October Meal Plan

October really has sneaked up on me.  I realized earlier today that our monthly grocery trip was this weekend and that I had yet to think of a single meal for the month!  While the little boogers were down for their naps, and since those naps actually overlapped today, I was able to sit down in front of BigOven and browse through it to find some appealing Fall-ish recipes.  It took me longer to figure out how to put a table in here than it did to pick out all the recipes.  Here is what our month will look like:

October
Mon.	Tues.	Wed.	Thur.	Fri.	Sat.	Sun.
				Chili, Bread	Moussaka	Chicken Salad Sandwich
Italian Chicken Wraps	Black Bean Pumpkin Soup and Rustic White Bread	Italian Sausage Bread	Chicken Caesar Salad	Spinach Mushroom Lasagna Ziti	Chicken, Stuffing, Potatoes, Corn, Gravy	Salmon Salad Sandwich
Chicken Pot Pie and Biscuits	Black Bean Soup, tortilla chips	Cobb Salad	Amazingly Moist Salmon, Cheesy, Broccoli & Rice	Pizza	Lighter Chicken Parm, Spaghetti, Green Beans	Salmon Salad Sandwich
Chicken Piccata, Broccoli, Rice	Black Bean Quesadillas with Zucchini and Butternut Squash	Breakfast Burritos, Home Fries	Un-Fried Buffalo Wings, Celery, Blue Cheese	Chicken, Corn and Black Bean Soup	My Favorite Meatloaf, Scalloped Potatoes, Green Beans	Salmon Salad Sandwich
Chicken & Broccoli with Pasta	Minestrone Soup	Salad Pizza	Fish, Broccoli, Rice	Pizza	Zuppa Toscana, Salad, Breadsticks	Halloween Party at Church

Breakfast is usually cereal, sometimes oatmeal, and on Sundays, eggs and toast.  Lunch is leftovers, PBJ, salad, grilled cheese, or something else easy.

...Tastes of Autumn

oh Heavens.  If you had only been in my kitchen yesterday.  But, unfortunately for you, you weren't.  Unless you are Hey, Babe and in that case, "Hey, Babe, I love you!".  If you did happen to be in the vicinity of my kitchen, you would have been enticed by the smells of the apples.  Not so much the first portion of the day because the smell of the cider vinegar was stronger than the smell of the apple butter.  But last night, oh baby.  You missed out.

I was a little nervous about my first attempt at canning.  I have never watched anyone can before.  Since it is an uncommon practice even among people who are quite proficient in the kitchen, I figured there must be a good reason.  But I believe it went well.  Of course, until every jar has been eaten and no cases of food poisoning have resulted, the real results aren't quite in just yet.

Little Man was thrilled to be able to help me.  He stood at the sink giving each apple its final rinse and handing it to me to chop.  We washed and quartered 7 lbs of apples and tossed them into my largest pot. I poured in the water and cider vinegar and placed it all on the stove, covered until it came to a boil.  Then I reduced it to a simmer and let it be until the apples were soft, about 20 minutes or so.

That's a lot of apples. Notice I did not peel or core them first.  That is because I have a food mill, which will strain the seeds and skin out.  This is good because it means that I am not throwing away pectin from the seeds or vitamins from the skin.  It also means I don't have to peel 7 pounds of apples. 

Once the apples were soft, I began scooping them into the top of my food mill set over a large pot.

(the pumpkin in the background might turn into pumpkin butter, but we'll see)

Little Man was again thrilled to be able to help.  He likes to be a part of the action, and in this case, a part of the food.  He kept tasting the apple puree and complaining that it was a little hot.  But he kept going back for more, so it must not have been too hot.  The only problem with his help was that he wanted to turn the crank the wrong way, which, while it won't hurt the food mill, wouldn't finish the job.  Or at least not in a timely manner.

After a bit of cranking, we ended up with this

The pot isn't quite as full as before, but it is looking really good and is ready to be seasoned and cooked for a second time.  Here is where I began my alterations on the recipe.  At this point they wanted me to measure how much puree I had and add 1/2 cup of sugar for each cup of apple puree.  My estimate, based on the size of my pot, was that I had about 8 cups of puree.  I was NOT about to add 4 cups of sugar to my apple butter.  That struck me as being ridiculously too sweet, especially since apples are naturally sweet.  I also tweaked the spices called for.  Instead of doubling the spices, I halved the allspice and cloves, and left the cinnamon alone.  I didn't want it to be too spiced, I wanted it to be mostly apple flavored with just a hint of spice.  Besides, you can always add more later to adjust it to taste.

