Hot Cross Buns, Hot Cross Buns, One a Penny, Two a Penny, Hot Cross Buns!

When we were in England 2 years ago, we were lucky enough to be there during Hot Cross Bun season, a.k.a. Easter. I fell in total love with them and have finally taken it upon myself to make some. Since I was at it, I decided to make some for Chris' Brit Meet-up group. We will be getting together with them tomorrow to share the wealth. I made 4 dozen. Here is the recipe. I encourage you to give it a shot. It is easy and they are delicious. Cut them, toast them, and smear them with butter and jam. YUM! The picture above is of some of the batches as they cooled on the table. They are as delicious as they look.

Hot Cross Buns
The Recipe
Ingredients:
Makes 12 buns
For the buns:
• (approx 4 cups or 1 lb) 450g plain flour
• (approx one quarter cup or 2 oz) 50g soft brown sugar
• 1 sachet fast action bread yeast
• 1 heaped teaspoon ground mixed spice – I used Pumpkin Pie Spice
• 50g butter (that's a cube about 1.5 inches across)
• 1 egg
• (approx 1 cup or 4.5 oz) 130g sultanas or raisins (approx 1 cup or 4.5 oz)
• 50g candied mixed citrus peel (approx ¼ cup or 2 oz)
(I used currants and some orange zest since we don’t have candied mixed citrus peel)
• (approx 2/3 cup) 150ml cold milk
• (approx 1/2 cup) 100ml hot water
For the crosses:
• Plain flour
• Cold water
For the glaze:
• The juice of 1 lemon
• 5 teaspoons soft brown sugar
Method:
Mix the flour, sugar, yeast and spice together in a bowl. Melt the butter (15 seconds or so in the microwave. Add the melted butter and the egg to the dry ingredients, then mix well using a table knife.

Add the fruit, mix again, and then add the milk and water.

Mix thoroughly with the knife until dough is formed (if it seems too sticky, add some more flour until it is workable). Turn the dough out onto a clean floured surface and knead it for a few minutes - dusting with flour if it starts to stick. Return the dough to the bowl, cover and leave somewhere warm until it doubles in size (about 20 minutes).

Lightly grease a baking tray. Cut the dough into twelve pieces, shape them with your hands to round, flat shapes - place them on the tray with a small gap between them. Spread a small amount of oil over a piece of plastic wrap and drape it over the buns to stop them from drying out. Preheat the oven to 400F.

For the crosses, mix some flour and water together - the amounts aren't critical, but you're aiming for a smooth soft paste - pour this into a plastic sandwich bag. When the buns have risen a little, remove the plastic wrap, cut a small corner off the plastic bag and squeeze the flour/water paste in lines across all of the buns at once - forming crosses on each one.

Place in the oven for 20 minutes

While they're baking, squeeze the juice from one lemon and mix it with five teaspoons of soft brown sugar - stir this until the sugar dissolves and brush this mixture across the tops of the buns as soon as they come out of the oven.

Dinner Theater

Last night, I insisted that Cole eat what we were going to eat - Vegetarian Lasagna. It would have been easy to put together something that he would find appealing since I had pre-made the lasagna but I was going to stand my ground. He needed the veggies and the lasagna was perfectly tasty. So, I cut it up into easily fork-able pieces and topped it with extra cheese to further disguise the eggplant, onions, peppers, and broccoli that studded the entire dish. It worked! The end of the story is that he ate it all. The middle of the story is that it took him over an hour to do so. This hour included two potty breaks, one time out, and a temper tantrum that lasted over 10 minutes.
Now, there were some lessons learned on both sides of the table. I will limit the time he has to eat in the future before it gets too out of hand. The other side of that coin is a hungry child who would have eventually gotten all of those veggies in his belly had he been given the time to do so leisurely. At every meal today he did a great job eating. He stayed on task and didn't play around. He had his choice of breakfast (cheese grits) and lunch (hot dog, pear, celery and ranch dressing, and cheese slices) but for supper when he made repeated requests for his favorite, Mac N Cheese, I simply told him that we were having chicken and rice for dinner. He asked for his favorite topping - Cheese (do you sense a trend?) and ate it nearly all gone.
Again, he stayed on task and didn't stall too much. One of the most rewarding parts of being a parent - for me - is seeing the healthy food that I prepare disappear down the hatch and not down the garbage disposal (hopefully, soon to be compost bucket). It gives me such a satisfied feeling to know that at least for that meal, he got some good vitamins and fiber.

