Monday 28 November 2016

NY Resolution Recipe #18: Cinnamon Buns With a Twist!

Okay, so I still have a few weeks to publish another 34 recipes in order to complete my NY Resolutions here!

So, the idea of these cinnamon buns is just in design!
Use your favourite recipe for cinnamon bun making and have a go with trying them in this shape!
(I made these in school and Finnish sweets almost always seem to have cardamom in their dough and in this particular recipe - it was a cardamom-based filling...so then I snuck in cinnamon!)

This is the recipe I use for the dough using my bread machine.

Step 1: roll your dough out into a rectangle about ½ inch thick.


          
Step 2: Spread your filling generously!



Step 3: Fold your dough - it'll stretch!


Step 4: Cut strips 




Step 5: Twist each strip tightly together.
Step 6:  Twist it on itself and tuck in the end to secure the base from coming undone.

Step 7: Place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper with some space in between and bake accordingly.

Step 8: ENJOY!
:)
BIMU

Thursday 17 November 2016

A Side of Autism: Lack of Decor

The holidays are quickly approaching and you would never know looking in our household.

Every year since V-Man was 2, I have drawn a tree on the glass window of the balcony door or balcony window with snowflakes, an angel and lights etc.

Why? I honestly cannot be bothered to go buy a real tree and have to deal with the possibility of allergies (I don't think I have any - but I don't want to find out 20€+ later), watering it, needles everywhere and the inevitable - kids yanking it down and breaking ornaments or lights in their mouths etc.
As for plastic or fake trees - they're lovely and all - but can still be knocked down repeatedly.

It's hard to get into the spirit of the holidays I suppose - but I rely on the fresh snow outside and my sanity being rather calm and happy because I don't have to keep an extra set of ears/eyes/hands on the kids while I try to do anything and everything.
(Not saying the Hubster doesn't help - he totally does!!  I just mean if he happens to be in the bathroom or out with the dogs - then it's a temporary solo parenting job.)

That and I'm sure my neighbourhood appreciates me not yelling my head off every thirty seconds - if we did have a proper any kind of fake/real tree/decorations for the kids to tear down repeatedly.

However, this year - there's a new shop downtown (the same place where I got his YES and NO buttons) and they have some cute tree alternatives.
There is a little glass Christmas tree that I am thinking of getting and putting out ONLY on Christmas Day morning for present opening.

Of course we have stockings for the kiddos and that's that.
We will probably have our friends over for Christmas dinner again, as we have had in the past - and that's always super fun!  We all end up with super sore tummies from eating so much but that's the joy of the holidays for me.

We do try and catch up with family and friends back in Canada - but of course, Skype usually crashes those days because everyone is trying to reach back home.

As for the kids:

V-Man doesn't get Christmas - as far as we can tell.  He doesn't care about the Santa walking around the grocery store or at the Christmas markets (because he refuses to go to those) and I'm not sure if we will wrap presents this year or just put them in individual big boxes (or reusable shopping bags) for the kids to haul out.

I kind of feel bad wasting wrapping paper and tape...although, I do love wrapping gifts! HA!

A-Man remembers Christmas.  He talked about it for around a week after last year's and this year he has already asked about it!!

M-Girl kind of tags along with whatever A-Man says and whether or not she "gets it" - we shall find out.  She mimics him a lot and repeats things he says as well.  So it's kind of difficult to tell if she has her own true and real opinions yet or if they're just copied off of a particular big brother.

I guess the biggest adjustment for the holiday season is no day-care.  We could put the kids in one but then we would have to do a lot of running about and it's nice to have the kids home and try to remember to NOT nap the whole break (I mean me).

