In the land of the blind . . .

Sooooo, just peeking in.  Will catch up with detail sometime soon but today was "call complaint day".  Yes, I'm that customer.  The one that calls only when something is wrong.  In my defense, I blab to others when I love a product but complain directly to the manufacturer when something goes wrong.  No, this is not a blog post in hopes that the manufacturer will contact me arms filled with apologetic product samples and defensive PR.   If you've been around for a while you know it's not my style and I don't even run ads on this blog with good reason.  It's my personal sandbox and I like to remain transparent about my intentions.

 

Back to complaint day.  If it's true that in the land of the blind, the one eyed man is king, then in the age of the internet, the ADHD customer is heard.  Back in the day one had to take pen to paper and more importantly, remember to do so at a later date and time, past the moment of irritation with widget #1 going wonky.  Meh.  That requires a brain that functions in a neurotypical manner.  Strike one against Marielle.  Then you'd have to wait to hear back from the offending company and not look blankly at the letter responding quite seriously to a list of complaints you forgot the minute the postman picked up the original complaint letter.  Strike two.  Usually, included in the letter would be a couple of options to resolve your complaint which would be wonderful if you had not already replaced wonky widget #1 with newly fabulous widget #2 from the competitor.   Like three seconds after the first one failed.  Strike three.

Enter the instant age of the internet and now, even we task-list-challenged, three steps ahead but two dollars short ADHDers can join the land of the complaining consumer.  Two seconds after widget #1 fails you've googled HQ and are on the phone with a spectacularly bored customer service rep who will now get an earful of what's ailing you.  Today's complaints involved 3m command hooks (the fastener of choice for those of us who loathe to paint) and my facial toner.

Exhibit A:

Sigh.  See that little black box at the top?  Some people get excited to see something New or Improved but I just shudder.  I hate when companies rework something that's already working.  I'm that 80 year old woman who wants her original Pine Sol formula from 1976 thankyouverymuch.  My toner worked well.  Didn't break me out (a miracle), irritate the heck out of my skin (a challenge that came with age), slightly lower in crazy toxins and fragrance free.  Do they know how long it took to research and then track down the perfect toner for me?  Do they know that I simultaneously had windows open for Vitacost, EWG, Makeupalley and random google reviews to cross check each toner as I went down the list of possibilities?  No, but they heard about it today when I told Avalon Organics that now the toner foamed up on my face like I had a bad case of rabies.  New and improved my butt.  I was offered a refund, which will take close to 6 weeks to process.  Woohoo, that's one amazing turnaround.  In the meantime I'm moving on to widget #2.

P.S.  I haven't been neglecting comments.  Somehow I was not being notified and oops, suddenly a ton of unanswered comments when I make it a point to respond to each one.  I promise I'll get around to it.  Better late than never right?

Project 52 week, uhhhh . . .

Yeah I missed two weeks.  Not because I didn't take the pictures but because I kept trying to formulate a post in my head and by the time I did that would not have the time to post it.  A bit of sickness, some all purpose busyness and before you know a week  . . . or two . . . has past.

So I missed the second week of the seasons theme.  Appropriately I caught what I expect to be the last of the rare North Carolina snowfalls of the season.

Last week's theme was lifestyle and right about now my lifestyle includes evening sessions of this.  Mindless knitting that an ADHD person can crank out while focusing other mindless things like food network or shows I won't even mention on Bravo.  If anything it at least makes me feel productive even if the load of clean laundry remains sitting next to my knitting basket unfolded.  Sometimes sanity trumps the to do list.

I have managed to do other things but somehow, perhaps the winter blahs, don't make it feel worthy of documentation.  I promise to post more when the dreariness wears off, or I get more sleep.  Whichever comes first.

We did it again.

I've mentioned we have a little tradition that Mr. Maricucu started of having the older kids build a bear for the baby. Yes I know the stuffed animals are dust collectors, but pretty well loved dust collectors around here.




Well, we figured it was high time to get the baby her first pal and seeing as how the toddler kept walking off with the older brothers' bears all the time we added a nicely understuffed new one to her collection as well. It's amazing to see how much the boys have grown since those last pictures. Those two grown boys you see below are now 7 and 5 respectively. The baby that we built the bear for last time is now a super active 2 year old.




The more things change . . . well you know.

Twofer.

