How to Make Christmas Tree Pancakes

On the off chance that you have a shred of energy left this week and want to wow your family with a special breakfast, give these adorable Christmas Tree pancakes a try!

You will need two empty condiment bottles and a funnel.

Start by adding food coloring to your favorite pancake batter. You will need to thin the batter a bit more than usual (with milk) and you will also need to mix it up more thoroughly than usual to make sure it can be squeezed out of the condiment bottles.

Scoop some of the batter into a small bowl and add red food coloring. Then funnel it into a condiment bottle.

Rinse out that small bowl and add more batter to make the green accent color. And add that to the other condiment bottle.

Heat up your pan gradually, over medium-low heat. If your heat is much higher, you will brown the pancakes too much and spoil the color.

Make a Christmas tree outline.

Working quickly, decorate your tree pancake with the red condiment bottle. I usually do dots for "lights" or zigzags for "garland."

Then take a 1/4 C measuring cup and pour green batter from the large bowl into the outline, being careful not to overshoot. The batter will gently spread to the edges and fill in the tree.

Flip as you start to see the bubbles. It's tough to make sure not to brown them too much. But seriously, kids are so impressed with whatever we do, it doesn't really matter if it's picture perfect, right?

Whenever I make "fun" pancakes, I give the girls a ramekin of syrup on the side so they can dip instead of having to cut them up.

As you can see, Christmas tree pancakes are a bit involved, but it's a fabulous way to get some holiday smiles from your favorite loved ones!

A very Merry Christmas from our house to yours! 

When in Rome: Make "Abendbrot" [Evening Bread] a Weekly Tradition

One thing about Germany that I plan to take with us is the tradition of eating simple meals that focus on fresh bread and yummy meats and cheese. 

Jenny taught us at German class that the word for dinner is "abendbrot" (evening bread) because it's a German tradition to simply have fresh bread for dinner, topped with meat, cheese, or vegetables.

She told us how it was tough for her to adjust to the American way of eating dinner. She never used to cook (or eat) heavy meals in the evenings. She was used to abendbrot! She felt like a lazy wife because all she wanted was some fresh bread!

I immediately thought that this was the most brilliant thing ever! 

I mean, of course I love to cook and dinner is the traditional meal I'm used to sharing with family, so I know I can't adopt this German tradition in it's entirety.

But heck who doesn't love the idea of having a backup menu item of bread, cheese, and sliced meats?

Sometimes we do this already, and we call it "cheesy bread night"... where we buy a fresh baguette and some soft cheese, melt it into heavenly gooeyness in the oven, and enjoy it with fresh fruit or olives. Definitely some red wine.

{I know, it kind of sucks if you don't live in Germany and have access to their amazing bread. But you can totally make your own... or find an artisan type place to buy some - shout out to Wegmans!}

Ideas to include with your fresh yummy bread: 
   - sliced cheese
   - deli meats
   - sliced cucumbers, radishes, or tomatoes
   - olives
   - hard boiled eggs
   - grapes, apples, or fresh berries

So hey, in the spirit of cutting ourselves some slack in our real food journey, be like the Germans and add "abendbrot" to your busiest night this week.

No cooking allowed! 

Halloween Traditions | Sometimes Short & Sweet is All You Can Manage

I wanted to do more for Halloween this year. 

But when this week rolled around, I had to force myself back to my list of Things I Don't Do and remind myself that I don't stress out about minor holidays any more.

So... these pumpkins? That's it.

*Gasp* I know, right?

There were going to be really cool caramel popcorn balls from The Pioneer Woman's Holiday Cookbook {this is an affiliate link, if you use it I get a small compensation} but ALAS! No candy corns at the commissary!

Then there were going to be really cute spooky pumpkin pancakes for dinner (also from the PW cookbook) but ALAS, no milk. And Momma was tired. And the girlies weren't really too worried about it because I made them popcorn for dinner.

Which we ate on the couch watching Despicable Me 2.

Because there was totally going to be Trick-or-Treating this year but... 

...it's no fun for Mom to take Double Trouble out for that without Dad... who had to work tonight.

