annie blog

Joan Collins, Not
Well, of course, summer is here and we Barlows have been hitting the pool every single day. This has helped my sanity, mostly. Of course, there was that one day when the lifeguards had to go all Baywatch on my oldest son. He was fine.

The moral to that story is not to pack all of your panic away for later. Let that stuff out as soon as you get home and have a glass of wine…or two. This is what wine is for, y’all.

Okay, but the thing I wanted to talk about here was hats. Actually, one hat. See, I know that I may have mentioned it here before, but I have quite a few freckles. Now, if you go out in the sun a lot, you get even more freckles. This happens through a high spf sunscreen, too. Freckles will not be stymied, truly. They come no matter what. So, the only solution besides slathering yourself with pancake makeup (this method works, I know because I tried it in high school) is to get a good hat.

So I tried. Now, baseball caps will not work. Do you know why? Because the lower half of the face gets more freckles than the upper. Why is this a problem?

Two words….freckle beard. Not a good look.

Earlier this summer, I thought that I had found the hat. It had a wide brim. It was on sale. It was the same color as my bathing suit.

Here it is:

Now, after trying it, several problems emerged.

First off, the brim was floppy — very, very I-have-to-tilt-my-head-in-order-to-see floppy.

Secondly, the hat was actually too big. This is amazing for me since it was the first hat that I had ever put on my head that was too large. I come from large cranium-ed people. Except for my Mom…she has a dainty little head and dainty little ears, too. After I had my large-headed oldest son (15 inches was his head circumference!) my prayers regarding my second while in utero went something like, “And, please, Dear Lord, let him get his head size from Mama Suzie…”

Thirdly, the hat, when worn with my suit, sort of throws off a bit of a glamorous image that I’ll have to admit just doesn’t fit with me. You know, sort of Joan Collins minus the diamonds and red lipstick and the Joan Collins and well, you get the picture.

So, the hat went back. My plan now is to sit under a tree.

But, before I retuned it, we had some fun called put on Mommy’s hat and say cheese.

Here you go.

I just love this one with the Xbox controller. Really sets the whole thing off, don’t you think?

While I snapped this shot he was saying, “Mommy, I just love dis hat!” Okay.

Finally,

this one turned away from the computer so that I could take his picture. He’s used to the craziness he gets from me, poor thing, and so he just went with it.

And, that is the saga of the hat, 2009. The search has not been abandoned, but I sort of don’t care if I find one now.

What are a few thousand more freckles, anyway?

Joan Collins, Not
Well, of course, summer is here and we Barlows have been hitting the pool every single day. This has helped my sanity, mostly. Of course, there was that one day when the lifeguards had to go all Baywatch on my oldest son. He was fine.

The moral to that story is not to pack all of your panic away for later. Let that stuff out as soon as you get home and have a glass of wine…or two. This is what wine is for, y’all.

Okay, but the thing I wanted to talk about here was hats. Actually, one hat. See, I know that I may have mentioned it here before, but I have quite a few freckles. Now, if you go out in the sun a lot, you get even more freckles. This happens through a high spf sunscreen, too. Freckles will not be stymied, truly. They come no matter what. So, the only solution besides slathering yourself with pancake makeup (this method works, I know because I tried it in high school) is to get a good hat.

So I tried. Now, baseball caps will not work. Do you know why? Because the lower half of the face gets more freckles than the upper. Why is this a problem?

Two words….freckle beard. Not a good look.

Earlier this summer, I thought that I had found the hat. It had a wide brim. It was on sale. It was the same color as my bathing suit.

Here it is:

Now, after trying it, several problems emerged.

First off, the brim was floppy — very, very I-have-to-tilt-my-head-in-order-to-see floppy.

Secondly, the hat was actually too big. This is amazing for me since it was the first hat that I had ever put on my head that was too large. I come from large cranium-ed people. Except for my Mom…she has a dainty little head and dainty little ears, too. After I had my large-headed oldest son (15 inches was his head circumference!) my prayers regarding my second while in utero went something like, “And, please, Dear Lord, let him get his head size from Mama Suzie…”

Thirdly, the hat, when worn with my suit, sort of throws off a bit of a glamorous image that I’ll have to admit just doesn’t fit with me. You know, sort of Joan Collins minus the diamonds and red lipstick and the Joan Collins and well, you get the picture.

