Just a tease...

Readers,
I thought before I played catch up I would give you a little smile first. Da kid challenges me all the time, and for some particular reason I play right into it. so, when we decided to get a coconut to see which if us could actually open it. I was game on. We went to our grocery store and quickly found one. Readers, that's okay, right? It should be just fine to be able to pick up a coconut in GA in any season, right?
Well, needless to say, da kid and I could not even get a scraggly hair from the thing. I swung down a machete... or really the biggest knife I had, on this thing, and it was like a slow series of stills from a cartoon. The knife actually quivered in my hand. A scattering of coconut dust/dirt was below the perfectly intact brown ball.
We figured that if we could not make a scratch, we could have faith that da hubs would either successfully crack it open, or really hurt himself in the process. Either way we win!
After a few swipes, da hubs did not disappoint and he took it out to his tool castle!


Here is said coconut, let's call him Glenn. I bet this scene looked like an S&M torture chamber.

Glenn got sawed first, with what resembles a electric knife used for carving a turkey. That merely twisted some of the long hairs, like if you ever tried to curl your long, straight hair with a curled bristled brush because you knew that would give you those cool spiral curls of 1989, but instead just had to be cut out of your hair. Just like that. so, next the hubs decided to screw holes into Glenn.

Readers, drilling the holes was scary. Glenn is not that large and da hubs was having to hold him with one hand, while at times the screwdriver would not be tough enough and veer off its course, close to the hubs hand. I just kept telling myself, "He has insurance and this feat is in the name of science." After the first hole penetrated, da kid and I thought that some milk would come out of Glenn. It did not, but we figured maybe we had one of those special, non-milk coconuts. Once he got three holes in Glenn, da hubs started this caveman-esque endeavor of using something that looks like an enlarged flathead screwdriver and hit the butt of it with a hammer. I was fascinated that such techniques even reside in someone's head.

Oh boy, now we are getting somewhere Glenn! First, Glenn had an outer coating. Look above. I had no idea readers, did you?

Readers, we are finally getting to slice out some chunks! So exciting! Here's it comes....

WTF!? Yes readers, Glenn was rotten! How can that even happen? Whah Whah...

So, that's my smile to you before we play catch-up.

Classic City Farmer's Market

Readers, I was blown away by veggies! Let me repeat, I was blown away by veggies! I have finally ventured out to my neighborhood outdoor farmer's market this Saturday, and I thought it was surprisingly fun. I was taken aback by the elaborate displays that the vendors had of their edible wares. Just take a peek at some of these pictures:

We ran into some friends, which is fun to do at a thing like this, and I bought stuff. I did not need anything but I felt it would not be right if I walked away empty handed. I decided on eggs. The family selling them were adorable, I even ended up taking a photo of them instead of my eggs, but to clue you in... one of my eggs is green, I think it means it's lucky!!!

Now, da kid, who's main goal in life seems to be to top me at every function, of course outdid himself and decided he too wanted to buy something. He decided on a container of mixed peppers. I think he may have even tried to haggle over the price, and was met with smiles & 50cent discount for audacity (I was keeping the parental distance of a mum w/ a 10yo).

Having been uplifted from the visit, I decided to pull out the Big Red Bible and try something spicy. I ended up making something similar to Arizo con Pollo, I added in the red peppers and left out the saffron (as I had no frickin' clue what that was outside of a color & Donnovan song). What was the outcome?

The boys dug it. A LOT actually. It was too spicy for me, so I also threw in some peas, since I'm not eating those either and the fellas had a hearty, veggie-filled meal.

PS - I also cut up an entire onion, by my self!!

ROAD TRIP

Readers, the time is upon me & I am in need of your guidance and help! My fam is planning not only our first EVER family vacation, but it also happens to be a road trip. We are heading out of the Classic City heading to D.C. (for some historical site seeing & museums) to Boston (for the same-ish) to NH (for my sweet, smart-assed {smart being the operative word} cousin's graduation), and then back down.We're talking a total of around 50 hours of car time.

