spring cleaning

I just scrubbed my microwave. With a dish scrubby. I'm not sure you're supposed to do that. But I did. And it worked very well. I think cleaning the microwave is my absolutely least favorite cleaning project. Ick. And my cleaner makes me sneeze. Or maybe it's just spring time.

I made a sweet 90s playlist for my boyfriend. It's all music I was listening to in high school. I'm listening to it right now while I am cleaning. I like it.

Tonight I'm making lasagna for dinner. Yum! It always takes so long but it's totally worth it.

I got a new zip up fleece at Cabela's yesterday. I was so excited. It was exactly what I wanted and the price I wanted to pay. Okay, I wanted the grey one from the women's department but the black one from men's was half as much so I got it but, it was a bargain so I was okay with the compromise. Of course, I find this as the weather warms up. But I'm sure spring is not here for good yet. Even still, it will be good for cool spring mornings. Yay!


I was all excited, I was going to start making the grey scarf I promised to make one of my friends. I went to Wal-Mart (I should've known better) to buy yarn. Absolutely no grey yarn that did not feel super scratchy. Arg. I'm going to have to make a Michael's or Hobby Lobby run soon. I need to start being crafty again.

being awesome

So sometimes I feel like I am stuck in the 90s. Is it still cool to say "awesome"? I kind of don't think so. But I do it anyway. Quite proudly in fact. I frequently reaffirm my awesomeness. I have some fun domesticness this week. I keep forgetting to buy grey yarn for Meera's scarf. Would somebody please remind me.

I'm making BBQ chicken pizza. That means I need to defrost the chicken so I can cook it. I should be doing that right now. I think that's for tonight.

I'm also making lasagna. It's my mom's best friend's recipe. She (my mom's best friend) died when I was a freshman in high school. She was an amazing person. She was my third grade math teacher. I remember singing along with records to learn our multiplication tables... I also remember a lesson involving Pop Tarts, I don't remember what the lesson was, just the mention of Pop Tarts. I loved Pop Tarts (truth be told, I still do -- the brown sugar & cinnamon ones). It always makes me smile to make the lasagna. It's just warm and comforting. My mom quit making it for a long time after she died because it made her sad. If we had lasagna it was that pre-made kind from Sam's Club. My mom makes the lasagna again now and it makes my heart smile to see her remembering her friend as she stirs the ingredients and cooks the noodles.

We made blueberry muffins in home ec the day she died. I was pulling muffins out of the oven when I heard my sister and another boy get called to the office and I just knew. I knew what had happened. I knew she was gone. I have not eaten a blueberry muffin since that day. They turn my stomach -- the smell, the taste. It was a long time before I could eat any muffins at all.

She was definitely an awesome lady though. Her neice has a very cool tattoo in honor of her aunt. I love it.

So, this week the cooking high lights are the lasagna and this ridiculous pizza. I ate some Stromboli earlier. It appeared magically in my fridge. Mmmm! Thanks BF's mom. It was delicious.

Ooh, I also bought new wine over the weekend. I can't wait to drink it! Not because I'm an alcoholic but because it will be so good! Blackberry and a spiced wine that is to be drank warm. Yum! I'm most excited about the spiced. We bought some about this time last year but I was really sick when we drank it. So I wasn't sure if it was really good or just good because I was sick. I tasted it again when I bought it this time -- yup, definitely that good. You should definitely be jealous.

Where it all began

I'm the youngest of four sisters. That meant I was last in line to learn to cook. Read, I never really cooked much until I went off to college and had to. For family dinners I am usually expected to bring some sort of Jell-O salad. Watergate salad is my favorite. The first person I ever cooked much for was what we shall call "an unadventurous eater" I made the same pasta most nights.

Now as I've hit my mid 20s, I'm striving to be more like the 20 something that my mother was. When she was in high school she was Betty Crocker Homemaker of Tomorrow. This meant she received her very own Betty Crocker cookbook. A cookbook that was used in our family almost non-stop. Don't know how to make something? Check with Betty. It was almost like she was the aunt with all the delicious recipes.

A former co-worker gave me a used version of the very same cookbook. It's hardback and from the early 60s, probably slightly older than the one I grew up using. But every time I set out to make something, I pull out Betty. A smile comes across my face as I flip through the pages looking for the right recipe. Tonight that recipe is coffee cake, my sister requested it.

My baking may not be done for a large family or a fancy luncheon. It is however made in the same dishes that my mother and grandmother have used. I love my dusty rose Tupperware canisters. I have secret aspirations of becoming a Tupperware lady. I love my brown Pyrex mixing bowls. A wooden spoon, well I'm not sure that I know how to cook without one.

I pull Betty out of the cabinet more frequently these days. I have people in my life who are willing to try something new. I've learned that just because my sisters never expected that I would cook doesn't mean I can't. I actually like to cook. Baking is still my favorite. In my own personal recipe file (a blue argyle binder) there are far more desserts than anything else. Around holidays I love making candy and goodies for everyone I know.

So welcome to my "culinary blog" Pictures of whatever deliciousness I've whipped up. Stories of my successes and probably some failures too. Last weekend I happened to make some super ugly (but delicious) lasagna with my mom's best friend's recipe. I also pulled out Betty to make some oatmeal raisin cookies.