Utah baby names - why oh why?

Naming a child is a huge responsibility! So frankly, it drives me crazy with all the.....well.....stupid baby names out there!! My sister works in a doctor's office so she will text me some of the more ridiculous baby names that she sees in any given week. I am constantly amazed by the names that parents come up with - these poor kids are going to have to live with these names forever!

Here is a funny video about actual names from Utah (and why I can post this on my media blog!) I also love the Utah "poof" that appears later on in the video.

What do you say when it is in your own family? I have a (different) sister who named her daughter, Gwenhwyvere (like Guinevere from the King Arthur legend). This poor girl is in kindergarten, but luckily, has half the letters of the alphabet in her name already, so that should help with letter recognition! Fortunately, she goes by Gwen, so that simplifies things. And I can say that here because we now have a running joke (which my sister participates in) about her daughter's name! :)

You would think with a name like, "Sarah" that I would be all for unique and crazy names. After all, Sarah was the number 1 name the year I was born and I regularly had 3 or 4 Sarahs in all my classes growing up. But interestingly, I've gone fairly traditional with our three kids so far (Nathan, Hannah, and Aidan- this last one was a super compromise. My husband really wanted an Irish name and this was the one that I tolerated the most!)

 

So do we have a baby name yet for this new baby boy Coyne? Not yet - my husband is funny about the whole naming process so literally won't discuss baby names until I'm about 38 weeks along. I have a ton in mind, but nothing concrete. I would love some suggestions of boy names if you have them (though be prepared to be mocked if they are too far out there)! However, my youngest is positive that we will name that baby "Tea Party Coyne" (my husband always clarifies that this is in no relation to the policital party!) Aidan loves playing with play food and has pretend tea parties all day long (yep, we are raising one masculine little boy here! :) I guess he wants to name the baby after the thing he loves most!

Valentine's Day - and why this is such a good month to be on a Facebook fast

One very great consequence of my Facebook fast is that I miss out on Valentine's Day on Facebook. I've posted about this before, and call me the Valentine's Day grinch, but I can't stand this particular day on Facebook. It is PDA to the extreme. Everyone loooooooooves their significant other so much and everyone has the BEST significant other in the world. Everyone seems to post all the flowers, balloons and chocolates that their significant other got them. And they all need to publicly tell each other and all their friends so they can prove how good their relationship is. Call me a cynic, but I know for a fact that most of my friends who are the worst offenders of this practice are having the most trouble in their relationship. Of course tell your sweetie that you love him/her, but be secure enough in your relationship to not have to broadcast it to your entire list of 1,000 friends! I know I'm a total brat, but I was glad to miss the PDA insanity this year!

I also never post pictures of food I make (it's one of my Facebook pet peeves....which I soon need to post about). But since you guys asked, and I consider it cultural enrichment, and since it seriously is so stinkin' good, here is a picture of my Raspberry Roulade I made for Valentine's Day!



It's basically meringue, cream, and raspberries all rolled up and it is DELISH! I can't believe we don't have it in this country. Here is the basic recipe in case you want to try it out.

Dr. Coyne's Raspberry Roulade
Beat 4 egg whites until soft peaks form. Then gradually add 1 1/4 c sugar until stiff peaks form. Cover a large cookie sheet (with sides) and cover with wax paper (with 2 inches extending off the ends) and spray the heck out of it with cooking spray. Then pour the mixture on the cookie sheet and spread out, careful not to touch any of the sides. I then crunch up and sprinkle almonds on the top.

Cook for 8 minutes at 400, then reduce temp to 325 and cook 8 more minutes until meringue is light brown. Take out and lift by the wax paper. Flip the whole thing over on your counter on another piece of wax paper and CAREFULLY peel off the top layer of wax paper. Cool for 25 min.

In the meantime, make your cream (I use about 1 1/2 c of heavy whipping cream, 1 tsp of vanilla, 1 tsp of sugar) all mixed up in your blender. When meringue is cool, spread the whipped cream on the top, careful not to touch the edges. Put a bunch of raspberries, strawberries, or whatever on the top of the cream and then carefully roll the whole thing up (starting with the short sides), pulling away the wax paper as you go. Put on a plate and top with whipped cream/raspberries however you like!

Good luck and enjoy!