The Scented Pine Cone Recipe

Since it is Gluten Free Friday I wanted to share a non-edible recipe with you all. At this time of year this is a project that is fun and festive. Technically, it is a gluten free recipe, so when the shoe fits?

Scented pine cones are becoming increasingly popular, and with that popularity they are also becoming more expensive to purchase commercially. But never fear! If you have access to pine cones you can scent them yourself. If you have 8 little hands helping you collect the cones it won't take long before you have a bag full and ready to go. (Note to parents, be sure the kids are picking up only pine cones, and not dog poop. Trust me on that!)

Used similar to potpourri, scented pine cones serve as great aromatic hearth decorations. You can use them as a festive centerpiece in a decorative bowl. The fragrances used are the same ones that are used in potpourri. After being displayed for a while the scent will begin to diminish. Simply toss old cones into the fireplace and the burning will release more scent.

These are quick and easy to make, they are ideal for group activities or school children or if like me, you have birthed your own classroom of toddlers, you can just line them up in the kitchen and start crafting.

Rinse pine cones under running water, shake to dry, lay pine cones on an old cookie sheet lined with parchment paper (easy clean up) and bake at 200F until the pine cones open up (kills bugs, melts sap etc) or for about 15 minutes. Shake the tray periodically to wiggle them. When baked, spread pine cones out on layers of newspaper. Pour cinnamon, clove or Christmas blend essential oils into a spray bottle with a little water and spray cones until they are damp. (I used a pumpkin pie spice oil from Michael's) I sprinkle a little ground cinnamon and cloves onto the moist cones and shake the excess off. It is like a double layer of natural scent. Place scented pine cones back on the parchment papered tray and put in 200 degree oven, turn off flame and let them sit until the oven turns cold or overnight. Then place the scented cones in a plastic bag and seal for 24 hours to lock in the fragrance.

The whole house smells amazing while you are making these and they make awesome gifts from the kids. My children took pride in presenting them as a hostess gift yesterday, and they were a hit.

My camera battery was dead as a door nail when we made these, so I do not have photos, but we plan to make them again this week, so I will upload some shots to this post and give the visuals for the recipe.

Tales of Thanksgiving

So we got invited to a friend's New Albany home for Thanksgiving. I should have been thrilled with the thought of just bringing a couple of things and showing up, but I was plagued with anxiety all week. Taking four kids to someone Else's home for Thanksgiving is a lot of pressure. I thought about all the things that could go wrong and I was freaking myself out.

I spent a good portion of Thanksgiving day just hanging out with the kids at home. It was cozy and relaxing day of snuggling and sharing stories. We talked non stop about good behavior, nice manners, and acting appropriately. It was all fine and dandy but I was not 100% convinced it soaked in. After all, taking 4 kids out of a toddler friendly environment is risky at best.

I prepared some of the gluten free pumpkin pie tarts and the gluten free corn pudding casserole to bring. My Martha Stewart-esque pine cones were the hostess gift (see recipe tomorrow) and when we walked in Lauren and Ted's home smelled amazing. It was all the familiar Thanksgiving day scents wafting in the air. I smiled as I entered the front door and then, I almost fainted.The house had WHITE CARPETING. White. Carpet. Clean. Perfect. White. Carpet.

I considered shuffling all the kids back into the van before they realized what was going on, but I could not do it. I sucked it up and prayed my children would behave and act nicely. Thankfully, on Thanksgiving they were as close to perfect as possible. Everyone sat and ate like ladies and gentlemen.



They used utensils, napkins and drank from open cups. There was little if any whining or fighting and they all ate the meal and asked for second helpings. In Mommie-land this is what is known as the calm before the storm. I kept waiting and waiting for someone to spill cranberry sauce on the carpet, or for projectile puking, or for a sharpie marker incident. Can you imagine how thankful I was that my people were being solid citizens? Thanksgiving? YOU BET IT WAS!

The finished basement and play area was a huge source of entertainment.



I was able to send the kids down there to play and let them enjoy themselves under Amanda's supervision. I was thankful for Amanda's help. Very thankful.

