Baked Italian Meatballs

There's just something deliciously comforting about a big plate of spaghetti and homemade meatballs.

This recipe has become one of my husband's and my favorites to whip up on nights when I forget to plan meals or just want something really tasty. The ingredients are pretty straightforward, but the cooking time does take a little longer than usual, so plan to start making this a little earlier than other meals. The wait is so worth it though.

Believe me.

Ingredients:
1 pound ground beef
1 egg
3 Tbsp. bread crumbs
3 Tbsp. grated parmesan
1 tsp. basil
1-2 Tbsp. minced garlic (less if you're not a garlic person like me)
1/2 small onion, diced
1/2 tsp. Italian herb seasoning
Dash of salt and pepper
Pasta sauce


Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Mix all ingredients together in a small bowl.

If you want smaller meatballs, roll mixture into 2-inch balls. If you want man-sized meatballs like we make, double the size. Place meatballs on a lightly greased cookie sheet and bake in the preheated oven for 20 minutes.

Add desired amount of pasta sauce to a deep saute pan and add meatballs to pan. Cover and allow to simmer on medium-low for 1 hour.

We prefer to put these bad boys on top of a big pile of pasta, but they would make awesome meatball subs as well.

Yum!

Living off the land

I'm not doing a very good job of convincing my neighbors I'm not crazy.

Does anyone else have a bunch of wild onions growing in their yard? My yard is absolutely covered in them. And I think it's awesome. Apparently, most people don't share my enthusiasm.

I actually discovered these when I was out on a walk with some of my co-workers. One of the girls dug a couple of them out of the ground to show me. And I tried them. Because that's the obvious thing to do when you find random wild vegetables growing along the side of a busy road.

I guess I thought it was pretty cool that there was actually an edible plant available outside of the grocery store. I know, I'm easily amused. After my discovery, I went home and realized that these things are growing like crazy in my front yard. In every one's front yard actually. Maybe it's a Southern thing? I don't remember any of these growing in my yard when I lived in Virginia.

See all the tall, green tufts? Yup, those are wild onions. And the purple tufts are weeds (we mowed recently, I promise! Thank goodness we're not part of a homeowner's association...) I immediately looked up "wild onions" on Google, and apparently these bad boys are a big problem in Tennessee. Most people consider them to be a nuisance because of how much they grow and how hard they are to get rid of. Me, I look at them and think "garnish".

Recently, I took my daughter outside to play for awhile while I gathered some of the onions. I gave her a box of sidewalk chalk to play with and then I set out on a mission. I attacked the ground with my shovel, removing one small bulb at a time. I was Bear Grylls. I was living off the land, providing for my family, assuring our well-being. I was becoming one with Mother Nature, one wild onion at a time. And then I heard the voice of my neighbor who I had just met a few weeks ago.

Although we've lived in our current neighborhood for 2 years now, we know only 2 sets of neighbors. Well, 3 if you count the little boy across the street who comes over periodically to ask for food. We know our next-door-neighbor because he complains when our leaves fall in his yard and when we left a pile of sticks too close to his house. Apparently sticks attract spiders? News to me, but his wife is deathly afraid of spiders, and our pile of unassuming sticks were an infestation waiting to happen.

The other neighbors (the ones witnessing me digging in my front yard) we know are a couple houses down. We met them a few weeks ago when we were off work because of a snow storm. After talking to he and his wife twice, we were pretty psyched to have met 2 really nice, seemingly normal people outside of work who were our age and who had kids too. As fate would have had it though, they pulled up in their car just in time to see me on my hands and knees, feverishly hacking away at the lawn. It also didn't help my case when my daughter came barrelling at me, her entire face covered in every color of sidewalk chalk.

After my attempts to convince the neighbors that I actually am, in fact, a perfectly lucid human being, I gathered my bushel of wild onions and took my chalk-covered child inside. Then came the fun stuff. And by fun, I mean incredibly time consuming. I washed and cut each of the little stalks of wild onion that I found. It was a labor of love...and it took me over an hour.

Most of the stalks had tiny onion bulbs, but I did have a few that were the size of my pinky. Now, what to do with 1/2 cup of wild onion bulbs? I risked my sanity to retrieve them from the front yard, but now I have no clue what to do with all of them. After doing a little research, apparently Native Americans ate these all the time with eggs. But I feel like I could fancy them up some.

So I ask you, what in the world can I make with wild onions? I'm sure there has to be others of you out there who have tried wild onions before. Maybe you make some fancy quiche with them? A roast perhaps? I need to know. My sanity depends on it.

