Tag: new blog

Heart Hand Pies.

~ emetroka ~ 1 Comment

Don’t know if you’re keeping track, but there are exactly 21 days in which to fit as many heart themed treats as humanly possible. I just counted. So far at our house, we’ve made heart shaped chocolate chip cookies, sprinkled heart shaped sprinkles on everything we’ve eaten, made heart shaped banana muffins in a heart mold, cut strawberries into the shape of hearts and even smushed rice into a heart cookie cutter to make heart rice. Lol I know, I know. I’ve gone too far. I know what you’re thinking. Come on, Em! We all know that Valentine’s Day is a total commercialized crock of garbage! We don’t need one day to celebrate love! You know what my answer is? I don’t care! Nope! Not a bit! I love it! I love celebrating all holidays, commercialized or not. It’s an opportunity to make something special for my kids. And of course, an opportunity to foster my own personal joy too.

I love miniature pies in all forms, and these little heart hand pies are up there on my favorites list. If you would like to know how I made them, you have come to the right place. (See here and here for other mini pies I’ve done in the past).

Now…of course you can and should use pie crust from the grocery store if that’s more your speed, but if you’ve never made a pie crust before you might try it! It’s incredibly easy after a little practice. I’ve always used Erin McDowell’s All Buttah crust from The Book on Pie and it’s never gone wrong on me, but there are a myriad of recipes out there. Find your favorite! For the filling – I just used regular old strawberry jelly from the jar, but you could do anything here. Pie filling, butter and brown sugar, lemon curd, cream cheese, Nutella. The sky is the limit really.

Alright let’s get down to the recipe, shall we? If you can even call if a recipe. It’s more of a method than anything. Get or make pie crust, cut out shapes, poke vents in top crust, add filling, add top crust, crimp, egg wash, bake. Those tiny hearts in the picture? Those are just little heart pie crackers. No filling. I just added egg wash, a sprinkle of Demerara sugar and baked.

Heart Hand Pies

2 pie crusts
Filling of your choice
Egg wash (one egg whisked with one tablespoon water)
Demerara sugar or drizzly icing

Begin by preheating your oven to 375. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.

Roll out your pie crusts on a lightly floured surface to about 1/8 to 1/4 of an inch. Cut out as many hearts as you can (or any other shape!). Keep re-rolling the scraps until you have used as much as you possibly can. You (I hope obviously) want an even number. At this point I used the small cookie cutter to cut little heart cookies with the extra crust. If at any point your pie crust is feeling warm or too floppy to work with, put in the fridge or freezer for 5-10 minutes to firm back up. The colder they are, the better they will hold their shape while baking.

Now, set the bottom crust on your cookie sheet, add pie filling. How much will depend on the size of your shape. I used about a tablespoon, but wish I had squeezed in more. As for the top crust, you need to add vents with a fork or knife. This releases steam while you’re baking so the tops don’t burst in the oven. After adding the vents, place the top crust over the bottom, lining up the edges. Use a fork to crimp around all edges of your hand pie. Brush the tops of each pie with your egg wash and sprinkle Demerara sugar on top, if desired. (I sprinkled sugar on half and did icing on the other half after they were cool, but I have to tell you that the ones with icing were eaten first.) Again, after all this if your pies are feeling loose or floppy, stick them in the freezer or fridge for a few minutes to firm up. They will bake up much better if they’re cold!

Bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown on top and on edges. Let cool, and add icing if using. Enjoy!

The Friday Post. [vol. 2]

~ emetroka ~ 1 Comment

In the grand scheme of fast weeks versus slow weeks – it was a fast one, but I can’t say that it’s one I enjoyed all that much. This morning, our whole street was blanketed in a thick sheet of fog. We drive down a mile long stretch of straight road to get out of our neighborhood and on my way to drop the boys at daycare (just Charlie and Ben. I’m still home with Luke.) it felt as if I was driving into oblivion with Charlie and Ben in the back chattering about where the moon might be. I’m not quite sure where the days went. Maybe I lost them somewhere up in there in the fog. And all week, despite being home with Luke and not doing nearly as much as I normally do, when the days were over I tossed myself into the couch and almost immediately fell into a deep dreamless sleep, waking around 11 when I realized I was not tucked in my bed as I should be. I’m glad it was a fast week because honestly I’m ready to move on to the next one.

