Can a weekend start poorly when you’re baking Almond Joy brownie bites?
I have now scientifically proven that it can.
First my brownies gave me the middle finger when they came out of the oven and broke in half during the pan extraction process. I had to dig out some Hello Kitty polka dot mini cupcake wrappers to save them from the compost heap, and still they didn’t look pretty. Fortunately they were edible.
Lauren, who is nut allergic, wanted to know why on Earth I’d made brownies with nuts in them. After explaining that they were for a dinner party that night, she broke into tears, begging that I make a second nut-free batch of brownies.
So now, instead of enjoying the first 50 degree day of the winter, I was inside in a sweltering hot apartment, baking a brownie bonanza.
And of course when I make food, I have to start photographing.
Yes, those would be my feet on the countertops. Yes, they were clean. Yes, I scoured the counters with Clorox afterwards.
Hopefully this at least an interesting window into how food photos are taken – you’re either on a chair, lying on the ground, climbing onto your countertops or sitting awkwardly on the couch. At least I am. Maybe I’m doing something wrong.
After baking all morning the kids started to pace like a pack of anxious wolves; they were ready to enjoy some sunshine. Our sunny day didn’t disappoint.
And I was eager to enjoy a little of the great outdoors myself. Forgetting that everyone in New York City races to the park as soon as there’s a glimpse of warm weather, I suited up for our park visit in a pair of stretch iridescent snakeskin pants, a yellow sweatshirt, and a wool vest that I bought in 2001. Witnesses will corroborate this story. The obvious choice was to run for the hills, which I did under the guise of a dog walk, leaving my husband to look after the kids.
With a quick fist bump to my girl, I took off for the river.
I wasn’t the only one with that plan.
But it was a lovely walk. I cranked the music, the endorphins were pumping, the river was sparkling. I haven’t seen it sparkle in months. I didn’t realize how much I’d missed the sparkle.
I got back to the playground to find everything as I expected. Lauren had disappeared. Lauren was found. Lauren was now showing the others how to knee slide…..
Emma found a sunny spot under the bridge and channeled her inner Elsa while singing “Let it go”.
Sam made some questionable decisions. Questionable because there was an open gate right next to him.
Last but not least it was the adults’ turn for a little fun. We headed to our friends’ apartment to bottle our home brew. Stay tuned for an upcoming post on that adventure. We still don’t know if we’ve brewed something delicious or toxic waste that needs to be disposed of in sanctioned medical containers.
After drinking too much alcohol and getting too little sleep, we crawled through our Sunday on hands and knees.
Finally it was Sunday night. The kids took advantage of my unusual permissiveness and decorated each other’s faces with marker. Bath time ensued. Lauren worked some baby oil into her dry winter skin while Sam removed his fox whiskers.
And of course, no good weekend is complete without a crescendo:
From Almond Joy brownie bites to bath time mayhem, yet another reason why we need a vacation after our weekends. Hope everyone had a great weekend as well…..peace out for now.
