“If you can laugh at it, you can live with it.”
Erma Brombeck
“Kids have little computer bodies with disks that store information. They remember who had to do the dishes the last time you had spaghetti, who lost the knob off the Tv set six years ago, who got punished for teasing the dog when he wasn’t teasing the dog and who had to wear girls boots the last time it snowed.”, Erma Brombeck
Battling the teen and pre teen continue to pose ‘challenging‘ situations. I attended a wonderful parenting workshop at school. Importantly learnt that the brain largely consists of the frontal lobe or the office {The executive functions of the frontal lobes involve the ability to recognize future consequences resulting from current actions, to choose between good and bad actions}, override and suppress unacceptable social responses, and determine similarities and differences between things or events. Therefore, it is involved in higher mental functions}.
‘Most children’s first words are “Mama” or “Daddy.” Mine were, “Do I have to use my own money?”, Erma Brombeck
The other important part of the brain is the amygdala which performs a primary role in the processing and memory of emotional reactions. As luck would have it, the little amygdala, which is highly developed in adolescents, is apparently very reactive and irrational and packs a punch. I hear that the functional frontal will develop in teens only over the next few years! We’ve come to accept {read forced} that we are talking long-haul teen issues! Any of you in the same boat, dear readers?
- Source: British Library
I didn’t bake for 2-3 days, and yesterday the lad came home to say his friends in school opened his snack box and were disappointed that he didn’t ‘get something your mother made‘. I had given him store bought cookies! Time to get a hold on life, so it was back to baking. Yes bake I had to, and blogging happily follows!
[print_this]Recipe: Pebbly Beach Fruit Squares
Summary: Adapted from Food Gal’s “Chewy Gooey Crispy Crunchy: Melt-In-Your-Mouth-Cookies” by Alice Medrich. It’s typical Alice Medrich style, classic and comforting, and high on taste. A highly adaptable cookie. Makes 24 to 32 two-and-a-half-inch squares.
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 40 minutes
Ingredients:
- 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 8 tbsps (1 stick) unsalted butter
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1 egg
- 1/2 tsp vanilla powder
- 1 teaspoon finely grated lime
- 1 cup moist dried fruit (one kind or a combination); dark or golden raisins; dried sour cherries; dried cranberries; coarsely chopped dates; dried apricots, or prunes; finely chopped candied ginger
- 1/4 cup vanilla sugar {or turbinado or other coarse sugar
Method:
- Combine flour, baking powder, vanilla powder and salt in a bowl and mix together thoroughly with a whisk or fork.
- With a large spoon in a medium mixing bowl or with a mixer, beat butter with the granulated sugar until smooth and well blended but not fluffy. Add egg, vanilla, and lime zest and beat until smooth. Add flour mixture and mix until completely incorporated.
- Divide the dough in half and form each into a rectangle. Wrap the patties in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or overnight.
- Preheat oven to 180C.
- Remove dough from the refrigerator {let sit for 15 minutes to soften slightly}. On a sheet of parchment paper or plastic wrap, roll one piece of dough into a rectangle 81/2 inches by 16 1/2 inches.
- With a short side facing you, scatter half of the dried fruit on the bottom half of the dough. Fold top half of the dough over fruit, using the paper as a handle. Peel paper from the top of dough. (If it sticks, chill dough for a few minutes until the paper peels easily.) Dust top of dough lightly with half of the coarse sugar and pat lightly to make sure the sugar adheres.
- Use a heavy knife to trim the edges. Cut into 4 strips and then cut each strip into 4 pieces to make 16 squares.
- Place cookies 2 inches apart on lined or greased cookie sheets. Repeat with remaining dough, fruit, and sugar.
- Bake for 12 to 15 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. Rotate pans from top to bottom and from front to back halfway through the baking time to ensure even baking. For lined pans, set the pans or just the liners on racks to cool; for unlined pans, use a metal spatula to transfer cookies to racks.
- Cool cookies completely before stacking or storing. May be kept in an airtight container for a week.
Notes: Alice Medrich writes that if your dried fruit is especially hard or chewy, it will only get harder after baking. To avoid this, soak pieces in a small bowl with just enough cold water (or fruit juices or wine) to cover for 20 minutes (longer will dilute and oversoften the fruit). Drain and pat pieces very dry before using.
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Also find me on The Rabid Baker, The Times of India
