With him un-medicated, the work at home is agonizingly slow. The entire time he is bouncing off the walls, and never stops the chatter that is part of his persona. I’m starting to think that he will grow up to be a radio talk show host or a politician.
These past couple weeks with him home and off the meds has been exhausting. He has his doc appointment Monday, and I’m praying that he is put on something … anything at that time to get him back under control. Being with this child 24/7, with him bouncing and chattering every waking moment has added more gray to my hair than the last 5 years with all three kids.
OK, I’m exaggerating. But only slightly, and with some dye I can hide the gray.
I had to wipe and reload my computer about 10 days ago to clear off the spyware and viruses put upon it by #1 and #2 surfing the net. I don’t know why, but now it won’t recognize my sound system. I find this frustrating as I would really like to be listening to music, but can’t do it with the previous ease of my pre-wipe set up. I’ve tried just about everything, and am on the border of letting Hubby have a whack at it. That will have to wait until next week though as he works this weekend.
We had a minor dental scare with #3 this week. He bit into something Wednesday that knocked a tooth loose. A tooth that I thought was an adult tooth. An emergency trip to the dentist revealed it to be a baby tooth, so our minds are back at ease after that discovery.
I just looked at my calendar for next week, and it appears that between dentists, doctors and counselors I will be taking myself or at least one of the kids to an appointment or two every day next week. It is weeks like this that lead me to believe that I’m doing as much, if not more driving than when I was working. Fortunately these type of weeks are not a norm, and I do actually have more quiet weeks than busy weeks. It is just harder to remember the weeks in which nothing happens versus the weeks of constant motion and happenings.
I got to looking through recipes for holiday baking today. I came across my fruit cake recipe that is out of this world. As a note, prior to finding this recipe I did not care much for fruit cake. This is an exception though. This is quite possibly the world’s greatest fruit cake.
Worlds Best Fruit Cake
1.5 pounds mixed dried fruit
1 pound dried red cherries
1 pound raisins
1 pound pitted prunes
1/2 pound blanched almonds
2 cups Cherry Cordial liqueur or Cherry Brandy
1/2 cup Amaretto liqueur
1/2 cup Apricot Brandy, Peach Schnapps or Triplesec
1/4 cup Grand Marnier
1/4 cup dark corn syrup
1.5 cups unsalted butter
1.25 cups firmly packed light brown sugar
8 large eggs
1 Tbsp vanilla
1 Tbsp almond essence
2 cups unsifted all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground allspice
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg or mace
Grind all fruits and nuts as finely as possible in a food grinder (NOT food processor!!!!!!!). Place the fruit/nut mix in a large bowl. Add all liqueurs and corn syrup. Mix well, cover and set aside for 1 week.
Grease and line the base and sides of one 12 inch round or square baking pan with brown paper, and grease well with shortening. Preheat oven to 275 F (140 C). Cream together the butter and sugar until well blended. Add eggs one at a time, beating after each addition. Add vanilla and almond essence. Sift the flour with the salt and spices and fold them into the butter and sugar mixture. Stir in the fruit mixture a little at a time until it is evenly blended. Spoon the cake mixture into the prepared pan.
Bake approximately 2 hours until the cake is a rich brown color and feels firm to the touch. A cake tester inserted in the center should show no visible sign of raw batter, though it may be sticky from the fruit. Be sure not to over bake!!! Leave to cool completely in the pan before turning out onto a wire rack. When the cake is cold, wrap it well in two layers of brandy soaked cheese cloth. Wrap the moist cloth in plastic wrap, then in aluminum foil or keep it in an airtight container, and store in a cool dry place. Periodically brush more brandy or rum onto the cheese cloth if it is dry.