Last Minute Dessert - Raspberry Sorbet

At the last possible minute, I decided to make something special for the girls' dessert tonight.  They were both fairly well behaved all day (surprisingly,) and since today should end our week of not having Daddy around, I felt they deserved it.  I had a HUGE 16 pound bag of ice in the freezer that I really needed to make a dent in (thanks A!) so I decided to use the ice cream maker.  I also had a ton of frozen fruit in there as well.  I thought back to the fruit slushies we recently had at JoJack's (a local coffee shop,) and wondered if I could make a similar concoction and turn it into sorbet.  So, I asked C what fruit she wanted, and when she decided on raspberries, I set to work.  This is what I came up with:

Pretty Raspberry Sorbet

12 oz frozen raspberries (about 3 1/2 cups)
2 cups green tea
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 tsp fresh lemon juice

Brew 2 cups of green tea in a small pot.  While it is still hot, add sugar and stir until it is completely mixed in.  Transfer tea and sugar mixture to a blender, add in the raspberries and lemon juice.  Puree mixture.   At this point, if you have time, strain the mixture through cheesecloth in order to get the seeds out.  (I didn't have the time.  The seeds didn't bother the girls or me too much.)  Cool in refrigerator, and then process in an ice cream maker until you remember it or your kid says, "Mom, I think the ice cream must be done by now!"  (Obviously, I forgot about mine, but I would say 20 minutes should be good.)  If you want a really sweet sorbet, you might want to add another 1/2 cup of sugar.  Because this was for my kids, I kept it to the minimum; the 1/2 cup of sugar was just enough to balance the tartness of the raspberries without adding extra sweetness to the flavor.  Hope you enjoy it, I know we did!

the girls

Because I know my family is going through withdrawal from pictures of the girls...  =)

Look what came in the mail today!

Finally......

My Associates!

=)

My daily battle

Most days, I try my hardest to be organized.  I really do.  It does not come easy for me.  I try to get my meal planning done, my chores prioritized, and my errands ran.  It truly takes extreme effort on my part to know what I need to do and to actually be able to get it done.

If a truly organized person would come into my home and watch me for a full day, she would probably evaluate me running at 20% efficiency in the area of organization.  Twenty percent.  That's probably being a little generous with the estimation, too.

On days like today, I wake up and organization is a giant monster that wants to eat me alive.  I lay in bed not even wanting to fight back.  I don't even where to begin.  The to-do list has no end and I have no motivation to even start.  Even if I did, every single thing that has to be done is flying around my mind or glaring right at me, all screaming and vying for the number one priority spot.

It's enough to make me scream, "I quit!  I'm done trying to get it all done.  I don't care."  But just as I open my mouth, a sigh escapes instead of the scream.  I realize (once again) that I can't quit.  I have a husband (who I love more than I can describe) who is an absolute neat freak and born organized, and kids (who I also love, of course!) that need structure and a clean place to eat and play.  I have to keep trying.  Every day, I have to start this battle over.

So, I get out of bed, brush my teeth, and face the monster head on.  Hopefully, I'll get at least 20% done today. 

P.S.
Obviously, blogging has been extremely low on the priority list.  =)

Dear City Treasurer Clerk

It was sweet of you to offer candy to my four year old, really.  I get that you were trying to be nice and I appreciate it.  However, did you consider that maybe my child can't eat what is in that candy?  Or, how about that since it was 11:30, we were about to eat lunch?  Or, how not five minutes earlier, my four year old was being very rude and giving attitude to the poor children's librarian?  And since you gave my daughter a sucker you have 1) rewarded her for that behavior (of course unbeknown to you,) and 2) usurped my role as a parent because then, I could not take it away unless I wanted to hear a mighty four year old tantrum while I stood there and paid my Virginia state car taxes (which would have probably ruined both our days.)  Maybe you could have handed it to me (being the parent and all) then I could have handed it to her with the instruction that she would take it to the librarian and apologize for her previous behavior.  Better yet, may I suggest stickers? Trust me, kids get just as excited about stickers and that is definitely a much better sticky something to give to a four year old.

=)
of course, (you know me,) I didn't say anything as I stood there writing out my check, but it makes me feel better to put it on my blog.  heh  Hoping to start having more time to catch up on blogging, but.... well, we'll see.

wow

May was the last time I blogged?

hmmm

A lot has happened. We're still getting reacquainted to stateside spending... errr I mean living. It's been quite an adjustment.

The girls and I were able to visit family while T was in school.

We've been working on setting up our new house!

C is now in ballet.

D is almost 10 months old!!! (she keeps me way too busy!)

T is getting used to ship life again. He also bought himself a nice '99 Firebird that he's loving.

T and I are getting baptized this Sunday! (Hopefully I'll have more time to blog about that later.)

I'm officially taking the last class of my Associate's degree.

Hopefully, I'll be able to add pictures to the girls' blogs soon.

=)

ahem

i'm alive...
just haven't had time to update my blog.
if you're friends or family, look me or T up on Facebook.
Makes it so easy and quick to update everyone.
=)