What-What?! Week of January 10th

This week has been busy.  We took the kids to the dentist, and that went well; no need for fillings or anything.  Poor Oz was sad and unhappy about getting his teeth checked, but he had a good time with their toys anyway.  The kids have also been sick.  Corwin caught some sort of virus, and it's slowly made its way around the house.  Corwin was sick for about two days with a fever, then a few days went by and Saffron was sick with a fever for about two days, and now Osric is sick, but not with a fever.  So we've stayed home all weekend.

On the other hand, it's been a very productive weekend so far.  I spotted a good deal on metal shelving at Home Depot, so we bought two shelves and put them up in the garage.  Then we rearranged the kitchen, moved some stuff to the garage, and generally organized things.  The husband also took the Christmas tree to a recycling event, so our living room is significantly less cluttered now, too.

Apple Brown Sugar Dutch Baby

(No picture -- ate it too fast)
Earlier in the week, I wanted something sweet for dinner.  I normally make a dutch baby with cherries or cranberries, but I found myself without either.  Apples made a great substitute, and the brown sugar caramelizes while the dish is cooking, which really kicks it up a notch.  Some toasted almonds or pecans would be lovely addition for next time.

Ingredients

• 6 Eggs
• 2 tablespoons granulated Sugar
• 1.5 cups Flour
• 1.5 cups Milk
• 1 teaspoon Vanilla extract
• Pinch of salt
• 6 tablespoons Butter
• 2 cups chopped Apple
• 1/2 cup Brown sugar

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.  Whisk the eggs, granulated sugar, flour, milk, vanilla extract and salt until well combined but still lumpy.  Put aside.  In a 12-inch ovenproof skillet, melt butter, then add apples and brown sugar.  Let this cook on medium until the apples are soft and the brown sugar has started to caramelize, about five minutes.  Give the batter one more mix, then carefully pour over the apples, making sure to cover them completely.  Put the skillet in the oven and bake for 18-23 minutes, until the dutch baby is browned and puffy.  Enjoy!

What-What?! Week of January 3rd

Saffron finally lost her tooth!  It's the teeniest, tiniest little thing.  She was very excited to put it in her tooth pillow, then even more excited to wake up to money the next day.  The husband and I took her out to Target later that day, and she spent her tooth fairy money, along with some other money she'd been saving up, to buy a My Little Pony toy.

I have messed up my shoulder, which has made my week somewhat problematic.  Sitting at the computer aggravates it, so my assumption is that I probably did something computer-related to cause it.  So I've been living on ibuprofen the last few days, though it seems to be getting better since yesterday afternoon.

Toy Review:  Play-Doh Star Wars Toy Sets

When I bought these, I thought they were nifty, but wasn't completely sold on the playability of them.  I've found that Play-Doh toys can be pretty hit or miss in terms of the play quality; we have a garbage truck set, and very rarely does Play-Doh ever touch it (instead, they use Legos, which is arguably not good for the Lego or the truck).  But these have been good buys.

Part of what makes them such a good buy is having the figures be the Play-Doh containers; this makes them sturdy and easy to hold.  Many sets are completely comprised of figures made of Play-Doh, who are floppy, hard to hold, and easily squashed by enthusiastic play.

Another good point is that there are so many accessories to make out of Play-Doh; blasters, droids, binoculars, Jawas, and Ewoks.  You can equip anything with a blaster, or a pair of binocs.  You can have a droid or Jawa or Ewok army.

Overall, these are good toys that keep the kids interested and encourage creative play.  I'll be buying more.