Adventures in Babysitting (Part 2)

After showing the babysitters the ropes and putting Ethan to bed (since it was now 15 minutes to his bedtime and he would just cry for ten of those minutes after we left), we got out the door. It was 7:00pm. Fifteen minutes later, we get to the restaurant we were planning on eating at and that I had been looking forward to for weeks (Cheesecake Factory). It's a beautiful Friday night in Scottsdale (the "most livable city"--if you make over $100K per year) and the wait is over 45 minutes long...for two people. We go to the next place and it's the same thing. And the next. And the next. See, we're in a very fashionable part of the city where our little Eclipse is tacky and people would rather wait in line for a valet for 20 minutes, holding up traffic, than to park and walk five minutes to the restaurant. Oh, and then there was the limo we were behind that sat at a stop sign for several minutes until the occupants finished their drinks and decided to get out. After about 15 minutes of this chaos, we drove toward the city limits.

Another side note: as we were walking around, looking for a place to eat, the cell phone rings. It's one of the girls. She's saying the pizza is there and the delivery guy is asked for a credit card. Sigh. Robert talks to him, makes him give them the pizza, and calls the manager back. It gets taken care of, but it was a little annoying.

Using the GPS, we called around until we found a place that had a five minute wait. It only took a few minutes to get there. It turned out to be this little Italian bistro (from 1/2 mile away you could see the big red letters on the front of the building that said "ITALIAN BISTRO") out of the way, behind the airport (a place that the people who fly their private jets into that airport would never step a Prada toe). It was nice, though, with friendly people, quiet customers, and good linens.

The minute we sit down and before I can say, "I'll take one of everything-STAT!" the phone rings again. This time she's laughing. She tells me that while they were checking on the kids in bed, they heard a strange noise downstairs but decided not to check it out right away (naturally). When they got down there, they found that the dog--who was outside when we left--had knocked the pizza and their paper plates off the kitchen counter (which they had admittedly left slightly hanging over the edge), splattering sauce everywhere, and had devoured every last piece. Ha ha...SO funny. We call in another (albeit un-free) pizza and get back to our meal...at last. It's now about 8:30.

They bring us bread and we devour it within minutes, crumbs littering the tablecloth. I almost drank the lemon garlic oil they brought for the bread, but luckily my coke had come. We ordered, it came quickly, we ate, and we were stuffed. The only reason I didn't call these posts Nightmares in Babysitting is because without all this hoopla, we never would have discovered this little gem...this Italian family bistro where everything is house made and fresh and better than you hoped. Even Robert didn't really have anything to critique about the food, which NEVER happens.

By this time, we've pretty much lost all hope of doing anything else that night, like a movie or bowling, and just head home. I guess we'll just have to save that for another night when things go a little smoother.

When we get home, the girls are fed, the kids are sleeping, the dog is out, and they had picked up the toys. Even the kids' books were in order from tallest to shortest. I took the girls home (chauffeur-style) and the night was over. Phew. It might be a long time before we do anything like this again.

Adventures in Babysitting (Part 1)

Robert and I didn't go out last Monday for Valentine's Day because we thought it would be too busy and we'd never get into the place we wanted to eat and the service would take too long. Also, we wanted to go bowling or do something after dinner so we thought Friday would be better since he wouldn't have to work the next morning. Finding a babysitter proved to be just as hard as it would have been in Valentine's Day. Our two regulars were out, one had an unwilling sister, and the third we used one time (who was great) turned out to live about 20 miles out of town down a long, bumpy, unlit dirt road. It was about a 45 minute round trip to take her home. So, we called around and someone said they knew a family with two daughters who liked to babysit. Robert works with the dad and I know the mom but never really met the girls. I trusted the source, however, and I like the parents. The mom said the older daughter was busy but her younger one wanted to do it. She was having a friend over for the weekend and was wondering if her friend could come with her. I said yes and thought it would be better, anyway, since the younger daughter was (from what I heard) about 12 or 13 and would probably want someone to help her.

