I’ll admit, at first I was a little nervous. I’ve never spent a day baking a ton of cookies. And Nora? Has a family tradition of making cookies around this time of year. So, not only was I attempting something new, but I was replacing a day Nora normally spends with family. No pressure, kids, no pressure.

Not surprisingly, we had a blast. Nora brought three tried and true recipes while I contributed one new recipe. She got started right away and I sort of took a bit to warm up (let me use chasing Gavin as an excuse for my failed focus during the first recipe).

First up, peppermint fudge. The recipe is Nora’s family secret, so I’ve been sworn to not reveal the details. But, I can share with you that we made the boys help smash peppermint sticks. And then, voila, it was ready. It’s kind of ridiculous how easy the recipe was. It took about 15 minutes to make two batches. I’m not kidding.

Don’t mind the TERRIBLE flash on these photos. We couldn’t quite figure it out … and it’s not like cookies sit around waiting to be photographed – they disappear (into our tummies) after too long!

Next up, these oooooey, goooey oatmeal, chocolate chip, caramel bars. Again, not my recipe to share. But, it was fun pulling out the Kitchen Aid Mixer to make these bars of yumminess. Of course, I couldn’t pull my face away from eating these bars long enough to take a photo of the finished product. Fail!

I think the third recipe was my favorite. Chocolate covered pretzel rods. There really isn’t a secret to this recipe. Pour melted chocolate over pretzels. Add sprinkles. Let chocolate set. The recipe was super easy. And I love the sweet and savory combination of the salty pretzels and sweet chocolate.

Our last recipe for the day was salted caramel cookies. I saw the recipe here and kind of had to try it. I’ll admit, there were a lot of steps. Nora and I agreed it’s one of those recipes that we’d have to try a couple more times to work out the kinks. But, you guys, holy cow. Sugar cookies. Homemade caramel. A sprinkle of sea salt on top? Even the imperfect batch of cookies melt in your mouth. AHHHHHHMAZING!

I’m not gonna lie. My feet really hurt after standing all afternoon. My belly especially hurt after trying, well, trying everything (at least once, if not more than once). It was exhausting. But, it was so much fun. And, I think I passed Nora’s litmus test, because I’m pretty sure I heard her agree to making this an annual get together with us in years to come! Talk about a big WIN for us!

]]> http://somispeaks.com/2011/12/13/cookies-2/feed/ 14 http://somispeaks.com/2011/12/02/linky/ http://somispeaks.com/2011/12/02/linky/#comments Fri, 02 Dec 2011 09:22:03 +0000 SoMi's Nilsa http://somispeaks.com/?p=5171 I didn’t want to end this week with a couple super duper heavy posts. But, I’m kind of spent – my brain is fried. So, I’m gonna let some others do the talking for me today.

This. And if you need a clue before checking it out, think widespread death from the plague-like diseases returning after years of eradication.

OK, that wasn’t entirely fair. I mean, I leave you with heavy posts this week and then send you to another heavy post? My apologies.

How about this. Rants from Mommyland talks about the 10 worst children’s gifts to give for the holidays. I think we should expand it. Because, there are easily the 10 worst gifts to give a boyfriend/girlfriend, spouse, relative, best friend, boss and so on.

But, let’s not be Debbie Downers here. I mean, the holiday spirit is supposed to be about love, peace, good health and giving. So, how about this (baby edition) and this (toddler edition). I Like Beer and Babies talks about her favorite baby items and best toddler gifts. We use a lot of the baby items and already have some of the toddler items on Gavin’s wish list for the holidays. Plus, I pretty much love her for introducing us to the Ona Block, because we’ve recently been struggling to keep Gavin’s diaper pail smelling like roses.

And speaking of the holiday spirit, how about this. Sweets and I have recently been thinking a little more about how we want to blend traditions from Chanukah and Christmas. One idea I like is an advent calendar. And there are some beautifully creative, non-sugar options on Etsy! Like this one, that I kinda, maybe, sorta just purchased!

