You haven't lived until you've had your butt handed to you by an 8 year old...

Yay..it worked and was ridiculously easy to make. The recipe calls for parchment paper but I just used tin foil sprayed with Pam. I made individual ones, too, instead of one big cake sized thing..that's because there are only three of us and only two of us can eat sugar.

Pavlova

1 comment

DeWitte's outside changing the radiator on his truck. It was leaking and when he went to see what the problem was, he touched it and it disintegrated all over the ground. Ok..it didn't do that but it was all rusty so he's changing it. He's so handy to have around the house! He can fix our cars, do all our electrical work and plumbing. I haven't ever seen him back away from any task that needs to be done. Plus he's got Nathan out there "helping" so he'll need to be extra patient.

Super smart, incredibly patient and extraordinarily handy...Damn, that's sexy! I think I'll make him an extra special dinner tonight..I'm even gonna make dessert. I never make dessert. I can't eat it so why make it.

Speaking of dessert...how come nobody ever told me about Pavlova? My eggs are coming up to room temperature as we speak. I'm gonna learn how to make this dessert just to impress people when they come over for dinner.

How are you celebrating the 4th of July?

Usually by sitting in traffic for three hours until I can't feel my clutch thigh anymore. Not tonight, though...from last firework to home in 30 min. That must be some kind of record. I felt like my car and I were one symbiotic being and I didn't hit not one. single. person! No matter what kind of a jerk they were being. There were a lot of people, too..go look at the pictures on DeWitte's blog. It was insane.

Huzzah! Now I can go open my wine.

Usually when I crack eggs, I do it on the side of the bowl. And then sometimes I spend the next half hour fishing egg shells out of that same bowl with another piece of egg shell (I know..you aren't supposed to do that anymore because of cross contamination with the outside of the egg shell but I'm not that anal.) Well, Nathan taught me this cool thing he learned in cooking class....

You crack it on a flat surface..in this case the kitchen table on a paper towel..

Crack

Clean-Break

So you can open it without getting egg shells in your bowl..

No-Shell

and in amongst my purchases I had a bottle of Fetzer Gewurztraminer. (which is awesome if you've never tried it fellow Riesling lovers) The cashier rang it up and said "I assume you're over 21." Just before I could say "Well, obviously", the lady behind me let out this huge laugh, like it was the funniest joke she's ever heard. So that was nice. I don't know what she was laughing at, she was at least 10 years older than me.

How rude.

Did I miss the memo that shiny shorty shorts are making a come back with the male population? The kind of shorts you might see on a male disco dancing roller skater in the 70's only with less rainbow tube socks. The kind of shorts so short you're worried you might sneak a peek or worse, more than a peek? There are other things I'd rather not see, besides the 50 year old biker chick with no bra's National Geographic breasts. My own National Geographic breasts are enough for me, thanks.

I've seen at least a handful of men in these shorty shorts in the last few days and if they are making a comeback, I'm gonna have to move to Canada. It's too cold for shorty shorts up there.

I might have to put out my eyes.

Breakfast, lunch, dinner, or snack time... Show us one of your meals today.

Sure, here you go...Dinner

Dinner

Herb Parmesan chicken, lemon sage risotto and green beans. Yep..there's a reason we're all chubby.

Oh and my new favorite secret ingredient (that's no longer a secret) lately is Good Seasonings Italian salad dressing mix only I don't mix it, I use it dry. I've been putting it on everything. Tonight it was on the chicken, last time I used it on oven roasted potatoes..the stuff is incredibly versatile. However, it costs $1.49 for one pack of it at my grocery store so I found a copy cat recipe you can make at home, if you like that stuff as much as I do...

Ingredients

• 1 teaspoon carrot, grated and finely chopped
• 1 teaspoon red bell pepper, finely minced
• 3/4 teaspoon mccormick lemon pepper
• 1/8 teaspoon dried parsley flakes
• 1 teaspoon salt or
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/8 teaspoon onion powder
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• 1/8 teaspoon black pepper
• 2 teaspoons dry pectin
• 1 pinch ground oregano

Directions

1. Place the carrot and bell pepper on a baking pan in an oven set on 250°F for 45 to 60 minutes, or until all of the small pieces are completely dry, but not browned.
2. Combine the dried carrot and bell pepper with the other ingredients in a small bowl.
3. The mix can be stored in a sealed container indefinitely until needed.