bread pudding.

Wednesday was the Family Sick Day at our house. W00t. Everyone was home coughing and snotty with sore throats so we all spent the day in our jamoos (a.k.a. pajamas) watching television, eating pizza delivery, and fighting with one another. The fun that was had cannot be put into words.

As the day's insanity began to slowly draw to a close and the kids were finally in bed asleep, I decided out of the blue that I wanted some bread pudding - the ultimate comfort food. Not having an award-winning secret family recipe or anything, I referred to the wise and wonderful oracle, otherwise known as the Internet.

I found several mouth-watering recipes, but quickly settled upon this one from southern soul-food goddess, Paula Deen. --I mean if it's a Paula Deen recipe, it likely will call for 3 pounds of sugar and 8 sticks of butter that will clog your arteries and put you into a diabetic coma faster than you can swallow the last orgasmically decadent bite, but you can bet your big ole sweet, jiggly bottom that it's gonna be a heaping helping of heaven!

The Best Bread Pudding by Paula Deen (appropriately named)

Ingredients

• 2 cups granulated sugar
• 5 large beaten eggs
• 2 cups milk
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 3 cups cubed Italian bread, allow to stale overnight in a bowl
• 1 cup packed light brown sugar
• ¼ cup (½ stick) butter, softened
• 1 cup chopped pecans [pronounced "pee-canz" not "pe-cons"]

For the sauce

• 1 cup granulated sugar
• ½ cup (1 stick) butter, melted
• 1 egg, beaten
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• ¼ cup brandy

Directions

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 13 by 9 by 2-inch pan.
• Mix together granulated sugar, eggs, and milk in a bowl; add vanilla. Pour over cubed bread and let sit for 10 minutes.
• In another bowl, mix and crumble together brown sugar, butter, and pecans.
• Pour bread mixture into prepared pan. Sprinkle brown sugar mixture over the top and bake for 35 to 45 minutes, or until set. Remove from oven.
• For the sauce
• Mix together the granulated sugar, butter, egg, and vanilla in a saucepan over medium heat. Stir together until the sugar is melted. Add the brandy, stirring well. Pour over bread pudding. Serve warm or cold.

As I keep saying: it is cosmically impossible for me to follow a recipe to the letter... Thusly, you may note, I made this recipe exactly as it is written above, except I added a couple dashes of cinnamon, extra pecans, and raisins - soaked in the ¼ of brandy (which you will need to top off as the dried fruit will absorb the booze).

O.M.G. Delicious like nobody's biz! This is right up there with the Baked Apple Pancake in Gatlinburg! Outta-This-World Yummy! Make your eyes roll back in your head kinda good. Even better cold.

Maybe I'll make another one this weekend and share it with the kids this time. ;-)

"You can say this for ready-mixes - the next generation isn't going to have any trouble making pies exactly like mother used to make."

...Earl Wilson

'tis the season.

holiday spirit. Originally uploaded by Luna Soledad

It seems to me that every year is a roller coaster ride which picks up speed and plunges around mid-November right about grocery shopping time for Thanksgiving. By the time Christmas arrives, I am ready to get off.

Chaos is in the air!

A lot of stuff has been going on lately that I have wanted to blog about, though I've been a bit greedy with my oh-so-scarce "ME time"...

I'll try to hit the highlights and maybe get back around to elaborating, though don't hold your breath - the coaster just dropped:

• Kevin and I finally signed up and went through the entire process of acquiring life insurance to include mounds of paperwork, interviews, and peeing in cups.
• Recently, the younger brother of a dear ole kindergarten pal went Homeless for the Holidays, living in his car for a week in downtown Raleigh to help raise awareness of the growing issue of homelessness in the community.
• I've been shooting a lot lately and have worked with some fantastic models (Danielle, Sonia, Joanna, and Christine) as well as my uber-talented fellow photographers, Rob Miracle and Tom Winstead.
• Liam recently tested for his High-Green belt in Tae Kwon Do and was awarded the rank of 11th Gup.
• And I have called a pre-IEP meeting with WCPSS for Isabel's services scheduled for December 16th to uhm, shall we say, poke the hornet's nest...

That may not seem like a long nor overwhelming list of stuff but add in 40-60 hour work weeks complete with daily crazy calls, deadlines, and dramatic emergencies from our usual suspects; over due doctor visits, forgotten appointments, grocery and holiday shopping, more little kid birthday parties, the regular array of miscellaneous errands; cleaning the house, clothes, dishes and making sure everyone is fed; more car problems, chronic back pain, a mile long list of overdue email responses, tantrums, and picking up little pieces of shredded paper from all over the house, etc., etc., etc...

