12 Days of Baking

On the first day of Christmas break in Montana, I baked enough for an army. I wasn't in the mood before our trip because I had too much work to do. Now that I can breathe freely, I'm working on 12 days of baking.

Day 1: Fudge. I love Betty Crocker's recipe, by the way. One tip: swap out two ounces of sweetened chocolate and add unsweetened. With so much sugary condensed milk, I bet you can offset some of that sweetness and make it rich in chocolate flavor. Also, the higher quality the chocolate... well, you know. The yummier.

Day 2: Blondies. I alter every recipe I find. I didn't like the Food Network's recipe. Too complicated. So I stuck to Martha's Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe, adding nuts, coconut and oats, and threw it in a glass pan.

Day 3: Mexican Wedding Cakes. Not only did I enjoy the Food Network recipe, my 3-year old watched the video about three times.

Day 4: Sugar cookies. Dare I publish Liz's family recipe? Here's a picture... :)

Day 5: Benny Grimms. These are chocolate balls, with maraschino cherries in the middle, and rolled in coconut. They are probably called something like coconut cherry balls, but an old family friend (before my time), used to eat all of these chocolate balls, so it's named after him. Oh wait, I just googled it and this is the closest I could find online to the recipe -- at Cooks.

Day 6: Peanut Brittle. Well, mom did this one, not me. Too sticky! But scrumptious, nonetheless. Not sure of her source, but I'll share once I find it.

Day 7: Lemon bars. Another mom treat. Her recipe is an old one and they are the best, bar none. And well, it's sort of a family secret... unless I've already shared it? Hmm...

Day 8: Okay, I have five more days and need to get busy. So I'm open to suggestions for the next five days. Help!
Dad just chimed in with a request for oatmeal raisin cookies. :)

Whole Wheat Banana Muffins

St. Valentines Day is a day of giving. Or so I'm reminded every time I enter a retailer. I succumb to marketing like the next yummie mummie (my new brand), so I have been making goodies for the gals to bring to school.

Today I'll be dropping off some Whole Wheat Banana Muffins (altered recipe from Cooks Illustrated).


1¾ cups (8¾ ounces) whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon table salt (I omit)
6 large very ripe bananas (about 2¼ pounds), peeled (I only had 3)
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
2 large eggs
¾ cup packed (5¼ ounces) light brown sugar (I did half white and have brown sugar)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
½ cup walnuts, toasted and coarsely chopped (optional)
2 teaspoons granulated sugar

Preheat oven to 375 and fill mini muffin tins with cupcake holders. I use an icecream scoop to fill the mini muffins.

First mix wet ingredients and then add dry.

Mix just until blended. I also completely omitted the part where you cook the bananas (stew them for more flavor). See recipe above if you want to try it out!

And Voila - I decorated with Chocolate Chips. This is for a class of 1-2 year olds so I omitted nuts.

Funny Expressions

"Mom, I made a wish that everyone would love me tonight", says E. "Really? And what does that mean, exactly?", I ask. "You know. That my family is nice to me and loves me with all their heart".

E asks L to look at her wrinkly hand after bath time. L tries to lick her hand. E giggles and giggles that L doesn't understand the difference between "look" and "lick".

Sadly on November 19, 2012, L stopped saying "MO" for no. She now says (or yells) no.

L still spits when you ask her to spin in a circle. Although she also spins.

Every night L asks "Yaya go? Papa go?" (referring to my parents).

And... L still screams to have Yaya when she's p'd off at me!

In other words, they are two major monkeys.

It's 2013

It's 2013 and I'm still thinking about sending out Christmas cards. Maybe if I start now, I'll get them done by next December!

This was a low-key holiday for us. Family was scattered, with at least four who were sick with a flu of sorts. I still got the decorations out and filled the house with Christmas, took my eldest to the Nutcracker and baked up a storm with both kids.

Here's the year summed up with three of my favorite things.

1. Baking (or receiving baked bread).
2. Family chaos.
3. Travel (especially where there's sunshine).

I hope you had a fantastic end to 2012 and an even better start to the new year!

Lee's Fruit Bread, (figs, dates and nuts) wrapped in cheese cloth and soaked in rum before fermenting for 2 weeks at room temp.

E on a boat in Chelan

Me and the Goof Goof

L in her new hat

Peanut butter balls. Yes!

Band-aid nosed L with daddy

More baking!

Breakfast Sans Paul

Whilst Paul was away in Paris, the girls had to make due with "mama-cook".

"Dad's the best cooker", says my oldest monkey. 

I can make anything, I assure her. So she requests an Oven Dutch Baby for breakfast. Well, just to prove my baking prowess, I also made pumpkin muffins a la Moosewood the next morning (which turned out a little rubbery) and a pear gingerbread cake from the same Moosewood cookbook that we ate after dinner - warm out of the oven. Now that was scrumptious!

