Sunshine and Pho

A good find!

Saturday was a true gift. We finally had sunshine here. After days upon days upon days of rain, the sun finally showed itself and proved that it was still around. I crave days like that during the winter months. Just a touch of sunshine does a world of good for the mind and body!

We celebrated the sunshine by hitting the road and discovering new places to eat. Once again piling the kids in the car to find some new food adventure proved to be successful. My hubby and I were both craving Pho, a delicious Vietnamese soup that probably could cure just about any ailment through a single inhalation of it's smell. Noodles, beef, bean sprouts, basil, and other additions floating in a bowl of delicious beef broth. So good!

Our usual haunt was not open until noon so my hubby went in search of a new place and what a treasure it turned out to be. We found a restaurant called Pho Da Lat, over on Sandy Boulevard, right next to a busy gas station, that was open and featured Pho and salad rolls. We pulled in, surveyed the scene, and unloaded the gang.

Walking in, while mentally pulling out my checklist labeled "Is this going to be a favorite restaurant?", I begin checking off items on the list. Clean? Check! Delicious smells creeping from the kitchen? Check! Friendly waiter? Check! Menu filled with an assortment of tantalizing dishes? Check! It was going to be good!

We sat down under a beautiful, hand-painted mural and began our food adventure. As soon as we settled in, a steaming hot pot of tea showed up at our table. All the kids decided to try a sip, which made me smile. Little steps like these eventually turn into food favorites for them.

Looking at the menu, debating as to which Pho to choose (sorry to say my hubby couldn't persuade me to have the Pho with tripe and tendons in it. Maybe next time...), we decided on a huge bowl of Pho for us, salad rolls for appetizers, and Kung Pao Chicken for the kids.

As our meal rolled out of the kitchen, we were all delighted. It smelled so good and tasted even better. Happy food noises we heard from everyone around the table. My oldest even declared that this was where she was coming for her birthday. She shared this with our waiter, who was a delight in himself.

When we eat out, we always enjoy when the owners are a part of the service. When this happens, we get a chance to share how much we enjoyed the meal with the people who it means the most to. We also get a chance to talk to someone who is an expert in that field of cooking. Which led us to our next food adventure...

After devouring our meal, chatting with the owner, and discussing how we were wanting to make salad rolls at home (which we are doing tonight), and our inability to find rice paper wrappers, he told us about Hong Phat grocery store around the corner from their restaurant. This was where we could find the rice paper wrappers we have been searching for. Loading the kids back into the van, we started off on part two of our food adventure.

We walked into Hong Phat Asian grocery store and immediately knew we were in the right place. Everywhere we looked were the ingredients that we had been looking for but could not find in our local grocery stores. Ingredients that make the recipes at home special and taste authentic. These are the places my hubby and I usually end up on dates, walking the aisles, and exploring. We are just that way!

We walked the aisles, paused every once in awhile, and commented on what we were seeing. Watching my three kids in the grocery store was priceless because they were as silent as could be, listening. Listening to everyone around them talking because no one was speaking English. At one point, my middle one said, "Shhh...I am listening!"

Walking out of the grocery store, rice paper wrappers in hand, we smiled. The sunshine was still there, our stomachs were full of delicious Pho, and we had just discovered a go-to place for those hard to find ingredients we have been looking for. Here's to another food adventure success!

A Perfect Afternoon

I made these cake balls from scratch for a sweet friend who loves sugar just as much as I do!

Rows of chocolate and more chocolate!

Sweet design!

I added cayenne and cinnamon to make these a little spicy.

So worth the effort!

Finding Honesty

Yummy Sour Cream Fudge

"I'm in love with your love for sugar. You make no pretenses. No apologies. This greatly inspires me."

This is my new favorite quote by a sweet friend of mine from church. She wrote this in response to my sharing that I was in search of the perfect fudge recipe. That I was willing to make batches and batches of fudge until I found the recipe I craved. I mentioned that the first recipe I tried did not have that "sugar-overload" impact that I love about fudge. I, sadly, had to eat too much at one sitting to get that impact. Or, was it sadly? Maybe not.

