We had these honey lime shrimp kebabs for dinner last night.

You know when you have a big project and you tell yourself you will not do anything else until it is finished?  That is what I feel like these days.  A 264 page publication is set to come out in August, and I need to get it done.  But I do have to cook.  And last night I had a creative moment in the form of this marinade.  We bought some great shrimp at Publix, and the evening had cooled off enough to use the grill.  Unfortunately, our propane tank lost its juice.  But that’s okay because these kabobs can be done in the oven, and they are still amazingly delicious.

I only marinated these for an hour, but in the future, I will definitely give them longer.  The flavors are so fresh that they need time to fully get in there.

The vegetables I used for the kabobs included large chunks of green bell pepper, yellow squash, and red onion.  I marinated all of it with a pound of peeled shrimp.  I just threw these ingredients in as I went, so I am estimating these measurements.  It should be slightly sweet, and not overpoweringly tart.

These honey lime shrimp kebabs are good in the oven or on the grill.

Honey Lime Marinade

whisk together with a fork in the bowl you plan to marinate in:

• juice of 2 limes
• zest of 1 lime
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1.5-2 tbsp honey
• 2-3 tbsp of orange juice
• 1-2 tsp of apple cider vinegar
• 3-4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• freshly ground pepper to taste
• salt to taste

Since I have most of my cooking adventures in the kitchen, I thought I’d put a before picture of the awful wallpaper I just took down.  I plan to do a major overhaul–painting cabinets a dark brown, new countertops, tile backsplash, undercounter lighting.  I’ll keep you guys posted as I work on it.  I’m really excited because I love being in the kitchen.  I know I’ll love it even more when it’s all done.  Here’s what the wallpaper looked like before I steamed it all off the walls:

The awful wallpaper in our kitchen. Who thought this pattern would be a good thing?

While visiting, Pam made this broccoli salad.  When m0m told me about it, I was not enthused.  Mayo and bacon and broccoli do not sound like the best things to me.  Maybe on a  BLT, but I digress.  Last weekend, mom made this broccoli salad for us, and I’m telling you that is like nothing I have ever tasted.  She put the bacon on the side since I’m a veg now, so I really appreciated that.  I imagine that it is super good with the bacon, but I really enjoyed it even without it.  I went back for seconds!

If you’re looking for something different, try this.  I promise it is awesome.  Don’t let the sound of the ingredients frighten you away like it did me at first.

Pam’s Broccoli Salad

• 2 heads of raw broccoli
• red onion, finely chopped
• sunflower seeds (sans hulls, of course)
• raisins or dried cranberries
• optional: freshly cooked, crunchy bacon
• another optional that I haven’t tried yet: shredded cheese
• 1 cup mayo
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 3/4 cup white vinegar

1. Mix the mayo and sugar together.  (Pam uses more sugar, so you could go with more if you wanted it later)
2. Add the vinegar a little at the time so it doesn’t clump up.
3. Cut the broccoli into tiny, bitesize florets, and add to the mayo mix.
4. I wish I could give you the measurements on the rest of the ingredients, but mom doesn’t do it that way.  Handfull of this, handfull of that.  Stir in the red onion.  You know how potent it can be, so just use your best judgment.
5. Stir in a handfull of sunflower seeds and a handful of raisins or dried cranberries.
6. Mom had the bacon on the side, and Joe said he preferred it that way because it stays crunchy until you get ready to eat it.

You can easily half this recipe like we did last night.   I would post a pic, but I used vegan mayo, and the color isn’t creamy like mom’s.  It is still good, but I suggest using Kraft regular mayo or Duke’s.

This summer peach pie is my mom's recipe. I have called her so many times to repeat it because it is sooooo sweet and delicious for the summer.

