C'est ma vie

Wonderful Weekend

Besides Thanksgiving, this has just been a wonderful weekend with the kids. I wanted to spend some time with them, getting into their little world, and put my work aside so that I could do just that.

See, I need to do this a lot because it doesn't come naturally to me and if I let things run their own course, there are times when my kids wouldn't get the attention they deserve. I know a lot of women who spend hours and hours playing with their children, inventing activities geared towards their children's ages etc... but there is a big part of me that probably shouldn't have had kids because I'm too involved in my own activities. And, then of course there is a big part of me that should because my life would not be complete without them.

I've kind of always been in my own little world, my own thoughts. The only time my family saw me in high-school was when I would come down for dinner. The rest of the time I was up in my room rehearsing for my Broadway début in Les Miserables playing the part of Eponine. Never made it past my Music 101 class at OU. Anyway, I also managed my own bank account, car insurance, part-time job etc... at the age of 16 and was doing a lot of things even a lot of college students don't know how to do. My point is that from a very young age, I've learned to manage things on my own, hence controlling things on my own and I'm good at that, good at doing things for myself and for the family but not so good at doing things with other people. This includes doing things with my kids. One of the real struggles I've had getting used to two is the time balance between my time at home for myself and my time with them and it's been an uphill battle trying to learn that sometimes, the laundry needs to pile up or today I can't maybe find time to read, knit or cook because there are papers to be graded plus the kids need some time too and it's okay to not be able to do it all. When you have kids, you have to divide your time and make sacrifices and lucky for them, I am getting into the groove of things- unlucky for them it's taken me this long!

This was a great weekend because we just had fun together. We went to the park, we had Thanksgiving, Gab and I read books, Louise sat in the kitchen as I cooked and acted interested, and this morning we headed to Ikea to get our Xmas tree (you get a refund if you bring it back, so the tree is free!). No trees yet, but we still had fun. And, we had fun because I accepted that on my time to do things for me, I was giving it to the kids.

Hopefully there will be many more times like this in the future.

Stay tuned for my adventures in trying to make Louise her own mini oven for Xmas. Not pleased with what's available on ebay or in stores (way too expensive) and definitely not wanting plastic, I am attempting to make an oven/stove just her size out of a nightstand!

Blue Cuisine

Blue Cuisine, originally uploaded by afoos.

Semi-Handmade Christmas preview

Bath Gel plus Mason Dixon Washcloth, originally uploaded by afoos.

In September I had the idea to give only handmade gifts. Etienne and I are not gift people to begin with and spending hours in line at the stores or online buying typical plastic crap or the same crap everyone doesn't need just kind of made me sick. I'd much rather spend my time making something. But, 1/ my family is not big on handmades and E's family just think it's a cute little crafty thing like something Gab would bring home from school and doesn't realize the time and thought that goes into it. 2/ After the school year started, it was obvious that I wouldn't have time to do much of anything else besides school. During Fall break, I got into the knitting mode again and got addicted to knitting these washclothes and thought, why not try and do some handmade gifts? They will be less contrived than going to a store and picking out some random thing and I would much rather spend my time at home making things than in line with a million other people.

But, Xmas won't be 100 percent handmade. I am planning on using Etsy for a lot of my gifts but there are still a couple of things that are store bought. The above pic is a knitted washcloth and homemade blueberry shower gel.

The Recipes

Thought some of you might be interested in the links to the recipes I used for our Thanksgiving dinner.

Swiss Chard: Swiss chard is a highly underestimated vegetable, but it does have to be done up right to be appreciated. In this recipe, I switched the raisins for dried cranberries to give it more of a festive touch. As Etienne said, the finished result tastes like Chinese food and a definite thumbs up for a recipe I'll make in the future, maybe over some rice would be good.

Sweet Potatoes and Cranberries: This turned out wonderfully! I usually am a sucker for the typical sweet potato and marshmallow blend but I knew that it wouldn't go over well with the MIL and Etienne, as already they have a tough time with sweet potatoes. This recipe was a great way to combine cranberries and sweet potatoes, the two staples of Thanksgiving! And, the combination is mouth watering. For those who live in France, I've seen fresh cranberries at Monoprix. You might also check out the Grande Epicerie at the Bon marché for cranberries and other imported goods from the States. But, I usually just walk across the street to Picard and grab a package of "Airelles", the French version of cranberries.

