Bliss by the Bowlful

I’d like to introduce you to THE MOST AMAZING THING YOUR SWEET TOOTH HAS EVER HAD.

(and yes, those caps are completely necessary!)

Honestly, I can’t think of a single amazing dessert that I’ve ever enjoyed more than this one!
Let me set the stage for how this deliciousness came to be.

First, I’m in charge of all the activities for the women at my church.  We recently had a produce manager come and talk to us. Of course, we HAD to have super yummy fresh produce for refreshments!  And of COURSE only half of the people showed up that we were expecting. Even with giving a bunch of stuff away, I went home with almost 2 pounds of strawberries.  I had also made the BEST fruit dip for that night and had a huge bowl full left. 

Second, there was a very real possibility that Hubby would not even be home for Mother’s Day.  And even if he was, he wouldn’t have time to do anything for it. We discussed it beforehand, and decided to celebrate later.  But, it was STILL Mother’s Day, dang it! And if I was cooking, I was going to make something drool worthy.  I planned my favorite menu and just needed dessert.  So I opened up my fridge for some inspiration.  Those luscious strawberries were staring me in the face. Strawberry shortcake, of course!  I thought to myself. But what if we used that awesome dip instead of whipped cream!  And the typical angel food cake is nice, but what if we went for full fledged pound cake to make it even more tasty! LOVE this idea!

So that’s what I did.  I decided to try my hand at making my own pound cake.  Results: yummy, but oh BOY  do I need a better pan. In spite of very liberally greasing and flouring, it came out in chunks. Well, we can deal with that! It turned the whole thing into a bit more of a trifle idea, but hey, it was edible!

Ready for the recipe?

Lick Your Lips Shortcake
*Pound cake (I made mine from scratch using this recipe)
*Strawberries, de-hulled and sliced
*fruit dip (I combined these two recipes into my own )

Grab a bowl. Crumble up your pound cake. Sprinkle about 4 strawberries worth of slices on top. Dollop a great big spoonful of dip.  Eat with great enjoyment!

Fruit Dip:
*7 oz. marshmallow cream
*8 oz. cream cheese
*zest of 1 orange

Beat cream cheese until smooth and fluffy. Beat in marshmallow cream and zest.  (I added in some fresh juice too, but it made it too runny. So next time I’ll skip that part)

cooking

Apparently this Christmas was the year of the kitchen.  I received new mixing bowls, two amazing cookbooks, a giant electric frying pan (to replace our 25 year old one!), a huge george forman grill (with removable plates!) and Hubby got a waffle iron.

With all this new gadgetry and information at my fingertips, I’ve just been itching to do some cooking. Real, amazing, food, coming from my kitchen.
I haven’t shared too many recipes with you – partly because I never make up my own.  But this one needs to be shared . . . and it was created by little ol’ me!

A couple of years ago, for Sadie’s Test Kitchen, we made curry. Now, it was yummy, but only my Hubby and I would eat it, and it was fussy, and I’ve just never made it again. A few months ago, I was wanting a new recipe, and wondered if I could make something up. (When you’re obsessed with cooking shows, it’s bound to happen!) I wanted to use up some spices that we never use, and gram masala was first thing I thought of.

I have no clue what gram masala is. If I wasn’t so lazy I’d go look at the jar I think it’s a mixture of Indian spices. But it’s yummy, let’s just say that.  A very sweet, tangy aroma awaits you when you open the jar.  And it was my kicking off point.

Now, obviously, this recipe is up for interpretations. Use what you have! But after several months, and many tries, this is our family’s favorite version.

Gram Masala Chicken Salad

1 can cooked chicken (or use fresh about 1 breast I’d think)
2 cups macaroni noodles
2 slices bacon, cooked and diced (optional)
1 small can mandarin oranges, drained
1/4 tsp gram masala
1/4 tsp dried onion
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp pepper (5 or 6 good grinds should work)
Salt to taste
1/4 cup oil
1 1/2 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp lemon juice

Cook pasta according to package directions – making sure you salt the water really well (HUGE difference in final taste!). While that’s cooking, combine chicken, gram masala, onion, garlic, pepper, and salt in a frying pan. Cook until the chicken is dry (not like dehydrator try, but not soupy like it is right out the can.) In a separate bowl, wisk together oil, sugar, and lemon juice.

