Zoot Orchid

I recently attended an Indy Flickr meetup at the Garfield Park Conservatory in Indianapolis. This orchid reminded me of Zoot, from the Muppets.

 

The kids

Ethan , Samantha & Toby, originally uploaded by jen d. cox.

Christmas 2009

 

One more day to vote for Toby!

Wednesday is the last day to vote for Zoma Studio Photography’s Cute Kid contest. Please vote only once, though. The first week’s votes were scrapped because of ballot box stuffing.

 

My New Favorite Mug

My New Favorite Mug, originally uploaded by jen d. cox.

 

Happy Year of the Ox!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Belated Christmas/Happy New Year/Happy Chinese New Year greetings from the Cox family. We’re covering all our bases.

 

Sam’s Letters to Santa

Samantha has been busy making Christmas lists (both for herself and for Toby). Here are a couple of the letters w/ pictures she has deposited under the tree.

“Dear Santa, I hope you get me some stuff for my Groovy Girl. Your friend, Samantha Cox”

“Dear Santa, Please find this note under my tree. And try to get my brother a Bakugon, and my little brother will probably want one too. Your friend, Samantha”

 

IMG_6301, originally uploaded by jen d. cox.

 

Caramel Corn

Caramel Corn, originally uploaded by jen d. cox.

One of the best things about this time of year is making & sharing caramel corn. This batch turned out perfectly–not a bit of crystallization.

Baked Carmel Corn

This recipe came from Jiffy Pop years ago. It melts in your mouth and is quite addicting.

6 qts. (24 C) popped popcorn
1 C (2 sticks) butter or margarine
2 C brown sugar, packed
½ C light or dark corn syrup
1 tsp. salt (½ tsp. more if using unsalted butter)
½ tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. vanilla

Pre-heat oven to 250°F. In medium saucepan over medium heat, melt butter. Stir in brown sugar, corn syrup and salt. Bring to boil, stirring constantly. Reduce heat to simmer; boil without stirring to 257°F, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat; stir in soda and vanilla. Gradually pour over popped popcorn, mixing well. Turn into 2 large shallow baking or roasting pans. Bake at 250°F 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes. Remove from oven; cool completely. Break apart and store in tightly covered container. Makes about 5 qts. caramel corn.

Tips:

* You’ll need a very large bowl to make this–at least 24 C.
* Margarine is good but butter is better.
* When boiling the caramel, take care not to let any sugar crystals touch the side of the pan. Even one little crystal will cause the caramel to crystalize in the oven. I use a condiment bottle to squirt water on the sides of the pan when it begins to boil. The water boils away before the caramel reaches the proper temperature.
* If using a candy thermometer, keep the temperature in the 257-260°F range, removing from heat a little early, if necessary. Any higher than 260°F and the caramel becomes difficult to work with.
* I like to line my baking pans with non-stick foil so more of the caramel sticks to the popcorn instead of the pan.
* When removing it from the oven, spread caramel corn out on parchment paper. It’s easier to break up the kernels while it’s still hot.

 

Kid Art

I love the description Toby asked me to write on this picture from school:

He wanted another pack of Skittles, but his mom said “No.”

Toby’s not the only artist in the family. Ethan & Samantha both have art on exibit at their school art show. The theme is Van Gogh’s Daisies.

Ethan’s Daisy:

Sam’s Field of Daisies:

And last but not least I leave you with Randy’s art from Pizano’s in Chicago:

You can see more photos from our fall break trip to Chicago here.

 

Caricatured

Just thought I’d share recent caricature drawings of the kids from St. Vincent’s open house for their newest medical center.

From Misc. 2008

From Misc. 2008

From Misc. 2008