There were are few moments of embarrassment, but fortunately, this occurred in the basement bathroom, when CJ did not realize he was supposed to close the door. On the plus side though, we know he washed his hands after going pee.

I was full on prepared to be blogging about the terrible tales of Thanksgiving. I was hedging my bets that we would be paying for carpet cleaning or offering to replace broken knick knacks. This is another Thanksgiving where I am truly grateful, pleasantly surprise and very, very thankful.

A lesson in shopping

I frequent a few places on a weekly basis. Aside from the beloved Giant Eagle, I have my weekly trips to Trader Joe's, Costco and my bi-weekly stops at Big Lots and Whole Foods. I pay attention to products, prices and selection and I can tell you what to buy where based on value. I would like to think that when it comes to shopping, I have the karma for what, when and where.

I have been teaching my children the system- my system. They listen. They know what coupons are and they value a good sale or clearance rack. Sometimes when they really, really want me to buy something, they will ask if it is on sale or if we have coupon because they know that may just cinch the deal. I am not sure they get it 100% yet, but overall, I think they got my genes in the shopping department.

For example: I would never buy San Pelligrino Limonta or Orangina in cans at Giant Eagle. Never. A six pack of 12 ounce cans is $7.99 there. At Costco 24 cans, (12 of each flavor) is $13.29.
I allow the children to indulge in this special Italian soda because it is one of the few carbonated beverages made without High Fructose Corn Syrup. They love it and we ration one can among the four of them so it is a highly coveted item around here. G-d forbid they ask me to buy it anywhere except Costco.

Likewise my kids are trying to teach me their shopping system. They subscribe to the "I see it, I like it, I want it, I must have it now" philosophy which was my own rationale back in the good old days. I invented that one, so when they try that shit on me now, I am on to them- big time! They do try though. They try and try and try and rarely, if ever do I kiss ten bucks goodbye.

I treated Charlotte to a girls day with Wende Powell and me. We hit the Jeffersonville Outlets and spent the time getting some holiday gifts. I scored some great buys at the Children's Place Outlet and with my handy dandy 20% coupon the 99 cent tights were about eighty cents. I made Charlotte take note of that one. In turn, she was sure to show me the retro kitchen pieces at the Pottery Barn Kids outlet.

She played and pretended to prepare some cookies while Wende and I lamented how if I was going to drop almost $200 bucks on a kitchen appliance, I would replace my actual ones with a upgraded model, and let the kids play with my old appliances. While the Pottery Barn Kids version is adorable, I know that even if it were marked down to $25, I would not buy it because with four small but mighty people monkeying around, it would be destroyed in about a week. If that.

Later with all the kids along for the fun at Costco my monkeys sampled everything in sight. They tried some freshly ground strawberry sorbet creation made with 5 or 6 fresh vegetables and fruit, and a vita-mix blender. My children were mesmerized by the demonstration.




They watched the sales guy make three different rounds of smoothies while he talked into a microphone head set. It was a slick sales pitch for the whirling machine making the samples they tasted. He gave the schpiel over and over and my little shoppers were in complete awe. They hung on his every move while he preached into the amplified speakers. They begged me to buy the Vita Mix and when I resisted they quoted the sales pitch almost word for word. While it is quite convincing coming from a bunch of four year olds, I was able to resist the $395 blender and get the hell out of there. Does anyone own this miraculous machine? Do people really fork over $400 for a blender? I need a lesson in Vita mix apparently.

So on this day before Thanksgiving I am shouting out about my shopping prowess. I am probably one of the few people who love this time of year for all things shopping related. I hope that my sweet children begin to understand why Mommie is leaving at Midnight tomorrow night. I am not sure who was getting the lessons this week, the kids or me. Stay tuned!

Thankful

A bunch of my friends (both the in real life ones, and the cyber ones) have been posting status updates on their facebooks that mention being thankful. Some have daily messages giving thanks to people, places or things and they changed them daily. Reading those snipits has got me thinking about my own little list and mine is too long for facebook, so here I go...

