3 Words: Tim Tam Slam

I first enjoyed this amazing treat while living in Japan; a friend from Australia brought some back from Christmas holiday. Back in the US, I looked for them in the international section at several stores without luck. More recently, my brother returned from a trip Down Under, raving about the Tim Tam Slam. Then suddenly last week, while I was wandering the aisles of Target, looking for stocking stuffers, there they were! I got 3 boxes of Tim Tams to share with my family over the holidays.

I’m thrilled to announce that “Australia’s Favorite Cookie” (but wouldn’t they say Favourite?) is available at a Target store near you for a limited time. Please go out and buy some today, so that Pepperidge Farm & Target continue to produce and sell this yumminess. To fully enjoy said yumminess, however, you also need to read (maybe print out?) this post. PF has risked underappreciation of the Tim Tam by neglecting to explain the best way to enjoy them.

They’re fudge-coated chocolate wafer cookies, with a choice of either chocolate creme or caramel filling between the wafers. Sounds good enough, right? But the real trick is to take a small bite off the 2 opposite corners, then dip one end into a hot drink (I recommend coffee or cocoa). Sip the other end like the cookie is a straw, and as soon as you feel the drink reaching your mouth, pop the entire thing into your mouth (the “Slam”). If you wait too long, you’ll end up with a chocolate mess in your hand. If you time it just right, A-mazing!

Yes, I know this is supposed to be a mommy blog…mommies like chocolate, right? And in the interest of these cookies being available when my son is old enough to eat them, I’m encouraging you to GO BUY SOME RIGHT NOW!!!!! They’d be a fun addition to whatever you’re doing for New Year’s Eve.

Think I’m a little over-enthusiastic? Check out NYC Food Guy‘s post. He’s also raving, and calling for positive feedback to Pepperidge Farm. Otherwise, they’ll only be available through March 2009. At the PF website, you can view videos made by other devotees. Also, here’s a coupon for $1 off your purchase. What are you waiting for? Put your kid in the car and get some Tim Tams!

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Even though we had various family events througout the past week, Christmas seems to have come and gone so quickly! I’m not ready for it to be over yet (partly because that means I have to pack up all the decorations), so let’s just recap the week and decide which events should become permanent family traditions…

First my good friend Angela came with Tate and me to my mom’s house for a couple of days of cookie baking. Just after I finished my post saying that my son was not having cookies for breakfast, Grandma gave Tate his first cookie breakfast. He would like to make that a holiday tradition, I’m sure! My sister was home from college along with two friends who weren’t going home over the holidays. They are international students from China and Korea, and cooked us an amazing dinner! 

Christmas Eve day was just the 3 of us. In the morning we had our holiday card-reading party over breakfast and during Tate’s first nap. The jury’s still out on whether it’s better to read all the cards at once or gradually as they arrive in the mail. All at once was fun, but it took a really long time and it kind of stretches out the fun to open a few each day.

After naptime, we all bundled up and went sledding. It was a beautiful sunny day, and so much fun! Thanks to a cozy hand-me-down snowsuit and shoe covers from his cousin, Tate had a great time playing in the snow. Weather-permitting, that tradition will definitely be carried on again.

After nap #2 (#1 for Mom and Dad), we went to the Christmas Eve service at our church. Back at home I made us a frozen pizza with red and green peppers added on top. Festive, yes. Needs to be a tradition? Probably not. Tate went down to sleep and we had Christmas cookies and cocoa while watching A Christmas Story. Love TNT’s 24-hours of viewing fun!

Christmas morning we opened stockings and Tate’s presents from us- books and a puzzle. He liked them, but frankly found the ribbon just as entertaining and kept trying to close the box instead of removing the present from within. That evening was dinner and presents at my in-laws. My favorite tradition there is singing Happy Birthday to Jesus. The cousins get to decorate the birthday cake with Granny; something Tate will enjoy in a few years.

After that party drew to a close, we drove back down to my mom’s. Tate has a cousin just 2 months younger, and they’re the first grandchildren on my side of the family. Plus, my brother and his girlfriend announced their engagement- welcome to the family, Auntie Em! This first Christmas was extra-special for all of us. The “gift of time” exchange was cool – I’m taking my sister-in-law out for manicures and a trip to the art museum. One brother is taking our sister to the bookstore for chess lessons; it’s always been one of his favorite games. My sister is taking another brother to make food packs for starving children, then out dancing. Sounds like lots more fun traditions are on the way…

From our family to yours…

I’m currently enjoying a breakfast of coffee and Christmas cookies- yum! (Disclaimer, in case anyone missed my last post on not judging other moms: my son is eating a healthy non-cookie breakfast.)

While pondering whether life could get much more delicious, I read a recipe that a friend posted on Facebook. It’s for Christmas coffee, and I think my family and I will love it. Maybe yours will too, so I’m sharing… (Thanks, Laura!)

