Sweet Life With Mary

Ozzy of Me, Myself + 2, one of Mary’s new little bloggy friends, wants to know a little bit more about our Mary.

8 Random Bits and Pieces about Me

1. I was born in Denver, Colorado exactly 20 1/2 years after my big sister.  My sister and I do not have the same mommy but we have the same daddy.
2. I have brown eyes like my Mom and my hands look like my Dad’s.  My hair is brown unlike my mom’s which is black and my dad’s which is blonde.
3. I walk on my tippy toes most of the time.  I just can’t help myself.
4. I got 2 special coins from the tooth fairy not too long ago.  Some of my other teeth are now getting loose.
5. You cannot tell my Dad but I like one of the boys in our school, his name is G….
6. My favorite foods are Chicken Teriyaki from the mall, Shrimp Noodle soup from the Vietnamese restaurant, mom’s fried eggs and rice, corn dogs, tofu and hot pockets.
7. I am learning Tagalog from Mommy.  I can tell you what kulangot, kili-kili and sipon mean.
8. I like watching Scooby-Doo, Drake and Josh, Teen Titans, Dragon Tales on TV.   I can watch Ice Age, Pooh Bear’s Heffalump Movie and Tarzan over and over again.

Enjoy,

Mary

Take some Pillsbury Ready Pie Crust, a 5-year-old, whatever is available in the fridge and a Mom who does not care if the pie actually gets eaten and you have No-Rules Pizza!

 I made these for me, the savory side with parmesan cheese, cottage cheese base, seasoned with paprika and garlic salt, topped with an egg sunny side up (I saw this done from some cooking show and had always wanted to try it).  Then, a smaller strip, for the sweet side, I spread with peanut butter and pushed in some cocoa krispies.

Mary made her sweet side with peanut butter, cocoa krispies and crushed chocolate Mini-eggs.  Then. I convinced her to have a savory side and she chose to top it with cheddar cheese and an egg.

Mary ate the yolk off her pizza as well as the mini-eggs. I had some of my savory side and a couple of bites of the sweet side. The rest went into the trash.

We did not discover the next best thing in pizza…

Oh well.

We had fun TOGETHER doing this so it was all worth it. Next time, we would experiment with other toppings.

Thanks to Mary’s “gold” friend and her Nana, Mary and I got to see “A Year With Frog and Toad” at the Arvada Center for the Arts Tuesday (the last day of a 4-day weekend, due to Presidents Day and a school district prfessional development day).  From the Center’s website: “…

“Based on the awarding-winning books by Arnold Lobel, A Year With Frog and Toad follows the adventures of two best friends, the cheerful and popular Frog and the grumpy, “worry-wart” Toad, as they journey through four fun-filled seasons. Waking from hibernation, they plant gardens, meet new friends, swim, rake leaves, go sledding and learn about friendship and the different things that make each of us special. With its jazzy, upbeat sound and a score that bubbles, this charming musical and three-time Tony® Award nominee is sure to entertain both children and adults alike!”

Mary’s description:

“It’s about the frog and the toad, that’s all.” 

I would recommend it to anyone who has young kids (3 years and up)— it lasted for about an hour (no intermissions), songs came right one after the other and they were very engaging, a lot of fun and funny moments and the actors/singers were all very talented and energetic!

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Mary and Marley (a girl from her Kindergarten class) refer to each other as “gold” friends after one of the songs from the Girl Scouts tape— “Make New Friends”— … one is silver and the other’s gold.

Lovingly made for a lovely little girl…

Inspired by one of the breakfast restaurant cooks (chef?)  in an episode of Diners, Drive-ins and Dives, I decided to get a little more creative with the pancakes I make for Mary for breakfast.  In the TV episode, the cook did a pancake that is shaped and looked like the host of the show— Guy Fieri’s head.  Very impressive.

I told Mary I would make her pancakes for breakfast and surprise her by making it look like her most favorite thing in the world.  What would it be?  After some pondering, she said that her most favorite thing in the world is LOVE, so make them shaped like hearts.

Well, I thought I would get more creative than that.

My first thought was to make her a sun-shape with curlicue rays and a smiley face inside it.  So, I tried to incorporate the two ideas.

Not so impressive.

Next, I did hearts within heart.

A little better.

