Love & Pancakes

I am in love!  You are probably expecting me to say I'm in love with Murph or my kids, and yes of course I am.  This is a different love however.  I am in love with Nigella Lawson-there I said it!  I love her!  I really do-I love her shows, her cookbooks, her recipes, her website and Nigella herself.  I am basically cooking my way through Nigella's cookbooks.  I am still a devoted Lidia Bastianich fan, but I can have more than one love can't I?  I am not the only one in our house with a little crush either.  No matter where he is or what he is doing (with the exception of napping), when Matthew hears her voice come on the TV at 3:00, he stations himself in front of the television and just watches, in awe, along with his mommy.  I'm not sure what it is exactly about Nigella.  Her voice is mesmerizing and soothing, she is undoubtedly beautiful, and her recipes are some of the best meals I've ever made.  Oh, so I guess I do know what it is then-all these things I just listed.  I guess there is a reason that she is considered one of the sexiest women in Britain.   

In my effort to get back to basics and save a little here and there, I came across a Nigella recipe for pancakes.  She had been making them on an episode of Nigella Express and they looked divine. (yes pancakes can be divine).  Pancakes had long been my nemesis.  I tried different mixes-from gourmet to Bisquick and no matter what I did they were either thick heavy doughy weights or thin burned drips.  I decided to give it a go one last time before I retired my cast iron griddle pan forever.  I had all the ingredients already in the cabinets, so I set out to make pancake mix hoping to eventually create the same fluffy beauties that Nigella served up on her show.  My helper, Stina was in the kitchen with me as we ventured into the world of homemade pancake mix.  She helped me to measure the flour, sugar, and baking powder.  I figured this could double as her Math lesson for the day too.  Within minutes we had a mix all ready for the next day's breakfast. 

The next morning I was determined to make pancakes that were at least okay, if not maybe even a little bit good.  The first batch went on the griddle and cooked up quickly and looked good, no burning, perfect size and shape.  Each batch after seemed to easy to be true.  Breakfast was ready and now the true test-Murph and the kids.  No one expected much, after many failed breakfasts of pancakes at my hands.  The first bite was like a little cloud melting-slightly sweet and light.  These little perfect disks of honey colored goodness were a success!!!!  Everyone loved them!  With Nigella at my side (in spirit of course-haven't been lucky enough to actually meet her) I had made the perfect pancake!!!  I can't even begin to count how many pancakes I have made since that first day with Nigella's recipe, but let's just say, we are now on our 7th batch of mix and it lasts a while.  We now eat pancakes twice a week and have even been guilty of three times around the holidays.  Stina eats the leftovers (rarely are any) spread with Nutella and rolled up for a mid afternoon snack.  Below is Nigella's recipe for the mix and the batter.  Yummy-enjoy!

Nigella Lawson's Pancake Mix (from Nigella Express)

4 cups flour
3 tablespoons baking powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons sugar (I use homemade vanilla sugar)

Mix together and store in a jar.  I use my extra canning jars.

Making the Batter:
1 cup pancake mix
1 egg
1 cup milk
1 tablespoon melted butter

Heat a flat griddle (I use a double burner cast iron griddle.  Nigella says not to oil it, but I do use a swipe of vegetable oil just in case).  Whisk all the ingredients together.  Spoon 2 tablespoons of batter onto the griddle and wait for the tiny bubbles.  Flip when you see the bubbles.  It is about a minute per side. 

To make homemade vanilla sugar, I just put about 3 cups of sugar (not exact) into a jar and add an open leftover vanilla bean (leftover from making marshmallows).  Close the jar and leave in the cupboard.  Within 2 or 3 days, your sugar is lightly scented and flavored with yummy vanilla.  Just keep adding more sugar as you use it. 

These are possibly the best pancakes I have ever tasted.  There is just something so yummy and light about them, they become addictive.  Hope you love these as much as we do! 

Finding My Inner Frugal

I distinctly remember my Mom's coupon holders.  They were always in her purse and they embarrassed me to no end when I was young.  My parents have never been what you would call cheap.  My Mom is probably Bloomingdale's biggest customer and in the 80's she practically lived in Lord & Taylor.  She has an entire closet (as well as our closets after my sister and I moved out) devoted solely to shoes and her Burberry collection.  She has more Tory shoes than Tory Burch herself I think.  When it came to grocery shopping though, my Mom was never one to pass up a bargain.  She used coupons during every trip and for some reason it irritated me as a kid.  I'm not sure if it was the waiting around while she leafed through her coupon files or the fear that someone from school would see the coupon stack and think we couldn't pay full price. 

As an adult, with my own income, I had learned to shop from the best-my Mom.  I even went so far as to work in Bloomingdale's 59 street more for the discount than anything else.  As much as I loved a sale at Nordstrom's, I still didn't bother to be frugal with most things.  My Tory collection had even begun to rival my Mom's and then it happened...I HAD TO RESIGN!  When I gave up my teaching position and started staying home, I also gave up my financial freedom.  I no longer had "my own" money.  I now had to justify my shopping to my husband who didn't think that the newest Vera Bradley pattern was a big enough reason to run to the mall. 

Enter my inner frugal...

