Yes, it's been a while, but today marks the return of Neal's recipes. I'd thought of this idea before, but, today being spring break and all, I figured "why do a 'normal' breakfast, let's go all out". So, I took on Deep Fried French Toast Pancakes. Now, basically anything deep fried is going to be good ... we'll start with that premise. And it is true. The goods were delivered! Deep Fried French Toast Pancakes are the bomb!
Deep Fried French Toast Pancakes
Ingredients:
Bread - can be "normal" bread or could be something fun like cinnamon swirl bread
Powdered Pancake mix - I like Krusteez
Sugar
Vanilla
Cinnamon
Vegetable Oil - or whatever you like to deep fry with!
Syrup
Get the oil hot. I found it worked best at around 350 or 375. Any hotter and the stuff cooked too fast. Mix up the pancake mix. I like to spice mine up with sugar, vanilla, and cinnamon, but do whatever you like with that. Slice the bread slices into one inch wide strips (for easy handling by young fingers). Dip them in the pancake batter, and drop into the oil. Cook until just golden brown (flipping midway through to cook both sides). Drop onto a paper towel and sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar. Another route to take is to roll them in powdered sugar. Both are good!
Serve warm on a plate with a small bowl of syrup for dipping, and sit back and bask in the warm glow of exclamations like "yummy", "can I have more?".
Seriously, this was some finger licking good stuff!
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
The happenings
So we're a couple of days into spring break. It's a bit rough for me ... not being able to participate in everything. But at the same time, I want to save my vacation time for some trips we have planned. I can also participate in much of what goes on, so I'm not totally missing out.
Over the weekend, we did our first activity ... Timmy picked it ... eating at the Safe House, a spy themed restaurant in Milwaukee. We had a really good time with that. On the way there and back, we listened to Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief. It's a bit of a mouthful for the title, but the kids are really digging it. We're trying to stretch them a little to more complex stories, etc.
On Sunday, we hit the Maplefest at Covenant Harbor. It was fun ... good pancakes, mini-golf, crafts, the climbing wall. Then there was church.
Yesterday we had 16 lower elementary kids over to watch Megamind. A good time was had by all. Several of the moms stayed and hung out with Cyndie during the show, so she had some help, and some mom time too, so that was nice.
Today, Cyndie and the kids are headed down to the Caspari cousins' place to meet their new dog Sam, a Westie. They're also headed to the library down there for some kind of Dr. Suess thing. More on that as details emerge.
And finally, I thought I'd recount the tale of the two young Padawans who live in this house. I don't remember if I mentioned that I made them both double bladed lightsabers (out of PVC pipe, duct tape, electrical tape, and blue (or green for Emma) painting tape). Anyway, they dig those. But now they want to become Jedi. So I've been giving them training to become Jedi. I'll have them jog around the house, or do sit ups, or practice their lunges with their light sabers or their blocks, etc. It's hilarious. And a bit of exercise. And a good way to pass some time!
Over the weekend, we did our first activity ... Timmy picked it ... eating at the Safe House, a spy themed restaurant in Milwaukee. We had a really good time with that. On the way there and back, we listened to Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief. It's a bit of a mouthful for the title, but the kids are really digging it. We're trying to stretch them a little to more complex stories, etc.
On Sunday, we hit the Maplefest at Covenant Harbor. It was fun ... good pancakes, mini-golf, crafts, the climbing wall. Then there was church.
Yesterday we had 16 lower elementary kids over to watch Megamind. A good time was had by all. Several of the moms stayed and hung out with Cyndie during the show, so she had some help, and some mom time too, so that was nice.
Today, Cyndie and the kids are headed down to the Caspari cousins' place to meet their new dog Sam, a Westie. They're also headed to the library down there for some kind of Dr. Suess thing. More on that as details emerge.
