Nov 21
Everyone,
Every time I visit my Nana in Utah, she makes this wonderful bread pudding to for me. She makes it for everyone, not just me. But I like to think she makes it for me because it’s just so wonderful. Want to try it yourself? Here you go!
Nana’s Caramel Bread Pudding
4-5 slices of bread, broken into pieces and left out to dry overnight
Butter a 9×9 baking pan and add bread. Nana says that she uses the crusts and all, but if you’re picky, I’m sure you can cut them off. I like it with the crusts because it gives it a little texture.
For the Custard:
2 eggs
1/2 cup sugar
2 cup milk
1 tablespoon vanilla
In a separate bowl, mix together until combined. Pour over bread as evenly as possible. If it looks too watery, you can add another slice or 2 of bread. Nana doesn’t, though, because she likes to really see and taste the custard. At this point, you can add raisins to it, or blueberries, or dried apricots. Nana doesn’t but some people like raisins.
Sprinkle the top with cinnamon and nutmeg. Bake 1 hour at 350 degrees until a knife comes out almost clean. That way the bread pudding isn’t too dry. Watch out for it drying out, and put a piece of foil over it if the top is becoming too dry.
For the Butter Sauce:
1/2 cup butter
1 cup sugar, half white and half brown
1 cup whipping cream (a can of evaporated milk will work too)
Add everything to a medium sauce pan and heat on med-high heat for 15 minutes. Stir as often as possible! The mixture will turn a golden color and taste like caramel as it gets done. It will be runny.
Poke holes in the bread pudding with a fork and pour butter sauce over. Serve immediately. Smiles all around.
Nana says that the sauce freezes very well. You just have to warm it up before you pour it over the bread pudding.
Hope every one’s Thanksgiving will be as tasty as mine!
Safire
PS- Nana asked me to make it before I put it on the blog. But I couldn’t wait to share the caramelly goodness with you! (Sorry Nana! Love you guys.)
SafireGreat Grands, recipes recipes
Jan 20
Everyone,
So this afternoon Butterfly was complaining that one of her movies was not working.
“You need to fix this movie because it is very sticky.” I pulled it out of the player and there were fingerprints ALL over the disk. No wonder it was sticking. I told her we shouldn’t touch the shiny side.
“Why?”
“Well, because that’s where the movie is.” She looked at the disk and looked up at me like I was crazy.
“The movie is on the TV. This (pointing to the disk) only tells it what to play,” she told me matter of factly.
“Nooo, the disk IS the movie. Look, there’s a little light on the inside of the dvd player that looks at the shiny side of the disk and gets the pictures. Then the light shines on the screen and the pictures come out.”
“Oh, so you learned not to touch the shiny side when you were little huh? And now you’re telling me!”
“When I was little we didn’t have these kinds of movies. We had tapes. They were about as big as a book and we played them in a VCR.”
She looks a little stunned at that. I continued, “And when Nana was little, she didn’t have movies in her house. She had to go to a theater if she wanted to see one.”
“No she didn’t.”
“Yes, I’m sure she did honey.”
“Nope.”
“You want to call her and ask?!”
“Yes!” So we called up my mom who told Butterfly what I said was true. Then my mom took it a step further and said that when Nana-Great (her mom) was little she didn’t even have a tv at all!
Butterfly took the phone away from her ear and told me that Nana-Great had no tv when she was a little girl! She put the phone back to her ear and said, “That’s HORRIBLE!” I think she was secretly interested though because she has kept asking me what Nana-Great did when she was little if she couldn’t watch tv. I told her Nana-Great does what Butterfly does when she’s not allowed to watch tv…she played!
Not so horrible, I think.
Safire
SafireButterfly, Great Grands, movies, my Mom, TV
Dec 13
Everyone,
Taken for the benefit of Nana-Great who bought these for the kids. They were actually all wearing them at the same time so I thought a picture was in order!
This was a quick shoot, no time for the cool big flash or even any kind of coaxing. I just snapped away at what was happening. This is the one picture that Butterfly is not scowling in and Pirate does not have his eyes closed. Pirate is standing up off the chair to go slide down his slide. They spent 20 minutes zooming off that slide because these pajamas are slippery!
Pretty cool pajamas if I do say so myself!
Safire
PS- A note to Nana-Great…they fit fine although it’s kind of work to get Pirate’s feet into the right place. He’ll wear it for another few weeks and enjoy it. Professor goes around the house with his arms out in it saying “Zooommmm!” so I think he likes them too. As for Butterfly, she is insisting they are cold weather clothes and not pajamas so she is happy too. Thank you!