Sometimes I could just hit myself.  I made a peach pie yesterday, ate a slice before it set in the refrigerator, and only THEN realized that my blogger friends might like this!  I am smack dab in the middle of finishing the yearbook, and I think I am delirious.  If you’ve ever worked on a yearbook, you understand the nightmares involved in publishing 268 pages of (mostly) student work.  I say “mostly” because I simply have to do some of it because folks disappear in the summer. But it’s cool.  I don’t mind it…too much.

Which is why this pie is so good.  It is easy, cool, refreshing, and delicious.  You do have to turn on your oven to crisp up the pie crust, but you could do that at night after everyone is out of the kitchen.  Let it cool overnight.  Wake up the next day and fix this while you’re making your lunch.  It’ll be ready before dinner!

This recipe is straight from my mama.  It makes 2 pies, which coincidentally is how many pies crusts come in a package in the freezer section.  You can easily half the recipe to make one, though.  Which is what I did last night.  And only because I didn’t have room in the fridge for 2.

• 2 frozen pie crusts (I recommend deep dish)
• 1 cup sugar
• 3 tbsp cornstarch
• 2 cups water
• 2 tbsp clear corn syrup
• 1 box dry peach jello (3 oz)
• at least 4 fresh peaches per pie

1. Cook the pie crusts according to package instructions.
2. Mix sugar and cornstarch in a microwave safe bowl.
3. Add water and mix.
4. Add corn syrup and mix.  Make sure it is all mixed together.
5. Microwave to boiling–Go 2 minutes and stir.  Go 2 more minutes and stir.  Watch it closely so that it doesn’t boil over and make a big ole mess in your microwave.
6. The mixture should be thicker and clear.  At this point, slowly stir in the box of jello until mixed well.
7. Let it cool.  Let the pie crust cool.
8. Put your peeled fresh peaches in the cooled pie crust.
9. Pour the jello mixture over the peaches.
10. Refrigerate until set.  I can never remember how long I refrigerate it because I always eat some before it is completely set.  =)

I have long been a fan of the mojito, and I am super excited that I now know how to make one the right way.

I have loved mojitos for as long as I can remember.  I have always tried to make them by some recipe I found online or in a cocktail book, but it just was not good.  We have SOOO much mint that grew back this year, so I really felt the pressure more than ever to make a good mojito.  It didn’t help my cravings when we were at the beach one day, and my sister-in-law mentioned how a cabana boy would make our little (almost) private beach perfect.  Because it so nearly is perfect already.  No high rise condos, no insane amount of people muddling up the water, and no tar balls.  Yet.

When Linda mentioned that cabana boy, I thought about that cabana boy bringing me a sweet, cool, minty Mojito.  When we got home, H found this mojito recipe from Jeffrey Morgenthaler. He also includes some do’s and don’ts which are also really helpful.   He has a pretty sweet blog about bartending and mixology in Portland, Oregon.  And y’all know I love Portland. We went on our honeymoon to Seattle and Portland last October, and I swear I would move there if it weren’t so dadgum far away from everyone I love.

So Jeffrey says that the secret to a mojito is the simple syrup.  Believe me when I say that he is totally right.  This recipe is so easy, it’s like 1,2,3.  Oh wait, it is!

Check it out:

• In a 16 oz. mixing glass, gently muddle together 1 large sprig of spearmint and .75 ounce of simple syrup.
• I use about 6 medium to large leaves and since  I don’t have that small of a measurer of ounces,  I just put in 3 tablespoons of the simple syrup (I like it sweet).  What is simple syrup you ask?  Boil a cup of water and add a cup of sugar until it dissolves.  Then let it cool.  He says it keeps for about a week in the frig.  We’ve had it for a week and a half.  I need to get a sweet little squeeze bottle to keep it in the frig so I won’t make a mess like I did yesterday.

Here comes the 1, 2, 3:

• Add 1 ounce lime juice and its spent hull.
• Add 2 ounces white rum. (He says Bacardi is as close to Cuban rum as he can find here.  I like that.)
• Add 3 ounces sparkling mineral water.

Top all that with crushed ice and mix. I give it a 10 out of 10 because it tastes just like the professional mojitos I’ve had here.

