Chicago here I come!

Early tomorrow I'm flying out to spend the weekend with two of my very bestest peeps, Amy and Melanie.

Thanks for Mel's ever-traveling husband, we'll be staying in the Marriott on the Mag Mile for... fah-ree!

We've also secured tickets to a show at Second City, the comedy club where many of the greats have gotten their start.

Yummy food. Good wine. Lots of hanging around the hotel relaxing and talking and just enjoying being together again.

I can't wait!

But you know that I couldn't truly relax unless I knew my fam here at home is well-taken care of. I prepared an information packet for Scott. Poor angel is left to pick up the chaotic insanity that the weekend became after I booked my plane ticket.

Here's what he's got to juggle...

1. No school for the kiddos on Friday
2. Girl Scout cookie pick up
3. Emma has a GS overnight on Saturday
4. Emma also has her first swim meet on Sunday, so he has to pick her up early from camping and get her to the meet
5. GS cookie distribution to the troop

To a mom, yeah, well... it's all under control. But to dad who isn't in charge of Family Coordination, the list can seem a little overwhelming.

So Scott's info packet contains Google directions to everywhere he needs to go, all appropriate Girl Scout paperwork, a packing list for Emma, a spreadsheet with cookie distribution for each Girl Scout, phone numbers, dates, times, swim meet information and of course, directions to get to the swim meet. 

It's taken me the better part of a week to coordinate it all for him. And I don't mind a bit.

After all, he is my Hero. Yup, Hero with a capital H.

I'll be back Monday eve, so I'll post photos and stories (the non-x rated ones hee hee) on Tuesday. Enjoy your weekends!

Please tell me I have more time...

This is the first paragraph of a letter I found in my in box a few minutes ago:

Dear Eighth Grade Family,

Please allow me to be among the first to welcome you and your student to the high school years.  I would also like to inform you of a special opportunity for your student as you begin the process of registering for high school.

Say what??????

Who me????

I have a child about to enter high school????

Say is isn't so!!!!! Please! I'm not ready!!!

Seriously, I'm not ready for her to start high school. Middle school maybe, but that's as far as I'm willing to go.

Oh wait. She started middle school two and a half years ago. And she'll be done with it in five short months. 

And that means high school awaits.

*sigh* I guess it's inevitable. 

So I'm going to get my rah-rah on and be happy about this. And I really am happy. Just a little sad that time has gone too quickly.

Repost: Cards for sale!!

My amazing and entrepreneurial 13-year-old daughter is raising money to go on her school's 8th grade trip to Philly, DC and NYC. So she created greeting cards with her artwork...

These are just a couple of the pieces she's chosen to include on her cards.

Here's her marketing email...

In early April, I’ll be joining 150 other eight graders from my school in a trip to Washington, DC, Philadelphia and New York City! It costs almost $2000 to go, so I’m raising money by selling some of my artwork in the form of greeting cards.

For only $8, you’ll receive a set of five cards, each a different design. They will arrive bundled in a ribbon and in a clear gift bag. As soon as I get the check, I’ll send the package within a couple days. (Shipping is included in the price.)

This is a fantastic and inexpensive gift idea for Valentine’s Day, birthdays, teachers or even when you want to give an extra special thank you.

Don't forget to tell your friends and family about this amazing opportunity!

Delicious Readers, won't you please buy a set or two to help send this talented girl to the East Coast for several days? If you're interested, please either leave a message here or email lafs.cards@gmail.com and she'll send you an order form right away!

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

I'm a Guest Blogger!

Woot! Woot!

I wrote an article on the art of being a balanced coupon shopper.

Huh? I know you're thinking "what on earth is a balanced coupon shopper?"

Well, thank you for asking...

My regular Delicious readers know that I adore couponing. But one thing I learned the hard way is that it is way too easy to become completely addicted to matching deals and coupons. Not to mention constantly heading out to various stores to get a bargain that's just too good to pass up.

Couponing is super-duper awesome in moderation (meaning you cannot ignore your children). So when I had an opportunity to do a guest post on one of the most awesome super-saver blogs out there, SoutherCaliSaver.com, I knew I had to write about finding balance in among the perforated lines.

So go on over and read my tricks of the trade!

http://www.southerncalisaver.com/2011/01/guest-post-walking-perforated-line-finding-balance-couponing-lifestyle/#respond

Rockin' Walgreen's shop this afternoon...

