S'more Brownies

These were amazing and so easy. Matilda was wowed by her first marshmallow experience.

Crust:

6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

1 1/2 cups crushed graham cracker crumbs

2 tablespoons sugar

Pinch fine salt

Brownie:

The original recipe called for from-scratch brownies. In the interest of time I used a box mix.

Topping:

4 cups large marshmallows. Regular sized marshmallows didn't melt enough, I think the mini ones might be better.

Position a rack in the lower third of the oven and heat oven to 325 degrees F. Line an 8 by-8-inch square baking pan with foil so it hangs over the edges by about 1 inch.

For the crust: Lightly butter the foil with some of the melted butter. Stir the rest of the butter together with the crumbs, sugar, and salt in a medium bowl. Press the crumb mixture evenly over the bottom of the pan. Bake until golden brown, about 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, make the brownie mix. Pour batter into the prepared pan. Bake until the top is crispy and a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out mostly clean, with a few crumbs, about 40 to 45 minutes.

Remove from the oven and carefully position a rack about 6 inches from the broiler and preheat on low. Layer marshmallows across the top and toast under the broiler until golden, - I left them in 1 minute - watch carefully. Gently removing the brownies from the pan using the aluminum flaps. Cool on a rack for as long as you can stand to wait before cutting them and digging in.

First Ferris Wheel Ride

Over the Santa Monica Pier. She seemed especially impressed to be above the seagulls.

Shoo, Shoo!

Everything Swiss is Cuter

Submitting this photo as evidence: I mean just look at that hat.

She's Onto Something

The past two times we've visited the mall Matilda has discovered these candy dispensers. I haven't yet told her about the contents, but I think she'll soon have it figured out. She is totally fascinated and spends 20 minutes at a time circling them, opening each dispenser to peer up. This particular one had a single Runt candy left behind, which drove her mad. As she circled the dispensers, checking each one, she would always come back to the lone candy, pointing with a questioning "This?"

For Jessica

My cousin is trying to get 1,000 views on this 5 minute video by the end of January. It describes the program where she is in her second year of teaching in the remote highlands of Guatemala. (You'll see her teaching in the white blazer with blue scarf.) If I had my vote, Matilda & I would be visiting Jess before she leaves Guatemala for grad school in the fall. However, I think the rest of the committee is firmly against putting Matilda on a 10-hour chicken bus trip to a village with the highest infant mortality in all of Guatemala.

Duck in the City

Matilda shows off her duck face after getting all revved up on chocolate at Ghirardeli's this weekend in San Fran. I hadn't been there in too long and the city did not disappoint. We had a fantastic time catching up with our friends and Miss Indra is even more of a rock star than I remembered.

Bragging

I was going to try and spin this as a "baby book" post to mark milestones. But really that would be a thin veil. Matilda can count to fourteen, she has been counting to ten since before Christmas. Lately we have been starting to look at letters a bit more and now she can identify D (for Daddy), S (for Sarah), G (for Gigi, or occasionally Gaurav), and M ("for me!"). What a smart cookie. It is getting scary how fast she picks things up. Lately if we pause when reading one of her (many) favorite books, she will fill in the word, or a sounds similar to the word. Her vocabulary is expanding so fast and daily we are astounded by a new animals, colors, foods, etc that she suddenly knows. I think I need to stop myself at risk of getting carried away worse.

The Look

Don't disturb the artist while she is creating.

Cutest Christmas Present Ever

Not that I normally condone any matchy-match mother-daughter shenanigans, but these Converse Tim got us just put me over the edge. Tiny little baby feet wrapped in classic canvas sneakers. I have to admit I am still hesitant about us both wearing them at the same time, but Matilda gets so excited about standing toe to toe in our new shoes that I can't really resist indulging her.

Health Update

We are all recuperating after the stomach flu made a full swing through the household. Matilda is still talking up the "boo boo" in her belly a lot, maybe trying for a sympathy vote to get stickers or more of the yummy tasting "medicine" (chewable acidophilus pills, as she won't eat yogurt). The worst part of the whole thing was realizing she had been trying to tell me at the grocery store she was feeling sick, pointing to her belly and saying "boo boo." I just thought the buckle on the cart was too tight and kept loosening it. Thankfully she saved her more obvious (messier) explanation until we were in the parking garage at home, out of my new car.

It was a strange weekend with her being so sick. Tim and I both were reminded of her newborn days as she was sleeping hard, waking at night and displaying other similar, exhausting behavior. During the awake times she was pretty worn out, as were we, so we allowed unprecedented television time with a steady rotation of Wallace and Gromit, Rudolph, and Disney's Silly Symphonies. This video, a special feature on the Rudolph disk, is a particular favorite. Last night during one of her midnight wakings she requested viewing it, as if that were now standard protocol, to wake up at all hours and watch TV. We are weaning her back to health and down off of TV, but it may be she is having a hard time adjusting.

Premature

So maybe I was jumping the gun bragging about our single load of laundry. Last night resulted in two more. Still pukesville around here.

Sick-o

Matilda had her first bout with a stomach flu last night. She did really well considering. And her parents are slowly learning how to catch puke. The real challenge came when she started to associate the puke-bucket with the whole terrible experience and would push it away, shaking her head, and saying bye bye. The head shaking really adds a whole other level of difficulty, but with only one resulting load of laundry I would say we are up to the challenge.

This morning M is feeling better and after some initial uncertainty has decided she likes Pedialyte popsicles. We are taking it easy, sticking to the BRAT diet and using it as an excuse to finally allow her unlimited hours in front of the TV.

A Future of OCD?

So Matilda's reaction to her play kitchen has been really good. She has been playing with it tons, displaying lots of creativity. Her favorite activity by far is to "wash" her hands in the sink and then "dry dry" them. I am not sure if we should be concerned, or pleased with her good hygiene habits. Maybe she is just pretending to handle a lot of raw chicken and we haven't picked up on that part yet?

Typical Behavior

While Gigi was over to play today, the girls decided to rearrange Matilda's clothes. The funniest part was Matilda's reaction. We generally don't allow Matilda to just pull all the clothes off her shelves like this anymore. When she was younger she did often, but now she knows better. She was hesitant to assist Gigi in the inventory and kept pointing to the growing pile saying "no!" and "mess?"