April Fly on the Wall

Welcome to a Fly on the Wall group post. Today 12 bloggers are inviting you to catch a glimpse of what you’d see if you were a fly on the wall in our homes. Come on in and buzz around my house.

When you’re done, click on the links below for a peek into some other homes:
Baking In A Tornado
Just a Little Nutty
Follow me home . . .
Stacy Sews and Schools
The Sadder But Wiser Girl
Menopausal Mother
Moore Organized Mayhem
The Insomniac's Dream
The Momisodes
Tiny Steps Mommy 
Outsmarted Mommy
The Rowdy Baker  

This month’s Fly on the Wall post is about some of the things a fly might see if he were to watch me posting on Facebook:

I posted: Question: If you get burned taking a cookie off of the cookie sheet, you should immediately eat the offending cookie so it can’t hurt anyone else, right?
One response: I think it’s the law!
The consensus of opinion: Yes, that cookie needed to be punished

I posted: If absence really does make the heart grow fonder, I think my teenagers should go away for a while!

I posted: I know its been a while since I’ve been in school, but I’m having a bit of a problem with this math:
A pile of my son’s friends slept over in the basement last night. This morning I came downstairs and in the laundry room (where the kids all throw their shoes) there was one extra pair of shoes. In the basement there were 2 extra sleeping kids and in the driveway there were no extra cars. Somehow this does not all add up.
One friend answered: Maybe Marty McFly landed at the wrong house.
And I said: I wish he had left me his car!

I posted: PLEASE don’t let my teenagers come home while my tongue is stuck in this Vodka bottle.
Followed by: Looking for believable explanations for a swollen tongue. Quick. Help. Before the kids get home. . .
And then: Ooooh, someone doesn’t like my predicament tonight. Just lost a “like". OK, who left?

My Mai Tai

I posted: The sun’ll come out tomorrow. Ya gotta hang on ‘til tomorrow, come what may. Tomorrow. Tomorrow. I love ya, tomorrow! You’re always just a day away!

ANYONE WANT TO GUESS WHEN MY KIDS GO BACK TO SCHOOL?

One answer: when the sun comes out?

And another: Hmmmm. . . Always so cryptic. . . It seems like there must be a clue . . .

I posted: Bad: every time I want to know whether or not I’ve seen a movie, I have to ask my older son. Worse: he always knows.

An answer: Who Are you??!! Are we related? I thought I was the only one that had that same situation.

And I told her: Maybe we ARE related. I wonder if my son knows what movies you’ve seen too!

I posted: Good news/bad news. Good news: the snowblower started. Bad news: school’s already been canceled for tomorrow. That’s the end of MY life. Well, my Thursday anyway.

I posted: Anybody else hear this in their home? “Mom, my friends are coming over so you can make cookies if you want”.

 

I posted: Proof I have impulse control: My kids are still alive.

So that’s a peek at my Facebook page. Sound like fun? Join me (shameless plug) by clicking this link:

Baking In A Tornado Facebook Page

My Mai Tai
                                      ©www.BakingInATornado.com

Printable Recipe

 

Ingredients:
1/2 ounce Spiced Rum
1/2 ounce Coconut Rum
1 ounce Patron Citronge
2 ounces Orange Juice
2 ounces Pineapple Juice
1 dash Grenadine

Directions:
*Combine all ingredients. Serve over ice.
*Opt: Can embellish with fresh pineapple chunks, orange slices and/or maraschino cherry

Take 2 – April Secret Subject Swap

Welcome to another Secret Subject Swap (and my 100th blog post). This week, 11 brave bloggers picked a secret subject for someone else and were assigned a secret subject to interpret in their own style. Today we are all simultaneously divulging our topics and submitting our posts.

Here are links to all the sites now featuring Secret Subject Swap posts. Sit back, grab a cup, and check them all out. See you there:

Baking In A Tornado
Life on Peanut Layne
Menopausal Mother
The Sadder but Wiser Girl
Evil Joy Speaks 
Black Sheep Mom
Home on Deranged
Victory Rose
Dates 2 Diapers
Bad Word Mama 
My Life as Lucille  

My subject is: Survivor or Amazing Race? Which one would you be on (or not be on) and why? It was submitted by: Evil Joy Speaks

Here goes:
 Here’s something you may not know about me, I have already been on both shows. And lived to tell the tale. Just barely, but lived just the same. I was on Survivor many, many years ago, went on to Amazing Race, and just in the last few years ended up on Survivor All-Stars. Yes, I’m that good.

Years ago, as a result of my own production (actually two, a year apart) I found myself on Survivor – Infant Island.
Challenges included:
the How long can you keep your eyes open with no sleep when you’ve run out of coffee challenge.
the Buy new bottles vs. clean the ones you have challenge.
the Falling into bed covered in spit-up challenge.
the What you do when you’re out of diapers challenge.

followed by:
the Learning to jump out of the way when the Hyperactive Gag Reflex kicks in challenge.
the Making it through a shopping trip without a meltdown challenge.
the Waiting to dance in the streets until the youngest has already left for school challenge.
the Getting out of going on EVERY school field trip challenge.
the Finding foods they’ll eat challenge. Apparently just pouring sugar on everything is classified as cheating. Damn.

