Cheddar Bunnies

I hope you had a very Happy New Year. Perhaps I’m already tired of my New Year’s resolution to keep a clean(er) house? We had a snow day (yippee) which gave us a 4 day weekend with MLK being Monday.  We baked, took the dogs for walks, watched movies, and played board games…made some "Chedder Bunnies". I've been meaning to make these for a while as the real ones are so darn expensive but just didn't have the time. Perfect for a snow day.

Since we had a snow day I decided to make my own crackers, I figured it couldn’t be that hard.  I ran across a recipe and saw that I needed six ingredients, all of which I had and didn’t require a trip to the store which was good since the roads were icy and my kitchen was so snug.

With the long weekend and the beautiful snow we had a great time. I threw a b-day party for myself with GROWN UPS and then a pizza party for Hannah Rose’s band buddies and her new boyfriend. She is 15. He is not. He is older. Yes she is “dating” and Stephen is turning NINETEEN in February. Yes, he is old enough for a tattoo and to go to basic training in the spring for the service. At first it took The Husband and I a while to get over the “sticker shock” but it turns out he is a very nice, respectful and kind young person so we just drag him along with us and he doesn’t seem to mind. We took him geocaching, to the Art Museum and have plans to take him camping when the weather gets nicer.

Homemade Cheddar Bunnies

8 ounces Sharp Cheddar Cheese, shredded
4 Tablespoons Butter, cut into cubes
1 cup Flour (I used whole wheat because it is what I had)
¾ teaspoons sea salt
2 Tablespoons Cold Water

Directions:

Mix everything (except water) together in the food processor.
Pulse in water 1 tablespoon at a time until the dough resembles sand.
Wrap dough in parchment paper or plastic wrap and chill for 20 minutes.
Roll the dough out 1/8-inch thick and make your daughter cut into squirrel shapes. Place on a lined cookie sheet
Bake at 350 degrees for about 15 minutes.
 

Cereal Mom and Blonde Brownies

Having a bad day? I’d be glad if it was only a day.  It’s been rough at work. Actually, it was a terrible week. Every piece of news I got was disappointing. Mom A called her kid swallowed a plastic ring and we were supposed to look for it if it passed. I said no. Mom B called wanted her kid's breakfast, lunch and snack fixed special ways the way "she likes it." I told her no, sorry but  we have a small staff and a lot of mouths to feed in a short time we can't fix 136 meals 136 ways just to coax everyone to eat.  She went bananas. Called everyone but my mother and the President. For Mom A, since you were decent I hope everything comes out all right. As for Cereal Killer mom..... I have kids with actual allergies and real religious issues.

She called the kid’s doctor demanding I fix her kids food any way the child wanted it and to sub anything she didn’t want for something she did. This is putting a stress on our budget and our staff. It's not that I want to make anyone upset or see a kid not eat, we have limited resources. Does that matter? Not to some one demanding. And now I have a medical form pretty much telling me I'm a short order cook. Is there a mid- way for this? I guess not.

We served snack today Picky Pants with her whole milk on the side. This was part of the request. "I want my food a special way and my mommy will make you give it to me that way……".ok. Here is your special snack with your special milk. She immediately wailed that she didn’t want cereal but wanted a granola bar instead. The note says “allow individual meal patterns to increase food intake” since I already had a teacher out and was covering a classroom I was not able to run to the lunchroom to get her one. So she sat, pouting and then threw all of her breakfast away.

Did it affect me? Yep. Did I yell at The Husband for saying something as stupid as “where’s dinner?” when I got so tangled up in work crap that I came home nearly an hour late with a crabby kid who missed his PBS show? Yep. Was it really bad?  I still have bruises from the rock I tried to hide under. Which is sad because I have a super nice staff this time around. All smart, sensible and super workers. I should be happy. In that way I am. I’m not UNHAPPY. I’m cranky because I’m work with a generation of folks that are raising bratty kids. It’s true. Generation D for Demanding and golly I sound like my grandmother. I’m sometimes afraid of the next generation. The get mad they have to wait for the internet, if they can’t have their cell phones on constantly, they want to pick the gender of their children. You know what I want? A bottle of Scotch and a Blonde Brownie. I don’t even drink Scotch, it just sounds I don’t know…tough I guess. These are rich, chewy brownies with chocolate chips on top. I prefer the chocolate chips to be mixed IN instead of on top, but it's all about preference!

Blonde Brownies

Ingredients

·         1 cup sifted all-purpose whole wheat flour

·         1/2 teaspoon baking powder

·         1/8 teaspoon baking soda

·         1/2 teaspoon salt

·         1/2 cup chopped walnuts

·         1/3 cup butter, melted

·         1 cup packed brown sugar

·         1 egg, beaten

·         1 teaspoon real vanilla extract

·         2/3 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Directions

1.    Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C). Grease a 9x9-inch baking pan.

2.    Measure 1 cup sifted flour. Add baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Sift again. Add 1/2 cup chopped nuts. Mix well and set aside.

3.    Stir the brown sugar into the melted butter and mix well. Cool slightly.

4.    Mix the beaten egg and vanilla into the brown sugar mixture. Add flour mixture, a little at a time, mixing just until combined.

5.    Spread the batter into the prepared pan. Sprinkle 1/2 to 1 cup chocolate chips on top. Bake in the preheated oven until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 20 to 25 minutes.

I still love Mr. Rogers

Things are going well at the preschool. I have a nice batch of teachers who treat the children well, get along and come to work. I don’t ask for much. We had some fallout from the Sandyhook shootings. DHS has required us to come up with a plan should something like that happen here but I don’t see how any facility can be prepared for something like that. We have no closet or bathroom to hide all the children in and the first person to have access to any or all of the doors is me. Although there are those who find me menacing I doubt a person with a jimmy rigged gun collection is going to find me very scary and that’s really all we have between him and the others in my wing. We have a security system at the preschool but honestly it was very upsetting to those who care for small children everywhere.

Like other parents, I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw the first news alert that a school shooting happened – in Newtown, Connecticut – at an elementary school. Its' shocking. It's devastating. It's unreal. Who would take anger like that out of little kids?

Then we had some of the children hear enough of adult conversation or news at home to come to school with questions. Lots of them and some of them made me want to cry. These are children I see every day sometimes more than they own parents. What do you tell those upturned faces with those eyes filled with trust? Especially since I myself was having a hard time with it all?
It’s unimaginable. It’s heartbreaking. Just every emotion comes to attention and has been experienced by so many. Stories and images of the various, many adults who suddenly were named heroes even though they likely were unsung champions before December 14th – school staff, community volunteers, neighbors, police and rescue workers from around the state and beyond – each headline more emotive than the last. The magnitude of the sense of community compassion is simply unbelievable. You are not alone is a sentiment I keep seeing from our communities to others, all faiths, all kinds of families, all kinds of expressions of love and kindness. I keep thinking of Mr. Roger’s quote “When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, ‘Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.’ To this day, especially in times of ‘disaster,’ I remember my mother’s words, and I am always comforted by realizing that there are still so many helpers – so many caring people in this world.” So I focused on that with the preschool children and with my own at home. There are more good people in this world than bad and I have to believe it myself so I can tell them the truth.

So today at least for now I have no recipe to share just a warm thought of my very first crush, Mr. Roger’s.