week 6

• A week late. Because this week we were traveling. 
• Traveling, sucks. If I can figure out a way to appropriately put all of that into words, I will. 
• We got to see family & friends. That's the upside of traveling. 
• Otherwise, traveling sucks. 
• Airplanes should let families keep their electronic devices up, out, and on. It's the only humane thing to do. 
• Traveling sucks.

10 layers of magic - salad

This, my friends, is not a blog where you will find a ton of recipes. It should, however, be noted that from time to time I feel like I need to share awesomeness. And this, is way overdue. My mom (aka Nana Lu) makes this salad. It's not for those watching their waist line, unless you are watching it go out. That said, it is the best.thing.ever. I eat it for breakfast, lunch & dinner. And as salads go, this one gets better with age. You'd think to yourself, self - but the lettuce will get wilted. The bacon won't crunch. And I'd say to you... whatever. It's the best. In our family, we fight over left overs and if someone goes to the fridge to dole out another serving I will hover over them to make sure they are only taking their share. And I don't say "fair share" because it's not fair I have to share it. Before we moved, my mom would make it for special occasions or parties. And honestly? It irritated me because then I'd really have to share it.

There are a ton of varieties on the world wide web, when you google "10 layer salad" - but none are like this. And even when I try to make it, I could never do it justice. I don't even try. It's really a summer recipe. It's really for BBQs and pot lucks. It's not for the every day. That said, since we live so far we get to have it any time we come to visit. It's worth it's weight (no seriously, it's heavy) and it's absolutely worth the cost of any flight ticket home.

It's super pretty in it's bowl, but honestly I didn't take a
picture because I needed to eat it. Immediately.

Here is how you (can try to) do it. If you really want to win, you'll put all of these ingredients in a clear glass bowl, cause it's pretty. With each layers you have to physically put your back into packing all the ingredients in, with the exception of #4, cause that would be messy. 

1. Shredded ice berg lettuce 
2. Carrots (personal preference julienned) 
3. Frozen peas - don't defrost
4. 25-30 oz of mayonnaise & 2-3 teaspoons of sugar (on top of mayo)
   
   Cover with tin foil, overnight and refrigerate.
   
   
5. The next morning or a few hours, but I'd go with overnight, cause that's how she does it: 1 lb of bacon, crumbled
6. A dozen hard boiled eggs, sliced
7. Cucumbers, sliced
8. Chick peas
9. Olives, she keeps the whole. She once did it with low sodium olives. Don't do that. Seriously, if you are watching any intake (salt, fat, cholesterol) - don't bother with this salad. Don't ruin it with health in mind. Yes. I'm seriously still writing about this. I mean it, don't skimp on the calories, etc.
10. Cherry tomatoes (if you cut them, you'll cut down on the number of left over days you have)
11. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese
12. Love, spread throughout 

Me: "It's 13 layers, if you separate the sugar & mayo, don't forget the love."
Nana Lu: "Well, I did at the chichi beans." (chickpeas)

When it comes to serving this salad, you kind of cut into it like a delicious cake. You want to get all the layers. Do not, however, mix it once you have space to do so. You want to keep everything in it's place until it's getting ready to get in your pie hole.

Now go get your delicious on. You won't regret it.

Constantly Cleveland

 
"Did I ever complain about the heat of St. Louis? If I did, I didn't mean it. I take it back. I take it all back!" - me. Most nights as I bundle myself, teeth chattering, wondering if I will die in my sleep due to equal parts hypothermia & misery.

This is what I get for ever muttering the words, "I won't miss the heat." What a lie. A crazy. Miserable. Lie. Oh to walk out of my door and be hit with temperatures over 100 degrees. The air so thick you feel like you are walking in an oven with your insides cooking to dangerous temperatures.

The only thing constant here in Cleveland is me being miserable and the worst weather. It's almost always grey. I've seen the sun a handful (literally) of times since we moved here 4 months ago. For awhile, it just rained. I don't count seeing the sun, when it's sunny AND raining or snowing. It's weird. It happens, and it doesn't count as seeing the sun. It rained, all.the.time. And here I thought Seattle was known for it's rain. Why Seattle? Why not Cleveland? Cause all it was doing was raining. I would say, "I can't handle another day of rain! Anything but rain!" And you know what? Be careful what you wish for.