I am thankful for the following- not in any particular order:

Trader Joe's
1500 Thread Count Sheets
Lysol wipes
The Eagles Nest at Giant Eagle
Jules Nearly Normal Flour
Manolo Blahnik
Honeycrisp apples
High Speed On line Access
A husband that is nice to me
Fuel Perks for free fill ups
Life-long friendships
I-phone technology
DVD player in the minivan
ARGENIDA
Digital Cameras
YSL touche eclait
dixie cups
Dr. Aziz
Infusium 23
Brothers/Sisters in Laws that are awesome
Nick Jr.
My healthy, well adjusted kids
Oxy Clean
Coffee
Obagi Skin Care
New Albany Library
J-date
Nice Neighbors
Dr. Mark Landon
Dirty Martinis
Teen Age Kids that keep me humble
Drive thru Starbucks
sunny days

I am sure there are more but this is a good start. Thanks to my readers too- without you this list would still be in my head.

The Urban Active Gym in New Albany, a lesson in how not to do business

I hesitate to post about our negative experience at the Urban Active gym in New Albany because I really wanted to join there and start enjoying the club like atmosphere they offer. Aunt Edye and Uncle Marc are members there and they LOVE it, so I figured that we could get a family membership there as a gift for the entire family this holiday season.

This is one of those mega gyms with all types of services, trainers, classes and state of the art equipment.This is a fancy fitness center not some local sweat shop. The club offers child care in a playroom like setting, and is close enough to our house that we could go there every afternoon when school is out and I could work-out while the four kids were supervised by the staff. I was totally chomping at the bit to take the tour and get familiar with the place so that we could be using the facilities now that the weather makes it harder to burn energy outdoors. I need a bad weather back up plan.

We schlepped all the kids up to the Urban Active location today to take advantage of a guest pass and learn more about the club. Can you imagine how totally pissed off Jeff and I were when the guy at the front desk dicked us around? He did not have any guest passes for us, he said that the membership person was busy with two other people waiting ahead of us, and he informed us that the playroom for kids did not open until 3:00 on Sunday. WTF? We basically gave them the chance to WOW us and they did the exact opposite. We left with a really bad first impression.

Jeff and I are sometimes more critical of customer service issues because we are in sales and marketing and the two are so closely related- we are keenly aware of how NOT to do business and expect to be impressed with places like this- instead, today, we were left completely unimpressed. The experience today was a model for how to lose business.

We took time to dress, load, and arrive at their front desk on a Sunday morning and it was as if we did not matter at all. Someone please tell me why in this economy a pay to play gym is turning customers away. What a horrible first impression. If I cared enough to voice my disgust I would call the manager and let him/her know, but honestly, I would rather blog about the experience and move along. I do not have the time or energy to let them know what I would do differently. Would my call make a difference? Doubtful.

When I got home I looked at the Urban Active website and sure enough the very limited child care playroom hours are:

Mon - Thurs: 9a - 12p and 5p - 8:30p
Fri: 9a - 12p and 5p - 8p
Sat: 8:30a - 12:30p
Sun: 3-6p

so even if we joined I could not take advantage of the fitness club on weekday afternoons after lunchtime or on Saturday afternoons or Sunday mornings unless I pay for a babysitter at home, because their child care center is closed more than it is open. How bizarre.

In my on line search for information I stumbled upon some horrible reviews and was wondering if the management team there even knows how much negative publicity they have on line?

TAKE A LOOK AT THIS:

The cheat you, EVEN IF YOU PAY UP FRONT.‎
By Jeanne - Nov 16, 2009‎
The gym facility itself is great, definitely in line with other places like Lifetime fitness. The front desk and childcare staff are also great, although the childcare hours are few and far between. However, the sales staff and management are awful, in the sense that they are definitely out to get your money in any way possible. I paid up front, because I could tell they were slimy in their sales pitch (lied to me and were angry when I pointed it out). Then when I came into the gym several months later, they told me I couldn't work out unless I paid $35. When I inquired as to what the charge was for, I was informed I had failed to pay a $15 "club improvement" fee and they were charging me a $25 late fee in addition. I was told when I signed up there would be no additional charges (should have known better than to believe that after the other), and they claimed to have sent me a letter informing me of the charge, but I never received one, and doubt that it was sent. They eventually dropped the charge, but not without a huge hassle. I'm guessing most people just paid so they wouldn't have to deal with it, and that is what they were hoping. They sure didn't get anything for there money, either, because nothing about the club has been "improved," except maybe their bank account. When my time is up here, I'm definitely going back to Lifetime. Their parking situation might suck, but at least they're not crooks.

