Husbands....

Let me preface this by saying that I have perhaps the most helpful and eager to please husband in the world. He cleans my kitchen and washes the dishes and runs to the store while I'm cooking to grab that last second ingredient that I must've forgotten without complaint or even hesitation. He will take a shopping list to the store and even drag a child or two along in order to save ME the hassle. Yes, I love him. He's definitely a keeper, which is probably why I've kept him around for 12 years.

That said...is my husband the only husband out there who can't seem to make it through the grocery store, no matter how short his list is, without calling to clarify something or another? Tonight, he said he wanted chili dogs for dinner...um...well, ok, I guess. Not having ANYTHING to make chili dogs in the house, I sent him to the store with the following list: hot dogs, canned chili, hot dog buns, and cheese (written just like that). My phone rings about 15 minutes later:

"Honey, they are all out of Tillamook 2 pound bricks..."
"Um, ok? So get something else..."
"But..."
"Then get 1 pound of Tillamook..."
"I guess I *could*..."
"Well, I don't see as you have much choice short of picking something else..."

Needless to say, he came home with a 1 pound brick of his favorite cheese. LOL!

But if it's not this, it's, "So, they have a 6 pack or an 8 pack of the item on your list...which do you want?" or "So I have a coupon for buy 2 get 1 free, but there are only two on the shelf..."

It is almost as though all of his grown-up judgment seeps out of his brain when he walks through the door of a grocery store...Someone tell me he's not the only husband that does this?

So, I haven't been blogging...

....but I have a good excuse! Well, ok, not really. It's summertime, and our meals aren't all that complicated or spectacularly worthy of sharing these days. A lot of salads, grilled meat, fruit, etc. And when I do actually make something more substantial, I forget to take photos, or my process is a lot like this:

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Hmmm....I'm hungry....but I need to go shopping. Ugh. Ummmm...Ohhh!! Let's make some of Mom's drop biscuits! Yes, that's it!

*scoops some flour into a bowl.

*pours some sugar on top

*adds a good spoonful of baking powder

*adds a heavy pinch of salt

*scoops in some Country Crock (yes, I use this crap. Sue me.)

*mix*mix*mix*mix*mix*mix*

At this point, I remember I have blueberries in the freezer from before our vacation because I found them on a killer sale three days before we left and never used them...(lol)...and in a fit of brilliance, decide to add blueberries and some vanilla.

*pour a good splash of the vanilla extract into the coffee mug of milk waiting to go into the batter and add it to the batter.

*mix*mix*mix*mix*mix*mix*

Hrm....a little on the thin side, crap.

*adds more flour

Still thin. ugh.

*adds more flour

Ugh now it's too thick. Hrm. OHHHHH Yes, I have lemons in the fridge for my water and iced tea. Yes. I will sacrifice one to the baking gods.

*zests a lemon and adds it to the batter

*cuts lemon in half and squeezes the juice into the batter.

Awesome!

*stirs in blueberries

I suppose these are no longer drop biscuits...they're really more like scones at this point. Oh well. We'll just call them Lemon Blueberry Scones and all will be ok. Except...there's no way I'm taking the effort to roll them out and cut them into pretty triangles. In the spirit of the drop-biscuits they were originally supposed to be...I shall just scoop and drop them into the pan.

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So yes...this is how my cooking processes have been lately. Not exactly blog-worthy, and even if I wanted to blog it, I couldn't, really, because I didn't measure anything OR take photos, or even use a recipe I could share. LMAO!

I do so very hope that everyone has been having a great summer, though!!! :) I will resume cooking again after school starts up in a few weeks, I'm sure. :)

Tiny Backyards in the Springtime

I think it's safe to say that it's officially Springtime in my neck of the woods. The weather has been in the 60s-low 70s for the last couple weeks straight, and it is just gorgeous outside!

This year brings a new opportunity for our family. For the first time since having children, we live in a house with a small enough backyard where we can view every square inch of it from just about every part of the first floor and half of the second floor of our house. On top of that, our exceedingly tiny yard is 100% privacy fenced with a gate that is locked from the inside as well as from the outside, so it's safe--no one is coming in, and no children are escaping. What does that mean? That means that for the first time in my children's lives, they have ultimate freedom in our back yard. They can come and go as they please, as if it's simply another room in our home.

And my children LOVE their backyard! They have a swingset, lots of outside toys, and more patio space than they know what to do with. They can run and jump and swing and climb and slide and bounce balls and jump rope and draw with chalk and dig in the dirt and blow bubbles and and and and and and...till their hearts' content. And they do. All day long. Every single day.

They come in at the end of the day exhausted. They get a bath and go to bed without so much as an ounce of fussiness almost every night. Ahhhhh, I love Spring!!!

When I looked at this house, I have to admit that I was skeptical about the size of the backyard, but it's proving to be the BEST part of this house!!

I'm *NOT* Microwave-Compatible!

I'd just like to say that it takes mad amounts of skill to blow up a cereal bowl with 2 sticks of butter in it....on 30% power....before the butter is even half melted....

Add this incident to the 3 microwaves I've ruined in the last year, and ya know, I'm beginning to think that I'm not microwave-compatible. I think maybe I should leave all future nuking tasks to my husband.

That is all.