The sweetness of this is really up to you.  I like mine pretty sweet, so I use 3 tbsp.  Maybe you could put 2 tbsp and then add from there.  Make sure you mix it well.  Oh man, we’ve been sipping these on the porch in the late evenings, and they really hit the spot.  What’s your favorite summer cocktail?

This tropical fusion salad is just what you need to put an end to cooking monotony.

My version of this recipe is based on the April/May Taste of Home magazine.  After being sick and out of the kitchen for so long, I needed some inspiration.  Something new and tasty and fabulous.  I wandered around for awhile and just when I thought I was getting my swagger back, our kitchen was overtaken by ants.   Hoards of them.  Every. Where.  Even in my spice cabinet!  All of my spices have been on the dining room table for weeks while we tried to get rid of these varmints.  We finally resorted to calling a professional after using way more chemicals than I would like to admit.  I also slammed my finger in the car door,  so that definitely took some time to get over.  But that is a different story for a different time, my friends.
In the midst of all this, I found this Taste of Home magazine, and it didn’t require that I use too many spices and I could use the  tiny portion of my counter space that wasn’t an ant playground.  There is nothing worse than trying to chop cilantro and a feisty little ant trying to get in your space.  It makes me shudder just to think about it.  I am kind of a germ nazi, and the thought of a stray ant in my food makes me gag a little.

So I saw this salad on the cover on Taste of Home, and I gave it a whirl.  Well, in a Gabby Gourmand-style kinda way.

Here’s their recipe (which I give a 10 out of 10 for flavor and ease of preparation):

• 2 cups cubed peeled papaya
• 1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 medium ripe avocado, peeled and cubed
• 1 cup frozen corn, thawed
• 1/2 cup golden raisins
• 2 serrano peppers, seeded and chopped
• 1/4 cup minced fresh cilantro
• 1/4 cup orange juice
• 2 tbsp lime juice
• 1 tbsp cider vinegar
• 2 garlic cloves
• 2 tsp ground ancho chili pepper, divided
• 1/4 tsp sugar
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 2 corn tortillas (6 in) cut into 1/4 inch strips

Now here’s where my substitutions come in:

• Instead of papaya, I used mango.  I couldn’t find any papaya at our grocery store.
• The corn does not have to be thawed.  It will thaw out in the salad as you are chopping/prepping other stuff.
• Instead of serrano peppers, I used jalapenos and I roasted them first (deseeded of course).  It takes a little of the spice out, and adds that great roasty jalapeno pepper flavor.
• Instead of the ancho chili powder, I used chipotle chili powder that I found for 99 cents at World Market.  I could not find ancho anywhere.  Chipotle powder is spicy as all heck, so I mixed 1 tsp of it with regular chili powder.
• Instead of corn tortillas, I used flour tortillas because that is all we had in the pantry.
• To make this salad a meal, we added Morning Star “meat” crumbles.  I sauteed this easy protein in some EVOO with the leftover chipotle/regular chili powder mixture and the jalapeno peppers.  When the fake meat crumbles are all cooked up, you can dish them up and throw the cold salad on top.  Delish!
• One thing you should not subsitute is the raisins.  Definitely invest in the golden ones because you will be making this salad more than once.

Instructions:

1. Mix OJ, lime juice, vinegar, garlic, salt, sugar, and 1/4 tsp of chili powder mix in the bottom of a big glass bowl.
2. Throw in the beans, mango, corn, raisins, and cilantro.  You can add the avocado like the original recipe says, but it will get all guacamole on you with all the stirring.  Adding it at the end keeps it as pretty as the cover picture.
3. Cut tortilla strips coated with cooking spray and sprinkle 1 tsp of the chili powder mixture on them.  You can use more of your mixture if you prefer, especially if you aren’t cooking the crumbles.  Bake at 350 for 8-10 minutes or until crisp.  Flour tortillas will burn real quick, y’all, so be careful.  We cooked up twice as much as the recipe called for because they are good to eat by themselves or on top of other stuff.  Yum!
4. Serve the salad with the spicy strips on top.