The Strawberry Sea Monster

My husband hasn't been feeling well for the past 2 days. This is a bad thing because one, who wants to feel junky anyway? and two, he turns into a 5 year-old boy when he's sick. He lays around on the couch most of the time and when he does get up, he shuffles around the house all sad and mopey like Eeyore from Winnie the Pooh. Sick Pat happens whenever he has any kind of illness. This can range from the flu to coughing a couple of times one day. Luckily, we've discovered the Strawberry Sea Monster.

When we were first dating, there was a day when Pat started feeling a little sick. To do his part to battle oncoming sickness, he decided to go to the grocery store to find something to help boost his immunities. The conversation went something like this:


Me: "Did you find something to help your cold?"
Pat: "Yeah, I got a 'Strawberry C Monster'"
Me: *blank stare*
Pat: "What, have you had it before? Is it gross?"
Me: "That just seems like a weird name."
Pat: "I think it's a good name, it reflects how it attacks your sickness with vitamin C."
Me: "I wish you could see what I'm imagining right now."


Thanks to the wonders of Paint, now you can.

What sickness wouldn't flee from the Strawberry Sea Monster? The 3 eyes, the furrowed unibrow, the pointy horns....probably the only thing that works against this beast is the fact that his name is lacking intimidation. Maybe that works out in his favor though. The sickness is all, "Psh, why should I be afraid of something with the word "strawberry" in it?" and then BAM! Complete eradication.

Imagine my disappointment when I found out that the Strawberry Sea Monster is actually a drink. And it's spelled "C Monster" instead of "Sea Monster."

I know, you were imagining a giant pink monster with a unibrow too, weren't you?

Food adventures in Memphis

I love the weekends, especially when they involve eating your way through a city.

A few friends and I got together yesterday with one single goal: to seek and destroy some delicious Memphis food. Since we didn't want crying children to ruin our food adventure, we got a babysitter and set out on a culinary journey to Gus's Famous Fried Chicken (of Food Network and Man vs. Food fame) and Kooky Canucks (of Man vs. Food fame.) If you've ever seen either of these two restaurants on TV, you know that their food just looks way too good NOT to try. For some reason, the Memphis episode of Man vs. Food always seems to come on TV when I'm working out. It's extremely difficult to focus on running when Adam Richman is chowing down on some of the most delicious looking fried chicken I have ever seen. Being pregnant is also a great excuse to go downtown for some grub. Or go anywhere for some grub for that matter.

Our first stop was Gus's Fried Chicken. We had been warned that Gus's was kind of a hole in the wall, but hey, some of the best restaurants are. When we got there, we could see why. Upon first glance, Gus's wasn't anything special. A small, inconspicuous-looking restaurant a short walk from Beale St. with a single sign out front simply stating "Gus's Friend Chicken, World Famous." Pretty lofty claim for such a small place, but one step inside the barred door proved that many people agreed with their claims.

As we walked in, the smell of fresh chicken and fries was everywhere. The walls were simply decorated with eclectic pictures of dancing chickens and the daily beer offerings, and the room was packed with a number of small tables filled with hungry people. We were seated at a table in the corner after a short wait and introduced to our waitress who (luckily for her) was able to handle plenty of sarcasm. We each ordered heaping of plates of fried chicken accompanied by baked beans, coleslaw, and slices of white bread - and for the true southerners with us, sweet tea - and discovered after the first bite that the chicken at Gus's was worth all the hype.

Each bite had just the right amount of spice and crunch. Unlike other places where I've had fried chicken, the breast meat was juicy and plentiful and fat-free - meaning well-trimmed. Only in my dreams would this chicken have been a fat-free food. A girl can dream, right?

After stuffing ourselves with chicken, it was off to our next stop - Kooky Canuck for their delicious skillet-cooked cookies because really, what is lunch without closure? And what better closure to an amazing day than a giant, ice cream topped cookie?


I first learned about Kooky Canuck (formerly Big Foot Lodge) on Man vs. Food when Adam Richman went to Memphis to tackle their Big Foot Burger - a 7 pound mammoth hamburger the size of a small child. But other than making huge hamburgers that can feed a small army, they also have delicious desserts, like the skillet chocolate chip cookie that I shared with the hubby. The cookie is not just any cookie - it's served in a skillet, piping hot from the oven and topped with delicious vanilla ice cream. If I hadn't just eaten a giant plate of chicken, I'm sure I could have eaten this cookie all by myself. I couldn't even get a picture before tearing into this thing. They even offer peanut butter cookies topped with ice cream if you prefer. I'll definitely be going back for that one.

So that's how my Saturday was. I hope yours was just as delicious.