I loved hearing that she was inspired by my love of sugar and how I made no apologies about it. It did my heart good. That inspired me in turn. Being openly honest about who you are is hard. Sometimes, after I write on my blog, I get a little nervous about being so honest. Should I have mentioned that I have "Kermit the Frog" moments? What visions do you have of me now, knowing that I, too, have my moments? But, yes, being this honest is good.

One of my all time favorite authors, Anne Lamott, is about as honest as you get. That is what I love about her. She is one of those people I would want to have dinner with, if I could. I admire people who are willing to put how they are truly feeling either in spoken or written word. Her first book I read was Operating Instructions, a journal of her son's first year. Her son was a collicky baby and she was a single-mother. Listen to her honesty:

"When he is asleep in his bassinet, the motions of his hands are as fluid and graceful as a ballerina's. They are like birds." p.154

"One thing about Sam, one thing about having a baby, is that each step of the way you simply cannot imagine loving him any more than you already do, because you are bursting with love, loving as much as you are humanly capable of-and then you do, you love him even more." p. 187

and then...

"It has been a terrible day. I'm afraid I'm going to have to let him go. He's an awful baby." p.114

"I'm not even remotely well enough to be a mother. That's where the problem is. Also, I don't think I like babies." p.114

When I first read this book, I was pregnant with my oldest. I started reading the book and was appalled. How could someone say that about their own child? And then I had my oldest and understood. If someone had whispered sweet nothings in my ear before she was born about how hard it was going to be, "You will not sleep for days...you will not eat a hot meal for months...you will cry because that is all you can do..." maybe I would not have been so appalled at Anne Lamott's honesty that first time around. I would have understood the rawness of her feelings. 

With my second and third pregnancies, I picked up the book and laughed. A big, howling laugh that made my husband lean over and say, "What are you laughing at?" I would read it to him, the ups and downs of her son's first year, and we would both laugh. Because we understood. Because we knew that, with parenting, sometimes all you can do is laugh because it is hard, crazy, satisfying, overwhelming, fun, mind-boggling, energizing, demanding, and most of all filled with the most amazing love. 

Being able to put that honesty, whether it is about my love of sugar, the toughness of raising children, or my "Kermit the Frog" moments, is good. It gives me a chance to give back to others. Because honesty is what draws me to other people. I look up to them when they are willing lay it on the line. When I ask, "How are you?" and they actually tell me how they are, it is good. Or, when in church, someone opens up and puts their grief or experience out there for all us of to hear, to commiserate, and to learn from, it is good.

So, to be honest, I am continuing to build my stash of fudge recipes. Continuing my love of sugar. It is a beautiful thing, sugar and honesty. 

Sour Cream Fudge
(shared by a dear friend who calls this her "Snow Day" fudge. Enjoy!)

2 cups of sugar

1/2 cup of sour cream

1/4 cup of corn syrup

1/4 cup of margarine or butter

2 tablespoons of cocoa

1 teaspoon of vanilla

1 cup of nuts

Mix sugar, sour cream, syrup, margarine, and cocoa. Stirring constantly, bring to a boil. Cook with an occasional stirring to a soft ball (234-238 degrees). Remove from heat. Cool until lukewarm (110 degrees). Add nuts and vanilla. Beat until thick and starts to lose it's gloss. Pour into buttered pan. Cut into squares. Yum!

My Kermit the Frog Moment

The beautiful, yet hard as rocks, cupcake.

Warning: Before reading this post, I must warn you that what you are about to read might challenge your faith in me as a baker. But, have no fear, I still have the baking skills needed to create those yummy baked goods we all desire.


One day, on a date, my hubby and I got into this discussion about if we were one of the Muppets, who would we be. After going through the list of funny characters and their personalities, I heard my hubby say that he thought he was most like Kermit the Frog. I had to agree with him. Kermit is organized, runs the show from his front desk, has a bald, round head, and, periodically, has what we call in our house "spaz out moments". Moments where all emotions overflow, the world tips, and you share your thoughts at rapid speed. You've seen Kermit do this, right? The little green guy runs around the stage, long, wobbly arms flying over his head, usually shouting, "Miss Piggy!!!!".

