It’s Sunday!

And I got nothing for today.

Today I am going to the hardware stores in search of stuff for jewelry and Steampunk. Yes, I did say “jewelry”. But not for me. I have plenty. Well, ok…I do need to make some Steampunk style jewelry, so I should pick up more of these:

Oh, and I also have to cook something delish for Yabu. He has a fantabulous contest going on whereby we in the Blogosphere will be posting food pics and recipes!! It’s called the “NATIONAL IRRITATE A FOOD PIC HATER FOOD PIC POSTING WEEK” or NIAFPHFPPW for short. I shall be updating this blog with tonight’s feastology.

This is probably the most rambling post I’ve done this year.

Anyway, until then, have a great one, and feel free to join the foodie fun at Yabu’s!! 🙂

DELICIOUS UPDATE!!!

Slow Cooked Porkchops;

• Six thick-cut porkchops (boneless or bone-in)
• One bottle BBQ sauce
• One onion, halved and sliced.

Place porkchops in slow cooker, then layer onions over them, then pour bottle of BBQ sauce over it. Cook on low for 6 hours. Recipe stolen creatively borrowed from Laura a long time ago. Trust me, it is AWESOME!

Oh, and since I didn’t have any dinosaurs or fighter jets, I decided that Carl the Psycho Llama would grace the montage just fine. Tell me I’m wrong.

I dare ya 😉

It’s Almost Over

I DON’T WANNA LEAVE!!!!!!!!!

Ok, whining over. Had to be done.

This past week has been great downtime. Kids have enjoyed being by the lake, and as for Hubby, he has been fishing every day. From the balcony. And he has been successful!! First few days he got catfish, then yesterday and today it was carp….HUGE carp. The carp was for catch and release, since I don’t eat that stuff, but last night we had fresh catfish and it was sooooo goooood!!!

Yes, that’s the tub. Anyway, Hubby is still fishing, hoping for General Sherman to take the bait so that we can enjoy catfish for the next two months or so. Tomorrow we return home and enjoy a day or two off from our vacation.

One always needs a vacation from vacation 😉

Craving Denied

My day started off at the social-site-with-faces, where a friend posted a status about loving all her friends. She is a sweet woman, and a wonderful cook, and I miss her SO MUCH because she had a catering business here, but she went and moved to Virginia leaving me prostrate with grief and no, I don’t mean like the male gland, ok?? Anyway, she posted that and I felt obliged to respond:

Friend: I LOVE YOU ALL!!! ♥

Me: I ♥ you so much that when I see a tres leches cake, I yell at it and call it an impostor.

Friend: HAHAHAAA! Lord, how I miss you!!!!! ♥

Me: I think I am banned from several bakeries, too.

So now I want a slice or five of tres leches cake, and she made the best, and I am grieving because FINALLY I have an appetite and I can’t have the bestest cake evah.

Deliciousness courtesy of Narima’s Cuisine

Look at it. Just look at it!!! I think I gained two pounds and a cavity just looking. Oh, how I miss you, my friend.

And you too, Narima 😉

Temptations, and Why Chocolate Always Wins

Apart from the Voodoo List™ and the Things To Do Before I Die List™, I should also have the Things With Which I Should Not Be Trusted List™.

You didn’t really expect me to end that last one in a preposition, did you??

Anyway, as I was cleaning up the kitchen area, I noticed that the King Sized Kit Kat® Bar From Hades was still on the windowsill, where Hubby left it. I got that for him weeks ago. And it’s still there. Looking at me. Tempting me with its delicious, wafery goodness covered in tantalizing chocolate. I hear the siren song and feel the need to partake. But it’s Hubby’s bar.

And then it hit me. What if this is a test of willpower???

Aside patience, willpower is my forte. I have plenty of it. I can beat this. Oh yes, I can. And I will.

Right after I go to the grocery store and get my own. You didn’t think I would eat his chocolate bar, did you? I have scruples 😉

Sundays, and Doughnuts, and Dogs

Well, it’s Sunday. We have a houseful of guests, so I suggested to hubby to go get DOUGHNUTS!!