PPS- A note to Nana (my Mom)…Does this face look familiar to you?!
Safireclothes, Great Grands, Sunday Pictures
Jun 16
Everyone,
It’s sad. I was trying to write every single day for a year but it just didn’t happen. Oh well…here is a catch up post.
Friday we spent the day with my grandparents and enjoyed their company and their lunch! Thanks Nana and Grandpa!
Saturday we went to the Oquirrh Mountain Temple open house with my grandparents and my bro and sil and Cappy. Fun but cold outside! We also took all the kids to get their hair cut. The first cut for the boys! Professor screamed through the whole thing (while dripping saliva from his sucker all over the drape and getting hair plastered to his face because of it). Professor had a bell he was focused on (the place had little cars for them to sit in) and he stood stock still. Ah, life with twins. Butterfly also got a trim and a princess hairdo. They had a slide in the hair cutting place and Professor loved it so much. He got so excited at the top bouncing on his knees. He then pitched forward to get on his hands to go down the slide but didn’t realize the edge of the slide was right there. He bashed his head pretty good and had a huge goose egg. I think he cried more that we were leaving the slide than the goose egg.
Sunday we spent at Juice’s parents house, going to church with them and eating a ton of fruit. I fell asleep in the mother’s lounge with one of the boys. I think I might be tired. We also raced downtown to see my brother sing in the Mormon Tabernacle Choir that morning. I love to see him up there doing what he loves to do! We also saw a good friend’s drawings and were able to see our Prophet.
Monday we went hiking wth BFF Mink and her girls. We had a great time until we had to run home so we wouldn’t be caught in the thunderstorms that are happening every evening. It has rained every day since we’ve been here. Juice’s BFF J came over that evening and we went for yet another hike (this time without the kids). We also went geocaching which I always find fun. We found one we had been looking for for over a week so I was excited. Juice and J stayed up until 1am talking and playing Rock Band.
Today was another day spent at my grandparents’ house for me and a day spent with Juice’s family for Juice. Juice had a great time with his nephews who are visiting from Idaho…mostly because we are here and they have never met our kids. Their youngest was a baby when we moved to Maryland so it’s fun to see how grown up they all seem.
My kids decided to knock over a fake tree of my Nana’s and break some glass orniments she had hanging on it for decoration. They also decided that the orniments should be eaten!! Ack! I have no idea if they swallowed anything (probably) and we left soon after that. I also got a flat in BOB’s wheels from a thorn I probably picked up while hiking yesterday. My awesome cousin S (who is 14?) fixed it for me. I kind of miss being around my family.
I also got my hair cut today. Yes, cut means really different. I have bangs. It’s short. It’s seriously different. Pictures later since I haven’t taken them yet.
Cappy is spending part of the night with us and it’s been fun to have all of the cousins together. They are actually all sleeping (yes, they are asleep) in the same room. We took some pictures of all the boys in their pjs together and it’s so cute! It has also reinforced that I’d really rather not have triplets. My boys are running me pretty ragged these days and adding another one to the mix changings the whole dinamic. Triplet moms are amazing.
We’re off to the zoo tomorrow so I’m off to bed!
Safire
SafireBoys hair cuts, family, Great Grands, Juice's family, life with twins, MusicMan, my hair, temple
Sep 12
Everyone,
Today I woke up feeling a little bit better. And instead of canceling on my grandparents, went ahead and went to their house for the morning/lunch time. I think it’s important for Butterfly to know who her great grandparents are because I think they are wonderful people. They have done so much in their lives. My grandpa is 80 and has crossed the Atlantic Ocean by boat twice and the Pacific Ocean by boat twice. He walked across the Golden Gate Bridge on the day it was opened. He has been to over 25 countries and 47 states. My Nana lived in England during WWII and survived her house being bombed and her school as well. She was willing to leave her home country of England and be married to my grandpa (whom she met while he was on his mission there). She was telling me she had several marriage proposals at the time but liked Grandpa the best. A good reason to pick him! And I’m glad she did. 
In any case, not being near them is one of the reasons I’m sad about not living in Utah. It was nice to visit today and have some actual time at their house, not just an in out and on our way type of visit. We had an awesome lunch of egg and potato omelet and bread pudding which was awesome!
The only down side to today’s visit is the fact that I still don’t feel all that great. I seem to do okay if I don’t eat anything. Because then there is nothing to upset my stomach. But when I eat, I feel awful. Still, my Nana’s bread pudding was worth feeling ill. Yum yum!
