The day after the cooking class that I co-hosted, a friend approached me at the kids’ school and said, “I watched part of that cooking show last night.  I turned it on right when the woman said she was supposed to put beef broth in the crock pot, but she didn’t have any so she just used water.  That cracked me up!”

You know why she thought it was funny?  Because who hasn’t been there?  I once had to pick raisins out of cereal so I could use the bran flakes to make meatloaf.  I loved watching real people in their kitchens, succeeding in making a delicious dish for their families despite the hurdles that inevitably stand in the way.

The cooking class with Shannon (Mr. Lady) and Jim Lin (BusyDad) was three parts educational, two parts social and one BIG part hilarious!  I loved being part of it.  Thanks to The Motherhood and ConAgra for including me.

If you missed the show, or if you want to revisit some of the delicious ingredients or amazing techniques (did you see Jim chop that garlic or Shannon pour that Guinness?) you can find what ever you need right here.

Enjoy!

Follow

Email

First of all, this is not my ear.  If you have been a long-time reader here, you know that.  Because along with my Dad’s “big bones” I inherited his gigantic earlobes.

Ironically, the last time I mentioned my ears was for the post I did about a pimple.  That post was just going to be about my pimple, but when I uploaded the picture and saw my earlobe, I felt I should acknowledge that I am aware that I look like an 80 year old…man.

So if you’ve been around here for more than a couple of years, you would know that isn’t my ear.  If you were me, however, you would know that isn’t my ear because there isn’t a mass growing out of it.

Right now, I have a pimple  here…

Only, it’s not that small.  And, there’s no white center.  And, it’s eighteen layers underneath my skin.  And, I wear glasses.  And, it’s HUGE.  And, it hurts.  You can’t really even call it a pimple.  It’s a growth.

My mom looked at it, my sister looked at it and I even made my 12 year old daughter look at it.  “Gah-ROSS, Mom!  Is that a tumor?” I wanted someone to stick a needle in my ear or Van Gogh the thing…you know, to make it feel better.  But, there is nowhere to shove a needle.  There is nothing to lance.  My ear is throbbing and everything is blurry because I can’t wear my glasses.

It’s a shame that the only part of my body that still looks like a teenager is my acne.

Follow

Email

When my daughter was a baby, I loved to bring her into the kitchen with me every night while I made a nice dinner.  I would dim the lights, pour a glass of wine and watch my baby try to eat her own toes.  It was the highlight of my day.

Then I had another kid.

Things got a little stressful.  I spent a lot of time trying to keep my second child alive and didn’t have a lot of time for leisurely cooking.

I’m ready to get back to the kitchen.

Well, scratch that.  I cook a lot.  I’m a lunch lady now and I’m not talking about your mom’s lunch lady, or even your lunch lady.  I do a lot of real cooking.  Today I made homemade granola to put on top of the strawberry and yogurt parfaits we’re serving tomorrow.  Take that, tater tots!

When I get home I’m tired.  Cooking is the last thing I want to do.  But, come June, I’m going to end my lunch lady career and spend some time in my own kitchen.  I want to have my kids and my husband join me and make it a family affair again.

So, I got to thinking…what better way to restart my culinary plan than to take a cooking class?!  I know! I’ll co-host a cooking class!

That’s right.  I’m taking  my lunch lady skills, incorporating them with luring my husband into the kitchen and my desire to cook for my family again and bringing the whole process to your computer screen.  Here is YOUR invitation:

When: Wednesday, March 16, at 8 p.m. ET

Where: TheMotherhood – here’s the link to the page where the class will be held: http://www.themotherhood.com/talk/show/id/62137

What: The class I’m co-hosting is called “Cooking with Dad,” and it is hosted by my brother from another mother, Jim Lin, aka BusyDad (The Busy Dad Blog, http://www.busydadblog.com), and my sister from another mister, Shannon, aka Mr Lady (Whiskey in My Sippy Cup, http://www.whiskeyinmysippycup.com). Join us for a fun and hilarious class.  You know, because I’ll be there.

Jim and Shannon will be chatting via live video feed, and the rest of us will be sharing anecdotes and tips for having fun in the kitchen with Dad (and/or the other non-cooks of the family) in the text-based comments below the video!  Don’t miss out on the party!

The class is sponsored by ConAgra and hosted by TheMotherhood.

I hope to see you there!

My other fabulous co-hosts are:

Julie, Angry Julie Monday, http://www.angryjuliemonday.com
Mishelle Lane, Secret Agent Mama, http://secretagentmama.com/blog
Ashley Evans, Schadenfreudette, http://www.schadenfreudette.com
Tanis Miller, Attack of the Redneck Mommy, http://www.theredneckmommy.com
Dan Deguia, Deguia.net, http://www.deguia.net
Lotus Carroll, Sarcastic Mom, http://www.sarcasticmom.com
Melanie Sheridan; Mel, a Dramatic Mommy, http://www.meladramaticmommy.com
PJ Mullen, Real Men Drive Minivans, http://www.pjmullen.com
Robin Sue Joss, Big Red Kitchen, http://www.bigredkitchen.com
Eddie Carroll; Life, One Pixel at a Time, http://onepixelatatime.posterous.com/

Follow

Email

My daughter was a perfect toddler.  I’m not trying to sound conceited, but I thought I was pretty great back then.  My daughter wasn’t so much an angel, as I was the ideal parent.

Then I got pregnant with my son.  Before he was born with his health issues and quirky behavior, my precious girl started saying things to me that she had never said before.  Things like, “No!  I don’t WANT to!”  Wait, what?  You were perfect!  You were so good that I went and got pregnant for another one.  I was duped!

When my son arrived, I realized the cold, hard truth.  I was just an average parent who got really lucky with the behavior of her first-born.  And, now that she is twelve, I’ve found that she’s pretty typical too.

She likes to sit in her room listening to music, she loves hanging out with her friends and she doesn’t talk to her little brother unless the conversation is an argument.  She also doesn’t always tell the truth. Dealing with this tween in our midst has become a bit of a handful.

The other night, my husband and I dropped the kids off at my mom’s house so we could attend a wake.  When we were leaving, my husband kissed our daughter on her forehead and said, “Be nice to your brother, okay?”

She replied, “I will, Dad.” 

Then he turned to our son and asked, “Buddy, you’ll be nice to your sister, right?”

Which is when we realized we have an entirely different kind of handful with this kid, when my son said, “Probably not.”

Follow

Email