Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Monday is MY day

I'm about to make a declaration that, by it's very public nature, will certainly come to and end, but it needs to be said: I am a great mom on Mondays. That's right. Yesterday, for the third Monday in a row, I hit about 5ish and think, "This is a GREAT day. And we still have fun stuff ahead!" Yesterday night the kids each decorated their own mini-tree, thanks to Target's Dollar Spot. Which I sometimes call Dollar Stop. Whatever - it's the place at the front of Target that often has a bunch of unusable (for me) stuff but more often than not has me saying, "Oh neat! And it's a dollar!" These trees were one of those things. I ALWAYS wanted a small tree in my room when I was little. And being a parent is about giving your kids the tiny things that you always wanted that they really don't care about but you're reliving your childhood so it doesn't really matter what they do/don't want because YOU are happy. And they were actually $2.50. But who CARES! Because hearing Gemma squeal that she has "Spah-kuls on my feen-guhs!" is totally worth it.

And then we ate ice cream. And Donovan whined that he couldn't finish all of his. So Ainsleigh volunteered to finish it. And then later started to moan that her stomach hurt. But come on - if your complaint is an excess of ice cream, I think your life is pretty awesome.

You know what else is awesome? Churros. I haven't mentioned them in at least 2 weeks, right? Well last Monday as dinner was winding down, I told the kids if they helped me quickly clean up then we would MAKE Churros. And not only did we make the churros, but made them make them. Except for the hot oil part. I've been having Ainsleigh read me recipes, even when it's something like chocolate chip cookies where the recipe is burned into my brain, and she loves it. And there were three eggs, so each kid got to crack one. Or, more appropriately, crush one. Luckily the chunks of shell were easy to fish out.

At one point, Ainsleigh started giggling. I looked to see what she was doing, and as she caught my eye, she threw her head back and her arms out, palms turned upward, and cackled, "I just don't know why, but I feel like laughing! I just feel so happy right now!" I know the feeling. It's why I do the cooking I do. But it's more than that - it's that we were working together and everyone had a job and we were creating something fun and delicious and fried. I kind of felt like laughing, too.

A long time ago I bought an "Easy Accent Decorator" from The Pampered Chef. Their literature makes it look "easy" to create beautiful cakes. I have no doubt that, in the hands of most people, these decorations are possible. In mine...well let's just say that my skills leave much to be desired. I peak with tiny florets of whipped cream on top of a pie. But give me some churro dough (surprisingly easy to mix up) and the tip with the biggest opening, and I can pipe churros the likes of which will have children and husbands agog with wonder. AGOG.

Donovan was on cinnamon/sugar-dusting duty and I went the extra mile and made the dipping chocolate. That's kind of what I do - assess the situation and then think of a way to make it MORE complicated. But please, once you've read about a thick chocolate sauce as an accompaniment for dipping cinnamon/sugar dusted fried dough into, it's kind of mandatory.

We plowed through those things (because they certainly won't KEEP. That was my theory, at least). As Joel pronounced them the best he'd ever tasted and Ainseligh licked the inside of her bowl and Gemma clapped and asked for "More cheh-ROSE pweez!" and Donovan sighed wistfully saying, "I wish we could make churros every week. I loved this night," I awarded myself an A for the day.

It did make me think about a certain street food I had during my semester abroad in London. Or did I dream it? I have a vague recollection of a giant churro but filled with cream or something? And I think the cart had the flag of Brazil on the side. Was it a dream? Because I'd like to have that dream again. Maybe I'll research it. Now that we've mastered the art of churros and dipping sauce, we need to find a new way to complicate it.

In the meantime, I'm going to chalk up another successful Monday. We won't speak of the other days. I'm working really hard at focusing on the positives.

6 comments:

laura said...

Do you mean churros filled with dulce de leche? 'Cause those are pretty much the greatest culinary invention of all time. And well done on your Monday.

Unknown said...

After having our fill of churros we drank the leftover chocolate in our bowls and then, like the puppies they are, Donovan and Gemma licked their bowls clean.

Becca said...

Ugh, your Monday TOTALLY beat my Monday. I really need to start frying things more often.

TheKunks said...

haha! you are too funny...great Mom on Mondays. Miss ya girlie

Annie said...

Monday is actually one of my favorite days of the week! First is Friday, then Sunday, then Monday! BTW, Jeff is in nursery now. He commented that he thought Gemma was pretty smart. Jeff doesn't give compliments very often.

Lisa said...

You seriously rock Mondays. And I want a chocolate-dipped homemade churro NOW. Please??