How to charm me

Tell me I look "so classy" every time you see me.

More fun than...well, you know how it goes

Some people have somehow come to the conclusion that my cooking is quite enjoyable.  Weird, I know.  However, I thought it might be nice to occasionally add a favorite recipe so I can easily send folks a link when they ask "how did you make this scrumptious ambrosial treat?" So today *drum-roll please* you get Monkey Bread!

You'll need:

2 1-pound packaged refrigerated pizza dough
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1 cup sugar
8 tablespoons (1 stick) butter, melted
You might also want a half cup of raisins


Heat the oven to 375

Tear off small bits of the dough and roll them into 1  to 1 1/2 inch balls (this is Emily's favorite part). If you are adding raisins this is the time to do it.  Just roll a few right into each ball.

Combine the cinnamon and sugar in a bowl.  Dip each ball in the butter, then in the cinnamon sugar. Transfer the balls to a buttered Bundt pan.

Drizzle (okay, let's be honest here - there is not really anything bad that could follow this word when used in a recipe. I, for one, get a little excited over what could be next whenever I see the word "drizzle" in a recipe that calls for butter and sugar.) Drizzle any remaining butter over the top and sprinkle with any remaining cinnamon sugar. (See, didn't I tell you good things would follow that word?)

Bake until golden brown. The recipe calls for 40 minutes, but I highly recommend you cover the pan with foil after 20 or 25 minutes. Otherwise the top layer gets really tough. When the bread finishes baking, remove from the oven and let cool five minutes.

Place a plate on top of the pan and carefully flip the whole thing over (so that the pan is now on top of the plate). If you have a Bundt pan you are probably familiar with this move. Tap the top and sides os the pan to release the bread.

If you are lucky, you'll get bread that looks like this:

 

And a happy face something like this:

Rarely do friends come and then go

"Seriously?" she said with an eyebrow raised before crumpling back in her chair as she realized another bridge had been burnt without warning. It is never fair. And it never gets easier.

Emily!

On gifting:
E: I wanna do something for GeeGee's birthday!
J: Do you want to call her?
E: No, like I want to send her a gift.
J: I already sent her a gift.
E: No, Mama! That was a card not a present.
J: No, baby.  I had you decorate a card, but it went with a book I sent her.
E: A book? That's not a present, that is a book.
J: Well then what qualifies as a present?
E: You know...some jewelry...perfume...a toy she can play with...

Happy 80th birthday Grandma!

And the worst parent award goes to...

Not once, but twice I have failed to send Emily to school with her show and tell based on the letter her class is learning that week. I lost her pumpkin reading chart for the entire month of October. I have also failed to turn in her Friday homework book on Friday. And now. Now, I have helped her labor over a special project for an entire week only to tell her that it was due a whole day after it was actually due. My poor kid has failed to turn in five assignments on time, if at all, thanks to the crappy calendar-reading skills of her own mother. I have thus far written two apologetic notes (both with misspelled words, by the way.) to her teacher begging my kid not be penalized for my mistakes. Geez! I have my first ever parent-teacher meeting next Tuesday. I can only imagine the type of person this teacher is expecting next week. I will now cringe and dread our meeting for the next few days.

How to annoy me

Tell me my dress reminds you of Batman. Because Batman so totally wore brown ruffles. And shoes that are a "little bit Betty Boop."

Emily!

On being an animal lover (of sorts):
E: Mama I am half of every animal. I really am. Do you know what that is called?
J: Um, earlier you told me it was called a "cobra-ligress."
E: Well now its called a "souvenir."
J: A souvenir?
E: Yes, that's what I said.

Emily!

On her new boyfriend:
Shannon: Jacob, do you have two girlfriends tonight?
Jacob: Yis
Emily: And look, he has two hands so he can hold both of us!

This is the vampire Gabriella Juliette with "the other woman," Briana as a high school musical cheerleader.
And here is Jacob the "big pimpin'" dinosaur.

And, finally, three's company.

Note how in that last photo Jacob is looking at Emily not so much with adoration as with menace and terror while Briana looks completely nonplussed. I wish we had a picture to capture the way Jacob kept demanding the girls hold his hand and one that showed Emily's relentless mothering of her new "boyfriend." Briana was more or less ambivalent to the whole situation as it only loosely related to her trick-or-treating mission.