Things are going full speed ahead in our primary bathroom remodel. Everything has been torn apart, and the task of putting it all back together again has started. Drywall is going up today, electrical work is done, and next week tile will start to go up. That’s when it starts looking like a bathroom again instead of an empty shell. We’ve made our picks for tile, but still have to pick up everything else. Honestly, I think it’s going to wind up looking an awful lot like the boys’ bathroom except with a shower instead of a tub and that will make for a very happy bathroom indeed. Should be done in another week and a half, just before my parents arrive for their annual February stay.

This weekend will consist of trying to get my bearings, trying to decide if Luke is well enough to go to school on Monday, and I hope lots of fresh, clean, healing air. What have you been up to? I hope you had a lovely week. How about some links from around the web?

I’m pretty sure this cinnamon toast is what dreams are made of.

Broccoli soup. yum.

My friends were all chatting about this earlier this week and now I’m obsessed. Have you tried it?

If you’re in the US – run!

I saw this dress the other day and can’t get it out of my mind.

How to be more successful and less stressed.

I’m dreaming about all the places in my house I want to stick a sconce.

Adding to my list of February cocktails.

Have a great weekend, friends! ♥️

On (Working) Mom Guilt.

~ emetroka ~ 6 Comments

Luke is sick. Has been all week. We had Monday off for Martin Luther Jr. Day, and he woke with a cough that got steadily worse through the day. Tuesday morning, I woke up at 5am for my school day as normal, got myself ready, the big boys, and then went to wake Luke up and get him ready too (he’s generally my “late” sleeper). He seemed a little tired and weepy, but I was ready to push through and was honestly in a bit of a rush to get us to school on time (I abhor being late). I was totally tunnel vision. ***MUST GET OUT DOOR*** My husband leaves later than we do, so he was holding a very limp-looking Lukey against him as I buzzed around the house barking orders at everyone then trying to morph those orders into a fun game like the toddler drill sergeant I can lean toward in the mornings. The need to run a tight toddler ship and all. Mike asked me a couple times if I wanted to stay home with Luke because he didn’t seem like he was feeling all that well. Nope! I answered. He doesn’t seem like he has a fever. He’s good. It’s just a cough. We’re going to school. My husband defers to me on these things (as he should. lol).

I was finally finished corraling everyone and everything, so I leaned in to grab Luke and I finally stopped to take a look at him. He had his eyes closed and was leaning on my husband’s chest with his arms slack at his sides. His cheeks were flushed and an audible wheeze was rattling in his chest. I felt his forehead and, of course, fever. Enter Mom Guilt. Hit me like a ton of bricks, as it tends to. He was so very clearly not ok. I was so ready to just push through and get us to where we “needed” to be at any cost, when clearly home is where he needed to be. 

I know, I know. You’re thinking – “It’s ok mama! You realized! You did the right thing in the end.” because you are my sweet, kind, supportive readers. But if you’re a parent – you know what I mean. The guilt that you’re not doing the right thing. That you didn’t immediately realize what was best for your child because you were thinking about what you “needed” to do for work. Anyway – I’ve been home all week because that cough has since turned into pneumonia. Breathing treatments, steroids, doctors visits every day and the threat of the Emergency Room if he didn’t get his oxygen levels up. Still can’t believe I almost sent him in to school like that. 💔 mom guilt of the most extreme case and gosh does it burn.

But that’s not all – on the other side…you have working guilt. I’m a teacher – an elementary school librarian – and did you know there’s a teacher shortage? There’s a substitute teacher shortage too. So while I’m out – no one is covering my classes. Teachers just don’t get their planning when they have media for fine arts. A whole week of letting down 40 teachers. No one covering my morning or afternoon duties, my lunch duty, my various extra classes that I cover. I can only imagine what they’re saying. “I wish I could take a whole week off too, but I’m here doing my job like I’m supposed to.” No, maybe they don’t all know that my son has pneumonia and he needs me, but it doesn’t stop the guilt. And it won’t be the last time I’m out this year. I’m sure of it. Just as it’s not the first time I’ve been out (we had a nasty run of RSV earlier this year, croup cough another time, and several weeks of quarantines for contact tracing at the beginning of the year).