I also went to a park and met a friend who used to live in Maryland and moved here just a few days before we came here. It was fun to see her and her 2 boys but I’m sad that when I go home she won’t be there! We’ve made it a point to keep in touch and we’ll probably get together when I come back into town.
Going to bed now. (Still no progress on my book club book…sigh…)
Safire
Safirebook club, friends, Great Grands
Sep 02
Everyone,
It was raining so hard this morning when we got up we decided to postpone fishing. Butterfly had woken up early and was excited to go so she was a little upset we weren’t going. I think a movie and some play time with my strawberry shortcake house and dolls fixed that.
We decided to go for a photowalk /hike instead. A photowalk is where you take a walk with the intent on taking pictures. At first, it was just supposed to be me and my dad but then Juice thought it would be fun to go on a hike and Butterfly was raring to go out. We didn’t want to leave my mom out so she had to come and the boys too. We all piled in our 2 cars, decided to go to Jordan River and left.
Okay, we left a lot later than I thought we would. The boys are just cluster feeding like mad and I think I nursed one after the other from 10 till noon today. They were still hungry when we left but the milk factory had to shut down in order to aid in production.
We got lunch before we left at the local burger place. Dad and I ordered mini-shakes and some burgers and we were horrified to see the mini-shake was several inches higher than a big 56 oz cup. Holy cow! It was good but filling and I think I only ate half of it.
We found the trail no sweat and unloaded everyone to go walking. I had forgotten just how cold a rainstorm would be this time of year in the mountains. I think we went about 10 steps down the trail and I asked my mom if she would take my boys home. It was freezing! They had no coats yet and even though I had wrapped them in blankets, they were visibly shivering. So back home with Nana and the rest of us stayed to walk.
Juice was not expecting this to be a photowalk and thought it was a hike so he was a little frustrated that we kept stopping at first. But then he realized what we were doing and helped wrangle Butterfly. We threw rocks in the river, caught grasshoppers, looked at horses, found a semi-feral cat, took about 100 pictures, and walked half a mile. I had a nice time.
We rushed home and I fed the boys. Juice took a nap and Butterfly ran and played. Still. Where does she get the energy?
My Nana had a get together for us tonight. We had pizza and various and assorted salads. I think Butterfly ate 3 pieces of bread and butter. It was fun to be with my extended family and relax. We sang Happy Birthday to my uncle. I miss being a part of every day life with them. I didn’t take any pictures but I was able to eat dinner without holding a baby. This is probably my thing I’m going to miss the most. I know when we go home it will be down to me and Juice and we won’t have all these extra hands. Sigh…
Anyway, we drove home slowly to admire the lights in the valley and the stars that look so bright here. Butterfly called them strange the first night, but now she really likes them. (Both the stars and the lights.)
Everyone is asleep and I should be too. More fun planed for tomorrow!
Safire
SafireGreat Grands, my family, photowalks, picture taking, trips to Utah
Aug 23
Everyone,
Today we went to see my grandparents. It was so nice to spend some time at Nana’s house and just relax. She watches my nephew Cappy a few days a week so we were able to spend the morning/afternoon with him as well. Boy are there a lot of babies around! (And I do realize that I got the lions share of babies at the moment but still…there seem to be a lot of babies.)
Nana made yummy yummy chicken and I’m a little afraid I ate her out of house and home. (Hello nursing twins and can’t get enough to eat all the time.) But she made 2 different kinds of chicken that were awesome and potatoes and jello with Mandarin oranges in it and danishes and candy and little cakes. Yum! Butterfly had jello and ham for lunch, I had everything else.
We also got to see my cousins Bee and Brother Bee since they live right next door. They took Butterfly over to play and that was nice because I could just focus on the boys. I also watched a good movie with them that I can’t remember the name of. It had Cary Grant in it and was very cute. Nana says I need to rent Mrs. Millie (I think?) because she feels it’s a very good portrayal of England during WWII which was where she was during it. I’m excited to add it to my list!
I have pictures but it’s late and I’m tired so I’ll update this post in the morning with them. It’s fun to see my grandparents with their great grandchildren. I hope that I will be able to see my great grandchildren as well.
JUICE IS HERE! My mom picked him up at the airport and brought him to my Nana’s house. I love having him with me. I missed him and all the help he gives me, especially at night. Now that he’s had several days of uninterrupted sleep, he should be good to help me. And he’s off of work for 3 weeks too so this should be fun.
Safire
SafireGreat Grands, Juice's Travel, trips to Utah
