Daily happy

Daily happy for all of the obvious reasons. It's November and family time and all that good jazz.

"In the tumult of daily life, it can be hard to appreciate the ordinary day, to realize how precious it is, and how fleeing."

I was just talking to a good friend about this last night. The days seem to be flying by faster than ever now that we're mommies. 

But the thing of it is, I'm not sad about getting older or wrinklier. I'm sad because I know our days with The King are limited. He won't be "ours" forever. So we've got to try and soak up the every day and remember to count our blessings.

Being a parent is seriously such a freakin rollercoaster!

Dear Ole Dad

It's no mystery that having a baby really changes your life, mostly your relationship with your significant other. Or in my case, my baby daddy.

Honestly, there are a lot of times that we don't see eye to eye when it comes to parenting. It's not necessarily that one of us is wrong or right, (for the record, I'm usually right) it's just that we do things differently. And it took me a long time to be "ok" with it.

I am, by nature, a bossy, demanding, control freak. I just can't help it. Even now, 18 months later, I sometimes want to whack PB upside the head and tell him to follow suit! But then I remind myself that doing it differently, is exactly what The King needs to learn to be flexible.

Because Lord knows his mother ain't!

So here's five things I think PB does better than me.

Sometimes.

Because let's be real.

1. He teaches The King things I would never even think of like jumping or building things. There's seriously so much stuff that's not on my radar. He also was the first person to start teaching him colors and shapes and such. I didn't even realize that he was ready to learn that stuff at the time.

2. He's way, way more laid back than me. I live and die by schedules and routine and eating healthy, for the most part. To a certain extent Kingy needs those things but I now realize he won't crash and burn if we stay up just a smidge later or gasp, have a damn cookie.

3. He's strict when it's necessary and totally not when it's not important. I am strict. Period.

4. He teaches Kingy all the man stuff. I just don't know man stuff.

5. He lets Kingy fail and fall down and teaches him to be tough. Plus he gives him more independence to figure that stuff out, sometimes too much (sorry, had to) but mostly, just the right amount. I don't think I'm a crazy helicopter mom but I do spend a lot of time interacting with Kingy, making sure he doesn't do something dangerous or crazy. I worry. He's my baby. And that's not a sexist, boys should be tough kind of thing. It's just that I kiss boo-boos and make a production and PB says, "you're ok bud" and redirects him. Not everything needs to be a devastating, dramatic scrape. I get that.

All of that to say, if you're a new mom or struggling with that stuff, maybe take a step back and take another look at how you both do things. It took me a year to come to terms with the fact that we're just never going to parent the exact same way. Being consistent on a lot of things is important but accepting the differences and embracing them, will make for a seriously awesome environment to grow up in.

T-giving

Because everyone at work this week will be definitely dreaming about having the rest of the week off, I'm jumping on the bandwagon.

I've decided on this recipe for my share of T-giving dinnah. In addition to the pie recipes I shared last week. I need to find a good squash or sweet potato recipe too. I think I have a good dinner roll recipe but I'll share it when I find it again.

Bourbon Bacon Brussel Sprout Skewers - yes, you read that correctly.
Courtesy of Giada De Laurentiis

Ingredients

• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 6 tablespoons dark brown sugar
• 2/3 cup bourbon
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 pound slab bacon, cut into 3/4 inch cubes
• 1 pound small Brussels sprouts, trimmed and halved if needed
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• Nonstick cooking spray
• 15 to 20 (8-inch) bamboo skewers

Preparation

Heat a small sauce pan over medium heat. Add the butter and allow it to cook until the butter begins to brown and starts to smells nutty, about 3 minutes. Whisk in the brown sugar and cayenne and cook another 2 minutes stirring regularly. Remove the pan from the heat and add the bourbon. Be careful as it will splatter. Place the pan back on the heat and ignite if desired. Continue to cook, whisking constantly, until a smooth caramel has formed, another 3 minutes. Season with 1/4 teaspoon salt.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Spread the bacon on a small baking sheet and bake in the oven for 8 minutes, just to begin to render the fat. Set aside.

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the sprouts and simmer for

3 to 4 minutes or until just barely tender and still bright green. Spread on a sheet tray to cool slightly. Toss with the olive oil and remaining ¼ teaspoon salt.

Preheat the grill pan over medium heat. Spray with nonstick cooking spray.

