Week 17- Meatball Subs and Patios

Well summer is officially here! The solstice was this past Wednesday (can you believe 17 hours of day light!) and the final few days of school are before us!

We just moved into our house a year and a half ago, but our landscaping was not completed until this past fall. We looked longingly at our bare backyard dreaming of the patio we would build there. Well Scruffy Hubby was done dreaming and decided it was time to get to work. He began yesterday to hand build a wooden pergola he spied in a wood working magazine (pretty handy my hubby is a shop teacher). My darling Scruffy Hubby has two personalities...the laid back hippy fellow who loves to recycle and wouldn't hurt a fly...then there is the fired up construction hubby who curses, makes people bleed (I have evidence on my ankle) and generally is a slave driver until the job is done. Over the last 15 years my darling hubby has nearly earned himself some divorce papers during our renovations and DIY projects. I thought with a newly built house my renovation hubby was a thing of the past. Well I was wrong. This very beautiful wooden pergola that is currently being built has brought out a creature I can only liken to Bruce Banner and the Incredible Hulk. Bryon the brother in law has been trapped with this cranky creature all afternoon and has not been allowed to eat or pee.

I thought with the whole family here and the boys working in the backyard it was time to make a blog dinner. I decided to make the Meatball Sandwich, Pickled Cabbage, Chopped Salad and Banana Ice Cream from page 220. I thought this meal might make Scruffy Happy. We will see if the incredible Hulk likes it too.

My super sister jumped right in to help! 37 minutes later we had a very pretty supper ready to go. Here is the down side of renovation Hubby. There is absolutely NO STOPPING until the project is done. All hunger, fatigue or even need for the bathroom must wait. The blog dinner was ready and the boys were not...uh oh. I yelled the dinner call and a miracle happened...Scruffy Hubby and his Hostage came inside!!!!! This is when you know that someone REALLY loves you. No flowers, diamond ring or anyother trinket would tell me how much this boy loves me as much as coming in from an unfinished project would!

The meal was cooked quickly and eaten even faster. He loves me but lets face it, the work was waiting! Scruffy Hubby gave the meal a 4 and said it might have been a five if the work was done and he was cleaned up. Max and Logan both said 4 and loved the icecream. Simon of course said a 3 and Brylee and Bryon agreed. The meatballs were too dry and the sandwich needed a sauce. Super sister also wanted more moist meatballs (ha ha that sounds bad) and gave it a 4 as well. Mary gave it a 2 and said she would change a lot if she was cooking (we will see in 10 years missy!).

Well the meal may not have been a hit with the family, but I am feeling pretty loved today! Scruffy Hubby came inside for the first time in renovation history, the whole family got to hang out and next week there will be two more little additions! The Duffs are getting not one but TWO puppies! Blog dinner is about to get even busier!

Trish

Yummy Sunday supper!

Dinner was ready in only 37 minutes!

The Incredible Hulk and his hostage!

Week 16 - Father's Day Curry

Happy week 16 and Happy Father's Day Weekend! The insanity finished yesterday as Scruffy Hubby and I finished the last of the teacher insanity. Now we are just counting down the days until our glorious summer starts...14 calendar days...9 teaching days!

Scruffy Hubby has been asking for curry for a while and since it is father's day weekend and he REALLY needed a little TLC after the past couple of weeks I thought I would make it for him. We decided to make the Curry Rogan Josh, Fluffy Rice, Carrot Salad, Pappadams, Chapattis and Beer from page 80. Our little family of five really loves Indian food. My sister on the other hand is somewhat hesitant when it comes to this type of ethnic meal, especially when it comes to the cilantro and spice. She was a trouper though and showed up with her crew and an appetite. It felt wonderful having everyone home for blog dinner. With all of the crazy this past three weeks we just haven't had time to do the blog together. The kids were cheering and jumping up and down when they saw everyone was here!

This food was fast and easy to make. In only 37 minutes we had a complete and authentic Indian meal. We even went to the liquor store and bought the Tiger beer Jamie Oliver is drinking in the pictures in the cook book. Imported from Singapore, we thought it would be a good fit. I was a little worried about how this vegetarian meal would be received but thought I wouldn't even mention the lack of meat. My kids would be relieved to know there was no meat actually. We went to my favourite Aunt and Uncle's house last weekend to help with the branding of all the calves. The kids have been to the farm many times but this was probably the first time they experienced the actual food chain of where our food comes from. Max was especially upset about us branding and vaccinating the animals and promptly went to write his letter to PETA. Every since that weekend they have been quite happy to eat their veggies.

