And Then This Happened.

Six months last week. 

She’s crawling, it sure isn’t pretty and it has us scrambling to baby proof.  She’s 90th percentile for height and 50th for weight, exactly like her brother.  Her favorite food is mango.  She hates peas.  She eats her toes at every opportunity.

And she’s clearly picking Dave over me. 

Already.

Finnisms.

Finn: Well my Fruity Cheerios are mushy now because I went poop. 
*Pause*
Finn: Well, I went poop in the toilet, not in my cereal.

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Finn: Hi Dave.
Dave: Finnegan, what are you supposed to call me?
Finn: I don't know.
Me: Finn, apologize to your Daddy.
Finn: Sorry, Dave.

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Two weeks later…

Finn {talking to Tate who is crying}:  Awww did David leave you? 

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The Davester was putting Cars 2 in the dvd player… 
Finn: Hey!  Did you wash your hands? 
Dave: *blink, blink* Yes. 
Finn: I don’t want my CD all greasy, it’s from Christmas!
Dave: Ok, mini Dave, I appreciate your OCD-ness. 
Finn:  Hey, my name is not Dave!

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Finn: WHAT is wrong with my FOOT?!?! 
Finn: It feels like it’s got SPARKLES on it!

Bread Pudding with Bourbon Cream Sauce

If your new year resolution was to lose weight, you might want to skip this one.  When the weather gets colder, we like to have heartier, warmer, satisfying foods and dessert is no exception!  One of our favorites is bread pudding, the perfect ending to a winter meal.  You can top it with ice cream or store bought caramel sauce too, but a little Vanilla Bourbon Cream Sauce will add an extra layer of warmth to the dish.

Bread Pudding

• 6 cups challah {if you can’t find challah, substitute brioche or in a pinch french bread}
• 1/2 stick butter, melted
• 1 c whole milk
• 2 c heavy cream
• 8 egg yolks
• 3/4 c sugar {I use sugar with vanilla beans stored in it}
• 1 T good quality vanilla or vanilla bean paste {I used my DIY Bourbon Vanilla}
• pinch of salt
• 1/2 t cinnamon
• dash of nutmeg
• 1/2 t almond extract, optional

Cut the challah into 1” cubes, toast in the oven until crisp, but not dark.  To do this, I toasted at 300 degrees for 5 minutes, took it out of the oven and turned the cubes, turned the oven off and put the tray back in for another 5 minutes.

Set aside 2 cups of toasted bread.  Melt butter and toss the remaining 4 {heaping} cups of toasted bread cubes with it. 

While bread is toasting, whisk the milk, cream, egg yolks, sugar, vanilla, salt, cinnamon, & nutmeg in a large mixing bowl.  Mix in the buttered bread cubes and pour into a baking dish.  Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Press the remaining 2 cups of toasted bread into the top of the soaked bread mixture.  You will want them to soak up as much of the liquid as possible, but still remain crisp. 

Bake for 50-60 minutes, the center should be jiggly, but not runny when pressed.  Allow to sit for 20 minutes to cool and serve with Bourbon Cream Sauce.

  

  

Vanilla Bourbon Cream Sauce slightly adapted from the Commander’s Kitchen recipe on Epicurious

• 1 1/2 c heavy cream
• 2 t cornstarch
• 2 T cold water
• 1/3 c sugar {I used sugar with vanilla beans stored in it}
• 1/4 c bourbon {I used my DIY Bourbon Vanilla here}

If you don’t use vanilla sugar and the Bourbon Vanilla, add:

• 1 vanilla bean, scraped –or- 2 T vanilla bean paste {a good quality pure vanilla extract can be substituted here, maybe it’s psychological, but I love seeing the flecks of vanilla in the sauce so use the bean or the paste if you can}

Enjoy!

Goals for 2012.

I have five goals for 2012.  Resolutions can make you feel like a failure by February, goals can keep you striving all year long.

1. Go to bed earlier than midnight… or 1 am… or 2 am during the week.  I really need to work on this.  It is so easy to get sucked into doing things at night when the kids and the Davester are fast asleep.  Just catching up on my blog reading, just one more load of laundry, just one last chapter, just putting these dishes away… all not good excuses for missing sleep that my body desperately needs.
2. Re-vamp our family budget so we can start saving more.  We’ve been slackers in this area the last half of 2011 and it’s amazing how quickly that money can disappear when it’s not being saved.  A new house is on the agenda in the next two years so we’re going to amp up our savings.
3. Say YES more.  I say ‘no’ a whole lot.  To Finn, to my friends, to my family, to opportunity.  I want to say yes a lot more in 2012.
4. Aim higher.  A few surprises happened in 2011 that showed me just exactly what I can achieve if I put my mind to it.  It’s time to set the bar higher, the goals loftier, and enjoy the challenge of making things happen that I never thought possible. 
5. Have more sex.  Yep.  I said it.  Having an infant can suck the {sex} life out of your marriage if you let it.  You’re tired.  You’re breastfeeding.  You’re busy.  You don’t feel sexy.  All valid points, yes, but good sex trumps all of them.  Every time.

What are your goals for 2012?