March « 2010 « This Simple Life

Monthly Archives: March 2010

Mar 18 2010

I Don’t Have Time For This But …

by Toni

ATC? What’s that?

Art you spend hours on then

give? away?

Why?

What’s the point?

I need a point.

Try it?

Why?

I might like it? Hah!

Fat chance of that but okay

just once … for you …

because you like it.

I think it’s silly

a waste of time ….

a …. a …. release …..

hmmm, nothing to do with

nothing but … fun …

a little (maybe a lot)

rewarding.

Okay ~ you got me.

This is my first attempt at an Artist Trading Card. I printed two copies of the picture (taken many years ago in a college photography class), wove them together and modge podged the top after adding the words.

It’s not exactly what I envisioned but all in all, I was pleased. And the recipient seemed to like it well enough.

Categories: ATC's, crafty stuff | 1 Comment »

Mar 11 2010

Raspberry Frozen Yogurt from a Well-Stocked Pantry.

by Toni

If you want to make Raspberry Frozen Yogurt per this recipe then you’ll need 2 cups of yogurt. But you may not have the kind specified so you’ll have to replace it with this.

and a couple of splashes of this

Next you will need some whole milk but because you only have 2% you’ll substitute with this.

which you will totally justify because there was no fat in your yogurt. So there.

Whisk all that with some sugar (which you’ve got in abundance) until it’s smooth then set it aside.

Now grab some frozen raspberries … and thaw them. (If that isn’t counter-intuitive I don’t know what is but the recipe said to and I *always* follow the recipe. …. ahem.)

Of course you won’t have right amount of raspberries because at some unknown time the bag was opened and and handful or three escaped. It’s okay. Puree the heck out of what you’ve got and add a sprinkling of sugar and some water so your old blender doesn’t keel over from the strain. Now set a sieve over your yogurt blend and pour the raspberry goo into it. Using a rubber spatula work the mixture through the sieve and leave all those pesky seeds behind. Probably all the nutrition is actually in the seeds but whatever. Thoroughly mix the yogurt and raspberry together.

Finally, pour your concoction into one of these babies (and by “these” I mean this exact kind because it’s the best one ever. No ice, no salt, no ice/salt mess.) and flip the switch.

In 20 to 30 minutes you’ll go from this:

to this:

And all will be right with the world.

Categories: from the kitchen | 4 Comments »

Mar 8 2010

Science in Action

by Toni

Categories: learning at home | 1 Comment »

Mar 7 2010

Almost Perfect

by Toni

It all started with a message from Aunt R. “Hey, do you all want to do a date swap?” The answer to this question is a given, “YES.” For our part we take care of the cutest niece on the planet for a few hours. Let her play with our kids, let her eat with our kids, put her to sleep with our kids. Our lives run almost exactly as they always do just with one more warm body around. Then the following morning Aunt R. takes a turn. while we go to breakfast sans children (even the baby!) It’s not really a fair swap and I told her so once but then decided that maybe I’d do better to keep my mouth shut. And the kiddos love date swap days because Aunt R. is far cooler than Mom ever thought about being and she let’s them have food upstairs.

So …. we’re at breakfast discussing the state of the union and solving all the worlds problems and generally having a great time carrying on an uninterrupted discussion when we get sidetracked by this:

First of all I’m unsure of the quality of gun classes given by a breakfast joint but wait there’s more ….

“All the coffee you can drink”?! Because what we really need are a lot people hopped up on caffeine and carrying concealed weapons.

Uhm, ok … moving on….

Spring is coming (and if it’s not don’t tell me. I like my deluded world.) So after breakfast we went wandering through the landscaping section of Home Depot; making big plans and wishing it weren’t so cold.

A text from Aunt R. says “baby’s asleep. take your time.” It’s a wonderment. Little miss, “I never go to sleep unless someone (guess who that is) nurses me first.” totally conks out for Aunt R.

Worry behind us we drive to the library to find some night time reading for Sister. She’s reading every night now and likes to have books that are short enough to finish in an evening but long enough to make a good story. Not as easy to find as you might imagine. Even so, Will and I came home with several possibilities. I love the library. Also, on our way we saw these: