Polyglot-ony

Polyglot and gluttony.

There’s plenty of both here right now!

My friends from Germany arrived without incidents, and we have been having a wonderful time cooking and sightseeing. Last night we had sauerbraten, and cucumber salad. ZOMG!!! I gained three pound just making the stuff.

So far, my pants still fit. That’s not guaranteed to be true in the next two weeks.

Along with the wonderful food, we are enjoying wonderful conversation. Not only in German, but also Hungarian, and Spanish, and English as well. Tomorrow, I hope to learn to make Amerikaner danish and soda bread. I am going to be one heck of a gourmet by the time they leave.

That, or one heck of a whale. Either is acceptable.

Anyway, just wanted to give y’all an update as to the happenings at Casa de Aggie. I will make an attempt to post tomorrow. Unless my friend decides to make schnitzel. Then y’all are out of luck 😉

Breaking In Spring

It’s Spring Break, and my kidlets are booooooooooooooored.

I’m sorry, but I don’t see where it says “Entertainer Galore” on my job description. But at least Son will be hosting his birthday party, and they will be occupied making fun of what their parents used to wear during the 80’s. Whatever…. I make fun of the stuff they wear now, so we’re even.

But today is a special day in Geekdom. It is 3/14, and therefore PI DAY!!!!

Creatively borrowed from my friend, The Queen.

Yes, I will be making pie. No, I won’t go through the trouble of cutting out the pastry into numbers. I don’t have time for that. I’ll be lucky if I keep enough of it to make the pie in the first place. Or the filling, for that matter.

Anyway, hope y’all have a great day, and don’t forget to have some Pi 😀

Will, Meet Way

Lenten Fridays are always a challenge. Since we observe no meat on Fridays, the menus are a bit more limited, especially since Little One is so dang picky in the first place. Some people allow fish on Fridays, and that’s why there are fish sticks in the freezer right now, since I am positive that Little One will not want what’s on the menu for this evening.

ZOMG AWESOME!! And so easy to make. And above all, no complaining from the head of the household. And by that, I mean Hubby.

Now, time for me to get going. I have a Confirmation to attend, gifts to wrap,dinner to set up, dessert to cool, and Guilder to frame for it 😉

Smart Kids Mean Headaches

I am a traditional gal. I am an Aggie, which doubles down on the whole traditions thing. But at Casa de Aggie, it isn’t just good enough to have traditions. One must also observe historical accuracy while celebrating a tradition.

Little One: Are we having turkey for Thanksgiving this year?

Me: Is this a trick question?

Little One: Well, the original Thanksgiving didn’t have a turkey dinner.

Me: True…. Are you saying that you would prefer fish and lobster and squash and corn and beans to the turkey dinner??

Little One: No, just the lobster.

Me: Fat chance, kiddo.

Little One: It was worth a shot.

It never fails to amaze me how wily they can be. It’s a full time job just to keep ahead in the game 😉

The Ides of Whatever

Middle of November, and guess what? I have barely made a dent in holiday plans.

It happens every year. I make plans, lists, calls, plans, more plans, and come November, all of the plans have been changed so often that no one knows where we are going, what we are doing, who we are visiting, and more importantly why we are screaming.

Ok, the family knows why I’m screaming. They manage to tune it out, though.

So, due to miscommunication, we will be staying home for Thanksgiving. That means shopping for turkey, trimmings, and the like.

Lucky for moi, I have all that stuff down now.

I just hope that the week goes by quickly. No telling how much Skyrim music I can take while basting the roast 😀

Question to Ponder

Yesterday was a hectic day. ROTC returned from their Lex trip, Little One was still enjoying a sleepover in the afternoon, and Eldest wanted to practice driving. Short story: I didn’t get to enjoy a visit to a winery as planned. But no matter, because I did have time to make a turkey roast which was delish. And that’s what inspired the question:

Why do we wait to have turkey on Thanksgiving and Christmas??

