Dr. Teeth and the Origami Mayhem

The Tooth Fairy is putting in overtime these days, and going broke. We've had several years with nary a tooth being lost and now it's a veritable tooth avalanche. Here at Chez Hatch, the Tooth Fairy brings GOLDEN DOLLARS. ooooooooooh. It used to be the one with Sacagawea on them, now the Presidents are out and about. The Messy One actually turned up his nose at Martin Van Buren, saying that he had one of those already. Excuse me? The Tooth Fairy isn't keeping track of what you have and what you need for your collection, kid. Suck it up and take the money.

It also turns out that the Tooth Fairy recently lost her mind and decided to surprise the kids with origami money holders. It takes her a really long time to make each creation. She told me that it took her almost 45 minutes to make a dog basket for No Thank You Boy which held his loot. Unfortunately, since she started something (and didn't realize that so many teeth would be coming out in such short order), she can't stop. Rumor has it that tonight she'll be making a panda for the Messy One as that's his favorite animal. (Edit: Holy cow! The Tooth Fairy just showed me the diagram for the panda. No way, Jose. Each kid gets one paper creation and she calls it a day.)

We have at least 8 more loose teeth over here between all 3 boys. It's going to be interesting...

The Hatchlings read this blog occasionally, so please post any comments with care. :D

Messy One - Tooth #9

April 26, 2009

Origami basket

No Thank You Boy - Tooth #9
April 27, 2009
(Yes, the very next day, because he can't be outdone by his brother and have him get money, fame and origami and he not. It "just fell out" at school. Riiiiight.)
Origami dog basket thingy

The Little One - HIS FIRST TOOTH! awww

May 3, 2009
Origami dog (he thinks it's a cat though)

The Messy One - Tooth #10
May 5, 2009
Origami Panda - maybe. We need to see what turns out.

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter, one and all!

Sheer Heart Attack (alas, no Daring Bakers)

(part of my new cookbook collection...)

Yes, my internet friends, I haven't fallen off the face of the earth and there is no Daring Bakers March Challenge to be found in this post. Why? Well, things have been quite interesting here at Chéz Hatch of late....

My 49 year old DH was driving to work and he felt like he had indigestion, so he stopped for a Chick-fil-A chicken biscuit. That didn't help. He then felt like he was wearing about 4 or 5 layers of shirts and that they were all bunchy at the elbows and about 10 sizes too small (aka: squeezing in the chest and arms). He got to work and tried to lay down to see if that would help his "indigestion" which by now in his head had morphed into "The Flu" since he was now also nauseous and sweating. When his flu and indigestion didn't improve, one of his co-workers asked him if he needed to go to the hospital. He said he was ok and to give it a minute. After a minute and when he refused to take a call from one of his important clients, the co-worker told him "That's it. You're going to the hospital. Now."

So, my DH gets to the emergency room. One of the nurses came out of the back, took one look at him and hustled him back to the triage area at which point he was relieved of his shirt, hooked up to a bunch of monitors, had an EKG, and IV with blood thinners pumped in.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, I get a call from one of the company's owners telling me that my DH has been taken to the hospital with chest pain and she thought I needed to go there now. I called school, arranged for the hatchlings, tried to call other people to no avail, resolved to cancel T-Mobile as soon as the contract is up in May (no bars my damn a**) and waited for the calm to wash over me. It did.

I met with the doctors in the triage room and they told me that they were going to take him to the Cath Lab and take a look to see what was going on. The main doctor came out after about 45 minutes and told me that he was all done. Huh? How is he? What did you find? Will he have to have surgery? When will you operate??? Um, Mrs. Hatch, it's all done. Really all done.

Modern medicine is so amazing. They fixed him up completely in that 45 minutes. They ran a cathater (cath) up through the artery which runs from your groin to your heart and took x-rays. They found that the main artery which runs down the front of his heart and one of it's tributaries was completely blocked at the junction point. If he had gotten to the hospital 15 to 30 minutes later there would have been a completely different outcome. {shudder} Via the catheter, the doctor took "a balloon with little knives on it" and roto-rootered out the tributary and put a stent in the other. I saw my DH shortly afterwards and he was awake for the procedure (thanks to the chicken biscuit they couldn't knock him out since he had food in his stomach). They officially admitted him and took him upstairs to the heartcare floor. The nurses all thought he was going home the next day and kept trying to convince us of that opinion, but the doctor kept him for an extra day. There were probably more tests and monitoring to be done, but secretly, I think that the doctor wanted to make a real impression on my DH and kept him the extra day so that it wouldn't feel like a drive-through lifesaving. (I'll have a medicated stent please, and hold the onion.)

