Often Imitated, Never Duplicated

Good Morning!!!! Wow......the title of my blog post today entered my head just a few thousand times the past month!!! You know what else has entered my poor injured head? Tons of things to blog about and sadness that I haven't made time to sit down and actually blog. Oh, the conversations with Paige that have taken place the last month. Lots of one liners about panties - clean, dirty, are they even on? - a few really delicious recipes (one I can remember and will share today), restaurant adultery, scrapbooking nightmare(s), 1st Communion dress shopping (yes, my child went straight to the most expensive dress), Radiohead denial and lots of other goodies!!

Paige turned eight last December, so that made her eligible to cook as a Junior at the Cowtown Cook off. When she wasn't explaining to me that a two day trip didn't justify taking clean panties, she was worried about the other junior cooks. Were they aware that she was coming? Did they know she was cooking? Would they be scared of her ever increasing chili cooking domination? (You cannot make this shit up, people). I absolutely love my child. She asked these questions without the least bit of arrogance. She seemed truly concerned that the other junior cooks might fear her....it was so cute! Never mind that she was cooking against her sister that has won the damn thing now five times in a row. Not for one second did Paige think she would ever get anything less than 1st Place. Now tell me, when was the last time any of us had that time of unwavering confidence in ourselves? And stayed sweet while we had it? I've never been that confident in my life. I'm stubborn, but that isn't born of any super human confidence in myself, trust me! So poor Paige...and lucky Zoe. Zoe has never beat Paige. She almost didn't beat her this time. The sisters were tied and the computer showed Zoe some serious, 5 time winner kind of love! And first time cook Bubba, he placed an extremely respectable 3rd place. So very, very proud of all my kiddos! We had a moment with Paige where I was worried an intervention was going to take place because she didn't win, but all in all, good winners and good sports when they don't win 1st Place like they (okay, just Paige), thinks she should. I've got good kids and they're human - disappointment sucks and you have to learn to live with it. It's not going away!!

Congratulations to one David Manske. He won the Cowtown Cook Off for the very first time ever. I think it's interesting that he won that cook off after switching to Mild Bill's Spices. Coincidence? I think not. Definitely not!!!! Our spices rock. What else can I say??

Speaking of Mild Bill's Spices.....

Wait for it......

Haha!!!! Gotcha!!!! Ain't happenin - not here, not anywhere :)

Back to my tease - speaking of Mild Bill's Spices, I have partnered with a very cool online store as another avenue to market and sell our products. This will focus more on the jellies, preserves, salsas and seasoning mixes. As many of you know, I'm a little freaky about letting the spices out of my direct control and supervision, so none of the chili powders and spices will be a part of this new venture. I'm super excited about this and can't wait to share all of the details as they become available!

Forgive me Father, for I have sinned......

I committed adultery. On my favorite restaurant. I cheated on Pappas Bros. Steakhouse.

For the record, I do not consider going to Ruth's Chris Steakhouse as cheating on Pappas. I love Ruth's Chris, but it's not even in the same stratosphere as Pappas, so I never feel bad about it. But, last night, Gary and I went to Al Beirnat's Steakhouse in Dallas. Was it good? Yes. Will we go back? Probably. Will Gary have a steak there again? Probably not.

Okay, we went for Gary's impending 40th birthday (of doom to him). He wanted to try a new restaurant and had picked two for us to choose from and we picked Al Beirnat's. I had heard a lot of good things about it, so I was excited to try it. We made reservations for 8:30 Saturday night and checked out their menu online. It looked delicious. I was somewhat giddy - they had Sea Bass. This was looking good. We got there around 8:15 and the place was PACKED. When you walk in, the bar is smack dab in front, so you can hardly get around to the hostess stand. While we waited for our table, we got drinks at the bar via a waitress and the drinks came to us super quick. We were impressed given how busy the place was. This restaurant was beyond loud. When they took us to our table, they originally had us in the middle of the dining room, and to my delight, sat us instead towards the back where it wasn't as loud. I was very grateful!! Their wine list is okay - again, I'm spoiled. They didn't have a big Zinfandel selection, but did have Seghesio and Rafanelli - two of our favorites. While skimming through the rest of it, I noticed that they had The Prisoner. I was thrilled!! We LOVE that wine! When I ordered it, our server let us know that he had a bottle of Abstract as well - it's also made by the Orin Swift Winery. We love, love, love that wine, so we asked him to bring that instead. We ordered mussels and clams as our appetizer and they were great. Gary isn't big on clams, but he liked these. One of their features last night was a red snapper on the half shell with portabello mushroom ravioli topped with a vodka cream sauce. It almost swayed me from my original decision - the sea bass with lobster risotto. I stuck to my guns and was NOT disappointed. The sea bass was incredible and prepared the way I love it - crispy on top and melt in your mouth underneath. The risotto was perfect with the little chunks of lobster. It was delicious. I loved my meal.