Begin to assemble the skewers starting with a Brussels Sprout, then a piece of bacon, another sprout, another piece of bacon and finishing with a sprout. Continue until all of the skewers are assembled.  Brush the glaze lightly over the skewers. Place them on the prepared grill pan and grill, brushing them with glaze with every turn, until the bacon is beginning to crisp and the Brussels sprouts are starting to char, about 1 to 2 minutes per side. Remove and serve warm drizzled with any remaining glaze.

Tips

Cooks Note: It may sound crazy, but the glaze for these Brussels sprouts also works well over chocolate ice cream with toasted pecans.

Serving Size

Makes 15 to 20 skewers

Amen for short weeks

Just another manic Monday round here. Except it's not so bad because it's a three day week. I probably should have taken the entire week off though. I haven't had a vacation since, I don't even know when.

Not much going on round the home front. I suppose no news is good news, right? The weekend was jam packed, per usual. I was asleep by 8 all weekend. I didn't realize I was so tired.

Also, the snow is flying and it was a brisk 16 degrees this morning.

Brutal.

The older I get, the harder it is to deal with winter. I also totally forget every year that it gets dark at 4:30. What a drag. I think I need a winter hobby to make things a little more enjoyable. I'm good in November and December but January absolutely kills me.

And I'm already dreaming about my gardens which is not a good sign.

I don't really have much to share other than I saw another Miley Cyrus performance and was totally confused again. By everything.

Someone needs to help her. Dolly? Where you at?

TGIF

To give you a sense of how my morning is going...

I've cleaned up dog shit, dog piss, chicken shit off of The King, myself and my car.

That oughta sum things up quite nicely.

We have a solid weekend of running around ahead of us so I'm really stoked about life at the moment.

I hope everyone has a wicked awesome weekend.

Yo

It be Wednesday, folks.

Hallelujah!

Wednesday is my second favorite day of the work week. By far.

Has anyone started planning for Thanksgiving yet?

I realized this morning that it's next week so I sent out a few text messages and was unanimously tasked with bringing dessert everywhere we go. I am totally ok with it because I know I won't embarrass myself. Fingers crossed.

I'm thinking a few apple pies, chocolate pie, banana cream and some Oreo truffle balls thrown in for good measure. They are ridiculously delicious.

I already have recipes for all of them but my banana cream pie is kind of easy and sort of a joke. I might give this one a go. (can anyone hear PB screaming and crying foul? He's not one for change)

Old Fashioned Banana Cream Pie

Ingredients:

Servings:
1 (9 inch) pie crusts, baked - I'm going with graham cracker crust.
3 cups whole milk
3/4 cup white sugar
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 egg yolks, slightly beaten
2 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 bananas
Directions:

1 Have baked 9-inch pie shell ready. - Or graham cracker
2 In a large saucepan, scald the milk.
3 In another saucepan, combine the sugar, flour and salt; gradually stir in the scalded milk.
4 Over medium heat, stirring constantly, cook until thickened.
5 Cover and, stirring occasionally, cook for two minutes longer.
6 In a small bowl, have the 3 egg yolks, slightly beaten, ready; stir a small amount of the hot mixture into beaten yolks; when thoroughly combined, stir yolks into hot mixture.
7 Cook for one minute longer, stirring constantly.
8 Remove from heat and blend in the butter and vanilla.
9 Let sit until lukewarm.
10 When ready to pour, slice bananas and scatter in pie shell; pour warm mixture over bananas. - I layer my pie alternating banana and filling 
11 If desired, make a meringue (you'll have 3 leftover egg whites) to top the pie, or just let the pie cool until serving.


If anyone has a good recipe for brussell sprouts, sweet potatoes or dinner rolls, holla atcha girl! I have to bring those to my ma's. There will only be four and a half of us (counting Kingy) so I don't need anything crazy. I am going to take a gander at my Pioneer Woman holiday cookbook tonight and will report back if I find anything good.

Skippin Seafood Too

I came across this article today and it's pretty disturbing

5 Reasons To Never Eat Shrimp Again

Guess I'll be passing up on that shrimp cocktail this year..

Weekender

The weekend wrapped up and a happy

"Three grand essentials to happiness in this life are something to do, something to love, and something to hope for." - Joseph Addison

Or in my case, lots of this guy.

I may or may not have tricked him into dragging my dead plants out back with his tractor. He loved it.

The shaving series...

