Cooking School, Week 2

This was the second week in our cooking school. The theme was foods you can dip. We made chicken toes (not to be confused with chicken fingers or chicken nuggets) to be dipped in BBQ sauce (Famous Dave's) and honey mustard sauce (Paul Newman's). We had crudites and dipped them in a creamy salsa dip Lucy made. For dessert were apple slices in a peanut butter caramel dipping sauce (secret ingredient: cinnamon). We ate it all outside on the patio. As an added bonus, a band played in the park nearby.

Here's the dinner...



Here's the chef....


We all enjoyed it, some of us even more than others...



Warning--a little vent ahead. Today was one of those days. Not a horrible, disastrous day, just an irritating day. First of all, though I don't mention it on this blog very much, I have a job. In addition to being a mom. It's a job I like a lot, enjoy the work, and from which I derive a certain amount of fulfillment. But it's still an added responsibility. It takes up about 32 hours of my time a week. Like most people's jobs, I have deadlines and projects. Today I had a long conference call and training. No big deal.

But almost approaching 40 (it must be said), it is tiring. When we were first married and both working on our careers, sometimes I'd take the first train in (5:20 a.m.) and the last train home (12:40 a.m.)--then get up and do it all over again. I'd put in hours on the weekend. At one point I took an almost full-time load at grad school while working full time. At another point, I worked full time and taught a full time load in the evenings. Those days are over, my friends. I don't know what it is about being a mother, but it is more tiring than anything I've ever known. It taxes me physically, mentally, emotionally.

I got off work this afternoon, and I was tired out. And my girls were not pleasant. To put a finer point on it, they were like two chickens in a bag. I went ahead with the cooking school, and Elaine wanted to get her hands in everything while Lucy couldn't seem to focus. Mix in a lot of whining, and there's the recipe for our evening.

Then everything was a physical crisis. Someone got a hand caught in the recliner. Someone stepped on someone else's foot. We tried to take a relaxing walk around the block after dinner to settle everyone down, and Elaine fell and scraped her knee. I got them home and (with much nagging) finally got them into the shower. When they got out I wearily carried Elaine into her room to put on her diaper and pajamas, and I had a thump and scream from the bathroom. The words "What now?" in an exasperated, martyred sigh escaped from my lips. Lucy had cracked her head on the bathroom sink.

I finally got everyone hugged and soothed, dressed for bed, ointment on the cuts, and gave Elaine some Benadryl and Lucy some Motrin. (Please don't judge me, you know you've done it too.) So now they're in bed, and after this long, tiring day it's time for a little medication for Mom. Though Lucy made the apple slices and peanut butter caramel dip as dessert, I need a little something stronger.

It's time for this from my secret stash:


And yes I do have red velvet cake in my secret stash. Is there a problem with that? I didn't think so.