Dear Immune System,

Anytime you want to kick in, it would be appreciated. Thanks. Bye.

I have been sick for over a week and a half (almost two weeks). Not okay. It is this weird virus going around our school. Starts with nausea, then goes into nasty cold and then finishes up with a delightful cough. In my case, I also lost my voice, which is especially great if you are a teacher. My kids were more than semi-freaked-out by my gravely braying as I sang them transition songs. I was told by more than one child, "Ms. Katie, you look BAAAAD!" and "Ms. Katie, you sound WEIRD!!!" One kid stomped around the room during my absence muttering, "Grrr, I am so mad at Ms. Katie. So, so mad. Grrr." For. Two. Days. Straight. Thanks for the support, muchkins.

One positive thing about me getting sick and my class being resentful of my absence was that I was able to be very dramatic when I got back about how germs got into my body and how I was so, so sick because someone didn't wash their hands or cover their mouth. This was all shocking to them. Hopefully I will get at least one or two to remember to thoroughly scrub up before putting their hands all over me.

One result of being so sick for so long was that I missed several parties that I have been looking forward to for quite a while. This weekend was my friend Julie's wedding shower and my friend Amy's cookie party. Even though I am feeling much better than last week (just a residual cough) I wasn't able to make either because I am staying as stationary as possible trying to encourage and support my immune system to actually work so I can have one week of health before Christmas break. In the case of the cookie party, I had stored up several recipes that I wanted to make, but to no avail. So I thought I would share the recipes here in mournful remembrance of all the fun I missed in the name of teaching.

Oreo Truffles

Shape Magazine's Christmas Rocky Road:

1 1/4 cups bittersweet chocolate, chopped or chips
3/4 cup milk chocolate, chopped or chips
3/4 cup butter, softened
1/4 cup light corn syrup
4 cups small amaretti cookies
1 cup shelled whole Brazil nuts
2 1/2 cups mini-marshmallows
2/3 cup candied cherries
1 tbs. confectioners sugar

Melt chocolate and butter with corn syrup i a heavy-bottomed pan over low heat. Put cookies in a freezer bag and crush them with a rolling pin to get a mix of big crumbs and sandy rubble. Set cookies aside, then crush nuts in same bag. Take pot off heat and add cookies, nuts, marshmallows and cherries. Turn carefully to coat everything with chocolate. Pour mixture into 9 x 12 pan lined with foil, smoothing top with spatula. Refridgerate until firm (up to 2 hours). Transfer block of rocky road from pan to a cutting board. Use a strainer to dust top of block with sugar. Cut block into 48 almost-squares. (These are only 137 calories per piece).

All that work produces THESE:


I am drooling on my sweatshirt just thinking about them! I am blessed to have a husband downstairs making me broccoli cheddar soup from scratch to fill my belly.

In the past, I have hosted my own annual cookie party. Usually I make sugar cookies in Christmas shapes and a fun activity for guests is setting out a variety of frostings and decorating materials for them to decorate their own cookies to take home. I also thought about bringing those to the Christmas party.

Oh cookies, I love you. Any tips for staying well so this NEVER. HAPPENS. AGAIN?

Fall Fun

Fall is always a hard time for me. Not as hard as the rainy, cold days of winter, but the transition from bright, sunny, warm, long days to cold, wet and dark ones is difficult. I am definitely a sun baby and need my light fix. It isn't even the cold - it is just the dark and the rain. As long as I am cold but dry, I don't care. In Northwest, however, dry days are few and far between. This hurts my heart.

There are some routines and traditions I do for myself and my husband to make the transition into fall less traumatizing.

1. Starting mid-September, I purchase those cinnamon smelling pine cones for the front console table. They smell like fall (delicious) and make the whole house seem cozy and inviting! You can find them at JoAnns or Albertsons and a bunch of other stores, I am sure. I buy new ones every month through January or February to keep the house thoroughly scented.


2. Baking and cooking. I try to center my meal planning around fall-themed foods and try to make use of seasonal produce. Fall is a great time to reintroduce squash, sweet potatoes and pears into your family's meals. For breakfast I mix sweet potato or pumkin puree into my oatmeal with a dash of cinnamon and pumpkin pie spice! Yummy! I also start baking fall themed foods such as pumpkin muffins and gingerbread cake. Here is my super easy pumpkin muffin recipe:

Need:
1 yellow cake mix
Can of pumpkin (8 or 9 oz or whatever the small can is)
1/2 cup water
Pumpkin pie spice to taste

Mix together, put into muffin pan with liners, and bake following directions on the back of the cake mix. EASY. (No eggs, milk, etc required!). You can also add walnuts or a handful of oatmeal to these to make them healthier.

3. Fall-scented candles. Yummy. I keep them all over and lit whenever I am home. Helps brighten the house and something about candle light is very comforting to me. My favorite things to do is light the candles in the guest bathroom, turn off the lights, and take a nice, hot bath before bed. Sometimes I can persuade Jason to put my towel in the dryer and give it to me when I get out of the tub. Talk about relaxing!

4. Dog costumes. I am not a big Halloween type of girl AT ALL. My parents used to be really into it and I would help my dad transform our house into a haunted mansion every fall complete with a graveyard, creaky gate, lights, bloody skeletons, scary music piped on loud speakers etc. I never dressed up as anything scary however...


Except maybe a BIG, SCARY BOILED ARTICHOKE!

I was an artichoke one year, a birthday party the next, Molly from the American Girl series another year, a doctor, etc. Never anything scary because even from a young age I felt like dressing up as a bloody anything glamorized and desensitized kids to evil and horror. Same reason I won't watch R-rated or any scary movies. Coraline was pushing it for me.

That being said, I do enjoy picking out costumes and dressing up the dogs every year.

McSpoiled has been Darth Vader, Superman, a cowboy, and one year, a pimp. (That was Jason's doing. Imagine trying to explain that to kids who come for candy).McNubbins has been a cowgirl and a princess. We tend to stick with the princess costume for her because it fits her perfectly and she looks like a little sparkly jewel walking around in her tutu. This year for McSpoiled, however, I was thinking

a turtle....


a cow...


or a lobster.

What is your vote for a handsome man-baby such as he?

I'll let you know what we decide and post pictures of the actual costumes once we get them! Now I've got to run. I need to workout bad. I am Fatty McFatterson. Then my co-teacher Aja and I are going to our students' soccer game in FG. Ta ta!