Easter & Butter

Regardless of my personal spiritual background, I really adore cultural and religious ceremonies of all kinds. Previously my favorite Easter event was The Chapel's downtown egg hunt, which started at 11pm and all the prizes in the eggs were free drinks at the bar. One grand egg, and yes, yours truly found it, was redeemable for a grand basket with a crown in it! However this tradition below may have me moving to Poland right now!

The Baranek Wielkanocny, or Easter Butter Lamb is a hunk of butter shaped into a woolly lamb to celebrate Easter in Poland. You might find one in your Easter basket or use it as a centerpiece for the holiday feast. If the local priest is blessing baskets of Easter foods before they are laid out for the meal, the Butter Lamb is always included. They are sold in delis around the holiday or you can make your own at home.

Housewarming!

I can say that in the last days leading up to the HW party that the hubs and I began to get a little nervous and I would even be honest enough to say a little regretful about the housewarming. First, we have the capacity to be little socially awkward, not so much me, but I am not one of those people who are able to negotiate multiple friend groups. Readers, you know how you have different sects of friends, and they may not know each other, or your typical themes of conversation may not be the same, maybe if you are like me, YOU may not even be the same person around each of your different friend groups. Well,, I struggle with that. The hubs struggles with all aspects of sociability and resorted to the porch & early drinks.

However, the party was a hit. The hub's fam stayed on the couches, the kids played upstairs, my lot hit the backyard. My secret weapon of masterful brilliance of social director-ness, somewhere Weezy is smiling upon his lady.

Readers, as you know one can not have a HW party without some food, and so Tmom and I devised the prefect mid-day snacks for folks to munch on.

I even made and ate two different types of salads! Okay, you got me, they were fruit salad and tomato & bacon pasta salad, but I still made them!

Readers, I can also tell that I am getting a reputation, whether warranted or not, towards cooking as I got some great loot for my kitchen! Including the measuring cup you see above that I have used every day since, even if one of those days it was just to water the lily from Fievel's moms.

I did not even know those two things above existed. They are a cookbook holder (Teece) and a recipe journal (with some pre-loaded recipes from The Good Woman). I just felt very lucky, not to just have this amazing house, but to also have all these people to fill it with. We even lucked out and had Mr. Hulk come in from Boston to spend the weekend with us. I was so excited to see him, that I am pretty sure that my initial hug seemed like a drunken one. Readers, if you have ever received one of those, you just how utterly intense it is, if you have not, it is something to look forward to in the future!

New Toys

What a great Housewarming gift from Tmom & Tdad... a big honking grill. I don't know what it is capable of or its power, or how it even functions, but I do know that When it is on, that means the hubs is cooking!!!

We kicked off our new gift, yes, the hubs does have to come up with a name for him (he is so a him), but while he was thinking he made some grilled chicken with all kinds of ...stuff/seasoning on it.

Readers, don't walk away thinking I did not contribute too. I made mashed potatoes. I can actually make some decent mashed potatoes, even when like that night I did not have any milk, or sour cream or whipping cream. I did have butter (of course!) and white Vermont cheddar, which I decided to shred and put half the block in. They were a cheesy bit of heaven. Readers, yes, that is a masher, and that is how I make MP, I think that is very cool of me!

The meal was really good and more importantly, not pasta, which I have been feeling is all I make and my dinner about 5-6 times a week.

UGA Baseball 2010

I really enjoy going to the UGA baseball games, the team has had two amazing last seasons, there are tons of fun giveaways, and best of all, it's free for me and the fam to go (student and dependent cards!!!). Last night, we went and watched UGA v. Furman (with Boatshoes, who was sporting his purple, as a Furman alum, for the evening) and the game started at 5pm. This meant that there was not really dinner prior to the game and I would estimate that each game is about 3 hours long. I packed my purse with raisins and sunflower seeds and we were off.

The game was taking on the unfortunate habit of the other games we have attended this season, and by the 6th inning, the score was 10-3 Furman. The boys were ready to go and I believe that you should... oh, I don't know... stick around for games and be a FAN! My mouth rots with acridity when I see a stadium empty mid-game when things look like they are going south. So, instead my viscous boys went to the concession stand, and I thought they would be coming back with hot dogs. Readers, they came back with nachos! WTF? I love nachos!

