What Do You Do?

So Valentine's Day is just around the corner and I am curious what you do to celebrate. I love Valentine's Day (pardon the pun)! I really don't buy into the school of thought that says it has to be a totally romantic holiday and if you don't have a significant other then you should sit home and eat a half gallon of ice cream. That's crap. It's fine if you and yours go all out, but I just don't find it necessary. Valentine's Day for me is more about celebrating the fun that your relationships bring to you. Not to say I don't appreciate a romantic gesture, cause I totally do! That being said, anyone can go spend more than they should on a bauble, but I would much prefer a gift that I know had some thought put into it, one I know that was chosen just for me.

If you have kids like I do, do you celebrate with the kiddos? I love to cook dinner at home, usually some kind of sickeningly decadent pasta and a rich dessert. Food that I would normally not allow myself to make, but on V day I do and I enjoy it with reckless abandon! One must have for me on this day is a bottle of bubbly. I am not picky when it comes to the bubbly either, I just simply loves me some champagne. Even at home with the kids, a special dinner can mark the occasion. You cannot imagine what a little Cherry 7 Up in a champagne flute can do to make your kids feel like they are your special Valentine!

I am not a fan of eating out on this day. I feel like restaurants are herding people in and out like cattle. The food and service are usually lacking because they are trying to get as many people in and out as they can. Not to fault them, it's just not my thing.

What are your Valentine's traditions? Do you have any great recipes to share with me? Let me know, I would "love" to hear from you (again, with the puns!)

Dad Saves the Day...

Misson accomplished! Thanks Daddy.

Ice Ice Baby

It's slick out there! This means I get a snow day~that is a perk about being a teacher. I have never known a life without a snow day. Think about that for minute, will you? Funny, huh? It's a strange dichotomy. I have many friends who are teachers and we call each other, check the news etc...all to see if we will be having school. We love a snow day...for NOW, but come May, which turns into June, we aren't quite singing the same tune. By then, the kids are just DONE with school. It is difficult enough to hold their attention when they are still on, but once they are off, FU-GET ABOUT IT! So, when I am still in school after Memorial Day, I will need to remember how much I enjoyed this cold icy day that I got to stay home with my husband and kids. I made french toast and bacon and I drank coffee til noon. I am wearing my most cozy pj's and I don't plan on changing. These are pj's that one would really ONLY wear if it was an ice storm kind of day, otherwise you would begin to sweat as soon as you put them on. I just went to the grocery store for a "big shop" before the storm hit, so I have options! I am going to make Hot and Sour soup that my friend told me about. I won't have to listen to my kids gripe about it because I will have plenty of time to make them something else. That rarely happens around here. You eat what I fix. You don't love it? Well BUMMER, this ain't Mel's Diner! I mean, I am not force feeding my kids liver and onions over here (which by the way, I love and have since I was a kid). I just like to cook and we really don't eat out that often. My kids would be in hog heaven if we ate out every night. I find it difficult to eat even fast food without breaking the bank. I think because I do cook I know what kind of meal I could make for less money and it really irritates me. My kids of course do not think this is logical at all. Oh well, I tell them when they grow up and are made of money they can treat me to dinner out every night. I am looking forward to it too, I will probably be really sick of cooking by then. In the mean time, I think I will go eat some mac and cheese...the kind in the box. Cause on a snow day, calories don't count! Keep warm.

Talk Soon,

G

Holy Guacamole!

Do you like guacamole? I love it, I hesitate to order it out cause I think what you make at home is often sooo much better than what you get at a restaurant. One exception is this place. Hubby took me here for date night last summer and the guac is to DIE for. They don't make a bad margarita either, and I am a margarita snob. I made guacamole the other night and I thought I would share the recipe with you all. It is so simple and so yummy.

Here is what you will need:
3-4 ripe avocados
1/2 of a small onion
1-2 cloves fresh garlic
juice of 1 lime or 1/2 of a lemon
A few shakes of hot pepper sauce
salt
cilantro
jalapeno pepper (optional)


To get the pit out I just play ninja and slap the blade of my knife right on it and give it a twist, the thing is so terrified of my ninja powers that it pops right out. Some people say if you keep the pit and throw it in the bowl with the finished guac, it keeps it nice and green. I find if you put enough lemon or lime juice in it the guac stays green without having to look at the pit in you dip.

Once I cut the avocado in half, I just take a spoon and slip it between the skin and the perfectly ripe avocado. Truthfully I could just throw some salt on it right here at this point and eat it up. But, then the hubby would be highly disappointed since he usually picks up the avocados for me form a Mexican grocery store. These particular avocados came from the regular old Wal Mart, so now that I am thinkin' about it, I would have been perfectly justified in gettin' my eat on with that plain ol' avocado.