Setting the stove to a low simmer, I left the pot with a fine mesh strainer set over it as a spatter shield so that it could begin to cook down.  I returned every 20-30 minutes to stir the pot so that a crust would not form on the bottom.  After a while we had this

It was darkening, and beginning to cook down, but we had a long way to go.  I had the option of turning the flame up higher on the stove and standing at the pot stirring constantly, but decided against it.  With Hey, Babe at work and a toddler and baby demanding my attention, I knew that I would not be able to stand there for any extended period of time.  I wouldn't be able to can until the evening anyway.  Once Little Man was in bed and Hey, Babe was free to entertain the Storm Sprite I would have the block of time to do the canning without interruption.  So the pot simmered and bubbled and cooked away, while I occasionally came and gave it a good stir, making sure to get the whole bottom.

I cooked the pot until it was thick and a dollop placed on a plate didn't spread but instead held it's shape a bit.

Notice the blob on the left is much higher than the other two.  These blobs were scooped out at about 10-15 minutes apart and were all about the same amount, the two on the right just spread more and sunk.  The flavor difference between the three was noticeable.  The first was mildly appley and sweet but the last tasted strongly of apple and was quite sweet.  I even wondered if I should have left the sugar out all together but decided that since I was eating it plain, it would probably seem a bit less sweet once it was placed on something.

After filling and closing the jars they were placed in a large pot to boil.

Notice my dishtowel in the bottom of the pot? I don't have a canning rack yet but I will definitely try to purchase one before I can again.  The towel wanted to float away and was a bit of a pain.  I didn't want to commit to the expense (however small it may be) if I ended up hating the whole process of canning. (I borrowed the tongs, funnel, lid grabber, and headspace measurer-thingy from my Mom.)

Ten minutes in the boiling water and we were good to go!  I now have eight 1/2 pint jars of apple butter, plus the one we started last night and had on our pancakes.

It was delicious on some fresh cornbread.

Heaven on a spoon. Do I have to share?

Apple Butter Ingredients 4 lbs of good cooking apples (I used a mix of Granny Smith & Gala) 1 cup apple cider vinegar 2 cups water Sugar Salt  (I totally forgot this!) 2 teaspoons cinnamon 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves 1/2 teaspoon allspice   InstructionsEquipment Needed: 1 wide 8-quart pan A food mill or a chinois sieve (or a food processor, but peel and core those apples!) 6-8 8-ounce canning jars 1. Wash your apples well and then cut into quarters, without peeling or coring them (much of the pectin is in the cores and flavor and vitamins are in the peels), cut out damaged parts. 2. Put them into large pot, add the vinegar and water.  Cover the pot and bring to a boil.  Reducing heat to simmer, cook until the apples are soft, about 20 minutes. Remove from heat. 3. Ladle apple mixture into a foodmill and puree until you have processed all the apples and juice.  Add 1/4 cup of sugar (more or less) to taste, depending on sweetness of puree.  Be sure to remember that as it cooks down the flavor, and therefore the sweetness, will become more concentrated. Stir to dissolve sugar. Add a dash of salt, and the cinnamon, ground cloves, & allspice. Taste and adjust seasonings if necessary. 4. Cook uncovered in a large, wide pot on medium low heat, stirring constantly to prevent burning. Scrape the bottom of the pot while you stir to make sure a crust is not forming at the bottom. Cook until thick and smooth  and holds its shape when a bit is spooned onto a cold plate and allowed to cool.  This will take 1 to 2 hours. You can also cook the purée on low heat (liked I did) stirring only occasionally, but this will take much longer as stirring encourages evaporation. (Note the wider the pan the better, as there is more surface for evaporation.) Canning 5 There are several ways to sterilize your jars for canning. You can run them through a short cycle on your dishwasher. You can place them in a large pot (12 quart) of water on top of a steaming rack (so they don't touch the bottom of the pan), and bring the water to a boil for 10 minutes. Or you can rinse out the jars, dry them, and place them, without lids, in a 200°F oven for 10 minutes. 6. Sterilize your jars by placing them in 200°F oven for 10 minutes.  When filling the jars be sure to leave some headspace at the top.  Before applying the lids, sterilize the lids by placing them in a bowl and pouring boiling water over them. Wipe the rims of the jars clean before applying the lids.  Place jars in a large deep pot of boiling water.  Be sure that there is at least 1 inch of water about the jars and that they are not touching the sides or bottom of the pot, or one another.  Boil for 10 minutes. Remove jars carefully and allow to cool on a wire rack until room temperature. Makes a little more than 4 pint jars. Disclaimer: This is my first time canning and I may have missed an important step in the directions.  Please make sure you read a little "how to" about canning before you can for the first time.  Please do NOT base all your knowledge about canning on this recipe.