Today's post is both my Project 52 post for this week as well as my latest obsession. Chai. It almost sounds like "sigh" which is precisely what I do when the spices hit the heat of the tea. My body actually sighs. This week's theme for Project 52 is Seasons and chai has become my ritual for the winter season.

Besides, any recipe that starts with popping open a can of condensed milk has my interest peaked from the get go. Technically this recipe is for a chai mix that keeps in the fridge for up to 6 months (not that yours will last as long if you actually like chai). But what's chai? Spiced, milky, sweet indian tea. Usually the spices are simmered for a while in a combination of milk/water then strained and the tea briefly brewed in the spiced liquid. Black peppercorns, cardomom, cloves, ginger and cinnamon all are common chai spices. If you like holiday spice you're likely to love chai.

Now a while back I was catching up with reading Amy Karol's blog and saw her post a chai mix. At the time I was not a tea drinker but I bookmarked the recipe. In fact, I'm pretty sure I've 'fessed up on here somewhere that my preference for tea has always involved the powdered instant iced tea which horrifies the sweet tea soul of my southern bred husband. I just was never into hot beverages and if I wanted caffeine then I was either going to drink cola or the vile powdered iced tea. Period. End of Story. Or so I thought.

Fast forward to this year when I'm shaking things up including now drinking tea - real tea for some ADD coping benefits. I won't go into the long winded explanation but it's all about the l-theanine and dopamine if you want to google and how it helps my slightly off kilter brain. Hello, my name is Marielle and I'm a black tea drinker. First, I drank it cold and unsweetened like some bitterly brewed medicine that I had to endure several times a day. Quickly I realized that was no way to do things so I splashed a bit of lemonade into my sipping tea and Arnold Palmered my way through the day feeling quite devious if I say so myself. I also revisited Alton Brown's wisdom on tea because I figured there had to be a more common sense approach to tea. Right away I learned how to brew a smooth cup. After downing my first ever cup of smooth, hot tea and actually enjoying it, I remembered the chai concentrate recipe. I hit the pantry for the ingredients and mixed it up. I tried it, let he kids try it and then had to fend them off the dregs of my cup only with the promise that I would fix them their own. Definitely a success.

The original recipe calls for cardamom which I don't keep around the house so I increased the cinnamon. I also remembered my mom mentioning that in Dominican Republic allspice is referred to as the peppercorn of the Caribbean so in went the allspice. I'm sure you could try ginger or even *gasp* stick to the recipe and use cardamom.

Chai Concentrate
adapted from The Oregonian

1 (14oz) can of sweetened condensed milk
1 teaspoon granulated sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg - definitely try to use fresh
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

First the labor intensive part. Opening up the condensed milk can and not licking it all up. Please don't. That's no example for the kids and really you need the milk for the chai. Priorities people, priorities.




You'll notice my fancy condensed milk utensil. Yes a butter knife. Growing up my mother always grabbed one before the can opener since it's just much sturdier than a spatula and a bit easier to get into the can. This time it also works as a great stirring stick that is again much faster than a spatula. Dump in the sugar and spices then give it a good stir.




Tada! That's it. Well almost it. Let the mix rest 24 hours and allow the spices to bloom, flavoring the condensed milk as well. Trust me, you need to wait.




Just tuck it in the fridge and wait until the next day.




Through the magic of blog time here's the mix all ready to go. Now there's a slight layer of bubbles/scum looking stuff at the top. Do not fret, it's just the air bubbles from stirring that worked themselves to the surface. Just give the mix another stir.






Next you'll brew your tea. Oh that tag? Yes, Luzianne. I'm trying to finish what I have in the pantry before trying other brands but if handled well this one's pretty smooth. Oh the mason jar? Well since my buddy the keurig produces my hot water and I hate washing dishes I skip the tea pot and brew directly into a quart mason jar. I drink the first cup as hot chai and then the subsequent cups I drink iced. I just chuck a lid on the jar and stick it in the fridge. Fancy teapots are cute, but a relaxed me is even cuter.




While your tea is brewing, dump a regular heaping tablespoon (or two if you dare) of chai concentrate into your teacup.




Now this is where the rubber meets the road. In one corner, our piping hot tea. In the other corner the chai mix. Who will reign supreme?




Pour the hot tea over the chai mix . . .




. . . stir. Then watch the magic happen.




Sigh. Milky, sweet, spicey goodness and a hot cup to warm your hands.