Cow Appreciation Day

So remember how I told you that I made a cow dress for Haley for Chick-fil-a's Cow Appreciation Day? Well, I'm finally getting around to posting pictures of it. If you're not aware of Cow Appreciation Day, it's a once a year event that Chick-fil-a holds at their restaurants where guests can dress up like cows for a free entree (even for the little calves.)

Being a HUGE sucker for their chicken sandwiches, I planned on dressing up myself and my daughter and getting other obsessed people friends at the office to participate with us. Originally, I planned on making Haley a simple t-shirt with cow spots on it, you know, something that would only take 5 minutes to whip up. Instead, I got a grand vision for a shirt with cow ruffles that instead took me 4 1/2 hours to finish. And yes, the delicious food made up for the lack of sleep (even though my husband thinks I'm completely nuts for staying up until 11:45 for a $6.00 entree. He just doesn't understand.)

So unfortunately, I had a hard time getting the little calf to stand still (proof below), so the pictures are less than stellar (but at least I got one good one thanks to my wonderful hubby who got her to smile!)

I had this cow print fabric sitting in my stash for over a year now waiting for the perfect opportunity to use it. It was a sign! I used a 4T shirt and cut it down to fit her, then sewed a ruffle around the bottom and used a blanket stitch to attach letters that spell "little cowgirl" (which I thought was very appropriate for the occasion :) I also made several fabric roses and attached one to her shirt, and 2 to the headband I made for her. I kinda winged it (wung it? wang it? whatever.) but here's a better tutorial to show you how to make cute fabric roses. Haley hates having stuff on her head (hats, glasses, bows, ANYTHING) so the headband didn't stay on long, but it was cute for pictures!

Oh, and did I mention I dressed up too? Chick-fil-a provided free printable ears, noses, tails, and "Eat Mor Chikin" signs for those who wanted to participate. Nice look, right?

And did I also mention that I got most of the office to dress up with me?? That's right, we love our chicken sandwiches!!

All of us got free entrees except for the one guy on the far left who was denied because he didn't have cow spots on his pants. I don't know when this became a rule, I think he just got a grumpy employee. I finally got to try the spicy chicken sandwich (2 thumbs up!) but I'll probably be sticking with the classic in the future. There's just something about the original chicken sandwich, I'm pretty sure they put some kind of addictive substance in it...

We all had a great time though, I'll definitely be participating again next year!

BBQ Chicken Pizza

Who doesn't love a good pizza, especially one that brings together cheese, chicken, and BBQ sauce on one delicious slice? No one? I didn't think so.

If you're like my family, any food that features BBQ sauce is a good dish. We have to stock up on the giant bottles of BBQ at our local Sam's Club to make it through the week. We put it in our burgers, on our chicken, and for this dish it replaces the traditional tomato sauce on pizza to give it a little Memphis zing. It's a favorite (and most importantly easy to prepare) dinner of ours and I'm sure once you try it, it will become a new staple at your house. Without further ado, I give you BBQ Chicken Pizza!



I'm no Rachel Ray. None of the ingredients involve fancy names. This is just a simple, delicious pizza that uses ingredients that you can find around your home and your local grocery store - and that's what I like about it! Also, I discovered how difficult it is to make a pizza look "sexy." The picture doesn't do this pizza justice - it's amazing.

Ingredients for 1 small pizza:

• 1 pre-made pizza crust. I use our local grocery store brand pizza crust that comes in a pack of 2, but I also love Boboli, it's just more expensive so I don't usually buy it. If you're feeling really adventurous, you can make your own crust to make it extra delicious!
• Olive oil to brush the crust
• 1 small bottle of BBQ sauce (KC Masterpiece is the preferred BBQ of the McCaffrey household.)
• 1 8-oz package of pizza cheese plus extra if you like your pizza really cheesy
• 1/2 small red onion, chopped
• 2 medium chicken breasts
• Oregano

Recipe:
First, preheat oven according to instructions on pizza crust package (mine says 450.) Next, prepare your chicken using 1 of 2 options: if you want to quickly cook your chicken, boil chicken breasts in water for 30 minutes or until chicken is easily shredded, or if you would rather go the slow cooker route, place chicken breasts in a slow cooker with enough water to cover the chicken breasts and cook on low for 8 hours. Remove chicken and shred with a fork, then mix shredded chicken with plenty of BBQ sauce. Set aside.

Next, brush the edges of your pizza crust lightly with olive oil (this will help the crust brown and crisp nicely.) Spread a liberal layer BBQ sauce on the crust, making sure to coat the bottom evenly. Sprinkle on cheese mixture and red onion, then top with mounds of shredded BBQ chicken.