I am also certain that the kid made every attempt possible to sit right on top of me while he was eating them, and at one point after constant questions of "hey mom, want a bite (snicker, snicker)?" That little imp gave me a smooch and had (gasp!) nacho cheese on his lips.

Readers, it's enough to say he is grounded for life, but he is not, instead his is a first glimpse at the kid, literally getting every particle of cheese with his finger after the chips had been devoured.

The moral is however, that they had there snack and in the bottom of the 9th inning, UGA played the best ball I have seen them play all season, made 6 (on my feet the entire inning screaming) runs in the last minutes of the game to almost catch up with Furman. Final score 10-9 Furman, but what a game! Go Dawgs!

Meals On Wheels

This morning was a good example of why I made specifications on my eating habits for the NYR, because today was the “Mayor on Meals” breakfast on the Athens Area Counseling on Aging, helping to bring awareness that there are older adults in our communities that are going without food. Today I found out that there are 93 older people on a waitlist in Clarke and Barrow counties to receive food from the Meals On Wheels program. I was shocked and a little ashamed when I heard that number, and I am still not too sure why that came as such a surprise. So, on April 1, look for a posting about me doing my first Meals on Wheels ride-along. Today’s event which was re-instituted and implemented by a woman, that I would GIVE a MSW to this minute (and plan to heavily recruit into the MSW Program), with such passion and engagement that the ability to not be infected by her excitement was unimaginable. With Pride in her, and current MSW Starfoot (okay, it’s a cool nickname bc my kid reads these cat Warrior books and they all have names like that and he thinks it’s the living end) Carter, it turns out that today’s event and the signatures that have been collected for http://www.mowaa.org/Page.aspx?pid=480 were the most collected in the US, and by our little city! The event was well planned, well attended, and Readers, it was well catered!
This is my plate, and Readers, I did not take any Chick-Fil-A biscuits that were available because today is also National Meat Out Day (http://www.meatout.org/)and I thought I would give it a row. (BTW, which was successful, as I had fruit salad from a phd student for lunch and noodles in vodka sauce for dinner). I also did not hit up the pastry table, though I grabbed one powder donut hole. We know I am a fan of some biscuits and Mama’s Boy is not too shabby in the biscuit department, even when they are small because they forgot until the last minute about today’s event, but seeing as they pulled off one might good spread, you’re not hearing complaints from me.
Readers, I forgot about eggs, I just forgot about them. I love eggs (okay, not the powdered vegan ones that were there) and whoever made the egg casserole, egg mushroom pie and vat o’ eggs… well, they just stuck their foot right up in there, because it was all so delicious.
Readers, I do see the irony in a post about eating such a varied and abundant meal when people are going hungry around me. So, I made a meek donation and will be participating in a ride along, but I am also encouraging you to get involved too. Next year the first of the baby boomers will be hitting the “official” age of retirement, the face of aging (and the understanding of it) will change in our lifetimes, we should be armed with information and as much passion for our older adults as the 2 mentioned above to prepare for it. Maybe we could throw a few dimes at it too, and if you would like to do so, here is the website for https://athensacca.ejoinme.org/MyPages/DonationPage/tabid/1672/Default.aspx
Thanks you guys!

The Meals on Wheels program run through the Athens Community Council on
Aging will host a “Mayor for Meals” event Wednesday, in which current and former
mayors are invited to deliver meals with a regular volunteer.
The council
also will host a “March for Meals” event, in which local restaurants will donate
10 percent of their proceeds on specified dates to benefit Meals on
Wheels.
In addition, the council will host a volunteer appreciation
breakfast, followed by meal routes to be led by Athens-Clarke Mayor Heidi
Davison and Winder Mayor Chip Thompson.

