The Worst Vacation Ever

Well it's been a bit since my last update, but with good reason. :)  Last Wednesday I took the kids downtown to see Daddy's office, then to The Children's Museum for a fun day.  That was the first time they'd been to Daddy's office (me too) so we got to meet his boss for the very first time.  I was actually pretty nervous because Brian's former boss wasn't very pro-family, or maybe he was and just didn't really get what that meant, I dunno.  But, new boss approached me with a huge grin, long mad-scientist gray hair and trendy black specks and said, in a nutshell, "We love Brian.  Your kids are absolutely adorable.  I really hope I get to watch them grow-up.  You're welcome here anytime - we LOVE when family visits." Job security/affirmation and pro-family all in one 3 minute conversation.

That same night Brian came home from work and announced he'd been given 2 days paid vacation (that don't count against his vacation bank) as reward for working so hard! Woot! We made some hasty plans to dig in the garden/yard for Thursday and Friday, travel to a new state park on Saturday, and do absolutely nothing on Sunday.  Then, just as quick as we made all those plans, they evaporated into a pile of septic sewage.

1 day after our anniversary our septic tank began acting-up again.  Brian pumped it with his own engineered system and got us working again.  Since then, though, it's been needing to get pumped every other day because it was just filling and filling and filling with rainwater or not emptying into the dossage tank.  After picking up our home's file at the health department environmental division, we learned that our home's leach field (where all the stuff drains safely into the clay soil) is actually in our front yard, not in the backyard as we'd previously been told.  In fact, in 1995 the homeowner had the health department out and basically learned that the leach field (backyard) was non-functioning and created HUGE drainage problems (um yes, we know).

They fixed the tank by installing the dossage tank system and the new leach field in the front yard, but also put a splitter valve in, which gave the homeowner the option of routing the septic tank to the dossage tank and new leach system, or from the septic straight to the old, non-functioning leach field.  I have no idea why this was a good idea, but apparently the homeowner's before us liked this "perk" quite a lot, and before the home was foreclosed on set the splitter valve to open to the abandoned, non-functioning leach field.  Which also is RIGHT under our garden.  *sighs*

Days of digging in the yard finally found us locating an old tobacco can hiding the splitter valve, and with the sturdy pliers and a turn to "close" our septic nightmares were over.  Water began rushing to the dossage tank as it should.  Now we're just left with the uncertainty of the soil in our garden, but that's really a whole other story.  For now, suffice to say we're planting some spring crops in our front yard to get us growing while we figure it out.

My husband, on his vacation in all of this, actually climbed down into the septic tank for 40 minutes to flush out the dossage tank pipe, which we thought must be clogged (and that being why water wasn't flowing into it).  He literally waded in sh*t for his family. That's one dedicated man. :)

So, I'm sure you really needed all that septic tank talk on a blog that also talks food.  You're welcome. :)  Moving on to less icky matters, I've photographed a few dinners I'd like to talk about, then also have the new weekly menu to post with a recipe that will be coming later in the week.  Here we go!!

This is some General Tso's chicken I made as a special "date night" meal for Brian and I.  (Basically I feed the kids, we put them to sleep, then we're supposed to sit and sip a cocktail while chatting like adults, but usually wind up plowing the food into our mouths as quickly as possible before falling asleep.) :) I used this recipe as my template and only varied it slightly.  I used dried chile flakes in place of the more expensive dried whole pepper.  I added more green onions, too, and a touch more soy sauce.  We were very happy with it, though this version was pretty spicy, I'll warn you. :)

Photo courtesy of A Small Snippet blog, where I found this delightful summer dinner recipe.  I'm always on the lookout for more pallet-pleasing vegetarian options, and this one was a real pleasure.  It was super simple to put together (less than 15 minutes), and then it just sits in the fridge getting cold and yummy until you're ready for it.  It's cool temperature makes it perfect for hot days, and the spicy/sweet thai flavor is spot-on.  I did pretty much exactly as the blogger says and was thrilled with the results.  This will get made again!