Drain the noodles. In a large bowl, stir together hot noodles, chicken mixture, bacon and oranges.

Drizzle  oil mixture on top and gently toss to combine.

The bacon addition is what finally made Buddy like this dish.  It’s even better to eat it cold the next day!

The great chicken experiment

I still remember the first time I ever ate Chinese food. I was a junior in college, working at an ice cream shop.  We also sold soups and sandwiches, which as workers, we also got to eat every day. But anyone who has worked in foods KNOWS how sick at tired you get of your own food. 
One day our manager decided to try a food swap.  Basically, one food place calls up another food place and asks if they want to trade meals.  The Chinese place got 5 1/2 gallons of amazing ice cream, and we got 5 lunch specials.
It was DEVINE!  I couldn’t believe something could taste that good. Despite the name, Tiny Spicy Chicken was not spicy at all. It was just pure bliss.
Hubby, on the other hand, ate Chinese food about every other week growing up. He’s a real connoisseur of the stuff. Every rainy day he turns big puppy dog eyes on me, pleading for some egg drop soup.
So I’ve been on a quest to actually make really good Chinese food at home.
Of course, Pintrest was my friend for this!
Contestant Number 1:

Found HERE
I only put the source there to credit it. DO NOT GO AND TRY TO MAKE THIS ONE!!!
This was my first attempt. Mostly because I already had all the ingredients, and I’m a huge fan of recipes that require little more than dumping things in a crock pot.
But this is what it ended up looking like:

Not exactly appetizing is it!
It was more like soup. And the flavor! Ugg! It had the most unbelievably bitter, almost metallic aftertaste.  I tired HARD to salvage this.  LOTS more sugar. Tons of cornstarch to thicken it up.  Salt (to cut the bitterness).  While there was some improvement, I still  will never make this again.

*but it did photograph rather pretty!
Contestant Number 2:

Found HERE
I was very hesitant to try another crock pot version.  But I was pleasantly surprised at the results.  While nothing like what you can get at a restaurant, it was actually edible – enjoyably so.  There was a little bit of fuss with the frying of the chicken first, but still, worth my time.

I forgot to get a shot of this one looking all pretty. But let me tell you, I was super excited it didn’t look like soup!
However, it still wasn’t that AWESOME orange chicken flavor that I was craving.
Contestant Number 3:

Found HERE
I saved this one for the last. It was MUCH more involved, and I was pretty sure it would end up being the best of the bunch.
Oh BOY was I right!  THIS is the recipe I wanted. This is the chicken I crave on rainy days.  This one, THIS ONE is making it into my permanent collection.

The whole family thought it was perfect. (ok, so Buddy didn’t really like the sauce. But he did  love the fact that I let him dip the plain chicken in ketchup!) In fact, I had to scrape together the very last bit in order to take a picture of the thing!
So, if you’d like a FABULOUS homemade orange chicken recipe, don’t waste your time with #1 or #2. Just head strait for #3!
*I guess I should mention the changes I made. I’m a total cheapskate, so I didn’t buy  everything I needed. I used just white vinegar, left out the orange zest and pepper flakes completely, used ground ginger instead of fresh. And I was somehow completely out of soy sauce (and yes, I did spend a very long time wandering around saying “SOOOOOOY SAAAAAUUUUCCCEEEEE!” from Thoroughly Modern Millie), so I ended up substituting teriyaki sauce instead. It was awesome!

Taste testing, family style

This year was the first year we've tried a summer bucket list. I've seen dozens of these in blog land over the last few years, but this summer was the first time I've been organized enough to jump in!


On our list was to make homemade ice cream.  And since I needed to make some ice cream toppings (for the Sadie Hoffmiller test kitchen - we're working on book 7 people!), I thought we'd have some fun with this!