Guilty (& possibly gross) Pleasures

This is a brief timeout to let you in on a secret. I love bad food, and you know what I mean. I have already confessed my adoration of sour cream and how I know if you have two rotisserie chickens that one of them is simply for eating the skin off of. Now, I just need you to know that I have not simply been cooking with more butter because of how incredible it seems to make everything, but also because… I sneak a bite every time! It’s just soooo good. Yes readers, that means that I take a bite of the butter, or slice myself off a tab of it. In fact, when I was trying to take this picture of myself eating some butter, I had to slice a second piece because I just could not get the picture I wanted, and just like most things in life that I attempt to make decisions upon, I used the very first picture I took.

What are your guilty food indulgences?

End of Year Dinners

Prior to moving I was having dinner at my house for one or two people once a week. This gave me the opportunity to attempt to make food, while still sharing in the social activities that I thought mainly came from dinning out. Now in my new house (yeah, I'm still gloating, you would too & I would appreciate and respect you for that), and with graduation looming in a few weeks, I have decided to give it a shot again and have a meal once a week, open to whomever can come. readers, you how when you do the first one (or last) event, they tend to be the largest, people trickle out from there. I invited about 10 people, had a strong showing of 6 (not counting my fam of 3), and yet I made a VAT OF SPAGHETTI. I just did not know how to gauge it, so I made 2 pounds of pasta with 2.5 pounds of meat in it. What was amazing is that I do not possess a pot large enough to make 2 pounds of pasta, and so I was constantly turning it over when the top of the noodles were hovering over the water's rim. I also did not have the strength to strain the pasta and so that was a close call to the burn clinic for yours truly, as I decided to leverage the weight of a boiling pot against my forearm.

What was a greater feat of bravery, in my and probably her opinion also, was that Mrs. Weezy cut up a whole rotisserie chicken, in fact two of them, with precision and very little talking to herself. This was after being berated by framed prom photos. It also reminded me that I have to get more of these chickens in the future, they are just too good to not have only once or twice a year. (I also ate more skin than chicken! MMmmmm)

We sat around the smallest table in my house, I don't know how that happened, and talked, which is why I eat so I can talk. No judgement about elbows on the table or mouths full of food from me. Just be at my table and talk, and you and I will be best friends forever and ever!

Bootshoes = Tasty Reubens!

Just to start off, I am not even too sure where I have been this last week. I can catch you up with a little tale of a fella named Boatshoes. Boatshoes is a gentle giant, who reminds my kid to use his inside voice, when I can never recall that quaint phrase and yell for him to shut his freaking trap! Boatshoes also happens to be a good cook and someone who, unlike myself still, actually seems to enjoy it. Last Thursday, Boatshoes made us dinner, and what I thought would be more of a simple prep, as he was making reubens, really shocked the sin out of me.

Readers, he made the reuben meat, like it was a hunk of meat which he had made. I thought reuben meat came from the deli, foods like hummus or potato salad which simply exists because it is behind a counter waiting for me to pick it up. Now this picture above is not a good indicator of the magnitude of these reubens, because I don't eat anything, and so if I had a picture of Boatshoes or the hubs' reubens, they would also have the sour kraut, spicy mustard, dark rye bread, Swiss cheese, and whatever else I am forgetting accompanying their plate as well. oh, and of course.... a salad... la tee da, I am getting so sick of the salad thing, I either have to learn to eat them or I am going to start every meal with a squeeze tube of hot fudge which I will just hold over my head and squirt into my mouth while others are eating their salad. Take that! The meal was fantastic and it was great to listen to Boatshoes' stories. I will mention that Boatshoes also provided me with a side dish that I am keeping on the downlow because I plan on stealing it and making it my own. And it is such a cheat that I can not stand to uncover it, plus it could really gross out my foodie friends.

10 minute meals

I am a fan of these. Quite honestly, they only feed about two of us, so when the kid and I have to fend for ourselves for dinner, and I am still not in the swing of actually making it everyday, but alas can not eat out, we Bertolli it up. There is not a single Bertolli bag meal I do not like (though I do pre-pick out some of the vegetables). I bought one of every "flavor/style" when Publix had them on sale for $3.50 a bag (they are usually around $7-8). They have been the biggest help since I have not been cooking my own meals up lately. Two night ago (last night I simply ate Blue Box mac n' cheese because we played board games until 8pm without noticing), we tried the Chianti Braised Beef and Rigatoni. I was so impressed, did I pick out the yellow peppers? Yes, some of them.