We were triumphant in our endeavors. We returned with many delectable varieties for the masses, including this one for moi:

Raspberry-filled glazed deliciousness. You are drooling, I can tell. But Life has a way of making fun of me when I least expect it. You see, this post was originally going to regale you with the sweet nothings of the aforementioned doughnut. But alas, it is not to be. As I got up to get more coffee, my big dog Lenny took the opportunity to help herself to my slice of heavenly sinful sugary goodness!!!

That. Broke. My. Heart.

So, I shall make do with a kolache. And an additional cup of coffee to quell the desire to yell at my dog for taking the one joy I looked forward to today. But not to worry. I’m sure the Moscato will be flowing this afternoon 🙂

Math in Public

This past weekend, we travelled to the Houston bay area to visit with relatives. Yes, I delivered Christmas gifts, and before y’all decide to judge me, we ended up picking up a bunch of Christmas gifts, too.

I’m not the only one who procrastinated in the family.

A house full of kids will drive anyone insane, so the adults, consisting of Twin BIL and his wife Red, Nomstress and her hubby Nightflyer, and Mr. Aggie and myself, went out for sushi and adult conversation Saturday evening. We needed it. I had been exposed to so much Winx and Spongebob, and Call of Duty While Killing Nazi Zombies in a Cow Field (or some such game), that I was starting to ask my 6 year old niece why the Winx fairies didn’t have armor. I was a mess.

Anyway, we met the Nommie and Nightflyer at the sushi place, which was nice, except the ambiance was all hipster and the music was all contemporary American pop. Seriously, no Kitaro?? Silk Road I and II?? Sheesh… We get the menus and decide what sushi to ingest, and the talk turned to our perspective families, and the ties between then, since Nommie and Hubby and Twin BIL grew up together. The talk turned to the graduation timeline, and Nommie was trying to determine if she was “legal” the time they went to Spec’s™ to buy beer.

Nommie: Well, keep in mind I graduated with you (Hubby and Twin BIL) in 1984, but I was sixteen.

Twin BIL: And the accident happened after I moved in with [Hubby] in 1991.

Nommie: So I was still underage, right?

Nightflyer: Honey, it was 1991. You were 16 in 1984.

Nommie: So….??

Me: Uh, 16+6= 22!!

Nightflyer: You should never do math in public, honey.

Nommie: Lesson learned!

In their defense, the sake was flowing pretty smoothly by this time. A great time was had, and a repeat performance scheduled for the next trip we take down to the area.

But there will be no math 😉

Back to Basics

When I was newlywed, I used to take one day of the week to cook a gourmet meal. I would get the ingredients, measure everything, clean up as I went along, and make something fantabulous for the two of us.

Eldest was still on mashed peas and squash. She didn’t get to enjoy the spoils.

Once our family grew in size I placed that habit on hold, much to Hubby’s chagrin. Not many kids will appreciate Dover sole cooked in a white wine reduction, right? Well, I know mine didn’t. But now that they are nearing adulthood (ZOMG!!! HOW DID THAT HAPPEN!!??), I have been doing different dishes and getting back into the gourmet thing, slowly.

Of course, Little One is Miss Picky and she is still a problem. Son has a block against sauced things. Eldest will eat anything I serve her. She’s my favorite at mealtime. AT MEALTIME!!!

That last is for her benefit so that she doesn’t tell the other two that she has favorite child status for life, or something like that.

Anyway…. I noticed that a lot of the favorite meals growing up have been seriously absent from the repertoire. I mean, no mac and cheese, no Southern fried chicken, no comfort. So, I’m going back to the basics with this:

Courtesy of The Pioneer Woman, because she is a far better photographer than I am.

Chicken Fried Steak, my peeps!! I miss it so. I add different seasonings to the flour, and tend to add a bit of half-sharp Hungarian paprika for a bit of a kick (the bottle says “half-sharp”, but it peeled the skin off the roof of my mouth once when I mistakenly used it for Chicken Paprikás. Hubby loved it, though). Tonight there will be steak, and mashed potatoes and lots and lots of gravy that I make from the pan.

But I shall have back-up gravy from a jar, just in case I screw that up 😀

The Butter Incident

I love my dog. She is the sweetest, gentlest, neurotic ball I know. Even more neurotic than I am. But she makes every day funny somehow.

She also likes to test her boundaries.