Now I love road trips, but I am one of the people who can read, eat, sleep, sing off key, and more in the car. Plus I love finding little mom & pop places to eat. And so now you see my conundrum, how do you pack a small car for a road trip while not dinning out?

I need suggestions for car-packed food! I head out in less than 2 weeks. I need some pre-planning.

No cheating with your sister

Or in other words, da sis & Belly Katherine came for a week long visit and I did not buy food out the entire time. This is a small feat within itself because we are both social eaters. Da sis helped me out a bit by treating us gUrls to Doc Chey's for lunch one afternoon.

Besides for these wonderful fortune cookies we are eating with chop sticks, I had Coconut chicken soup, Chicken Lo Mien (with no veggies, so think just noodles, chicken & sauce), and Thai tea. Belly Katherine had a big mound of white rice.

Da sis also got us Chick-Fil-A biscuits one morning. Belly Katherine even shared a hash brown with me!

Outside of that, we cooked for ourselves. We brought lunches with us when we went to the pool. We had potlucks for my peeps to meet da sis. We ate our weight in bagels. Da kids ate more than their weight in Popsicles.

One day Belly Katherine helped me make some snacks & try on my new apron! once again too beautiful for me to wipe my hands on, I was caught more than once, sticking my hands underneath the apron & simply wiping my hands on my shorts.

Readers, here is what you are really wondering... did I make my mom's secret spaghetti recipe? Did da sis actually hand it over to me!

YES!!! Readers, do I plan to share it with you?! Hell no.

If I had to wait this long, I am making someone else pay too! However, I do plan on trying to make it again soon and making some possibly drastic changes, and that I will share.

It was a wonderful trip & I could not have been more surprised how, with the simplicity of staying home (my home or the Majong Maiden's {I don't think you are a maiden anymore when you are married}), cooking with loved ones, that this may haven been the best trip we've had together. I think I may have this NYR to thank too, weird right?

Proud Mom

I am a fan of a ton of blogs, but my loyalty is really to less than 10, and I "know" all those people except one. The Hipster Mom is just wonderful & makes me happy to be a sappy, helicopter mom while still retaining my own self interests and identity. However, I wanted to write a little something about my "face." Readers, there is a mom on the sidelines of soccer games, viciously screaming and the name they say is "Face," that mom would be me. It is indeed a weird nickname, it was from the first day I got to see Seth, which was when he was 3 days old having been born with gastroschisis. I was just amazed by his little face, it stuck from that day on. Of course the hubs hates it, but has adjusted. As well there are times when I mistakenly call da sis (who is pumpkin head) by that name, and da kid does not like it (it is just because when your kids are around and you call out every name but their's, maybe even the dog's before you get to the correct one). I think my kid is amazing because he loves great music, and is even beginning to show his first signs of rebellion through music (he is kinda all about some rap to the hub's dismay). He is funny and wickedly sarcastic. He has stunning blue eyes and knows how to use them to his advantage, once in public he wanted something to which I denied him. His response, "don't make me pull out the magic weapon" and moved his hair from in front of his eyes! Like his dad, he without realizing it will play in his mom's hair when we watch movies (and I fall asleep). On most days, he is my best friend. Unfortunately, & probably because of my age, we also fight like friends. He looks totally like the hubs, but people don't see it because he and I have the same mannerisms and spazzy personalities.He & I can finish each other sentences, and can answers questions before we ask them.

Readers, on Tuesday my little Face graduated from elementary school. It was intense enough when the graduation speaker said "I was scared entering my pre-K classroom, but there I would meet the three people that would become my life long friends and graduate with me today, enter my kid's name & his 2 of his best friends." I started to lose it a little bit and had to feign yawning when my eyes misted up. For hell's sake it is a 5th grade graduation, who gets emotional about that?