It started as a coupon here and there.  I figured if I could show Murph that I was trying to save here and there it would put his mind at ease about only one income.  I loved it!  Looking at the grocery bill after a big grocery trip and seeing the total saved was exhilarating.  And I understood my Mom a it more.  I did run into problems though-I was a devoted organic shopper.  This made coupons tricky, there aren't many for organics, but I did manage to find some and sign up for sites that emailed me weekly. 

The frugal in me began to take over.  Before I knew it, I was saving everywhere.  I even bought 3 coupon files.  I did have to give up certain organics.  I still follow my dirty dozen list and buy those produce items as organic and our dairy is all organic, but I had to give up others.  I also began to make things and in finding my inner frugal ended up discovering that I was pretty good at it.  I started sewing, cooking from scratch (later this week I will be praising Nigella Lawson's pancake mix-we live on it)  and even making my own laundry detergent.  After reading everywhere about getting back to basics, I decided to try it myself.   And you know what, I love it!  My laundry detergent worked and when I had my helper stirring the mixture it became not only a money saver but a Mommy-Stina project.  Easy to make and best of all, super cheap!

1 1/2 bars Fels Naptha (grated)
2 cups Borax
2 cups Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda (NOT BAKING SODA)
1 gallon water

Boil the grated soap with the water in a really big pot.  Stir the mixture until the soap melts.  Add the Borax and washing soda and stir to mix.  Once the mix starts to boil, add about 1 1/2 gallons more hot (tap hot) water and stir.  Let the mixture cool to room temperature.  Pour this into a 5 gallon pail, add another 1 1/2 gallons of hot water and leave overnight.  Next morning- stir it (or have Stina stir it for you).  I then put it into jugs (old juice containers and an old detergent container).  I used 2 parts detergent to 1 part water.  I adjusted it to this ratio this time around-I felt my last batch was too thin.  It doesn't smell as good as the tropical fresh ones, but I am pretty sure our clothes are clean.  There are no flies following us around and my kids don't have dust clouds like Pig Pen around them, so I guess it is good.  Best of all, it cost me around $8 and lasts 6 months. 

So my inner frugal wins again.  And I even have some money leftover, maybe a shopping trip downtown with my Mom is calling!  Thank you Mom for teaching me how to enjoy beautiful clothes, a good deal, shop frugally and still cook amazing dishes-using all my coupons for the ingredients :-). 

A rainy Day in May & the return of the Blog!

So it has been ages since I wrote a post for my Mommy blog, but I need to now.  I am still a stay at home Mommy, aka domestic goddess, as I've learned to refer to myself thanks to Nigella Lawson   (more to come on Nigella as the blog posts keep coming).  I am no longer the Mommy to just one mini, but Murph and I have added another mini to our clan.  Matthew arrived on March 30, 2011 and it has been crazy since then (good crazy).  I had no idea I could be as in love with two little beings as I am and still wouldn't trade being home for anything, but I am starting to realize that I need an outlet, hence the return of the blog.  I do not get a chance to be on the computer as much as I once was, but when I do get a chance, I read other Mommy blogs...surprise surprise!  Truthfully, some of my best Mommy ideas have come from other Mom blogs and of course my other addiction, Pinterest!!!  My sister, Missy, is doing her pinterest project on her blog-totally awesome idea and she is beyond creative so check out her blog too, Perfectly Flawed.

I figured if other Moms could write about their ideas, I might as well share mine too.  I have no delusion that my ideas are totally original or that I am the first to try these things, but I found that by reading other blogs and being on Pinterest, I am inspired to try things-just ask Murph-he's gotten to try some yummy dinners thanks to my girlfriends' pins in their recipe boards! 

It was a rainy day in May here in NY and the morning was dark and chilly, so Matthew gets to hang out in pjs most of the day and Stina gets to do some of her projects.  As a former teacher, I have tons of books that have been helping Stina prep for Pre-K in September.  She calls this time at the dining room table "Mommy School".  Mommy School comes complete with a ride on the school bus (the loveseat), a school bag (filled with her stuffies and usually my cell phone or various things from my wallet) and stickers for work well done.  Today during Mommy School, once we finished writing letters and adding (sort of-counting fingers and pictures) we decided to do a rainy day science project and we made Blue Gooey.  So simple, but she loved it. 

1 cup cornstarch
1/2 cup water
a few drops blue food color (not the gel)

Put cornstarch into bowl and slowly add water.  Mix around with hands and have fun squishing. 

The whole idea is to show that cornstarch is a thickener and see how it changes the water-Stina mostly loved the gooeyness.  Just don't do what I did-DO NOT make the goo the day before your child is having a portrait done with her baby brother.  Thanks to lots of scrubbing with a baby nailbrush and lemon kitchen soap, Stina will not be posing for her pictures with Grover hands  LESSON LEARNED!

The Blue Gooey is super simple and the best is that I had everything in the house-no rainy trips to Stop and Shop necessary.  If you don't have blue food color, make Red Gooey, or Yellow Gooey-whatever you have would work fine.  It managed to keep Stina busy and satisfy her love of messiness.  Clean up was a breeze to, except for the hands.  My favorite projects are cost friendly and kid friendly.

And this is my return to the blog world!!!  I'll keep you posted on all our family fun, drama and maybe even help with some cool Mommy ideas. 

Sweetness and smooches...