I scored two of the evasive $5 off any Nature Made vitamin coupons last week and held onto them so I could couple them with Walgreen's BOGO sale.

'Cause you know what that means!!! Two bottles of vitamin D for.... wait for it.... NOTHING!

That's right, delicious friends, free-ola. Woot woot!

And then I had to use my $7 Walgreen's cash coupons (can't remember what they're called), so here's what jumped into my basket...

2 boxes of very cute hamster Valentine's for Emma
1 8.5 oz. bottle hair spray
2 boxes of Duncan Hines cupcake mix

I know, I know. You're all waiting with bated breath for how much I paid. Well, wait no more!

$1.79. 

But wait! There's more! (And no. No Ginsu knives included.)

The hairspray has a "Try Me Free" sticky on it. 

Which means that I'll get a $1.99 rebate! 

Which means that I will have made a profit of 22 cents!

Which means that I did my let's get funky dance in the car on the way home! (Wouldn't you have like to have seen that? ROFLOL) Hayley, my shopping partner in finding-fantabulous-deals crime, thought it was pretty hysterical. 

Or maybe she was just being patiently tolerant. That sounds more likely. I get a lot of that from her these days.

None the less, I did my happy dance and celebrated my fantastic shop. Wanna dance with me?

Christmas a month late

At least Chrissy, my Christmas Cactus, is celebrating a month late...

At last count, it's sporting 30 buds, but Emma spied a couple more as I photographed my baby.

Chrissy has been through thick and thin, hot and cold. My mom gave me a cutting of her plant when I officially moved out of the house just before my senior year of college. If I'm not mistaken, she got her clipping from her own mom's plant. Is that right, Mom?

She rode in the backseat along with the kids on the long trek to Chicago and I carefully toted it in and out of motel rooms for the 11-day trip. Otherwise, she would have become a Popsicle version of the plant seeing as we were driving through the Great North States in February.

The move to Michigan was an easy one for my plant friends, taking just seven hours.

From Michigan to Washington? Well, some piece of luggage (or possibly a thrown toy) took out a a big ol' chunk of Chrissy. I remember being so upset! I replanted it immediately, but it didn't take. *sigh*

Same thing happened on her crushed and crowded ride to San Diego. But this time, the "clipping" took root and is happily growing new leaves all the time. Yay!

Chrissy didn't bloom last year, but the year before, I spotted her first bud on Halloween. She actually bloomed on Easter Sunday. How funny is that?

Merry Christmas from Chrissy the Christmas Cactus!

Canned pears successful! Mostly...

There are some things you just can't take a photo of.

One of those things would be my daughter staring at a pear on her fork, inches from her face, afraid to eat the dang thing because it didn't come from Dole or Libby's.

The offending item, the pear on her fork, was one of the pears that I so lovingly peeled, sliced and decontaminated from any and all bruises and core parts before I canned them.

Five beautiful jars of pears

"I don't like fresh pears, Mom," said Emma.

"These aren't fresh. They're canned."

"But they don't come from the green can," she contended.

"That's because they're better than the green can kind."

"They were fresh yesterday before you canned them."

"But I canned them, so they're not fresh anymore."
"It smells different."

"Eat the pear, Emma."

"But what if I don't like it?"

"You will. I made sure all the pear slices were perfect."

"Em, they're delicious. Way better than the regular canned kind," Scott chipped in.

And she finally takes a bite.

And Mikey likes it.

And Mikey's mommy is ready to scream. Mikey's mommy really wanted to yell, "Just eat the damn pear!" But Mikey's mommy knows that tactic doesn't work with Mikey.

So now as long as I'm dedicated about canning pears before their prices skyrocket when their growing season ends, I should save quite a bit of money. Yay!

Best Mom in the Neighborhood trophy to be delivered this afternoon

I rock.

Yes, I do.

Ever since I was a very little girl, I've had a desperate desire to be the best mom in the neighborhood. I thought it would come fairly easily.

Not so much really. It's a little more difficult to achieve when your children refuse to actually play around the neighborhood. And when most of the kids in the 'hood are in daycare.

So today I'm going to award myself the Best Mom in the Neighborhood Trophy.

