I made curry last night and it was good. Yummy and scrumdiddliumptious. With a ton of curry and coconut milk, and chicken breast and peppers and onions and lime juice and ginger... So so so good... James loves curry and hadn't really had any since he left England, so I went on FoodNetwork.com and found a recipe and whipped it up like the kitchen goddess I am...

Which got me thinking about my growing cooking skills...

When I first met James, I knew how to make about four meals. Not even enough to get through the week! I would recycle those same tired things over and over, night after night.
We began to go out to eat. Often. Sometimes, four or five times a week!
I would burn things. I would overcook meat until it was stringy and dry. I couldn't get everything on the table and hot at the same time if my life depended on it...

The most memorable mess I made was that I once tried impress James with a cake made from scratch.
It ended badly...

While it was baking, I attempted to make some chocolate frosting (from scratch) which I've never done before.
Big Mistake.
It seemed ok in the bowl. It was sweet, and chocolatey and looked to be the right consistency... So once the cake had cooled I started spreading the gooey goodness on.
It started out alright. Bottom layer, chocolate, then top layer.
Top layer slides to left.
Shove it back.
Top layer slides to right.
Shove it back, hold it in place. Use a wad of frosting to prop top layer back on top.
Start frosting the top. Frosting spreads evenly, then oozes over the sides.
Scoop some more on top. There... Hold it... There... That looks good.
Oh no... Wait!
The middle just sunk. Ok, no problem, just fill in a little more frosting before James sees.
Oh dear, it caved in...
"Joni, what did you do to that cake?"
"Nothing! Its fine... Wait till you see it done, it will be perfect!" Yeah right! The entire center has now sunk and the top layer is breaking in half. I am already trying to figure out if I can run to the bakery and back before he notices I am gone...

But I am not quick enough, and he peers over my shoulder... The two halves are now sliding off the bottom layer, frosting has puddled in the middle and is dripping onto the table.
"You killed it!"
"I did not! Ok... Maybe a little."
"You murdered my cake!"
"I'm sorry! It must have been the frosting... It didn't come out right... Are you mad?"
"No." (Laughing)
"Don't laugh."
"Sorry. Cake Killer"

Its funny how much we can change and grow in a few years, huh?

From cake killer to kitchen goddess...

I better go... There is leftover curry calling my name...

 

I thought I'd do a baby bum blog
(Say that five times fast)
I wanted to snap some pictures of Willow in her clothdiapers... They are so darn cute and I wanted to share that with you!

Now you can see why I like them so much... They are adorable! A little fashion statement all on their own...

*cough*
Oh yeah, and there is that whole helping the environment by producing less trash thing. That's good too. Heal the world and all that. That's REALLY why I do it.

Well this is it...  My first blog here on CovenSpace.

I am having horrible writer's block lately. I can't think of anything that you might actually want to read about. Hey, it happens sometimes, especially if you've been blogging for over four freaking years!

So I thought I'd give you a sample...  Some weird things about me...

1. I can neatly write my name with a pencil tucked between my toes...James says I have "caveman toes" because I can use them almost as well as my fingers... And I can wiggle them individually. Of course, I think he is just jealous, because he has weird toes.

2. I am obsessed with zombies, to the point where my hubby gave me a crowbar for Valentine's Day (crowbars being a must have according to the zombie survival guide!)

If you have read my blog for any length of time, you know that I really am obsessed. It's not a joke or anything; I really do spend time and effort coming up with a "if zombies take over the world" evacuation plan. I actually judge a house's worthiness by whether or not it has the necessary architecture for zombie fortification.

3. My mom is deaf, but she never taught me sign language, so while I understand it when someone signs to me, I can't sign back....

This is a sore point for me. My two youngest brothers are fluent in ASL (American Sign Language) but they learned it after I had already left home. My mother never had time to teach me. And it bothers me.
I feel stupid when her deaf friends try to talk to me, and while I understand them, I don't know enough to contribute anything to the conversation.

4. I am so bad at math that my daughter, who is nine and in the fourth grade, has already passed me by...

Which totally sucks because we homeschool and I am supposed to be her teacher! James just left for work and Hannah is sitting at the kitchen table doing a math problem... She wants me to explain something to her, but I told her to wait and ask Daddy, because no way am I going to saddle her with my half-assed way of thinking.

5. My mom was on Unsolved Mysteries (ok this is actually a fact about my mom, but its pretty weird so I thought I would include it here)

Well, it wasn't actually my mom, but an actress portrayed her, which is still pretty cool, I think anyway. What happened was, there was this couple that disappeared in Rhode Island, and the police were looking for someone who could read lips, because they had a video clip where the couple was taped whispering to each other right before they split. So they went to Rhode Island School for the Deaf, looking for a lip reader, and the school recommended my mother for the job.

6. I love the smell of freshly washed cloth diapers.

I get such a feeling of accomplishment when I pull a perfectly white and fresh diaper out of the dryer, knowing how disgustingly poopy it had previously been. I am such a housewife.