The Almond Butter Switch

Peanut Butter & Jelly, originally uploaded by spcbrass.

Date: April 16
Time: 7:45 p.m.

Subject asks for a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for a before bed snack. Since subject would happily eat PBJ 3 times daily, management has decided to try to switch some of the almond butter for peanut butter. Subject normally is *very* specific about PBJ, reminding management about the strawberry jam he prefers (homemade, yay). Less than half the peanut butter is replaced with almond butter.

Subject is FURIOUS. "What is this?!? WHAT IS THIS?!?"

Experiment is utter failure.

Cookin’ the Book: Pioneer Woman’s Pots De Creme

working my way through a new cookbook… this time it’s the second Pioneer Woman cookbook.

Bunny’s birthday was on Saturday, but her party was Sunday. She’d had me deliver tiny cherry pies to her class the day before, and cake was going to be at the party, so it was a perfect time to try out something a little different. I figured the oven could use a break (or maybe it was me that could use the break), so we went for this no bake dessert. The only time necessary is the few hours for it to set up in the fridge.
We liked the mocha flavor that the strong coffee gives to this recipe, but I felt it would have been better if it were more custardy… or more mousse-like. Prepared per the recipe’s instructions, it seemed a bit too loose in consistency.
Not that it kept us from gobbling it down. It is delicious, and easy.

PSST: If you want to try it out, the recipe is HERE.
I’m going to try a baked version sometime to see how I feel about the difference. Maybe this one by Martha. I also have some white chocolate nuts here, and that could be a fun variation, maybe with some pistachios.

T-E-N

Last weekend Bunny, my most special Easter treat ever, turned ten. The Big One-Oh. Double digits. Celebrating a whole decade of life takes more than one day – in her case, it took nearly three whole days.

Friday I brought 36 mini cherry pies to school for her to share with her class.

Saturday morning began with a special treat, too. I made her homemade donuts—with sprinkles.

Like that Easter Sunday she was born, it poured most of the day. So, we prepared for her party the next day. She chose a Lego theme, and spent a lot of time carefully making a tiny Lego party that I said she could put up in the entry.

I love these guys with the little pool and popsicles.

It’s a tradition of sorts that the birthday kid gets to choose dinner, and like last year, Bunny chose Chinese take-out. Beef chow mein is her favorite. Since Bunny isn’t really into cake, and we were having that the next day anyway, I made some pots de creme for dessert.

After a little digestion time, it was on to the present opening.

Bunny had already received her present from Grandpa A. when he was visiting a couple of weeks prior, a new MP3… or maybe it’s an MP4. It can do more than music, is all I know. :) To help with a long, rainy day, she’d also opened a really nice set of Lego ‘guys’ earlier that day from Grandma and Gramps, and was excited there were Lego kids in there.

The Percy Jackson set, and some new Calico Critters (Guinea Pigs!) were from Mom and Dad.

Her ‘big’ present was an heirloom of sorts. I received this Mme. Alexander doll when I was a girl, and my sister has been keeping it safe for me for ages. Bun’s been really good about keeping her nice things nice for the past year or two, so it was time.

This doll even has a fur stole and muff.  Crazy, I know.  I wouldn’t buy something like that, of course, but it does make the doll set seem even more special.

It was already nearly bedtime by the time we cleaned up after dinner, so Bunny had to ‘go to bed’ pretty soon after present opening. However, every time I walked past her room, her light was still on, and I knew she was busy admiring her new toys, and probably arranging the Calico Critters new accessories. I allowed her to believe she was being pretty sneaky for a while until it was nearly 10 and I reminded her she had another big day coming up – the party was the next day! She agreed to get in bed right after making a couple of final touches, and went to bed on the first night of a new decade of life.

She’s becoming such a big girl. In some ways the past 10 years feels like 100, and in others it seems to have leapt by impossibly fast. My little red baby who screamed a good SOLID 6-8 hours a day has grown into herself quite well. She’s usually awarded a citizenship award early in the year among her classmates because she truly loves to help others and is kind and patient with her peers. She loves to develop friendships across the spectrum of personalities out there, and seems genuinely curious about knowing all kinds of people. Bun’s quirky and doesn’t care who finds it peculiar; often this works in her favor, since it’s easy to like a person who likes themselves and you, too, and doesn’t care about conformity. Who knows how she’ll continue to develop as we enter those tween years, but I’m sure it’ll be interesting, and she’ll be herself to the nth degree the entire way.

Happy Birthday my dear one. We love you so.