Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Yummy Pumpkin Scones

I made Pumpkin Scones this morning - Yummy.  Here is the picture and the recipe.



PUMPKIN SCONES

Serves 6

SCONES

2 cups all-purpose flour
7 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
6 tablespoons cold butter
1/2 cup canned pumpkin
3 tablespoons half-and-half
1 large egg

POWDERED SUGAR GLAZE

1 cup powdered sugar
1 tablespoon powdered sugar
2 tablespoons whole milk

SPICED GLAZE

1 cup powdered sugar
3 tablespoons powdered sugar
2 tablespoons whole milk
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 pinch ginger
1 pinch ground cloves

Directions:
Prep Time: 15 mins
Total Time: 30 mins

 TO MAKE THE SCONES:
1.  Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Lightly oil a baking sheet or line with parchment paper.
2. Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and spices in a large bowl. Using a pastry knife, fork, or food processor, cut butter into the dry ingredients until mixture is crumbly and no chunks of butter are obvious. Set aside.
3. In a separate bowl, whisk together pumpkin, half and half, and egg. Fold wet ingredients into dry ingredients. Form the dough into a ball.
4. Pat out dough onto a lightly floured surface and form it into a 1-inch thick rectangle (about 9 inches long and 3 inches wide). Use a large knife or a pizza cutter to slice the dough twice through the width, making three equal portions. Cut those three slices diagonally so that you have 6 triangular slices of dough. Place on prepared baking sheet.
5. Bake for 14?16 minutes. Scones should begin to turn light brown. Place on wire rack to cool.
TO MAKE THE PLAIN GLAZE:.
6. Mix the powdered sugar and 2 tbsp milk together until smooth.
7. When scones are cool, use a brush to paint plain glaze over the top of each scone.
8. AS THAT WHITE GLAZE FIRMS UP, MAKE THE SPICED ICING:.
9. Combine the ingredient for the spiced icing together. Drizzle this thicker icing over each scone and allow the icing to dry before serving (at least 1 hour). A squirt bottle works great for this, or you can drizzle with a wisk.

Mr. Karate Man

Ben got his second red stripe on his karate belt on Monday.  Big day.  He was so excited as he stood at the front of the line waiting to receive it - he was bouncing out of his skin. That's Ben - bouncy Ben. He is moving on to the advanced class... woo hoo! -  that means we get to spend some money on more equipment!




Hawk Mountain

This weekend we headed to the Pocono's to Hawk Mountain.  No imagination needed to decipher what is at Hawk Mountain.  Apparently there are lots of hawks that fly around at certain viewpoints. I think that only people without small active boys see hawks flying around. We hiked up to the North obersvation point, a beautiful spot overlooking the valley below.  I saw plenty of people with binoculars and fancy cameras, maybe 2 hawks and some turkey vultures (ugly creatures). It takes a bit of time and patience to see the birds flying around - something that we lack.

The boys did great on the hike though.  For the hike up I hung out with Gabe and Mike hung out with Ben and Sam was attached to his back in what we lovingly call "The Limo".  Practically every person we passed remarked that the baby was travelling in style. It's true.

Once we got to the top Ben remarked several times that it looked like a postcard.  True enough. The funny thing about the boys is that they don't seem to have a volume control.  At the observation point people were conversing in low murmurs, obviously focused on seeing some pretty birds.  Then we come along and everything we discussed was heard by everyone. Needless to say, we didn't stay all that long - maybe 25 minutes, which was plenty long enough.

It was a beautiful day, though and we had such a fun time. The boys did great on the hike. On the way down Gabe found a perfect stick - in his words, "just the right short, long, smoothness".  When we got to the bottom and passed the girl sitting at the entry/exit gate she told Gabe to leave the stick behind - whatever was picked up had to be left. Oh puleeeze. We kind of gave her that look "whatever" and begrudgingly asked him to put the stick down. I told Gabe, within earshot, that we would find another perfect stick. Gabe pushed out that bottom lip and did his best to maintain his composure. Ben mananged to weasel out some acorns, though - such a rascal. After five minutes of searching we did find another perfect stick, which he ended up leaving in the parking lot. That's gratitude for ya!