And praise the LORD my kids are still young enough that they don't realize they missed out on a crap-ton of candy tonight.

It's okay cause tomorrow is Lily's 5th birthday and I have blue cupcakes at. the. ready. (Thanks to Aunt Kirsten!)

So we "just" carved pumpkins this year.

Which we didn't even get at a "real" pumpkin farm (unless you count the pile of pumpkins outside the Commissary as a pumpkin farm?) but we did have a fun family memory.

Even if it was just that one! 

My favorite part of the carving was how quickly the girls' tune changed from "PLEASE can we carve pumpkins NOW? Pleeeeeeease????" (every five seconds) to "EWWWWW this is so SLIMY!!!"

"Haha, welcome to the real world my loves. We're not going to do all the dirty slimy jobs for you your whole life! Also, stop flinging your dirty hand around and spraying pumpkin guts all over my living room. Thanks."

So seriously, Happy Halloween from my house to yours. 

And if you didn't do a bunch of Pinterest-worthy activities, don't worry, neither did I. And I'm sure all of our kids will turn out *relatively* fine.

If you found this post encouraging please share it on your facebook wall! 

And make sure to take advantage of the blog giveaway I'm running right now!

Why the Radio Silence

 

I've made an executive decision to take a blog break this holiday season.  

Momma's gonna take extra time for the most important things.

Blogs are great.

Pictures are great.

Traditions are great.

But kids are not little very long.  

And busy mommies sometimes need time-outs to reconnect and remember that.

I wish you all a very very Merry Christmas 

and I thank you for your encouragement and support of our little Aiduk Adventure.  

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL!!

Happy Halloween from the Aiduks!

Morning from Germany and Happy Halloween!  Did you guys carve your Jack 'O Lantern, yet?  

I think this is the first "real" time I've done pumpkin carving with the girls.  I've usually been too busy   thought they wouldn't enjoy it   didn't really want to   made excuses ;o)  But this year the Commissary had them right out front calling my name "Jessica, stop being a party-pooper and get your kids a pumpkin!"  Fiiiiine.

They "helped" us get the pulp and seeds out...

Then we roasted seeds and I called them "pumpkin chips" (and loaded them with salt) so of course they were gobbled up in less than 12 hours!

After Mrs. Pumpkin had her face (the same face I always make for pumpkins... I think I need to branch out) the girls gave her hair and other random squiggly decor.

The smell and feel of this particular Halloween activity took me back to my childhood and strongly reminded me of my Dad (hi Dad!) who was always the wielder of the chef's knife and the great Carver-Man.  I love when simple traditions remind me of family.  

Happy happy Halloween to y'all!  Check out my spooky fire post over at Jesse's Girl Photography!  Have a blast doing whatever it is you're going to do today!

Wordless Wednesday | Big Fall Brunch

Christmas in July = Best. Playdate. Ever.

What's sweaty, red and green, sticky, and squealing with delight?  A bunch of kids wearing Santa hats in the middle of summer, that's what.  

I've always wanted to have a "Christmas in July" Party and it wasn't until this year that I had the motivation to do it. (Acquiring the bouncy castle might have been the push I needed - I just really wanted to share that blessing with our littlest friends!)

It was a perfect playdate.  And so easy to pull off!  All I did was make homemade playdough and colored rice.  And I set them up at different stations outside so there was hardly any mess to clean up inside!

The Moms (and non-moms, thanks for coming Kirsten!) just got to sit around and chat and drink iced coffee while listening to Christmas music!  And if any kids got cranky we just shoved another cookie or cupcake in their mouths. It was brilliant!

We also met some new friends!  (Hi, Carrie and co!)

The rice and play dough got EVERYWHERE and it was awesome and okay because the best part about Christmas in July is that it's OUTSIDE! :o)

The only real mistake I made was putting glass Christmas tree bulbs in the rice sensory bin with metal utensils.  Don't be like me.  Or else you'll spend a little while picking broken glass out of the bin so no one has to go to the ER on Christmas in July.  My bad.