This is a rollover meal I made after our St. Patrick's Day corned beef and cabbage.  This was a nice summery spin on the St. Patrick's Day classic, and very appropriate to the weather we were having that day.  Recipe below!

Rollover Corned Beef and Cabbage Dinner Salad
Yield: 4 to 6 servings

Salad:
1/2 C leftover glazed corned beef, diced
1/4 C leftover boiled potatoes, diced
1/4 C leftover boiled cabbage, sliced
1/4 C flat-leaf italian parsley, chopped
1/4 C green onions, diced
homemade rye bread croutons
1 handful of shredded swiss cheese
homemade spiced honey mustard dressing
1 head romaine lettuce, washed and chopped

Croutons:
2 pieces rye bread
1/4 C butter
2 T olive oil
sea salt and pepper

Spiced Honey Mustard:
2 T yellow mustard
1/3 C apple cider vinegar
1 1/2 t ground cloves
about 1/2 to 3/4 C brown sugar (to your taste, really)
sea salt and pepper
1/4 to 1/2 C olive oil

Croutons: Dice the bread into pieces.  Combine the melted butter with the olive oil and toss the bread in it.  Sprinkle with sea salt and pepper and bake in a 300 degree oven for a good 30 minutes or so, until they are very hard.  (Note: I actually didn't have any rye bread on hand when I made this salad.  I used wheat bread and ground some caraway seeds to sprinkle over the pieces before they baked.)

Honey Mustard: Combine the mustard, vinegar, cloves, brown sugar, salt, and pepper with a whisk.  Then, while whisking vigorously, drizzle in olive oil in a thin steady stream to reach your desire consistency.  I left mine on the thin side, so erred closer to 1/4 C.

Salad: Chop everything and combine in a serving bowl.  Add the croutons and dressing and toss.  This salad may be served hot or cold.  For mine I heated the corned beef, cabbage, and potatoes, then left everything else cold.


Lastly, here's what's for dinner this week!  I made the corn and tomato pie last night, a recipe which can be found here.  Brian really liked it as is, I will, however, be tweaking this before I make it again.  My impression was that it should have been cheesier and creamier, and my tomatoes did that mealy "I've been baked and I'm not happy about it) texture thing I just cannot stand.  Of course, it's early for tomatoes yet, so it could have just been the tomatoes and not the recipe, so I'm definitely going to give this another stab because the idea of it is absolutely divine!

The buffalo chicken enchiladas are coming tonight and I am super excited about it, so look for that recipe later this week.  There's a couple other things that I hope turn out delicious so I can share them, too.  This week is largely a vegetarian week because we're just heading into that season.  Winter I feel like a hungry bear trying to fatten myself for survival, spring and summer I feel rather like eating light, fresh, and simple things that taste more like the season around me, which to me means vegetables everywhere!

Chloe and I are also going to make homemade oreos today, which also has me excited. :)  So yeah.  That's it.  A bit of catch-up and now we're back on track.  For now, I need to get crackin', so TTFN (ta ta for now - Tigger says it). :)

What's in a Ring?

A month or so ago I looked down at my wedding ring and noticed my aquamarine center stone was cracked.  Aquamarines are still fairly hard on mohr's hardness scale (oh geology how I love that I still know you, sort of). Albeit they're not as hard as a diamond, but I'm still pretty surprised I managed to crack it clean through.  I do a lot with my hands and I'm not always the most graceful with them (carpal tunnel = fumble-mumble-mornings), but I sure must have whacked it pretty good to crack it.

I was upset, I mentioned it to Brian, and it was one of those, "oh well someday we might replace it and make that one into a necklace or something...."  Fine.  I was happy with that arrangement because it let me reuse the original stone, which is pretty precious to me even if the price-tag wasn't the most elaborate.  It was the stone in the little promise ring Brian got me on our first Valentine's Day together (a story I tell in elaborate, gushing detail in this previous post).

