annie blog

For Your Information
Did you know that a bourbon and coke made with cherry coke tastes like cough syrup gone bad? Well, now you do. I made one last night and it was terrible.

I’m off to paint a bookshelf. It is one of 2 projects that I absolutely must have done before the boys come home from school for the summer. They finish their semester next week. NEXT WEEK. Sigh.

Have a good Friday, all.

For Your Information
Did you know that a bourbon and coke made with cherry coke tastes like cough syrup gone bad? Well, now you do. I made one last night and it was terrible.

I’m off to paint a bookshelf. It is one of 2 projects that I absolutely must have done before the boys come home from school for the summer. They finish their semester next week. NEXT WEEK. Sigh.

Have a good Friday, all.

Spun Gold for Hair

Spun Gold for Hair

Spun Gold for Hair

Jon Has Informed Me…
that I have cracked the code on pancakes. You be the judge. 🙂

P-Annie-cakes
1 large egg
2 T. butter, melted
whole milk
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 T. baking powder
1 T. sugar
1/2 t. salt

Whisk egg in a medium bowl. Melt the butter — in a 1 cup measuring cup — in the microwave. After it has melted, pour in the milk on top of the butter to make one cup, together. Add the butter/milk mixture to the egg and whisk to combine. Put the flour, baking powder, sugar and salt right on top of the egg/milk/butter mixture. (I just put in the flour first followed by the other dry ingredients and whisk it all together once I’ve measured everything into the bowl.) Don’t over-whisk this final mixture. The batter will not be totally smooth and that is just as it should be. Now, put the batter aside for 10-15 minutes to rest. Heat a non-stick skillet or griddle to pancake temperature. Ladle the pancake batter in 1/4 cup amounts onto the griddle. Flip after you see small bubbles breaking through in the center of the pancake. Cook the other side to desired doneness. Makes about 12.

These are great with the usual butter and maple syrup — or try them with a fresh raspberry sauce or blueberry syrup. Yum. Next I’ll be trying buttermilk pancakes. I’ll let you know how they turn out.

Jon Has Informed Me…
that I have cracked the code on pancakes. You be the judge. 🙂

P-Annie-cakes
1 large egg
2 T. butter, melted
whole milk
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 T. baking powder
1 T. sugar
1/2 t. salt

Whisk egg in a medium bowl. Melt the butter — in a 1 cup measuring cup — in the microwave. After it has melted, pour in the milk on top of the butter to make one cup, together. Add the butter/milk mixture to the egg and whisk to combine. Put the flour, baking powder, sugar and salt right on top of the egg/milk/butter mixture. (I just put in the flour first followed by the other dry ingredients and whisk it all together once I’ve measured everything into the bowl.) Don’t over-whisk this final mixture. The batter will not be totally smooth and that is just as it should be. Now, put the batter aside for 10-15 minutes to rest. Heat a non-stick skillet or griddle to pancake temperature. Ladle the pancake batter in 1/4 cup amounts onto the griddle. Flip after you see small bubbles breaking through in the center of the pancake. Cook the other side to desired doneness. Makes about 12.

These are great with the usual butter and maple syrup — or try them with a fresh raspberry sauce or blueberry syrup. Yum. Next I’ll be trying buttermilk pancakes. I’ll let you know how they turn out.

Jon Has Informed Me…
that I have cracked the code on pancakes. You be the judge. 🙂

P-Annie-cakes
1 large egg
2 T. butter, melted
whole milk
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 T. baking powder
1 T. sugar
1/2 t. salt

Whisk egg in a medium bowl. Melt the butter — in a 1 cup measuring cup — in the microwave. After it has melted, pour in the milk on top of the butter to make one cup, together. Add the butter/milk mixture to the egg and whisk to combine. Put the flour, baking powder, sugar and salt right on top of the egg/milk/butter mixture. (I just put in the flour first followed by the other dry ingredients and whisk it all together once I’ve measured everything into the bowl.) Don’t over-whisk this final mixture. The batter will not be totally smooth and that is just as it should be. Now, put the batter aside for 10-15 minutes to rest. Heat a non-stick skillet or griddle to pancake temperature. Ladle the pancake batter in 1/4 cup amounts onto the griddle. Flip after you see small bubbles breaking through in the center of the pancake. Cook the other side to desired doneness. Makes about 12.

These are great with the usual butter and maple syrup — or try them with a fresh raspberry sauce or blueberry syrup. Yum. Next I’ll be trying buttermilk pancakes. I’ll let you know how they turn out.

Autism With Some McCarthy on the Side
I wonder if the librarians at my local library have figured out what is up with me. I mean, when they see the books that I check out combined with the folks that I bring along with me to the library. I think that they put it all together, the books and the folks, and the realization hits. But do they feel sorry for me? I hope not. And, maybe not. What do I know about what they see in the course of the day?

I’ve been reading a lot of books lately. Specifically, a lot of books on autism and things related to it. For a long time, my life was too crazy and I didn’t want to add to it by reading more. But, I’m over that for now and have some good books to recommend to y’all. These three are different, I think, because they focus more on the people with autism and their families than they do on “treatment” or “what to do now that you have someone who has something that will never go away and will by the way change your and his life forever and ever”.

