Asian Butternut Soup

Here’s a really easy recipe for a delicious butternut soup.
Originally, I when I started making this soup, I had an entirely different soup in mind. However, I managed to get one of the least tasting butternuts at the store and had to rethink my soup.

I don’t know if you have ever experienced the same thing with pumpkin, but there is a big difference between a good one and a bad one. I’ve pureed butternut before, where you could eat it pure and it was delicious. This one, however, tasted like nothing with a hint of butternut. Therefore, I had to get creative.

I knew that I had some coconut milk in the cupboard for a Thai dish that I like, and I figured Asian spices would help to pep any bland soup, so I went from there. I decided on a bit of coconut, peanut butter, ginger, and Asian spices. In the end, my husband loved it and I was pretty impressed.

Here is the recipe, if you would like to have a go at it. I’m sure you could also add garlic, or coriander, Tabasco, or other spices of your choosing. Enjoy!

Butternut soup

1 whole butternut, cut into squares
1 red onion, chopped
3 carrots, chopped
1 large apple, chopped
1 t ginger, chopped fine
Spices: paprika, garlic salt, curry, salt and pepper (teaspoon each)
2 T creamy peanut butter
1 can coconut milk
2 T brown sugar

1. Add all ingredients in a large soup pot, add just enough water to cover. Boil about 15 minutes or until tender. Puree smooth.

2. Add all other ingredients and mix well. You may need to add more or less spices depending on how ripe your butternut is. A good butternut hardly needs any spices at all, but a bad one doesn’t taste like much of anything.

3. Garnish with green onions or chopped peanuts.

Haircuts, Bathtubs, and Nutella

I finally cut my son's hair not too long ago. It was the first time ever, and I hadn't realized how difficult it would be. I know he looks cute on this picture, but, trust me, he really needed a haircut. His hair was really long in back, almost non-existent on the sides, and very different lengths on the top. My family was always referring to it as his baby-mullet. Nevertheless, the 80's are over. Thank goodness!



Jonas
before

and
after
haircut









My neighbor, whose son is a couple months older than Jonas, took her son to the hairdresser to get his haircut for the first time a couple weeks ago. He has stick straight hair. It didn't look like it would be hard to cut. She came back with his haircut only on one side. From what I heard it was a disaster. I guess, one and a half year olds are just not ready to sit still while a stranger takes a scissors to their head.

I also read a couple entries on Facebook from friends of mine who wrote how they dreaded having to cut their child's hair again. They said their kids screamed, moved their arms around, or just plain refused. Sitting on mama or daddy's lap didn't seem to help either.

I tried to take their advice and realized I had to have a plan. I knew that if Jonas saw the scissors, i.e. me standing in front of him, he would want to have them so that he could explore what a scissors is. That would definitely not work. And, if he sat on daddy's lap and I moved around him, it probably wouldn't be much better. I decided I would need to distract him with what he loves best. I remembered a friend of mine in Germany, who would give her son a spoon full of Nutella so that she could cut his nails. Not a healthy route, but it did work. So what does Jonas love more than anything? Water!

I decided to cut his hair in the bathtub. I got in with him and sat down behind him. Right outside the tub, I had a few papertowels and a large bowl. I put in plenty of bubbles and gave him lots of toys. It worked! I was able to work on his head for as long as I needed. He didn't care as long as he could play in the tub. I used a comb and then pulled the hair between my ring and middle finger (like I saw the pros do), but had the palm of my hand facing me so I could catch most of the hair when I cut. I then dumped this hair in the bowl next to the tub. Alright, I'll admit, a certain amount of hair landed in the tub, but it didn't matter because I was actually able to give my child a decent haircut and save some of those glorious curls for an album.

The tub haircut worked for Jonas, but I have another baby on the way. He might not be so easy to fool. So I'm curious, how do or did the rest of you cut your child's hair? Any success or horror stories?

Teething Scarves

Pics:

Various
Teething
Scarves

Jonas at
7 and
15 months

Most people think of scarves as something that you wear to be warm or fashionable. I’ve now come to the conclusion that there is another great use - as a teething scarf.

The moment Jonas turned seven months and started getting teeth, his salivary glands began working overtime. At that point, I decided to sew up a few handkerchief-sized scarves in my sewing class to help catch a bit of the downpour. I had seen kids in Germany wearing little scarves, but had never thought of them having any practical purpose other than for added warmth since German homes are kept at colder temperatures than American ones. Nevertheless, as teething scarves, they worked wonderfully and looked cute as well.

Recently, Jonas started getting his first year molars, and I have had to sew up a few more. There were days when he went through 3 or 4 scarves. If I forgot to put a scarf on, his shirt would be soaked with drool in no time. A wet shirt in the winter can’t be very comfortable, so I always try to remember to put one on. With the scarves, every time one got too wet, I would just take it off and put on another one. Now, my boy could stay warm and relatively dry.

