hollie joy in the morning

Thursday, July 12, 2012

Confessions of a hot mom

This past 24 hours I've noticed something about myself. I am hot. And not in a good way. I am hot, cranky, tired, and mad. Too often. These are not pretty things I am revealing. I like looking good, inside and out. I like being a nice mom, a happy wife, a supportive friend and family member. But God has been gently revealing to me some cracks in my neatly photographed paved path.

Do I like this? Um, no. I want to be perfect. However, His version of perfect is not mine. Part of my realizing I need to take a deep breath and re-evaluate led me to ask myself why I have been short-circuiting. Heat, housework, adjusting to my husband being home (which, I know, is a great problem to have), the plain noisiness of a house packed with three boys and a dog? Yes, yes, yes. And yes.

Our sweet neighbor Barb delivered these to our house; they are going out of town (to New Orleans, which even in the heat I would rather be going to than staying here at this moment) and I found them on the counter in the midst of my doing-good-making-a-healthy-lunch-for-all-but-very-cranky spell yesterday. They were my game changer, my perspective shaper.

I started looking around for what made my happy, not what I thought I was supposed to be doing. One whiff of fresh cut lemon and I was smiling. I think that startled my husband.

After my super healthy lunch for everyone, I took my long shelved magazines up to my bed and just flipped through the pages. If I can't be at the shore curled up on my (imaginary) porch with soft, white sand two feet away from my toes and white painted floors, white couches and fragile sea glass decorations in my house, I can at least do myself the favor of taking myself there for 20 minutes.

So, so glad my oldest begged for the expensive budget breaker cherries at the store.

A few cut up cherries, fresh squeezed lime, and of course ice cubes in my Coke Zero for a happy drink with my magazine viewing.

Fresh peas, both sugar snap and snow, harvested with my oldest provided a sweet dinner star.

Being that it is around 100 degrees this week in Spokane, we have been searching out inside activities, we're not much for heat in our little family. So when my oldest (he's on a roll) said we should go to 7-11 on 7/11, I wholeheartedly agreed. And as it turned out, surprise!, (or not) it's a tradition at the 85 year old convience chain to give out free Slurpee's. It was priceless (and, well, free) to see my boys on their first trip to 7-11, having their first Slurpee's.

Last night I caught a radio program on my station 104.9 and it featured an author who's name I didn't catch, but she was talking about anger and mom's. I almost cried with recognition. I laid and listened and felt grace envelope me. And I'm going to reserve her book "She's Gonna Blow" at my new best friend, the Spokane County Library. I need a new direction. Oh, and that sweet bike, I found it in my sister's garage this morning.

She called early (for me) this morning. Props to all you working folks who get up and daily go to work. Amazing. I get up and go to work, but, as it is 12 stairs down, I can't complain. So, she had unwittingly locked herself out of her house and her neighbors don't have a key, so I drove the short and very quiet (hallelujah) drive to her house. This amazing set of drawers is in her vintage house's detached garage too. There was not cool old hardware in that drawer though. I looked.

After an amazing quick walk around Audubon park, which her house faces, I cooled down in her secret garden like backyard and discovered her coffee can of inspiration.

The thing about God is how He can use our failures, our failings, our perceived falling short. I am starting to think he may like them. Because really, what is more beautiful: a straight paved road or an overgrown, crumbling cobblestone path? I'll take the berry strewn path any day.

~Hollie Joy

Sunday, July 8, 2012

Project Joy: Week 1 results

And now back to our previously scheduled program...I realize I am now three weeks, almost four (!gasp!) into my Project Joy. I was feeling bad that I hadn't written my weeks up yet until I realized that I've just been busy living my project. So really, it's a good thing. That's one of the reasons I left my higher profile junking life, to relax into my family and our life.

So, week 1 started sort of at the end of the school year, Father's Day weekend-ish. I've been making the weeks rather loosey-goosey to accommodate our summer flow. I was busy making sure the boys last day(s) of school were memorable and celebrated, so after some Pinterest time, I came up with this greeting on the door when they came home along with a bag of books and games for summer.

And let's just move onto the recipes. I found a torn out page of a Martha Stewart July magazine on my couch and it was like a sign from God. We like, no we love, salt and sweet combos at our house and the recipe title dropped my jaw. Potato Chip Cookies. Yes. So for our last day of school lunch, I made these mouth-watering treats, with a little tweaking for Haden's food allergies.*

Here is the bowl of crunched up potato chips that you dip the dough in. Oh my. I may or may not have had to crunch multiple bowls due to my snacking.

And then. Mini Corn Dogs.* I found this recipe in my afore-blogged magazine tear recipe book. I forgot to keep the reference of which mag, so sorry!, but thank you to that magazine for the best freaking corn dogs I have ever had. There are no words, so I will illustrate in pictures.

Oh.

My.

Goodness.

And here is my awesome mommy craved last day of school lunch. Egg salad sandwich with plenty of mayo (I found already hard boiled eggs in a bag in the fridge section, a life saver for me with Haden's food allergies), more salty potato chips and an ice cold Coke Zero. A girl's gotta party. Oh, and I managed to eat a few of the corn dogs too. Maybe more.

Here is Finn modeling our 3 year old swimwer this summer. For our park that week, I am counting our back-backyard common area pool (and party with friends), which was a huge selling point for our home, and the park with play equipment a couple of blocks down. Our boys always beg to go, and so we went. Our field trip was to the local library to all get library cards and check out books. Pure joy.

Mark started teaching summer school the week right after school was out, so he started prepping the blue bathroom for painting. This picture is from this winter when in a moment of passion I started tearing off the wallpaper because I couldn't stand it one. more. minute.
Not to mention I had the monumental project of transitioning the boys and I to a summer schedule. And I do mean schedule. We have it written on the chalkboard, so if someone wonders what they could be doing, I get to point. More on that later.