I was chatting with Mike’s sisters and mom the other day, and his sister who has four kids and is also a teacher told me something I just really needed to hear. “You will never look back and wish that you had been working during this time. Luke needs you. I used to feel so guilty about missing school for sick kids, but not anymore. I remember missing a lot of school when ours were young. It’s just a phase.” And she’s so right! But it’s sometimes hard to tell your mind something that your heart knows. Anyway – I’m sure that Luke will be better next week, and I’ll be back at school, and in a few weeks I’ll go through this spiral all over again when he or one of the other boys picks up something else. For now, I’m going to try my best to enjoy the baby snuggles, being home, and hot coffee on tap.

An Small Idea for Prayer.

~ emetroka ~ 7 Comments

When I was probably 8 or 9 nine years old, my mom and I were in the car driving somewhere or other. I don’t remember the errand, but I will always remember something that she told me on that drive. We had to pull over to the side of the road for a fire truck speeding past us going to help someone. My mom told me that every time that happens, we should say a prayer for the people they’re going to help. Now, I have to tell you that I’m not someone who sets aside time to pray every day. We’re catholic and go to church (sporadically these days what with the current health crisis), but I spend most of the mass managing my three boys and praying that we make it to the end. lol. And of course, I send up a personal prayer when I feel like I need to, but to this day, anytime I see a see an ambulance, fire truck, or police car with its lights on, I say a prayer for the people who they’re going to help. Think of all the prayers that could be said for those people if we all started doing this. And it just means that in some small way we may be helping someone in crisis.

Do you have moments you pray? I’d love to hear. I keep thinking that the boys’ should start saying evening prayers before bed too, so maybe I’ll try to start that this week.

The Friday Post. [vol. 1]

~ emetroka ~ 3 Comments

Made it. It’s Friday. Oh glory glory. I don’t know about you, but I think of Friday as a weekly holiday. I’m not one who needs much encouragement to celebrate something, but I think we can all get behind this one. How was your week? I feel like mine passed in such a blur. Highlights were a cake for no reason, farmers market produce, and feeling like I’ve been really on top of things. I have a few things that I’m hoping to get to this weekend, and I’m so happy it’s a long one.

Ben is supposed to start intensive potty training on Monday at school (they send us an embarrassingly forceful letter about how “according to the American Academy of Pediatrics, potty training should be started at the age of two”. and I was like OK I know we’re supposed to do it, but you guys have him all day and I work and when am I going to do it, I kind of have my hands full. Sheesh. Yes, I’m clearly self conscious about it, let’s move on.), so I’m going to take him to the store so he can pick out his undies. So far he’s told me “No I do not wanna sit on the potty.” lol. May need to make a potty training cake to get through it. In fun news, Charlie got a gift card to the movies from his aunt and uncle for his birthday (way back in October), and either my husband or I are going to take him to see Clifford. He’s never been to a movie theater before! And Luke will be wandering around all weekend being his usual slobbery self.

I’ve been wanting to have a little dinner party with my friends from school, so we’ll have them over on Sunday as there’s no school on Monday for MLK Day. I’m thinking that creamy parmesan polenta will be on the menu topped with braised beef in a homemade tomato sauce, sides of glazed carrots, collard greens, and we’ll finish it off with iced brownies for dessert. Imagining lots of red wine, craft beers, spiked grapefruit sodas and maybe a game after the boys go to bed. Our principal is leaving our school for a promotion and the panel is in the process of choosing a new principal so I’m expecting some tea on the side.

Anyway – I’ve been loving this little space as an outlet. I’m wrapping up my first week as a blogger and it feels like a natural extension of my life. Who knew I had so much to say?! I have so many ideas that I’ve jotted down to write about too. Inspiration is at an all time high!

I think I’ll use this Friday Post to share a little personal update, and a few interesting links that I’ve found this week that you might find interesting too. Lots of blogs do this and I always love reading them. My favorite is Cup of Jo, but I also love Grit and Polish‘s too. So with that – here are a few links from around the web this week…

I’ve been following along with the snippets of Jo Rodgers’ flat renovation for two years and it’s finally done and it is just as stunning as I’d hoped.

How to read more.

“Even as these stories work to uncover mother’s complex emotional truths, they indulge their own little fiction: that a mother only becomes interesting when she stops being one.”

A trick to fall asleep almost instantly.

I just finished this book (did not see the ending coming), and started this one.

This picture makes me smile. May have to recreate.

For valentine’s day?

Also for valentine’s day.

What are you doing this weekend? Anything fun? Whatever it is, I hope you kick your feet up and relax on the side. 🙂