A while back, I was in the kitchen making something that required fattiness. In this case, it was butter. I love baking with sweet cream unsalted butter. It makes me very happy. Anyway, I had set aside the last stick of butter on the kitchen island and was measuring the rest of the ingredients, when my dog, that loveable fuzzball, decided that HEY!!! THAT’S SWEET BUTTAH!!!

And she promptly leaned up, swiping the rest of it onto her tongue.

Courtesy of CakeSpy

I was not happy, and when Momma ain’t happy….

Needless to say, I did no baking that day. The dog also got no treats that day. She has since learned that the counters are off limits, as is the table. In retrospect, it’s pretty funny how she managed to sneak that, but I really wanted to bake whatever it was I felt like making.

Nowadays I make sure to have at least two packages of butter in the refrigerator at all times 😉

What Dreams May Cone

Last night was a very nice, very quiet evening. Little One spent the night at her friend’s, and the two older ones went with their ROTC posse to Sea World. I had the remote for almost 15 minutes before I figured out I could watch something besides a kids show. Don’t get me wrong. I gave the remote to Hubby, as is custom. He is Master of the Remote, but he never forgets I’m Mistress of the Domain, so it evens out.

Anyway, we watched a couple of movies, and afterwards I was feeling a bit of my sweet tooth yelling at me kindly reminding me of my ice cream still in the freezer. So, I went to get the ½ gallon tub, only to find that there were exactly two teaspoons left of my delicious goodness.

I blame my Son.

Still, it was two teaspoons, so I quickly ate it, and then got ready for bed. My first mistake was brushing my teeth with sensitive toothpaste. It made me gag at the combination of Love Potion 31 and medicinal paste. Trust me when I say it is ghastly, and the taste does NOT go away after rinsing for five minutes.

My second mistake was eating so little.

I have been having odd dreams lately, but last night was beyond odd. I dreamt I was at Baskin-Robbins™ and was being asked how many scoops I wanted on my cone. I looked around, and found that they only had one flavor, and it was plain. Not vanilla, but just plain. I asked where the other flavors were, and the gal behind the counter told me the other flavors were for Bingo night. So I asked when Bingo night was, and she said “Tequila”. And I asked her if that was a flavor, and she said no, it was the time. And I said that wasn’t a time, but she insisted, and then told me to pick a flavor from plain, and how many scoops. I told her, “Five, please,” and she said I would need a permit to eat it. So I asked where I could get a permit, and she said “Banana!”

And the alarm went off, saving me from killing someone in my dream.

So, the lesson here is, eat your fill of ice cream before going to bed, and you won’t have to go to banana for a permit to eat ice cream while waiting for tequila to start Bingo night. Something like that. I’m still not sure.

I do know that I shall be going out for ice cream later 🙂

Food for the Soul

And for the gullet! Sometimes we take for granted food that makes us feel good, the Comfort Foods™ from our childhood. I have to admit, eating certain foods does give me a serenity that has nothing to do with a happy tummy. The truth is, they bring back nice memories, and that makes me enjoy them more. Like drinking coffee in the afternoon. I remember my grandmother laying out the china (we each had our own pattern), slicing the bread, the cheese, and putting out the jars of jam and butter, and making us feel like grown-ups for partaking at a very young age. She even taught us to put our pinkies out! She was a stickler for manners, and that has saved my derriere on occasion.

So here are some of my favorites. Don’t judge me.

#5– Beef Stew

I don’t care if we are having a 113* Fahrenheit heat wave here. I will make beef stew in the summer, and eat it while it’s still bubbly hot. And yes, I make mine with dry red wine, and serve it with crusty bread.

#4– Chicken Broccoli Casserole

Chicken and broccoli, covered in a thick cream with onions and topped with cheddar cheese. That sound you heard was my arteries cringing.

#3– Meatloaf

My sister is a great cook, but even she admits my meatloaf is way better than hers. When your brother-in-law asks for it for his birthday, you know it’s good!

#2– Grilled Cheese

One word: ZOMG!! Who doesn’t get comfort out of eating such gooey goodness??

And last, but not least:

#1– Anything with Bacon

Tell me I’m wrong.

I’m sure y’all have your favorites, too. And I’m sure my #1 is a favorite with all 😉

And a hat tip to my friend, Blutarskyy, for the inspiration!