So, the hat went back. My plan now is to sit under a tree.

But, before I retuned it, we had some fun called put on Mommy’s hat and say cheese.

Here you go.

I just love this one with the Xbox controller. Really sets the whole thing off, don’t you think?

While I snapped this shot he was saying, “Mommy, I just love dis hat!” Okay.

Finally,

this one turned away from the computer so that I could take his picture. He’s used to the craziness he gets from me, poor thing, and so he just went with it.

And, that is the saga of the hat, 2009. The search has not been abandoned, but I sort of don’t care if I find one now.

What are a few thousand more freckles, anyway?

Bread and a Cookbook Recommendation

First off, I must recommend a book to y’all. This is a cookbook that I want to own. And that is saying something because, I don’t know if y’all know this, but I am known as Ann-igotitatthelibrary-Barlow. So, me wanting to plunk down money is something. The book is called Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day and it is for real. One of the variations of the brioche dough is to make it into beignets. So, for the past few weekends, I have been making some beignets.

Incidentally, the tradition of beignets on Saturdays is wonderful. The only problem is that the house smells like you made beignets — for the whole weekend.

Really, if you even sort of like to bake but enjoy homemade bread, you should really check this book out. The boule dough is wonderful and makes excellent pizza crust. Did I mention that there is NO kneading involved here? Not only that, but you keep the dough in the fridge or the freezer so that fresh bread is never very far away.

I’m going to try the white bread today….I’ll let y’all know how it turns out.

Bread and a Cookbook Recommendation

First off, I must recommend a book to y’all. This is a cookbook that I want to own. And that is saying something because, I don’t know if y’all know this, but I am known as Ann-igotitatthelibrary-Barlow. So, me wanting to plunk down money is something. The book is called Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day and it is for real. One of the variations of the brioche dough is to make it into beignets. So, for the past few weekends, I have been making some beignets.

Incidentally, the tradition of beignets on Saturdays is wonderful. The only problem is that the house smells like you made beignets — for the whole weekend.

Really, if you even sort of like to bake but enjoy homemade bread, you should really check this book out. The boule dough is wonderful and makes excellent pizza crust. Did I mention that there is NO kneading involved here? Not only that, but you keep the dough in the fridge or the freezer so that fresh bread is never very far away.

I’m going to try the white bread today….I’ll let y’all know how it turns out.

Bread and a Cookbook Recommendation

First off, I must recommend a book to y’all. This is a cookbook that I want to own. And that is saying something because, I don’t know if y’all know this, but I am known as Ann-igotitatthelibrary-Barlow. So, me wanting to plunk down money is something. The book is called Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day and it is for real. One of the variations of the brioche dough is to make it into beignets. So, for the past few weekends, I have been making some beignets.

Incidentally, the tradition of beignets on Saturdays is wonderful. The only problem is that the house smells like you made beignets — for the whole weekend.

Really, if you even sort of like to bake but enjoy homemade bread, you should really check this book out. The boule dough is wonderful and makes excellent pizza crust. Did I mention that there is NO kneading involved here? Not only that, but you keep the dough in the fridge or the freezer so that fresh bread is never very far away.

I’m going to try the white bread today….I’ll let y’all know how it turns out.

Dear Aldi,
First off, Aldi, I should tell you that I really do appreciate you. Truly, there has been many a time the cashier has added up all of the groceries and told me the total that I have been in disbelief — in a good way. I really like the amount of food I can get from you for the money, especially given my pack of wolves that I must feed for the next 13 years, at least.

Now, I know that stores cannot carry everything that every consumer would like. But I have a few suggestions for you. In fact, if you were to stock these certain items, I wouldn’t even have to go to another grocery store for most weeks. Could you consider stocking these things? Thank you in advance.

