Can't read my, can't read my, putt putt face...

Howdy, Bubbleland! How youuu doin'? (Can you tell I've been watching old Friends reruns?)

It's been a whirlwind of this & that with a pinch of nonsense around the ole homestead! The Husband had his putt-putt birthday party a couple weeks ago. We had a great time out at the Summer Golf & Games Family Park. One of my favorite moments was when one of our 17 year-old "Party Captains" asked us where the "birthday boy" was. I don't believe they were expecting a 6'3" birthday boy.

Another fave was when our group was finishing our pizza & cokes. Our Party Captain asked if we were ready for goodie bags and everyone cheered. Apparently, peoples love rubber bracelets, ladybug paper pads, and large foamy dice. (Sidenote, we used the big foamy dice over the weekend for a game of Tabboo. It. Was. GREAT. If you're way too amused by over sized game items that you get for free, that is.)

After pizza & goodie bags, we played arcade games, hit the batting cages, water bumper boats, and go-carts. Oh, and, of course there was putt putt. It was really a ton of fun. Although I pulled some serious muscles trying wayyyy too hard at the batting cages. We were so appreciative of so many people coming out to share the good times - and Husband's birth - with us. And SO appreciative of our friend, Kelly, over at Smidge Bakery hooking us up with some WONDERFUL cake pops.

Can't imagine why they thought the birthday boy was closer to 8 than 28
Heh

I helped Kelly make the cake pops. Well, I mostly ran my mouth. But I like to think of that as moral support. Cake pops are no small feat so I know the time she put in to them. But more on that subject to come...

After all the birthday fun, I was exhausted. You know, cuz making a phone call and everyone else to all the work is so tiring. I obviously could not lift a finger to cook. Or do much in general. Other than read my book club book. Which was fantastic. And reading requires very little movement.

Those Who Save Us by Jenna Blum

We had a great discussion and a lovely late afternoon. 2 of our girls are mamas-to-be so it's fun getting to watch their tummies grow from month to month. I am super excited about the next book. It just came the other day and I'm trying to wait until our next meeting is closer to start it. (I tend to forget things if I read ahead.)

The Devil in White City by Erik Larson

We didn't linger long after the discussion ended. A storm was a-brewin' and we all wanted to make it home before it hit. I, being the genius I am, decided to tempt fate and head to the opposite way from home to Fresh Market because I wanted to try my hand at cooking some tuna.

* RAW FISH PICTURE BELOW *

Purdy, ain't it? Sashimi

I pushed the time too hard. (I decided since I was in the neighborhood, I should obviously buy pillows at Bed Bath & Beyond before going to Fresh Market.) The bottom fell out on my way home and I white-knuckled that drive until I reached my street. Where it promptly stopped raining.

But whatever. I had my fish. We didn't lose power. And I commenced to cook it up.

In process

And then...

Overcooked

Sad horns. The Hubs's tuna was cooked perfectly. But mine was overdone. Which is especially sinful when you think about the fact that it's a sushi grade tuna and I could have just eaten it raw. It was still perfectly edible and the glaze was lovely. But a tad hard to choke down amidst my shame of what I'd done to such a beautiful fillet.

Eh. Moving on. You live and learn... To not walk away from your fish.

After that, the following week flew by. We hung out with friends. I ordered more books on Amazon. Not to mention, went to work. And then it was once the weekend. And time for brunch! My favorite weekend treat. My friend T & I went to one of our faves, Side Street Grill. Where she ordered the shrimp and grits & I ordered an omelet with a whole mess of stuff in it.

You know what's great about brunch? The availability of both breakfast and lunch foods until 3pm in the afternoon. You know what's even better about brunch? When those elements combine in the form of an egg-over-easy on a burger with bacon to form "The Chuckwagon Burger". (Which, it may be apt & delicious, but I don't like the name "Chuckwagon". Foods shouldn't have any form of the word "chuck" in them. Just sayin'.)

After brunch, T came over to our place with her doggie to play with Sugarbear. Sugarbear then proceeded to made a fool of herself over her main man, Fozzie. (Seriously. Doggie crushes are embarrassing.)

While the doggies played, T & I picked out some colors and I did my famous* roller/splatter painting method on a new piece for her house.

* In my own mind.

I hadn't really painted much of late so it was good to get my hand back in. And I think T really liked it. Or else has an excellent poker face.

She's a lawyer so that could go either way...

Since I went to brunch and spent the afternoon painting, I didn't go to the grocery store that weekend. So we ate out. A LOT. Which was both fun and not, all at the same time.

I more then made up for it though. Last Friday, I went to the grocery store. Saturday, I went twice. And Sunday, I went one more time for good measure.