Curry Roasted Chickpeas

I made these curry roasted chickpeas the other day.  I have occasionally seen recipes for other varieties of roasted chickpeas, some seasoned with hot pepper, cumin, chili powder, etc., but decided on curry to try to help Hey, Babe out.  Recently, his TMJ has gotten very bad  (stress will do that to you and new babies, no matter how good they may be, are definitely stressful).  He found that eating curry daily helps with his TMJ but since I don't cook much with curry (certainly not daily) he mixes it in a glass of water, chugs it down, and then shudders like crazy.  Apparently it isn't all that great by itself.  So I thought that these would be a nice but still healthy alternative. Unfortunately Hey, Babe only thought that these were so-so and that they needed more seasonings.  I happen to agree with him about the seasonings and might go as much as double on the curry next time, however, I thought that these roasted chickpeas were overall pretty tasty.  They'd make a nice healthy crunchy snack and would be great to set out on a table at a gathering.  I liked them best while they were still kind of warm from the oven but they will keep in a sealed container for several days.  Feel free to experiment with your seasonings.  I'm wondering how a sweet version would taste and am thinking something along the lines of honey roasted peanuts or kettle corn for the next time I try these, maybe even some cocoa, mmm.  If anyone experiments with this, let me know how it turns out! Curry Roasted Chickpeas Ingredients 1 (12 oz.) can chickpeas drained and rinsed 2 Tbsp olive oil 1 clove garlic crushed 1 tsp salt 2 tsp curry powder (or more! I'll probably double this next time)

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 400°F.
Drain and rinse the chickpeas. Pat them dry on a couple of dish towels.
Heat a pan over medium-high heat. Add olive oil and gently saute the garlic until it softens, being careful it doesn't brown.
Mix in the salt and curry powder. Toss in the chickpeas and continue to cook for 2 or 3 minutes.
Spread the hot chickpeas on a rimmed cookie sheet or in a baking pan. (I actually used the same cast iron skillet that I had cooked them stove-top with, but the spices that were cooked to the pan began to burn so not a great idea, but that handle was really useful!)
Cook 30 to 35 minutes, shaking the pan every ten minutes. Keep your eye on them for the last few minutes as they will change from golden, crunchy and delicious to crispy, burned garbage in minutes.  When you think they are done, take one or two out to taste if they are crunchy enough (careful they're hot!).  If they aren't fully cooked, they won't be as pleasant so remember to cook them until they are crunchy, and if you took them out too soon, pop them back in for another minute or two.

Yields: 1 1/2 Cups

Sights of Autumn...

    This past weekend we looked outside at the gorgeous weather and saw these:

Leaves turning colors means it is Autumn, and autumn means it is time to pick some of these:

    Hello, random Butterfly from the orchard, and Hellooo delicious Apples!

Coming soon:

    My first attempt at making and canning Apple Butter. 

Sweet Spots of Life

    Just the other night I was talking with Hey, Babe about how we have reached the sweet spot of infancy for the Storm Sprite.  I have tried to start noticing when I hit sweet spots in life.  Being able to remember the peaks in life will help get you through the valleys that inevitably occur.  The Storm Sprite is definitely in a sweet spot.

    Right now the Storm Sprite is old enough that she isn't constantly eating, and will stay either awake or asleep for larger chunks of time.  Instead of rotating between the two states every ten to fifteen minutes and peppering multiple feedings in along the way, now she will stay in one for two hours or more at a time.  She has yet to start the teething miseries that I'm sure will soon plague us all.  As of yet she has not realized her lack of mobility, and so cannot be frustrated by it.  Nor is she actually mobile, and so I know she will always be where I have left her.  Best of all, she is perfectly content to sit on your lap or lay in your arms and grin and babble endlessly.

    It is an ideal stage, and an important one.  I believe that this is a necessary step babies take in cementing our affections for them before they reach the next stage.  You parents know the one I speak of.  The one that includes wailing all day and night because of painfully swollen gum.  We are already so irrevocably in love with them because of this current stage that we are willing to soothe and comfort and care for them through the sleepless nights until they are through it.