I guess the point of this lengthy post is:

  • Don't sweat the small or big stuff.  Trust me - two years ago,  the Hubster went and broke the bathroom sink (massive chunk out of it) 5 minutes before our guests walked into the door.  6 adults and 5 kids...and no usable bathroom sink....and of course my kitchen sink was overflowing with pots and pans!
  • It can always be worse.  It's my go-to philosophy.  Kids are hyped up on sugar?  Kids won't sleep because of Santa coming?  It's okay - they make wine for a reason.
  • Sleep when you can.  I get you - trust me.  My kids have been waking up for the past few MONTHS between 4:30-6am (including summer holidays).  
  • It's almost over.  I love the holiday season as much as the next person - and while I look forward to it - I also look forward to it being over too!
The main thing is that everyone has a safe and happy (as possible) holiday season.
Cheers!
BIMU

Sunday 6 November 2016

Ciao Birthday Parties - An Update!

So, it's been ages - sorry and all that jazz.

I've been swamped with my work practice (done that in October) and now back in school and slightly bored out of my mind!

Bear in mind I was cooking and prepping food for minimum 1500 people - and now, 100.

So, it's a massive change in pace and I'm back in school and trying to survive studying in Finnish!

Kids are all doing great and are all alive!

V-Man and A-Man recently had birthdays (7 and 5) and while I love throwing a birthday party for the two of them (since their birthdays are 2 weeks apart) - I decided not to this year.
Why?

  • Time - I simply didn't have time to book a place, grocery shop for the party and plan.
  • Money - Trying to save some as much as possible because we have no idea where we will be in the new year.
  • Stuff - While we appreciate gifts from our friends for the kids - because we don't know where we will be - we didn't want to have extra things to pack or unfortunately, have to give away!
So instead of a party this year - we agreed to take the boys on their big day to Toys R Us and let them pick one toy.
Then went out for dinner of their choosing and then ice-cream.
I also baked a cake at home for us to enjoy.

This was most effective and simple.
The boys seem to have a good time and I'll be baking V-Man's birthday cake today!

At first I felt bad for not having a party because for us - it was a great way to see all of our friends in one spot (that wasn't our home) and socialize.
Then I just realized it wasn't worth the stress and time/money to do all of it.
Nothing against our friends!!

We just have been swamped with job applications everywhere, school and so on.  
The stress levels in the household have caused my cycles to go psycho and I'm finding myself having "shark week" every 2-3 weeks instead of once a month like a normal woman!

And I found that having a little less stress to be a good thing! :)  Now if only my body would agree and back off!

I've opted to go to the gym at night now once the kids are asleep - I've been having problems sleeping and found that it helps me to sleep better and clears my head from the entire day.
As opposed to just exercising after school and being mentally exhausted by the time the kids go to bed.

Until next time!  Which should be relatively soon as I have to do a lot of recipe writing for the New Year Resolutions...and I have an autism-related post to write up too!
BIMU

NY Resolution Recipe 17: Death By Chocolate Cookies!

I had a request for the recipe for my Death By Chocolate Cookies - so finally, I am sitting down and doing it! (Apologies it's been 3 weeks?!)

*Warning: I'm not responsible for how many you eat and if you actually die from loving these/eating these cookies! :D*

What you need (all measurements are approximate as I use a 0.4dl coffee mug to measure ingredients!):
  • 1 bar of white chocolate chopped in chunks (200g)
  • 1 bar of milk chocolate chopped in chunks (200g)
  • 1 bar of dark chocolate chopped in chunks (200g)
  • ½ Cup of butter (room temperature)
  • ½ Cup of brown sugar (soft)
  • 1/4 Cup of white sugar
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 tsp of vanilla extract
  • 1½-2 Cups of all purpose white flour 
  • 2 heaping tablespoons of cocoa powder
  • 1 tsp of baking powder
What to do:
  • Pre-heat oven to 175*C.
  • Line baking pan with parchment paper or silicone mat.
  • Beat butter and sugars until smooth with an electric mixer.
  • Add eggs and vanilla extract and mix.
  • Add flour, baking powder and cocoa powder and mix until dough is soft and well combined.
  • Stir in all chunks of chocolate until everything looks chocolate-y and delicious.
  • Drop cookie dough by the spoonful - making sure you leave an inch or so between.
  • Bake for 12 minutes and allow to cool because you know - melted chocolate hurts and burns! :P
Makes approximately 16 cookies.
Enjoy!
BIMU