Amazing Egg-free Cupcakes!

Someone turned 4 this week...

Chocolate
from The Art of Dessert

Egg-free Chocolate Cupcakes
Makes about 2 dozen cupcakes
Allergy note: contains wheat and dairy ingredients

3 cups all-purpose flour 
2 1/2 cups sugar
1 cup cocoa powder
2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
2 cups whole milk
1 cup butter, melted
4 tsp. honey
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 325 F degrees. Line two muffin pans with baking cups. Sift together flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt. In a separate mixing bowl, combine milk, butter, honey and vanilla extract. Slowly add the dry ingredients into the milk/butter mixture. Mix until combined.  Fold in the semi-sweet chocolate chips. Pour in the batter into the lined muffin pan to 2/3 full. Bake for 25 to 30 or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cupcake comes out clean. Let cool completely before decorating.

Chocolate Buttercream Frosting
makes about 2 1/2 cups frosting 
Allergy note: contains dairy ingredients

4 cups powdered sugar, sifted
1 cup cocoa powder
1/2 cup butter, softened to room temperature
1/3-1/2 cup whole milk*
1 tsp. vanilla extract

 *start out with 1/3 cup of milk and add more milk to your desired consistency

In a large mixing bowl, sift together powdered sugar and cocoa powder. Add the butter, milk and vanilla extract. Using an electric mixer, slowly mix together at a low speed. Once all the ingredients are combined, increase the speed and beat till fluffy.



Mama's Awesome Egg-free vanilla cupcakes
(this is the best egg-free vanilla cake I have made yet!)

3 cups all purpose flour
2 cups sugar
1 tsp salt
2 tsp baking soda
3/4 c coconut oil (melted)
2 TBSP white vinegar
3 TBSP vanilla extract
1 cup unsweetened coconut milk
1 cup water
a few drops yellow food coloring or carrot juice

Mix dry ingredients in large bowl
Mix wet ingredients in another bowl

Stir wet into dry.  Pour into muffin cups and bake at 350 for approx. 12 minutes.

*the flavor is awesome and the texture is great, but these are dense.  I like dense cakes, but might try increasing the vinegar to 3 TBSP and baking soda to 3 tsp next time to see if that makes them lighter.  

Very Vanilla frosting
4 cups powdered sugar
1/2 cup butter (room temp/softened)
1/3-1/2 cup coconut milk
2-3 tsp vanilla

Beat together.  tint with gel food coloring if desired.  Add a little more powdered sugar to make it stiffer if you want to pipe it, this texture is great for spreading but a little soft.

Topped with Thomas faces made out of homemade marshmallow fondant, these were a huge hit in B's classroom and at his party!

Wanna cry at work? I just did!

Amazing post on "God will Add" about missed birthdays, loss, and adoption.

B's prayer request

We finished praying tonight before B went to sleep, but he had an addendum, "Mommy, pray fun day at school tomorrow"

Oh my heart!

At 4 weeks in, B is starting to like school but still frequently says "school is too big...was it scary...mommy i'm sad" when asked about school or when I drop him off at school.

previously his prayer requests have also included "mommy, pray only good dreams, no bad dreams, bad dreams go away!"

I am so grateful that he is starting to use words for emotions/feelings, and that he wants to pray about these things, but I wish that he wasn't scared and sad in these situations.

He is growing and we are growing through these experiences of bad dreams and the transition to school, but it is hard and scary and sad.

Staying home with him full time is not an option for me or Ababa right now, but I am grateful that we were able to be home with him full time for 6 months and part time for the next 9 (and as pesky as those Jewish holidays can be for scheduling, I am grateful for them too b/c B has been home with Ababa 1-2 days a week since school started and that has helped the transition immensely).

