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Here is the recipe for the cake I made for Corbin's 4th birthday party today.
Melt 1 1/2 sticks butter with 8 oz. semisweet chocolate until smooth.
Separately, sift 1 1/4 cup flour with 3/4 cup dutch process cocoa powder, 1/2 tsp salt, and 3/4 tsp baking soda.
Separately, beat four eggs with 1 1/2 cups sugar and 1 tsp vanilla.
Add eggs to melted chocolate, then add one cup buttermilk (or milk plus 1 tbsp lemon juice). Beat well and then slowly add dry ingredients.
Bake in 9 x 13 pan at 325 for 40 minutes, or, if you're stupid, put it in two round pans and try to make a layer cake out of it. (If you do this, bake for only 30 minutes.) It will fall apart. To replicate what I did, puree one cup of fresh strawberries, then add powdered sugar until it makes a glaze. Take some of this out and add more sugar to make it frosting. Put the frosting in between the two layers, then pour the glaze over the whole thing. After the glaze dries, use regular frosting on top so it looks less ugly. |
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Getting ready for the Nanowrimo kickoff tonight. I may post bits of the novel in progress here. :) |
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Jewelry, too.
First stocking is this Friday, Feb. 1
http://hyenacart.com/tiedyedaisy/
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| » The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything |
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Corbin went to his first movie in the theater last night with my in-laws. Here is his report on the Veggie Tales movie, "The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything."
Me: Did you have fun at the movie?
C: Yeah!
Me: What happened in the movie?
C: There were ROCK MONSTERS in the movie! And we had popcorn, and I
ate some fruit snacks. Nice lady give me popcorn.
Me: What was the movie called?
C: Veggitales!
Me: Was it "The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything?"
C: They just stay home ... and lie around! (those are the song lyrics)
Me: Were there pirates in it?
C: Yeah! There were pirates! And they had a pirate ship.
Me: Were there bad guys?
C: Yeah! There were bad guys.
Me: Were there any good guys?
C: No! They not good guys! They pirates! And they were eating Cheetos.
Me: Cheetos?
C: Yeah. The pirates were eating cheetos.
Me: What else was in the movie?
C: There were ROCK MONSTERS. And there were little rocks. The rocks
were walking around. There were TWO little rocks. And there were BIG
rocks walking around.
Me: Were those the rock monsters?
C: Yeah! Those were the rock monsters.
Me: Were they scary?
C: They were HAPPY! They were laughing.
Me: What were they laughing about?
(pause)
C: We had popcorn and FRUIT SNACKS. Nice lady give me popcorn, and
Grandma give me fruit snacks. I pick up the fruit snacks. I eat some
more fruit snacks at home. I also eat some grapes.
Me: Grandma brought grapes?
C: Yeah. And I eat them all gone.
Me: Do you want to go to a movie again sometime, with Mommy and Daddy?
C: Go to a movie with GRANDMA GRANDPA.
Jan. 15th, 2008 @ 11:13 pm
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| » I'm on youtube, y'all |
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Mostly so my mom can see videos of the kids. Nothing really exciting.
Jan. 13th, 2008 @ 11:38 pm
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| » Things are looking up again |
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After several months of wondering how anyone could possibly survive having a baby with a toddler in the house, I realized recently that we've hit the point where it's easier instead of harder.
This is the scene in my living room most mornings:
Corbin goes to sleep by himself now. I always invited him to sleep in our bed, but he wanted to sleep in his OWN bed - he just wanted one of us to lie down with him until he fell asleep. Now we can cuddle a little, read a book, and say goodnight, and he will go to sleep by himself. In the morning, he gets up by himself and hangs out in the living room until we wake up.
The kids go to bed around 10. We go to bed around midnight. I feed Simon once or twice in the night, and then he wakes up in the morning around 9:00. I get Corbin something to eat, nurse Simon, change him, and then set him in the recliner with his big brother to watch some TV while I get some breakfast and hang out online.