The OJ, lime juice, vinegar, and garlic would make a great dressing on other salads as well.

I found a great picture of the salad on another blog, and the author also includes ways to cut a papaya and an avocado.

While the Germans have been in town, we have gone dancing 3 weekends in a row.

So it’s ridiculous how long it’s been since I posted!  I pretty much had to stop all activities except for grading.  Well, that and hanging out with our German friends.  They come every year for a school exchange, and I must say that they are pretty fantastic people.  In the past month, we have done lots of eating from Pei Wei, Margo’s kitchen, Glen’s grill, and Marcus’s fabulous Thai dish.  It has also been prom season around here, and I have chaperoned, fixed hair, done make-up, and taken tons of pictures.

Our Germans’ month here has turned into almost 6 weeks because of the Iceland volcano.  They can’t fly home!  I really love having them here, and I wish they could stay forever.  But I know that they really want to get home, and their 24 students want to get back to their families.  We just want them to be safe.

Marcus and Daniela are “our Germans” and they are fantastic!  Every time we are all together, the laughing is uncontrollable.  Have you ever had this kind of laughter, where your sides hurt, over and over again?  These Germans–it’s like we’ve known them our entire lives.  And they have a way of bringing out the best and funniest in all of us.  This past Monday night, Marcus cooked a great Thai dish that I will be posting the recipe to soon.  It was their last night in town (or so we thought anyways).  There Marcus is, cooking this beautiful Thai dish with dried chilies from Margo’s garden that she has hanging over the stove, chopping vegetables and things.  We are all sitting around, drinking wine and talking.  It is a warm place, cozy with friends and good-natured familiarity.  Everyone is really laid back, the conversation is always interesting, and I look up to see  that Marcus is wearing a t-shirt with a tiger face on it.  The tiger has a patch on one  eye and a tear rolling out of the other eye.  It read, “Eye of the Tiger.”  You just can’t beat that.

Tonight we will be going dancing again…for the third weekend in a row.  Daniela is always a fun dance partner, and she is really beautiful, too.  Last weekend, as we left the dance club, I looked up to see several forlorn looks on guys’ faces, quite sad to see her leave.  Marcus and Daniela have definitely inspired a trip to Germany in the future for us.

Joe’s birthday was also this week.  I did have time to make him a most beautiful trifle with lemon-scented vanilla pudding, angel food cake, Creme de Cassis liqueur, whipped cream, and some excellent fresh berries.  It is delicious and light enough to enjoy on a warm evening.

Lemon-scented vanilla pudding just means that I zested a lemon and squeezed some fresh lemon juice into vanilla pudding after it set.  It livens up the flavors of the berries.

Ingredients

• big package of vanilla pudding
• whipped cream or cool whip ( I used light)
• large package of fresh blackberries
• regular sized package of fresh blueberries
• regular sized package of fresh strawberries, sliced as you go (save one or two pretty ones for the decoration on the top)
• angel food cake
• Creme de Cassis Liqueur
• juice of half a lemon and its zest

The layers are as follows:

• Mix vanilla pudding and whipped cream (or light cool whip) for the first layer in the bottom of the dish.
• Place evenly sliced pieces of angel food cake on top of that.  Make sure that however thick you want the cake, you definitely don’t want to cut too much of a wedge so that your layers will be more even.
• Brush the cake with Creme de Cassis liqueur.  The angel food cake will soak it right up.
• Place clean, fresh berries on the cake slices.  I mixed them all together, but you could have a layer of just strawberries (then, blueberries on the next round, then blackberries on the next round)
• Spoon on a layer of lemon-scented vanilla pudding
• another layer of angel food cake–keep in mind that you want to cut smaller pieces, too, to fit in the little, unfilled spots
• brush cake with liqueur
• another layer of berries
• pudding
• top with whipped cream
• make a nice design with the leftover berries on the top of the whipped cream

Save some berries to make a design on top of the trifle.

