I'm Over Chicken

I use to watch the Food Network like it was going out of style. I was addicted to Rachael Ray's 30 Minute Meals and Good Eats. I never had an interest in cooking when I was growing up so I learned by watching EVOO Racheal, Good Ol' Alton, and calling my Dearest Mom for Substitutions. (Side note: there is no substitution for corn meal for pizza).

My Mom is an awesome cook. Me, not so much, or at least back in the old days. After many trials and errors  (turning on the wrong burner, burning most everything and setting fires in the stove) I learned to make some pretty tasty things including my Grammie's Homemade Perogies and Pineapple Cookies, Chicken and Dumplings, Mac and Cheese, and Ropa Vieja.

And then ... I hated cooking.

Maybe it was because I have too many cookbooks, or because I never follow the recipes all that well, or because Chad is a slightly picky eater, or because you can only cook chicken so many ways before you are over chicken.

Chef Husband has picked up the slack but after awhile he started to miss my cooking. Maybe me cooking was like me and the gym. We have a love hate relationship as well. So in an attempt to get back into the groove of cooking and do my civic duty as Wife, I went grocery shopping and starting cooking.

I was just suppose to make dinner that night but that turned out to making dinner for the whole week. In two hours I made homemade Mac and Cheese, Homemade Spaghetti Sauce and Sausage and Baked Ziti. Everything I made was for 6 to 8 servings so we had plenty of left overs. Strangely enough ... I liked this idea. Cook everything on Sunday!

Baked Zit, Mac and Cheese, and Spaghetti and Sausage

 The following week I made Pork Chops, Chicken Chili in the Crock-pot, Lasagna and Steak Salad.

Chicken Chili

Steak Salad

Hopefully this streak lasts.

Dirty Looking Grout - Be Gone!

Once upon a time I used to have really clean looking tile and grout. Over time the grout started looking a grey color instead of Biscuit (cream). I tried to clean it, scrub it, steam it and even bleach it ... nothing worked.

Then one day while I was perusing around the Home Depot I spotted something called Grout Refresh and like the name says, it refreshes your grout. For $8 I thought I'd give it a shot.

Step One: Clean grout.

Step Two: Spread evenly using a toothbrush working the colorant into the grout joint using a back-and-forth motion to allow the colorant to penetrate the grout.

Step Three: After colorant has dried for 30 to 60 minutes, lightly mist the surface with water and let it stand for up to 5 minutes. Remove excess colorant from tile surface using water and a white nylon scrub pad.

Before:

After:

Oohlala. Me likey.

iCrap

My iPhone. We have a love-hate relationship. Lately it's been a lot of hating even though it is the only cell phone I've owned in 10 years that still works at the end of my contract. Well, sort of works.

I've had the huge, annoying beeping Nextels, some other phones I can't remember, the Blackberries where the roller balls stop working about 6 months in, and then the iPhone. I usually upgrade every year which is usually when my phone is all beat to hell anyway but dear ol' Ingrid (iPhone) is still hanging in there two years later.

I've had to resort to downgrading the firmware because just dialing a phone number was similar to using 1990's style dial up internet service.

(Hit 4) Wait, wait, wait ... 4
(Hit 0) Wait, wait, wait ... 0

I'm impatient and Ingrid was about to get chucked out the window if she didn't get her act together. But then I heard a rumor of a new iPhone coming out this Fall. The 5! Oh boy! I own the 3g. No, not the 3gs, just the old freaking dinosaur 3g. I actually got it in a month before the 3gs came out. Well, I know better this time although I am hoping I can really hang in there until the new model comes out.

In order to do this I did the all time bad thing as far as Apple is concerned. I jail broke it. Now that was a feat in itself. I'm no techy by any sorts but after 8 hours of trying, reinstalling, and restoring ... I did it. Holy sheet! Thank you YouTube! Now if I could only figure out this Cydia business. Arg.

This Day Last Year

These are the hands of your best friend, young and strong and full of love for you, that are holding yours on your wedding day as you promise to love each other today, tomorrow and forever. These are the hands that will work alongside yours, as together you build your future. These too are the hands that will passionately love you and cherish you through the years, and with the slightest touch will comfort you like no other. These are also the hands that will hold you when fear or grief fills your mind. These are the hands that will give you strength when you need it the most. These too are the hands that will countless times wipe the tears from your eyes; tears of sorrow and tears of joy. These are the hands that will tenderly hold your children. These are the hands that will help you to hold your family together as one. And lastly, these are the hands that even when becoming wrinkled and aged will still be reaching for yours, still giving you the same unspoken tenderness with just a touch.

Oh Mudder

We planned to surprise and we succeeded.

A week before Mother's Day we thought it would be nice to go visit our Mothers. Instead of choosing between the two, and because they only live two hours away from each other, we decided to go see them both.

Friday night after work we packed up and headed on South. After a little pit stop at Captain Eddie's in Venice/Nokomis for some dinner we got back on the road for the remaining portion of the drive. We pulled into the in-laws around 11pm. We were hoping to beat them home since they had an evening party engagement that night but they beat us! Stinkers! Dad B. knew about our plan and as he saw me sneaking up to the door he quickly told us that Mom B. was asleep. Drats! We woke her up anyway. Tee, hee. She was thrilled to see us and very surprised. Total success.

Saturday morning we went out to Breakfast and then spent the rest of the afternoon hanging out in the pool. I even attempted to get a tan. Chad and I must be dunces when it comes to applying sunscreen though. I ended up with a red blotch on my arm and Chad had a couple of red spots on his back. We had a yummy dinner, wine and dessert at Konrad's and then headed out for Leg 2 of Operation Mudder's Surprise.

We pulled into my Mom's driveway around 10:o0pm. I was afraid she had already gone to bed but she answered the phone when I called. I asked her if she got the package I sent her and she said she hadn't checked the mail that day so I told her to go outside to see if it did arrive. The front doors are half glass so I squatted down so she wouldn't see a person figure when she turned on the lights. The front door opens and the crazy woman doesn't turn on the lights. She looks down at me and I say "Hey". She screams, realizes what I am, screams again, then realizes WHO I am and screams with delight instead of sheer horror. Not exactly what Chad and I planned but total success in our book nonetheless.

On Sunday morning my Dad made some breakfast and then we headed on over to spend some time at my Aunt's house with the family and the Meme. It was a great weekend full of fun, surprises, and most importantly happy Moms.