Rosettes

Kids'll start heading home within a half hour.  YAY!!!!

I knew a woman once who had a gorgeously spotless home.  She HATED it when her kids had a day off from school.

I choose otherwise.  At one point in time, our house was gorgeously clean day after day, but it was only because I was freaking out about every little mess that was made.  I choose not to be that fanatical.   My home is never gorgeous or spotless--not any more, but my kids like being here, and I like having them here.

I would love to be able to find the balance between these two things--kids and cleanliness, but so far, even when we get things clean, they don't last all that long.  The kids are good cleaners, but to be honest, they need someone to remind them to do the cleaning.  Sometimes life gets busy, and I slack on my reminder duty. 

Someday it will be clean, but that will only be because the mess-makers no longer reside here.  That will be a sad day.

For now, with a half hour to go, I'm counting down their return.  They'll be here with me for two weeks straight.  We're going to do some fun things.  We have two birthdays during that time and some fun traditions to uphold.  I'm excited!

For today, I'm working on getting the house in order, so they can come into a peaceful, warm, loving place.  I'm also making them a treat...rosettes.

 My mom used to make them for us when I was a little girl.  I inherited the irons from her.

I've found them online for around $13 if you're interested in having some.

Here's the recipe I use if you already have the irons and want to give it a go:

DESSERT ROSETTES
Put a bunch of shortening in a pan (the pan needs to be wide enough that the irons can fit into it) and melt it.  Once melted, the oil should be at least an inch deep.  Yes, these are deep fried.

Add 2 tsp. sugar to 2 slightly beaten eggs.
Add 1 C. milk.
Mix 1 C. flour and 1/4 tsp. salt and stir into the egg mixture.
Add 1 tsp. vanilla.

The batter should be smooth and have the consistency of heavy cream.

Screw the iron of your choice onto the handle and let it heat up in the melted shortening.  You want the shortening to be hot.  I've tried substitutes for this, but it has to be shortening--sorry.

Dip the hot iron into the batter about 3/4 of the way up the side of the iron and put it in the hot shortening until  it's brown.

Remove the rosette to paper towels on a plate.  Let them cool a bit and then dip them in powdered sugar; they should still be a bit warm when you do this.

Eat shortly thereafter.  Enjoy!