In my attempts to make this look yummy, I went overboard with the asparagus. I can see that now. But know those cheesy and ever-so-creamy scallion grits under there were to die for.

I haven’t quite gotten my multi-tasking swagger back, so Joe had to stir the grits while I blanched the asparagus.  Let me tell you the secret to some delicious and ever-so-creamy grits.  If you have never had good grits, or you swear you hate them, pay attention.

Cook the grits on the stove with some milk.  I used 2% because we’re out of half and half.  But they were still creamy as ever.  I used to work at little restaurant semi-chain in college that served a great brunch.  I always envied the Sunday brunchers because I never got a Sunday off, and the eggs benedict and jalapeno cheese grits were amazing.  One Sunday, after complaining that I would never be able to really order some of those grits, one of the head cooks told me something I will never forget.  He was a seriously cool dude who had run on some hard times in his life.  But he wouldn’t hurt a fly, and he was super nice to me.  And boy did he have some great stories.  One involved a video tape he found on the side of the road…but that is another story for another time.

This is about grits.  So he tells me, “Look, you could totally make those at home.  It’s not the jalapeno cheese that makes those grits so good, it’s the half and half we use instead of water.”  I don’t know whatever happened to that dude…but he was one of the most genuinely nice guys I had ever met at the tender age of 19.  Heck, I sure do hope he’s doing well somewhere.

So this is what you’ll need:

• 1/2 cup of 5 minute grits
• 2 cups 2% (or whole) milk
• 3-4  chopped green onions/scallions
• 1/4 cup shredded mexican or cheddar/jack cheese blend
• salt and pepper
• one bunch of asparagus
• a lemon

This is what you do:

1. Start out with 1.5 cups of milk.  Boil your milk in a small pot.  Don’t let it burn on the bottom–be pretty careful with this.
2. Throw in your grits and stir continuously.  Don’t walk away or they will burn. (This is a good job for a boy.)
3. Reduce heat as soon as the grits start to thicken up…maybe 1 minute.
4. Throw in your scallions and salt.  Add a little pepper at this point, too, if you like it.  Not too much, though, because you want this to stay more of a delicately creamy flavor.
5. While your boy is stirring, boil some water on another eye in a medium pot.  Add some salt to the water.
6. Get your washed asparagus and break them in half.  Now, they don’t have to be super perfectly broken in half.  Each piece of asparagus will be different.  This breaking them is easier than trying to find where the asparagus gets tough.  The breaking point on each piece will do that for you.  So grasp one end with one hand, and the other end with your other hand.  Bend very quickly, and each piece will break at the perfect point.  Does that make sense?
7. Your grits may need that extra 1/2 cup of milk right about this time, so go ahead and do that.
8. Throw the asparagus in the boiling water for maybe 60 seconds.  You want them to get super duper bright green and then take them out immediately.  IMMEDIATELY.
9. Dust with salt, and squeeze some lemon on them.  Toss.
10. Add the cheese to your grits until it’s all melted in.  They should be done at this point.  They will be super thick.
11. Plate up the grits and top with your asparagus.  Zest some of that lemon you used on top.

Voila!  Now tell me if you still hate grits.  =)

Meanwhile, I am on spring break, so I promise promise I will be posting a new recipe this week.  Tonight we are having Blanched Asparagus and Cheesy Grits.  I got the idea from my favorite vegan blog that I regularly link to.  Her recipe is called Polenta…something.  But isn’t that just fancy for grits?  (I would link to it, but every time I open a new tab, my laptop locks up.) So I just decided to just make my southern version of her vegan dish.  I ain’t hatin’ on dairy for this recipe because Stonyfield’s organic vanilla yogurt has saved my life this week.  Seriously.  It is so good and not too sweet.   MMMMM.  Wait–this wasn’t supposed to be about food.

