Floury Toes

I may end up starting a blog by this name just for the cooking exploits of my fun little family.

We'll see.

We cook a lot. And when I say cook, I mostly mean bake. There's a subtle difference and the difference is, usually, sugar.

Today we made what we affectionately named "Chocolate is Flying Everywhere Cookies." Between the three little hands "helping" me with the beaters and the rather large amount of flour this recipe calls for, there was, well, chocolate dough flying everywhere. Hence the name.

We based our recipe off of a recipe found in a great little cook book that a friend gave me called International Flavours. It is a book filled with recipes from around the world and was put together by the students, teachers, and staff of the GDQ School, an international Christian school. A great book for missionary families, I'd like to note. The original recipe is called "The best Chocolate Chip Cookies Ever." (From the Hartmann Family, thank you Hartmanns!") An impressive title! But even though we took many liberties, cutting down some ingredients and adding others, I am happy to report that they did live up to their original name of "The best ever."

I bet on cooking blogs you have to be really specific. Yeah, um, sorry. We're kinda' loosey-goosey over here so, bear with me.

First the recipe said to mix one cup of butter with 1 1/2 cups of white sugar and two cups of brown. Holy cow that's a lot of sugar! And butter! I cut it down to one cup of white sugar and about one and a half cups of brown, but put in a little more than a cup of butter, because I walk on the wild side. As I mentioned before, I had three sets of little hands helping me hold the beater as we beat the butter and sugar together. You would think that this would almost ensure that you would never drop the mixer, but oddly, the exact *opposite* is true.

Then my 5 yr old cracked up when I said, "Hang on, I need to mash some of that butter better!" And then my 1 1/2 yr old laughed hysterically every time I turned the beaters on after that. They can't help it, I'm just SO funny like that.

So then we added three eggs and two tsps of vanilla. Mmmm, vanilla...

Oh, where was I? Sorry, the smell of vanilla takes me to far away places.

Ok, so then in a separate big bowl we mixed about four cups of flour (the original recipe called for six. Six! I thought that was a little much.) with 1 1/2 tsps of salt, two tsps of baking powder and enough coco powder to make it reasonably dark. I don't know, maybe 1/4 cup? Go with your gut. The original recipe did not call for coco powder, but we left out the chocolate chips and put that in instead because all of this originally started when one cute kid wanted to make cookies and another cute kid wanted brownies. Brownie cookies! Voila! Problem solved, tears abated, life is good.

Finally we slowly poured the bowl of dry ingredients into the bowl of wet ingredients whilst beating and this is where flying chocolate happened. It was a fairly shallow bowl, maybe that was the problem. I don't know, but three kids running wildly around the room eating chocolate cookie dough off the walls left me time to mix in peace.

Time to roll spoon-sized bits of the gooey brown dough into balls and set them on the pan!

This is about the time that my 3 yr old noticed how much flour had gotten onto her black dress. Appaling. I mean, you just can't go around with flour on your cloths and "Why don't you wipe it off?", while a sensible query to you and I, is nothing but an insult to a young child's dignity. So she stripped naked and we continued on with our work. If you've never baked with a naked three yr old before, you've never really baked.

(Taken just before the cloths came off.)



We cooked the cookies at 180 C for 8-10 minutes. I'm happy to report that we only had two meltdowns in that entire time about "when the cookies would *ever* be done!" And only one of those melt downs came from me! Woo-hoo! Really though. Imagine having to wait eight *whole* minutes for something. In todays world that's practically an infraction on human rights.

Finally we ate them while they were still so hot that we could barely hold them. They're best that way, you know. They were quite moist (all the butter?) and so delicious. I highly recommend this recipe :D

Walk in the Light

"But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin." 1 John 1:7

In The Works

There are several up coming posts about gentle/grace-based parenting planned. I am a very busy mother of three (soon to be four!) wonderful, rambunctious, hilarious, sweet and slightly crazy children, so it may take a few weeks (*cough*months*cough*) to get all of my thoughts written down and sorted out so that they are actually coherent, but they are coming! Just a heads up!

Surprise!

As I stood up my knees began to quake a little and my belly flip-flop with what I realized was nervous excitement, the kind I suppose many Mom's feel when taking that kind of test. "I'm really about to find out... No more dismissing it as 'my period is probably just late.'" I took the cup and the dropper and the test into my room and closed out the sound of the kids roughhousing in the living room with my husband. I dripped a few drops on the correct spot and waited. When the test line appeared, bright, but all alone, I felt an odd mix of relief and sadness.

