The Perfect Cuppa

January 25, 2012

the perfect cuppaI find it very interesting that I – a confirmed non-coffee drinker – should end up with so much coffee paraphernalia.

Would you believe there is – right at this very moment – a coffee maker, a French press, and a coffee grinder sitting on my counter?!

And two different kinds of coffee beans in the freezer, and an assortment of creamers and simple syrups in the fridge?

And I don’t even like the stuff! Honestly – how can something that smells so heavenly taste so nasty?!

I guess I better get used to it – with two highly-caffeinated, coffee-loving teens living in the house now.

I find it very humorous when they put coffee beans on the grocery list. What? You want me to aid in this addiction?

I stop laughing when I hit the coffee aisle.

Oh my! The choices! Whole bean or ground? Decaf or caffeinated? Flavored or plain? And how do want them roasted?  Light? Medium? Dark?  What’s the difference anyway? Then there’s all the brands to choose from!

So tell me – when did coffee drinking get so complicated? When I was growing up, coffee came in big tin cans and my mom brewed it in a peculator and would offer cream or sugar to guests.

Now you have the mocha, the latte, the frappe, the cappuccino, the macchiato, the expresso and even a half-breed frappuccino.

And they can come in almost any flavor you can imagine -  pumpkin, peppermint, gingerbread, vanilla, chocolate, caramel, almond, and the list goes on and on and on.

Do you want that hot or cold?

Steamed, pressed, brewed or dripped? Whatever that is.

How about some whipped cream on top? Sure. How about some sprinkles, too.

I’m sorry. It’s just all too confusing.

That’s why I drink tea.

A mug. Some leaves. Hot water. 6 minutes. Perfect.

Now – what kind of tea should I have? Black? Green? Herbal? Chai?  Earl Grey? Oolong? Darjeeling? Hot? Cold? Loose leaf or tea bag? With sugar or lemon or a touch of honey? Hot? Cold?

Photo courtesy of Julious Schorzman.

By Country Gal | Posted in Children, Teenagers | Tagged , , | Comments (6)

Oh Yeah – Like Awesome Dude!

November 5, 2011

My zany college roommate  Kimmer is here!

And anywhere that Kimmer is – there is laughter – lots of laughter!

We were browsing through the racks at the local thrift store when Kimmer quickly picked up on the fact that my kids thought our taste in clothes was a little dated – so she started pulling out ridiculous pieces to show them.

She was gushing and embarrassing them royally when – out of the craziness – Dagmar finds a nice pair of jeans of Pedro.

I look at them and say “awesome”.

Kimmer looks at them and says, “Precious!”

Dagmar almost chokes. “Awesome and precious?! Oh really! These are beastly sick pants!”

Kimmer and I look at each other blankly, “Beastly sick?”

Dagmar just shakes her head and moves on.

Okay – so maybe it’s more than our taste in clothes that’s a little dated. ;)

At home later on that afternoon -  I asked Pedro to try on the clothes that his sister found for him.

As he come out wearing his new pants, we looked at each other and tried very hard to remember the words Laura used to describe them.

Now – I should insert here that the night before we had stayed up much later than any two 40-something mothers of nine kids should – so we were pretty much brain dead.

As we were frantically trying to remember the correct terminology – Kimmer blurts out, “I know – the word starts with an F – I know it – they’re fruity!”

The room erupts with laughter.

There’s never a dull moment with Kimmer around! :)

By Country Gal | Posted in Children, Memories, Teenagers | Tagged , , | Comment (1)

Packing and theTeenager Male

October 21, 2011

PackingI spent a goodly part of one week helping Pedro pack for his 10 day trip to Teen Pact Venture in Tennessee.

With 5 days on the road there and back and another 5 days at camp – it seemed to me that he needed a little guidance.

I helped him find more jeans, a suit coat, dress slacks, a outfit for golf and raided his dad’s t-shirts to make sure he had enough.

I carefully counted and folded and made nice piles for him.