And finally, I thought I'd recount the tale of the two young Padawans who live in this house. I don't remember if I mentioned that I made them both double bladed lightsabers (out of PVC pipe, duct tape, electrical tape, and blue (or green for Emma) painting tape). Anyway, they dig those. But now they want to become Jedi. So I've been giving them training to become Jedi. I'll have them jog around the house, or do sit ups, or practice their lunges with their light sabers or their blocks, etc. It's hilarious. And a bit of exercise. And a good way to pass some time!
Friday, March 18, 2011
Funny one ...
So, Timmy has a friend over today. It's a kid that he talks about a fair amount because Zach rides the same bus with Tim. They used to sit together until they got in trouble for messing around too much ... but I digress. I'd never met the kid until today, and they walk by me and I'm thinking, man, that kid is small! So, when I was walking up the stairs to do some work, I walk by the front door and see this:
The picture really doesn't show what I saw ... maybe it's the perspective or something. But when I walked by, Timmy's shoes looked like they were literally twice as long as Zach's. Whatever. It struck my funny bone, so I thought I'd share.
The picture really doesn't show what I saw ... maybe it's the perspective or something. But when I walked by, Timmy's shoes looked like they were literally twice as long as Zach's. Whatever. It struck my funny bone, so I thought I'd share.
I see no snow!
Well, that title is not 100% true. There is actually a little snow. You know, where the big piles were. But it's not real snow since it's typically covered in sand and other ick. So, this is a celebratory day. The snow is gone and spring is here! Now if the yard can just dry up a bit so that we can actually go out there without getting totally muddy, we'll be in business.
Tonight is the Woods School Silent Auction. It should be a lot of fun. Emma told us at breakfast that her teacher had told the class that 500 tickets had been sold. Wow. If that's the case, we're going to be packed in there! But it's great that families are so involved with the school.
That's about it around there these days. I guess the next countdown/watch will be for ice on the lake. When it's gone, that means were closer to boating weather! The boat is still in storage at a friend's barn, but I imagine we'll bring it back over here before too long to outfit it and clean it. I think the docks/lifts will go in at Covenant Harbor in about a month.
Tonight is the Woods School Silent Auction. It should be a lot of fun. Emma told us at breakfast that her teacher had told the class that 500 tickets had been sold. Wow. If that's the case, we're going to be packed in there! But it's great that families are so involved with the school.
That's about it around there these days. I guess the next countdown/watch will be for ice on the lake. When it's gone, that means were closer to boating weather! The boat is still in storage at a friend's barn, but I imagine we'll bring it back over here before too long to outfit it and clean it. I think the docks/lifts will go in at Covenant Harbor in about a month.
Thursday, March 17, 2011
Making it there
Well, I'd say we're surviving through the week of busyness. It's Thursday, a good day to get to. I think Cyndie is keeping her head above water with work and extra-curricular activities. She's tired, and has a sore neck (from sleeping with Emma one night when Emma had some difficulties sleeping), but at least there is an end in sight. Unfortunately, that end is Sunday night, and not Friday. Cyndie's having a booth for her photography business at a women's trade show kind of thing at the high school over the weekend. She'll have to be on there from 10 - 4 both Saturday and Sunday. Pray for her energy level!
At least tonight is family night. We'll have dinner together, then we're going to watch the Empire Strikes back ... you know, to feed the flame of Timmy's Star Wars obsession. Yesterday, he and I took a walk with the dog, and he brought along his newest light saber (a 1" PVC pipe wrapped in blue painters tape for the blade part, and black electrical tape for the handle ... it actually looks really cool for as simple as it was to make). I swear I had to stop every minute to encourage him to catch up ... I guess talking non-stop about Star Wars and swinging the light saber around makes it difficult to walk!
Emma is really enjoying working on the play at school. She has a small role (it's a 3 - 5 grade play, so the kids in her class are more helping out with stuff and doing really small supporting things), but is enjoying being a part of the production and working on sets, etc.
At least tonight is family night. We'll have dinner together, then we're going to watch the Empire Strikes back ... you know, to feed the flame of Timmy's Star Wars obsession. Yesterday, he and I took a walk with the dog, and he brought along his newest light saber (a 1" PVC pipe wrapped in blue painters tape for the blade part, and black electrical tape for the handle ... it actually looks really cool for as simple as it was to make). I swear I had to stop every minute to encourage him to catch up ... I guess talking non-stop about Star Wars and swinging the light saber around makes it difficult to walk!