Here's some pics of our afternoon.











Thursday, September 23, 2010

Sammy Lammy Bing Bang (his nickname)

Yesterday I was taking some pictures of Sam, something that doesn't happen as often as it should.  I can't believe that he is already almost 5 months.  He is such a fun addition to our family.  He laughs and smiles easily, and he sleeps through the ENTIRE night.  However, he is still an infant and I think that I have forgotten what it is like to have an infant.  During the summer he was easily portable being in that newborn, hazy, sleep anywhere phase.  Now he is in the "I only want to sleep in my bed!" phase. 

So I am a homebody now.  But, it's all good.  As long as I can make it to the gym I am ok spending the rest of the day at home.  Lots of projects around here for me to do - like catching up on the blog.  I'll let you know if I get bored, but I think the likelihood of that happening is minimal.

Some funny events that have occurred - about a month ago I set Sam on the couch propped up between pillows sitting by his brothers.  I was right by them on the computer, keeping a watchful eye.  Ben and Gabe were playing video games.  While Ben plays video games he bounces up and down like Tigger on steroids.  I reminded Ben not to jump on the couch and he plopped down RIGHT ON TOP OF SAM!  It all happened in slow motion.  At the same time he sat down I yelled, "BEN!! Watchit!! SAM!"  Ben jumped up immediately.  Sam didn't even utter a cry.  Ben was a little shaken by the experience - more so than Sam.  It all happened so fast I don't think Sam knew what landed on him.  No harm done, however, Sam is far away from the couch while Ben plays video games.

Anyway - here is the little man.

This is Sam's concentration face.  He pushes out the fantastic double chin.

He has found his hands and he can't get enough of them.


He is a happy litte guy!



Side view of the waddle (double chin).

The Shore in August

On a beautiful Monday in August we went to Cape May.  The weather was perfect and we spent all day playing in the water and hanging out in the sand.  Ben spends all day splashing and battling the waves.  Gabe on the other hand insists on going home about 30 minutes after we arrive.  We finally had to bribe him into going into the water by telling him that he could not play on the DS on the way home from the shore.  He responded, "OKAY!! I will go in the water but I won't like it!"  Of course he loved it and spent the rest of the afternoon following Ben's example.  Sometimes a little encouragement is all they need.







The boys can't help themselves

Three boys know how to make life interesting.  Here are a few samples of what goes on here on a regular basis.

Gabe is so good at mustering up some tears.  Here is a precursor to big crocodile tears

The boys like to decorate Sam while he sits there helplessly.  I am sure he will have his vengeance someday.


The boys fight over who gets to hold Sam.

Grandma and Grandpa Fairchild visit

In the middle of July Grandma and Grandpa Fairchild visited after they returned home from their mission in Cambodia. We had such a great time with them. We went to Ocean City, the Please Touch Museum, and Hershey Park - where it rained like crazy causing us to run with the herd towards the exit. It was so fun to have them visit us. The boys love their grandparents so much! Grandma logged in some baby time too.









Cute Pictures of Sam at 2 months

I haven't put in many pictures of Sam yet, so here he is at 2 months before he started to lose and then regrow some of his hair.  He is too cute!!


Dad and boys camping trip

Waaay back in June Mike took the boys on a camping trip in the Pocono's.  They did a little fishing, hiking, and swimming.  Back at the camp Mike built a fire and then tried to get the boy's to roast marshmallows and eat s'mores.  In an ideal world they would roast the marshmallows, put them with the chocolate in a graham cracker and enjoy the gooey yumminess.  This is not an ideal world.  Instead the boys turn the marshmallows into burning infernos and then they gorge themselves on chocolate.  For the boys, any stick that is lying on the ground becomes a torch and Mike tried to keep the boys from branding eachother, or burning down the campsite.  Always an adventure.