Speaking of holidays and gifts, our holiday gift to each other this year involved mama taking one for the team. Sweets has a 6-year old an ancient Apple laptop. He’s been whining about how slow the internet connection is (true) and begging for an iPad. We finally agreed it would be our gift to each other, though Sweets’ inscription on the back pretty much tells the whole story: “Dad’s iPad … hands off!” He’s so giddy about his new toy – it makes me happy for him. Of course, he’s been tinkering around, figuring out what apps he wants. He found one app that I absolutely love (and could download for my iPhone). It’s called Pulse and it pulls headlines from a host of news sources. You can customize it to follow your favorite newspapers and magazines. It’s a great way to capture a quick glimpse of what’s going on in the world around me!

Of course, I can’t leave this linky love post entirely up to others, because that’d be so lazy of me! So, I’ll tell a quick story about Gavin. Earlier this week, he was trying to figure out how to get under our kitchen stools. After a couple tries where Sweets guided him a bit, Gavin totally got it. And spent the next 10 minutes climbing in and out from under the stool. Of course, I waited until the last minute to record it, but I did get a clip of Gavin’s adventures. For whatever reason, Vimeo’s embedding script isn’t coming through on the blog. So, if you want to see the video, go here.

Alright, alright. I think I’ve given you enough to read and think about for a Friday. I’m turning off comments today. Not because I don’t love you. But, rather, because I want you to give these other bloggers some love. Plus, I’m not connected to the interwebs today or this weekend at all, so I won’t get to return your love and that’s just no fun!

Happy weekend, y’all!

I think Gavin took his first steps.

I laughed and said, it’s not official until mama sees him take his first steps. But, really, go ahead and tell me what you think you saw. =)

So, Sweets proceeds to tell me that Gavin was standing a bit away from him. Sweets encouraged him to walk. And Gavin did!

To make sure what Sweets said was true, I had Gavin stand without holding onto anything and I took a couple steps back. I encouraged him to “walk, Gavin, walk.” And he came walking right towards me. It’s official, our baby took his first steps.

It should be noted that I think two things contributed to Gavin walking towards me. First, he’s been doing a pretty good job of standing on his own without holding onto anything for a couple weeks. And, second, whenever Gavin holds onto our fingers and we guide him through walking, we always talk to him using the word WALK. “Walk, Gavin, walk” or “let’s walk over there.” I think he recognizes the word walk and knows what it means, so we can encourage him to walk towards us and he knows how to turn that into action. I think it also helps that if he’s standing on his own, he doesn’t have to steady himself as he’s walking towards us.

The rest of Saturday entailed going to the first birthday party of Gavin’s preemie twin (friends of ours were due 2 days before me and gave birth 2 weeks before me … we spent many days texting one another while we were each in our respective NICUs and many late nights texting once babies came home … to this day, we check in with each other weekly to see how our babies are doing, how the mamas are doing and to ask for input, advice, reassurance, or whatever it is we need based on what’s going on in our lives). We also had dinner at the house of our friends who got married a few weeks ago.

Sunday, I made Gavin show me again that he could indeed take steps on his own (he can). We went to music class in the morning. I made a HUGE batch of chili and delivered some to this beautiful lady (who just had a baby) and her family. Oh yeah, I might have also gifted her an old-school bell … you know, the kind you’d find on shop counters … for her to ring when she needs hubby or son to get her something. heheheh. By the time I got home, dear friends had stopped by to say hello.

And then, well, then we crashed. Only, I couldn’t really crash. Because, Gavin decided to have a TERRIBLE night of sleep. The kind where he’s up crying an hour after we put him down. The kind where I feed him another bottle (and he eats all of it) and he’s still not happy. The kind where I finally put him in the guest bed and let him roll around until he tires himself out and falls aleep … at two in the morning. Ooooooh weeeeee, Monday was a rough day.

Don’t laugh (yeah, right – go ahead and laugh), but we actually think beans are contributing to restless nights of sleep. It seems like any time we eat tacos or chili, he’s up complaining. Guess his belly hurts just like ours does when the gas is turning the corner.

But, it matters not. My baby is on his way to entering toddlerhood!

Topix started off as a news aggregater in smaller communities. However the website also allows anonymous posting/commenting, which as it turns out, encourages people to gossip about one another and often speak of lies as truths. Speaking about the anonymous use of Topix, one small town mayor said, “If names had been put on and tied to what has been said, there would have been one killing after another.”

