Cooking for Dummies....

I like to consider myself a fairly decent cook.  I can easily prepare more than chicken quesadillas, easy mac n cheese, pancakes, french toast, and ramen noodles.

Which was my ENTIRE cooking repertoire when I was a new bride. 

Thankfully, My Love wasn't after my skills in the kitchen. 

I have slowly but surely added various kitchen-y skills to my resume - things like how to read a recipe,  learning how to prep ahead, cooking juicy chicken. :) I like to think my cooking has slightly improved over these past 8.5 years of being a wife. At least in the breakfast/lunch/appetizer/entree departments.

My baking skills?

They are still pretty much at zero.

Don't get me wrong - I am a baking master with the help of Betty and the Dough Boy.  But that baking from scratch business? That is the stuff that makes me break out in a nervous sweat.

Sometimes, I forget that little tidbit of non-baking-ability, and volunteer myself to bake something.

Like tonight.

I volunteered to make a gluten-free dessert for our ladies book club which can't be that hard, right?

Did I mention that one of the other ladies making desserts could fill in on that "Cake Mob Boss" show? No pressure on Whitney. Yeah, right.

So, yesterday I pulled up "gluten free desserts" on google, and sat down to figure out what delicious something I could create. Realsimple.com - you pulled me in with your beautiful picture

I mean, how good does THAT look????  Yes, delicious and amazing.

Then I found an even better one on Martha's website:

I made my list of ingredients, and off I went to the store. So far, so good.

Then I read the directions:

Step 1 - Preheat the oven to 275 degrees with the rack in the center. Butter the bottom and sides of a 9-inch springform pan. Set aside.

WHAT IN THE WORLD IS A SPRINGFORM PAN???!?!?!?!
I'm gonna be honest here, at first I wondered if it meant you could only use it in Spring.  That admission alone is pretty hard for me to make - but it's true. Don't laugh at me. I didn't know?! 


Back to google I went. 

I would not be able to do anything, ever, if  I did not have google.

Apparently, the "springform" part is NOT referencing a season. It is describing the fact that the sides and bottom can separate from one another, and the side has a spring that pops it off your concoction without needing to flip the pan. And yes, I did do the wikipedia/google images search. 
Even more apparent, I didn't have one. One of my wonderful neighbors did, and he was kind enough to show me how it works and everything!


Crisis averted.


Back to the directions:
Step 2? It actually made sense. Hallelujah! 
Step 3? Notsomuch.

In a large bowl, beat egg whites until soft peaks form. Gradually add granulated sugar, and continue beating until glossy stiff peaks form. Whisk 1/4 of the egg whites into the chocolate mixture; then gently fold in remaining egg whites.

Soft peaks? Glossy Stiff Peaks?? Folding?! 
Thankfully, my 15 year old babysitter (Bridget) was here and she actually bakes. So as I was beating the egg whites I kept asking,

 "Is this right? 

Are these soft? 

Whattheheck does a peak look like?

Is this too much? 

Is this glossy?

It looks slightly matte to me, did I ruin it??"  

I guess today she's babysitting the 30 year old mother-of-4-boss-of-the-house. 

My cake is currently in the oven - making the house smell amazing. Will it taste good? Will it look good? I honestly have no idea. 


If it doesn't? I'm totally blaming it on Bridget.


~Whitney 
 Copyright 2012

Flight Suit Diaper Bag...

So, my poor Boy Bean has been getting picked on because his diaper bag is too girly.

(I mean, it totally IS girly...but it doubles as my purse! )

I had meant to make him a little messenger bag from handed down camo a LONG Time ago - but somehow never got to it. 

However, I have never been so glad that I am a lazy procrastinator, because if I had made that camo bag....I wouldn't have needed to do what I did this week!

Courtesy of My Love - I had 2 old flight suits in my fabric stash. I had mainly kept them for scraps...there are a lot of zippers-pockets-velcro-hardware on those things!...but last week I was struck with the extremely exciting idea of converting THEM into Boy Bean's diaper bag!

Garnering inspiration (and ballpark measurements and theoretical directions) from Delia, I embarked on my second sewing project of the summer. Hoping against hope to not have an epic fail.  (My first project was a tent I made for Bitty Bean's 3rd birthday - WILD Success!!)

