Oh, the places you'll go

I don't know where Oconnell Way, Boston is. But it sounds awesome, so I won't correct my location finder. Or turn it off, which is what paranoid, conspiracy theory type people do.

I will just commence in my original mission which is to enlighten all 6 followers of my blog, who I recognize are hoping for bakery recipes and not boring histories of my life, where the last 26 mostly fabulous years of marriage have taken me.

I will start at the end, because that is what prompted this post in the first place. Last weekend Dave and I took Milo, the only dependent currently living at home, to A Fox and Hounds to board for the weekend (why has no one invented weekend boarding for children?) and celebrated our anniversary (which was August 14) by shopping for home building supplies.

That sounds bad, but it wasn't. It was the fun kind of shopping. For cool antique pieces, which it turns out do not exist in our price range, at Brimfield and in New York City. It was a fun weekend. One of probably 15 which have occurred in New York in the last 26 years. Half of them since McKay and Annie moved there 17 months ago. They might be getting tired of us.

In the early years most of our vacations involved all night driving to Spokane, LA, or Seattle from Utah where we were students. I am no longer capable of working all day, packing a carload of small children and stuff, driving all night, and then going straight into a full day of vacation fun. I'm too old and tired for that stuff!

Later, we graduated to flying vacations, although I have driven cross country from Boston to Washington State a time or two. Or 5. And back again, of course.

Some of our favorite family vacations have been to Disney World. I love Disney. I am a true fan. I suggest going the second week of December, when it is decorated for Christmas, but responsible parents are making their children go to school. It is beautiful, and relatively quiet.

We also had a wonderful family trip to Puerto Rico. We do love a vacation that involves sunshine and sand. We definitely recommend Puerto Rico over Cabo, although we have decided that the vacation activities offered tend to be very similar regardless of the tropical location you choose. Parasailing, glass bottom boat rides, jet skis and ATVs, and those crazy individual submarine numbers where you just stick your head in a bubble and go investigate life under the sea. Who came up with that idea?Yes, I have done all these things although they all fall into categories of things that tend to frighten me. I even rode the roller coaster at the top of the Stratosphere in Las Vegas, although I drew the line at the Big Shot and let the rest of the family go without me. To be honest, I won't even ride those things when they start at ground level.

It turns out family vacations often involve things I find frightening. Like our hike to the top of Angel's Landing at Zion's. People die there, semi regularly. I, fortunately, did not. Nor did my family, for which I am grateful.

Ah, good memories of good times. I can't wait to see where the next 26 years take us!

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Location:Oconnell Way,Boston,United States

The education of a self declared GC

This is the house the day before the storm. They hauled off the dumpster as a safety measure so I took advantage of the opportunity to see the front of the house.


I am learning so many important things building this house.

For example: 2 x 4 construction can hold R 15 insulation. We need R 19. Thank you to the 'expert' who recommended that as a way to save money :).

You can buy 'prison series' sinks online. Ummm, why?

I have a wonderful imagination which the design industry has not kept up with.

No matter how you time it, things you do not yet need will be sitting in the way of the plumber and electrician, and things you need now will not.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Location:Hull, MA

Life under construction

And after children.

The kids are gone. Off to college, leaving Mom home alone all day.

Oh, wait. Home with Milo all day.

Milo is the only member of the family who is currently unable to stay home alone.

Because he believes that all contractors are here to visit him.

They could not possibly have anything more important to do than play with the homeowners dog.

And so, this is our schedule:

6:00 am.: prepare for 1st walk.

7:00 am: contractors show up, greeted by a dog, or a dog barking from behind the barricade I've erected on the 2nd floor.

7:10 am: noise commences. Don't get me wrong. Noise is a good thing. Noise = Progress = :-).

8:30 am: 2nd walk.

9:30 am: Milo naps, Carol captive in 3 room living space doing 'stuff'

11:30 am: we go somewhere, which invariably involves 3rd walk.

3:00 pm: Milo naps, Carol pulls hair out and wonders why she has a dog. She does more 'stuff', which is important but not especially fun and dreams of the day she will be laying floor, painting or tiling.

4:00 pm: contractors go home, and noise ceases.

4:15 pm: 4th walk.

5:00 pm: Carol goes to run errands since Milo can now be left home alone. I also wonder WHY every hardware store I need to visit closes at 6:00 pm. Really????

7:00 pm. Contemplate what to fix for dinner in our kitchenless house. It usually involves the salad bar at the Hingham Fruit Market.

7:30 pm: Dave gets home from work and we eat dinner. When we're lucky this occurs on the back deck and coincides with the sun setting over Bumpkin Island. It used to set over Boston. Anyone know why that is?

We also contemplate the fact that if Dave could get off work at noon in the winter we could continue the sunset dinner tradition by eating at 3:00 pm.

8:00 pm: 5th walk and family tour of progress on the house.

The End.

Please come over and entertain me. Please.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Hull, MA

Laughing all the way to the oven

I made these cookies for our Ward Primary Scripture Camp.