Brown Sugar Kugel

I was sure I’d never do another show like that again, but somehow found myself on The Amazing Race, Extracurricular Activity Edition.
The race took me to:
Tae Kwon Do testing where I had practiced so much with my son to prepare him that the instructor asked me if I wanted my belt as well.
Baseball games where my son stood too close to the practicing batter.
Soccer games where both boys’ games started at the same times but on different fields.
Football games where I had to answer my husband’s “who’s that player down on the field?” with “your son”.
Track meets where my son was too cool to tie his shoes.
Skateboarding obsession that ended in the Emergency Room.
Swimming on Cape Cod where my son got stung by a Jelly Fish.
Skiing in Colorado where I watched my son, on his second day, point his skis straight down a Black Diamond and go. . .

And now, because you just can’t turn down the honor of an All-Stars show, I find myself on Survivors yet again. And this one may kill me. Yes, I’m in the hell they call Survivor – Teen Island.
Challenges include:
the Not finishing off everything in your bar the first time they drive off in the car challenge.
the Keeping food in the house challenge.
the Getting them not to spend every penny the minute they make it challenge.
the Not ripping the mail out of the Mailman’s hands when college acceptance letters start to arrive challenge.
the No, you can’t drop all of your classes since you’ve already been accepted to college challenge.

And the one that just may send me packing:
the Getting out of bed and seeing what they’re going to do to you the next day challenge. Harder than you’d think, under the circumstances.

So there you have it: my Hollywood resume. Didn’t know I was a celebrity, did you?

Brown Sugar Kugel
                                  ©www.BakingInATornado.com

Printable Recipe

Ingredients:
1/2 stick butter, melted
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 lb. wide noodles
1/2 stick butter
1 tsp salt
3 eggs
1/4 cup brown sugar

Directions:
*Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
*Spray a 9X13 glass baking dish (for thinner, cripsier kugel pictured above) or 8X8 dish for thicker kugel with no-stick spray.
*Put the melted butter into the dish, and using a basting brush, brush the butter over the bottom of the dish and up the sides a little.
*Add the 1/2 cup of brown sugar and using the basting brush, spread it evenly over the bottom of the pan and a little bit up the sides. Set aside.
*Cook the noodles al dente. While still hot, add the 1/2 stick of butter and the salt and mix until the butter melts into the noodles. Set aside until the noodles cool a little and the eggs can be added without them cooking in the hot noodles, then mix the eggs in completely.
*Gently put 2/3 of the noodle mixture over the brown sugar mixture in the pan. You don’t want to move the brown sugar mixture around, but you do want the noodles evenly distributed on top.
*Sprinkle with 1/4 cup brown sugar and top with the rest of the noodles.
*Bake for 45 minutes
*Remove from oven and cut into squares. Let sit in the pan for 5 or ten minutes before removing.

The Circle Hypothesis

If you’ve read this blog before, you’re well aware that I have teenagers. And yet when dealing with my boys I often find myself thinking (OK, even sometimes saying) “isn’t that something you learned when you were, like, two?” So I entered Mr. Peabody’s Wayback Machine (some of you may need to Google that), to revisit the behaviors I addressed when the boys were little. And I was a little stunned.

In the name of scientific discovery, I ended up developing a hypothesis about a vicious circle in parenting. And further, based on a simple questionnaire (of the Women’s Magazine type), you can see where you are in that circle. My theory is that the older your kids, the higher your score. Want to join my study? Take the test? Easy Peasy, it’s multiple choice.

Answer Options:
A) a 2 year old
B) a teenager
C) both A and B
D) none of the above

Here’s how it works; for each of the 15 statements below, choose the answer that best fits the age of the child described; A, B, C, or D.

1. The answer to everything is “no”.

2. Don’t pick up their toys.

3. Whine at dinner.

4. Don’t come when called.

5. Is always in the way when Mom’s in the kitchen.

6. Doesn’t always play well with others.

7. Thinks Fruit Snacks are a fruit.

8. Wants to drive the car.

9. When Mom says “no”, goes and asks Dad.

10. Responsible for Mom needing a Brunch Cocktail.

Brunch Cocktail

11. Watches TV way too loud.

12. Goes into their room and slams the door when they don’t get their way.

13. Deliberately uses naughty words.

14. Takes whatever they want and thinks everything they see belongs to them.

15. Takes naps, but only now and then.

Finished? Want to see how you did? For each answer, give yourself the corresponding points:
A) 1 point
B) 2 points
C) 3 points
D) 0 points

Now just add up your points and check out your results:
0 to 15 points: You just wait. . .
16 to 29 points: You’re getting it . . .
30 to 44 points: Having teens is sorta like Deja vu, isn’t it?
45 points: Welcome to the club. Care for a Brunch Cocktail?

Now let me know, is the Circle Hypothesis holding up? What’s your score?

Brunch Cocktail
                                    ©www.BakingInATornado.com

Printable Recipe

Ingredients (per cocktail):
1 ounce Chambord, Black Raspberry Liqeur
Prosecco, an Italian Dry Sparkling Wine
Grapefruit Juice

Directions:
*Put one ounce of Chambord into a Champagne flute.
*Fill the rest of the flute with equal parts Prosecco and Grapefruit Juice.