Not too long ago I was going crazy all the time trying to meet both their needs at once ... now Corbin entertains himself by playing with Simon, and neither one of them needs me so much. He is 2 years, 8 months, and an expert at replacing the pacifier in Simon's mouth, turning on the lights on his swing, and giving him reassuring hugs ("everything is OKAY Simon, Mommy will be back VEWWY SOON"). He is knowledgable in all things breastfeeding ("Here Mommy. Dis nursing pad is yours. I put it on table for you." "Djoo pumping milk for Simon? I carry milk to daycare for djoo.") Simon adores his big brother. He seems to spend most of his time with his chubby little fingers stuffed in his mouth, watching Corbin wherever he goes.
Corbin knows how to tickle, too:
Dec. 8th, 2007 @ 10:40 pm
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| » Also, I have stuff for sale |
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Baby clothes, breastfeeding paraphernalia, women's shoes and clothes, some other miscellaneous baby stuff:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/7312860@N07/sets/72157602191165966/
I put this together to sell stuff at MDC, but if anyone on my flist wants any of it, I can give you a good discount. :)
Also, baby pictures are in this set:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/7312860@N07/sets/72157601587734896/
They're not too recent, though. I've been getting behind on posting them.
Oct. 23rd, 2007 @ 11:33 pm
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| » "Drought, fire, flood and earthquake" |
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Those are the four seasons in California, according to a friend of my brother's monastery. (Here in North Dakota, we have two seasons: winter and road construction.) My mom found out that Isaac and the other monks and laypeople all evacuated early this morning, along with the monastery's cat, so they are all safe, but we don't know how the buildings are faring. According to Google Maps, the monastery is near the edge of the mandatory evacuation area, and the fire has not reached it ... yet, anyway.
Meanwhile, Andrew's dad has been at Mayo all week for heart surgery. It's complicated, and I don't know all the details, but the gist of it is that his brain no longer controls his heart; he's completely dependent on the pacemaker now. I get my news when my mom forwards me e-mails my mother-in-law sent her, which tells you something about how good Andrew is at passing things on.
Andrew's grandma, his dad's mom, is in the hospital in Grand Forks, and is doing poorly. She is not in immediate danger, from what I understand, but I think her illness is serious. Again, the news I get is sketchy. We're planning to go up there at Thanksgiving and see the family. It'll be the first time any of them have met Simon, and I think some of them (the Texas relatives) haven't even met Corbin.
Speaking of Simon, he is getting to be such a chunky little boy! He was over 13 lbs at his 2-month appointment. He was 50th percentile in height and head circumference, but 85th in weight! The doctor pointed out "those charts are for formula-fed babies - breastfed babies are usually smaller." So he's even farther ahead. In fact, he gained a pound a week in the first two weeks I had him off formula supplements. Mooooo.
Speaking of mooooo (in the back of my head, a little voice is going, "Mommy? What cow say?"), it's true what they say about breastfeeding and weight loss. I'm stuffing myself all day long and still losing weight. Also, LilyPadz are the best.invention.ever. They are these little silicone things you put over your boobs to stop leakage. But they'd also be great for, say, wearing a thin shirt in cold weather, IYKWIM. Amazingly simple.
Corbin, meanwhile, is a delight. This afternoon, we drove past a baseball field, and he piped up, "Next summer, when I'm bigger, I'll be a baseball player." I said, "I think it will be a couple more years before you're big enough to play baseball." He said "Yeah" in a thoughtful tone. After a few minutes, he said, "When I'm six, THEN I'll be a baseball player!"
I don't think he knows what "six" means, except six is bigger than two and he knows he is "two."
I'll cut now for more cute Corbin stuff, so only those of you who are interested need to read it.
( Read more... )
Oct. 23rd, 2007 @ 10:59 pm
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| » Borderline? Me? WTF. |
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Aug. 29th, 2007 @ 10:15 pm
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| » "Oh no! Zombies! Zombies bite you!" |
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... and other recent commentary, courtesy of Corbin, 2.5 years old:
Me: I have to go see the doctor today.
Corbin: "NO more MONKEYS jumping ON ... THE bed!"