I also like all the chicken styles, and where the boys can not eat them everyday (probably because they can not eat Italian food everyday either), I could/can/do. I KNOW this is not cheating but sometimes it does seem like I am doing this cooking thing wrong. I really only know about 5 meals to make for regular dinners. Those are as follows:

• Sheppard's Pie
• Spagetti with meat
• Chicken baked in barbq sauce
• White bowl (which no one else eats but me)
• ... that might be it.

Yes, I have recieved recipe books but they can be daunting. With new recipes, I am trying to stick with trying them out on the weekends. So, besides for continuously loving on these Bertolli meals, Readers, what is your staple quick fix dinner, say for a family of 3?

Guess what I got!

It has arrived! It’s black and white, cut like my old swing dance dresses, has two pockets and I will really try to get it dirty.
Its my apron from da sis. Look how cute it is! Readers, there must be something taking control of my mind from this NYR because when I got my new apron, my first thought was, “this is so sexy”! Oh help me, I used to think food was sexy, rare steaks, ice cream in porcelain single size bowls, Jagerbombs. What? Are you sure? Okay, the hubs says that Jagerbombs are not sexy, its more that I think everything is sexy after a few of them. Thanks for clearing that up and reading over my shoulder. Is this NYR turning me into a domestic goddess?
I wonder if I can wear my apron when I am just heating things in the microwave. Oh, I wonder if I should name her. I name everything. My old car was Fiona Greenapple, my new car is Napoleon Bonacar, my elliptical is named Pacey, and the new house is named Lucille (though the security system is named Karen, which the kid named after the electronic wife of a SpongeBob character). What do you name an apron? Ok, readers, I need some feedback. What should I name this sassy lady of an apron?

Food w/ Love

I don't believe in the 11 years we have been married (or will be next month) that I have ever cooked a meal for the hub's folks (AKA;TMom and TDad). Wait... there was this one time, when tMom was working late shifts and I tried to make Hamburger Helper, and read the direction for to brown meat as "add enough seasoning to make the meat brown." So I served raw, uncooked hamburger meat in Hamburger Helper Cheesy Macaroni. I will say that the Adams' men cared about me enough to almost eat, or at least not mercilessly tease me about, it at the time.

Moving on, Readers, I really wanted to show TMom & TDad that we are so thankful for everything they have ever done for us, and it has been a ridiculous amount. I wanted to find a way to relate that we know we are where and who we are today because of them. I also want them to feel our home is there home, much like they have done for me (I think of their home as my home, as if I grew up there and not that my first time was at 18 in a pair of boy's overalls and a pajama shirt).

So I made dinner!

Readers, I did not expect when starting this NYR that I would realize how much food can represent tokens of love, admiration, compassion and care. Of all the pot lucks my (greatest) friends (ever) have held during the most beautiful times in our lives, during my Big Brain recovery, presented a funerals and babyshowers, it did not ring to me. What can I say, I am a little dense.I think its starting to click.

Probably my first big meal in my kitchen. I made salad, garlic bread, and the bowtie festival dish. I am comfortable with these, and did not want to mess them up on this day. I did still geek out a bit with attempting to time everything, and spent a serrated 3 hours doodling around the kitchen. I had the kid set up a pretty table, or whatever can be set from table composed of a random assortment of Goodwill plates and bowls. I think it still looked really good.

After we got pleasantly stuffed, I asked the kid to "help me in the kitchen" to which he responded, "I want to light the candles"! Obviously he is as tactful as his mom!

we were also celebrating TMom's birthday! We pulled out this, a red (or light easter egg pink) velvet cake that the kid decorated, and picked out twirly candles for. I got the recipe from Picky Palate (http://picky-palate.com/2010/03/04/lucky-green-velvet-baby-cakes/) and improvised on the food coloring, which was why that portion failed!

We played Balderdash, had coffee, cake and overall just a wonderful time. One of my beautiful friends asked if it was strange to celebrate TMom on MJC Day. It's not, here's why. My mom left this earth knowing that there was another mom taking care of me. My mom respected TMom, and would rather I spent that day in laughs and celebration of the moms in my life. So, that's what we did! Happy Birthday TMom!