We got bored yesterday. Really bored. So we painted a milk jug and practiced putting noodles into it. And then throwing said noodles all over the room...

I have officially raised a redneck.

A few things

I hope everyone had a wicked awesome weekend!

Ours was lots of fun and filled with friends, laughter and good food. Holla!

A few random thoughts/happenings:

1. I sneezed this morning and peed my pants. I never understood what everyone was talking about. Now I know. Also, I should not consume beans. Ever.

2. The King is a naughty little bugger. He's taken to going into a room and shutting the door behind him to engage in forbidden activities. Such as taking all of the chapstick out of the stick, playing with and dumping water out of his humidifier and just generally, getting into everything. He's a little too smart.

3. A whopping 13 years ago today, PB asked me to be his girlfriend. It's probably the smartest thing he's ever done. Cray cray, right?

4. It's mother freakin cold.

5. There are 36 days left until Christmas and Kingy is totally digging Santa.

Bringin it back!

I can't recall if I mentioned this but back when I was taking the hunter safety course with a bunch of 12 year olds, many of them couldn't sign their name on the completion certificate because they didn't know how to write in cursive.

That's right, didn't know how.

And the reason they didn't know was because we removed it from the curriculum in school.

Say what?

I learned how to do that when I was in first grade for pete's sake!

Well now all of the old people are crying foul and they are trying to bring it back, as they should. I was already planning to teach The King anyway.

Bringing cursive back

We live in the strangest world.

I already catch myself saying "back when I was a kid" way, way too often.

Ain't that somethin

I have to say, I am having a pretty awesome 24 hours.

Good news at work yesterday (I hope), fun night and morning at home with my boys, yummy coffee, slumber party with friends tonight and it's Friday.

It's Friday.

I'll hopefully be able to share more details next week but I'm always amazed at how things play out in life.  Everything happens just the way it's supposed to, even when it's the furthest thing possible from what you had planned or thought would happen.

I love when this stuff happens.

So if you're worried about something, quit. It will all work out. It always does.

Here's your daily happy friends.

"The true secret of happiness lies in the taking a genuine interest in all the details of daily life." - William Morris

Hope you have a wicked awesome weekend!

xxoo
ma

Nada

Mmm I got nothing folks.

I'm kind of over the same old headlines day in and day out. Nothing can be said that hasn't already been. So I'm leaving you with tunes because what more could you want?

Hurricane Ryan

Last night I asked Kingy to get a bigger tissue to blow his nose. It's awesome that he knows how to do it, not so awesome that he blows his nose on anything in sight, like my pants.

All the time.

And because bigger means more, he pulled the entire roll of toilet paper into the living room to show me that he was doing what I asked. Then, like a good boy, he proceeded to shove said toilet paper into the toilet. You know, the entire roll.

Bathroom shots are so glamorous.

Logic, check. Execution, questionable.

Then as we're getting ready to take our "tub", don't ask me why a bath is called a tub around here, I asked him to get a washcloth and he politely declined by throwing random objects into the tub instead. Ok. So I quickly ran to get one while the water warmed, only to return and find this, not even 10 seconds later...

Fully clothed, playing in the tub. And yes, that's an entire sippy cup of milk on the floor.

I really think this was all an honest mistake and with the best intentions. He wasn't laughing or giving me the "I'm gonna really mess with your head and be crazy" evil eye.

Until he realized it was ridiculous and noticed that we thought he was funny, at which point he took an entire cup of water and threw it at me and PB...giggling.

And then I gracefully decided I was done with tub time and PB could handle that hot mess.

Erryday.

Anniversary, sorta

I realized this morning that I passed the year mark of this blog and didn't even bat an eye. To those of you that have followed along, back when my hits were around five a day, thank you. You rock my world and I don't know why you entertain me and this silly notion of a blog but thank you.

There are a lot of really great bloggers out there who are able to document their life in this beautifully poetic way. They share their innermost thoughts and feelings and their blog is sort of like their diary, I suppose. I imagine they have massive followings, based on all of the advertisements and giveaways they have but regardless, I really enjoy reading them. I can connect in a lot of ways as most of them are mamas too. 

I've been wanting to put down my thoughts about motherhood and some of my struggles lately but I always stop short. I guess I'm really not comfortable with laying it all out there and letting myself be judged. Because we all know thats inevitable. Or maybe I think I'd feel silly? I don't know really why. I am an emotional person, just like anyone else but broadcasting it every day seems like a bit much. 