I even bought him new underwear.

All the while there was this annoying little thought that kept coming back – “Why am I doing this? Pedro is a teenage boy who has been known to wear the same clothes for days at time…”

But the mother in me couldn’t let it go.

I was even kinda proud as he drove off on his adventure because I knew that he was prepared.

It didn’t last long.

I was brought back to reality within minutes of picking him up after his return trip.

He looked good and was sharing story after story of his time away – laughing and joking with his siblings.

Finally the mother in me just couldn’t wait any longer – so I asked him, “How did your clothes work out? Did you have enough of everything?”

“Well”, he responded, “I basically wore these jeans pretty much all week.”

(His sisters slide further away from him on the van seat.)

“What!” (I’m remembering all those trips up and down the attic stairs digging through his winter clothes to find enough jeans) “How about t-shirts? Did you have enough t-shirts?”

“I had way too many – I really only needed a couple.”

“A couple!” (You were gone 10 days! What about my neat little piles of carefully folded and counted shirts?!)

“Oh dear. What about your underwear? Did you have enough… No! Stop! Don’t answer that. I really don’t want to know.”

Sometimes ignorance is bliss.

Next time I’ll let him pack himself. :)

By Country Gal | Posted in Children, Teenagers | Tagged , , , | Comments (0)

Cooking with Crash

August 24, 2011

Life with a house full of teenagers is never dull – especially when it comes to food.

Now I figure that it’s my job as a mom to teach my kids the life skills needed to make it on their own in this big world.

And since everyone needs to eat to survive – it stands to reason that cooking needs to be taught – even to my sons.

That’s when things start to get interesting.

Pedro (aka: Crash – so nicknamed because of his infamous tractor in the ditch incident) had some real doozies lately.

The kids are responsible to make their own breakfasts on school mornings. They actually enjoy the freedom to make what they want.

Panckae
Crash was really hungry one morning and decided to make a really large pancake. He used 3 cups of pancake mix -  enough to make 21 pancakes!

That was one BIG pancake! He did eat it all ( with the help of his siblings). But boy did that thing soak up the syrup!

Then there’s the barbecue.

I have 5 kids – so each one gets a night to make supper. They get to help plan the menu for the evening, do the cooking, and then are excused from dishes.

Crash cooks on Friday night. He wanted to make grilled hamburgers.

SupperHe got distracted.

We ate it anyway – but his siblings gave him a bit of grief.

Dagmar -” Love the char you got on these burgers Crash!”

Crash- “Thank you – I worked all day on it!”

Dagmar- ” More like about 5 minutes too long!”

Like I said before – life is never dull with teenagers in the house!

By Country Gal | Posted in Children, Cooking and Food, Teenagers | Tagged , , | Comment (1)

Bottomless Pits

June 6, 2011

Can we talk a minute about teenagers and their appetites?

People warned me about growth spurts – but seriously!!

Pedro must be in the midst of a big one because all the kid does is eat. At a meal he will eat 3 huge helpings of everything on the table, a big dessert, drink the juice that is left in the bottom of the corn bowl, lick the ketchup of his plate and look around the table for more.

It reminds me of the classic Pooh movie when Winnie the Pooh goes to Rabbit’s for tea. He eats and eats and eats.

Finally Rabbit asks him, “Would you like some more?”

Pooh responds eagerly, “Is there anymore?”

To which Rabbit gives a firm, “No.”

“Oh bother,” is Pooh’s response.

Oh bother is right!

This kid will eat us out of house and home! When I walk in our local grocery store the check-out ladies just smile and call in reinforcements!

Years ago – when Pedro was an baby- he was sitting in his car seat in the grocery cart as I was shopping. As I unloaded the last of my purchases from the cart at the check-out counter – I pointed to Pedro in the cart and joked that this one was already paid for.

The check-out guy quipped, “That’s what you think – just wait till he’s a teenager.”

Oh my – how right he was!

By Country Gal | Posted in Children | Tagged , , | Comments (4)