Memories and Reflections

OMSI

On Boxing Day we took advantage of Avi and Ben being home from work and headed across the River to OMSI, Oregon's science museum. Avi hadn't been there either so we were all psyched to have some fun!

 Can I just say that this is my new favorite picture of Noam?! I wasn't trying to be artsy or anything, I was trying to take a picture of him with his hand stamp and voila! Love!

 Anyway! We checked out the engineering section of the museum. Ben had some fun with the static electricity sphere and we explored the earthquake demo (whoa) and some other areas.

 We took on the Catenary arch and won. Noam may or may not have knocked it over...

 Then we headed upstairs to the little kiddo zone. They had these amazing kites on the ceiling and when I wasn't focused on the Goober, I was mesmerized by the kites.

 Noam loves sand boxes. OMSI has a huge walkin sandbox for the pre-school set. He had some fun playing in the sand, he even managed to keep a bigger kid from steeling his shovel, yeah!

 From sand to water! They had some great water tables to play in. Noam had some fun splashing around. I just love how serious he looks.

 He was so content to be exploring. He makes chirpy noises and was chattering away as he splish-splashed in the table.

 Back out in the museum they had a bunch of brain teasers, man I love these things. Two of them reminded me of questions (easy ones) you'd find on the math MTEL. I managed both of these on my first try!

I am a visual and hands on learner, this one I solved before I even tried, just looking at it gave it away to me!

We had a nice afternoon, the museum is nice and I can see Noam having a ball there as he gets bigger!

Let there be light!

Another Chanukah has come and gone. Although it really isn't over until the fat lady sings. Wait, wrong reference. Rewind. It really isn't over until tonight, but the magic of lighting the menorahs is over until next year. I had a great Chanukah, spent in 2 states, with family and friends, and with latkes and sufganiyot! 

I've taken to photographing my candles each night, it's amazing to watch the glow grow as the week progresses! Without further ado, my Chanukah in lights!

Avi and I decided to recreate a menorah from our childhood. We used to make an oil menorah using food coloring in the water base. We improvised this year and used baby food jars (thanks, Noam!) and in lieu of oil wicks we used regular shabbat candles! It sure is pretty! 

I couldn't forget my fun artsy shots, either! I have some good contenders for next year's Chanukah card! 

And it was so magical to watch the holiday through Noam's eyes. He loved lighting menorah each night, loved the latkes and apple sauce, and has been enjoying his presents! 

And since I have newly become obsessed with instagram, I gramed (what's the verb here?) each night for a retro look back on the 8 crazy nights!

Sufganiyot!

A Chanukah tradition is to eat fried foods, to remember the miracle of the oil. So latkes, fried jelly donuts, etc. Being gluten free it's hard to readily find sufganiyot, or donuts, so Avi and I decided to make our own! We figured it would be a total success or disaster, but fun all the same!

 We found a recipe online, and read that using the Bob's Red Mill, GF pancake mix yielded good results so we tried that!

 It really mixed up like a dough, with yeast and everything. We mixed it up, played with it a bit, then threw it (gently) into the oven to rise for an hour. It really rose up well, then it was time to fry!

 We opted for donut hole sized donuts rather than cutting really large circles. We rolled them up, and threw them into the oil.

 Our first few were still raw in the middle so we decided to flatten the rest and that was what we needed! They came out golden brown, crisp, and amazing!

Then it was time to try to fill them with jelly (try being the operative word in that sentence). We chose a strawberry pinot noir and a marionberry jam (both are amazing!). So the donuts were a bit too dense to fill with jelly so we opted for a healthy dusting (covering, whatever) of powdered sugar and then dunking/dipping/decorating them with the jelly!

Oh my word, they were so good! A total keeper for future Chanukahs!

ps - if you've been away for the holiday, keep reading to hear my big (!) news!