Drizzle on more BBQ sauce to finish, then liberally sprinkle with oregano. Bake according to package directions (typically 7-10 minutes, 9 works just fine for us) and dig in! This is a great pizza for a quick Friday night dinner or for a get together with friends. Hope you enjoy it as much as we do!

Moo

I'm not! This is what I'll be wearing to Chick-fil-a today for a free combo meal to celebrate Cow Appreciation Day. Oh and Haley will be in tow in full cow-spotted glory, complete with tail (pictures on that later).

If you want to participate, all you have to do is click here and print off Chick-fil-a's cow costume starter kit, then show up at your nearest location for free food. I have 2 Chick-fil-a's in my area, guess who's having chicken sandwich combo meals twice today??

Red, White and Blueberry Trifle

I don't know about you, but my favorite thing about the 4th of July (aside from the fireworks) is the food. The 4th is a great excuse to dust off the grill, cut up a giant watermelon, and enjoy time with friends and family between bites of traditional BBQ food.

A few years back, a friend of mine brought a delicious trifle to a BBQ that was unforgettable. I had never had trifle before, but after one bite I was hooked. She gave me the recipe (which is surprisingly simple!) and I've probably made this for friends and family more times than any other dessert since then.

Traditionally, a trifle consists of layers sponge cake with brandy or rum and custard and whipped cream, but there are tons of different variations to this dessert. This particular version has no alcohol in it. The fresh strawberries and blueberries, along with the whipped cream, make this dessert surprisingly refreshing.

Ingredients:

• 1 box yellow cake mix
• 2 small packages of Jello brand instant cheesecake pudding
• 1 large container of fresh strawberries
• 1 small container of fresh blueberries
• 1 cup of Cool Whip whipped cream, softened
• 1 package of white chocolate chips

*Note: If you're making this for a party, make it a few hours ahead rather than overnight. The juices from the strawberries tend to soak the cake somewhat, so this dessert is best served right away.

Recipe:
Prepare cake mix according to package and let cool. (You will only need 1 of the prepared cakes, so only make 1/2 of the box if you want, or you can do what my husband and I do and make both so you can frost and eat the other cake later :) While your cake is cooling, prepare both boxes of pudding according to the directions on the box. Set aside 2/3 cup of pudding to be used for the topping later.

Rinse blueberries and strawberries, then cut up strawberries into slices and coat with sugar if desired.

Cut up cake into bite-sized pieces and layer 1/2 of the pieces in the bottom of a trifle dish or other large glass dish. Layer all of the pudding on top (except your reserve), followed by 1/2 bag of white chocolate chips, 1/2 of the blueberries, 1/2 of the strawberries, and lastly the remaining cake cubes.

Combine the reserved cheesecake pudding with the 1 cup Cool Whip and mix well. Pour mixture over top. Use the remaining fruit and white chocolate chips to decorate the top of the trifle (or just toss them on top, no one will mind, they'll be too busy eating :)

Enjoy!

Tubes

Oh boy, it's been too long since I last posted. These past few weeks have been a whirlwind of doctor's appointments for Haley and I - ear, nose and throat doctor for Haley to fix her ear issues, OBGYN for me to check up on the rapidly growing little bean inside (new baby pictures to come!) - and also some new crafts I've been working on that I'll have to post in the next few days.

I told you in an earlier post about how Haley has had problems with her ears for months and how she has been on a ridiculous amount of antibiotics to clear everything up. Unfortunately, the ear problems have continued (despite 5 rounds of different antibiotics and a set of shots) and she had to have surgery to get tubes put in her ears yesterday.

While I wasn't looking forward to my daughter going under the knife, I just wanted all of her sickness and ear problems to go away finally. She's been such a trooper through all of the sickness she's been dealing with lately, I don't know if I would be able to handle everything as well as she has. After taking her to a specialist, the doctor told us that Haley didn't have ear infections, but that she had a ton of build up fluid and general yucky stuff built up in her ears that was making her hear as if she's hearing under water. I had been wondering why she had suddenly stopped calling me "Mama" and started referring to me as "Baba" instead, and the doctor explained that that was how she heard "Mama" pronounced because of all the built up fluid.

So yesterday, I helped load Haley in the car with her pj's and blankie, and said my goodbyes as my husband took her to the hospital for surgery. I know getting tubes is a pretty standard procedure for kids her age, but the word "surgery" can be pretty scary sometimes, especially when it's concerning your child.

I had to pick my mother-in-law (who Haley calls "Yaya") up from the airport as Haley was having the surgery, but my husband called right after to let me know that the surgery went well but that Haley was confused and groggy from the anesthesia. It was hard to hear her pitiful cries in the background, but good to know that everything went well and that the ear issues are (hopefully) cured for good.