    Babies are sneaky little boogers.

When Toddlers Share

The other day I was sitting at the dining room table with Little Man, waiting (perhaps a tad impatiently) for him to finish his goldfish crackers so we could move on to the next thing.  The Storm Sprite was sleeping and I wanted to get the laundry folded before she woke up.  Some may wonder why I didn't just bring the laundry in and fold it while he was eating, or leave him to finish his crackers while I went to fold in the other room.  I have very good reasons for not doing either. 

The first option would result in him wanting to "help" fold the laundry.  This would mean that either I would get cracker crumbs all over my freshly laundered clothes, or I would have a boy in tears because I wouldn't allow him to help.  The second option would result in Little Man becoming lonely and bored in the dining room while I was somewhere else.  First he would start to play with his crackers, crushing a few, perhaps dropping some accidentally on the floor (or intentionally throwing them there), and would end with him pouring his water into the cracker bowl.  Perhaps he would then smoosh them up a bit, or perhaps he would just manage to spill it all over himself and the floor.  At this point he would come to find me (leaving behind him a trail of crumbs like Hansel and Gretel) and see that I was folding laundry. Here I refer you back to option one's outcome. 

None of those result sound particularly appealing, especially considering it would mean tears and more laundry.  And so I was sitting at the table. Waiting.  But not eating.  Little Man noticed my lack of snack and slid his bowl over to me saying, "Share with Mommy?" I wasn't really hungry, but I was pleased that he was being so considerate and initiating on his own sharing with someone else. So I made a big deal of thanking him for sharing and took a goldfish cracker.  After I had popped the cracker into my mouth and ate it, Little Man turned his big beautiful blue eyes on me and mournfully asked, "Where'd my cracker go? Mommy ATE it!" And proceeded to cry. 

Sometimes you just can't win, so you'd better learn to laugh.

Little Man-2, Electronics/Mommy-1

When I first started perusing food blogs looking for recipes I would bookmark the pages I was interested in.  The ultimate plan was to add the recipes into the document I was compiling on my computer of all my recipes.  It quickly became clear that having all of my recipes in a word document was unrealistic, especially since I like to browse recipes by photo. All those photos made it slow to load and the document became unwieldy.  I searched for and found a recipe program, BigOven, that was able to do everything I wanted it to and more.  I could add a photo right next to a recipe! I could even rate recipes, make notes, easily it scale up or down, search by ingredient, or word, or tag.  It was wonderful.  But most importantly, it had photos with the recipes.  I was set!  Until along came Little Man.

I don't know how kids do it.  I am sure that anyone who has any experience at all with kids knows that electronics and kids do not go well together.  One evening I walked away from the computer and into the kitchen with my BigOven program up and running.  At the time Little Man couldn't climb up onto the computer chair (the wheels confounded him) and so to make the computer safe while it was running, we had taken to placing the keyboard and mouse on top of the monitor if we needed to walk away for a few minutes.  But I forgot.  I heard him clicking and tapping away from the next room and I hurried in, wondering how much damage he had done to the current recipe and reassuring myself that I would be able to remember most of the ingredient measurements and if not then I could surely find it again online.  I checked and the recipe was still there in its entirety.  Whew! Safe! He must not have caused any trouble.

Then I noticed there was no photo next to the recipe.  Odd.  But easy to remedy.  I wouldn't even need the exact photo that had been there before as long as I found one that showed the dish.  It wasn't until a little while later that I realized the extent of what he had done.  He had somehow managed with just a few clicks and taps at the computer to delete over 1,300 pictures!  It took me weeks to sort through the hidden archives on my computer and manually paste each one back into the correct recipe.  (This was when I discovered BigOven's very important "backup" feature).  Somehow, not all of the photos were anywhere to be found on my computer and I ended up searching for each of the several hundred remaining recipes online for an appropriate photo.  The whole process took much longer than I care to remember.  Weeks.  But I eventually got a photo for each recipe.  This was important to me, how can I search for things that look appealing if there are no pictures?

