Hey, Y'all!

Where's My Comfort Food?

Since my return from the black abyss of bloggy hiatus, several people have asked whether or not I'll start doing Comfort Food Saturday posts again. The answer? YES OH YES ABSOLUTELY YES!  I've missed my weekly feature almost as much as I missed cooking for my family while I was insanely busy at work.  This morning I dropped Dean off at nursery school, then swung by Publix where I stocked up on enough fresh produce to fill my crisper and some other key ingredients (cough*Nutella*coughcoughcough).  Today will be about peeling, seasoning and roasting these veggies with some delicious spicy chicken breasts.  I may even go ahead and make a batch of black beans and rice with andouille for tomorrow. I am clearly out of control. Would it make you feel better to know that last night I served grilled cheese sandwiches with already cooked bacon on them and canned tomato soup? Good.

I have to let you know, just in case you don't, that I didn't completely stop writing about food while I was away.  I've been posting weekly over on Food Lush.  Have you visited us?   It's the sister site of Style Lush and has been going strong for several months now. The writers are hilarious, practical and just plain fun. We feature everything from recipes to "Oh my gosh look at these cute plates" type posts.  I post a lot of lists.  This week, I'll be teaching you how to make omelets in a plastic baggie, that is, if I can do it without barfing because EW. Seriously.  Pop by and visit us. You'll enjoy yourself!

Check back over the weekend for the return of Comfort Food Saturday! (aturday aturday aturday) (That was an echo, see.)  And, as always, please feel free to send me your favorite recipes and I'll feature you here with love and links.

Now if you'll excuse me, a tiny screw just fell out of the laptop. Guessing I should fix that.

Dean Time

Dean screamed out in pain on Wednesday evening and on Thursday morning, was diagnosed with a double ear infection. Yowza.  On Friday, he declared himself all better, so my mom and I took him to the McWane Science Center in Birmingham, which may be the coolest place ever invented.

Dean spent the morning looking at dinosaur bones and digging for fossils before retiring to the "Just Mice Size" room, a huge playground for the 5 and under crowd set up like a giant mouse hole.

I took this one just for you, Christy!

We had lunch at the Smart Cafe, then went home where Dean did not nap. We headed to the park then out for an ice cream cone. Marcus arrived home around 4:30 bearing live crickets and cane poles, so a-fishing we went!

Dean caught three bluegills. And he handled each and every one, telling me how cute they were, before tossing them back into the water.  I think we'll make a fisherman of him yet. (Marcus cheers and does happy dance in background)

This morning, we kept waiting for the rainstorm that was supposed to be headed our way, but it has yet to arrive. We opted for indoor activities we could do in our pj's, like making play-doh crabs:

 The sculpting talent. I haz it.

Shortly after this crab was created, Dean realized we were out of Jello and demanded I make a run for some. He is currently addicted to the movie Chicken Little and the bonus video that came with our Megamind DVD called "Megamind and the Button of Doom." He'll walk up really close to my face and say, "BUTTON OF DOOOOOOOOOOOOM."

Our summer plans include more fishing, a family trip to D.C. to visit the in-laws and catch up with some blog friends in the D.C. area, swimming lessons and lots of time outdoors.  I can't wait.

Back

Y'ALL. I have missed writing. My contract is done, so it's time to get back to the blogosphere! You still love me, right? Gosh, I hope so.

My mom is on her way here right now as we speak, so I technically should be mopping or something, but blogging seemed like a better idea.  My laptop is STILL broken and the Geek Squad wanted to charge me $85 to see if it was REALLY broken, then ship it to Kentucky for Lord knows what.  I politely declined and it is currently in the trunk of my car looking sad.  Something's going to need to be done about it soon, as I do not like sharing a computer with Marcus. His Caps Lock is broken and he doesn't even have Skype. GAH.

Dean is doing great, amazing us every day with new skills.  For instance, he can now unlock the door and escape into the driveway! And he does! Sometimes, without pants!  Last night we put his sandals on him so we could go out and look at the moon.  He was wearing some of those tight-fitting pj's you get at Target. Suddenly, he took off running through the yard.  Marcus was chasing him and he was squealing. His silhouette looked like he was naked with huge feet. I'm sure the neighbors were loving us.  I half expected to wake up and find the yard rolled. (That means "TP'd" for you non-southerners.) (Eva, what do they call it in Canada?)

Spring is officially here and so is the pollen. My green car is covered with yellow dust and I've been sneezing my head off.  Dean seems fairly un phased and demands to play outside every chance we get. I am happy to oblige.  We bought some new deck chairs and have been really enjoying our new awning over our back deck.  My cast came over for dinner on our last day off before the show closed. Marcus made some killer shish kabobs and I discovered a new recipe for frosting.  We had a great time sitting out side watching the bumble bees buzz around.  I see many al fresco dinners in our near future.

My plan of attack is to jump back into blogging with a vengance. I feel like I have a lot of catching up to do and a lot of relationships to nurture.  I've missed this part of my life a lot and I can't wait to start posting Comfort Food Saturday recipes again. 

Ok. Mom's almost here. I really should mop.