Haley stayed home with Yaya yesterday and today so that she can recover in her own bed in the comfort of her own home. I know beyond a doubt that she's getting spoiled completely (she already got a bag of clothes from the family in Pittsburgh - thanks guys!). She's been sleeping a lot the past couple of days, which is expected, and while she's still been very clingy and whiny, I know she'll be back to her normal, happy self any day now.

She even called me Mama this morning :)

An Alabama wedding

These past few weeks have been busy busy busy! As the weather gets warmer in Tennessee, our weekends seem to have more packed into them, which is ok by me.

Last weekend, Patrick, Haley, Todd and I piled in the van (a.k.a. the Swagger Wagon) and took a road trip to Alabama to see our friends Matt and Rachel get married. I've known Matt for a little over 2 years. He was in the same group of friends that Patrick was in when we lived in Virginia, and I have a lot of great memories of all of us having bbq's and movie nights at Patrick's bachelor pad not that long ago. After graduating, he moved back to Alabama to be closer to family, and ended up meeting his fiancee (now wife) Rachel. Happily, a few months ago Matt accepted a job where Pat and I both work, and he now lives in Tennessee - and will, of course, be bringing Rachel with him after they honeymoon in Aspen.

I was really excited about this wedding because it would be the first one Patrick and I attended since our own wedding 2 years ago. There's just something magical about seeing 2 people so in love, nervously standing before each other, giving their hearts to one another completely. Love is a beautiful thing. It made me think of the long wait that I went through to get to my wedding day, only to have it fly by in an instant when I myself was standing before my husband, sliding a ring onto his finger.


The wedding was gorgeous. Rachel and Matt had chosen black, yellow, and white as their colors, and the whole wedding had a very fresh, "springy" feel to it. The flower girls were adorable in their little white dresses and daisies in their hair, and of course Rachel was radient. We were also glad to have a few of our friends at the wedding as well, especially since many of them hadn't seen Haley since she was a tiny baby. We all shared a row at the back of the church (in case I had to escape with a whiny toddler.)

Since we didn't want to leave Haley alone while we stayed overnight in Alabama, she came too and was a perfect angel throughout the whole wedding - up until they were reciting their vows and she started saying "oooooohhh," which seemed hilariously appropriate. She kept herself entertained with an assortment of board books, toys, and an iPhone - which she loves playing Bejeweled on. She's going to be the reigning champ by age 3. She sat through the whole wedding and then it was onto the reception. Without a solid nap in between, Pat and I wondered how she'd do since the reception would undoubtedly go until late evening.

The reception was held at an art museum in Mobile. They had gone all out with personalized decorations like monogrammed aprons for some of the people serving food, and personalized coffee sleeves and goody bags for the favors - a cookie table where guests could choose from an assortment of homemade cookies. My favorite thing was the cake which, of course, carried out their yellow/white theme perfectly. And yes, it was as good as it looked.

After making it through several rounds at the buffet, toddling around the entire art museum, and the cake cutting, Haley promptly collapsed on Pat's shoulder in exhaustion at 9 pm. We were just glad that we made it through the whole night without any major freak outs from a little girl with no afternoon nap. We missed the dancing, but hey, I'm pretty sure the people there weren't ready for our sweet dance moves anyway. Oh well, maybe at the next wedding...

Sick of being sick

This is what our life has been full of for the past few months. Medicine droppers. As you can see, we've started quite an impressive collection of different shapes, colors, and sizes of droppers to give Haley medicine. It began with an ear infection and it all went downhill from there.

We first noticed something wasn't quite right with our daughter when she became unusually whiny. She's a very happy baby, even when she's sick, so it was extremely unusual that she began whining as much as she did. Me being the parent that shrugs most things off as just having a "bad day" decided that she was just tired. My husband, who is quite the opposite (he made me ask the pediatrician if Haley's hiccups were normal when she was a newborn) talked me into taking her in for a check up. It turns out that my poor, newly minted 1-year old had a double ear infection.

Haley had never had an ear infection before, so I knew it was only a matter of time until they found her, especially with the history that my husband had as a child - multiple ear infections, 8 sets of tubes, and several surgeries. No worries though, they'd give her some medicine and everything would heal up I thought. A week and one antibiotic later, we were back to visit Haley's pediatrician only to find out that both ears were still infected. Fast forward 4 more antibiotics, an allergy medication, several bad diaper rashes, 3 shots, and a partridge in a pear tree later and my poor baby still has yet to shake the double ear infections, and now she has pneumonia from all of the drainage. This poor girl can't catch a break.