I tried a third one — hearts within a butterfly.

Looks good but I cheated a little bit on this- looks great on the plate but the whole thing is in pieces.

Still, all in all, not bad for a first try.

Mary was totally impressed. She loved them so much that she only ate around the edges of the second one (the big heart) and the bits and pieces of the butterfly.  She wants to preserve the rest.

The sign is supposed to keep me and her Daddy away from the pancakes (y’know, like “accidentally” throw them away)while they dry.  I told her that we need to do this first before we put the pancakes in a plastic bag.  Anyone have any ideas on preserving pancake art???

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My entry to Wifely Steps’ I Heart You Blog Carnival.

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Some tips for making custom-shaped pancakes.

1.  Use whatever pancake mix you like.  I used Bisquik Heart Smart Pancake and Baking Mix.  1 cup mix, 1 egg, about 2/3 cup of milk (full-fat, low-fat, nonfat or soy, whichever one you prefer)  Use enough milk to make the pancake into a slow-pour consistency.

2. Transfer mix into a squeeze bottle (like the ones used for ketchup and mustard in restaurants).  If you don’t have one handy, like me, use a good-sized Zip-loc Freezer bag.  When you’re ready to pour, make a tiny (less than a quarter-inch) cut in one corner.  Prepare to get messy.

3. Squeeze out the shape you are making, first, as this would cook longer and you will have a nice brown-colored outline.  If you are using a ziploc bag, use it like you are piping icing.  Pinch the corner to stop the flow when you need to.

Yeah, it didn’t take long.  About a month after the lovely Chocolate-Covered Strawberries that Mary and I made and my resolve to not buy chocolates (or any other candy) in bulk —-Chocolates are back in the house!

Yep, that is a Sam’s Club- size bag - 42 oz. - about 2 1/2 lbs - over 1 kilo - of Easter Chocolate Goodness. It’s that time of the year again for Cadbury Mini Eggs, my most favorite chocolate treats that are only sold in time for Easter. 

Have to be careful eating them, though.  Not only is there the possibility of gaining unwanted poundage giving in to this indulgence, there is also what has just happened to Kellie. Not only did the Mini Eggs caused her “a crapton of pain” it’s also caused her “a crapton of money” $236, to be exact.

Must brush and floss teeth after.

There will be a lot of brushing and flossing…

What Jack wanted for Valentine’s Day was to eat out. 

It snowed for most of the morning so it was a good thing we had planned to just get Chinese food at a restaurant in our neighborhood, LA Asian Bistro, for lunch.

Jack had the Happy Family lunch special - pork, chicken, shrimp and vegetables in a brown sauce with brown rice. He cleaned his plate so I guess, it was good.  I decided to try out their Bento Box options and had the BBQ chicken Bento.   I traded Mary for her egg roll with my fried cheese wonton.  The egg rolls were ok, the California roll was ok, the chicken (which turned out to be Teriyaki Chicken) was dry and over-cooked, the sauce was overpowering.  I would not order this again. 

Mary had Shrimp with Snow Peas.    She ate a little bit of it and took the rest home.  She tasted the tea and gave it Two Thumbs AND Tongue down.

What I wanted for Valentine’s Day was what I had been getting, from Jack, since the first Valentine’s Day we shared together eight years ago — a necklace with a heart pendant.  This year, Jack had to get something similar for Mary or we would not hear the end of it. 

For my part, I made Valentines cards,  got some inexpensive treats for Mary and Jack.   

Mary  loved this.  Not so crazy about the Marshmallow Lollipop Valentine Pig.   I tried it and it tasted like plastic.   There went 99 cents! 

I also got Mary some Temporary Valentine Tattoos   Mary promptly had 3 of them on her face.

Mary even got kisses from some beautiful Koi!

Not only is Mary going to be America’s Next Top Model, she is going to be American Idol, too.

When I first heard my niece, Ana (who was about 3 0r 4 then) sing on the top of her lungs LeAnn Rhimes “How Do I Live” while she was sitting on the toilet, I always wished to have a daughter who would LOVE to sing, be passionate about it AND have the voice and “ear” to sing WELL.

I got lucky. Mary is such a child.

She would sing Christmas songs past the Christmas season, she would sing out what she was saying, she would sing to herself.

