The Sundae Hop!

Welcome to the Sundae Hop!



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Tornadoes, Tomatoes, and Tigers - Oh My!

I hate the sound of tornado sirens. First, they're really creepy. Second, they scare my son half to death, making for a very long night.

Some pretty bad storms passed through here a couple of nights ago. The sirens started going off just as my son was finally about to fall asleep. The news was warning us of softball-sized hail that was falling to the west and heading straight for us. My poor little car was sitting in the street, just waited to get pelted. But with no room in the garage and no carport on our driveway, what could I do?

Why park in a neighbor's carport of course. Surely they won't mind finding a stray Mazda in their driveway... I ran to my car in the rain and drove up and down the alleys until I finally found an empty carport. Thankfully it was a neighbor I knew, so after sprinting home in the downpour I called her to let her know. About 2 minutes after I got inside the hail started coming down. It only got to be marble-sized, but I spotted a couple of bigger ones in the yard. Better safe than sorry though! My wonderfully generous neighbor ensured that I would not have to deal with a deductible I can't afford! Thank goodness for neighbors! All the tornadoes stayed away, despite more sirens over the next few hours.

You can always trust Texas weather to be crazy, and sure enough, Thursday was beautiful! It was the perfect day for a zoo trip. Unfortunately, it seemed like everyone else had the same thought! Super crowded, but still super fun!

Apparently my camera looked delicious.

My youngest niece and her new friend.

This really would have been appropriate for Turtle Day.

My favorite animal!

After a tiring day at the zoo, I was having a serious soup craving. So I made my absolute favorite (and the world's best) cream of tomato soup. I could literally eat the whole gallon. I always make the full amount, thinking I'll freeze most of it, but we all eat the leftovers before I get a chance to!

Cream of Tomato Soup

Partly courtesy of the CIA, modified by me.

(That stands for the Culinary Institute of America. I'm unfortunately not a spy. Although I've always wanted to be!)

Makes about 1 Gallon

Be sure to read the notes at the bottom!

• 2 ounces bacon, diced (about 2 or 3 slices)
• 6 tablespoons butter or oil (vegetable or canola)
• 8 ounces carrots, small diced (about 3 carrots)
• 4 ounces celery, small diced (about 2 stalks)
• 4 ounces onions, small dices (about half an onion)
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 4 ounces flour 
• 2 quarts chicken stock or broth (homemade is best, but low sodium canned {4 cans} works well too)
• 4 - 14.5 ounce cans diced tomatoes, drained
• 2 - 15 ounce cans tomato sauce
• 4 parsley stems (or if you're like me and realize you're out, about a teaspoon of dried)
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 cloves
• 1 pint heavy cream

1. In a large soup pot, cook the bacon in the oil or butter until crisp.

2. Add the carrots, celery, onions, and garlic and cook over low to medium heat until tender, about 8-10 minutes.

3. Add the flour and stir well. Cook this for 12 minutes, stirring about every minute or so.

4. Blend in the chicken stock or broth. Add the diced tomatoes and tomato sauce and simmer over low heat for 30 minutes.

When you're adding the chicken stock, add in about a cup first and scrape the bottom of the pot 

to get any stuck on bits. That's all amazing flavor, so don't leave it stuck there!

5. Tie up the parsley, bay leaves, and cloves in cheesecloth. Add to the soup and simmer another 30 minutes.

6. Remove the little package of parsley, bay leaves, and cloves. Puree the soup in batches, using either a blender or a food processor. 

My mind is going completely blank and I can't remember the name for the little thing you pull out of the lid of both machines to be able to add ingredients while it's running. But be sure to remove whatever that thing is called! Otherwise the heat will build up pressure and your kitchen will be covered in tomato soup. Use a towel to cover it and prevent splatters.

7. At this point, put whatever soup you want to freeze in containers. Put the soup you plan on eating into a pot and add the heavy cream. But not all of it! The pint is for the whole recipe. So if you freeze half and plan on eating the other half, add only 1 cup of heavy cream, etc. The soup doesn't freeze well with the heavy cream. It will keep as leftovers in the fridge fine with the heavy cream though.

8. Bring it back up to heat and season to taste with salt and pepper. Enjoy it with oyster crackers, grilled cheese, croutons, or more!

Thank you Martha Stewart - your photographers have more skill than me.