Also courtesy of My Love, the bag became exponentially cooler....and exponentially more difficult. :)  He suggested the use of all his old patches to liven up the all green bag - pure genius!

I'm excited about a bag so full of Daddy hand-me-downs. 

Mainly for sentimental reasons, and partly because every last item was free. 

Please don't look closely at the stitching. I'm not very good. I'm definitely getting better with all this practice - but that puts me solidly at the "okay" level. 

The finished product! 

The best part is - I had made this bag so Boy Bean would have one manly thing in this house full of pink...but while I was taking pictures...he was off on a hot wheel.

A HOT PINK HOT WHEEL!!!

I guess I could worry about him and wonder if he will be able to find his way surrounded by all of us women.

But I'm pretty sure this little man, the one with the crazy hair, and laughing eyes, I think he'll do alright.

Even surrounded by our sea of pink My Little Ponies - he still knows how to roar.

~Whitney
 Copyright 2012

Guest Post!

So, even though I haven't really been posting HERE....I've somehow managed to write a guest post! (go figure)

Anyway, please go check out my thoughts on being a new mama over at Many Waters.....

Have a wonderful day!

(I've got some good stuff coming tomorrow!!)

~Whitney
 Copyright 2012

Time to clean up!

People - my husband is ah-maz-ng.

Seriously.

We live at the beach - we are rarely inside in the summer - so sand gets EVERYWHERE in my house.

The best way to fix that mess would be to wash the sand off outside...which we have been doing in a fairly redneck way for the past 2 years.

No longer.

Nope - we have moved up in the world!

Courtesy of My Love - we have an outdoor shower.

WAHOO!!!!

(Please don't tell housing - not so sure what they would think about that)

~Whitney
 Copyright 2012

BIG day....

Today marks an anniversary.

A special little moment in my history.

On this day - June 21st - in 2003...the man of my dreams asked me to be his wife.

As usual, there's a story.

We were up at my parent's house in Western North Carolina (where - so the story goes - it is a local call to God.) I was positive this man was the man for me. And I thought I knew that he knew I was the girl for him.

AND I was absolutely annoyed because it was taking him for-ev-er to get on the ball and just ask me to marry him.

May 2003 - My 21st birthday

(Apparently in love-struck-Whitney-land, "forever" is defined as 4 months and one week from the night we met. Clearly, patience is not my strongest trait.)

Little story detour...that whole "love at first sight" business?  

The stuff I used to mock and think was a bunch of ridiculous baloney Hollywood feeds us?

 Yeah, well, that is almost how fast I fell for My Love. 

2 weeks after meeting him, I said "I love you."  

Promptly followed with, 

"You don't have to say it back. But if I didn't tell you - right now - I would explode. And I just love you! I can't keep it in. I don't care about dumb rules. I LOVE YOU!!! And you are going to realize you love me too, I know it."

He responded in rather stunned silence. 

(He waited TWO MORE WEEKS before he was ready to say it back.)

I knew I was right. :)

So back to June 2003....

We were at my parent's house....on top of a mountain...swinging on a porch swing....watching the stars come out.
It was FREEZING. We were even huddled under a sleeping bag!

We were talking about everything and nothing. Then we went over to the balcony rail and looked up at the stars...and I would NOT stop talking.

I'm told I don't shut-up when I'm nervous.

Finally, My Love put his hand on my arm and said kindly, "Please let me talk."

So I got quiet. I had no idea of what he wanted to say...but I really, really, REALLY, hoped he wasn't going to break up with me.

He started saying wonderful things about how much he loved me. What a complete relief!

Then he dropped to one knee....I thought his knee had gone out and so I started fussing over him.

That is when he said, "Whitney, shut up."

And suddenly, it clicked.  He was proposing. So I listened. And I wished I could burn the things he said into my mind.  Out came a box - but I just hugged him and said "YES!! Yes!!"

After a few moments of me blubbering, he asked if I wanted to see the ring. (It was night, and we were outside.)

We went inside and I checked out the ring. It was lovely. Then I made him come into my parent's room with me and wake up my parents to tell them the great news!