First of all: our homemade ice cream was a flop. I'm not sure what was wrong with it. But for some reason, all we made was chilled cream soup. Maybe my bowl wasn't frozen enough?  Oh well!

I divided the "soup" into 5 different bowls - one for each of us. One stayed plain. One had chocolate chips mixed in. One had pineapple topping. One had homemade caramel topping. And the last one had homemade chocolate sauce.


The rules: you got one spoonful of the bowl in front of you. Then you had to vote for how many smiley faces that flavor got. After a sip of water, we passed the bowls around and tried the next flavor!

The kids thought it was such a cool night!  Even 'Lil was happy with this arrangement.

The results:

I was shocked that I liked the pineapple one, but the caramel was my fave. Buddy loved all of them. Girly-Lou was a bit pickier, and didn't care for the chocolate chip. Hubby was the most picky of all, and really only liked the chocolate sauce.

All in all, it was a successful (if messy) family night!

Miracles happen

Today, I accomplished something I've wanted to do for at least 2 years now.

It's probably been longer, but for the last two years I've been passionate about it.

I'm a good cook. I really am. I don't get super fancy with main dishes, but I'm capable of following a recipe to make something divine.

And my desserts . . . I'm good at desserts. I can do a cheesecake with no cracks. I can dip smooth chocolates. My pies get great reviews. People get excited when I bring dessert.

But there is one thing I never bring. I never make to give away. I only make at all if my kids beg for them.

The  humble chocolate chip cookie.

Seriously. I've never made a decent one. They look funny. They spread like crazy. The texture is weird. They have odd aftertastes.

Chocolate chip cookies are the most basic thing ever. And I can't make a good one. On a scale of 1-10, my cookies hit about a 3.  My kids (and Hubby) think they are fine. But they just aren't worth the calories.

I've tried literally more than a dozen recipes. I've googled "best chocolate chip cookie" for more inspiration. I've emailed back and forth with an award winning cook for what my problem is. I've asked friends. Nothing has really helped.

Everyone has told me the same thing: just stick the dough in the fridge. yah. I've tried that. It bumps my 3 cookies up to about a 3.5. Still not that great.  On my own, I've deduced that there is something wrong with my flour portions. 

A few weeks ago, I tried again. And I finally nailed the looks. They didn't spread like melting ice cream. But the taste. Ugg. Not what I wanted.

Yesterday, I found this recipe. Now, I've tried putting in pudding before.  And they are good tasting cookies. But they just turn into puddles of gunk when cooked.

This time, though. Something worked different.  I added a full extra cup of flour. I followed her directions to a T.  The difference in shaping the cookies, adding the flour slowly, the perfect cooking time.

 

At last. I made a great chocolate chip cookie. A cookie I would actually want to eat.

 

I may have gone a bit crazy with pictures, but I'm just so excited!

 Ahh. Life is good.

Snow Days

Growing up, I had one of the funnest moms EVER.* She was a Mom that truly thought nothing was better than being with her kids. She was always so frustrated when August hit, because she knew we'd be going back to schools soon, and we hadn't played enough yet!

I want to be that Mom. I want my kids to look back and think that I was fun to be around, that I loved being with them more than anything, that I looked forward to spending time with them.

Yesterday was a Snow Day. If I could do that cool cross out thingy, I'd change that to say Ice day. Really, calling them Snow days is just silly, because school is rarely canceled for just snow. No, it’s canceled by the crazy ice that ends up EVERYWHERE. So crazy slippery that I couldn’t even get into my driveway. And if you’ve been to my house, that’s saying something. I think my driveway is about a 2% slope - it’s nothing!

Anyway. Girly-Lou is a bit . . . um, well obsessed with school. As in, it kills her she can’t go every Saturday too. So when I found out that school was canceled, I was a bit worried that she wasn’t going to cope so well with this fact. So I wanted to make this day extra special. Especially with it being Christmas time. Hubby didn't go to work (can't take off with that much ice anyway), Girly-Lou didn't have school, the boys I watch weren't there. It was just my little family of 5, and a day full of relaxing fun.