Notes

• You probably noticed almost every ingredient is given by weight. It's the most accurate way of cooking. I gave the approximate amounts in case you don't have a kitchen scale handy. If you do though, measure everything by weight the first time through. Then you'll have an idea of how much 8 ounces of carrots actually looks like and so on. 4 ounces of flour is about .9 cup. So more than 3/4, but less than a whole cup.
• Small dice means 1/4". But don't whip out your ruler (even though I had to at school. Ugh). Since everything is pureed, the size doesn't matter too much. Just try to be consistent. If you cut the carrots bigger, do the same with the onions and celery. You want everything to cook evenly, so aim for about the same size pieces.
• The parsley, bay leaves, and cloves are optional, but really good! If you're missing one or two of those things, add whatever you do have. And if you're like me, you probably don't have cheesecloth around. Or you're even more like me and have some but can't find it anywhere! I always use a coffee filter and tie it up with butcher's twine. Any string will work fine though. Tying everything together makes it so easy to find and remove these items before pureeing the soup.

• This can be made healthier by omitting the bacon and heavy cream. You could substitute evaporated milk or even regular milk in the heavy cream's place. It could even go vegan by omitting the bacon, using oil, using vegetable stock or water in place of the chicken stock, and replacing the heavy cream with unsweetened almond milk or soy milk. It's pretty versatile, so have fun with it!

I hope everyone has a great weekend!

Turtle Day!

Did you know May 23rd is World Turtle Day?

Yeah, neither did I. But frankly, I'll use any excuse to celebrate by making cupcakes. Plus my mom's husband has a pet tortoise. Her name is Shelly. He's big on puns. So having a turtle in the household is a valid reason to celebrate, right?

My son was really into it. He put on a old pair of turtle pajamas and decorated with turtle drawings and every stuffed turtle he owns. He wanted to make something for dinner by himself, so I helped him dye canned pears green and he made them look like turtles.

He was so proud of what he "cooked."

But I was really just in it for the cupcakes.

Chocolate, caramel, and pecans? Yes, please!

Tiny turtle decorations for the cupcakes. 

I'm far too impatient to make tiny things like that. I had a little fan and light rigged up to dry them out more quickly. Even then, I refused to wait long enough and tried to remove them from the wax paper too early. There were a few casualties. But at least they were yummy!

My first thought for a Turtle Day entree was real turtle soup. But that just seemed so wrong. I couldn't exactly cook turtles on a day meant to protect and celebrate them. So I made a pizza in the shape of a turtle. 

I almost couldn't slice through him. Almost.

Now I just have to wait for another holiday to celebrate. Thankfully tomorrow is Hug Your Cat Day. And Wednesday is Towel Day. I'm really starting to wonder who comes up with these so-called holidays. But as long as I can make a cupcake to observe it, I'm in!

Happy early Hug Your Cat Day!

Rest in Peace Noah

Yesterday an angel passed away.

I recently reconnected with a chef I was lucky enough to work with over 10 years ago. Oliver has since moved to Japan, married, and became a father to Noah.

Noah was born with Trisomy 18, a rare genetic disorder. I have been reading Oliver and his wife's blog for awhile now. Even though it's been almost a decade since I've seen Oliver and was never lucky enough to meet Noah, I loved, cared, and prayed for him as though I had.

On Thursday Noah turned 9 months old. At 3:47 in the afternoon of that day, he passed away in his mother's arms with his father by his side.

It broke my heart to hear the news. But I'm sharing this to ask for prayers for his family. I can't even begin to imagine what they're going through. On their last blog post they stated:

To Noah: Even though you are not with us physically, you will 

always be in our hearts.  We love you so much Noah.  Thank you 

for being so strong over the last 9 months.  We are so happy 

we were able to spend this time with you.  We Love You, Noah!!!!

Please keep them in your thought and prayers.

All photos from Noah - Happy to meet you | Everyday with Noah is special!

A Day Late and a Dollar Short

I'm a day late in posting my thrifted skirts. I always seem to be day behind in everything. Can I put a positive spin on it by looking at the week as a whole and saying I'm 6 days early?

Oh well... So step one was to buy some skirts. Check. Therefore step two must be to wear said skirts. Therein lies the problem. I have no clue how to wear them! I gravitated towards fuller skirts above the knee. A-line maybe? I have no clue how to classify any type of skirt other than mini, and I can assure you I purchased none of those. So without further ado, here are the first skirts to be added to my wardrobe!

Not sure about the elastic waist. But it's super comfy and it has pockets. I love pockets.

I'm ashamed to admit my 4 year old son picked this out. Orange-red is his favorite color and he spotted it first.