How to:
I’ve made quite a few scarves over the last few months (I posted only a few to this page). The majority of them were triangular. This is a very simple scarf to make. All you need to do is cut out a square piece of material. Then fold over the edges with the nice part of the material on the inside and sew all the way around leaving only a little hole to turn the material back right side in. Then once you have turned the material from inside out to right side in, fold and pin the hole shut and sew a nice border all the way around. Finished!

You can also make a long rectangular scarf out of fleece or flannel for winter; however, without the added triangle in the front, it doesn’t catch as much drool.

If you would like some added fun, add an iron on to the front of the scarf, some strings on the edges, quilt the material first, or embroider the child’s name on the front. Let your creativity lead you!

No Cabbage, Cheesy Bierrocks

I came up with this recipe, because my husband wanted bierrocks and I didn’t have any cabbage. Also, I love the bierrocks concept.

In comparison to a hamburger, you can actually get some veggies in a bierrock that your kids will eat (you could trade zucchini in this recipe for about any other green vegetable). I actually like this recipe better than the traditional cabbage one, because the inside is a bit creamy and cheesy. My fifteen month old also loved it, so you could call it a great family dish.

Don’t worry, if you have never made a yeast dough before. It’s really easy, and you’d be surprised how good it turns out even if you are not skilled at kneading. I’ve given a few tips in the recipe on how to make things quick and easy. The main thing you need with a yeast dough is a couple hours to make sure the dough has time to rise. The dough itself, only takes about 5-10 minutes to make.

No Cabbage, Cheesy Bierrocks

Dough:
1 C warm water
1 pkg yeast
2 T sugar
½ t salt
¼ C olive oil
1 egg, beaten
3 C flour (2 C whole wheat/1 C white)

Filling:
1 lb ground beef
1 onion
¼ bell pepper (any color, depending on taste)
1 zucchini
1 T honey
1 T flour
1 T butter
Circa ½ C milk
1 /c shredded cheese
Spices: celery salt, paprika, garlic, salt and pepper

Makes 12 bierrocks.

1. In a large bowl, add water, yeast, and sugar. Let stand until foamy.

2. Add salt, oil, and beaten egg. Mix well.

3. Add 3 cups flour. First mix with a spoon until you can form it into a ball with your hands. Then knead for a few minutes in the bowl (adding a little more flour if necessary) until you have a nice ball of dough that is uniform. Tip: to knead dough, punch down and forward with the bottom part of the palm of your hand, then take the dough that has been pushed forward, fold it over towards you, and punch it down again…

4. Let dough rise until double in size. Roll out on a floured board until the dough is about ¼ inch thick. Cut into 12 squares with a butter knife.

5. While the dough is rising (beginning point 4), brown hamburger in a frying pan. Drain grease if necessary. I prefer to drain grease and add butter for flavor, but don’t forget, I am pregnant. Add vegetables and cook until slightly tender. Add spices to taste. A tablespoon of honey also really helps to pull the flavor together.

6. Sprinkle flour over meat mixture and mix in well. The flour should attach itself to the fat particles, so that when you add milk it doesn’t get clumpy. If this doesn’t happen, you will need to add more fat. Then add milk, adding more if necessary to make a thick sauce which just covers the meat. Finally, add the cheese, mix well and let your meat mixture cool.

7. Spoon meat mixture onto dough squares (see picture above right). Pull up dough from all corners (see picture left) and pinch shut. The dough doesn’t always pinch shut well, but don’t worry, because this part of the dough goes down on the pan and bakes together later. Place bierrocks on a greased cookie sheet.

8. Let bierrocks rise for about 15 minutes and then bake for about 25 minutes in a preheated oven at 350 degrees. All bierrocks taste great with ketchup, but I’m sure you could eat them plain as well. Enjoy!

Baby's First Drawing Greeting Card

When you have a baby, you have a lot of firsts. Most of these, you never get the opportunity to film, photograph, or document. Your child’s first drawings, however, are easily saved and also make great gifts.

The first time I gave Jonas some crayons and paper, he colored 4 or 5 sheets with big wavy lines. Sometimes, he even held a crayon in each hand and drew in stereo. Of course, I had to watch him the whole time so that he didn’t eat the crayons (they must taste good), but I must admit, most of the time he was more concerned with drawing than eating. He sure had a lot of fun.

I decided to make greeting cards out of most the drawings so that I could share this first with my family and friends who don’t live close by. Since I also had a bunch of little photos from our Sears portraits that we had made for Jonas’s first birthday, I decided to add them as well. Here’s the how to:

1. Cut out construction paper cards by folding the construction paper in half and cutting or tearing along the line. Then fold this piece again to make a card. To cut out the window, I folded one of the sides again in the middle and then cut out the square on the fold.