This past Saturday our day looked something like this:

0800 Be awakened by small child; make coffee.
0815 Feed small child.
0830 Wake other child; feed.
0845 Dress children.
0900 Miss Kim arrives (Bless her!)
0910 Leave house late with two cars and one fed and dressed child.
0925 Jeep begins making a very loud grinding metal sound.
0930 Belt testing at Tae Kwon Do.
1030-1130 Special Needs Arts and Craft class at Library for Bell.
1030-1230 Four-year-old birthday party for preschool friend at Old McDonald's for Liam.
1045 Water pump goes out on Jeep.
1100 Photo shoot at my new "studio," a.k.a. The Law Firm's conference room.
1100-1130 Fellow photographers arrive; set up for shoot.
1110 Call mechanic.
1115 Call AAA.
1130-1230 Models 1 and 2 arrive; make up artist arrives.
1230 Jeep towed to mechanic.
1400-ish SNOW! =)
1630 Wrap up / clean up shoot; return office to order.
1650 Get ride over to mechanic to pick up Jeep and deposit a check for $333.00 in drop box.
1700 Drive home in snow.
1720 Collect children and husband and drive back to Tae Kwon Do, late again.
1730-2000 Belt presentation ceremonies, martial arts show, and pot luck reception.
2030 Dinner at North Ridge Pub.
2130 Home. Exhausted. Change children and put to bed without brushing teeth.
2200-0130 Load / process / edit a few of the 600+ photographs taken that day and email to models / make up artist.
0130 Take Ibuprofen and muscle relaxer. Crawl in bed and DIE.

the downside. Originally uploaded by Luna Soledad

Just shoot me.

"Chaos is the score upon which reality is written."

...Henry Miller

fun with Liamisms.

"No matter how calmly you try to referee, parenting will eventually produce bizarre behavior, and I'm not talking about the kids. Their behavior is always normal."

...Bill Cosby

generation gap.

6:356 | filthy habit.

Originally uploaded by Luna Soledad

Monday being what it was, I decided on my way home last night that I was not "doing dinner" and thus stopped off at Jersey Mike's for a couple of subs. (I highly recommend the number 43 Chipotle Cheese Steak by the way.)

Of course, Liam was with me and begun politely shouting to the fellow behind the counter as I was placing the order, "Excuse me! Uhm, sir, excuse me!" I quiet the child, complete the order, and then turned my attention back to the child curious as to what he had been so anxious to say... Turns out, he wanted to know about the deli slicer, what it was, what it did, and all that.

The young gentleman kindly explained and gave Liam a demonstration as he made our sandwiches. Then he added, that you had to be very careful and could only use the machine if you were a grown-up because you could get hurt really bad.

The man standing in line beside me said that it's now a law in North Carolina that you have to be 18 years old in order to operate a deli slicer. --WHAT? Seriously?

The Jersey Mike's guy replies that you have to be 16 in order to use the large serrated bread knife because they had a 15 year old girl working there who had to have a waiver signed by her parents in order to wield the big bread sword. --Dumbfounded, I just couldn't help but laugh...

I smiled at the young at-least-18-because-he-used-the-dangerous-deli-slicer man wrapping my sandwich and said to him: "See, this is the difference between your generation and mine. When we were 15, we had to get our parents to sign our smoking permits so we could smoke cigarettes in the high school smoking area."

He looked at me as though I were from another planet.

"Book is the new cool for the txt generation."

-Erica Wagner

my young playa.

Daniel & Mallory.
Originally uploaded by Luna Soledad

Thanksgiving this year, like many fond holidays past, we spent with my 'sister-of-soul' and family up in Petersburg, Virgina.

It's an easy two hour drive, perhaps a bit more, however none to our surprise, Liam chatted away the entire drive. If no one is participating in his conversation, he's usually content to carry on with himself, though he does prefer a healthy exchange and will insert himself into whatever other dialog may be happening in the car. A perfect example is when I mentioned to Kevin that I had a headache and needed to eat something soon...

Liam: "I have a headache too."
Kevin: "No you don't. You're fine."
Liam: "Uh huh, I do. I ate a lot of food and it made my head hurt."

He's also getting a bit more brazen in his constant interruptions when we grown-ups may dare to get a word in edgewise... "Excuse me I'm talking!" he says.