Blue, brown, and white pattern. Can this be paired with anything other than those 3 colors? So confused.

This is really just a tan color, despite the gray appearance on the picture.

Help! As you can probably tell, I'm pretty much clueless. I can picture some of them worn with shirts tucked in, but I don't have a defined waist at all. Tucking shirts in makes me resemble a rectangle, which isn't really what I'm going for.

Any advice is greatly needed and would be even more greatly appreciated!

Forget Diamonds!

Chocolate is really a girl's best friend.

While taking a break from cracking almost 1000 eggs at work before Mother's Day, I found the mother-load of chocolate. M&M heaven. A huge box, filled to the brim with thousands of the little guys.

Sorry the picture's a little blurry - I was shaking with excitement.

That box was literally about 12" x10" x10". It was pretty intense for a chocolate lover like me! Would you believe I only ate 5? Yeah, didn't think so. In reality I only ate about 10 though. For some inexplicable reason, I'm never hungry when I'm at work surrounded by amazing food. I guess that's a blessing in disguise.

The steakhouse recently started displaying artwork done by Phil Romano, genius restaurateur behind Romano's Macaroni Grill, Fuddruckers, Eatzi's, and more. His work is really graphic, strong, and modern. Those are all traits that normally don't thrill me when it comes to art. But then I saw this.

I am in love with it and want it. Now.

And it could be mine for the mere cost of a mid-size sedan. Although that's a bargain compared to his house. They recently lowered the price of that humble abode by five million. Now it's a steal, right?

And now, some good news and bad news.

The good news is I went thrifting recently and picked up a few skirts. The bad news is I have no clue how to wear them. I'll post pictures and beg for advice tomorrow.

This post is really random. I promise I'll get my head on track tomorrow. But for now, I'm going to go dream of that M&M box!

Grease Monkey

This

is what

I looked at

for what seemed like all day.

But after spending way too much time with a toothbrush, this...

...now looks like this.

It's progress, right? 

One wheel down, the rest of the bike to go.

I now smell like WD-40. 

My New Project

Craigslist is my new best friend.

I've been searching for a second bike for awhile now on craigslist, eBay, thrift stores, and bike marts. My current bike is great - I just wanted something specifically for running errands. Plus there is no graceful way to get on and off my bike now, especially since I'm wanting to start wearing skirts and dresses! I had my heart set on a vintage bike with a step through or mixte frame, but every one I found was either too expensive, too big, too small, or too much work to get it into shape. I was starting to feel like Goldilocks and gave up the search for awhile.

Then on a whim late Sunday night, I visited craigslist again and found the bike of my dreams.

I fell in love with it at first sight. I bought it for only $25 from the nicest couple. It needs a little work, but is in amazing shape for its age. Thankfully that saddle cover that resembles a dirty lamb was removable! And it's green, my favorite color!

I researched it after bringing it home. I found orginal Schwinn catalogs online and discovered it's a Schwinn Varsity from 1975 (or so). It even still has the original backpack on it. It's in great shape for 36 years old!

The original catalog

I'm pretty much clueless when it comes to bikes unfortunately. Until about 2 months ago, the last bike I owned was a tiny little single speed with coaster brakes. And unicorns. I guess it goes without saying that I was a pretty awesome 10 year old... I pretty much had to learn how to ride all over again now as an adult. Hand brakes and shifting gears were all new to me. But now after learning, I love it! I can't wait to get this bike all fixed and ready to ride! Now, it just needs a name...

This is going to be a challenging project that hopefully won't result in me pulling out all of my hair. Thankfully my mom's husband is like a walking bike manual and can help me out. So wish me luck!

Only In Texas

I work in a steakhouse in Uptown Dallas. It's a really urban area - fancy restaurants, lofts, and clubs fill pretty much every inch. There's not much grass in sight, only beautifully manicured landscaping in front of outrageously expensive hotels. And yet, driving home from work tonight, I see this.

Can you see him? A lone cowboy riding his horse (literally) into the sunset.

Who rides a horse in the middle of a city? During rush hour traffic none the less? I thought horses were supposed to be ridden in the fresh air, not in exhaust fumes. Not to mention this seems pretty gross. He's on the sidewalk and I'm pretty sure horses aren't potty-trained... But I digress.

Happy Friday everyone!

Time Warp

My mom attended a surprise birthday and costume party for her friend this weekend. She could dress from any decade from the 20's to the 90's, so naturally she chose the tastefully refined and understated 80's. A prize would be awarded to the best costume.