When he asked me to marry him (in a bank parking lot - oh the romance!) I handed him that little ring over and said I'd like it incorporated into my wedding ring.  Add in a pair of diamond earrings left me by my late grandmother and you've got one swanky and meaningful wedding ring that I cried over when he (very romantically) re-proposed to me with it a few weeks before our ceremony.

Here is what it looked like........

And now it's gone......

I bathed the kids last night and bumped my hand on the side of the tub.  I reached down and checked my ring, as I habitually do ever since the stone cracked, and it was intact.  Both kids were fussy and having a hard time getting to sleep (time change drama), so we took a drive.  After getting them both settled and sitting down with Brian to catch-up on a hulu TV show, I grabbed a blanket and noticed my ring caught on the crocheted afghan.  I looked down and gasped.  My aquamarine was gone, an empty setting left.

I have scoured the house, yard, car, and tub for it and didn't find it.  My fear is that it was cracked and fell out in pieces somewhere.  I think it's gone for good and I'm just heart sick over it.  No it wasn't the perfect clarity or cut, it was a pretty cheap stone in reality.  But it was so much more than all of that and I treasured it.  It matched the color of Brian's eyes perfectly, and I liked it's calm-sea-like surface rather than the brilliant shine of a more expensive stone.  I looked at it and every time felt peace, happiness, love, and a sense of deep well-being.

Aquamarine is my favorite color.  Brian purchased this stone for me before he knew it was my favorite color, so points to him for instinctively knowing.  This color is on the walls in my house, in the clothes I choose to wear, the artwork I gravitate to.  It's a perfect balance between blue and green, two colors they say represent love and naivete (or I prefer to say trust).  It's the birthstone for the month of March, this month, our wedding month.  It's perfect in so many ways for us and I miss it terribly.

I know it's just a stone.  I know some day some how I will replace it and will wear my ring again, but it won't be the same.  Change is often good, but change is also hard.  And I will miss the solid link I had to the past that also represented so clearly our future.

Chimichurri Pesto Pot Roast = Spring is in the Air

It's my wedding anniversary today! :) Yay! I have MOPS this morning, then a hectic afternoon getting the kids/house/food ready for Brian's mom to come babysit for us so we can go out, but man it's gonna be great.  And I have no idea what we're doing, which is even more awesome.  I do know my husband got up earlier than normal and somehow revved his motorcycle to leave for work at 6am without me hearing it.  His early work departure means he has secret plans to do in the afternoon (squee!) and my lack of waking means I must have been really zonked.  :)

If you recall, last week I got an awesome opportunity to do a blog giveaway.  This was my first one and it couldn't have been a more appropriate giveaway: Disney's Three Fairytales Live show.  In exchange for blogging about it and doing the giveaway, I also got 4 free tickets!  So, last Saturday we hauled a very excited Princess Chloe (dressed in her Princess Aurora dress) down to Bloomington for a fun family day that we otherwise couldn't have afforded.

sitting like a little Princess. :) 

It was AH-mazing! :) This was just the mommy-daughter time I've been craving.  She sat on my lap the whole time, we sang along to each song together, and I got to feel and see her react to each new surprise.  It's been said that a parent seeing their child smile is the happiness trigger equivalent of winning the lottery.  Yes.  Yes it is.  That is exactly how I felt when Cinderella's raggedy and torn dress magically transformed to her pretty blue ball gown and Chloe screamed, "It's magic!!!" while excitedly flapping her arms with wonder and delight.  It was better than winning millions.  It was pure bottled all-natural joy, and I helped bring it forth.  Awesome.

After the show we ate at one of my favorite restaurants of all-time, FARMBloomington.  I friggin' love this place.  I would move to Bloomington just to be near it.  It is, however, more suited for a date at around 5pm on a Saturday night than a hungry/tired family's lunch/dinner. The staff didn't seem to mind one bit despite the soon-to-be dinner rush, a fact that earned our waiter a hefty tip from a very appreciative me. The kids did remarkably well and chowed down on the garlic fries (way way better than what you think of when you hear "garlic fries") and the Big Red pizza (also way way better than what you would think - they're both somehow special).  Brian and I split a chili-rubbed hangar steak that came with fresh lime wedges to give it just the right pop and this amazing corn succotash.