Gary...well...not so much. He ordered the Kansas strip, which I've never been a fan of. But, it was from a locally grown cow that had been fed an all natural diet and I was impressed that Gary wanted to eat local :) He ordered it medium rare with whipped sweet potatoes that were AMAZING!!! He ate almost all of his steak, but you could see him comparing it to his Pappas filet every bite he took! I didn't sample any of it (no more meat for me), but it looked delicious and he admitted it was good...but not as good as Pappas. He said that he really wanted the scallops and was pissed for not ordering them. Gary also ordered dessert - a peanut butter, banana and chocolate tart. He loved it. I had a cappuccino and it was good, too. So, yeah, we'll go back. Probably not on a Saturday night and Gary will get a seafood item next time :)

Will we tell our server at Pappas that we trifled? Oh yes, we'll tell him and we'll be very contrite!!

I didn't get to see Radiohead in concert when they were here March 5th and I'm still very, very depressed. I've been having private Radiohead concerts since then. It's not the same, but it will suffice. Gary erased the concert I had recorded on Directv a while back. That kind of pissed me off.

Paige had her First Communion yesterday. It was sweet, precious, perfect and just all around wonderful. All of her classmates look fantastic. The girls all had on their gorgeous white dresses and the boys looked so handsome in their little vests and suits and ties. It was just so sweet!!! The part that wasn't so sweet? The scary, crazy, nightmarish scrapbooking that took place leading up to the 1st Communion. Each child needed a scrapbook (or for all of you prepared moms out there, an updated baby book/scrapbook) for their Communion pictures, certificates, etc. Since I am not one of the aforementioned moms, I had to create a scrapbook. It was pure hell. I am not a scrapbooker. I managed to put a decent one together, but man....I SUCK!!!!

The easiest and best part of our preparations - the dress!!!! I looked online at Neiman Marcus's selection of Communion dresses and found one that was perfect. When I went back a week later to buy it, it was GONE!!! Not one to panic, I picked up Paige from school and hauled ass to the Downtown Neiman's and marched our redneck asses up to the Children's Department. I love Neiman Marcus and it is my most favorite place for guilty pleasure shopping - I knew they'd have the perfect dress and they did. Paige thought so, too. She picked out a $354 dress from the get go. Thank God I was able to talk her out of it. I wasn't going to spend that on a dress and I told her how much it was. She thought that was a lot of money too for a dress!! It was also not really Communion material - it was more along the lines of a flower girl or junior bridesmaid kind of dress. It also had scratchy material and once she realized that it would be up against her skin, she moved on. Thank God!!! So she tried on a few dresses and we found one we liked. The saleswoman checked the back for a few more and guess what? The one I had seen online was back there and available!!! Yes!!! Paige tried it on and loved it. And, it fit!!! I found a headpiece with a veil and since we already had the shoes, we were in business. She was so anxious to be able to wear her dress and she looked so pretty. We are so proud of her!!! We had her scrapbook, Rosary, 1st Communion book and Bible blessed yesterday as well. It was a really wonderful day for Gary and I as well. With the changes in the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion, the Catholic Church has opened their Communion to Episcopalians and Anglicans wanting to receive in the Catholic Church. It was very special to share Communion with Paige yesterday at St Joseph. Along with my parents and Gary's, Aunt Courtney, Aunt Kary, Wendell and Carole also joined us and we went to lunch at Johnny Carino's afterwards. It was a great day!