I beg to differ. If I were to be quoted, it would rather look something like this: “If names had been put on, then people would think twice about spreading nasty rumors and gossiping about their friends and neighbors.”

Wouldn’t you agree? We see this kind of behavior all the time in bloggyland. Generally speaking, bloggers who are “known” by friends and family provide a certain amount of self-censoring prior to publishing a post, because these bloggers know they are open to criticism from their family, friends and community. “Anonymous” bloggers tend to think no one can find them, that no one knows who they are, and are often comfortable speaking more freely about people in their lives. Gossip and anonymity go hand in hand.

We see it in blog readership, too. When readers are required to sign in or to leave a name and email address, comments tend to be more respectful of the writer and other readers. Readers don’t always have to agree, but in my own experience, they tend to write about their own experiences (and why they conflict with what the blogger is suggesting), instead of being critical of the blogger themselves. Anonymous commenters more frequently feel they have the freedom to attack writers and other readers. Often, the nastiest comments I have seen come from anonymous comments. There is often a lack of sensitivity in what is being said and to whom it is being addressed.

How do you feel about the known versus anonymous elements of social media?

Specs. Ever since Gavin was born, my eyesight has been deteriorating. I’m not sure if it’s due to pregnancy hormones or all the late nights I had my head in my cell phone when the lights were dimmed or just old age, but the fact is I can’t see as well as I used to. After an eye exam, it’s been determined I have stigmatisms in both my eyes. The eye doc claims my eyes aren’t all that bad. But, I know they need help. So, I acquiesced and got some specs. Gavin isn’t so sure he likes his mama’s new look. I guess we’re all adjusting.

Mobility. Speaking of Gavin, we’ve got our hands full with him. He’s crawling, climbing, cruising. He puts everything into his mouth, whether it’s his toys, our toys or even dirt. Doesn’t matter, it all goes in. One thing we’re trying to teach him is to be careful when he climbs on objects that move. We could, of course, hold steady a chair with wheels or the trash can to make it safe this time … but, what happens when Gavin goes to climb on those things next time and we’re not looking. They move. He falls. And could really hurt himself. Instead, we don’t hold anything steady and supervise his climbing curiosity. He’s managed to pull over the recycling can on top of him and has had to walk fast to catch up with a chair on wheels. But, he’s learning what’s safe to climb (coffee table, couch) and what isn’t (trash can, mama’s desk chair).

Planning. When I was pregnant with Gavin, Sweets and I bought additional life insurance, to make sure Gavin doesn’t go without should one or both of us die. Recently, we’ve begun addressing the next step. We’re opening a college fund to begin collecting money for the future. And we’re also getting our paperwork together to have our attorney draw up papers for our will and a trust. We’re learning a lot along the way.

Holidays. Over Labor Day weekend, my mom came to town for my niece’s first birthday party. We also had a family dinner and family cookout to plan/attend, too. It was busy, but a great opportunity for grandma to get some time with her grandchildren. Along those lines, we are also planning a trip back to Boston and Maine in early October. It will be Gavin’s first flight on a plane … we’re planning for the worst case baby scenario and hoping for the best.

Moving. Lately, we’ve had a number of friends move. It just so happens that one friend I met through blogging moved within a half hour of other very dear friends who stood up in our wedding. So, this past weekend, we took a day trip to see Nora‘s new home with her fiance, Knight. And, bonus, Lisa was in town visiting Nora, so I got to meet her, too. After a great cookout lunch, we headed back to Illinois to see our other friends who bought a beautiful very suburban home (so long, city life!). There were other mutual and new friends there, which turned into a great dinner cookout. Needless to say, we had our fill of burgers by the end of the night.

iPhone. My mobile phone contract ended at the beginning of the month. I’ve been thinking a lot about what phone I wanted next. And, even though I’m loathe to jump on any bandwagon, I did … I wound up buying an iPhone. Since this just happened yesterday, I haven’t had a ton of time to explore it. I’m not really a game person, but if any of you iPhoners have great apps to recommend, let me know in the comments.

And that’s just the tip of the iceberg in my life. But, all the time I have to offer right now is a glimpse. Thankfully, I’ve managed to read most of your posts and even comment on a few. So, despite really missing this space, I don’t feel completely removed from the community at large.