Apparently, that was not extremely normal. But I couldn't wait until morning! 

I told you patience wasn't my strongest thing.

My Love, thank you for being such a great man. 
A man better than any piece of jewelry. 
Thank you for wanting to adventure together. 
Thank you being the daddy to our babies. 
For being my best friend. 
For taking care of us. 
For changing diapers.
For laughing at my jokes.
For calling and writing when you are away.
For making time for your brood.
For following the Lord's leading for our family. 
Really, I can sum it up like this:

My Love, thank you for telling me to 'shut up' 9 years ago.

I love you.

~Whitney
 Copyright 2012

Hello.....

I haven't disappeared....I've just been busy.

Road trip.

  

 Family time.

Making special moments. Great moments.

Missing My Love.

(We also celebrated Bitty Bean's 3rd birthday, but more on that another day. 

Not all family members visited are in the above pictures. 

There are many more thoughts to come.)  :)

~Whitney 

 Copyright 2012

Moments....

You know those moments that make you stop - hold your breathe - freeze the image in your mind?
Those moments that allow you to see - really, truly, see - the person in front of you?

We all went and celebrated Bitty Bean's 3rd birthday (2 weeks early) while My Love was still home. That time spent eating Chinese (her request) and enjoying the doughnut shop (her request about a billion times)  as a family...was chock full of moments I wanted to freeze.

Often, I find myself too busy, too pre-occupied, too tired, or too distracted, for those moments to occur.

Especially when the person I'm supposed to be seeing...is one of my little Beans.  

Somehow, these people, these four little treasures that I get to be with almost 100% of the time - they can go unnoticed. Unknown. Ignored.  This was brought to my attention recently, by my String Bean. She said, "Mommy, I wish you'd spend more time with us."


My first reaction was shock - I'm with you 'round the clock! What do you mean "MORE" time!?  Instead of saying those words, I just asked her, "What kind of time?"

And my little-6-year-old-philosopher said, "Time where we can just be. Together."

Maybe I'm the only person who has experienced the loss of vision towards those they love the most.  I'm moving so fast to take care of the next thing, go to the next event, clean the next mess, or just find a moment of quiet....that I forget the real next thing to take care of, is a person.

The next event could be the discovery of a leaf - or a loose tooth - or skipping - or listening to a song. The next mess might not be broken items, it might just be a hurting heart or bruised feelings caused by a careless word.
Sometimes, in the cacophony that is my home, I need to step back and treasure the ruckus instead of resenting the absence of quiet.

Now that school is out and My Love is gone...

(Because during the school year I was too tired, and there are all sorts of whacked out emotions going on when Daddy is away)

...we have reinstated some rituals that help me to see my children - things that also help them see each other as well. One thing they think is wonderful is where we take turns saying something about each other that we just utterly LOVE.  Those things that if that person didn't do - our day would not sparkle quite as much.  Here are the highlights of the week....

We decided that if Bitty Bean didn't talk about poop so much...we wouldn't laugh nearly enough. If we didn't hear her singing...or her spontaneous "I love you"...or her constant requests for brownies and/or chocolate...the day would be not quite right.

We discovered that even though Boy Bean attacks unsuspecting people at random - with fiendish delight - we all know that when he jumps on our heads, he is just saying "I love you."  There is no sound so fantastic as his belly laugh. We love watching him eat and savor and experience each bite.

We love that Jumping Bean wakes up so silly...because her smiles and giggles and hugs just start the day out right. We love how fiercely she hugs and kisses. Her little sister loves how Jumping Bean takes care of her...and her big sister loves how Jumping Bean is such a good friend. I love her zest and passion for life.

We all agreed String Bean's hugs are marvelous. The sisters also talked about how great String Bean is at helping them not be scared or nervous. They love her silly faces and crazy jokes. I love how she takes initiative and has a tender heart.

What a treat to sit down and learn about the things that are important to my children. Especially when they decided to say the things they love about me. They love hugs. Silly dances during breakfast. Playing in the pool. Reading together. When I wipe their bum. (Seriously. That was from Bitty Bean.)

I was reminded that while I may not always freeze the moments - there are always more to be made.

~Whitney
 Copyright 2012