BEWARE!‎
By Marko - Nov 8, 2009‎
Agree with other reviews! Be careful...they sign you up for automatic renewal for both memberships and personal training agreements!!!!! I have been trying to cancel my PT agreement for 3 months, especially since I haven't even used the original number of sessions I purchased. They have sleazy, unprofessional, and dishonest business practices. Needless to say, I will NOT be renewing either my gym or PT memberships once I finally extricate myself from them...and I spent 94 minutes on hold once with the business office! Another scummy trick...don't mail any letters to the gym directly, they will be returned with no forwarding address, despite instructions on your contract to do so. Send to business office certified!‎

HORRIBLE CUSTOMER SERVICE‎
By roxytiller - Nov 5, 2009‎
The people at the club have always been very nice but when it comes to trying to cancel any membership whether its the gym membership or personal training one good luck! Their corporate office is horrible and they don't care what you have to say. I was on hold for over 50 minutes. And yeah I paid for a 2 year membership up front too and also did the personal training so the lady that wants to say that the only ones complaining are the ones that try to cancel a membership yeah good luck when it comes to cancelling yours if and when you do it. The lady from the corporate office even said that even when you write a 30 day letter to cancel the membership it might not go in effect for 60 days so they could potentially take 2 more months out. I'm telling you READ EVERYTHING VERY CAREFULLY because they are a very greedy corporation that will take every penny they can get.‎

grrrrrrrr‎
By cutepinkdaisy - May 18, 2009‎
I wanted to cancel my membership after my year contract was up. I kept calling and was told only the direct manager could cancel my membership for me. He was never available and NEVER returned my calls. It took 2 months and a call to their corporate office (which I was on hold for over 20 minutes) to get my membership cancelled......jerks!‎

hated it‎
By rhino - Dec 29, 2008‎
The childcare center is way too small and the staff are all about 19. The have no towel service. The pool is too small. This place costs as much as Lifetime Fitness and it is a joke and the complete opposite of Lifetime. The only plus was that I got my money back when I hated it!‎

Okay, so I guess my initial impression was not too far off. I am posting this today because I bet there will be some moms like me who google search the child care hours and are considering becoming members of this Urban Active Fitness, and will need the scoop on how they do business. We can't all be customer service all stars but it would not hurt to try. Hmmmm, now how do we let Marc and Edye know what happened to us without making them feel obligated to report the situation to the big whigs there? Ahhh, I know, I know, I will let Edye read this on the blog and share it with Marc. That will do it. Ha, I am passive aggressive now.

Welcome Back Uncle Silvan

The kids were totally insane all weekend. This behavior was designed to fully overwhelm and exhaust our favorite house guest, Uncle Silvan. The kids were on fire with energy and mood swings. Poor Uncle Silvan drove three hours each way to be covered in a urine soaked blanket and be attacked by his youngest admirers.

As soon as he walked in the door all of the children climbed into his lap and were competing to speak with him.

They took turns pulling is moustache. They showed off their new dance moves. It was a free for all at his expense. If he had an ounce of strength left he would have ran away, but instead he spent the whole weekend being the center of attention.

I was so busy multi-tasking during the two days, I barely had time to blog. I tried (unsuccessfully) a few times but managed to get the following tasks crossed off my list:

Ice Maker in fridge repaired **
Purse cleaned out
Garage Storage Shelves built, restocked and organized**
Mail weeded and mags & catalogs stacked in bathroom
New kitchen faucet installed**
Various sale foods purchased in quantity (Thanksgiving loss leaders)
Exterior window screens replaced**
5 loads of laundry done
Computer cleaned up and defragged **
Home Office ready for renovation and new French Doors
Holiday Greeting Card Envelopes addressed to letter J
Garage pantry re-designed **
Cleaning supply shelves restocked
Christmas gifts packaged to ship to Panama
Photo gifts ordered from Vista Print
Natalie's hair double washed, conditioned and combed out
Preschool lunches packed
Eye Surgery consent forms signed, dated, notarized
E-mails checked, replied, current
Blog Photos downloaded
How Fast Time Flies Memory Book pages updated
Argenida's welcome home party planned