Little Man must have inherited my desire for photos because he LOVES looking at pictures.  He always wants to be on the wrong end of the camera when I am trying to take his picture because he wants to see!  I came across an inexpensive little key chain digital photo frame and thought that since it was meant to be tossed into purses and pockets along with bunches of keys, it just might stand up to Little Man for a while.  The other day we needed to travel an hour and a half to a family birthday celebration and I thought that it would be the perfect thing to bring in the car to distract/entertain him.  We were traveling along for a little while before he started getting antsy. So I handed him back his photo frame, full of pictures that I had loaded on for him.  Not even half a minute later he was asking me where the pictures went.  He had managed in less than 30 seconds to delete the whole album.  It would have taken me or Hey, Babe a heck of a lot longer to intentionally figure out what he had done.

Tonight I came into the room to find Little Man holding my cell phone and pressing buttons.  Curious who he may have accidentally called I took it from him to check.  What was the option showing on the screen?
    Delete All Contacts? 
I finally got between him and destruction in the nick of time.  Kids sure have a way with technology, don't they?

Is it Chicken Parmesan or a Quesadilla?

Actually, it is both.  Or neither.  If you ask Hey, Babe they are Chicken Parmadillas.

The three cuisines I make more than any other are Italian, Tex-Mex, and Chinese.  These three styles have very interchangeable components. I have come across and made recipes for Southwestern Eggrolls, Mexican style Lassagne, and one night I accidentally made the Chicken Parmadilla.

We were supposed to be having pesto chicken wraps for dinner.  Sauteed Chicken, mozzarella, lettuce, tomatoes, peppers and onions, all drizzled with pesto and wrapped up in a pesto tortilla.  They are delicious, however, Little Man won't touch them.  All those vegetables falling out all over the place seem to turn him off.  So, knowing he wasn't going to eat a wrap with veggies and knowing that he likes chicken and cheese, I decided to make him a Quesadilla with his share of the ingredients and use some leftover tomato sauce to bind it together.  It was delicious.  Little Man ended up not wanting it anyway, but Hey, Babe and I were more than happy to polish it off for him.

Chicken Parmadillas

1 chicken breast chopped
salt and pepper
1 tsp oregano
1/2 onion, chopped
1/2 green bell pepper chopped
1 cup shredded mozzarella
1/2 to 1 cup chunky tomato sauce chilled
4 10" pesto tortillas
oil for pan
extra sauce for dipping

 Instructions
Heat a skillet over a medium flame, add a drizzle of olive oil and saute the chicken until about half way cooked. Stir in salt, pepper and oregano and finish cooking. Remove chicken to a bowl, first chopping to smaller pieces if necessary. (I prefer them to be on the small side so I can get everything in each bite).

In still hot skillet saute chopped onion about 1-2 minutes, adding more oil if necessary. Add chopped peppers to the onions and continue cooking another 2-3 minutes until veggies are just starting to soften (don't cook them too long if you don't want them to loose their bite).

Remove veggies to bowl with chicken and add mozzarella and chilled sauce until mixture is thoroughly moistened and beginning to stick together. Be careful not to add to much sauce as it will make the filling too runny.

Divide the mixture evenly among the tortillas, spreading it on half of each one. Fold the empty half of the tortilla over the filling and press down. Cook one or more at a time (depending on pan size) with a drizzle of oil over medium heat about 2-3 minutes per side or until cheese is melted and tortilla is beginning to brown.
Serve with extra tomato sauce.

I think next time I may add mushrooms.

Our Monthly Menu

One item that will probably be a regular feature here is my meal plan for the month.  I used to fly by the seat of my pants when it came to groceries and meals. We would kind of make it up as we went along, which seemed to work pretty well for the first two years we were married.  That was when Hey, Babe was still working managing a pizza place and we only ate dinner together a few nights a week (the other nights he ate at work and I didn't bother cooking for just myself).  When Hey, Babe got a new job and was going to be home by 6:00 every night it started getting a little tense around dinnertime.  Especially since I got home at 4:00 and should theoretically have had plenty of time to get just about anything ready.  Then I got pregnant and suffered from miserable, and constantly changing, food aversions.  So every night Hey, Babe called on his way home to find out what I thought I could eat for dinner and picked up the necessary ingredients.  Most things ended up being quick processed foods which meant dinner was rather unhealthy AND pricey.

We finally overhauled the system when we bought a house and moved away from our dinky little apartment and it's corresponding dinky little fridge and ended up with a beautiful large fridge in our new kitchen plus a decent sized spare in the garage.  With all the wonderful new fridge space, along with the fact that the best grocery store was a 25 minute drive (one way & without traffic) we decided to try monthly shopping.  This of course meant that we needed to know everything that we were going to need for the month, excluding produce which we would buy at the farmer's market.  There are the occasional items we miss, but it isn't too much trouble to pick up one the odd missed item here or there.

