Monster Truck/Marker Rally by Tomato Mama

Pickle loves wheels. Cars, truck, bikes, unicycles. It doesn't matter. If it has wheels, he's into it. When I saw this activity over at Teaching 2 and 3 Year Olds http://teaching2and3yearolds.blogspot.com/2010/02/car-tracks-and-roads.html I knew I had to try it with the little guy!

I taped some craft paper on the floor, and had Pickle help me pick out some trucks and cars to use.

Pickle helped me decide what colors to put on each truck. We did a lot of different combinations to see how they would look when we "drove" them. 

Here is the finished product. It was lots of fun and Pickle loved it! 

I Killed A Spider by Duck Momma

That's right, I killed the spider. You should have seen it! It was at least three feet in diameter, with legs 6 feet long. It had long fangs that were dripping with whatever those movie spider fangs are always dripping with. I'm pretty sure it knew my name and was just taunting me, mean mean bugger. . .

Ok, well maybe not quite like that, but its my story and I did kill a spider. As far as I know, my mother isn't afraid of anything, including spiders. I spent most of my childhood, teenage years, and early adult hood running and screaming like a little girl from the 8 legged advisaries. (to be fair I was a little girl for some of that time). My mom would stroll in and with a mere kleenex between her fingers and the vermin, and she would squash it like. . . well a bug. What a hero! My saviour!

Now I find myself in a very interesting position. Its now my job to be champion, I have a little baby counting on me. She hasn't actually noticed them yet but its still my job. *gulp*

So in the spirit of triumph over evil and being a crafty mommy, I present to you the SPIDER SPEAR! This simple weapon can be used by all and more than effective. It has easily changable ends, so that when; in the heat of battle you do not have to carry around guts. Truthfully its a dowl rod with a thick paper towel folded around it and fixed by a rubber band. It works. And I did kill the spider.

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Ferdie Bird by Duck Momma

Ferdie is not actually a bird. He is our little muppet dog. He is more closely related to a stuffed animal than anything.

His beginning was rather sad. He was wondering by my husband's store one August day. Barely 4 months old, scrawny, dirty, and a flea buffet. It was so sad. So Duck Daddy brought him in and called me. Long story short; food, love, and dreaded bath time set all to right.

He currently spends his days chasing down squirrels who dare climb my bird feeder and stealing toys from Daisy the Dragon. He has no idea he's a little dog, it never holds him back. He loves everything and most everyone, especially his family (cats excluded).

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Daisy the Dragon and Ferdie Bird

Best Brownies Ever by Duck Momma

Happy Valentine's Day! In case your day was not sweet enough, or perhaps it is and a little extra chocolate never hurt anyone, I thought I would share my mom's brownie recipe (since I already spilled on the fudge frosting of course)

Here's what you need:

• 1 c butter
• 2 c sugar
• 2 tbs vanilla
• 3/4 c cocoa powder
• 4 eggs
• 1 c flour
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt

(I didn't say they were the healthiest brownies ever. You ever bite into a vitamin? ok back to brownies and sweet mental health *wink*)

Melt butter in a pan. Remove from heat and add sugar and eggs one at a time. Mix in Vanilla, cocoa, and then carefully add the flour, baking soda and salt. Mix it well.
Spread into a greased 9x13 in pan and bake for 30 minutes at 350 degrees.
Enjoy!
*WARNING* you will not want to share these, however I highly recommend you do, for a number of reasons;

• whoever you share with will undoubtedly love you (and it is Valentine's Day)
• there is a cup of butter and 4 eggs in here, so unless you have a date with your cardiologist or gym trainer. . . Although they need love too
• if you feel you do not want to share, as I often do, then forget what I said in the previous warning entry and grab a fork!

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!

Forget the Cake: Fast Fudge Frosting by Duck Momma

I'm about to share a family secret with you. Promise not to tell? You may never eat your cake again, all you'll need is this frosting. My mom use to make this for us, the extra frosting left over was the best part!( talk about licking the bowl)
Here is what you will need
• 1 1lb package of powdered sugar, sifted
• 1/2 c. Cocoa powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/3 c. Boiling water
• 1/3 c. Butter, softened
• 1 tsp vanilla
• will power to not eat it all in one sitting

Ok here is what you do:
Combine sugar, cocoa, and salt. Add water and butter. Blend. Add vanilla and mix well. This will frost top and sides of two 8 -9 inch layers. (As long as you don't sample too much of it... )

Enjoy! Your brownies will never be the same!

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Mr. Meow: A Sock Puppet by Duck Momma

Why must dryers eat socks? Where do they go? Its like somewhere between washer and dryer and drawer there is an interruption of space and time... a sock twilight zone... And what do we do with those poor single socks left behind? We make sock puppets!

Mr. Meow was really pretty easy. A few tiny pieces of felt scrap, a lone sock, and some thread should do it.

His ears are made by folding the points of a triangle together and stitching them together. I tacked each ear approximately where I wanted and then continued all the way around. Its easiest with your hand in puppet position but be careful!

His nose and eyes are simply felt that I stitched together. A blanket stitch works very well.

It took a couple tries to get all his features where I wanted but in the end perfection doesn't really matter. Goose was impressed.

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Dinner Plans by Duck Momma

Its cold out, and it's so easy to get beat down by the winter blues. Its easy to get beat down by mid week" I don't know what to do for dinner" syndrome too, but hope is in sight!

Assuming you have some of the basics around, this meal comes in at around$8- $10 total (closer to$15 for a family of 3 or 4. ) Tonight we are having thick cut pork chops with a big hearty apple and onion saute, glazed carrots, and spinach with a little bacon!
First the pork chops: finding them in sale is the first key and it does happen so keep your eye out. Second is getting those chops in a brine. I made mine with kosher salt (key ingredient), black pepper, smoked paprika, onions, celery, apples, garlic, and carrots. This is all done the day before, so just chop, dump, fridge, and you're done!

Next lets work on carrots. I just wanted to use up the carrots I had, and they were a little small so my pieces aren't all identical, but the sizes are as similar as I could get.  This would be awesome if you had baby carrots. First chop up your carrots and pop them into water to blanch. You don't even need to peel them, which is really helpful if they are skinny carrots. Season your water with salt and we are just going to blanch. Cook til your desired tenderness, and into a salty ice bath to shock! After they have been schocked you can just rub the outside skin off with a dish towel. So easy and so fast! The carrots can hang out until close to dinner time. When you are ready melt and combile a couple tablespoons of buttter, garlic, about 1/4 or so cup of brown sugar and salt.  A splash of water will help things melt faster and you can cook it out. Toss in carrots and simmer to coat!

Now for those pork chops! They go right from the brine to a nice hot skillet with a touch of butter. Cook around 6 minutes on each side. Don't mess with them while they cook! After the 12 minutes let them rest on a plate while you work on your saucy saute!

Add long cut onins and thin apple slices to the same skillet you cooked your prok chops in. A pat of butter and about 1 cup white wine to deglaze. Let everything cook together and get saucy and wonderful. I added some salt, garlic, and smoked paprika (same seasoning I used on my chops!)
After everything is where you want it add the chops back in to heat through and smother with apples and onions. Yum!
Bacon and spinach are easy. Crisp your bacon and add spinach. I use frozen sppinach I thawed while cooking everything else.
Thats it! You are done! Its time to scoot up to the table and be super proud of yourself! Enjoy!

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