Silly Rabbit, Kitchens are for Nice People

Readers, do you ever pick a fight with someone, maybe because you’re stressed or possibly because its warranted, and then some thing happens to make you feel like the total ass in the situation? Really? Because that happens to me all the time. Case in point, my new house has a refrigerator in a peculiar place, and there is a section of the kitchen that actually has had cabinets and a countertop put in the place where the fridge should go.
See in this picture how you can tell a fridge should go there. Well, it was not and the hubs wanted to move it into that spot. Readers, I would consider myself someone who is great with social change, political change, almost deem myself an advocate of change. However, I am a little baby about physical change. Cut off all your hair, it Will take me a while to get used to you, move to a new place and I will examine your space like a detective, and so I was not prepared for big house change after moving in only 2 weeks ago.
Then the hubs moved the fridge into the space. Did I commend him for being able to do that himself or not scratching my floors? No, I proceeded to snap off at the mouth like a petulant child. I could not handle the change.
Readers, do you know what that jerk of a hubs did next? He made and designed for me this space in its place. What an asshole. Could this really have turned out any better? It looks like someone so culinary-ally proficient works in this space, my camera can simply not express how much I adore this new space. He even made a super efficient pantry out of half our laundry room. After all my griping, he still made me this beautiful space. What a jerk.

What happened on MJC Day 2010

So, I dropped the heavy mom blog post on you (thanks for the calls and texts on MJC Day) and now I am going to tell you what I did for MJC Day 2010. I have a small, but significant stream/creek in my backyard. I decided that since I could not make it to the beach, that I would use my own water source, in my own backyard. I grabbed some of my mom’s ashes which have just been all over this world since she passed. The pink haired professor sent some of Mary Jane to Igwazu Falls in Buenos Aires. My little China Girl was kind enough to take her to the Three Gorges Dam for a splash in her pond. My hands shook something violently when I was attempting to transfer her from her bigger bottle into my brass flower mom holder. For a few minutes I was certain that I was not yet ready, but in attempts to laugh it off, I literally laughed and she sorta floated on the air in the box I keep her bottle in. I think that is a nice way of saying I spilled her a little!
I got her packed up, pulled out the last photo her sister had taken of her, and headed for my creek, with no socks on. I found a spot, popped a squat and spent about an hour talking to her. Telling her I missed her, but I am not mad at her. Telling her about our family and how I wish she could see the house, & how she would love our guest room so much that I am actually decorating it as if it was for her (sorry all the live people that will be staying in it). I told her thank you for the last month when I really felt like she was watching over me and sending me some magical support. I told her I hoped she was proud of me and I apologized for all the things I did when she was alive. Readers, I just said everything you wish you could say to someone that only comes out when you truly cannot do so any more. I jumped because a squirrel decided I was in his spot and ran less than a foot above my head, then I laughed. A belly pain inducing laugh that sequenced so perfectly into our MJC Day right of passage. I removed my sneakers, and plunged my bare feet into the (very) cold water, and then I released my mom into my creek. Some of her ran quickly down stream and some of her bottomed out in the creek bed. I took my obligatory water-feet pictures, pulled myself up onto the bank again, where for a little while I just breathed and watched. My mom was finally home with me.

MJC Day

My mom died on March 6, 2007, a few months shy of her 50th birthday, and she had a thing about numbers so the 3/6 thing sometimes makes me smile just as much as it doesn't. This Saturday it will have been 3 years since I lost her. My sister and I get as close as we can to some body of water on that day and deem it MJC Day. The first year after her passing, I was in San Destin, and da sis was in Galvaston, both on opposite sides of the Gulf, but we took mom to the water. Last year we drove 14 hours (each way) to meet in the middle, along the gulf coast of Alabama, so that we could get her into the water again, we stayed up most of the night together and then we drove back to our respected homes. This year, da sis is headed back to Galveston, and I have a new idea. Readers, I will let you know how it goes.

