The Heart of Cooking

Sometimes my titles are a bit misleading. Actually, most of the time. But this one is pretty literal.This is one of my favorite pots, a gift from Hubby for Valentine’s Day long ago.

I love my Le Creuset™ pots. I own only three, but use them regularly. Just last night I made beer-braised beef in my 5 quart Dutch oven. This one I use for small casseroles and rice dishes. And of course, the 3 quart is for everything. I’m finding that I prefer cooking in porcelain cast iron far more than non-stick. And let’s face it: the color is far prettier than the dull charcoal of most non-stick pots and pans. It makes me happy to cook in a pretty pot, and if Momma is happy, she tends not to burn anything 😉

One of Those Days

I know adjusting is never easy. Today finds me out of creamer, low on coffee, out of Pop-Tarts™ (not for me, but for Hubby), disorganized in a feeble attempt to clean up messes around the house, and strung out, because I have to run errands for my mom that will take me out of town for the day.

Yesterday the trip to the outlet mall was a nightmare, but at least Hubby has new boots. As for me, I went into Cavender’s to see if they had some nice cowboy boots for moi, but alas, the mob and the styles contained therein drove me into a stabby state, so boots for me will have to wait. But at least I got to enjoy one of these:

The world famous Johnny Rockets Chocolate Malt™!! And it was soooooo good!!!

Now, off I go to Goodwill© to drop off what seems to be half of my daughter’s closet, and then go grocery shopping. Hopefully I’ll have made a big enough dent in the garage that my van can finally fit 🙂

A Trick and a Treat

I know, I know… wrong day, wrong month, wrong season. But this isn’t about Halloween.

I saw this photo today on a social site, and as my tummy was growling, I was reading the comments on it.

First of all, ZOMGYUMMY!!!! But secondly, just how is it done?

Well, most of my foodie friends have figured it out. But not the commenters at the photo. They kept asking if one presses the uncooked bacon in a muffin pan and bake. Close, but using this is much simpler:

Invert the custard cup upside down, and wrap the bacon around it. Then bake until done, and you have a beautiful little bacon bowl. You can do this with pie crust and phyllo pastry, too. And it makes you look like some big time gourmet!

Can this Sith cook, or can’t she??

One Fish, Two Fish

Possibly redfish, but no blue fish!

Here at Casa de Aggie, we have fish for dinner on Fridays during Lent. But fish every Friday can be boring. So, I have decided to make it into a gourmet holiday for the kids, making sure to serve different kinds, and involving them in the preparations. Eldest really likes to bake, and Son has gotten into sautéing. Little One is still in the “just eating it” stage. But I have hopes for her.

This evening’s offering will be salmon. Now, I prefer salmon raw, but I hear cooked it’s pretty good, too. I will make sautéed grape tomatoes with basil and mozzarella, steamed green beans, and homemade rolls. And if the kids were good today, I may be persuaded to make dessert. Perhaps a cherry pie to celebrate the beginning of Spring Break!

And the beginning of my descent into madness 😉

Because Plans Go Out the Window Once You Begin Execution

Last night I was awakened by the sound of rain. At first it was very nice, but soon enough it turned into a racket, my headboard being against the outside wall being pelted by it, and the thunder adding to it. Most people would sleep right through that, but not me. Why? Because I have a fraidy cat for a dog. I just knew she was going to be upset and whiny, and wanting to have company. Sure enough, she was at my door, whimpering until I got up and went to lay down with her until the storm passed.

Two hours later the storm was still going strong, and I am so grateful we got the rain, but the dog…. she would NOT let me sleep. So I stayed up with her until about 3 AM, when it turned into a more steady rain. I got in bed just in time to get a text message from Hubby, telling me it was snowing so hard where he is at that he couldn’t see the river. So we conversed by text for a while, finally letting myself fall asleep just in time for the alarm to go off, since Son has a drill meet today.

And what does this have to do with planning anything? Well, I had planned to go out and do some clothes shopping for the kids, groceries, Goodwill™ run, and of course, shopping for the Red Dress. For once my day was planned to the minute. Now I have to wait until the people around here stop their raindance so I can go out and manage to salvage the day. That is, if Hubby doesn’t Skype today. If he does, I will just put everything on hold until tomorrow. I do have my priorities straight.

Seems like a great time to make some brownies. Oh… I’m out of eggs.

Sigh….

The Great Purge

And so it begins. Winter is here, so the calendar tells me, and time for me to start getting rid of the accumulated junk around here. That’s what Hubby calls it. I tend to have a tough time getting rid of stuff. Unfortunately, the kids tend to take after me in that respect. Oh, I’m not a hoarder by any stretch. And if I’m going to own up to it, so is Hubby, since a LOT of the stuff in the garage is his.

