Annual Snow Ice Cream Event

Excitement and wonder filled our home once again today when Kynzie realized the snow falling outside. Her delight is contagious. It is amazing how your child's perspective can often change your own outlook. I may just end up enjoying snow before this winter is over!

Although Kynzie wanted to, we did not venture out to play today. But we did have snow ice cream again after dinner. Kynzie looked forward to this all day and didn't let me forget our "plan".

Max ate his whole bowl of snow ice cream, which is only significant since he doesn't eat regular ice cream. He thought the whole idea was pretty neat. He kept saying, "We're eating snow!" and "We have snow in our house!" He probably doesn't remember from last year like Kynzie does.

He wanted more, as did everyone else, and when I told him it was all gone he told Delainey to "get your shoes on." He was sending her out for more snow!

Tiny-mo or Dynamo

Here is Daniel doing push ups at 6 months old. (They are 7 months old now.) He has a great deal of strength in his little baby body. I am not sure which is more amazing - how far up he can push himself or that he hasn't stood up yet...




Daddy used to call him Tiny-mo and Dennis, Dynamo because Dennis was a pound larger. They are both about the same size now, but Daniel definitely needs a new nickname. How about Mighty-mo?

Here is a picture of Dennis and me, and a picture of Dennis smiling at Daddy.

Cranberry Spinach Crustless Mini Quiche

I made up a quiche today to take to a baby shower, and it was so yummy. I actually adapted it from a recipe for Crustless Carrot Mini Quiche. I made the carrot variety, the spinach and cranberry and also a zucchini quiche that Kynzie really enjoyed. Here is the Cranberry Spinach recipe...

1-1.5 cups fresh cranberries, shredded (or chopped or what ever)
4 cups fresh spinach, chopped
3 green onions, sliced
(some chopped fresh mushrooms might be good, but we didn't have any)
1-2 Tablespoons butter or olive oil
1-2 cloves garlic (to your taste), minced
salt & pepper to taste (I skipped the salt & pepper by mistake and didn't miss it)
.5-1 teaspoon cinnamon
1-2 Tablespoons brown sugar, optional
6 eggs, beaten
1.5-2 cups shredded cheese (I used a cup each of mozzarella and cheddar)
2/3 cup yellow cornmeal

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Melt the butter, or warm the oil, in a medium to large skillet on medium heat. Add garlic and green onions and saute but do not brown. Lower heat and add spinach. Allow to wilt slightly. Stir in shredded cranberries until mixed well and warm. Remove from heat. In a medium mixing bowl, lightly whisk eggs. Stir in cheese, cinnamon, salt, pepper, brown sugar and cornmeal until mixed, and gently fold in the spinach mixture. Scoop by tablespoonfuls into 'greased' mini muffin tins or mini muffin papers if you prefer. Bake at 325 degrees F for 15 - 17 minutes. Remove from over and allow to set for two minutes before removing from pan. Best served warm.

Delainey and I like these best. I think I mentioned in another blog that if I could figure out how to get cranberries into all my recipes, I would. So, this morning as I was staring into the fridge trying to come up with ingredients to make different varieties of quiche, cranberries came to mind. I am just surprised it took me this long!

Kynzie liked the zucchini quiches best. Instead of spinach and cranberries, I shredded 2 medium zukes (skin on), used one less egg, 1.4 tsp of nutmeg instead of cinnamon, and only 1/2 cup cornmeal. These were the most moist of the three kinds, and Kynzie said that is what she liked best. She actually said because they were softer, I think. I thought they were a little bland.

The carrot quiches were the driest of the three, and we had the most leftovers of these. Here is the link to that original recipe, which I do intend to tweak next time.