Tea - Tougher Than You Think

The Tea Council of the USA has a scholarship contest each year. Contestants enter a home video that "must focus on a unique and creative way to drink tea, and must contain at least one valid message regarding Tea’s health-related benefits, specifically black, green, white and oolong tea (with no specific commercial brand mentions)."

Here is the winner from last year - I love it! Another favorite "Crouching Tea-ger".

I do like tea - and when I drink it I prefer to use a tea cup and saucer. With coffee you can drag your coffee mug around anywhere and you just keeping doing what you are doing - but with a tea cup and saucer it kind of forces you to sit down and relax and enjoy it.

Unfortunately the scholarship contest ends tonight at midnight - otherwise it would have been fun to try and come up with an entry. But then of course I'd also have to come up with an educational pursuit.

Kitchen Tip Tuesdays - Baked Hush Puppies

The other day the kids asked if we could make hush puppies but we were out of cornmeal so I had to say no.

Fast forward to today...cornmeal had been purchased and the kids asked again...so it's hush puppies for supper tonight.

We love Capt'n D's hushpuppies but they are deep fat fried and are 100 calories for each small pup.

A few years ago I came across a recipe for oven baked hushpuppies - so when the craving hits - we make our own.

Oven Baked Hush Puppies

2/3 c yellow cornmeal
1/3 c flour
1 t baking powder
1/2 t salt
1/2 c minced onion
1/3 c skim milk
1 T vegetable oil
1/8 t salt
1 egg beaten

Combine cornmeal, flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl. Combine onion, milk, oil, pepper and egg. Add liquid ingredients to dry ingredients - stirring until just moistened.

Spoon 1 T into mini muffin pans coated with cooking spray.

Bake at 450 degrees for 10 min or until lightly browned. Remove from pan immediately.

The kids loved them, but upon tasting them, ds remarked that he thought we ought to buy some store-bought ones some time. Hmmm guess they are not quite up to the Captain's standards for him.

For more Kitchen Tip Tuesdays - visit Tammy's Recipes.

And Then There Were None

Do you remember that old Agatha Christie movie? It was a.k.a. "Ten Little Indians" but I guess that wasn't too politically correct. Ten people were invited to an isolated place and one by one they disappear and are found murdered.

What does "And Then There Were None" have to do with this gummy chap featured above? Well he is losing his teeth one by one and soon he may have none! I've heard of kids having their top two teeth missing but as of early this morning, ds, using self-inflicted medical intervention, now has 3 teeth missing on the top.

"I don't think I'd better eat cereal this morning," he told me. "I don't think you'd better eat corn-on-the-cob either," I replied. Awhile later he's back with..."All the cereal in the house is hard cereal so we need to go to the store before breakfast and get something like porridge... b/c I don't have any chompers...I barely have enough chompers to chew gum."

Ds has been working that third tooth into extinction for a couple of weeks and has had some sort of motive behind doing it. He's already run to put the tooth under his pillow, hoping to acquire something other than the traditional Blizzard. "You can't give me a Blizzard coupon b/c we had a Blizzard recently (Sunday)." I'd say he's hoping for something that is plastic and small and has the words Star and Wars emblazoned on the packaging somewhere.

Too bad the tooth fairy is in cahoots with the person who did a bunch of de-cluttering and cleaning yesterday...the tooth fairy will only be bringing consumable gifts into the house in the future.

De-Cluttering

Today I'm in a cleaning / de-cluttering mood. I need to strike while the proverbial fire is hot - so de-cluttering is what I am doing. Having company on the horizon always inspires me to do a thorough cleaning...

I decided that we have too many blankets. Sure blankets are needful - but how many blankets does a person actually need? Same with extra pillows. I like to have some extras for when company comes for an overnight visit so I'm not getting rid of them all - but so far I've filled up three trashbags filled with outgrown clothes and excess blanket clutter. Don't worry they are not headed for the landfill - waiting to donate.

I always feel good when I de-clutter...I love packing up clothes the kids have finally outgrown...toys they no longer play with...books that no one cares too much about, dog-eared crafts that are crumpled up in the bottom of a drawer. It's really hard when you have a girl that is a craft-making machine. I can't keep all the houses she makes out of boxes, the pictures she draws, the magazines she crafts etc. etc. etc.

When mama is on the warpath - nothing is safe! I'm sure my husband wishes that were true.

Well one cannot continue to de-clutter on an empty stomach so I better go find some lunch...

On the Go

This morning we all got up at 5:30 AM, had breakfast and then headed out for our maiden bike journey on the Katy Trail. "The Katy Trail is a 225 mile (365 km) bike path stretching across most of the state of Missouri. Over half of it follows Lewis and Clark's path up the Missouri River, where you can ride beneath towering river bluffs while eagles circle overhead. After leaving the river, the trail meanders through peaceful farmland and small-town Americana.