Oh....and then....THOSE BOOTS!!! OMG - I almost forgot. Gary was looking for a shirt to wear last night, so we went to Lone Star Western Wear since we were in Waxahachie. He didn't find a shirt, but I found a pair of boots that I shared "a moment" with. I put them in layaway. They are freakin amazing. I will be rocking these boots at LJT :)

I've stopped eating meat. I haven't had any chicken, pork or red meat in three weeks. I'm sticking with fish for the time being as I haven't decided whether or not I want to transition to a complete vegetarian or not. I'm feeling better, but for me, the most important thing is planning ahead. Something we all know I completely suck at doing. I'm still having some issues, but I can say that my acid reflux has completely stopped. I'm taking a new pill for it, and I know that has something to do with it, of course. But, I've got the kind of reflux that always seems to be more powerful than whatever RX I'm taking. This is working well so far.

I made Salmon cakes last week and they turned out great. Below is the recipe:

Cadillac Cowgirl Salmon Cakes

2 5 oz packages boneless, skinless Pink Salmon (I used Chicken of the Sea)
1/2 cup Mayo
2 cups plain Breadcrumbs
2 Eggs, lightly beaten
3 Tbsp Mild Bill's Jalapeno Relish
1 tsp Mild Bill's Cajun Seasoning (or more to taste)
1/4 stick of Butter

In a large bowl, mix the first 6 ingredients together. Using a large skillet, melt the butter over medium high heat. Using clean hands, form the salmon mixture into 2 inch balls and then flatten into cakes about 1/2 an inch thick. You should get 8 salmon cakes. Place them in the skillet (depending on the size of your skillet, you should be able to get four in at a time) and fry each side for 3-4 minutes over medium heat. Serve warm or cold.

I served ours warm with a salad. I ate the ones that were left over cold the next day. They were delish either way!

I cleaned my floors again yesterday. It was Saturday. It's what I do. Today, laundry. Tomorrow, laundry. Tuesday, laundry.

I HATE LAUNDRY. I HATE LAUNDRY. I HATE LAUNDRY.

Did I mention that I hate laundry? I BOUGHT Paige new underwear Thursday night. I did this for two reasons. I didn't want to do any laundry and I wanted to make sure she wore clean underwear Friday and Saturday as she put on her last clean pair Thursday morning. I guess I plan ahead sometimes.

Our laundry room is just the biggest waste of space ever. I've asked Gary to move the washer and dryer (what are those?? Kidding, sort of) into the garage. It can be done very easily because of where the washer and dryer are located in the laundry room. All he has to do is cut a hole in the bottom of the wall in the garage and run the hoses through there. Look, if we ever decide to sell our house (which we won't), then we'll move the shit back inside if we need to. But for now, screw the laundry room. It has a good size countertop and good cabinet space. It could be an office. Or, pause for dramatic effect....

A scrabooking room!!!!!!

All kidding aside, it could be put to better use as something else. An additional pantry or linen room. A supply room...all sorts of possibilities. Maybe I could keep our important documents in a file in their instead of giving them to Jeannie or my mom to keep since I can't keep up with a damn thing anymore. Sounds good to me!

I sold a trailer last weekend and the table that came out of it is going to be repainted and put in my bathroom. Sometimes I scare myself with my re purposing abilities. Fleeting, yes...but powerful when they come around and I catch them :)

I'm trying to think of something unbelievably delicious and not terribly time consuming to fix for dinner tonight. Red beans and rice, maybe? That pretty much simmers on it's own with little oversight. I was laying in bed this morning and thought to myself, "short ribs sound yummy...", and then I remembered no meat. So, I'm still thinking. Maybe a fritatta....or omelet? Hhhhmm......

The weather is beautiful today. I'm going to open up the house and let the last remaining acrid odors from my attempt to clean my oven escape my house. Let's just say that I will never again set my oven to self clean without opening it up to make sure a Saran wrapped plastic platter of brownies is not sitting in there completely unaware of the fiery death it is about to experience. I'll let you figure out the rest :)

Off to my alleged laundry room to look at it, walk out and close the door!!!

Have a spicy day....and spread your own special brand of joy and kindness!!

The Cadillac Cowgirl
(for today at least!)