{"id":994,"date":"2012-01-16T04:53:52","date_gmt":"2012-01-16T11:53:52","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2016-03-23T19:52:19","modified_gmt":"2016-03-24T01:52:19","slug":"parenting-peels-pinwheels-confessions-dehydration-and-a-recipe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pantryparatus.com\/articles\/parenting-peels-pinwheels-confessions-dehydration-and-a-recipe\/","title":{"rendered":"Parenting, Peels & Pinwheels: Confessions, Dehydration, and a Recipe"},"content":{"rendered":"

Seven years old, sitting in the Radio Flyer wagon with my best friend, handle turned in and racing down the steep hill, middle of the road.\u00a0 Thrilling, fun, and scary.\u00a0 Fast forward 28 years.\u00a0 Parenting.\u00a0 I have not experienced the outer rim of sanity since I was seven years old and flirting with a traumatic brain injury, and here I am.<\/p>\n

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I was excited about converting this recipe for you.\u00a0 I\u2019ve re-written and adapting old ones, knowing what I do about flavors and textures, aesthetics.\u00a0 For a week I\u2019ve anticipated this day when I knew I\u2019d have time to attempt these delicious and gourmet cookies.\u00a0 I\u2019ve cheered and assigned duties (\u201cyou scoop sugar\u201d and \u201ccan you crack that egg for me?\u201d) and I\u2019ve had those grandiose delusions of being Mom of the Year with baking time\u2014and I succumb to this emotionally destructive roller coaster practically daily (the \u201coh yeah, THIS will secure the \u2018Mom of the Year\u2019 title!\u201d delusion).<\/p>\n

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Everything was going well.\u00a0 Kids were having fun.\u00a0 And then they got bored and meandered off.\u00a0 The pinwheels were rising on the cookie sheet, covered with a tea towel. The most beautiful ones on the first sheet inspired my photographic creativity and I thought \u201cTHESE will be the ones for the pictures, for the blog!\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 My four year old decided to come join in again, and touches the edge of the cookie sheet which I had haphazardly shoved to the edge of the table\u2026not the edge, just beyond the edge.\u00a0 His little hand hit the corner and flipped the cookie sheet into the air.\u00a0 Pinwheels indeed pinwheeled into the air, beautiful cream cheese pinwheels spinning in slow motion, crashing onto the floor.<\/p>\n

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My reaction was immediate\u2014I drew a deep breath which was to be exhaled in some form of overdramatic disappointment, and on the exhale I looked down.\u00a0 A beautiful baby boy stood before me, his blonde hair sticking up in the back, his blue eyes welling up with tears, his lip quivering.\u00a0 I exhaled deeply.\u00a0 I wanted to scream about how he ruined them.\u00a0 I wanted to shout \u201cOOOOOUUUUTTTT OF MOMMY\u2019S KITCHEN!!!\u201d<\/p>\n

But what was my prayer just this morning, about the atmosphere in our home?\u00a0 Dear Lord help me!\u00a0 He stood there looking up, with teardrop-shaped eyes and a look of utter fear and disappointment on his cute little cheeks, his fingers clutching the brown neck strap of his CARS movie apron.<\/p>\n

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\u201cPeanut, do you know you are more important to me than cookies?\u201d The muscles in his face relaxed and he dropped his hands to his sides, making eye contact.<\/p>\n

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And you know what, the cookies taste better than they look.\u00a0 I was at a friend\u2019s home last week to make Challah bread with her.\u00a0 She was kneading and looked up to tell me, \u201cI always pray for the eater when I knead.\u00a0 My most important ingredient is love.\u201d \"Kneading<\/p>\n

So I could have had perfect pinwheels.\u00a0 The picture would have been beautiful, you might have forwarded the link on Facebook, and everyone would forget them two days later.\u00a0 But I would have not experienced the love of sharing cookie-baking time with my children.\u00a0 My son might not learn what a cup of something looks like, or what it means to whip the egg white.\u00a0 And I might have permanently damaged a hurt little boy who needed unconditional love in the face of his mistake.<\/p>\n

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So my cookies, this time, were made with love.\u00a0 I hope that you enjoy this recipe.<\/p>\n

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Dehydrating Orange Peel<\/strong>\"Dehydrating<\/p>\n

Be very sure to by organic and\/or local oranges if at all possible.\u00a0 If not, please wash them extremely well with a vegetable wash to get any type of residue off of the peel.\u00a0\u00a0 Simply grate the peel, place it onto a paraflexx sheet<\/a>, and approximately 12 hours later you will have dehydrated orange peel for your pantry!<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong>I would put this recipe into an Intermediate category because of the number of steps and the various rise times.\u00a0 Also, these are not very sweet cookies and compliment a cup of tea very nicely! My husband thought that a few minor modifications would transform this into an appetizer recipe!<\/p>\n

Oh, and make sure you don\u2019t dangle your cookie sheets off the edge of the table!<\/p>\n

\"Pinwheels\"<\/p>\n

Orange Cream Cheese Pinwheels<\/strong><\/p>\n

Makes 2 dozen<\/em><\/p>\n

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