Erica’s Blog

Hubby & I recently entered a chili cook-off at church.  We didn’t win, but we had fun working together on the project (especially since I couldn’t do any tasting!).  We were required to post a list of our ingredients in case any of the judges or the general public had food allergies.  Just for fun, here’s what we used:

Black beans

Light red kidney beans

Pinto beans

Refried beans

Diced tomatoes

Fire-roasted green chiles

Grilled red bell pepper

Grilled yellow bell pepper

Grilled red onion

Grilled beef loin

Garlic

Sea salt

Cumin

Chipotle chile powder

Ground cayenne pepper

Crushed red pepper flakes

Where:  A kitchen somewhere in the Bay Area
When:  A hot night in the recent past

Man:  I wonder how many middle-aged men are standing in the kitchen in their underwear right now?

Woman:  A lot.  Probably more than we want to know about.

Man:  [Snork!]

What with sick kids two weeks in a row and all, I was late for Teacher Appreciation Day.  Here, however, is what I ended up giving the Things’ teachers:

What are they?  They are hemp soap sacks with soap inside.  With the sack around the soap, you’ve got a built-in scrubbie.  Just a little something girly for them.  I wanted to get some of V’s soaps to include, but I didn’t get my act together in time.  A few other people I know will be getting those w/soap sacks or washcloths as gifts, though….

I can’t tell you what “it” is, but oooooh, does I lurves it…

I wonder how Thing One REALLY feels about going to Kumon, lol…

What a GREAT day!  Thing One very carefully made me breakfast in bed.  I got some great presents.  I got a rose at church.  Hubby made a terrific lunch AND a great dinner.  Between lunch & dinner, I got to go out for a few hours and relax at Starbucks then hit Marshalls to spend my gift $$.  Ahhhh…all of that MORE than makes up for waking up at 2:00 this morning the sound of Jenna puking on the living room floor, lol….

Yesterday, Hubby’s aunt Simona had the opening of her gallery during the monthly Sacramento Art Walk.  We couldn’t miss it, so we grabbed our friend Eddie (likewise an artist) and his girlfriend Sonia, begged for a sitter, and made the long drive out there.  We first stopped by in the afternoon, and there were only family and friends around (Dodge Boys!).  We went to dinner, then came back, and the place was packed!  The building she’s in holds several galleries, a jewelry shop, a tea shop, and a yarn shop (!!!).  I did some restaurant research on Friday, and we had dinner at Kabul Kabob, an Afghani place, which turned out to be a great choice.  All in all, a great day!

THANK YOU, Rick & Adriana for taking the girls for us!  I can’t remember the last time we had a for-real double date like that.

On Friday, it finally worked out for the Things to have their buddies Jackie & Lauren spend the night.  As you can see, they had a great time.