Spraying Paint??

So, on Wednesdays, Parker gets play therapy and breakfast with his visitor- Judy. Judy is like my second mom at this point. Her oldest son is my age, and she 'gets it' with the stresses of being a young parent (she was, but married). She has so many great ideas about crafts and interactions, and just how to chill too! She keeps telling me I need a vacation, and ya know, if SSI ever comes in, I just might take that cruise I needed to!!!

But today Judy came and we had cereal and bananas outside at the picnic table. Parker LOVES bananas and is learning how to peel them. And then she said we were going to try painting. OK, I thought... How's this going to go over with him and his not wanting to touch anything messy. She had some ideas!! First, she watered down paint and put it in a spray bottle. We know from previous times of cleaning windows and using air freshner (no, not using, dousing EVERYTHING in air freshner!!!) that Parker is good at this!!! And he is!!! She also did bring brushes and he did very well with those too. This is what transpired. Tomorrow, I'll post on how to put up a revolving art display!!!

Beer Cheese Soup!!

Tis the season of BRATS!! I've recently requested a meat grinder so I can start making my own sausages and what not. I LOVE brats! And homemade brats are the best! But what do you do with all the liquid (mine is about 1/2 beer and 1/2 water) you initially boiled the brats in? Do you realize this is a pseudo-stock (or cooking liquid)???? Well, here's whatcha do. DON"T DUMP IT!!! Take the brats out. Then add an onion (rough chop), garlic, mustard seeds, peppercorns, and bay leaves. Let it reduce!!! Reduce it down to 4 cups of liquid. Go ahead and strain it out. You can either use it hot, or save it for a later time.

1/4 c butter
1tsp fresh garlic (or the jarred stuff)
1/4-1/3 c Flour
Melt butter, add flour in small batches stirring constantly
~~ This is what Parker helps with. He's gotten VERY good at stirring.

It will become a thick paste, alittle looser than playdough. SLOWLY add the liquid from above. Continue to stir to avoid lumps. When you got about half of it added, pour in 1 bottle of beer. I prefer a dark brown ale, and the soup will taste MUCH better if you use the same beer as you boiled the brats in. Pour in remaining liquid to desired consistancy.

6-8 oz SHARP cheddar cheese, shredded (I use a good 1-1.5 year aged cheddar, however this gets very sharp in the soup and does not melt well. Still tastes VERY good!)
Slowly add the cheese. Be sure to give some to the curious kiddos on hand :)
~~~ Parker adds the cheese, he also eats quite a bit ;) But now that we are dealing with hot liquid, I take over the stirring and he does the adding.

It will be semi thick, add more liquid to loosen it up. If you have no more liquid, use a touch of cream. No, this was not intended to be a low-fat soup :) After you have it to the right consistancy for you, add some chopped brats for texture. Enjoy!!!