I really miss my cats. We’ve been away for almost a week and that’s far too long to go without scritching an animal. I still have no idea how people live without pets. None whatsoever.
This picture was taken last week during bath time. Murray likes to watch Emory in the bathtub. I think he’s overprotective, fascinated and curious. And we all know the saying about curiosity and the cat.
Naturally, he slipped and then stood there wondering what the hell had just happened. But the whole getting wet part didn’t really phase him, it was when he tried walking along our slick bamboo floors he became confused.
Anyway, we’re heading home tomorrow and I can’t wait to smooch his fat belly and scritch his brother and sister.
My apologies for slacking so much with the ol’ blog here. We decided sort of last minute to head to the Jersey shore (my folks have a house near Long Beach Island). We were supposed to return to Brooklyn yesterday, but have decided to prolong our stay for another couple of days. I promise to have updates (including pictures!) when we return to Brooklyn.
Also, I did actually have a pretty awesome recipe ready for this week’s Mom It Down but didn’t get around to posting it in time, so I’ve decided to do it the right way next Monday. It’s a bit different from all the rest as it includes passing on up to four starter doughs. That said, is anyone interested in receiving some starter dough from next week’s Mom It Down? Let me know in the comments section here or email me at michele at mihow dot com.
Much thanks to commenter Lillet for pointing these guys out to me. I read through their About Page and had tears in my eyes. What a great idea! I wish I could give all of these men a great big hug. All I can do from here is link to their Web site and hope that people spread the word, donate, send them love mail, whatever.
Forgive me ahead of time for not posting a Mom It Down today. I have had the flu for almost three days; eating has been difficult, baking and cooking even more so. I promise to do something awesome next week, assuming I’m not dead.
Speaking of good health (or lack thereof), my question today is one that Toby and I have been asking one another for years: How do people who work for themselves cover health insurance? How can someone running a small business afford the premiums today? How do you do it? What does a monthly breakdown look like to you? Do you have deductibles? Is it just you or do you have kids?
If you have minute and you happen to be an independent contractor or you run your own business, please take a minute and discuss your health insurance. I find it troubling that in a nation founded by independent, hard-working people individualistic entrepreneurs are becoming a dying breed largely due to the cost of healthcare.
Moms and dads: these are a must have. Don’t have kids? Buy them for someone who does! They’re the perfect birthday gift. Emory loves them. He loves them so much, he carries them around with him all over the house and recites each letter to us.
We got ours at Target, but you can buy them from Amazon as well. I really and completely recommend them. These letters and numbers are currently Em’s favorite toys next to his animals. (Which I will write about at a later date.)
The Munchkin Numbers and Letters stick to the shower and bathtub (as well as the baby!) and they’re educational. What more can a parent ask for?
The only drawback is if you have an oral kid, he or she may enjoy the occasional chew. A few of his letters now have perfect little teeth marks on them.
It’s possible to take it too far. Just ask MeMe Roth resident of the Upper West Side.
When offered any food at school other than the school lunch, Ms. Roth’s children — who shall go nameless since it seems they have enough on, or off, their plates — are instructed to deposit the item into a piece of Tupperware their mother calls a “junk food collector.”
I am all for regulating what my child consumes, but the occasional cupcake, ice pop, or brownie certainly isn’t going to hurt him, nor is going to make him fat. Telling him it’s absolutely forbidden? That’s where I think problems arise. Have we learned nothing from Catholic school girls?
I agree more with what Amster-Burton said regarding the sweet stuff:
“If you’re brave enough to let it be, it’s kind of self-regulating. Efforts to restrict sugar in kids tend to backfire and tend to make kids look for sugar anytime the parents aren’t looking.”
Do parents like Ms. Roth exist everywhere? Or are they based solely out of New York City. I know the answer to this question, but I am a little surprised at just how many parents there are like Ms. Roth in the area. (Granted, there are also a great number who suffer from the opposite problem: they ignore their children to the point of neglect and still others are just simply abusive.)
When it comes to sweets, I let my son indulge fairly regularly. He also loves broccoli, peanuts, every fruit grown on planet earth, and eggs. I think the only food we haven’t given him yet is fast food and highly processed packaged food, although, should he one day discover a Twinkie, I certainly won’t take it away.
Her extreme methods have earned her attention before: The police were called to a YMCA in 2007 when she absconded with the sprinkles and syrups on a table where members were being served ice cream. That was Ms. Roth who called Santa Claus fat on television that Christmas, and she has a continuing campaign against the humble Girl Scout cookies, on the premise that no community activity should promote unhealthy eating.
One must wonder if there’s something else eating (or not eating!) at Ms. Roth.
