Thursday, July 30, 2009

Confession(s)

    

Ok, so my first confession is that in the time it took me to open up Microsoft Word, type the title "Confession(s)", and start writing this blog entry I forgot what confession I was going to blog about! That could be partly because I was distracted by: My husband coming into the kitchen opening up the fridge and asking why no on ate the chicken yet (and then proceeding to heat it up for his breakfast lunch), my youngest son coming into the kitchen and asking if he could have the rest of the pancakes I had just finished making, my oldest daughter coming into the kitchen and asking me where all the pancakes were (to which I replied, "In the container, just add water and mix!"), then other son coming into the kitchen asking if he could watch the Redbox movie we rented for free last night from Hy-Vee, my daughter responding to my husband who noticed her "Debate" t-shirt (it is NOT hers, it is a friends) "I am not on Debate! Debate ruins your life! You have to do Debate every weekend. . .(insert more debate bashing/ranting here)" to which I replied, "That's different from Drama, how?", and no less than 25 other interruptions. . .what I was talking about again?

Wow, I think that I would fail English is I wrote a run on sentence like that in a paper! But that is what my life it, a long run on sentence, filled with "rabbit-trails" and interruptions! No wonder I am always staying up until 2 am finishing school work! Right now the oldest is asking to be taken out for driving and parking practice. Like I can do that right now with 4 assignments due to day (ok, 2 are due tomorrow, but they are bigger assignments that I need to work on today), children that need to be fed, a house that needs to be cleaned, laundry that needs to be washed, dried, folded, and put away (like that ever happens!), dinner that needs to be taken care of (what do I get out of the freezer and make that will make "most" of the family happy), go to the school to help my PTA Wife run off some copies, clean out the sunroom, clean out the fridge (I am sure there is a science experiment in there somewhere. . . ), feed the kids lunch…maybe parking practice with a moody teenager in a FULL SIZE van would be relaxing. . .

Confession number two: I still don't remember what confession I was going to write about. . .

Confession number three: I need a nap now. . .

Wednesday, July 29, 2009

What I want to be when I grow up. . .

So, I was thinking today about what I want to be when I grow up, and I realized that there is a lot I want to be when I grow up. I was catching up with a friend I had not seen in awhile (they were over our house for dinner a week ago) and she encouraged me to write a cook book. She said that she and her family have been talking about how good the food that we made for our dinner together. Cooking is definitely a passion of mine. Some people, who shall remain nameless (Wuzza), HATE to cook and only do it out of necessity because their families want to eat. Me, on the other hand, I LOVE cooking and baking! I seriously could cook every day. . .if only someone else would clean up for me that is! Not cleaning the mess I make while cooking, that I can handle. My problem is the mess the "fam" makes every day. Cooking is great, but finding the room to cook around all of the mess- that I HATE with a passion! It is annoying to want to come make dinner and have to clean off the counters, load dirty dishes (and probably unload clean ones too!), and wash pots and pans BEFORE I can even cook anything. So, sometimes, even though I love cooking I don't because I don't feel like fighting the mess. Or, more often than not, I am too busy to clean the kitchen and THEN cook dinner. Maybe it is time to go back to a chore chart for the "fam". I am sure they would hate that, but that's life, right?!

I used to cook sit-down dinners every night, back when my father in law lived with us. I felt like he deserved a sit-down, family meal with a main entrée, a vegetable and another side (usually a starch). He was not really a demanding person, but he was "old school" and had certain ideas. Family dinners was one thing that he seemed pleased about, so we had family dinners almost every night, unless I was sick. Very rarely were the meals convenience foods, either. Most of the time they were good ole, homemade meals. My father in law lived with us for about 4 years- that is a LOT of dinners! I think after he passed away I needed a break and we went through a period of convenience meals and many nights of no real dinner plans at all! Now I have come back around to making more family dinners, although now with the kids being older it is hard to figure out when everyone will be home!

I have some standard recipe favorites that I make on a regular basis like: Chicken Splot Pie, Tacos, Spaghetti, Hamburgers, Stir Fry, Black Beans and Rice, Chicken and dumplings, Garlic Studded Pork. . .and others. And of course the standard desserts like Cheesecake (baked and no baked), Homemade Chocolate Cake, Oatmeal Choc. Chip Cookies, brownies, and Jell-O Cake. My kids think that I should try to become the "Next Food Network Star". . .but I am not sure if I could do that. I don't really have any formal culinary training. The closest I ever go was to send in a tape to the Rachel Ray show for her "So You think You can Cook" competition. I never heard back from her about that. . . Here is the link to the video.

Anyway, I have always thought about doing a cook book. Not just a book with recipes, but also with stories about the recipes and tips for the kitchen as well. Maybe I should just start writing one in my "free" time? I mean, it is not going to write itself, is it?

Other things I want to be when I grow up-

  • Writer (not just cook books, but humorous non-fiction and maybe even a novel or two!)
  • Bed and Breakfast owner (except I hate mornings so I would probably make it a Bed and Brunch. Who goes away for the night or weekend and wakes up at 7 am to eat breakfast?)
  • Restaurant owner (not that restaurants don't have a high failure rate or anything. . .)
  • Personal Chef
  • Personal Shopper (grocery mainly
  • Teacher (that is actually what I am going to college for. . .because I love working with kids and helping them learn!)