I know this is a long post, and that it is not too much about my NYR, but there is mention of a Greek cookbook and I will probably be posting about comfort food really soon! It's just that I don't want to forget her, and there are so many people I love now that never got to meet her, and I think this helps.

Happy Weekend everyone, & maybe you can hug or call your moms just for me.

Written 3/17/07

So, I returned to the real world after 7 days in New Hampshire for my mom's funeral service, I can’t tell you which one felt like the “other world,” being there or returning home. I am slowly getting over the shock of what’s happened, though not completely. Attempting to avoid the little things, songs that are not of super-fast tempo, movies that do not have video games made after them, and in general people named Mary. The first thing to get over: How do I not talk on the phone to her everyday?

Tess told me she heard the Hawaiian version of “Somewhere over the Rainbow”, which is what we wanted to play at her funeral service (but alas were not able to) at a Sonic when she returned home and had to send her server away. You know how I like lists, so I think I’ll just bullet out the rest of these:

• Tuesday, in the service, I sat like an angry bear, cutting eyes at the poor guy doing the service, who did not know my mom or our family, and so his words fell on deaf ears for me. If he had known her, he would have said something brash, and off the cuff just to put everyone off-tilt, yet in remembrance of my mom. Sarcasm would have been openly allowed and anecdotes about Waffle House, bed urination, and pen-top tracheotomies would have been as kind as the words of Mother Teresa. He would not have mentioned her depression and might have received more than just my furrowed brow at the mention of such. If he had known her, he might have gone outside the box and quoted Kahlil Gibran, Margaret Mead, Silver Ravenclaw, Her father, Lewis Grizzard, or even herself. He would have played music that might make you blush in church, or at least have made you cry. If he really knew her, we would have had a Roast instead of a funeral service, where we would have poked fun at her imperfections but only because they were also our own, or because we were not aggressive or strong enough to have those traits ourselves. If it was done right, we would have laughed. At least once, so that we could remember what it felt like to laugh with her, her unabashed cackle, her watered eyes, and have that one more time before the church doors opened, never to be had again.
• The service was not as hard as going to her apartment the next day. I had never been to that apartment before, I had not seen her in that environment, not seen her sit in her recliner or use her big orange snow shovel to clear off her 4 little steps. Her bed was inviting and full of pillows and smells and blankets and impressions. She had coconut milk in her refrigerator for making Doc Chey’s Chicken Coconut Soup. She had pink Dove soap, which I took and 20 nail clippers, which I did not. Tess grabbed her stethoscope, and I her grandmother’s blanket with an authority over the other where no words of compromise where going to tread for these items. I found glass miniature eggs, Indian beads, shells of turquoise and an old deck of cards in a small wooden box, and in true tribute, I hid the eggs throughout my aunt’s house and in my friend’s belongings, for them to randomly find and while they may not know they were her’s, maybe they will think that someone is thinking of them. I took her Greek cookbook, which just this morning I found a note from her mom and gram about Greek recipes, it is one of the few items that I hold as elusive “mom” items, in which I don’t know whether to cook from it, display it, or hide it under my pillow to feel it’s comfort. And with that, we both took a pillow. A token from the place were we learned, shared, cried, and loved. A pillow so big that I can not rest my head upon it, but have to hold it like a loved one, nestled like another person in my bed. The last thing we took was a look at the brook that ran in her back yard, bigger than I had imagined when she would tell me about it’s quaintness and more rapid that the “babble” she described it as. People admire things, but my mom let the water into her character, her love of the ocean or personification of a river was as much a part of her as her wavy hair or muddy eyes. It was only fitting that she herself was sent out that next day into the ocean.
• By Thursday my mom was contraband. In N.H. it is illegal to dispose of remains in the ocean without a permit, and in the 3 days that Tess had been there with me, we did not obtain one. So, we went renegade. We cautiously opened her remains and poured about 5 pounds of her into a Ziploc baggie and headed for the ocean off the small New Hampshire coastline. On Thursday, it was 27 degrees outside, and so the greatest gift Tess and I could give our mom was kicking off our shoes, hiking up our pants and wading up to our knees in the cold water. I pilfered my mom out of my coat, took a view glances around and then undid that green and blue seal. The waves and the wind took her away in only a few moments, and it was the most beautiful thing I have ever experienced with my sister. Our feet were cold but we did not feel it, our hearts were heavy, but they did not ache, and our smiles were true as we thought of our mom laughing her laugh at us, but with pride for her girls.