To her credit, she is a trooper and she handles things better than I would if I had a double ear infection, allergies, and pneumonia at the same time. It amazes me how much such a little person can put up with and still keep a smile on her face. I just hope she doesn't have to put up with it much longer. She has an appointment with a specialist on Monday to look at her ears and decide whether or not she needs to get tubes put in. At this point, I just want whatever will make her feel and hear normally again. I just wish it hadn't come to tubes, even if thousands of other children across the world have been in her same tiny shoes.

Hot dogs and Cheetos

When I first got pregnant with my daughter, I wasn't sure what to expect since I had never been pregnant before. All I knew is what others had told me, and one thing they warned me about was the cravings they had when they were pregnant.

We have all heard the story of how pregnant women get sudden urges for crazy foods like pickles and ice cream, so I was prepared to suddenly have an intense need for peanut butter and chicken nuggets, or something along those lines. As my pregnancy progressed, I still no cravings. At one point, I had an amazing lamb dish at a fancy restaurant when I was travelling. It was the best lamb I had ever had and I wanted more. But then, it wasn't like I HAD to have lamb at that very moment, I just wanted that same dish again because I had enjoyed it so much. I ended my pregnancy without eating even one pickle, much less with ice cream.

Enter pregnancy #2. In the past 2 weeks, I have had so many cravings, it's insane. It would be nice if I could settle on one food that I really craved and just buy a lot of that food, but unfortunately, my cravings vary from day to day. So far, I've wanted:

• Hot dogs. I never want hot dogs. They're not healthy and probably have just as much nutrition as a car tire, but one day, I just had to have a hot dog. This is how my husband guessed that I was pregnant.
• Tacos (authentic ones). This craving actually caused me to go online and drool over a local Mexican restaurant's online menu. Sad, I know.
• Cheetos. I mean, when aren't Cheeto's delicious?
• New York pizza. This was a very inconvenient craving because I wasn't like I wanted New York style pizza, I wanted the actual slice of chicken and broccoli pizza I had gotten in New York years ago when I had gone on a road trip with friends.
• French Fries. McDonalds satisfied this craving. The fries were delicious, but I think what I really wanted was the ketchup since my ratio of ketchup packets to fries was 1 to 2.

I had a couple of friends tell me recently that they craved salads and vegetables. I'm not one of those women. Luckily, I'm still able to run, so that's what I'll be doing until I get too big. Afterall, I hear it's not too healthy to gain all 30 pounds within the first 8 weeks of pregnancy. Now to find some snacks....

Rub a dub dub

We played with bubbles tonight.


And Haley got a full beard. Check out those sweet side burns!

A Pear to Remember

Congrats to my friend Lindsey of A Pear to Remember for reaching almost 2,000 viewers! If you want to learn how to cook delicious, healthy food (or even if you'd rather just look at some fantastic pictures of delicious, healthy food) check out Lindsey's blog! She's a modern-day Julia Child who teaches us all how to cook with (and appreciate) fresh ingredients.

Ode to the Truffle

I heard some terrible news this morning from the Starbucks barista as Pat and I were pulling up to the window for our daily coffee fix. Starbucks is discontinuing their Espresso Truffle drink. You may think this is not as tragic as the war in Afghanistan or the passing of the recent healthcare bill, but that's probably because you haven't tasted this amazing drink.

I stumbled upon the Espresso Truffle accidentally a couple years ago when I decided to order something new at Starbucks, and I haven't looked back since. For those deprived people who have never tasted an Espresso Truffle before, I ask you, WHY IN THE WORLD NOT?? Starbucks combines their signature hot chocolate with milk and espresso and tops it off with whipped cream which results in a rich flavor that tastes exactly like a chocolate truffle. For those people who want a boost but aren't big on the "coffee flavor" of coffee (I am not one of these people, but I have heard of these crazy individuals) you need to try this drink. And for those people who love coffee and chocolate like I do, you have no excuse. I have recommended this drink to people so many times that Starbucks needs to start paying me for their marketing. And yet, all my efforts were for nothing.

Espresso Truffle, you had me at the first sip. Now what am I supposed to do? Was it me? I can change! I'll drink 2 Espresso Truffles a day! I wasn't ready for this, things were going so well. And all this time I thought we had something good.

Fairies, Flowers, and Food, oh my!

As those of you who have been reading my blog know, I have been busy planning my little girl's 1st birthday in Pittsburgh. Even though she just turned 1 and won't remember anything we did for her, we still went all out and planned everything with a "fairy/garden" theme (thanks to lots of help from family!)