So first about the title: I’ve been knitting like a crazy woman (except during the depths of despair…it hurt to pick anything up, even knitting needles).   On a recent trip to JoAnn’s, I found this 100% Peruvian wool in the most fabulous fuschia color called “Passionfruit.”  It is by Debbie Stoller, author of the “Stitch ‘n Bitch” book I was given for Christmas and consequently learned how to knit from (with some random youtube videos when I needed a live demo).  And it is only like $4.99!  I visited my local yarn store (LYS in knitter speak), and their 100% natural fiber stuff is crazy expensive.  I already suspected as much because my grad school roommate would visit the yarn store there in in our little college town, and I would marvel at the amazing colors, textures, and variety (I am such a lush for variety)…and wonder how many hanks or skeins of those $22 yarns it would take to make a sweater.  Yeah.

I am also a lush for office supplies, but don’t get me started on that.

On another note, some things that are annoying me that I was just thinking about today:

1. The game show portion of Regis and Kelly: I freakin’ love Kelly Ripa.  I would move to New York if I was guaranteed a spot as her BFF.  But that portion of the show where they call up someone and give them 20 seconds to answer a question about a previously aired show–It makes me nervous as all get out.  I don’t know why.  I figured it out today that my heart rate slightly increases.  I guess that’s why I was never any good at video games.  I can’t take the heat.
2. Johnny Quills: I don’t know if this is actually what they are called, but that’s what my mom always called them. They start peaking their head through the dead grass, say, oh, right about now, even though it is still cold as all heck outside.  Then they start to bloom their happy little yellow flowers.  It’s like a signal that I need to be ready for spring and planting some stuff.  Problem is, the previous owners did not place these johnny quills in a very smart spot.  It’s taken us forever to convert the huge area that they planned as a flower garden (that is only feasible if you have a million dollars to hire a landscaper) back to regular yard…And by yard I mean crappy grass and weeds.  Now these little buggers are sprouting up everywhere.  They’ll bloom once, and then they are done.  And ugly for the rest of the summer.  Ugh.
3. Praxis Tests: I had to take yet another on Saturday.  Thank you Mississippi for putting “(Alternate Route)” on my full teaching license.  Because of those 2 little words and the nasty connotation of those 2 little parentheses, I had to take another test to prove my teaching worth.  It made me feel good, though, that most of the questions were no-brainers….or maybe I’m just a good enough teacher now that I can recognize these things.  But it was the principle of the thing, ya know?  There is a short answer section, which really means “short essay” where you have to analyze the particular teacher/situation.  It took all I had not to write: “Mr. Yakimoto needs to stop being a pansy and not let his kids walk all over him,” and, “Ms. Wilson is a dumbass for thinking she could assign a project like that without explaining it first.”  I think my count of Praxis tests is now at 6.
4. Nosy/Pushy Apartment Office Ladies: I went looking for apartments with one of my friends yesterday.  She also doubles as family…because I married in to the best family ever.  So cousin-in-law, Ash, and I are driving around, looking for her a new apartment.  I forgot how expensive they are…and how pushy the ladies in the offices can be.  “So you can move into this one immediately…”  This after we had already explained Ash’s timeline.  Oi.
5. Thinking a particular movie came out already, and it didn’t: That’s pretty much all I have to say about that.  I guess I was really out of it last week.  I even repeated a whole story to my fellow culinary friend last night on the phone before realizing I had told her the same story last week.  Man.
6. Nay-sayers: Why do we always believe the negative things people say (and the negative people) when there are a million things and comments to the contrary?  I got my hair cut and colored today by my genius hair stylist.  I’ve been going to her on the advice of a high school girl for 3 years (they always know where the goods are if you ever move to a new city).  She is amazing, inside and out.  I could very literally talk to her all day because she’s just an all-around great person.  And one afternoon, we almost did because I was being weird and couldn’t make my mind up.  She also had a baby last year, and he is flipping adorable.  If I didn’t love my teaching job so much, I would have been inspired to go to beauty school.  She is just that good.  My wedding photographer even complimented her, and you know they get in super close to touch things up.  Anywho, we were talking today, and she wants to cut her hair short like that adorable red head on American Idol.  She’s afraid, though, that she’ll look like a soccer mom and she keeps thinking back to a comment a girl made to her about her age.  When she had shorter hair before, this certain person thought she was way older than she actually was (She is only 28!).  Now let me tell you, my stylist is no soccer mom.  She could never be.  (Not that there’s anything wrong with soccer moms…but I have a fear of having a Kate Gosselin hair style, so you know what I mean.)  It just annoys me that the girl could even say something like that.   You never admit that to women.  That goes in the “are you pregnant?” file.  Plus, my stylist is a master of product.  She is going to look amazing.  I mean, she’s already gorgeous anyway.  Also, don’t you love the smell of your hair after it has been professionally washed and styled?  MMMMM.
   

