It's the night before the annual cookie party and I've used the "f" word against a harmless bowl of dry ingredients...twice.  Tomorrow I need to present five dozen cookies that are globally inspired...a twist on our traditional gathering.  All I know is that I should have thought twice before choosing a recipe from a blog called "Ambitious Kitchen".  Seriously, what was I thinking?  Next year I will certainly seek out recipes that are more my speed. 

Mental Notes:  Must google "inferior culinarian blog" or "unremarkable chef blog".  Food Network, I may be on to something here. 
 

So the brown-buttered, salted caramel, nutella dough that now sits in my fridge tastes interesting at best.  That was literally what I said to myself, "interesting", when tasting the batter.  That can't be good.  Anyway, I hope I keep getting invited to this party before someone figures out that I'm there just to score other people's cookies.  Because damn these girls can bake.  Wish me luck tomorrow.

It was a Tuesday, we had completed a round of errands and made it home before stomachs started howling for lunch. I allowed them five minutes with full access to my lipstick and a gaudy palate of Wet and Wild body glitter. They felt royal. With great care they slipped into their finest and requested that pictures be taken for posterity. All of these poses were completed unprompted. Ella's eyes batted like a hummingbird's wings as Viv worked hard on her technique. When Ella puts on this dress she is transformed. She will cup Vivian's chin with her red gloved hand and murmur sweet nothings to her sister in a whispered song.   She does not shout or jump, she does not encourage Vivian to wag her heiney or whisper "poop" under her breath. She is poised, she is prim, she is a parent's dream. And Vivian follows suit.  I can't help but think that Santa will have to work miracles to top this gift from the Czerkies...for both the girls and I.

Batted Eyes

Demure I

Demure II

Cheeky

Jerry's Mashed Sweet Potato Recipe

Yet another recipe that cannot go without mention. My aunt's swoon over Jerry's mashed sweet potatoes. In part, no doubt, that it was made by a man...whee! Let that fact not overshadow it's greatness.

Topping
1 cup (packed) golden brown sugar
1/4 cup chilled butter, cut into 1/4 inch piece

5 pounds red-skinned sweet potatoes, peeled, cut into 1 1/2 inch pieces

4 large eggs
3 tablespoons pure maple syrup
2 tablespoons vanilla extract
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
2 teaspoons salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix sugar and butter in a small bowl. Cover and chill until ready to use.
Butter 13x9x2 inch baking dish. Cook sweet potatoes in a large pot of boiling salted water until very tender, about 12 minutes. Drain. Let stand in colander 15 minutes. Mash the heck out of them.
Beat eggs, syrup, vanilla, lemon juice and salt in a large bowl. Mix in mashed sweet potatoes. Transfer the sweet potato mixture to prepared dish. Sprinkle topping over mixture.
Bake until sweet potato mixture is set and topping bubbles, about 1 hour. Let stand 15 minutes and serve.
Serves 12-14

Mimi's Famous Chocolate Pecan Pie

My mother, the epitome of health and nutrition deflates a little each year after making this decadent Thanksgiving dessert.  The thing is, she doesn't have a choice.  If this rich little lovely didn't make it's way to the Thanksgiving table there would be Anarchy.  I inquired this year about the recipe, half expecting it to be a state secret.  Turns out that it's on the side of the Karo Syrup bottle!  She just adds one cup of chocolate chips.  That's right...my mother uses corn syrup and we are still alive to talk about it!   

1 cup Karo® Light OR Dark Corn Syrup

3 eggs

1 cup sugar

2 tablespoons butter, melted

1 teaspoon Pure Vanilla Extract

1-1/2 cups (6 ounces) pecans

1 (9-inch) unbaked or frozen** deep-dish pie crust

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
   
2. Mix corn syrup, eggs, sugar, butter and vanilla using a spoon. Stir in pecans. Pour filling into pie crust.
   
3. Bake on center rack of oven for 60 to 70 minutes. Cool for 2 hours on wire rack before serving.
   
4. **To use prepared frozen pie crust: Place cookie sheet in oven and preheat oven as directed. Pour filling into frozen crust and bake on preheated cookie sheet.

A trip to Pilsen last week left two little girls happily filled with churros.  We stopped by the Mexican Museum of Art before heading out to play at the local jungle gym. 

Two and a half drinks over the course of an evening with friends and reality has sunk in.  I can no longer hold my alcohol...none.  It's like I'm 16...I mean 21 all over again.  Only now after a few sips I'm ready to slip into my cozy pants and watch a marathon of Hoarders.  I'm no longer the social butterfly I once was.  Last night, however, I hopped on to the coat-tails of some well-healed, "in the know" friends and cavorted with them until the wee hours (9:30 p.m.).  We ate at Hubbard Inn and then found our way to one of those unmarked, un-named, basement clubs for a round of Moscow Mules.  It was great.