Corbin: Mommy put baby DOWN!
Me: I can't put Simon down now, he'll cry. Do you want him to cry?
Corbin: ... Yeah.
Corbin: Put baby DOWN in bouncy seat!
Me: I can't put Simon down right now.
Corbin: Mommy! YOU put Simon in the crib!
Me: I can't put him down now, he'll cry.
Corbin: Put the baby down on the FLOOR!
Me: I can't put him down now.
Corbin: Put baby down on the TABLE! [giggle]
Corbin, watering flowers: Hi flowers! Want a drink?
Corbin, watering a bug on a leaf: Hi bug! Want a bath?
...
Me: Can you come inside and help me find my phone?
Corbin, pointing at bug: BUG! YOU stay there. Right back!
[We go in and find the phone.]
Corbin: Bug still there! Hi bug! Bug want a bath? Bug? [Where] you going, bug? Bug! Come back bug!
Me: Maybe the bug needs to take a break.
Corbin: Bug needs to eat lunch. Bug eating rice.
Corbin, singing: Witsy bitsy pider ... up water spout ... wash pider out ... yes sir, yes sir ... pour me out ...
Corbin, pointing at big watering can on porch: Dat grandma's.
Me: Yes, grandma uses that one. You use the little one.
Corbin, sitting down on porch: I'll wait for grandma.
Me: Grandma lives far away, and she won't be here for a long time.
Corbin: I'm waiting.
Me: She won't be here until Christmas.
Corbin: I'll wait. [Watches cars go by.] Dat grandma's car? Dat grandma's car?
Corbin, pulling his baby doll out of the Boppy where I'd left it: No no no! Dat Simon's!
Corbin: Mommy! Put baby in bouncy seat!
Me: I can't put him there now, he'll cry.
Corbin, rearranging blankets on bouncy seat: There! I fix it! Put baby down now!
(Notice a theme here?)
Corbin, playing with cribbage pegs: Dat ice cream cone! Mmm, ice cream. Ice cream cold! Brrrr. Warm it up. Oh no, ice cream melt! Dripping! Wipe it up. ... Dat bad guy now. Here bad guy, want some ice cream? Bad guys sharing. Dat nice.
Corbin, playing with blocks: Dat Mommy and Daddy. Walking. [Moves blocks as if walking.] Fall down! Oh no! Hurt dem. Mommy and Daddy sad now. Need a hug. [Hugs blocks.] All better! [Grabs zombie figurine and attacks blocks.] Oh no! Zombies coming! Zombies biting! Run away! Zombie biting Mommy and Daddy!
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Guess who likes to entertain his son by playing Resident Evil games? ("Daddy? You play zombie game now!")
Aug. 27th, 2007 @ 04:30 pm
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| » If I smell like maple syrup ... |
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It's because of the fenugreek I've started taking. Working on getting my milk supply back up. We'll see how that goes. I think Simon's getting a little less formula than Corbin was at this age, though.
Speaking of Simon, the little guy weighed 9 lbs 5 oz at the well baby clinic this morning and was 20.5 inches long. That's a gain of about an inch and two pounds in three weeks. I can't remember what's normal, but my mom thinks that's a lot.
Many more baby photos, plus a few big brother photos, can be found here.
Aug. 22nd, 2007 @ 12:30 am
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| » Now with more baby |
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Simon Aurelius
Born: 7/30/07 at 7:33 a.m. via planned repeat c-section
Weight: 7 lbs 3 oz
Length: 19 1/2"
Eyes: Dark blue
Hair: Dark brown (lots of it!)
Aug. 1st, 2007 @ 08:56 pm
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| » Off to have a baby |
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Looks like I haven't gone early after all, so I'm getting up at 4:30 tomorrow morning to go in for my scheduled c-section. Apparently Medcenter has free wireless internet in every room, so if I'm feeling OK, I should be online again pretty soon, maybe even with pictures. :) Wish me luck!
