We haven’t hopped too much on the baking train this past year, but we have done some. My husband uses the bread maker to whip something up maybe every other weekend. We do waffles on the waffle iron. I made my sister-in-law’s secret recipe rolls for Thanksgiving and Christmas; she shared the recipe due to the extenuating circumstances of not celebrating together. And this past weekend, my daughter and I attempted home made pasta.
It was…OK. Pasta is simple to make, but probably hard to get right. We mixed flour and eggs and rolled it out. The pieces boiled up but were a bit too chewy. Tolerable but with room for improvement. I think it was partly that we didn’t roll the dough out quite thin enough and my assistant chef wanted to cut them into rectangles, rather than long thin threads. Next time we will attempt more of a traditional pasta shape.
The older kids went back for their first full week of school. Well, sort of. Monday was asynchronous for the elementary school kids. Today they are all doing virtual because spring break starts next week and it would have been a half day in the old world. We don’t have huge plans, though I’ll probably take much of the week off from work (and blogging). We will go to Gettysburg and probably do some biking and hiking in other parts of the state. There was a last minute flurry of discussion about planning something else but it just couldn’t quite come together. Also, I admit that I am not excited about having the toddler anywhere other than our house overnight. The sleep has been…rough. My husband and I are trading off sleeping in the guest room and dealing with him, but regardless, I wind up being up by 6 a.m. almost every morning. We’ve created more baby-gated areas of the house so it’s possible to relax a bit more, but still. This morning he destroyed an Uno deck.
An update on the spring fun list: I’m doing a spring puzzle! I ordered one I’d had an eye on over at Amazon. It was about $15 and has already provided four hours of off-screen leisure for me this week. It’s a fun thing to do in the evening, especially since I don’t have any books I’m really into right now. Other than War and Peace — although we’re in the Free Mason section, which is just a bit bizarre, though I’m realizing now it is partly about showing how susceptible Pierre is to just about any strong influence that crosses his path.
If you are also off for spring break next week I hope you have a wonderful time, whatever it is you’re doing! And if you have tips on making better pasts, I am all ears.
The Free Mason section has killed my momentum reading War and Peace on 3 separate occasions. I can never get past it…
@Gillian – I’m not convinced it’s fundamental to the plot. Maybe just move forward a bit and start reading again!
I’m glad I’m not the only one having issues with this section of War and Peace. I was already exasperated with Pierre and this might put me over the edge. I am feeling proud that I have made it this far in the book, though!
I don’t know how you do life with sleep deprivation. Is it something that you learn when having kids? Tips are appreciated (expecting child no 1).
@Maggie – some people have it better or worse than others. My kids have not been great sleepers in general — some kids are higher or lower sleep needs than others. You learn to prioritize going to bed early, trading off with a partner, napping when possible, etc. If you’re pregnant now you’re probably already dealing with interrupted sleep…
Do you have a favorite type/brand puzzle? Sadly, I’m usually not up for 1,000 (or more) piece puzzles. Under the cover anonymity, I’ll confess that I love those paint by numbers. It’s one of the best parts of childhood brought to adulthood.
@Anon- I like White Mountain, though they seem to be kind of pricey on Amazon for the ones I want to buy. I branched out to Buffalo, which was cheaper for the spring scene I was looking at and it seems to be fairly well constructed too. I think 1000 pieces are totally doable if you view it as at least a 2-3 week project and if you choose scenes that have a lot of stuff going on. Too much blue sky or something is just maddening.
You need an Atlas. We received one for our wedding (17 years ago!) and it totally changes the pasta game. We have a simple recipe and can make pasta in record time! One of our favorite celebration/special meals.
I second the recommendation for an Atlas. We also received one as a wedding present – 33 years ago – and it’s still going strong. An inexpensive workhorse and doesn’t even need to be washed!