Why? 'Cause I've been taking care of six kids for the better part of the day. I've made them exercise, finish their homework, do chores (hee hee), clean up their (healthy) lunch dishes and given them fruit for their snacks.

And then the warm chocolate chip cookies came out of the oven...

The smiles spread across those kids' faces at the sight of warm cookies could have spanned the length of California.  

See?

That was the cincher in winning my trophy.

A good day. A very good day.

Wow. Boys are loud.

Friday night we picked up a friend's son to stay with us for the weekend. (His dad and step-mom are on their long-awaited honeymoon.) And last night, we invited his two younger brothers to stay overnight and through this afternoon.

So now we've got our two daughters, plus Michael (13), Bryan (10) and Jonathan (7). And just to make the adventure that much more... um.... adventurous... Emma has a friend over for the afternoon.

And they're all bored. It's an incredible 84 degrees outside and they don't want to go outside since it's "too hot" (insert whiny tone here). Scott and I forced them out for a 15 minute walk. You'd have thought we were making them walk across the Sahara without water. Sheesh.

What do we do whenever we have boys over? Pull out the Legos. Scott (overgrown kid he is) has thousands of Legos. Boys and girls, older and younger, love to play Legos so they'll all stay busy for the better part of the afternoon.

I said "busy". Not "quiet". 'Cause you know what I've learned? Boys are really loud.

And they like to talk about farts. And repeatedly do things they're told not to. And eat. Man, I thought my girls ate a lot when they're growing. It's nothing compared to what Michael eats. Holy moly.

And what have my daughters said about boys in the house? Here's Emma's take: "I'm so glad I have a sister!" And Hayley? Frequent annoyed facial expressions. LOL

Old Spaghetti Factory's Mizithra Cheese and Browned Butter

Old Spaghetti Factory's Mizithra Cheese and Browned Butter

Here's the direct link to this recipe... http://www.cdkitchen.com/recipes/recs/23/Spaghetti_with_Burnt_Butter38272.shtml

Ingredients:
1 cup butter
1 cup Mizithra cheese
pasta of choice

Directions:

There is a terrific dish served by The Old Spaghetti Factory chain, called Spaghetti with Browned Butter,. It is served topped with shredded Mizithra cheese (a Greek hard cheese). If mizithra is not available (I am able to easily locate it St. Louis at cheese shops and some supermarkets), a blend of ricotta salata and romano is suggested 

Browned Butter Procedure: Cut 2 sticks of butter into 8 pieces and place in a 2-quart sauce pan. Place the pan of butter on a burner on medium heat. Bring butter to a slow boil (about 5 minutes). 

Once the butter begins to boil, stir constantly to prevent residue from sticking to the bottom of the pan. As the butter cooks, it will start to foam and rise. Continue stirring, otherwise the butter foam could overflow (about 5 minutes) and catch fire. 

Once the butter stops foaming and rising, cook until amber in color (about 1 to 2 minutes). It will have a pleasant caramel aroma. 

Turn off the heat and remove pan from burner. Let the sediment settle to the bottom of the pan for a few minutes. 

Pour the brown butter through a strainer into a small bowl. Do not disturb the residue at the bottom of the pan. 

The brown butter can be stored in the refrigerator and reheated in a microwave as needed. 

Boil the pasta of choice until Al Dente. Drain pasta and divide into four servings. Spread 1/4 cup of Mizithra over each pasta serving. Top with 1/4 cup of hot brown butter.

This recipe from CDKitchen for Old Spaghetti Factory's Spaghetti with Burnt Butter serves/makes 4

Adventures in Cooking (Some successful, some not)

This is Pork Filletino, with roasted rosemary red potatoes and homemade applesauce.

Yum. And yum some more. And yum even more.

Best of all? It was all 100% Scott-friendly.

Speaking of Scott-friendly food...

I spent an afternoon making several meals for the Allergy King. Baked fish (salmon and some sort of white fish), mashed potatoes and a veggie.          

Seeing as Scott can't eat the milk or the butter in regular mashed spuds, I used soy milk and some sot of completely dairy- and canola-free butter substitute. 

Mind you, when you substitute with such um... eclectic.... ingredients, you never know how a recipe is gonna turn out.

Turns out that 'taters turned out just fine, thank the good Lord! 