Why was I going to the grocery store so much, you may ask? Well, silly, my MAMA was coming in town for a visit, of course!

Mom arrived in town Saturday morning at 9am. We enjoyed a lovely cuppa joe and then headed out for the main event of the day...

Viking Cooking School - Cupcakes & Cake Balls!

It was terrific. As I mentioned earlier, I'd helped my friend Kelly (over at Smidge Bakery) with The Hubs' birthday cake pops. It was a LOT of work so I wasn't surprised the Viking class was 5 hours.

I've been to quite a few Viking classes now and I really love them. The instructors are great and the facilities make you want to have an all Viking kitchen. I'd love to take the new 1-day French class or knife skills class. Someday! Anyhoo, the great thing about the baking classes is that you can take food home. (After the Steakhouse class I was nearly moved to tears with the knowledge that not only could we not take the leftovers with us, but they'd also be thrown away. I still sniff at the memories.)

They had made the cakes for cake pops and we got started. You crumble up the cakes and it's loads of fun doing something so kitchen-naughty. After you make the cake balls, they have to freeze. So we moved on to cupcakes and made, ohhhh, about 4 dozen of 3 different kinds of cupcakes.

• Chocolate with a Chocolate Ganache
• Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Icing
• Apple Cinnamon with a caramel glaze... That we decided also needed the cream cheese icing

They turned out quite pretty and the caramel for the apple cinnamon cupcakes was so easy to make. I could easily whip some up with the things I already have in my pantry, should the need arise!

Applying the caramel

The carrot cakes - pre-icing

After a nice little lunch (more of an pre-lunch if you ask me & The Mom though), we moved on to cake pops! We spent a lot of time dipping and re-freezing. Some people spent a lot of time at the end of class playing with fondit and decorations. But Mom & I had things to do and people to see so we pretty much skipped the decorating portion of the class. Plus, we considered ourselves artsy and fully capable of being craftsy. We figured we'd have no problem with that should the need later arise.

We said goodbye to our little group. (You didn't think we were taking home 4 dozen cupcakes, did you?) Grabbed our sweets and headed home.

Once we got home, we split one of each cupcake and I topped mine off with a big glass of milk.

That carrot was pretty much the extent of our decorating

The Husband showed little interest in the cupcakes. But a GREAT interest in the cake pops.

I wish I'd had something to stand the lollipops up in so this was a little more impressive

They really turned out adorable & delicious. They were mint chocolate, red velvet, and coconut with either white or regular chocolate coating. A lot of work... But well worth it! Well, worth it for a special occasion. Kelly definitely isn't losing a customer!

Next, we took a little break because we were tired.

Sugarbear was tired from nothing in particular
And thought Mom's shoe made a lovely pillow

After a quick breather, we headed on to the reason we skipped out of the decorating portion of the class... On to the movies!

Yes, this is not in English but it was the best image I found

Mom & I had both read The Help. It was a book club pick a couple years ago that I passed along to Mom. We both loved it and were hoping the movie did it justice. It did.

I thought the movie was perfectly cast. It was like they read my mind and cast people accordingly. I love it when that happens. (Harry Potter - Perfection. Twilight - Not so much.) I didn't expect to cry so much though. They a terrific job of capturing the unrest & unfairness of the time, and yet humanizing the bigots. (I'm looking at you, Hilly Holbrook.) It really hit you in the gut. Mom and I were talking in the car afterwards about how it's not really a chick flick. I think they've sorta-ish marketed like that. And yes, it has a cast largely of women. But the story is so much bigger.

All that to say, I'd highly recommend it.

From there on, the weekend FLEW.

After the movie, Mom took The Hubs & I to 3 Angels Diner for dinner. (I'm a little obsessed with the place. I've now had the fish sammich, a steamie - steamed - burger, and their meatloaf. So far, the fish sammy is my fave. I know you were wondering.) Mom & I closed out the night by watching the latest episode of Project Runway (Anya may not be able to sew, but girlfriend gots ideas!) And then off to bed for a good night's sleep before church the next morning.

After church, I made lunch. I tend to over-reach when we have people over. And then I'm all cooking & sweating & stressing when I could be hanging out and enjoying my company. But this time, I had a plan and some pre-prep! I do believe I got dinner on the table in a timely fashion, if I do say so myself, and was able to enjoy the last of my mama-time.