Bottom line is that he is fine and that he knows that he has some serious lifestyle changes to make including dates with the nutritionist, physical therapist, sleep apnea/sleep center people and maybe a yogi. Unfortunately nagging wives don't have the same impact as a cosmic 2x4 wakeup call up-side the head. A nagging wife with a real 2x4 might be a different story though.

Please learn the warning signs for heart attack and stroke. Heart attack symptoms are different between men and women. Please learn what the different risk factors are for heart disease and resolve to make better choices, especially if you have more than one risk factor. Listen to your nagging wife, husband, partner, friend or child. Please. You matter.

I may be MIA for a little while longer, but we're all doing well here and taking baby steps on the road to a new heart-healthy life. For those of you who knew about this and who have been supporting us, who brought us dinner, offered childcare, kept us in your prayers and more, thank you. Thank you from the bottom of MY heart.

10

Hey, you still asleep? You sleep alot. I don't want to miss ANYTHING.
Hey, wake up will ya? Guess what? We're gonna be best friends.

Yes, they were actually that small. 4lbs, 9oz and 5 lbs, 2 oz.
(but do the math - you're looking at 9 lbs, 11oz. of baby right there)
7 weeks early. They would have been HUGE full term. I might have literally popped.

The first 2 hatchlings (pictured here just shy of 10 years later),

along with the 3rd one.

(That story to follow in about 16 days. February is a busy month around here...)

Happy Birthday boys,
Love,

Mommy

This is Hard Tack

If anyone is seriously considering making this, please comment and let me know and I'll share my cook's notes with you. By the end of this exercise, I used 3 bags of flour and made enough of this stuff for over 150 kids. Most of them thought it was a great joke and had fun pounding their hardtack on their desks. At the end, I had about a dozen kids coming up and begging me for more. Makes me wonder what their parents feed them OR what trouble they were going to get into on the playground...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Courtesy of National Park Service, Gettysburg National Military Park
http://www.nps.gov/archive/gett/gettkidz/hardtack.htm

Hardtack was a biscuit made of flour with other simple ingredients, and issued to soldiers throughout the war. Hardtack crackers made up a large portion of a soldier's daily ration. It was square or sometimes rectangular in shape with small holes baked into it, similar to a large soda cracker.

Would you like to try some hardtack? It's very easy to make and here's the recipe:

2 cups of flour

1/2 to 3/4 cup water

1 tablespoon of Crisco or vegetable fat

6 pinches of salt ;)

Mix the ingredients together into a stiff batter, knead several times, and spread the dough out flat to a thickness of 1/2 inch on a non-greased cookie sheet. Bake for one-half an hour at 400 degrees. Remove from oven, cut dough into 3-inch squares, and punch four rows of holes, four holes per row into the dough. Turn dough over, return to the oven and bake another one-half hour. Turn oven off and leave the door closed. Leave the hardtack in the oven until cool. Remove and enjoy! (And make sure your parents try some!)

LMAO

For those of you with a quirky sense of humor, you simply must go check out this style commentary blog. It's called "Go Fug Yourself: Because Fugly Is The New Pretty".
http://gofugyourself.celebuzz.com/

One of the TWD people who posted their CV a while ago mentioned it (I forget who) and I've been hooked ever since. Some recent comments (and Cathy for some reason YOU keep rolling thru my mind as being a connoisseur of tidbits such as these):

* "this look is evocative of a tangerine that's been cross-bred with a Vegas waitress."
(scroll down to the bottom)

* "it reminds me a tad too much of the really ugly interpretive stained-glass windows in one of the churches my mom used to go to -- "

* This one you just need to read for yourself.

* OH! this one too. Speechless.


RUN! Go check it out now. You'll thank me in the morning.

TWD: Time Off for Bad Behavior

This is not me.

Hello my TWD friends! I've pleaded insanity and gotten a TWD hall pass for the next couple of months. My hips, cholesterol and wallet all need a little time off, but rest assured that I'll come back to worshiping at Ms. Greenspan's feet when things are under control. I WILL keep posting items, just not TWD's. I hope to live vicariously through you and will continue to cheer you on! Allez cuisine!

