HOT

It's been HOT here. I don't like HOT. I like warm, that's ok. But HOT I don't like. Warm to me would be 90-105 degrees, that's easy to deal with and pretty comfortable. Lately we've been reaching 110+ and it's just horrendously HOT. Even with our dry heat.

It makes everything hard. Yesterday I went and dropped my daughter off at golf. It's the worst time of the day trafficwise and heatwise. I decided to go to the store on the way home. I don't know why when it's this hot you don't get hungry. So I get there to the store, get all my groceries and put them on the conveyer belt, get up to the debit machine and start digging in my purse for my wallet. Oh crap! Wallet isn't in there. Where is it? The Wal-mart clerk rolled her eyes and said, "That's interesting!" all sarcastic as she's bagging my groceries. I forgive her because the heat makes everyone grumpy. So I tell her to bag it all up and I'll go try to find my wallet. Meanwhile I'm freaking out, "Where's my wallet?" I drive home, look in the house, look upstairs.... Then I realize my daughter had it earlier when I asked her to put my change back in it. We stopped at Tastee Freeze for dipped cones earlier in the day. Ok, so relief floods me (I know it's got to be somewhere), but still I can't find it. Finally I look in the center console of my car. There it is. Why she put it there I have no clue. Kids! So I drive back to the store, go in and pay and unload it all. Whew! Meanwhile it's HOT and my head is hurting, heat exhaustion? Yes, probably. I get the cold stuff put away and get an ice cold drink and take a short break turned on Phinneas and Ferb and watched with Maci for a bit. She was my big helper throughout it all so we split a Vitamin Water.

So today it will be HOT again. And tomorrow, HOT again... Thank goodness for AC and swimming pools.

Rumpledoodles - a great name for a nice cookie

Calling all Heffalumps! These are pretty good. I made these the other day and they were gobbled up. Except Maci doesn't like raisins so next time I have to make her a raisin free batch. But Marissa loved these. What's weird about this recipe is that it doesn't have eggs in it and the dough is sort of crumbly. But hang in there, once they bake you get a nice crunchy, chewy wonderful cookie, sort of granola-ish. This recipe was originally off the Disney Channel, but several years ago. So I can't find a good link because it was linked to the old Pooh bear show.

Rumpledoodles

1 cup Rolled Oats
1 cup Sugar
1 cup Flour
1 cup Coconut
1/2 cup Raisins
1 teaspoon Cinnamon
1 tablespoon Baking Soda
1 teaspoon Salt
2 tablespoons Molasses
1/2 cup Unsalted Butter
2 tablespoons Boiling Water

Instructions:

Preheat Oven to 350 degrees.
Grease 2-3 Cookie Sheets - I used parchment paper so no greasing required.
Mix the Rolled Oats, Sugar, Flour, Coconut, Raisins, Cinnamon, Baking Soda, and Salt in Large Mixing Bowl.
Melt Butter in Sauce Pan or Microwave. Add Molasses and Water Into Melted Butter.
Pour the Butter Mixture Into the Flour Mixture.
Stir With a Spoon Until Well Mixed.
Drop the Dough Onto The Cookie Sheet With a Teaspoon or Small Scoop.
Bake For 12-15 Minutes. I only had to bake for about 10 minutes so watch the first batch closely.
Remove From Oven And Cool Or Eat Warm With Your Favorite Heffalump.

Look who found the laundry pile!

First Tee

Joe took the girls and a friend to a water splash fun day sponsered by First Tee the other day. It's always a fun day. I can't recommend First Tee highly enough! A wonderful organization!

Afterwards Joe drove up South Mountain and took a few pictures. They turned out pretty cool!

San Diego Trip

Some pictures! Grandma H. was brave enough to take 4 grandkids to San Diego. They had a fun. time. I think Bret had a few complaints (he's 13) but everyone else enjoyed themselves immensely.

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

                                    

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society I just finished this up last night. I'd say out of 5 stars I'd give it a 3.75. I enjoyed this book. I feel like a better person for reading it. But at first it was hard for me to get into. It's a book about many characters which you get to know through their letter writing. So at first I found that a little overwhelming. It's also very smartsy fartsy, talks about classic literature alot, which doesn't always interest me. But the core of it, the characters, you do come to care about. It takes place after the German Occupation of a little Island called Guernsey. The people of Guernsey come to life slowly and their stories come out and some of the hardships they endure from the war. I found it riveting in the end. I also found that I still care about the characters after I read the book. Which is a very good thing. A charming little book. 

Koolaid Play Dough

Yesterday we made Koolaid playdoh. I am trying to let my girls get in the kitchen more and get a hands on experience. So I thought this would be a great activity to do that. Which it was. We chose blue, red (cherry) and lemonade, as our "flavors". Primary colors so they could mix and make other colors with them. I think cherry turned out the best. The lemonade one was too light so we ended up adding a few drops of yellow food coloring. This makes a really nice soft dough. It doesn't leave a salty residue on the table or your hands after playing with it, it doesn't dye your hands either. It was sticky at first so does require some kneading with some flour to get the sticky out, but once you do that it's perfect. This was a wonderful activity. I think we spent about 20-30 minutes making the 3 colors and then they played with it for about an hour after that. It was messy and there was flour on the floor but it only took me about 10 minutes to clean it all up. So it was worth it. We got our playdoh paraphernalia out - rolling pins, cookie cutters, etc. When they were done with it, I put the dough in ziplock baggies and put it in the fridge. I don't think keeping it in the fridge is required, but thought it might be nice to play with "cold" dough on a hot summer day.

What you'll need:

1 cup flour
1/4 cup salt
2 Tbsp cream of tartar
1 envelope unsweetened Koolaid - 2 packets for more scent.
1 cup water
1 Tbsp. vegetable oil
a few drops food coloring can also be added for more vivid colors.

1. Mix flour, salt, cream of tartar, Koolaid and water in medium saucepan. Stir in oil.

2. Mix over medium heat for 3-5 minutes until mixture forms a ball in the center of pan. Dough will start darkening in color.

3. Remove from pan {caution: will be HOT}. Knead until soft. Use a little flour to prevent sticking.

4. Store in airtight container or ziploc bag.

Not recommend for eating as it probably tastes gross.