Mac and Fitz Speaks...: An Allowance Well Spent...

So, the kids have been doing relatively well

with "Operation Help Out"...

They have been keeping their rooms tidy enough

and the bathrooms are better,

sort of...

They have earned somewhat less than two months of dollars

stuck in the jar

and the dough is adding up...

Kate has been stowing her cash

in a paper envelope in her room...

She is itching to spend it, too,

and she decided what to buy recently...

A few weeks ago, Kate had a special birthday lunch

with one of her BFF's at American Girl...

Her friend received the new girl of the moment, Saige,

as a gift from her parents

and Kate knew then and there

that she must own Saige, too...

These dolls are by no means cheap

and I hesitated letting Kate blow her whole savings

on the doll, so I held off on the old parental approval...

Until last week...

I needed to update the kids' comp photographs for modeling

and I have been stalling the agency

because Kate is missing her two front teeth...

Not exactly her most photogenic stage in life

and comps are pricey...

Her middle teeth are finally starting to appear normal,

and the agency has been hounding me,

so we shot her photos last Friday...

It was a hot, muggy, buggy day

and Kate was a trooper,

wearing fall clothes, sweating and trying to be all smiley

despite the bugs nipping at her ankles...

If there are a few things my daughter dislikes,

it is sweat, bugs and any sort of discomfort

in general...

Modeling is hard work, man!

Anyway, she did a great job

and did not complain once,

which was highly out of character for her...

Earlier that morning, I stuffed her wad of cash in my purse,

in hopes that she might show stellar behavior

and, luckily for Kate, she did not disappoint...

After the photo session was over,

I told her that she deserved a surprise...

On the way to Michigan Avenue,

Kate grilled me with a thousand questions,

none of which I answered...

We found street parking (miracle)

a few blocks from Watertower Place

and she continued to pepper me with questions,
right into the building...

Katherine probably had a clue by then

of where we were headed,

but she did not appear wise to my secret...

When we stepped into the glorified halls

of all things American Girl,

Kate thought I was allowing her

to window shop only...

When I whipped out the bundle of dollars

and pointed toward the tower of Saige dolls,

she about fell over...

Then my little one bounded over,

snatched a Saige for her very own

and gave my legs a tight, emphatic bear hug...

It was touching to see her over the moon

for this doll...

The cashier made a big deal

about counting out her hard earned dollars,

one by one

and she praised her repeatedly

for paying for the doll herself...

Maybe this reward for keeping her room and a bathroom clean

will be further motivation...

A mom can only hope...

This is a moment when all of this

teaching kids to be self sufficient stuff

is worth it...

It is so much easier, sometimes,

to just pick up their rooms myself,

to wipe and swipe the bathrooms quickly,

to just get it done...

But to see Kate and Jack work

to earn the things they desire,

now that is truly satisfying...

Kate and Saige were inseparable all evening

and we had to convince her to leave her new friend behind

as she, her brother and dad left

for the Cubs game that afternoon...

Apparently, any angelic behavior from the prior day

had worn clean off

and she was a whining shrew at the ballgame...

Daddy ordered a beer or three...

Maybe she was just tired

from all that supermodel stuff...

All I know is that it was peaceful at home

and the kitchen smelled like apple paradise...

Here is a recipe for Dutch Apple Pie, thanks to Cafe Johnsonia...

Mom’s Dutch Apple Pie

Tip: use a deep, 9” pie plate.

Ingredients:
For Crust:
1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
1 ½ Tbsp. sugar
½ cup oil
2 Tbsp. cold milk

For Filling:
5 cups tart baking apples, peeled, cored, in small chunks (I used a combo of Golden Delicious and Granny Smith)
½ cup sugar
2 Tbsp. flour
½ tsp. nutmeg
½ tsp. cinnamon
juice of one lemon, freshly squeezed (or about 2 Tbsp. bottled juice)

For Topping:
1 stick cold butter, cut into tablespoons
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup granulated sugar

Instructions:

For Crust:
Mix the dry ingredients together in the pie plate. Mix the milk and oil together. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and add the oil/milk. Mix with a fork until dough comes together. Press evenly on the bottom and sides of plate. Refrigerate while preparing filling.

For Filling:
Whisk dry ingredients together. Add the apples and lemon juice. Toss to coat apples. Spread apples evenly in pie plate. Place in fridge while preparing topping.

For Topping:
Mix flour and sugar together. Add cold butter. Use a pastry blender, or two knives** to cut butter into the dry ingredients. Be careful not to over do it. There should be small pieces of butter amid the flour and sugar. Sprinkle topping evenly over filling.

Place completed pie in a large brown grocery bag. Fold the edge of the bag over and secure with staples, paper clips, or metal clamps.

Place on a baking sheet. Bake at 425 F for one hour. (No peeking!)

When done, remove from oven, but leave in bag to cool.

Serve warm with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream.

Wow...it smelled great in here!