Alas, though, I looked across the table at Brian during our meal and said, quite seriously, "Happy Anniversary!" :)  He wanted to take me to Rick's Cafe Boatyard here in Indianapolis on our actual anniversary, but the number-cruncher in me has requested nothing expensive after our well-worthwhile FARMBloomington splurge.  So, who knows what's in store tonight!  All I know is I'm excited!

Of course, I would be even more excited if I had the perfect pair of jeans to wear tonight, but alas - it was not to be.  Gap has already emailed me back a response that was very nice and very professional. (I have posted the response on the original post).  I'm impressed by the level of sincerity and the manner in which they hope to address my concerns.  So, color me happy about it and again, I guess it pays to speak-up.  In the meantime, though, I'll still have to figure out another perfect "ready-for-anything casual yet still sexy" outfit for tonight.  Harumph.

On the plus side in all of the jeans mess is the fact that I am down another size, shedding yet more stuff from my pretty bare closet and loving every minute of it.  I am now 1 size away from where I was before kids and that feels really good.  The best part was that they just slid-on, no squirming or sucking or anything - a perfect fit. :)  Our scale broke, so I can't quite keep track of my 30 pounds by my 30th birthday goal (which comes in May), but I know I must be close being just 1 size away from goal.  I still am "squishier" than I was before having two kids inhabit my abdominal area, so I'm working on that, but having the inches melt off sure feels nice.

OK - onto food!!! It's Spring.  It's beautiful outside.  And I'm cooking a lot of yummy stuff.

This was the "man-pleasing chicken" I found on Pinterest.  It was pretty good, though next time I think it needs a touch more maple syrup.  Or maybe my Dijon mustard was way spicier than the one she used.... Either way, it rolled over into some dandy lunch chicken sandwiches. :)

This was the teriyaki chicken meatballs I made last week that I liked the flavor of but thought the texture of the meatball itself was too dense.  I simply added too many bread crumbs.  I will try to make this again and post a recipe once I have it nailed. It was a very similar concept to my mongolian beef meatballs.  I just made a homemade teriyaki glaze, ground some chicken and added some of the glaze into it with an egg and some breadcrumbs, baked them, then stir-fried them with green onions, matchstick carrots, the glaze, and sesame seeds.  

Beignets.  (I had to make the word look special). There are no more words required. It's been YEARS since I last made them and I'm not sure why because they're just so satisfyingly delicious. It was like my mouth took a vacation. :)  I used this recipe and did pretty much just what it asked, except I substituted half n half for the evaporated milk.  I brewed some fresh ground coffee with a hint of cinnamon (just add it to your grounds) and it was like sitting on a sidewalk cafe in New Orleans. 

Chimichurri Pesto Pot Roast, aka Spring Pot Roast with spicy tomato rice (recipe below!!)

Chimichurri Pesto Pot Roast (Spring Pot Roast)
Yield: about 4 servings

Chimichurri Pesto:
4 ounces fresh cilantro
2 ounces fresh basil
1 ounce fresh flat leaf parsley
6 cloves garlic
2 T lemon juice
1/3 C red wine vinegar
1/4 C walnut oil
1 fresno pepper, seeded, or about 1/2 t dried red chile flakes
1/4 t sea salt
1/2 C olive oil

Pot Roast:
1 recipe chimichurri pesto
1 2 to 3 pound chuck roast
sea salt and freshly cracked black pepper
1 C red wine
2 C beef stock
1 C heavy cream
1 t cornstarch or flour

For the Pesto: in a food processor, combine everything up to the olive oil and process until no large lumps of anything remain.  With the motor running drizzle in the olive oil.  This will freeze well, or keep in the fridge for up to 1 week.

