Mommy vs. Circumstance: A Mommy Win

So my plan for St. Valentine's Day was to make cupcakes - as close to Georgetown's red velvets with cream cheese frosting as possible - as a surprise for Matt. Oh yeah, and I mean from SCRATCH, from the cake, to the frosting. And I've never done it before. It was going to be tricky to make it all happen, but if everything happened right on schedule...

I got an email from a client wanting to meet at 1pm, right in the middle of the day. But that's okay, I was expecting it, I could still make everything work.

Then, just as Max and I were getting ready to head to the grocery to pick up some necessary items for the cupcakes, I got a call from the school. "Your son's ears might be bleeding." What? Bleeding? "Um....I guess I'll pick him up then." So to the subway, rather than the grocery, we went.

I called the doctor on the way and set up an appointment for a couple of hours later. Pick up Patrick - oh, and of course Karol wants to come to the doctor's office, too - and drag all three babies from Chelsea to the Upper West Side via subway.

At the doctor's office: "Yeah...he's just really ear-waxy." As I suspected. Neither kid wants to go back to school, so we taxi back home. But it was such a nice day, I decided to take them to the supermarket and get those cupcake supplies anyway. 10 blocks there and 10 blocks back. Whew!

Now it's 1:30pm and everyone's hungry and tired. PB&J's and naptime.

It's 2:30, and dinner HAS to get made, so I start there. And somehow, wonder of wonders, I manage to make brown sugar meatloaf, red velvet cupcakes, homemade cream cheese frosting AND chocolate ganache, and do all the dishes from the day before and all the cooking....while all three kids napped. Whew.

Suck it, Murphy's Law, I win!

Cooking with Daddy for Thanksgiving

This is a big year. We decided to stay home (in Arlington) for Thanksgiving since traveling to Indiana is pretty darn expensive now that Karol can't be a lap child any more (not that it's really cheap either way, though). So that means Matt is the Top Chef this week! The preparations have already begun. There's bread pieces going stale on purpose, our fridge is full of Turkey and Turkey related accessories, and Matt got his knives sharpened by Alicia Groncki at Sharpen This. And It's a big year for Karol, because she is going to be Daddy's little Sous Chef!

Karol, already an expert pizza maker, mac & cheese crafter, and pb&j constructor, will be expanding her skills to include Turkey, sweet potatoes, green beans, and stuffing. Our boilermaker bud, Dan, will be joining us (not going to Wisconsin for the same reason we aren't going to Indiana) as well as a friend or two from Matt's class. It should be a fun time! Although I have no idea where everyone is going to sit...

In other news...Karol and Patrick are super lucky: they have already seen Santa - and it's not even Thanksgiving yet! This weekend we went to the Potomac Mills Outlet Mall to participate in a walkathon for St. Jude Children's Hospital, and afterward we did a little shopping and got to see Santa!!! And let me tell you, this guy is the real deal. Real beard, real suit, real cherry cheeks, real Santa laugh, this guy had it all. I would post a picture, but I'm saving it for our Christmas cards this year. And the best part is we weren't waiting in line for an hour. I'm betting there will be a guaranteed line after Turkey Day.

Watch for more updates and pictures after Thanksgiving!

Matt Plomin's Awesome Chicken Soup

So I got my wisdom teeth out yesterday and was whining that I was STARVING today since I hadn't eaten anything - at all - so Matt made me chicken soup out of stuff in the cupboards and fridge and it is bar none the best chicken soup I've ever tasted! He didn't write it down (he did it on the fly) so I'm going to try and capture it from his description of how he made it:

Ingredients:
2 chicken breasts
Bisquick
Olive oil
Minced garlic
4 c water (approx)
Dried parsley
Thyme
Oregano
Onion powder
Pinot grigio vinegar
Frozen peas & carrots mix
Salt
Pepper

Directions:
Slice 2 chicken breasts into small cubes.
Lightly flour with bisquick, salt and pepper.
Brown in olive oil in 2 quart pot.
Add garlic and brown garlic.
Add water.
Add 1.5 TBS dried parsley, ts thyme, 1/2 ts oregano, 3/4 ts onion powder, salt & pepper to taste, and a dash of pinot grigio vinegar.
Add 1/2-3/4 c. frozen peas & carrots
Let simmer until wife's complaining is intolerable. Serve room temp (for people who just got their teeth pulled).