Green beans: This recipe was my base but I changed it to accommodate what I could find here in our neighborhood grocery stores. The French onions were taken out first thing because I've never seen those here. And, instead of the mushrooms because I forgot to pick those up yesterday, I made this powdered "Vélouté de champignons" and added it to the sour cream mixture. Very good but I need to cook the green beans longer the next time. This would make a nice simple evening meal by itself I would imagine.

Pecan pie: If you are in a place where corn syrup is hard to get (I do need to check out the organic stores and the Grande Epicerie), this recipe is for you. It's very similar to the traditional Pecan Pie but does taste a little different. I would make it again, though, for a traditional American cultural event, but I'm not sure I'd make it just to enjoy or to bring as a dessert somewhere. It's much sweeter than normal pecan pie and you do have a strong honey taste, if you like that.

Happy Cooking!

Thanksgiving Ambiance

Thanksgiving Ambiance, originally uploaded by afoos.

The day was lovely. Cold outside but sunny and it truly felt like Thanksgiving, even if it was a kind of an off broadway production of Thanksgiving. We ate lots of food and then sat around and talked before going on a nice, late fall, early winter walk. And, the best thing is that we have leftovers for at least 2 more days and tonight we are just sitting cozy in the apartment with fully tummies, relaxing after a nice, full day.

And, Happy Birthday to my DH!

The Plate

The Plate, originally uploaded by afoos.

Check out my Flickr pics for more! We had a lovely day. The food turned out great and I ended up only making three side dishes (I know, I know Tony, Thanksgiving isn't Thanksgiving without mashed potatoes and cucumber salad!). What you see here is chicken, stuffing, sweet potatoes and cranberries, green been casserole, and swiss chard with pine nuts and craisins. There was of course champagne as well and plenty of dessert to go around.

Dessert 1: E's mother brings in the cake

E's mother brings in the cake, originally uploaded by afoos.

E's traditional family bday cake made by his mom.

Dessert 2: Pecan Pie

Pecan Pie, originally uploaded by afoos.

Tomorrow's Menu

I've just come up with tomorrow's menu and will start shopping and cooking this afternoon:

A bird (hopefully, I can get something resembling a turkey but it might just be a chicken)
Sweet potato and cranberry bake
Green bean casserole
Swiss chard with craisins and pinenuts
Cucumber salad
Mashed potatoes
Pecan pie
E's family's traditional birthday cake

For the pecan pie, I found a recipe with honey instead of corn syrup- thanks for the advice!

Anyway, since my last few posts have caused some reactions, just thought I'd clarify that I definitely see a difference between saying you are proud of something and excessively repeating what you do well or what your children do well as a cover up for some insecurity you, yourself might have. Let's admit it, a lot of people do live vicariously through their children or live through themselves and feel the need to tell everyone of their or their children's accomplishments in order to feel more secure, to build up their own self-esteem by comparing with others.

The instances I was talking about were exaggerated to be humorous and not to be taken seriously, that's why I exaggerated them. But, I have met people in real life who talk incessantly about their children or their accomplishments and it's obvious that they are doing it to feel better about themselves, and you can usually see through that and make a distinction between what is bragging or boasting in the sense of the word and was is just saying something because you are proud. I'm just saying that in my personal experience, there are a lot of parents who boast about their babies' accomplishments and I really do mean boast and as a mother of a baby, it can get annoying after awhile to hear "Oh, your son doesn't speak yet?" or "Your daughter doesn't walk yet?", "Mine has been doing that since he was 6 months old" because it can cause worry and it can cause you to think that your child isn't normal.

But, I do admit that being simply proud of something and sharing it can at times be taken the wrong way for boasting or bragging. I think you always have to ask yourself why you say something, what is your motivation for writing or saying something. A lot of times I surprise myself with my true motivations.