Friday, January 3, 2014

The Family Bang Checker

Are you a bang checker or a bang ignorer?

When something bangs in the house, or even outside for that matter, I need to know what it is. It’s not a curiosity thing, it’s more that the sooner I figure out what happened and what I need to do about it the better. Because when things are just left where they fall, it never ends well for me.

In my house we break into two groups; the checkers, which is me, and the ignorers, which consists of everyone else in the house.

Truth is, we could probably do three groups. I’m still all alone in the checker group. The boys are still ignorers and my husband would make up the third group, the I-didn’t-hear-anythingers. But in my book that still makes him an ignorer.



The Family Bang Checker | graphic designed by and property of www.BakingInATornado.com | #MyGraphics



Sometimes it’s just a tree branch knocking against the house, sometimes it’s just young Mr. Visual/Spatial walking into walls, sometimes in the summer it’s the wind shutting a door. But if I hear it, the kids are going to ignore it, hubs is going to deny it and I’m going to head off and hunt it down.

Picture those old timey movies where the moron hears a noise and heads up the stairs alone oblivious to the fact that all the lights are out up there and there’s a guy in a mask with a knife in that room she’s about to enter. You’re sitting there yelling at the TV “don’t go up the stairs . . . DON’T go up the stairs . . . DO NOT GO UP THOSE STAIRS”. Yeah, that would be me you’d be yelling at.

OK, so all of this explanation is so you’ll understand exactly how I spent my day yesterday. My whole flippin’ day. While you went about your business, maybe doing laundry or errands, drinking coffee, watching TV, dealing with your kids, texting, playing around on social media or reading blogs, I was being driven nuts by one momentary elusive sound.

I was sitting on the couch early yesterday morning having a cup of coffee, checking my email and listening to the TV in the background when it happened. A bang. A loud one. In all honesty I can’t blame anyone in the family for not helping out this time as I was the only one home.

And really, it’s better when I’m alone because this is exactly what would have happened if I wasn’t:
Me: “What was that?”
Hubs: “What was what?”
Kids: “Nothing”.

So back to yesterday. I was positive it came from upstairs but I checked the main floor first. The Caramel Peanut Butter Kisses were cooling on the counter, laundry was in the dryer and no one’s phone was banging around in there with them for a change. Everything seemed fine so I headed upstairs.

Caramel Peanut Butter Kisses | recipe developed by www.BakingInATornado.com | #recipe #cookies

Caramel Peanut Butter Kisses
 

Don’t worry, the lights were all working and there were no masked knife-wielders. But I also could not find what made that bang. No pictures off walls, no soap fallen in the showers, nothing out of place at all. And I have the kind of house where I’d know.

So all day I looked, came back to the couch and tried to convince myself that I hadn’t heard a bang, thought of new places to look, even searched the basement, checked and rechecked and rechecked. I could not find anything, all the while wondering how much bigger the disaster was becoming while I was not finding it. At least if I had found Michael Meyers I would have been able to put an end to all the looking. Probably would have been more to clean up, but then I wouldn’t be doing the cleaning, would I?

Finally, FINALLY, while looking in the kids’ bathroom linen closet for the fifty-seventh time, I looked on the floor under the bottom shelf and found the deodorant that had obviously jumped from an upper shelf earlier in the day just laying there minding its own business nonchalantly acting as though it hadn’t just cost me an entire day of hunting it down.

I think I’m on the wrong team. I need to join the bang ignorers because, face it, I am never going to get this day of my life back.

Baking In A Tornado signature | www.BakingInATornado.com | #MyGraphics





Caramel Peanut Butter Kisses
                                       ©www.BakingInATornado.com
 
                                                                   
Printable Recipe
 
Ingredients, Cookies:
1 stick butter, softened
1 stick margarine, softened
1 cup brown sugar
½ cup white sugar (plus another 1/3 cup for rolling cookies)
2 eggs
½ cup Nutella
¾ cup Peanut Butter
1 tsp vanilla
2 ½ cups flour
¼ cup cornstarch
¾ tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
½ tsp baking powder
Approximately 60 Caramel Kisses (or can use Rolos)
 
Directions:
*Cream butter, margarine and both sugars. Beat in the eggs, Nutella, peanut butter and vanilla. Mix in the flour, cornstarch, salt, baking soda and baking powder.
*Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for an hour.
*Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease your cookie sheets.
*Roll dough into approximately 60 balls. Roll the balls in the 1/3 cup sugar and place on baking sheets. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes.
*Immediately place a Kiss or Rolo in the center of each cookie. Remove from cookie sheet and allow the candy to set completely before storing.


35 comments:

  1. Bang checker, for sure.
    Carol
    www.carolcassara.com

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. And the cleaner-uppper of whatever it was too, I'm guessing.

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  2. I'm a bang checker too. If my husband is home, I make him check. If it's just me, I'm taking all the dogs with me! I just made kiss cookies yesterday and I was going to try using Nutella on my next batch!

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    Replies
    1. Definitely worth trying the Nutella, the kids loved it. And the Caramel Kisses added a great component as well.