To the book reviews:
Rules by Cynthia Lord. What an awesome book. Even though it is a fictional account of a girl and her autistic little brother I would still put it at the top of my list of books to recommend for people who want to learn about autism. Really. Cynthia Lord, the author, is a mother to two children, one of them autistic. And she just nails it. The book has humor, it has information, it has hope. Plus, it only takes about an hour or two to read — unlike some of the tomes on autism that I’ve been checking out of the library recently. I think that this book would be truly enlightening for someone who is only vaguely associated with autism and wanted to know more. Or it could be good for a school aged child who might be trying to understand about a disabled classmate/friend. I *highly* recommend this book.

Elijah’s Cup by Valerie Paradiz. This is a mother’s account of her son’s diagnosis of autism and what followed. Parts of it are sad. She talks about her depression and the break up of her marriage (an all-too-common occurence in families with an autistic child). She also tells how they found friends in total strangers and about her realizations about herself. She also examines the childhoods of several famous people and speculates about what their diagnoses would be — if they lived today. It was an interesting account, and hopeful, overall. She and her son found their way, together.

Succeeding with Autism by Judith H. Cohen. In this book, the author investigates the educational and personal history of Michael, a twenty-something mathmatics professor who has autism. I found this book to be very interesting. The book follows Michael’s history and, goodness, it was a rough one. He had a very supportive family and a particularly tenacious mother who continually advocated for him to keep learning and progressing. However, he was a terror to live with and physically abused his family. He was actually hospitalized at the age of 9 because of this violent behavior. I read it just in awe of his mother. Perhaps the most interesting part of the book, besides the (eventual) success story of Michael, are the interviews that the author did with him and with members of his family. The last chapter, especially, in which she interviews Michael and really gets inside his head — to realize the motivations, fears and joys of this autistic person, was so very fascinating. All in all, this is also such a hopeful book to read because of the success that Michael and his family ended up achieving together.

By the way, the McCarthy on the side was The Road which I basically read to see what all the fuss was about. Nothing like reading a searing, postapocaliyptic novel to break up the readings on autism.

Autism With Some McCarthy on the Side
I wonder if the librarians at my local library have figured out what is up with me. I mean, when they see the books that I check out combined with the folks that I bring along with me to the library. I think that they put it all together, the books and the folks, and the realization hits. But do they feel sorry for me? I hope not. And, maybe not. What do I know about what they see in the course of the day?

I’ve been reading a lot of books lately. Specifically, a lot of books on autism and things related to it. For a long time, my life was too crazy and I didn’t want to add to it by reading more. But, I’m over that for now and have some good books to recommend to y’all. These three are different, I think, because they focus more on the people with autism and their families than they do on “treatment” or “what to do now that you have someone who has something that will never go away and will by the way change your and his life forever and ever”.

To the book reviews:
Rules by Cynthia Lord. What an awesome book. Even though it is a fictional account of a girl and her autistic little brother I would still put it at the top of my list of books to recommend for people who want to learn about autism. Really. Cynthia Lord, the author, is a mother to two children, one of them autistic. And she just nails it. The book has humor, it has information, it has hope. Plus, it only takes about an hour or two to read — unlike some of the tomes on autism that I’ve been checking out of the library recently. I think that this book would be truly enlightening for someone who is only vaguely associated with autism and wanted to know more. Or it could be good for a school aged child who might be trying to understand about a disabled classmate/friend. I *highly* recommend this book.

Elijah’s Cup by Valerie Paradiz. This is a mother’s account of her son’s diagnosis of autism and what followed. Parts of it are sad. She talks about her depression and the break up of her marriage (an all-too-common occurence in families with an autistic child). She also tells how they found friends in total strangers and about her realizations about herself. She also examines the childhoods of several famous people and speculates about what their diagnoses would be — if they lived today. It was an interesting account, and hopeful, overall. She and her son found their way, together.

Succeeding with Autism by Judith H. Cohen. In this book, the author investigates the educational and personal history of Michael, a twenty-something mathmatics professor who has autism. I found this book to be very interesting. The book follows Michael’s history and, goodness, it was a rough one. He had a very supportive family and a particularly tenacious mother who continually advocated for him to keep learning and progressing. However, he was a terror to live with and physically abused his family. He was actually hospitalized at the age of 9 because of this violent behavior. I read it just in awe of his mother. Perhaps the most interesting part of the book, besides the (eventual) success story of Michael, are the interviews that the author did with him and with members of his family. The last chapter, especially, in which she interviews Michael and really gets inside his head — to realize the motivations, fears and joys of this autistic person, was so very fascinating. All in all, this is also such a hopeful book to read because of the success that Michael and his family ended up achieving together.

By the way, the McCarthy on the side was The Road which I basically read to see what all the fuss was about. Nothing like reading a searing, postapocaliyptic novel to break up the readings on autism.