Now, if it isn't raining? It's snowing.

Slight, detour: The kids have been waking up early. Like, it's still dark outside, early. I can't yell at JJ to go back to be bed with the result I want - I can give L the what for. One morning (true story), when L came in to wake me up - it was still dark. I shot her 'the look' and told her to go.back.to.bed.

L, "Mom. Will the sun come out?"
Me, "When it's morning, you'll know because it won't be DARK! For the love, go to bed!"
L, "No, mom. I mean - will the sun come out, ever?"

That's how little we see the sun. It's all Alaska up in here.

As I was saying, it's so cold. I'm sure there are colder places, but colder than I can describe. The worst part is the inability to regulate the temperature in the house. We have a big ol' house, built in the 20s. Guess what they didn't use in the 20s? Insulation. Our master bedroom is 27x19. Pause to gasp. It's huge. There is a little offshoot within the room, that I have made my home office. Basically, my office is in my bedroom, but it's blocked off so it isn't that obvious. With a 27x19 room - we had the space. It's the coldest room in the house. By.Far. The next time it dips to hell freezing over temperatures,  as it did a week or so back, I'm bringing in the outdoor thermometer for some real numbers. I'm into numbers. While I can't tell you how cold it was inside the house. I can tell you (allegedly) it was 10 degrees outside, on a good day. And even though it was 10 degrees, the news would say "it feels like 1°." FEELS like 1°???? It felt like hell was freezing over. If I wasn't wearing my Northface long down parka, I was most certainly wearing a winter hat, gloves (without fingers so I could type), scarf & blanket. To add to that? I would light candles. Not to set the mood, but to omit heat. I look like a homeless person, without a shopping cart. Or so I was told.You be the judge. Look at the sadness in my eyes.

Sure, when we were in the STL I wasn't happy about it being so hot, you could break a sweat breathing. But did I look this sad? NO. Ah, to be unable to reach for the remote without losing my breathe due to heat overcoming our home. To shield our rooms of the massive sunlight we once knew. Those were the days...

week 5

My mom doesn't like tapas.

This is a throw back to way back. I'm shocked I haven't told it yet. 

When L was in the hospital, my aunt came to visit while my mom was staying with us. The baby was in the hospital and was going to be there, for who knew how long. They stayed at our apartment, while the ball&chain and I camped out at the hospital. We had an awesome tapas place down the street from our apartment at the time. We suggested one night, they go. The conversation when a little like this:

Them: Where should we go for dinner?
Me: Oh, you should check out the tapas place on the corner. It's ridiculous. Get the corn.
Them: A tapas place?
Me: Yes! The ball&chain LOVES it! (I remember throwing that in, because no one trusts my recommendations, but he's a trusted source. I also remember telling the some subset of: we go there all the time.) Not only is local, but delicious. That's our go-to when people are visiting or someone is in the neighborhood and we meet for dinner. It's fun for groups, but we go just us - all the time.
Them: REALLY? 
Me: Yes, they have brunch too, but the dinner is ridiculous. The corn is amazing.
Them: Huh.

Fast forward, months later. 

My mom is visiting, everything is back to normal. We walked to a diner down the street for breakfast one random Sunday. Next door? The aforementioned tapas place. (Seriously. If you are in the South End of Boston, Toro. Go there.)

Me: Did you guys end up going there?
My mom: Where?
Me: There, that's the tapas place I told you about, with the corn.
My mom: NO! And honestly I was telling Uncle Ricky about it, we can't believe the ball&chain goes to the topless place.
Me: TOPLESS? I said TAPAS. Small plates. Spanish food?!
My mom: OOOOH that makes so much more sense.

Tapas - topless. Classic. And the amount of people my mom told we were frequent regulars at the local boobie bar? Even better.  Apparently, it wasn't so much that it was a strip club that she was most surprised about.  More so, that he went to a gentleman's club that serves food.