(This is NOT me either, but I sure feel this way!)

YIKES!!! Recipe Analyzer

Quantity (3) Barefoot Blogger Banana Sour Cream Pancakes

OK, so this is good AND bad. I found a free recipe analyzer online and started plugging in some of the recent things I've made and some of the upcoming Barefoot Blogger recipes....

I tested it out using a few online Cooking Light recipes where I could match up what they had listed versus the analyzer. Most things were quite close. If there is an unusual or specific ingredient, the analyzer gets a little confused. I'm not saying it's perfect, but at least it will give you a ballpark figure if you have nothing else to compare to.

Try it for yourself and see what you think. Tuesday's With Dorie might blow its mind.

http://caloriecount.about.com/cc/recipe_analysis.php

Here is (1) one TWD Buttery Jam Cookie (assuming a yield of 40 cookies)

Merry Christmas to All

 

and to all a good night!

I hope that your Christmas was everything you wished it would be and more.
Sending all of you special hugs on this magical day,
Lisa

Random Image

I have NO earthly idea why this vignette of white and silver has been composed in my bathroom sink or where the bow came from. I just walked in the room and this stopped me in my tracks. There's nothing under the bowl. And why the spoon? Mysteries abound.

The Electric Mixer

(Click to enlarge)

My classic symbol of comfort and home is flaming cherry red. ;D

How NOT to Roast Garlic...

This is what NOT to do:
1) prepare 2 perfectly innocent heads of garlic by peeling the skins off, leaving the root intact, then cutting off the tops of the cloves and rubbing the entire thing with olive oil, especially into the cut areas.
2) put said garlic heads into 2 cute little mini-Pyrex ramekins that you love and are the only 2 you have left from a set of 6.
3) put the above assembly into the microwave for 5 minutes.
4) get distracted doing something else in another room
5) come back into the kitchen trying to find the source of that horrible burning smell.
6) open the door to the microwave and have massive clouds of thick, choking gray smoke billow out.
7) set off the fire alarms and fill the whole house top to bottom with smoke and that sickening burnt stuff smell that will take about a week (or more) to fully disappear. Open all the doors and windows in the interim, letting all the heat (and smoke) out.
8) try to clean the inside of the microwave out using spray cleaner and Barkeepers Friend.
9) set your favorite 4 cup Pyrex measuring cup in the microwave with 1 cup of water and a splash of lemon juice and bring to a boil so that the water vapor helps steam off the goop and clean out the smell that is now permeating the guts of the microwave.
10) open the door to the microwave and remove the favorite measuring cup and have the bloody thing start reboiling, overflowing onto your hand.

Things TO do:
11) scream obscenities at the top of your lungs that would make a sailor blush and fling the cup and liquid across the room in the general direction of your porcelain sink and have it shatter in there into a million pieces. Try to get it all in the sink and not have it splash all over the floor and cabinets. Avoiding hurling it through the window is also a good idea.
12) run your now scalded hand under cool water for several minutes until you realize that your state is in a drought and that they changed the billing /water tier consumption rate charges on your house and that it will cost a small fortune to keep running the water. Yell for your 9 year old to bring you a bowl (NOW!) and plunge your hand into the bowl of cool (not cold) water. Add a few ice cubes when the water becomes bearable.
13) sit there for, oh, about 1 1/2 hours, swishing your hand gently back and forth. While you're doing this, it's a good time to make your kindergartener sit and write out 10 times "I follow class rules". This will take the whole 1 1/2 hours, so it is a constructive use of your otherwise free time.
14) call every urgent care center within a 20 mile radius and discover that they all close at 8:00 pm and that unless you want to go camp out in the ER until morning with all the really sick people, you're SOL.
15) call Walgreens to see if they have anything and learn that the answer is no, not really.
16) send your husband to dig around in the medicine closet and find the jar of Silvadene burn cream that expired back in 2005, but that you kept "just in case".
17) realize that this is one of those moments and apply the cream. Have pain ebb and flow between excruciating and tolerable for about an hour.
18) breathe a deep sigh of relief and gratitude that the old cream still works and that the pain is abating.
19) do not take a picture of your hand to document the experience.
20) be extremely grateful that the cream and cold water worked and that the burn is not near as bad as it could have been.
21) tell the internet and the Barefoot Bloggers that you were going to make the coq au vin but got sidetracked by all this and you'll do it in the next few days. Beg forgiveness and plead insanity. Type the post with the one good hand and two fingers from the other because you are not 100%, but can't be separated from your computer and the internet for any length of time without going loco.
22) the next time you boil water in the microwave for a longish period of time, put a bamboo skewer in the water to give the bubbles an escape route and not explode on you.
23) buy a jar of roasted garlic at Trader Joe's or Harry's/Whole Foods. You'll have it on hand (ow!) when you need it in a pinch and don't have time to roast it properly.

