Blogs a waste of time?.....I beg to differ....

OK, so blogging can be a waste of time but for this blogger it has been all worth it. A man I to whom I taught the gospel on my mission in Quebec, and since lost contact, found my blog and commented...unfortunately David, you did not give me any contact info!!! I need your email, so if you are reading this, please email me at eltoncarrie@gmail.com. I am so happy you found me!

Warning....long motherhood post......

Due to the outpouring of concern expressed for little Coco when I tell my friends I had to put her on time out for one hour and 45 minutes the other day, I thought I would clarify the situation and share the suprising results.
The morning started out like any other. I was reading other peoples blogs while my children ate their breakfast. Coco drank all the milk out of her cereal as usual, but then she added an extra step and true to her propensity for dumping things out, all the sticky, shriveled cheerios ended up on the table and floor.
(See Picture 1.A)


So just clean it up Carrie, you say. Oh yes I agree that would have been the easiest and most heartache avoiding thing to do but I, who like to make my life as a mother as difficult as possible...decided to make Coco clean it up.
This is what ensued....

Me:COc we need to clean up the cheerios. Can you help Mama clean them up?
Coco: No Mama (while making this face...see picture 1.B)


Me: Singing the Barney song, "Clean up clean up, everybody everywhere!!"
Coco: Coco no clean up, Mama (while dumping out those I had put in the bowl)
Me:Coco, do you want a time out?
Coco: Ya, mama
Me: Ok lets go sit on the stair. When you are ready to clean up you mess you can get off.
Coco: (makes a very bizarre screeching sound that only those who know her will be able to imagine, to show her displeasure)

2 minutes go by (the time suggested by every stay at home mom's idol, Supernanny)

Me: Coco are you ready to clean up your cheerios?

Coco: No, Mama (again grabbing the bowl and throwing it)

Me: Coco, Do you want a spanking?

Coco: Yes, Mama

(Dangit, I really don't do spankings and I thought the threat of it would be enough)

Me: But Coco, Mama doesn't like to give you spankings. Can you help me clean up the cheerios?

Coco: No, Mama

Me: Ok let's go back on time out.

Coco: ok, mama

This sequence was repeated approximately 15 times.

Then this happened



10 minutes later I had to wake her up because she had a poop.

Me: Are you ready to clean up the cheerios now?

Coco: no answer

I took that as possibly.

I took her over to the mess and pressed her hand against the cheerios. A few attched and I scraped them off over the bowl.

Coco: giggle...giggle

Me: See, it's fun to clean up you mess.

Halfway trough she started sticking them to her fingers and putting them in the bowl.

After it was all done. I danced with her around the dining room table for a full five minutes.

Mama: Yeah!!! Coco did it! Coco did it etc etc etc...

Coco: Coco deed eet!!!! Coco deed eet!!!!! (That's how she says did it)

And that I tell is one for the Elton Family history books.


Update: Since that incident we have had many more opportunities for Coco to obey and I am happy to report after many short lived stare downs, she actually obeys.

Man, I love this girl.....

photography

Lately I have been really working on my photography. It has been a dream of mine to do it professionally but I have a long way to go. I have just started doing it for a few friends and family. I love being able to create something that others will love. I think that cooking really good food for others gives me the same kind of pleasure.

Heaven

My pantry is a mess


My three year old is wild,


My laundy is undone


And Coco, an impertinent child


But today I feel like rhyming

Today is like pure joy


For through the night is sleeping,


This precious, little boy.

CANNING!

Boy I had one heck of a day. Like many of you I'm sure, I have been trying my darndest to get my year supply ready. For those of you who read my blog who are not LDS, the leaders of our church have asked us for many years to get prepared for emergencies and disasters by creating a years supply of food and water, our 72 hour kits, and being debt free (except for your house). Believe me it's easier written than done. My incredible mother came from 1 hour and 15 minutes away to help me and do a little but of her own. I ended up canning 140 # 10 cans of potatos, oatmeal, flour, and powdered milk. It feels so good to be so close to my goal! How are you doing on your year supply?

p.s. thanks for all the back feedback, I, Dr. Carrie, (as my husband like to tease because he thinks that I think that I can self diagnose---I will say I have been right more than my doctors) think I have arthritis in my back that has been temporarily caused by a hefty spinal block put in during my last c-section. I'm hoping it's temporary as I will not be able to continue being a mother of small children if it does. I'll keep you updated.