   I love this American Idol contestant. I love her red hair, her dewy blue eyes, and her song choices even if Randy "isn't feeling it, dawg." If I hadn't lived 23 years of my life with short hair, I would want this hair style, too.

These little salmon patties are full of flavor and texture. I made this batch in 2-bite increments because I was in the mood for cute. But they could easily be made into bigger patties.

It is COLD.  And it will be all week.  Winter weather like this does not make me want to go to the grocery store (or anywhere) for any reason.  I rely upon my trusty pantry items like the canned salmon I try to keep stocked.  This is a winter favorite– a perfect solution for our hibernating ways.

Salmon Patties

Mix all of these in a bowl in this order:

• 1 can of salmon, drained
• 1/4 onion, diced
• 1/2-3/4 cup panko bread crumbs (depending on how much you like)
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp Tony Cachere’s seasoning
• dash of lemon juice
• dash of worchestershire
• salt
• pepper
• 1 egg

Pat them out into patties.  Fry in 1/2 cup vegetable oil over medium heat. You could use less oil if you prefer.  Heck, you could even bake them if you want.

I have to apologize for being out of circulation for so long.  A second strain of the stomach bug hit me Monday, and I have not been so quick on the mend for this go-round.

Some fun “Gabby” stories from the week to keep you thinking (and maybe laughing).  Warning: they are not really appetizing.

• I got my grades in on time this week, but it took a lot out of me being so ill at the same time.  I had to tip-tap with one finger whilst laying on the couch surrounded by dogs and papers.
• I drove up to school with a 99 degree fever to get the graded papers so I could enter them onto our online system on time (at home of course), and I had to call some of my dearest and most trusted students to bring them down to me.  Of course, 4 of them came down.  There I sat, no shower in at least 24 hours, a tiny trash can in the floor board, no make-up, pajama pants, PITIFUL.  “Oh, dear, Ms. Gabby, you really should never try to sell drugs…this waiting in the parking lot look is not working for you.”  I reply with a meek, “Please forget you saw me this way.”  Of course, one gets out his iPhone as a joke.  Dear Lord I hope he didn’t snap that picture for real.
• I have acquired a “primary physician” because of all this mess, and he is super nice. My reply to his nurse (the 8th person to ask me if I had considered being pregnant): “Oh honey, I wish!  But seriously, if this is what it’s like, I want no part of it.”  She thought I was funny.  I did feel funny…just not the “ha ha” kind.
• All of my other students came up with all kinds of reasons we teachers are all sick this week.  One involved the plague.  Another involved our love of coffee.  Kids think of the darndest things!
• My hubs called himself “hardy” and announced that he was not afraid of the last virus and he would not be afraid of this one.  He makes me smile.  =)

I am on the mend, though, so the cooking fun will be back soon.  I don’t know how soon I’ll be trying the vegetarian “hot wings” recipe now, but at some point, I will be back to normal and craving that spicy goodness.  I’ll be posting an earlier draft of a recipe I saved to keep you company very soon.

Also, it is now spring break.  Brang on the Food Network inspirations, y’all!