mushrooms

So I hate mushrooms. I always just thought I kind of didn't like them, but last night I realized how much I do not like them. If I can, I always order something without mushrooms, if it comes with mushrooms, I ask for them to be left out. I thought maybe they taste okay but the texture is so absolutely disgusting that I could not do it.

Well last night I was making Todd pizza for dinner. Pepperoni and mushroom because I am fabulous like that. I always fry up the pepperoni and drain the grease so the pizza isn't all ooky. Then I got the brilliant idea to saute the mushrooms in the pepperoni grease. Great idea, not so healthy, but I heard it turned out tasty. So as I was cooking mushrooms, the smell hit me. Absolutely disgusting. I mean, yuck!

I think the pizza turned out well though. And the mushroom stench did not ruin my skillet. My fried egg sandwich today didn't taste the least bit mushroomy.

Where is spring this year? About a month ago it felt truly like spring and then it did a disappearing act. Is it like this everywhere? Or just in stupid Kansas? I think this week is supposed to be warm-ish and I am so excited. I want to pull out the flip flops. I want to go lay in the tanning bed so I'll look like I've had real sun (of course I won't because I have no money and I don't want skin cancer). I'm ready for the lake and fishing and flip flops and the smell of sun screen. I'm ready to have my big sunglasses laughed at and to fight my unmanageable hair in the humidity. C'mon spring, get here all ready. You are so late for the party. Past fashionably late, now you're just being an a-hole, it's mid-April for gosh sake.

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.

green tank tops

I'm sitting in my new apartment, squinting at the computer (I already took my contacts out and I'm too lazy to go find my glasses), smelling chicken baking in the oven and listening to the whir of the dryer. And I love it. I love it so much. I guess this is the first real dinner I've cooked since I moved.

Saturday night I made pizza for Valentines. I was going to be so sweet and put mushrooms on half but I couldn't find mushrooms at the store. But pizza is just one of those super easy things I make. A total no brainer:
--2 packages Shawnee Hills pizza crust
--1 can Hunt's Zesty & Spicy pasta sauce
--1 pkg. pepperoni
--1 pkg. Mozzarella cheese
--Cajun seasoning to taste
--Make the pizza crust per the instructions, add Cajun seasoning to mix. Bake for approx. 12 minutes in a 9x13 baking dish. While crust is baking, brown pepperoni in a skillet (this helps get the grease out) and drain on a paper towel. Pour sauce over crust. Top with pepperoni and cheese. Return to oven until cheese is melted and bubbling.

It's delicious and so easy. My next pizza assignment is BBQ chicken.

But back to tonight's dinner. Baked chicken that I marinated in Baja Chipotle sauce and mashed potatoes/cauliflower. The cauliflower is just for me, I started a new diet. It's surprisingly delicious.

So my apartment is all unpacked. I'm in the midst of doing laundry because, oh yes, my apartment has a washer and dryer. It's great! I really like the new job so far. I've had training the past 2 nights where I felt incredibly old and like I already knew what was going on. I also discovered my first wrinkle yesterday. It was a horrifying moment. And most importantly, cable and internet got installed today. I hadn't had tv since I moved in. So it's been fun. Look for decorating pictures to come.