Very excited to see Tio Juan, a Sergeant First Class and former Drill Sergeant in the US Army, Liam wore his "army pants" (e.g. camouflaged cargo pants) to show him. In the car, Liam also announced that he had a surprise for Tio Juan.

Kevin: "What's the surprise?"
Liam: "I can't tell you. It's a surprise for Tio Juan."
Kevin: "Well can you tell me?"
Liam: "No. It's a surprise."
Kevin (to me): "You try."
Me: "What's the surprise?"
Liam: "I can't tell you. It's not your surprise."

Alrighty then.

Recently, Liam has learned to count to 10 in Spanish (and German) and likes to randomly practice his language skills. Pausing in mid-count, he asked out of the blue, if Tio Juan spoke Spanish...
Me: "Yes, he does. He also speaks English."
Liam: "English? What is English?"
Kevin: "English is the language that we speak."
Liam: "What does English sound like?"

Hmmm...

A side note: En route, I saw a fantastic bumper sticker on a Volvo station wagon which read: "Honk if you love silence" ...Now that's just the sort of sarcastic wit I can appreciate in my world. ;-)

We arrive around 2:30, thrilled to release the children into the waiting audience that is anyone besides us and see if we remember how to carry on an adult conversation. --But first, Liam has to give Tio Juan his surprise... which turned out to be a cotton bowl and wad of cotton he had collected on our trip to Grandma's farm. Awww.

And then (my eyes are watering and heart bursting with pride writing this), we watched our sweet little four year old boy as he stood tall and saluted his Uncle. Juan beamed, returning the salute. Then he let Liam try on his Drill Sergeant hat and his Texas Calvary hat... then Liam wanted to know about Tio Juan's tanks...

These days with three teenagers, everyone has a boyfriend/girlfriend and so the house was full with young people and even friends and neighbors - which was great for us because it was like having a house full of unsuspecting babysitters. --Liam worked the house and monopolized everyone's time (particularly Nicki's boyfriend Jake) and honed in on Daniel's girlfriend Mallory... while Isabel, the unnaturally good and quiet child for a change, set about carving out her walking path, sampling the food being prepared, and decided who she liked best by swatting at them. --Oh, and getting the cap off of a two-liter of Coke and chugaluggin' it. (Why her Occupational Therapist thought it wise to teach her to unscrew lids is beyond me. Yeah, thanks for that.)

At last the smorgasbord of food was prepared, the table set, and per tradition at Elvia's, we all took turns telling what we were thankful for... Isabel was thankful for food and Liam was thankful for windows. Huh? --Anyway, Thanksgiving being what it is, we all gorged ourselves on the traditional favorites and had no room for dessert, though that didn't stop us. Isn't that what it's all about after all?

So, after a wonderful day with friends and family, wonderful food, laughter and memories... we were trying to find the energy to head back to Raleigh when we noticed our son busy rearranging the room of people by simply taking a hand and dragging that person to the spot he wanted to reposition them. Curiously we watched...

Liam then walks over to where Daniel was sitting on the love seat sofa with his sweet, pretty fifteen year old girlfriend and takes Mallory by the hand, pulls her from the couch and leads her over to a fold out chair just two feet away. On cue, she sits as the little prince then strategically places himself in between the object of his affection and her beloved and proceeds to serenade her with the most romantic song he knew... "Happy Birthday to you..."

O.M.G. We are in SO much trouble.

"The life of man is the true romance, which when it is valiantly conduced, will yield the imagination a higher joy than any fiction."

...Ralph Waldo Emerson

still got it.

surf 'n' turf., originally uploaded by Luna Soledad.

Facebook is a double-edged sword. It's amazing the people you find and that find you, people you never thought you'd ever see or hear from again, and some you never wanted to. Though I have to say that overall, it's pretty cool, in this small Internet world, reconnecting with old friends from elementary school, high school, even a few ex-boyfriends - people I've wondered about every since our paths crossed and they left a mark on my life... it's interesting seeing how people grew up, turned out, and what they've done with their lives. It's interesting how many unpopular oddballs turned into very successful happy people, how many dope heads and drug dealers turned into staunch right-wing Bible-thumpers, how many popular kids just grew up to be average ordinary folks, those that still march to their own drum, and some who had it all figured out from the get go and continued on their path to where they are now.

I'm not sure which category I fall into; I was neither popular nor unpopular, I had my share of tokes but was never a dope head nor did I turn out to be uber-conservative, I've marched to many different drums in my life, but I didn't have it all figured out then and even less so now.

Anyway...

