hands gesticulating madly in the air CRAZY BUMS(WARNING STAY AWAY!) a. Their upper teeth are missing because of a meth addiction b. Their eyes are staring and kind of blank, you notice that they are not even trying to focus. c. Often they smell like putrid flesh and vomit. d. Absolutely no words come out.

6. There are days when you can actually see where the smog begins and ends. It is very sad, that sight that repulses you for a moment, and that you forget a moment after.

“EWWWW I always forget about the damn smog, its so DISGUSTING... Oh look there is Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt.

7. Real lifeguards here do look like the characters of Bay Watch. Their bodies glisten, they run and bounce with their red shiny torpedo lifesavers, and they flirt shamelessly showing off their perfect tans and their latest set of muscles.

8. You can go to Santa Monica Beach and surf in the morning and ski all day at Big Bear in the same day. AWSOME!

9. When giving driving directions to a friend you have to remember what time of the day it is that they will be driving so you can make extensive modifications due to traffic.

10. It is not unusual for your waitress at a restaurant to have blue streaked hair, a dragon tattoo or three and a six facial piercings.

10. The guy at 8:30am at Starbucks standing next to you wearing a low slung baseball cap and sunglasses who looks like George Clooney IS GEORGE CLOONEY.

11. You and your significant other make it a game out of recognizing local landmarks in the movies.

12. Your lawn is small enough to mow with a weed wacker.

13. You text that you are almost there when in actuality you are just leaving your house. Everything time delayed can and will be blamed on the traffic and since everyone knows how bad it is everyone is lax about being on time. Well almost everyone Mrs. Bulldog and Ms. Eden are always gloriously on time to prove that it CAN happen.

Grandma’s Old Fashioned Raisin Bread

AHHH this bread, this glorious wonderful bread has been in our family forever. Well forever may be a bit of an exaggeration but I don’t really know how many generations it goes back. I just know it’s old. Whenever I decide to make this recipe I am reminded of my mother, my grandmother and all the woman of my past. This bread flows in our blood, a recipe that I hope to pass down to my own little woman someday.

Aside from the luscious taste of this bread it has an old heavy wonderful consistency that is totally worth the 8 hours it takes to cook it. I know you think EIGHT HOURS is a long time to dedicate to bread but it is WORTH IT. If you break down the steps this recipe is quite easy. The hardest thing about it is finding the lard and dedicating a whole day to making it. And dedicate is the right word for it because you have to baby that yeast. By leaving it alone to fend for itself it may die and that will just make some sad flat bread. Good luck and let me know if you decide to make it and what you think!

A trick with the yeast. Since yeast is alive and we want it to grow you have to keep the mixture warm. You have two options. If your oven has a Proof setting that is a setting that will keep your oven warm and the yeast alive, you are lucky and can turn that on and come back in an hour to an hour and a half. If you do not have a proofing setting on your oven you have to do a little bit more maintenance to keep the yeast alive. Make sure to get a dish towel, run it under warm water and place it over your bowl of yeast. You need to remove the cooled cloth and re-warm it in water every 20 minutes. Leave the dough in the oven away from cool drafts and also keep a casserole dish with very hot water right under the bowl making sure to change the water with new hot water every 20 minutes.


GLASS OR CERAMIC BOWL WITH WARM CLOTH OVER TOP OF IT AND A CASSEROLE DISH OF REALLY HOT WATER BELOW

If you baby the dough in this fashion you will get a nice raise, where the dough will double its size and the bread will become lighter and airy. If your dough does not raise well in this part of the process the dough will be more compact and dense but it will still taste good.