Food?  Oh the food was heavenly!  Peanut butter blossoms and cake and snowball cupcakes - OH MY!  We definitely had enough sugar.

I made the green-peanut-butter-Christmas-tree-open-faced-sandwiches.  Which really need an easier name.  But we topped them with star fruit and used pull 'n peel licorice and gold sprinkles to decorate - so cute!  Rachael made avocado, turkey, and cranberry sauce sandwiches, which was a very good thing or else we might have all slipped into a sugar coma.  A delightful sugar coma.

It was fantastic fun and so easy to plan and pull off.  I'm totally putting Christmas in July on next year's calendar... you should, too!

Do's and Don't's for Next Year's Egg Hunt

Do:  Bring a few empty eggs with you to the store to make sure your non-candy items will fit.  I found tons of great non-candy fillers at the German toy store but alas, my eyes were too big for my stomach eggs and most of the toys had to go into the Easter baskets Sunday morning.  No biggie.  BUT can I just say that hiding little puzzle pieces in the eggs and then putting the puzzles together at the end of the hunt is TOTALLY going to be a family tradition!  (Brilliant idea I found on Pinterest)

Don't:  Assume your small children will totally understand the concept of splitting the loot evenly at the end of the hunt.  They're very into "mine" and "yours" lately, but at the same time didn't seem to understand that there was pretty much two of everything.  SOSTOPFIGHTING.  I mean, maybe next year (or in future years) I should buy two colors of eggs to make it more clear who's treasures are who's.

Do:  Have the hunt right after nap (and on Saturday when there's less going on) so everyone's well rested.  And also to draw out the fun even longer.  Cause duh fun is what it's all about!  And no one's gonna have fun when Momma's barking orders while slamming an egg hunt in between church and a big ham dinner.  (I actually did do it on Saturday, yay for me being smart.  This time ha.)

Don't:  Underestimate the generosity of the grandmothers.  Think: bigger baskets next year to hold the surplus. We're talking not only did both Gigi and Gram send AWESOME goody boxes, but our neighbor Mrs. Ehman also brought the girls each a toy and Oma surprised them with a mini-egg hunt on Sunday!  We have goodies coming out our ears people!

Do:  Remember that part of the special-ness of the holidays (for children AND husbands) is the sugar.  It's okay if they have one (or two or *gasp* three!) treats a day for Easter week(end).

So Don't:  Cringle about how everyone's sugar intake is surely weakening their immune system and now everyone's going to get really sick aaaaand... calm down.  You can hide the candy from the kids and start eating normal again next week.  Now go eat a cookie with your coffee and consider it your CHILL PILL.  If the kids get sick at least they will have been happy doing it ;o)  (I have a grudge against sugar, can you tell?  Sugar is bad.  But it's a special treat and that's okay, even for this hippie!)

Do:  Expect your girly-girls to make you get the eggs hidden under or near anything remotely prickly or branchy (and they count grass as prickly.)  Pansies.

Don't:  Forget to check more thoroughly when hiding the eggs to make sure there aren't any hidden thorn branches in said grass.  So I guess I should be thankful the pansies made ME get those eggs ;o)  At least I was the only one prickered by my stupidity.

Do:  Enjoy the great big smiles and belly laughs that your (and the grandmas') thoughtfulness brings.  I never knew being The Mom during the holidays can be just as much fun as being A Kid.  I remember as a kid going to sleep the night before Easter so excited about wearing my special Easter dress the next day and so so SO excited about the basket of candy that Mom always set out at each of our places at breakfast.  I think I was just as giddy this year as I set the breakfast table full of fun for my own little Monkeys.

A big thanks to Mom and Toni.  

Seriously ladies, your care packages make every holiday that much more special.  I can't wait till we can celebrate some of these little days together.  But until then, know that you are thought of and appreciated for the love you put into our care packages.  Some of the things you come up with to make the holidays special I would never have thought of... I'm so glad I have you lovely ladies backing me up and making these special days ROCK for my girls.  And also, stay tuned for LOTS more pics coming soon to a facebook near you.  It's on the to-do list for today (or tomorrow!) Love ya's!!!