The Menu
Bourbon Salmon (glazed by Fresh Market)
Baked Potato Bar
Rosemary Carrots
A slightly modified version of This Salad

After lunch, Mom hit the road back to my dad & Columbia. And I had that moment. Where you go all cry-face and "I miss my mommy". But I had to pull it together because our friends, Hanndy, were coming over to watch football. But it was all ok because - not in a creepy way - Mom was still visiting in spirit! I had made My Mom's Famous Red Beans and Rice...

In my book, anything that cooks for over 5 hours is generally a treat

And I finally got to use my home-grown jalapenos!

It was delish. Like, super-delish. And the Hubs ate TWO helpings. And that was huge because he's been kidded in my family for passing on My Mom's Famous Red Beans and Rice before. But that's a story for another time.

Sunday was a great mix of family and friends. And Monday was one of the reasons working for a bank can rock – holidays like Columbus Day! I was off and we were stocked on groceries. What's a girl to do? Eat a cupcake for breakfast and get to cookin'. At least that's what this girl did.

I've been craving potato soup ever since we had that first chilly day a couple weeks ago. I combined recipes and somewhat randomly added things so - since I can't provide a link - I'm going to give you the long version of my recipe. And an over abundance of pics. Woohoo! Let's jump right in.

I started with a leek and potato soup recipes. But, errr, I forgot leeks. And I had about 8 large shallots (don't ask). So I pulled out the dutch oven. Melted some butter with shallots, garlic, & a lil chicken stock.

Dutch ovens and cast irons are the biz NAZ

Sprinkled on some flour.

Please note the almost-too-pretty-to-use spatula my terrific M-I-L gave me for my birthday

I had some celery so I tossed that in with the potatoes, milk, & bay leaves.

I would recommend 1, not 2 bay leaves... I got a little carried away

In the midst of my potato-ism, my kitty – who had previously been chillin' like a normal cat on the floor – FREAKED OUT. She started rolling back and forth and chasing her tail. It was pretty funny. Especially since she's normally somewhat reserved and plays her emotions close to the belt. I had the camera out anyway so I tried to capture it...

Ok, I didn't really capture it. But it was funny. Just take my word for it. While the cat freaked out, the potatoes cooked down, more time passed, I added some cream & pureed half the soup, added some turkey bacon, and then bam!

I can't believe I forgot the green onions

It turned out really well. Here's my somewhat-but-not-really original recipe, if you're interested in that sort of thing –

Combine in a dutch oven over low heat:

• 3 large shallots, minced

• 5 cloves of garlic, minced (I like garlic)

• 1 T butter

• Couple T of chicken stock

Cooked down for about 15 min until soft

• Added 1-2 T flour to shallot/garlic mix

Mixed well

• Add 5 russet potatoes in 1/2" cubes

• I had some celery so I cut it up and threw it in

• with 3/4 C chicken broth (I would have used more chicken broth but I ran out)

• 2 C milk

• 1 small bay leaf (NOT 2)

• Garlic powder (I like garlic)

• Sprinkle with kosher salt & fresh cracked black pepper

Turn temp up to boil, boil, turn down to simmer and cover

I cooked until potatoes were done. Honestly, I sorta lost time and just tasted as I went along.

• Then, I added cream, cheddar, & parmesan to taste.

• Mixed in turkey bacon (wish I'd had real in this case)

• and shoulda topped with green onions

I shall write that down in my "real" recipe book and make again. Faboo!

While I was making potato soup, I multi-tasked on a light King Ranch chicken casserole for this week. I'll let you know how it goes.

After that, I was tired and had to take a break. But dinner time rolled around and it was time to get back on my feet.

Also, it was our 2 year anniversary. I, errr, think it slipped both our minds.* But I'd bought some pork rib chops and declared them "Anniversary Chops".

*We got married by the justice of the peace on May 1st, 2009. We decided to buy a house but didn't want to take away from the "real" wedding so kept it somewhat secret. Therefore, we have 2 anniversaries – the one in May & October 10th, 2009. And neither get the solemn appreciation that an anniversary deserves. But we're not really solemn appreciation people so really, a pork chop anniversary fits just right.

~ Love you, "The Hubs" aka Justin Andrew Johnson. Muah.

Anyhoo, I got these chops and they were soooo pretty that I have to share.

* RAW PORK PICTURE BELOW *

If you find beauty in raw meat, don't you love these!

And I did add The Hubs fave - Velveeta Shells & Cheese. Yup. Processed food at its best! With the best chops and fresh broiled asparagus and roasted cauliflower.

Yum

Ok, with that, I'm going to call it a day on this visit to Bubbleland. Lots of ketchup was done and the ride is just speeding up from here. More to come on Halloween (The Hubs nixed my homemade sushi costume... What the heck?). And the ascent into The Holidays begins! See you soon, my friends.