So while Uncle Silvan was "enjoying" my children I was able to really get some stuff done. It is amazing how much I can do when someone else is watching my kids color on the walls and spill various liquids on the carpet. I am totally obsessed with countin down until Argenida is back, I even downloaded an I-phone application with a countdown timer so I can tell you how many days, hours, minutes and seconds until her plane is expected to land in Columbus. Ask me, I am serious.

So thanks to Silvan and his wonderful Mother, Mrs. Krel I had a very productive weekend. I credit Mrs. Krel for raising a son that was willing to endure the wrath of torture and was kind, patient and loving with four small minds. Thanks Guys, I could not have done it without you.

After this visit I am quite certain it will be years before Silvan comes back. We might have officially frightened him away this time. If you are up for the antics, you know you are welcome back anytime Silvan. ANYTIME!


** are tasks that were assigned to persons more qualified than I am, and were thus outsourced for proper execution.

Simple, Easy, Gluten Free Dinner

There is nothing easier than a three ingredient recipe. Combined with rice and a green vegetable, this is a meal. I make this sauce and add Amy's All Natural Chicken Jalepeno-Cranberry meatballs from Costco,
they are already cooked, and are gluten free. You can make your own meatballs, or buy them at Trader Joes-Sams-Costco and go from there.

Add one bottle Heinz Chili Sauce and 1 cup jam to the pan with 2 cloves of garlic. Heat to just boiling,then reduce heat to low and warm meatballs inside sauce. Serve over steamed rice.

I made confetti rice
by boiling chicken broth instead of water, with chopped sweet bell peppers, craisins, garlic and added toasted pine nuts to the finished product.

For those of you who are always looking for a quick and tasty meal that can be prepped and made in about 15 minutes, this is it. Adapt to your own taste, but having these meatballs on hand can be a real bonus.

Update on SeeHere.com

Apparently, the code for 50 holiday photo cards has changed unexpectedly. You can still use the promotional code freebies4mom-1109 but that works for 4x8 images and cards. If you are interested in the larger 5x7 ones, use the code newbaby.

And if any of my readers want to do a holiday photo card swap, email me at akcmachine@aol.com and we can exchange our freebie creations.

Enjoy!

CJ's Special Day

Every so often I make a special individualized day for each child. They get some one on one time without those pesky siblings tagging along. Today, CJ got his day with me and I made it special in a way that only a four year old boy would love.

As we left the hotel, Jeff's mini-mepicked up some marketing postcards and a copy of the Wall Street Journal. Like Father like son, much?

Jeff took the other three kids to a Children's museum while Caleb James and I spent the morning together at the Cleveland Clinic. This is our annual check in with the medical team that saved his life. It is a very special visit that is more social than medial, but is a great marker for how far we have come in the journey. This is CJ

with his pal Dr. Kadakkal Radhakrishnan, the pediatric gastroenterologist. That is a mouthful, huh? Dr. Krishnan as he likes to be called, made sure everyone knew CJ was a handsome Celiac Success Story.

While most kids would not find a day of doctors appointments fun, we managed to pass the time enjoying the moment. As we waited for CJ to meet with the ENT doctor, we made our own music. Thanks to my handy dandy I-phone, CJ jammed, danced and sang along to a little Van Morrison.

When the ENT doctor came in CJ was full on putting on a show. We learned that CJ has some big-ass tonsils and adenoids and that we get to spend another special day together in December when he has them removed. I will have to put a really good spin on the surgical process. Unlimited ice cream? Popsicles? Stickers? I am sure Jeff will suggest that we get CJ a plasma wall mount television as a prize, but we all know that is more about Daddy than the boy.

They are like twins separated by about 49 years. They are both deserving of a special day!