My sister-in-law and mother-in-law decorated the living room and kitchen with lights, flowers, and fairies everywhere. Even the fan had fairies hanging from it, so turning it on was not an option unless you wanted to chance having a kamikaze fairy fly into your eye.

For the food, we had lots of skewered fruit with fruit dip, veggies, meatballs, mini egg rolls, pigs in a blanket, and chips and dip among other deliciousness. I tried my hand at food art by attempting to make little bouquets out of the cauliflower and broccoli and putting them in flower pots. For only feeding 18 people, we made a TON of food. Unfortunately, we had to drive back to Tennessee the next day so we couldn't stuff our faces a second time.

And then of course, there were the cupcakes. If you remember, I had been planning to make toadstool cupcakes (think Toad of Mario Brothers fame) with homemade buttercream frosting and red fondant as the dots on the toadstool. My husband and I ran 2 trial runs and finally got the recipe right on the second try so I felt pretty prepared.

I bought a pack of basic colored fondant (red included) and went about my cupcake making, only to find that the makers of the fondant included 2 yellow packs of fondant instead of one red and one yellow! I had to think fast since going back to Michaels wasn't an option, so I made cupcakes with flowers on top using all of the fondant colors instead. I still wish I could have made the toadstools, but they still turned out good, so I'm told. I never did get to eat one now that I think about it, but with all the trial cupcakes I've been making, I'm all cupcaked out anyway :)

Haley made out like a bandit when it came to gifts.It looked like Christmas all over again. She was so cute though, she would help me rip the paper off of her packages and then smile and clap after we got them open. She got tons of cute clothes, a kitchen set and playfood, Little People playhouse, bath toys, and a handmade stuffed monster from her Aunt Shannon that she absolutely adores.

We put all of her new toys in her playroom when we got home the next night, and I wonder what we ever did without it. She has so many toys that we couldn't fit them all in her room, so I'm sure they'd find a home in the living room like they were before. I'm glad that she now has a room to herself that is dedicated completely to making a fun mess.

When it came time for Haley to sit down in her high chair for her giant birthday cupcake, it seemed all so surreal. Just over a year ago, I had been sitting at home going about my everyday life and thinking about how I would be having a baby in (what I thought would be) 4 1/2 weeks. That night, I was in the hospital giving birth to my little 6 lb. 2 oz. Haley. Now, she's much bigger and acting more like a toddler and less like a baby every day. She says 6 words, walks with assistance, and gets into just about everything. I guess I need to get used to the word "toddler."

Or not :)

Samples

My husband and I went to Sam's Club last night to pick up a few things. I don't know if I can use the phrase "pick up a few things" here though because when you go to Sam's, you can't buy just "a few things." Everything comes in large quantities.

2 giant bottles of grape jelly.

A gallon of syrup.

6 pounds of hamburger.

5 jars of salsa.

A hammock of cake.

OK, that last one isn't a real measurement, but you get the idea. I love Sam's Club. It gives me a reason to buy a 2 pound bag of M&M's and use the excuse, "it was the smallest bag they had!" But that's not my favorite thing though. My absolute favorite thing about Sam's Club is their samples.

When we were kids, my parents would take my brother and I to Sam's Club after church and we would eat our way through the samples and call it lunch. This was back when we used to go to a Presbyterian church, and for those who don't know, Presbyterians do church like runners do marathons. Church was a long, exhausting event for me as a child.

First, there was bible study for my parents while my brother and I were paraded off to Sunday school. After that, there was service in the sanctuary. In reality, church was probably about 3 hours long but at that age, it seemed like an eternity. Do you know how hard it is for a young, growing (aka plump) child to stay full for that length of time without snacks? I got really excited on the Sundays that we took communion because that meant I at least got some form of sustenance in my body, even if it was a thimble of grape juice and morsel of bread.

Sam's Club was heaven after the long wait. I would hone in on the location of each sample lady, and make a beeline for their table (with a parent of course, they didn't want kids like me filling their pockets full of meatballs). If I was lucky, they wouldn't remember that they had already given me a sample and I could come back later for more of the good stuff.

These days, I don't need a parent to accompany me to the sample table anymore, but I still get just as excited as I used to. I try to be as nonchalant as I can when I approach the tables, but in reality, I'm having a little party in my head. When the Sample Lady asks me if I would like to try something, I try to act surprised. "Oh, what's that? A sample you say? Sure, why not. I may as well since I'm here." Then I'm on to the next one.

Thank you, Sam's Club, for your wonderful array of affordable groceries. But more importantly, for your samples.

C is for cookie

It's Girl Scout cookie season!! Can you tell which ones are my husband's favorite?

