I’ll try the potato dumpling recipe correctly again soon. I pride myself in learning from my mistakes.
POTATO DUMPLINGS: (courtesy of Food Network, click link for full recipe)
Mix instant potatoes for 6 servings
2 eggs
2 to 3 cups flour, plus more for kneading
1 teaspoon baking powder
Combine dumpling ingredients well. Put out on floured bread board and knead more flour in until stiff-like bread dough and it isn’t sticky to your hands. Break off small pieces and form into flat balls, drop into rapidly boiling water. Bring back to a boil and cook 10 to 15 minutes. Cut 1 and if it isn’t sticky inside, they are done. NOTE: If you have more people – say 8 – mix potatoes for 8 and add more flour; for 10 or more, add 3 eggs and more flour. Prep time–10 to 20 minutes depending on how much kneading you have to do to get the dough not sticky. Cooking time – about 20 to 25 minutes or until the dumplings aren’t doughy and sticky on the inside Yield: 10 to 12 dumplings
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Okay, I’d argue that was open to interpretation. How was I supposed to know they meant “mix up everything you need for 6 servings of instant potatoes”. I didn’t include the milk, water, butter or salt. I did NOT make the potatoes themselves.
2 2/3 cups of dry potato mix + 2 cups of flour + 2 eggs = a dry mealy mess!
I was ready to put a comment on Foodtv.com about what a mess I was making…I added an extra egg, some milk and managed to get to the “kneading” portion of the recipe.
The dumplings are now boiling and I’m sure they’ll be bland as hell…no butter, no salt. Ugh.
(The label Dave came up with for his first batch of Homebrew! — Howie’s our dog…)
Dave got a Mr. Beer for Christmas. It was “given” to him by his two sons. (Am I mother-of-the-year or what — convincing her sons to give Daddy a Home Brewery for Christmas!).
On Christmas afternoon, he took over my kitchen and started on this batch. He’s following the Mr. Beer directions pretty closely this time around, although he’s already consulted with several other home brewer who have enlightened him on “the right” way to homebrew.
So it’s now New Year’s afternoon, and Dave’s taken over my kitchen once again to bottle his work thus far.
Someone already commented about all the soda bottles on the kitchen counter in my first post. Those were in preparation for today’s bottling.
Good thing New Year’s dinner is a Crock Pot meal — he can have the kitchen all he wants today!
Timmy’s new mantra. He’s my 2-year-old. Starting about a week ago he decided he could say this and I’d pick him up. He’d been on an independent streak until recently — now he wants to be held all the time and I’m just not into that anymore. He’s almost 3 years old (end of January), and he had gone months NOT wanting to be held all the time. I guess I had felt used to it.
What makes it all the more emotional for me is how he actually says “Mommy, I need you.” as he extends his hands out for me.
Things were much easier with convincing Jacob to walk on his own, my ob ordered me to not carry anything over 20 lbs. in my 3rd trimester with Timmy because of sciatica. He said “Especially don’t carry Jake.”. Jacob is from the school of hard knocks.
Not to sound like Jerry Seinfeld, but it’s a topic of conversation Dave and I have every year. Why do we need to have a New Year’s Resolution? I think Dave put it right yesterday during the Dick Clark New Year’s show when this girl was going thru the crowds asking everyone’s resolutions:
“If I think I need to improve something about myself, I’ll start improving immediately and not wait till January 1st.”
Of course, one of things we always do on Jan. 2nd is start our Annual Vollmer Diet Attempt. We’re coming up on the 13th Annual Vollmer Diet Attempt tomorrow! Yep — lose 10 pounds by Feb. 1st! Whoo hoo, the enthusiasm is there, can’t you tell???
So…after all this time of enjoying other peoples’ blogs, Dave (my Weather Warrior husband) convinced me that setting up my own blog might be long overdue. After all, I’ve suggested other people start blogs, I’ve incessantly called Dave over to look at other people’s blogs, my sister has a really cool one (a plug for my sister: Living in the Material World!), etc.
Actually Dave put it this way: “You’re always sitting at that thing [the computer], I’m sure you have lots of things to put in a blog!”.
He’s right…I spend a LOT of time at the computer, and the efforts I’ve put into the wireless networking and file sharing in the house were all just so that I can continue to e-mail friends and surf the web while still being a decent mother. This meant not spending all my time in the computer room, instead putting our very old (circa 2000) laptop in the kitchen.
See on the counter on the left side of the picture? That’s the laptop, taking up valuable food preparation space.
Sometimes it’s good — many of the other neighborhood Moms will send out “Let’s go to the park” e-mails which I can receive quickly, sometimes it’s bad — letting the pasta overcook because I’m IMing a friend!
My point is: I did it — I set up a real blog, and my next task is to somehow link my Picasa albums so that I don’t have to duplicate efforts.
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