They were a huge success. Apparently, everyone loves a cookie with snicker in the name.

It was a favorite of my Dad. One of the few things he made in the kitchen, although he made a lot of things in the shop.

This is the recipe I used at the bakery. And a tasty one it is! Even if it doesn't have chocolate, which I think is a very important key to anything truly delicious.

So, for all you cinnamon sugar lovers out there . . .

Snickerdoodles:

Ingredients:

5 cups All-purpose flour
2 teaspoons Cream of tartar (that magical ingredient kept in pantries everywhere for the sole purpose of making snickerdoodles, I think)
1 1/2 teaspoon Baking soda
1teaspoon Salt

1pound (2 cups) butter
2 3/4 cups granulated sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla
4 eggs

1. Whisk dry ingredients together

2. Cream butter and sugar (remember my 5 minute rule. Cream until very smooth and fluffy)

3. Add vanilla and eggs and mix at low speed until well blended. It might look curdled, but that is normal, not a sign of anything icky or weird.

4. Stir in dry ingredients until just blended.

At this point, I suggest refrigerating the dough for an hour or so which will make the shaping part less sticky.

5. Mix together 1 cup sugar and 2 tablespoons (or to taste) cinnamon.

6. Roll a heaping tablespoon of dough into a ball and roll in cinnamon sugar.

Bake at 350 F for about 12 minutes or until edges turn golden brown.

This recipe makes quite a few cookies. I am not sure exactly how many as Milo did in fact eat the corner of the paper on which I had noted the yield.

Sorry. I think it made about 5 dozen.

Happy eating! sol (snicker out loud)







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Location:Hull, MA

I love what you've done with the place . . .

We now have exposed beam ceilings and an open floor plan.



We've added this convenient basement entrance. A fireman's pole might be useful.


Views of the harbor from the front door.


When I say we are doing our own demo, some people aren't sure what I mean.

Well, this used to be a house with walls, ceilings, and a fireplace and chimney.

Now, it is this.

And, we did it with pry bars and sledge hammers. THAT'S what I mean.

I'm tired!!!

Location:I love what you've done with the place. . .

Goooooo Dinner!

Not having a kitchen makes you view things differently.

Like English muffins, for example.

I had a toasted English muffin with peanut butter four meals in a row.

And I was grateful to the Browns for sending them, along with their son, because I am not sure what I would have eaten otherwise.

Today, I rallied my motivation and cooked an entire meal.

This is what we had:
*ribs, slow cooked in the crockpot, and finished on the grill
*corn on the cob, soaked in cold water for 30 minutes, then wrapped in foil and cooked on the grill for 30 minutes, followed by 5 minutes unwrapped to give them some color
*potatoes, 'baked' in the microwave

A very respectable dinner for someone with no kitchen. But, here's what sent it into high five territory.

I mixed up a chocolate pudding cake in a foil pan, and baked it on the top rack of the grill. And, it worked!

I felt an intense sense of accomplishment after Tagg, Christy, Dave and I finished eating. Like we needed to have an end of game cheer.

And, we did. Well, I did, and everyone agreed it was totally warranted.

Two, four, six, eight, who do we appreciate? Dinner! Dinner! Dinner!


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Location:Nantasket Ave,Hull,United States

Spice up those hot summer days!

I normally make these cookies in the fall and winter, for they are quite fallish.

But, why? It's hot out there, anyway. Why not spice things up?

These are the ultimate molasses spice cookie, complete with the ultimate 'spice'. I have never had anyone guess the secret spice without being told.

If your friends can, they are geniuses worthy of your friendship.

Molasses Spice Cookies

Ingredients:

2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 ½ tsp. ginger
¼ tsp. cloves
¼ tsp. allspice
¼ tsp. pepper (yes, this is good old black pepper!, the secret spice)
¼ tsp. salt

1 ½ sticks (12 tablespoons) butter, very soft
1/3 cup brown sugar (packed)
1/3 cup granulated sugar

1 large egg yolk, room temp
1 teaspoon vanilla
½ cup molasses

1. Stir dry (first 8) ingredients together in bowl, and set aside.

2. Cream butter and sugars until light and fluffy. You know the drill. 5 minutes is NOT too long. Cream away now, before adding dry ingredients.

3. Add egg, vanilla, and molasses, and beat until combined. It is quite likely to look curdled, which is not a problem, just be sure it is well combined.

4. Stir in flour mixture at low speed until completely combined.

5. At this point I like to refrigerate the dough for 30 minutes before shaping, or freeze the shaped dough, and bake from frozen. This creates a cookie that holds it's form. If you like flat cookies, you don't need to worry about this step.

6. Roll cookies in granulated sugar before placing on parchment covered cookie sheet. I also like to sprinkle a course sugar such as turbinado on top if I have it around. It is not necessary, of course. Just extra crunchy sugar.

7. Bake at 375 F for 10-12 minutes, or until golden and set, but not brown.

Now, eat cookies everyone!


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Location:Hull, MA