I packed the meals up individually for freezing so he'd have something quick, hot and healthy to lunch on during the week. And, of course, a quick option if he doesn't want what I've made for dinner on any random night.

Ack. Just spent half an hour looking for a photo I took of my unsuccessful pear canning experience. So not only were the pears a bust, but now I can't find the photo to show you. Oh well. Wasn't that exciting or anything.

The canning jars sealed just fine, but the pears themselves turned various shades of tannish-brown. Not only had I soaked them in a solution of water and lemon juice, but I also added that Fresh Fruit powder stuff, so they weren't supposed to turn colors.

Not even Scott would eat them.

Bummer.

I now have a new batch of pears in my fridge ready for attempt number two. If I can perfect my pear canning, I'll save myself oodles of money. Canned pears are one of only four fruits Emma will actually eat and those babies are expensive at the grocery store! 

Last night, I made Old Spaghetti Factory's Pasta with Mizithra and Browned Butter. Oh my gracious. Better than the restaurant.

Even Emma ate. And had seconds.

Hayley had four helpings and our weekend visitor, Michael, had more than I can count. 

Did I think to take photos? Yes. But I would have had mutiny on my hands if I'd made the hungry crew of the S.S. Delicious as Pie family wait to eat.

I'm just going to have to make it again. Really, really soon. Maybe tomorrow.

Can you say FREE?

Hee hee.

Had a couple awesome trips to Rite Aid and Walgreen's this week.

Rite Aid sent me home with two boxes of Special K granola and one box of Tylenol Extreme, yet made no money.

Yup, I walked away with all that FREE!

Walgreen's required me to pay a tiny bit, but it was a mere fraction of what it should have been...

1 Pantene shampoo (12 oz.)
1 Pantene conditioner (12 oz.)
2 bottles Jergen's lotion (10 oz. each)
1 bottle Go! Kids vitamins (60 ct.)

Total spent? $3. Total saved? $24.

Total spent at both stores? Still $3. Total saved at both stores? $39! Wowee!

Woot woot!

You have *got* to see these cards...

My amazing and entrepreneurial 13-year-old daughter is raising money to go on her school's 8th grade trip to Philly, DC and NYC. So she created greeting cards with her artwork...

These are just a couple of the pieces she's chosen to include on her cards.

Here's her marketing email...

In early April, I’ll be joining 150 other eight graders from my school in a trip to Washington, DC, Philadelphia and New York City! It costs almost $2000 to go, so I’m raising money by selling some of my artwork in the form of greeting cards.

For only $8, you’ll receive a set of five cards, each a different design. They will arrive bundled in a ribbon and in a clear gift bag. As soon as I get the check, I’ll send the package within a couple days. (Shipping is included in the price.)

This is a fantastic and inexpensive gift idea for Valentine’s Day, birthdays, teachers or even when you want to give an extra special thank you.

Don't forget to tell your friends and family about this amazing opportunity!

Delicious Readers, won't you please buy a set or two to send this talented girl to the East Coast for several days? If you're interested, please either leave a message here or email lafs.cards@gmail.com and she'll send you an order form right away!

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

Bad day

And it just won't seem to end.

I can't even sleep 'cause every time I try, I just lay there thinking about my day and getting angry. And thinking about my stupid restless leg syndrome which, while not bothering me right now, is likely start at any second.

Mostly it was just a bunch of little things with one main thing thrown in just to make it that much worse. But I can't tell you what that big thing is because of the you-never-know-who's-actually-reading-your-blog thing.

So basically, I've spent the past eight hours varying between moping and crying. I even cried in front of my kids which I try very hard not to do.

I did, however, completely rearrange and organize my pantry. I took photos to post and since I don't feel like going downstairs to get the camera to upload them, you'll just have to wait till tmro. The pantry looks pretty awesome, if I do say so.

It's just been a tough week over all. I'd like to believe the weekend will bring relief from the stress, but I really don't think it will.

Between this post and my earlier one, I am very definitely flunking Optimism 101 today. Sorry about that. I'd like my blog to always be cheerful and bouncy and witty, but... well... you know... I gotta keep it real.

Grrr. Just grrrr.