New snack food worth craving

I really like Wheat Thins. Even if they do possess the word wheat in them, I think it is the tasty, not goo for you kind. When looking for a cracker for the garlic hummus spread from the pink Haired Professor, I stumbled upon these while I was too hungry to be shopping alone. You know when you are alone and hungry and food shopping it is a bad combination, it is for me at least. I buy stuff I would have never bought before. This happened this last weekend and I lucked out. I found these...

Artisan Vermont White Cheddar Wheat Thins. Are they worth $3.45 for like 10oz, I don't know, but I can not stop thinking about them and want them all the time! I am wondering if I should brave the grocery store in the Georgia White Curse (aka - snow flurries) in order to get myself another box. Don't they even just look like you should ask the person next to you for some Grey Pupon mustard, or did I just give away my class level on that one?

E-Poo's Birthday!

I have been living with the assumption that this month has been a sort of calendar phenomenon in which all my luck that may have escaped me in the past was all pocketed and is unfolding Right Now. Which means that Sunday (today, as I write this) is my last day of this good luck and then it will hopefully move onto a new person (you guys should start calling “dibs”). A really nice way to come to the close of this fortunate month was having a potluck/ late E-Poo’s Bday dinner/ meeting Megadeath’s Benny! One of the things I would consider myself most fortuitous in life is that I have amazing friends, and so this night really felt like an extension/continuation of my lucky month!
And readers, I finally cooked again. Saturday morning I considered making a Cheese/Meat/ Bean hearty dip. I had most of the ingredients and have never used the Crockpot that I got for my wedding almost 11 years ago. This seemed like a plan, until right in the middle of the grocery, I freaked out a little. I recalled that E-Poo already works at a Mexican restaurant and probably eats that everyday, also with the arrival of Benny I did not want to make any thing related to a food style that I was not familiar with. Freak out in Publix looked like this. I am pushing the cart back and forth the same aisle several times, talking (loudly) to myself, hovering around the rotating free recipes kiosk trying to find a better solution and I came up with… sliders? Exactly, it was a strange choice to move to. I attempted to make Meatball Marinara Sliders, and I ended up with something only slightly off. I bought a bag of “dinner-sized” meatballs in a bag, a jar of garlic & onion sauce, a block of mozzarella cheese, and water rolls. Then I paid no attention to the recipe and just built them! I cut up and toasted the rolls, heated the meatballs in the oven, sliced up odd shapes of cheese and when the hot roll tops came out, I laid the pieces on them to melt. I added the marainara sauce at the bottom of the rolls and then again on top of the meat balls. Since the rolls were much bigger than slider rolls (and the meatballs were small), I placed 3 meats balls on each roll. I think they came out cute, for whatever that is worth. What do you think? Along with my sliders, last night we had a delicious mac n’ cheese with a bit of a kick to it. A fruit salad that we actually devoured, and I believe Teece had 3 blueberries left in the bowl by the time we were done and onto MadGab (Go girls for winning!). Megadeath made tomato and fresh mozzarella covered in sundried tomato and basil oil. I think there was a salad, but I pay no attention to such things. It was a nice spread so to say. I also made a cake for E-Poo’s Bday, a German Chocolate cake with pecan and coconut icing. I got a recipe from Epicurious.com for an Inside-Out German Chocolate Cake. Again, I got overwhelmed and modified it by making the cake part and buying the icing (which is brown, I did not know that, I thought it would be white). Readers, I was so proud I actually had all the ingredients to make a cake already in my house, and I have run out of my first condiment/spice. I used all my vanilla extract. I just think that is exciting. Don’t you? With my luck, I wonder if I go to the grocery today, if I would not find that it was on sale!
Sending all my luck to you,
Katherine

Past Updates of Note

Readers,
Two really fun things (with food) that I did while I was away (from blogging) were Dance Marathon & Mardi Gras King(ing) 2010 for Family Counseling Services. Here's a bit more about them!