Now, obviously I didn’t do a whole turkey. That’s just ridiculous. But doing a boneless roast is not hard, and takes only a couple of hours in the oven, which is pretty much what meatloaf or a pot roast take to bake. From now on I think I will make a turkey at at least once a month.

Variety being the spice of Life and all, along with rosemary!

Cupcake Overload

Today, Little One will be having a sleepover and instead of cake, she requested cupcakes. As if that wasn’t bad enough, last Thursday was Chocolate Cupcake Day at the local bakery, which meant I had to get a dozen of their assorted chocolate cupcakes, like chocolate cherry and triple chocolate. Those didn’t last very long, so obviously we needed more for the party.

And boy, did we score!

Chocolate chocolate, Italian cream, chocolate raspberry, pumpkin pecan, peanut butter chocolate, and the pièce de resistance:

Guinness Beer Cupcake!!!

I only got one, and no, not for the girls. This one is for Hubby. I’m hoping I get a bite of it, though. I love to cook with Guinness, so this may be awesome, or just this side of “What the heck were they thinking??” I almost got the maple and bacon cupcake, but Little One wanted something fancier, and more normal.

Ok, time for me to start getting the upstairs ready. Manicures, flower making, and hairstyling is in my future.

And so is wine 😉

Checking It Twice, or Five Times to Be Sure

I have been making and revising the Christmas List™. This year it has been a bit more frustrating than before. You see, there have been changes to the List of which I have recently become aware. Nothing big, like new family members. I am aware of those changes! No, just little things, like color preferences, new style preferences, new hobby interests, etc.

Still, it’s not a big inconvenience, just a mild one. At least gift certificates and money are always failsafe. Come to think of it, so is food.

But I just can’t be trusted with purchasing chocolate. The stress of the season would force me to take advantage of that. Well, just having it around would force me to take advantage of that. Ok, “force” is not the right word. STOP JUDGING ME!!!!

Just for that, I’m going out to get another bag of Halloween candy. It helps with the stress 😀

Food Blogging: Day Two

There was a time in my married life that I made an effort to cook one gourmet meal a week.

And then the kids started growing up.

I’m trying to get back into that, but it’s difficult when some don’t eat certain foods, or others don’t like spices, or still others do not care for cooked vegetables. One thing that they ALL like, however, is steak. You can’t go wrong with steak, ever. I draw the line at Steak Tartare, though. There is no way I am serving raw steak with a raw egg on top.

Grilled steak with cubit potatoes, romaine and bleu cheese dressing, and random roll. AWESOME!!

CUBIT POTATOES

• Three to Four Large Gold Potatoes
• Oil of Choice
• Salt and Pepper
• Rosemary (optional)

Peel and rinse potatoes, then cube. Place in bowl, adding approximately ¼ cup of oil, and then salt and pepper to coat. Toss well, then place in an 8×8 pan, making sure to dust the top again with salt, pepper, and the rosemary if desired. Bake at 400* F (or 204* C for my foreign readers), for about 40 minutes.

Enjoy!! 🙂

Food Blogging: Day One

Technically, I suppose it’s Day Two, but yesterday was a rambling post with the addition of the food blogging, so I shall declare today as Day One and go from there. In case some of you missed it, I am participating in Yabu‘s “NATIONAL IRRITATE A FOOD PIC HATER FOOD PIC POSTING WEEK”, henceforth known as NIAFPHFPPW, for short. Click on his name and you’ll see the multitudinous postings of delish entries.

Today I shall feature what is probably my most requested dessert. Not only is it popular, but very, and I mean VERY, easy to make. It is also a good alternative to using raw eggs.

Chocolate Mousse

• 1 pint Heavy Whipping Cream
• ½ large jar Nutella Spread.
• 1 tbsp. Grand Marnier (optional)

In a medium bowl, whip the cream on a high setting until stiff peaks form. Add the Nutella and the liqueur if desired, and whip again until thoroughly mixed. Using a spatula, make sure to smooth out, and then spoon into custard cups. Makes about six servings.

Enjoy!! 🙂

*UPDATE*

I erroneously typed “small” instead of “large” for the Nutella jar. Correction done!!