What's up, buttercup?

Welllll... a lot.  a lot is up.  so much so that I might need to remove my brain to extract all of the information I want to share with you because my recall is laughably lacking. Ok, where were we? <-----SEE?!?!

Oh, the Thee Pitts Again post- I was waiting for my dad to send me some of the pictures he took, but maybe I'll just post what I've got. 

At the end of January my parents flew down for the day to take me to a special birthday lunch.  (awwww) I chose a restaurant from my "Restaurants I need to visit before I die" list (Yes, there is such a list and the NEXT restaurant in the line-up is The Burger House in Miami, AZ. I hear they have killer burritos)

But most of the restaurants on our list are ones we have seen on one of our favorite food network shows, Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives.  Here is the clip from the show of Thee Pits Again:

In fact, this notorious list was created because we have a running contest with our friends to see who can visit the most restaurants that have been featured on this show throughout the US. When we're planning a trip we look up our destination city on the Triple D's website to see if we can also visit/cross off another restaurant. so there you have it.

Meg n Matt trying to decide....  Nice decore, eh? It was deliciously hideous.  Pigs everywhere.  Not real ones, fake ones... oh wait, I guess there were real ones, but not alive real ones... ehhh anyway....

 Awwwwwww  We love Grandpa!

 

   

Grandma and Matthew (he was being such a little stinker that day- keep reading to find out why...

 ONION RINGS... Holy Hannah these were the king of onion rings.  I ate mine with a fork. Yeah, they are that huge. AND the batter is to die for.  It was a thin, smooth, crispy coating and just salty enough to stimulate those salivary glands into a frenzy.  Bite Description: Crunch, firm yet soft sweet onion cooked to perfection, salt/sweet combo in just the right proportions. So gooood.... nom nom nom

It didn't need it, but we also had it with ranch.... drool. 

 Now, Aaron saw these on the menu and HAD to get them.  It's a little bucket of battered fried dill pickles.  That's what I said. fried pickles.  Every dietician I know would be turning in their grave right now.  Well, I don't know any dead dieticians, so maybe not.  But if they had a grave, they'd turn in it.

Absolutely no nutritional value whatsoever, but they actually are ok.  I was a bigger fan when they cooled down a little.  Not such a big fan of the hot pickle.  A Special thank you to our hand model, Mrs. Jane Harward Mcgillicutty the third.

 

Hee hee- I skinnyfied this picture.  I hated how my dumb arm looked in that shirt.  It always makes my arms look bad.  And yet I wear it.  Why?????  I guess I just like the shirt.  This is what I like to call a "love/hate but I'll still wear you" relationship. 

Sorry mom- I know your eyes are closed in this picture... but trust me, this was the best one.  you'll thank me when I show you the others. lawl.

Le food arrives!
Pulled Pork sandwiches and happy face fries for the kiddos

Ok, this bad boy is the Pork and Slaw Sandwich... It was a beast.  The slaw was crunchy and creamy- a little tangy. The Pork was so soft I didn't need a toothpick afterward. And the sauce? wow. It had a little kick and was sooo savory.  I don't actually remember how I ate this.  it's as big as my head.  Alls I know is it was yummy but I only ate half of it.... and then a few hours later I ate the other half.  and then a few hours later I gained 2 pounds per thigh.  I'm just taking one for the team.  (In case you were wondering, YOU are the team and if you don't visit because of this post, I'll be very disappointed.  My "I'm serious" eyebrow is raised.  I'm serious.)

Yup, That's a whole rack of amazingly tender pork ribs Aaron's got there.  I believe that he consumed all of them.  and the fork too- it was a devil retrieving it. I'm jealous that on the Atkins diet he can eat stuff like this and lose weight- this was a day off the diet though. The rest of his meal is on the second plate there, and those seasoned fries were SO GOOD!  The corn bread, not so much.

booo. I hate giving bad reviews, so lets just move on to the next picture. It was dry. oh darn- that just slipped out. Man, I have no linguistic filter. (Right Brittney???)

Matthew liked it.  poor kid looks like he got hit by a truck.  He had been throwing up the night before (yes, mommy dearest {aka me} had to clean it up.  I hate when they get sick and throw up all over their toys and you have to wash each one) We ended up bringing a little trash can with us and kept it under the table in case he got sick again.  HA HA we are sooooo W.T.

 Cue Fried Twinkie. 
Ahh shoot, you missed it.  I guess we were too eager to dig in... I had to say "WAIT!!! stop eating!! I need a picture."  I'm lucky I got away with my life.

delectable.

It totally changed the composition of the Twinkie.  A true culinary masterpiece.  Who knew?

Thanks, Mom, and Dad, for making me feel super special and taking my family and me out to lunch!  Love you! 

Uhhhhbuhdee, Uhbuhdee, Uhbuhdee

That's all Folks!

There IS a RHYME FOR HUMMUS!!!!!

And it's a line from one of my favorite movies!  If you can tell me what movie, I'll make you some home-made hummus!  I'll pick one of the correctly answering people out of a hat (not literally- I'll just pick your name randomly and tell you that you won)

"We are men of action.  Lies do not become us"
and to that I add.... Anybody want some Hummus???
BOOO YAH!