      Delete
  3. those cookies are yummy looking! thanks for sharing the recipe… I am definitely a bang checker. intact i think I check too much!

    Anni
    www.annisbubble.com

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yeah, I think you could put me into the "too much" category too.

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  4. I'm in the 4th group ... check for a while and then enter a room and forget what I'm looking for ...

    Those cookies look amazing!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The memory loss is an acquired trait, but I forget how you acquire it.

      Delete
    2. Ha, ha. I LOVE when the comments are funnier than the post!

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  5. Oh, I'm a checker. I'm SUPER paranoid and, well.....our house has a 6th member hanging around that no one can see (I'm pretty sure it's my father-in-law).

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'd probably still be the checker, but not sure I'd go alone if there was an invisible resident in my house.

      Delete
  6. Honestly? I'm the type that would say: "What was that?", go take a cursory look around, and if I didn't see anything obvious, go back to what I was doing. The part of this post that killed me was when you said "I have the kind of house where I’d know." I don't. If you mean that you're organized and know where everything should be, I really DON'T. That's all I'm going to say about that!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes that was what I meant. I'm very neat. Except the boys' rooms and the man-cave. Don't even want to think about what's in those places.

      Delete
  7. I USED to be a bang checker but 5 kids have cured me of that! LOL
    Y'know, I almost bought the caramel Kisses the last time I made peanut butter blossoms. Now I know it would have been great! LOL :D

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. So funny, I bet with 5 kids, especially where they're home schooled and there during the day, bangs never end at your house.

      Delete
  8. Yummy cookie recipe! This is so funny because in my house my hubby is definitely the one who goes and checks. I remember one time at night we heard a fire alarm that wouldn't shut off and then we saw people gathering outside. He kept checking and then finally said he would go over to make sure no one needed help or something. Very nice of him. I just said be careful and stayed home with our toddler. I'm glad he checks because depending on when the noise happens like if it is at night, I might be too afraid to go and see. JR sleeps in the room with us right now so it's not like I feel like someone could be coming in trying to get him while we are in the room so yea. LOL. :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. So funny, even if it's the middle of the night it's me. But I think that's because my husband sleeps like a rock and I'm the lightest sleeper in history.

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  9. I'm an ignorer. Hubs is the checker. In fact, I had to laugh at your story cuz we've got a mystery noise going on in our house right now that has my kids too scared to sleep upstairs! I waved it off as a toy. Hubs searched but never found the culprit. Wonder when the kids will go upstairs again??? UGH.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. See, that noise would drive me nuts. I'd HAVE to find it.

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  10. I'm a TOTAL bang checker because it seems that my fur kids get into trouble EVERY. DAY. The mystery is figuring out exactly what trouble caused what bang!

    Oh, and if I eat a batch of those awesome cookies of yours every time I get spooked by a sound, I'd weigh 500 pounds

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yeah, I'd be willing to bet those fur kids can cause as many daily bangs as my teenagers do.

      Delete
  11. I check out all the bangs. In our cramped NYC apartment it usually means some pile of our junk fell over!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. LOL, I'd imagine in a NYC apartment it would take way less time to find those bangs. Now picking up that pile of junk, that could take a while.

      Delete
  12. Dear Karen: Happy New Year! I'm glad that you're having a good time with the boys at home (well college boy). I'm afraid I'm an ignorer, with 2 cats running like a pack of gazelles at 3 am a 5 yo that everytime after a loud BANG all I hear is 'I'm ok" , a teen playing "free bird" for hours on end...there is really no point on checking, lol!!!! Hope this 2014 is a success for you as it is when you embark on your usual and new projects. I've been missing in action for a good part of the end of 2013 due to health issues and missed a lot, including your fun posts! Keep up the good work and stay warm and safe, this weather is crazy...I'm tired of the "bellows" , shoveling and single digits we've been having, HUGS, Lizy

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm so sorry to hear about your health issues, Lizy. I hope 2014 is a good year for you.

      Delete
  13. I am the Bang checker. Last time I heard a bang... my car alarm went off! Went outside to find a pogo stick on the ground in front of my car and $800 damage to the hood! No one in sight by its all good cause insurance covers it.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Youch. That's awful. I can't imagine $800 damage from a pogo stick. Yeah, I'd be the checker too if that were me, and I'd be quick about it too.

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    2. Let's just say that it hit my car fairly hard! It takes a heck of a hard hit to set off my car alarm!

      Delete
  14. OMG...I am a bang checker too, as well as Dino... though he gets scared because of me. Tony would happily ignore it unless it is keeping him from doing something. You just never know what it coudl be...a huge mouse, a killer spider, someone breaking in, the toys coming alive and locking us in the closet...YES I have issues, LOL

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ha, ha, sounds like you have some VERY interesting stories to tell.

      Delete
  15. Bang checker-check, for sure. I'm also always thinking someone pulled into our driveway 100 times a day. Every noise out back is a robber and every creek inside is a ghost. I'm really quite normal, right? Props to you for finding the deodorant. That could have been a close one!
    Your cookies make me hungry...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Perfectly normal. Won't catch me saying anything different.

      Delete
  16. Totally a bang checker - also a finder of list things.

    ReplyDelete

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