1. crushed tomatoes in puree
2. black beans, dried or canned
3. red beans, dried or canned
4. fresh garlic
5. limes
6. fresh ginger
7. unbleached all-purpose flour
8. regular (not low fat, NOT weird sugar substituted) vanilla yogurt
9. vodka and gin
10. tonic water

That is it. Thanks for thinking it over!

Sincerely,
Annie

Dear Aldi,
First off, Aldi, I should tell you that I really do appreciate you. Truly, there has been many a time the cashier has added up all of the groceries and told me the total that I have been in disbelief — in a good way. I really like the amount of food I can get from you for the money, especially given my pack of wolves that I must feed for the next 13 years, at least.

Now, I know that stores cannot carry everything that every consumer would like. But I have a few suggestions for you. In fact, if you were to stock these certain items, I wouldn’t even have to go to another grocery store for most weeks. Could you consider stocking these things? Thank you in advance.

1. crushed tomatoes in puree
2. black beans, dried or canned
3. red beans, dried or canned
4. fresh garlic
5. limes
6. fresh ginger
7. unbleached all-purpose flour
8. regular (not low fat, NOT weird sugar substituted) vanilla yogurt
9. vodka and gin
10. tonic water

That is it. Thanks for thinking it over!

Sincerely,
Annie

Dear Aldi,
First off, Aldi, I should tell you that I really do appreciate you. Truly, there has been many a time the cashier has added up all of the groceries and told me the total that I have been in disbelief — in a good way. I really like the amount of food I can get from you for the money, especially given my pack of wolves that I must feed for the next 13 years, at least.

Now, I know that stores cannot carry everything that every consumer would like. But I have a few suggestions for you. In fact, if you were to stock these certain items, I wouldn’t even have to go to another grocery store for most weeks. Could you consider stocking these things? Thank you in advance.

1. crushed tomatoes in puree
2. black beans, dried or canned
3. red beans, dried or canned
4. fresh garlic
5. limes
6. fresh ginger
7. unbleached all-purpose flour
8. regular (not low fat, NOT weird sugar substituted) vanilla yogurt
9. vodka and gin
10. tonic water

That is it. Thanks for thinking it over!

Sincerely,
Annie

Happy Fourth of July, Y’all!
I hope that y’all are having a good (if soggy) Fourth of July. I made this pie this morning.

Hopefully it will be good. It’s taking all of my willpower to not go eat some right now.

Every time I think about the word willpower I am reminded of the brilliant Frog and Toad story about the cookies.

If you don’t know the story, a quick synopsis is:
Toad makes some delicious cookies. He takes them to Frog’s house.
They begin to eat the cookies hand over fist.
They decide that they need to stop eating and find some willpower.
After a few attempts to not eat the cookies, Frog ends up feeding the remaining cookies to the birds.
Toad laments the fact that there are no more cookies to eat — not even one.
Frog, the eternal optimist, says that instead of cookies that they have lots and lots of willpower.
Toad then tells Frog that he can keep all of the willpower….and decides to go home and bake a cake.

Anyway, if you haven’t read these stories to a child please do so as soon as possible. They are delightful.

Have a happy 4th, everybody!

Happy Fourth of July, Y’all!
I hope that y’all are having a good (if soggy) Fourth of July. I made this pie this morning.

Hopefully it will be good. It’s taking all of my willpower to not go eat some right now.

Every time I think about the word willpower I am reminded of the brilliant Frog and Toad story about the cookies.

If you don’t know the story, a quick synopsis is:
Toad makes some delicious cookies. He takes them to Frog’s house.
They begin to eat the cookies hand over fist.
They decide that they need to stop eating and find some willpower.
After a few attempts to not eat the cookies, Frog ends up feeding the remaining cookies to the birds.
Toad laments the fact that there are no more cookies to eat — not even one.
Frog, the eternal optimist, says that instead of cookies that they have lots and lots of willpower.
Toad then tells Frog that he can keep all of the willpower….and decides to go home and bake a cake.

Anyway, if you haven’t read these stories to a child please do so as soon as possible. They are delightful.

Have a happy 4th, everybody!