The Rexburg Review

Salon de Mom

All four of our boys were looking extremely shaggy, so with Stake Conference not until 1:00 this afternoon, I got that scissor-happy gleam in my eyes. Hair was soaring through the bathroom as I sheared, snipped, and clipped each boy's thick locks in turn. It was like that scene when Edward Scissorhands creates snow-flurries as he sculpts ice, but my storm was more like. . . hair-flurries. (You didn't want to be there.) By the time I was finished with each of my four subjects, it looked like a medium-sized hairy animal was sleeping in the trash-can. Yes. GROSS.

Eric has been bugging/nagging/pestering me to give Ethan a more "mature" hairstyle for months. Across the long row at Church, he would look at me sternly, then look at Ethan and mouth, "He needs a haircut" and I would respond by giving him my best you-knew-what-I-was-when-you-picked-me-up pouty face and mouthing, "But he has such great hair!"

I think he wants him to look more "Rexburg Elementary" rather than "Disney Channel High." However, Ethan and I rather like the flowing style. His hair is so thick and perfect for a longish do, plus I told Eric, "He can never have his hair this long again, so why not enjoy it?"

At the Blue and Gold banquet for scouts, our Bishop had all of the nine-year-old scouts line up and asked them what they had in common with missionaries. They piped up, "We wear a uniform" "We have high standards!" etc, etc. And then one of them said, "We have short hair!" then he paused, gave a long, slow glance at Ethan and said, "Well, except for him!"

I was so proud of Ethan. He didn't even flinch. He just stood there proudly like Samson of old (before Delilah, that is).

He's got it and he knows how to flaunt it. You go, Cover Boy! (Should I be proud of that? Yikes.) This is a shampoo commercial the kids made up that they wanted me to film. (You can see from Eve's post-self-inflicted-haircut that it was awhile ago.)

I told Ethan this would be our "Compromise Cut."

PS If you want to read about the time that wasn't a Sunday that Crazy Mommy made an appearance when her only daughter with hair (at the time) cut her own hair, click hair, uh, I mean, here:

Crazy Mommy Rises Again

Danish Delight on a Sunday Morn

If you think of Danishes as the stale, day-old offering at the Best Western free breakfast, you need to meet my sister-in-law, Amy. At the Hafen Girls' Retreat in February, my hot Danish SIL taught us how to make the lightest, fluffiest, Danish pancakes that reality can contain--ebelskivers. If you could actually hear her say it, your heart would melt into a pool of butter and sugar right there. It really is a beautiful linguistical combination. We were all in Danish heaven (and butter heaven too)! My sister, Emily, had given me an ebelskiver pan for my birthday (I know! Nana-Nana Boo-Boo!), and after the cooking demo I was ready to start flipping.

Since we had all morning to keep the Sabbath day holy, we decided to spend it making three different kinds of ebelskivers: chocolate peanut-butter and chocolate filled, cheese and bacon filled, and regular. We also made buttermilk syrup and our newest culinary experiment, cranberry-lime syrup. Oh, and to make it more healthy, we added strawberries and whipped cream to our tablescape. Eric also whipped up another one of his quiches just in case we were still starving. (And yes, this would be my "free meal" for the week. All of this week's running, elliptical-ing, shredding, and veggie consuming was dedicated to this gluttonous moment.)

Click here to see a demonstration of the Ebelskivers and then ask your Mom or your husband to hurry up and give you a pan for your birthday/post-Mother's-Day-blues etc:

Ebelskivers

Buttermilk Syrup

1½ cup sugar

¾ cup buttermilk

½ cup butter

1 tsp baking soda
Boil for 7 min.

Remove from heat and add 2 tsp. vanilla

Cranberry-Lime Syrup

1 1/2 c sugar
4 t cornstarch

1 t cinnamon

1 c cranberry juice
1 T lime juice
2 T butter or margarine

Mix cinnamon, sugar and cornstarch together. Stir in juices. Cook over medium heat until thickened and bubbly. Cook 2 minutes more. Remove from heat and add butter. Makes 1 and ½ cups.

Ebelskivers

2 c. flour

1 t baking powder

1/2 t salt

1 T sugar

4 eggs, separated

2 c milk

4 T butter, melted, plus more for cooking

In a bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar. In a smaller bowl, lightly whisk the egg yolks and add the 4 T melted butter and the milk . Whisk the yolk mixture into the flour mixture until well combined. The batter will be lumpy.

In another bowl, beat egg whites until stiff peaks form. Fold into batter.

Coat each well of ebelskiver pan with butter (I just unwrap the top part of a cube of butter and run it along the well. It's much faster.) Set pan over medium heat and spoon 1 T of batter into each well. Add 1 t of desired fillings (chocolate, cheese and bacon, apples, etc or just leave plain) and then top with 1 T of batter. Cook until bottom is golden brown and turn each pancake with two wooden skewers (this is the FUN part!). Cook for 2-3 minutes more and then transfer to a plate and see how fast they disappear!

For Chocolate Ebelskivers, we added cocoa powder and melted chocolate chips. Then we filled them with chocolate chips and a dollop of peanut butter. These ones were especially good with the Cran-Lime Syrup or the strawberries and whipped cream or just plain. . . oh sorry. I dozed off just thinking about them.

And, for own sense of dietary self-esteem, I wanted you to see the light dinner we ate. I got this recipe from my good friend and kitchen whiz, Kelly. This is an easy recipe if you're looking for something to put a little ka-pow in your weekly menu. (I made a few modifications on the sauce. I halved the sugar and added some of the pineapple juice. It's really healthy, especially if you omit the sauce from your kebab. )

Sweet and Sour Turkey Meatball Kebabs

Sweet and Sour Sauce

1/2 cup water

1/4 cup sugar
Juice from can of pineapple

1 Tablespoon vinegar
2 Tablespoons ketchup
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup cold water mixed with 2 tablespoons of cornstarch

Boil the 1/2 cup water, add the sugar, vinegar, ketchup, pineapple juice and salt.
Stir well, then mix in the cornstarch and water mixture and stir
constantly until thickened. (Add more water if necessary.)
You can double it if your kids want more for dipping or "drinking."


Foster Farms Italian style turkey meatballs
1 can Fresh pineapple chunks
Red and Green peppers cut up (We use sliced zuchinni.)

I thread these on skewers and cook them on my George Forman until the meat is warm and the pineapple is carmelized. (I just broil them in the oven.)

I serve it over rice (half brown half white) It is so easy and really yummy.