So what did we do for extra coolness?

We made doughnut balls. The recipe is from Lion House Desserts. I was planning on posting the recipe, but then I started worrying about copyright issues. The problem is, the book is also out of print. Can you put out of print recipes online? Hmm. Well, if any of you are fluent in copyright laws, and it'd be legal, let me know and I'll post it. Until then, you just get some pictures!

The recipe is easy to follow. Just dump 7 ingredients in a bowl and mix. Then heat some oil, drop the dough in, and let it fry.

After they cool, dump some powdered sugar in a bag with 4 or 5 balls. Seal tightly and watch your kids have waaaaaaaaaaaaaaay too much fun.




(did you know how hard it is to get a shot of your kids shaking like crazy? most of them end up like this:)

The recipe said to drop by tablespoonfuls. Either my tablespoons were too big, or my oil too hot, because after all was said and done, they were not fully cooked. But actually, I think they were better that way. I just pretended they were custard filled, and failed to tell Hubby they had eggs in them. It's no worse than eating raw cookie dough, which I do all the time, was raised on, and am happily raising my kids to do the same. Hubby on the other hand, has issues with this idea. This was totally a time of what he doesn't know isn't going to kill him, and we can both be happy!

Seriously, I want to post this recipe. These things are just too good. Or maybe I shouldn't (I'm down another pound this week!) It's not like we need more good recipes at Christmas time is it!

*so that asterisk was so long ago, I bet you all forgot about it. But along with the funnest mom, we were raised by the meanest dad. Ask him. He'll tell you. You have no idea just how grateful I am for this combination. I learned so much because my dad wasn't about to let me slide. We had consequences for our actions. And lots of fun too.

Welcome to the Euless Bakery

I'm not precisely sure what has ignited my culinary bug, but it has surfaced with a rapidity that could prove rather detrimental to my waist line.

In the course of a few short days, I have baked the following:

4 loaves of bread
2 batches of bagels
cupcakes: 12 full sized and 24 mini
2 dozen cinnamon rolls
super easy cookies*
Peanut Butter Rollies (think O'henry bars with cheerios in a ball)
Jigglers.**

If you go back just a few weeks more, you would find several other kinds of cookies, cupcakes that look like hamburgers, dinners, rolls, and more.

My family has been very satisfied with my offerings. However, it has been a bit of a learning experience for me. So in the interest of full disclosure (Not that I ever promised such, but hey, it sounds good), I have discovered the following things.

#1. I really wish my kitchen aid was capable of mixing more than 2 loaves of bread at once.

#2. Of course if my Kitchen aid could mix that much, I would also need more than 2 loaf pans.

#3. Making 2 batches of bread back to back is an interesting experience.

#4. Following that with 2 batches of bagels makes for a very. long. morning.

#5. Homemade bagels are tasty and fun, but very time consuming and HOT. SWEATY. WORK.

#6. Baking bread is a very different experience when you are no longer 4000 ft above sea level, and instead have close to 100% humidity (hello 20 minute rise!)

#7. Requiring your kitchen aid to mix/knead for approximately 75 minutes makes the motor VERY HOT.

#8. Burn sprays are a beautiful thing.

#9. Silpats are a bakers best friend.

#10. Even though the recipe said it would work, rubbing oil on a cookie sheet is not adequate for bagels.

#11. Strange shapes left from bagel turning will look like fried chicken to a 4 year old.

#12. 4 year olds get frustrated when overcooked bread lumps do not taste like fried chicken.

#13. I am super grateful that I do not live in a circumstance which would require me to always bake my own bread. The idea of making 10 loaves at a time in a bustle oven in the summer - yuck.

#14. All this cooking in the middle of July with crazy humidity? I can only plead temporary insanity. Hopefully for all of us it will remain only temporary!

*My standard go to cookie. 4 ingredients, honestly less than 20 minutes from start to finish. If you want the recipe, just ask and I'll post it later.