Birthday take 2!

Ok, so I think we finally got it right this time!

If you remember the recent cupcake disaster of 2010, then you'll know that things could only get better from there. I knew that a mediocre cupcake wouldn't do. This is a first birthday people, the official anniversary of her escape from the womb! I had one goal: to make the perfect giant birthday cupcake. And I didn't care how many boxes of cake mix had to die before I got it right.

Since the first cupcake was a disaster, I had to change my game plan. And that meant changing the cake mix. If I were feeling more adventurous, I would try to make the actual cake batter myself. But, it being Haley's 1st birthday and all, I would rather the pressure of making the cupcake taste perfect fall into the hands of the Pillsbury Doughboy rather than on me. After all, the guy has been making cake way longer than I have.

For the trial run, I tried Duncan Hines yellow cake mix. The cake came out pretty mediocre. The texture was crumbly and the flavor wasn't anything special. After surveying my baked good options, I decided to give Betty Crocker a try to see if that one turned out any better. I also made a different icing since the first one, which was a homemade cream cheese frosting, had an overpowering powdered sugar flavor. This time around, I went for a homemade buttercream which I had tried once before with success.

Everything turned out perfect! The cake actually came out of the mold easily and held its shape instead of falling out in pieces it did last time. The taste was 100% better too; it was crisp and brown on top and moist and delicious in the center. It also rose so well that I had to shave the top and bottom pieces down so I could stack them (my favorite part because Patrick and I got to eat the extra pieces.) What can I say? We took one for the team. The frosting was great too, it was creamy and not overpoweringly sugary like the last one. Oh, and no more red food dye. I don't want my child dyed red after she stuffs her face.

I think I'm ready to do this first birthday thing! Well, in a manner of speaking. I'm ready to make the cupcake, I'm still not ready for my little Haley bug to grow up :(

A lesson learned

As a parent, there are moments in your child's life that you will never forget. First, there are the milestones: your child's first tooth, their first time crawling, first steps, their first word. Then there are the kind of moments that stick in your memory simply because they're so absolutely gross you'll never forget them, like the numerous times I've been projectile vomited on, the time Haley spit up in my mouth while I was flying her over my head, or the time I was cooking dinner while Haley was playing in her jumper and I turned around to find her bouncing in a pile of her own poo. Take a guess at which kind of moment this post is about.

Yeah that's right, it's not the first kind.

The day started out innocently enough. It was Saturday evening, and my husband and I had just sat down to a dinner of pancakes and sausage. Let me pause and tell you how much I love breakfast for dinner, or "brinner" to be exact. There's nothing like a hot plate of syrupy, buttery pancakes and sausage. I could eat breakfast all day. Anyway, back to the story at hand, my daughter is quite the little beggar at dinner time...er, brinner time. Even though Patrick and I feed her before we eat, she somehow always has room to eat our food too. I think she may be under the impression that her food is an appetizer and our food is the main course.

Although she's not walking yet, she's mastered the art of pulling herself up and cruising to get to countless things she shouldn't, like the tissue box, the DVD player, and the occasional piece of mail that was left on the coffee table supposedly out of her reach. This particular night, she had just finished her appetizer and bellied up to the coffee table to beg for my pancakes. I should probably stop giving her my food, but she gives me this little Puss in Boots stare that I can't resist. And yes, I'm sure she will continue to use this against me for as long as she can. I gave in to her cute little pleas, but I couldn't manage to stab a piece of pancake small enough for her to eat. Using my fingers, I pinched off a piece of pancake with syrup and put it into Haley's mouth, which left my fingers a little sticky.

Now, what I've neglected to tell you is that I forgot to get myself a napkin, which isn't such a big deal until you take into account the other thing that I had forgotten.

What I had also forgotten, was that my daughter had had a cold for the past 2 weeks, which left her with a runny nose. Since I was napkinless, I decided to just lick what I thought was syrup off of my fingers and continue on my merry, pancake-eating way. And then it happened.

I put my daughter's boogers in my mouth.
What I thought was syrup wasn't syrup at all. when I put my fingers to her mouth to give her some of the pancake, I hadn't noticed that some snot from her runny nose got on my fingers, making me think I had syrup on them. I immediately freaked out as my daughter looked on, innocently chewing on her pancake and getting ready for the next bite. Of course, my husband laughed hysterically when I told him what happened and then found me a tissue to spit in. No matter what I did, I could not get that (shudder) flavor out of my mouth.

So what have we learned in today's lesson kids? When you're a parent, you'll have lots of experiences that stick with you forever, both the good and the bad.

That, and always, ALWAYS carry a napkin.