A RealFamilies RealFun Blog

Jun 16 2009

The man does good

Category: Just Me

My brother-in-law Ingmar is typical of many husbands when it comes to gift giving. One year he bought my sister a pair of diamond earrings. While she genuinely appreciated the gesture, the earrings weren't her style, so she exchanged them. No big deal.

The following year, he bought her the same exact earrings. When she pointed this out, Ingmar argued that they were bigger than the previous year's. (They weren't.) She now circles what she wants in a catalog and leaves it on Ingmar's pillow.

Unlike Ingmar -- though my sister says he's getting better -- Paul's an excellent present shopper. When I get a blender for Mother's Day it's because I've been lusting after the cool chrome one at Williams-Sonoma for months, not because he's clueless and doesn't know what to get me.

He was the one who bought me my first crock pot, an appliance I fell in love with and can't live without. And that under-the-counter electric can opener? It's a present from Paul, and a very practical and space-saving one at that.

I think the only time he screwed up was with the pressure cooker, and that was my fault since I couldn't get the darn thing to work. Potatoes would take longer to cook or I'd burn the spaghetti sauce in it. I finally gave up, all the while wondering how the Iron Chefs used their pressure cookers with such skill and success.

While I love to cook and am a complete nerd for kitchen appliances, I do get typical girly stuff like jewelry, clothes, perfume, and purses. But it's not the stuff you see advertised in the magazines. Instead Paul buys me antique Bakelite bracelets, vintage western wear, Jean Paul Gaultier perfume in the bustier bottle, and Lucite purses from the '50s. It's all the stuff that I really don't need, but adore to receive. I'm one lucky mama.

 

Jun 15 2009

Pizza time

Category: Come and Get It

Paul loves to cook on the weekends, and tries to involve the kids in his cooking projects as much as possible -- probably because he has much more patience than I do. The only bad thing about this is that he doesn't like to clean up afterwards. I put up with it because he usually makes something fantastic.

His latest endeavor is homemade pizza. He's currently experimenting with dough and sauce recipes, so we decided to try Telly Scotchmeyer's version. Nathan was so impressed the last time Paul made pizza that he put it as one of his awards on his behavior chart.

When Nathan finally won it, we set a pizza night, and I went shopping. I splurged and got fresh mozzarella and artichoke hearts for me and Paul. I wanted sun dried tomatoes too, but passed after seeing that a teeny jar was $8. For the kids, I bought store brand mozzarella, Canadian ham, and pineapple. I also picked up some black olives, onions, and turkey sausage (BOGO and cheaper than regular Italian sausage). I think the pizza restaurant down the block ran out of supplies, because the store was out of grated cheese, fresh basil, and pepperonis for some odd reason.

I made the dough ahead of time, but should have made the sauce and chopped the ingredients too, since it was nearly 7 p.m. before we put the first pizzas in the oven to cook. I chopped ingredients and grated cheese while Paul rolled out the dough, and bravely tossed it in the air. This resulted in a light layer of flour covering the kitchen and his shirt -- much to my chagrin -- but the kids loved watching and cheered him on.

After spreading the sauce on the dough, Paul let Nathan and Lucie distribute the ham slices, bits of pineapple, and grated cheese. They tended to pile up the food in spots instead of spreading them evenly, but that was easily corrected. Between the three of them, they made a couple of spectacular looking pies.

Afterwards, Paul and I shooed the kids out of the kitchen in the name of safety. We've had several instances of the kids trying to touch the inside of the hot oven. We've caught them every time, but it's incredibly unnerving. Since they were so excited about helping to make pizza and their dad being home, we practically had to tie them to chairs in the living room to keep them out of harm's way.

Paul made the rest of the pizzas while the first two cooked. Since the oven wasn't quite warm enough, they stuck to the peal and turned out soggy. (Unlike Telly's recipe, we don't use tins or pans, but use peals and pizza stones. We love our kitchen gadgets and accessories.) Not realizing how long it takes to get the oven to 450 F, I should have turned it on while we were preparing the ingredients.

I only managed to have a slice before I was full. After sampling too much food during prep time, I wasn't that hungry. Luckily, the pizza was just as good the next day. Nathan and I ate it for breakfast. His was heated up in the microwave, but I had mine cold. If pizza is just as good (or better) cold than it is warm, you know Chef Paul and his sous-chefs, Nathan and Lucie (and me) did a good job.

 

Jun 12 2009

I love you, too

Category: At Home

Once the spare room became Lucie's bedroom, I no longer had a place to dump all the projects I was working on. So now my bedroom is the staging area for laundry that needs to be folded, presents that need to be wrapped, and objects that need to be fixed.

At the moment, there is a large mirrored shadow box leaning against the wall that needs a chain attached. It's currently the only mirror in the house that Lucie can see herself in without standing on a chair. When she gets dressed, she runs to my room to check herself out.

One evening I observed Lucie talking to herself in the mirror. Divided into several sections, she kissed her image on one side and said, "I love you." Then she kissed her reflection on the other side and said, "I love you, too."

I'm not sure why she was giving the two Lucies kisses, but it was a delightful moment I cherish.