Jul. 29th, 2007 @ 12:43 pm
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| » This post contains no actual spoilers |
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Because I haven't read the book yet. And I'd like to thank everyone on my flist for being VERY good about spoilers, I haven't had a single thing ruined.
Anyway, I finished rereading book 6 and am just starting on book 7. And I haven't had the baby yet, nor have we decided on his name for sure. So Andrew suggests that we consider Harry Potter when looking for names. Not a bad idea ... but Remus makes me think Uncle Remus, so that's out. Most of the kids have names that are too bland. (Harry, Ron, Fred, George? No.) I like Neville, but I think of Neville Chamberlain.
So then I think of the character I MIGHT like to use as a name inspiration ... depending on what he does in book 7. "What about Severus? But no spoilers!! Don't tell me anything! I will find out on my own whether he's really a good guy after all!!"
OK, I don't actually want to use the name Severus. But ... I'm still LMAO at the mental image of us in the hospital with a newborn and the birth certificate lady hounding us, while I try to explain, "we can't pick a name yet because I don't know what happens to this character yet. Don't tell me! No spoilers!"
Jul. 23rd, 2007 @ 05:37 pm
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| » Nurse: So do you feel like you're in labor? |
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Me: No, but I don't think I'm going to make it the two weeks to my C-section.
Nurse: Yeah, I don't think so either.
Jul. 17th, 2007 @ 12:57 pm
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| » I don't have the energy for a detailed update ... |
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So I'll post some recent photos instead.
I'm just going to throw them behind a big cut, but if you want to see the Cthulhu carrot, you'd better take a look.
( Read more... )
Jul. 15th, 2007 @ 08:53 pm
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| » Insane summer, quick update |
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I had another ultrasound ... it's a boy! It's official, I'm outnumbered.
Ashley and I are going to be vending tie-dyed clothing at Urban Harvest this year under the name Tie-Dye Daisy. I am still kind of shocked about this since we basically threw together a half-assed application and sent it in a day late, but we got one of their "scholarships" so we get to vend without paying any fees. We've ordered a ton of professional dyeing stuff from Dharma Trading and we have to get stuff ready by July 12.
My parents were here visiting all week and we have Andrew's room almost emptied and cleaned to become the new nursery. We also organized a bunch of miscellaneous boxes and painted Corbin's black dressers cream.
Corbin is talking more than ever and understands concepts like tomorrow, after, past, future, and picking up one toy before playing with a different one. He also has a little group of miniature plastic Stormtroopers (yes, like from Star Wars) which he role-plays with in various entertaining ways. "Stormtroopers sleeping! Here, have blankie. Shhh. Goodnight!" Even better, inspired by my mom ... "Stormtroopers in car! Drive. Go to store, buy pizza. Hide in garage. Dark and scary! Monster! [Shoves monster figurine into toy garage] Go rawr!"
Andrew has rented a store for his business and is going to add a game shop for a side business. He's now Parallax Computers and Games, and for those of you in the Bismarck area, he's in the old Dakota Maid Bakery across the street from Dairy Queen on Broadway. There are renters upstairs, and they are very excited about living above a game shop. One of them wants us to hire him, apparently. :) We got a bunch of furniture yesterday cheap from a music studio that's leaving town, and we still need to move more of his computer stuff there and get the place clean. We also need retail fixtures and a lot of paperwork done.
All of this needs to get done before I have the baby on around July 30. Did I mention that Ashley can't make it to two Urban Harvests and I'm supposed to be running the booth alone on July 26, four days before giving birth. Whee.
I think that's all that's new with me, but I probably forgot something else important. Right now I feel like I'll be lucky just to survive until August.
P.S. That something else important? Yeah, today's my fourth wedding anniversary and I turn 30 in 12 days.
Jun. 13th, 2007 @ 04:13 pm
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| » Baby waves, but won't turn over |
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I had my 20-week ultrasound yesterday and got to see the baby waving and moving its feet around. Unfortunately, as you can see by my use of "its," she couldn't tell the sex. She said "I'm not even 60% sure," but admitted that if she had to guess, she'd guess girl. I'm crossing my fingers and buying pink clothes. I wouldn't mind a little brother for Corbin, either, though. I have all the little boy stuff I need, so I'm just covering my bases with the pink stuff.
