So....I'm going to actually try to keep up with this blog....

Making: a Happy Summer pennant for my mantle
Cooking : whole wheat blueberry muffins this morning if I can find a recipe.....
Drinking : ugh, weirdo k-cups. I'm trying to get through the random ones before I buy more...
Reading: The Omnivores Dilemma, and La Bella Figura
Wanting: to lose a few pounds and for my thyroid to figure itself out
Looking: forward to more fun summer days
Playing: in the pool with our girls
Wasting: half drunk cans of soda
Sewing: pillow cover for the living room
Wishing: that we lived somewhere not so humid and not so hot
Enjoying: that we had a staycation this year!
Waiting: for everyone to get up!
Liking: the quietness of the house
Wondering: if we will actually make it to early service :)
Hoping: that I can vacuum upstairs today
Loving: watching my daughters grow
Marveling: at God's hand in our lives. He's always there and shows us every minute of everyday.
Needing: to buy more k-cups. These are kinda gross.
Smelling: the awful vanilla cream iced coffee k-cups that I'm using for regular hot coffee
Wearing: sweat shorts and a ruffled tshirt
Following: Ummm...Antiques Roadshow?
Noticing: that my eldest starts kindergarten in less than 2 months
Knowing: that today is the last day of my husband's staycation off from work
Thinking: that I wish the paper would get here
Bookmarking: summer recipes
Opening: bills. It's that time of the month!
Giggling: over anything my littlest one says. What a little hoot!
Feeling: tight. And apparently grumpy and ready for new k-cups!!!

I really want to do a better job of blogging. I have a private blog for far away friends where I post funny stories and pictures of my kiddos. This isn't the place for that. We want to keep those things to ourselves and those that ACTUALLY know us. So this blog is for me! And I think it will be a nice outlet for what I'm thinking. Because, I can't exactly tell my daughters what a crapfest the latest book I read, can I? They just know it went in the recycle bin. But more on that later :)

Warm French Bread

We are a bread family. My father in law is italian, so there is no doubt where my daughters' love stems from. It's undeniable. Add some cheese and they are in bliss!

My favorite cheesy bread recipe.

Nearly stale french bread from Sam's. Seriously, they have the best non homemade bread.




Next, good olive oil. My brush was still rinsing in the sink, so I HAD to drizzle it on the bread.

Third, I added a generous sprinkling of garlic salt.

And finally, REAL mozzarella. Well, at least whole milk mozzarella. None of this low fat stuff. Once you go full fat, you can never go back. That's the saying, right?




It also helps to have a rock star cheese slicer like this from my husband. It is THE best! And we've gone through several.




Then throw it in the broiler. On HI. And watch it like a hawk. I am the world's worst broiler-er. Is that a word? It should be. I will NOT tell you how long it should stay in.

JUST WATCH IT!



And enjoy! My kids kept asking me for more. If only they knew I stole a little off their plates before doling it out!

***I'm realizing I should have entitled this blog, One Meal Away as opposed to One Craft Away. Seriously, all we do is cook and eat right?***

I will finally make myself post my craft projects. I promise :)

Slip of the tongue

I cussed in church.

I came home and told my husband THE word that I said.

I didn't just say it under my breath, I said it to a dear Christian friend.

I said the mother of all bad words.

And it was purely accidental.

I was trying to say "sucking fingers."

You can take it from there.....

Happy President's Day!

Ice and French Toast

Last night my husband was called in to work. There was a catastrophic power failure at work and ALL of their systems were down.

In truth, I wasn't very happy about his having to get out in the weather. We are apart of the 2100 miles of destruction from the latest winter weather. But instead of mountains of snow, we were left with ICE.



The roads looked worse last night. Probably because everything looks a little scarier in the dark :)

But I couldn't get too mad because I knew if he stayed out really late last night, we'd get a bonus this morning.



Breakfast all together. Yummy french toast!

Le Creuset and Pioneer Woman

For Christmas this year, my husband totally surprised me. I was completely unaware that he had purchased me one of my big WANTS. Le Creuset. This was our utilitarian Christmas. I also got a new toaster, iron, ironing board and mop. All things I desired. And I wasn't the slightest bit offended. I had been mopping with a broken one for a while. Just something I was unwilling to spend money on. The other one "sort of" worked.



Back to the food.




This was my first time to cook with my little red beauty. I turned to the Pioneer Woman for help. When I saw her Beer and Beef Stew, I knew, it was the one. I don't know if I bought better meat, or if it was the recipe or the Creuset, (or frankly the awesome beer I used) but this was some of the best stew I've EVER made. When I've made beer stew in the past, the beer flavoring was OVERWHELMING. This time we used Samuel Adams Noble Pils. I'm not a beer drinker but this one had a very nice flavoring. It was subtle. And I felt super fancy pouring it out of a bottle instead of a can. Honestly, I'm not sure a "can" of beer has ever entered our house. Bottles only for us!

The stew was fabulous and so was the Creuset!

I'm sure it tasted good.....

I was so excited about making dinner last night. I saw a link to a recipe, Orecchiette with Mushrooms, Radicchio and Gorgonzola, on NieNie Dialogues that intrigued me. We are forever trying new meatless dishes (Meatless Mondays) and this one did not disappoint!

Unfortunately I went to the dentist yesterday to have a suspicious tooth examined. A few moments in and they realized it was a cracked filling. Ordinarily I tough it out without any pain killers, but this time without asking, they gave me a shot. Several, in fact. This is my first experience with anything like this (I still hurt this morning). I thought I was going to cry last night as a gingerly chewed on one side this delicious meal. My little ones even enjoyed it, too! My husband pridefully mentioned to me how he bets no other family with preschoolers was enjoying Gorgonzola with their dinner in our education-less and toothless state. Pridefilled about our family and sad about the rest of our geographical area.

Back to the meal. I like to sample my cooking whilst working and I was a little worried. It did not taste good in progress. But when I added the sainted Gorgonzola, it all came together. The only suggestion my spouse made was that I add some fish or some kind of meat. Yes dear, but that would sort of defeat the point of meatless.