She enlisted my help to go thrifting to find the perfect outfit. Sadly I recently donated a couple of outfits that would have made perfect costumes! Last summer our house became a donation center for a neighborhood family who lost everything in a fire. It was my job to sort through the bags of donations they didn't want and decide what to donate and what to toss. I can't imagine why they didn't want this green jacket...

I felt like Blanche from the Golden Girls when I put it on. Or a bat. It's a toss-up. 

The other clothes are also donations. 

Sorry for the horrible picture quality. And for the pink satin pants. They're really bad too.

And this red number with its MC Hammer pants and almost floor-length jacket was pretty priceless.

Actually, it wasn't priceless. It still had the tags on it. $24.99 was quite the steal. 

Again, horrible picture quality... oops.

In a side note, my brother would kill me if he saw that I posted this. My mom, aunt, and I convinced him to put this on months ago for a laugh. He finally agreed and we all immediately whipped out our cameras. Thankfully he doesn't know I have a blog. Hopefully when I become a wildly popular blogger (in other words, finally get more than one follower...) he won't mind the attention he's bound to get.

But these outfits were taking up valuable (and limited) storage space in my room. I figured I would never need them, so off to Goodwill they went! My timing was most unfortunate.

So my mom and I headed to Goodwill, hoping that one of these outfits had made it onto the rack. We didn't spot either one, but we did find the perfect dress for only $7.99.

The detailed beading was amazing.

As was the oh-so-flattering waist.

So she teased her curly hair sky high, 

piled on bright purple eye shadow and threw on as much jewelry as she could take. 

The purple bow in her hair and white shoes completed her look.

I wish the complete tackiness of the dress came through better, but you get the idea.

And did she win?

It was unanimous.

I Swear I'm Not A Tomboy...

...But why am I dressing like one?

During high school, clothes weren't important to me. My morning routine pretty much consisted of pulling on jeans, a shirt, and flip flops. College was much of the same. The majority of the time we were all wearing chef's whites. When class finally got out at 9 pm, my wardrobe wasn't my main concern. So my uniform of jeans, shirts, and flip flops continued. But somehow, here I am at 25, still wearing the same clothes!

It's not that I don't care about how I look. I even border on shallow occasionally. I refuse to go anywhere unless I've washed and dried my hair. You will pretty much never see me without make-up. Church? Full face of makeup. Working in a hot kitchen? Full face of makeup. Playing in the front yard with my son? Full face of makeup. The morning I woke up in labor with my son my second thought (after "Oh wow! This hurts!") was "I wonder if I have time to wash my hair and put on makeup?" You get the picture. But apparently my concern with appearance is only from the neck up.

My clothes in and of themselves are not bad. I'll admit that flip flops are not fashionable at all. They're just as close to being barefoot as possible! My jeans though always fit correctly and I hope are flattering. Shirts can be great too. I think it's just the lack of variety in my wardrobe that's starting to depress me. Nothing says "feminine" to me. I even wear pants every week to church.

I don't know what it is that scares me about dresses and skirts. Part of me thinks that after years of wearing only jeans and pants, the second I wear a skirt no one will accept it. I can just hear them asking why I'm so dressed up. I know that shouldn't bother me, but it does. I've placed myself in this mold and now I'm scared to leave it.

But I'm going to try. I want to feel feminine, feel pretty, feel girly! My current style (or lack thereof) isn't helping.

I've been admiring other people's wardrobes for awhile now. It all started with Zooey Deschanel.

Seriously - she's adorable. I want everything she wears.

Then I discovered ModCloth and fell in love with the clothes they offered. I can't afford any of it, but that's a minor detail. From there I started perusing style blogs from Ty's to Tania's to Jessica's. And I would love to steal borrow Kendi's entire closet. But I'm pretty sure she wouldn't be cool with a complete stranger taking her whole wardrobe. Maybe I'll just hang out at her back door, hoping she'll toss clothes my way. A girl can dream.

I went thrifting the other day and bought a few skirts. I have no idea how to style any of them (flip flops and a shirt, right??) but I'm going to give it my best shot. I even bought a dress with the intention of wearing it on Easter. But my bike pedal decided to attack my shin the day before and a pretty dress with a leg wrapped up like a mummy just didn't look right. Any comments or tips on how you wear skirts would be greatly appreciated. Maybe I'll even be super brave and take pictures of my attempts.

Maybe.

Have a great Monday!