Happy Birthday Daddy

jim-daddy-grannyMy dad would have been 71 today.  This picture is from 1976.  My dad is the middle with the lady on his lap.  The lady is my great grandmother.  The other man is my uncle Jim.

He would have loved my kids.  The man seriously loved babies.

The most vivid dream I've ever had came about two weeks after he passed away.  I honestly don’t know if it was a dream or if I was meeting him at the Great Starbucks in the sky.

He and I were meeting in a beautiful room with a tall ceiling and a wall completely covered in greenery. One wall was all windows and it looked out over a beautiful lake. 

He sat across from me with a cup of coffee in a simple mug.  I remember crying in the dream.

He asked me why I was crying.  I said that it was because he was gone and I couldn’t talk to him.

He told me that I could talk to him whenever I liked, I just might not get a direct answer.

“Besides,” he said, “you wouldn’t want me back the way I was.  I was so sick.  Think of me like you remember me when you were just a little fart.”

So today, I’m trying to think of my daddy the way he asked in that dream.  I am trying to remember him calling me “little fart” or telling me that we were having “a bait of boiled buttholes” for dinner.

I’m trying to not remember the harsh words spoken between us or the almost violent arguments we would get into.  I’m trying not to remember the ache of not being able to argue with him about religion or politics.

I know that when I tell him I love him today that he will hear me.


How to make caramel apples

  1. Purchase caramel apple kit.SONY DSC
  2. Line cookie sheet with wax paper.  Ready plastic wrap to wrap your delicious creations.
  3. Follow directions on package to melt caramel.
  4. Push sticks into apples.  Nearly lose eye when one stick breaks and splinters fly through air.
  5. Pick up apple on a stick.  Apple slips off stick.  Put apple back on stick.  Repeat.  Swear with great creativity. Figure out how to angle apple so it won’t fall off stick.
  6. Dip into sauce that is now hotter than molten lava.
    Swear obscenely when stick comes out of apple leaving apple bobbing in viscous goo.  Go find the mother effin’ tongs.
  7. Realize you’ve destroyed tongs because you found preschooler using them to mess with "things" in toilet.  Find the salad spoons instead.
  8. Use salad spoons to dig apples out of caramel sauce that is now hotter than the sun.  Sauce drips off of salad spoons and onto your pants leaving a blister the size of your hand.  Swear loudly enough that the neighbors think there’s some sort of domestic situation at your house and call police.
  9. Repeat process with remaining apples and/or say to “hell with it” and go buy caramel apples at grocery store.
  10. Enjoy!

Stupid Easy BBQ

Today on our meal plan is BBQ sandwiches

I recently discovered the delights of pork loin.  I say that I don’t particularly like pork but the truth is that I like pork loin, pork chops and bacon.  I’m not adverse to the occasional ham either. 

I don’t like pork roast though.  In my experience, it’s been a greasy mess and seems heavy.  I’m not sure I’ve ever even had pork loin until recently but my in-laws had it the last time we visited and it was delightful.  That got me looking for my own recipes.

I don’t remember where I came across this one but it’s mot too original.

  1. Put the pork loin in the slow cooker.
  2. Cover with bbq sauce.
  3. Put on lid and cook on low for 6-8 hours.
  4. Shred about 30 minutes before serving.

I serve on hamburger buns.  We also use leftovers for topping baked potatoes, pizzas, in salads, whatever. 

This method creates tender, delicious pork and is as the title says: stupid easy.


October’s Meal planning

I was inspired to share this with all of you this month.  I was reading one of my favorite once a month cooking websites and she shared her own meal plan.  Now granted I’m not cooking tons of this at once but I am doing a little bulk cooking. 

My October Meal Plan

  1. Chicken Tacos
  2. Breakfast for dinner
  3. BBQ Sandwiches
  4. Leftover BBQ
  5. Homemade Pizza
  6. Grilled Chicken Burritos
  7. Baked Potatoes with the fixin’s
  8. OUT
  9. OUT with Family
  10. Delivery Pizza
  11. Beef Stew Bowls
  12. Cornish Pasties
  13. Big Salad
  14. Chicken Tortilla Soup
  15. Chicken Quesadillas
  16. Homemade Pizza
  17. Hamburgers
  18. Hot dogs
  19. Turkey and veggies
  20. Turkey Turkey Club Sandwiches
  21. OUT
  22. Burgers
  23. Turkey Enchiladas
  24. Kielbasa
  25. Cranberry Chicken 
  26. BBQ Sandwiches
  27. Leftover BBQ
  28. Veggie Beef Soup
  29. Leftover Soup
  30. Coca Cola Chicken
  31. Turkey Enchiladas

This is a plan.  It doesn’t mean it’s written in stone.  The only things that are absolutely sure things are the items for the first 7 days as I just went grocery shopping and the turkey related items.

I bought the turkey about 6 months ago and he’s been hanging out in my deep freeze.  I think its about time to get him out and cook him up.

What this plan does for me though is help me when I’m trying to figure out what we should have.  This way, I can create my grocery list in advance and then check the sales and act accordingly.

Do you plan this far ahead with your meal planning?