The worst part about going through stuff is the memories. Most people see that as a wonderful thing, but I don’t. I tend to remember everything, or at least, more than most people, and going through stuff tends to set off an avalanche of emotions for which sometimes I am not prepared. The other day I found a little hat that Eldest was fond of wearing when she was only a year old, and I had a really, really tough time placing it in the donation pile. All I kept seeing was Eldest walking around wearing the hat and smiling because she had learned to put it on herself.

I have to remind myself that these are just things. Some things I can never give away, no matter what. But I know that sometimes the memory is enough, and I need to learn to let go eventually. I’m just not sure that’s today 😉

If Only I Were a Metal Detector

I’m 45 years old, and it just came to my attention that I have a rather nice gift: I can find things. Well, most people have that talent, but I seem to excel at finding things for other people, especially when I am not familiar with their particular environment.

I remember coming home for a visit. Sister #3 had moved into the back bedroom, leaving my youngest sister (#4) to enjoy the front bedroom all to herself. Anyway, Sis #3 had plans to go to a friend’s house and couldn’t find her keys. She was looking everywhere, even in Sis #4’s sanctum, which wasn’t well met. Sis #3 was frantic, asking everyone if they had seen her keys, because she HAD to go to Laura’s house like right now!!! I got up from the breakfast table, went to her room (AKA, the the DMZ), stood right by the closet, dropped my arms as if I were dropping my purse, and looked down through the debris to find her keys. Sis #3 couldn’t believe it, but since she was already late, she threw me a kiss and flew out the door. I did that twice again for her that weekend, looking for a lipstick and her favorite pen.

And just this morning, Eldest was once again running late, because she couldn’t find her uniform cap. She swore she saw it with her uniform just yesterday morning. I asked her where he uniform had been, and she pointed to the smallest pile of crap in her room. So, I looked perpendicular to it, finding yet another pile, which incidentally contained the bag that she used for her AFJROTC shindig last week. I opened the bag, and extricated numerous articles of ROTC value, the last one being her cap. Suuuuuuuuuure she looked all over for that… Oh, and yes, she will be cleaning her room and doing her laundry today.

It never fails. If something needs to be found in this house, I’m the one to do it. Probably because I am the one who knows where stuff goes around here 😉

How to Have a Successful Wine Party

First, you add WINE!!

NOT the wine consumed...

Then you add FOOD!!

There was more. Trust me.

And then you stir that with a lot of love and FRIENDS!!

And we are older, but just as cute. Trust me.

And all that leads to lots of talking and laughing and forgetting about the time.

Wine Parties…there should be a law 😉

Because It’s So Much Fun to Wait Until the Last Minute

I have a lot to do today. It’s Sunday before Christmas, and though I am almost done with wrapping, I have given up all hope of even going to the post office to mail stuff out. I reconcile myself with the thought that the recipients will be so thrilled to get presents after Christmas so that they can celebrate it again. It’s a weak excuse, but it helps to salve my conscience.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m usually done shopping for Christmas the February before. It’s the boxing up, and addressing, and actually dealing with the post office that’s a big sciatic pain. And having had several bad experiences with damaged items, I am loathe to go. But I will go, once the rush is over.

For now, I have to gather the kidlets and take them to the deserted mall. Afterwards I’ll take myself to the wine cabinet 😉

Weird Conversations, and Why I Shouldn’t Be Allowed to Talk Before I Have Coffee

I swear, sometimes it just doesn’t pay to get out of bed. Last night I went to bed rather late, since Eldest was practicing her Parade and March stuff for ROTC in the kitchen, and right as I fell asleep I got an anxiety attack, so I laid in bed waiting for an hour for it to subside, thinking stupid existentialistic crap that probably solved the world’s problems, but I promptly forgot after dreaming about narwhals. Why narwhals? Because Eldest had been talking about them a couple of days ago. Crap like that just lies in wait to assault my REMs.

This morning I got up, and tripped over the little dog as I made my way with one eye open to the coffeemaker. You would think I could not screw that up, right? But noooo…. instead of creamer I poured lemon juice into my cup of coffee, not looking because A) the bottles are similar in color and size, and 2) the dog was barking to be let out. I’m hiding the bottle of lemon juice in the back of the fridge from now on.

So, I have my second cup with creamer, just in time to Skype with Hubby. YAY!! So, we talk about stuff going on over there and soon enough we are all, “Oh I miss you honey!” and “I miss you too!” and then we talk of how some stuff over there is so weird and suddenly for no reason I say:

I know! I just don’t understand why they (Muslims) would want 72 virgins. I mean, that just doesn’t make sense to me. I would rather have 72 hookers. They would know what they are doing, right?

And Hubby just looks at me with a lot of pity, because that part of the conversation had absolutely nothing to do why we miss each other. Or maybe it did, and I missed it. All I know is that today is a three pot of coffee day and I am soooo going to have a nap.