A Proverbs 31 Kind of Day

Many years ago, while living in Arizona, a friend brought dinner to us one night after we had our first cherub. That dinner left such a lasting impression on us that I still make it and it's one of our family favorites. Not only do I make the "main entree" like Lisa made, but I make the VERY dinner she brought to us 16 years ago! Zippy meatballs, cooked carrots, and mashed potatoes. It just goes together! Yesterday, when my girl cherub got new wires, hooks, and smaller rubber bands for her braces, and it made her teeth really sore! Tonight for dinner, we are faced with a dilemma! While we feel sorry for her, we still want to eat. And we don't want "soft food" either! I thought of meatballs! While we do really adore the zippy meatballs, I was wanting something to serve with rice. Sweet and Sour meatballs! Perfect choice! When you google that recipe, normally you find the appetizer option, using frozen meatballs. ...

Photo taken by my boy cherub When we rolled into the sleepy New Hampshire town and there were only two restaurants to choose from . . . and one was closed, we know our options might be slightly limited! In the parking lot, the Mr. said, "we might be eating gluten tonight!" We were wrong! Not only did they have gluten free options, but they even had a gluten free menu! Because we had devoured a ton of cheese and apples earlier that day, the Mr. and I decided on something to share for dinner. For a point of information: I am not really one that "likes" to eat out. Oh, I like to . . . but it's for strange reasons. As in, I don't want to order something I can easily make at home. Like a salad. Honestly, unless it's an "over the top" salad, I'm not going to order one as my meal. When I go out, I'm looking for things to try that I can then go home and replicate. That's what happened this night! ...

The Mr. and I celebrated 20 years of marriage last week. With my mom agreeing to keep watch over the cherubs, we took off to the beautiful New England states for a few days!   It's kind of a sad reality when, at our age, we view going to New England in the Fall as "fun!" At least we didn't make the trip on a charter bus! Although, there is nothing wrong with that . . . and there were p.l.e.n.t.y. of buses that we saw. But I would like to think that we are young enough to still want to travel by ourselves! What I did discover is that we were called "leaf peepers!" That's what the weather people in the New England states would say when giving the weather report for the following day. OK -- and the fact that we watch the news . . . maybe another small sign that age is creeping up on us! We stayed in B & B's most nights, except for one, and that's called a "memory" that will be held over the Mr....

We really do love gingerbread. When I think of gingerbread cookies, I think of the little people . . . and honestly, I kind of have a hard time eating one of those cookies. I'm not really sure why! But when I think of gingerbread, I'm reminded of a fabulous gingerbread loaf that we used to eat. It was wonderful! Last night I found this recipe in a cookbook by Silvana Nardone and on a whim, I mixed it up. I didn't really know what to expect. But what we pulled from the oven was wonderful! They look like a perfect cookie you might find at a bakery. Round. Pillow-y. Deep brown. I made a variation to the recipe and I'm kind of happy with it! I was out of ginger, so I just substituted cinnamon. Because we love cinnamon and because I had everything mixed together when I realized I had no ginger. There was no turning back, huh! So instead of gingerbread cookies, I guess these are cinnamonbread cookies! My boy cherub liked them tons! ...

My cherubs love cinnamon. Seriously love it! Anytime I can add cinnamon to a recipe, I always do! When I saw this recipe, I thought it would be great. I actually thought it would be a bit different then how it turned out. But to my surprise, I was very pleased with the outcome. I did make a little change to the original recipe, but that's because of our love of the cinnamon flavor. This is wonderful poured over warm waffles or pancakes. By warm, I mean warmed up! On busy school mornings, we just take the waffles I made from the weekend and reheat in the toaster. Cinnamon Waffle Sauce 1 cup water 1 cup brown sugar 1 1/2 tsp good quality cinnamon (I used siagon cinnamon) Place all of the ingredients in a heavy sauce pan over high heat.  Continue to stir until the cinnamon is dissolved in the mixture and the mixture comes to a boil. Reduce heat to medium/medium heat and continue to simmer until the mixture reduces until the it is thick and syrup-like, ...

I did not grow up doing mums in high school. Honestly, it must be a Texas thing. And as the saying goes, "Everything in Texas is always bigger!" Mums . . . honestly, I don't get it! I'm not sure what the fascination with it is! I'm learning with my boy cherub. This is the second year that I have made a mum for his homecoming date. Now, for the record, I want to do it for him and for her. But that doesn't mean that I understand what it is all about! For those of you who don't do mums at your high school, just google "images of homecoming mums" Seriously!  Go do it!  Open another tab on your computer and look! You will d.r.o.p. y.o.u.r j.a.w !!!  Last year, a friend of mine taught me how to make the mum. I am thankful that she is working with me again. She has made several over the years and, while it isn't hard, I just want to make sure that I remember. Mums require lots of stuff. Ribbon. Mum. ...

Image from the internet I think this is my very favorite marinade right now! I love it for it's deep flavor that makes the meat taste like it took hours to achieve the taste. I've been using this marinade for several years, but it wasn't until recently that I have become enamored with it. As in, I use it all the time. Lately, every piece of chicken gets dunked in this marinade. Not dunked . . . soaked! I've told you my marinade method: come home from the grocery store and divide my meat into gallon ziplock bags based on what I'm going to be using it for. Those things that need to be marinated, gets the marinade thrown in the bag right away, then off to the freezer it goes. My theory:  it marinates while it's going into a deep freeze and it marinates more while it's thawing out! It's a win-win situation for everyone! Back to this marinade, I've always purchased a small, normal size bottle. I use it on chicken, beef...