Well, I, um, misheard my hubby and he actually meant I was most like Kermit. What??? I thought for a brief moment then I chuckled because one must chuckle at oneself when the truth is told. Yes, I run the show at our house. Yes, I keep the three kids moving in the right direction. I drive the bus basically. I also do, occasionally, have my "spaz out moments" but, don't we all?

Saturday was one of those moments and I laugh about it now. You would have laughed too had you watched the whole scene unfold that lovely afternoon. I had mentioned out loud that I was wanting to make a Red Velvet Cake and asked what celebration it could be for. The random celebrations that people came up with made me smile. Celebrations such as "Happy Epiphany Day!" "Happy I Got New Sheetrock in My Kitchen Day!" And, "Happy I am Your Friend and Never Had Red Velvet Cake Before Day!" And the list went on.

So I decided to make the cupcakes Saturday afternoon. Sounded relaxing. The kids seemed in a good space and so was I. They had had Daddy time in the morning. I had gone out with a friend. My dream afternoon. They would play, I would bake. All seemed good. Or so I thought....

My hubby went off to exercise and I begin to gather all the ingredients for this mouth-watering cake. I realized, as I was pilfering through my pantry, that I was missing 3 important ingredients: sugar (gasp! I know! When am I ever without sugar?), buttermilk (makes the cake oh-so-tender), and cake flour (essential, essential, essential). I can imagine by now that you have guessed this was not going to be gluten-free. But remember, this falls into that 20% gluten category. Gotta have my cake!

Without those ingredients, that should have been my warning sign. Stop now, Amy, stop now. But I forged ahead and made substitutions (bad idea!). As I begin to mix the first three ingredients, the doorbell rang. I stopped what I was doing, answered it, and had my ten minute conversation with my neighbor. By that time, my littlest one, who is always attracted to the kitchen when I am baking, had sidled up to the counter and proceeded to stick her fingers in the butter that was in the mixing bowl, leaving little finger tracks and then buttery fingerprints across the counter.

My littlest one loves to bake with me. She also loves to give me a play-by-play of everything we are doing while baking so it turns into this long one-sided conversation. I listen, try to figure out where I am in the recipe, nod my head a couple times, say uh-huh some more, and forget where I am some more. Baking to me is like running, a beautiful activity that requires no added talking. Obviously, my littlest thinks differently.

As I am continuing on through this recipe, my middle child is busy in the living room building with legos. An independent activity, you might think but, on this Saturday, it required many Mommy-Interventions and explanations.  Back and forth we went. Mom? Yes? What does this mean? Once again, I multi-tasked by trying to build a beautiful cake, carry on a conversation, lose my place in the recipe, and help build legos.

While the recipe-reading, one-sided conversation, lego-intervention adventure was going on, my oldest was marching around the house with a recorder, tooting it as loud and as cheerfully as she could. (A glimpse into my future as a musician and wife of a band director.) Background music at it's finest. There was much happiness in that recorder playing as I slid the doomed cupcakes into the oven and sighed.

As I set the timer, my hubby walked back in the door and I proceeded to have my "Kermit the Frog Moment" about the afternoon cupcake adventure and all of it's mishaps. How my dream of them playing quietly and me baking did not turn into a reality. I don't believe my arms were flailing around like Kermit's do, but probably pretty close. He just smiled, nodded, and sympathized. Good man.

How did the cupcakes turn out, you ask? Like little rocks. They looked beautiful and the frosting was fantastic, probably the best I have ever made. That night, for snack, we just licked the frosting off and relished in it's fluffiness. The kids commented that I must have forgotten something. Maybe the baking soda, Mom? Bless their little hearts...

By the way, I just finished baking a second batch of cupcakes. They smell amazing! Still got the skills, still got the skills! Whew!