Mom’s Day 2008 was simple, delicious, and all-around lovely.

We hosted a Mother’s Brunch (attendees: my parents and Neil’s granny) chock full of cinnamon swirl french toast, asparagus frittata, bacon, fruit salad, bloody marys, and strong, strong coffee. We all ate a lot, talked a lot, and just enjoyed the sunny Sunday morning.

Dash wandered off after brunch and played by himself for a while (something he doesn’t do for more than, say, 10 minutes usually). I sat back and listened to him talking to himself and to his toys and was reminded of how much I adore him and how lucky I am to have him in my life.

When he was done playing, he helped Neil and my dad assemble an Ikea shelf that has been sitting around since our big trip there a month or so ago. Showing some true skill, he put one dowel after another in the holes. Kind of amazing to see.

While the men put the shelves up, we ladies and Dash took a walk down the street. Walks with Granny are done at a slower pace, and I figured it would be a short one. There are bad knees and general old age to contend with after all. And maybe it was the french toast, who can say, but she decided to make it all the way down our street and up the big hill. Probably just under a mile in total. I was so proud of her for pushing past what would have been her normal stopping point, and so pleased to be holding her hand the whole way. My maternal and paternal grands all passed away years ago, so to have a grandmother in my life again has been such a blessing. I love to hear her stories of momhood (when she had her babies, a nurse from the hospital came home with her for a week to help out, imagine that!) and tales from years ago (summer vacations with friends in the Poconos, ironing every single piece of clothing every single time it came out of the wash for years and years and years… hmm, that must be why she suggested I iron my cloth napkins for the next breakfast she comes over for).
Anyway, it was a lovely multi-generational walk with Granny, my mom, me, and Dash. So many mothers in one place, it felt powerful.

Oh, and gifts! I’ll add some photos of these soon, but for now just the descriptions. Neil had a great photo of him and Dash taken and printed out for me. It’s wonderful and makes me tear up. Must be framed. And… he bought me cable tv. I hear most of America has had this “cable” for decades now, but we’ve been getting by on rabbit ears and a whole lot of patience. Good god, I can’t believe we’ve lasted this long. The cable lady came this afternoon and we’re now the proud owners of some 30-odd stations (odd might be a key word, actually) of sports, shopping, and a few miscellaneous channels from the next package up that snuck their way in. Spike network anyone?
I was luxuriating out on the porch with a book while she hooked us up and when I came in to see the results, our rabbit ears were mysteriously nowhere to be found. Do you suppose she confiscated them? She was probably mortified to see them and thought she might do us a favor and just have them put down for us. Thank you cable lady.

My third and most creative gift was from my mom. She’s gotten into making altered books lately though I didn’t expect to ever receive one. Well, she made a lovely themed book (theme= me) with page after page of things that I like to do or read or eat, and one final page about being a mom with a photo of Dash as a baby-baby. Thanks Mom. I love it.

Hope you all had a nice Mother’s Day too.

Did I mention that I will be accepting gifts for Valentine’s Day? That’s right! For a limited time only (it’s just one day) I will be receiving gifts through the mail, online, or in person. To take advantage of this fabulous offer, just keep reading.

I’ve made a simple list of some of the many ways you can participate:

Visit Three Potato Four. Purchase anything. Anything at all. Man I love that shop!

Take me out for a drink at the Top of the East.

Visit the Old Port Candy Co. mmmm… gummy things, chocolate things, things….

(And while we’re talking candy, if anyone can figure out how to get the swedish fish people to start making the grape flavor again, please let me know. Do you miss them too? Let’s band together! We’ll hold a caucus if we have to. I just know we can make a difference.)

So there you have it. Just a few simple ways to say “I Heart Tonya.” And while we’re at it, I heart all of you, too. And I hope you have a divine Valentine’s Day.

I know I said I’d do this before the weekend, but well, I lied. Hopefully this gave you plenty of time to gather the necessary ingredients. Not that you knew what they were yet, but you know.

Without further ado or excuses, here is the recipe for Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies. Originally given to me by my mother and adapted by me so she doesn’t kill me.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 can pumpkin (or homemade puree if you have it)
2 eggs
3/4 cup safflower (or canola) oil
1/4 cup water
3 1/2 cups flour
2 cups sugar (half a cup more if you want it sweetsweetsweet)
1 Tbs pumpkin pie spice
2 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp salt
2 cups really good chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350.
In a small bowl, combine pumpkin, eggs, oil, and water.
In a large bowl, sift the dry ingredients (not the chips). Add the pumpkin mixture to this and mix well. Stir in chocolate chips.

Place spoonfuls of batter onto a greased cookie sheet. They won’t spread too much, but leave some room between. Bake for 13-15 minutes, depending on your oven. Let them cool on the sheet for a moment or two while you get out the cooling racks. Transfer to racks. Once cool, or at least not raging hot, try one. You’ll be happy you did.

They freeze well, so if you can stand it, put some in a freezer bag and hide them from yourself. It is a happy day when one of those bags is uncovered in the freezer after you’ve forgotten about them. Yum.

So enjoy! Write in with your baking experiences if you’d like. Or share the pictures. We can all start a pumpkin chocolate chip cookie flickr group together. We’ll be the coolest!

And that? And that? I thought so. We’re having chicken tonight and I’m looking forward to the subtle change. Ha.

Dash had his first ever feast of Thanksgiving with us and my parents and he sampled a little of everything. Turkey from a local farm, potatoes, roasted veggies, etc.

Gave a thumbs down for his usual favorite (sweet potato) and a huge, incredibly unexpected thumbs up for a new favorite (brussels sprouts).

That’s right. I said brussels sprouts.

He got a whole one in his mouth before any of us could stop him (we’re not exactly professionals, you know, we do what we can) and instead of spitting it back out or choking to death he calmly chewed it. With his gums. And then he reached into my plate for another. And another.

I tried to tell him that kids don’t like brussels sprouts but he was having none of it. I’m so proud of him. Six sprouts later his hunger was satisfied and we could move on to more important things, like learning to walk. Kid’s amazing. Seriously.

You know it’s November and I just realized that I never shared my new beautiful incredible wonderful pantry that I’d been begging Neil for ever since we moved in. I don’t think it’s a stretch to say that my life has completely changed.

Quick reminder for you what the “pantry” looked like before.

And now…

The new and improved pantry. Keep in mind the limited photography skills and the very dark day we’re having here right now.

“Happy Birthday to me, Happy Birthday to me…” Courtesy of Neil and Home Depot, I no longer have to look at a counter full of random food. That’s right. I can now pile other random crap there any old time I want to. And I do.

[if i told you how many times i just typed 'panty' instead of 'pantry' you would laugh heartily.]

This seems like a good time to share with you the crazy organizational kick I’m on right now. Label label label. Watch out for I will label you with my label maker if you get in my way.

I don’t know. Maybe I thought I might look at this jar someday and wonder just what those oat-like things are? You can never be too safe. Or too dorky.

A truer label was never created.