"Oh, I guess not... Hmm, itreallywouldn'thavebeenthebesttimeforitanywaybutgoshIthoughtIwasandwhytheheckis myperiodsolate?"

Then I remembered how the instructions said it could take a few minutes and I had a flash back of another pregnancy test, not so very long ago, whose second line was so faint that I almost missed it, too.

I peered closely at the test strip on my dresser and veeery slowly another line began to appear, at first only a shade darker than the background, but darkening with each passing moment.

Oooooh myyyyy goooosh....

Oh. My. Gosh!

I walked out towards the living room, passing the one and a half year old, elbow high in a toilet paper clogged sink in the bathroom. I plucked her out of her mess and strode into the living room, grabbing a diaper and the wet ones on the way, and plunked her down for a change. In my other hand I grasped the test.

"What is that?" My three year old says, pointing. "I want some! Can we eat it? Or is it just for smelling?
I laughed and I couldn't conceal my goofy grin.

"What? What is it?" My husband asks, alarmed, as he notices the look on my face.

"I naycake, I naycake! (I'm naked!)" The wriggly one beneath me shouts gleefully as I try to wrastle her into the diaper.

I glance sheepishly up at him as the toddler runs off (still naycake.)

"Pregnant?!"

"Pregnant."

Promises to You, My Unborn One

I promise to give you as gentle a birth experience as possible.
I promise you your genital integrity regardless of your gender.
I promise to nourish you from my body, both now while you are inside of me and later on with the milk I produce -thereby gifting you with sustenance, comfort, and even protection of your health!
I promise to cherish you as the gift you are.
I promise to delight in your giggles, your coos, the new things you do, and in just you being YOU.
I promise to comfort and protect you always.
I promise to be there for you -in the light and through the dark, though I may be drained and through the rains.
I promise that my arms will always be open to you.
I promise to never knowingly allow toxins or harmful substances into your body.
I promise to teach you about God and His Word, to strive to "train you up" in a godly manner, through example and servant leadership, and with kindness, respect, forgiveness and understanding. "There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear." ~from 1 John 4:18 "Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near." ~Phil. 4:5
Honey, Mamma is a sinner, she fails sometimes a lot. But darling, not only are you a precious child in our family, you are a precious member of a bigger family -God's family. As such you are a brother or sister to me in Christ and I will strive to serve you with Christ-like humility, gentleness, and tender loving care. To work at cultivating in you and me the fruits of the spirit, and to build you up so that you may always be "growing in the grace of our Lord and savior Jesus Christ" -as I too, hopefully am growing and learning and I hope to teach you with the same grace that our dear Lord lavishes on me. "Therefore encourage one another and build one another up" ~1 Thess. 5:11 "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law." ~ Gal. 5:22-23 "But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen." ~ 2 Peter 3:18

Promises from your sisters~

Adelina ( age 5 1/2): "I promise to not let Albulena pinch you or be mean to you. I promise not to let you get fat lips like Albulena does sometimes. I promise to bring you to Mommy if you ever get an ouchie. I will teach you how to say a lot of words. I would love you more than my heart."

Teuta (age 3): "I will be gentle to the baby. I will give you an apple. I will be nice."

Today

You are small today
Today you are a little girl
I cherish you

You are sweet today
Today you are full of cuddles
Snuggle up

You are full of wonder today
Today you share your dreams
Dream big

You are funny today
Today you make me laugh with joy
Laughter makes things bright

You are you today
Today I am proud to be your Mommy
Today and always

Today

Copyright Jacquelyn Bytyqi 2012

Goodbye to Summer

I hope you have
the sweetest dreams
Of tadpole nurseries
in mountain streams,

Of purple flowers
a-hum with bees
And breezy breezes
in the trees,
Of bears all fat
and full of berries,

Of trees all plump
with ripe red cherries,
Of meadows ringing
with bright bird-song,
Of days so warm
and full and long,

Of Sister's arms
around your neck,
Of Mother's kisses,
smooch and peck,
Of watermelon
sweet and drippy,
Lemonade to taste
and sippy,

Run and jump
and chase and climb,
Dream about
sweet summertime~

Copyright Jacquelyn Bytyqi 2012