How to enter:
1. Email me the answer
2. Comment and tell me you emailed (for an extra entry, quote another line from the movie in your comment)

and I'll announce the winner next Monday!

PS- I think I deserve an award for the wierdest give-away EVER!!

There is no rhyme for Hummus.

I was going to title this post something cute- an equivalent of such titles as "Playing hookie for a cookie," or "Oh gosh do I love squash," But there is no rhyme for Hummus.  The closest word you can find is one just ending in "us" like nucleus or hypothalamus.  What fun is that?  "I go ape for middle-eastern basil garlic Hummus. as does my almond-sized hypothalamus."  errr..... something....

Despite it's seclusion from all words of rhyming influence, Hummus is actually quite the culinary companion for a lot of food words such as pita chips, homemade bread, tortilla chips, veggies, crackers and chocolate cake.  Just checking to see if you actually were reading or just skipping through to get to the pictures and actual recipe. That's right- I got your number, you blog skimmers (and to that you could simply say "It takes one to know one" and I wouldn't argue).  Since I know how much you love to read and read and read mundane facts, I thought I'd just post a link to the interesting origin of Hummus and get right on to the recipe. Woot!  This is SO SO SO much better than any I've tried from the store.  I also like that there is no added oil- a lot of recipes add evoo, but there is enough natural oil present in the tahini (which can be found at sprouts in the nut spread isle. Yes, they have a nut spread isle).

Hummmmmus

4 cloves garlic

2 cups or 1 can Garbanzo beans- also known as Chickpeas (reserve liquid)

1+1/2 tsp kosher salt

1/3 cup tahini (sesame paste- or sub peanut butter)
6 Tbs Lemon Juice (2 lemons)

8 dashes hot sauce (I used Franks Red Hot)

6 Tbs of the reserved Garbanzo bean liquid

Puree together in a food processor.

____________________________________________

yup, that's it.  So nummy.

You can add whatever you want to flavor it differently.  here are some ideas:
roasted red pepper
basil
italian parsley
toasted pinenuts
cilantro
sun-dried tomato
olive
lemon
chocolate cake

Yeah, I must be craving chocolate cake today. lawl.
Enjoy, y'all.

Poor Jud is dead.

Such a sad day- Our car is officially dead.  It now needs a new engine.  This old car is not worthy of a new engine, therefore we are going car shopping tomorrow and the next day.  I've got to find a car before school starts next week! bleh!  If you're looking to sell a car, please let me know.  I am hoping to get something with more than 5 seats, but I'll take what I can get.  Email me if you know of anything!

Happy news- I just finished my first crochet project ever while I waited for Matthew in karate tonight.. I've started a few crochet projects over the years but I've never completed any until today woo hoo! Here's a link to it if you want the pattern. I made mine a little bigger and dopey, but it's still cute. And here's the kicker- it was fast and easy. If it's complicated and takes forever, forget it! Anywho, sorry about the poor quality pic- my phone stopped taking pictures and I'm using Aaron's phone. booo. Me needs a camera.

Ok, I promise I'll post the hummus recipe tomorrow! Pinky PROMISE!! I was going to serve it at dinner tomorrow when we had friends over but now we're cancelling the dinner to go car shopping :( , so I guess I'm going to have to just eat all the rest of it and post the recipe instead. One thing I've learned as I've maowed on this hummus is that when you're dieting you CAN have too much of a good thing.  Oh boy can you.  I'm really surprised that I've maintained my weight.... maybe it's because I'm working out again.... speaking of which...

I started up the exercise group again if anyone is interested in working out at 5:30 in the morning for free let me know~ I'm lead a workout group that does boot camp style workouts at ASU East campus.  Lemme know, peeps!

Signing off!

Oh- remind me to tell you about the celebrity function Aaron and I will be singing at on Monday with William Joseph and the commercial shoot for US airways we'll be doing in a week! Boo-yah!

Twas the month after Christmas...............

Twas the month after Christmas and all through the house

Nothing would fit me, not even a blouse.

The cookies I'd nibbled, eggnog I did taste.

All the holiday parties had gone to my waist.

When I got on the scales there arose such a number!

When I walked to the store (less a walk than a lumber).

I'd remember the marvelous meals I'd prepared;

The gravies and sauces and beef nicely rared,

The wine and the rum balls, the bread and the cheese

And the way I'd never said, "No thank you, please."

As I dressed myself in my husband's old shirt

And prepared once again to do battle with dirt --

I said to myself, as I only can

"You can't spend a winter disguised as a man!"

So--away with the last of the sour cream dip,

Get rid of the fruitcake, every cracker and chip

Every last bit of food that I like must be banished

Till all the additional ounces have vanished.

I won't have a cookie--not even a lick.

I'll want only to chew on a long celery stick.

I won't have hot biscuits, or corn bread, or pie

,I'll munch on a carrot and quietly cry.

I'm hungry, I'm lonesome, and life is a bore --

But isn't that what January is for?

Unable to giggle, no longer a riot.

Happy New Year to all and to all a good diet!

- Anonymous