Health insurance. Grrr.
Poor grade on a geometry midterm. Grrrr.
Restless leg sydrome. Grrrr.
Annoyances I can't specify here. Grrr.
Children who don't do assigned chores. Grrr.
Houses designed with no organization. Grrr.
Triple booking yourself. Grrr. Grrr. Grrr.

I added a new page to Delicious as Pie!

Delicious Savings is now available for your viewing pleasure! Just click on "Delicious Savings" just under the Delicious as Pie banner.

Happy Monday!

Saw this picture today and it made me laugh.

 She is so me! 

All the ingredients out and still wondering what I'm going to cook.

Total number of books read in 2010?

69.

This is so funny to me:  For the past several years that I've been keeping track, I always end up reading either 68 or 69 books throughout the year.

Crazy, I tell ya. How do I manage to be so consistent? I have no idea.

I can tell you, though, why I don't seem to get higher than that number.

Games, darn it. Games.

Sudoko. Every Word. Panda Poet. Scrabble.

I get addicted and then I can't stop for anything. I'm not kidding about that either. Nine nights out of ten, Scott has to force my beloved Kindle out of my hands and turn out the light. Usually I'm already asleep.

The nights I'm almost asleep, I protest mightily. "I'm not done yet! One more round! Turn the light back on!"

At least that's what my brain is saying. It could be coming out as "Noatghntaaf danhyghn eklikfl! Ohendl rund! Lghntbt bakorj onthao!"

Let me ask Scott....

Yup, I'm usually not making sense.

Hey! Wait a minute! Does he mean I don't make sense when he takes my Kindle away late at night or in general, as in all the time?

Harumpph. I don't think I like that very much.

Annnnnnyyyyyywaaaaayyyyyy....

Books books books books books.

I had two favorites this year... The Help by Kathryn Stockett (I approve of your spelling of Kathryn, Ms. Stockett) and The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Shaffer and Annie Barrows.

The Help is simply phenomenal on so many different levels. The writing is suburb. Character development? Fantastic. Story line? Un. Be. Lieve. Able. As in unbelievably good.

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society I think about every single day. I honestly miss the characters. They are real people in my mind and I feel like I could pull out of a sheet of onion-skin paper and write letter after letter to them and actually get responses back.

I just lent my mom my copy of the book and I'm fairly sure I felt physical pain as I handed it over. I didn't want to let go of my friends. I know she'll take excellent care of the book and return it next time I see her, so it's not a big deal. And I'm always willing to share friends. But still. She better read fast. LOL

After I finished GLPPPS, I posted about my desperate desire to now move to Guernsey. In case you missed the post, click here.... http://deliciousaspie.blogspot.com/2010/10/im-moving.html

Happy reading to all of my Delicious Cyber Friends out there during 2011! Definitely let me know if you come across a must, must, must read this or die book!

PHOTOS! PHOTOS! PHOTOS AT LAST!

Click on the photo or caption to take a quick tour of the best of the D. family holiday photos!

Christmas 2010

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

2011!

Wowee wow wow! Seriously, in my head, it's still March 2010. I feel like the holiday season whipped by and I hardly had a chance to breathe, much less enjoy the spirit of the season.

(ROFLOL--We're watching Back to the Future Part 2. Marty and Doc just flew (literally) into the year 2015. Sorry, boys, still no flying cars flashing through the air and we still have to actually tie our shoes.)

We here in the Delicious household had a fabulous couple of weeks. Birthdays! Birthdays! Birthdays! First Scott turned 44, then I turned 37 and well, of course, Jesus turned 2010. Guess Scott and I can't really complain about being old, can we? LOL

My parents spent a wonderful few days helping us celebrate. Dad again spent time at his favorite haunt from the good ol' days, I took Mom out to her favorite restaurant (El Torito) and we spent my birthday afternoon wandering around the Hotel del Coronado. So beautiful.

Photos? Yes, I know you want photos and I have them. It's just a matter of actually getting them online. Haha. I keep trying, I really do. I get interrupted a lot, being a mom and all.

But at least I've actually got the photos from the camera and onto the computer. Now it's just a matter of sizing, lightening, choosing, etc. etc. etc.

And, sorry, but it's not going to happen right now. I'm dragging the fam out for a hike to a nearby waterfall. (Yes! There is a waterfall in San Diego. It's very small, but it is there. I'll post a photo later. Or maybe I should be honest and just say that I'll *try* to post a photo later!)