Dec
19
The problem with snow and Seattle is that it’s a hilly-ass city and there’s, like, one plow.
(Call Mr. Plow
That’s my name
That name again
Is Mr. Plow!)
The streets are a mess and since we’re all a bunch of Starbucks-sucking, socks-with-sandals-wearing Pacific Northwesterners who don’t know what to do in freezing weather you see a lot of this:
Which, dude, sucks to be you, driving your car into a damn tree and all, but it could be worse — how’d you like to be the bus drivers who surely filled their pants in unison as this happened?
(Photo credit: Seattle Times)
The weather is predicted to get worse: tomorrow we’re supposed to experience some unholy combination of more snow, gale-force winds, and freezing rain, so JB’s been scurrying around stocking up on emergency supplies and reminding me it was TOO a good idea to get a generator. My tactic for dealing with being mostly housebound is to eat pretty much constantly, because what the hell, if we lose power at least I’ll have some extra blubber for warmth.
This brings me to the Big Easy, which my family just sent us as a holiday gift. I’d heard of this product because my aunt’s client manufactures it, but I had no idea how awesome it really was until we set it up yesterday. It’s an oilless turkey fryer which cooks via infrared (I have no idea how it works, really, there could be tiny grilling elves crammed in its innards for all I know), and we gave it a test-run with a chicken.
Here’s what it looks like. Like my aunt says, it sort of resembles R2-D2.
I seasoned a chicken (sorry, I know: gross raw dead thing, SORRY) and we stuck it in the rack with a meat thermometer.
You put the rack in the grill . . .
And that’s IT. You just LEAVE IT THERE.
When the thermometer said it was up to temperature (about an hour or so), we pulled it out. HELLO MY ROASTED MEATY FRIEND.
And it was, no lie, the best chicken I have ever eaten in my entire life. No shit. It was super juicy and the skin was crispy and delicious.
Very very cool product, we are going to use it a ton. Especially if the power goes out this weekend.
Oh, and since I’m already blathering away about food, please enjoy this recipe for chocolate chip cookies:
3 1/4 cups of all purpose flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 large eggs
2 cups Semi-Sweet Chocolate Morsels
Preheat oven 375 degrees.
Combine flour, baking soda and salt in small bowl. Beat butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla extract in large mixer bowl until creamy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in morsels. Drop by rounded tablespoon onto ungreased baking sheets.
Bake for 9 to 11 minutes or until golden brown (pull ’em out when they’re still a little doughy). Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely. Makes about 5 dozen cookies.
I know, I know, you’re thinking, I already have a recipe for chocolate chip cookies. All I can say is, there is a chocolate chip cookie and there is something that’s like an edible, involuntary pelvic muscle spasm, and this recipe produces the latter.
Dec
18
Yesterday Seattle issued many Dire Warnings about the arctic deluge we were about to experience, and public schools closed for the day with a worried, audible kerslam. All day I kept peering at the sky waiting for the skies to turn white and the snow to start falling in giant, traffic-snarling drifts, but it got sunny and warmer and eventually the leftover bits of frozen slush from last Saturday’s tiny snowfall melted away and I was like, I CALL BULLSHIT.
Today, however, we woke up to this:
It’s been coming down like a sumbitch all day long and while it’s very beautiful and kind of exciting there’s a nontrivial pain-in-the-ass factor about being stuck inside with two small children. We tried for a sled outing earlier, but Dylan became so rage-filled at being stuffed into a snowsuit I thought he was going to attract some sort of mobile, weather-resistant CPS unit, pulling up to our house via plow, shouting into a bullhorn about putting the baby down and backing away with our hands in the air. Riley is a little thrilled about the snow but refuses to wear a hat and is deeply, deeply suspicious of the sled, to the point of asking if we could just go back inside and pretend to be riding it.
There’s not much to do sit around with the heat cranked, trying to keep the kids entertained, and running to the window every now and then to take more photos, but I suppose we’re muddling along:
Switching gears: sooooooo, can we talk about potty training for a second? Here’s what we’re dealing with with Riley, who, for the sake of context, turned 3 last August.
• He won’t poop in the potty. Flat-out refuses, whines and cries if you make him sit on the toilet, won’t articulate why except that he “doesn’t like it”
• He wears underwear all day long, and aside from the typical oops-I-didn’t-realize-I-had-to-pee-THAT-bad accidents, he does just fine.
• He only poops during naps or at night. Mostly at night. So, after a potty visit, we’ll put him in a Pull-up for the night, do our goodnight routine, and 20 minutes later there’s that Unmistakeable Aroma coming from his bedroom.
What to do? We’ve tried everything, it seems, and maybe part of the problem is that we’ve been a little inconsistent with our approach (rewards, cajoling, bribing, talking, explaining, demonstrating, charting, that’s-okaying, tsk-tsking, etc etc ETC) and now both JB and I are feeling low on patience. It’s turning into this unpleasant nightly thing that starts with the potty visit and the pleading to try and poop, Riley’s subsequent whining and crying, then the inevitable messy diaper change.
He’s a smart boy but stubborn as a goddamned mule, and I’m just not sure what to try at this point. I know we shouldn’t be showing him that we’re irritated or disappointed, but it’s awfully hard not to.
Any ideas?
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