For the Pot Roast: season the meat well on both sides with sea salt and pepper.  You may sear it in olive oil if you'd like, though it isn't necessary.  Drop it into a crockpot with the pesto, red wine, and beef stock, and cook on low for 6 to 8 hours.  When the roast is done, ladle out as much of the pot liquor as you can (you should have about 2 cups) into a saucepan.  Add the heavy cream and bring it up to a simmer, then whisk in the cornstarch or flour very vigorously to avoid lumps.  Let it simmer 5 to 10 minutes and serve over the pot roast.

Serve with spicy tomato rice. Garnish with fresh cilantro.

Spicy Tomato Rice
Yield: about 4 servings

1 C jasmine rice
2 C water
a pinch of saffron
1/4 of a fresno chile pepper, seeded and diced, or a healthy pinch or two of dried red chile flakes
1/4 large red onion, diced
4 cloves of garlic, minced
plenty of sea salt and pepper (several turns of the pan with your fingers)
1/2 t smoked paprika
a dash of ground cumin
1 T lemon juice
2 T tomato paste
olive oil

In a microwave safe glass measuring cup, heat the water and steep the saffron for several minutes.  Whisk in the tomato paste.

Heat a few turns of the pan of olive oil in a wide skillet over medium heat.  Add the onion and soften for 3 minutes.  Add the garlic, chile pepper, paprika, cumin, sea salt, and pepper and cook 1 minute.  Add the the lemon juice and cook for 30 seconds, then stir in the water/tomato paste/saffron mixture.  Cover with a tight fitting lid, reduce heat to a simmer, and cook 20 to 25 minutes without disturbing it.  Remove the pan from the heat and let set covered until ready to use.

That's all for now! I've got to get coffee in me, breakfast into my Liam, and Chloe's lunch packed for school!

UPDATED: An Open Letter to Gap, Inc.

Update underneath original post.  I have posted Gap's response.

Hello,

I was at the Fashion Square Mall Gap store in Indianapolis, IN today at Keystone at the Crossing.   I was enjoying shopping without my kids for once and was also happy to try on a pair of Long and Lean jeans (my favorite kind) in a size down, one size closer to my pre-pregnancy size.  The size I needed was a 14.  They were very long, even though I am of average female height at 5'4, so I asked the sales associate at the register if there were any 14 Ankle pairs available at any of the area Gap stores. What I was told blew me away and made me feel insulted, unwanted as a consumer, and defeated: "We only carry those special extra large sizes online or in our flagship stores."  "That's an extra large size."  "Yeah, those extra large sizes we don't carry in our regular stores."  She just kept repeating the words "extra large."  

In case Gap wasn't aware, the average American female is 5'4 and a size 14, both of which I am.  So I am not extra large, but merely average, and pretty happy with it after giving birth recently.  My wedding anniversary is in two days and I just wanted a nice pair of jeans to wear on our special picnic.  It was a treat for myself I had been saving for this day, when I knew I could go into a store and try them on and feel really good about myself.  Instead, I left feeling "extra large," with no jeans in hand for my special day.  

I daresay, I'm so offended that if I didn't truly love those jeans, I would have considered not going online and buying them, as I just did.  I know I'll have them in a week or so, but I wanted them in two days time, not in a week.  Why, as an average-sized female, do I not deserve to be able to go into a store and purchase jeans for a special night out I'm having that week? Does my enormous girth somehow offend all the other shoppers, who I happened to note were about my size? Why are all the XS and S tops layered on top, so that most customers have to sort through them all the way to the bottom to get a large or medium? I mean honestly, who are you trying to alienate - most of the American female populous? 

I have facebook and twitter accounts, and am an active food/lifestyle/mom blogger.  I've expressed my experience on each of these networks and my disappointment in a brand that I know I USED to be able to go into a store and purchase a 12 or 14 Ankle size without being reminded of my "extra largeness."  I don't want to run a smear campaign against Gap, but I am demanding a change in corporate policy.  Confident, lovely women are a size 12 and 14, and we don't deserve to be treated like second-class customers that can't go shopping in a store, get fussed over by a sales associate, and come away feeling really good about our purchases.  And that's the kicker for you - I now feel less satisfied with my jeans purchase because of this experience.  Is that really what you want?