Field Trip # 405

This post was delayed in getting on the blog because we did not have a laptop on this field trip. I did remember the camera, cell phone, chargers and other crap!

Just because staying in Columbus is getting bbbbb-boring, (ha! as if) I decided to make a day and a half trip to Cleveland with all the kids. This is about 133 miles of pure joy to the North of us. Jeff had a speaking engagement there and I scheduled the whole family to go along so we could piggy back on his work, and squeeze in an annual visit to the Cleveland Clinic on the following day.

Our day started early so we could arrive with plenty of time for Jeff to do his thing. While he was working I schlepped the kidlets to Legacy Village for an adventure at the Nordstrom Rack. I piled them into one shopping cart, spent a whole whopping 6 mintutes in the Rack before there was some sort of problem with the cart configuration- (4 kids, one cart, one Mommie, no patience!)
CJ wanted to sit, Eli needed to stand, blah. blah. blah. So we left to explore the outdoor shopping area and work off some pent up energy.

To prove that I am an equal opportunity blogger and time wasting guru, my children played at both the Hanukkah


and Christmas displays. They loved these crooked houses too, you may or may not have seen them featured on Jon and Kate plus 8 or whatever they are calling that train wreck these days. The Lyndhurst, Ohio Police officer and the owner of the Crooked Houses company were chatting me up as the kids ran around. They pegged me as a potential customer for one of these festive playhouses. They a, did not know we can't possibly afford the $2,000 plus, plus, plus price tag, or b, realize that in order for them to play nicely in our backyard I would need 4 friggin crooked houses, and c, that our homeowners association would shit themselves if we got one, yet alone 4 of them in our backyard. Fortunately the HOA will not have to fret over it because for a starting price of eight grand I can put a small addition on the current real house and let them play in there.

The highlight of the Legacy Village trip was when CJ shmoozed the Police Officer and asked him if he could see his Po-leez Car. Since it was a slow crime day in Lyndhurst, Ohio my kids got a deluxe police car tour/show

including a chance to turn on the lights and blast the siren. I knew the still photography would not do this justice (pun intended), so I shot some video for sight and sound.

This certainly above and beyond Protect and Serve!

After trying to exhaust the kids before I collapsed, I got the hair brained idea to let them go swimming in the indoor pool at the hotel.



This was all about getting them tuckered out for a nap before Jeff returned to the room. I figured it would look as if I had my act together if I had all four kids soundly sleeping after he came back from work. Oh, Yeah, Right. Thanks to my snag on Priceline we ended up at the Renaissance which is a very old hotel in downtown Cleveland. While it is a posh place to stay, the rooms are NYC tiny and the bathroom is so small you can go pee, brush your teeth and spit in the sink all at the same time. This would not normally be an issue for me, but we crammed all four kids plus Jeff and me into that little room. Thankfully it was cheap and only for one night.

We made plans to meet Amanda at Maggiano's in Beachwood. The kids were soooo excited that I used having dinner with her as their currency all afternoon. They knew good and well that only kids with exceptional behavior and keen listening skills would get to go to the fancy restaurant. There was plenty of Amanda time for everyone

and they all talked over each other trying to tell her everything and anything. They fought over who got to sit by Amanda. It is touching to see how much they miss her while she is at school and vice versa.

Did you know that Maggiano's offers Gluten Free dining by request. It is custom prepared according to your wishes. The chef came to our table and wanted to know all the details of CJ's gluten free dining experience. He offered to make him anything he wanted for dinner and CJ ordered gluten free fusilli pasta with red sauce and gluten free meatballs. This NEVER happens in a restaurant. CJ was totally grinning from ear to ear when his food arrived.
He was proud of the meal he got to order. To top it off, the chef made some gluten free chocolate brownies and served him one warm, fresh from the oven with a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream.

This is now CJ's all time favorite place to eat. If you are gluten free and are close to a Maggiano's make sure you call ahead, make a reservation, and let them know you are dining gluten free- they will make a note of it, and the chef of the evening will wow you. This is an offer you can't refuse, eh?

So as you can clearly see I made field trip # 405 a memorable one. Our day was much like the hotel room, as full as a can of sardines.