A close shave

Cole is in the habit of showering with me in the mornings, a tradition that I will end soon for the obvious reasons, and when we are all done cleaning ourselves, I let him play with the shower head while I blow dry my hair. I cringe at the waste of water every time but let it go since it doesn't happen every day. Anyway, this morning, Rhys woke up from his nap while I was drying my hair so I brought him into our room to dress him while Cole was still in the shower. Cole called to me to come see something but I assumed it was a newly discovered bruise on his shin so I told him I would be there in a second. When I pulled back the curtain, it looked like a scene from Psycho. Cole had shaved his bottom lip with my razor. Now, I accept the blame here for having left my razor within reach -- bad mommy -- but at the same time, he knows it is what we refer to as a "big ouchy" and that he is not to play with it. Nevertheless, now he now knows why.
I was more angry than anything because I knew it would take a while for the bleeding to stop, Rhys was screaming, I got blood on the shirt that I had just put on, and Cole wouldn't keep the towel on his lip. I was so frustrated with him but kept breathing and stayed calm. Meanwhile, Rhys wondered into the bathroom, unrolled the toilet paper and started eating a bar of soap. I couldn't win for losing. I had to re-dress Rhys because he got wet from the bathroom floor. I managed to get us all ready to leave - finally.
As I recounted this story to Chris, he just shook his head. I have had some not-so-pleasant experiences with the kids lately but this is the first one that was completely avoidable and all my fault. I was negligent and, jokingly, asked Chris to please not take the kids away from me. We all get distracted and while Cole did come away with an injury, we did get lucky. A razor isn't something to take lightly. He could have really hurt himself and I am grateful that I got a shot across my bow to remind me to be more diligent.

The week ends and the week begins

Reflecting on last week, the time passed at a steady pace and I got some things done, had fun with friends, and managed to get some exercise. It has been raining for the past couple of days but we have fought to not stay in the house. Yesterday, we took the boys to the mall for some shoe shopping for Chris and I. I picked up a new pair of running shoes and hope that will help with my knee pain. Today, we took the boys to DC for Cole to see the "Dinosaur bones" as he has requested for the past month. We didn't realize that the St. Patty's Day parade would be today as well so after the museum and lunch (at Elephant and Castle), we walked against the parade flow and saw most of it stopping a couple of times for Cole to take in the bands, motorcycles, and Shriner's mini cars. I do love a parade, even if it is in the rain.
When we got home, I made a roast for dinner complete with potatoes, gravy, steamed broccoli, and perfect Yorkshire Puddings for my hubby. While I had the oven going, I roasted some slices of eggplant and used them to assemble a vegetarian lasagna and baked up a chicken and rice casserole. It really didn't take long to do and now we have enough meals and leftovers to get us through the week, easily. The leftover roast is already serving as a sandwich for Chris tomorrow and I am sure I will either have a salad or sandwich with it as well.
The garden is flourishing. I had to move my flats to the windowsill in the living room because the containers were not drying out enough and mold was starting to grow. The plants are getting dry so I need to figure out a good balance for the soil and the containers so we keep the mold at bay.
We have an easy week ahead of us (at least the boybies and I do). We have regular house stuff to do, a few activities, one of which we are hosting, and I have some work calls. Other than that, I don't anticipate anything really pressing, which is always nice. Having our meals planned and prepared is a big weight lifted too. Hopefully, I will also be able to squeeze some exercise in if the weather cooperates.

The stitch

I was up until 11:30 last night. First, I was watching television and then Rhys woke up. He is having some stomach issues and I am blaming the teething and hope that all of his woes will pass when his teeth all emerge. He is going to have big teeth like his mom and they are breaking through 4 at a time. I was worried that the later night would mean that it would be harder to get up this morning but I had no trouble. I had put out my workout clothes in the bathroom so I got dressed and headed out the door. The temperature was more bearable than I had expected and I opted to leave Sasha at home (she was none too happy about this decision).
I made it to my turnaround point having maintained a good pace and steady breathing. As soon as I headed back home, I got a terrible stitch in my left side. It was very painful and I slowed my pace for the rest of the walk. Part of me was discouraged by the pain and a bigger part of me will use it as a reason to get out more. In any endeavor, we must push through the times when our enthusiasm wanes or when we come to virtual roadblocks. I will be back at it tomorrow and may even walk to a friend's house today (if the rain holds off).

Balance

Being in perfect balance means that you have stability without swaying. Think: symmetry. There is a lot of talk about life balance and when I hear that I have visions of a cartoon of myself with little models of my family weighing down one side of me, my work life weighing down another side, physical fitness weighs down another side, religion, spending time with friends, etc., etc. Somehow, I have to fit some "me" time in there too. I think exercise counts for two and sometimes recreational cooking is also "me" time. If one side is requiring more of my attention and energy, I lose my balance and everything seems out of whack. At the same time, if I neglect a side, I lose balance that way too.