I sometimes question my ability to show emotions in my every day life too. I think I am really good at keeping my composure and being strong for other people. But at the same time, I'm just not very good at communicating anything. Those of you that know me really well are probably laughing. Maybe it just depends on who I'm sharing with?`

So I can't promise that I'm going to be all emotional and poetic and insightful on here all the time, or ever for that matter. That's just not me. But I thought with a year passing, maybe I should open up a bit more. I fill this space with ridiculous stories and food and music but maybe it would be helpful to all of you to know that I am dealing with all of the same hard stuff you probably are too. I regularly doubt whether I am a good mom and friend and partner and all that other crap but I think there is strength in numbers.

All of that to say, I hope to continue blogging and I hope that you all will stick around.

Thank you thank you thank you.

Cooked

I think I may have mentioned we had a wicked busy weekend. We, and I mean mostly PB, have been trying to finish the drywall in the house, the roof and get everything ready for winter. I also need to seriously clean out cupboards and get organized but only because I have OCD.

Well we managed to tackle a bit of it but mostly we just ate a lot of food with family and played with The King. We're pretty good at that. Per usual I made way too much but I did get some pretty good reviews for my meatballs so I thought I'd share. I also made a couple of chocolate pies but the recipe belongs to The Family Flavor and it's still not online. Sorry folks.

However, I did find a recipe on Smitten Kitchen and it's pretty darn close. Do yourself a favor, use graham cracker crust and put bananas in the pie, every other layer. You won't regret it.

Smitten Kitchen - Chocolate Pudding Pie

Pudding filling:
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/3 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar, divided
3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 cups whole milk
4 ounces bittersweet chocolate (not more than 60% cacao), finely chopped
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup chilled heavy cream

Bittersweet chocolate shavings for garnish (optional)

Prepare pie dough: Roll out dough on a lightly floured surface with a lightly floured rolling pin into an 11-inch round, then fit into a 9-inch pie plate. Trim edge, leaving a 1/2-inch overhang, then fold overhang under and crimp edge decoratively. Prick bottom and side of shell all over with a fork, then chill shell 30 minutes. While shell chills, preheat oven to 375°F with a baking sheet on middle rack. Line shell with foil and fill with pie weights*.

Bake on baking sheet until pastry is set and edge is pale golden, about 25 minutes. Carefully remove weights and foil, then bake shell on baking sheet until pale golden all over, 15 to 20 minutes more. Cool shell.

Make pudding filling: Whisk together cornstarch, 1/3 cup sugar, cocoa powder, and salt in a 2-quart heavy saucepan, then gradually whisk [tips alert!] in milk. Bring to a boil over medium heat, whisking constantly, then boil, whisking, two minutes (mixture will thicken). Remove from heat and whisk in chocolate and vanilla until smooth.

Pour filling into cooled shell and chill, its surface covered with wax paper (if you want to prevent a skin from forming), until cold, at least two hours.

Just before serving, beat cream with remaining two tablespoons sugar until it just holds soft peaks. Spoon onto pie and garnish with bittersweet chocolate shavings, if you’re feeling fancy.

Do ahead: Pie dough can be made and chilled up to two days. Pie, without whipped cream, can be chilled up to one day before serving. Whipped cream is best added at the last minute, however, I did find that ours held up surprisingly well for a day (so far), if you feel like winging it.

Meatballs

Ok this is totally winging it because I never measure anything when I make these but they tend to be pretty darn tasty. I picked this one up from my mom a long time ago.

1lb- 2lbs ground beef
teaspoon-ish oregano
teaspoon-ish Italian seasoning
minced garlic - maybe two cloves or two teaspoons if you buy it in the jar like me? depends on how much garlic you like
1 1/2 slices of bread - 2 if you go with more than a pound of meat
2 eggs - scramble em up
1 chopped green pepper
1 chopped onion
parmesan cheese - dash or thereabouts. I told you, winging it.

