busy days and a model mother

This past week has been pretty busy at our house. We've all had to be places one day or another, and it's been my job a few hours most of them to try to keep order in the house.... I have had a good chance to see my housekeeping shortcomings! If the boys are kept in line, the house is tidy but not like Mom would have kept it. Maybe there's plenty of laundry left in the laundry room, or only some of the dishes are done. Or, if the house is clean and kept up, then I find out the boys have been up to something they shouldn't have been up to! Mom, you have a big job! I hope I get better at this as the summer goes on. I'm blessed with a wonderful mother who manages to keep the house clean, the laundry done, the boys in line, and get everyone where they need to be, and she does it while making me feel very happy to be here :-). She's still my best friend, and we talk and laugh constantly. I love being in the kitchen with her, cooking and talking and listening to music. The boys are fun to be around (mostly, haha, they are twelve and sixteen!) and a change from living in a building full of girls. It's nice to be with lots of girls, but after growing up with these boys, I'm glad to have them back for a while. They're funnier and less dramatic than a dorm hall ;-) and they have sooo much energy!
Anyway, I've happily still managed to ride Charise again, have fun cooking in the kitchen while Mom is gone and testing my improvising skills (fun!), and finish a book. I read Gene Stratton-Porter's The Keeper of the Bees, which was wonderful :) I love anything by her. I love old-fashioned books so much! They're full of simple, good lives that are very refreshing to me to read.
Tomorrow I work until two, and then it's time to work on dinner and birthday plans, etc. I think it will be a fun day :) I will try tomorrow to work on being a domestic goddess... but you know, I always like the barn too much to truly be a domestic goddess, so maybe I'll just try for being helpful :-)

First Day

Tuesday was my first day of actually working at Aero. I like the job! It's pretty easy, but not boring. I like helping customers. :) I don't work too many hours, but hopefully I'll get more as the store gets busier- people are starting to buy clothes now for vacations, and celebrating school being out by shopping ;)
My friend Angie and I have made a weekly habit of having her come over every Wednesday. We watch a movie and usually fall asleep in the middle of it ;) and she brings her lovely Taylor guitar over! Yesterday she and I watched a few episodes of the BBC Robin Hood series, which we love :) it just came out on DVD, so she rented it last week and brought it over yesterday.

And finally, I rode my pony :) It feels so good to be in the saddle again! Okay, maybe my legs are sore ;) but that's a price I'm willing to pay. Six years of work with my little Arabian mare have really payed off, and she's such fun to ride. We just walked, trotted, and cantered in the pasture; once she and I are both fit again, I'll set up jumps- maybe build one or two with some old boards- and we'll have fun with those. Charise and I both love jumping! For now, though, just riding is wonderful. Making friends with my Rebel Man is going well, too- instead of trotting up and biting me, he now waits by the fence and says hello to me when I come out by standing in front of me, and sometimes sniffing my face. It's nice to be friends and not have to be so careful around him now! I'm glad to have such a big, cute gelding, even if he does need some work. I am so blessed!

Chocolate Souffle

Today felt like a baking day, but not just an ordinary baking day... I wanted to make something more involved than cookies or cornbread. But I also wanted to make something lowfat (coming home from college is really where the freshman 15 threaten to attack!), which I didn't think would end up being something chocolate. But then I found, on another blog, a recipe for lowfat chocolate souffles! I thought souffles sounded fun, so I made them. They just got out... and oh, they're so good! It's a wonderful recipe that doesn't taste at all low far or low calorie, but it is :) Mmm! They were also really simple, and took me just over a half an hour to get into the oven. Here's the recipe:

5 t. sugar for ramekins (optional)
1 c. powdered sugar
1/2 c. cocoa
2 T. flour
1/2 c. lowfat milk
4 egg whites
2 egg yolks
1/8 t. cream of tartar
3 T + 1 t. sugar
1/2 t. vanilla

(1) Move oven rack to lower third of oven and preheat to 350 degrees. Spray ramekins (1-cup size: 8 ramekins) with cooking spray and sugar cups, like flouring a pan.

(2) Sift powdered sugar, cocoa, and flour into top of a double boiler (two pans of the same size, stacked, with water in the bottom one works wel) and stir in milk and 1/2 cup water. Whisk until smooth. Cook over gently simmering water, whisking continuously, for about 10 minutes or until it thickens. Remove from heat.

(3) Beat the egg whites with cream of tartar on medium speed until medium peaks form. Gradually sprinkle sugar in and beat on high speed until stiff but not dry.

(4) Whisk the egg yolks and vanilla into chocolate mixture. Fold about a quarter of the egg whites in, to lighten, then fold in the rest.

(5) Divide evenly among the cups, leaving 1/4 inch under rims. Put ramekins on a baking sheet and bake 15-17 minutes, until risen (well) above rims. [You can add 1/3 cup chocolate chips to the batter along with the egg whites, without adding too much to these! Mmm!]