Old Fashioned Fun (Inspired by Paw Patrol)

You all know I am all about the TV watching around here and my kids have never been without that background noise turned on as soon as we wake up in the morning since they were newborns.  And imagine...not a one of them has problems focusing at school or symptoms of ADHD.  I held out with the kid cartoons as long as possible but once that gate opened around the time Tessa was born there has been no turning back and the Paw Patrol, Curious George, Blaze, Thomas and other beloved characters have been regular visitors in our house every day.  I completely zone these shows out.  One morning, which I don't remember this happening because I was probably sitting at the computer in the kitchen pretending to pay attention to what the kids were saying, there was a seasonal episode of Paw Patrol on and the kids were confused to see the pups making garlands for their tree out of popcorn.  I explained that this was an old fashioned way people decorated trees when there weren't a lot of stores around that sold decorations and maybe they didn't have enough money to buy fancy beads because in the "old days" they weren't as easy to make in factories.   Speaking of that, where are all these colorful balls, beads, stocking weights and fake trees produced?  I imagine a very magical factory but it's probably just another factory in China.

Justin has once again been at the oil spill site all week and I could feel myself melting down yesterday afternoon, surrounded by a huge mess so bad I didn't know where to start dealing with it and all the kids whining and fighting.  So I told them we could make popcorn strings if they cleaned up the table after we ate and were good.  This wasn't enough to cause a peaceful and enjoyable meal with Tessa, who only wants to eat junk, junk and more junk.  She whines all day, from the moment she wakes up, for granola bars, cheese-its, goldfish crackers and veggie straws (these are mostly just chips with the word veggie in the title but it makes parents feel better) and pretty much eats no protein, fruits or vegetables unless I place them in her mouth or place strict limits on her being allowed to do anything else.  And, imagine this, she is always crabby and irritated.  I wonder why.  I mean, I know I feel pretty good if I only eat simple carbs all day but maybe that's not her problem.  It's just a guess.   I only let her have snacks at certain times of day but I am ready to pitch them all in the trash.  Oh...she will eat berries.  Forget all seasonable, affordable fruit like bananas, apples, avocados, delicious December oranges, pears and peaches from little fruit cups, pomegranates, etc.  She will eat berries which, this time of year, cost $5 for a tiny carton that doesn't even hold enough to serve three kids.  And none for the adults in the house, obviously.  But, one kid was excited about the popcorn thing and that was enough to get him on his best behavior at least and he even wiped off the table.

This activity didn't make a terrible mess although there was a lot of broken popcorn laying around.  We have an air popper so you can make it without any oil or salt which no one has ever done before because BORING but it was perfect for this.

Ben looks like he has a Mohawk in these pictures.  He really doesn't.  Must be the way his hat smashed his hair down at school.  

So here is the chain Tessa and I (mostly I) made.  

It really does add some classic texture to the tree.  It would be fun to have a themed tree with all white one day and use popcorn chains.  I'll consider that in about ten years when I have time to care about stuff like that. Or it would be fun to decorate an outdoor tree and watch the birds and squirrels enjoy a treat.  I feel like there is an old children's book from my childhood where that happened but the details are very faded. 

Ben hung his chain by the stockings.

And look closely...

I can't believe I did this but after they went to bed there was a bowl with some bland, flavorless popcorn sitting there and stray needles were littering the table so I thought, "why not?" and me and "Shelfie" made a mini string of popcorn.  Hehe.  

In other seasonal news, I have made three big batches of spritz cookies this year.  One for Thanksgiving, one for Ben's Boy Scout bowling party and a third for a cookie exchange with friends.  I have been trying to perfect these for years since I grew up eating them and they are so simply delicious.  Every time, they have been too hard for my liking.  I like cookies to fall under the "are there raw eggs in this?" category and it seems like my spritz cookies always end up brown on the bottom and crunchy.  Well, I think this year I found the recipe and THE SECRET...BEHOLD:

Look at the perfectly un-browned back of that cookie!  And they are chewy and melty and perfect.  I read on an internet article or blog when searching for a recipe to use that it helps to place baking sheets in the freezer for a few minutes before you dispense the cookies and bake.  I suppose it makes them take longer to heat up on the bottom.  So I tried it and it seems to work!  Also, almost any recipe says to bake 10-12 minutes.  When I see directions like that I default to the lower number but I started baking them for 8 minutes and when I use my fancy ridged pan, shown below, I reduce it to 7.  

Check out big chunky up there in the corner!  Sometimes the press malfunctions a bit...

Oh, and also I go heavy on the extracts.  Almond extract should never be added in an amount less than a teaspoon, in my opinion.  My new favorite recipe said half that.  WHUT!?  And a big glug of vanilla never hurt anything either.  I think they are good.  At the boy scout party I saw a dad walk away from the table holding a big stack of them in his hand.