I'm always reassured by others that I will hit my social stride once again.  That I will no longer forget what it was I was saying or trail off into some awkward dialogue with myself...and that's before I've even been offered a drink.  Hey parenting young kids can be exhausting.  The timing of our adult-night couldn't have been better as earlier in the day I had hit a new low when I accompanied Ella to a four-year old's birthday party and felt "so hip" watching the kids dance around to One Direction.  LAME in all capitals!  So it was nice to be reminded last night that I still have "it" in me, if only once every few months.  What was even nicer was knowing that I'm not alone in these feelings.  Our one friend felt like he had been "roofied" (he wasn't) and was on his way to his daughter's cheerleading competition this morning.  An auditorium filled with spirited girls?  The epitome of a parent hangover.     

In preparation for Concordia's Thanksgiving Program, parents received the following emailed instructions.

"We know that this service is a wonderful photo and video opportunity for parents. We have put up some chains separating the children’s sitting area and the rest of the chapel and we request that you stay behind those chains when taking pictures or videos. Please be respectful of families behind you and of the students who are sharing their gifts of songs when documenting your child’s participation in the service."

This was no doubt in response to the antics of a few bad apples during the 2011 performance.  I don't know what kind of parent would cross the chains, scale the side of the stage just to get a picture of their child, do you?  This year, Jerry and I sat obediently in our pew as throngs of paparazzi parents pulled out their telephoto lenses to get that close up of their toddler wailing on stage.  Seriously it was a circus of Kardashian proportions.  And God-bless the teachers for their enthusiam.  They swayed and sang about Jesus's love as Vivian sat open-mouthed, her classmates crying, runing amok or both.  The teacher's dedication almost made me feel OK with the heavy religous rhetoric that is included in our steep tuition rates.  Oy, the hours spent on choreography and dress rehearsals!  Ella's class faired better.  She had been excited about "the stage" since her debut dance performance last May.  Although we didn't get any pictures, we were so proud.  I'm also proud to annouce that Jerry and I are officially off of school probation for good behavior. 

Pics From A Family Shoot This Summer

Only days into November and Christmas has been given the official green light.  We took the girls to Woodfield Mall on Saturday only to see lines thirty people deep loaded down with armfuls of stuff.  We decided to bypass the mayham at H and M and took shelter at the Rainforest Cafe.  Even the waitstaff seemed like they had already had their fill of crowds as they trudged to tables, pasted on a frozen smile and managed to clap along to a Happy Birthday number before filing back into the kitchens with scowls on their faces.  Ah, the holidays.  As I have the last several years, I will be enjoying my Christmas shopping from my couch.  Taking all present requests via Amazon wishlist.  

Jerry and I voted today. Ella had a mock election in her classroom yesterday. She voted for "duck" who apparently won the race by only two votes against "Farmer Brown". I have to admit, I'm kind of envious of her candidate selection. This is my fifth election and wondering if people always enter into a "jaded phase" in their thrities. I know that some of my idealism from the early millenium has worn off some. But should it have really worn off this much?

Happy Halloween!

Shielded from the elements.

Spent too much time on these mother-loving costumes...needed to snap a picture.

Back to the more weather-resistant marching band costumes.

Romping in the leaves with buddy Jackson.

Add "ruined Halloween costumes" to the long list of Hurricane Sandy's destruction.  Who knew that her wrath would reach all the way to Chicago?  Jerry and I should have checked the weather patterns before racing home from work to blow up a bunch of balloons and weave their baskets.  Within five minutes of leaving the house, the balloons were wrapping themselves around the girls' heads, weaving a spider web of helium filled disaster.  Smiles turned to frowns and a near trick or treating boycott.  Luckily, we had our marching band costumes as back up.  In addition to keeping a closer eye on the weather, I would like to document some other "take aways" from this year's Halloween festivities.  They all seem to revolve around the same theme:  Home-made costumes.  Home-made costumes, in theory, are supposed to be cheaper.  Their costumes consisted of feathers, poster board, gold duct tape, gold cording, buttons and balloons.  Their baskets were made from Trader Joe bags that the girls painted brown.  So why is it that I feel totally spent after each October 31st?  Home-made costumes.  Why do Jerry and I find ourselves splayed out on the kitchen floor on the days leading up to Halloween cursing the fact that we didn't just go to Party City and get the "Princess in a Bag"?  Home-made costumes.  And this being only two days out from our Halloween Hell can you guess what I have planned for next Halloween?  Yes...Home-made costumes.  Much like child-birth, the home-made costume amnesia sets in quick.

 Guess who spoke too soon?