We agreed to have the mom drop off the girls on her way to work and I would take them home. They were to be there at 5:30. At 5:25 the daughter called and said her mom was running late and could we come pick them up. I gave Robert the directions and he went out to get them. While he was gone, I consulted the ward list to make sure I had the daughter's name right (Tylinn) and saw her birth date. She is 12...this Thursday. I never guessed she was under 12 since (it turns out) she's been going to Young Women's on Sunday with her sister for the last six months since I've been in Primary. The friend, however, was over 12 (thank goodness, for legal reasons) albeit far less mature than Tylinn. As a side note, when they got in the car they both had to sit in the back seat since one was under age and the over-12 one was only 65 pounds--which is less than what Craig and Ethan weigh combined. Ai-yai-yai.

About 10 minutes after Robert left the mom called and told me Tylinn was gone and hadn't said goodbye and she hadn't gotten our home number. About 10 minutes later, Robert still hadn't shown up. I was concerned since they only lived about five minutes away, one way. I couldn't call him, however, since his phone had died earlier that day. Another few minutes pass and he finally shows up...without the babysitters. I call the mom and it turns out they had gone outside to wait and came back in when Robert didn't show. He said he drove all around the area, couldn't find the road they lived on, and even stopped at a gas station to get directions and look at a map. Their road wasn't on the map and he had no phone to call me. I check the address with Google and call the mom again. Sure enough, Google is right and she had given us the wrong directions. I hop in the car and pick up the (small and young) babysitters.

Oh, and then it turns out they haven't had dinner so Robert orders them a pizza. Apparently, everyone but the manager is training that night and they lose the order/get it wrong so many times that the manager gives it to us for free. Plus side, right? It doesn't last for long.

To be continued...

The Pay Off

Remember this post a little while ago? It's all about Craig and Ethan and the big mess they made in our closet one day. I figured out that they had done it by Craig climbing up on top of the dresser and pulling the hangers off. Then Ethan got in on the fun by pulling down on the clothes.

In a related subject (you'll see how), Craig has started watching a PBS show on Netflix called Super Why. In one episode a little boy named Wyatt accidentally makes a mess in his brothers room. He wants to make it up to him but doesn't know how, so they consult the book "Goldilocks" to find out what she did to make it up to the bears when she made a big mess. The answer is to clean up the mess and to apologize, which Wyatt does at the end.

To come full circle, I was getting dressed this morning and we were all in the closet. Craig was talking about the show and cleaning up messes. Then he pauses for a minute, looks around, and says, "Craig made a big mess in Mommy's closet." I hadn't even made that connection! He is constantly surprising me with his progressive little brain, always learning. I said, "Yes, he did. And what would be the nice thing to do if Craig makes a big mess?" He said, "Clean it up. Mommy wasn't happy." I said, "You're right. Mommy wasn't happy with the big mess and helping to clean it up would be the good thing to do." And then, Craig surprised me again and remember the second half of the lesson from his T.V. show. He said, "I'm sorry for making a big mess, Mommy."

I was floored! I gave him big hugs and kisses...he nearly brought me to tears. He's not even three yet but this is the first time he has, of his own thinking and without being prompted, apologized for something. I believe he even felt some sort of almost-three-year-old remorse. It's moments like these that make all the persistence worth it.

Potstickers

Before I begin my food post, I would like to take a minute to jot down some thoughts.

I am not a food photographer. When I was in high school, I took two years of photography and loved it. I thought I was pretty good, too. What I liked most was how we developed and printed our own pictures. That's really half of the creative process. Nowadays with all these digital cameras and photo shop, I'm lost. In a world where professional-like photography has become accessible to the average joe, I am back to point and shoot. I used to be able to manipulate apertures, shutter speeds, and meters--all with a garage sale 1970's camera--and I would get a really nice result. Now, everything comes out blurry, too dark or too bright, and down right ugly. Food is the hardest for me. I see these beautifully composed photos of people's culinary creations and I try to copy their techniques, only to come up with less-than-my-best. Oh well. Maybe when we build our own house someday that will be my stipulation: I get a dark room. That would be awesome. Okay, I'm done. Just don't expect a great picture of these pot stickers.

See, I told you.

I made these a couple nights ago and I've made them once before. They always come out really well. Chinese cooking is sort of like a mystery to us (yes, even Robert). He loves experimenting with Asian cuisine and does well, but sometimes we just can't seem to replicate their flavors. I found this recipe in a magazine and thought I'd give it a try. It's so good, I had to pass it along. I might even put these on Tasty Kitchen, if I feel so ambitious.

