Goodbye Blogspot!

We've moved! Our new blog is at www.aperfectpieceoftime.com. Hope to see you there! :D

Wednesday Morning Baking

Made these adorable goldfish crackers from Smitten Kitchen this morning. They were easy and fun, as well as delicious. The only change I made to the recipe was white whole wheat flour instead of regular whole wheat. Mine do seem a bit puffier than the crackers in the SK photos. I'm wondering if this is due to our high altitude. Yeast breads rise crazy fast here and bake fast too. But I don't think there was anything in the crackers to make them rise. Hmmm...a little culinary mystery. At any rate, they were a hit with everyone. Next time I definitely need to make a double batch!

Niamh's Imagination

Yesterday Niamh was playing by the bookshelf with heart shaped crayons and a Hello Kitty face made of Perler Beads, and narrating a story between the two, when Rowan said "Mama, I sure like Neevie's imagination."

Niamh is a storyteller. Besides telling stories with her toys (or non-toys, as the case may be), she is also the one who will pick up a book and tell a story as she flips through the pages. Sometimes related to the actual story, sometimes not. I especially love it when she narrates her life in real time. Like the other morning when I asked her to go upstairs to get dressed. She cheerfully replied "Okay, Mama!" while walking up the stairs. And then in a slightly quieter voice "She said as she dashed away."

Through The Back Gate

Rowan wanted to drive his truck on the path behind the house, which led to the idea of trying our sled on the small slope between the path and the field. We bought this sled years ago in Switzerland and had sadly never used it until now. Turns out it is great fun! One of the many things we meant to get to during our time in Morges, but never did. Kicking ourselves now, as I knew we would, for not using our time there more wisely.

If you are wondering where was on Muriel this particular morning--she was inside with Daddy. When she sees Ro and Niamh excitedly getting ready to go outside on snowy days she thinks she wants to go too, but has always had enough of it after about ten minutes. Oh, yeah. That's why we never did much with the snow when we lived in Switzerland.

Staples RJ Ranch

Came across this really cool old ranch building near the bike path. If there hadn't been a stream separating me from it, I would have been tempted to do some trespassing for more photographs.

2.25.11

stay out of the way when daddy is shoveling the sidewalks

don't worry, she thought it was funny

Wintery Math

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snow ice cream!

It snowed Thursday night and almost all day on Friday, giving us the opportunity to make snow ice cream. There are a gazillion recipes out there on the internet, and they are all basically the same. I used two different methods, one with cream (minus the vanilla pudding mix) and one with chilled sweetened condensed milk. I thought the ice cream with the condensed milk would be better, but neither the kids or I could taste a difference. Maybe a side by side test is in order for the next time it snows. One thing I found helpful, which neither website mentions, is to make sure the individual bowls for the ice cream have been chilled for a bit in the freezer before serving. This ice cream melts fast and the chilled bowls help slow it down a bit.

One of my clearest memories of the Thanksgivings spent at my Great-Grandmother's house in Eastern Washington as a child is making snow ice cream with my sisters and cousins. It was fun to do again!