Emma is really enjoying working on the play at school. She has a small role (it's a 3 - 5 grade play, so the kids in her class are more helping out with stuff and doing really small supporting things), but is enjoying being a part of the production and working on sets, etc.
Monday, March 14, 2011
It's a Monday
Yes, Monday. We're back in a somewhat normal swing of things here at the DeVries house. After several weeks with:
So, we sat down last night, re-introduced ourselves, and talked about taking this week off of everything so that we can just relax as a family and as a couple. Then we looked at the calendar. There is something every night this week, and Cyndie has a busy week full of work too.
So much for relaxing.
Next week appears empty.
Cyndie promptly wrote "Nothing" into every day of that week in her calendar. Hopefully it will stay free!
- Cyndie and I heading to Milwaukee for three nights of getaway (thanks Laura and Gow).
- Cyndie flying to SoCal for 4 or 5 days for her grandma's funeral (102!).
- Me going to Men's retreat for 3 days/2 nights in the UP.
- Me going to SoCal for a church leadership/outreach conference for 4 days.
- Cyndie going to a Mom's conference for 3 days/2 nights.
So, we sat down last night, re-introduced ourselves, and talked about taking this week off of everything so that we can just relax as a family and as a couple. Then we looked at the calendar. There is something every night this week, and Cyndie has a busy week full of work too.
So much for relaxing.
Next week appears empty.
Cyndie promptly wrote "Nothing" into every day of that week in her calendar. Hopefully it will stay free!
Sunday, March 13, 2011
Okay, seriously?!
So, I've been really bad (again) at posting, but I had to sit down and put this up quickly because it cracked me up so much.
Lately Timmy has been very into playing the Star Wars Lego video games, watching the Star Wars movies (we just started with Episode 1, and are going to work our way through), playing Star Wars with his legos, etc. He basically talks non-stop about star wars ("did you know that -insert name of a Star Wars character here- can do -insert some action-?). This morning he said something like "did you know that Han Solo has a gun that shoots a laser on the the cover the of the movie, but in the game his gun shoots long, skinny arrows?" It was just out of the blue, totally random.
So the reason I had to sit down and write this was as follows.
Scene: Timmy is finishing up his bath. I go in to tell him it's time to get out.
Neal: Timmy, it's time to get out.
-Timmy lays in the tube, showing no inclination to leave the warmth.-
Neal: Timmy, time to get out ... now!
-Timmy gets out and I start to dry his hair with a towel-
Timmy: I bet that General Grievous could dry off really fast.
-I roll my eyes-
It just cracked me up. And for those of you who don't know who General Grievous is ... you have obviously not been spending enough time with Timmy ... he has four arms ... all the better for drying off with my dear!
Lately Timmy has been very into playing the Star Wars Lego video games, watching the Star Wars movies (we just started with Episode 1, and are going to work our way through), playing Star Wars with his legos, etc. He basically talks non-stop about star wars ("did you know that -insert name of a Star Wars character here- can do -insert some action-?). This morning he said something like "did you know that Han Solo has a gun that shoots a laser on the the cover the of the movie, but in the game his gun shoots long, skinny arrows?" It was just out of the blue, totally random.
So the reason I had to sit down and write this was as follows.
Scene: Timmy is finishing up his bath. I go in to tell him it's time to get out.
Neal: Timmy, it's time to get out.
-Timmy lays in the tube, showing no inclination to leave the warmth.-
Neal: Timmy, time to get out ... now!
-Timmy gets out and I start to dry his hair with a towel-
Timmy: I bet that General Grievous could dry off really fast.
-I roll my eyes-
It just cracked me up. And for those of you who don't know who General Grievous is ... you have obviously not been spending enough time with Timmy ... he has four arms ... all the better for drying off with my dear!
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