Pork Pot Stickers
Yield: About 15-20, I think?

Filling:
1/4 pound finely shredded Napa cabbage (about 2 cups)*
1 egg white, lightly beaten
1 Tbsp. soy sauce
2 tsp. oyster sauce (find this in the Asian food aisle of any grocery store)
2 tsp. sesame oil (same as above)
1 tsp. corn starch
1/2 tsp. sugar
1/4 tsp. kosher salt*
1/8 tsp. white pepper*
1/4 cup minced green onions
2 tsp. minced ginger*
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 pound ground pork
Won ton wrappers (usually in the refrigerated section of the produce dept.)
Vegetable oil
Water

Bring a pot of water to a boil. Place cabbage in boiling water for a few minutes, until it begins to soften. Remove from hot water immediately and rinse in cold. Drain and rinse then drain again. Squeeze handfuls of cabbage then wrap in paper towels and squeeze again until you've squeezed and wrapped all the cabbage. Wrap and squeeze in paper towels one more time. This is necessary to decrease the moisture in the filling and prevent breakage of the won ton wrappers during cooking. Set cabbage aside. Whisk together the egg white, soy sauce, oyster sauce, sesame oil, corn starch, sugar, salt, and pepper in a medium bowl. Stir in the cabbage, green onions, ginger, and garlic. Add the pork and mix until thoroughly combined.

Take one won ton wrapper at a time, brush outer edge (about 1/2 inch) with water all around just to moisten. Place a small amount (how much depends on the size of your wrapper--usually 1-2 tsp.) in the middle. Fold wrapper over (forming a triangle, if wrappers are square), squeezing out the air and pressing the edges together to form a seal. Sometimes you can find round wrappers which are larger and are more traditional. Either one works. You can pleat, if you like, to have a good seal. Heat a skillet over medium to medium high heat. Add 1 Tbsp. vegetable oil, tilting to coat. Place pot stickers in a single layer in the pan without letting them touch. Fry until the bottoms are brown. Flip them over, add 1/2 cup water, cover, and let steam/cook for 6 to 7 minutes, or until the water is evaporated and bottoms are golden brown. If the water evaporates quicker than this, turn your heat down. You need this much time for the filling to cook through (based on 1-2 tsp. of filling). Be aware that when you add the water, there will be a lot of spitting and sputtering of the oil. I used the lid as a shield and moved quickly at that step.

*Don't not make this because you don't want to buy a whole piece of fresh ginger, for example, and only use a small portion. I *starred* the things that can be cut short. You could use regular cabbage, if you want, regular salt, powdered ginger, or regular pepper. Garlic, however, must be fresh. It lasts a long time in the fridge, anyway, and is very useful. (Okay, okay...if fresh garlic is stopping you from making these, then just use powdered, but I'm a believer in fresh!)

* Also, don't not make these because there seem to be lots of steps or they seem complicated. They are SO good, better than anything I've had in a Chinese restaurant, and they are relatively quick to clean up.

Craig's House

Yesterday I had to take the van to Aamco to get some problems diagnosed and get an estimate.

We had about three hours to kill and, luckily, there was a Costco right down the road! We walked around, sat on the couches, I "picked out" new furniture (a girl can dream, can't she?).

Anywho, we rounded a corner and what did Craig's wondering eyes behold? A massive $1000 playground set, complete with a two story play house, slide, and swing set. Luckily, it was lifted up off the ground and onto a platform about ten feet up so I didn't have to fight him to stay off. I did feel bad for him, though. He wanted to play with it in the worst way, but realized it was out of reach. He said to me, "Can I play up there?" But before I could answer he disappointingly said to himself, "No, it's too high." Then, however, we came around the other side and he squealed and clapped in excitement. There, underneath the play structure, was a little wooden play house. Craig said to me, "Mom, it's my house!"

It even had a little doorbell. I sat down and they played with this thing for a good 30 or 45 minutes. People were walking by and making comments about the little house and how much they loved it. I almost felt like Costco should be paying me to have them playing there and making it look fun. I wonder if they sold any of these houses while we were there. :)

Craig, looking through the door.

Ethan came to answer the door when I rang the doorbell.

Thank you, Costco, for keeping us warm and occupied for a big chunk of our long, cold morning.