Raining Corn

One of the sure fire signs of summer* is fresh corn on the cob.  It's amazing roasted over an open fire, or simply boiled according to this classic recipe**:

 

Even my normally veggie-loathing small children adored the ritual of gnawing their way delightedly along a hot ear of sweet, juicy goodness, usually winding up with a sheen of leftover melted butter gleaming on their grinning faces.

So when this happened:

I'm referring to losing their front teeth, not having to hold a giant slimy toad

It was devastating.
No teeth = No corn.

Wobbly lower lip. Brimming eyes.

Mom with a big sharp knife.
Flick! The cob tilted over the plate. Golden kernels pouring down in a stream into a messy, gloriously edible pile.

Wide, astonished, hopeful eyes.

"Mommy! Can you rain my corn***, too?"

You bet.
As a bonus, I'll bake it with a little butter, and turn it into sweet-salty-creamy-dreamy-almost-better-than-corn-on-the-cob corn.

Moms are magic like that.

There oughta be a law

...against this slaw:

Image of Popeye's coleslaw from wikimedia.org

Whoever thought putting mayonnaise and cabbage together was a good idea should be shot.
Twice.

I, on the other hand, should be knighted or something.

Pulled pork: The opposite of being made to look like an idiot in 19th century Scotland

Per my two minutes of online research, this is the origin of the phrase "Pull One's Leg":

"When you pull a person's leg you are spoofing or making fun of him, usually in a good-humored way. But that wasn't always the meaning of the expression. When the expression first turned up in Scotland about a hundred years ago, it was lacking the lighthearted touch it has today. In those days 'pull one's leg' meant to make of fool of him, often by outright cheating. The best theory of the origin of the phrase is that by tripping a person -- pulling his leg -- you can throw him into a state of confusion and make him look very foolish indeed." From "Morris Dictionary of Word and Phrase Origins" by William and Mary Morris (HarperCollinsPublishers)." - phrases.org.UK

Fortunately, when you have pulled pork instead of a pulled leg, something very different happens. You look very wise indeed, and people are way too busy eating to even think about laughing at you.  Lightheartedly or not.

World War Bunny

We saw this trailer last night before World War Z*:



My son:  Wait. Is that like, a joke? The rabbit kills them...



...AGAIN???

I love that kid.

* Which I thoroughly enjoyed.  Funny comic about the movie here.

Away from home, where the buffalo roam...

Click play for soundtrack!

...and the skies were a bit cloudy some days*.  

Photos from our recent adventure in Yellowstone and Grand Tetons National Park.

* Naturally, because we have teenagers, discouraging words were also heard. Along with much snickering about the word "Tetons".

Revival Tour

You know how all these old guys are going on tour again this year?



My old blondie recipe is, too.  Thanks to Laurie, of Simply Scratch, it's making a comeback over on Tasty Kitchen, and her own fantastic site.   Nothing like when a classic is digitally remastered, I always say.

Plus, unlike those other guys, these actually get way better with time. And they're a lot less than 300 bucks a pop.

Slumdog Millionaire Bars

My kids are both about to head into finals week.
Lots of tests.
In a show of solidarity, I decided to take a test myself.

Sample question on my test:

These shortbread bars contain which of the following ingredients?
A:  Coconut and dried apricots
B:  Curry Powder
C:  Three kinds of chocolate
D:  All of the above

The correct answer is D. All of the above.

Surprisingly, the combination, from an original recipe by Emily of  fiveandspice, is sensational. Not to mention that the name alone makes you want to crank the music and start Bollywood dancing with your true love in a train station.

Frankly, I have no idea what the kids are so stressed out about.
My test went great.  In fact, I gave myself an A+.
Jai ho!