Well back to the good stuff. For this batch I used 3 medium sized avocados. Yes, there are four in the pic, but I saved one of them to eat the next day on a grilled cheese. MMMM! Just dump the yumminess into a bowl. FINELY chop up about half of a smallish onion. I used a yellow onion because that's what I had. You can use any onion you have on hand, I especially like red. Throw the onion in with the avocado, then add a clove or two of fresh garlic. I use a garlic press for this because it really gets the pieces of garlic so tiny and you can get it all incorporated without worrying about biting a piece of garlic. Now I LOVE garlic so I always go for 2 cloves at least. The problem here is this stuff will stay with you for days if you get too carried away, which I usually do. My husband made me turn over the other direction in bed last night because he said he could still smell the garlic...I ate guacamole 2 days before! Dude, is that normal or I am a freak for smelling like garlic for so long after I eat it.

So now you have your avocado, onion, and garlic in the bowl. Salt this stuff liberally. I use Kosher salt for most things, just cause I like it. Use whatever salt you normally do. Kosher salt just tastes "cleaner" to me, if that makes any sense. It also is harder to over salt with it, don't ask me why. At this point I use a fork and just start mashing it all up. I like a little texture so I leave it a bit chunky. Here is where you can add a few shakes of your favorite hot sauce, I like Frank's Red Hot because it give great flavor and minimal heat. There's a time and place for heat, and guacamole ain't it. Now this will probably contradict what I just told you about that heat thing, but I like to use about half a jalapeno in it for just a little kick. The trick here is to strip the seeds and the ribs out of the pepper if you don't want it too hot. The seeds and the ribs is where the heat "lives", if you remove them, you get a mild jalapeno flavor without burning your lips off. Now squeeze that lemon or lime juice in there. You do this for 2 reasons really. 1.) it just tastes good, and 2.) the acid in the juice keeps the guac from turning that yucky brown color. You can even use a T. or so of bottled lemon juice if you have to. See how I have left it chunky? You can make it as smooth or chunky as you like. The last thing is to rip off a couple good handfuls of those cilantro leaves. Give them a good chop and toss those right in there. This is what kicks it over the edge. It adds the perfect "freshness" to the guacamole that you just won't get if you skip it.

Next time you get a hankerin' for some guac, whip it up yourself. It beats paying an arm and a leg for a tiny scoop of bland green stuff. The only down side is that garlic breath I mentioned...

Little Ave doesn't seem to mind!

Talk Soon,

G

Follow Me...

Follow me, yeah everything is alright. You should have been singing that last line. You know the song, right? I bet you are thinking if only you could hear me sing then you would know it. Well, I can't sing so you probably wouldn't recognize it. None of that really matters since the song has nothing to do with what I want from you. YES, I want something from you. Please give it to me. I hate to beg. But I will. Begging ain't pretty, so please, don't make me go there. I just want you to FOLLOW ME! This little lady prompted me to ask for followers to show themselves. I really may be kidding myself that anyone would actually follow this blog, except for my dad and uncle. My dad is prompt to tell me when I slack on posting, telling me that I am not a "real blogger", my uncle is quick to tell my dad when I misspell something. You see, I am a teacher and I should NEVER make mistakes. I want you to click the FOLLOW ME link on the right so I can see you. It'll make me happy to see who I am "talking" to, or it might make me feel crazy because I am only talking to myself. Oh well, blogging is cheaper than therapy! So, just follow me and I won't sing to you again.

American Idol

Did you watch it? I like the auditions, but dang, there sure are a lot of folks with nothing to do. You could not pay me enough to sit around in those waiting areas with all the crazies. I am talking about the people that absolutely cannot sing and they know it, (this would be the category I fall into), yet they sit around there and wait anyway. And how about Bikini Girl? Not necessary for sure, but if I looked like her in my swim suit, I think I would totally go on national television in it.

Talk Soon,

G

P.S. The knowing I can't sing thing...doesn't stop me from whipping out a karaoke tune given the opportunity.

Things That Bug Me

My mascara is working great one day, and the next it's like TOTALLY out.

When I can't decide between two sizes of an item, no matter which one I end up with, I end up thinking I chose the wrong one.

It takes forever to get a good gym routine in place, but not forever to get out of one.

I can't make pie crust.

Blocked websites

Wrinkly sheets, even though I hate to make my bed,

When I eat something that I usually won't let myself eat and it isn't good but I go ahead and eat it anyway (example being McDonald's fries)

People who make weak coffee, a.k.a. brown water.

The guy at the pretzel place that was a jerk because HE forgot to put salt on my pretzel.

When people are on a health kick so they order the salad...with fried chicken, cheese, croutons, bacon, ranch...

Soggy pizza

People who know a little about everything, but not much about any of it.

When I leave for work 20 minutes earlier than usual and still get there at my usual time because of traffic.

When I go to the grocery store I always end up forgetting at least one thing.

When I eat out and spend more than I should on a meal, then I realize I could have made the same thing, only better.

One flirtini isn't enough, two might be too many.

Clutter

Restaurants that have Pepsi products instead of Coke

I don't color my hair just because I want to anymore.

If I don't put my contacts in or have my glasses on I might as well not get out of bed, I literally CANNOT see.

I dust my house and the next day it looks like we are living in the dust bowl.

I cry when I get mad.

Sometimes I sound like my mother.

ENOUGH ALREADY, huh? Believe me, I could go on...but I won't. What bugs you? Leave a comment and let me know. I am not one of those cool bloggers with prizes, like say, this gal or this one. I just really want to know what bugs you, k?