Oatmeal

Still waiting for my new Camera charger.

Son number one is a picky eater. He chews his food then sprays bits in all directions. Supposedly this is a stage some children experience. I have done everything I can think of to nip this problem, but it continues. I have taken precautions to limit the amount of mess made, but honestly I am ready to stick him and his highchair out the back door. 

 This morning he ate yogurt with no problem then half a hot dog ( No bun) with minimal issue along with milk from his milk only red bottle . I know hot dog for breakfast isn't ideal, but what can I do? We did eggs in every form only to have them smashed, spit and stopped on, other breakfast food like pancakes and cereal are even less of a win. 

The day was a cloudy dark and my mood matched. After all the crazy fun of morning feeding I needed a pick me up. What better than baking a fresh batch of Oatmeal chocolate chip cookies. I had to turn the afternoon around. Since I had no current recipe for Oatmeal cookies I went to Martha for guidance. Sorry mom....

cookie link

Almost French Toast

This morning a strange urge for french toast struck me. The idea of bread soaked in egg then fried and smothered in syrup seemed palatable, but then I remembered the smell and the fantasy was all over. The smell of the egg cooking  ruins it for me, not to mention  the texture of the finished product that grosses me out. Instead I remembered a recipe for french toast muffins that was all about the oven and no toast or egg soak involved . I don't know why it is called  french toast muffin , I guess it sounds better than sugar muffin for breakfast. The recipe came from  a pin I saved off of Pinterest, to go to the direct blog page for the recipe check the link
  http://velvetlava.blogspot.com/2009/02/i-am-now-in-muffin-loop.html .



















 The muffins came out great, but the topping was a bit unfinished, next time around, I am going to try filling the cups less and do a classic crumb  coffee cake topping. I did the topping this time as directed, but  used half brown sugar and half white, then put the muffins under the broiler for a minute or two. The butter and sugar bubbled to make a bit of a crust . Actually I didn't follow directions perfectly, but well enough.

Recently I have been feeling some of my long lost of energy returning. This oddly coincided with the first birthday of my youngest. He is more active than ever and quite the handful or should I say arm full ( he weighs in at 26 pounds and 30 inches)  never the less I feel rejuvenated. For better or worse my two boys keep each other occupied giving me windows of opportunity, but I also feel it's something else. A weight has been lifted form me, it could be that winter is winding down and Spring has arrived, but I feel it is more than seasonal. I have started a new personal project that takes a lot of consideration and Me Time.

My one year old (left) and his older brother of two and a half (right)

 I have been artistically uninspired  I mean this in the most severe way. I would sit with the intention of creating a masterpiece and end up with doodles and eraser marks. Epic Fail. My husband tried to be supportive and inspire me with a book project that was based around action adventure stories. I was interested but lost my zeal for the project rather quickly. It was a great idea, but not self centered enough to bring me out of my slump. I realized I have to find a center inside my self to be able to produce art that mean something to me personally, then to the viewer.
 My relationship to my work has been distant at best, and I have failed to make a connection for some time. To resolve this issue I have been picking up books rather than a brush. I am redeveloping my creative process from scratch. It is a slow going process , but I hope I will be passionate again about what I communicate in my work.