The Week That Was....

Hope  you are enjoying the Memorial Day Weekend...

Not surprisingly, 

it is cold in Chicago...  

We dreamed about getting away from the chill, 

even driving south to Springfield 

to learn about Abe Lincoln 

and to bask in seventy degrees of warmth...  

Then we remembered the kids had obligations 

they could not miss... 

 Rats!  

So, instead, we are cashing in a few air miles 

for our own "sleep over" at a nice hotel downtown... 

No kids, just me and T$...

Yippee! 

I guess T$'s endless travels 

have some benefits...  

 

I have learned a few things this week:

1.  When you think the deal is done, 

it ain't until the other guys sign 

on the dotted line...

I know this from my years in real estate, 

but T$ and I got too emotionally vested 

in a big UAE deal...

Bad idea...

2. May 25th is far too early to break out 

the summer wardrobe...

It's FREEZING here!  What the hell....??

3.  Take my advice and outsource the cleaning 

of kitchen ceiling fans....

It is way too disgusting to do yourself...

Wow, when you turn off the fan,

 the greasy build up is shocking...

Cleaning it was pure nastiness...

4.  Cooking mussels is left for the professionals 

unless you like sandy grit in every bite...

The nice man at New England Seafood Company 

said to de-beard (don't ask) 

and scrub each mussel...  

I thought I did that 

and made a lovely Malaysian Mussel stew 

only to nearly break off my molars on tiny grits of gravel and sand...  

So much for making mussels at home...

5. I will never like or trust carnivals...

We took the kids to the annual local carnie fest 

and Kate is now big enough for the scarey rides...  

I became nauseous as she boarded rides 

I was certain would fling her to her premature death... 

Once I rode "The Octopus" with a friend at the Kewanee Fair 

and the door almost came open, mid flight...  

Scared the bejeesus out of us...  

Haven't trusted those damn carnivals ever since 

and now with kids, they give me nightmares...  

No matter, the kids survived with smiles...

6.  A weekend free of kids sports is a beautiful thing...

No baseball and no hockey... Woo Hoo!

7.  Mr. Bubble still rocks, notwithstanding all those childhood 

urinary tract infections.  

They made the best bubble baths...

They must have made the formula milder now, 

because after a couple of UTI's, 

Mom stopped buying Senore Bubble for me as a kid...

8.  Lard makes pie awesome...  

Holy cow!  

Never again will I use just butter or Crisco...  

Lard is the way to an unbelievably tender, flaky crust, 

hands down...

I am now officially on a pie tear!

9.  Nothing, I mean nothing reeks worse than hockey equipment...

The bowels of hell are a walk on Febreze Lane 

compared to opening your son's hockey bag...  

You will swear he has dumped a dead body in there, 

or at least a skunk's corpse...  

10.  Even a really shitty week smooths out to a happy ending with T$ 

by my side and a good glass of wine...

Sometimes a hug from the right person 

is the best medicine...

Yesterday, I made my very first Banana Cream Pie...  

Ohhhh, was it fresh and tasty!  

The recipe comes from The The Joy of Cooking...

This is a pie to try!!!

This pie can be made with a regular pie crust or a graham cracker crust. 

 I went the graham route this time....

Banana Cream Pie, courtesy of The Joy of Cooking

Banana Cream Pie
Prepare:
	A baked pie shell
In top of double boiler combine:
	2/3 cup sugar 1/2 cup all-purpose flour 1/2 tsp. salt
Add, stir and cook over - not in - boiling water 10 minutes or until mixture thickens:
	2 cups milk
Remove from heat. Beat slightly in a separate bowl:
	3 egg yolks
Stirring well, pour half of hot mixture into eggs. When smooth, return eggs to rest of hot mixture and cook until thickened. Remove from heat and add:
	2 tablespoon butter 2 tsp. vanilla
Cool slightly before turning into the crust. Meanwhile peel and slice thinly:
	2 ripe bananas
Place them in the baked pie shell. Pour the filling over them. Cover with plastic wrap and chill at least two hours.
Cover it with:
	1/2 pint whipped cream