Christmas Coffee
1 pot (10 cups) freshly brewed coffee
1/3 cup water
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 pinch ground nutmeg
sweetened whipped topping (optional)

Prepare coffee. While coffee is brewing, heat water to a low boil in a large saucepan. Stir in sugar, cocoa, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Bring back to a low boil for 1 minute, stirring occasionally. Combine coffee with mixture in saucepan. To serve, pour into mugs and top with sweetened whipped topping if desired.

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Everyone was quick to judge Britney Spears when she drove a car with her son on her lap, rather than in his car seat. My pre-mom self wondered, how could she be so stupid, so careless, so unconcerned for her child’s welfare?!

I’m not condoning her behavior, but I’ve sure been tempted to do the same thing over the past 10 months. It happened again last night: the three of us were out doing some Christmas shopping and it was getting past Tate’s bedtime. Despite my sitting next to him in the backseat, singing every song I could think of, and pulling out a variety of toys, he was quickly melting down. We made it to the store, got out of the car, walked up to the door and…it was closed (what kind of store closes at 6pm on the week before Christmas?!). Ugh, back into the carseat already? We were still 20 minutes from home- how tempting to just hold him on my lap while Dad drove, but no, of course we buckled him in safely. Twenty minutes never seems longer than when your baby is unhappy…

Okay, so Tate is always in his car seat when we’re driving. Does that make me a better mom than Britney? Maybe, maybe not. I must admit, though, to a quickly-growing list of things that I do let my son do, that certainly would have surprised that pre-mom me. He occasionally spent half the night (instead of the recommended one hour max) in the infant swing. After months of struggle, I let him cry himself to sleep. He eats Cheerios off the floor with my full knowledge. He’s gone days (weeks?) at a time without eating any vegetables.

I’m not beating myself up over these things, and I would hope that no one else would do so either. But motherhood seems full of rights and wrongs, defined differently for different people. Parenting is a hard job. We all worry whether we’re good enough at it, and maybe sometimes we feel that others have to be wrong in order for us to be right. Can’t we just all get along? I think encouragement and support is the better route. Sorry, Britney!

Photo Courtesy:
magerleagues

So yesterday I was getting Tate dressed for a Christmas party. The cute hooded snowflake sweater was all ready, and pants…ah, no good options for pants! Red sweatpants (TOO Christmasy with the green sweater), burgundy sweatpants (no), brown cords with a snap that never stays closed. Sorry, buddy, cords it is- I’ll try to keep the sweater pulled over the waistband for you. I’m sure your little friends won’t notice, and I promise to do laundry tomorrow morning.

And this brings me full-circle to a moment of panic during my pregnancy. I was unpacking gifts from a baby shower, so thankful to be more prepared for the upcoming arrival of our little one. As I folded up adorable onesies, sleepers and socks, it suddenly hit me…if I didn’t do laundry for this baby, he/she would have nothing to wear! It took 10 months, but finally this fear has been realized.

I had a similar experience while sitting in the dentist’s chair last winter. Most people panic for other reasons while in the dentist’s chair, but mine came when it was time to schedule my next appointment. Normally I just requested the first available morning appointment, so as to miss as little work as possible. Suddenly I realized that in six months time, I would be home with a baby. What do you do with a baby when you have to go to the dentist?! My eyes scanned the room- could the baby just rest there on the floor in the carseat? What if he/she cried while I was in the middle of the cleaning? Surely the x-ray exposure would be dangerous…

Deep, cleansing breath, Kara…I realized pretty quickly that these weren’t rational fears, and fears is probably too strong a word. Realizations is more appropriate – having a baby was going to be a LOT of responsibility. Of course I knew that before getting pregnant, but these practical examples made it more real, I guess. Even then I had an inkling that laundry and scheduling appointments would be the least of my worries…

Photo Courtesy:
Viewoftheworld
micronova

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I just got my UPS shipping notification! That means our Christmas cards will be here on Tuesday. If Tate happens to take a super-nap, maybe I can get the envelopes addressed and they can go in the mail that same day. But definitely by Wednesday, the post office will have them en route to our friends and family, who will receive their cards DAYS, maybe even a WEEK before Christmas! As you may have guessed, this is momentous for a procrastinator like myself. 

If you’ve been paying attention, you’ll realize that that’s not us in the photo. In the interest of secrecy (since I hope the aforementioned friends and family are still reading my blog), I’m just going to show the website template for now. I’ll drop in the photo of our real card later… click here to view

Having met my pre-Christmas goal, I know that I said I would go for red and green. But I loved this design and it matched Tate’s outfit in the photo. We went with the folded card style again this year, so that I could have our update letter printed on the inside. I think part of the reason that I enjoy doing our cards every year is that I love getting them from others. This is my personal hierarchy of holiday cards, with bonus points for handwritten notes with any type of card. 