Achieving balance for me might happen one day out of the month. I am struggling with balance now because I am trying to adjust to Chris' new work schedule. He is working on site in DC and will be for the foreseeable future. To give you an illustration of how bad it is, until tonight, he hadn't seen Rhys since Sunday night and he only saw him for about 20 minutes before he had to go to bed. I feel so bad for both of them - and also am missing the help. I would love to have the opportunity to get out and exercise again and I plan to get to bed early - specifically at 9:00 tonight, so that I can have a better chance of getting up at 6 to exercise.

Generally speaking; right now, I am neglecting physical fitness and religion along with several others. I am truly out of balance and it seems like all other aspects of my life are suffering. I must admit; on Saturday, I was in complete balance. I had great social interaction, was feeling spiritually connected to my world with work in the garden and I ate delicious meals with my family. It was a perfect day. My goal is to find balance in my life every day. Tomorrow, I will walk and mediate in the morning, spend time in prayer and refocus my purpose. I will also spend time with friends at an activity, and will plan on preparing a delicious and nutritious meal from scratch for my family tomorrow night. Striking a healthy life balance is something that needs attention and, personally, I need to do it for clarity, purpose, and overall health.

The longest week of my life

When I was pregnant with Cole, it would have been nearly impossible to convince me that time could pass any slower than it was passing then. It seemed like that 40 weeks lasted 2 years. This week has been longer than any week in my life, including the week before Christmas when I was 5 and any week that I was pregnant with Cole or Rhys.

Chris is working on-site for a client in DC and is taking the train every morning into the city. This makes for a 12 hour day for him...and, subsequently, for me too. I did that very commute every day for 3 years and wonder now how I ever survived it. This week has been so terribly long.

Monday, we had snow. It was a good amount too and Chris ended up coming home early from work. I took the boys to a friend's house so Cole could play in the snow with her daughter. They had a really fun time and it was so nice to be out of the house. I spent the rest of the week huddled in the warmth of the house since the thermometer outside rarely registered 40 degrees. By the time Friday rolled around, I was ready for a night out. I had arranged for my friend to come over on Saturday night to watch the boys but I so craved some alone time with Chris that I could hardly stand it. The weather had finally turned nice and I decided to take the boys to the park on Friday afternoon. Cole had to potty and during the process, managed to get pee on his pants. Rhys spat up on me and also peed on his clothes and mine. Honestly, I can't catch a break these days.

Chris offered to stop by the store for some adult beverages and I recommended a bottle of Tequila and some Corona - maybe we could pretend it is spring break! That is pretty much how the evening went. We had so much fun, just watching some classic British Comedies and drinking beer and shots...like we were in college! We followed the sage advice of a good friend and around 11:30, we started drinking lots of water and had a bowl of cereal. After a couple of Tylenol, we were right as rain on Saturday morning.

We took the boys to a diner for breakfast and afterwards, I weeded the garden, moved my strawberry plants together, and put down straw as a ground cover. After lunch, we went to Lowe's and picked out several vegetable seeds and seed sowing kits. Cole is so excited about the garden that at one point while I was weeding, he came up to me and hugged me tight around the neck and said, "Mommy, thank you for doing the plants." It doesn't look like much now, but to me it is beautiful.

My friend came over to watch the boys and this is the first time in his 3 years that Cole was perfectly okay with us leaving him with a babysitter. This is truly a milestone for him. He didn't even get weepy. I am proud of his maturity and hope that the separation anxiety is easing. Chris and I had a lovely dinner in Ellicott City and returned home to listen to music and share a bottle of champagne. It seems like we have been celebrating something momentous but really, we are just reconnecting after a long 3 years of babydom. Rhys will be 1 in just under 3 weeks and we are slowly bidding farewell to his status of baby to welcome him to the world of being a toddler with his brother. I guess if that isn't reason enough to raise a glass, I don't know what is.

This morning, Cole helped me plant some of our seeds. We hope to have baby seedlings of lettuce, spinach, broccoli, peas, and carrots by next weekend. I plan to put them in the ground in a month or so and hope that the garden can hold the bounty of baby plants that I am cultivating. I am sure I can share the wealth among my friends if I have too many...there will always be a home for a baby plant somewhere in Pasadena, I am sure of it.

After we sowed our seeds, we took the boys and the dog to Fort McHenry for a picnic. The weather was beautiful and we all had a really nice time. So, while technically the week ended yesterday, Sunday always seems like the end and this week has been full and very, very long.