Singing Your Own Song

Tonight after picking up the girls from school, my eldest was super excited about her choir practice and was singing her warm up for me. It went something like this:

Do, a deer, a female deer
Re, drop of bowling sun
Meat, a name, I call myself
Fa, a long long way to run
So, a needle na na thread
La, a note to follow So,
Te, a drink with cambon bread

Reminds me of my childhood when my sister, brother and I had to pray aloud every night.

Our father, who wart in heaven.

I had no idea what that meant, but I knew the words by heart!

Dining Chez Olivier (the premier)

French is a funny language. I, of course, think all things French are fanciful, flavorful, flamboyant and filled with fervor. Some friends, who don't understand a lick of francais, accuse the French of swallowing entire syllables when they speak.

We dined at the First or "premier" Olivier - as in, dad-in-law, and man was it like being on a cooking show. He is so charming, you feel like you are speaking to a French brand.

Then there is his stylized food. He puts it together with such ease, you'd think the cameras were hidden behind the paintings of Van Gogh and Macke on his walls.

Oh, and did I mention the decor? I felt like I was still in Paris, with the whole clan, speaking Freeench. Weee weee. We enjoyed a "light" meal of Lamb, Scalloped potatoes and bell pepper salad. It was spectacular. (The wine was fabulous, too. I forgot to take a picture...but, I think it had "Olivier" in the name!)

Pancakes, Part 2

As a follow up to my entry about pancakes, I wanted to share just how yummy they were.
In this picture, Drew is holding up his plate of blueberry pancakes in syrup. Here are the girls after pancakes - happy little clams.

We had a great impromptu dinner. I think Janet is right - we'll have more of the same again, soon!

Does your child growl?

I have two growlers. And I'm not talking about those big jugs of beer that you get for a screaming deal at local brewers. Although I think we have a about five of those sitting empty on the back porch. Both girls started out growling before talking. Today, one talks so much we cannot get a word in edge-wise, and the other just growls. She has a total of five or six words, but prefers growling as a form of communicating. Especially when she is being naughty. I think our dog has been a big influence in their language development.

Our dog has more influence than she believes!

Who needs Kleenex?

Who needs kleenex to wipe their nose? Certainly not my 1 year old. Any old thing will do. My sleeve, my pant leg, my pillow... And the list goes on.
Both kids have shared a nasty cold and now we big kids have it, too. All in time for Valentines Day. "Have a little runny nose on that bite of mochi, mom". I said sarcastically, as she was sharing it with our green-nosed monkey. Nope, she wouldn't listen to me. She ate it. And now she is suffering from a cold, too!

Look what I can do!

Yesterday morning, my little one woke up fussy (she's been sick and cranky). The minute she set eyes on her big sister, she was more cheerful and even smiled. Looking at the baby, my eldest said, "look, mama. She can do my trick!" What trick, I wondered. I looked at her as she was showing me her "trick". I then asked what she meant. She did it again. I realized that the trick was to move her eyes back and forth without turning her head. I looked at her and then we all laughed out loud.

Look what I can do!

In the car after school, she showed me her other tricks, including a dancing tongue and dancing teeth. Although too hard to share what that looked like, I'm always amazed by what my child is learning and communicating to us, every day!

A New Year's Perspective...The Value of Time

Now that another paper calendar (from Allstate Insurance) is recycled, and the new one is pinned on our kitchen door, I have some reflections on the Olivier journey through time, and the value of family, friends and good health.

1. As I reflect back on mom-hood these past four years, even at 40+ (yes, I am over 40), there are times I still want my mommy. Although the quantity, or how often I am needing mom changes, the level of "need" is still as strong. And she is thankfully here. I can only hope I'm around at least another 40 years when my daughters want their mommy, too.
2. Being a daddy's girl, I watch my girls bond with their dad with great affection and admiration. Paul is such an attentive and loving father. I can still appreciate events past and present with my father, who is also thankfully in my life. Paul better eat boku burgers from now on for another 40+ years as well!
3. Although retail therapy brings great joy, or indulging in good wine and chocolate, true happiness begins with good health - both mentally and physically (which will happen after our last year of NO SLEEP, we hope), and continues with family, friends and of course, our pets contributing to the meaning of our lives. As long as there are loved ones like you (within my circle of trust) and warm shelter (and good food), the rest has little value. (Yes, that means things like Glee and my iPhone).


Although this is my personal journal of adventure, in many ways, my blog is a tribute to all of you out there, my friends and family, without whom life wouldn't be an adventure. Thank you for being an important part of our lives.

Happy 2012 from our Family of Monkeys!

Have You Ever Re-rolled Toilet Paper?

Well, it only took 3 minutes. Paul was wagering it would take me hours. And then I began to roll faster and he changed his estimate to 7 minutes. But I did it in 3. 

I guess our 4-year old was being naughty. It's normally the 1-year old that grabs the first sheet of toilet paper and just tugs and tugs with a big smile. Lately, big sister is vying for attention and emulates baby sister's bad habits!

The net result?

Good as new!