This is Murray. (Also known as: Murrl, Myrtle Man, Scrtichy, or Fatty Mcpherson.) As of today, I’ve posted about Murray 100 times.
I had thought back around Chapter 80, that I would likely bring Tuesdays With Murray to an end once hitting 100. But now that I’m here, I am just not sure.
I probably won’t write about him every week. But I think the world deserves at least a photo or a video. After all, he’s a pretty awesome cat. And I feel pretty lucking knowing him.
In the past two weeks, I read four news stories about animal cruelty that have and will continue to haunt me for days to come. I won’t link to them here, because I kind of wish I could forget about them and I’d hate to put someone else through it. I’m going to try and keep this positive instead of link to the horrific crimes people commit against these perfectly wonderful creatures.
So! If you’re feeling up for it, I might suggest taking a few minutes out of your day to donate some money (or time!) to your local animal shelter. If you’re looking for a good cause, I might suggest donating to ECC. They are responsible for Murray being alive. There’s also the ASPCA, who deal with some pretty horrific crimes and send equally horrific emails. (Sometimes, I weep reading their subject lines alone!)
Happy 100, Myrtle Man! And to you very fine people? Thank you so much for visiting.
I will likely have several more banana muffin recipes in the future because I love banana muffins, banana bread—pretty much all things banana. But these are pretty awesome as is, and I thought I might share them.
What you will need
Muffin Tins
Mixer
Ingredients
1 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 egg
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup plain yogurt (I use fat free)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 to 3 mashed ripe bananas
3/4 cup dark chocolate chips
Mom it Down!
Preheat oven to 350.
Grease muffin tins (or line them with papers).
In your mixer, add the egg, oil, yogurt, and vanilla and mix it up. Add in everything else but the banana and chocolate chips and mix it up some more.
Add in your bananas. Mix that up. Add your chocolate chips. Mix that up.
Distribute the batter evenly into 12 muffin tins. (About two-thirds full). You’re done!
Bake for 22-25 minutes.
Overcoming obstacles
There aren’t many obstacles when it comes to this recipe. It’s really quite simple. I use an ice cream scoop to distribute the batter, otherwise, this is pretty straightforward.
Variations
Feel free to replace the yogurt with milk or soy milk. I have read you can use sour cream as well, although I haven’t tried. (I have used milk and soy milk, however.) Also, if you’re not keen on the maple syrup flavor you get from brown sugar, feel free to add white sugar in its place.
I reckon you can substitute out the oil as well. I wonder if apple sauce would work in its place?
I have added a touch of nutmeg before. I have swapped out the chocolate chips for walnuts several times.
These muffins can be made vegan as well. Just buy some Ener-G egg replacer, grab some soy milk and you’re good to go. As a matter of fact, I grabbed this recipe while Toby was still vegan. I used to make these at least once a week while living in DC. Toby blames the vegan banana nut muffins for making him fat (which he is so not, but whatever). They are awesome made vegan as well.
A couple of weeks ago, I wrote a post called Please Don’t Blush about how Emory had become self-conscious and stopped dancing. I have good news! My boy is back.
The video below was taken yesterday while showing my mother a few dance numbers from Wednesday’s So You Think You Can Dance. One of the numbers was a hip hop routine and it turned Emory into a dancing machine. (His second favorite was the Bollywood routine.)
Unfortunately, I was too busy smiling from ear-to-ear, basking in the joy of my son’s return to dance to film his first attempt. But he wanted more! So I got it the second time around. He’s a little tired in this one, but it’s still awesome. And I am so happy my son is dancing again.
A few things to note: He’s watching this routine. And he was really trying to emulate their moves. For example, when he comes at me, he’s acting out what the dancers are doing. And whenever he grabs the sides of his head, the dancers are messing with headphones. For those of you who may have seen this, you’ll probably (albeit loosely) follow his smooth moves. :]
My parents once lived in State College, Pennsylvania. (I lived there as well. I went to Penn State.) They have since moved on, but friends, football, and an all around wonderful town has them returning fairly regularly. I benefit from these visits as well.
You see, for years my mother bought me handmade soaps from a local artist. When my parents moved, I figured I’d have to say goodbye to these little treasures. And, Internet, if there’s one thing you should know about me it’s that I love handmade soap—about as much as I love candles, cupcakes and cats. I’m always in search of an earthy smelling, handmade soap. I have ordered from a few artists with shops on Etsy and I was a little disappointed with what I got. The bars either all smelled the same (even though they claimed to be made up of different ingredients), or they were too oily, or they didn’t really smell much at all. Nothing, thus far (although I know there are many I haven’t tried yet!) have come close to Bella Soaps.
The good news is, to this very day, my mother still manages to pick up a bunch whenever they visit.
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