Recently I was contacted by a fellow South Johnston graduate a couple years my senior, one of those guys who I think had it all figured out - at least in the way of what he was to do with his life... He grew up from a tall lanky kid I once knew into a body builder and personal trainer. No surprise. I remember as a freshman when I first saw him after several years how he'd undergone some testosterone metamorphosis and suddenly was sporting the bod of a well-built twenty-something year old.

As it turns out, he had been following my photo feeds, really liked my work, and wanted to know if I could do some shots for him while he still had it going on. Sure, I need some male models for my portfolio so, we met, caught up a bit and set a date to shoot at Fort Fisher this past weekend.

Spring and Fall are about the only times of year that I can truly enjoy the ocean and Sunday could not have been a more perfect day had I custom ordered it. Wow. Absolutely spectacular and wholly rejuvenating.

Fort Fisher is one of the few places where one can drive onto the North Carolina beaches, provided that one has adequate four-wheel-drive. Chris has a sweet Jeep and so off we bounced across the sands packed with gear, wardrobe, surfboards and other props until we could drive no further.

Aside from my cousin Jennifer (and the ongoing chronicles of Bell and Liam), this was my first solo shoot so I was rather stoked. We shot pretty much all day, breaking for a picnic lunch around high noon, and had a blast. The day produced some excellent shots and I'm happy to report that the "client" was most pleased with the product.

washed ashore., originally uploaded by Luna Soledad.

We wrapped up at sunset and I headed back to Raleighwood consumed of course with both gratitude and guilt for leaving my awesome hubby stuck with the offspring all day while I was frolicking about taking pictures of some hot guy on the beach. Kevin, bless him, he doesn't completely understand the whole old soul / poetic passion thing or how I simply must express myself in some creative fashion or I'll shrivel up and die, but he's a big fan and wholeheartedly supports me in my quests; I couldn't ask for anything more.

Arriving home around 8-ish, I was met in the garage by a pajama-clad midget jumping up and down excitedly disclosing that he had made me a birthday cake and I had cards and a balloon. Then I came inside and acted surprised all over again. A perfect ending to a perfect day. =)

And yes Chris, you still got it going on.

"Men go abroad to wonder at the heights of mountains, at the huge waves of the sea, at the long courses of rivers, at the vast compass of the ocean, at the circular motions of the stars; and they pass by themselves without wondering."

...Saint Augustine of Hippo

the big surprise.

NC Museum of Art., originally uploaded by Luna Soledad.

A couple of weeks ago, we took the kids out for a "surprise." --Well, I told Bella since they were actually her tickets but i knew she wouldn't tell anyone... and Kevin, not one for surprises, pestered me until I gave him enough clues that he finally figured it out (I sure could use a fixed aperture telephoto lens, a natural disaster, indoors) - so really I guess it was Liam's surprise... Yes, that's right, we went to a Carolina Hurricanes game. It was a first for the kids and they both loved it!

In spite of the loud-mouth jackass sitting behind us yelling the whole game with a scorn on his face like he was watching his girlfriend get it on with someone else in the rink.

No matter where you sit, there's always at least one isn't there? These are the same kind of guys who ruin little league games too with their explosive rantings. Key word folks: "GAME." This one had a supportive wife beside him egging her man on who actually said, "These seats should be filled to capacity! People just need to understand what an honor and privilege it is to come to a real NHL Hockey game?" Seriously??? Is the high altitude up here in the nose-bleed section getting to you or what? I mean come on, sure we enjoy going to a game when we can (Hockey is one of the only sports that Kevin and I can enjoy together after all) but there are a couple of reasons why we haven't gotten season tickets: 1) we don't have 2-5 thousand dollars lying around and 2) because with my luck, our seats for the whole season would be assigned right next to some loud-mouth inconsiderate asshole like you.

But I digress.

new lil' Caniac.., originally uploaded by Luna Soledad.

So Saturday we woke up, did our morning thing (coffee, breakfast, news, yell at the kids...) then got everyone ready and told them we were going somewhere and it was a surprise. --Yay! Everyone was excited. Especially Liam.

Every since Liam and I had played hooky one Monday afternoon from school/work and spend the afternoon gallivanting about the grounds of the newly expanded North Carolina Museum of Art (which I forgot was closed on Mondays), Liam has been asking to go back. So - surprise!

Ten minutes into the new building, Liam begins to cry, "I don't like this surprise. I wanna go to a hockey game!"

"If you make every game a life and death proposition, you're going to have problems. For one thing, you'll be dead a lot."

...Coach Dean Smith