America's longest "rails-to-trail" project, formerly the MKT rail line, is flat and scenic. It's ideal for hiking, running, or cycling on just about any kind of bike. "

We have walked the trail before - but this was to be our first time via bicycles. We rode from Frontier Park in St. Charles over to the Page extension bridge and 1/2 way across the bridge. The kids did great and the round trip took us about 1 1/2 hrs and was approximately 6 1/2 miles.

Right now the kids are too young to do the full Katy Trail (and the parents are not up to it either!) - but we hope to be able to do it in bits and pieces.

Being that we still felt pretty good after the bike ride, we decided to go for a walking tour of downtown St. Louis to look at some of the historical buildings.

A month ago I came across this site and showed it to my dh - Built St. Louis..."a site dedicated to the historic architecture of St. Louis, Missouri -- mourning the losses, celebrating the survivors." A great website if you are interested in architecture, dying cities or just St. Louis. Ever since reading the website - my dh has been hankering to do a downtown St. Louis walk. We packed up some water and snacks and the kids, put on our hats, girded up our loins, and headed downtown.
I've always loved the old brick buildings and houses in St. Louis - if only I could buy one of the houses and move it to another location!

It is sad to see cool old houses and buildings in various states of decay...but nonetheless we enjoyed our city tour.

Finders Keepers

This morning we drove to the grocery store. When I parked the car I noticed a fake flower stuck in the hedge next to my parking spot. The kids also spotted the flower and went to check it out.

It wasn't fake. It was a long stemmed red rose!

I just so happened to have a bottle of water in the car - I opened it up, deposited the flower and left it in the car until we were finished shopping.

Question is - where did the rose come from??

Favorite Books for Children/Teens

Here is my list of favorite books for children - some were my favorites as a child/teen, some have become new favorites...books I've only come across since I got married and or had children of my own (I've put an asterisk next to those ones). I'm sure there are more - but these are the ones that I can remember now.

You will note that there are a lot of mysteries - I still enjoy them. Very few animal type books - which I generally despise and always have. I do not like Dr. Seuss books and only have two listed below.

My philosophy on books for children:

1. Books for children do not have to be dreadful for the adults reading them! If I'm going to read a book to the kids, regardless of their ages - I want it to be one that does not drive me crazy in the process!

2. Read to your kids a lot.
3. Don't only read age appropriate books to your kids. It's OK for the 5 yr old to sit in on a reading to the 10 yr old.
4. Read fiction and non-fiction.
5. Utilize your public library to the fullest - but also have a good selection of books at home.
6. For homeschooling I prefer to use "living books" for most subjects. What is a living book? I found this definition on a website..."Living books are usually written by one person who has a passion for the subject and writes in conversational or narrative style. The books pull you into the subject and involve your emotions, so it’s easy to remember the events and facts. Living books make the subject “come alive.” They can be contrasted to dry writing, like what is found in most encyclopedias or textbooks, which basically lists informational facts in summary form."

An Edward Lear Alphabet*
Betsy Tacy*
Bill Peet books*
Bread and Jam for Frances*
Cheaper by the Dozen*
Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs*
Frog & Toad*
Gone Away Lake* & Return to Gone Away Lake*
Island Boy*
Linnea in Monet's Garden*
Locust Pocust*
Lord of the Flies*
Mud Pies and Other Recipes*
More Spaghetti, I Say!*
My Side of the Mountain*
One Thumb, One Thumb, Drumming on a Drum*
Owl at Home*
One Morning in Maine*
Rabbit and Skunk and the Scary Rock (Carla Stevens)*
Roxaboxen*
Some Little Golden Books (Theodore Mouse Goes to Sea, Dr. Dan, We Help Mommy, We Help Daddy, The New Baby)*
Snowflake Bentley*
Stellaluna*
The Hundred Dresses*
The Ox-Cart Man*
The Lion The Witch and The Wardrobe*
Uncle Wiggly*

A Child's Garden of Verse
Anne of Green Gables
Blueberries for Sal
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Charlotte's Web
Cherry Ames Mysteries
Five Little Peppers and How They Grew
Ginny Gordon Mysteries
How the Grinch Stole Christmas
Hardy Boys
Heidi
Little House on the Prairie
Little Women
Love You Forever
Mrs. Piggle Wiggle
Nancy Drew
Pippi Longstocking (I still remember Pippi's full name - Pippilotta Delicatessen Windowshade Emilie's Daughter Longstocking)
Robinson Crusoe
Swiss Family Robinson
The 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins
The Boxcar Children
The Girl Who Owned A City
The Secret Garden
The Sea of Adventure by Enid Blyton
The Ship of Adventure by Enid Blyton
The Island of Adventure by Enid Blyton
The Tanglewood Secret
To Kill A Mockingbird
Tom Sawyer
Trixie Belden Mysteries
Winnie the Pooh