She would sing, passionately, with her eyes closed.

She would come home from learning some song in school and sing it over and over and over again.  Like I said, luckily, she had a good voice and sings in tune.  But still, hearing “Hanukka Menorah” or “Dr. King, he had a dream” over and over again can get old pretty quick.

One time she started singing,

“Ukulele sing a song, doo-dah, doo-dah
Ukulele sing a song, all the doo-dah day…” (Repeat and repeat and repeat)

It got so bad that my husband went online to get the correct lyrics for the tune, Camptown Races. So, at least, maybe, we can get Mary to sing the right words.

But the correct lyrics just did not have the right ring for a five-year-old.

“De camptown ladies sing dis song, doo-dah, doo-dah!
De camptown race-track five miles long, Oh, doo-dah day!”

So, its back to Ukulele, sing a song…

Now, Simon Cowell, please be nice….

Part of my parents’ identity for me are their daily beverage preferences— aside from the copious amounts of ice cold water one drinks in the very-hot climate of the Philippines during the day.

My mom would have water boiled in a pot in the morning and transferred to a big thermos jug— hot water always ready for the day.  My dad would make his own coffee, in the same white porcelain mug with a bird design (not quite sure, but I can almost see that bluebird), a carefully-measured-less-than-a-teaspoon of Nescafe instant and hot water.  Mom would mix up Ovaltine and Carnation Non-fat milk for her hot drink.

When eating out, Mom would have Sprite and depending on the time of day, Dad would either have San Miguel beer or share my Mom’s Sprite.

What is my Signature Drink?  What would my daughter remember about my drink preference?

Hopefully, not just the warm lime water I drink first thing in the morning.  (I would microwave 8 oz. of filtered water for 50 seconds and squeeze a quarter of a lime (or lemon) — supposed to be a good morning cleanser for one’s insides.)

I have never been much of a hot caffeine drinker, whether it is tea or coffee.  When I first started working in New York years ago, everybody was having coffee.  To feel part of the group and so as not to appear so much as a newbie from the Third World, I reckoned I had better start drinking coffee, too.  I chose to have coffee the way my new boss was taking it, “with milk, no sugar”.  I thought, since I don’t really have a preference, why not start drinking the same way as he did so in case, he did not have his morning coffee, I could offer him mine. (Yeah, I was brown-nosing, so sue me.)

For a couple of years, I was having coffee everyday with milk, no sugar.

Then, I left that job.  After a while, I thought, I do not need to spend $1.65 every day for a cup of coffee.  That amounts to $429/year!  I coould use that money for a vacation.  And I never really liked the taste of coffee, anyway.

Fast-forward ten years to Boulder, Colorado.  I was introduced to Chai!  All my years in New York and Vancouver, prior to this, I’ve never heard of chai. 

My first taste of it was Soy Chai from Starbucks that my boss brought back without asking for my preference — he thought I would be a Soy-Chai person.  I was not impressed by it.  Did not right away took to the sweet, spicy, creamy combination of Black Tea, Spices and Soy Milk.  It would be one of those things that I would need to try out 16 x before I would like it. 
 I tried the regular Chai Latte and Non-fat Chai from Starbucks, tried brewing my own tea, adding honey and milk, I tried the chai concentrates. Most of the time, it would just taste too sweet for me.

Until I found the Oregon Chai Slightly Sweet Original. I paired it with Vanilla Soymilk and Voila! My Perfect Drink!

What is your Signature Drink?

I had the urge to make some Ube Halaya today using the Purple Yam Ube Powder I had languishing in my cupboard for months now. Should be easy, I just follow the directions on the package. “Add the fresh whole milk and sugar to the ube powder and mix thoroughly. Then, stir continously over low fire until texture is thick and smooth.”

I did the first part but decided to bake the whole concoction instead. I was not sure what pan to cook it on and I had no desire to stand in front of the stove and “stir continously”.

Mary wanted to do some baking of her own.  I had her check out the cupboard and she found the last pouch of the Costco-size Ghirardelli Triple Chocolate Brownie mix (the best brownie mix, in my opinion– chock-full of chocolate chips)

The Ube Halaya did not taste like any of the halaya I have had in the Philippines— I have to do more experimenting with this powder.

The brownies— I had Mary slice.

Guess who got the biggest piece?