**Ok, so jigglers are totally not baked. But they do make your kitchen hot and steamy, so I felt that it fit the list.

Comfort foods

My house smells like Thanksgiving.

Ok, not exactly, but there are some serious olfactory memories wafting around my head.

It all started with an amazing grocery store trip (saved more than I spent just shopping the butcher department). Armed with a sense of culinary adventure, I gathered my ingredients. After slaving for hours (cough), I had concocted a meal to please the most facile of palates.

I cooked a chicken.

This was a first for me. I'd never actually cooked a whole chicken. And it was really complicated too. I shoved the whole thing in my slow cooker and mashed some potatoes. But there was something about that aroma permeating every corner of my house today that made me reflect on comfort foods.

Just that phrase "comfort foods" brings a wealth of memories to me.
Thanksgiving feasts.
Toast with hot chocolate.
Raspberry jam.
Homemade bread.
And ginger cookies.

My mom made the best ginger cookies on the planet. Now, don't get confused. I'm talking about ginger COOKIES, not ginger SNAPS. The former are deletable, soft, delicate, with just the right ratio of spice to sweet. The later are rock hard, reek of cheap spices, and are as delicious as cardboard.

I can see her now as she patiently lets my sisters and I roll the dough in sugar, smearing it everywhere. She was always such a great sport. That homey smell bringing back so many memories. I could picture her doing the same thing as a young child with her own mother, generations of moms passing down this perfect recipe.

(That is, until I mentioned one time about Grandma's ginger cookies. Mom looked at me kind of funny and informed me that not only was this recipe from a friend, she hadn't even been making them that long. Fine. Ruin my picturesque daydreams. They are still one of the best cookies ever.)

Ginger Cookies

3/4 cup shortening
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup molasses (dark)
1 egg
2 cup flour
1/4 tsp salt
2 tsp soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp cloves
1 tsp ginger

Cream shortening and sugar. Add molasses and egg. Stir in remaining ingredients. Roll into balls, and then in sugar. Bake @ 350 for 10 minutes


One of my favorite parts about these is they make the perfect circles without any effort. It doesn't matter how malformed my son's blob is, it still turns out beautiful. Ok, when he makes snakes they don't turn round, but if it's remotely spherical, it works.

Ohh the gooiness

I'm not sure why I decided to share this, except I was in the mood to post something, and this was kind of fun to see.

My random story: I almost never buy name brand food. Let's face it: milk is milk. Sugar is sugar. The brand has very little to depend on the quality. But every once in a while, the name brand is on a crazy good sale, so it's cheaper. A couple of weeks ago, our Walmart had all the Kraft Cheese on for a CRAZY good price. So that's what I got. And they had their low fat cheese for the same price. I'd never tried it, but I grabbed it.

I like it. A lot.

I got 3 bricks of 2% milk cheddar. It tastes just the same! I love it - great taste, less guilt! Too bad it's usually so much more!

Tonight for dinner I was craving some homey goodness. So I made "Cheesey Noodles" (aka homemade Mac n cheese. My kids HATED homemade mac n cheese until I changed the name. Now they can't get enough of it!) I worried that my low fat cheese might not work as well. But it mixed in ok. Then we sat down and dished it.

YOU CAN NOT IMAGINE THE GOOEY STRINGS!!!

Really, I've never even seen pizza this cheesy before. It was awesome! I actually used less cheese than normal too.
I even tried to take a picture. This is after it had cooled a bit - there were double that many when we started!

Yum. Just looking at this makes me want to have another plate. Here's my family's version of mac n cheese, just in case you were wondering. I never actually measure anything in it anymore. But I think it's pretty accurate. I've been told it's easier than some people's versions - but you tell me.

Homemade Mac ‘n Cheese

1/3 cup margarine or butter
2 cups milk
2 heaping Tbsp cornstarch
2 cups shredded cheese
3-ish cups noodles
salt to taste

Cook noodles according to package directions. Drain. Melt margarine over medium low heat. Stir in cornstarch. Gradually add milk, stirring constantly. Bring to an almost boil while still stirring constantly so it doesn’t scorch. Add cheese. Stir in cooked noodles and salt. Savor every delectable bite!