Project 52. Scale/Size Week 2

Hmmmm, late. Surprise, surprise!

I had a hard time coming up with something theme related this week. So I took the easy way out and shot some more origami stars that the toddler ran off with and dismantled. Her hand was not supposed to be part of the photos but it was a wonderful deviation. One regulation sized star, one teeny star and a quarter as well as my lens cap for scale.

Uh, ma'am what do you have in there?

Oh just a drum,




Some maracas,




A tambourine,




And this lethal quira (thank goodness it wasn't in her carry on),




Yes that would be my mom, aka Abuela's doing. Now before each parent cringes in horror at the thought of a grandparent showing up with the equivalent of a percussion section as a gift, I asked for it. I really did ask for it. Promise. See in June when my mom was partying her soon to be 60 year young patooty at my grandfather's birthday party she mentioned she was having trouble coming up with gift ideas to bring back for the boys. I told her that she didn't have to bring anything but if she felt she had to that I would love some instruments for the kids and to use in our homeschooling. No I have no visions of us as the Partridge Family, just wanting to let the kids bang out their preferred rhythm without worrying about expensive gear. One of the markets in DR sells these for a song (ha!) and I remembered how much fun we had as kids with the drums just like that flag painted one on my table.

That would be how my mom found herself explaining away not one but two sets of instruments (for both sets of grandchildren) to a US customs agent. A whole suitcase worth of instruments mind you. She just shrugged her shoulders and said, "it's for my grandkids" and apparently he believed her. Like I said thank goodness the guira picks (3 very pokey metal tines) were not on her carry on or I might have gotten a call from a TSA agent holding my mom for questioning. But thanks to her we now have a rocking family band to which we've added the collection of harmonicas that have somehow made their way to our home over the last couple of years.




And if you come to my house a certain little two year old might treat you to her version of the blues.




Here's a proper use of those instruments and featuring the voice of the Dominican equivalent of John Lennon, Bob Dylan and P Diddy all rolled into one - Juan Luis Guerra. I dare you not to get up and dance.

Size/Scale. Week 1

This week's theme being size and scale you'd think I would have plenty of objects and little subjects to photograph. However when you hand a huge restaurant sized spoon to a toddler they run off to bang the front door. Go figure. Back to the drawing board and inanimate objects.

Et voila! My crochet hooks. Love the colors, love the gaudy sheen and most of all they take direction well.

Legos, Ancient Egypt and Fireman Sam

No, I'm not going to play some funky version of Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon. Just another homeschooling snapshot.




Around the holidays we were reading up on ancient Egypt, mummies, pyramids and by virtue the Sphinx. At one point we pulled out the legos to build a pyramid. My boys told me there was no way I could build a pyramid at which time I figured out they thought I meant a real pyramid. Doh! I'm sure the puny one we built somehow did not compare to their imagination.




However, my boys in all their attention to detail decided to build the chamber attached to the pyramid where the Pharaoh's body was prepared for burial. Oh yeah and that conversation on mummification? Grossed out momma way more than the kids. The oldest put together the chamber and then I fiddled around with a little lego person to build a loosely interpreted Sphinx. Loosely being the operative word. One of my boys looked at my woebegone Sphinx and said, "here momma, let me try." then proceeded to build a larger Sphinx with paws and a body that actually fit the scale of the lego head. I felt like I was in front of this guy:






After a while I left them to continue playing while I fixed lunch. When I returned to announce lunch was ready I was greeted with this. From our favorite TV show Fireman Sam, the lighthouse from Ponty Pandy. Built right on top of the pyramid, Sphinx and attached chamber. How's that for historically accurate? Can you say, "I love rabbit holes."

Beginnings. Week 2

The second half of the beginnings theme for Project 52. This time it's personal. Back in November I found this nifty little people typing thing that's related to how you dress. So the new photo off to the right? That's my after. The necklace on the book? That's my "type" of jewelry and yes it definitely fits me to a T despite my aversion to accessories for years. The page to which the book is open? Yes it's my type and if you know me in real life you'll chuckle at the inset quote.

My beginning though, was spurred on by the external makeover. I've done quite a bit of introspection since then, both related and unrelated which has peeled off a big 'ol bandaid. I'm hoping this is the year for healing old wounds as well as the beginning of a healed me.

Soap.