• Good: Signed card
• Great: Letter or photo
• Fantastic: Letter AND photo

Even though it’s killing me, this year I’m saving up all the cards that we get in the mail and we’ll open them all on Christmas Eve Day. This is the first year that we’ll be spending the day without any of our parents or siblings. It will just be the three of us, so I’m trying to think of some fun things to do (opening cards probably won’t fill the day). Any other suggestions for us?

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I sort of assumed that being at home full-time would help me get my Christmas shopping done much earlier this year…turns out that my son isn’t a big fan of shopping. Add this to the cold snap we’ve had, and I’m looking at an all-online shopping season.

If you have similar plans, or just need some good gift ideas for the moms and babies on your list, check these out. They’re a couple of things we loved using, and they’re both made by moms!

First is the adorable baby blankets from Amelia Bee. You can get a 20% discount by mentioning this article – just enter Nest20 in the Discount Code field. They’re reversible, made of faux fur, soft cotton or fleece. The patterns are so cute and best of all, each blanket is custom-sewn for your baby, so you can choose which fabrics you want. This would also be a great gift for grandparents or grandparents-to-be, so they can have a special blanket when baby comes to visit.

Tate loved the texture of his faux fur blanket. It was always in his bassinet in the newborn days (hard to believe he was ever as small as in this picture!) and he still likes to play with it now.

The second featured product is baby slings from Kangaroo Korner. For the first time ever, they’re having a 25-50% sale on their adjustable slings. What an amazing deal! Despite all the hype about babywearing, I was skeptical about slings, thinking they would make my neck really sore. In reality, I LOVED my sling. On the advice of a friend, I got one from Kangaroo Korner. Tate and I would go on long walks together, or I’d carry him around the house in it, hands free to do whatever I needed. If he was having a cranky day, it was a surefire way to get him to sleep- ten minutes of my walking around with him in the sling, and he was out.

The style I purchased was the adjustable fleece pouch. It took a little practice to get him in and out, but overall, the pouch style seemed easier to me than the ring-style. (I know there are die-hard ring sling fans out there so they must be great too.) The website has helpful “installation” instructions with pictures too. Other unique options are the child-size slings (for dolls) and slings made of solarveil, a UV-blocking material.

Happy online shopping!

Photo Courtesy:
voxtheory
Amelia Bee
Kangaroo Korner

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Dreidel, dreidel, dreidel, I made it out of clay…

I have only a few memories of kindergarten. One is the birthday cake made out of soap. Another is the dreidel song that we learned during Hanukkah. This birth announcement magnet gave me a little flashback to age 5, and now the song is stuck in my head. However, when I say it’s a memory, I mean that I only remembered that one line. Click here if you also need a lyrics refresher.

But while I was Googling “dreidel song”, look what else popped up – No Limit Texas Dreidel. I couldn’t resist a look and according to their website, it combines dreidel with No Limit Texas Hold’em poker! It uses the same Hebrew letters as the dreidel game, then adds betting, bluffing, and folding. I’m not Jewish but that sounds like enough fun for at least eight nights. A great gift idea!

Thanks for sticking with me- now we’ll go back to the original intent of this post…Hanukkah birth announcements! If you’re due soon, or are already celebrating a new birth, why not combine your holiday greetings with a beautiful photo birth announcement? There are several sizes and designs to choose from, on both magnets and linen cardstock. Don’t forget the matching return address labels and envelope seals!

Photo Courtesy:
ModernTribe

I often feel like there aren’t enough hours in the day, at least hours in which Tate is sleeping peacefully and I can get other things done. It would be hard to put “free time” on my Christmas wish list, however.

What is possible, and what I’ve seen popping up in various places this year, is the gift of time spent with those that we care about. Perhaps it takes tough economic times to make us be more creative about giving holiday gifts, but whatever the cause, it’s a great concept.

I read a post today at Have Fun, Do Good, about a grandmother who gives “time gifts” to her grandchildren for Christmas. They’re things like trips to the zoo, a baseball game, etc. The kids love it and are now excited to choose their own time gifts to give Grandma each year.

We’re trying this out in my family too. With five of us siblings, my mom and now 2 spouses, we’ve been drawing names for several years rather than buying gifts for everyone. My brother had a great idea for this year, that we have to plan an outing to share with the person whose name we draw.

There are only two rules: First, thirty dollars is the price limit for the date, although next year it might be fun to try making them free! Second, this must be something that the two people don’t usually do together, i.e. my husband and brother often fish together, so if one draws the other’s name, they aren’t allowed to plan a fishing date.

My guess is that these time gifts will keep on giving even after the activity is completed. I’m realizing that even though our family is very close, we’re usually together as a large group. You have different conversation topics when you’re one-on-one with someone, and now that we’re no longer living under the same roof, I’m sure there are lots of things that we don’t know about each other. It would be great if these get-togethers were repeated throughout the year, but even if it’s just once, it’s the kind of thing that I believe will strengthen our bonds as not just family, but friends.

Photo Courtesy:
conskeptical
Peter Gene
journeyscoffee
procsilas