My boy loves . . .Green Beans?

Dinner last night must go down in HISTORY! for our household. Let me start this with a preface - my Hubby HATES most vegetables. Sure, he'll eat corn, and potatoes, celery or carrots (but only raw), but give him a plate of peas and he'd rather starve. It's not like I'm trying to give him Brussels sprouts, we're talking plain old peas, green beans, maybe steamed broccoli here. He won't have it. I've finally convinced him that he needs to be better, so if I serve it, he'll eat two green beans, three peas, or a floret. But he'll hate, no loathe it the whole way down. More than once I've pureed a can of green beans and hid it in taco soup, just to know he gets some vitamins in him!

I worry that Buddy is headed in the same direction. Veggies are not his forte. I know most kids go through this, and it just takes time, but if my son knows his daddy doesn't have to eat up, he won't either.

To help combat this, I've been very grateful for Hubby's schedule. He is usually gone 3 or 4 nights a week for dinner - which means his example is gone too. On the nights he's home, we do salads, corn, or potatoes, and he eats them up. When Hubby is gone, I serve peas, green beans, broccoli, and I eat them up. Girly-Lou-Who loves them all. Buddy, not so much.

Miricles can occur.

Last night, Hubby was flying, I served tacos and green beans. Buddy doesn't like tacos, doesn't like green beans. I knew I was in for a trial, but that was the menu. But Buddy looked excited for dinner. He watched Girly-Lou-Who dish up, his own enthusiasm a mirror of hers. We said a blessing, and they started to eat. In shock, I watched him pick up his fork and stab a green bean - without prompting! First! He popped it in his mouth and said "ook, Mom, I eat it!"

As I picked my jaw up off the floor, he went on "now youa say not eat!"

Ahhh, the game. He wanted to play a game.

Months ago, Besty over at Momformation, wrote a post about how she gets her kids to eat anything by telling them they can't do it. She hams it up, and the reverse psychology works every time. At the time, I remember trying it with absolutely no success. My kids were too young. Sunday night, as they picked over their meal, some psychology popped out of my mouth, and they devoured their meal. Now I understood what my son wanted - to play the game.

I played along, pouncing on every bite, groaning in despair when it went into their tummies, as they giggled so hard they could hardly chew. I got my daughter to actually use a fork. My son ate a taco. And between the three of us, we actually ate an entire can of green beans.

Miracles can happen. Even over beans.

My favorite cookies

This year, we are traveling a couple thousand miles for Christmas. I love still having a private just my nuclear family Christmas, so we are celebrating early, and then again with the extended. Today was our Christmas eve, which we did complete with cookies for Santa. I thought I'd post my FAVORITE sugar cookie recipe, along with the only home made frosting I actually enjoy.

The cookies are more labor intensive than other recipes, but they taste like those awesome bakery ones. I love it!

Alton Brown's Sugar cookies

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 tablespoon milk
• Powdered sugar, for rolling out dough
  

Directions

Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside. Place butter and sugar in large bowl of electric stand mixer and beat until light in color. Add egg and milk and beat to combine. Put mixer on low speed, gradually add flour, and beat until mixture pulls away from the side of the bowl. Divide the dough in half, wrap in waxed paper, and refrigerate for 2 hours.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Sprinkle surface where you will roll out dough with powdered sugar. Remove 1 wrapped pack of dough from refrigerator at a time, sprinkle rolling pin with powdered sugar, and roll out dough to 1/4-inch thick. Move the dough around and check underneath frequently to make sure it is not sticking. If dough has warmed during rolling, place cold cookie sheet on top for 10 minutes to chill. Cut into desired shape, place at least 1-inch apart on greased baking sheet, parchment, or silicone baking mat, and bake for 7 to 9 minutes or until cookies are just beginning to turn brown around the edges, rotating cookie sheet halfway through baking time. Let sit on baking sheet for 2 minutes after removal from oven and then move to complete cooling on wire rack. Serve as is or ice as desired. Store in airtight container for up to 1 week.