Some delicious bread recipe

Woops I forgot to add the recipe for the bread I was asked for! I don't have step by step pictures for this one because it's not necessary. This is acutally a roll recipe but last Sunday I made rolls for Father's day to take to my parents in Provo. I had some leftover dough so I made it into rolls. So apparently it works. This is really the easiest bread recipe I have ever used with the least amount of ingredients. So here you go:

Put 2 Tablespoons Yeast in 1/2 cup warm water

In you mixer:
2 cups hot water
1/3 cup oil
1/3 cup white sugar
1 tablespoon salt

Add yeast/water mixture to this

Then add 5-6 cup flour. sticker dough will be harder to work with but will produce lighter bread, firmer dough with the full 6 cups will make the dough easier to work with and make a denser bread. I usually end up adding 5 1/2 cups flour

Mix for about 5 minutes.

Let rise 10 minutes, punch down----repeat this as much as you want up to 1 hour

Place on a greased cookie sheet very close together (almost touching for pull apart rolls. For bread, work into the shape of a loaf and put in a greased bread pan.
Bake on 350 for 8-15 min depending on your oven and where you place it in your oven.

P.S. ammendment to the cookie recipe: for chewier cookies use 2 cubes or 1 cup of margarine instead of 2 cubes of butter

Et Voila: This is what you will have!

How to Make Great Cookies

Have you ever wanted to be a master cookie maker? Well I'm about to make your dreams come true. I take a special pride in my cookie making mostly because I've got to take pride in something. I never became a famous singer, a doctor, or a world renowned hairstylist, (all dreams of mine) so I have to focus on the little things that I have become, not the least of which is a master cookie maker.

Now there are a ton of great cookie recipes and I am sure some of you are thinking, " Oh mine are probably better than her's." While I won't deny that is possible... I get asked for cookie recipes often. Shortly after, I also get a lot of calls with the complaint that their batch just wasn't the same. Well, from this I have deduced that much rests on the actually manner of preparation which you will see below.

So get your chef's hat on (figurative of course) and go to the store and get these ingredients:

Salted butter
Full fat margarine (none of this country crock stuff)
light brown sugar
extra fine granulated sugar (regular can be used)
vanilla
baking soda
salt
eggs
quick oats
(depending on what kind of cookie you want to make): chocolate chips ( I prefer milk chocolate ghiridelli, heath toffee bits, almonds, raisins)

Whip out your kitchenaid, bosch, even your hand mixer and roll up your sleeves, here we go...

Put in one cube of margarine, 2 cubes of butter in the micro until softened not melted (use 2 cubes of margarine for chewier cookies or 2 cubes of butter for crispier cookies)




Add 1 1/4 cup packed brown sugar- (my belief is you can never pack brown sugar too tightly.)
And 1 1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla (I spelled it out for all of you who have a mental block differentiating tsp and tbls).

This is where it gets complicated.....just kidding, come back to the computer, it's really easy.

Whip the sugar and butter until you can't take it anymore. 5 minutes on high should suffice. This step is key as this is what give the cookie its smooth,
(not grainy) chewy texture.

Then add in the 2 eggs

Whip this until you feel like your whole day is going to be taken up making these stupid cookies (5 more full minutes will suffice, no really, a full 5 minutes, not like the 5 minutes you tell your child they will have to sit on time-out)
This step is crucial because this will make your cookies like little fluffy clouds of deliciousness.






Then add 2 teaspoons baking soda, and 1/2 tsp salt. I'm against sifting with the flour. Its a real waste of time. :)

Slowly add 1 3/4 cups flour as you continue mixing

Then add 5 cups oatmeal

Here comes the creative part. Add whatever you want as mix-ins. Pretend you are an employee of Coldstone and have been given the assignment of creating the greatest combination ever to grace their coldstone creation board. Me? I like to add large milk chocolate chips, heath toffee bits and chopped up roasted almonds.








I also love my twist on cinnamon raisin cookies- add cinammon to taste- what the heck does that mean? - a couple of teaspoons should suffice. Add as many raisins as you like, then for the grand finale, roll each cookie in a hefty coating of brown sugar. This will give the cookie the most delightful, original crunch. If you want a real farmhouse/grandma worthy tasting cookie, add some nutmeg.


Et voila your dough is perfect.

Here comes another essential- you can't just slap your cookies on any old pan. YOu need a good cookie pan to finish with a product you are proud to take to you visiting teachees. Roll into perfect balls and place on the cookie sheet- bake on 350 until they look like this or what you think they should look like.


P.S. does anyone know and easy way of getting your pictures where you want them?

P.P.S If you are wondering what me three small children are doing while I am doing this, well...it's not pretty.