On another note, if you only buy 4 adoption books for the first 6-8 years by far B's favorites have been:

-Guess How Much I Love You (his fave for the first 6-9 months, and still read frequently)
-A Mother for Choco (I think this is his all time favorite book and he constantly walks around talking about how mommy is Mrs. Bear and B is Choco and Daddy is big nut brown hare and B is little nut brown hare! He would read this every day)
-Horace (months 9-15 but still read frequently)
-Rosie (in the past month he has started to get more into this book-which is specifically an adoption book, but it has not reached the level of the previous three yet.  I have a suspicion that this might become a fave in a year or two)

PreK update--aka navigating NYC public schools

I know, blog posts have been few and far between lately, but I wanted to post this so that we don't forget (and hopefully so that we will be able to look back in a few months and see that we've made progress with B's teachers).

B started preK in a NYC public school.  The preK program has gotten lots of great reviews, especially for one teacher.  We requested said teacher.  We were told that he would likely be in her class as they would "do everything they could".  We did not get said teacher:-(  In retrospect, we should have just raised a rukus then, had be switched into her class, and had a great year....but we didn't and now it would be a HUGE deal to have him switch classes and I doubt they'd even do it, plus he's just starting to get comfortable in his class...

Anyway, B's current teacher is fine, not great, not awful, just average, but she seems very stressed all the time and doesn't listen when we talk to her.  She "wants parents to be involved and to advocate for their child's education" but then doesn't hear you at all when you talk to her.

(There are two teachers and a student teacher for 18 kids, and the classroom is well equipped with supplies, etc. So although I am sure that her job can be challenging, it's certainly not an awful classroom situation.)

Case in point, she has a book that she writes "observations" of the children in everyday.  Ababa and I call it "the book of badness" b/c she only writes negative things in the book like "johnny wasn't listening...emily spilled her juice...jabari is scared of the slide...etc."  I was reading through the book Friday morning and noticed that she had writted that "b doesn't know his name...b doesn't understand english enough to know when we ask him to put his cup in the sink". 

WHAT?!?!?!?!?  B learned his new name 3 weeks into us knowing him and although we had planned to call him "new name-ethiopian name" all the time, he was adamant that he wanted to be called "new name" with "ethiopian name" as his middle name, and that's what it has been ever since.  Now he introduces himself to strangers with "first name, middle name, last name" and sometimes our address (kind of scary, I know!)

Also, this is a kid who sometimes gets sytax and pronunciation twisted, but has a vocabulary that includes "dental moldings, cornices, imagination ("avenation" as he says), san francisco ("fransancisco"), underpass, every type of construction vehicle known to man (including fellerbuncher!), ferris wheel...etc.", puts together 10 words sentences, can recognize and explain differences between the brooklyn bridge, george washington brige, london bridge, and fransancisco bridge...and says things like "well basically mommy, your throat is underneath your mouth and above your tummy and your food is digested in the tummy and then comes out your bottom as poop". 

Um yeah...he doesn't understand english yet enough to know his name or to put food in the sink?!?!??!?!?!...even if he's shy when we are not there, 5 minutes of observation when we are still in the classroom would easily have demonstrated these things.

Mornings are rushed in the classroom and I didn't want to try and have a big conversation when she was already stressed, plus I had talked to her the week before when she asked me "how long has B been speaking english" and I told her 15 months, and although his syntax may not be 100% at age level, he understands everything you say and has an amazing vocabulary.  We had a long conversation, she would never tell me exactly what the issue was, and I thought she had just noticed that B's syntax can be a little off (but completely adorable:-) sometimes.  I also told her that his way of coping with scary situations is to withdraw/shut down and that he might not be talking much yet and that's a fear thing, not a language skills thing.  Also, on the first day of school she had all the parents fill in a 4 page questionaire about their child which I thoroughly and thoughtfully completed regarding all these potential challenges (but I am pretty sure she has never read).