And finally, a tribute to the men in my life, who make sure I have plenty mind boggling testosterone words, games, jokes and activities in my life. Not to mention joy. I love them dearly.

My dad Jerry, my husband Mark (who gets extra points for wearing-and keeping- a shirt from when Haden was a toddler-, my brother-in-law Mike.

My boys: Finn, 3-1/2; Liam, 6-1/2, Haden 9-1/3.

~Hollie Joy

Recipes!!!

Potato Chip Cookies (modified)

2 sticks soy margarine

3/4 cup packed brown sugar

1 tsp. vanilla extract

2 eggs/egg replacer equiv.

2 1/4 cups gluten-free flour

1 tsp. baking soda

3/4 teaspoon

4 (more to taste) cups coarsely crushed salted potato chips, divided

1. Preheat oven to 375. Beat together butter and sugars with a mixer on high speed until fluffy, 2-3 mins. Add vanilla and eggs, and beat on medium speed until just combined.

2. Add flour, baking soda, and salt and beat on low speed until just combined. Stir in 2 cups potato chips.

3. Roll dough into 2-inch balls, and then roll balls in remaining potato chips to coat. Place cookies 2 inches apart on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Bake until golden, 18-20 mins. Let cool completely on baking sheet. Cookies can be stored in an airtight container up to 5 days.

~These are tremendously good the day of!!

Mini Corn Dogs

package of mini hot dogs or cut up regular sized hot dogs

1 cup of pancake mix (I rely on The Cravings Place gluten free)

1 egg/egg replacer equiv.

vegetable oil

skewers

Slide each dog lengthwise onto 6 inch wooden skewer. Combine pancake mix, egg/replacer and 1/2 cup water. Pour oil into large saucepan to 1-1/2 in. depth; heat to 350. Dig dogs in batter, then in oil until golden, approx. 30 seconds.

~I recommend having a paper towel lined plate to put fried corn dogs on, and tongs/utensil to fish sticks out of oil. We will be making these for many festivities to come!

Friday, July 6, 2012

Food on the Fourth

If we'd chosen our 4th Menu from my 1935 Children's Party book, our menu would have been as follows:

Cannon Cracker Sandwiches (cream cheese & jelly on white bread); Chicken & Lettuce Sandwiches; Celery & Radishes; Stuffed Eggs; Party Ice cream (homemade old school recipe); Fire Cracker Cakes (Birthday cupcakes w/ red frosting and a peppermint stick-hmmm....); and Red Lemonade, all in picnic boxes, which "if possible, should be in red, white and blue."

Acutally, I wish I would have read this before the fourth, it has some fun ideas, maybe next year. My mom however had a seriously delish spread and I picked a few ideas from Pinterest and magazines and of my own design. The watermelon cut out stars and blueberries came from Pinterest, and with a little encouragement from Mark, I made my first watermelon bowl.

Using my garage sale find mini cupcake pan and mini cupcake holders I baked stars and used the bigger cupcakes for stripes. I used the Betty Crocker Gluten Free yellow cake mix this time. It takes a whole small bottle of red food coloring to make red frosting by the way. I used Pillsbury (dairy free) whipped frosting for the stripes and my frosting tool; and Betty Crocker cookie cream pouch with a mini attachment to frost the stars.

A sprinkle of red, white and blue and I had a hit on my hands!

This is my mom's brilliant dessert: cut up white cake, blueberry pie filing, cut strawberries and freshly whipped cream in a jar.

Some of us may have eaten the boys extras. That would be me.

Speaking of eating, this is the amazing mini formica vintage table my mom had for the boys table, and she found the super cute red children's folding chairs at The Farm Chicks this year.

Another dessert perfect for the fourth; strawberry shortcake~served in my Martha Stewart vintage inspired hobnail dessert glasses.

Since I was making it for the boys, it had to be gluten (wheat) free, as well as dairy and egg free. (My oldest son has a laundry list of severe food allergies). I went back to The Food Allergy News Cookbook that I've had since he was a baby and used the shortcake recipe.

This cookbook has been my security blanket and was the only way I was able to make desserts and meals and snacks for Haden for years, until new brands and mixes began appearing on the shelves. I have also decided it's time to expand my skills and invest in a new gluten-free baking cookbook this summer.

In the meantime, it was fun to use my vintage biscuit cutters and my indispensable roller tool I found at Williams Sonoma. My mom recommended it and I have had much better experiences rolling out gluten free doughs ever since. The smaller size allows me to exert the pressure needed to manipulate the much less elastic (gluten-less) dough around.

Ahh, sweet. I didn't have my soy-whip on hand since previously Haden said he didn't like it. But the night I made it he said that he wanted to have the whip back in his life.

I still got a thumbs up from him.

For the fourth I had apparently said I would make a blueberry pie. So, using my favorite Gluten Free Pantry perfect pie crust mix, I did just that. I sub. in Ener-g brand Egg Replacer, and patched much of the bottom crust dough by hand. Using the scalloped pastry dough cutter cleverly stored on the back of my roller tool, I cut stripes and used my vintage star cutter to complete my blueberry vision. For the yummy filling I used 6 cups of defrosted blueberries, a cup (and a half) of sugar and Tapioca. This amazing pie received rave reviews from wheat eaters as well as my sweet boy.

Our fourth wouldn't be complete without smore's~the boys got Ener-g brand cinnamon-sugar crackers, dairy free Enjoy Life chocolate and a choice of flat, star and huge size marshmallows alike.