Random tip from moi: Unwrap your bars of soap and tuck them in your linen closet, underwear drawer or just put them on a shelf. Not only will they freshen your towels but the bars dry a bit more making them last longer in the shower.



I remember reading this somewhere and want to think it was another Martha tip. What can I say I love Martha for all of the nontraditional reasons. I love that she's picky and yes a little compulsive. I love that the more she lets loose on her shows lately the more real and endearing she becomes. I also love that she goes overboard in her explanations. Watching her shows as a kid (oh yes I did), I loved the mini schoolings I got on fussy and old fashioned norms. They lined right up with some of the ones my mom recalled from her own childhood and shared with me.

Beginnings. Week 1

First, a belated Happy New Year! There have been a host of changes for our family including the very surprising move of my little sister and her mirror image family to NC. Yes, she and her were both crazy enough to have four kids too and with both sets of cousins close in age we parents are anticipating some creative hijinks in the future. It's been pretty neat to have some family around since both Mr. Maricucu and I moved up here 10 years ago on our own. Now we get to inflict *cough* spread our fabulousness on some relatives. Be afraid, be very afraid.

On a different note if you see some cryptic photography posts in my blog it's me messing with the camera again. I've decided to try my hand at Project 52 which is just taking a picture once a week to match a selected theme. With the attention issue doing something like Project 365 would have been a guaranteed failure. Even with the weekly version I'm not making any promises and will feel free to do it the Marielle way. Which means whenever I remember.

For the first two weeks the theme is Beginnings and here's mine. I sewed 27 of these little newborn diapers for my second before he was born. That same baby just turned five years old the other day and I can't believe he ever fit in these (that's a matchbox car for scale). Since then two other siblings have worn these wee diapers and they've been packed away for the last time. See it's the beginning of new stage for our family as we slowly move from the land of babies and toddlers into one with biggish kids who have some pretty interesting personalities.




I will say I've looked forward to this in between stage of big enough to be cool but young enough to still need momma and daddy. I do have an inkling that it's quite fleeting. My mother, my grandmother and many an experienced mom all confirm that in far too short a time they'll be off having babies of their own. But for now I'm freezing time with the shutter and looking at them in awe as they transform.

Mmmmmm, hot cocoa

Seriously is there ever a time one can utter the words hot cocoa and not tack on mmmm, yum or groan? I know I can't. Growing up Dominican meant we had plenty of hot chocolate/buttered toast breakfasts. However visiting my grandparents in Dominican Republic proper meant you were on the euro meal schedule. Hearty breakfast, large midday meal, and a light supper. The evening supper could be anything from a fresh bowl of milk based oatmeal, a light meatless spaghetti or hot chocolate and a toasted cheese sandwich. For a picky eater, making it through the minefield that was a large midday meal was worth it to finally get a treat for supper.




Suffice it to say I make hot cocoa/buttered toast breakfasts often in my home. And if there's even a whisper of cold weather then we might break out the hot cocoa for an afternoon warm up too. I typically make it on the stovetop. Just the side of the Hershey's cocoa canister recipe, nothing fancy (except for the homemade vanilla). Made with whole milk it's very tasty and if you really want to gussy it up do what my mom says they did growing up - add a large spoonful of peanut butter while stirring up the hot chocolate and beat it frothy with a molinillo.

However somehow one of these little puppies made it to our home.




I'm not saying how or who's responsible but it's definitely been put to use. Although as much as I like coffee I can't drink that all day long nor make it a habit of drinking it everyday. I began to think it might be nice to have instant hot chocolate. Then I thought some more. Most of the recipes for homemade hot cocoa mix involved non-dairy creamer - filled with hydrogenated oils. Remember me? I'm not afraid of the fat but I don't consider hydrogenated oils real fat. I'll eat butter, olive oil and coconut oil until the cows come home but hydrogenated oils are just something we avoid as much as possible. Then I remembered that good 'ol Alton Brown (the loquito as my mom has dubbed him, translates to "the little crazy one") has a hot cocoa recipe and he too isn't fond of freaky deaky ingredients. Sure enough his recipe for hot cocoa involves real sugar, full fat powdered milk and natural cocoa plus a few other ingredients. Better yet, it could be made with hot water *eyeing Keurig in the corner*. Meaning the perfect storm of indulgence had now descended upon my kitchen. Hot cocoa in under a minute? Here's what I thought:




Give yourself bonus points if you remember the movie that featured this song. That's back in the day for you young whipper snappers.