Then my shaggy haired kid crosses the stage, being first up I had not even been of sane mind enough to record it. I got one faint, dark picture. Readers, after they called his name, then proceeded a laundry list of awards and medals he was awarded, everything from second place for OM for his school, Duke University TIP/MAP, Certificate for academic excellence, and Continental Math. Readers, I can tell you now what our president's signature looks like bc he was awarded the Presidential Award for Excellence! What ended up really blowing our minds is that this kid made honor roll. My kid has never gotten an A(E) in his life on a report card. I could barely hold it all in.

Readers, I could not stop talking with my hands, or gushing. I was real intense, and felt my crazy mom flag fly.

Later that afternoon, we have a graduation cook out for his friends and our families. He gets his grad gift from us.

So, Readers, what I officially have on my hands now is a middle schooler, who just got a cell phone. What comes next?

I makes some breakfastes...

I am not too sure why when I am so excited about something I do that confounded illogical grammar misuse, but I likes it!

Now that the crash of 2010 is over, Readers I am not on computer #5, I can get back to some blogging!

For Mother's Day, I made TMom a brunch that included tomato pie (which they had never had) and Picky Palate's "Egg Mcmuffins."

Readers, I did something of the culinary world that I have never ever done before! I cooked two things in the stove at the same time!!!

I also discovered that my oven has a light in it! Does your over have a light? Do all ovens have lights? Will I one day have to replace that light, or more likely the hubs will have to replace that light? These are questions I am excited to answer if you could imagine that!

I will say that these egg Mcmuffin things were pretty good, even if I was suppose to have a "Texas-sized" muffin pan, which I do not. So my compromise was to punch the ever living crap out of the sourdough english muffins until they began to mold themselves around the muffin slot (let's be honest, take it from the Saturday Night Live ladies of NPRs Delicious Dish {Schweddy Balls}, cooking sounds dirty so often that it amuses me daily. I am like a 5 year old in the kitchen.). So there were a few occasions where the weight of the egg would not keep the muffin in place (I am literally unable to type this up now without blushed-cheeked laughter), then I placed in a bacon piece and instead of making small strips, I make it into a circle like building a fort so the egg would not spill out, then covered with cheddar cheese and cooked (should I be using another word here, like baked or broiled or heated?) for 15 minutes. They were pretty good. I am pretty much sold on any breakfast food that has bread in it!

What's your favorite breakfast food? Wanna send me a recipe and see how awkwardly I can make it? I will bribe you with blog shout-outs!

Good Woman & Megadeath's Birthday

Readers, I asked you how many birthday parties you had been too, I have knocked a couple out in our time apart.

The Good Woman turned what I am sure is some age that is too young for me to hang out with as I have jumped into that new double digit realm, but all the same we went for some bowling and Athens action. Kingpins Bowling & Brew offers an interesting experience of throwback proportions. Having won a special night of bowling, we got to reserve one lane for one hours, two shoe rentals and one appetizer, which I did not get a picture of because we ate them too quickly (and awkwardly, I love sliders as much as the next person but they are particular in size, aren't they?). She did wear the crown however!

We also had ice cream from Ben & Jerry's, which just to prove what a Good Woman she is, she bought, so I would not go into the reserve AMEX gift card.

For Megadeath's Bday, she had a dinner party and I made cookies, and by "I made cookies," I mean, TMom showed me how to make chocolate drop cookies and I took pictures with my phone for the blog (but now I know!).

There was even a pinata that was filled with really good, like the stuff you round back to THAT house on Halloween when they are dishing out the good stuff, candy!

I love birthdays, and this year they have been really special because I am so used to simply taking someone out to eat for their present that it has been challenging to create something different. Honestly readers, it is hard to buy presents I am finding. I think there is an intimacy in giving a good gift that comes from really knowing someone. Or getting over yourself enough to give someone something they want rather than what you want, or want them to have.

Readers, what's your staple for gift buying?