The mother's prayer

Grant me the patience,
To not let our house turn into a romper room,
To not completely lose it when Baby2 breaks glass after glass because he's learned the fine art of distraction, and is strong enough to hold a door open,
To roll up the toilet paper roll every morning because it's the new Baby2 morning routine to unravel the entire roll ,
To repeat myself so many times that I forget how to put a sentence together,
To take the deep breath when Baby1 has tumbled an entire display of toilet paper despite my repeated requests that, no, we really do not need toilet paper at this time.
Grant me this patience.

Grant me the energy
To cook dinner while still in my work clothing after a full day's work,
To read stories to the children after dinner
Without falling asleep after the first page,
To get that broken glass swept up
Before Baby2 decides he'd like to touch that shiny shard of what it was he just broke
While my 2nd attempt on a 5 minute hollandaise turns into (yet again) scrambled eggs,
To be able to take time to talk with Hubby each day,
And to be able to take some time to take care of myself so I can finally kick this 4-week-long sinus infection,
Then to wake again the next day and repeat the whole routine
But not let it become just routine.
Grant me this energy.

Grant me the perseverance,
To be able to stay ahead of these kids to guide them along a path of darkness,
To not lose sight of the parent I would like to be to my children
And equally not lose sight of who I was before I became a mother,
To be able to allow them to make their mistakes and learn from them,
To not turn into the epitome of the front page of "Child Protective Services Digest, Issue #875".
Grant me this perseverance.

Grant me the soft soul
When Baby1 has decided that she'd kick me or ram a toy forklift into my Achilles,
When Baby2 has decided it would be great fun to hit my arm so that the food goes flying off the spoon,
When Baby1 has taken a metal toy car and notched our 40-year-old credenza
When Baby2 has thrown up all over the car, during our 5-hour drive from Philly.
Grant me this soft soul.

Grant me the wisdom,
So that I can have the energy and the patience
To teach and to guide,
So that they learn the dangers of those tiny shards of glass that pierce my feet
Without having to experience that pain themselves,
So that they gain the soft soul
To see the good in everyone
To be able to see the empathy that emanates from a n'er 1-year-old in the middle of the shower as he hugs and speaks little sounds of apologies,
So that they show the perseverance
To become good people themselves.
Grant me this wisdom.


I've had quite the long day, with both Baby1 and Baby2 . And with two snuffly noses, it will be quite the long night. That said, however, I did have the unique experience of transporting 48 homemade and hand-decorated cupcakes yesterday from my kitchen to a party, and I now know the reality of cake transport: I drove like a granny and took the turns with more care than when we first brought Baby1 home. The cupcakes came out wonderful, and they're from a recipe that I've been using for a while now. The buttercream frosting held up even through 100+ degrees outside.

A couple of hints: when baking cakes, make sure all ingredients are at room temperature. When serving the frosting in high-heat environments: chill the cupcakes for at least 45 minutes before exposure, and the buttercream won't lose its cool (or shape) in the heat and humidity.

Cupcakes (makes 24)
2.75c cake flour
2.5t baking powder
.5t salt

.75c (1.5 sticks) butter at room temperature
1.5c sugar
4 large eggs
Zest of 1 lemon
1t vanilla extract

1c whole milk

1. Preheat oven to 350. Line 2 12-cupcake pans with paper cups (or parchment - that works too).
2. Mix dry ingredients together well - I use a ziplock bag to do the mixing (just shake the bag!).
3. In a standing mixer, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
4. Add 1 egg at a time into the butter/sugar mixture, mixing well after each incorporation.
5. Add vanilla into the wet mix.
6. Alternately add the dry mix and the milk to the butter mixture, starting with the dry ingredients, about 4 portions each.
7. Bake approximately 25 minutes, until risen and just set.
8. When done, let cool on a rack before decorating.

This recipe can be altered - you can add food coloring to color the cake, but do not exceed 1t food coloring. You can also substitute cocoa powder for part of the flour (try half) to make chocolate cupcakes, but increase the sugar to 2c.

Buttercream frosting (enough to frost 48 cupcakes with a 1/2" piping nozzle)
1c (2 sticks) butter, at room temperature
2 lb (2 boxes) confectioner's sugar
1/2c whipping cream
1/2t vanilla extract

1. In a standing mixer, cream the butter until light and fluffy.
2. Add confectioner's sugar slowly into the butter, making sure it is fully incorporated after each addition before adding more. The mix will be quite dry.
3. Add whipping cream and vanilla slowly, with the mixer on low speed.
4. Once cream and vanilla are incorporated, increase speed to high. The frosting should be quite fluffy and light.

You can add flavorants into this frosting. I took this recipe of frosting, and divided it up into 3 portions. The first, I left plain vanilla. To the second portion, I added orange zest and mint (my favorite). To the third, I added some red food coloring, strawberries, basil, and cracked black pepper. Add flavors to your heart's experimental desire - just be sure, if you add fruits or acidic items, that you fold the additives into the frosting carefully and not whip it up too much. Too much movement, and you run the risk of curdling the frosting.

The cupcakes were a big hit, and Baby1 can't get enough of them. And after the trip yesterday with my 48 little friends, I no longer laugh at those commercials featuring the careful driver with the wedding cake in the back of the car.

That sweet, soft, summer heat.

Congress took off in August for a reason, and somehow that season of recess has backspaced into July. It's hot outside. It's sticky. It's making you really want to be just 6 again and jump into a pool or pull out the sprinkler and put on those big bug-eye sunglasses just so you can hop around in the water to cool yourself off. We knew it was bad when our cold water came out lukewarm.

It's weather like this, that really makes me not want to eat. Drink a ton of liquids, yes, but not eat. The most I think I can manage these days is a simple salad - which, while light, is not the worst thing for this preggobelly that I've not been able to shed, even after Baby2 turned 1. So while I've been munching away on salad, the pants have slowly gotten looser. And hope is turning on a light, at least along the way in the euphemistic tunnel.

So enjoy a salad as summer hits your neck of the woods. And here's a couple of easy dressings to enjoy - so that you don't spit out the lettuce on the floor and go "bppppppttthhh" at it the way Baby1 reacted to her first taste of undressed lettuce.

All those nooks and crannies - lettuce needs some clothing to be proper for serving.


All of the following formulas have the same execution: mix all ingredients together in a bowl, and whisk until thoroughly emulsified. And they all require the same type of olive oil: the type that you would be perfectly happy to drink without any enhancing consumable.

Caesar
1 egg yolk
olive oil equal to about 2x the volume of egg yolk
anchovy oil equal to about the volume of egg yolk
squeeze of 1/2 lemon
salt
pepper
1/2 clove garlic, crushed and finely minced
anchovies, finely chopped
parmigiano reggiano, freshly grated (no, not the stuff in the bottle)
(optional twists - pinch of dry parsley, some citrus zest, pinch of cloves)


Vinaigrette
2 parts olive oil
1/2 part vinegar
pinch of herbs (parsley, rosemary, chervil, cilantro - the sky's the limit for experimentation)
crushed clove of garlic (I like elephant garlic)
tiny spoonful of mustard (enough to create emulsion)

C'mon, it doesn't get simpler than this - put down those mixes and store-bought bottles already
olive oil
squeeze of lemon
pinch of salt (prefer kosher)
fresh grind of peppercorns (your choice)