During second month of our new system I got pregnant again and took the food aversion symptom to the extreme.  Nothing was appealing. Ever.  I decided to stick with the menus anyway, figuring that since I didn't want anything and had to eat something anyway I might as well keep making menus since it made shopping and dinner time easier.  Eventually it went away and we have now been monthly planning and shopping for one whole year.  I'm very pleased with how well we have stuck to it.  In the moment it is easier to just plan a week or a few days worth of meals, but in the long run it saves a lot of time and money.

Some people may think that shopping for the month would take too long, but we actually save quite a bit of time since we only walk the length of the store once a month, instead of every week, and we only make the hour or so round trip drive once a month.  Another plus is that I don't have to worry about running out of food, or needing to go shopping while I am sick, or in bad weather, etc.  In fact, we skipped shopping for two months when my daughter was born (excluding the weekly farmers market, and a few gallons of milk, diapers and cheerios).  Even if you don't think you personally can get rid of your weekly (or more) grocery trips, I highly recommend planning out your meals for the month.  I find it helps with what can otherwise be the most stressful time of the day, dinner prep time.

September
Mon.	Tues.	Wed.	Thur.	Fri.	Sat.	Sun.
		Bean Burritoes	Crepes	Pasta & Sauce	Veggie Pizza	labor day picnic at church
Taco Dip	BBQ Chicken Quesadillas	Omelets and Homefries	Stuffed Zucchini Cups	Penne with Vodka Sauce	Beef & Broccoli Stir Fry	Salmon Salad Sandwiches
BBQ Chicken, Corn, Mac Salad	Tex Mex Mac & Cheese	Chicken Caesar Salad	Fish in a Bag, Broccoli, Br. Rice	Pasta & Sauce	Shepherd's Pie	Salmon Salad Sandwiches
Chicken Parmadillas	Potato Nachos	French Toast, Sausage	Herbed Chicken & Sweet Potatoes	Spaghetti & Meatballs	Chicken Stir Fry	Salmon Salad Sandwiches
Slumgullion	Pancakes & Bacon	Cobb Salad	Fish in a Bag, Broccoli, Br. Rice

I actually plan first Sunday to first Sunday since I only have Hey, Babe's help to grocery shop on Sunday mornings, and it takes two carts.  So here is the beginning of October as well:

1. Chili
2. Moussaka    
3. Chicken Salad Sandwiches

There you have it.  We don't actually always eat the meal for the day it is scheduled, but we try to at least make it happen in the correct week, otherwise it messes with our produce quantities. For those of you who are curious, we have only skipped two planned meals so far, and both were for unscheduled events that conflicted with dinner at home.

And so it begins

I have been thinking of starting a blog for a while, however, I have never felt like I was a writer, and what would I write about? My corner of the world is rather small.  I mother my two children, love my husband, watch my niece and nephew when my sister in law has to work. I cook (relatively often and rather well), I clean, (not nearly often or well enough) I hoard recipes like crazy, and I write list after list (yes, I count that as a hobby).  However, as small as my corner may be compared to someone else's corner, it is mine. And it is important to me. 

It was bound to happen, this blog.  I have for months found myself composing diary-like entries in my head as I either reflected on my crazy day, or pondered an obscure wild-tangent thought.  And I seriously considered just getting a notebook and writing them down instead of typing.  There were two or more problems with that route.  I have kept diaries before and found that my handwriting distracts me.  I know that statement may seem odd, but it is true.  I end up paying more attention to my handwriting, than what my hand is actually writing.  Typing just works better for me.  No handwriting changing from the beginning of the page to the end, no unsightly crossouts and corrections to make me cringe, or ghastly mid-entry ink changes when a pen runs out, just neat and orderly letters relating my thoughts without distraction.  The other problem is pictures (and videos).  Sometimes, a picture really does just say it all. And since I never get around to actually printing out my photos, I can't very well insert them into a paper journal. 

There is also the compelling reason that blogging will allow me to share my thoughts, kitchen creations, the antics of my children and charges, and perhaps an occasional list or two, with anyone who happens to be interested.  So here is where I will document for the unsuspecting internet wanderer, the chaos that is my life.  Expect to find anything from stories of my children, to culinary mishaps, masterpieces and menus, or just the most recent of those obscure wild-tangent thoughts I mentioned before.