Guest post from Hannah

Hannah is going to community college, and one of her classes is a speech class.  She had to give a speech and below is what she said – she got an A! So proud of her – she hasn’t skipped one class yet!

From Hannah:

If our kitchen could talk, it would furiously say, “Enough already!” Not only does my mom neglect to put anything away while cooking, but she also proceeds to add to the already overwhelming hurricane aftermath that we once used to call our kitchen. It’s frightening, really, this extraordinary talent my mother possesses, but even more surprising the angelic, heavenly meals that somehow emerge in the midst of such a tremendous disaster. It’s easy to say I don’t support this rather unfortunate knack, but it’s because of this annoying skill that I am able to call my home a home.

I was three. Sitting on the counter with my dirty socks that seemed to yell out their stench, I was preparing dinner. With her video camera in hand, my mom blatantly asked me, “Hannah, what are you doing?”

“Skinnin’,” I replied, as if it was obvious.

“Skinning what?” mom asked with a hint of curiosity.

“Skinnin’ garlic,” was what I responded with, almost with a tone of arrogance as if everyone knows that 3-year-olds can skin garlic and know what that means.

Ever since I can remember, my mom was baking, always in the kitchen, cooking up a storm. An extravagant, impressive, chaotic storm, that is. I’ll never forget when it was her turn to be “snack mom” at school in Kindergarten. There was a list of choices a mom could choose from, whether it be a sweet, salty, or variety of flavors. My mom, not knowing what the list meant, assumed she had to make a snack with all of the above. So, being the crafty little mistress in the kitchen that she is, she went ahead and made pretzels wrapped in lacy red licorice, topped with a drizzle of peanut butter. And, of course, it wouldn’t have been good enough to just leave it like that. She continued to make sure the licorice was tied in an ever-so-tight and perfect bow, the peanut butter draped along the pretzel as if to be the infamous Yellow Brick Road. The kids loved it, of course, and the moms hated it because that meant they felt obligated to actually put effort into their snack next time. As usual, she showed the rest of the moms up.

Food is a large part, if not the majority of our household. Whether it be conversations, E-mails, or even through a blog, my mom is involved in everything. My mom is diabetic and makes all food from scratch, so she created a food blog online to post healthy recipes, comments, and pictures of everything she makes to help those who yearn to have her sense of motivation accomplish such a task. It’s remarkable, really, the countless hours she puts into her blog after a long day at work and putting up with my endless observations about the cleanliness (or lack there of) of the kitchen. Yet somehow, some way, it doesn’t bother her. It’s what she enjoys, and it’s what made my home feel like home since I was little.

I never really give her enough credit for everything she does, especially in the kitchen. I always focus on how much she leaves behind that I fail to recognize the positive aspect of her making a mess. But truth be told, she’s the one who puts up with more. Not only my nagging comments, but the fact that at now 18-years-old, I still crave the food of a toddler. She always makes another dish if she knows I won’t eat something the rest of the family will, or always gives me fair notice when such occasions will arise. If I were anyone else’s child, I’m sure I would have been starved years ago.

After all my bitching and moaning, in the end, I really am sincerely grateful to have a mother who cannot only cook well, but often. I haven’t always made it easy for her to take pleasure in her hobby, but that’s never forced her to give it up, luckily. My home is many things, but it sure as hell has been significant because of my mother’s wonderful cooking. The fact alone that I have such a talented, driven, loving mom overrides any mess in our house.

Thanks for letting me share that Hannah!  I love you!

I am in the midst of making chicken tikka masala for lunch today (not sure Tony’s going to like the smell of the kitchen when he gets up!) so this will be quick.

I have Jenn to thank for my breakfast yesterday – before her post I never even heard of baked beans on toast, but I guess its a popular snack in London!

I woke up and made a loaf of artisan bread – I made the dough last night and it sat on the counter overnight.   The base of my breakfast was 2 ounces of the fresh bread, 1/2 cup of the baked beans I made the other day, a Pam fried egg and 1 slice of American cheese.  Holy yum was this delicious – and filling!  I ate this at 8:45 in the morning, I walked 45 minutes at lunch with 2 pound weights, and I had to force myself to eat my lunch at 2:00!

It was a gorgeous walk – the trees are so beautiful!

Lunch was beef stir fry, I used 3 ounces of the leftover rump roast we had over the weekend.

And since I had chicken thawed to make my chicken tikka masala, I made chicken parmesan for dinner – these chicken breasts were huge!  Tony and I should have just split one, because we both only ate half.  I fry the chicken in Pam, 1 tablespoon butter and 1 teaspoon vegetable oil – we like a crispy crust on our chicken 😀

Stats for Tuesday:

• 1391 calories, 190 carbs, 64 protein, 30 fat, 27 fiber
• 19% of calories from fat
• 45 minute walk at lunch with 2 pound weights

I ended up not watching Biggest Loser or Glee last night – we had so much to watch on our DVR, and then we watched the miners in Chile get rescued – it was fascinating!