Back to the hot cocoa. Within two days I had tracked down full fat powdered milk. Most of the stuff in the brick and mortar stores is non-fat which to me tastes like dishwater even when it's not powdered. However if you're lucky enough to live near a large Hispanic population or near some fancy food stores you'll find NIDO powdered milk or some European full fat powdered milks. I bought the NIDO (in a can that were it not for the hot cocoa mix would last me until next year). Be sure to buy regular NIDO milk and not the NIDO Kinder (which is a fortified drink/formula).






Now I'm used to adding vanilla to my hot chocolate and since I'm efficient (read: lazy) I mulled over how to add it to the mix. I thought about taking my little leftover pieces of vanilla bean and grinding them up with the powdered sugar first to have the full vanilla flavor but then worried my food processor might just gum them up. Plus that's too much work (yes I just said that). I finally remembered that my homemade vanilla is just alcohol and would not compromise the shelf-stability of my cocoa mix. So I drizzled in some vanilla to the powdered sugar step and made sure it was well blended. Also, don't skip the cayenne even if you think you won't like it. The cayenne makes the chocolate taste even more rich not spicy. However, here's a tip. If you do like a bit of heat/spiciness then add a few more shakes of cayenne into the powder in your own cup, stir then add the hot water and stir some more. You'll get tons of back of the throat heat with no burning on your tongue due to the dairy. Absolutely delicious.

Oh and if you're *ahem* running out of gift ideas this makes an awesome gift for pretty much anyone (barring dairy allergies). However, on that note this is the perfect thing for people with dairy allergies if you use safe brands. Just make the base mix without the powdered milk and add about 50% of the recommended mix amount to your cup of warmed milk alternative (nut milks, soy milks, etc.) Pow! Safe hot cocoa mix for your dairy sensitive loved ones. Also, if you're wanting to incorporate xylitol or erythritol as the sweetener instead of all or part of the sugar it's quite simple to make a powdered version. Just whiz up 1 cup sweetener with 2 tablespoons of cornstarch in a food processor until it's powdered. Xylitol pretty much substitutes in equal quantities (although watch the um, side effects) and erythritol is one I haven't used but is only 70% as sweet as sugar thus you'd need roughly 2 1/2 cups for this recipe. Again I haven't tested it with the alternative sweeteners, so proceed with caution.


Hot Cocoa Mix
adapted from Alton Brown

2 cups powdered sugar
2-3 teaspoons of vanilla (no water/glycerin based stuff, only alcohol based as I haven't tested the stability of anything else and mold is not yummy in hot cocoa)
1 cup unsweetened cocoa (dutch process is listed in the recipe but I've used the natural as well with no ill effects)
2 1/2 cups powdered milk
1 teaspoon table salt (any fine salt will work)
2 teaspoons cornstarch
1 pinch cayenne pepper (about 1/8 of a teaspoon, maybe less)


I read somewhere that when you make homemade mixes like this, the most important step is to mix it well either by sifting or some other thorough method so as to incorporate the powdered milk very well and avoid the telltale look of not quiet mixed in cocoa powder. I immediately thought of the food processor but if you have a big blender (this is a pretty big batch) then use that.

First add the powdered sugar to the food processor.




Then drizzle in the vanilla. I eyeballed it to about 2-3 teaspoons.




Then mix well. I found I had to scrape the side and bottom a bit to make sure the wet vanilla blended well back into the powdered sugar. It looked a bit like biscuit dough right before adding the wet ingredients.




After blending in the vanilla well, add all the other ingredients to the food processor.




Blend well again scraping down the bottom and sides to be sure that everything is thoroughly mixed. You may want to take a whiff right about now.




That's it. No really. All that's left is to package it up. Around here that usually means a mason jar but I'm eying that humongo powdered milk can for the next double or triple batch of cocoa mix.




Label it for family members who will inevitably want to make cup after cup of cocoa. For our tastes I've found 3-4 heaping tablespoons (or soup spoons) for 6 oz of cocoa ideal but tweak it for your tastes and then label the jar accordingly. See, I just gave you permission to make a test run all for yourself. You know, for tasting purposes of course.




So how easy is this? Well let's take a look. Just plop the powder in the mug or cup.




Add hot water and stir.




If you've got some whipped cream hanging around then by all means please guild the lily.




But then don't tell the kids because this is all that will be left.