Sincerely,

Kelin _______

A Gap brand loyalist, deeply hurt.

Reblog, share, and comment if you, like me, are sick and tired of second-class shopping!

Dear Kelin,

I want to express my sincere apologies for your recent experience you had in my store.  Our goal is to ensure that all of our customers feel valued and leave feeling great about their purchase.  Although, I am very happy that you found a great pair of jeans, I am extremely concerned and disappointed about how you felt when you left.    I was shocked to read about your experience.  This is by no means how we want our associates to represent the Brand or Store.  I want you to feel confident that I am addressing the issue and doing everything necessary to ensure that this will not happen again.  

I would like to provide you with a $25 appreciation card for you to use on your next purchase.  I know you didn't ask for an appreciation card and that wasn't the point of your email, but I hope you accept this gift to give us a chance to show you what our service is supposed to look like.    If you could provide me with an address to send it to, I will have it sent immediately.  Feel free to contact me directly at xxx-xxx-xxxx or via email. 

We have already contacted our corporate offices to make them aware of the inventory concerns. 

Thank you for taking the time to notify me of your experience.  I tuly am sorry and hope that you will give us a chance to make it up to you.

Sincerely,

Amy

My thoughts? Gap is a class act all the way.  I'm very happy with how they dealt with this and do indeed plan to keep on shopping Gap! 

EXCITED! It's a Disney Live Giveaway!!

OK y'all, I am giddy with excitement to pass this post along because I know just how many of you have young daughters like Chloe.  Here goes!

Disney Live Presents Three Classic Fairytales is coming to Bloomington this Saturday at 3pm and has given me a super special discount code to pass along savings on tickets to everyone.  Win! Use code DL15 to save up to $10 on your purchase.  Just click on the link above, enter the code, and go iron that princess dress 'cause you know she's gonna want to wear it. :)

I haven't even told you the BEST PART! (Aside from pretty dresses).  Disney Live has authorized this blog to run a FREEBIE contest.  Yup! All you need to do is a) share this blog post with your friends via facebook, twitter, or email, and b) then leave a comment on this post about how much you want to go see this show, and the contest widget (ooooooh shiny!) will randomly select a winner!

The winner gets 4 tickets to Saturday's show for free!! 

(I was so excited I had to make that part bigger) :) You have to do both to be eligible to win, so go now!

Life After Preschool: Thinking Ahead

I've been getting asked a lot recently what I plan to do once my kids are in school.  I did not have an answer at all for any of the askers because I hadn't even thought about it.  Here, right now - THIS - is what I've always dreamed of doing (well maybe not this, but you get the idea).  Staying at home with my young kids is my ultimate goal and I'm getting to do that.  Thinking about what comes after this awesome time of diapers, Sesame Street, and giggles implies that I must accept that it will end and plan for it.  While I've never not understood that kids grow-up at an incredibly fast rate, it's hard to understand until you're here just HOW FAST it all goes.

So, I've been thinking about it.  This coming fall, even, if we can afford it, Chloe and Liam both might be in preschool from 9 to 3 two days a week.  At the least they'll both be in school for one day.  And there it begins..... one day all to myself.  What am I going to do with that time?

The obvious answers are things like, "run errands and grocery shop," and "clean the house and have it stay clean for 5 whole hours!" OK, well, I like to run errands and grocery shop with my kids, actually.  The necessity of not having more than one family car made things like going to the grocery fun together and I look forward to it every week.  Cleaning the house kind of just gets done daily.  I don't really feel that out of control over it all.  So again, what's a mom to do?

The somewhat vague answer that first comes to mind is that this time will allow me to focus more on me to some extent. I could workout.  I've thought hard about this because getting back in shape is a present goal I'm trying to reach.  It would be fun to be able to workout with a girlfriend and grab coffee and social time afterward.  I could volunteer more at their school and our church.  That would be rewarding and a great way to help me forge more friendships.  I could take-up more hobbies.  The garden will be getting more demanding this year, and I'm starting to get a little more crafty.