Shrinking My Sweaters

Well, you can guess from the title, that there's a story here. I don't have a lot of sweaters, and the few I have I wear with pride. This story is about two sweaters, both gifts from Paul and both from Anthropologie. It was about 2 days ago when Paul held up my favorite blue hooded sweater and looked at me. He had a serious look but when I grinned and said "on no", he smiled and shrugged his shoulders.

From size M women's to size 4 toddler's...

You see, wool doesn't dry without shrinking. My daughter said, "mama, it's like a shrinky dink. Right mama?" We had just finished an art project consisting of shrinky dinks, and so she was now a pro.
Well, yes, I guess it was. My favorite wool sweater now fits my 4 year old. So, I told her, she got a brand new sweater. But I said it with a somber voice. Suddenly, my emotional little girl just started crying because she was sad for me. She was consoling me in between sobs, but I began to really console her and tell her not to be sad for me.
After all, it happened two years ago, too! Paul felt so bad, he bought me another one. So now I need to find another blue one!

Now we have twin sweaters, my eldest daughter and I!

Monkey Business

Monkey 2

I had an absolutely hilarious moment I thought I'd write about. Although one part of it is sort of embarrassing, it's pretty funny.

Here goes the TMI: My morning ritual begins with Monkey 1 pattering into our room between 6 and 7, and either Paul or I getting Monkey 2 in her room. Meanwhile, I get followed into the bathroom by one dog and two kids. Our sliding door is always open and I can watch Lily when she's stumbling along. Usually I play peek a boo and she comes toward me with a big smile. This time I was taking a little longer and kept peeking around the doorway, but I realized she wasn't right outside. She was at my night table but now walking, no running toward me with my large full glass of water in her little pudgy hand. Her little fingers barely held on to the rim and she was so proud of herself as she was trying to run, teetering and smiling at me. I was up and off the toilet so fast, racing toward her in what felt like slow motion, and just barely got to the glass before it spilled all over the floor. She just smiled somemore and was off looking to grab the next thing.

THAT CHILD IS A MONKEY.

A Little Bit of Sunshine

This weekend was all about reconnecting with a very dear friend. We go way back to the days when we were carefree and even reckless in Munich (although, really, not very) over 20 years ago. Could it be that long? We both are still young, of course!  Torsten came from Munich and stopped in Vancouver, B.C. for two days of shopping before arriving in Seattle. First stop: U-Village for some more shopping (and it poured rain the entire time - where was that little bit of sunshine for our guest).
Later that evening, dinner was take-out Indian food (after debating between Mexican, Thai and Indian).  We had Lamb Vindaloo, Butter chicken, rice, naan and vegetarian samosas.  I tried giving the baby some of the samosa but her bottom lip suddenly puffed out and curled down after we all realized it was too spicy!  (Warning: even "mild" was a little bit spicy for both girls, but mainly for the baby). 

Eggs Benedict, lecker!

This morning, Paul poached eggs the old-fashioned way and whipped up a hollandaise in order to make Torsten's favorite (which he cannot get in Germany) - Eggs Benedict. I have to admit, it was "lecker" as they say in Deutschland, but it's a bit too rich for me. So I had to stick to one and give the other one to Paul who obliged without hesitation.

We then headed off to Golden Gardens and spent time enjoying the fresh chilled air.  It is definitely Fall here!

Beim Spielplatz

And then it was time to say goodbye. The visit was too short. Komm' doch mal mit Peter das nächste Mal!  Wir vermissen Dich schon...

Torsten mit der RIESEN Gepäck!

This evening, Paul needed to head off to work while I was trying to figure out what to do for dinner. It wasn't too hard when I realized we had left-overs from our lovely dinner last night with Torsten.  Linguine with olive oil and Parmesan and a chanterelles, cream and bacon sauce. Sadly, I did the thing that probably kills all nutrients. I threw both plates in the microwave on 30 and Elle and I ate brussel sprouts and asparagus with our noodle dish. Lovely. Lily was already full from the fruit, avocado and noodles I put in front of her.

The girls had an eventful weekend - preparing for trick-or-treating on a Saturday afternoon (Paul took the girls while Torsten and I shopped).

Ich bin einer Marienkäfer!

Le coccinelle

Aren't we the cutest.

Friends dressed and ready to go!

Living in a Zoo (or Circus)

Sweet Pea in the Kitchen. We had to move the dog bowls...

Every day in the Olivier household holds adventure. Whether we are all madly rushing around to leave the house in the morning to get to school and work or we are rushing around at dinner time to get the cranky girls fed, there is 'never a dull moment'. I have a theme song that ties back to the multitude of people and animals in our house. Our dog and two cats fuel our chaos. "We live in a zoo, zoo, zoo. We live in a zoo, zoo, zoo." And so on.  (Sing to the chorus of Addams Family tune).

In August we were hosting four Germans (Garth, one of my best friends, is actually American but he has now lived in Germany longer so I think he counts there, too!) and spending time enjoying the sites and sounds of the market (Pike Place). After indulging in Jack's Fish and Chips which I HIGHLY RECOMMEND, we took our oldest to get some balloons. It was a long day and we were tired by the end. But now we have these cherished images to enjoy our zoo - and circus - life.