Leaves

Saving Documents: an EASY Way

(Today's TWD is next/below this post)

This makes my life so much easier, I thought I’d share.

Instead of physically printing out important documents you get online, like receipts from online purchases, invoices, order acknowledgements, coupons :D (when legal or moral), use this FREE program to create pdfs of them instead.

http://www.exp-systems.com/

If you're a couponer and have a scanner, you can also print/pdf and save copies of your original cash register receipts, rebate forms , UPC’s or other proofs of purchase before you mail off your originals.

To use this program, instead of clicking on “print” and then selecting your regular ink printer, you select the “pdf redirect printer” in the print drop-down box and it creates a pdf file you can then save. Save everything to a folder called “receipts” or something like that and you’ll have all those things in one place, and not reams of paper to keep track of.

If for some reason you need the documentation, all you do is then print the file on your regular printer or you can forward it directly as is to the company as evidence.

Think outside the box!
You can also use this method to keep copies of recipes (hallelujah!) , directions, instruction manuals or ANYTHING you want to print and keep for posterity, but not have paper clutter.

If you scan them in, you can also save Legal documents like your will, insurance papers, picture of your passport, driver’s license, credit cards – anything you’d REALLY need if things were stolen or if your house burned down or if your computer crashed.

You can save these files from catastrophe by emailing these pdfs to yourself at an online email service (like hotmail, gmail, etc. or similar site that you can check from another computer anywhere on the planet) and then save the documents in your inbox or saved items box. If you’re traveling and need this info, you can just get online and print the files in whatever country you’re in.

The possibilities are endless.

Wired

Wired. Hard wired. Homerun wired. Wired direct from my computer out to the Bellsouth box in the street. Happy girl. Do not stop, do not pass go, do not collect 200 dollars. Do yank out yards and yards of old yucky mid 1960's cabling and replace it with shiny new 2008 cabling. (Not that there's anything wrong with the mid 1960's - only cabling from that era is old and yucky. People from the mid 1960's are quite lovely, youthful, fresh and beautiful.)

Low Voltage Guy: Ah, ma’am, do you have a trashcan for these wires and cables?
Me: Sure, why don’t you just use this big, huge, blue tub.
LVG: Well ma’am, that’s sort of a nice bucket. Don’t you have a trashcan somewhere?
Me: A trash can?! Oh, no! I want to keep all this mess.
LVG: (looking wary) Ma’am?
Me: (nodding head) Oh yes, I definitely want to keep it. Definitely. Please put in all in here. Thank you. I want to take a picture of it.
LVG: You what?
Me: (smiling slightly) I want to take a picture of it.
LVG: Ah, well, um, yes Ma’am. Here you go.
Me: Thanks so much. This is perfect.

Me: (in my head, singing/dancing- Yes! A picture! A picture to show my friends why I’ve been gone for so long. A picture to show all my INVISIBLE friends that the problem has been dealt with and that these new cables should shake with fear while transmitting the pictures of their sad, old and now very dead precursors and that they should be warned that I can flick my magic wand and make this happen to them and they will end up in a bucket if they do not obey my bidding! Bwah hahahahaha) (Ok, so I’ve missed you guys a lot).

Thank you for hanging in there with me! I’ve got some catching up to do. Hugs, hugs and more hugs for all the well wishes you sent and I’ll be seeing you soon! Online!

I Heart...