Wilton Buttercream Icing

1/2 cup shortening

1/2 cup butter or margarine

1 tsp Vanilla (they say Wilton Clear Vanilla Extract)

4 cups sifted confectioner's sugar

2 tablespoons milk

Yield: 3 cups

Cream butter and shortening with electric mixer. Add vanilla. gradually add sugar, one cup at a time, beating well on medium speed. Scrape sides and bottom of bowl often. When all sugar has been mixed in, icing will appear dry. Add milk and beat at medium speed until light and fluffy. Keep icing covered with a damp cloth until ready to use. Refrigerate leftover icing in airtight container up to 2 weeks; rewhip before using.

Bleck!

When I went shopping a few days ago, I remembered all the baking I'll be doing in the next few weeks. Fortunately, chocolate chips were on sale so I picked up a few bags. It wasn't until I got home that I realized one of the bags was "sugar free". Yuck! I thought. Who wants sugar free chocolate (unless you're diabetic, or something, in which case I'm glad they make these for you!) I just opened the bag today, and I was right. They are nasty! They do have some artificial sweeteners in there, but to me it tastes a lot like bittersweet chocolate. I know the more bitter the chocolate, the better it is for you, but I was raised on 100% milk chocolate, and to me, anything more bitter than that just isn't worth the calories!

My killer deal of the day

Can I just share: apples are one of my favorites. I grew up with a mini orchard of red delicious apples. If you've never had a freshly picked red delicious apple, you are missing something. They are nothing like the waxy mushy apples you get in the store. Alas, now I live a couple thousand miles away from that goodness, so I've needed something different. I've discovered that I have two favorite kinds: Fuji's and Gala's. Fuji's I believe to be superior, but also much more expensive. As a result, we eat almost exclusively, gala apples.

So almost a month ago, Albertson's had gala apples for only 88 cents. Now that's a killer deal. I waited a few days (ok, I waited until the paycheck came) and went to get my apples. I walked in to the produce department. Right as you walked in, there was this large display. It was covered in happy Halloweeny paper, surrounded by nasty prepackaged fake caramel stuff, you know, the whole schebang. Only there was a small problem: not a single apple was visible. I looked around, hoping there was another display, but they were sold out. I asked the produce guy, who told me I could get a rain check, since they had more in the warehouse, and should be getting another shipment any day. I've never gotten a rain check before, but at the rate my family eats apples, this one was worth it.

The rain check was good for 30 days. A few days ago I found it (again) when I was cleaning out my purse. I realized I only had a week left, and thought I'd better go buy some before I spent that $10 on something else! This morning I bundled up the kids (it was a glorious 42 degrees this morning!), put them in the stroller, and walked over.

The apples were beautiful. An overflowing selection greeted me. I let the kids help me pick some out. Soon we had two of those flimsy bags stuffed full. At 9.68 lbs, it was a bit short of the 10 I was planning on, but I didn't want to spend more than that $10 bill I had.

We go to check out. The cashier looks at the rain check like she's never seen such a thing. I even hear her mutter "do we do these?" She tries a couple of different options, even charging me 88 cents for the whole lot. Finally she calls a manager over. The manager is also a bit lost. Apparently they don't get many rain checks for produce. Since they only have 1 register open, the line keeps getting longer and longer behind me. Finally, I honestly think she just estimated in her head what it should cost. She rang one bag up for $3.00, and the other bag for $3.50, and I left. I knew they had tried everything, so I wasn't going to fight them over undercharging me so much. When I got home, I added it up: it works out to be $.67 a pound. Man, I really wish I would have gotten 15 lbs!

Picture: my crisper drawer full of apples. Isn't it a beautiful sight! And in case you were wondering, I am feeling a bit better. Still have a nasty cough, runny nose, etc, but I'm not ready to die anymore!