Speaking of the wiggle monster, he just turned 2 and is cuter than ever. He is so cute I'm not going to put him behind a cut. So there.
Ultrasound pictures, for those who are interested:
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y229/lythe/ultrasound1.jpg (face and hand, waving)
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y229/lythe/ultrasound2.jpg (face ... well, skull really)
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y229/lythe/ultrasound3.jpg (foot, somewhat blurry)
Mar. 27th, 2007 @ 10:15 pm
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| » Life with a 2-year-old |
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Corbin threw a fit and screamed bloody murder when we tried to get him to go to bed with us last night. We lay down with him between us, and he shrieked "No, no, no! Down!" and scrambled off the bed and stood in the hallway sobbing.
My husband went out and offered him a vitamin (children's chewable, he gets one a day). This cheered him up immensely. I could hear him in the bathroom exclaiming, "wow, pink! bunny! vitamin!" My husband asked if he wanted to go to bed, and he said cheerily, "no, no, no!" Then he followed him to the bedroom and climbed into bed with us.
At this point he was still clutching the vitamin and periodically saying "wow!" He fed it to his stuffed puppy, with sound effects. Then he said hi to the baby in my belly and tried to feed the vitamin to the baby through my belly button. He pulled up my shirt and searched all over my belly and declared "baby gone!" in a worried voice. Then he licked the vitamin a few times but decided not to eat it yet.
Then puppy needed to dance, so he danced with puppy for a while. Then he jumped up and down on the bed shouting "jump, jump!" We said, "Shh, mommy and daddy are sleeping." He whispered, "sleeping!" and pointed to me, then to my husband, and said, "mommy sleeping! daddy sleeping! both!" ("Both" is an exciting new concept these days.)
Around this point he dropped the vitamin and started getting upset and wanted to get out of bed again. I searched frantically, found the vitamin, and handed it back to him. I asked if he wanted to eat it, but he said no. He snuggled up on my pillow, still clutching the vitamin, and started poking my face. "Brow, brow .... two! Eye, eye ... two! Nose! One nose!" He grabbed my head and exclaimed, "head! one!" Then his own head, "two!" Then back to my head, "three!" By the time he was done counting, we had nine heads between the two of us.
Around that time he fell asleep. When he woke up a few hours later needing a bottle, I searched the sheets and discovered the sticky vitamin where he'd dropped it after going to sleep still clutching it. My husband brought him a bottle and asked if he wanted it, and he said, "no no no!" and grabbed the bottle and drained it. Then he cuddled up next to me and went back to sleep.
At some point in the middle of all this, I told my husband, "he's better than TV!"
Mar. 16th, 2007 @ 01:50 pm
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| » Best bylines |
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One of the ways we amuse ourselves on the copy desk is by informally collecting the coolest bylines we see on wire stories. (The byline is the reporter's name, for those who don't know.)
My all-time favorite is a McClatchy Newspapers reporter named ...
Noble Sprayberry
Some of our other favorites:
Paisley Dodds
T.A. Badger
Constant Brand
Scheherezade Faramarzi
Lolita Baldor
I know I'm forgetting some other good ones. Anyone want to add to the list?
Mar. 14th, 2007 @ 08:23 pm
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| » This is old, but worth reading |
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As the mother of a gay son, I've seen firsthand how cruel and misguided people can be.
Many letters have been sent to the Valley News concerning the homosexual menace in Vermont. I am the mother of a gay son and I've taken enough from you good people.
I'm tired of your foolish rhetoric about the "homosexual agenda" and your allegations that accepting homosexuality is the same thing as advocating sex with children. You are cruel and ignorant. You have been robbing me of the joys of motherhood ever since my children were tiny.
My firstborn son started suffering at the hands of the moral little thugs from your moral, upright families from the time he was in the first grade. He was physically and verbally abused from first grade straight through high school because he was perceived to be gay.
http://www.vermontcivilunion.com/advice/0600.html
Mar. 13th, 2007 @ 07:33 pm
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| » Chocolate ice cream success |
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So I made up my own recipe based on a couple I found online.