Friday morning I told Ababa about the book of badness report and he was really upset, b/c it turns out the previous week, he had sat her down and talked through all these things again and demonstrated how B can follow complex directions and definitely knows him name and how to put a cup in the sink.  He doesn't have high hopes that anything sunk in though b/c interspersed in the conversation were gems like:

teacher: we made popcorn today at school for cooking. B, you should have your daddy make popcorn at home.
ababa: we do make popcorn at home, it's mommy's favorite snack
teacher: well do you make it on the stove or in the microwave?
ababa: we make it on the stove, that's mommy's favorite way
teacher: oh, well we make it on the stove, you should try it that way sometime

!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!??!

it's pretty much like that everytime we talk to her.

trying to figure out the best way to navigate this. 

We're comtemplating starting our own book of badness to capture our "observations" about her as well...but know that we really do need to think of something more constructive to improve this situation.

Guess who started PreK?!?!?!

Mac n 'cheese

Just posting this so I don't forget how we made it, how delicious it was, and a few changes I would make next time:-)

Adapted From Smitten Kitchen

(Adapted from Martha Stewart’s Creamy Mac-and-Cheese
Adapted from Martha Stewart Living Cookbook: The Original Classics)

We ate this for lunch with a fresh tomato salad and will have it again for dinner with steamed green beans and corn on the cob:-)

Serves 12

8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter
3-6 slices bread, crusts removed, torn into small pieces (panko would also work well, I used 3 old heel of wheat and rye bread from the freezer and a quarter cup of breadcrumbs)
5 1/2 cups milk (I used 2%, but 1% or skim would probably work well too)
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons coarse salt, plus more for water
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
        ***instead of the above spices I used 1/2 tsp Tony Chacheres, 1/4 tsp nutmeg and 1/4 tsp coarse ground pepper
8 oz extra sharp cheddar cheese-grated
8 oz Cabot 50% reduced fat sharp cheddar cheese-grated
8 ounces grated Gruyère
1 pound cavatappi/spiral macaroni (next time I would use 1 1/2 lbs of cavatappi)

1. Preheat oven to 375°F. Butter two 2 1/2-quart casserole dishes; set aside. Place the bread in a medium bowl. In a small saucepan over medium heat, melt 2 tablespoons butter. Pour the melted butter into the bowl with the bread, and toss. Sprinkle with 1/2 c of the grated mixed cheeses.  Set the breadcrumbs aside.

2. Warm the milk in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Melt the remaining 6 tablespoons butter in a high-sided skillet over medium heat. When the butter bubbles, add the flour. Cook, stirring, 1 minute.

3. While whisking, slowly pour in the hot milk a little at a time to keep mixture smooth. Continue cooking, whisking constantly, until the mixture bubbles and becomes thick, 8 to 12 minutes.

4. Remove the pan from the heat. Stir in salt, nutmeg, black pepper, cayenne pepper, and all remaining cheese.

5. Cover a large pot of salted water, and bring to a boil. Cook the spiral until the outside of pasta is cooked and the inside is underdone,  approx. 5 minutes. Drain well. Stir the macaroni into the reserved cheese sauce.

6. Pour the pasta mixture into the prepared dish. Sprinkle the breadcrumb mixture over the top. Bake until golden brown, about 30 minutes. Transfer the dish to a wire rack for 5 minutes; serve.

I love you!

Just so I remember (and to encourage other mamas and ababas who might be waiting a long time for this too...)

This morning, after 14 months of being a family, B said an unsolicited "I love you" to me for the first time!!!!

Previously, he's only said "I love you" after I say it to him and when I prompt him to say it back to me.

This morning, I was dropping him off at Miss Carmen's for daycare and was looking at him just about to say "I love you B, have a great day" like always when he smiled at me, made great eye contact, and said "I love you"!!!  Of course I scooped him up, covered him with kisses, and said "I love you too".

Needless to say, that totally made my day!!!!

We're looking for the cable to download the photos from our phone, but really, could this boy be any cuter? (running through the grass at his grandparent's house in the country)