Remembering to Remember Life

Life happens, fast, and gets away.  Before long your littlest isn't so little and you're thinking back on that funny thing they said, but life has happened since then and you just can't recall...

So this is my pause button.  My moment to remember and write down a bit of the awesomeness.  It's Saturday.  I got to sleep in with Teeny Tiny despite her having her head shoved just under my should blade, her favorite new sleep position.  Seriously, it feels like she's pushing with all her might.  This may or may not be because she's pressing her feet into her dad's side and is able to brace herself, mid sleep, to give maximum pushing force against my bones.

Anyway, sleep.  Yes, we got to sleep in.  I made Gingerbread Pancakes for breakfast. Here are some of Teeny's comments throughout the day:

T:  "You're making pancakes?"
Me:  "Yes.  Gingerbread pancakes."
T: "Like the gingerbread man?"
Me:  "Yep.  They're my favorite."
T: "You're the best mommy ever!  Can I make with you?  Can I stand on my chair?"
A little later on...""Can I take two purses to go shopping?'  "Can I take my doctor kick?"
Me:  "You can take one purse and no, you cannot take your doctor's kit."
Teeny seemed okay with this, but melted down when I told her that she couldn't put anymore rings in her purse.  She had approximately seven shoved in there already.  I was told I was "mean mommy."

Other notable sayings as of late:

"Stompeez are scary."  Stompeez is the word she recalls for Zombies.  Similarly scissors are "lizards," and a "mishmash" is a mustache.

She's quite fond of singing "Animal crackers in my soup."  In addition to "Jesus loves me," and "Sharp Dressed Man" by ZZ Top.  I dig that her musical preference is so eclectic. :)

Red Beans & Rice and Everything Nice

That's what Southern girls are made of.

Dry beans are a great staple for your pantry, inexpensive and healthy.  Red beans are my favorite.  This Monday I made a pot and I think that it may be my best one yet so I'll share the recipe.

This go 'round I used Chorizo sausage and it really made the pot.  Here's what you'll need...

Ingredients
1 lb. bag dry red beans, rinsed and sorted
10 cups water
2 Bay leaves
3 tablespoons bacon drippings
1 large white or yellow onion, rough chopped
3 ribs celery, chopped
2 toes of garlic
2 links of chorizo, sliced
Salt, black pepper, & garlic powder to taste (start with 1 tsp. of each and add more if you like)
1 tsp. Thyme
3 tbsp. flour
2 tbsp. dried or fresh parsley
1/4 to 1/2 cup green onion, chopped
White Rice, cooked

Place washed beans in a large pot and cover with and inch or so of water.  You can do the long soak method, soak for 8 hours or overnight, drain and set aside, or you can do a quick cook method.  I do the quick cook method which is to cover beans with an inch or so of water and bring to a boil, simmering for an hour, then add the remaining water, up to ten cups, and reduce heat to medium low.

Meanwhile, in a skillet, heat bacon drippings over medium heat. Add your chopped onion and sauté for 1 minute. Add chopped celery to this and continue to sauté until onions are translucent. Season with salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Add this to the pot along with bay leaves, parsley, & thyme. 

After you've added your veg to the pot and while your skillet is still hot, add chorizo; cook, stirring, to brown the sausage over medium heat, about 4 minutes. When done, add this to the pot along with two toes of garlic and stir.  Remove about 1/4 cup of bean juice, placing in a small bowl, and to it add 3 tbsp. flour.  Combine flour and liquid to form a paste and add that back to the pot. Bring beans back to a simmer, stirring occasionally,  for about 2 hours.  The flour works as a thickening agent; should the beans become too thick, add more water, about 1/4 cup at a time until desired consistency.

Remove beans from heat and, with a slotted spoon, fish out your toes of garlic and mash against the side of the pot. Stir mashed garlic back down into the beans and continue to cook until beans are tender and creamy, another 15 minutes or so.  Remove from heat.  Serve over cooked rice and garnish with green onions.

The Most Beautiful Words

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I found this here I found this on the web around the time of my Grandma's funeral back in March.  It seemed so fitting, at the time, like a puzzle piece clicking into place in my heart; now, it just seems so beautiful and I will keep this sentiment in my heart forever. 

Who is this Linda Hogan, Native American writer, who could communicate such beauty in her words?

Crawfish Races and a Boil

Father's Day weekend required a special meal to kick it all off.  Nothing says "man food" like sucking crawfish heads (Shhh, I don't partake, but that will be our secret). 

The hubs thoroughly enjoys a good crawfish boil, twisting the heads and sucking 'em back, not to mention he's got pulling the tail meat down to an art.  Swilling beer and getting all those juices and beer mixed up in his beard just adds to the manliness of it.  A boil is a perfect Father's Day meal.

We ordered that mess of crawfish from our local grocer.  They're live when you get them so have fun with it.

You can race them...

antagonize them...

Scare your little ones with 'em,

but be warned.  Someone just may piddle on your floor.

Lucky for me it was only crawfish piddle.  As our "big girl" exclaimed, "I pee on the potty!"

  Look at that big 'ol Granddaddy in the center there; look at those pincers!

  

At last, the supper, pork & venison sausage, corn on the cob, and red potatoes.  Mmm, mmm!

 

Hurricane Alley

Here, my love and I float the lazy river at Hurricane Alley Water park.  This is located near the downtown area of Corpus Christi.  It's a nice reprieve from our South Texas heat.  This is a small water park and perfect for young ones.  It is not too expensive, fifty dollars for a season pass so we will go a lot to get our monies worth.  This is just one of the things to do in our little town. 

There's always the beach, too.  However, seaweed is high, right now, and not leaving the best aroma on the shores.  I much prefer the cleaner atmosphere of the park to the beach for the time being.

Ground has been broken for Schlitterbahn Corpus Christi, too, so visitors will have just one more way to beat the heat in coming years.

Beatin' the Heat

Bitsy and watermelon tidbits

Today, Teeny Tiny and I ventured out into the summer heat.  We both woke up hoarse (I'll attribute that to allergies, but I'm no expert), otherwise we would have ventured out in the less-hot morning hours.  As it was, we made it out afternoon and regretted it instantly.  As soon as we blasted the A/C in our ride, I promised Bebe that we'd go directly home to cut up our mini watermelon.  I'm so glad we did.  It was perfectly cold and sweet.

 We gave the other girls in our life the trimmed bits from the melon.



Ruby being wary of the camera



Aren't they Purdy?

I'm fairly certain that they love me right about now.

 

On a personal note, I did get that teaching position I was going for so 1st grade here I come!  Wish me luck and more to come on that.

For the Moms