Roll With It

There were going to be breadsticks tonight along with our Italian Veal Stew.  That was the plan, anyway, until I woke up this morning and discovered that while I was sleeping, some demolition had taken place in the powder room.  A pipe in the bathroom above that one had leaked, and the ceiling started to cave in late last night.  My husband and older son removed the damaged section of the ceiling and I called a plumber this morning to take care of the pipe.

I found this note on the bathroom door at 5:45 this morning.

And then...yeah...

So the bread didn't happen because by the time the plumber finished it was 1:30 and I had a huge mess to clean up.  At that point, bread wasn't even on my radar screen.

Except for the hole in the ceiling, the bathroom is now spotless.

It's all good until the plumber's bill gets here.

In the meantime, I've got the rest of the dinner cooking and we'll just live without the bread.  (Still hungry?  Have some raw baby carrots.)  And when we're done eating, it'll be time to deliver a plate to Middle Sister, who's started work with the stage crew on her high school's spring musical production.

Yes, I deliver a plate of dinner to her at school.  She's been there since 7:50 this morning, gone through a full school day and a track practice, and then moved on to stage crew.  When she gets home, there's homework to do.

Besides, she asked me to.

It's a win-win as far as I'm concerned.  I don't have to shell out $5 or more per day to keep her in fast food.  She's not eating fast food.  (That's reason enough right there.)  School is only a mile away, so a 15-minute round trip is worth the time and gas to give her a good meal.

And she asked.  Believe me when I tell you that I don't take that lightly.  That request says a few things to me:  she likes "home food" better than fast food, she doesn't want to waste money on junk food, and she still needs me.  She's 16.  She's not going to need me for too many things too much longer.

So for the next couple of months, I will, whenever possible, deliver Meals on Wheels to my daughter at school.  That's how I roll.

It's much more fun than cleaning up a destroyed bathroom.  I only wish I had some breadsticks to put with her dinner.

I Confess

This afternoon I did something that I have never done. I drove to the liquor store and bought two bottles of wine.

You see, we don't drink alcohol. It's our choice, and we're not going to judge others who choose differently, but this choice works for us. I keep a bottle of Jack Daniels around for Christmas cookies...and that's pretty much it.

You may have noticed that I have several recipes that call for wine. And here comes the confession part: all this time, I've been using cooking wine. (All together now: ewwwwwwwwww!)

Yeah. I make my own chicken stock, freeze lemon and lime juice and like to make things from scratch. And then I go to ShopRite and buy cooking wine.

Last Thanksgiving, we were given a bottle of white wine as a gift. I've been using it, 1/4 cup at a time, in Chicken Piccata and Shrimp Scampi. Last week we used the last of it. And I needed more for tonight.

Next time I go to the liquor store, I'll invest in some sherry and Marsala. Then my days of cooking with cooking wine will really be over.

Let's hear it for the Real Thing.

All-Access

See what happens when I hang a whiteboard on the fridge and encourage the kids to write down stuff we need from the store?

A certain Simon & Garfunkel fan felt the need to amend my list. For the record, I've got plenty of parsley, sage, and even rosemary.

From the Sublime to the Ridiculous

According to the whiteboard on the refrigerator, here's the groceries we need:

The "I've Been Baking" Group:
margarine
molasses
cinnamon
raisins
cardamom

The "Household Staples" Group:
onions
grapes
apples
milk
bread

The "I'm Ashamed to Admit We Buy this Stuff" Group:
chicken nuggets (after-school snacks for Middle Sister, who runs track and eats anything not nailed down when she gets home)
onion dip (to go with the three-pound TIN of chips my neighbor gave us)
peanut butter crackers
macaroni & cheese (not even the Blue Box--my kids like the store brand variety better!)

I will note that with the exception of the mac & cheese, my KIDS wrote down all the other things from that last group.

What's on YOUR list?