Combine:
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup cocoa powder
Stir until the lumps are gone from the cocoa. Slowly mix in:
1 cup half and half
Beat together:
3 egg yolks
Heat chocolate mixture in double boiler. When sugar is dissolved, slowly pour some of the mixture (1/4 cup or so) into the eggs, while stirring. Pour that mixture back into the double boiler and stir until thickened. Put in fridge (or, if you're in North Dakota like me, on the porch, lol).
When mixture is chilled, whip:
2 cups heavy cream
Gently fold chocolate into whipped cream. Put in ice cream maker and check back in about an hour. If you don't have an ice cream maker, you can just put it in the freezer and stir every half hour or so.
This is exceedingly rich and chocolatey and not very sweet. The texture is kind of like frozen buttercream frosting. I think it's amazing, but you can only eat a little bit at a time.
Feb. 5th, 2007 @ 09:44 pm
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| » ISO chocolate ice cream recipe |
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I want to make chocolate ice cream that is really rich (e.g. creamy, fatty) but not very sweet. This is partly because I'm trying to avoid sugar during pregnancy and partly because I just don't like things that are too sweet. Every low-sugar recipe I've seen is also low-fat and full of substitutions that don't look appetizing to me. I don't want that. I don't eat any artificial sweeteners (not for health reasons, just because they're disgusting, and that goes for stevia too), and I'm happy to use 2 cups of heavy cream in a recipe.
I tried to adjust a recipe I already had, and it didn't freeze right. I gather there's some chemistry involved and you can't just reduce the sugar in an ice cream recipe without messing up the texture. So ... does anyone have a good chocolate ice cream recipe that's very rich and smooth and chocolatey and doesn't have a lot of sugar?
Feb. 3rd, 2007 @ 05:01 pm
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| » Did you know ... |
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That you can buy alligator meat on Amazon.com?
I'm just saying.
Jan. 3rd, 2007 @ 01:22 pm
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| » Worst New Year's Eve ever |
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Corbin's had a raging ear infection for days now. He's just gotten better today, meanwhile I've spent my whole long weekend feeling crappy and getting woken up at odd hours of the night and thrown up on. The house is a disaster. I can't toast the New Year with anything stronger than Coke. In fact I probably shouldn't even drink Coke, since the sugar and the acidity do bad things to my queasy first-trimester stomach. And I can't go to a New Year's party because my in-laws are going out and can't babysit. So I pretty much get to spend the holiday sitting at home trying to entertain a toddler, in a living room covered in toys and crumbs and unsorted laundry, wearing pajamas because I haven't had the energy to get dressed today, just hoping to get through the night without throwing up again.
I should have just scheduled myself to work today.
Dec. 31st, 2006 @ 06:27 pm
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| » Christmas and stuff |
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Corbin woke up yesterday at the lovely hour of noon to wander out into the living room and be shown a full stocking on the hearth. He pulled out a plush Gromit (from the best mom in the WORLD ;) ) and they have been inseparable ever since. He had to be reminded to dump out the rest of the stocking, then he returned the empty stocking to the hearth. Then he picked Gromit up again and showed him all his toys. I have adorable photos of Gromit playing Corbin's Barbie piano, which I will post soon.
I haven't really had Christmas yet, since my SIL won't be here until next week to open presents. So I still have something to look forward to.
Also, we are looking for boy names in case this one is a little brother. We are pretty well set for girl names, but we had no second choice for Corbin. I prefer names that are uncommon (below top 100 or so) but not TOO unusual, and not trendy. Preferably classic names that everyone will recognize, but that he wouldn't have to share with a bunch of other kids his age. Some names I like are Simon, Silas (can't use that one because my cousin did), Elijah (Andrew doesn't like it), and Jonas (Andrew isn't sure).
Please post suggestions in comments! :)
Dec. 26th, 2006 @ 02:44 pm
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