Preheat your oven to 350. Soak bread in eggs, I usually remove the crust and I never use the same bread so use whatever you have. Chop up one green pepper and one onion. You'll want them chopped pretty small because they'll be in the balls. Then I throw all of that in with the meat and mix it all up with my hands and try not to be grossed out. (This is so professional.) Then I make small-ish balls that usually fit in the palm of my hand. I'd say one pound usually makes about 12. I'm opposed to big meatballs because you have to cook them longer and sometimes they get dried out. Then I bake for probably 15-20 minutes? That's definitely a guess. I tend to check them quite a bit and about half-way through the bake time I flip them all over. Once the outside has browned just a bit I check the middle. I always, always pull them out when they are still a little pink in the middle. This is important. This ensures you don't have meatballs you could throw through a window.

You're welcome.

Early bird gets the worm

Or in my house, mama bird gets showered, ready for work, three lunches packed, laundry folded and put away, dishwasher put away and so on and so on and blah blah blah.

I guess that's what happens when you get up at 4:30...

I've honestly been fighting 4:30 for months. For a while there, The King was waking up at that time out of habit, he actually still sometimes does but I could always get us both back to bed for another 30 minutes or so because, 4:30.

I'm totally ok with waking up this early if that means I have less to do at night. And you know, maybe that'll win me back some time in the evening to use that Jillian Michaels dvd I've used a whopping, wait for it, one time.

It would be nice if I could do this every day. Realistically, it probably won't happen but a girl can dream.

I found out yesterday our office will be "consolidating" with another that's about an hour and a half away. I have no clue what will happen to me because I work for people that sit all over the country so it's kind of ok from a getting work done on an island perspective.

From what I understand, I will have to work full-time from home or find a new job. Neither of which sound all that awesome but if I get to keep my job, I can always go work from a Starbucks on occasion or something. The thought of being in my house 24/7 makes me cringe. They have a year to figure it out so hopefully I won't be crying come this time in 2014. Fingers crossed.

In other news, it's mid-November. Say what?

Christmas is less than 50 days away and I can hardly believe it. My mom watched Kingy yesterday and got him hooked on the Christmas and Santa kool-aid. It's pretty fantastic. Except he thinks Santa only brings pie and cookies and tractors.

Which, I suppose could happen? He also now says "Ho-Ho-Ho".

Yes.

Here's some nonsensical stuff from the past few days.

Adventuring. For five minutes because I don't do cold.

Dinner date. I'm clearly an amazing cook.

I ordered some deli meat from the counter and turned around to find this. I suppose eating an unwashed red pepper is better than him opening a bag of candy or chips? 

Before anyone has a heartattack about the "gun" in the next two pictures. Please note, it is not real. You can clearly see the play dart things on the counter. Hunting is a big part of PB's life and his most favorite hobby. It's kind of a no brainer that he and Paw would want him to be interested and they teach him safety with his play guns. The end.

The attitude, the crossed legs and the cow in the picture on the right make this picture pricesless.

He wasn't trying to escape. He just enjoys climbing everything. Everything.

xxoo
ma

Recall: Plum Organics

Just wanted to give everyone a heads up on the recall issued by Plum Organics.

We got a call today that we bought the batch that may have been spoiled. Weird but thanks for stalking us. Good thing we don't have them in our cupboard anymore, you know because The King already consumed said spoiled food. Sort of like that one time I fed him spoiled organic milk...

I'm such a good mom sometimes. With the best of organic intentions.

Anyway, here you go: Plum Organics Recall

Monday, you're a buzz kill

And by buzz, I don't mean that literally because we all know, ain't nobody got time for that.

Today has been an unbelievably weird and busy and crazy day, which is really just a continuation of the insanity from this past weekend.

For now, I'll say Happy Veteran's day. Tonight, I write.

Thankin

I almost forgot my thankful for today and totally dropped the ball yesterday. So here goes nothin

Yesterday: I was thankful for coffee. A lot of coffee.

Today: I am thankful to have crossed paths with two older men in Starbucks that complimented me on my outfit. They were fancy-shmancy. I am so not but it was nice to hear "I love your boots" and "Super cute military jacket."

Holla!

Happy Friday!

P.S. I adore you

I stumbled across the ladies from P.S. I adore you on Instagram and immediately decided to follow them. They feature really cute and unique products to raise awareness and funds for childhood cancer. They also feature little ones that are battling the disease and need our support.

Here's the about them from the website:

"We are 3 passionate moms committed to bring awareness to childhood cancer. By offering fresh, on-trend items we've created a platform to shine a light on courageous children battling their disease. Your purchases fund the fight - talk about guilt-free shopping! Thank you for supporting and joining our mission to find a cure. Our message to these heroic kids is WE CARE and P.S. I Adore You."