While all that sounds lovely, there's one thing that has been rattling around in my brain for some time: the simple permanency of life after SAHM-dom.  My kids are growing-up and growing away from my mother-henning every day they live.  And one day they'll grow up and away so much that if I don't think now about this, I'll be lost.  Because who will I be if I'm not their mom? None of the answers I've listed so far give me much of an identity other than mom, and while that will always be who I am, it can't be ALL of who I am for the rest of my life or I will undoubtedly smother my children with my mothering.

I think, then, that the best answer to this question is that I'd like to go back to school and finally finish my degree.  I've been 4 classes away from a B.A. in English Literature now for far too long.  I worked my ass off up to the moment I pushed Chloe into this world for that degree and I've come too far to not finish.

I also wonder, if just like once upon a time ago, I will ever get my Masters and become a professor.  That had been The Plan.  But perhaps that's getting too far ahead.

I tried for one brief semester to go back when Chloe was a little over a year old, and then oops! Here came Liam. :)  It was a hellish semester that ended with an awful stomach flu that made me miss some of my finals.  I closed the chapter on that degree after that until I felt like this "mom" thing had more room in it.

I guess that's it.  My kids are my whole world right now, but they just can't be that forever.  So I'm deciding to think about what else is going in to my world.  So.... yeah.

No recipe today.  Just thoughts and words coming out kind of jumbly.  :)  I did make the Teriyaki Chicken Meatballs and am still deciding how I feel about them.  The meatballs were too dense, definitely, but the flavor felt fairly nice.  I'll think on it some more and decide if they're worth sharing. :)  Until then!

A Family Secret Recipe for St. Patrick's Day

So my husband is the proud and boyishly-happy owner of a motorcycle.  For those that don't know, we've been sharing a car for.... ever.... which makes getting the kids places difficult (it's an hour round trip to take him to work).  The past few weeks the tires on Chevy Chase (our car) were worn down to the point Brian didn't even want us taking the car.  So.... the kids and I have been house-bound for WEEKS.  AHHHHHH!!!!

But, that all changed last Thursday.  We had wanted to solve our transportation dilemma with our tax return, but also badly needed the tax return to spread around and boost our savings and cash-flow to propel us forward (and hopefully never back into the week to week crunch crisis we were in).  Like good philosophers, we did the logical math: gas savings, insurance savings, and no car loan.  So, despite my terrible fear of motorcycles, my husband now owns one, a 1982 Honda he paid 1,100 for. :) We will earn back that money in the gas savings alone with him driving downtown every day, so I really can't argue.  Much. ;)

I'm feeling good.  After he got his permit, body-armor jacket, super-awesome helmet, and all that jazz, we drove him down to his office (where, apparently, the male-dominant work force all LOVES motorcycles.  They've even drawn-up logos for their work's new "engineering motorcycle gang." <---- nerds). :) Anyway, we followed him home and he did really well, even in the bitter cold of what should be the last big cold snap of the year.  I'm proud of him, he's excited beyond belief, and I get a car when I need one.  Win!

OK, onto food.  The secret recipe isn't much of a secret, since it just so happens to be in the cookbook, but since sales of that have been minimal, I'm guessing most of you don't have it. :) I made it for dinner last night, and just decided to share it this time.

My Family's Secret Colcannon.  MMMMMMMM :)

Yes, it's colcannon, a humble, basic Irish dish without much pizazz, yet for some reason never fails to make me divinely happy when eating.  Perhaps it's my ancestors nodding approval, or perhaps it's just that, like with so many other things in life, it's often in the simplest of places we actually find what we're looking for.  :) For those that don't know, colcannon is basically mashed potatoes.  With stuff in it.  You can eat is as a side dish, as I often do if I decide to make corned beef, or as a main dish, as we often do, too.  You can make it as healthy as you want or as unhealthy based on what amounts of what stuff you put in it.  It can be vegetarian or chock-full of carnivorous goodness.  It's really up to you.  I make it all these ways, depending on my mood.

