Mind Over Batter

On the heels of my 35th birthday, I find myself thinking more and more about the carefree lack of responsibility inherent of childhood. I am almost (gulp) 35, which for all intents and purposes means I am an adult. An adult, sometimes suffocating under a mountain of responsibility, bills, and early mornings (way early) with no coffee. An adult who finds herself in such a rush at times to get my kids to school or camp that I have forgotten to put on underwear. Or worse, a shirt. I’ve almost walked out the door in my bra… Many, many times.

Yep… That’s real…

AND…

A month ago I forgot to put on my daughter’s shoes. We were out the door when she reminded me. I just, forgot the kid had feet – And if she hadn’t pointed it out, we would have walked a good block and a half before I noticed.

Real talk…

Mother of the year… That’s me…

Being a grownup blows chunks.

As a teenager and I couldn’t WAIT to become an adult. The reasons are no longer clear to me. Possibly something along the lines of, I get to stay out late, I can eat whatever I want, and when I finally present my ID it’s real and I am actually the age I claim to be. Trivial things…

I must interrupt this blog post to inform my kids of the following, in case they feel the need to secure fake IDs at 17 or so: KIDS – Come on, you know I WOULD NEVER use a fake ID… It’s illegal! When have I ever intentionally broken the law? When?! Now don’t let me catch you with a fake ID, or you will know the meaning of “Going Dominican” on your a**es!

Back to our regularly scheduled blog post.

The truth is adulthood hit me with the force of a Mack truck. By the time I was 23 I was a wife, a mom, and had a down payment on my first home. I became an adult while girls were showing their boobs on video. For free…

Yes I am an adult, but sometimes I just want my mommy, to hold onto my childhood, even after all these years.

I want a world full of ice cream, skittles, fundip, blowpops…

Summers full of endless games of kick the can.

Walking to the corner store to pick up one pack of Now and Laters at a time.

I want to eat Rice Krispies and watch cartoons in front of the TV.

All day…

I want…

I want to be a kid…

I want…

I want to dip everything in sprinkles dots.

Have you ever made sprinkles?

You don’t know what you’re missing. Sprinkles are awesome! And making your own sprinkles? Well that just rules on a whole ‘nother level.

I’m not going to lie to you, there’s a portion of sprinkle making that is very adult, mainly piping endless dots on parchment, possible carpal tunnel – but the rest? Its all kiddie fun land.

Mix, flavor, color (oh the colors!) pipe and dry…

Overnight…

Sounds easy enough, right?

Once they’re dry you can sprinkle your world in sugared color.

Hell, toss some on your Rice Krispies, or ice cream.

Decorate cupcakes or cookies or cake.

Have a sprinkle dot fight!!

Be a kid… If only for a while.

Love,

Me…

 

: DIY Sprinkles

• 2 cups confectioners’(powdered) sugar
• 2 Tablespoons milk
• 2 Tablespoons light corn syrup
• 1/2-1 teaspoon flavoring of choice (extracts or flavor oils)
• Gel food coloring of choice (optional)

1. Get your colors out. As many as you like. Go color wild!
2. Tape a large piece of parchment on a board, or your kitchen counter. You will be piping loads of dots, and it would SUCK to have the parchment hit the floor after piping 500 dots. I speak from experience.
3. In a bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, combine powdered sugar, milk, corn syrup and flavoring. Alternatively, you can use a hand mixer, or if you have wicked strong arms or don’t believe in modern marvel appliances, do this by hand.
4. Beat at medium speed until the ingredients are combined. Add desired flavoring and continue beating until a thick paste forms. At this time you can add more powdered sugar a tablespoon at a time if the mixture seems to thin or more milk a teaspoon at a time if the mixture looks too thick.
5. Divide the paste into tiny bowls and begin tinting with food coloring. A toothpick is best to control how much color will be added to your paste. Mix until you have achieved desired color.
6. Add the sprinkle paste to piping bags fitted with a #4 tip. Pipe dots onto the sheet of parchment making sure dots don’t touch each other. Allow to dry overnight.*
7. Get your sprinkle on!

*You must allow these to dry overnight, otherwise your efforts will be in vain. Need I remind you… Carpal tunnel? Losing your ability to properly grip a glass for 2 days ought to count for something. Allow your sprinkles to dry completely, ok?

Number of servings (yield): Like a million sprinkles! OK, perhaps not a million, but somewhere in the 1000 mark. I never stopped to count.