2. Cut your child’s drawings (mine were normal typing paper size) into four pieces. Tape or glue this drawing inside your window. If you would like a little more contrast, draw a black line around the frame before you add the drawing.

3. Glue on the child’s picture to the side of the drawing and write the child’s name and when the picture was made.

4. Finally, write a greeting inside the card. I wrote a greeting from my son stating how he had drawn his first picture. I also let Jonas color the envelopes. Then send your cards to your friends and family. Maybe your artwork will land on a refrigerator, or maybe, just maybe, your child will become famous and your friends and family will have a piece of your child’s very first artwork.

Homemade Blocks

I made these two blocks originally when Jonas was only a few months old and couldn’t even crawl, yet. My grandma Janzen had had handmade blocks at her house, and I always liked them. I figured, that blocks would also be a good sewing project, since they could be made quickly and Jonas could start playing with them asap.

At the time I made my first block, Jonas could only hold it between his hands and feet and giggle. Now at 15 months, he’s gone from just being able to hold a block in his hands, to throwing one easily across the room. They’ve definitely gotten a lot of play time and soon, I’m sure, he’ll start stacking them, just like I did with grandma’s blocks (I've since made more than two).

If you would like a good baby project and haven’t sewn in a while, or just have a lot of scraps lying around, then this is a good project for you. Here’s the how to:

1. Start by collecting scraps of materials with different textures. I used a lot of furry material on mine, mixed with bright patterned material. Then cut out equal sized squares. My squares were about 8 x 8 inches originally.

2. Lay the squares down on a table and arrange them the way that you would like to have your block look. That’s four squares down with one square on each side at the same point, just like a cross. On one block, I sewed Jonas’s name on a black velvet square at the center of the cross before I sewed the pieces together.

3. Now take your cross and making sure all of the pieces are upside down, start pining the sides of the cross together so that they are ready to go through your machine. Then sew all five of these sides.

4. Now the sewing will get a tiny bit more difficult, but not much, since as you sew the other sides together, your square will slowly take shape. Make sure to leave about 2 inches open on the last side of your last square so that you can turn your square inside out.

5. Now stuff your square with batting or foam. You can add an egg full of rice or a bell in the middle, if you want your block to make a sound when it is rolled. I have even put a crushed plastic bottle in the middle of one, since the plastic makes a neat sound. You will just need to make sure that you have enough batting all around your inner noise-maker.

6. One more tip. You can stuff your blocks really tight or leave them loose. Jonas loved the block where I added the least batting, since he could get the best grip on the corner and really squeeze it tight between his fingers. A neat tight square may look nicer, but it may not get as played with as a soft one.

7. Finally, sew up the two inches left on the one side and your block is finished. Congrats! Now your child has a toy that they can play with for a long time that is original and won’t break like a plastic one. My grandma’s blocks are still in use and hopefully, my blocks will also be enjoyed just as long.

Blueberry Pancakes

I make pancakes every Saturday. Sometimes I make them without blueberries, add a bit of vanilla and cinnamon to the batter, and then eat them with peanutbutter and maple syrup. Yum. This morning I made blueberry pancakes at the request of my husband. Nevertheless, my 14 month old son loved them just as much. He decided, however, to tear apart the pancakes until he could pick out all of the blueberries, which he loves the best. He sure did have fun and still has purple fingers.

These pancakes are really easy and taste great. Give them a try and let me know what you think.

Ingredients:

1 C white flour
½ C whole wheat flour
¼ C sugar
3 ½ t baking powder
Pinch of salt
1 beaten egg
¼ C oil
1 ½ C buttermilk
1 C fresh or frozen blueberries
Butter for frying
Maple syrup (get the real stuff!)
Makes enough pancakes for two hungry adults and one baby.

How to:

1. Mix all dry ingredients together. You can use all white flour if you like, or more whole wheat, however, the white flour will make the fluffiest pancakes.

2. Add egg. I usually just beat the egg in the measuring cup and then use the cup for the rest of the ingredients. It’s less to wash later. Add oil and buttermilk. Mix well.

3. Add blueberries to batter. Fold or barely mix in.

4. Let batter sit 10 minutes. This lets the baking powder begin to rise and makes your pancakes even fluffier. You can also let it sit longer, but a few minutes does make a difference.

5. Using medium heat, add a little bit of butter to the pan. I just use a simple Teflon covered frying pan. Use a ladle and pour about four pancakes into the pan. When they start to bubble in the middle, flip. Leave in pan another couple minutes and put on serving tray.

6. My husband and I like them with maple syrup. But, I’m sure whip cream or powdered sugar would also taste great. Enjoy!