Last night my mood was PMS, which means I made it as unhealthy as possible. If I though chocolate would be good in it, I'm sure I would have added that, too. :)  I'll share that version here first.

Colcannon (the unhealthier, meat-eating version)
Yield: about 6 adult servings

3 to 4 pounds of good potatoes, white or yellow flesh.
1/2 head of green cabbage, chopped into sections and then sliced into thin strips
1 C chopped flat leaf parsley
1 bunch (about 4 to 5) green onions, diced
1 1/2 pounds of butter.  Yes. Really. If you can afford it, get GOOD butter
3 T bacon grease
12 ounces bacon, cooked crisp and chopped
about 1/2 C half n half or cream.  Yup. And again, try to get good cream for better flavor
plenty of sea salt, freshly cracked black pepper, and a dash of white pepper


Much debate in potato-cookery centers on how exactly to cook the potato for maximum flavor yield.  One camp firmly believes that steaming potatoes in their skins yields the best flavor and nutritional content, another camp says it doesn't matter and just peel and boil the things already.  While I believe the former camp is probably right (steaming), I don't own a large steamer and therefore peeled, quartered, and boiled my potatoes.  Grandma forgive me. :)

Cook bacon on a parchment lined baking sheet in a 350 degree oven for about 20 to 25 minutes, or until very crisp.  Drain the grease off, reserving in a bowl on the counter, and let bacon drain on a tea towel.

Boil potatoes in salted water until very soft, drain, return the potatoes to the hot pan and the heat for 30 seconds to finish steaming out the water, then remove from heat.

Meanwhile, heat bacon grease and butter in a large skillet.  Add chopped cabbage, season with salt, and pop a lid on it to steam it for about 5 to 7 minutes.  Stir it, add in the parsley and green onions, season again with both peppers and more salt, cook for about 2 to 3 minutes, then stir in the half n half.  Put the lid on it to keep it nice and hot until you're ready to mix it into the potatoes.

I use an electric mixer, so with the beaters turned off, begin to mash the potatoes with an up and down motion just like you would with a potato masher.  Do this until no more lumps remain, then turn the beaters on and whip for a minute or two, until nice and fluffy.  Pour in the cabbage and butter mixture about 2/3 of the way and STIR it in with a rubber spatula.  You may whip it lightly if you must, just be forewarned that cabbage will wrap around your beaters and will require much ado to get off. :) Try to work in the full amount of yumminess in the skillet, but it will depend on the starch of your potatoes how much liquid you can ask them to hold.  Last night they soaked it all up nicely for me, previous times I can only get 2/3 or so.  Taste for seasonings and add salt if you need to.

Stir in the chopped bacon.  Scoop into a pretty clear bowl and serve with extra butter on top and extra chopped green onion. Yum Yum!

Colcannon (the healthier, vegetarian version)
Yield: about 6 adult servings


3 to 4 pounds of good potatoes, white or yellow flesh.
1/2 head of green cabbage, chopped into sections and then sliced into thin strips
1 C chopped flat leaf parsley
1 bunch (about 4 to 5) green onions, diced
1 C kale or other leafy green such as spinach, chopped
2/3 pound of butter
1/2 C skim milk
plenty of sea salt, freshly cracked black pepper, and a dash of white pepper

Do all the same process as the directions above, omitting the bacon, bacon grease, and copious amounts of extra butter and cream. :)

Enjoy!

Lastly, it's a new week and a new menu plan.  I absolutely stocked-up this week in groceries and am pretty giddy about it.  So, here's what's cookin'! :)

Yummy! The "man-pleasing chicken" is a Pinterest find that makes my tummy growl whenever I look at the picture.  If you click on my Pinterest link in the right side bar, you'll be able to find it under "so good it can't be described, explosion on your taste buds chicken."  <----- yes! I know! I'm excited about it, too! :)

So, the chicken teriyaki meatballs are new, too.  I'm hoping those are yummy enough to share.  The nachos are, what else, but PMS food.  :)  The rest isn't really new stuff.

That's all for now.  Bye!