It is always fun to cook, drink, chat and just be together. There is something very comforting about the voices of 9 people in the house. I forgot how much I need us all to be together to feel sane! Getting caught up at work this past three weeks has really kept me from spending as much time as I could with my family. Thank goodness we have such a big summer planned of just being together!

The food was on the table and everyone was starving. As soon as Scruffy Hubby and Bryon the Brother in Law saw the beer they pre-fived the meal! Everyone dug in quickly and the scores came flying as fast as the food was being eaten! Simon gave everything a 3 (his favourite number), Brylee gave a 5 and ate thirds, Max and Logan gave it a 4 1/2 because according to Logan it "did not taste like candy". Weird but true I guess! Mary the food Nazi gave the meal a 5! Jo the super sister gave the meal a confident 4 and both the Fathers stuck with their initial prediction of a 5. Scruffy Hubby says this is the best meal in the book so far, it beats out Indian Steak because of the beer that goes with it. After everyone ate seconds and thirds, there was not much left but 9 full tummies!

It really was delicious but I truly think everything tasted better because the whole family was here to enjoy it. I hope in 20 years one of the kids is doing a project like this and all of us are still cooking, eating and laughing just as much as we are now!


Trish

Branding last weekend has turned my kids into vegetarians!

Scruffy Hubby pre-fived the meal because of the beer!

37 minutes for a yummy Indian delight!

My kitchen looks like a war zone!

This is the best recipe in the book so far!

Well deserved beverage after a long three weeks!

Brylee had thirds!

Not a bite left of this winner!

Food Nazi says 5!

Week 15 - Survival Week

Swimming lessons were never my favourite thing as a child. Especially when it came to treading water! Then came the dreaded day at the end of every term of swim lessons when you had to tread water for 5 minutes with all of your clothes on. This was agonising and felt like 5 hours not 5 minutes. I remember barely keeping my nose above the water while at the same time willing myself to keep on kicking. This past week felt a lot like those blasted swim lessons. June in the year of a teacher is when EVERY thing is due all at once...report cards, documents, audits and more! Both Scruffy Hubby and Myself have barely kept our noses above the water and are starting to feel the burn. Then comes the mommy and daddy guilt of "is all this work taking us away from the kids". So instead of messing with our little gremlins time we do all of our work after they go to bed. When the hell is somebody gonna finally perfect cloning technology!

We have had a great weekend of locking our work away, letting our baby girl cut her Rapunzel like hair, watching our oldest boy run his first 5km run in only 29 minutes and everyone taking a family nap this afternoon while watching a movie. Well I think Scruffy Hubby and I did the much needed napping while the munchkins watched the movie.

I woke up and forced myself to think about dinner and remembered Holy Hanna I need to make blog dinner! I flipped through my book and chose something that looked easy and yummy. I was going to make Tasty Crusted Cod, My Mashy Peas, Tatar Sauce and Warm Garden Salad from page 140. I was off and running.

Well the water level decided to rise while I was cooking this meal. The oven started on fire again! My food processor decided to reenact a scene from the movie the Exorcist by spinning its head out of control and spewing anchovy juice everywhere (the kids school agendas took the hit, thank God school is almost done). The fire alarm went off like 3 times and I was a sweating beast. The recuperation my nap provided was melting away as I attempted to "tread water" in my kitchen. 45 minutes later supper was ready, I was dripping and the kids were way beyond hungry! My kitchen looked like a small battle happened.

Dinner was on the table and Simon took one look and ran away screaming with his tongue hanging out! Who did he think he was...Mary!?! After coaxing everyone to the table we dug right in. Max gave me a 4 and then reduced it to a 3 after his second bite of fish. Simon said 4, 4, 4, 3 as he pointed to each item on his plate. He is really getting the hang of this! He ended up liking his food and I am not sure why he ran away screaming. Mary only liked the Mashy Peas and asked to have them in her thermos. In kid language this is the highest compliment to be paid. If anyone dibs anything for lunch it means it was the best food ever! You should see the lunch war when I make clam chowder! Despite her high compliment she gave everything else a 1. Scruffy Hubby said it was an easy 4 but wasn't a huge fan of the salad. I have to agree. I do not like warm lettuce of any kind! Even if I order a burger while we are out I will order it without lettuce for fear of the warm soggy leaf by the time I get it. I gave this meal a 3 but I may be tainted from the cooking antics of the last 45 minutes!

There is only 14 days of school left and I will be trying to keep afloat for everyone of them! I am really excited for the summer of care free cooking!

See you all for week 16! I am planning on some Father's Day Curry!

Trish

45 minutes later dinner was ready!

One oven fire, three fire alarms and one broken food processor made this lovely meal!

My happy family!

mmmmm Mashy Peas!

Supper was a sucess for Simon!