So cute stuff and battling childhood cancer? It's a no brainer.

I suggest signing up to receive their emails or you can request to be featured if you're crafty and have something to sell and want to do some good. The emails aren't annoying and overwhelming in frequency.

Just a warning: if you head over to their blog, you will likely find yourself completely heartbroken for these babies and their battles with cancer.

Some nonsense. It's Friday.

It has been snowing all morning.

I ain't ready.

I'm bundled up in front of the fireplace right now and I'm still cold. I don't understand.

PB and his buddy are in the kitchen chatting and I must say, men have the strangest conversations. I bet they think the same about us.

Last night, The King was all hopped up on life and was acting a wild animal fool. The only time we could get him to sit down and stay still was to say "Ryan, look, there's a pretty girl on t.v." (PB was watching the playback of the CMAs)...

And then he would sit and calmy watch and point at those leggy blonde beyotches. Totally captivated.

If I haven't said it before, I'll say it again.

We are in so much trouble.

I don't have a damn thing exciting going on. I have a doctor's appointment later today and then I'm probably going to scrub my house because I can't stand messes.

Then I'll pick up Kingy and we'll destroy it all weekend.

I can't wait.

Here's some cuteness from this morning.

He's 18 months going on 20. Boo.

Hope everyone has a wicked awesome weekend!

Ain't no party like a slumber party

I stayed up way too late last night watching the CMAs.

I may be regretting that right about now...

You know, because on the one night I stay up late, Ole Kingy decided he wanted to have a slumber party.

But not the fun kind with movies and popcorn and chocolate and prank calls.

Oh no.

It was the kind where he sleeps like a restless beast for the entire night, kicking, punching and head butting me. Rolling around, kicking off blankets and just generally being a giant pain in the ass.

Did I mention he is sick and picked up thrush somewhere along the way?

So it was me, Kingy, Gracie and Buck all stacked up in my bed last night.

Yeah, both dogs.

Want to know where I slept? On the edge of the bed, in a space as wide as my body, on my side, with the dogs and The King touching as much of me as they possibly could manage.

To make matters even worse, I tried to sneak him back into bed around 4:30 so I could get at least an hour of solid sleep and failed miserably. As soon as he hit the pillow he woke right up and started crying out for "mommy".

I mean.

You can't ignore them and hope they fall back to sleep when they are calling for you specifically. So back to bed we went for another hour until he popped up at 6am signing for food.

Screw you daylight savings.

And so here I sit. Half awake with an enormous coffee, full of regret with a country music hangover.

I'll take a Friday afternoon at 4:30pm, please. Thanks!

I love you country music

First, Carrie Underwood.

Put your damn legs away.

Just kidding. If my legs looked like that I would never wear pants.

But I strongly dislike her style of screaming singing. Like, if I were in that building I would be so upset about my inability to hear when she was finished.

Few thoughts:

Luke Bryan. What a freakin snooze you were tonight.

Tim McGraw - How old are you? Is it just me or has he aged like, 100 year? And those pants? Faith. For real?

I love that they picked on Miley Cyrus the entire time. I know bullying is wrong blah blah blah. I'm not a huge fan of T-Swift but that's how it's done Miley. Take notes.

Speaking of T-Swift. That betch killed it. I also may have teared up when they gave her that Pinnacle award. I can't explain it. I tear up at everything.

I was kind of on board with Eric Church. Minus the weird ending.

Little Big Town. I dig you.

I love you George Strait.

That is all.

Addition:

Zac Brown is mother freakin amazing. I saw them in concert last year and they were unbelievable.

Daily Thankful

I almost forgot! 

Today, I am thankful for an employer that is flexible and allows me to take care of The King. 

Because this damn kid catches EVERYTHING!!!!

He done did it again

Jimmy Kimmel. You are my favorite.

Check out the Halloween prank below. This has been going on for a few years now and it gets better every time.

The King betta watch out!

Marriage

Just stumbled across this article on the Huff

"Marriage Isn't for You"

I read the first line of this essay on a different site and was all pumped up to hate this guy...

"Having been married only a year and a half, I've recently come to the conclusion that marriage isn't for me."

What a dick, right? So of course I clicked on the link to read about how big of a douche this guy is and was very quickly, proven wrong. This was the response his father gave when he was asking how to know if he's ready for marriage.

