Glass Noodles--What a pane!

Glass Noodles.

Mung Bean Noodles.

Cellophane Noodles.

Whatever you decide to call them, they are yummy, fun to look at, and unfortunately were a pain in my a** to find in this town.

Over the past weekend, I took my little family of 2 plus a friend of mine down to the Annual Sukiyaki Dinner Fundraiser at the Wapato Buddhist Hall. They served up a dish of something incredible that had beef, celery, cabbage, and these clear noodles that the baby just gobbled right on up. She smacked her lips so loudly, people at the far end of the table were looking over at us and smiled.

"That must really be tasty, eh, little Sweetie?" said the old lady next to me, giving Baby Willow a squeeze on her cheeks.

Willow rolled her eyes, gave the lady a glassy-eyed stare (pun intended), and kept on slurping noodles. ("Slurping Noodles" is so gonna be the name of my next rock band.)
Later, the baby knocked over the cup of complimentary vinegar-soaked cucumber slices. We left a whollup of a mess of beef, rice, and celery all over the floor under us, but thankfully, the gracious teenage hostesses didn't mind cleaning it up at all. I learned two lessons that day. 1) The baby hates cucumbers. 2) The baby can give a wicked evil eye. She didn't inherit that from me.

Pictured: Willow, playing with toys before the Wapato Buddhist Hall Dinner.

All the Single Ladies (Put Some Meat on it)

I'm willing to wager that Beyonce hasn't eaten Hamburger Helper. Like, ever.

Nevertheless, she was fist-bumping the Hamburger Hand & a food bank a couple of years ago in order to help fight hunger. So that inspired me last night as I was channelling my inner "Sasha Fierce" to fight the hunger in MY house.

Love Potion No. 9

I know that Valentine's Day has passed us by and as a single person, I will freely admit that I couldn't be more happier!

Fortunately, I work with mostly men, so I didn't have to be tortured by office deliveries of gorgeous bouquets and chocolates from husbands, boyfriends, and lovers, to make me green with envy at some chick in the next cubicle. (We also fortunately have no cubicles!)

In a non-related story, last night I felt like a mad professor because I discovered a love elixir! It will be foisted upon my next victim, er, I mean, boyfriend.

I had a bottle of Shiraz sitting in the kitchen, beckoning me to hurry up and open it.

While I am not a big red wine fan, I do like syrah/shiraz and cab franc. I usually avoid drinking reds because it usually ends up with me dancing on tables. To take the edge off the alcoholic effects of red wine, I improvised and threw in some Apricot juice from a can of Kerns.

 += YUM!!

Little Brown (Sugar) Lies

I have been M.I.A. for quite some time. Booo. But believe me, I have not been trying to give my blog the finger.

I have really missed my blogs, but I have just been overwhelmed and super swamped with (trying to keep up with) school work, watching the baby learn how to walk, volunteering, handling Board member duties, soothing the baby's teething fever, balancing out of town trips, and hitting the Capitol for an advocacy training.

 

Whew!

But enough with the excuses. I'm back, toots, so let's get into the swing of things again!

Besides the aforementioned crap going on in my life, the silver lining is that my mom came into town to visit the Grandbaby!

Grandmommy Mary & Baby Willow

at "Cooking with Kids Night" at the Daycare

She hasn't seen my daughter since she was 3 weeks old. My mom, Mary, flew up to see us from my homeland of Nashville, TN. I should really be calling Nashville the "mothership" because I feel like an alien whenever I go back to visit. Everything has changed so much in the 10 years since I've moved to Yakima, so much so that I feel lost in my old stomping grounds (which have are now gentrified and countrified, with Matt Hasselbeck and Nicole Kidman laid to the side.)

But don't get it twisted. I am so thankful for all of my Tennessee upbringing, such as knowing that there IS a difference in hot water cornbread and cornbread.

Hot Water Cornbread(yum!)      

Skillet Cornbread (weaksauce!)

One year olds & Birthdays & Hello Kitty

I am so loving this right now!

It's a Hello Kitty Kids Meal for the Hello Kitty airline run by http://evakitty.evaair.com/ch/

(Thanks to CNN for the link to the story! http://www.cnngo.com/explorations/life/eva-air-does-its-best-new-hello-kitty-jets-623405?hpt=hp_bn7)

I betcha I can replicate it. All I have to do is find some Hello Kitty molds online for real cheap. Like this site, here:

http://www.artfire.com/ext/shop/product_view/moldworld/3318045/diy_handmade_silicone_soap_mold_candle_cake_mold_6-hello_kitty_mold/supplies/handmade_supplies/other

What's up with the Hello Kitty fetish, all of a sudden, you may ask? Well, my daughter is turning the big 0-1 next month and I'm faced with the challenging decision of whether or not to throw her a 1 year old birthday party. I'm not ready to do that yet. I still haven't even had time to sit down and send out Thank You cards to everyone who came to my baby shower, let alone have a few minutes to send out invitations to a birthday party! Well, I guess that's a lie, I mean, I do have time to sit here and write up this blog, so excuses, shamuses on me!

If I am going to do a bday party, it's gonna be simple, quick, and cheap and the theme is preferrably Hello Kitty.

It's not going to look cheap, though, I have my ways. Like making the theme a tie in with Valentine's Day, because then I could buy all of the decorations at up to 70% off come February 15th! (I know that's wrong of me to be so cheap, but it sure is a tempting thought!)

I have never thrown a kid's party before so I don't know what all is expected for the 1st year. Party favors, cake, something to put on the tables, and enough chairs for all the little tykes invited. And then you have to plan some games, too?!! I'm just worried that if I throw her a little party I'm gonna have about 5-10 babies ending up looking like this:

and honeychile, I am NOT going to be cleaning that mess up!

Amazing! Delicious! Cheap!: It's Chili in the House

Amazing! Delicious! Cheap!: It's Chili in the House: It was Sunday mid-afternoon and I was starvin[g] like Marvin[g]. I had to think fast on my feet and create a meal before I gave up and broke...

It's Chili in the House

It was Sunday mid-afternoon and I was starvin[g] like Marvin[g]. I had to think fast on my feet and create a meal before I gave up and broke into the baby's stash of Goldfish crackers.