Mom Win or Mom Fail - You Decide

After a night of fun at Urban Grub and over sleeping this morning, I realized there was no way to get everyone ready, lunches packed, kids to camp and me to my hair appointment in a timely manner.  Whats a mom to do?  Did I mention the two peach bellinis I had last night or the fact that I got home at 12:30 am?  Thank goodness there is a Subway on the way to camp.  Mom fail or mom of the year?   You  decide. Luckily the kids are voting me mom of the year and that is all that matters.

Cornbread - the real Staff of Life

Last night was a Pinterest kinda night.  I've made these recipes before but thought I would share with you.  If you are like me  you are always looking for new recipes to add to your repertoire.  I give you Irish Stew with Mashed Potatoes and Firehouse Cornbread. 

Cornbread is a funny thing.  I grew up on beans, cornbread, mashed potatoes, traditional Southern foods.  Mama's cornbread was simple and dry.  Eggs, buttermilk, corn meal, bacon grease.  That's it.  It was mixed and poured into a cast iron skillet that was only used for that sacred bread.  I ate it each night (literally) covered with mounds of butter in an effort to moisten it.  Though my mama was an amazing cook and I rarely turned anything down she made, I longed for the sweet moist cornbread served at school.  This may explain why, as an adult, despite mastering most of what she made for us (and more), I cannot master her cornbread recipe and have been for years on the search for the perfect cornbread.  This one is close, friends.  Very close.

Oh!  If you know me, you know that I often adjust recipes to suit my needs.  With that said, the Irish Stew recipe is perfect as is.   I changed Bisquick to Pamela's Baking Mix in the Cornbread and I reduced the sugar from 1/2 cup to 1/8.  Future recipes I'll only reduce it to 1/4.  It needed just a little more sweetness! 

“Her corn-cake, in all its varieties of hoe-cake, dodgers, muffins and other species too numerous to mention, was a sublime mystery to all less practised compounders.”
Harriet Beecher Stowe, 'Uncle Tom's Cabin' (1852)

Back to Basics

Do you ever just want something really simple?  Or, want your life to be really simple?  I do.  A lot!  When I woke up yesterday and contemplated what I would be bringing to the dinner table for my family, simple and homestyle was what I wanted.  So, I took out my trusty crockpot and poured in two bags of dried pinto beans.   I added a little salt (to your preference) and two tablespoons of bacon grease (yes, I said it) and turned the crock pot on low for 10 hours.  When we arrived home last night I made a 8x8 pan of cornbread and voila, simple and homestyle just like that.  

"What most moved him was a certain meal on beans." - Robert Browning

Oh Panini Press!

Welcome Cuisinart Grill to the family.  Where have you been my whole life?

 

Tenderfoot and Camp

This week Noah was given his first rank advancement in the Boy Scouts.  I was a proud Mama when Noah "pinned" me during the ceremony.  This ceremony was perfectly timed as he left today for his first residential camp experience.  Nathan and Noah just drove away to meet the rest of the troop to caravan to Boxwell.  Nathan, Noah, several adult leaders and about 15 other boys will join boys from around the country for a week of scout activities.  I guess technically this is not his first time camping away from home.  He has camped several times with his class at Linden and he and Nathan have gone on several weekend camping trips with the scouts.  But, this is the first time he is going for a week.  And, Nathan will only be with him one night.  Of course, he is so confident and easy going that it is no big deal for him.  For me, though, it is different.  As I think about having a rising 6th grader leaving for camp I am both proud and wistful at the same time. 

Being down one kid gives me the week to focus on my girl and she has lots planned including beauty day (think cucumbers on the eyes), gardening and more.  Now, if only the rain would end.....

Mommy Daughter Time

What's a mom to do who has a hubby working late and a son staying with a friend?  Add a little mommy guilt for being too focused on work and a clean house plus the need to have my nails done and you have mommy daughter date night. 

 

Bailey's Grotto

Thank Goodness I'm Not Alone

http://jenhatmaker.com/blog/2013/05/30/worst-end-of-school-year-mom-ever

Mother's Day Fun @ Chuy's!

Apple Cider Vinegar - Does A Body Good

A few years ago I asked my mother if there was anything in particular that her mother-in-law (my father's mother) did to stay healthy.  She lived into her 80's and was never sick.  She gave birth to 8 children at home and only was ill one time, when she had her gall bladder removed.  (8 children, enough said.)  My mother did not hesitate and said "she drank a small amount of apple cider vinegar each day."    

Not only did my grandmother know this secret, but it is detailed in a great book that a friend gave me a few years ago called Folk Medicine.   

My favorite ACV is from Bragg.   From the Bragg website:  

Apple Cider Vinegar has been highly regarded throughout history. In 400 B.C. the great Hippocrates, Father of Medicine, used it for its amazing health qualities.

Check out the link to this great book, check out the Bragg link and have some apple cider today.  

Happy Anniversary.

12 years in love.

The May Faire Maiden

Great Article - Less Than Perfect

If you are not signed up for the Huffington Post parenting articles, run, don't walk, to the nearest computer to do so. 

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/lea-grover/dear-less-than-perfect-mom_b_3184445.html

Find Peace

from:  11:11 Awakening Code