Clairity

Bread story

Feb 212012

Like I always say, my kids are my biggest inspiration when it comes to cooking and baking. Okay, let me back it up a little here. I was never a kitchen person. Growing up, I rarely ever ventured beyond the kitchen door. But when I had kids, it all changed. I found myself trying to cook or bake whatever they liked to eat.

I’ve never had any cooking or baking lessons, never felt inclined to spend the money. Just trial and error, and winging it most of the time. When my kids in their pre-teen years went berserk over sausage rolls, we spent a small fortune going to that bakery near our house to feed our bread frenzy.

My cinnamon rolls

Bread making was uncharted territory for me. I didn’t even think I wanted to try it after seeing how the bread my aunt used to make could knock a person’s brains clear out of their heads if they ever got hit by one of her rolls. Bread making sounded deadly!!

My apple cinnamon braid

If my aunt, the so-called “celebrity chef of the family”, couldn’t do it, what were the chances that my bread would even be edible? Then again, it’s not as if parenting is without its risks, right? So I ventured to make my first batch of sausage rolls. Worst case scenario, I would build myself a nice little rock garden with my rolls .

Our daily bread

Making bread takes patience and calm. No electronic breadmakers for me. My unlovely SIL gave us a loaf to show off what her new breadmaker could do. Oh sure, leave the loaf overnight and tomorrow you could stone someone to death with it. My kids hated the rock-hard bread. So that was it, forget the breadmaker!

Let’s get down and dirty. Work up some elbow grease. I dare say bread tastes better with that secret ingredient – Mom’s perspiration.

My bread rolls, so soft and yummy

What is one food that you love to eat and learnt to cook, or wish you could cook?

I’m late with this week’s Sunday shopping. But you won’t believe what I found for the petite moms. Being a petite myself, I know how hard it is sometimes to find the right clothes to fit your style. I only post stuff that I love and would wear myself, and I couldn’t resist posting these. When it comes to elegance, it doesn’t matter if you’re 20 or 40.

Petite Animal Print Wrap Dress

Just through on some contrasting accessories and a pair of heels, and you’re all set to go from day to night. This wrap has a great slimming effect, and that’s got to be good, right ?

Petite Silver Lurex Tunic

Just the right amount of color blocking here and in colors that will give you a slimmer look overall. Goes great with a pair of black earrings and nude heels.

Petite Traveller Paisley Dress

Love the colors and print on this one. The dress says it all. All you need to accessorize this with is your big, bright smile.

Now go save 20% off your choice of petite wear, for a limited time only. Hope you’re having a great President’s Day weekend .

It seems there’s been quite a lot of discussion in the news lately about keeping (I won’t use the word banning) kids out of airplanes and restaurants. In the latest article I read here this morning, a family restaurant in Atlanta has issued a statement to parents to please take their crying and unruly kids outside so the other diners can eat in peace.

The Grant Central Pizza in Grant Park put up this disclaimer in their menu:

“Dear all present and future patrons: GCP is proud of its reputation as a family restaurant, a title that we will work to keep. Unfortunately a number of our diners have posted unpleasant experiences because of crying and unsupervised children. To ensure that all diners have an enjoyable lunch or dinner with us we respectfully ask that parents tend to their crying tots outside.”

Apparently the restaurant owner was prompted to take action after receiving negative reviews, and an unpleasant encounter with a parent whose child throw a toy which hit another diner on the head. OMG, I hope it was a soft toy .

These days, children’s so-called toys can be lethal weapons. My idea of a toy would be, say, a harmless doll or a few tamiya models. But it seems, more and more, parents’ cell phones and iPads are becoming playthings and a source of distraction for kids.

As a mom, I’m all for bringing the kids out and having a fun time. Granted, kids will be kids but if they start misbehaving in public, we’ll just have to step in now, won’t we?

What do you say?

By now, y’all know I’m online quite a bit. Where else would I be besides making 15 taxi runs a day with half hour gaps in between, right? Well, most of the time, I’m reading like really serious stuff but I do make it a point to indulge my hip self in the more frivolous stuff.

Anyways between the half-hour gaps when I get to sit down and surf, I can’t really be very organized. I see a nice pair of shoes and my alarm goes off for my next taxi run and I’m out the door. When I get back, I’d have lost the site where I’ve seen those funky shoes and I can’t find it again.

Apparently someone heard me and came up with this great idea to organize my net travels neatly into clipboards. Yup, clipix lets me clip and save stuff I come across onto a handy-dandy clipboard before I lose them and have to search for them all over again.

It’s a really neat tool to bookmark and organize recipes, gift ideas, yeah and shoes. There’s really no limit and I can even share my clippings with my family and friends. Brilliant! Bet you’re curious. Go watch this video and then get clipping. I promise you’ll be hooked pretty soon. Like me!

Promoted Post

My brood of bookworms grew up reading books. I’m so glad.

One of the treasures in our library

Well, if you’ve noticed, for some time now, books are being slowly but surely replaced by the Kindles and the iPads and the e-readers. I’m not sure I like the idea. Somehow a book doesn’t feel like a book when it’s a bunch of words on a cold, hard screen.

It’s just not the same.

With a book, you come to the last paragraph on a page and your fingers are eagerly twitching to turn the page. The excitement is at your fingertips followed by the familiar rustle of the turning page. Not if you’re reading from a screen!

With a book, you can curl up like a foetus on the sofa or the bed and bury your face in the soft pages. With a screen, um, not so much!

With a book, there’s that challenge to remember the page number you stop at (if you’re stubborn like me and refuse to use a bookmark). And if you can’t remember the page number, having to flip through the pages to find your spot really isn’t so bad. With a screen, I don’t know.

A book, yellowed and worn with age, is like an antique, a true treasure to be passed down through the generations. As you flip the pages and cast your eyes on those well-worn words, it’s like taking a trip through time, living the story that others before you have lived in another place, another time. That, in itself, is a priceless adventure.

How do you feel about books?

Okay, so this is the day to declare your undying love for each other. Swoon all you want but it’s gonna cost ya . Well, I’m past the roses and dinners. Valentine’s is strictly for the bees.

But here’s what I got! Raine drew this adorable little heart for me because she lurves her mama . Darling, ain’t it?

Happy Valentine’s Day, or unValentine’s Day depending on how you feel about this day. And to those who’ve been reading and commenting here, I love you guys !