Raspberry Patience

Those are the steps to my attic. Sitting on them are 3 different batches of boozy goodness - Raspberry Liqueur, Double Raspberry Treat and Righteous Raspberry. The kitchen counter has a few small stains and a couple of wooden spoons and towels were sacrificed (no worse than making jam) but the process was simple and so far everything is going smoothly. I have to swirl Righteous for 20 seconds on Wednesday. On Friday I need to strain the Liqueur into their final bottles. This is all marked on my calendar. The most difficult part is waiting a month before it's all ready to drink and share.

Here's WFR eating lunch!

the easy road

I have to admit that I am a teeny tiny bit jealous of Pillsbury Bake-Off winners' monetary prizes and kick ass ovens. Also, that I usually pride myself on making things from "scratch".

This past week I picked up a copy of their book from the library and found it had 2 raspberry recipes. Did you know that I am scouring the internet and cookery shelves for raspberry recipes? Lucky me it had TWO! And they both included canned bread!?!?! I thought to myself...Can I really serve something that I popped out of a cardboard tube? Well, when you have no more than 5 minutes in a row to do anything I decided to go for it and honestly they were delicious.

It's a shame really. Should I be amazed that I was able to "bake" twice this week? Or should I be disgusted with myself for selling out and embracing the Dough Boy? Could I be over analyzing? Maybe, but when I get a compliment I feel guilty and a almost embarrassed. I am compelled to blurt out "I didn't really bake them, the crusts are biscuits from a can". Like, no they're not really THAT good, they can't be! Then I wish I had made that Lemon Bundt, the one with the zest of 6 lemons from Cooks' Illustrated. Now there's a cake to be proud of but I probably would have to hire a babysitter to make it during the week.

These are really good and I might make them again....

raspberry-nut dreams

1/2 c. macadamia nuts
1/3 c. packed brown sugar
6 oz cream cheese, softened
1 c. frozen raspberries, thawed, drained and liquid reserved
1 can (16.3 oz) refrigerated buttermilk biscuits

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly spray 16 regular-sized muffin cups with cooking spray. In food processor, pulse macadamia nuts until coarsely chopped. Add brown sugar; process till combined. Place in small bowl and set aside.

2. In same food processor, process cream cheese, 2 Tbs nut mixture and 2 Tbs raspberry liquid till smooth.

3. Separate dough into 8 biscuits; separate each into 2 layers, making a total of 16 rounds. Lightly press each round in bottom and up side of muffin cup. Spoon about 1/2 Tbs cream cheese mixture into each dough lined cup. Top each evenly with raspberries and 1 Tbs remaining nut mixture.

4. Bake 14-22 minutes. Cool in pan 5 minutes before serving.

Nice week

Last week my sister-in-law and 2 nieces came into town from Colorado. We had a great time visiting with them. Many trips were made to Starbucks and the ice cream stand. We all helped my mother-in-law get ready for the Brooklyn Heights Garage Sale on Friday and did the selling on Saturday. Unfortunately, it was SUPER HOT and there were not many customers.





Then on Sunday my parents took WFR and I to the Valley City Frog Jumping Contest. It is some good, clean family fun! It was also SUPER HOT that day so we walked around a little then went back to their house to sit in the a/c.

Pack the moving truck

We have a new tenat on our front porch but it took her a few days to choose btwn the left and right units. I'm afraid to water the hanging baskets so they're turning a yellowish brown color and looking quite crispy. The neighbors probably think that I've just been negleting my plants (which is normally the case) but I am actually trying to save her nest. And I figure if I've stopped watering one, I might as well have a matching pair of dead baskets. Maybe something else will move into the other one. The rent is cheap!

busy week

We have a TON of stuff going on this week which is exhausting me. So much, that I played hookie from WFR's swim class last night and fell asleep on the couch by 9pm.

Tomorrow I am taking our new teenage babysitter (and her little sis) on an outing to get to know WFR a little better. I want her to come over and see the apartment and we can discuss his bedtime routine. Which is not much more than read "Goodnight Moon" while he drinks some milk, put him in the crib, shut the door and ignore anything else that happens until after 6a.m. Oh, and don't forget to turn the sound machine on! We were supposed to go to the zoo but if it rains I'm not sure what we're going to do.

Sunday we are going to the Cleveland Food Rocks Rock 'n' Roll BBQ. I'm not exactly sure how I feel about it. They are pretty vague on the details...bbq from "famous" Cleveland restaurants and music at the Beachland. This group is a non-profit that are raising funds to help promote the city's good eats." I don't know what that really means. But...I haven't been to anything food related in so long, I didn't want to miss out on something that could be cool. More info can be found here. Let's hope it's worth the admission!

mile markers

We had a very long drive but a nice visit. I wished we could have stayed in NJ another day. WFR was a trooper and did pretty well in the car and sleeping in the pack-n-play. Saturday we went to a playground, farmers market , Jersey City for dosa and IKEA. In the evening we had a family dinner full of carbs and stories from India and Vietnam. The stories amaze me and make me feel very grateful for what I have.

Why does Pennsylvania have a mile marker every 1/10th of a mile on 80? That is a lot of signs.

Road trip!

Tomorrow we are leaving for New Jersey to see a set of WFR's grandparents. We've made a similar trip once before but I am not remembering it that clearly (except the part where we were driving around in the dark, lost, looking for a hotel where we were supposed to meet his parents). So, it was either so bad that I've blocked it out completely or a piece of cake!

I finished all the laundry yesterday and the house is in pretty good shape. Today I collect and pack items for the drive and our bags. Not sure what time we're leaving tomorrow, it all depends on when Ian is able to leave work.