I heart all of you who left lovely things to say about my last post.
I heart the public library because they have free internet access.
I heart my DH for putting up with my tremendous, childish, embarrasing rant about my losing my DSL connection yet again.
I heart the people who are coming to my rescue and fixing my DSL connection / ripping out the old wires / running all new cabling which will hopefully fix the problem once and for all as I am done with this nonsense.
I heart the people I work with for helping me work around these computer issues I'm having.
I heart my neighbor who has an albuterol nebulizer and answered the phone at 3:30am and let us come down to use it on the Messy one who couldn't breathe.
I heart modern medicine and the doctor who gave us a boatload of free breathing treatment samples.
I heart my DS who sent me a lovely book on King Tut and some cute Jessie Steele aprons.
I heart all the moms who came today and helped with the kindergarten Thanksgiving Harvest Feast.
I heart Publix for having an awesome in-store Feast on Tuesday and where we basically ate dinner on all the yummy food they had out.
I heart the Good Samaritan who found my Coach silk scarf that I lost at the Publix Feast and turned it in.
I heart MT who gave me a discount card for Coach as I think I need an early Christmas present for dealing with all this without losing my mind.

I will be back soon-
Heart,
Lisa

Random Image

This tickled my fancy. Smoked pork, anyone? What about pork butt?

Awardz!

Wow, you all have been busy checking me out! I'm so thrilled that you like what you see! Thank you, thank you, thank you!

I've gotten 3 awards that I am Sooooo proud of AND that I also get to pass along. Yay!

I'm thrilled down to my toes to be the recipient of the "I'm a Chocoholic Award" from The Blonde Duck at A Duck in Her Pond, because yes, I am a Chocoholic, thank you very much. You must visit the Blonde's ultra cool blog. Not only is she ultra blonde and ultra beautiful, she's one heck of a writer and cook. Drop by today!

I’d like to pass this on to:
1. Bridgett of La Bella Cook
2. Barbara of Barbara Bakes
3. Nancy of The Dogs Eat the Crumbs
4. Nancy of A Recipe a Day
5. Lisa of Lisa is a Baker
6. Lisa of The Cutting Edge of Ordinary
7. and Cult Jam (just kidding on this last one – it’s an 80’s joke, son.)

I also received the Kreative Blogger Award from the lovely and talented Bridgett of La Bella Cook. She blends both sweet and savory delights with a splash of history tossed in for spice from time to time.

Here are some other lovely and talented ladies:
1. Cathy of The Tortefeasor
2. Katrina of Baking and Boys!
3. Di of Di’s Kitchen Notebook
4. Amanda of Amanda’s Cookin’
5. Charmain of Christie’s Corner
6. April Marie Claire at Girl Japan

I also received the tres stylish Arte y pico award* from Lisa over at Lisa is a Baker, and oh, boy is she ever. In addition to creating some fab food, she absolutely cracks me up – you’ll love her blog and her great sense of humor! Go check out her tempting yummies and commentary/photos of marching bands, Jan Brady and Grace Kelly posthaste!

Passing this back on to some of my favorite blog eye candy:
1. Clara at I(heart) cuppycakes and her equally fabulous other blog
2. I (heart) food 4 thought
3. The Food Librarian at (yeah) The Food Librarian
4. Maria of Two Peas and Their Pod
5. Teanna at Spork or Foon?

Many, many thanks to those of you who've stumbled upon my little blog. I appreciate all your comments and your encouragement!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
*Here's the scoop on the Arte y pico award, and its rules--but I won’t turn you in if you don't play--- no need to feel the burden of a 'chain letter', but if you do, be sure to mention the origin of the award (details below!)

This award was created in Uruguay by a fellow blogger who makes dolls exclusively from recycled materials. Her blog can be reached by clicking here.

Pick 5 blogs that you consider deserve this award, creativity, design, interesting material, and also contributes to the blogger community, no matter of language.

Advertise name of the author and also a link to his or her blog to be visited by everyoneEach award-winner, has to show the award and put the name and link to the blog that has given her or him the award itself.

Award-winner and the one who has given the prize to show the link of “Arte y pico” blog, so everyone will know the origin of this award.

Share these rules."

Guess Whooooo We Saw Tonight???

Wooo HOOOOOOO!
Tulip is back!

Thanks for all your wishes!

New Apron and a Question for You

I've got a new apron! I love it! It's so girly and cute. I love the scalloped edges and that it's made of oil cloth. I can wipe up the inevitable splatters really easily and it has a really nice feeling about it. I got it on Ebay so there was no touchy-feely before I bought it, but I was surprised that it was much higher quality than I expected. Happy girl, happy dance!

Question: Do you wear one, and if so what does YOUR apron look like? Do tell!