"My dad giving his response to my concerns was such a moment for me. With a knowing smile he said, "Seth, you're being totally selfish. So I'm going to make this really simple: marriage isn't for you. You don't marry to make yourself happy, you marry to make someone else happy. More than that, your marriage isn't for yourself, you're marrying for a family. Not just for the in-laws and all of that nonsense, but for your future children. Who do you want to help you raise them? Who do you want to influence them? Marriage isn't for you. It's not about you. Marriage is about the person you married."

That'll make you stop and reflect on your relationship and your actions toward your partner, right?

One step forward, two steps back

Well. Last night was another housewife fail.

I thought I would get all fancy and make chicken pesto paninis for dinner last night. Everything was going really well, like no one was crying when PB walked in the door, and then I went to the cupboard to pull out my pesto and alas, I had none.

Huh?

Mind you, I had every single other ingredient. Fresh cheese, crusty bread, yummy baked chicken, tomatoes, avocado and sun-dried tomatoes. But no pesto. How is that even possible?

So then I stop panicking and figure it's ok, I'll just make them buffalo chicken paninis. Brilliant!

Wrong.

I have no buffalo sauce.

I mean. Talk about striking out. This is like living without milk and bread and eggs. How could I possibly not have these ingredients? They are versatile and delicious! Mostly delicious but you get my point.

Anyway, I managed to semi-salvage the sandwiches with mayo and the other ingredients but I wasn't really able to save my housewife pride. PB said it was "a fine dinner" and that it wasn't gross but he was totally lying.

Smart man.

I'm totally inconsistent when it comes to cooking. At least this wasn't as bad as the quesadilla des camarones incident...

The other night I made these sliders by PW. They were ok but only because I mostly don't like swiss cheese.  PB had seconds so that means they were actually good. I also thought it was kind of weird to add cream to my hamburger meat but if PW says jump, I say "how high?". They were pretty easy to whip up too.


Mushroom and Swiss Sliders with Spicy Fry Sauce

Recipe

Mushroom and Swiss Sliders with Spicy Fry Sauce

Prep Time:

 15 Minutes

 

Cook Time:

 30 Minutes

 

Difficulty:

 Easy

 

Servings:

 4

Print Recipe

Ingredients

• 1/3 cup Mayonnaise
• 2 Tablespoons Ketchup
• 1 teaspoon Cayenne Pepper (less If You're Sensitive To Spice!)
• 4 Tablespoons Butter
• 1/2 whole Medium Onion, Finely Diced
• 8 ounces, weight White Mushrooms, Chopped Finely
• 1/2 cup White Or Red Wine (optional)
• 4 dashes Worcestershire Sauce
• Kosher Salt And Freshly Ground Black Pepper
• 2 pounds Ground Beef
• 4 Tablespoons Heavy Whipping Cream
• 4 dashes Worcestershire Sauce
• 1 teaspoon Kosher Salt
• Freshly Ground Black Pepper
• 4 slices Swiss Cheese, Cut Into Four Squares
• 8 whole Dinner (or Slider) Rolls, Split

Preparation Instructions

In a small bowl, mix mayonnaise, ketchup, and cayenne. Stir together until totally combined. Set aside. (This is the spicy fry sauce.)

Melt butter in a large skillet. Add onions and cook over medium heat for five minutes, stirring frequently. Add mushrooms and toss around, then add wine (if using), Worcestershire, salt and pepper. Cook for several minute over medium heat, or until all liquid has evaporated. Transfer mushroom mixture to a separate bowl, scraping all contents from the skillet.

Mix ground beef, heavy cream, Worcestershire, and salt and pepper in a bowl. Use your hands to thoroughly mix ingredients. Form 1/4 to 1/3 cup of the meat mixture into patties, making an indentation with your thumb to keep the patties from plumping too much when they cook. In the same skillet as the one used to cook the mushrooms, melt 1 tablespoon butter over medium to medium-high heat. Add four patties at a time, indented side face up. Cook for 4 minutes, then flip. Spoon generous portion of mushroom mixture on each patty, then top with one or two squares of Swiss, depending on your preference. Place lid on skillet and cook for an additional 2 to 3 minutes, until burgers are cooked through and cheese is melted. Remove to a place and keep warm while you repeat with the rest of the meat mixture.

Toast halved buns under the oven broiler. Spread generously with spicy fry sauce. Place patties between buns and serve immediately with fried onion strings.