Want to know a great place to get lots of different food from your favorite vendors, and all for FREE?! UGA’s Dance Marathon (DM), that’s where. UgaMiracle is a student-run campus philanthropy benefitting Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta. CHOA is where my kid had 4 of his 5 surgeries due to being born with gastrochisis. don't worry, he's fine and probably like many CHOA kids has learned to manipulate it to his full advantage. This year marked the 15th anniversary at the University of Georgia, we have done the last 7. This organization gives students the opportunity to make a difference in the lives of Miracle kids through personal interactions and fundraising. Throughout the year, they hold special events and fundraisers that raise awareness about our cause. Our efforts culminate in a 24-hour Dance Marathon—one of UGA’s biggest traditions & they raise so much money For The Kids.

On the 24 hour menu there was Casa Mia, Willy's, Chick-fil-A, Jimmy John's, and desserts and candies throughout the event. Readers, there was even Waffle House for breakfast!
This was our 7th year doing DM, and the kid’s first year staying up all 24 hours of it! We are really proud to be involved with this organization, and over the years it has defiantly changed, but there are still some DM-ers who are parts of our lives intrinsically, probably forever. The kid still trashes talks with them on Facebook even!
Of course, our favorite event of the year was interrupted by it being on the same weekend as we got the house, and move-in weekend. For me, there was lots of going back and forth between the two locations and about 3 hours of sleep, so Readers, honestly I don’t know what I ate and what I did not eat. I did have a Monster energy drink, further providing evidence of my inability to handle any sort of mind/body enhancing substance.

The second event was the Friday it snowed here in GA, 2/12/10, and my UGA dad was nominated for Mardi Gras King of Athens, in a fundraiser for Family Counseling Services. The event was Cajun/Creole food, and Readers I ate all of it, brown paste something, catfish, crazy rice, and more. When I first looked at the table I thought there goes my free meal, because I was not even going to try it! Luckily I did and I enjoyed it all, especially the brown paste stuff, I will find out what it was. This event was also a costume party, my favorite thing!! Omnipotently, UGAdad knew he was going to win and wore the most outlandish king costume with GIANT Mardi Gras beads. I was a tooth fairy (with wings), and the Pink Haired Professor was a tooth! The snow impacted the event unfortunately for the organization. I think next year will be an even bigger success for them & I will karmic-ly do whatever I can to help, because as one of not too many attendees, Readers I got loot! There were door prizes for costumes and over all, I racked up gift cards for $50 of tanning, $25 to AllGood’s (a bar, & that was spent that night on Jager bombs!), $15 to Five Points Deli, and free bowling with shoes. Our table also racked up incredible prizes from Classic City Roller Girl Derby Tickets, bags, t-shirts, and the pink Haired Prof won the silent auction for a tattoo! See what I mean about owing them back Big Time!

Not My Giveaway

Readers, I have never asked you for anything before, except for loyalty, attentiveness and forgiveness. Wow, I am just as needy as the hubs says I am. Then, starting over, Readers, I want something else. Do you recall when guest blogger from Down & Out Chic http://downandoutchic.blogspot.com/ gave up all the inside scoop about an upcoming free giveaway about an apron? Well that time has come, and that opportunity for you to win that apron for me is now!
Readers, did you catch that last part that I snuck in so cleverly? I want that apron, the choices are insanely adorable and while it would take me so time to actually wipe my dirty cooking hands upon it, I would eventually, I am just sure of it. Megadeath, it will not be like the 30 skirts I have that I say I will wear, and then not, but won’t give away because I think they are all so pretty, and I am sure one day that I will wear them, like when I am all grown up! I still need an apron, my Bday came and went without one because all my clever friends thought that all my other clever friends were going to get me one, and I ended up without one.
So Readers, if you would like the opportunity to win myself, or yourself (and then invite me over to drool over it) one of these super sassy aprons, please connect to this site http://downandoutchic.blogspot.com/2010/02/giveaway-apron-by-sonshine-designs.html
and follow the instructions.
Good Luck!