Happy Half-Birthday to You

We've made a habit of baking a mid-winter cake to celebrate our kids' half-birthdays. Since both of their birthdays are in August, it provides a good excuse to enjoy some cake at an otherwise slow celebration season at our house.

Our son wanted a blue cake. Our daughter wanted a princess cake. Since my only requirement was that this be a low-key affair, I used blue frosting with colorful sprinkles on top and considered it a fabulous job of meeting both requests. We used some half-used "Happy Birthday" candles, only using the "Happy" portion--it was only a half-birthday celebration after all.

I started making the cake around 9 at night on Saturday and chose the recipe based on the ingredients I had on hand. Naturally, I discovered too far into it that I was missing cocoa powder. I called a neighbor and got some. The next day, another neighbor called us to borrow some cocoa powder and my husband gave them the can that I had borrowed the previous day. 'Tis the season, apparently.

The cake came out great. My daughter's only question: "Uh, Mom...Aren't we missing something?" She looked at me with an inquiring face. I said, "You mean presents? It's a half-birthday. You have to make it a whole year to get the presents!"

Week 46—Target trip

Mon – lentil soup with ham
Tues – chicken enchiladas (Best Loved CrockPot Recipes)
Weds – BBQ pulled pork sandwiches and greens (Best Loved CrockPot Recipes)
Thurs – chicken fingers and sweet potato fries
Fri – cheese and broccoli soup (HyVee Cookbook)
Extras – pizza
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We've been gone all weekend, so I'm preparing to head to the store now after having made a quick menu plan. We need everything from cleaning products and toothpaste to milk and bread, so I'll go to Target for a one-stop shop. My husband is reading to the kids. He definitely has the more daunting task ahead. Anyone know if they sell kid-sized sheets of Velcro I could attach to my kids' sheets and pjs? Happy cooking.

Parent's Night In

We had a rare opportunity Thursday night. Grandma was visiting and offered to take the grandkids (my 2 kids and their cousins that live nearby) out for pizza. The kids were thrilled of course, and happily bounded out the door with Grandma "Orange Juice."

The particularly unexpected part was that we had dinner ready when Grandma came in and made her offer. We had grilled some steaks (it's above freezing in MN so grilling season has officially begun), made a nice salad, and oven-baked some potatoes. Even grabbed a bottle of wine to enjoy with dinner.

Once Gram left with the kids, my husband and I were alone with a great meal in front of us and blissful peace and quiet all around. We were giddy as we s l o w l y enjoyed our meal. We conversed. We sipped wine. We were in our own home and were tasting every bite of our meal. Heaven!

We guessed that the next time such an event might happen is when the kids are all teenagers and eating with friends. Maybe I'll do a 10th? 13th? 15th? anniversary blog post to mark the occasion. Sort of like watching for Haley's Comet. You know it'll come, but it might be a long, long wait.

Food Product

We have a huge box of Velveeta cheese-product in our fridge right now. The last time I saw this in a fridge in a house I was living in was approximately 28 years ago.

It was suggested as part of a macaroni dish I made last week, and I must have put it in and out of my grocery cart three times before committing. I started to read the ingredients list but stopped myself.

In the days since buying this mysterious food-product I've enjoyed experimenting with it. Does it taste good straight out of the box? No. Does it cut well? No. But it is bouncy, which is sorta fun. Does it "melt better than cheddar"? Yes. And it makes a decent mix with other cheeses in a grilled cheese sandwich. It acts like Elmer's School Glue to hold everything together, which is rather nice. And it is pretty quaint. Like the green cans of parmesan cheese-dust I grew up on.

Food snob? Nutritional guru? I don't qualify. I have pudding cups in my cupboard and really like frosted shredded wheat and Ovaltine. We've recently rediscovered butter & cinn & sugar sandwiches from my youth -- finally a sandwich the kids and I all rather like! But the Velveeta will probably not be making a repeat appearance anytime soon. Even if it is nice and bouncy.

Week 45--The guy in line wins on simplicity

Mon – chip plate w/leftover tomato & chickpea soup
Tues – beef and noodles
Weds – pepper lime chicken w/basamati rice & Indian side (box side)
Thurs – steak and potatoes
Fri – Southwest pasta soup (mix from neighbor's recent trip to Arizona)
Extras – pizza; dirty rice
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We grocery shopped en masse this week (2 parents, 2 kids). My husband noted the guy checking out in front of us. His order contained: 8 pack of Dr Pepper in bottles, 2 cases of Dr Pepper in cans, 2 packs of Oscar Meyer bologna, 2 packs of American cheese. No bread. Atkins diet? Menu planning should be so simple! Happy cooking.