RECIPE: GRANDMA’S OLD FASHIONED RAISIN BREAD INGREDIENTS 1 small Idaho potato 3 packets of Fleischmann's yeast 17 cups flour 1 egg 1 Kero syrup 2 tablespoons of salt 1/2 pounds of lard 1 box brown sugar 1 box raisins 2 tablespoons of cinnamon 1 1/2 tablespoons of nutmeg 1 1/2 tablespoons of all spice 1/2 teaspoon of cloves 2 cups water ¼ cup Crisco 3 brown paper bags DIRECTIONS 1. Peel, dice and boil the small potato until very soft 2. Remove potato from water (strain if you have to) and place potato in a large glass bowl. Add about 2 ½ cup of luke warm water and break up the potato pieces. You want the water to be warm, like a baby’s bath water. Once the pieces are all broken up and the mixture is not to hot or cold add the 3 cakes of yeast and 3 cups of flour. Stir gently until just mixed. 3. Cover the bowl with a damp warm towel and let rise until double in size about an hour and a half. see notes about yeast above. Take a large coffee cup and put in an egg. Fill the rest of the cup with kero syrup and put off to the side. The egg and the kero syrup must be at room temperature so giving it an hour to sit while the bread is raising is a must. wait an hour and a half 4. About 10 minutes before the raise is up, in a large roasting pan over two burners turned on the stove warm all these ingredients; 10 cups of flour, salt, lard, brown sugar, raisins, cinnamon, nutmeg, all spice and cloves; until they are like bath water, warm but not hot. 5. Take the roasting pan off the heat, place the pan on two large kitchen towels (to prevent the counter from getting scratched and burned). With a bag of flour next to you and a half scoop measuring cup sticking. 6. Make a hole in this warmed mixture and add yeast mixture, egg & kero coffee cup, and two cups of water. 7. Start to knead your dough adding flour in half cup increments until the dough is no longer SUPER sticky, like wet gum, but just slightly tacky like taffy. You will generally need to add about 4 cups of flour give or take a cup. 8. Once the dough is ready lightly grease the top of dough with Crisco. Cover with warm towel and again keep in the oven warm swapping out the warmed towel and water below until it doubles in size (about 2 hours). 9. Cut paper bags into squares large enough to line bread pans. Grease bread pans with Crisco, put in paper bag liners and grease the paper bag. Set aside until dough is done rising. wait two hours 10. Remove bread yeast from the oven. Preheat oven to 300 degrees. 11. Cut the bread yeast into 3-5 equal sized loaves and gently mold the bread into mini loaves placing them into the lined bread pans. 12. Bake at 300 degrees for about 1 hour to 1.5 hour until the tops are toasty brown. Remove from oven and let cool for 15 minutes. Remove bread from bread pans and let cool for another hour. Place loaves into large freezer Ziploc bags and place in the freezer for up to 4 months or the fridge for 3 days.

Rogue List: #45. Surprise Myself with my Own Strength

I have been struggling with depression for a while and seem to be FINALLY coming out of the woods. Over the past few months since I started taking and then slowly weaned myself off antidepressants I have felt the cloud that was over my life lift a bit and the sunshine, ah the glorious sunshine is beautiful. Although I feel like I got chewed up and spit out of something horribly unpleasant with every single bone in my body broken and battered I did learn something important; I never really knew how strong I was. Although my recovery took some time I can now say with confidence that I am much better and I credit this blog to be a large part of that recovery process. I have been toying for weeks weather or not I should use this as my #45 on my list and in the end I decided it was perfect. Although there were times, dark sad times when I thought I would not make it I know now that with the love and support of all of you I did. And for that I thank you.

Construction Part Duex: Let’s Get Back On this Bucking Bronco

For what seems like a lifetime, Mr. Rogue and I are finally ready to finish phase II construction on our home. We are elated, depressed, excited, scared, and just plain cautious about doing this but it must be done and now is better than never. So today we are diving down the rabbit hole of plumbing, construction, random men in my house and mayhem.

We are planning on completely redoing the bathroom, which desperately needs to be demolished, see here. Here is the old floor plan vs. the new one we are proposing to the city gods, I cringe when I think about that... here’s why.



Basically it makes the room a real bathroom instead of a cramped place of doom for hips, that constantly crash into things, and functionality, don’t you like how the door currently runs RIGHT into the shower or the fact that I can pee and brush my teeth at the same time with the continently placed sink?

I am hoping to survive with my sanity.

P.S. Construction, please don’t kick my butt this time. Pretty please, with sugar on top. I will be your best friend. Love Rogue Woman.